Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit is so very blah that if not for the electrifying performance at the end, it would not at all be worth watching.* Elle Fanning’s Violet is so tamped down in her emotions that even as her star started rising, I didn’t feel much of anything. This is the kind of film that doesn’t even inspire me to write three sentences.
The verdict: Skip
Cost: Free via Kanopy Where watched: at home
Further sentences:
*As is, it’s still not worth watching, but that end performance was a good payoff for my boredom.
Wild Rose (which I haven’t watched yet, but I’m going to get to it, dammit)
Questions:
What would have perked this film up?
What did you think of Elle Fanning’s accent work?
Can you name the Beatle’s song that mentions the Isle of Wight?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
In an interview with Hollywood XYZ, Director Max Minghella confirmed that all of Elle Fanning’s singing in Teen Spirit in the film is real and in fact recorded live, not in post-production.
Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige is an engrossing battle of wills between two magicians who never say never.* During this grim battle between Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman the movie has many time jumps, a lot of schemes, tricks, and maneuvering. The final reveal, once arrived at, had me marveling that I remembered a part with a dead bird for fourteen years,** but forgot the bigger tragedy.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $2.99 via Google Play Where watched: at home
*It also contains two-and-a-half roles for women! (Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, and Scarlett Johansson). It’s always a joy to come across Rebecca Hall in a movie. She brings such careful feelings. **The dead bird is the only thing I remembered about this film. This might be because Matt and I rented both this and The Illusionist (2006) and watched them the same night. I remember nothing about the other film, except that I liked this one better.
Questions:
In the end, which magician do you think did the most damage?
Which of the women in the film had it the worst?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Alfred Borden’s infant was played by one of Christopher Nolan’s children.
The first time I saw Greta Gerwig was as Frances, in Frances Ha, and her disheveled dithering completely delighted me. She was the most difficult of characters to pull off: someone enchanting and impossible to look away from, but also someone I wouldn’t actually want to be friends with in real life.
That was August of 2013. I hadn’t prioritized the movie (the poster didn’t do it for me, and Noah Baumbach wasn’t a must-see director at the time) so I first watched it a second-run theater. I shouldn’t have waited. It was my top movie of 2013.
From that point, I didn’t seek out Gerwig.
I repeat, I did not look for her in movies. Indeed, I did nothing to catch up on her back catalog until 2015, when Mistress America—her next movie with Noah Baumbach was going to be released. That spring and summer had me seeking movies with her acting roles at a moderate pace. They were movies chosen to fill time. But once I saw Mistress America, movies in which she appeared went to the top of my must-see list.
Greenberg
I still haven’t seen everything. It’s tough for me to watch all the movies of actors who are also women, as I learned with my aborted Jessica Chastain film fest. Women have too many roles where they barely appear on screen, or roles in movies that do feature them but in compromising positions that just feel icky. (Someday I might get overJolene, but it won’t be any time soon.)
So I’ve missed Gerwig’s mumblecore phase, which is unfortunate, because there’s a special place in my heart for mumblecore.
I purposely limit my exposure to actors and directors outside of the movies they create. I don’t think the press junkets that actors must appear in are helpful to their careers, and they tend to have me forming opinions about the actor as a person rather than an actor as a performer. The less I know about an actor (including their views about politics, lunch, or the weather) the easier it is for me to sink into a film’s story. So I don’t know much about Gerwig, aside from what I’ve seen of her acting and directing.
That said, she brings a verve to most performances that I’m guessing is a core part of her personality. And she’s tenacious. Over the years, she’s done the work to build her career starting with acting in tiny indies (the aforementioned mumblecore) in 2006, building on that with writing beginning in 2007, and directing beginning in 2008.
Greta Gerwig is a white person who is blond and of normal weight for female actors, though I think she has an above-average height. These are all advantages in the movie-making world, though of course her gender is not. But her body doesn’t seem to exist to be an icon. Nothing about her appearance could be said to be sculpted; rather it’s a vessel for projecting character.
In fact, the adjective I would use to describe a lot of Gerwig’s movements is flailing. Not a flail that is out of control, but a person that is so busy moving through life that her limbs tend to go hither and yon. She’s both graceful and awkward, and her characters often seem amused by, or curious about, whatever it is they are encountering.
20th Century Women
Most of all, she is funny. There’s both a puckish impulse and intelligent humor on display in her performances, and in the movies she writes and directs.
Jake Coyle, writing for the Chicago Tribune says it well:
But in films of any size, working either in front of or behind the camera, Gerwig’s aesthetic—awkward, funny, without artifice—is remarkably consistent. It’s kind of like the reverse of The Purple Rose of Cairo; instead of a movie character stepping off-screen, she’s like a real person stepping onto it—and one happy to join any genre.
Source: “After ‘Mistress America,’ Greta Gerwig will dive into directing.” 14 August 2015
It’s because of that consistent aesthetic that I’m interested to see if her announced directing feature, Barbie (co-written with Noah Baumbach and potentially starring Margo Robbie) comes to be. If anyone can bring life and humor to, “a live-action feature film based on the popular line of Barbie toys” (as it says on IMDB) it’s Gerwig.
Let’s take a look at the Gerwig films I’ve seen and see if there are a few for you to watch.
Acting:
Damsels in Distress
Whit Stillmen likes a mannered comedy/drama, but I’ve often found his films fall flat for me. (Exception: Love and Friendship.) But if you’ve liked his other films (Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco) you might enjoy this film of women trying to “change the male-dominated environment of the Seven Oaks College campus, and to rescue their fellow students from depression, grunge, and low standards of every kind.” (IMDB)
I watched a funny clip on YouTube that has since been removed. It seemed promising. Yet I didn’t love this film. Maybe I need to watch it again?
Another headlining effort that I remember little about (and my review wasn’t specific enough to jog my memory.) It’s written by Zoe Lister-Jones though, who wrote and directed Band Aid, which is a movie I love. And you’ll clock a lot of Gerwig time.
Movies with an inciting incident of wedding plans not coming to fruition are touch-and-go for me. I’m not invested in a Happily Ever After, and more than a few decent movies have been ruined with a late-third-act change of heart. (I’m looking at you He’s Just Not Into You). My review gives me hope that this goes in a different direction.
Should you watch this? Maybe.
Again, a lot of Gerwig.
The fact that I don’t remember much about it has me lukewarm on a recommendation.
Here’s where Gerwig and Noah Baumbach meet, at least movie-wise. My memories of this film are vague, and the impressions in my brain are that Gerwig hung about, nodded, and stood with her hands in her pockets. Was she perhaps wearing overalls? I’m not willing to go back and check.
This movie is important, because it is what would lead to Frances Ha, which would lead to all the other good stuff.
Should you watch this? I’d say no.
You have to have Ben Stiller tolerance/appreciation.
O! This is a movie that when it appears as I scroll through things (as it has recently because it’s streaming on Netflix) my body involuntarily responds with a happy, “Aw!” I love it so much. It’s even has things that sometimes don’t go over well, like not really having a plot. But the characters are so strong it doesn’t really matter.
Gerwig plays a woman in transition. She’s dealing with cervical cancer, she’s trying to be a photographer (arty) while being a photographer (newspaper). Her pink hair reflects her punk aesthetic.
Most of the movie is about the generation gap between Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) and his mother (Annette Bening) who is forty years older than he is. But the various people who live in the broken-down mansion that is home also have their own generation gaps. There’s a great scene with Gerwig talking about a topic that everyone else at the table would not like to discuss. It’s fun to watch Lucas Jade Zumann’s eyes as she talks.
Should you watch this: Yep
Great performances by everyone.
Character driven, yet not boring.
So much curiosity on screen.
Lucas Jade Zumann is that guy who plays Gilbert in Anne with an E.
I talk about this movie all the time. Frances is lovable despite being annoying. It was my favorite movie of 2013. I recommended it to friends who were visiting New York City and wanted some NYC-set movies; they loved it. (A better NYC movie would have been Premium Rush because it’s a map movie, but I didn’t think of it fast enough.)
Hey, when’s the last time you’ve seen a screwball comedy? When’s the last time you’ve seen a screwball comedy that was filmed in the 21st Century? Tracy’s (Lola Kirke) mom is marrying Brooke’s (Greta Gerwig) dad and so the girls meet. Brooke is a whirlwind (it seems that every description ever of this movie uses that adjective to describe her) and she’s mesmerizing to Tracy.
This movie came and went without a lot of fanfare, but I thought it was a complicated story, funny, and had great performances by Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore, who has a Danish accent. Also Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph have enjoyable bit parts.
(Bill Hader also had a bit part with Kristen Wiig in Adventureland. Could I do a list of movies where Hader and another SNL cast member have bit parts? I just thought of a third one. Perhaps I could.)
Maggie’s original plan is to have a baby on her own, but when she meets John (Ethan Hawke,) things get complicated.
Should you watch this: Yep!
I mean, you have to be okay with adultery.
Not for yourself, but in the movies.
You really don’t want to miss Julianne Moore’s accent.
Plus, how else are you going to make your own list of Bill Hader/SNL bit parts?
Gerwig first solo directing effort was Lady Bird and man, was that a good start. Here’s a quote:
Gerwig wrote Lady Bird partly as a response to films about boys growing up. At the New York Film Festival, she asked the crowd: ‘What is Boyhood, but for a girl? What is The 400 Blows, but for a girl? What is personhood for young women?’
In most films, girls exist to be looked at. Sometimes they help a male protagonist come to a realization about himself. Sometimes they die. Gerwig makes Lady Bird the one who looks: at boys but also houses, magazines, books, clothes and at the city of Sacramento.
“Greta Gerwig’s Radical Confidence” Christine Smallwood, New York Times, 1 November, 2017
Lady Bird is the name that Lady Bird gave herself. She’s a senior at an all-girls’ Catholic high school, she moves through her life as if she were the center of a movie, and she has big dreams of East Coast colleges and getting far away from her hometown.
That all this buoyant confidence feels so effervescently radical is a testament to the humor and intelligence of Gerwig’s script. That it is so rare is an indictment of our woman-hating culture, which makes a depiction of a smart teenage girl who likes herself and chases her desires seem like news.
“Greta Gerwig’s Radical Confidence” Christine Smallwood, New York Times, 1 November, 2017
There are seven reasons to watch Lady Bird and those all have to do with relationships.
With her mother. (Laurie Metcalf)
With her best friend. (Beanie Feldstein)
With the cool girl. (Odeya Rush)
With her father. (Tracy Letts)
With her first boyfriend. (Lucas Hedges)
With the guy in the band. (Timothée Chalamet)
With the head of school Sister Sarah Joan. (Lois Smith)
The movie is built on those relationships, how they change, and how they change Lady Bird during her last year of high school. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Performance by an Actress in both the Leading and Supporting categories, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It was my 2017 movie of the year. It is not to be missed.
While nine years passed between the first movie Gerwig directed (Nights and Weekends) and Lady Bird, we only had to wait two years for her next feature. And thank goodness for that. Many directors who are also women have very long gaps between movies.
There’s a good chance you know the story of Little Women, but if not, it’s based on a beloved (but incredibly boring) book written by Louisa May Alcott in the nineteenth century. The book has a lot of frustrating plot turns, yet it remains oft-cited as a favorite by a good chunk of women.
As you may have guessed, I am not a fan. The novel has been adapted for film a number of times, most memorably for me in 1994 with an all-star cast of actors from that era.
And then, Greta Gerwig decided to take on this story.
She’s a fan, which is good, because my adaptation of Little Women would have the fans up in arms. What Gerwig did in her adaptation was to shift the focus of the movie from a chronological depiction of Alcott’s novel, to the story of the novel Little Women being published. Brilliant!
Because the book is based on Alcott’s life, we still get all the markers of the story, but we can see how the plot twists in the book come about. This is satisfying both to people who like movie adaptations to be like the books they spring from, and it also satisfied people like me who feel very strongly that a plot twist involving Jo is ridiculous.
Like the ‘94 adaptation, this one is packed with a star-studded cast, including Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, Laura Linney as Marmee, Susan Serandon as Aunt March, and Timothée Chalamet as Laurie.
The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Performance by an Actress in both the Leading and Supporting categories, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Achievement in Music, and it won an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
I think it should have won for most of those categories, but I’m happy with the award it did win because the costumes were great, especially those wrap-front sweaters the girls were always wearing.
Should you watch this? By all means, yes!
If you hate the book, it’s interesting to see how the film was assembled.
If you love the book, you still get to see your favorite moments.
If you are not familiar with the book or the movie(s), now’s the time to get up to speed.
As a director with three movies under her belt, two of Gerwig’s films have 10 Academy Award nominations and one win. Here’s hoping that the Barbie movie comes to pass and that we get to see more from her in the future, either acting or directing.
If you are just getting to know her, there is a lot to catch up with. What will you start with?
Beanie Feldstein has been on my radar since her supporting work in Neighbors 2* and I don’t think any other actress could pull off the brash (and somewhat fantasy-based) confidence of Johanna Morrigan/Dolly Wilde in Coky Giedroyc’s How to Build a Girl. This is the rock star trajectory movie** but with a teenage girl as its center*** and with the job in question rock critic, not rock star.**** While the film itself is predictable (see: rock star trajectory) that doesn’t make it any less fun.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $6.99 (a VOD price point I can afford!) Where watched: at home
*Don’t think Neighbors 2 is for you? You might reconsider when you read my list. **Humble beginnings; early failures; early success; wild success; drinking and drugs; moment of truth; better understanding of life and their place in it. ***And having a teenage girl at the center of a music-focused movie means this is an automatic Recommended movie. There aren’t enough portrayals of girls making music. ****This brings up inevitable comparisons to the other teenage rock critic movie: Almost Famous. This is smaller in scope and more focused on the rock critic herself and not the bands she reviews.
Questions:
Can we have a rock star movie without the rock star trajectory, or would there not be enough plot?
Was there a point when you weren’t on Dolly’s side anymore? If yes, when?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
There wasn’t anything good, so I’ll tell you that Caitlain Moran wrote the screenplay and the book on which this is based. Her book How to be a Woman is incredibly funny, especially for women born around 1975, when she was born.
Alice Wu’s charming and moving The Half of It is a 100% fully great movie, and it’s very good-ness has me wondering why it’s been 16 years since her first feature.* Things this film does well: captures the environment in “Squahamish,” Washington;** catching the small feelings of longing that aren’t quite kept hidden; being funny and poignant; starting with a situation that wasn’t a good idea, and kept getting worse, all the while not turning me away from choices made by characters. If you like subtle performances, movies about teenagers, movies about small towns, or movies with Becky Ann Baker,*** cue this movie up tonight!
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99) Where watched: at home
*Saving Face was released in 2004. The time between movies directed by women can be maddening. **Good job, New York State! You pulled off Washington’s overcast and green environment like a pro. ***Mrs. Weir in Freaks and Geeks and also Lena Dunham’s mom in Girls. She plays a high school teacher in this film.
Questions:
What other films can you think of that involve beginning voice-over narration tell us that things aren’t going to work out?
What’s your favorite small-town movie?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The opening monologue is the story told by Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium. Aristophanes was a comedic playwright at the time of Socrates and Plato and is considered the greatest Greek comedic writer. The Symposium is a dialogue about a dinner that Socrates attends. During dinner Socrates, in typical fashion, begins to ask questions of his host and the other guests. The dialogue centers on the topic of love, each interlocutor attempts to answer the question what is love? Aristophanes’ story tells of how humans use to be whole and the gods got jealous and split us apart. We spend our lives searching for that other half. According to Aristophanes, our other half could be someone of the same or opposite gender.
Having given us the Batman movie everyone else loves,* Christopher Nolan gave us the Batman movie that I love with The Dark Knight Rises.** In some ways, it’s an origin story all over again, what with Bruce Wayne having to be coaxed out of retirement. And it’s one last chance for Gary Oldman”s Commissioner Gordon to be the moral center.***
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $3.99 via Redbox on demand Where watched: at home
*The Dark Knight **You know why? This one is fun. And it has two women in it! I know! Plus Tom Hardy, whom everyone loves. And they got the Bane voice just right. ***Also, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in this. And he’s great!
Questions:
What would you say is the definitive Nolan stamp on this franchise?
How did Bane’s mask work, anyway?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan said that this movie’s theme deals with “pain”. For Batman Begins (2005), it was “fear”, while The Dark Knight (2008) dealt with “chaos”.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight features and masterful performance by Heath Ledger and is a nihilistic movie I despise.* While every actor involved is excellent** I do not think that plot points hold up.*** Again, Gotham looks great**** though the cool monorail has disappeared and the Wayne building is entirely different than in the first movie.
The verdict: Skip
Read the Wikipedia summary and you can move right on to the next in the series.
Cost: free because Matt owns two DVD copies of this film. Where watched: at home
*Psychopaths with no plan who want to cause only chaos do not make for an interesting film. There’s a bleak worldview that runs through this that only gets bleaker as the film wears on. It’s like everyone involved making this movie was going through a divorce, declaring bankruptcy, and their dog, wife, or child died while filming. I gave it a second viewing because everyone loves this film, but I do not like it, not at all. **Maggie Gyllenhaal was a particularly good addition to the cast. ***”Where is he getting all his weapons?” I asked as the Joker picked up a bazooka/big gun thing and started firing. The Joker says that explosives are cheap, but they aren’t that cheap. I don’t buy that someone who aspires to be an agent of chaos would have this much discipline to coordinate the details of his nefarious scheme. ****Though again, where are the women? That entire police funeral was 95% dudes.
Questions:
If you are a person who likes this film, what makes it great for you?
What’s your favorite version of Batman?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
While filming a chase scene on Lake Street, the Chicago Police Department received several calls from concerned citizens stating that the police were involved in a vehicle pursuit with a dark vehicle of unknown make or model.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is a good superhero origin story that takes place in a world where women are just not around.* I enjoy Christian Bale’s journey from kid who wanders the world, to interested potential hero of Gotham, to hero of Gotham. I also enjoy the depictions of Gotham presenting as sufficiently grungy, but with that very cool monorail.
The verdict: Good
Cost: free because Matt owns a DVD copy (that is unfortunately pan-and-scan and shows it!) Where watched: at home
*I mean really, where are they? There’s Bruce Wayne’s mom, who has maybe one line. There’s Rachel’s mom, who also has one line. And there’s Rachel who does get to speak on a regular basis, but she’s the only one. Oh yeah, and the arm candy. But other women? Nope. Women police officers? None. Women board members who speak? Nope. Women scientists, police commissioners, mayors? Nope, nope, nope. In fact, Christopher Nolan seems to have a pretty strict one-woman-per-movie quota. (See: Following, Memento, Insomnia, this)
Random note: normally, we would have watched a superhero movie for our anniversary. This year, it looked like it would be Black Widow, which would have been our first every anniversary celebration superhero movie starring a woman. But nope. This was our #coronavirusalternative
Questions:
Could the lack of women present in this film be an example of sexism? Why or why not?
Do you think that Wayne Enterprises would have filed patents on all that cool gear they developed?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Christian Bale’s active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.
Spike Lee’s Crooklyn is a solid family drama* with an excellent soundtrack and a charming montage of games urban kids used to play in the early 70s. It’s also got a trio of stellar leads in Alfre Woodard & Delroy Lindo as the parents and Zelda Harris as Troy, the only girl among the five siblings. It’s not the most plot-driven of films, but the energy running through the characters is enough to keep things moving forward.
The verdict: Good
Cost: $3.99 via Google Play (The subtitles were bad. A bit behind and trying to do too much) Where watched: at home
Consider also watching:
This is apparently the only movie about black families
I’ve just googled for 10 minutes and I get:
*Movies for families to watch
*Movies about white families (sort of)
*Spike Lee movies
Gah!
Further sentences:
*With a lot of yelling (you have to be okay with yelling families, which I am) and an attitude toward animals I couldn’t stomach.** **One scene with a cat, and two scenes with a small dog. Both are played as funny.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The “disorienting” view when the family is in the country was created by shooting in widescreen without anamorphically adjusting the image.
(I include this trivia item as a public service because I wasn’t sure if it was a glitch on my TV)
