Manchester by the Sea

Kenneth Lonergan, 2016

IMDB

4/5

Any New Englander is going to feel a sense of familiarity to Manchester by the Sea. It's a movie filled with characters constantly battling the cold temperatures, something we are all used to dealing with in the Northeast. But these characters, while possibly making the mistake of dressing a little too lightly, are tough people. They have endured. There is a sense of resilience. These are working class people who are dealing with the difficulties of ordinary life. Loss of a loved one, past mistakes, struggling to make that next dollar.

Casey Affleck is a proper casting choice for the Lee Chandler character because he's not a very external actor. Lee is not a very external character. Lee bottles things up. He carries the weight of his past on his back. The only release for him is the occasional bar-fight that can be provoked by something as simple as accidentally bumping into him. So it's safe to say he's a man on edge. He becomes a profoundly sympathetic character when more of his past is revealed during the films constant flashbacks. There's just so much nuance to his character, along with the other characters in this film. Kyle Chandler, who plays Lee's brother Joe, brings the same level of consistency that he always brings. Chandler is really one of those actors that is always just dependable. Michelle Williams continues to prove how unbelievably good she is. She has this ability to pull a reaction out of you with little dialogue. She's all in with her supporting performance as Randi Chandler. The standout scene with her being an alleyway confrontation with Lee that dares you to not tear up.

This is a movie where you can't point fingers. Everyone is struggling in some way or another, just like normal folk do. There is a defining turning point in the tone of this film that you never fully recover from, even after the end credits. That's why it takes such an emotional toll on you. Because this is a real movie, maybe too real. You aren't spoon-fed a Hollywood ending here. This film ends just like life goes on. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't, sometimes it's neither. Sometimes things just keep on keeping on. You just continue to exist in the world, with no choice but to carry the entirety of your history with you.

Boyhood

Richard Linklater, 2014

Can I Stream it?

5/5

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Boyhood focuses mostly on Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age 5 to age 18 as he endures some of the most formative years of his young life in Texas.

Linklater has a really interesting voice when it comes to looking at the world. It's evident in virtually all of his films; a sort of rebellious, looking at the clouds, lost in the music abstractism. When it's channeled through the eyes of a young boy, it continues to be engaging and visceral. Boyhood is his boldest work.  The dedication and ambition to create a movie that spans 12 years is astonishing. The production has to run on the cast's good faith due to the fact that they can't secure contracts for that length of time. All during such a critical and sensitive time in young Ellar Coltrane and Lorelai Linklater's (his real life daughter) life. Time when they are distracted by so many other things. People their age are playing football one moment and in the school band the next. Constantly running on impulses. The 12 year production even involved having a backup plan in the event that Linklater suddenly died; Ethan Hawke would step in and complete the film.

Boyhood is a beautiful, heartfelt masterpiece. It's a complete coming of age tale combined with a turbulent family drama, and the scale of it is much bigger than some of the spotty acting that may be present at times. It plays out like a rock record with some goofs that were baked in to the final pressing. After all, Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You" wouldn't be the same without John Bonham's squeaky bass pedal. Not only are you seeing young Coltrane actually age through the story but you are actually seeing the wrinkles on the faces of Hawke and Arquette appear over time, and with them the memories of their comprehensive characters develop. The chapters of their life unfold and you are there on the journey. The ebbs and flows, ups and downs. The more bountiful days, the more desperate ones. It's captivating, exhaustive, and just real. 

Stories We Tell

Sarah Polley, 2013

Netflix

3/5

Sarah Polley (Splice, Dawn of the Dead, Go) turns the camera on her family in this creative and honest docu-drama which uses immersive recreated footage along with personal interviews with her family members. Polley is very curious about some of her family's past, and wants to get their individual accounts as they dig into their memory banks. Interestingly, they have varying interpretations of various family events. Some of the memories are vivid, some vague, some just aren't there. But the Polley family is colorful. Not without some pain, some surprise, some secrets. But it's those provocative elements which make it very human.

The film opens with the arresting falsetto song "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver. The various siblings casually take their seats in consecutive cuts and ask how they look in front of the camera, providing a casual behind-the-scenes approach to the traditional interviewing style of a standard documentary. Polley continues to re-imagine the standard doc with her recreated family footage. The footage is interlaced with authentic footage, the result feeling surprisingly seamless. Quite a bit of the footage shown is of her late mother Diane Elizabeth, who died of cancer when Sarah was 11. Diane is very natural on screen, constantly singing or dancing. The physical resemblance between Sarah and Diane is obvious, and it's very moving at times to see her mother singing to the camera.

It's not really until the second half of the film that Sarah begins to dig deeper into some of the family secrets, looking for answers. Some of the less favorable topics come up: infidelity, divorce, abuse, dishonesty. And while some of the subject matter is emotional, it certainly never crosses the line into the disturbing realm (like similarly constructed doc Capturing the Friedmans). The film shifts back to Sarah interviewing her father while she sits at a mixing board in a sound studio. She asks him to stop and repeat himself during his ongoing narrative on the other side of the glass. When he does, the camera focuses on a side profile of Sarah listening - with those words clearly affecting her emotionally. You get a sense that there is a catharsis happening. This is a film Polley is seemingly making for herself. She asks some very personal questions and receives some poignant answers. But to her credit, she is more than willing to put it all on the screen. She maintains a certain composure, an honesty, and vulnerability through it all. In the end you realize that while the Polley family may not be perfect, very few families are. There are always some scars. Life is very finite and love comes in many flavors, many of which can be complicated. You can spend the rest of your life blaming your relatives for some of the not-so-great things that have happened, or you can lick your wounds and move on. You look around and see what's surrounding you. In this case it's a lot of people who clearly care about each other and aren't ashamed or embarrassed of their heritage.

Kumare

Vikram Gandhi, 2011

Netflix

4/5

Vikram Gandhi is a filmmaker who wants to study Americans' obsession with the concept of a Guru. As an experiment he attempts to impersonate a yoga guru hoping to generate some humor. What he ends up getting is something he did not expect; real followers. Loyal, committed followers. He's suddenly faced with the challenge of being honest with these people who suddenly look up to him for spiritual leadership. Can he come clean?

Kumare is the kind of documentary that sneaks up on you. Vikram Gandhi is quite honest about his intentions. He wants to out the false prophets of the world with a well-crafted social experiment. Snake oil salesmen. Smoke in mirrors. And he does this. But he gets more than he bargained for. When you start to hear the stories of the people that begin following him, your heart aches. These are real people. These are people with real issues, who struggle with real issues. People who have a certain pain that makes them particularly vulnerable. The fascinating thing is that they all have different flavors of vulnerability. But it's all very authentic. There's certainly a message here. People are insecure. People are desperate for guidance. Sometimes it's as simple as companionship. Sometimes it's validation. And because of that desperation, there is a certain accessibility that forms.

The cleverly constructed doc defies you to hold back the tears when you see the pictures on the wall of the family members who have moved away from their mother. When you hear about past drug abuse, and a new-found sense of purity. Broken promises to oneself, and the intention to finally fulfill them. Kumare accidentally becomes a real guru to them, a pseudo-father figure. The joke gets lost in the humanity. Without the humanity, the film would be a cheap laugh in the same vein as Borat. Without the humanity, the film would come off as deviously predatory as Punk'd. But that's the thing. The humanity is there. On both sides. Kumare's placebo effect has a lasting impact. The emotions are laid right out there. Brace yourself for the reveal.

Blackfish

Gabriela Cowperthwaite, 2013

3/5

Seaworld continues to operate, even after trainers have been killed by killer whale Tilikum. This documentary interviews past trainers, past employees, and family and friends of the victims who detail their experience of their lives involved with working with the Orcas.

An interesting yet disturbing look at some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. Killer Whales that have been confined, exploited, and basically tortured for most of their lives in captivity. The film is quite deliberate, clearly trying to stir the pot of the Seaworld culture, hoping to draw attention to years of abuse to these intelligent creatures and to attempt to clear the air on some past incidents. There is clearly no positive effect to keeping these animals in captivity other than profiting from their elementary stunts that they are quite obviously underemployed to do. They are creatures that we hardly understand. The Seaworld corporation demonstrates one of the worst sides of the human race, throwing compassion out of the window for a buck. Their business ideals seem to match that of Monsantos, trying to drive profits and pay legal teams to cover their asses. And the Orcas are not the only ones to garner sympathy in the film. The trainers are also victimized by the Seaworld machine. Seaworld takes advantage of the trainers urge to work with animals and brainwashes them to believe the animals are enjoying their stay, and tries to sweep past incidents under the carpet.

Seaworld is not going to close their doors unless they start hating money, and that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Therefore, the market must dictate what happens. As long as people are sitting in the seats waiting for the obligatory splash from the tortured Orca, it wont end. At the very least, this film should at least make people think twice before visiting the park with their children. One of the subjects of the film mentions at one point: "In fifty years, we're probably going to look back on this chapter and see how barbaric we were". While the film succeeds in delivering its message, the resistance by Seaworld to be interviewed limits the perspective. Seeing the old school Seaworld commercials certainly provides a creepy tone. Listening to the ex-trainers recount is compelling. But overall it doesn't make a lasting impact, and feels like it could easily be more of a 60 Minutes special than a full documentary.

Waste Land

Lucky Walker, Karen Harley & Joao Jardim - 2010


4/5

Vik Muniz, world-famous artist, decides to travel to his home country of Brazil for a large art project set in the vast Jardim Gramacho landfill in Rio de Janeiro. What follows is a well-detailed film about the less fortunate people of Brazil who finally get some well-deserved attention.

An inspiring, thorough documentary that really captures the evidence of deep-rooted poverty in Brazil. At times emotionally moving, Muniz decides to try and capture a more ignored side of humanity. There is a large group of poor people that pick through heaps of unfiltered garbage in the land-fill in an effort to separate the recyclables to redeem them for what adds up to about twenty dollars per day. Muniz informs the people that he would like to profile them in an art exhibit, sell the artwork, and give 100% of the revenue back to the people. As Vik starts the interviewing process, he starts to see the similarities with the pickers and his own past - where he grew up poor conditions himself. There's a wide spectrum of personalities at Jardim Gramacho - from the mother who lost her son at age 3, to the uneducated elder who has been picking for 26 years. They all have a story, and they have a sympathetic quality to them. It's inspiring that although they may be waist deep in society's waste day in and day out, they have a sense of integrity and pride in their work. You see that these people, while uneducated, have a real hunger for knowledge. They scour through the trash, and when they find books they clean them off and bring them home. One of the men has even read War and Peace. The pickers have a sharp eye. By examining ones trash, they realize you can find out a lot about that person. Their social status, their occupation, their overall health condition.

One memorable point in the film is when Vik has a group of pickers in his studio. He describes the person at the museum - the person who stands back from the wall and looks at the art, and then bends forward to look at the material up close. As you get closer to a painting, it begins to lose its appeal when you see the detail. As you move away, you see the beauty. It's an important concept, because it can so accurately portray these people and their conditions. From a distance (such as when Vik is viewing the landfill from Google Earth at his Brooklyn studio), they appear to be desperate trash-dwellers. You get closer, as he does, and you start to see the qualities of the people. Vik Muniz selflessly changed the lives of the people of Jardim Gramacho, and it's really inspiring to see him give back to his hometown.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale

Lasse Hallstrom, 2009


3/5

Based on a true story, Parker Wilson (Richard Gere) discovers a stray dog at his local train station. Not wanting to surrender it to the pound, he decides to take it home. He soon discovers that the dog returns to the train station every day to await his return from the University where he teaches.

The Japanese story of Hachiko, the loyal Akita Inu, is told in Western form. It's a compelling story and a look at an everlasting emotional bond of dog and man. Richard Gere is reunited with Jason Alexander, who plays Carol the station manager. Although the film is quite formulaic, it doesn't need to run on much more than its rather basic story to extract the teardrops. Gere is effective as the forbearing father who can't think of the dog spending the night in the cold puppy pound. Ironically, Hachi sits through the cold winter months waiting for Parker to step off of the train cart. The connection between the two is both unique and inspiring. Hallstrom uses creative techniques such as shooting from Hachi's perspective, using vague colors to mimic canine vision. The emotional tone of the movie will solicit memories of Marley and Me. While somber at times, its a story worth being told.

Natural Selection

Robbie Pickering, 2011


3/5

Linda (Rachael Harris) discovers that her husband Abe (John Diehl), while he is hospitalized, has an illegitimate son living in Florida. She decides to track the son down and reunite him with his biological father.

Rachael Harris provides a multi-faceted, vulnerable performance in this indie dramedy. Eager to have children of her own after being married to the same man for 25 years with no luck, she gets to the point of desperation. When realizing that her husband's son is out there somewhere, she jumps head first into a pursuit to find him. Naive and optimistic, she assumes he will be a mirror image of her husband and is surprised to find he isn't. Her kindness is contagious, and her oblivious demeanor is convincing. Linda looks back on two decades of marriage with a sense of distrust. She looks forward to the potential relationship with her husband's son as an opportunity. It's a thorough examination of bible belt hypocrisy, secrets hidden in a long marriage, and societal facades. It has the sudden comedic moments reminiscent of the Coen Brothers work, but blends it well with genuine emotion and curiosity.

Castaway on the Moon

Hey-jun Lee, 2009

4/5

Kim has hit rock bottom. With accumulating debt and a recent breakup, he feels he has nothing to live for. He decides to end it all, and jumps off of a bridge into the Han River. He wakes up on the shores of an island, wet and confused. He's not even sure if he's alive, or in some form of an afterlife. 

Castaway on the Moon maintains more of an imaginative, dream-like tone than Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away (2000, Tom Hanks). Initially, you sit in doubt as to whether or not Kim is alive, dead, or in some alternate dimension where sits as a lone observer of the lively city in front of him. He's left with no resources other than what washes ashore on the island. He's left to his wits, which he admits actually makes him smarter. While he labors on the island to survive and keep himself busy, he doesn't realize that a bedroom-dwelling hermit is observing his activities via camera. He gives her a new-found passion, a curiosity for what's outside her bedroom door. She hides her face from an mysterious incident from years past. Her grocery list is sent via text to her mother who nervously places it outside her bedroom door. Each day passes, and the garbage bags pile up in her room. Kim needs to hit his rock bottom to see the beauty in life, and that beauty resides in the small things. He creates his own universe, far removed from credit card debt. Far removed from dead-end relationships. Far removed from courtesy callers. His duck-boat home feels welcoming. In the end its rewarding for everyone involved.