Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet play sisters who (along with their mother and younger sister) are forced from their home with very little to sustain them when their father dies. They land somewhat softly as guests in a small home on a vast estate and each falls in love with a handsome man of means. But nothing's easy in Jane Austen's world: one of the men turns out to be a scalawag who must marry for money and the other turns out to have been betrothed to another for years. Will it somehow turn out alright?

This is basically the more tragic version of Pride & Prejudice -- and we'd just watched that miniseries last week. The acting is wonderful and the film is beautiful, but I just kept thinking about how much better P&P is. Probably unfair, but isn't everything when you're a woman without means?

C+

That Christmas (2024)

There's way too much going on here. We've got a lonely kid dealing with a fresh divorce and his sad/overworked mom who isn't shy about making sure her son is aware that his dad ran away with a 25-year old. There's a guy getting married on Christmas eve to a woman with a bunch of kids (I think? Maybe they weren't all hers), but anyway the kids aren't invited to the wedding for some reason. We've also got twins, one of whom is an anxiety-ridden goody-goody and the other who's a troublemaking "look at me"-type. And the lighthouse-keeper's mom is dying in a nursing home and the mean teacher is secretly grieving. Meanwhile, Santa's figuring out the best gifts for them all while his single reindeer complains.

My son recommended this to us as "good for a sweet cry," but the only thing I could find worth crying about here was the wasted time and movies that didn't get made because talented artists were busy making this crappy jumble. If the focus had simply been tightened to be on the twins and giving the revelations there a chance to breathe, this could've been something worthy of my tears.

D

My Old Ass (2024)

It's her last summer at home before college and Elliott doesn't want to waste it with her family. But when 39-year-old Elliott comes to visit during 18-year-old Elliott's mushroom trip, older gives younger some advice. Elliott is encouraged to slow down and savor time with her brothers and mother and to stay away from the yet-to-be-encountered Chad. She actually follows the advice... well, most of it.

I'm getting up there and can admit that I've done my share of lamenting "kids these days" and wishing my adult children had more time for me, so this hit me right in the gut. It's such a special film that basically turns the "what would you go back in time and tell your younger self" into reality. Though the situation is magical, the story focuses on life rather than the miraculous and reminds us that life is truly crammed with magic for anyone paying attention.

B+

Jules (2023)

Milton's a widower living on his own and he's beginning to show signs of confusion; his daughter has noticed, as have the other citizens who regularly attend town meetings. So, when he begins mentioning the spaceship that has crashed into his backyard, it only generates more concern about his mental state despite the fact that the spaceship and the alien who emerges are real. Soon a couple of elderly women are in on the secret and they're determined to keep "Jules" safe.

What a lovely story. The alien plot is sweet, but what I liked the most was the three lonely people coming together to form a sort of family. It was hopeful and a good reminder that everyone needs community -- as long as there's consciousness, there's a need for others in our lives.

B+

Argentina, 1985 (2022)

After coming through a brutal military dictatorship, Argentina's new government decides that those who were responsible during that time must be prosecuted. They select Julio Strassera, a competent but quiet prosecutor, who must then find a willing team to work with him despite threats of violence from those who prefer to leave the past unexamined. I admit that I was sometimes confused about who was who -- this entire subject was completely new to me -- but I didn't need to follow every beat to get it. 

It reminded me a bit of The Untouchables, in which Eliot Ness fought an unpopular war with a cobbled-together team of the untested. This, however, felt more rooted in reality, enabling me to easily envision the future in the United States in a decade or so. Hopefully our incoming government is more familiar with this chapter in history than I was and will take heed.

B-

Wonka (2023)

Once upon a time, Willy Wonka was just a young man trying to make it in the candy business. He travels to the town with the best chocolate (according to his late mother) and runs afoul of a trio of resident chocolatiers. But he's got ingenuity and moxie on his side and he's collecting friends as well.

It was good-natured and good-looking, but it somehow felt like it was hedging a bit. Chalamet manages to be both delightful and a tad blank, like the best actor in any big high school. We were entertained but there's no way I'll seek this out again.

B-