The Lesson (2023)

Aspiring author Liam takes a live-in position as a tutor for the son of a revered novelist. The son is dismissive and difficult, the wife -- an artist and curator -- is aloof and melancholy, and the novelist is petty and demanding. Liam absorbs and adapts and makes himself useful to all of them.

Though I've seen this type of closed-system family with an outsider before (Saltburn comes to mind), I found this to be mesmerizing and unpredictable. Each of the players were three-dimensional with both personality and agenda. The eventual end was both surprising and satisfying.

B

Rye Lane (2023)

Still dealing with their respective breakups, Dom and Yas keep each other company as they tie up a couple of loose relationship ends. In the same vein as Before Sunrise: two strangers experience an immediate connection and just keep it going for as long as possible.

There're plenty of laughs, hi-jinx and colorful supporting characters, but this wouldn't work if the couple at the fore weren't brimming with chemistry. I enjoyed spending the day with them and was rooting hard for them to work out.

B+

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

Mahito moves to his mother's ancestral home after she dies and his father marries her younger sister. On the estate, Mahito is harrassed by a persistent gray heron. When his pregnant stepmother goes on a walk and doesn't return, he is lured to a mystical tower by the heron and enters into a dreamlike world in his pursuit of rescuing her.

It's a nightmarish mess of a story and the heron morphs into a scary trollish man wearing a heron costume. I rarely understood what was supposed to be happening. Beautiful animation, but who cares when it's put to use for such a nonsensical tale?

C-

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023)

I am a very casual fan of Swift. I know most of her big songs -- but not when they first become big. For example, I remember being mystified when my son showed up in a "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me" T-shirt in 2023. But she can craft a song and pack a stadium and she definitely went out of her way to make this an event that its attendees will remember on their death beds.

While I am in awe of her talent and commitment to her fans, I doubt I'll ever count myself among them. She's really good but I might be just a smidge too old to be anything other than an admirer.

B

SuperBob (2015)

Yes, Bob's a superhero, but there's nothing special about him otherwise. He works for the British government (except for Tuesdays, which is his day off), he's got a mother in a care home, a sassy cleaner comes in a couple of times a week, and there's a pretty girl he's hoping to take out sometime soon.

The funniest bits here are observations about government red tape and the entitled attitude of the United States. The rest of it is one joke hammered to death: he might be super but he's fairly boring otherwise. Natalia Tena injects all the charm she can, but comes up short.

C

Val (2021)

I'm sure I wasn't alone in seeking out this documentary in the weeks after Kilmer's death. He tells some interesting anecdotes, backed up with footage (since he was, seemingly, always shooting), but I found it to lack any throughline. It winds up coming off as one of those dashed-off celebrity memoirs, but in video form.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he seemed to be a rather good father. His adult children clearly adore him and he visibly brightened whenever he was with them. May his memory be a blessing.

C+

Damsel (2024)

Scrappy young Princess Elodie travels with her family to the wealthy land of Aurea to be married off in exchange for cash to save their struggling kingdom. But, despite the dreamy prince and the exciting new digs, there's some hinky shit going on in Aurea and soon Elodie's fighting for her life.

It's absolutely fine if one-note. Though whomever had the terrific idea to cast Shohreh Aghdashloo as the voice of the dragon deserved one heckuva a bonus. That was genius.

C+

Heretic (2024)

Two female mormons in their mid-20s are visiting those who have expressed interest in the church. They're an odd pairing: one has obviously led an extremely sheltered life and the other is a quite a bit more wise and wary. But both are disarmed by the "harmless old married man" shtick of a homeowner and find themselves bending the guidelines rather than insisting that they be followed.

Even though there's quite a bit of the familiar here, it still manages to feel fresh due to the intelligent religious discussion and the strong performances by all three mains.

B

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

A female painter arrives at a remote estate in order to produce a portrait of its young mistress, intended to inspire a proposal from its Milanese recipient. The mistress has refused to sit for a portrait and resents her fate, made hers by the elder sister's suicide. What starts as subterfuge -- spending time together so that her likeness can be captured without disclosing that's what's happening -- becomes an actual bond. When the matron of the house leaves for several days, the two women become even closer as they help a young servant terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

It's an absolute stunner of a romance. Quiet yet inevitable and, ultimately, impossible. The last scene wrecked me.

A

In Her Place (2024)

In 1950s Chile, judge's clerk Mercedes takes a keen interest in the case of a well-known writer murdering her lover in public. When she's tasked with retrieving clothes from the woman's apartment, Mercedes becomes enamored with the peaceful and beautiful home, which stands in stark contrast to the cramped and dingy place her four-person family inhabits (as well as all its labors, which falls on her alone).

She crosses all lines when she starts spending free time at the apartment: making meals in the kitchen, wearing the woman's perfume, makeup and clothing, and even sleeping there on occasion. While I empathized with Mercedes' desire for an oasis, it was intensely uncomfortable to witness the liberties she was taking, resulting in such unnecessary risk. I went from empathy to severe dislike.

This was "inspired" by true events, but I'd really like some clarifications on what, exactly, happened and what didn't.

C+

American Symphony (2023)

I'm rather new to Jon Batiste -- I was aware of him as Colbert's former bandleader, but only got to know him recently through a YouTube video where he listens to Chappell Roan for the first time (below). Gary and I became instant fans of this joyous, incisive, and full-of-life presence on that introduction and watched several more videos of him immediately.

This documentary covers a very taxing time in Batiste's life. He's hard at work on an original symphony to be performed at Carnegie Hall -- which, alone, would be enough to fill a plate. But his wife is also suffering a recurrence of her rare cancer, fracturing his attention and muting his natural exuberance.

But, still, his essence shines through. He's human and he has his bad days, but he is fundamentally a man whose heart is open to the universe and others. An inspiration. Though, to be completely honest, I did not care for his symphony at all.

 

C+

Parallel (2024)

Vanessa and Alex are spending some time with his brother while they are still grieving the loss of their son. They're staying in a house that used to belong to the men's father, deep in the woods. When out for a walk on her own, Vanessa dodges a literal bullet, fired by someone who looks exactly like her.

The plot of "stumbling around parallel universes trying to get back to the one I know" is not new (e.g. Coherence) so, if you're gonna do it, you should do something special with it. This movie doesn't do anything special and the characters are neither relatable nor likable. I just don't see any reason to have made this.

C-