Ballerina (2016)

In 2012, Ella Havelka became the first indigenous dancer in The Australian Ballet. For Australians, especially for the indigenous people, this is a big deal. There is a question mark from Ella herself: was her talent what got her in or her race? I'm guessing her talent as, if it were just a publicity stunt, she'd be featured more prominently in their performances. Since she's simply part of the "flock" rather than the star of their productions, it seems likely that she got herself there. And yet, it's definitely her race that got someone to make a movie about her. 

She seems like a lovely young woman with a drive to preserve the language and practices of her ancestors. She weaves baskets, regularly spends times with elders to practice her speech, and gives time and encouragement to young dancers. And, at the time this was filmed, she was actively working on a dance style that fuses native movement with ballet. But none of this, in my opinion, rises to the level of "let's tell her story!" This felt more like hearing someone talk at length about their lovely granddaughter who has a bunch of different hobbies.

C

Hamnet (2025)

Gary bailed on this halfway through, which is too bad since it really turns into something beautiful and affecting in the latter third or so. But, that's the whole problem with this: it's such a slow burn for the first hour or so that it takes real determination to keep going. All of the characters felt as though they were deliberately being kept at a distance -- even the extremely powerful scene depicting the birth of Agnes's first child felt like I was witnessing it from the nosebleeds. Why?

The only thing that's likely to stick in my memory from this is the beautiful and astonishing work of Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet. I haven't been this enthralled by a child actor since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. I hope Jupe continues to land work like this. I'll be watching.

C+

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln (2024)

Compelling and well-made documentary. Though it uses reenactments, they seemed to support rather than tweak the information present in letters, newspapers and from scholars. I came away with the belief that -- not only was Lincoln into men -- he wasn't hiding it. Most interesting, though, was that it didn't seem to diminish him in anyone's eyes. Is it actually possible that we're NOT abandoning sexual morals but only rewriting history to drum up disgust and worry? And why am I not surprised?

B-

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)

What's going on in Linda's life is just way too much. Her no-name daughter's nutrition is managed with an at-home feeding tube because she won't eat enough by mouth, her therapist is less than supportive, her own patients are a handful, no-name's doctors won't continue to treat no-name if her no-way weight goals aren't met, she's basically a single parent as her husband's job rarely brings him home and when he calls he only adds more stress, and now she's moved into a low-rent motel room with no-name because her own home's ceiling caved in. What she's dealing with would be enough to send most people over the edge. 

BUT all of that would've been enough (and probably way more affecting) without the distracting camera work. We spend so much time so close to Linda's face that I felt smothered by her grimaces. We never see the daughter's face, which reduces her to a constant whine of need -- so much so that when Linda would leave her alone in that sketch motel for hours at a time, I didn't spare a thought for the kid. Maybe that was the point? I don't know, but I hated everyone in this fucking movie except A$AP Rocky as the drug-procuring, ceiling hole verifying, resentful babysitting quasi-friend.

D-

Train Dreams (2025)

This felt more like having a book read aloud by a gifted reader, with the images my own brain might have conjured as the words' accompaniment. A lovely celebration of a small life as full of tragedy and beauty as any "big" life could possibly be.

A-