Sunday, 28 March 2021
Without Honor (1949)
Jane Bandle has recently married, but Bill, her husband's brother, tries to wreck her marriage because Jane rejected his sexual advances before her marriage.
Well-cast and suspenseful film is staged as a one-room drama, so it relies very much on dialogue rather than action.
Maltin**: "Good cast talk endlessly..."
Fando y Lis (1968)
Fando and his partially paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar.
Madcap surrealist road trip in a post-apocalyptic world is full of imaginative sequences and absurd and shocking moments, but altogether doesn't seem to make much sense as a cautionary tale (which obviously was the intention).
The Missing, Season 1 (2014)
When five-year-old Oliver vanishes, it sets off a manhunt that will last for years to come.
Compelling and haunting drama series with excellent performances manages to present a complex plot with many sub-plots as an intense personal drama and as a suspenseful thriller.
Saturday, 27 March 2021
The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016)
On the morning of June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are found stabbed to death outside Brown's Brentwood, Los Angeles condominium. Brown's ex-husband, NFL player, broadcaster, and actor O. J. Simpson, becomes a person of interest in their murders.
Good, informative and at times even slightly humorous Account of the O.J. Simpson case is thoroughly watchable, but the quality of the performances are variable from excellent (Paulson, Brown) to campy (Travolta, Gooding Jr.).
Friday, 26 March 2021
Wadjda (2012)
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
A simple story, beautifully told with realism and good eye for details, gives light to the everyday inequalities of life in Saudi Arabia and manages to do so without harshness, but with an uplifting spirit.
Maltin***: "Engaging story, told with directness and humor, which quietly conveys many truths about societal norms in the Arab world. Young Mohammed, making her screen debut, is a charming and completely believable heroine."
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