Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

This was a good film. There are only six characters in the whole film. Frank (Nick Offerman) owns a record store despite the lack of business. Sam (Kiersey Clemons) is his only daughter, preparing to go off to UCLA and eventually med school. There is also Leslie (Toni Colette), Frank's landlady and potential love interest, Dave (Ted Danson), Frank's friend and local bartender, Rose (Sasha Lane), an artist and Sam's girlfriend and Marianne (Blythe Danner), Frank's mother who occasionally shoplifts because her mind is going, or is it? She doesn't have many scenes but seems lucid in the few she does.
The plot is also fairly simple. Frank and Sam record a song and Frank puts it online. He also wants them to become a band, while Sam has many reservations, including Frank's extreme lack of funds.
Despite the simpleness of the plot, the film is nevertheless worthwhile with brilliant performances all around and good music.
The ending is solid, with Frank and his daughter still writing songs thousands of miles apart and she does to college. Frank and Leslie mend the fences and he takes over Dave's bar so Dave can go to Woodstock to enjoy the trees and get high.
I do have problems with the film, like why bring up Sam's birth certificate if nothing comes out of it, what is with Leslie and Brian and why do have Marianne shoplift when she appears to not be loosing her marbles.
Thank goodness it is nevertheless a great film and Clemons will have a great career ahead of her. I also liked that race was never brought up (Frank's late wife was African American) and neither was homosexuality. Everything was down with grace, which is so refreshing. Grade: A-

Novitiate (2017)

1964: Vatican II has just passed and the Catholic Church seems to be moving forward, but in the Convent of the Rose, time stands still. Here, young women are preparing to take their vows to become nuns. Cathleen (Margaret Qually) is one of them. She is different from most of them, having not been raised Catholic. In fact, her mother (Julianne Nicholson, great) isn't terribly supportive of her daughter's wishes, but loves her fiercely regardless.
Cathleen loves God devotedly and is probably the most devote in the convent. And becoming a nun is not an easy process, the extended periods of silence and those are something that cannot be broken. You walk with your head down and there is not physical contact of any kind. Reverend Mother (Melissa Leo) is also pretty cruel and it only gets worse. She refuses to adapt with the changes, as nuns as no part in making them, and she's right. They were created by a group of men, priests.
Nuns no longer need to wear their habits and are now considered no more holy than a lay person. She is truly devastated when she is forced to enact these changes. Their whole lifestyle is changing.
Cathleen also undergoes some changes when a new novice arrives, Sister Emanual (Rebecca Dayan). She finally has feelings for something in the flesh. Before, she never considered dating or anything and she tries to stave off her feelings. She starves herself, passing out and her mother is concerned when she visits.
It isn't until Cathleen passes out that things come to a boiling point with Emanual. And she finally has much needed human contact and feels guilty, sobbing in the session with Reverend Mother. Nevertheless, she prepares to take her final vows, but she seeks something more and who can blame her?
Though this film is depressing, it is well done and Leo is a force to be reckoned with, nasty and sympathetic all at the same time. Qualley should also have a good career. Dianna Argon is also good in her small role, as a young nun who dares to question Reverend Mother. I just don't understand why Reverend Mother can hand out penances as she is not a priest and no one should speak for God. Grade: B+

Bad Moms (2016)

This film might be dubbed a comedy, though I didn't find it that funny, but it is important.
Amy Mitchell (a great Mila Kunis) is an overworked, working mom. Both her husband, Mike (David Walton) and younger boss, Dale (Clark Duke) take horrible advantage of her. And she struggles to be perfect and it is all for nothing. Her husband is masturbating with some other woman online, but they got married so young, and their marriage has been having trouble for years. But she finally loses it at another endless PTA meeting run by Gwendolyn James (Christina Applegate), insisting that a bake sale be dairy, nut, egg, sugar and flour free. What is left after all that? Amy is sick of expecting to be perfect.
She goes to a bar afterwards and runs into single, horny mom, Carla (Kathryn Hahn) who is almost universally hated by the moms at school because she flirts shamelessly with their husbands. Kiki (Kristen Bell) a harried stay-at-mom joins them. Kiki is the most underdeveloped character in the film, her husband isn't understanding of what she does and considers her being at home with the kids as her job.
Now that Amy is on Gwendolyn's bad side, Gwendolyn doesn't take it out on Amy, but instead on Amy's over-involved daughter, Jane (Oona Laurence, great), by kicking her off the soccer team and putting marijuana cigarettes in her locker. So this fight is personal.
Everything works out in the end. Amy finally loosens up, though it isn't easy. She finally admits that she doesn't love Mike anymore and has sex for the first time in five years, with the hot widowed father, Jesse (Jay Hernandez). She wins the PTA presidency by urging mothers that it is okay if they aren't perfect as long as no one judges anyone else for their actions. It sends a powerful message in a world where anything other than perfect is unacceptable. But as long as your children are nice, you are doing something right. And while Amy's children are flawed and probably pretty entitled, they are nice and are given compliments as such.
The film is overall solid, with good performances from every nook and cranny of the characters which cannot be overlooked. And some genuine issues are brought up. However, not all of them are solved but enough of them are to make this film worth while. Grade: B+

Every Day (2018)

This film is based on one of those few books that I couldn't put down. In fact, the book was so brilliant, I blogged about it, now more than five years ago. 

However, though the film and its screenplay follow the book very well, it doesn't always translate well. Some moments are superb but it starts off slowly and for those who haven't read the book, they will probably be confused. Justin (Justice Smith) is an average teenager, I suppose and one day he wakes up inhabited by the spirit 'A'. He plays on a sports team but he has a girlfriend, Rhiannon (Angourie Rice) whom 'A' falls in love with. Rhiannon has her own struggles, her father (Michael Cram) suffered a nervous breakdown a few years ago and her mother has been working non-stop and possibly cheating on her husband ever since. Unfortunately, Rhiannon doesn't have much of a personality or at least it doesn't come across on the screen. She seems nice, smart, a good friend and loyal for some unknown reason to Justin, who is really a jerk. But soon she is obsessed with 'A'. Naturally, she is incredibly skeptical of the story of 'A' switching bodies every day, waking up as an entirely different person, the same age and roughly in the same area, but once that story is deemed credible, that becomes her whole world and 'A' is the same way, ruining the lives of those s/he inhabits. Michael (Jake Sim) is supposed to be flying to Hawaii with his family but can't because he doesn't want to leave Rhiannon and not come back. But, on the other hand, one girl is deeply depressed, a cutter and suicidal, so 'A' forces him/herself to stay in her body and tell her father the truth; hopefully that person survives as she is finally getting the help she needs. Finally, 'A' wakes up in the body of Alexander (Owen Teague), an acquitance of Rhiannon, who is actually a really great, genuine person but 'A' is ruining his life, wanting to spend some much with Rhiannon, and upsetting his family. 'A' has always wanted a family to love him and Alexander has that. After all, Alexander is the person Rhiannon should be with. And that's hopefully who she ends up with.

While the story demonstrates some interesting points, after all 'A' shifts bodies all the time, but Rhiannon is still attracted to all of them, meaning that looks, race and gender do not matter, only personality and essence. And whose dreams are more important? Should 'A' do what s/he wants or just live out the day for that specific person as best s/he can? 

However, there are problems. These kids seem to have much more freedom than I did at that age an none of the poor, underpriviledged bodies 'A' occupied in the book are shown, though we do have a glimpse of 'A' as a blind boy. And, how is Rhiannon able to text 'A' all the time when 'A' would have a new cell phone and number daily? That is a glaring and unacceptable plot hole. And you really have to have read the book to understand this film. I feel if that hadn't been done, you would be lost and left in the dark and write this film off as a trifle instead of something meaningful which it strives to be. 

That being said, the points are well done and the acting is largely decent with an especially good Debby Ryan as Rhiannon's sister, Jolene stealing every scene she is in. But I just wish this had translated better from paper to screen. Grade: B

LBJ (2017)

This film was only average. Lyndon Baines Johnson (Woody Harrelson) is rather a reluctant vice president. He wanted to be president but simply could not compete with the charisma of John F. Kennedy (Jeffrey Donovan) so he had to settle for VP much to the chagrin of Bobby (Michael Stahl-David). Lyndon is a southerner and tries to curry favor with both sides of JFK's civil rights bill though that doesn't always work.
And then, of course, Jack is assassinated and Oswald's name is never mentioned. And now, LBJ is president and though he could squash the Civil Rights Bill like a bug, he opts instead to carry on with Kennedy's legacy ruining his long-term friendship with Georgia senator Richard Russell (Richard Jenkins).
Despite the jumpy plot, dealing with both LBJ's time as VP and President, and skimming over many important details and not giving the supporting cast the screen time and parts they deserved, the film does have promise. Harrelson does the best he can, though the best performance comes from Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird, the sweet, devoted wife of LBJ. She needed a more defined role as she is excellent.
I wish this film was better as it certainly could have been and should have been better. Grade: B-

The King's Speech (2010)

This is a good film that covers a lot of ground and takes you into the intimate world of King George VI (Colin Firth) back when he was still Bertie, struggling with his stammer.
Something he was always self-conscious about, it becomes of vital importance when his older brother, David (Guy Pearce) starts carrying on (for lack of a better term) with a married woman in what could be perceived as the greatest love story ever. David would give up the throne to marry the woman he loved, refusing to make her his mistress, as his brother suggested.
The Duchess of York, soon to become Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter, great in an understated role) finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) whose methods are unconventional but ultimately effective. The film's best scenes are when Lionel helps Bertie improve and get to the root of the problem. Despite being a prince, Bertie's childhood sucked. His father wanted his children to fear him and his first nanny was abusive and purposely neglectful to him and he was forced to write with his right hand, as it wasn't appropriate to be left-handed back at the turn of the century.
Their relationship isn't all sunshine and roses, though, Lionel is too pushy and, as it turns out, isn't actually a doctor but gets results anyway and Bertie still lacks confidence and nerve. He never expected to be king and his wife never expected to be queen but it happened nevertheless and Bertie is terrified that he will be dreadful as he can't even speak to his people as it tumbles toward another war.
While the film is great packed with top-notch performances, it isn't perfect. There is a lot of plot and it sort of jumps around a bit, but it has a lot of ground to cover and it does. The cinematography, editing, costumes and set design is impeccable. And it tells a gentle story of a great friendship, which defied the odds as true friendships should. Grade: A-

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

When was the last time there was a deaf character in a main stream Hollywood film? I can't think of another time.
Sarah (Marlee Matlin) is a young, deaf woman who seems to enjoy her simple life as a janitor at a deaf school. Idealistic teacher, James Leeds (William Hurt) comes along and first tries to get her to understand how the ability to speak could open up so many doors for her but ends up falling in love with her.
Their's is not an easy love story as Sarah hates when others expect her to learn how to speak and read lips and never bother learning sign language and she does have a point. However, the film doesn't listen, as subtitles are not used and when Sarah signs, James says out loud what she is saying. While that helps the hearing audience, I would have found subtitles more realistic.
He does try to adapt, but is bored beyond all reason at a deaf party while she does fine playing poker with the principal of the school and his friends and James does decide that she will move in with him without asking her if that's what she wants. And she gets him back, refusing to let anyone speak for her again.
She leaves him and ironically enough moves in with her mother (Piper Laurie) who does welcome her with open arms, which is an about face from earlier in the film. She did have some resentment toward her daughter as Sarah is the reason for her divorce but at least she's moved on from that.
Now, it ends happily, with James and Sarah getting back together and agreeing to compromise, though you never see the compromise.
Sarah is a strong character but her stubborness almost destroys her. She does have a point, it isn't acceptable for her to cater to the world but she also shouldn't expect the world to cater to her.
My main problem with the film, other than lack of subtitles, is one of the silent students in James's speech class who doesn't seem to read lips or wish to speak and his story is never solved and left incomplete.
And the score and sound effects are haunting at the end of the film, but given the subject matter, inappropriate. That being said, it was a great love story, realistically done and the performances make the film something special. Grade: B+