Mia Madre (2015)

Directed by: Nanni Moretti
Country: Italy / France

Movie Review: I’ve been following Nanni Moretti’s versatile filmmaking career throughout all these years, and he has gained my appreciation by giving a very particular vision about himself and the world that surrounds him. His work ranges from satirical autobiographical essays (“Dear Diary”, “April”), to incisive dramas (the Palm D’Or “The Son’s Room”), to entertaining comedies (“We Have a Pope”) and even political provocations (”The Caiman”). This time around, Moretti’s approach is slightly different, introducing a few new elements to a drama that tries to mirror the real life of a filmmaker who is experiencing great distress. The restless Margherita (Margherita Buy) struggles to shoot her new film about the laborers of an Italian factory demanding their rights, according to her own concept. Inflexible and difficult to get along with, she has trouble to clearly convey her confusing ideas to the actors – ‘you should play the character but also stand next to the character’, she says. The film becomes even more complicated to finish with the arrival of the American actor, Barry Huggins (John Turturro), a sort of ardent, eccentric dreamer who freaks out whenever he gets blocked in his acting. He’s by far the most interesting character of the film. Even sharing some sympathy for each other, director and actor, enter in a, sometimes freeing, course of collision. Besides work, there’s also Margherita’s personal life, which has been turned into hell since her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness and now lives permanently at the hospital against her will. Margherita and her dedicated brother, Giovanni (Moretti), who doesn’t bring much to the story, were the ones making the decision. Also her daughter, Livia, and a former lover and actor, Vittorio, contribute to the stress, occasionally expressed through unclear dreams and futile flashbacks. “Mia Madre” advances unevenly, at a vapid pace, and only intermittently was able to enforce some emotional weight. Mr. Moretti has seen better days before, but just as his character’s mom, we’re already thinking in tomorrow because this one is middling.

The Mend (2014)

Directed by: John Magary
Country: USA

Movie Review: Although “The Mend” weaves a few laughable predicaments, I wouldn’t properly call it a comedy. John Magary’s independent debut feature is a vicious, punishing, and scathing study of characters, starring Josh Lucas and Stephen Plunkett as two dysfunctional brothers who simultaneously live in a devouring emotional crisis that leads to self-degradation and existential chaos. Mat (Lucas) and Alan (Plunkett) are suffering from the same ailment - emotional instability - but react in very different ways. The former is lax, unpredictable, and totally carefree (almost self-destructive), spending most of his time wandering the streets of New York, whereas the latter seems unaffected at a first glance, keeping his anger and frustration in an invisible inner level, but despite acting adequately and having a steady job as a legal aid lawyer, he’s prone to easily degenerate in the face of a problem. Instability is not the only point they have in common: both have girlfriends who love them, and they both hold a grudge against their absent father who was diagnosed with Parkinson. On the day before their vacation trip to Quebec, Alan and his girlfriend, Farrah (Mickey Sumner), are giving a small party in their cozy apartment in Harlem when they spot the intruder Mat among the guests. Mat, who apparently broke up with his girlfriend, Andrea (Lucy Owen) and her son after an argument, plans to stay in the apartment while his brother is away, and soon the place is turned into a complete mess. When bedbugs invade Mat’s girlfriend’s apartment, he invites her to the house exactly when Alan unexpectedly arrives from his vacations alone. Devastated and numbed, the latter will admit later that Farrah left him, and now he feels completely adrift. The filmmaking style of Mr. Magary resembles the enthralling realism of the Safdie brothers, boosted by Judd Greenstein and Michi Wiancko’s intriguingly suggestive score, strong dialogues, and the compelling performances from the four main characters. Nevertheless, the film isn’t flawless, occasionally abandoning the required straightforwardness to become diffuse, uneven, and overextended. I had the sensation that the insanity and disorder grow a bit out of proportion in a few crucial scenes.

Gabriel (2014)

Directed by: Lou Howe
Country: USA

Movie Review: Well explored in its thematic and evincing a doleful temperament, “Gabriel” is a crushing drama directed by Lou Howe and starring Rory Culkin as the title character, a psychotic young man who struggles to find some meaning in a life that has been tough to him since he was a kid. The opening scene, where Gabriel, traveling in a bus, offers a cigarette to a little girl and then replies ‘we’re just fucking around’ to her mother when she asks what he was doing, is perfectly demonstrative of how this affected character can behave. Anxious, shaky, and sometimes insolent, the fatherless Gabriel delays the re-encounter with his worried mother and exemplary brother, just to try to find Alice, a former girlfriend whom he wants to marry with, even if he doesn’t see her for a couple of years. This fixation drives him to actions whose consequences are not less than devastating. Before that, there’s time for him to feel overwhelmed and act strangely in front of his family, repeating ‘I’m not my dad’. This statement comes from the fact that he blames his mother and brother for the suicide of his father, the main cause of his trauma. Only his grandmother patiently calms him down for brief periods and forgives his reproachable posture. In turn, his mother, despite acting endearingly, is not much of a help, especially when she says: ‘I couldn’t fix your dad after trying for so many years. And I can’t fix you either’. It’s sad to realize that Gabriel can’t have his own space, as well as the assistance he needs to revitalize his confidence and build the future he dreams – ‘I just want to live like a normal person; have a job, a wife, a life!’. Even so, on a darker scenario, it’s also sad that his urgent actions don’t have an acceptable fundament, being just a desperate attempt to stop the anguish and the restlessness that never leave him. Is Alice the real solution for his displacement? Rory Culkin gives one of the best performances of his career, conveying a believable, painful delirium that is hard to forget.

American Ultra (2015)

Directed by: Nima Nourizadeh
Country: USA / Switzerland

Movie Review: Despite the fondness I have for the solid work of Jesse Eisenberg, reinforced recently by his marvelous performance in “The End of the Tour”, the actor was relegated to a half-depressive, half-sensitive, programmed puppet in the action-comedy flick “American Ultra” by the Iranian-British filmmaker Nima Nourizadeh, who directed according to a script by Max Landis (“Chronicle”). The skilled Eisenberg plays Mike Howell, an apparently common American citizen who works as a clerk in a West Virginia convenience store, likes to smoke pot, struggles with common panic attacks, and loves his girlfriend, Phoebe (Kristen Stewart), more than anything in the world. But after all, nothing is so simple, and Mike is a highly trained CIA agent who is suddenly ‘activated’ by his former supervisor, Victoria (Connie Britton), when she learns that her ridiculous rival, Yates (Topher Grace), plans to destroy him - the one who she considers an asset of several past missions and whose memories were erased. His activation means that the confused Mike (‘am I real?’, he asks), who finds out that his beloved Phoebe is also a CIA agent, is turned into a killing machine that instantly and brutally responds to any attack or threat against him. Mike has to deal with Yates’ operatives, in particular, a psycho called Laugher (Walton Goggins), but counts on his dealer friend, Rose (John Leguizamo) - just another shallow character - to help him survive. Evincing a debilitated script, “American Ultra” promises gold, but delivers pinchbeck instead, shooting in every direction and struggling to find its own voice in the mix of genres embraced. Unfortunately, whether on comedy or action, the film is far from pleasing. Mr. Nourizadeh’s intentions to make the film look like wild and stirring, and at the same time sound funny, were thwarted by his own sense of urgency. He depicts chaos in a thin, occasionally extravagant way, also failing to reach the immediacy of a good joke. Everything seems hackneyed, from the protagonist to the side characters, and in the end, we may categorize this one as AUFF or an American Ultra Formulaic Film.

Coming Home (2014)

Directed by: Zhang Yimou
Country: China

Movie Review: 28 years have passed since the first collaboration between the awarded Chinese filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, and the renowned actress, Gong Li. That first movie was “Red Sorghum” - not really one of my favorites - and their successful association would become stronger in subsequent essential dramas, all of them from the 90’s, cases of “Ju Dou”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “The Story of Qiu Ju”, “To Live”, and “Shanghai Triad”. Now, they reunite one more time in “Coming Home”, eight years after “The Curse of the Golden Flower”, an adventurous action epic from 2007. Gong Li plays Yu Feng, a wife and former teacher whose husband, Lu Yanshi (Daoming Chen), also a professor, was arrested for political reasons and sent to a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. Their teenage daughter, Dandan (Huiwen Zhang), an extremely skillful ballerina, was refused the leading role in the famous ballet ‘Red Detachment of Women’ because her father was considered an outlaw. She grew up resentful with this setback, choosing to denounce her father when he attempts to approach Yu after managing to escape the camp where he was confined. A few years later, the Cultural Revolution is over and Lu is finally released. However, he realizes that everything has changed during all those years. Dandan currently lives in the dormitory of the old textile factory where she’s working and is now regretful about her actions. In turn, Yu reacts in a distant way and doesn't seem to care anymore, not because she has stopped loving him, but because she’s unable to recognize him due to suffering from a traumatic amnesia. Not so striking as other dramatic voyages of Mr. Yimou, the relentlessly grievous “Coming Home” still is a copious improvement when compared with the contrived “The Flowers of War”, a reenactment of a Japan’s Nanking incident, in which starred Christian Bale and Ni Ni. Despite the tenacious melodramatic tones, a beneficial aspect is that the script, adapted by Jingzhi Zou from the novel ‘The Criminal Lu Yanshi’ by Geling Yan, doesn’t take us to the most obvious places. A magnetic photography, painted with rich colors, together with the solid production values, do the rest.

A Brilliant Young Mind (2014)

Directed by: Morgan Matthews
Country: UK

Movie review: Morgan Matthews is an English documentarian whose latest, “A Brilliant Young Mind”, marks his fictional debut feature. The fact-based drama, written by James Graham, arises as a consequence of his own TV documentary from 2007, “Beautiful Young Minds”, so he never really moves out his comfort zone. The actual prodigious, Daniel Lightwing, was the one who served as inspiration. In the film, he was given the name, Nathan Ellis (Asa Butterfield), a 9-year-old boy who always had a knack for patterns, a fact that turned him into a math genius. The bashful Ellis also had a traumatic past since he was seated next to his father when he died in a terrible car accident. On that same day, he had been diagnosed with a form of autism and was being given all the support from his father who encouraged him saying: ‘don’t be afraid of what you have. It’s like having special powers.’ His understanding and super-devoted mother, Julie (Sally Hawkins), decides to enroll him in a school where the unorthodox professor, Martin Humphries (Rafe Spall), who often abuses of his medication for multiple sclerosis, will take the responsibility to prepare him the best he can to represent Great Britain in the International Mathematical Olympiad that’s about to happen in Taiwan. Not only Nathan feels and understands love for the first time, but also his mother starts a relationship with the insecure Martin. The young Asa Butterfield gives a valid performance as the introverted, picky, frank, and yet bright student, but overall the film is conducted in conventional tones, bringing immediately into mind other math-related movies such as “A Beautiful Mind”, “The Theory of Everything”, and “Good Will Hunting”. It’s indeed a heartwarming drama spurred by feel-good attitudes and honorable intentions, but I must object that there are no effective surprises in the story, as well as nothing fresh in the way it’s told. You may find yourself wishing the things were handled distinctively since the film shatters our highest expectations, becoming nearly a disappointment.

Listening (2015)

Directed by: Khalil Sullins
Country: USA / Cambodia

Movie Review: “Listening”, legitimately cooked by debutant writer-director, Khalil Sullins, is a sci-fi thriller with little dramatic impact and espionage innuendo. The film follows David Thorogood (Thomas Stroppel) and Ryan Cates (Artie Ahr), two penniless grad students who are capable of outline the most brilliant tech ideas and execute them, but are powerless when it comes to the expensive equipment for the experiments. However, their keenness and the excitement that comes from the possibility of being recognized by a great invention, dare them to steal the hardware pieces from the university lab. Their unauthorized experimentation, consisting in a mind-reading system in which one brain deciphers another brain, is carried out in the congested garage of David, who is so committed to it, that he easily forgets his family. This provokes the discontentment of his wife, Mel (Christine Haeberman), whose understanding and cooperation come to an end when they receive a note of eviction due to lack of payment. Moreover, a sense of mistrust had arisen when David asks her to connect her mind to his. The reason is that the images she sees, pulled out of his brain, are strictly sexual and involves a previous session with Jordan (Amber Marie Bollinger), an expedient tech expert who had joined them. The two sagacious friends, amidst renouncements and misfortunes, are lead to a stupendous opportunity in a governmental organization called Darkbird II, which is narrowly controlled by the austere, Matthews (Steve Hanks). The tempting high salary paid by the organization makes the aspiring Ryan, who couldn’t even afford his grandmother’s casket, to forget morals, ethics, and privacy, aspects that David is not willing to be deprived of. “Listening”, which was no more than rudimentary in its presentation and no less than feisty in terms of plot, was able to infuse a flickering tension that wasn’t enough to secure it tightly. Eminently perceptible in its looks, was the mutable saturated color tones used to represent the exterior (yellow), home (blue), garage (green), and the Darkbird premises (white).

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

Directed by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Country: Austria

Movie Review: “Goodnight Mommy” is an Austrian psychological horror-thriller, produced by Ulrich Seidl, and written and directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. The collaboration between Mr. Seidl and Ms. Franz isn't recent, since the latter was the screenwriter of “Dog Days”, “Import/Export”, and the “Paradise Trilogy: Love, Faith, and Hope”, films that projected the career of Ulrich Seidl as a film director. A careful examination of its wryly-dark tones and incisive procedural techniques can tell us right away that Seidl was an influence. As for the story, it works quite well as a quietly disturbing tale that develops in a crescendo, haunting us with its eerie visuals and baffling us with its mysteries. If you liked Lanthimos’ “Dogtooth”, the masterpiece of the genre, you will probably connect to “Goodbye Mommy” whose scenes inside an isolated house in the Austria suburbs, involving the members of a family in a sort of captivity, might provoke similar sensations and claustrophobia. Nevertheless, the plot’s final twist didn’t have the impact that should have had in order to culminate the film in a brilliant way. For me, it worked more like a gimmick than a real twist. Two active and clever twin-brothers, Lukas and Elias, welcome their mother, a TV hostess, after she had been submitted to a facial surgery. Their time is divided into exploring the fields around the isolated house, raising beetles, and feeding stray cats. Gradually, their behavior grows harsh and their posture changes to bitter, after a few incidents that make them suspect about the true identity of their mother who always hides her face under bandages. The situation is aggravated when the intriguing mom sternly communicates the new set of house rules, so she can rest and recover from the surgery, a recent divorce, and an allegedly obscure ‘accident’. Doubt persists till the last act where the kids make their mother a hostage, and the film becomes slightly gory. Neurotically shadowy, “Goodnight Mommy” can provide you with a restless time.

Time Out of Mind (2014)

Directed by: Oren Moverman
Country: USA

Movie Review: The timid, but ultimately affecting drama, “Time Out of Mind”, observes the daily routines of a New York City homeless, played expressively by the revived Richard Gere. The film opens with George (Gere), struggling with a hangover, being kicked out by the landlord of the house he occupies. His bed had been the bathtub of the house for a while, and now he’s forced to find a shelter to survive the cold winter nights. The difficulty of being accepted in these shelters, which demand curfews and upset the homeless with a bunch of undesirable questions, in addition to the bureaucracy involved in filing a supposedly simple application for emergency food stamps and cash benefits, almost drive him crazy. Yet, all these annoying issues are considered of minor importance when compared to the fact that his inflexible, estranged daughter, Maggie (Jena Malone), repudiates him in every attempt to establish contact. This is the most painful gap in his miserable existence. The messed up George, alternating between moments of consciousness (he finally accepts he’s homeless) and quasi-delusional states provoked by the alcohol, knows he’s got to try harder, even if he needs to humiliate himself in front of her. Apart from this emotional central idea, the film depicts a few idiosyncratic encounters with some of the quirky homeless characters who inhabit the shelter, cases of the inopportune Jack (Jeremy Strong), who even has a job, and the conflicting and mouthy Dixon (Ben Vereen), who claims he was a jazz musician and sticks to George as a bloodthirsty tick when attached to a source of nourishment. The quarrels between them are stupidly trivial, functioning as a natural constituent of their unassuming friendship. Richard Gere talks more through sad eyes and fatigued expressions than really through words, while writer-director Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”, “Rampart”), equilibrating pretentiousness and honesty, adopts a voyeuristic style, shooting obsessively behind glass windows to create image reflexes, layers, and overlaps.

In the Basement (2014)

Directed by: Ulrich Seidl
Country: Austria

Movie Review: Ulrich Seidl’s new documentary, “In the Basement”, is mordantly funny, creepily outrageous, and boldly raw. The film gathers a set of suburban Austrian people, who expose themselves by allowing us to peek on what’s going on in their basements. Clearly, the whole is weaker than the sum of the parts, however, my voyeuristic side was awakened by the intimate little secrets it keeps unveiling, even if a couple of unnecessary scenes are there only with the purpose of shocking the viewers. The idea and concept have come from Seidl and the habitual creative collaborator, Veronika Franz, who just co-directed the absorbing horror-drama “Goodnight Mommy”. The creators have selected curious individuals whose tastes extend from the cult of Nazism to sadomasochism, going into guns and shooting, vanity and prepotency, baby-addiction and solitude. For a little more detail about the visited basements, here’s a summary: Fritz, a former soldier who teaches at his illegal home-keeping shooting club and has a knack for singing opera, is the first to be introduced; a married woman in her late fifties still dreams about having babies, using baby dolls that she conceals in boxes; another man follows a family predisposition to drink from dusk till dawn while maintains the basement shining with cleanness; Hitler’s admirer and Gestapo’s target, Josef Ochs, who also plays horn in a band, invites us to his Nazi retreat where he often drinks with his friends; a middle-aged couple don’t talk, just stare intrepidly at the camera while the jukebox plays silly old songs; a security guard reveals to be a masochist and his wife, the master, shows a few techniques used in their well-equipped cellar; a prostitute-lover man, tiny in length, boasts about his super sexual potency; and a woman who had stabbed his abusive husband still likes being violently dominated by men. Functioning more as an exposition rather than an examination of human eccentricities, “In the Basement”, as I expected, is presented through medium-long shots with geometrical compositions and no music.

The Second Mother (2015)

Directed by: Anna Muylaert
Country: Brazil

Movie Review: In this pungent, keenly observed comedy from Anna Muylaert, a live-in housekeeper, Val (Regina Casé), awaits the arrival of her estranged teenage daughter, Jessica (Camila Márdila), who leaves Pernambuco, where she was raised by relatives, to come to São Paulo in order to attempt the extremely difficult admission exam for a reputable architecture college. Mother and daughter don’t speak with each other for more than 10 years and both are apprehensive about living together. Val’s plan consists in finding a cheap little place for them, but taking into account the surprise of the arrival, she asks her bosses if Jessica can stay in the house for a while. Three persons compose the wealthy family: Barbara (Karine Teles), a snob who seems to be helpful at first, but immediately feels invaded when Jessica asks to stay in the huge guest room instead of in her mother’s simple and tiny space; Barbara’s husband, Carlos (Lourenço Mutarelli), a frustrated, innocuous former artist who stopped working and gradually develops an embarrassing passion for Jessica; and their son, Fabinho (Michel Joelsas), who was raised by Val as her own child, and whose main concerns at the moment are hiding his weed from his parents and lose virginity. The problematic barriers between social classes are the main subject of Ms. Muylaert’s script, which richly unfolds situations with precise focus and lots of laughs, especially due to the heavenly performance of Regina Casé who gesticulates, pulls a face, talks to herself, and occasionally hangs out with other housekeeper’s friends. Jessica is the character to admire, though. She acts comfortably and with no sense of inferiority in front of whoever, revealing a disconcerting self-assurance that drives Barbara and her afflicted mother crazy, while the lonesome Carlos gets more and more fascinated by her way. She reproaches Val for adopting such a subservient behavior and shows to be hurt for having been left behind. Almost reaching the end, an ultimate plot twist can be seen as an obvious tactical opportunity for some. It worked fine for me, just as the narrative exposure and topic resolution.

Turbo Kid (2015)

Directed by: François Simard /Anouk and Yoann-Karl Whissell
Country: Canada / New Zealand

Movie Review: “Turbo Kid” is an expeditiously diverting Canadian actioner that rekindles the adventurous spirit of “Indiana Jones”, the post-apocalyptic eccentricity of “Mad Max”, and the gory feast of Japanese action flicks. It’s undoubtedly a film of excesses, however, its vigorous pace, tasteful imagery and score evoking the 80’s, a diversity of props that enrich the rambunctious atmosphere, and finally, a throbbing, creative script that has much amusement to offer, provides a wonderful time punctuated with a few good laughs to the viewers who dare to embark on this insanely radical fun ride. The story takes place in futuristic 1997 in a wrecked uncertain place known as the Wasteland. The Kid (Munro Chambers), protected by his helmet and a couple of vital survival rules, rides his bike, scavenging old stuff, now seen as precious, that he trades afterwards for a minimal portion of water. At the bar where the trader can be found, he admires Frederic (Aaron Jeffery), a sharp-tongued arm-wrestling champion whose brother disappeared after being captured by the sanguinary savages of Zeus (Michael Ironside), a loathsome one-eyed ruler who affirms he has ‘eyes’ everywhere and takes his time inventing abominable ways of torturing people. In the meantime, in one of his scavenges, the Kid bumps into the apparently effusive Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), a pink-haired teenager who was speaking to the cadaver of a friend and almost forces the Kid to accept her as a daily companion. A genuinely sweet romance starts to take shape, but during the desperate attempt of escaping from one of the Zeus’ vassals, Apple is captured while the Kid is granted with a special superpower when engulfed by a hidden trapdoor. At this point, the Kid fearlessly saves Apple, who unveils a secret of her own, and together they team with Frederic in the battle against the evil. Kids should stay away from “Turbo Kid”, an enthralling adventure for adults that sometimes feels disgusting and yet effectively ingenious. The newcomer trio of writers/directors known as RKSS Collective, despite the blood overdose, did an exceptional job.

7 Chinese Brothers (2015)

Directed by: Bob Byington
Country: USA

Movie Review: “7 Chinese Brothers”, whose title wrongly suggests a gangster Asian movie or a martial arts adventure, is an insubstantial American indie comedy, containing a few good - if immature - ideas that drive us into a dead end. Jason Schwartzman, habitual presence in Wes Anderson’s comedies and the star in the astute comedy-drama ‘Listen Up Philip’ by Alex Ross Perry, who also appears briefly here as an actor, bestows odd movements, imbecilic facial expressions, and a reckless posture, in a performance that attempts to give shape to his character: Larry, the slacker. Fired from his job for stealing money from the tips jar, Larry, who often embarks in French monologues and nonreversible chats with his equally lazy dog, finds another job in the Quick-Lube garage where he is manipulated by the affronting co-worker, Jimmy (Jimmy Gonzales), and is attracted to his handsome boss, Lupe (Eleanore Pienta). Meanwhile, he keeps visiting his spirited grandma (Olympia Dukakis) at the nursing facility, especially when he’s broke and needs some easy cash. His best friend, Major Norwood (Tunde Adebimpe), is the one who takes care of her. After she dies, it’s with no surprise that her inheritance, of 1.3 million dollars, goes entirely to the likeable Major and not for the opportunist, indolent, and insensible grandson, whom she accused of wanting to patronize her. As the main character, director Bob Byington doesn’t put much effort on his filmmaking style, comprised of realistic but inelegant scenarios with an inclination for dereliction. Weird and not so funny, “7 Chinese Brothers” is short in duration (76 min.) but can get you pretty bored, especially if it gets you in one of those days that you’re not in the mood for this kind of pretentious quirkiness. In order to succeed, it relies on the inalterable acting of its cast and a bunch of incongruous situations that are presented with a false feel-good disposition. Sadly, not even the good ideas could be validated by an execution that, on no account, touched harmony. There are much better films about slackers out there that overwhelm Mr. Byington’s forgettable prank.

Z for Zachariah (2015)

Directed by: Craig Zobel
Country: Iceland / New Zealand / others

Movie Review: The post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel, “Z for Zachariah”, by Robert C. O'Brien, was the source material for the fourth feature-length from director Craig Zobel who gained some notoriety with his previous film “Compliance”. If Mr. Zobel was far from impressing me with the latter, he doesn’t do much better in this one. Instead of the teenage protagonist of the book, Zobel and his screenwriter, Nissar Modi, opt for an adult version of the character, played by the unrecognizable Margot Robbie, who has generated some buzz with her small but memorable part in “The Wolf of Wall Street”. In this brittle thriller, she’s Ann, the hypothetically unique survivor of a radioactive catastrophe that contaminated the Earth and destroyed the rest of the human race. Devoted to God, she’s immensely thankful for the ‘untouched’ piece of land (fertile soil and a pond with fish) that allows her to live healthily, and shows to be a tireless hard worker who accepts the fate of having to live alone with her dog for the rest of her days. A certain day, however, she bumps into a skittish man, John (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who rushes into contaminated waters. She gently takes care of him when he falls sick, praying fervently to God to save him. At a first glance, John seemed a tricky guy, acting suspiciously, sometimes bossy, and even aggressive when he gets drunk. Ann, in need of physical contact and considering the repopulation of the Earth, urges him into sex, but he disappoints her in that particular aspect. Ultimately, he falls in love with her, but what could have been a relaxing life in duo, is turned upside down when another stranger, Caleb (Chris Pine), arrives to compete for the last existing woman, bringing tiny portions of tension into their little paradise. Thrills are scarce, and every attempt to make them work out falls into dullness and conventional. This is aggravated by the fact that the film, beyond predictable, lingers on lukewarm situations for an eternity, where we never feel real empathy for the characters or perceive any sustainable passion sprouting from the love triangle. “Z for Zachariah” was more like “Z for Zzzz” to me. It’s another deceitful low-budget machination that leaves us lethargically dormant.

Queen of Earth (2015)

Directed by: Alex Ross Perry
Country: USA

Movie Review: New York-based filmmaker, Alex Ross Perry, proves to be one of the most lucid and audacious storytellers of our time. After an examination of personal dissatisfaction and ego in the absorbing “Listen Up Philip”, Mr. Perry distinctively crosses a difficult, dramatic barrier in his latest “Queen of Earth”, a meditation on depression and how it can devastate relationships. Even before the opening credits, we are shown a close-up of the terrific actress Elisabeth Moss, in a disconsolate state; the tears roll down her face, blurring the make-up around her sad eyes. She plays Catherine, an artist wannabe who always lived in the shadow of her father, a renowned artist from New York who died recently. Despite the persistent pain associated with that loss, she cries because her dishonest boyfriend, James (Kentucker Audley), just announced the end of their relationship. In the next scene, we’re transported to a house in Hudson Valley that will serve as a one-week refuge for Catherine and her best friend, Virginia (Katherine Waterston), to spend a good time together like they did one year before. Yet, nothing is the same now since Catherine seems alienated, many times confined to her dark room, sleeping too much or too less, eating junk food, and saying she’s not in the mood for talking due to some stupid reason. Their relationship deteriorates even more when Virginia starts bringing the boy next door, Rich (Patrick Fugit), into the house. The provocative Rich is not well tolerated by Catherine, who gets somewhat jealous and uncomfortable with his frequent questions, insinuations, and unnerving posture. She feels more and more insecure, abandoned, and neurotic, eventually losing the little emotional control that she’s still able to find during a tremulous private party at the house. Flashbacks from one year before helps us understand how the things were and how they stand now. Perry’s direction is practical without being obtuse, finding consistency in a script that digs deep into the characters’ soul, and managing to turn the cutting, claustrophobically tense “Queen of Earth” into a modern version of “A Woman Under the Influence” with traces of Bergman.

Zero Motivation (2014)

Directed by: Talya Lavie
Country: Israel

Movie Review: In “Zero Motivation”, the newcomer director, Talya Lavie, sneers at a female Israeli military unit stationed in a remote base where the boredom is high and the motivation is low. She wrote the story based on her own experiences serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. This resourceful comedy is divided into three distinct chapters, alternating the main protagonists among the small group of women. In the first one, Daffi (Nelly Tagar) can’t wait to be transferred to Tel Aviv, and for that to take effect, she brings in a new girl, Tehila (Yonit Tobi), who she believes to be her substitute. However, Tehila is nothing more than a civilian whose true motives for being there lead her to a tragic suicide. In the meantime, Zohar (Dana Ivgy), the laziest soldier ever, is obsessed with the computer game ‘Mine Sweeper’, which she’s a world record holder. This is not her single obsession since the idea of losing virginity doesn't get out of her head. After the unanticipated suicide, Rama (Shani Klein), the corpulent commander of the female unit sees her chances of being promoted reduced. The next chapter points the way to the weird Irena (Tamara Klingon), originally from Russia, who thinks she’s possessed by the ghost of Tehila and urges Zohar to find a man as soon as possible. The latter’s adventure with a recently arrived soldier didn’t go so well and Zohar returns obsessively to her PC games while tries to leave her mark in the army by shredding all the paper in the office. In the last chapter, the stern Rama is discharged to civilian life, while Daffi is promoted to commander. She gets into a fight with the disobedient Zohar, and both end up in prison. In the end, friendship triumphs after an agitated climax. A humorous atmosphere is permanently present in Ms. Lavie’s refreshing approach while a few moments of weirdness appear here and there. Even the toughest situations seem light, which in the case, is not necessarily unfavorably. “Zero Motivation”, a well-contextualized feel-good comedy with minor faults, actually offers lots of motivation to the viewers, and the perfect casting was the key factor for that achievement.

Grandma (2015)

Directed by: Paul Weitz
Country: USA

Movie Review: If you’re looking for a comedy with attitude, “Grandma” is an option you should consider. Written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Weitz (“American Pie”, “About a Boy”), the film has the merit of putting a lot of soul, energy and charisma in every single scene, no matter if clichéd or not. All those attributes come from the brilliant performance of Lily Tomlin, who generously plays Elle Reid, a conflicting, full-mouthed, feminist and lesbian poet whose angelical 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), asks for a little financial help when she finds out she’s pregnant. $600 would solve Sage's worries since she was already booked into a cheap but decent abortion clinic. This way, she wouldn’t have to tell the news to her scarily judgmental mother, Judy (Marcia Gay Harden), a strenuous successful businesswoman. Elle, who is still coping with the death of her longtime life partner and digesting the recent separation from a younger girlfriend, Olivia, cannot help with money since she’s broke, but that doesn’t mean she will abandon Sage to her fate. Driving a beautiful, but debilitated old Dodge, Elle and her granddaughter set off on a road trip, paying a few visits in order to borrow the required amount. The first attempt is Sage’s boyfriend, an indifferent and uneducated brat who learns a lesson from the fearless grandma. Then they meet with a tattoo artist who, unable to pay what she owes to Elle, makes her a nice tattoo on the arm instead. After a bad experience in a café that once was a costless abortion clinic, they rush into another café, where Olivia works, to try selling feminist books to the owner. The last option, and before resorting to Sage’s mother, is Elle’s former husband who’s still resentful about their turbulent past. “Grandma” would be a more serious case if the most evident clichés had been removed from its unbiased script. Still, it manages to keep one steady foot on dramatic and another on funniness, a feat achieved effortlessly due to the excellent Ms. Tomlin, who loudly screams for an Oscar in her first leading role in 27 years.

I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)

Directed by: Brett Haley
Country: USA

Movie Review: “I’ll See You in My Dreams”, the attentive sophomore feature by Brett Haley, is a heartfelt comedy-drama that meditates on loneliness, aging, and loss. The script, co-written by Haley and Marc Basch, focuses on Carol (Blythe Danner), a former songstress who has been a widow for 20 years and lives unworriedly in a serene high-class neighborhood of LA in the company of her faithful dog. In the first scenes of the film, we follow Carol’s sorrowfulness when the dog gets sick and has to be put to sleep. In addition to this mishap, a dauntless big black rat is seen strolling inside the house. In panic, she flees outside and ends up sleeping by the pool where she’s awakened the next morning by the new pool cleaner, Lloyd (Martin Starr). After an unlovely first contact, the latter not only becomes an agreeable interlocutor but a drinking buddy. However, and despite fond of music, this former poetry student shows to be a mediocre songwriter and an even worse singer. Apart from Lloyd, the distinctive Carol is far from idleness, hanging out with her three best girlfriends with whom she routinely plays cards and golf. The funniest moment of the film is when these ladies go shopping after vaporize marijuana. They often speculate about getting someone to date Carol, who reluctantly agrees to speed dating. Regardless the flop associated with the experience, she bumps into the spontaneous Bill (Sam Elliott) on her way out, and they exchange some flirtatious words. Bill is a wealthy man, with a strong monotone voice, whose wife left him a few years before and died afterward. Even testing the waters, the couple seems very comfortable and happy when together, which facilitates communication and tangible romance. Sadly, bad news knocks on Carol’s door once again, coinciding with the visit of her daughter. Presented through a delicate, thoughtful, and feminine angle, the film never gives up on hope, flowing agreeably but nonetheless unsurprisingly. Even if not majorly impactful, the narrative fluidity and Ms. Danner’s deeply felt performance provide us with the necessary for the film to be considered favorably.

10,000 Saints (2015)

Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Country: USA

Movie Review: “10,000 Saints” is the fifth theatrical feature from the married filmmakers, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, whose major success was in 2003, with their unforgettable debut “American Splendor”. Since then, the pair has never overcome the challenges of presenting something fresh and interesting, failing to make the grade with unimpressive comedies such as “The Nanny Diaries” and “The Extra Man”. For their brand new coming-of-age dramedy, they bring together the actors Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, and Hailee Steinfeld, who despite talented, nothing could do to bypass banality. Still, it happens to exhibit a strong start when introducing the young Jude witnessing the separation of their parents in 1980 Vermont. The motive was proudly explained by his imperturbable, large-minded father, Les (Hawke), who also took the opportunity to brusquely disclose that Jude was adopted when he was a child. Seven years later, the teenager Jude (Butterfield) hangs out with his best friend, Teddy, when they are asked to pick up Eliza (Hailee), Les’ girlfriend’s daughter, who arrives from Manhattan. A friendship solidifies among the three youngsters, but their nocturnal adventures mark a crucial turning point in their lives. While Teddy and Eliza were consuming cocaine and having sex in the bathroom of a bar, Jude was beaten up for stealing weed from a parked car. Later on, Eliza retreats home since she returns to NY the next day, leaving the two friends partying a little more. A tragedy occurs when they pass out in the middle of the snowy streets, a consequence of the drugs, and Teddy ends up freezing to death. Jude agrees to move to NY’s East Village with his cool-dude dad. Once there, he joins Teddy’s brother in his garage punk band and reconnects with his secret love, Eliza, who is pregnant from Teddy. This superfluously polished teen/family drama exhibits an edgeless benevolence at the heart while its emotional complexity is turned into an incautiously simplistic muddle.

Guidance (2014)

Directed by: Pat Mills
Country: Canada

Movie Review: This newly discovered offbeat comedy about a psychologically disturbed former actor, who decides to help problematic teenagers at Grusin High, is the first full-length feature from Canadian Pat Mills, who also stars as the main character. He confidently plays his alter ego, David Gold, who was a promising TV star in his childhood, but completely forgotten in his adulthood. He doesn’t have an acting role for so long that he decides to apply for a school guidance counselor job under the stolen identity of Dr. Roland Brown, whom he studied thoroughly. Moreover, the sudden, direct, insolent, and occasionally furious David, who was also diagnosed with skin cancer, has serious problems with alcohol, exhibits immoral behaviors, and still lives in a stubborn denial about his gay sexuality, even with the insistence on peeing sitting down. Besides all this, he’s completely broke and on the verge of being evicted by the ‘mean’ landlady who gives him 13 days to pay the rent. The few relatives whom he still maintains contact think he’s an embarrassment, and David spends his lonely days in a depressive mood that he fights by repeating to himself: ‘I have a high self-esteem’, ‘I’m well-adjusted’, or ‘I have a healthy body and mind’. For a brief idea of his operation method with the teen students, let me tell you that, first he starts with a few shots of vodka (to break the ice), before giving his personal advice and/or breaking the rules with them. He allows himself to smoke pot with the student who was expelled for selling pot, to bully the bullies, or to encourage the fat to be fatter and the slut to continue being a slut. This way, the new counselor becomes an idol for the teens and a curiosity for the colleagues, especially the gym teacher who stalks him. By the end, in the peak of his madness, he runs away with Gabrielle, a dyslexic and physically abused student who has a crush on him. They steal a car and rob several tanning salons before he becomes aware of the ‘beginning of his real self’. The very personal and sarcastic “Guidance” is cynical in the good sense, and Mr. Mills is officially authorized to return to the screens.