"Julieta"

"Julieta" Movie Review

"Julieta"

Posted on Jan. 27, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Julieta (2016)

We see a middle-aged woman, Julieta (Emma Suarez) in an apartment packing up items into boxes. It’s evident that she is preparing to move soon. Her boyfriend, Lorenzo (Dario Grandinetti) shows up, and they discuss the big move from Madrid to Portugal. It’s very apparent that they are in love, and this move excites the both of them.

Julieta is happily walking the streets when her name is called out. A young woman comes up to her, and they begin telling each other about their lives. The young woman tells Julieta that she just saw Anita in Switzerland. Anita is doing well and has three beautiful kids. It’s obvious that Julieta is shocked by the news, but she puts up a brave face.

Julieta, now visually shaken comes home and immediately begins unpacking. She avoids her boyfriend’s calls and becomes under a dark cloud. When a concerned Lorenzo comes over, he notices that she has unpacked everything. Julieta tells him that it’s over, and she is not moving to Portugal, that she must remain in Madrid. Lorenzo sees that nothing will dissuade her, and he reluctantly leaves.

Julieta walks through the city, seemly searching in every crowd for Anita. She comes to an apartment building and talks with the super, who recognizes her immediately. Julieta asks if her old apartment is available. It isn’t but one below it is, and she asks to see it. Even though the apartment looks a little rundown, she immediately tells the super that she will take it. Why is this apartment building so important and just who is the mysterious Anita? Only Julieta knows, and we are hoping that she will give up her secrets.

Pedro Almodovar is a filmmaker whose work I either adore or dislike. I am never just lukewarm on how I feel about his films. I hated his last film, the weird airplane comedy I’m So Excited (2013) but absolutely loved the strange and creepy The Skin I Lived In (2011). I am happy to say that I am even more in love with Julieta than I was with The Skin I Lived In. Part drama, part mystery, Julieta is a movie that slowly peels back the storyline to find out who Anita was and why hasn’t Julieta seen her in years. The film goes back and forth in time to show us Julieta as a young woman (played by Adriana Ugarte ) and what the consequences of Julieta’s decisions were in her early life and how they affected her in the present. Almodovar has taken three short stories by writer Alice Munro and turned them into a rich and beautiful tale of love, tragedy, betrayal, and hurt.

Both actresses playing Julieta are exceptional, and though they have different energy levels, they seem to project that same feeling of hopelessness and dread, as they are two copies of the same person. He uses the juxtapose of Julieta’s passionate, early life with the present-day life of Julieta, one that contains a vast void. It’s not just youth which causes this widespread chasm in Julieta’s life, its fate and how she dealt with its blows. The contrast between the two characters is immense. The young Julieta is full of life and color, happily bouncing down hallways in brightly-colored dresses, full of youth and vigor. The older Julieta has been beaten down by life, and her choices have had dire consequences.

Right from the start Antxon Gomez production design and cinematographer Jean-Claude Carrieu fill the screen with color; a red dress floats in waves on the screen, almost as if it has blood flowing through it. The film feels brighter and warmer when dealing with the younger Julieta and darker, muted tones when the film shows the older Julieta’s life. The musical score perfectly matches the scenes and reflects the two Julieta’s lives.

Julieta is a passionate, heartbreaking film that beautifully explores how the choices we make in the past can haunt us in the future.    My Rating: Full Price 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Julieta” Website

The film is playing in Atlanta at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and AMC Phipps Plaza 14

"20th Century Women"

"20th Century Women" Movie Review

"20th Century Women"

Posted on Jan. 20, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com 

Wayback Machine Archive Post

20th Century Women (2016)

In 1979 a boy, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zuman) and his mom, Dorothea (Annette Bening), watch through the grocery store front window their car going up in flames. Later, the mom invites a fireman to her house that night for dinner. We cut to see a young girl, Julie (Elle Fanning) in some sort of teenage girl support group. Julie looks like she would rather be anywhere else than at the meeting. We cut to a young woman, Abbie (Greta Gerwig) in a doctor’s office, wearing a paper gown and getting some lab work done. She looks worried and alone.

We cut to Julie riding a ten-speed bike down a neighborhood street while smoking a cigarette. She rides her bike into the yard of the two-story house. Leaving her bike outside, she goes right in only to walk into William (Billy Crudup) taking a ceiling down. He tells her Jamie isn’t home, but she ignores him and goes upstairs. She stops in front of Abbie’s room, where Abbie is dancing to music. Abbie invites Julie in and proceeds, under protest, to take Julie’s picture, stating that she is documenting her life every day.

Jamie and Dorothea arrive home with groceries, and the entire house comes into the kitchen to greet them. Dorothea tells the group about the car fire, and the whole group is concerned for their health and safety. From this interaction, we can tell that these people care about each other, and this is not a normal living situation. It is going to be interesting to watch these people live their lives.

One of my favorite recent directors, Mike Mills (Thumbsucker, Beginners) brings us this tale of Dorothea and her home full of characters. There’s Dorothea, a 55-year-old woman who seems to be stuck in the 1960s. Jamie, her 15-year-old son who seems to be far older than he really is. William who is renovating the house and is just happy to be in Dorothea’s presence. Abbie, with her maroon hair and her ever-present camera, is recovering from cervical cancer is the other tenant of the house, though it looks as she rarely pays rent. Julie, while she doesn’t have a room in the house, she might as well, since she hates her home life and is constantly showing up to sleep in Jamie’s bed. Jamie, as any hot-blooded boy, can barely contain himself around Julie, exhibiting a big crush on her that Julie will never aqueous since they have been friends since childhood. Making matter worse for Jamie, Julie, out of either boredom or depression, sleeps around with just about anyone but Jamie.

Mills brings us into this quirky world with dialogue that is crisp and real. It’s clear that these women (inspired by his mother and sister) are important to him. It’s incredible how insightful and empathic his writing is. This is a film that is filled with quiet moments that are moving and give us insight into each character. He gives us insight into their insecurities, what they feel is their place in this world and how they got where they are at.

Elle Fanning, as the headstrong Julie, is probably the most complicated person in the film as her character speaks exactly what she is thinking. There is something wrong happening at her house, and Elle lets that hang over her character throughout the movie. Lucas Jade Zuman, as the teenage boy trying to survive in a house full of women, has great chemistry with both Fanning and especially Bening. Greta Gerwig is dazzling as Abbie, who keeps getting hit with bad situations and keeps on moving forward. Her life is moving and heartbreaking, and Gerwig is perfect for this type of part. Bening is the reason to see this film as she gives a complex and moving performance. Dorothea is trying to bring up her son as best she can, and Bening lets us see Dorothea’s compassion and anxiety over this subject. It is evident that Bening loves this character, and she gives everything to her performance.

20th Century Women is a film that will warm your heart and make you laugh. It’s a story filled with interesting women that you won’t mind spending some time with.    My Rating: Full Price 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

20th Century Women is playing in Atlanta at Regal Tara Cinemas 4 and Lefont Sandy Springs

20th Century Women Website

"Elle"

"Elle" Movie Review

"Elle"

Posted on Jan. 19, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Elle (2016)

The first scene of the movie is a close-up of a cat sitting, unperturbed by the noise of a couple making love. The camera pulls out to see not two people making love, but a man in a mask raping a woman who is trying to resist but is overpowered. When she tries to fight back, he savagely hits her. When he is done, he quickly leaves, and the woman lies on the floor panting, her face bruised and her clothes disheveled.

She gathers herself and though, in shock, she begins cleaning up the mess the rapist made, including household items that have been smashed upon the floor. She takes off the dress she is in and stuffs it into the trash. We see her take a bath, with blood coming from her that slowly floats to the top, and then, dries off and casually orders sushi. It’s very evident that this woman is strong-willed and will not let this event break her.

Her son comes over, and she explains the bruise on her face by saying she fell off her bike. He hands her a picture of him and his girlfriend. We realize by the way the woman reacts, by putting the picture face down on the mantel that she is not fond of the girlfriend of her sons. He asks for a loan and from her line of questioning, it’s very evident that her son’s new girlfriend is behind this request. She finally gives in to the request and the son leaves. The woman then searches for a small hammer, looks out of each window for the rapist, and satisfied that he isn’t coming back, she goes to bed, falling asleep with the hammer in her hand.

This is how Paul Verhoeven’s newest film opens, setting the stage for a story of a woman, played by the magnificent Isabelle Huppert, that refuses to become a victim. Verhoeven mixes a number of genres in the film, including film noir, suspense and even in a few places, comedy to create a roller-coaster of a movie that will keep you guessing where it will go next. When Elle starts getting texts from her assailant, she isn’t the type of person to stand by and worry. Instead, she begins a cat and mouse game to find the rapist. We know early on that Elle is not to be messed with, and Verhoeven explores this trait of her throughout the film. Though sex is a big part of this film and Elle’s make up, Verhoeven doesn’t romanticize it. It’s very apparent that sex is another way that Elle can display power and that’s why her finding out who committed the rape, and her getting revenge is so important.

Elle has a busy life, and it’s filled with lots of characters. Her son (Jonas Bloquet), a young man who disappoints her to no end by being dominated by his pregnant and very needy girlfriend. Elle has an ex-husband whom she likes to torment (she purposely hits his car as she backs into a tight parking spot) who is now dating a much younger and slightly dim woman. She has an elderly mother (Judith Magre) who spends her money on trying to look younger for her twenty-something boyfriend. Elle runs a software company with another woman, who just happens to be married to a man Elle is having an affair with. Elle spends quite a bit of her time staring down at her neighbor, a young married man (Laurent Lafitte) that Elle just might set her sights on.

Huppert is sensational as the complex Elle, and you can’t take your eyes off of her as Elle practically walks in a sex cloud of determination and spite. Huppert is not playing a character that generates sympathy and likability. Instead, this character is one that you will not like, and many times in the film you will hate her decisions. Huppert portrays a woman who can very quickly turn from a fun-loving, seemingly nice person to one that will at a moment’s notice turn on you and be extremely vindictive. Elle is a woman who only cares about results, not what people think about her, and Huppert brings this brash woman to the screen with a dogged determination. This is a woman you don’t want to cross, and Huppert makes sure you know her bite is worse than her bark.

Elle is a film that will surprise you and keep in suspense. Paul Verhoeven brings us a tale about a woman who isn’t going to let a violent rape bring her down and Huppert gives us a woman who is powerful, brave and sometimes maddening. It’s a movie and a performance that is not to be missed.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

Elle is playing in Atlanta at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and Lefont Sandy Springs

Elle Facebook Page