Me and Orson Welles

Me and Orson Welles

CinemaNX etc.

November 25, 2009

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

Although there were elements I liked, and I did stay with the movie until the end, it did feel off to me, especially very un-1930s Danes.  I was leaning towards maybe a B- initially, but I was sort of done before the movie was.  Still, the period details are solid, and Christian McKay is remarkably good as Welles.  Certainly this is better than director Linklater's Before Sunset (2004), which I gave a C-.  As soon as I saw that this movie is based on the Robert Kaplow novel, I thought That explains it, meaning that the pluses and minuses feel like they're because this is an adaptation.

A Kid Like Jake

A Kid Like Jake

IFC Films

June 1, 2018

Drama

DVD
C+

This is well-meaning and interesting, but I found it a bit emotionally distancing, both the way it's shot and the fact that we never really get to know the title character.  Silas Howard directed.

The Family Stone

The Family Stone
20th Century Fox
December 16, 2005
Comedy
DVD
C-

Thomas Bezucha wrote and directed this tale of a man bringing his unlikable girlfriend home to meet his large family.

Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear
Sony Pictures
July 28, 2017
Comedy
DVD
B-

This film, co-written by Kyle Mooney, who plays the protagonist, is a bit like The Truman Show, Be Kind Rewind, and Napoleon Dynamite thrown into a blender, but I'm not sure how well blended the dark undertones, including Stockholm Syndrome, are with the uplifting messages celebrating creativity and friendship.  Also, it's sporadically funny, mostly when Greg Kinnear is onscreen (and I like that it's never addressed that he looks like he could be Mark Hamill's son, although he's only twelve years younger), and yet I did enjoy and root for the movie, and the productions within the movie.  There's an overly dated feel, in that '17 is too late for it to be 25 years after the '80s, but perhaps that's deliberate.

Mooney's childhood friend Dave McCary directed.