The Big Lebowski

Yesterday I had the chance to see The Big Lebowski, the next selection in the TCM Big Screen Classics series, and, in the parlance of our times, it is hilarious!  The Stranger (Sam Elliott) introduces us to The Dude (Jeff Bridges), an unemployed slacker who likes smoking weed, drinking White Russians, and bowling.  He inadvertently becomes involved in a kidnapping gone wrong because he is mistaken for someone else.  Like most films by the Coen brothers, it is populated by characters with exaggerated personalities, quirks, and mannerisms such as the millionaire philanthropist Jeffrey Lebowski (David Hiddleston), his trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid), his overwrought assistant Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his daughter Maude (Julianne Moore), an experimental artist.  We also have the Dude's bowling partners Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam veteran with anger management issues, Donny (Steve Buscemi) a mild mannered ex-surfer who can't get a word in edgewise, and Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) another over-the-top bowler in the Dude's league.  Add in Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazarra), a director of pornographic films, and a gang of German nihilists (Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges, and Flea), who may or may not be the kidnappers, and you have a film with such an outrageous plot that you can't help but laugh out loud (as everyone did in my screening).  My favorite moments are when Jesus Quintana, wearing a tight purple jumpsuit, dances after bowling a strike, when Walter pulls a gun in the bowling alley, and when the Dude gets thrown out of a taxi after saying he doesn't like the Eagles.  The absurdist comedies of the Coen brothers are hit or miss with me, but this (along with Fargo and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) is one of the good ones and should be seen on the big screen (go here for more information).  Am I wrong?

Eighth Grade

Thursday morning I went to see Eighth Grade and, as a former eighth grade teacher, I laughed out loud many times and cringed in my seat at the poignant and realistic portrayal of middle school life.  This movie introduces us to Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher), an awkward teenager trying to navigate her last week of eighth grade.  She creates YouTube videos giving advice about being true to yourself, putting yourself out there, and being brave.  These videos are, ostensibly, for an audience (that doesn't really exist) but they end up inspiring her as she attends a party for one of the most popular girls in school, tries to catch the eye of her crush, and becomes friends with a group of older students.  I absolutely loved this movie because I loved the character of Kayla (as well as Elsie Fisher's portrayal of her).  She is a typical teenager with flaws but she ultimately makes so many good decisions.  She realizes that she doesn't need to be friends with the popular girls (her confrontation with them at graduation made me want to cheer out loud) and she chooses someone who accepts her for who she is.  She realizes that she doesn't need to give in to peer pressure or compromise herself in an incredibly powerful scene where she stands her ground against the sexual advances of an older boy.  She realizes that her negative experiences in middle school do not need to define her because she is a good person and things will get better.  Kayla is a fantastic role model for young girls and the only thing that gives me pause in recommending this for all teens and parents is that it is incredibly realistic with language and sexual situations.  However, this movie could be the catalyst for some great discussions and I definitely suggest checking it out.

Three Identical Strangers

The documentary Three Identical Strangers has been generating a lot of buzz lately so I decided to see it Tuesday afternoon.  It is one of the most thought-provoking documentaries I've ever seen and there was a moment near the end that made me quite emotional.  This true story begins in 1980 when Robert Shafran, at age nineteen, goes to college and is mistaken for Edward Galland.  When the two eventually meet they discover that, not only do they look identical, but they share the same birthday and were both adopted through the same adoption service.  As media coverage about the twins separated at birth intensifies, David Kellman realizes that he is also their brother.  The three brothers immediately bond with each other and become inseparable.  They realize that their lives have very similar parallels and that they have much in common.  They are happy to be together but their adoptive parents are angry and demand answers as to why they were separated without their knowledge.  The adoption agency gives an unsatisfactory answer so they begin digging and find something more sinister than they could have imagined.  They were separated as part of a psychological study but the results were never published or released and all information relating to the study has been sealed.  The narrative leads the audience to make certain conclusions about nature vs. nurture but the brothers come to their own conclusion when tragedy strikes.  I found this conclusion to be very hopeful for families with adopted children and it brought tears to my eyes.  This is an incredibly powerful documentary that I highly recommend!

Note:  This has been a great year for documentaries!  Click the links for my commentaries on Believer, RBG, and Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Blindspotting

One of the most powerful films that I saw at Sundance this year was Blindspotting.  It profoundly affected me and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it so I had to see it again now that it is in wide release.  In an Oakland that is being overrun by hipsters, Collin (Daveed Diggs) is spending the last three days of his year-long probation trying to stay out of trouble.  His hot tempered and impulsive best friend Miles (Rafael Casal), with whom he now has an uneasy relationship, is not making things easy for him by constantly getting into trouble for which Collin is usually blamed (including the incident that landed Collin in prison in the first place).  Collin is tormented after witnessing a white cop shoot and kill a black man running away.  Miles is incensed when a black man accuses him of cultural appropriation. Both characters have intense moments of poignancy.  When I watched this film the first time, my sympathies were all with Collin, especially in a scene where he is followed by a police car while walking home with Miles' gun (that scene really affected me during both screenings) and in a scene with an incredibly powerful monologue as Collin confronts the police officer involved in the shooting.  However, this time I also felt some sympathy for Miles because his whole identity is also called into question by the gentrification of his neighborhood.  I understand now that both characters suffer from "blindspotting," or having people behave towards them according to preconceived stereotypes instead of judging them for who they are.  Both Driggs and Casal, who also wrote the screenplay, give incredible performances that pulled me into their world.  I highly recommend this film for its powerful message abut white privilege, racism, and racial profiling.  It is brilliant!

Oklahoma at Sundance

One of my very favorite summer traditions is seeing a musical at the Sundance Mountain Resort.  I have been going for years and it is always so much fun.  It feels really good to be up in the mountains where it is much cooler than in the valley and I love to smell the pine trees in the outdoor amphitheater.  The musical this year is Oklahoma, presented in conjunction with the Sundance Resort and UVU Theatre Department, and I loved it! It tells the story of the romance between Curley (Jacob Brown) and Laurey (Hannah Pyper Dalley) just as the Oklahoma territory is becoming a state and it has all of the wonderful songs we all remember such as "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "People Will Say We're in Love," and "Oklahoma."  The cast is superb!  Brown is incredibly endearing as Curley and he has a fantastic voice as does Dalley as Laurey.  The two of them have great chemistry, especially in the scene where they get engaged at the box social.  Rachel Bigler is hilarious as Ado Annie and I loved her rendition of "I Cain't Say No" and Thayne Caldwell is a lot of fun as Will Parker with some great rope skills in "Kansas City."  I also really enjoyed Laurie Harrop-Purser's sass as Aunt Eller.  The choreography in the big production numbers is very innovative, particularly in the "Dream Sequence," "The Farmer & the Cowman," and "Oklahoma."  The simple set with wooden platforms that looked like scaffolding on either side of the stage allows for a quick pace without a lot of encumbrances.  The colorful vintage costumes are very appealing, especially the frilly dresses at the box social.  I love the nostalgia I feel when I see one of the old classic musicals and this is one production that I definitely recommend.  It runs at the Sundance Mountain Resort until Aug.11 (go here for more information).