Unicorn Store

A strange story with Brie Larson receiving an invitation to enter a world that could restore her childhood dreams. While completely odd, I think this is really an exploration of the millennial mindset, where people are not living lives they anticipated, are not feeling fulfilled, and really don't have the emotional skillset to begin to know how to navigate either a life of disappointment, or make the decisions to change the trajectory of their lives. So Larson (as Kit) is offered, and she pursues, an allegorical journey into fantasy land. Somehow along the way she begins to build the identity needed to cope in the modern world. I really am not sure about the message of this film, and while not nearly as strange, the message of existential struggle parallels that of Sorry to Bother You in subtle ways. I guess it is either too weird or too subtle or too soon for me to know yet if it is good.
3 stars (out of 5)

Crimes of Fashion

Sort of a poor man's version of My Cousin Vinny. And by that I mean, not nearly as good. Kaley Cuoco is a student at the local fashion school. She is really good, but her lack of self confidence and put on ditzy personality prevent her from excellence. When she finds out that she is the named heir to the local crime family (meaning she is the new boss), in comes confidence, and hijinks ensue. Note: Anytime a review mentions hijinks, this means a slapstick attempt at comedy has probably fallen flat. Cuoco uses her new position to put the bad guys out of business, make the other bad guys good guys and save her school and career. All while remaining cute and ditzy.
2 stars (out of 5)

On the Basis of Sex

A historical fiction, biopic of the development of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's career as a lawyer. While the recently viewed documentary RBG is broader in scope and tells more about her development and work on the court, this film details Ginsburg between her first days at Harvard Law School through the first case she argues in front of the 10th district appellate court. While I intellectually know, and have seen lots of portrayals, of how both individuals and systems were actively oppressing women, it is again striking to see it reenacted here.

5 stars (out of 5)

Bushwick

Somewhere I saw this on a list of best action movies available on Netflix. I might agree, only in a commentary of what movies are available on Netflix right now. This was ridiculous. In the neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn, an army of mercenaries (we later find out to be sent by southern secessionists) invades and tries to take over. The idea is to control Bushwick as a forward operating base. But the people fight back. We follow one girl and one man who are thrown together as they try to get to a save evacuation zone. Nothing in this movie makes any sense, from relationships, to tactics, to politics, to action scenes. It was a bad idea, with bad implementation. I am really, really sorry.
1 star (out of 5)

Shazam!

The seven deadly sins are about to break free from their imprisonment and the wizard Shazam is growing weak. He needs a champion to take over his job of protecting people from these demons. But his champion must be pure of heart so he is not tempted by the sins. He gets this kid Billy to do it, basically out of desperation. Billy doesn't really know what is going on, but he likes the attention of being a superhero and his foster brother is geeking out on being superhero adjacent. Clearly not a dark, DC style superhero origin story, but fun and lighthearted. Most of the joy in this film comes in the form of the watching the kids as they explore this crazy thing that has happened to them. And when the seven sins do come and some serious superhero-ing is needed, it is also light and full of 'first-time' awe. Nice job.
4 stars (out of 5)

Hanna (Serial)

Based on the movie Hanna from 2011, this story follows a young woman who is trained in a remote Romanian forrest as a survivalist by her father. She is a teenager who has never had contact with any person except her father. Naturally she gets curious, leaves the forrest, and we begin a journey of discovery. Hanna is immediately taken prisoner and whisked away to a black site in Morocco. She escapes (duh), reunites in Europe with her father. Hanna is trying to uncover clues about herself, her mother, her life. The father is embroiled in a "mission" of revenge on the people he used to work for. These two purposes, while kept secret from each other, are intertwined. At the end of the (what I am sure is) first season, the feel of the series is Jason Bourne crossed with Dollhouse crossed with Nikita. So if that appeals to you...
4 stars (out of 5)

A.X.L.

A defense department contractor has developed an AI war dog, but the dog gets loose in training. It is found by our protagonist (a motorcycle riding teen who is new to the neighborhood, has no friends, but is about to get a girlfriend) and the dog (AXL) bonds with him. This personal bonding is developmentally important for the AI, so when the owner finds out, the scenario is allowed to progress. AXL helps the guy get the girls, and puts the bully in place. Everyone learns a little bit more about humanity, and the misconceptions around AI are exacerbated.
2 stars (out of 5)

The Geography Club

The story of high school teens who are exploring identity and needing a safe way to do this. Since most kids are abusively homophobic, there is no freedom to even have discussions. So a few start up a Geography Club, so named because they don't think anyone else would ever attend. This is just the backdrop to the tension of identity explored by kids in various cliques. Interesting, but it keeps getting mixed up in my head with Sex Education, and while that series hasn't explicitly dealt with identity yet, it seems much more set up to do so well than this film. Even so, the writing here puts the teen's personal angst in full light, and exposes the pain that close-minded/abusive language/actions cause, so that alone makes it worthwhile.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Apartment

1960 Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray. Lemmon works at a big New York firm and has gotten into a situation where he loans out his apartment on weeknights to his bosses so they have a place to take their mistresses. MacLaine is elevator operator is said firm, and is the mistress of big boss MacMurray. Lemmon falls in love, MacLaine is distraught that MacMurray won't actually leave his wife, and lots of misunderstandings with the neighbors, the other bosses, and between the two pawns in this story leads to true love.

What was striking about this RomCom was how dark it was. There was near death and clear condemnation of violating moral codes. And it wasn't really funny, but instead occasionally clever. I found this intriguing, both as a film watched in 2019, but also as a study of 1960.

4 stars (out of 5)