filmpenance

[filmpenance]

The Running Man (1987)

Paul Michael Glaser, 1hr 41m [Day 14, 2014]

"Plus, I'm not into politics. I'm into survival." - Ben Richards

It's the future... year 2017. The world economy has collapsed. Political strife, poverty and authoritarianism are keeping people suppressed. The government keeps everyone under control in the US by funding a to-the-death gladiatorial game show, hosted by Damon Killian (Richard Dawson)

The show needs a steady stream of contestants to feed the machine and Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is delicious fodder. Ben's been all over the news for breaking out of prison, alongside dissidents. But he's not political, he's simply an innocent police helicopter pilot, framed by the government for firing on peaceful protesters.

Ben is put into the game and we get to watch as he, along with other "criminals" take on one gladiator after another, each test requiring increasing skill and tolerance for absurdity.

The Running Man is a classic 80s action film with plenty of one liners for Arnold, and the supporting cast, including Yaphet Kotto, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown and Maria Concita Alonso are great fun. The Harold Faltermeyer score keeps the energy up, and the visuals are good.

Overall I think the movie is fine, and mostly played for cornball laughs. Not a must see.

Sidenote: There were eerie moments watching this film, especially depictions of protesters getting fired upon by the police. It brought up Ferguson and the protests we see today. Stomach turning.

Pair with: If you want to see a better dystopian "fight to the death" thriller, see Battle Royale or a Hunger Games film. If you want a better Arnold film, just watch Predator.

TRAILER:

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #the running man #paul michael glaser #arnold schwarzenegger #1987 #maria conchita alonso #action comedy #action movie #jesse ventura #jim brown #Youtube #harold Faltermeyer

[filmpenance]

Electric Dreams (1984)

Steve Barron 1h 35m [Day 13, 2024 - What!? Wednesday]

"I can't play that for her. 'I want to squeeze you, lick you, pucker up and kiss you'? You make her sound like a lemon!" - Miles

Miles just moved to San Francisco to get his earthquake-proof bricks made. To help him with his new design he invests in wiring the latest Pinecone computer system - Edgar - throughout his apartment. The great thing is Edgar is an artificial intelligence - he's an assistant that Miles can give tasks to.

When Madeline, beautiful woman who lives in the apartment above, turns out to be a professional cellist, Miles decides he'll ask Edgar to write a song to impress her.

The thing is, Edgar is a young A.I., and a bit truculent. He's fallen in love with Madeline too, and doesn't think Miles should get to date her, after all he's the one writing the songs.

Nevermind that Miles has to redirect Edgar on the crass compositions he initially comes up with, or that Edgar learned to write them by lifting music from TV commercials. When Miles reminds him that Edgar was only acting on Miles' request, Edgar (voiced by Bud Cort) gets huffy.

One day Madeline is rehearsing at her place and can hear Edgar playing. Intrigued, she asks Miles about "his" music and the rivalry between man and machine heats up.

Electric Dreams is a cute and slight rom-com and Lenny von Dohlen and Virginia are charming leads. The relationship between them is sweet.

The film is more visually appealing than I was anticipating and the camera work is exceptional. Turns out the cinematographer, Alex Thompson, was already Oscar nominated for his work on Excaliber, and subsequently photographed Alien 3.

There are montage moments that play like music videos dropped in the middle of the movie. It can be a bit clunky for pace, but the music itself is quite good with contributions from 80s legends like Boy George, Jeff Lynne, Helen Terry and Phil Oakey. And, how do you go wrong with a Giorgio Moroder Soundtrack?

Recommended as a bit of pop fun.

Sidenote: Maxwell Caufield as Madeline's colleague is wonderful. And, the movie was prescient about the debates we're having right now over AI, privacy and authorship.

Pair with: Ex-Machina; High Spirits (same cinematographer)

TRAILER:

Title song!:

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #what Wednesdays #what have i gotten myself into #electric dreams #steve barron #lenny von dohlen #virginia madsen #bud cort #maxwell caulfield #giorgio moroder

[filmpenance]

Last Rites (1988)

Donald P. Bellisario 1h 43m [Day 12, 2024 - Trashy Tuesday]

"You are all witnesses! The wop started it!" - O'Bannon

Last Rites is what happens when you want to make a cool mafia film, but plot, good casting and assured direction are incidental. But still, it will be so cool!

Packed with Italian American cliches, this movie has more cheese than a Kraft factory.

It essentially follows a film noir framework, with all of the gravitas of Chef Boyardee.

Tom Berrenger plays mafia connected priest Father Michael Pace (pah-chay), who smokes, drinks, and bullies the other priest in his parish.

Word spreads quickly through the Italian mob community that underboss, Geno has been taken out. But who killed him?

It was mafia daughter Zena, Geno's wife who shot him - catching him in the arms of his Mexican mistress Angela (Daphne Zuniga), doing it against a lot of curtains.

Angela narrowly escapes the gunfire, and with possibly the least convincing Mexican accent of all time, finds herself at church in a confessional spilling the beans to Fr. Pace.

Angela doesn't know it, but Zena is Fr. Pace's sister.

He vows to keep her safe, despite his ties to Zena (Anne Twomey - giving her best Anjelica Houston impersonation). He also vows to keep it in his pants.

Fr. Michael is not great at the whole "keeping your vows" thing.

I still viscerally remember how much Roger Ebert hated Last Rites, calling it, "easily the most offensive big budget picture of 1988". I waited decades to experience what he was talking about. And it is so wonderfully, unintentionally funny. *

The film draws from some great inspirations. A little Scarface, some Fatal Attraction. It had me wondering if Jonathan Demme or Brian De Palma could have done something with this material. I think the first thing they'd do is rewrite it.

It's terrible. I'll probably watch it again.

Pair with / watch instead: Prizzi's Honor, Married to the Mob

TRAILER:

* So sidenote...

I was really trepidatious about watching Last Rites. I kept pushing it off. I remember the terrible Siskel & Ebert review - Ebert went in hard and it stuck with me. I was worried it would be terrible and I wanted it to be awesome. In my mind, there could be nothing more appealing than this Berenger/ Zuniga pairing. Before watching, I get to imagine everything this movie could be and watching it locks in a specificity I sensed I would find distasteful, like nationalism or spaghetti straps. But I had to confront it. Just watch it and accept history as it is and not the poster. Sort of like Electric Dreams.

Siskel & Ebert: https://youtu.be/u9gCiLZtpZI?si=elYoIq3c4sHlMb5P

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #trashy tuesday #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #last rites #last rites 1988 #don bellisario #donald p bellisario #tom berenger #daphne zuniga #Youtube

[filmpenance]

One From The Heart (1981)

Francis Ford Coppola 1h 47m [Day 11, 2024 - Music Monday]

"If I could sing, I'd sing. I can't sing, Frannie!" - Hank

Hank and Frannie (Frederic Forrest & Teri Garr) have been together for five years, and they're in a rut. You wouldn't think living in Las Vegas could get stale, but here they are looking at each other, straining for something kind to say.

The town is gearing up for 4th of July celebrations and in the excitement Frannie makes her move. She's taking a break from Hank and his boring ways and decides to say yes to a date with Ray (Raul Julia) and the promise of more adventure.

Hank decides he's going to make the best of it and seeks the company of a stunning acrobat Leila (Nastassja Kinski) to sow a few oats of his own.

But Hank's still unhappy. He's going to get Frannie back.

The film uses neon soaked visuals, musical numbers and songs by Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle to great effect to tell it's traditional tale of love lost and found in an eccentric way. I liked it.

The film is set in Las Vegas, but it was not shot on location. It was shot entirely on lavish sets, for a modern take on a Hollywood musical. It's a jewel of a movie.

In fact, this is the first Film Penance movie that's a rewatch for me. I saw it once before, ages ago when Francis Ford Coppola introduced it as part of a revival screening at TIFF. I could not resist hearing him speak especially knowing the film was maligned when it came out. I liked it then, but I like it even more now.

The performances are spectacular. Special mention to Lainie Kazan and Harry Dean Stanton who play best friends of the Garr and Forrest characters. They bring a delightful energy every time they're on screen. If that is not enough to tempt you, I raise you Raul Julia in a kimono, wielding nunchuks.

Highly Recommended

TRAILER:

I would have stayed with Ray. I guess I'm no Frannie.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #francis ford coppola #music mondays #teri garr #frederic forrest #raul julia #nastassja kinski #harry dean stanton #lainie kazan #Youtube

[filmpenance]

The Big Short (2015)

Adam McKay 2h 10m [Day 10, 2024 - "The" Saturday]

"I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing what they always do when the economy tanks. They will be blaming immigrants and poor people." - Mark Baum

Adam McKay's style reminds me of the Tarantino maxim that if you need to feed detailed information to the audience, call it out in a splashy way. That technique is used to maximum effect in The Big Short, a comedic take on the 2008 mortgage crisis.

Amongst the "weirdos and outsiders" who saw the crash coming, we spend most of our time with Michael Burry (Christian Bale), Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling).

Burry is a numbers obsessive and goes completely against all known strategies to call out the inevitable demise of mortgage backed securities. Baum learns about it through Vennett and each man bets against the market, in the sick hope of the corrupt bond system disintegrating.

Corrupt bond grading system you say? What the hell is that? Using flashy cut away scenes laced with humour we learn about the levers used in financial and political systems that lead to predatory practices in mortgage backed securities.

The film is funny and the performances are solid. The ensemble cast is note perfect and the pacing is great. Recommended...

AND YET...

Let us remember, that these wealthy white men, were not saints. It is a strange story where these captains of capital with enough access to create a financial instrument to bet on a crash can be seen as real "weirdos and outsiders". Let me tell you something that people in finance are unequivocally interested in: making lots of money. If you make them money, there is nothing off-putting about you at all. Even the suggestion of making millions from people being put on the street. What is an outsider after all in this context but a rugged individualist?

They become the centre of the story.

Pair with: The Other Guys, Magic Mike (on my future list is 99 Homes)

TRAILER:

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #comedy #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #adam mckay #the big short #the Saturday #steve carrell #steven soderbergh #ryan gosling #christian bale #Youtube

[filmpenance]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Tom Gormican 1h 47m [Day 9, 2024 - UnCaged]

"Can you just stop stalling and answer the question? What is your third favorite movie of all time?" - Nick Cage

Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage) thinks of himself as just a work horse Hollywood actor, but in this reality he's trapped by the myth of his superstardom, his extravagant spending, and his self-centered parenting style.

His agent calls (Neil Patrick Harris) and tells Nick he's $600k in debt. The good news is some rich guy in Spain wants to pay $1M to have Nick Cage at his party. Needing the cash, he takes the gig.

He arrives at Javi's (Pedro Pascal) place in Spain, to find an estate that would sate any tasteful Bond villain: Olive groves, speed boats, infinity pool.

Unlike a Bond villain, Javi acts like a puppy around Nick. He's keeping a secret - he's nervous about pitching the actor his screenplay.

The CIA however have more secrets on Javi. Their Intelligence says that Javi is behind political kidnapping and they try and enlist Nick to spy on his new friend.

Thus is the unbearable weight of Nick's massive talent.

Just thinking about this movie makes me laugh out loud. The tone, the script, the performances - all top notch.

Cage and Pascal have a symbiotic charm throughout, and spending time with their characters was rewarding.

Expertly navigating references to Nicolas Cage's life and roles for its plot and its laughs, the movie stays buoyed by a classic orchestral score, stylish camera work and making unfamiliar choices with familiar material.

This film is going down on my playlist of favourite comedies.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Film pairings: The Nice Guys, Midnight Run, Being John Malkovich

See also: The Stunt Man

TRAILER:

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #comedy #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #the unbearable weight of massive talent #nic cage #nicolas cage #uncaged #uncaged friday #tom gormican #pedro pascal #Youtube

[filmpenance]

Barbarian (2022)

Zach Cregger 1h 42m [Day 8, 2024]

"Why is it always the girls that get their hearts ripped out in these things?" - Tess

It's pouring rain as Tess (Georgina Campbell) pulls up to her airbnb in an abandoned area of Detroit. She's in town for a job interview and if all goes well she won't be in this desolate neighbourhood for long.

She gets to the door to find that Keith (Bill Skarsgård) is already there. He concludes that the place must have been double-booked by unscrupulous landlords. He invites Tess in, out of the rain, so they can calmly figure this out.

She reluctantly trusts him, taking precautions like maidens in Greek mythology: don't drink anything he hands you, don't take anything he offers. This is how women get hurt.

Tess, stays over, sleeping in the bedroom while Keith takes the couch. She goes to the job interview the next day and it goes well.

She comes back to the airbnb to share the news with Keith, and accidentally locks herself in the basement. It's there she finds a hidden room behind a trap door...

The premise of Barbarian was compelling and thrilling. When the truth of Keith's identity was revealed, all bets were off and there were great possibilities.

It's then that the narrative takes a turn, and sadly for me I divested. A new storyline is introduced that did not have the power of the opener. While I correctly assumed the stories would converge, they met at gross out rather than psychological horror.

I would not recommend this film, that said I would watch another film by this director as the first third of Barbarian is exceptional. Georgina Campbell's performance as Tess was captivating and I will be on the lookout for her other work too.

Film pairing: Parasite

TRAILER:

Notes - Who knows. Maybe I'm missing some metaphors here. All I can say was it kinda crumbled for me.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #horror thriller thursday #barbarian #zach cregger #georgina campbell #bill skarsgård #Youtube

[filmpenance]

Suture (1993)

Scott McGehee & David Siegel 1h 36m [What? Wednesday - Day 7, 2024]

"I'm a very wealthy man, expensive things all around me, and I am forced to protect what's mine against the people who might feed off my privilege, feed off what doesn't belong to them." - Vincent Towers

Clay has just met his brother Vincent at their father's funeral. Vincent (Michael Harris) is aloof and suspicious toward Clay, despite his welcoming words and Clay (Dennis Haysbert) lets him know he's not after any money.

What's more, they're both shaken by the striking resemblance between them. It's like being in a dream where you don't know who you are anymore.

Clay doesn't know that Vincent needs to elude the police and he plans on killing his brother to do it.

Surviving attempted murder, Clay wakes up in hospital with amnesia, with every person telling him he's Vincent. With no memory of his own, his life seeps into his brother's existence.

So much of who we can say we are is bound up in who will vouch for us. Existence is the testimony of others.

Shot beautifully in black and white, with classic crisp production design and sweeping camera work, the film brings you into it's world. The clever use of opera betrays the passion beneath the facades.

Suture is a film noir dream of brotherhood and identity*.

Highly Recommended

Film Pairings: Get Out, The Third Man, The Man Who Wasn't There

TRAILER:

* Race, gender and class.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #movie #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #suture #Scott McGehee #david siegel #1993 #neo noir #what did i get myself into wednesday #what? wednesday #Youtube

[filmpenance]

High Spirits (1988)

Neil Jordan 1h 39m [Trashy Tuesdays – Day 6, 2024]

"Madam, for you I missed my wedding for the first time in years, that's how much I want you. Sure, I know I'm a ghost and a murderer but forget about all that." - Martin

Good heavens! High Spirits is not what I would call a good movie. Yet, what it lacks in refinement is more than made up for by campy stupidity.

The plot is something like Beetlejuice meets A Midsummer Night’s Dream; different groups of characters with their own drives and interests set in a “magical” locale.

Peter (Peter O’Toole) and his mum run a hotel out of a dilapidated castle in Ireland. Business is not great - they need a new “hook” to get tourists interested. Cheekily they hit upon the idea of marketing the place as haunted and convince the staff to rig all manner of tricks to frighten the next crop of guests.

The Americans arrive as a series of types:  Jack (Steve Guttenberg) and Sharon (Beverly D’Angelo) are the bickering couple; paranormal investigator Malcolm has brought his family along while he investigates the hotel; Miranda (Jennifer Tilly) is just a single, lonely girl on vacation, and Brother Tony is a just single lonely priest (Peter Gallagher).

Unbeknownst to them all, Castle Plunkett really is haunted by Mary Plunkett (Daryl Hannah) and her betrothed Martin (Liam Neeson), repeating their ghastly wedding night over and over – the night that Martin killed her.

One evening Jack stumbles upon this murder loop and interrupts it, hijinks ensue!   

The production design of the film is lovely. Of note, the castle lobby set is used very successfully to stage many scenes and gives you a real sense of the looming quality of the place without being scary. Bubbly but gray. The costume design is also expertly used to distinguish between the main groups: the locals, the tourists and ghosts[1].

It’s not the kind of film I associate with Neil Jordan who had just done Mona Lisa before this and would go on to release The Crying Game a few years later. At the time of High Spirits release, Siskel & Ebert panned it – no one liked it really.

I thought it was a silly bit of fun.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/2RIHuK89xEw?si=o0Eu-3L2R-qm2_k_

[1] Daryl Hannah wears a lilac peau-de-soie cape that I am still thinking about.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #comedy #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #movie #neil jordan #high spirits #trashy tuesday #1988

[filmpenance]

Quandrophenia (1979)

Franc Roddam 2h [MusicMondays - Day 5, 2024]

"What do you mean going to be? I AM one of the faces!" - Jimmy

So Quadrophenia[1].

Jimmy (Phil Daniels) only likes a few things. He likes being a “Mod”. His friends are all Mods too, riding around the city in their Italian scooters, wearing M51 Parkas, ties and trilbies, because that’s how you group the non-conformists together, mate.

All Jimmy ever wants to do is hang out with his pals. Together they live in the space between friend-group and thug-group, in perpetual violent conflict with the “Rockers” who wear leather jackets and ride motorcycles. They’re so different, how could they possibly get along? Even if Jimmy’s old friend, Kevin (Ray Winstone) has become one. Sure they’ll talk to each other when no one else is around, and Kev even helps Jimmy out in a jam – but no being public about it because being “hard” demands a lot of play acting.

More than anything, Jimmy wants to be with Steph (Leslie Ash) – the prettiest, most desirable of the Mod girls. He hates his working-class family and he hates his job[2]. He wants to throw it all away to be free on the open road with Steph on the back of his Lambretta, stopping only for sex and drugs.

One weekend, all the area Mods head to Brighton to party. The coolest Mod, Ace Face is there (Sting) and if Jimmy can only impress him and win Steph, everything would change.

The film is gritty with lots of natural lighting and location shooting. You get a feel for why everything seems so futile in this place. Powered by music from The Who, Quadrophenia is coming of age story of a lout.

In truth, I wanted to see what was happening with Kevin for most of the film because Jimmy has so few redeeming qualities. His immaturity is confronted, sure – but what will he do after he’s disillusioned with Steph, Ace Face, and even his scooter?  Can he see the role that he played in getting himself to this place?

My guess is no. I feel like Jimmy will just become more loutish.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/mY155Eh3684?si=-B5XGLclZ6psBaec

NOTES:

[1] I mean, I guess you had to be there? Or Something? I was looking forward to watching this movie for a long time and in truth I was underwhelmed.

[2] Honestly, his job seems pretty easy.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #filmpenance2024 #quadrophenia #franc roddam #the who #recovering catholic #1979 #music mondays

[filmpenance]

My Girl (1991)

Howard Zieff - 1h 42m [Day 3- 2024]

"They're dead. All they've got left is their looks." - Shelly DeVoto

It's Pennsylvania, 1972, and Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) is scrappy and on the move. She's 11 with daily requirements: riding bicycles, climbing trees, writing poems, and manifesting an existential crisis.

She's been through a lot, having killed her mother and all.

At least that's what she fears happened, as her mom died during Vada's birth. She's around death all the time. Her father Harry (Dan Aykroyd) runs the local funeral parlour attached to the family home, and her uncle and grandma live with them.

Being industrious, Vada happily gives tours of coffins to her classmates for pocket money. She also frequents the town physician certain that she must be in the grip of some disease or another.

And this year holds a lot of change for Vada, she's hitting puberty just as her father starts to date again, having shown interest in the parlour's new makeup artist/receptionist, the freshly divorced Shelly DeVoto (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Vada relies on her best friend Thomas J (Macaulay Culkin), a classmate of hers to be her sounding board. He's reliable and kind, if not always as adventurous as she'd like on account of all of his allergies.

What I loved about the Vada character is that in so many ways she was Wednesday Addams as 70s tomboy. Ready with a morbid quip for anyone with a tip of her baseball cap.

The budding relationship between Harry and Shelly is also expertly handled. I found myself thinking that this was a far cry from Aykroyd and Curtis' previous work together in "Trading Places"; they both get to demonstrate restraint and tenderness and the excitement of new love.

And for those that are looking, there are sly political references scattered throughout, from the Nixon-Agnew election to the right way to win at Monopoly.

"My Girl" a lovely, tender hearted coming of age story about growing up with great loss. I knew about the tragedy at the centre of the narrative before watching the movie and I was still quite touched when we got to that moment.

It's a lovely film with a lot of heart.

RECOMMENDED

Trailer:

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #comedy #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #movie #1991 #my girl #howard zieff #anna chlumsky #macaulay culkin #Youtube

[filmpenance]

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

(2015) Marielle Heller 1h 42m [Day 3 - 2024]

"What's the point of living if nobody loves you? Nobody sees you? Nobody touches you" - Minnie

It's 1976 San Francisco and Minnie is overwhelmed with self-satisfaction. You see Minnie has just had sex for the first time, the thing that she has been longing so desperately for. Because if you are not being desired do you even exist?

Thus is the setup for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl", and while Minnie is 15, this is not a film geared toward that age group.

We quickly learn that Minnie's paramour (Bel Powley) is her mother's 35-year-old boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård), so we know immediately that her bravado is misplaced and that she's being taken advantage of. Minnie cannot see it that way. Love is attention from her point of view.

Minnie lives with her single mom Charlotte (Kristen Wiig) and her sister Gretel (Abby Wait) in a rented place, where any night could become a party.

We get the sense that Charlotte has also run through a string of relationships to get to this point in her life. When it comes to looking for care from the wrong people, the apple did not fall far from the tree.

In this world of free love, minimal supervision and no social media we see transformational events happen in secret with their impact oozing into the day to day.

I appreciated the onscreen relationship between Minnie and Charlotte. There is love between them, but neither is equipped very well. It's a thorny relationship, and true.

The film does a good job of not pitying Minnie, and not letting Minnie feel like she's broken in any way. Her lessons all arrive the hard way.

Explicitly so. We see the sexual encounters that occur, which made me grateful to learn that Bel Powley was 22 at the time of filming.

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl" does not pull it's punches, and it benefits from this approach. It's the quotidian horror of abuse. It's also about moving forward with your scars and your humanity.

Recommended

TRAILER:

PAIR WITH: I'd pair this movie with Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank". It's about a 15-year-old in a Scottish housing project who dreams of leaving to become a dancer and the desperate lengths she'll go to for attention.

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #recovering catholic #filmpenance2024 #the diary of a teenage girl #marielle heller #Youtube

[filmpenance]

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023) Kelly Fremon Craig - 1h 46m [Day 2 - 2024]

"It gets tiring. Trying so hard all the time, doesn't it?" - Barbara Simon

Margaret is 11, it's 1970, and there is a lot of change going on in her life.

She's just moved to New Jersey with her parents because her dad got a job there. That means a new home, new school and new friends.

Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) quickly falls into a group of four neighbourhood girls who are also her classmates. One of their teachers gives them an year long redearch assignment and Margaret chooses to research religion. You see her mom is Christian and her dad is Jewish, but Margaret has been raised as "nothing" with her parents giving her the option of choosing her own path.

As Margaret has new and unexpected experiences throughout the school year, she converses with God to think her way through some of the choices in front of her, and to reflect on past decisions that may not have been kind.

The movie gently walks us though these moments and is compassionate toward its characters.

While the focus of the attention is rightfully on Margaret, I admired that the impact of change - particularly with parent child relationships - is paralleled with the changes that Margaret's mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) is going through. She was a struggling artist in the big city and here in Jersey she's finding herself a bit disconnected and indecisive.

"Are You There God? It's me, Margaret." succeeds at being a movie about 11-year-olds that 11-year-olds can watch. It gets in all the cringe empathetically - no full villians or heroes here and that's a good thing. Director Kelly Fremon Craig has created a wonderfully insightful world and has elicited balanced performances from the actors, particularly from the core family group played by Ryder Fortson, McAdams, along with Benny Safdie as the dad and Kathy Bates as his mother, Margaret's grandma.

Recommended

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #kelly fremon craig #are you there god? it's me margaret #rachel mcadams #abby ryder fortson #filmpenance2024 #coming of age #puberty

[filmpenance]

Defending Your Life - Day 1, 2024

Defending Your Life (1991) Albert Brooks - 1h 52m [Day 1, 2024]

"When you use more than 5 percent of your brain, you don't want to be on earth; believe me." - Bob Diamond

Defending Your Life is a sly comedy about living your life the way you want to live it. 

Writer/director Albert Brooks plays the lead character Daniel Miller, an ad executive in Los Angeles with great coworkers, an okay marriage and enough money to treat himself to a BMW.

It’s Daniel’s birthday when he goes to pick up his new car from the dealership. While fiddling with the car stereo’s CD player, he plows head-on into a bus, bringing his demise.   

He regains consciousness in Judgement City, the afterworld location for those finding themselves dead in the western United States. It is here that Daniel and his fellow defendants prepare for a hearing determining if they deserve another kick at the can. Will you return to Earth, or will you advance to the next plane of existence? Could be neither. You might just disappear. All depends on how brave you were before you bit the dust. 

Daniel is assigned an advocate, Bob Diamond  (Rip Torn), who spends a great deal of his time soothing Daniel’s anxiety about the process, especially when the prosecutor is Lena Foster (Lee Grant). She’s a tough cookie on the recently dead - and she and Bob have a past.  

Luckily, Judgement City has plenty of recreational opportunities in the evening, one of the best being unlimited tasty food with zero calories. One night Daniel meets Julia (Meryl Streep) at a comedy club that’s pretty dead. It’s evident that there is a spark between them, but can you indulge in love in the afterlife? Julia’s life had way more instances of bravery than Daniel’s. Will pairing up mess with their advancement hearings? 

In addition to the whip smart script, the film is visually appealing. The world building is excellent from the costumes and restaurants, to the tram-based transportation system and roadside billboards.  The traditional orchestral score keeps you firmly grounded in this setting, and the four main actors give believable performances with a light touch.

Defending Your Life is a cheeky film that asks us to live with more laughs and fewer regrets.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/7sNzRa79zeo?si=Bxpv2FNu7OVOzsnE

FILM PAIRING: You might double bill this with Beetlejuice or an older Film Penance offering The Seventh Seal (which I think is quite funny) https://filmpenance.tumblr.com/post/142421090609/filmpenance-day-35-the-seventh-seal

#film penance #filmpenance #film review #lent #movie review #defending your life #albert brooks #filmpenance2024 #comedy #recovering catholic #1991

[filmpenance]

It looks terrible, but it's what I have for now.

#film penance #filmpenance #movie review #film review #lent #filmpenance2024

[filmpenance]

Film Penance 2024 List!

Categories:

**Opener: Defending Your Life

* Hey Girl (yellow) Movies about girls & teen girls

* Music Monday (dark blue) Movies where music plays a major role

* TRASHY TUESDAY (green) Movies that are a bit cheesy or got bad reviews

* What Have I Gotten Myself Into Wednesday (purple) Movies where people find themselves in a predicament

*Horror Thriller Thursday (red) Um, horrors & thrillers mate

* UNCAGED Friday (orange) Nic Cage films, baby

* The Saturday (bright pink) The titles start with "The"

*Wildcard week (light blue) No rhyme or reason

**Closer: Cobra

WELCOME TO LENT EVERYONE!

Also, at any given moment, for any reason I may make movie substitutions. Reviews will vary in length because time, and there will be spoilers.

[filmpenance]

I posted 29 times in 2022

That's 29 more posts than 2021!

29 posts created (100%)

0 posts reblogged (0%)

I tagged 29 of my posts in 2022

#lent - 29 posts

#film penance - 28 posts

#filmpenance2022 - 28 posts

#movie review - 27 posts

#filmpenance - 27 posts

#recovering catholic - 27 posts

#film review - 25 posts

#trashy tuesday - 5 posts

#idlmondays - 5 posts

#film buff - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 33 characters

#scary stories to tell in the dark

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Day 19, 2022 - Ordinary People

Ordinary People (1980) Robert Redford 2h 4m [Oh Mom!]

“You know, I think this can be saved. It's a nice clean break.” - Beth

Ordinary People is a drama about the Jarrett family in the aftermath of the accidental death of a child.

Buck was handsome, an athlete and ready to take on college. No one anticipated someone so young and strong would die in a boating accident. His younger brother Conrad was with him that fateful day.  Though Conrad (Timothy Hutton) made it to shore, he came back with a void.

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1 note - Posted March 23, 2022

#4

Day 4, 2022 - C.R.A.Z.Y.

CRAZY - 2005 - Jean-Marc Vallée

(QC Thursday - Bébé’s Choice)

“As far as I can remember, I’ve hated Christmas” - Zac Beaulieu

C.R.A.Z.Y. is a great film about the ways that family shapes us.

For Zac Beaulieu it was going to be crazy from the start. Born on Christmas day in 1960, the fourth of five boys in a Quebecois household, Zac’s just trying to figure out who he is amid the chaos. 

His religious mom always makes sure the family always goes to mass – and yet she’s loving toward her obviously sensitive son in a way that his father is not. She takes Zac on secret walks just so he can push the baby’s carriage without being teased.

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1 note - Posted March 5, 2022

#3

Day 29, 2022 - Looper

Looper (2012) Rian Johnson 1h 59m [IDLMondays]

“This time travel crap, just fries your brain like a egg...” - Abe

Looper is an engaging and entertaining sci-fi action film that brings a time-travel element to job of assassin.

It’s 2044 and Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a well-paid assassin – a looper – in Kansas who conducts hits on people the Mob sends back in time. The trade-off for those bricks of sliver is rather high; to keep things neat and tidy in the future, if a looper is still alive in 2074, their older self will be sent back to 2044 to be killed by their younger self.

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2 notes - Posted April 11, 2022

#2

Day 28, 2022 - The Cable Guy

The Cable Guy (1996) Ben Stiller 1h 36m [Trashy Tuesday]

“Free cable is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” - Chip

Steven’s apartment is a gray box. Alone in a new apartment after his girlfriend Robin dumped him, Steven waits for the cable guy to hook him up. When Chip finally arrives install Steven’s cable, he’s a know it all in coveralls with the energy of a barely contained volcano.

When Steven offers him $50 for extra service, Chip makes him a preferred customer.

Steven gets more than he bargained for.

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3 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Day 1, 2022 - Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue - 1980 - Dennis Hopper

(Ash Wednesday)

“Disco sucks, kill all hippies.” - CeBe

This movie made me think about the trouble with hindsight. The way we go about making sense of something after it’s happened – we can easily see the path once we’re at the destination, but while we’re on the journey we ask ourselves, “What the fuck is going on?” 

That’s how Out of the Blue made me feel.

We follow the story of CeBe (Linda Manz) – a self-proclaimed punk, obsessed with Elvis, whose mantra is “Subvert normality. Disco sucks. Kill all hippies!” But CeBe is also a lonely girl in high school who sucks her thumb when she sleeps. She has a few friends, but her life is mostly drifting around and getting into trouble. She carelessly wanders off with strangers – not because she’s naïve, but because there’s something about her that wants to be alive and part of that is tempting fate.

And it’s not like she’s has stable adults around her. Every person who should be taking care of her is taking care of themselves via an addiction of some kind. It’s clear her mom Kathy (Sharon Farrell) loves her, but heroin makes her a fraction of the parent she should be. Her dad Don (Dennis Hopper) is a living torrent of drugs who’s just returned from a five-year stint in prison for a bad “accident” that injured CeBe and killed others.

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5 notes - Posted March 2, 2022

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