Generated by All in One SEO Pro v5.0.1.1, this is an llms-full.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # MeierMovies Film Reviews & News by Cameron Meier ## Posts ### [Blog](https://www.meiermovies.com/blog/) **Published:** June 26, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier --- ### [FFCC recognizes Polk Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/12/23/ffcc-recognizes-polk-theatre/) **Published:** December 23, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-1.jpg)I’m proud to announce that, upon my suggestion, the Florida Film Critics Circle has recognized the historic Polk Theatre, in Lakeland, Florida, with our top yearly honor, the Golden Orange. Congrats! For more information on this “Mediterranean atmospheric” cinema build in 1928, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/polk-theatre/). And for the complete list of the Circle’s year-end awards, [visit the Circle’s website](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2022/12/22/2022-ffcc-award-winners/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Florida Film Critics Circle, Golden Orange, Polk Theatre --- ### [Get in the CenFlo](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/01/18/get-in-the-cenflo/) **Published:** January 18, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Central Florida Film Festival set for Jan. 20-22 in Mt. Dora [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CenFlo.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CenFlo.jpeg)The 17th annual Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo) is scheduled for January 20-22 at Epic Theatres in Mount Dora, Florida. This year’s fest will screen more than 160 movies (mostly shorts but some features) in a variety of genres, including drama, comedy, horror/suspense/thriller, science fiction/fantasy, animation, documentary and student. The celebrity guest will be actor Barry Bostwick, who will participate in a Q&A session and a career retrospective. Tickets range from $10 to a single screening (a feature or a block of short films) to $35 for a single day to $85 for a VIP three-day pass. For more information, visit [CentralFloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/) or [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/CentralFloridaFilmFestival). ### Epilogue The highlights of this year’s fest, at least for this critic, were the Q&A and career retrospective with Bostwick, who is pictured below with Festival Director Brendon Rogers, and *On the Third Step*, a short thriller directed by Russian filmmaker Anastasia Norenko, who was in attendance. The film won best foreign project and best suspense/horror/thriller short. “My goal for *On the Third Step* was to create a dynamic, unexpected storyline that would leave audiences wanting more,” Norenko said. “I’m thrilled that viewers at CenFlo were able to see my vision through and am honored to receive CenFlo’s recognitions, as there \[were\] a lot of other talented filmmakers at the festival.” For more information on the film, [go here](https://www.onthethirdstep.com/). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Barry-Bostwick-Retrospective-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Barry-Bostwick-Retrospective-scaled.jpg) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** CenFlo, Central Florida Film Festival --- ### [Last dance for Cindy Williams](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/01/31/last-dance-for-cindy-williams/) **Published:** January 31, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/American-Graffiti-with-Cindy-Williams.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/American-Graffiti-with-Cindy-Williams.png)Thanks for the memories, Cindy. (*American Graffiti* image copyright Universal Pictures / Lucasfilm. Go to [CNN.com](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/entertainment/cindy-williams-dead/index.html) for more information on her life.) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Cindy Williams --- ### [The first movie sequel?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/02/01/the-first-movie-sequel/) **Published:** February 1, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Are you tired of endless film sequels and remakes? Do you long for the early days of cinema when everything was original? Think again. Though sequels and remakes were a bit less prevalent decades ago (if you discount serials), they have been around since almost the dawn of cinema. Case in point: *The Little Train Robbery* (1905), director Edwin Porter and producer Thomas Edison’s follow-up to their 1903 classic, *The Great Train Robbery*, which was considered the most famous film ever at the time. Though this one-reeler (about 10-12 minutes long, depending on how fast you crank it) could be more accurately described as a parody, it is considered by many to be the first film sequel or remake. It’s simply a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the original, with kids instead of adults as the robbers, and a miniature train in place of a regular-sized one. (“Thank God for the model trains, you know? If they didn’t have the model trains, they wouldn’t have gotten the idea for the big trains.”) The movie is an admittedly tough watch, but remember that 1905 audiences would have viewed this in nitrate, on a big screen, with a rollicking piano. Try to imagine … *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** First movie sequel, The Little Train Robbery --- ### [The best that you can do ...](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/02/09/the-best-that-you-can-do/) **Published:** February 9, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Farewell, [Burt Bacharach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach), composer of several songs from classic films, including *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid* and *Alfie*. But my favorite of his will always be *Arthur’s Theme: Best That You Can Do*, from one of the greatest comedies of all time, *Arthur* (1981). That song is a collaboration between him, Christopher Cross and Carole Bayer Sager. It’s a tune that’s easy to fall in love with, and to. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Arthur's Theme, Bacharach, Burt Bacharach --- ### [Worst movie credits?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/25/worst-movie-credits/) **Published:** August 25, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Double-Down-end-credits.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Double-Down-end-credits.jpg)In May 2025, I wrote about [weird movie credits](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/13/strangest-closing-credits-ever/), specifically two of the oddest closing-credit sequences in film history: Harry Nilsson singing the credits at the end of *Skidoo* (1968) and a half-naked Bo Derek getting groped by an orangutan during the end credits of *Tarzan, the Ape Man* (1981). But what about the worst credits? For openers, it’s tough to beat the credits of *Manos, The Hands of Fate* (1966), or lack thereof. (The first few minutes feature little except a slow-moving car set to bad music. Apparently this is where the credits would have gone if director Hal Warren had figured out how to do them.) A close second might be the “supporting casts” (plural) listed in the opening credits of *Birdemic: Shock and Terror* (2008). (Did director James Nguyen think he was making multiple movies?) But a candidate for worst closing credits has just emerged, at least for me, as I finally got around to subjecting myself to Neil Breen’s debut film, *Double Down* (2005). Check out the image above. Breen apparently felt compelled to confirm in writing what is painfully obvious throughout his failed experimental film: Lighting and makeup/hair is non-existent. That confirmation is the movie’s only honest moment. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Time to Rewind your Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/14/time-to-rewind-your-shorts/) **Published:** August 14, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Stimulants-Emphathogens.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Stimulants-Emphathogens.jpg)*Stimulants & Empathogens*, directed by Polish filmmaker Mateusz Pacewicz, is one of the 11 films being screened. It was selected as the best of the 2026 Love Your Shorts Film Festival in February. It’s nearly that time of year again, when the Love Your Shorts Film Festival screens its Summer Rewind program. Held in Sanford, Florida, the Summer Rewind is a single block of films curated from among the best of the main February festival. The screening will be held at 7 p.m. on August 21 at the historic Ritz Theater, part of the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. A single ticket costs $12. Visit [LoveYourShorts.com](https://filmfreeway.com/LoveYourShortsFilmFestival/tickets) for more details, including a list of the 11 films being shown. *(MeierMovies is a sponsor but is not involved financially or organizationally, and has no role in selecting the films.)* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Love Your Shorts, Love Your Shorts Film Festival, Sanford, Summer Rewind, Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center --- ### [Where does 'The Odyssey' rank?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/07/23/where-does-the-odyssey-rank/) **Published:** July 23, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-47787-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-47787-scaled.jpg)Director Christopher Nolan with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on the set of *The Odyssey*. (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon and courtesy of Universal Pictures.) Where does *The Odyssey* rank among Christopher Nolan’s films? Check out the list below. 1\. [Dunkirk](https://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) (2017) – 5 stars (on [0-5 scale](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf)) 2\. The Prestige (2006) – 5 stars 3\. Inception (2010) – 4 ¾ stars 4\. [Interstellar](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/) (2014) – 4 ½ stars 5\. [The Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/) (2026) – 4 ½ stars 6\. Memento (2001) – 4 ¼ stars 7\. Following (1998) – 3 ¾ stars 8\. Insomnia (2002) – 3 ½ stars 9\. The Dark Knight (2008) – 3 ¼ stars 10\. [Oppenheimer](https://www.meiermovies.com/oppenheimer/) \* (2023) – 3 stars 11\. Batman Begins (2005) – 3 stars **↑THUMBS UP** **↓THUMBS DOWN** 12\. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – 2 stars 13\. [Tenet](http://www.meiermovies.com/tenet/) (2020) – 2 stars For more rankings of directors’ best films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/Directors.pdf). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Bad movie, great song](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/07/06/bad-movie-great-song/) **Published:** July 6, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Against-All-Odds.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Against-All-Odds.jpg)After 42 years, I finally watched *Against All Odds* (2 stars on [0-5 scale](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf)), the romantic neo-noir thriller directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods. I recall seeing the VHS box cover hundreds of times at Blockbuster when I was young, but I never rented it. The film is famous for the superb, Oscar-nominated tune by Phil Collins. The song deserved a better movie. A remake of Jacques Tourneur’s *Out of the Past* (3 ¼ stars), *Against All Odds* begins promisingly, with an interesting setup, great chemistry between the leads and nice location work. But a rushed romance and a meandering, overly complicated plot rob the film of momentum and clarity. I simply stopped caring for these people. (And why is Ward’s character British when everyone else, including her mother, is American?) It got me thinking: What other disappointing movies had a great song? I’m not talking about below-average movies with great soundtracks. There are lots of those. I’m referring to a dissatisfying flick with a wonderful theme/title song (or single song that dominated the pic). Some obvious choices are *Xanadu* (“Xanadu” by Olivia Newton-John and ELO), *Mahogany* (“Theme from Mahogany: Do You Know Where You’re Going To?” by Diana Ross), *Top Gun* (“Take My Breath Away” by Berlin) and *Flash Gordon* (“Flash” by Queen). What others come to mind? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Against All Odds, Out of the Past --- ### [Shame on Scorsese](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/06/11/shame-on-scorsese/) **Published:** June 11, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In what might amount to a seismic shift within Hollywood, Martin Scorsese has embraced the use of AI in film storyboarding. Shame on him for valuing speed and cost savings over real human artistry. The industry has been quick to respond, and the response isn’t pretty. Visit [Variety](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/art-directors-guild-statement-martin-scorsese-ai-1236770996/) for the full story. Meanwhile, Bollywood is fully embracing AI in every aspect of filmmaking. It has clearly lost its soul. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** AI storyboard, Scorsese, Scorsese AI --- ### [Promote yourself on MeierMovies](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/04/13/promote-yourself-on-meiermovies/) **Published:** April 13, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Your-ad-here.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Your-ad-here.jpg)Good news! MeierMovies is now offering reciprocal ads. If you would like to promote yourself, your film company, your film festival or something entertainment-related on this website, in exchange for promotion of MeierMovies on your site or social media, please contact me at [MeierMovies@aol.com.](mailto:MeierMovies@aol.com) The ad is visible on all pages of the site, in a rotating widget on the right. (On small mobile devices, turn your device sideways to view.) Please keep in mind this is a movie-review site, so I am hesitant to promote specific movies, in order to stay objective. And I reserve the right to reject ads if they are not a good thematic fit. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Promote your film festival --- ### [Florida Film Festival '26 wraps](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/04/20/florida-film-festival-26-wraps/) **Published:** April 20, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Framed poster advertising Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, with grayscale images of characters and a train graphic on a wall.”,](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Strangers-on-a-Train-poster-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Strangers-on-a-Train-poster-scaled.jpg)The 35th annual Florida Film Festival ended last night with a 75th-anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Strangers on a Train*. It was an eventful, inspiring and exhausting 10 days. Including the advance press screenings, I watched 21 features and nearly 70 shorts, out of the 161 total films shown from April 10 through 19. To those filmmakers I met and interviewed, best of luck in the future. Don’t be a stranger (on a train). My top features (other than *Strangers*) were *Seized* (4 ¼ stars), *Chopin, Chopin!* (4 stars) and *I Swear* (4 stars). And my favorite shorts were *The Baddest Speechwriter of All*, *I Gaze at the Sky* and *Trading Cards* (all 5 stars). And now we sleep, much like Lola the Dog, pictured here, who couldn’t wait for the festival to end before she took a much-needed catnap on the Enzian Theater’s outdoor couch yesterday evening. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. [![Brindle dog sleeping on a gray outdoor sectional sofa in a lush garden setting, wearing a pink collar with a tag.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Lola-napping-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Lola-napping-scaled.jpg)See below for all my coverage of the 2026 festival: [Festival preview](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/ "Florida Film Festival 2026") [Feature reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [Opening-night film review](https://www.meiermovies.com/carolina-caroline/ "Carolina Caroline") [Shorts reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") [Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-announces-awards/ "Florida Film Festival announces awards") **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Florida Film Festival --- ### [The Florida Big Three](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/04/04/the-florida-big-three/) **Published:** April 4, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Miami-Film-Festival-2026.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Miami-Film-Festival-2026.jpg)The world’s Big Three film festivals, historically, are Venice (the world’s first), Cannes (arguably the best) and Berlin. Florida has its Big Three too: [Miami,](https://miamifilmfestival.com/) [Florida](https://floridafilmfestival.com/) and [Sarasota](https://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com/). And though the latter has taken some hits in the last few years, it’s still often included in the top tier. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2026-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2026-logo.jpg)But if you plan to attend all three, good luck, as each one is scheduled for almost exactly the same dates in 2026. Florida and Sarasota are April 10-19 while Miami starts one day earlier. Miami is the oldest, at 43 years, while Florida and Sarasota have been going for 35 and 28, respectively. Because I’m in Orlando and don’t have a doppelganger, I will be covering only the Florida Film Festival. Go [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/ "Florida Film Festival 2026") for a summary of the festival and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") for my reviews. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Florida Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival --- ### [Support MeierMovies on social media](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/03/10/support-meiermovies-on-social-media/) **Published:** March 10, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/MeierMovies-logo-large.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/MeierMovies-logo-large.png)If you enjoy my [movie reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"), [news](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-news/ "Movie News and Features"), [lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"), [photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-related-photography/ "Movie-Related Photography"), [festival coverage](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-festivals/ "Film Festivals") and historical film analysis, I humbly request that you follow MeierMovies on social media. It’s apparently what all the kiddies are doing these days. Check out MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/), [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/MeierMovies) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/). Thanks! [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Signature-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Signature-scaled.jpg) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** MeierMovies --- ### [Rooting for Iranian artistic freedom](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/03/01/rooting-for-iranian-artistic-freedom/) **Published:** March 1, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/It-Was-Just-an-Accident.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/It-Was-Just-an-Accident.jpg)With the war in Iran raging, the Oscar-nominated drama *It Was Just an Accident* (4 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) is on my mind again. It’s one of the best movies of 2025. The story illustrates the evil Iranian regime of the now-dead ayatollah. Kudos to Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi, who defied the odds and the authorities to make the movie. Regardless of how one feels about the war, let’s hope we can all root for a day when Panahi and other Iranian filmmakers enjoy the freedom to make whatever film they choose in their home country without fear of imprisonment or retaliation. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi --- ### [The 5,000 films of Dr. Meier](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/02/22/the-5000-films-of-dr-meier/) **Published:** February 22, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/5000-Fingers-of-Dr.-T.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/5000-Fingers-of-Dr.-T.jpg)I just watched and rated my 5,000th feature film. In case you didn’t guess the film from the title of this post, it’s *The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T*. From 1953, this daringly odd, live-action musical-fantasy (3 stars on my 0-5 scale) was written and art-directed by Dr. Seuss and co-directed by Roy Rowland and producer Stanley Kramer. A financial and critical disaster upon release, the film has gained cult status and is today regarded as an imaginatively weird, if clunky, adventure for (smart and a slightly askew) kids of all ages. For more information on the movie, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_5,000_Fingers_of_Dr._T.). And for all 5,000 of my feature-film ratings, see [my lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). P.S.: I’m not really a doctor, but I play one on this website. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** 5000 Fingers of Dr. T --- ### [Happy 100th birthday, Richard Matheson](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/02/20/happy-100th-birthday-richard-matheson/) **Published:** February 20, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Richard-Matheson-and-Maude-Adams.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Richard-Matheson-and-Maude-Adams.jpg)Richard Matheson and Maude Adams, his real-life Elise McKenna Happy 100th birthday, author Richard Matheson, who will be born on this date in 1926. Somewhere in time, he is legend. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Richard Matheson --- ### [R.I.P., Robert Duvall, one of the greats](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/02/16/r-i-p-robert-duvall-one-of-the-greats/) **Published:** February 16, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [NOT found in the Epstein files](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/02/11/not-found-in-the-epstein-files/) **Published:** February 11, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Epstein-Juan.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Epstein-Juan.png) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Juan Epstein --- ### [When the Sun won't shine, go with the Flo](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/01/23/when-no-sun-go-with-the-flo/) **Published:** January 23, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sundance-Film-Festival-2026.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sundance-Film-Festival-2026.jpg)For those of you attending the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, I wish you well. I had hoped to make this year my first foray to Park City, to coincide with the last Sundance in Utah. I even booked my hotel. But it wasn’t to be. Instead, I’ll be spending the weekend at the Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo) in Mount Dora, Florida. But I’m looking on the bright side: CenFlo is less expensive, warmer and … well, it’s less expensive and warmer. As R.E.M. sang, “Here’s a truck stop instead of Saint Peter’s.” For my coverage of that slightly less prestigious but still welcoming fest, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-turns-20/ "CenFlo turns 20"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Statement on AI](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/01/09/statement-on-ai/) **Published:** January 9, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AI-labeling.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AI-labeling.jpg)Let me state for the record that I have no interest in watching, listening to or reading content generated by artificial intelligence. And if I must rate or review a film that uses AI extensively, I will label it “AI” (like I label silent films “Sl” and foreign-language films “FL“) and in most instances bump it down one star rating. Films that use AI on a limited basis, such as *The Brutalist* (for tweaking the Hungarian-language dialogue) and *Avatar: Fire and Ash* (for repetitive animation processes) are more difficult to judge. I will label those films “mAI” for minimal AI and will not automatically bump down their star ratings but will instead decide on a film-by-film basis. Ultimately, if you didn’t care enough to make the film, why should I care enough to watch it? For more information on AI and its use in *The Brutalist*, I suggest checking out [this episode](https://www.paulmeier.com/2025/05/01/episode-88-ai-and-the-human-voice/) of the *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast, which I co-produce. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** AI, artificial intelligence --- ### [RIP, CPR. Never forget.](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/01/06/rip-cpr-never-forget/) **Published:** January 6, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Corporation-for-Public-Broadcasting-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Corporation-for-Public-Broadcasting-2.jpg)1967-2026 Remember what it meant. And remember who killed it. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPR --- ### [Looking back at 2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/01/01/looking-back-at-2025/) **Published:** January 1, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025.jpg)I watched 233 feature films in 2025, plus hundreds of shorts and several TV/web shows. Of those 233 feature films, 73 were released in 2025. See where those 73 films landed on my 2025 yearly list [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf). My yearly list will continue to evolve as I catch up on more 2025 movies. But, for now, Paul Thomas Anderson’s *One Battle After Another* is my top flick. I’m also happy to report that 2025 was a record year for MeierMovies, with more than 10,000 visitors. It was another busy festival year for me, as I attended and covered, in chronological order, [the Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo)](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo/), [the Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival/), [the Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival/), [the Global Peace Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival/), [the Sunscreen Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sunscreen-film-festival-turns-20/), [the Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/spooky-empire-horror-film-festival/) and the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** best films of 2025, best movies of 2025 --- ### [Remembering "The People's Director"](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/12/15/remembering-the-peoples-director/) **Published:** December 15, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Rob-Reiner.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Rob-Reiner.jpg)Image copyright IMDB R.I.P., Rob Reiner, who died tragically and violently yesterday in Los Angeles alongside his wife, Michele. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/rob-reiners-generation/ "Rob Reiner’s generation") to read my reflections on his legacy in the wake of his death and the egregious comments from President Trump. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Rob Reiner --- ### [New reviews, and remembering Redford](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/11/11/new-reviews-and-remembering-redford/) **Published:** November 11, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The flurry of important film releases continues as we build toward awards season. If you are a film critic, cinephile or just an average movie fan, it can be difficult to keep up. But I’m doing my best, with my own flurry of reviews. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/ "New Views") to find out what I’ve seen, and reviewed, recently. Though I didn’t write a review, let me say that *The Thing with Feathers*, starring Benedict Cumberbatch is, regrettably, nothing to crow about. (But the Cumberbitches will like it.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/War-Hunt-with-Robert-Redford.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/War-Hunt-with-Robert-Redford.png)Robert Redford in *War Hunt* While watching *War Hunt* on Turner Classic Movies recently, I was reminded that it’s been more than a month and a half since Robert Redford’s passing. TCM showed Redford’s debut film, from 1962, as part of a tribute to the legendary actor-director. When “introducing Robert Redford” came on screen, I admit I got chills, though I doubt I would have spotted greatness from the young actor in this small but meaningful character study of the Korean War. (The film is also notable for the debuts of Sydney Pollack, Tom Skerritt and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Francis Ford Coppola.) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** The Thing with Feathers, War Hunt --- ### [I, Claudia](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/09/24/i-claudia/) **Published:** September 24, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Claudia.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Claudia.png)“I hope you’ll come back someday.” – Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025), from *Once Upon a Time in the West*. R.I.P., great beauty. For information on the life of the iconic Italian actress, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Cardinale). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Claudia Cardinale --- ### [Jimmy Kimmel](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/09/18/jimmy-kimmel/) **Published:** September 18, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jimmy-Kimmel-Live-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jimmy-Kimmel-Live-scaled.jpg)I support Jimmy Kimmel and the First Amendment. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Thanks, Sundance](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/09/16/thanks-sundance/) **Published:** September 16, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Robert-Redford-in-The-Sting.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Robert-Redford-in-The-Sting.jpg)Robert Redford was the king of modern Hollywood and the godfather of independent cinema. He was the Natural. He was the Sundance Kid. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best of the century?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/09/01/best-of-the-century/) **Published:** September 1, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Find out [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/ "Best of the century") what 25 films made my “best of the century” list. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** best films of the century, top movies of the century --- ### [Fall into film festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/08/23/fall-into-film-festivals/) **Published:** August 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") for my annual preview of late-summer and fall festivals in the Orlando area. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Fall festivals, film festivals, Orlando festivals --- ### [Hiatus](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/07/02/hiatus/) **Published:** July 2, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m taking a hiatus from covering and writing about film. While I’m away, check out my latest reviews and articles: [Films of the 34th Annual Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews") [La Gloria](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-gloria/ "La Gloria") (2025; 3 ¾ stars) [Mr. K](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-k/ "Mr. K") (2025; 2 stars) [The Phoenician Scheme](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phoenician-scheme/ "The Phoenician Scheme") (2025; 2 stars) [Stolen Kingdom](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies") (2025; 3 stars) [Time Travel Is Dangerous](https://www.meiermovies.com/time-travel-is-dangerous/ "Time Travel Is Dangerous") (2025; 2 stars) The *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast, which I co-produce with my dad, Paul Meier, is also on hiatus for the rest of the year. Listen to our retrospective of the last eight years [here](https://www.paulmeier.com/2025/07/01/episode-90-a-retrospective-2018-2025/). And watch the video version I created, below: **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Oh, Danny boy!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/06/22/oh-danny-boy/) **Published:** June 22, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Slumdog-Millionaire.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Slumdog-Millionaire.png)White British director Danny Boyle recently said that if his Oscar-winning *Slumdog Millionaire* (2008) were released today, he wouldn’t helm it, citing “cultural appropriation” and “baggage.” Instead, the film would need an Indian director. (See *[The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/slumdog-millionaire-would-not-be-made-today-danny-boyle-1236295795/)*.) As we contemplate a world in which writers and directors are limited to stories and characters that match their own ethnicities and backgrounds, I look forward to condemnations of Indian producer Ismail Merchant (of Merchant Ivory) and his quintessentially English films; Italian writer-director Bernardo Bertolucci, who directed *The Last Emperor*; White British writer-director David Lean, for, among other indiscretions, directing Indian and Arabic characters in *A Passage to India* and *Lawrence of Arabia*, respectively; and straight Taiwanese director Ang Lee, who famously depicted gays and White Brits in *Brokeback Mountain* and *Sense and Sensibility*, respectively. Oh, and since Boyle seems eager to reject *Slumdog*, maybe he could hand over the Oscar to David Fincher, who, that same year, directed *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, a better film. However, since Fincher grew up in California and Oregon, and is White, was he really entitled to direct the film’s Black New Orleans characters? But my greatest censure is saved for Stanley Kubrick and *2001: A Space Odyssey*. That mother-fucker never even went to space! *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** cultural appropriation, Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire --- ### [Remembering Brian Wilson (on film)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/06/13/remembering-brian-wilson-on-film/) **Published:** June 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Brian-Wilson.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Brian-Wilson.jpg)Brian Wilson photo by Michael Ochs/Getty Images As we cinephiles remember the musical giant Brian Wilson, who died on June 11, we might be tempted to turn to the Disney+ documentary *The Beach Boys*, from last year. That’s a decent place to start, but a more interesting take — and a better film — can be found in [*Love & Mercy*](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/ "Love & Mercy"), from 2025, starring Paul Dano and John Cusack as the young and middle-aged Wilson, respectively. As I noted in my original review, “The film’s greatest cultural contribution might be its revelatory portrait of a man we mistakenly thought we already knew – a man who, for much of his life, lacked his own inner harmony despite his ability to create beautiful harmonies for the rest of us.” **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy --- ### [Pride Month: Do not forget the "pansies"](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/06/01/pride-month-do-not-forget-the-pansies/) **Published:** June 1, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gene-Malin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gene-Malin.jpg)Gene Malin As we recognize our modern Pride Month, let us not forget the past. Specifically, let us remember Gene Malin, the pride of the “Pansy Craze” of the late 1920s and early 1930s. [Go here to learn more](https://www.meiermovies.com/pride-of-the-pansy-craze/ "Pride of the Pansy Craze"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Gene Malin, Pansy Craze, Pride Month --- ### [Trump's artistic 'hand'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/31/trumps-artistic-hand/) **Published:** May 31, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Like many other authoritarian leaders, President Trump fancies himself a connoisseur of the arts while simultaneously seeking to eliminate art he deems offensive. Fortunately, the American system of government prevents Trump from controlling the arts the way other nations’ dictators have. Nevertheless, he is pushing U.S. laws to their limits and beyond with his recent efforts to eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s financial support of PBS and NPR, and personally control content at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution. In his latest move, Trump has fired the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. ([See CBSnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-fires-director-smithsonian-national-portrait-gallery-kim-sajet/) for details.) I don’t know what Trump’s favorite film is, but I’m guessing it’s not Czech director Jiří Trnka’s *The Hand*, an animated allegory from 1965. In fact, I doubt he has even seen it. If you have not, check it out below. I guarantee it’s the least Trumpy thing you will see today. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Jiří Trnka, Smithsonian firing, The Hand --- ### [Andy Kaufman is still alive (maybe)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/19/andy-kaufman-is-still-alive-maybe/) **Published:** May 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Jim-Andy.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Jim-Andy.jpg)Andy Kaufman is still alive. OK, probably not, but for the first time I am seriously entertaining the idea that the innovative comedian, actor and performance artist faked his death. The oddities and coincidences are just too great to not consider the possibility. What changed my mind from considering the idea a hoax to a real possibility? I watched two documentaries: *Thank You Very Much* (2023, directed by Alex Braverman), about Kaufman’s life, and *Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond* (2017; directed by Chris Smith), about the odd transformation of Jim Carrey into Kaufman during the filming of *Man on the Moon* (1999). Even after watching those three films, which I encourage you to do, you might conclude that the idea is just a joke. But as for me, I’m still looking for answers from the great beyond. And just in case Andy returns one day, I’m keeping flowers in full bloom. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Andy Kaufman, Jim & Andy, Thank You Very Much, The Great Beyond --- ### [Introducing new list of short films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/13/introducing-a-new-list-of-short-films/) **Published:** May 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Short-Film-by-Year-List-Image.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Short-Film-by-Year-List-Image.jpg)If you’re a fan of short films — or of film history in general — you will enjoy my newest list. It’s a ranking of all the short films I’ve ever seen (about 3,500) by year. My previous lists of short films listed the movies alphabetically and by star rating, but not by year. So this new list is an important resource. Particularly fascinating are the oldest films on the list, the ones dating to the invention of cinema, in 1888. [Go here to see the list](https://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsByYear.pdf). But please keep in mind this list is a work in progress and doesn’t yet go all the way up to 2025. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** cinema history, Short films --- ### [Strangest closing credits?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/13/strangest-closing-credits-ever/) **Published:** May 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tarzan.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Tarzan.jpg)I used to think the closing credits of *Skidoo* (1968), which are sung by Harry Nilsson, were the weirdest in cinema history. But then I reacquainted myself with *Tarzan, the Ape Man* (1981), which features end credits over footage of a topless Bo Derek being groped by an orangutan. I’m trying to imagine director John Derek’s thought process: “Hmm, I could have regular end credits, or I could have this orangutan fondle my naked wife. Let’s see, traditional credits … or monkey porn?” *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC; photo copyright MGM/Svengali Productions* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Skidoo, Tarzan --- ### [Trump deems foreign films a threat](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/04/president-trump-deems-foreign-films-a-threat/) **Published:** May 4, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** For information on the latest announcement by President Trump, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/trump-deems-foreign-films-a-security-threat/ "Trump deems foreign films a threat"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival to begin Friday](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/04/06/florida-film-festival-to-begin-friday/) **Published:** April 6, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FFF-2025-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FFF-2025-logo.jpg)The 34th annual Florida Film Festival is scheduled for April 11-20, at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village. Check out my coverage in *The Orlando Weekly* later this week, including commentary on the opening film, *Stolen Kingdom*, and an interview with the documentary’s director, Joshua Bailey. I might also have more to say about one of the festival’s celebrity guests, Mia Farrow, who will screen *Rosemary’s Baby* on April 18 and participate in a Q&A session. I have seen only six features so far. Reviews will be coming soon, but in advance of the festival (because press is word-limited or embargoed), let me simply say I recommend the Swedish mystery-drama *Unmoored*, the socio-political documentary *Hacking Hate,* the French-English romantic dramedy *Jane Austen Wrecked My Life* and the aforementioned opening documentary. But I can’t recommend the socio-romantic drama *On Swift Horses* or David Cronenberg’s new body-horror-drama *The Shrouds*, though both will likely find their audiences. Don’t wait for any further recommendations from me. Get your tickets now, and learn more, at [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Florida Film Festival, Hacking Hate, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, Stolen Kingdom, Unmoored --- ### [Filmapalooza 2025 concludes](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/04/02/filmapalooza-2025-concludes/) **Published:** April 2, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios--scaled.jpg)Filmapalooza, the international competition of the 48 Hour Film Project, was held March 19-22 in Seattle. For my review of the annual festival, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2025/ "Filmapalooza 2025"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** 48 Hour Film Project, Filmapalooza --- ### [Love Your Shorts 2025 begins](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/02/14/love-your-shorts-2025-begins/) **Published:** February 14, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Cameron-as-sponsor-2025-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Cameron-as-sponsor-2025-scaled.jpg)The 2025 Love Your Shorts Film Festival began last night at the historic Ritz Theater in Sanford, Florida, with Education Day. The fest screened five short films, followed by a discussion panel with four local filmmakers: Albert Gonzalez, Kimberly Di Persia, Jason True and Parissa Glaser. Local filmmaker TL Westgate moderated. The screening and panel were hosted by the Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Education-Day-panel-2025-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Education-Day-panel-2025-scaled.jpg)I attended as both a festival judge and a sponsor, on behalf of Paul Meier Dialect Services and the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA). The five films were screened out of competition, but I would like to commend them all, especially Jason True’s documentary, *Embracing the Silence*, which might be the best OIF film I have ever seen. For my festival coverage, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-15/ "Love Your Shorts turns 15"). I hope to see you all at the fest, which continues today through Sunday. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-2025--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-2025--scaled.jpg) **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Love Your Shorts --- ### [Save the penny!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/02/11/save-the-penny/) **Published:** February 11, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Penny.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Penny.jpg)Save the penny! OK, maybe not THIS penny, which doomed Richard Collier in the time-travel masterpiece [*Somewhere in Time*](https://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/). But, in general, let’s fight Trump’s plan to end production of the mighty penny. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Save the penny, Somewhere in Time --- ### [Trump targets the arts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/02/08/trump-targets-the-arts/) **Published:** February 8, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Kennedy-bust.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Kennedy-bust.jpg)President Trump plans to fire multiple board members of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the preeminent performing-arts institution in Washington, D.C., and install himself as chairman. Though the Kennedy Center is a public-private entity and the president is tasked with appointing board members, this is an unprecedented move, as the Center has always been considered apolitical. In other art-related news, Trump has also fired the archivist of the United States, Colleen J. Shogan, who oversees the National Archives and Records Administration. [See CBSNews](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-fires-kennedy-center-board-chair/) for more information. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Kennedy Center --- ### [Clarity vs. ambiguity](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/01/31/clarity-vs-ambiguity/) **Published:** January 31, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Modern cinema loves vagueness and ambiguity, but they should always have a purpose. If a script is vague, confusing and ambiguous for no reason, it’s simply bad. My favorite quote about this is from C.S. Lewis: “Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn’t, and a single ill-chosen word may lead him to a total misunderstanding. In a story, it is terribly easy just to forget that you have not told the reader something that he needs to know; the whole picture is so clear in your own mind that you forget that it isn’t the same in his.” This is particularly important in documentary filmmaking, which has the unenviable task of trying to be art, entertainment and journalism — all at the same time. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Motion Picture Paradise'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/01/17/motion-picture-paradise/) **Published:** January 17, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Motion-Picture-Paradise-.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Motion-Picture-Paradise-.jpg)When discussing the history of American film, Florida is often overlooked. I find that depressing not just because I live in the Sunshine State but because, in a small way, I was part of that history in the early 1990s when I worked at the Disney-MGM Studios. That experience helped shape my love of film. David Morton, author and lecturer in film and history at the University of Central Florida, shares that love of Florida cinema and television. Indeed, it’s the subject of his new book, *Motion Picture Paradise: A History of Florida’s Film and Television Industry*. I met David last night in Winter Garden at a book signing and lecture, and I recommend his book to all Florida cinephiles and history buffs. Go to [University Press of Florida](https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813069999) for more information or to purchase the book. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** David Morton, Film Florida, Florida film, Motion Picture Paradise --- ### [Movie heritage up in flames](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/01/13/movie-heritage-up-in-flames/) **Published:** January 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Amid the physical devastation of the Los Angeles fires lies the cultural devastation, specifically the loss of many famous sites associated with movies and television. To learn more about the losses, I suggest this article from [*The Los Angeles Times*](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-12/landmarks-lost-palisades-and-eaton-fires?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0jkjcV9E5THrmtuc2cAGEAQDFJzJwEbozvaq1j08Q2LhuwR4AX10-te24_aem_I_NgB-H0syrFdlBo4P3MiQ). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Follow MeierMovies on Instagram](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/12/31/follow-meiermovies-on-instagram/) **Published:** December 31, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Instagram.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Instagram.jpg)I’ve been told all the kiddies are doing it, so MeierMovies is joining the Generation Z bandwagon and creating an Instagram account. (Do Gen Zers even know what a “bandwagon” is? Hey! Get off my lawn!) [Go here to follow MeierMovies on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [8K](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/12/03/8k/) **Published:** December 3, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** No, I’m not talking about the cinematic resolution of the future. I’m talking about 8,000 movies. To the point, I just watched and rated my 8,000th movie. That’s 4,727 features and 3,273 shorts. So what was the 8,000th movie? *Mothers’ Instinct* (3 stars on 0-5 scale), directed by Benoît Delhomme. It’s a remake of a 2018 French film, and it stars Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway. For all the films, see my [lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Ben-Hur' live and in person](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/10/27/ben-hur-live-and-in-person/) **Published:** October 27, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-2-scaled.jpg)Orlando’s Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica and Shrine held a screening of *Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,* the 1925 silent classic, on Friday, October 25. What made this event unique was the presence of Dr. Steven Ball, who accompanied the film on the shrine’s majestic organ. It was almost like having the fictional Ben-Hur himself in attendance. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-scaled.jpg)The film (4 ½ stars on 0-5 scale) is an astonishing achievement for its, or any, time, but several elements are particularly noteworthy for 1925: the two-strip Technicolor sequences, the nudity, the frank discussion of Jewish persecution, the violence and, of course, the famous chariot race. And the presence of Dr. Ball (organist, composer, conductor and specialist in silent-film accompaniment) turned the screening into a sublime outing. (This aging film critic just needs to remember to bring a cushion for those wooden pews next time.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Queen-of-the-Universe-Shrine-October-2024-3-scaled.jpg)You can see Dr. Ball at least twice a year at the historic [Tampa Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/tampa-theatre/ "Tampa Theatre"), at which he is artist in residence. He also serves as organist and director of music at Epiphany Cathedral in Venice, Florida. For more information on him, [click here](https://www.stevenball.com/bio.html). To learn more about the film, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur:_A_Tale_of_the_Christ_(1925_film)). And to find out more about the shrine’s concert series, visit [the website](https://maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/concerts/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Ben-Hur, Mary Queen of the Universe, Steven Ball --- ### [Festivalitis hits Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/09/01/festivalitis-hits-orlando/) **Published:** September 1, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)Fall is approaching fast, and that means one thing to cinephiles in Central Florida: festivals. Though film fests happen throughout the year, autumn always seems the busiest in the City Beautiful. The [Love Your Shorts Summer Rewind](https://www.loveyourshorts.com/) just finished, as did the [Orlando Urban Film Festival](https://orlandouff.com/), and the [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project](https://www.48hourfilm.com/orlando) competition is wrapping up today. Its screening will take place September 21, overlapping the [Global Peace Film Festival](https://peacefilmfest.org/), which runs September 17-22 at various spots in the northern Orlando metro area. Those come just a few days on the heels of the [Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF) “Roar” Challenge screening](https://oifstudio.com/), to be held on September 14 in Altamonte Springs. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)The big fall fest is always the aptly named [Orlando Film Festival](https://www.offvirtual.com/), which runs October 31 – November 7 in downtown Orlando. But don’t forget three smaller, prestigious fests offered by Maitland’s Enzian Theater: the [South Asian Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/) (October 5-7), the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) (November 2-4) and the [Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/brouhaha-film-and-video-showcase/) (November 23-24). And for a completely different experience, there’s the [Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://spookyempire.com/film-festival/), set for October 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency on International Drive. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Global Peace Film Festival, Orlando Film Festival --- ### [Remember the Alamo ...?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/06/16/remember-the-alamo/) **Published:** June 16, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Alamo-Drafthouse.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Alamo-Drafthouse.jpg)Remember the Alamo … Drafthouse, when it was independently owned? Not anymore, as Sony Pictures has purchased the company. Read about it in [*Variety*](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/sony-pictures-buys-alamo-drafthouse-cinemas-1236035292/). This likely would not have happened if the historic Paramount Decree, a 1948 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that broke up the partnerships between studios and cinemas, had not been allowed to sunset in 2020. Though both Netflix and Disney own theaters, this new Sony-Alamo deal represents the most significant union of movie production and movie distribution since Hollywood’s golden age. Though Sony has pledged that Alamo Drafthouse cinemas will continue to screen content from all distributors, the deal has fans worried. But perhaps there’s a silver lining: After filing for bankruptcy in 2021, the company canceled expansion plans and closed some existing cinemas. (The total is now 36.) With Sony investment behind it, let’s hope that Orlando and Kansas City, among other places, will once again remember the Alamo in a good way. For more information on Alamo Drafthouse, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Drafthouse_Cinema). And for more about the 2021 bankruptcy that led to the cinema canceling plans for its Orlando location, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy-scraps-orlando-cinema/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Alamo Drafthouse --- ### [Take THAT, Variety!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/05/22/take-that-variety/) **Published:** May 22, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Moving-Picture-World-1907.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Moving-Picture-World-1907.jpg)Though *Variety* magazine was founded in 1905, it initially covered just theatre and vaudeville, not film. You’d have to wait until 1933, when *Daily Variety* was launched, the read the publication’s coverage of motion pictures. So in those early years of film, many people turned to *The Moving Picture World*. Looking back at past issues, [such as this one from 1907](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Moving-Picture-World.pdf), is a fascinating exercise in time travel. For more information on *The Moving Picture World*, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moving_Picture_World). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [First dummy/doll horror?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/05/21/first-dummy-doll-horror/) **Published:** May 21, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Could *The Doll’s Revenge*, directed by Cecil B. Hepworth in 1907, be the first dummy/doll horror film? And do the twin dolls at the end of the film remind you of the Grady girls in Stanley Kubrick’s *The Shining*? Hepworth was a pioneering British filmmaker who, in 1903, made what is considered the first movie adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s *Alice in Wonderland*. Learn more about Hepworth on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Hepworth). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Let's get real](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/04/23/lets-get-real/) **Published:** April 23, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Real-Life.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Real-Life.jpg)Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I finally saw the directorial debut, from 1979, of one of my favorite writers/actors/comedians, Albert Brooks. The movie, appropriately titled *Real Life* (3 ½ stars on 0-5 scale), is a groundbreaking mockumentary that predates the Christopher Guest films, Woody Allen’s *Zelig* (1983) and *The Truman Show* (1998). The latter, arguably the best mockumentary of all time, owes much to *Real Life*‘s reality-TV subject. Though the film has its flaws and was met with mixed reviews when it premiered, its premise is truly original — or is it? Yes, it precedes most of the well-known pseudo-documentaries, but it’s by no means the first, as [this Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary) discussion reveals. Film scholars often credit that achievement to Luis Buñuel’s 1933 fake social travelogue [*Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Without_Bread), or *Land Without Bread* (2 stars), from 1933. A surreal, disturbing experiment in trickery, the short film, which you can watch below, broke new ground cinematically but is morally and socially deplorable, damaging the public’s trust in journalism, mocking human suffering, and torturing and killing animals. Watch at your own risk. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival begins Friday](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/04/09/florida-film-festival-begins-friday/) **Published:** April 9, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 33rd annual Florida Festival begins Friday in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. For my coverage, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/ "Florida Film Festival 2024"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Florida Film Festival 2024 --- ### [Why I won't watch the Oscars](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/02/25/why-i-wont-watch-the-oscars/) **Published:** February 25, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)I’ve watched every Oscars ceremony since I was a child, except the 2018 show, when I was in Paris. It was televised during the middle of the night there, but I still tried to watch, frantically flipping from channel to channel at 2 a.m. but failing to find it. So I gave up and went to bed. This year I’ll probably be in bed before the show even starts. Why? The Academy has chosen to not broadcast the awards presentations for documentary short, animated short, live-action short, editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design and sound (though they have already folded two sound categories into one). Instead, those awards will be presented before the television show starts. Snippets of the acceptance speeches will then be sandwiched into the live show. So if the Academy deems those awards unworthy of seeing live, I now deem the show itself unworthy of watching live. I’ll catch the news the next day. Defending the decision, Academy President David Rubin said, “We must prioritize the television audience to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic and relevant.” Relevant? What the fuck does that mean? He might as well have thrown in “inclusive,” as both of those terms have, sadly, turned almost totally trite in recent years. The one part of the show I will regret not seeing is the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Rumor has it the Academy will present it to the filmmakers of *Idiocracy*, for their ability to predict the future. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Academy Awards 2022, Oscars 2022 --- ### [Getting short at Sundance](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/01/27/getting-short-at-sundance/) **Published:** January 27, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Zoon.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Zoon.jpeg)*Zoon* Though it saddens me that the Sundance Film Festival went completely virtual this year, the silver lining is more people are able to see the movies. As for me, I’m binging the shorts. If you want some quick recommendations, I suggest ***Bestia***, a darkly disturbing but visually arresting animated tale of suffering, directed by Hugo Covarrubias; ***Écoutez le Battement de Nos Images (Listen to the Beat of Our Images)***, a documentary about the conflict between technological advancement and native-land rights, directed by Audrey and Maxime Jean-Baptiste; ***Stranger than Rotterdam with Sara Driver***, a doc (featuring hand-drawn puppets) about the unlikely creation of Jim Jarmusch’s first feature film, directed by Lewie and Noah Kloster; ***Zoon***, a beautifully surreal animated misadventure directed by Jonatan Schwenk; and ***Training Wheels***, a comedy for every person who feels like he or she was absent from school on the day we learned about dating, directed by and starring Alison Rich in one of the festival’s most endearing and funny performances. But the most brutal and memorable short might be Joey Izzo’s ***You‘ve Never Been Completely Honest***, a partially animated doc about the business seminar from hell. For ratings of more than 2,600 short films from 1888 to today, check out my lists of short films, which you can find indexed at the bottom of my [Movie Lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) page. For more information about the festival, visit [Sundance.org](https://www.sundance.org/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Sundance Film Festival --- ### [TV/web films join theatrical releases](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/01/07/tv-web-films-join-theatrical-releases/) **Published:** January 7, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Frequent visitors to MeierMovies will notice a big change today. In a sign of the times, I have merged my small TV/web/streaming film list with my big theatrical-release one. This means you will no longer have to view a separate list to find films that never received a cinematic release. Instead, all movies will be listed together. Reviews have also been merged into one grouping, regardless of how the movie was shown. But because these distinctions still matter, I have adopted a new labeling system. Feature films that never received a theatrical or major-festival release now carry the TV/Web/NT designation (“NT” meaning non-theatrical) while films that appeared on TV or the internet first and subsequently received a theatrical release (general, limited or appearing at at least two major festivals) will carry the Hybrid tag. If no tag is present, the film enjoyed a traditional cinematic release or premiered at two or more major festivals. Short films have also been merged. This means internet shorts, music videos and other short films that never appeared in theaters can be found alongside theatrical shorts on my lists of short movies, which are now indexed at the bottom of my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). If you’re looking for my [Short Film of the Day page](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/), it is now indexed on the [About](https://www.meiermovies.com/about/) page. (Of course, TV shows are still a different animal and get their [separate page and list](https://www.meiermovies.com/tv-and-web-shows/).) These changes were implemented to make it easier to find the films you’re looking for. The site’s menu bar has also been tweaked to make it more user-friendly, with [reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/), [lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) and [non-review film articles](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-news/) all getting their own tabs. But the timing is admittedly influenced by the affect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the industry. Even before the pandemic, theatrical windows were shrinking, and the line between theatrical and streaming content was becoming blurred. Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences relaxed their Oscar standards for 2020 and 2021 to allow non-theatrical content to compete, provided those films had originally planned a theatrical release. Though the Academy says this move is temporary, the industry will likely never return to months-long theatrical windows and concrete distinctions between cinematic and television/web content. So MeierMovies has adapted. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best films of 2021?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/12/31/best-films-of-2021/) **Published:** December 31, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hand-of-God.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Hand-of-God.jpg)As 2021 comes to a close, all movie fans — especially film critics — feel pressure to reveal their lists of the year’s best films. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: Many critics haven’t seen enough good films by December 31 to form an accurate list. And, sadly, that includes members of reputable groups such as the Hollywood Foreign Press and various critics circles. Most often missing from these rushed rankings are little-known independent and foreign films, documentaries that didn’t get a wide festival release and small films with no marketing budget. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Mass.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Mass.jpg)But pressure is pressure. Society likes its year-end lists. And so do I. But if 2021 — a year in which I took a sabbatical from regular film reviewing — has taught me anything, it’s that some of the things that I thought mattered really don’t. So instead of pretending like my list is the cat’s pajamas and others’ are dirty laundry, I’m going to wait until closer to Oscar time to politely put forth my rankings, which, of course, keep changing as I see more movies. Until then, I’ll simply direct you to my ever-evolving [Yearly List](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf), which ranks all the feature films I’ve ever seen, by year, from 1911 to today. That’s 4,082 movies. So you better get busy watching. But if you want a 2021 CliffNotes, do not miss Paolo Sorrentino’s *The Hand of God*, Fran Kranz’s *Mass* and Jane Campion’s *The Power of the Dog*, which is probably the early Oscar favorite. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Best films of 2021, The Hand of God --- ### [Short films from Manhattan to Mumbai](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/09/28/short-films-from-manhattan-to-mumbai/) **Published:** September 28, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Kicksled-Choir.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Kicksled-Choir.png)*The Kicksled Choir* Last night I attended the Manhattan Short Film Festival at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater, one of the hundreds of cinemas worldwide screening the event from September 23 through October 3. ([Go here](https://manhattanshort.com/) to learn more about the fest and find a cinema near you.) Manhattan Short began in 1998 with a screen attached to the side of a truck in New York City. It has since grown into the largest event of its kind, bringing the world together through short films. The 10 films screened this year aren’t as impressive as in years past, but there are still several worth watching. And one of the coolest aspects of the fest is that the audience gets to vote for best film and best actor. My top film this year is [*The Kicksled Choir*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11897054/) (4 stars on 0-5 scale) from Norway, directed by Torfinn Iversen. It’s a unique, sometimes bleak and ultimately uplifting tale of a young boy torn between his feelings for his father, his desire to join a local singing group and his own sense of right and wrong. *Archibald’s Syndrome* (3 stars) is my second choice. Adding a decidedly welcome dose of surreal comedy to the program, the French-language film directed by Daniel Perez deserves a great big hand — and an arm. (Just wait and see.) Short films return to the Enzian Theater on Sunday, October 3, with [Chhota Cinema: New Indian Shorts 2021](https://enzian.org/film/chhota-cinema-new-indian-shorts-2021/). The five shorts, totally 94 minutes, are part of the arthouse cinema’s 27th annual [South Asian Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/). To get a sense of the overall festival, I invite you to [check out my coverage of the 2019 event](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/). And if you’re a true aficionado of short films, [visit my short-film lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsByStarRating.pdf), which rate more than 2,500 short films from 1888 to 2021. Happy festing. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Manhattan Short Film Festival --- ### [Telluride: Gotta be vaxxed](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/07/03/telluride-gotta-be-vaxxed/) **Published:** July 3, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)The Telluride Film Festival announced yesterday that it is requiring that all attendees at indoor theaters at the 2021 festival show proof of a COVID vaccination. Festival passholders are being asked to upload their vaccination cards in advance. There’s no word yet on whether the festival will accept medical exceptions and/or proof of a negative COVID test in place of a vaccination card. “To ensure a safe, as well as relaxed, few days in the mountains, we are asking all attendees who intend to join us this year to be vaccinated against Covid-19, as an act of kindness and community support, and to assist us in creating a secure environment for reconvening the Telluride experience,” the festival stated in an e-mail to passholders. “Please take a moment to upload your vaccination card. … Receipt of this information will be required for admittance to festival theaters and other indoor venues, including any shuttle services. We appreciate your understanding and commitment to a healthy re-opening of arts and culture experiences worldwide. For any friends you may know who are intending to join us without passes, we appreciate you sharing this information. Individual indoor venues will have a vaccination card check point at each box office, for those wishing to buy individual tickets or enter a free screening.” The festival, held at various venues in Telluride, Colorado, is considered one of the big three September festivals, along with Toronto and Venice. This year’s dates are September 2-6. [Click here for my 2019 coverage](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Telluride-2021.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Telluride-2021.png)In contrast to Telluride, the Cannes Film Festival, which begins July 6, is encouraging festival-goers to get vaccinated but not requiring it. Instead, it is allowing them to show proof of vaccination, a recent positive antibody test result or ongoing negative COVID test results while at the event. Still, Cannes’ procedures are not without their complications, [as *Variety* reports](https://variety.com/2021/film/news/cannes-covid-saliva-tests-1235011802/). **UPDATE:** On August 11, the festival announced that in addition to all attendees being required to show proof of vaccination, they must show a negative COVID test within 72 hours of picking up their festival pass, must carry their vaccination card with them at all times and must wear masks at all screenings. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Telluride Film Festival --- ### [A nod to Ned](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/06/29/a-nod-to-ned/) **Published:** June 29, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ned-Beatty-in-Robert-Altmans-Nashville.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ned-Beatty-in-Robert-Altmans-Nashville.jpg)Ned Beatty in Robert Altman’s *Nashville*, from 1975 (image courtesy IMDB) When I learned of the passing of Ned Beatty earlier this month, at age 83, I couldn’t help feeling that a large part of the 1970s had died. That might sound odd considering Beatty never rose to the level of Pacino, Hoffman, Nicholson or the other male actors who defined that decade. Beatty instead carved out his cinema niche in much the same way as John Cazale, who too exhibited an uncanny knack for picking great films and making them even better with memorable supporting turns. For Beatty, it was, of course, the role of Bobby Trippe, in *Deliverance*, that established him as a star and has forever come to define male rape in the movies. For many actors, having a great role like that in just one of the 200 best films of all time (at least according to my list) would be enough to cement a legacy. But Beatty followed that with great turns in *Nashville*, *All the President’s Men* and *Network*: all top-200 movies. Equally memorable were his comedic roles in *1941* and *Superman*. And he continued to act up until 2013, with roles in more great films such as *Toy Story 3* and *Charlie Wilson’s War*. Still, he’ll forever be associated with the cinema of the ‘70s. And, like a lot of great male character actors of that generation, he seems forever frozen at 40. It’s difficult to imagine him at 83. It’s even more difficult to imagine him gone. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Ned Beatty --- ### [Regal closing again](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/05/regal-closing-again/) **Published:** October 5, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Regal-Cinemas-closing-2020-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Regal-Cinemas-closing-2020-2.jpg)“Temporarily closed” signs greet visitors to the Regal cinema in Winter Park, Florida. With the continued postponement of major studio releases and audiences reluctant to return, Regal Cinemas — the second-largest chain in the United States — has announced it is closing all 536 American locations temporarily, again. Regal’s parent company, Cineworld, will also be shuttering its 127 cinemas in the United Kingdom. The timetable for reopening is unclear but has been estimated at two months from now. Roughly 45,000 employees are affected. For more information, see [*The Wall Street Journal*](https://www.wsj.com/articles/regal-cinemas-likely-suspending-operations-at-all-u-s-locations-11601793090). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Regal Cinemas --- ### [Old Hollywood has died: Olivia de Havilland, 104, is gone](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/26/old-hollywood-has-died-olivia-de-havilland-104-is-gone/) **Published:** July 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Olivia-de-Havilland.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Olivia-de-Havilland.jpg)To paraphrase Rhett Butler in *Gone with the Wind*: It’s a historic moment. You can tell your grandchildren how you watched Old Hollywood disappear one night. Olivia de Havilland, the last major star of the Golden Age of movies, has died at age 104. The legendary actress is perhaps best remembered for co-starring in *GWTW*, the highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation. But she was much more: a two-time Oscar winner (*The Heiress*, *To Each His Own*), three-time nominee, ambassador of culture and champion of actor rights. In 1943, she won the “de Havilland decision,” which freed performers from restrictive studio contracts and guaranteed them increased negotiating power. And even when she lost, she won victories for actors: Her loss of the supporting-actress Oscar to Hattie McDaniel in 1939 was a monumental moment for Black actors in America. With de Havilland’s death, Mickey Kuhn, 87, who played young Beau Wilkes, is *GWTW*‘s last surviving credited cast member. However, 81-year-old Greg Giese (baby Beau and baby Bonnie) is still alive, along with 101-year-old Caren Marsh Doll (a guest at the Wilkes barbecue and the Atlanta bazaar) and about 10 other extras. (Interestingly, Doll was Judy Garland’s stand-in on *The Wizard of Oz*, making her the last surviving person to have worked on both films.) Speaking of her character in *GWTW*, de Havilland said, “There is a special place in my heart for … Melanie. She was a remarkable character – a loving person – and because of that, she was a happy person.” De Havilland was also remarkable, and loving. And I hope she was happy. Because the world is sad today. Read more about de Havilland in [Variety](https://variety.com/2020/film/news/olivia-de-havilland-dead-died-gone-with-the-wind-1234716790/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Telluride Film Festival canceled](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/14/telluride-film-festival-canceled/) **Published:** July 14, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)The 2020 Telluride Film Festival has been canceled, event organizers announced today. Considered one of the world’s top four fall festivals, the cancellation of Telluride due to COVID-19 will likely affect other movie events in the coming months, including the other three majors: Toronto, New York and Venice. (Venice, the world’s oldest film festival, and New York are still on schedule, at least for now. However, Toronto has already announced that its festival will be largely virtual this year.) I attended last year’s Telluride Film Festival and was eagerly anticipating this year’s event. But it wasn’t to be. I look forward to seeing you all back in the prettiest town in Colorado in 2021. Here is the full statement from Telluride: “After months of intense due diligence around physically holding an event, we’ve come to the heartbreaking but unanimous conclusion to cancel this year’s Labor Day celebration of film in Telluride. While there will be those who might say they’re not surprised by it, that this was inevitable, we beg to differ. It didn’t have to be this way. Until the past week or so, we had a very good plan to put on the SHOW safely. But with a seemingly unending number of new cases of Covid-19 and the national chaos around it, even the best strategy is threatened by this out of control environment. No matter how much many of us wear our masks and observe social distancing protocols, the pandemic has worsened rather than improved and the health and safety of you – our passholders, filmmakers, the people of Telluride and its surrounding areas – cannot be compromised. As you may know, we have been working cooperatively with our fellow fall film festival partners to champion global cinema and its artists. We hope that many of you will seek out and discover the titles we’ve selected for this year’s program at the New York Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, or Venice Film Festival, or when they’re made available on a wider basis. We will announce soon what we have carefully programmed in the hopes that you will experience as we did, the best in film this year. There are some incredible, powerful, and beautiful gems and we’re excited to extol their virtues when the time is right. Follow these titles, support them. We intend to champion them outside of the festival as best we can. For those who have supported us and believe in what we are trying to do, our gratitude is enormous. Thank you. We will need you in the coming months in many ways. Let’s light candles now to conjure a better 2021 and Labor Day weekend in Telluride, together, under the stars in the mountains doing what many of us love the most. The way we prefer to experience cinema will return. Let’s make it so. We wish you good health, peace and may we collectively move forward to a better world.” **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Telluride Film Festival --- ### [Orlando Film Festival begins today](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/10/17/orlando-film-festival-begins-today/) **Published:** October 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)The Orlando Film Festival starts today at the Cobb Plaza Cinema Cafe in downtown Orlando and continues through October 24. Perhaps the festival’s biggest get of this year — or any year — is the Florida premiere of Taika Waititi’s *JoJo Rabbit* (3 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale). Wonderfully and irresistibly askew in its sensibility, the film is the most eclectic mix of comedy and drama you’re likely to see at the cinema in 2019. Considering the subject matter — a young Nazi (in 1945 Germany) whose favorite buddy is his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler — you’d think the film would be doomed to tasteless failure. But Waititi stirs the dangerous mix of silliness and pathos into the anti-bigotry brew that fits our current zeitgeist, while only occasionally dabbling in his broader, less mature comedy of *Hunt for the Wilderpeople* and *What We Do in the Shadows*. (Roman Griffin Davis, as the boy, and Scarlett Johansson, as his mom, are both superb. This marks Johansson’s second triumph of 2019, if you include the upcoming *Marriage Story*.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/JoJo-Rabbit.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/JoJo-Rabbit.jpg)Roman Griffin Davis, Taika Waititi and Scarlett Johansson star in *Jojo Rabbit*. (image copyright Fox Searchlight) The film will be playing the festival on Saturday at 8 p.m. (For details, see [OrlandoFilmFest.com](https://orlandofilmfest.com/movies/jojo-rabbit-6/) and [OrlandoWeekly.com](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/10/15/orlando-film-festival-nabs-taika-waititis-jojo-rabbit-for-its-florida-premiere).) My recommendation would be to buy a day pass for $20 and get there early — very early — to guarantee yourself a seat. If you miss it at the festival, there’s plenty of other stuff to see. My personal favorites are the shorts, and I’ll be seeing a lot of them over the weekend. Look for my blog at [OrlandoWeekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com) on Monday. And look for a wide release of *JoJo Rabbit* in early November. (Orlando will get it on November 8.) *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* [*See my follow-up article.*](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-2019/) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Globes are reborn](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/01/08/globes-are-reborn/) **Published:** January 8, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Holdovers.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Holdovers.jpg)Paul Giamatti, right, took home the Globe for best actor in a comedic/musical film, for *The Holdovers*. The Golden Globes were reborn last night in Beverly Hills, sans the Hollywood Foreign Press. And although my own choices disagreed significantly with the Globes’ picks — hey, it wouldn’t be an awards ceremony if that didn’t happen — I am thrilled that *Anatomy of a Fall* was recognized for best film not in English and best screenplay. I’m also overjoyed to see Paul Giamatti selected as best actor in a comedic/musical movie, for *The Holdovers*. Congrats! For a full list of the nominees and winners, visit [CBSNews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-globes-winners-2024-list/). And for my work-in-progress list of the best films of 2023, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Anatomy of a Fall, Golden Globes, Paul Giamatti --- ### [Farewell, Tom](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/01/01/farewell-tom/) **Published:** January 1, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Image copyright Larry Busacca/Getty Images.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Tom-Wilkinson.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Tom-Wilkinson.jpg)Image copyright Larry Busacca/Getty Images [Tom Wilkinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wilkinson) was known to most as an actor in *The Full Monty*, for which he won a BAFTA, and *In the Bedroom* and *Michael Clayton*, for which he garnered Academy Award nominations. But for me, he was a friend. A school chum and colleague of my dad, Paul, Tom was an immensely talented performer. But I’ll remember him most for inviting my parents and me to dinner at his house in London many years ago. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing many celebrities over the years, but Tom is the only major talent I knew personally. I’ll miss him. Tom died on Saturday at the age of 75. Condolences to his wife, Diana Hardcastle, and their daughters, Alice and Molly. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Tom Wilkinson --- ### [Top films of the year](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/12/07/best-films-of-2023/) **Published:** December 7, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Best-of-2023_1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Best-of-2023_1.jpg)As the year draws to a close, critics and audiences alike are compiling their “best of 2023” lists. Though this year has been a challenging one for me personally, with less time to watch films, I’m slowly catching up. In the coming weeks, my list will be changing constantly and probably won’t even begin to form an accurate shape until close to Oscar time. But, for now, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf) to see my assessment of the best of 2023 (that I’ve seen so far). On this list, you will also find my assessment of every year going back to the dawn of feature filmmaking. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Best films of 2023, Best movies of 2023 --- ### [Enzian ups its resolution](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/12/07/enzian-ups-its-resolution/) **Published:** December 7, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In a triumph for Orlando-area cinephiles, the Enzian Theater, Central Florida’s premier arthouse cinema, has upgraded its projection from 2K to 4K. [See the full story here](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-gets-4k-projector/ "Enzian Theater gets 4K projector"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Enzian, Enzian Theater --- ### ['The Iceman' finally cometh to my house](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/02/07/the-iceman-has-finally-arrived-at-my-house/) **Published:** February 7, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just watched all four hours of director John Frankenheimer’s 1973 version of Eugene O’Neill’s *The Iceman Cometh* (2 ¼ stars on my 0-5 scale), starring Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Fredric March and and 23-year-old Jeff Bridges. It’s the first American movie with two intermissions. I’m happy (and ashamed it’s taken me this long) to now be acquainted with O’Neill’s epic play, but I must agree with *The New York Times*‘ Vincent Camby, who wrote, “You get the feeling that you’re being taken on a guided tour of one of the greatest American plays ever written, instead of seeing a screen adaptation with a life of its own.” **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Eugene O'Neill, Frankenheimer, The Iceman --- ### ['Judgment Night' for Nehemiah Persoff](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/04/27/judgment-night-for-nehemiah-persoff/) **Published:** April 27, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nehemiah-Persoff.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nehemiah-Persoff.jpg)Image courtesy IMDB In 2020, I wrote of the connection between iconic character actors Nehemiah Persoff and Norman Lloyd, and marveled at the fact that both centenarians were still alive. Sadly, Lloyd passed away last year and Persoff just three weeks ago. (See [Deadline.com](https://deadline.com/2022/04/nehemiah-persoff-dead-obituary-actor-yentl-gunsmoke-was-102-1234995573/).) I encourage you to revisit [my original post from two years ago](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/04/19/rediscoveries/) and join me in celebrating the career of Persoff who, though not well known to today’s audiences, starred in probably the greatest *Twilight Zone* episode of all time (“Judgment Night,” from 1959) and also gave one of the greatest supporting performances during the 10-year-run of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*. Persoff’s surly gem came in “Heart of Gold” (season three, episode four). (As for my promised article on the best episodes of that famous TV show, that is coming soon.) Persoff’s best known big-screen appearance might have been as Little Bonaparte in *Some Like it Hot*, but there was nothing little about that performance or the man. He was an acting giant from the moment he joined the inaugural class of Elia Kazan’s Actors Studio in 1947 until his retirement in 2003 with more than 200 credits to his name. In the aforementioned *Twilight Zone* episode, his character, a former U-boat commander, is doomed to spend eternity riding the ghost of the ship he sank during World War II. That’s his judgment in the afterlife. As for Persoff — if you believe in such things — the judgment meted out to him will be resplendent. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Nehemiah Persoff --- ### [Last call, Joe](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/02/last-call-joe/) **Published:** July 2, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Joe-Turkel-and-Cameron-at-Spooky-2014.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Joe-Turkel-and-Cameron-at-Spooky-2014.jpg)I learned today of the passing of the world’s favorite movie bartender, [Joe Turkel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Turkel), who departed this realm on June 27 (*Somewhere in Time* day), at age 94. Known principally for his performances as Lloyd the drink slinger in *The Shining* and Dr. Eldon Tyrell in *Blade Runner*, Turkel has the distinction of being one of just two actors to appear in three Stanley Kubrick films. (He had parts in *The Killing*, *Paths of Glory* and *The Shining*, while Philip Stone appeared in *The Shining* (as Delbert Grady), *Barry Lyndon* and *A Clockwork Orange*.) I met Joe in 2014 and was impressed by his friendliness and generosity. He clearly had great respect for his fans and Kubrick, whom he called the “finest director of them all.” If you believe in such things, let’s hope Joe, Philip and Stanley are sharing a drink at that big Overlook bar in the sky. Your money’s no good there, boys. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Joe Turkel --- ### [Catching up on some classics](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/25/catching-up-on-some-classics/) **Published:** July 25, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Here-Comes-Mr.-Jordan-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Here-Comes-Mr.-Jordan-scaled.jpg)*Here Comes Mr. Jordan* Thanks to Netflix discs and Turner Classic Movies (both of which I highly recommend), I’ve been catching up on some classics that I’m ashamed to admit I had never seen: [*Here Comes Mr. Jordan*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Mr._Jordan), (1941, 4 ¼ stars on my 0-5 scale); [*Rachel, Rachel*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel,_Rachel) (1968, 3 ¾ stars); [*Paris Blues*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Blues) (1961, 3 ¾ stars); and [*The Nightcomers*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightcomers) (1972; 3 ¼ stars). *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* is the original cinematic version of the Harry Segal play *Heaven Can Wait*, which received an even better movie adaptation by Warren Beatty in 1978. The original, starring Robert Montgomery and Claude Rains, is so good that I felt compelled to bump Beatty’s version down slightly on my top 200 list, as it borrows so heavily from the earlier film. *Rachel, Rachel* is Paul Newman’s directorial debut, and it stars Joanne Woodward in an Oscar-nominated performance, while *Paris Blues* is another Newman-Woodward collaboration, helmed by Martin Ritt and co-starring Sidney Poitier and Louis Armstrong. If you’re a fan of either Paris or jazz, see this film. If you’re a fan of both, see it NOW. Both films challenge the sexual and social boundaries of 1960s cinema. Lastly, *The Nightcomers* is the prequel to Henry James’ *The Turn of the Screw* (and its film adaptation, *The Innocents*). It wasn’t particularly well received back in 1972, but it’s quite good, and disturbingly erotic. Sexy co-star Stephanie Beacham holds her own (and then some) with Brando, who is doing a thick Irish dialect. For all my film ratings, go to my [Movie Lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) page. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Paris Blues, The Nightcomers --- ### [Farewell to Paul Sorvino, David Warner](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/26/farewell-to-paul-sorvino-and-david-warner/) **Published:** July 26, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Time-Bandits.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Time-Bandits.png)David Warner in *Time Bandits* (image copyright HandMade Films) The recent deaths of character actors [Paul Sorvino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Sorvino) and [David Warner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Warner_(actor)) conjure up very different memories for me. Warner was a fixture of my early movie-watching, with three of his memorable roles haunting my childhood: Henry Niles in *Straw Dogs* (1971), Jennings in *The Omen* (1976) and Evil Genuis in *Time Bandits*. His prolific career was crammed with other creepy characters — and some nice ones — but those three, for me, came to epitomize the British actor. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino.jpg)Paul Sorvino (image courtesy of Florida Film Festival) I got to know Sorvino later in my life, but his memory is even stronger in my mind thanks to my interview with him in 2014. Done in conjunction with his appearance at the Florida Film Festival, that conversation allowed me to experience both his powerful personality and grace. He certainly couldn’t have been kinder or more gracious to a relatively unknown film critic. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/) to listen to the interview. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** David Warner, Paul Sorvino --- ### [Top 10 directorial debuts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/01/top-10-directorial-debuts/) **Published:** August 1, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-493633015.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-493633015.jpg) Undercutting the conventional narrative that a novice helmer cannot create a masterpiece, I present my list of the top 10 feature directorial debuts of all time. Surprisingly, all of these movies are in my top 200, which you can [find here](https://www.meiermovies.com/StarRatings.pdf). Just missing the top 10 (but still in my top 200) are additional masterpieces such as [*Loving Vincent*](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/), directed by Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela (her second feature); *The Lion King*, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff; *The Shawshank Redemption*, directed by Frank Darabont; and *Easy Rider*, directed by Dennis Hopper. Among recent debuts, let me commend Ari Aster for 2018’s [*Hereditary*](http://www.meiermovies.com/hereditary/) and Fran Kranz for 2021’s *Mass*. Experience shmexperience! 1\. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles) (1941) 2\. [Harlan County U.S.A.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) (Barbara Kopple) (1976) 3\. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet) (1957) 4\. Arthur (Steve Gordon) (1981) 5\. Duel (Steven Spielberg) (1971) 6\. Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton) (1996) 7\. American Beauty \* (Sam Mendes) (1999) 8\. Chicago \* (Rob Marshall) (2002) 9\. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols) (1966) 10\. Ordinary People \* (Robert Redford) (1980) For my other top-10 lists (by genre or category), [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/). *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *Image courtesy of iStockPhoto (#493633015 by [Wetcake](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/wetcake?assettype=image&mediatype=illustration&sort=best))* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** best first film, directorial debut --- ### [Odd movie pairings](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/04/movie-pairings/) **Published:** August 4, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Mystery-of-the-Wax-Museum.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Mystery-of-the-Wax-Museum.jpg)*Mystery of the Wax Museum* I’m fascinated with interesting and weird movie groupings, such as films that share actors, directors, writers, themes or stories. And I recently experienced perhaps the oddest pairings ever. I watched two of the original screwball comedy/horror films (directed by Michael Curtiz), from the early 1930s (in two-strip Technicolor): [*Doctor X*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_X_(film)) (1 star on 0-5 scale) and [*Mystery of the Wax Museum*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_of_the_Wax_Museum) (2 ¾ stars). The similarities between the two films are obviously abundant, but the results diverge wildly, thanks to the latter being far scarier (as it reinvents the sub-genre of wax-museum horror arguably begun by *Waxworks* in 1924) and also much funnier (when it chooses to be funny), thanks to superior performances and pacing. Still, both movies represent an odd time in both the history of filmmaking and the career of Curtiz, who, 10 years, later would direct *Casablanca*. It’s also worth noting that the remake, 1953’s *House of Wax*, with Vincent Price, also prominently featured a cinematographic innovation (or gimmick, if you prefer): 3-D. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Devil-and-Miss-Jones-and-The-Devil-in-Miss-Jones.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Devil-and-Miss-Jones-and-The-Devil-in-Miss-Jones.jpg)An even stranger — but irresistible — pairing is [*The Devil and Miss Jone*s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_and_Miss_Jones) (2 ½ stars), directed in 1941 by Sam Wood, and the porn classic [*The Devil in Miss Jones*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_in_Miss_Jones) (1 star), directed in 1973 by Gerard Damiano. In the former, the devil comes in an unexpected form while in the latter the devil cums in an unexpected form. For Damiano’s film, don’t let the 1-star rating fool you: This is the *Citizen Kane* of pornography. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Doctor X, movie pairings, Mystery of the Wax Museum, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Devil in Miss Jones --- ### [Into the 'Outer Limits'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/07/into-the-outer-limits/) **Published:** August 7, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits.jpg)I’ve spent the last several months watching (or, in some instances, rewatching) all 49 episodes of *The Outer Limits*, the classic science-fiction television show from the 1960s. [Check out my end results here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-outer-limits/ "The Outer Limits"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Outer Limits --- ### [Bill Maher on movie casting](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/13/bill-maher-on-movie-casting/) **Published:** August 13, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** As he has done on countless other topics, Bill Maher offers his valuable take on today’s movie casting while diffusing the political tension with humor. Even if you don’t concur with Maher, I hope you’ll agree that his perspective is important. I put this out here without editorial comment, except to express my desire that the playing field of film casting be an equitable one, filled with fairness but also characterized by common sense and freedom of artistic expression. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Bill Maher, Movie casting --- ### [Orlando welcomes its fall fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/10/11/orlando-welcomes-its-fall-fests/) **Published:** October 11, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)The fall is a good time for fans of film festivals in Orlando. Actually, any time of year is. But the autumn tends to be particularly packed. The [Global Peace Film Festival](https://peacefilmfest.org/) and the Enzian Theater’s [South Asian Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/) just wrapped, and it will soon be time for the [Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://spookyempire.com/film-festival/), to be held October 21-23 at the Orange County Convention Center. I’m a judge this year, and I’d like thank the organizers, particularly Aléa Figueroa, for the opportunity to witness a lot of blood and gore, which I detest. Good times! The biggest Florida fest of them all, when judging by number of movies (more than 300 features and shorts), is the [Orlando Film Festival](https://www.offvirtual.com/). That event will run October 27 through November 3 at the CMX Plaza Cinema Cafe downtown. (One of the best feature films at this year’s event will be *The Justice of Bunny King*, which played April’s Florida Film Festival. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-justice-of-bunny-king/) for my review.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Jewish-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Jewish-Film-Festival.jpg)Next up will be another of the Enzian’s mini-fests, the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/), November 12-15, followed by yet another of the art cinema’s events, the [Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/brouhaha-film-and-video-showcase/), with tentative dates of November 19-20. With all these fests and more, plus great autumn weather, there is no excuse to remain at home. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Fall festivals, Global Peace Film Festival, Orlando festivals, South Asian Film Festival --- ### [The best films of 2022](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/12/16/the-best-films-of-2022/) **Published:** December 16, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Banshees-of-Inisherin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Banshees-of-Inisherin.jpg)*The Banshees of Inisherin* is my pick (so far) for best film of 2022. As the year is drawing to a close, the annual scramble to compile “best of 2022” lists is heating up. As usual, I probably won’t be happy with my list until well into the new year. And even then, mine is a list that keeps changing once I discover new films — and that process takes years. For now, I’m happy to remind you that my yearly list is always [available here](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf), with updates coming almost every day. The list ranks not just the 2022 films I’ve seen but all 4,000+ feature films I’ve ever viewed. Of course, I don’t expect you to agree with my subjective rankings. There are times when I don’t even agree with them. But I do encourage you to pay attention to the movies at the top of the list for each year. Those are the ones that inspire, entertain, enlighten and make our lives a bit more meaningful. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Banshees of Inisherin, Best films of 2022, Best movies of 2022 --- ### [OIF comes to Tampa](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/09/22/oif-comes-to-tampa/) **Published:** September 22, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OIF-Tampa.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/OIF-Tampa.jpg)The Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF), until now confined to Orlando, Florida, will hold their first event in Tampa on September 30. I was proud to be a judge for the competition, which is a great way for beginner, low-budget and independent filmmakers to showcase their talents. The screening will take place at AMC Westshore 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. [Go here](https://oifstudio.com/2023-genesis-challenge/) for more information. **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Genesis Challenge, OIF, Organization of Independent Filmmakers --- ### ['Kes'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/07/20/kes/) **Published:** July 20, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kes.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kes.jpg)For the first time ever, I watched an English-language film with the subtitles on. The film is *Kes*, director Ken Loach’s wonderful kitchen-sink drama from 1969, with heavy Yorkshire dialect and slang. It’s the best movie I’ve seen so far in my final Netflix disc binge. ([The disc program is going away on September 29](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-death-of-netflix-discs/).) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [3,000 shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/03/31/3000-shorts/) **Published:** March 31, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In addition to ratings of approximately 4,300 feature films, MeierMovies includes ratings for short films too. And those ratings just reached 3,000! Check out all of these 3,000 short films plus all my other lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** Short films --- ### [The end of an era](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/04/20/the-end-of-an-era/) **Published:** April 20, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)In a devastating blow to film lovers, critics and historians, Netflix is discontinuing its disc-by-mail program in September. For more information, [see my article](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-death-of-netflix-discs/ "The death of Netflix discs"). **Categories:** Uncategorized **Tags:** DVD.com, Netflix, Netflix discs --- ### [Manhattan Short Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/manhattan-short-film-festival/) **Published:** October 1, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Manhattan-Short-Film-Festival.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Manhattan-Short-Film-Festival.jpg)The Big Apple meets Maitland as the Enzian Theater will host the 20th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival on October 2, at 6:30 p.m. But Central Florida’s leading art-house cinema is not alone, as the 20-year-old event – which bills itself as the largest global film festival – will screen in more than 250 theaters across six continents. The festival will feature 10 short films from the United States, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Syria and the United Kingdom. They were selected from 1,615 submissions from 75 countries. Audiences will vote for best film and best actor. This year’s offerings include the United Kingdom’s *Hope Dies Last*, a World War II drama; Georgia’s *8 Minutes*, a whimsical look at the end of the world; and the U.S. selection *Fickle Bickle*, a romantic comedy with a twist. Visit [www.ManhattanShort.com](http://www.ManhattanShort.com) or for more information. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Introducing my "New Views" page](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/13/introducing-my-new-views-page/) **Published:** August 13, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What has Cameron watched recently?” Well, even if you haven’t, you now have an easy way of finding out. Check out my [New Views page](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/ "New Views"), which lists all the stuff (feature films, shorts and TV/web shows) that I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, plus their star ratings. (This page is permanently indexed on this site’s widget section, right above “blogs,” and on the [About page](https://www.meiermovies.com/about/ "About").) As always, you can find my [latest reviews here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Monsters University' beats 'World War Z'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/06/24/monsters-university-beats-world-war-z/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *Monsters University* has scared away the competition this weekend, beating out *World War Z*. Box office results [here](http://www.today.com/entertainment/monsters-university-scares-82-million-overcomes-zombie-hordes-6C10423618). Click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-university) to read my review. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [7K](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/22/7k/) **Published:** July 22, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** While most people are talking about 2K, 4K or 8K, I’m more concerned with 7K. Specifically, I’m celebrating the rating of my 7,000th movie. That total includes 4,234 features and 2,766 shorts. So, what was the 7,000th? The 1958 Chuck Jones cartoon [*Robin Hood Daffy*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Daffy). As is the case with a lot of classic shorts, I had seen this one many times before but never bothered to rate it on my list. But it now has a proud place among the other 5-star films. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) to view all my lists. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Rediscoveries](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/04/19/rediscoveries/) **Published:** April 19, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nehemiah-Persoff.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nehemiah-Persoff.jpg)Nehemiah Persoff (images courtesy IMDB) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Norman-Lloyd.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Norman-Lloyd.jpg)Norman Lloyd One way I’m passing the time during the coronavirus pandemic is to watch every single episode of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents*. (Expect my ranking of the best episodes soon.) This smorgasbord of suspense has led me to rediscover two Hollywood icons: [Nehemiah Persoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehemiah_Persoff) and [Norman Lloyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lloyd). They both worked on Hitchcock’s show, Persoff as an actor in one of the best episodes (“Heart of Gold” from 1957) and Lloyd as a producer. You’ve seen performances by both men, though you may not know it. Persoff, one of the original members of Elia Kazan’s Actors Studio, played the lead in arguably the best *Twilight Zone* episode ever (“Judgment Night”), in addition to Little Bonaparte in *Some Like It Hot* and the non-speaking taxi driver in *On the Waterfront*. (Who can forget that face when he realizes Charley has betrayed Johnny Friendly?) And Lloyd started his career with Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre before going on to work with Charlie Chaplin in *Limelight*. But he might be best known to modern audiences for his roles in *Dead Poet’s Society* and the television series *St. Elsewhere*. But the most amazing fact — and the reason I mention both men — is that they are still alive. Persoff is 100, and Lloyd is 105. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival movie reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/04/06/florida-film-festival-movie-reviews/) **Published:** April 6, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)The 31st annual Florida Film Festival begins this Friday, April 8, and runs through April 17. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022") for my full coverage, including brief reviews of 12 features. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Everything in Hollywood is a remake ...](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/03/28/everything-in-hollywood-is-a-remake/) **Published:** March 28, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/He-Who-Gets-Slapped.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/He-Who-Gets-Slapped.jpg) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida and Sarasota fests reveal lineups](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/03/17/florida-sarasota-fests-reveal-lineups/) **Published:** March 17, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)The Florida and Sarasota film festivals revealed their lineups this week. Often considered two of the three best movie events in the state (the other being Miami), the two fests will overlap slightly this year, with Sarasota being held April 1-10 and Florida April 8-17. The Sarasota fest will screen more than 200 films in multiple locations in downtown Sarasota, including its opening-night movie, M. Cahill’s *Porcupine*, starring Jena Malone, who will be will be in attendance to receive the fest’s Excellence in Acting award. Malone is one of three celebrity honorees this year, the others being Kenny G (who will screen director Penny Lane’s *Listening to Kenny G* documentary) and Jacqueline Bisset (who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and screen her new film, *Loren & Rose*, directed by Russel Brown). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Film-Festival-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Film-Festival-logo.png)For more information, visit [SarasotaFilmFestival.com](https://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com/). Regrettably, I won’t be covering the Sarasota fest (as I have three times in the past), as my time will be spent closer to home at the Florida Film Festival. For my full coverage of that event, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Oscar noms go to the 'Dog'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/02/08/oscar-noms-go-to-the-dog/) **Published:** February 8, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Congrats to Jane Campion and the cast and crew of *The Power of the Dog* on your 12 Oscar nominations, the most of any film this year. I’d also like to commend Fran Kranz and the cast and crew of *Mass*, the best American film of the year. You don’t need Oscar noms (or lack thereof) to validate your achievement. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Are they worth the hype?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/20/are-they-worth-the-hype/) **Published:** October 20, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Florida-Project.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Florida-Project.png)*The Florida Project* (image copyright Cre Film / Freestyle Picture Company) *The Florida Project* (3 stars on 0-5 scale) and *Baby Driver* (1 ½ stars) have little in common except the fact that they are critical darlings. The former has been well received on the festival and limited-release circuit while the latter was lauded by critics as one of the best action films of the summer. Now that *The Florida Project* is getting a wider release and *Baby Driver* is out on DVD and Blu-ray, let’s revisit whether the movies are worth the hype. The short answers are somewhat and no. Let’s start with the somewhat. *The Florida Project* is a gritty, minimalist tale of the people who live at the fringes of the Disney World economy in Central Florida. Belched out of a system that is designed to support tourism but not necessarily provide hope to all rungs of society, these people live week to week in reduced-rent motel rooms on Highway 192 in Kissimmee, where the film was shot. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Florida-Project-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Florida-Project-2.jpg)*The Florida Project* (image copyright Cre Film / Freestyle Picture Company) If you live in the Orlando area, this film might hit you pretty hard, though it is not necessarily a criticism of Disney itself, despite what some media are saying. It’s simply a necessary examination of poor people – particularly children – who aren’t often given a voice in cinema. Written and directed by Sean Baker (*Tangerine*, which he shot on an iPhone) and featuring great performances by Bria Vinaite (as a down-on-her-luck prostituting mother) and Brooklynn Prince (as her precocious daughter), the film is surprisingly amateurish and clunky in the early-going before hitting its stride toward the end. But even when it hits that stride emotionally, we’re left in the dark regarding many details of the characters’ lives. Indeed, I feel like I could have learned as much about these people by driving just a few miles south of my home in Orlando and hanging out in Kissimmee for an hour or two. And though the hotel manager – played by Willem Dafoe in a surprisingly subtle performance – is a nice addition to the story, we know even less about him than we do about the mother and daughter whom the screenplay focuses on. In this respect, *The Florida Project* is a shell of a good movie. But there’s still no doubt that Baker is an original voice with something to say and that his latest film, despite the odd, tonally challenged ending, is a tough watch in all the right ways. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Baby-Driver.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Baby-Driver.jpg)*Baby Driver* (image copyright TriStar Pictures) If *The Florida Project* is substance with little style, *Baby Driver* is the opposite. It’s Edgar Wright’s upscale version of *The Fast and the Furious*, complete with some breathtaking car chases and a better cast (Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Ansel Elgort). I suppose the film has something to say about lost dreams and a triumph of good nature over society’s criminal element, but its points are so buried by stylistic noise that one can hardly see them. But maybe that’s the point: It’s a wild, loud, violent ride, if you’re into that type of thing. Wright apparently is, but his previous films (*Shaun of the Dead*, *Hot Fuzz*, *The World’s End*) had a bit more charm. Perhaps the worst criticism of *Baby Driver* is that nothing seems real. We’re not connected to a single thing the characters are experiencing. And that’s ultimately a fault of the screenplay, and the director’s overall sensibility regarding pacing and performance. It’s the polar opposite of *The Florida Project*, which, during its best scenes, feels documentary-real. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more on the film, check out this article in* [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-florida-project-portrays-the-underbelly-of-kissimmees-famous-tourist-strip-we-talk-to-some-of-the-real-people-living-the-low-rent-mote/Content?oid=7400628). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Final thoughts on the "48"](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/final-thoughts-on-the-48/) **Published:** September 7, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Now that the Orlando edition of the 48 Hour Film Project is over, it’s time to reflect. First, I need to thank Erin Sullivan, my editor at *The Orlando Weekly*, for giving me a chance to cover this. ([See my main story about this year’s Project](https://www.meiermovies.com/48-hour-film-project/).) I also should thank Rob Ward, who had the difficult and often thankless job of running the thing, with kudos to Christopher LeCours as well. Perhaps most of all I should thank TL Westgate and his entire team for allowing me to shadow them while they produced the buddy comedy *TechSquad*. Although I may be a tad biased because I was embedded with them, I do think TL’s group produced one of the two best films of the Project this year, the other being *Another Day*. My third choice would be the tight and well-acted *Private Eyes*, with *BFFB* (about the robot love companion) coming in at number four. *Psychosis,* *Blood River* and *Heart Strings* had interesting potential, while Dale Metz’s *The Grand* was probably the strongest from group B (though *To Protect and Serve* was funny and won over the audience for that group). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DSC01330.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DSC01330.jpg)Rob Ward addresses the participants of this year’s 48 Hour Film Project. The strongest group was C, so strong in fact that it made me question the programming structure. Several decent films were crammed at the end of that program, leaving group A a bit weaker and group B piled high with the type of films one wishes to see only in hell. If that sounds harsh, forgive me, as I truly know how difficult it is to produce anything of real quality in just 48 hours (and also how difficult it must have been for Rob to program it). But I do believe some of the participants this year should take a hard look at what they created and ask themselves why they took part. I’m all for boosting your self worth and having fun. However, I would like to be a famous basketball player, but at 5’9 1/2”, 160 pounds and 40 years old, it’s just not going to happen for me. And, friends, some of you who entered this year’s competition – well, let’s just say that, even though I’m sure you’re wonderful, caring and talented people in other respects, filmmaking is not in your future. (I’m talking to you, makers of *Special Delivery* and [*Misfits*](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrbDzYqu9j8). Oh, and makers of *Out of Detention*, don’t you think it’s a bit soon to make fun of Trayvon Martin? And the creators of *Plans*, spare me the religious message. Thanks so much.) It also didn’t help that, despite the promise of true HD projection, that didn’t quite materialize this year, leaving the professional productions looking less than professional and the bad films looking like they had been dragged through the mud. I still think the Project concept is a worthy one and allows real filmmakers to learn something about themselves. I certainly enjoyed my experience, and I hope the participants did too, despite the wild fluctuations in quality of the entries. *© 2014 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [FFCC anoints 'The Power of the Dog'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/12/30/ffcc-anoints-the-power-of-the-dog/) **Published:** December 30, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FFCC-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FFCC-logo.png)The Florida Film Critics Circle, of which I am a proud member, recently declared Jane Campion’s *The Power of the Dog* the best film of 2021. I’m also glad that Fran Kranz’s *Mass* and Paolo Sorrentino’s *È Stata la Mano di Dio* (The Hand of God) were recognized. All three films are excellent. For full details of the awards, [click here](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2021/12/22/florida-film-critics-circle-announces-2021-winners/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['American Sniper' vs. 'Whiplash'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/24/american-sniper-vs-whiplash/) **Published:** January 24, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I finally got around to seeing the two Oscar-nominated films that I hadn’t screened yet, *American Sniper* and *Whiplash*. Both are good, not great. Clint Eastwood’s *American Sniper* (3 ½ stars) is dominated by a solid performance (by Bradley Cooper) and a relentless series of combat scenes that drive home the brutality and fog of war, though some of the acting and writing is mediocre at best. I did not have a problem, as did some, with the film’s politics or lack thereof. *Whiplash* (3 ¼ stars) is a bit smarter and crisper than *Sniper*, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole thing was hopelessly contrived and that J.K. Simmons’ character, though acted well, was not much more than a cardboard cutout of a bully. Unlike in the short film that inspired the feature, I was much more focused on the student (Miles Teller). I highly recommend both films, but neither is in my top 10 of the year. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [When words just won't suffice ...](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/15/when-words-just-wont-suffice/) **Published:** January 15, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Wetlands](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Wetlands-224x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Wetlands.jpg)Words cannot adequately describe my hatred for this vulgar, sophomoric, disgusting, pretentious movie filled with meaningless plots, half-ass attempts at artistic statements, failed humor and animal cruelty, so instead of reviewing it, I’m destroying it. (If any of you are so inspired to also destroy Netflix property, I suggest you be responsible and pay the $20 replacement fee. The destruction is good therapy. Trust me.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['12 Years a Slave' belongs in top 10](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/28/12-years-a-slave-belongs-in-top-10/) **Published:** October 28, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** “Your story: It is amazing. And in no good way,” Bass (Brad Pitt) tells Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor). The same could be said for Steve McQueen’s *12 Years a Slave* (4 stars), which will surely end up among the top 10 films of the year, worthy of an Oscar nomination for best picture. It’s emotionally powerful because it takes its time, both thematically and visually. It lets the tragedy of Solomon’s situation sink in, for both him and us. One minute he’s being toasted in the North by his white friends, who tell him that his “talents are undeniable.” Just hours later, he’s being labeled a “runaway nigger from Georgia.” Ejiofor gives arguably the best performance of the year so far, but not all the film’s actors are in that same league. Michael Fassbender, for instance, seems a bit out of his depth, perhaps because the story dwells far too long on his character’s relationship with the slave Patsey. The usually brilliant Paul Dano also seems a bit weaker than one would expect. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent, though, as is Lupita Nyongo’o (Patsey). Sadly, Paul Giamatti’s brief appearance seems too contrived, as does some of the slightly stagey dialogue and heavyhanded direction. That heavyhandedness, however, is offset by some amazing visuals and two or three of the most memorable and heartbreaking scenes you will see in a cinema this year. Though falling just short of greatness, *12 Years a Slave* will perhaps be remembered for decades for one of the most honest depictions of pre-Civil War slavery ever caught on film. For every brutalized black slave there is one treated well, and for every angry white racist there is one such as Pitt’s character, who knows in his heart that “what is true and right is true and right for all.” After watching this film, I hope Quentin Tarantino is ashamed of *Django Unchained.* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Malick's teaser trailer?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/09/17/malicks-teaser-trailer/) **Published:** September 17, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just watched the longest teaser trailer ever: Terrence Malick’s *To the Wonder* (1 star on 0-5 scale). If you haven’t experienced the pretentious, experimental drama-romance from 2012, don’t, as it’s probably the visionary director’s worst film. Starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem, the movie will leave you scratching your head, which is more than one can say for the characters — because, thanks to renowned cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s weird framing, the characters often have no heads. Perhaps *Sleepy Hollow* would have been a more fitting title, as it metaphorically captures the aforementioned cranium cutting and also describes my mood during this two-hour slog: boredom. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Going places](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/28/going-places/) **Published:** December 28, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/They-Shall-Not-Grow-Old.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/They-Shall-Not-Grow-Old.jpg)They Shall Not Grow Old (image copyright Imperial War Museum / WingNut Films / Fathom Events) My five top films of 2018 all sent me places I can’t go in real life. *Ready Player One* embedded me in the virtual world, *Roma* allowed me to travel to Mexico City in the 1970s, *First Man* sent me to the moon, and *Mary Poppins Returns* whisked me away to a London that never was but always will be. And my final addition to my top five, *They Shall Not Grow Old*, shipped me off to the Western Front trenches of World War I, a place I would have rather not gone but am all the wiser for having visited. (Don’t miss the latter documentary by Peter Jackson when it returns to theaters next year for a larger, though still limited, release.) For my year-in-review article, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-review-2018/), and for my full list of the year’s best films, click the “By Year” link under “Feature Lists” on the menu bar above. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The best movie of the year?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/27/the-best-movie-of-the-year/) **Published:** November 27, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’re looking for a movie to see this weekend, let me recommend *Spotlight* (4 ½ stars on my 0-5 scale), directed Tom McCarthy and starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. I’m a bit late on this one, but it’s possibly the best movie of 2015 so far. It’s so good that I did something I rarely do: I saw it in the theater, and then I turned around and saw it again. It’s not as cinematic as Spielberg’s *Bridge of Spies* and it borrows heavily from *All the President’s Men* (as most journalistic movies do), but the story is superb and everything falls perfectly into place (except a just so-so performance, as usual, from McAdams). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Making noise about 'Silence'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/19/making-noise-about-silence/) **Published:** January 19, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Silence.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Silence.jpg)Image copyright Cappa Defina Productions / EFO Films Gather up all your patience and maturity, forget you live in the 21st century and prepare yourself for an unexpectedly profound and hypnotic cinematic experience: Go see Martin Scorsese’s *Silence* (4 ¼ stars). Some critics have called it an unstructured slog, and they are right. The nearly three-hour runtime feels every bit that long, and more, but somehow that adds to the experience, as if you were living alongside Father Rodrigues (the excellent Andrew Garfield) for the many years the story encompasses. Another reviewer described the film as not something you like or dislike, but something you must experience. I would add that it is required viewing for anyone seeking to understand religious faith, be you Christian, Buddhist or atheist, or explain the role of the missionary in world history. This is old-fashioned filmmaking in the best sense, something so well crafted that you forgive some of the flaws and Scorsese’s indulgences. After all, this has been his passion project for at least 20 years, and despite its rambling nature, it ranks among his five best films, and also among the five best of 2016. Its lack of awards recognition, as best I can tell, is due solely to the juvenile impatience of today’s audiences and critics. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Revisiting the best (and worst) Christmas films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/12/08/revisiting-the-best-and-worst-christmas-films/) **Published:** December 8, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/its_a_wonderful_life.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/its_a_wonderful_life.jpg)*It’s a Wonderful Life* You weren’t waiting for it. You didn’t ask for it. … Yes, it’s that time of year when I again force my Christmas movie lists upon you! Created in 2018, here is [my list of the 12 best Christmas films of all time](https://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/). That list was preceded, ignominiously*,* in 2017 by [my grinchy ranking of the four worst holiday flicks ever](https://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/). They are ho-ho-horrible. Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['The Peacemaker' to screen at UCF](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/07/the-peacemaker-to-screen-at-ucf-for-free/) **Published:** November 7, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Peacemaker.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Peacemaker.jpg)Image copyright Central Square Films / Principle Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/11/06/ucf-will-screen-award-winning-documentary-the-peacemaker?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=articleblog&utm_campaign=endofarticle&utm_content=RecentbyTopic), November 6, 2017 The University of Central Florida will present a free screening of ***The Peacemaker*** (4 stars out of 5), an award-winning documentary about an influential peace negotiator, on November 14 at 6:30 p.m., at the UCF Visual Arts Building Auditorium. Tickets are not required. The film might just have been the weightiest documentary of this year’s Florida Film Festival, where it received just its second U.S. screening. It’s that rare doc that successfully blends a newsworthy subject (international peace negotiations) with an intimate portrait. In this case, that portrait is of the legendary but little-understood man behind those negotiations, Padraig O’Malley. Director James Demo’s film reflects on the past achievements of the 74-year-old O’Malley while examining with extraordinary intimacy what his life has become. Demo will be in attendance for a Q&A session following the screening, which is co-presented by UCF Interdisciplinary Studies and the College of Undergraduate Studies. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [New film reviews ... and Beatles doc](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/11/25/new-film-reviews-and-beatles-doc/) **Published:** November 25, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** With the rising tide of good films, it’s no surprise that the creative output of film critics is finally getting back to normal. My own output is slowly returning to pre-pandemic normal. For my latest, visit my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/) or [my list of the top films of the yea](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf)r. And for a foray into web content, [read my thoughts on the new Beatles documentary mini-series, *Get Back*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-get-back/ "The Beatles: Get Back"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['1941' and a ranking of Spielberg films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/01/26/1941-and-a-ranking-of-spielberg-films/) **Published:** January 26, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![1941](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/1941-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/1941.jpg)Image copyright Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures The Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, will screen Steven Spielberg’s *1941* (4 stars) tonight at 9:30 p.m., in glorious 35mm (or not so glorious, depending on the quality of the print). It’s arguably the genius director’s only cult film, thanks to its quirky, below-the-radar, love-it-or-hate-it appeal. The comedy, which was released in 1979 to mixed reviews, is a parody of the paranoia that broke out briefly in California following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Convinced that the Japanese are ready to invade the U.S. mainland, residents and the military overact to the perceived threat in increasingly hilarious ways. The production is memorable for its Oscar-nominated (traditional) visual effects and its all-star cast, which includes Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Christopher Lee, Robert Stack, Slim Pickens, John Candy, John Landis, Mickey Rourke, Patti LuPone, Lorraine Gary, Ned Beatty and the scene-stealing Eddie Deezen as a ventriloquist stuck on a Ferris wheel. (Yes, really.) And look for clever references to Spielberg’s *Duel* and *Jaws*. The film has two theatrical versions. A 146-minute cut was previewed in 1979 but was immediately cut to 118 minutes for wide release. That original version has since been re-rereleased on DVD and Blu-ray as the “director’s cut.” The Enzian is screening the 118-minute version tonight, according to Tim Anderson, programming coordinator. If you’re curious about where *1941* fits in with the other films in the Spielberg pantheon, see the list below, which represents my attempt to rank and rate all 30 of the director’s theatrically released feature-length films. Yes, *Duel* got a theatrical release, though it was first seen as an ABC Movie of the Week. (This list does not include the partially lost *Firelight*, made for $500, when Spielberg was 17 years old.) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (5 stars), 1977/80 Jaws (seventh-highest-grossing movie in the U.S., adjusted to inflation) (5 stars), 1975 Duel (5 stars), 1971 Saving Private Ryan (4 ¾ stars), 1998 Schindler’s List (only Spielberg film to win the Best Picture Oscar) (4 ¾ stars), 1993 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (fourth-highest-grossing movie in the U.S., adjusted to inflation) (4 ¾ stars), 1982 Jurassic Park (4 ¾ stars), 1993 Raiders of the Lost Ark (with creative producer George Lucas) (4 ¾ stars), 1981 Empire of the Sun (4 ¾ stars), 1987 A.I. (4 ½ stars), 2001 Bridge of Spies (4 ½ stars), 2015 Catch Me If You Can (4 ¼ stars), 2002 Minority Report (4 ¼ stars), 2002 Munich (4 ¼ stars), 2005 1941 (premiere/extended version) (4 stars), 1979 Lincoln (4 stars), 2012 War of the Worlds (4 stars), 2005 Amistad (4 stars), 1997 The Adventures of Tintin (3-D version) (4 stars), 2011 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (3 ¾ stars), 1989 War Horse (3 ¾ stars), 2011 The Color Purple (3 ¾ stars), 1985 The Terminal (3 ¼ stars), 2004 Always (3 ¼ stars), 1989 Twilight Zone: The Movie (one of four directors) (3 stars), 1983 The Sugarland Express (3 stars), 1974 Hook (2 ¼ stars), 1991 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (2 stars), 1984 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1 ½ stars), 2008 The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1 ½ stars), 1997 *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The "Game" is up, Molly](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/20/the-game-is-up-molly/) **Published:** December 20, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Mollys-Game.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Mollys-Game.png)Image copyright STX Entertainment / The Mark Gordon Company After 140 minutes of *Molly’s Game* (2 stars on 0-5 scale), I STILL don’t know how to play Texas Hold ‘Em. But I did learn one thing: Aaron Sorkin sure loves to listen to himself write. His screenplay has all the speedy dialogue of a screwball comedy but not quite enough of the charm. Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner are infinitely watchable — and Chastain has never had more sex appeal — but the frenetic pacing and ill-conceived voiceover structure of Sorkin’s directorial debut are flawed. And except for the strangely sentimental ending, there is very little humanity in this biopic of the woman known as the poker host to the stars. (Maybe if Sorkin had actually named some of those stars instead of using a composite character — played by Michael Sera — the film would have held more intrigue.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Michael Moore in TrumpLand'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/10/29/michael-moore-in-trumpland/) **Published:** October 29, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I encourage every voter, regardless of party, to see *Michael Moore in TrumpLand* (2 ¾ stars on my 0-5 scale). It’s difficult to review it as a film because it’s basically a 73-minute live monologue (with a couple of film inserts), but he offers some great food for thought. And, surprisingly, Moore makes the best argument for Trump I’ve ever heard, before strongly refuting that argument. Filled with humor and emotion, and even some ultra-Left bullshit that I cringed at (and I’m pretty liberal), it successfully puts this insane election in perspective. Even more astonishing is the fact that it shows sides of both Trump and Hillary that I’d never seen. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best-edited sequence of the year?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/31/best-edited-sequence-of-the-year/) **Published:** January 31, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Manchester-by-the-Sea.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Manchester-by-the-Sea.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / K Period Media If you’re a director or editor, you must watch *Manchester by the Sea* (4 ½ stars on 0-5 scale), if only for a 15-minute segment in the middle of the film (the 49-minute to the 64-minute mark). I won’t ruin the surprise except to say it’s when we learn about the haunted past of the main character, Lee Chandler, played remarkably by Casey Affleck. From the flashbacks to the juxtaposition of images to the use of sound, it’s a clinic in editing. The cinematography, acting and writing all deserve praise, of course, but the cuts and dissolves weren’t in the shooting script. This is the work of a master editor – in this case, Jennifer Lame – working sometimes closely, sometimes not, with director Kenneth Lonergan in an almost Sergei Eisenstein-like collage of mood, music and storytelling. The rest of the movie isn’t as compelling, and Lame’s editing later in the film (or perhaps Lonergan’s writing) makes the disappearance/death of Lee’s father unnecessarily ambiguous. But *Manchester* is still one of the top five films of 2016 and the best of the nine nominees for the best-picture Oscar. I hope it wins. For more on Lame’s editing, check out this [Indiewire](http://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/manchester-by-the-sea-editor-jennifer-lame-kenneth-lonergan-1201746612/) article. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The two best films of 2016, so far](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/09/the-two-best-films-of-2016-so-far/) **Published:** May 9, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Jungle Book](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jungle-Book-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jungle-Book.jpg)Image copyright The Walt Disney Company As we get into the heart of summer-blockbuster season, let’s reflect on the best films of the year so far. While I’m sure we all have our favorites, from general releases to little gems we’ve seen at film festivals, two stand out for me. My candidate for “Way-Too-Early Best Film of the Year” is Disney’s new take on *The Jungle Book* (4 stars on my 0-5 scale). True, it doesn’t hold many surprises and the character of Mowgli is a bit weak in both performance and script, but Jon Favreau and his team knock it out of the park in almost all other aspects. It’s visually grand and mature storytelling and a big leap forward in the craft of CGI animation, and it also nicely juggles drama and comedy while working in a couple of musical numbers from the classic 1967 hand-drawn version. (I still rate that movie higher (at 4 ¾ stars), by the way, just for its pure magic, sense of wonder and artistry.) A vastly different but no less impactful film is *Eye in the Sky (*4 stars), my admittedly under-the-radar choice for second best. Embracing a Sidney Lumet intimate intensity, Alan Rickman’s final film (also featuring Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and Barkhad Abdi) is riveting from start to finish, if a bit contrived. It’s worth noting, of course, that many of the best films I have seen – and probably you too – in 2016 are not really 2016 films. They had either a limited release or a festival run in 2015. So my pronouncement of *The Jungle Book* and *Eye in the Sky* as best of 2016 is precisely that. I also have quite a bit of catching up to do, so I’m completely willing to admit there are some great 2016 films I haven’t seen yet. (And let me also give a shout-out to *The Lobster* (4 stars), a 2015 film that is just now getting a limited release in the United States.) Oh, and for you sticklers for detail – I love you guys – I should point out that *Eye in the Sky* played the Toronto International Film Festival last year, which means IMDB labels it a 2015 film. But because that was its lone festival appearance last year and it will be eligible for 2016 awards, I’m labeling it a 2016 film (and so do other sources, such as Rotten Tomatoes). As good as these films are, I’d be surprised if either ended up in my top five, or even my top 10, by the end of December. The year is simply too young and will be filled with greater accomplishments. But for now, you could certainly do worse than the two I’ve mentioned. So see them now, and in the case of *The Jungle Book*, see it in 3-D. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [What the Buzz!?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/10/27/what-the-buzz/) **Published:** October 27, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Dear Disney, I appreciate the talented craftspeople behind the upcoming *Lightyear* movie. But Buzz is a toy. His origin story is his manufacture in a factory. (Didn’t you see the first *Toy Story* movie?) And Buzz is voiced by Tim Allen. Please stop messing up great movies and theme-park attractions. Sincerely, Your Pal, Cameron **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Audience vs. critics](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/26/audience-vs-critics/) **Published:** October 26, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The psychological thriller *It Comes at Night* (1 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) is a rare example of the public getting it very right and the critics getting it completely wrong, except for this modest critic, of course. The film is at 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes but received a D grade from audiences on CinemaScore. Apparently the public was able to look past the competent editing, decent performances and relatively smart grasp of “genre” tricks to see that this film is a whole bunch of absolutely nothing that’s been done 100 times before. [*Blade Runner 2049*](http://www.meiermovies.com/blade-runner-2049/) (4 ¼ stars) represents the opposite. An enormous disappointment at the box office, it’s a darling with critics, and deservedly so. See it before it disappears from cinemas. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Misplaced comedy](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/25/misplaced-comedy/) **Published:** November 25, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/I-Tonya.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/I-Tonya.png)Image copyright Clubhouse Pictures / LuckyChap Entertainment Fancy a comedy about assault, child abuse and spousal beatings, all scored to your favorite classic rock tunes from the ‘70s and ‘80s? Then *I, Tonya* (1 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale) is your film. Directed by Craig Gillespie (*Lars and the Real Girl*, *Million Dollar Arm*) and written by Steven Rogers, this is a comedic biopic about the life of Tonya Harding, and her and her ex-husband’s involvement in a plot to attack Nancy Kerrigan back in the early 1990s. All style over substance, the film is ill conceived, tonally challenged and at times even mean-spirited. Yes, there is dark, even absurd comedy to be found in the subject, but the end result – despite a solid performance by Margot Robbie as Harding and some nifty (digitally altered) skating scenes – is distasteful, disrespectful and just plain wrong for what is ultimately a very sad story. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Hidden truths?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/31/hidden-truths/) **Published:** January 31, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Hidden-Figures.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Hidden-Figures.jpg)Image copyright Levantine Films *Hidden Figures* (1 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale), about the racial struggles of three extraordinary women, has been both a critical and commercial success. Directed by Theodore Melfi and based on the nonfiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly, the film tells the story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and their amazing – and heretofore mostly forgotten – contributions to NASA in the early 1960s. Most viewers have embraced the movie because they rightfully admire the three women and their achievements, and believe the film sends a strong message about racial discrimination, prejudice and segregation, especially considering our recent political climate. Only trouble is, the story is largely false. You’re probably saying to yourself: So what? It’s not a documentary. And that’s indeed one way to look at it. We don’t expect complete accuracy from narrative fiction, which often conflates or distorts non-essential details. But when arguably the main point of the film is to expose segregation and unjust discrimination, I believe it’s important to get the essential facts right. The horror of racism and segregation is a worthy subject, and art should be commended for exposing injustice in all forms. But those aforementioned horrors need not be exaggerated or falsely reported, and that’s exactly what *Hidden Figures* does. And it should be called out for its errors lest we as a society become guilty of revisionist history. (Sure, it’s just a movie, but doesn’t the average moviegoer, sadly, end up taking it as fact?) Specifically, a good chunk of the story focuses on segregation at the NASA facilities in Langley, Virginia, in the early 1960s. But no such segregation existed, according to multiple sources including Wikipedia and [this excellent analysis](http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/hidden-figures/). The NACA (the precursor to NASA) was indeed segregated, and the three central characters would have been subjected to that and to segregation in Virginia as a whole. And, admittedly, the film does accurately reflect the many racial and gender barriers these women faced throughout their entire lives. But by the time the events of the film occur (the first astronauts being sent into space), all Langley facilities had been integrated for at least three years. In addition, the two characters (played by Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst) who most strongly represent racism are invented, Kevin Costner’s character is a composite, and small details (such as when and how Johnson was married and when IBM computers arrived at NASA) are distorted. Most astonishingly, Johnson has said, “I didn’t feel the segregation at NASA, because everybody there was doing research. … You had a mission, and you worked on it, and it was important to you to do your job … and play bridge at lunch. I didn’t feel any segregation. I knew it was there, but I didn’t feel it.” In addition to factual errors, the movie suffers from plain, old filmmaking problems too. Over-the-top performances (except for Spencer and Costner), tonal errors, obtrusive songs and mediocre writing rob it of emotional impact and tension. In short, it plays like a crowd-pleaser, not an Oscar contender. So I suggest watching *Loving*, another 2016 film, instead. It also addresses amazing real-life characters who conquered racial prejudice and segregation in 1960s Virginia, but it does so with subtlety and relative accuracy. Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson had amazing stories to tell. It’s too bad this film wasn’t able to tell them. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['The Guilty' returns](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/10/28/the-guilty-returns/) **Published:** October 28, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Guilty.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Guilty.jpg)Image courtesy of Sundance Institute The Guilty (4 stars on 0-5 scale) is back for a limited time at the [Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida](https://enzian.org/film/the-guilty/). If you’re not in Central Florida, look for it at other arthouse cinemas around the country. It was the best film I saw at the Florida Film Festival back in April, when I said the following: Combining *Sorry, Wrong Number*’s radio-drama appeal and *Locke*’s claustrophobic tension, *The Guilty* might be the best film of this year’s festival. This compelling, twisty Danish thriller is helmed by first-timer Gustav Möller and stars Jakob Cedergren as a police officer in an emergency call center. Relying on one simple set, a stunning and sympathetic performance by Cedergren, a well-crafted and socially relevant story, and the audience’s own imagination, *The Guilty* is the story of a flawed man desperate to save the life of a person he doesn’t know and, by doing so, prove his own worth. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Bringing 'Gravity' down to earth](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/08/bringing-gravity-down-to-earth/) **Published:** October 8, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I admit it: I wanted to be blown away, like most critics and bloggers. I just wasn’t. *Gravity*, it seems, just didn’t pull me in as much as I had hoped. It’s still a good film and definitely one of the must-sees of the year. For me, it’s worthy of 3 ¾ stars, making it a strong thumbs-up. The visuals are stunning, and it breaks new ground technologically. But I said the same thing about *Avatar*, and that was worthy of only 3 stars. I’m not comparing the two films, as I think *Gravity* is much better. But both films seem like an example of art supporting craft instead of the other way around. In other words, it’s as if the filmmakers wanted to show off their technology and visual skill and created a story to fit that purpose instead of first fashioning a great story, a great message or a great piece of artistic expression and then using the craft to bring that to life. In that regard, it’s nowhere close to *2001: A Space Odyssey*, and, frankly, I don’t think it’s quite as good as *Moon*. I settled on these thoughts not because I was looking at it as a critic. Indeed, I wasn’t reviewing this film, just enjoying it as an audience member. I developed these ideas because I was strangely unmoved for most of the film. Admittedly, I was blown away by the first few minutes. I loved the serenity, beauty, calm and silence of space. But then the banter between Bullock and Clooney started to annoy me, and the over-the-top music started shattering the silence, and the story became predictable. It’s as if I was watching a really great movie at a science museum, demonstrating what space looked and felt like. But when all was said and done, I was left with a good movie but not a great one. Take away the technology, and what have you really got here? A fun ride, for sure – but not much else. I should end with a personal disclaimer: Yes, I saw it on a good screen, with 4K digital projection and in 3-D, which is how I recommend everyone see it. However, I did not see it on an IMAX screen. If you like IMAX, you should see it on an IMAX screen for a more immersive experience. But I’m not a big fan, since the images are often just a bit too much for me to focus on. They are so big that they actually take me out of the moment slightly. (That’s one of the reasons I don’t sit too close to the screen in a regular theater.) I know there are some of you out there like me – I know I’m not alone in these thoughts, or alone in my distaste for handheld camera. In short, see it the way YOU want to see it, but don’t insist that EVERYONE see it on an IMAX screen. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [And the Oscar goes to ...](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/07/12/and-the-oscar-goes-to/) **Published:** July 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gloria-Bell.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gloria-Bell.jpg)Image copyright A24 / Fabula / FilmNation Entertainment … Julianne Moore, for best actress, for *Gloria Bell* (4 stars on 0-5 scale). OK, I know it’s early, but Moore is spectacular in Sebastián Lelio’s remake of his 2013 Spanish-language *Gloria*. The redo might hold few surprises for those who have already seen the Chilean production, but it’s still worth watching, if only for Moore’s performance as an aging divorcee struggling through middle-aged loneliness. But if you are fresh to the story, you’ll find the film one of the best of 2019. And watch for great supporting performances by John Turturro, Caren Pistorius and Brad Garrett. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Catching up on classics](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/09/25/catching-up-on-classics/) **Published:** September 25, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Silkwood.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Silkwood.jpg)Though I’m still taking a break (sort of) from film criticism, I continue to watch a lot of films — mostly older ones. (Thanks, TCM and Netflix discs.) Two I’m ashamed to admit I had never seen are *Silkwood* and *Performance*. The former (4 stars on 0-5 scale), from 1983, proves once again that director Mike Nichols and actress Meryl Streep are superheroes. (Who needs Marvel?) The film is also memorable for an effectively serious, muted turn from Cher. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Performance.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Performance.jpg)The latter movie (1 star), though considered one of the most influential British pictures of all time by some critics, left me cold and exhausted. I’m afraid I must agree with Charles Champlin of *The Los Angeles Times* who described *Performance* as a “pretentious and repellent little film.” I was especially disappointed considering my love of director Nicholas Roeg’s later film, *Don’t Look Now*. One can see a lot of cinematographic similarities between the two movies, but Roeg’s debut (which he directed with Donald Cammell in 1968 but wasn’t released until 1970) is a shadow of his later work. Still, cultist cinephiles are drawn to the movie’s rapid-fire editing, stylistic flourishes, groundbreaking sexuality and odd performance by Mick Jagger. As for me, I couldn’t get no satisfaction. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Four films to consider this week](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/11/04/four-films-to-consider-this-week/) **Published:** November 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bohemian-Rhapsody.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bohemian-Rhapsody.jpg)*Bohemian Rhapsody* (image copyright 20th Century Fox / GK Films / New Regency Pictures) It’s been a busy few days of new releases. [*Bohemian Rhapsody*](http://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/) (3 stars) might be getting most of the media, but [*Beautiful Boy*](http://www.meiermovies.com/beautiful-boy/) (2 ¼ stars) is attracting attention too. (Check out my reviews of those movies by clicking the title.) Two other films are also worthy of discussion. *Can You Ever Forgive Me?* (3 ¼ stars) features nuanced performances by Melissa McCarthy and Richard Grant, plus a unique and rewarding story. It’s slow to catch fire and moves in odd tonal directions, but it’s ultimately greater than the sum of its parts. Also well acted is *The Happy Prince* (2 stars), Rupert Everett’s passion project about the final, miserable, drug-addled years of Oscar Wilde. Buried within its overly stylistic and rambling structure is an emotionally rewarding story, but I was never tempted to dig deep enough to find it. Ultimately, the film seems to exist more for Everett himself rather than its audience. Not even Colin Firth, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson were enough to convince me to care enough about the plight of the 19th-century literary icon. Judging from my star range of 2 to 3 ¼ (on my 0-5 scale), you’ve probably guessed that I wasn’t bowled over by any of these offerings. But if you’re looking for one recommendation among the four, it’s *Can You Ever Forgive Me?* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian to show 'Bonnie and Clyde'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/04/11/floridas-enzian-theater-to-screen-bonnie-and-clyde/) **Published:** April 11, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bonnie-and-Clyde.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/04/11/floridas-enzian-theater-to-screen-bonnie-and-clyde/bonnie-and-clyde/)Image copyright Warner Brothers The Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, will screen a 35mm print of *Bonnie and Clyde* (5 stars) at 9:30 p.m. tonight. The 1967 masterpiece, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in August, is part of the theater’s Cult Classics series. Directed by Arthur Penn and produced by Warren Beatty, the film is a landmark of American cinema, though it borrowed some editing techniques from French New Wave. Challenging moviegoers’ notion of film itself*, Bonnie and Clyde* – the biographical story of two bank robbers on the lam – wasn’t just a stylistic break from previous gangster flicks but also a thematic one, as it frankly depicted violence and sexuality. Featuring Beatty as Clyde Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, the film is also wildly entertaining and hilarious, thanks in large part to an excellent supporting cast that includes Gene Hackman, Michael Pollard, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor and Gene Wilder in his big-screen debut. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations, including four acting nominations and a best-picture nod. It won best cinematography and best supporting actress (Parsons) but lost best picture to *In the Heat of the Night* in a year that also included *The Graduate*, *Cool Hand Luke*, *Jungle Book*, *Belle de Jour*, *The Dirty Dozen* and *Le Samourai*. But the film also received criticism — which seems almost comical now — for straying far from the real story of Barrow and Parker, and also for opening the floodgates of movie violence made possible by the imminent collapse of the Motion Picture Production Code. Get your tickets before they sell out by visiting [enzian.org/film/bonnie-and-clyde/](http://enzian.org/film/bonnie-and-clyde/). *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Billy Lynn's Half-Ass Walk](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/12/01/billy-lynns-half-ass-walk/) **Published:** December 1, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The only format that would make *Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk* good would be 0 frames per second. What a total crap fest and shocking embarrassment for Ang Lee, who previously used innovation brilliantly in *Life of Pi*. But his latest film, which he shot in 3-D and 120 fps, is almost a total failure of acting, writing, pacing and editing. I give the version I saw (in 2-D and 24 fps) just 1 star (on my 0-5 scale). Perhaps the 120fps, 3-D version might hold some interest, but if we’ve learned anything about technological innovations throughout the history of cinema, it’s that whether you’re introducing sound, color, camera movement, new aspect ratios or CGI, you must still focus on the fundamentals of storytelling and filmmaking. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Mixed doubles](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/mixed-doubles/) **Published:** October 1, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Victoria-and-Abdul.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Victoria-and-Abdul.jpg)Judi Dench and Ali Fazal in *Victoria and Abdul*. (image copyright BBC Films) Pairing a film set in the 1890s with a film set in the early 1970s may seem like an odd objective for a blog, but *Victoria and Abdul* (4 stars on 0-5 scale) and *Battle of the Sexes* (3 ½ stars) actually have quite a bit in common. They both address themes of either racism (racialism, as it was called in the 19th century) or sexism, but even more important from a dramatic standpoint, they showcase fascinating and historically important relationships between a man and a woman. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Battle-of-the-Sexes.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Battle-of-the-Sexes.jpg)Emma Stone as Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs in *Battle of the Sexes*. (image copyright Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation) In *Battle of the Sexes*, that “relationship” was on full display for millions to see as Bobby Riggs challenged Billie Jean King to a $100,000 tennis match. But with *Victoria and Abdul*, directed by Stephen Frears, the public initially never knew about the special bond Queen Victoria shared during the last 15 years of her life with her faithful friend, servant and tutor, Abdul Karim, whom she referred to lovingly as her “munshi.” Others, including an unsympathetic Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), might have preferred the nickname “the brown John Brown.” Both films are worth watching. *Battle*, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, is a real crowd pleaser but also has some subtle, touching moments, particularly when it slows down and mutes its poppy soundtrack to expose the personal vulnerabilities of both King (who is coming to terms with her sexuality) and Riggs (who is battling an addiction to gambling). Both Emma Stone and Steve Carell Stone are excellent. But *Victoria and Abdul* is the slightly better film and features a gripping turn by Judi Dench. Touching at times and surprisingly funny, it’s a memorable though quite different companion to John Madden’s 1997 film, *Mrs. Brown*. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Top 50 films for Halloween](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/10/30/top-25-films-for-halloween/) **Published:** October 30, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Just in time for Halloween, here’s my list of the 50 best horror, mystery, thriller and/or suspense films of all time. While most Halloween lists focus just on horror, mine includes all types of spooky and mysterious movies, from slasher to classic mystery to film noir. Not surprisingly, the director with the most films on this list is Alfred Hitchcock, with seven. [![Psycho](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Psycho-225x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Psycho.jpg)1. [Psycho](https://www.meiermovies.com/psycho/) (1960) 2\. The Third Man (1949) 3\. Dead of Night (1945) 4\. The Exorcist (1973) 5\. The Stranger (1946) 6\. Les Diaboliques (The Devils) (1955) 7\. Vertigo (1958) 8\. Duel (1971) 9\. [Jaws](https://www.meiermovies.com/jaws-sights-on-marthas-vineyard/) (1975) 10\. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 11\. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)[![DeadofNight](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DeadofNight-166x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DeadofNight.jpg) 12\. The Prestige (2006) 13\. The Sixth Sense (1999) 14\. Unbreakable (2000) 15\. Rebecca (1940) 16\. Sleuth (1972) 17\. The Shining (1980) 18\. Jacob’s Ladder (1990) 19\. North by Northwest (1959) 20\. The Others (2001) 21\. The Maltese Falcon (1940) 22\. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) 23\. Frankenstein (1931) 24\. Dial M for Murder (1954)[![Frankenstein](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Frankenstein-214x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Frankenstein.jpg) 25\. Chinatown (1974) 26\. Jurassic Park (1993) 27\. Z (1969) 28\. Inception (2010) 29\. Cape Fear (1962) 30\. Vampyr (1932) 31\. Don’t Look Now (1973) 32\. The Omen (1976) 33\. Strangers on a Train (1951) 34\. The Fugitive (1993) 35\. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) 36\. Michael Clayton (2007)[![Welles_TheStranger](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Welles_TheStranger-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Welles_TheStranger.jpg) 37\. L.A. Confidential (1997) 38\. Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1965) 39\. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 40\. Cape Fear (1991) 41\. Black Swan (2010) 42\. Alien (1979) 43\. The Birds (1963) 44\. Bullitt (1968) 45\. Los Cronocrimines (Timecrimes) (2007) 46\. The Collector (1965)[![Shining behind the scenes](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Shining-behind-the-scenes-300x187.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Shining-behind-the-scenes.jpg) 47\. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) 48\. The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 49\. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 50\. The Unknown (1927) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [4,000](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/06/07/4000/) **Published:** June 7, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Undine-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Undine-scaled.jpg)Though I’m taking a sabbatical from film reviewing, I’m still watching movies. And I’ve just reached a milestone: 4,000 theatrically released feature films. Of course, it’s impossible for any individual to know the exact number of films he or she has watched during a lifetime. But I’ve done my best. And my [feature lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/feature-lists/) now contain 4,000 ratings. (If you add shorts, and features that never received a theatrical release, that number is closer to 7,000, but that’s another topic for another time.) So what’s my 4,000th film? It’s the German-language fantasy-romance *Undine* (2 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale). And, fittingly, I saw it last night at my favorite arthouse cinema: the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. Released last year in Europe, the movie is now getting a limited release in the United States. Seemingly inspired by both Guillermo del Toro’s *The Shape of Water* and [the myth of the aquatic undines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undine), the film is helmed by one of the more imaginative directors working in Germany today, Christian Petzold. But, disappointingly, *Undine* is a step backwards from or – more metaphorically appropriate – below his last film, *Transit*. Both films star Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, but, in *Undine*, their talents (especially Rogowski’s) play second fiddle to the movie’s slow-burn plot, lugubrious pacing and fantastical elements. I’ll let you discover the story’s particulars on your own, suffice to say that, for me, *Undine* is undone by its vagueness and tedium. As I continue my break from film criticism, I wish you an enjoyable summer. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Goodbye, for now](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/04/21/goodbye-for-now/) **Published:** April 21, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’ve decided to take a step back from film criticism, at least for a while. For more on my decision, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-temporary-goodbye/ "A temporary goodbye"). As always, thanks to all of you who have supported my writing. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Bill Maher's take on the Oscars](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/04/10/bill-mahers-take-on-the-oscars/) **Published:** April 10, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Academy Awards will be held on April 25 in Los Angeles. Eschewing other recent awards shows’ Zoom formats, the ceremony will be in-person, at both the Dolby Theatre and Union Station in Los Angeles. However, it will be intimate, with the only attendees being nominees, presenters and their guests. The in-person format seems to be an attempt to get things back to normal and boost ratings, which have fallen off a cliff for other awards shows because, predictably, Zoom sessions just aren’t that exciting or enjoyable. Speaking of not enjoyable, I present Bill Maher’s take on this year’s Oscars. Though I’m a personal champion of both [*The Father*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-father/) and [*Minari*](https://www.meiermovies.com/minari/), Maher’s satirical point is well taken and, as always, thoroughly refreshing. For my own take on the best films of 2020, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/31/2020-the-year-in-review/). And if you liked Maher’s analysis of this year’s Oscar nominees, you might enjoy his commentary on the Academy’s 2020 decision to require that nominees for best picture adhere to diversity quotes. [Go here for that clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDriPJYn2mY). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [30th Florida Film Festival underway](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/04/09/30th-annual-florida-film-festival-underway/) **Published:** April 9, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)The 30th annual Florida Film Festival has begun at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. It continues through April 22. [Click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "FFF combines in-person, virtual cinema") for an overview of the festival. And don’t miss my reviews and analysis of the [feature films](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/ "FFF 2021 film reviews") and the [shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-the-shorts/ "Short takes on the shorts"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Stop monkeying around with Kong](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/03/29/stop-monkeying-around-with-kong/) **Published:** March 29, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Godzilla-vs.-Kong.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Godzilla-vs.-Kong.jpg)Image copyright Warner Brothers In the inane tradition of *Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice*, and following in the giant footsteps of 1962’s *[King Kong vs. Godzilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_vs._Godzilla)*, Warner Brothers and director Adam Wingard are giving us the film we never knew we didn’t need: *Godzilla vs. Kong*. But to make the contest more fair, Kong is being upsized, ridiculously so. To gauge just how ridiculous the reimagining is, check out Jeanette White’s [article at CBR.com](https://www.cbr.com/king-kong-height-every-movie/#:~:text=Kong%20is%20sized%20at%20104,Kong.). It’ll drive you ape. As for me, I don’t know which is more upsetting: resizing Kong or the fact that the industry seems consumed with children’s films like this just when we desperately need to get high-quality, high-brow content back into theaters. If you’re equally upset, just take deep breaths and repeat after me: “Not my circus, not my monkey.” (For my review of 2017’s *Kong: Skull Island*, [click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/kong-skull-island/).) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Regal reopening in April](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/03/23/regal-reopening-in-april/) **Published:** March 23, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Regal Cinemas — which, as part of London-based Cineworld, is the world’s second-largest cinema company — will begin reopening its theaters in the United States in April, the company announced today. Regal, which has been closed since early October, will finally be joining the other two “big three” cinema chains, AMC and Cinemark, which have both been open for several months, though at reduced capacity. For more information, see today’s story on [CBSNews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/regal-reopening-cineworld-cinemas-amc-cinemark-movie-theater/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Thoughts on Woody Allen](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/03/11/thoughts-on-woody-allen/) **Published:** March 11, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** With a new HBO documentary series rekindling interest in Woody Allen, I have some thoughts on the legendary writer-director. Though I confine those thoughts mostly to his filmmaking career — and his 2019 film *A Rainy Day in New York* — I felt it was important to comment on the larger issues raised by the HBO series. [Go here to read those thoughts](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-rainy-day-in-new-york/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/03/05/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy/) **Published:** March 5, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Alamo Drafthouse movie chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. For more information, [see my recent article](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy-scraps-orlando-cinema/ "Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy, scraps Orlando cinema"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Excess within control'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/02/05/excess-within-control/) **Published:** February 5, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Christopher-Plummer.jpg)“Remember, stay ahead of them. Keep the mystery, always the mystery. Excess within control.” Rest in peace, Christopher Plummer, a.k.a. William Fawcett Robinson, one of our finest actors. 1929-1912-2021. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [2020: The year in review](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/31/2020-the-year-in-review/) **Published:** December 31, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Before finally bidding farewell to 2020 and ushering in a new (and I hope better) year, let’s take a look back at the last 12 months in film with [my annual year-in-review article](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-in-the-time-of-corona/ "Film in the time of corona"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [FFCC announces awards, honors Enzian](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/22/ffcc-announces-awards-honors-enzian/) **Published:** December 22, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FFCC-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FFCC-logo.png)The Florida Film Critics Circle has released our annual awards. [Click here for a full list of the winners](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2020/12/21/2020-ffcc-winners/). For our Golden Orange award, we have selected the Enzian Theater, in Maitland, Florida. The press release reads: “The Florida Film Critics Circle also awards the Golden Orange each year to a person, film, or organization in Florida that embodies the essence of filmmaking in the Sunshine State. This year’s winner was Maitland, Florida’s non-profit **Enzian Theater**, a strong voice for arthouse cinema. Like all cinemas this year, it closed for a time and, once reopened, persevered with unique programming, reduced capacity and an expansion of an outdoor area. In August, against the odds, the theater held the Florida Film Festival, arguably the first major in-person festival in the Southeast United States during the pandemic. Enzian managed to hold a combination in-person/virtual festival following CDC protocols safely. Lastly, the Enzian is hoping to build a second screen, which would represent a dramatic improvement to arthouse cinema in Central Florida.” **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Love/hate relationship with 'Mank'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/10/love-hate-relationship-with-mank/) **Published:** December 10, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** David Fincher’s *Mank* (2 stars on 0-5 scale), a largely imagined retelling of Herman Mankiewicz’s life (and relationship with Orson Welles during the writing of *Citizen Kane*), is now streaming on Netflix following a limited theatrical release earlier this year. I can’t remember ever disliking a film so intensely while simultaneously loving the look and subject. If you’re a filmmaker, you might want to check it out just for the black-and-white cinematography and mesmerizingly enormous depth of field (mimicking *Kane*). It’s too bad the film itself doesn’t have similar depth. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Christmastime is here again](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/05/christmastime-is-here-again/) **Published:** December 5, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In this weird, unconventional year that has seen movie releases delayed and cinemas closed, we still can rely on some old holiday standards to see us through. For my list of the top 12 Christmas films of all time, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/). But if you’re in a nihilistic mood, you might check out my [four worst holiday films](https://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/). (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A historic podcast](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/12/01/a-historic-podcast/) **Published:** December 1, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo.jpg)As a film historian, I’ve always been fascinated with the dawn of cinema. But this month I turn my attention to the dawn of recorded sound, as I was proud to be a guest on my dad’s *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast. We discuss, along with Patrick Feaster of [FirstSounds.org](http://firstsounds.org), the earliest recordings of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (and his phonautograph from the 1850s and 1860s) and Thomas Edison (and his phonograph from the 1870s and 1880s). [Listen to the podcast here](https://www.paulmeier.com/2020/12/01/episode-35-the-first-sound-recordings/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A picture is worth ...](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/11/16/a-picture-is-worth/) **Published:** November 16, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Regal-2020-COVID-closure-with-No-Time-to-Die-poster-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Regal-2020-COVID-closure-with-No-Time-to-Die-poster-2-scaled.jpg) Darkness, accompanied by a fittingly titled movie poster, greets passersby of a Regal cinema in Winter Park, Florida. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/27/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/) **Published:** October 27, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Ready for a *Halloween* marathon? Before you indulge, check out my ranking of all 11 films in the franchise [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/ "Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [I was MIFFed](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/20/i-was-miffed/) **Published:** October 20, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I got really MIFFed last weekend. Specifically, I attended the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (MIFF), in Melbourne, Florida. [Read my summary of the festival here](http://www.meiermovies.com/miff-2020/ "MIFF 2020"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Love (of film) in the time of coronavirus](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/12/love-of-film-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/) **Published:** October 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Can we love film and theatre like we love sports? I ponder that question [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-of-film-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/ "Love (of film) in the time of coronavirus"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Short takes on three recent films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/04/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/) **Published:** October 4, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** As we reflect on the year in cinema that should have been, let’s take a closer look at three films that deserved bigger releases: *Onward*, *The Hunt* and *Waiting for the Barbarians*. [Check out my short takes on each of these films here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/ "Short takes on three recent films"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival underway](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/08/07/florida-film-festival-underway/) **Published:** August 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 29th annual Florida Film Festival — the first major movie event in the Southeast United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — runs August 7-20 in Maitland, Florida. For details, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "Enzian’s Florida Film Festival 2020 combines in-person, virtual cinema"). And [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2020 reviews") for my reviews. **Update:** The festival has added an additional day. It will now run through August 21. (This is to make up for a power outage that resulted in the cancellation of a couple of screenings.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [AMC reopening, turning back time](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/08/14/amc-reopening-turning-back-time/) **Published:** August 14, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Regent-Theater.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Regent-Theater.jpg)Kansas City’s Regent Theatre was built in 1914 and became the first cinema of the company that would eventually be known as AMC. The building was demolished in the 1960s to make room for an office tower, as was much of America. AMC, the world’s largest chain of movie theaters, will begin reopening its American cinemas on August 20. And to entice moviegoers back — and to commemorate a piece of its own history — the chain will sell tickets for just 15 cents, which was the average ticket price in 1920, the year company founders Maurice, Edward and Barney Dubinsky bought the Regent Theater, in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was renamed American Multi-Cinema (AMC) in 1961. For more on AMC’s history, visit [AMCTheatres.com](https://www.amctheatres.com/corporate/amc-history). And [click here](https://pendergastkc.org/article/biography/dubinsky-brothers) to learn more about the Dubinsky family. The company says it expects to open about two-thirds of its U.S. cinemas by September 3, the opening date of Christopher Nolan’s *Tenet*. Regal, the country’s second-largest cinema chain, also expects to open many of its theaters one day later, on August 21, with $5 tickets. Both Regal and AMC will be showing a mix of old and new films. Cinemark, the nation’s third-biggest chain, has been slightly more proactive than AMC and Regal, with some of its cinemas already open. It will continue its gradual reopening nationwide in the coming weeks. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [What's on, what's not during pandemic](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/25/whats-on-whats-not-during-pandemic/) **Published:** July 25, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Confused by all the recent cancellations and schedule changes from cinemas and film festivals? Me too. [Here’s a brief summary](http://www.meiermovies.com/whats-on-whats-not/ "What’s on, what’s not") of what’s open and what’s closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Black voices](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/18/black-voices/) **Published:** July 18, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Spike-Lee.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Spike-Lee.jpg)Spike Lee (photo by Paul Zimmerman/WireImage/IMDB) Many of us have recently been reevaluating how we view Black voices and culture in America. For me, this reevaluation has taken two forms. First, as executive editor of the [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/), I’ve refocused my efforts on finding more African-American subjects, and I’ve encouraged our editors to do the same, while continuing to value the Black subjects we already have. See [my recent post on this topic](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/archives/20697). As a film critic, I have taken a closer look at my [Director list](http://www.meiermovies.com/Directors.pdf). Because I don’t consider people’s race, ethnicity or cultural background when placing them on my list, I never noticed that I had not included a single Black director. I could certainly blame the lack of inclusion on cinema history, not my personal tastes. And, admittedly, this list has always been a work in progress, and inclusion or exclusion has often come down to whether I’ve rated enough of a particular director’s films, rather than whether I’m judging that director as worthy. But the hard truth is it was shameful of me to not have a single Black director listed. To remedy that, I’ve been on a Spike Lee kick. I’ve always had a bit of a like-dislike relationship with the director’s work. But I realize now that I had simply not seen enough of his films to get a proper sense of his contribution to film. After watching several I had never seen, I now have a better appreciation for his craft and sensibility, and I’m proud to add him to the list. That still doesn’t mean I like all his films. (Sorry, *She’s Gotta Have It*.) But, hey, that’s what film criticism and freedom of speech is all about. (My greatest find was his documentary *4 Little Girls*, which I recommend highly.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/John-Lewis-Good-Trouble.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/John-Lewis-Good-Trouble.jpg)Barry Jenkins joins Lee on the list. Though he’s made just three features, he’s clearly a major talent and will likely join the ranks of cinema’s greatest directors in the years to come, if he has not already joined them. It’s fitting that I’m writing this on the day we learn of the passing of American hero John Lewis. There has not been a more courageous champion of equality over the last 60 years, and I was proud to be able to recently review a moving documentary about his life: [*John Lewis: Good Trouble*](http://www.meiermovies.com/john-lewis-good-trouble/). In the wake of his death, the doc is even more necessary. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Carl Reiner, the 98-year-old man](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/06/30/carl-reiner-the-98-year-old-man/) **Published:** June 30, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Carl-Reiner.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Carl-Reiner.jpg)Carl Reiner (image courtesy IMDB) Hats off today to Carl Reiner, who just passed away at the age of 98. He didn’t make it to 2,000 — like the character in his and Mel Brooks’ famous sketch — but his life and accomplishments nevertheless deserve accolades. For more on Reiner’s life, see [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/entertainment/car-reiner-obit/index.html). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida cinemas beginning to reopen](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/06/07/florida-cinemas-beginning-to-reopen/) **Published:** June 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** It’s been a long three months for cinephiles, but movie houses — at least in Florida — are starting to reopen. [Check out my latest article here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-cinemas-reopening/ "Florida cinemas reopening"). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Short Film of the Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/03/26/short-film-of-the-day/) **Published:** March 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** As we practice social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s increasingly important to bring the world together through our most popular and accessible art form: cinema. With this in mind, I’ve created this [Short Film of the Day](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/) feature. Enjoy. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Film industry faces Coronavirus](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/03/13/film-industry-faces-coronavirus/) **Published:** March 13, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** For an update on how the film industry is addressing Coronavirus, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/coronavirus-batters-film-industry/). This article specifically discusses the postponement of the Florida Film Festival and similar events. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Love Your Shorts underway in Sanford](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/02/15/love-your-shorts-underway-in-sanford-2/) **Published:** February 15, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LYSFF-2020-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LYSFF-2020-scaled.jpg)The 10th annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival kicked off last night in Sanford, Florida, and will continue today and tomorrow. Read [my *Orlando Weekly* article](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2020/) for more information. Congratulations to *Age of Bryce*, directed by Brian Elliott. The audience at the Opening Night group of films picked the coming-of-age comedy as the best of the block, so it will move on to the Best of the Fest screening on Sunday at 7 p.m. However, my pick for the best of the opening block is the absurdist comedy *Cold Storage*, directed by Thomas Freundlich, with the animated (and mercifully tight-as-a-drum) *Deadly Drive-in Disaster*, directed by Arjan Wilschut, my second choice. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [19th-century vs. 21st-century love](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/05/04/19th-century-vs-21st-century-love/) **Published:** May 4, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Levin-and-Kitty-300x193.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Levin-and-Kitty.jpg)Image copyright Focus Features / Laurie Sparham [![Ex-Machina](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ex-Machina-300x209.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ex-Machina.jpg)Image copyright DNA Films / Film4 I know everyone is talking about the new *Avengers* film, but let me say something about *Ex Machina* (3 1/2 stars on 0-5 scale) that no one else is mentioning: To pair Domhnall Gleeson with Alicia Vikander after they played Levin and Kitty in Joe Wright’s brilliant *Anna Karenina* is a real stroke of genius. Perhaps it was unintentional, but reuniting them as a cinematic couple is a great commentary on love in the 19th century vs. love in the 21st. Oh, and my man crush on Oscar Isaac continues. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Oscar 2020 predictions](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/02/07/oscar-2020-predictions/) **Published:** February 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)Which films will win Oscars on Sunday night? And which movies deserve to win? [Find out here](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-predictions-2020/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [All Oscar-nominated films ranked](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/02/01/all-oscar-nominated-films-ranked/) **Published:** February 1, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)If you missed my summary of this year’s Oscar shorts, [check it out here](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/). And for rankings and/or reviews of all the features nominated for best film at the 2020 Academy Awards (in addition to rankings and/or reviews of about 100 others), [visit my Yearly list](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The death of a (Foxy) icon](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/01/17/the-death-of-a-foxy-icon/) **Published:** January 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Fox-Disney.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Fox-Disney.jpg)William Fox and Walt Disney Sadly, the Walt Disney Company has decided to rename the iconic 20th Century Fox Studios, apparently to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation, which is now a separate entity. The new name is simply 20th Century Studios (and Searchlight Pictures). Ironically, the death of the classic name means the rebirth of the original name, 20th Century Studios, which disappeared in 1935 when it merged with Fox Studios, founded by William Fox. For more on this rewriting of history, [see this *Variety* article](https://variety.com/2020/film/news/disney-dropping-fox-20th-century-studios-1203470349/). And for my original thoughts on the Disney deal back in 2017, [see this post](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/14/a-brief-thought-on-the-disney-fox-deal/). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20th-Century-Pictures-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20th-Century-Pictures-1.jpg)The original logo (before the 1935 merger with Fox) In related (fake) news, Disney has renamed its 1981 animated classic *The Fox and the Hound*. The new name: *Hound*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The death of auteur theory?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/01/12/the-death-of-auteur-theory/) **Published:** January 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Critics’ Choice Awards just proclaimed Quentin Tarantino’s *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* as the best film of 2019 while awarding (in a tie) best director to Sam Mendes for *1917* and Bong Joon Ho for *Parasite*. So much for auteur theory. And in another baffling move, the Critics Choice Association gave best editing to *1917*. Though Mendes’ masterpiece is my pick for best film of the year, it is designed to look like a single take. In other words, it’s supposed to look like there are no edits. And therein lies the intrigue. I gather the critics were so impressed with the scene stitching that they forgave the fact that the editing required almost no creativity, just a mastery of craft and technology. It’s a counterintuitive choice indeed. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Heaven can't wait :'(](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/01/09/heaven-cant-wait/) **Published:** January 9, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Buck-Henry.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Buck-Henry.jpg) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The best films of 2019 and the decade](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/12/31/the-best-films-of-2019-and-the-decade/) **Published:** December 31, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** As 2019 and the decade are coming to an end, best-film lists are compulsory. [Here’s mine](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2019-and-the-decade/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Tampa Theatre wins Golden Orange](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/12/30/tampa-theatre-wins-golden-orange/) **Published:** December 30, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside-2.jpg)The Tampa Theatre has won the Florida Film Critics Circle’s Jay Boyar Golden Orange Award for 2019. The historic movie palace was selected by the members of the Circle, upon the recommendation of Cameron Meier, for its contributions to the culture of Central Florida and its support of arthouse cinema. The award is particularly well timed, as the non-profit theatre has recently undergone a major renovation and plans to add a new micro-cinema in the near future. Visit [TampaTheatre.org](https://tampatheatre.org/) and [MeierMovies.com/Tampa-Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/tampa-theatre/) for more information on the historic venue. And check out [FloridaFilmCritics.com](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2019/12/23/2019-ffcc-winners/) for all the 2019 winners. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Short takes on December films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/12/20/short-takes-on-december-films/) **Published:** December 20, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Need a brief rundown of what to see and avoid in December? Check out [some of my mini-reviews, plus links to full critiques](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['The Conjuring' possessed by ... other films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/07/the-conjuring-possessed-by-other-movies/) **Published:** August 7, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Under the category of better late than never, I finally saw *The Conjuring*. (I often wait to see horror movies at home, in the dark, by myself, because, after all, isn’t that the creepiest way to watch them, instead of having to listen to the giggles of all the moviegoers around you in a cinema?) It’s one of the better made films of its type in recent years, a step above director James Wan’s *Dead Silence* and *Insidious* (both 2 ¼ stars on my list). This one gets 3 – above average. However, doesn’t it feel just a bit like every other horror film you’ve ever seen? And did Wan really try to combine a possessed-doll film with a haunted-house flick with an exorcism movie? Wow. And don’t even get me started on the relgious message and the insinuation that the Salem witches really WERE Satan-worshipping witches. That is, for a lack of a better phrase, messed up. Yet the film holds enough scares, clever camera angles and tried-and-true tricks of the genre to make it a decent watch for all audiences, except kids, of course, who should still be enjoying *Monsters University* – but NOT Disney’s *Planes*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [I recommend Woody's latest, 'Blue Jasmine'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/07/24/i-recommend-woodys-latest-blue-jasmine/) **Published:** July 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I recommend *Blue Jasmine*, Woody Allen’s latest drama (3 ½ stars on my 0-5 scale). While it might be considered a commentary on the financial collapse of the last decade, or societal and class divisions, at its core it’s a great character study and a wonderful vehicle for Cate Blanchett to show off her talents. In fact, she so totally owns the film that we lose a bit of interest when it’s not focused solely on her. Still, it’s one of Allen’s best dramas of recent years, with some comedy thrown in too. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['The Lone Ranger' an exhilarating ride](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/06/30/the-lone-ranger-an-exhilarating-ride/) **Published:** June 30, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Gore Verbinski’s *The Lone Ranger* is the best action/adventure movie of the summer so far. It’s everything *Man of Steel* wasn’t. It’s true to the spirit of the characters while giving them a unique reworking, packed with action and adventure without being too heavy on CGI, and filled with life and humor. Yes, it’s a bit too violent and too long, and certain elements just don’t seem to fit, but it’s impossible to resist its spectacle. Some movies overwhelm you with their spirit despite their flaws, and this is one of them. **3 ½ stars on my 0-5 scale.** By the way, I will not be reviewing this film for *The Orlando Weekly*, but you should check out the *Weekly*‘s take on it anyway, at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com), next week. And in case you were wondering, no, Sears did not exist when this movie was set. And *Stars and Stripes Forever* had not been written. Oops. (However, because of the story-within-a-story construction and the mythical, non-realistic nature of it, those historical inaccuracies are somewhat forgiveable.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Not "Spectacular" but still quite good](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/not-spectacular-but-still-quite-good/) **Published:** September 7, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *The Spectacular Now* isn’t spectacular, but it’s quite good and a realistic, welcome break from the typical coming-of-age film. It gets 3 ½ stars (on my 0-5 scale). Refreshingly non-formulaic in parts, it does lurch toward contrivance toward the end, but it still leaves an emotional impact. Miles Teller is good at playing “dead behind the eyes,” portraying a numbness toward life, while Shailene Woodley continues to grow as an actress. (I see her developing into a rival of Jennifer Lawrence.) And Kyle Chandler is equally effective as the father. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Comparing the foreign films of 2013](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/26/comparing-the-foreign-films-of-2013/) **Published:** March 26, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *Broken Circle Breakdown* (3 ¼ stars on my 0-5 scale) is better than *Blue is the Warmest Color* (2 ½ stars). It’s more original, tighter, and displays more mature and effective storytelling. But *The Great Beauty* (4 ½ stars) is still by far the best foreign-language film of the year. See my review of it [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-beauty/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['The Lego Movie': time to play](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/26/the-lego-movie-time-to-play/) **Published:** March 26, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m a little late to this conversation, but I figure that since I still have Lego that I made as a child and I refuse to let anyone touch it, you’ll forgive the tardy post. Yes, *The Lego Movie* is surprisingly worth seeing (3 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale). It’s superbly animated, with a great concept and a very good ending. However, after sitting through 100 minutes of its frenetic pacing and throw-everything-at-the-wall style, I’m exhausted. It’s a great movie for kids, but sometimes it feels like it was made BY kids. Less is more, people, especially when it comes to “Everything is Awesome.” I realize the song was supposed to be a commentary on how people are a bit dumb and brainwashed, so then why play it twice again near the end of the film? It’s maybe the most annoying song I’ve heard in a movie since “Hanging Out with My Family” made my ears bleed during *Birdemic* and *Birdemic 2*. How’s that for a lukewarm endorsement? Seriously, though, see the film. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [My way-too-early top 10 of 2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/09/18/my-way-too-early-top-10-of-2015/) **Published:** September 18, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** When you consider how densely packed the fall and early winter are with high-quality films, the movie-going year is really just half over. But that hasn’t stopped me from compiling my “way-too-early top 10 for 2015.” Please keep in mind I’m still catching up on many of the best festival films, including those from Sundance and Toronto. And this list in no way attempts to include the best foreign-language films of the year, as the top ones simply haven’t been made available in the United States yet. (All movies are ranked on my 0-5 scale.) 1\. Everest (3-D IMAX version) – 4 ¼ stars 2\. Among the Believers FL – 4 ¼ 3\. Inside Out (3-D version) – 4 ¼ 4\. [Love & Mercy](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/) – 4 5\. Cinderella – 4 6\. [The End of the Tour](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-end-of-the-tour/) – 4 7\. [Mr. Holmes](http://www.meiermovies.com/mr-holmes/) – 3 ¾ 8\. Ex Machina – 3 ¾ 9\. [Tomorrowland](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland/) – 3 ¾ 10\. [Once Upon a Crime: the Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) – 3 ¾ **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Reasons to (not) visit Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/04/reasons-to-not-attend-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** November 4, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/1945.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/1945.jpg)“1945.” Image copyright Katapult Film. The Central Florida Jewish Film Festival began tonight and will continue through Monday at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. Read my [article](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/). Although I strongly encourage you to attend, there are, admittedly, a few reasons for not attending. Let me address each one individually: **Reason #1:** You don’t like movies. Rebuttal: This festival might help you recover from this disturbing condition. **Reason #2:** You’d rather spend your time outside in the nice weather. Rebuttal: OK, that’s a pretty good one. However, the weather will become even nicer in a few weeks. Oh, and the Orlando forecast calls for rain on Sunday. **Reason #3:** You don’t like food. Rebuttal: Eat, eat! You’re skin and bones! **Reason #4:** You’re anti-Semitic. Rebuttal: Don’t attend. No one wants you there — or anywhere. **Reason #5:** You don’t enjoy experiencing Jewish culture. Rebuttal: See #4. **Reason #6:** You have agoraphobia. Rebuttal: I’m stumped. Good luck with that. **Reason #7:** You might see me there. Rebuttal: I’m really not as mean as people say, unless you’re an anti-Semite. So, in conclusion, unless you’re an agoraphobe or an anti-Semite, get your tukhus out to the Enzian to see some good films and eat some latkes and knishes. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The year of the doc?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/10/14/the-year-of-the-doc/) **Published:** October 14, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In a year of good documentaries (*Eating Animals*; *Won’t You Be My Neighbor?*; *Love, Cecil*; *RBG*; *The Sentence*; *Three Identical Strangers*; *Whitney*), I think I finally found the best: *Free Solo* (4 stars). Although some of the others have received more press, it’s *Free Solo* (about death-defying rock climbing in Yosemite) that impacted me the most. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Five quick recommendations](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/11/five-quick-recommendations/) **Published:** December 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Puzzle.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Puzzle.jpg)“Puzzle,” directed by Marc Turtletaub and starring Kelly Macdonald, is one of the nicest, little surprises of the year. (Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics / Big Beach Films) I’m furiously catching up on 2018 films in preparation for my “year in review” article and voting in the Florida Film Critics Circle, of which I’m a member. Three I’ve seen in the past couple of days that I highly recommend are *Puzzle* (4 stars on my 0-5 scale), *If Beale Street Could Talk* (4 stars), which is Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to *Moonlight*, and *Destroyer* (3 ¾ stars). Not all of those will end up in my top 10, but they are all worth a view. And don’t miss my review of the truly great *Roma* (4 ½ stars), out tomorrow in [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/screens/Section?oid=2240411). Oh, and I still don’t understand the lack of love for *The Front Runner* (4 stars), an insightful and well-crafted political drama by Jason Reitman. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Year in review: 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/26/year-in-review-2018/) **Published:** December 26, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iStock-664324386.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iStock-664324386.jpg)My year-in-review article is now online. [Read it here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-review-2018/). Also check out [my ranking of the best films of 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf). Ah, when you get caught between the moon and Mexico City … ###### *(Image by [Tortoon](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/tortoon?mediatype=photography&sort=best))* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Backing the wrong horse](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/04/03/backing-the-wrong-horse/) **Published:** April 3, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Of-Fathers-and-Sons.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Of-Fathers-and-Sons.jpg)“Of Fathers and Sons” (Image copyright Kino Lorber / Basis Berlin Filmproduktion) No, this isn’t a post about next month’s Kentucky Derby. It’s a post of cinematic regret. I often have harsh words for Academy members who vote for the wrong film, and for critics who compile faulty “best of the year” lists. Well, now I can direct those harsh words at myself, as I made the same mistake for the same reason almost everyone else does: We simply don’t see all the films in time to write our articles or vote for the Oscar winners. In this case, I was rooting for ***Free Solo*** (4 stars on 0-5 scale) for best documentary of 2018, and, to my joy, it won the Academy Award! (Admittedly, Peter Jackson’s ***They Shall Not Grow Old*** (4 ¼ stars) was better, but I’m not certain that its limited release during the last week of the year qualified it for the Oscar. Look for that film to qualify next year.) But it was another one of the five nominated films I should have been rooting for: ***Of Fathers and Sons*** (4 stars), a stunning, can’t-believe-they-filmed-that doc about violent, religious extremism in Syria. It’s proof that “best of the year” lists are never truly finished. They live, breathe and evolve long after the year has ended. So I will try not to dwell on my regret and instead congratulate director Talal Derki on his success — unless, of course, I find a better doc among the other 2018 films I’ve yet to see. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The best films of the decade](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/05/02/the-best-films-of-the-decade/) **Published:** May 2, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)“Dunkirk,” my best film of the decade, was left off the new list. (Image copyright Syncopy / Warner Bros.) *World of Reel* has released its list of the 25 best films of the decade, with George Miller’s *Mad Max: Fury Road* and Terrence Malick’s *The Tree of Life* coming out on top. [The list is available here](https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2019/4/results?fbclid=IwAR3PQj8EcyidkpunIw-xZQQadNZBESZmvgsmEaTvSIUNflREuye9zm-q_xQ). The results are based on a poll of industry professionals – mostly film critics – who were asked to select their top five films of the last 10 years. I wasn’t asked to participate, but that’s not surprising considering the tiny number of people who *were* invited: just 250 total. Further damaging the credibility of this weird list is the fact that participants were not asked to place their top five in order. So, theoretically, all those who voted for *Mad Max: Fury Road* might have picked it as their fifth choice, but because the film ended up on more lists than any other film, it landed on top. (Still, it ended up on just a quarter of participants’ lists, indicating the enormous variety of opinion.) Lists such as this, of course, grow more reliable with larger numbers: more participants and more film selections. However, these lists are ultimately only as credible as the judgment and taste of the participants. You might be surprised to hear me – who loves lists of all types more than just about anyone else – be so critical of not just this particular list but of the entire process. Perhaps that’s because, more and more, I see politics and group-think creeping into the world of film criticism. Or maybe it was there all along and just becomes more noticeable the older, more experienced or more curmudgeonly one becomes. Regardless, I would caution those of you reading this to be skeptical of all lists – mine included – and to treat them as guides for some enjoyable watching rather than gospel. So what if I had been asked to participate? Below are my best of the 2010s (so far). Unlike participants in the *World of Reel* survey, I’m including 15 and also ranking them. (The four films in bold also made the *World of Reel* list. And some are linked to my reviews.) 1. [Dunkirk](http://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) (2017) – 5 stars (on 0-5 scale) 2. Hugo (2011) – 5 stars 3. [Anna Karenina](http://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/) (2012) – 5 stars 4. [Loving Vincent](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) (2017) – 4 ¾ stars 5. Toy Story 3 (2010) – 4 ¾ stars 6. The Artist SlWS \* (2011) – 4 ½ stars 7. [Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)](http://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) \* (2014) – 4 ¾ stars 8. **The Act of Killing FL (2013) – 4 ¾ stars** 9. **Holy Motors FL (2012) – 4 ¾ stars** 10. Life of Pi (2012) – 4 ¾ stars 11. [Darkest Hour](http://www.meiermovies.com/darkest-hour/) (2017) – 4 ¾ stars 12. **Inception (2010) – 4 ¾ stars** 13. **[Inside Llewyn Davis](http://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/) (2013) – 4 ½ stars** 14. [Spotlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/27/the-best-movie-of-the-year/) \* (2015) – 4 ½ stars 15. [The Post](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-post/) (2017) – 4 ½ stars See [my key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/) for a guide to colors and symbols. And for a look at the best films of each year and decade going back to the dawn of feature filmmaking more than 100 years ago, select “By Year” under the “Feature Lists” tab on this site’s menu bar. *Copyright 2019 © Cameron Meier* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Leo Tolstoy meets Cecil B. DeMille](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/06/14/leo-tolstoy-meets-cecil-b-demille/) **Published:** June 14, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Leo Tolstoy meets Cecil B. DeMille in the latest *Avengers* flick. Cinematic excess accompanies more characters than even the Russian novelist would have attempted. Yet most Marvel fans will be entertained, and even I (a casual fan) recovered from the mind-numbing action in the film’s second and third acts enough to embrace the ending, which – spoiler alert – is brave enough to let the villain not only win but actually be mostly right, at least if one agrees with Thomas Malthus. (Perhaps I’m evil, but I kind of hope Thanos is allowed to keep his victory in the sequel, instead of Tony Stark using the time stone to change this first film’s outcome.) Though *Avengers: Infinity War* is guilty of the aesthetic disease called “more is more,” it gets a reluctant, minimal thumbs-up from me (2 ¾ stars on 0-5). And most audiences agree, as the film is getting ready to pass *Titanic* for fourth place among domestic moneymakers, at around $660 million. (Adjusted for inflation, however, it’s not even in the top 30 yet.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Ultron, Ultrer, Ultrest!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/05/11/ultron-ultrer-ultrest/) **Published:** May 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Elizabeth-Olsen-as-Scarlet-Witch-300x151.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Elizabeth-Olsen-as-Scarlet-Witch.jpg)Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, the newest member of the Avengers. Photo copyright Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Company. To hate *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, one would have to be devoid of all childlike adventure. But, being an adult, I have to admit it’s an odd, ADD smorgasbord without much form, plausibility or mature storytelling. Still, it again raises the bar (which really didn’t need to be raised) on frenetic, CGI-infused, eye-popping visual design. Add Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, and it’s worthy of 3 ¼ stars (on 0-5 scale), compared to the more satisfying original (4 stars). Fans of the franchise should be more than pleased, although I hope some will feel that the bigger-is-better belief is being taken to nauseating levels in modern cinema. I end with a quick viewing tip: This film was shot in 2-D and converted to 3-D. While I’m sure the conversion was done well, purists like me might be better served seeing it in its original form, saving a few bucks and avoiding the feeling of having your sensitivity – if any of that is left in society – sucked from your soul. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Great Star Shift](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/12/12/the-great-star-shift/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Changes are coming to MeierMovies. For details, check out [The Great Star Shift](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-star-shift/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Disney+ vs. Netflix discs](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/11/14/disney-vs-netflix-discs/) **Published:** November 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Netflix-discs-vs-Disney-Plus.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Netflix-discs-vs-Disney-Plus.jpg)The new Disney+ streaming service, which already has about 10 million subscribers, is apparently currently offering fewer than 1,000 movies. Meanwhile, Netflix discs offers roughly 100,000. That is not a typo. And, yes, Netflix discs has most of those Disney classics too. For more information on why millions of Americans still get DVDs and Blu-ray discs by mail (and you should too if you love classic film), see [this article by CNN Business](https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/media/netflix-dvd-subscription-mail-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2pkxxCjgb7tsa8hsEnv-oT2sZiXlIKqlcEI_RBU4mqWVnm1vx6gK2JapQ). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Check out my latest podcast](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/10/01/check-out-my-latest-podcast/) **Published:** October 1, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo.jpg)I’m the guest this month on the latest *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast. This podcast, hosted by my dad, Paul Meier, focuses on everything related to the spoken word. And this month the topic is movie dialects. [Check it out here](https://www.paulmeier.com/2019/10/01/episode-21-movie-dialects/), or on your favorite podcast channel, such as iTunes or Stitcher. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Telluride epilogue](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/09/08/telluride-epilogue/) **Published:** September 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)I’ve finally returned home from the Telluride Film Festival. (Thanks, Hurricane Dorian, for delaying my flight plans.) Check out my daily festival blogging [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/), and stay tuned for my *Orlando Weekly* article later this month. That article will incorporate my Telluride experience but also expand its focus to include a fall movie preview. And as the films I saw at Telluride open nationally, you will see them in *The Orlando Weekly*, other Euclid Media publications and on this site. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [It's festival time!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/08/22/its-festival-time/) **Published:** August 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If it’s late August, that means film-festival time is just around the corner — not just here in Orlando but around the world. In Central Florida, we’re gearing up for the [Love Your Shorts Film Festival Summer Rewind](http://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-summer-rewind-2019/) on August 23, the [Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo)](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-grows/) on September 6-8, the [Global Peace Film Festival](https://peacefilmfest.org/) on September 17-22, the Enzian Theater’s [South Asian Film Festival](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/) on October 12-14 and the [Orlando Film Festival](https://orlandofilmfest.com/) on October 17-24. Globally, of course, it’s almost time for the Venice International Film Festival (considered one of the classic “big three) and the two Ts: the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Those prestigious events often foreshadow not just the upcoming autumn movie season but the 2020 awards season too. And for the first time, I’ll be attending Telluride. [Follow my blog here](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/). I’ll see you at the festivals. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Experiments in 16mm](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/08/14/experiments-in-16mm/) **Published:** August 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Have you ever felt like experimenting with a 16mm Keystone A-3 camera from the 1930s? I did. However, the results are not quite what I had hoped for. [Check it out here](http://www.meiermovies.com/experiments-in-16mm/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Top 30 movie villains](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/02/18/top-25-movie-villains/) **Published:** February 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Psycho-Norman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Psycho-Norman.jpg)Norman’s #1. (Mr. Bates tops my list. Image copyright Universal / Paramount.) Feeling listless? Then you’ll rejoice that the listiest site on the world wide interwebs just got a whole bunch listier. Announcing another eclectic assortment of cinematic minutiae: [my top 30 movie villains of all time](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-greatest-cinema-villains/). Enjoy the evil. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [VASTA conference set for August 4-7](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/07/27/vasta-conference-set-for-august-4-7/) **Published:** July 27, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/VASTA-ad.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/VASTA-ad.png)The annual conference of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) will be held at the Embassy Suites in downtown Orlando, Florida, on August 4-7. I’m a proud member of VASTA and would encourage you to attend if you are an actor, singer or voiceover artist, or if you are simply interested in the spoken word, voice and speech training, linguists, or dialects and accents. If you are a member of VASTA, the conference costs $350. For non-members, it’s $450. If you are a student or retiree, the rate is $225. One-day passes (for August 5 and 6) are also offered for $150. I became a member of VASTA because of my involvement with the [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](https://www.dialectsarchive.com), for which I serve as executive editor. VASTA and IDEA are closely linked, and several IDEA editors will be presenting at this year’s conference. For more information, visit [Vasta.org/Orlando](https://www.vasta.org/Orlando). Also of interest to those in the performing arts, the annual conference for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) will also be held in Orlando, right after the VASTA conference. It will be August 7-11 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, adjacent to Walt Disney World. For more information on the ATHE conference, see [ATHE.org/page/19conf\_home](https://www.athe.org/page/19conf_home). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Don't go back to the 'Sematary'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/04/06/dont-go-back-to-the-sematary/) **Published:** April 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Pet-Sematary.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Pet-Sematary.jpg)Miko Hughes played Gage Creed in the original “Pet Sematary.” (image copyright Paramount Pictures) Before seeing the new *Pet Sematary*, I thought I’d catch up on the old ones. Not a good idea. Time has not been kind to what were already bad films. Mary Lambert directed both the 1989 original and the unnecessary 1992 sequel (from which Stephen King had his name removed). Hey, I’m all for giving female directors an equal chance to f\*#! up a good horror story. The original: 1 star (on 0-5 scale). The sequel: ¾ star. By the way, the only really good things about either film are the super-creepy, undead toddler and spinal-meningitis sister from the original. Let’s hope the new version can capture the creepiness of those two elements while improving on all the horrible decisions Lambert and her production crew made 30 years ago. **Update (July 2019):** Yes, it’s taken me more than three months to see the remake, and as I suspected, it too falls short of the source material. The new film (1 star), directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, succeeds in ways the original failed. For instance, it contains better cinematography and some sharper renditions of the characters of Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and Ellie (Jeté Laurence), though the casting of Jason Clarke as the lead is mostly a wash. John Lithgow (as Jud Crandall) is decent too but lacks the Downeast charm of the original’s Fred Gwynne. (Did he not even want to attempt a regional dialect?) The movie falters in its tone and story, introducing some choppy editing and odd plot changes in an attempt to make the film relevant and fresh. It’s neither. For a hot second, it toys nicely with existentialism, but that flirtation with maturity gives way, predictably, to bland and not-very-scary horror. And without the genuinely frightening young boy (Miko Hughes) from the 1989 version, the ending left me as cold as Zelda’s diseased corpse. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Take a bite out of these photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/06/13/take-a-bite-out-of-these-photos/) **Published:** June 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Back from my latest photographic adventure, I present my new gallery: [*Jaws* sights on Martha’s Vineyard](http://www.meiermovies.com/jaws-sights-on-marthas-vineyard/) (Amity Island). And for some new, non-movie-related photos, check out my [Travel gallery](http://www.meiermovies.com/photography/). Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Truman Show' influences](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/05/18/truman-show-influences/) **Published:** May 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just rewatched the greatest film of the 1990s, *The Truman Show*. Though the Peter Weir movie is profoundly original, it — like all great art — had influences. For a quick summary of those influences, plus a photo gallery of the town in which it was filmed, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/seaside-florida-the-truman-show/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Gilead by another name?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/05/13/gilead-by-another-name/) **Published:** May 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Republicans have rejected the Iran nuclear deal in part because of objections to Iran’s record on human rights. Meanwhile, in Ohio, Republicans have embraced a law that would force an 11-year-old girl to give birth to her rapist’s baby. In related news, I’m starting season two of *The Handmaid’s Tale*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Remembering Jay Boyar](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/05/06/remembering-jay-boyar/) **Published:** May 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Jay Boyar, founding member of the Florida Film Critics Circle and respected Orlando journalist, died over the weekend. Please keep his friends and family in your thoughts. [Here’s the FFCC’s tribute to him](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2019/05/06/founding-ffcc-chairman-jay-boyar-passes-away/?fbclid=IwAR3_lxY3Mw4dz3wJF0Nk7tnv1LD6rEE_YZvIX5o64zacZ1fUNO6fi2PTOYw). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival wraps](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/04/22/florida-film-festival-wraps/) **Published:** April 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FFF-2019-logo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FFF-2019-logo.png)The 28th annual Florida Film Festival concluded over the weekend. Here’s an index of my coverage of the 2019 event: [Program announcement ](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2019/) [Richard Dreyfuss to screen *The Goodbye Girl*](http://www.meiermovies.com/richard-dreyfuss-to-attend-florida-film-festival/) [Programmers balance quality with variety ](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/) [A look at domestic narrative shorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-stack/) [Richard Dreyfuss interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-richard-dreyfuss/) [It’s a (shorts) wrap](http://www.meiermovies.com/its-a-shorts-wrap/) [Award winners](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-awards/) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['GWTW' returning for 80th birthday](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/31/gwtw-returning-for-80th-birthday/) **Published:** January 31, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara.jpg)Gone with the Wind*, the highest-grossing movie of all time (adjusted for inflation), is returning to movie theaters for its 80th anniversary. But it will be playing just four days: February 28 and March 3, 17 and 19. For tickets and cinema information, check out [Fathom Events](https://www.fathomevents.com/events/gone-with-the-wind-80th-anniversary/theaters). But make sure you see it in a theater with 4K projection and great sound. (Ahh, if only nitrate film projection were still possible.) And a little trivia: Though some people claim the movie won eight Oscars and some claim 10, the correct answer is really 11 when you count its two special Oscars and Selznick’s Thalberg Award, which most agree was presented to him for *GWTW*. (That ties the film with *Ben-Hur*, *Titanic* and *Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* for most Oscars ever.) And check out [BoxOfficeMojo.com](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm) to see the top-earning films of all time adjusted for inflation. *(This blog was updated on March 1 to reflect the two additional days that were added to the run. FYI: It was the third-highest-grossing film in the nation on February 28.)* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Thursday's box office](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/03/01/thursdays-box-office/) **Published:** March 1, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Notice anything unusual about this week’s box office?** (Image from BoxOfficeMojo.com.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Gone-with-the-Wind-box-office-February-2019.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Gone-with-the-Wind-box-office-February-2019.png) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Last-minute Oscar thoughts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/02/24/last-minute-oscar-thoughts/) **Published:** February 24, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)With the 2019 Academy Awards just a couple of hours away, [here are some final thoughts about the nominated films](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-2019-oscar-nominees/). Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [For Valentine's Day: the 10 best romances](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/02/14/for-valentines-day-the-10-best-romances/) **Published:** February 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iStock-510308930.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iStock-510308930.jpg)On this Valentine’s Day, I present my list of the 10 greatest romance movies of all time. Ironically, and sadly, only one of these films (*The Graduate*) ends well for the romantic couple in life, though not in the conventional sense. (But the characters’ ghosts achieve happiness in two (*Wuthering Heights* and *Somewhere in Time*) and their deconstructionist doubles in another (*Atonement*).) 1\. Gone With the Wind \* (1939) 2\. The Graduate (1967) 3\. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) FL (1945) 4\. Wuthering Heights (1939) 5\. Casablanca \* (1943) 6\. Somewhere in Time (1980) 7\. Atonement (2007) 8\. City Lights SlWS (1931) 9\. Splendor in the Grass (1961) 10\. The Remains of the Day (1993) For more of my top-10 lists by genre, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/). *Image courtesy of iStockPhoto (credit: Knopper)* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Running counter to the Tomatometer](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/31/running-counter-to-the-tomatometer/) **Published:** January 31, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rotten-Tomatoes-disagreement-2019-1.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rotten-Tomatoes-disagreement-2019-1.png)I’m really not as disagreeable as some people think. Really. Hmm, well, OK, at least not until this last month, when three out of my four movie reviews have run counter to the Tomatometer. Here’s to the death of groupthink! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [History lesson: Who is the K in RKO?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/23/history-lesson-who-is-the-k-in-rko/) **Published:** January 23, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin_Franklin_Keith_001.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin_Franklin_Keith_001.jpg)From “The New York Star” (March 27, 1909), Vol.1, No.26, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27258839. Film buffs know [RKO Pictures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RKO_Pictures) as one of the “Big 5” studios of Hollywood’s Golden Era, along with MGM, Warner Brothers, Paramount and 20th Century Fox. (See [this Wikipedia article](https://hollywoodgoldenage.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/the-big-five/) for more on that.) Film historians might also know that “R” stands for “Radio” and “O” for “Orpheum.” But few can tell you where the K came from. Well, meet [Benjamin Franklin Keith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Keith). Born just eight years after [the first photograph of a person](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_du_Temple) was ever taken, Keith straddled history by working with P.T. Barnum, opening arguably the first cinema in the United States (New York’s Union Square Theatre in 1896) and ultimately lending his name to RKO Pictures, though he died 14 years before the studio was founded. It’s quite a 20th-century entertainment and cultural legacy for a man who never once watched a synchronized-sound motion picture or witnessed a world war. Now you know the name behind King Kong’s roar and Charles Foster Kane’s sled. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Before Beatles: 'illustrated songs' and 'soundies'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/26/before-beatles-illustrated-songs-and-soundies/) **Published:** January 26, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Eddie-Cantor.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Eddie-Cantor.jpg)Eddie Cantor was one of the most famous “illustrated song” artists. Image courtesy Wikipedia. While it’s generally accepted that the Beatles’ short “promotional films” from 1966 (“Rain” and “Paperback Writer”) were the first rock music videos, the genre has much earlier beginnings. For you music and film historians, I suggest checking out these fascinating Wikipedia articles on the “[illustrated song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustrated_song),” which has its roots in 19th-century magic-lantern shows, and “[soundies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundies).” **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A series of firsts for Oscar](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/22/a-series-of-firsts-for-oscar/) **Published:** January 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)For me and the Oscars this year, it’s a series of firsts, or lack thereof. It’s the first time that not a single one of my choices for best picture (*Ready Player One*), best actor (Ethan Hawke, *First Reformed*) and best actress (Toni Collette, *Hereditary*) has been nominated. And throwing salt on the wound, the Academy also didn’t nominate *First Man*, *First Reformed* or *Mary Poppins Returns*, which all land in my top five for 2018. In fact, out of my entire top 20 (which you can view by clicking “By Year” under “Feature Lists” on my site’s menu bar), just two were nominated for best film: *Roma* and *Green Book*. But, hey, look on the bright side: *Roma*, my choice for best drama, has been recognized not just in the foreign-language category but in the best-film category too, which is a rarity. Let’s hope it takes home the trophy. I’d also like to point out a snub that few film fans will notice: *Lost & Found*, a sweet stop-motion film from Australia (directed by Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe), got overlooked in the best animated short category. It’s better than at least half of the nominees in that category. And that ill-fated “popular” category? Well, it seems the Academy decided to add it after all. It’s called “best picture,” as that category’s nominees read like a selection from the People’s Choice Awards. (For a complete list of nominations, see [this article from *The Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/01/22/oscar-nominations-complete-coverage/?utm_term=.36a7655250d3).) The Academy Awards will air on Sunday, February 24 on … oh, you know what? I really don’t give a crap anymore. And thus ends my love affair with Oscar after four decades, just like *The Truman Show* ended: “What else is on? Yeah, let’s see what else is on. Where’s the *TV Guide*?” **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A poem](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/12/a-poem/) **Published:** January 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** We interrupt this regularly scheduled movie blog to bring you a political poem: **“The Man of Steel Slats”** by Cameron Meier Faster than a speeding bigot, More power-hungry than a loco fascist, Able to leap to terrible assumptions in a single bound. Look! Up in the White House! It’s a turd, it’s a bane. It’s Stupidman! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Quotas at the Golden Globes?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/08/quotas-at-the-golden-globes/) **Published:** January 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Congratulations to Regina King for winning best supporting actress at the Golden Globes on Sunday. Her performance in *If Beale Street Could Talk* (directed by Barry Jenkins) was stellar, and her selection as best supporting actress was one of the few decisions by the Hollywood Foreign Press that I agreed with. But her acceptance speech gave me pause. In accepting her Globe, she said she wants 50-percent female involvement in all her future projects. And she encouraged everyone else in a position of power to also hire 50 percent women and 50 percent men. The room erupted in applause. King has since said her comments were not scripted but grew spontaneously from her passion for gender equality. That passion is admirable, and it’s something I support. But let’s be clear: What King is advocating is a quota. And though U.S. courts have not definitively said whether hiring quotas are illegal (see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_quota)), I would argue that they are counterproductive to long-term equality and also insulting to the underrepresented gender or race, as quotas often assume that the underrepresented gender or race is not talented enough to get the job without the quota. Some would counter that argument by pointing out that, because the playing field is currently not level, quotas level it by preventing gender and racial bias. But quotas are nevertheless not the fairest way to reach a level playing field and are also counterproductive to quality, as they sometimes prevent the most qualified person from being hired. (And as Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminded us in her first gender-discrimination lawsuit, *Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue*, gender-specific laws harm both genders. In other words, a 50-50 quota designed to help women could potentially reduce the number of women a particular movie is allowed to hire.) Let me be clear: I’m not talking about affirmative action and other progressive programs, which I encourage Hollywood to support, so long if they are administered fairly. I’m discussing only quotas, which are unpopular with not just legal scholars and progressive advocates of societal change, but also with the American people. Maybe I’m taking King’s words too literally. If so, I apologize and concede that the sentiment behind them is noble. After all, the Supreme Court has said that setting a goal or an objective of reaching hiring percentages is both legal and moral. But if King really does plan to adopt a quota of 50 percent for men and 50 percent for women, wouldn’t it also make sense to hire 71 percent white, 18 percent Hispanic, 12 percent black, 5 percent Asian, and 1 percent Native American? (Heck, those official census stats don’t even add up, presumably because no one can agree on a definition of “white.”) Admittedly, that’s taking this argument a step too far, but isn’t that exactly what a quota system would do? And I certainly wish King good luck if she wants 50 percent of her cinematographers and gaffers to be women. Sadly, she’s unlikely to find them. (Until we encourage more women to join those industries, which have been traditionally dominated by men, King will probably be left understaffed. But, hey, I challenge her to prove me wrong on that point.) I’m a white man, and if the historical tables had been turned and I were living in a world where white men were underrepresented in Hollywood, I would be Jessica Chastain at the Globes: standing up and cheering at King’s words. And just like King, my heart would be in the right place but my words ill advised. At the risk of sounding preachy and self-righteous – hey, I’m just a film critic – I’ve always thought that our goal should be to level the playing field so everyone has the same chance, while encouraging diversity in all senses: race, ethnicity, gender, culture, background, subject and artistic style. And that kind of true equality and openness can’t be achieved through quotas. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Misplaced enthusiasm](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/06/misplaced-enthusiasm/) **Published:** January 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *Bird Box* is definitely a B-movie, but one with stars, some good acting (Sandra Bullock and particularly Tom Hollander, who practically saves it) and a cool premise. I almost feel a bit guilty for giving it a slight thumbs-up (2 ½ stars on 0-5 scale). But I really wish people could work up similar enthusiasm for something good, like *Roma* or *First Man*. Sadly, the best movies of 2018 are going unrewarded or completely overlooked. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [New photo pages](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/02/new-photo-pages/) **Published:** January 2, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House-2.jpg)The “Benjamin Button” house in New Orleans Happy 2019! The new year begins here at MeierMovies with some additional photo galleries. Check out my visual tributes to [*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*](http://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-button-houses-in-new-orleans/) and [*The Truman Show*](http://www.meiermovies.com/seaside-florida-the-truman-show/), along with a revamped [main photo page](http://www.meiermovies.com/photo-galleries/). And if you missed my page of travel photography that I created last year, you can [see it here](http://www.meiermovies.com/photography/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [My top 12 Christmas films](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/22/my-top-10-christmas-films/) **Published:** December 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** You didn’t want it. You didn’t ask for it. But I’m giving it to you anyway. I’m proud to present [my top 12 list of the best Christmas films (features and shorts) of all time](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/)! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Golden Glob](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/06/golden-glob/) **Published:** December 6, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)Dear Hollywood Foreign Press, I’d like to introduce you to a little movie that you apparently didn’t see. It’s called *First Reformed*. Also, in what universe is *Black Panther* and *Blackkklansman* better than *Roma*? (It actually seems like you might agree with me on that last point, as you nominated *Roma* for best director and best screenplay but NOT best drama. That makes a lot of sense.) You also showed surprisingly little love for *First Man*. For all the insanity, [see the list of nominations for this year’s Golden Globes](https://variety.com/2018/film/news/golden-globe-nominations-2019-1203082075/?fbclid=IwAR28ZGKybiORm2mnbSkIprCxjPlue9_E_oE2kpNoYsBPLe-auTB774LhW3w), and then compare it to [my own work-in-progress list of 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Years.pdf). (But please keep in mind that, as of this blog posting, I had not yet seen *Vice* or *Mary Poppins Returns*.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A cinematic god among children](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/08/25/a-cinematic-god-among-children/) **Published:** August 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Seeing *2001: A Space Odyssey* at Regal Pointe Orlando IMAX on Friday was sort of like visiting a museum that has a single Leonardo da Vinci painting and 20 finger paintings by children. (The digitally remastered masterpiece is in limited release this week on IMAX screens around the country to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Yes, the movie is letterboxed to preserve its original aspect ratio, and, yes, the intermission is included. Check out [my article from earlier this year](http://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/).) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [J Law waited for 'Red Sparrow'?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/08/25/j-law-waited-for-red-sparrow/) **Published:** August 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Jennifer Lawrence said she was reluctant to go naked until the right film and/or artistic opportunity came along. She also said that doing the nudity was about empowerment and taking control of her own body. I respect that. But she used *Red Sparrow* as her vehicle? What a hot mess of a film (1 ½ stars on 0-5 scale). Strangely, it wasn’t the acting, editing or cinematography that were the main culprits. Instead, it was the spy thriller’s screenplay, which I assume Lawrence read beforehand. I wish her better choices in the future. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The next Tom Cruise film](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/08/13/the-next-tom-cruise-film/) **Published:** August 13, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The next Tom Cruise movie has been announced. *Mission: Impossible – Dorian* will depart from the action genre and instead feature Cruise just staring at a portrait of himself in his attic. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Stinky fish](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/08/12/stinky-fish/) **Published:** August 12, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *The Meg* (1 star on my 0-5 scale) stinks like last week’s sushi. The best part of this film is when I got up to go to the bathroom. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [R.I.P. Oscar (1929-2018)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/08/11/r-i-p-oscar-1929-2018/) **Published:** August 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Oscar died an undignified death this week at the age of 89. [Read his obituary here](https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636743517/changes-are-coming-to-the-oscars-heres-what-we-know). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Today we call it a movie](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/06/29/today-we-call-it-a-movie/) **Published:** June 29, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just stumbled upon this description of a proposal for a patent on an invention in 1876 by Wordsworth Donisthorpe: “The taking of a succession of photographic pictures at equal intervals of time, in order to record the changes taking place in or the movement of the object being photographed, and also by means of a succession of pictures so taken of any moving object to give to the eye a presentation of the object in continuous movement as it appeared when being photographed.” Today we call it a movie. (Donisthorpe was not initially successful. But he did did eventually film one of the first films ever, *London’s Trafalgar Square*, in 1890.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Happy 30th birthday, Roger Rabbit!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/06/14/happy-30th-birthday-roger-rabbit/) **Published:** June 14, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Happy 30th birthday, *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*! Celebrate tonight with a screening at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, Florida. (See ). I first saw the movie on June 25, 1988, at Carmike 8 Cinema in Clarksville, Tennessee. I’ve seen it 15 times on the big screen since. Here’s my interview with Charles Fleischer for the film’s 25th anniversary: [http://www.meiermovies.com/208-2/](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.meiermovies.com%2F208-2%2F&h=ATOVfyJRTPY53XWComGeasxJjJAdk5FgJNDh1sMb70QvQb8VHY_cDQRwGVlorVQtw0JL-jt7cXrKZht0iltiYJybkUO6vCkJ-8vDGXBt7wz9yehCeCVVgWZtjo_LOmpKiA). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best films of 2018 so far](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/06/13/best-films-of-2018-so-far/) **Published:** June 13, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)“Ready Player One” When December rolls around, one invariably sees critics taking stabs at top-10 lists. I’m always a bit reticent, as my true “best of the year” list usually doesn’t take its final form until March or April of the following year, after I’ve caught up on foreign films and documentaries. So when some of my fellow writers from the Florida Film Critics Circle started sharing their “top films of 2018 so far” lists – in June! – I initially wanted no part, mostly because I’m a bit ashamed I’m so far behind on watching movies. Nevertheless, if you’ve visited [my yearly list on MeierMovies.com](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Years.pdf), you already know I keep a running tab of my favorites. And I’m admittedly proud of the five that are sitting on top of my 2018 list now. Although only one or two of those might ultimately end up in my top-10 list at the end of the year, they are all worthy of praise. So I present my way-too-early, best-of-2018-so-far list: 1. Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg 2. Hereditary, directed by Ari Aster 3. The Guilty, directed by Gustav Möller 4. The Death of Stalin, directed by Armando Iannucci 5. Ghost Stories, directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman (Please keep in mind that several films that you might think were released in 2018 actually had extensive festival runs or limited releases in 2017. The five listed above either premiered in 2018 or played just one U.S. festival in 2017, so I’ve categorized them as 2018 movies.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Bill Gibron](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/05/12/bill-gibron/) **Published:** May 12, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Bill-Gibron.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Bill-Gibron.jpg)I awoke today to some extremely sad news: [Bill Gibron](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2013/11/27/bill-gibron/), chairman of the Florida Film Critics Circle, has died, following a heart attack. Bill was two days shy of his 57th birthday. He was supportive of me in my career, and I regret that I never got to know him personally. Film journalists aren’t always valued enough, and Bill was certainly one of the best. I can think of no better tribute on this sad day than to revisit his film reviews: [www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/bill-gibron/movies](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/bill-gibron/movies). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [From film to Fringe](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/05/10/from-film-to-fringe/) **Published:** May 10, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Orlando-Fringe.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Orlando-Fringe.jpg)Now is the time of year when my attention briefly turns from cinema to my first love, theatre. Specifically, I’ll be reviewing nearly a dozen productions at the [Orlando Fringe](http://orlandofringe.org/). Running May 15-28 (mostly in Loch Haven Park in Orlando, Florida), this is the oldest and largest Fringe festival in the United States. To read my reviews and those from other *Orlando Weekly* writers (especially the publication’s main theatre reviewer, Seth Kubersky), visit [OrlandoWeekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com) in the coming days. And for some of my reviews from previous Fringes, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/theatre-reviews/). Don’t miss this two-week-long opportunity to support the arts in Central Florida. I look forward to seeing you there. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [1888](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/04/23/1888/) **Published:** April 23, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The number 1888 isn’t just the year that cinema was arguably born (see my [Louis Le Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/) page for more on that), but it’s also the exact number of short films I now have rated on my short-film lists. Check under the “Short Lists” tab on the menu bar. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Festival frenzy](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/03/17/festival-frenzy/) **Published:** March 17, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-Florida-Film-Festival-logo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-Florida-Film-Festival-logo.png)If it’s March, that probably means I have just been to a film festival and am likely getting ready for another. I was lucky enough to attend Filmapalooza in Paris last week (for which I was a judge). Check out my wrap-article article [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/). And if you’re in Florida, you’re probably looking forward to arguably the two best film festivals in the state: the Florida and Sarasota film festivals. For my introductory article to Florida Film Festival, which runs April 6-15 in Orlando, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-most-movies-ever/). And click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-announces-guests/) for my Sarasota Film Festival announcement blog. (That festival runs April 13-22.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [BAFTA insanity](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/02/18/bafta-insanity/) **Published:** February 18, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** So let me get this straight: *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* won best British film at the BAFTAs tonight over films such as *Darkest Hour* and *Dunkirk*, which are so British they practically bleed tea. I realize *Three Billboards* was written, directed and produced by a British man, but doesn’t this seem kind of insane to anyone considering the film is SO American and has almost all American stars and was filmed in America? And to prove this insanity, *Dunkirk* was not even nominated for best British film, but it WAS nominated for best overall film. So, um, it was one of the five best OVERALL films in the world last year but not among the five best British films? I don’t have the time and energy to explain the rest of the award show’s mistakes. See the insanity for yourself at . **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Love Your Shorts Film Festival 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018/02/07/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2018/) **Published:** February 7, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)The eighth annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival begins tomorrow in Sanford, Florida, and runs through Sunday, February 11. Check out my *Orlando Weekly* article [here](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sanfords-love-your-shorts-film-festival-returns/Content?oid=10579212), and also [see my blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshorts2018/), which contains useful information and resources for filmmakers wanting to make scary movies. (That’s the topic of Thursday morning’s discussion panels.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Critics: 'Dunkirk' best of 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/28/florida-film-critics-dunkirk-best-of-2017/) **Published:** December 28, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)The Florida Film Critics Circle, of which I am a proud member, has selected *Dunkirk* as the best film of 2017. Christopher Nolan was selected as best director. (I voted for both.) For a full listing of all the awards, click [here](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2017/12/23/2017-ffcc-winners/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian Theater dedicates new oak tree](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/17/enzian-theater-dedicates-new-oak-tree/) **Published:** December 17, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzians-new-oak-tree-December-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzians-new-oak-tree-December-2017.jpg)The Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, dedicated its new oak tree today, with servings of hot apple cider and cookies. Executive Director David Schillhammer also read *The Giving Tree* to the kids who had just watched the Enzian’s special screening of *The Wizard of Oz*. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzians-new-oak-tree-December-2017-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzians-new-oak-tree-December-2017-2.jpg)May this new tree last hundreds of years, just like the recently deceased live oak that was removed a few weeks. Portions of that old tree have been saved for possible future use. (Souvenir plaques for those donating to Enzian?) For my previous article about the old tree, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-loses-live-oak/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A brief thought on the Disney-Fox deal](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/14/a-brief-thought-on-the-disney-fox-deal/) **Published:** December 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Fox-Disney.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Fox-Disney.jpg)William Fox, meet Walt Disney. There’s a lot to digest in the sale of most of 20th Century Fox to Disney, but I was struck by the fact that although Disney is taking over the movie production, the historic movie lot (begun by William Fox in 1928 as the first production facility in Los Angeles designed expressly for sound films) will remain with Murdoch’s Fox company. The lot is a fraction of the size it was at its height in the 1940s, but it’s sad to think that the old soundstages will probably be devoted to mostly news, sports and other television content now, and not movies (unless other companies rent them). It remains to be seen how the classic 20th Century Fox production logo and fanfare will be used, although, theoretically, there’s now nothing stopping Disney from placing that logo at the beginning of the next *Star Wars* film, unless the deal stipulates that the “20th Century Fox” name and logo is still owned by the portion of the company retained by Murdoch. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Golden Globe noms are pear-shaped](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/11/golden-globes-2018/) **Published:** December 11, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)The nominations for the 75th Golden Globe Awards have just been released, and, as usual, they are eclectic mix of mistakes and well-deserved recognitions. But should we expect anything less from this odd collection of roughly 90 foreign journalists whose tastes range from the staid to the sleazy to the sublime? For a complete list of the nominees, visit [GoldenGlobes.com](https://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/nominations-75th-golden-globe-awards-have-been-announced). Let me offer just a few thoughts about the film nominees to whet your appetite for this year’s awards season. I’ll start with the good news: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has selected *Dunkirk* and *The Post* as two of its nominees for best drama. Those two should rightfully battle it out for the top honor, as they are far better than the other three nominees in that category: *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri*; *The Shape of Water*; and *Call Me by Your Name*. The most glaring error here is the omission of Joe Wright’s *Darkest Hour*. Yes, the HFPA has nominated Gary Oldman for his portrayal of Winston Churchill, but the film itself was snubbed. *Lady Bird*, one of the five films nominated for best comedy or musical, seems a lock. Its win would help make up for the inclusion of a couple of films in that category that simply don’t belong: *I, Tonya*, which isn’t good enough; and *Get Out*, which is neither a straight comedy nor a musical. Another disappointing decision is to not recognize either *Blade Runner 2049* or *War for the Planet of the Apes*. Perhaps that speaks to the odd organization of the awards, which forces films into either the drama or comedy/musical category, leaving sci-fi and horror often dangling in the wind. I’m also surprised that *Stronger*, *Mother!* and *Beauty and the Beast* were overlooked, especially because the latter fits so well into the musical category. The acting nominations overall aren’t too bad, but, as I predicted, Sam Elliott’s career-defining performance in *The Hero* has been forgotten. Instead, the HFPA chose to recognize an actor at the beginning of his career: Timothée Chalamet in *Call Me by Your Name*. Though it’s a fine performance, that was a mistake. Still, Oldman is a lock for this category. There’s a lot to talk about regarding the supporting categories, but I’ll single out just one nice surprise: Hong Chau in *Downsizing*. The film, though much better than most reviews are saying, is not Alexander Payne’s best, but Chau is superb. Still, I’m rooting for Laurie Metcalf, who plays the mother in *Lady Bird*. A non-surprise among supporting-actor nominations – but one that will nevertheless be noticed by Florida audiences – is the inclusion of Willem Dafoe for *The Florida Project*, which was filmed in the Orlando area. His performance isn’t any better than a host of other possible nominees, including Bob Odenkirk in *The Post*, but it’s understandable considering the buzz surrounding the film. Among directors, the HFPA clearly loves Guillermo del Toro, as they gave *The Shape of Water* seven nominations, more than any other film. That’s more than it deserves, though Sally Hawkins and Richard Jenkins are deserving of their acting nominations. The biggest surprise in the director category is the inclusion of Ridley Scott for *All the Money in the World*, when the film itself wasn’t nominated. Perhaps they admire his gutsy decision to revamp the movie only weeks before its release by cutting all of Kevin Spacey’s scenes and replacing them with new footage of Christopher Plummer. The second-best film of the year, behind Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk*, is *Loving Vincent*. So it’s nice to see it get a nomination for best animated feature. If it wins over *Coco*, which is also very good, that might allow me to forgive the HFPA for not including it among its nominees for best drama. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Seth Myers on January 7. *Copyright 2017 © Cameron Meier* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Daddy' deserves to be seen](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/16/daddy-deserves-to-be-seen/) **Published:** November 16, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/I-Love-You-Daddy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/I-Love-You-Daddy.jpg)Image copyright Circus King Productions I started watching Louis C.K.’s *I Love You, Daddy* (2 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale) with trepidation. Would I be able to forget the recent deeds of the man and instead concentrate on the art? Could I ignore the (masturbating) elephant in the room? At first I could not, and that bothered me, as I’ve always advocated for separating the art from the person except in the most extreme circumstances. (Can one dispassionately judge the films of an admitted Nazi or serial killer, for instance?) And, of course, C.K. doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with those monsters. But because his film – which he wrote, directed and stars in (as a television writer/producer not dissimilar to himself) – addresses topics that are embarrassingly close to the sexual harassment and mistreatment that, by his own admission, he’s guilty of, it became a tough watch for me. It made *Lolita* seem like *Sesame Street*, especially when C.K.’s character lectures his daughter (the excellent Chloe Grace Moretz) on feminism and watches his friend (Charlie Day) mime masturbation in front of him and his female personal assistant (Edie Falco). Talk about cringeworthy. But then I saw a method in the madness, a point to the odd cinematic choices and explorations of uncomfortable subject matter. Stylistically, it started to work, especially when John Malkovich (whose character is a veiled comparison to Woody Allen) arrived a third of the way into the film with his mesmerizingly subtle performance. This was clearly meant to be social commentary, I told myself, but it has grown into something larger thanks to recent events: performance art and, in a sense, an admission by C.K. that he (or at least his character) is a troubled person, especially when it comes to his relationship with women. It’s akin to watching a man unravel before your eyes and admit his guilt before he’s been accused. The finished product might simply be too odd, uncomfortable and self-indulgent for most viewers, especially because it’s half comedy, half drama, all black-and-white, and contains the strangest score you’re likely to hear this year. (The 1940s-style, comedy-romance music is either a stroke of genius or a laughable disaster.) But, like almost all art, it does deserve to be seen, and I would encourage someone to distribute it in some form. I just hope any and all profits could go to a good cause, such as a women’s charity. *Copyright 2017 © Cameron Meier* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Critics Circle](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/09/17/florida-film-critics-circle/) **Published:** September 17, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m happy to announce that I’ve just been accepted into the [Florida Film Critics Circle](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2017/09/17/cameron-meier/). Thank you to all at the FFCC who supported me, and to all my other friends, particularly those at *The Orlando Weekly*, who encouraged me. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Three films with nothing in common](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/07/15/three-films-with-absolutely-nothing-in-common/) **Published:** July 15, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** So what do [*Collide*](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/07/12/collide-wastes-a-good-cast/), [*Modern Times*](http://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/) and [*Manos: The Hands of Fate*](http://www.meiermovies.com/manos-the-hands-of-fate/) have in common? Absolutely nothing — except they were the subjects of my last three (unrelated) posts. If you missed them, check them out here by clicking the titles above. It’ll help you pass the time while waiting for Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk* to blow your mind. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Collide' wastes a good cast](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/07/12/collide-wastes-a-good-cast/) **Published:** July 12, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Congratulations to Eran Creevy, the director and co-writer of *Collide* (1 ½ stars on 0-5 scale). You took a movie with Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley and Felicity Jones and instead focused your cameras almost entirely on Nicholas Hoult and car crashes. At least the car crashes were impressive. The same can’t be said for the twist ending, which seems clever — until you ponder it for 30 seconds and realize it makes about as much sense as arguably our greatest living actor accepting a part in a poorly written, adrenaline-fueled action flick. Oh, Sir Anthony. 🙁 **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Colossal' returning to cinemas](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/05/03/colossal-returning-to-cinemas/) **Published:** May 3, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Colossal.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Colossal.jpg)After enjoying a nice festival run, including an appearance at the recent Florida Film Festival, *Colossal* (3 stars on my 0-5 scale) is returning to cinemas for a limited general release. The film is a unique blend of fantasy, science fiction, comedy and dark drama. That mix of genres isn’t always blended just right in director Nacho Vigalondo’s (*Timecrimes*) imaginatively metaphorical film about human relationships gone bad — so bad they morph into metropolis-mangling monsters. But if you like your dramedies with a side of surreal and a dash of disaster, don’t miss *Colossal*, which features a sincere performance by Anne Hathaway and a wonderfully nuanced one by Jason Sudeikis. (This review first appeared in [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/24/florida-film-festival-opens-at-enzian-with-brett-haleys-the-hero) on April 24, 2017.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida students win filmmaker awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/03/09/florida-students-win-filmmaker-awards/) **Published:** March 9, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/C-SPAN-StudentCam-competition.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/C-SPAN-StudentCam-competition.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/09/winter-park-and-maitland-students-among-c-span-documentary-winners), March 9, 2017 Thirteen high school and middle school students from Winter Park and Maitland, Florida, have won prizes in C-SPAN’s 2017 national StudentCam competition. Students were asked to create short documentary films answering the question: “What is the most urgent issue for the new president and Congress to address in 2017?” The annual contest received a record 2,903 submissions from more than 5,600 students around the country this year, with a total of 150 films and 321 students being honored. Monetary awards were either $250 or $750. The winners from Winter Park High School are Sydney Plastow, Sophie Freid, Christina Spain, Chelsea Wilck, Amanda Belawski, Walker Simasek, Clay DeHart, Zoe Heafner, Abigail Marcil, Tatum Homer-Dibble, Lauren Hughes and Emme Santos. Maitland Middle School’s Georgia Bernbaum also won. The most popular topics this year were equality (including police brutality, racial and gender discrimination, and women’s rights), the economy and the environment. Visit to view the winning entries, which may be used with attribution to C-SPAN. *Copyright 2017 © Orlando Weekly* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Worst film of 2016?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/02/05/worst-film-of-2016/) **Published:** February 5, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I still think *Jackie* (4 ½ stars) is the best film of 2016, but until now I wasn’t sure about the worst. It’s *Dirty Grandpa* (½ star), directed by Dan Mazer and starring Robert De Niro and Zac Efron. Calling it a train wreck is an insult to train wrecks. Train wrecks are at least dramatic and interesting. This is more like a train ran over a skunk and then broke down, forcing the riders to sit for two hours amid the smell of run-over skunk. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Wherefore art thou, Peter Cushing?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/03/wherefore-art-thou-peter-cushing/) **Published:** January 3, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Peter-Cushing.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Peter-Cushing.jpg)The “real” Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin? (Image copyright LucasFilm.) If you read my review of *[Rogue One: A Star Wars Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/)*, you will recall that I labeled the digital re-creation of Peter Cushing (and a young Carrie Fisher) as terrific, in all senses of the word. The technology that made it possible is both amazing and frightening, considering the effect it will undoubtedly have on cinema, and acting itself. (For more information on that process, read this *[New York Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/movies/how-rogue-one-brought-back-grand-moff-tarkin.html?_r=0)*.) But from both a philosophical and a technological standpoint, it’s important to remember that Cushing and Fisher were not “real” in the original 1977 *Star Wars* either. The “motion capture” that facilitated their performances was – just like today’s digital processes – a scientific invention. And that invention (by [Louis Le Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/) in 1888) was made possible by an even earlier one by [Nicéphore Niépce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic%C3%A9phore_Ni%C3%A9pce) and [Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Daguerre). It’s called photography. And, ironically, that invention, with its roots in the 1820s, is still more emotionally powerful and realistic than the technology of today. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [BAFTA: Diversify, or else!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/12/20/bafta-diversify-or-else/) **Published:** December 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The decision by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to limit award eligibility to productions that embrace diversity is a scary one. (See [http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/12/19/the\_bafta\_awards\_will\_exclude\_films\_that\_are\_not\_diverse\_starting\_in\_2019.html](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/12/19/the_bafta_awards_will_exclude_films_that_are_not_diverse_starting_in_2019.html).) Though most of us recognize the value of diversity – racial, gender, social, cultural – enforcing diversity or condemning those who don’t embrace a “correct” point of view is something straight out of *Brave New World* or the McCarthy era. Encouraging creativity and involvement from people of all backgrounds and colors is a positive step, but enforcing a particular standard on everyone opens a Pandora’s box that contains censorship, a devaluation of quality and, yes, even racism. It’s another victory for political correctness and the “tolerance or else” mentality. I hope BAFTA will reconsider its decision and work toward a less heavy-handed version of inclusiveness. And let’s not forget the damaging words of Production Code enforcer Will Hays, which bear an odd irony today: “The code sets up high standards of performance by motion picture producers. You want entertainment: wholesome, interesting and vital.” **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Stupidity is Golden](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/12/13/stupidity-is-golden/) **Published:** December 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The nominations for the 74th annual Golden Globe Awards are out (), and for the umpteenth year in a row, this odd assortment of journalists has gotten it wrong. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/goldenglobelogo.jpg)In the spirit of the season, let me start with what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got right. *Manchester by the Sea* and *Moonlight* clearly belong in the best-drama category, while *La La Land* and possibly *Florence Foster Jenkins* belong among the best comedies. Also, I’m glad to see lead-acting nominations for Natalie Portman (*Jackie*) – who should win easily – along with Jessica Chastain (*Miss Sloane*) and Amy Adams (*Arrival*), although the latter could have just as easily been nominated for *Nocturnal Animals*. Among men, Casey Affleck is an obvious choice, too, as are Meryl Streep (*Florence Foster Jenkins*), Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (*La La Land*). And I applaud the offbeat choice of Colin Farrell for *The Lobster*, though that film was released in 2015 and isn’t necessarily a comedy (the category in which it was nominated). For supporting performances, the HFPA nailed it with selections of Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali (*Moonlight*), and Michelle Williams (*Manchester by the Sea*). That’s where my compliments end. Where’s *Jackie*, *Denial*, *Nocturnal Animals* and *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story*? Yes, all four are worthy of nominations, though the HFPA might have had to boot the latter into comedy/musical to balance the categories. Why isn’t *Sully* or *Snowden* represented, and what’s up with all the love for Mel Gibson? I don’t judge his films by his personal behavior – and, admittedly, *Hacksaw Ridge* was pretty powerful, though a bit heavy-handed – but it should not be included among the year’s five best dramas. The most insane choices are in the comedy/musical category. *Deadpool* and *20th Century Women* get nominations instead of Warren Beatty’s *Rules Don’t Apply*?! I guess the HFPA prefers violent and sophomoric, or just plain dull, to smart and absurd. Lastly, I’m truly sorry and shocked that Michael Shannon and Tom Wilkinson missed out on supporting nominations for *Nocturnal Animals* and *Denial*, respectively. The HFPA did recognize a supporting actor from *Nocturnal Animals*, however: Aaron Taylor-Johnson. He was good, but, frankly, you’d have to be blind or deaf, or both, to believe his performance was better than Shannon’s. But, hey, I’ve learned over the years that reasonable, intelligent people can have vastly different opinions about art. So I guess this is just another lesson for me. Still, I’d encourage some of the HFPA to get their eyes checked, along with their hearts. I’m sure a lot, if not most, of the members of the HFPA are responsible journalists. But there are only about 90 of them, compared to nearly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. So, at the Golden Globes, entire categories can be swayed by just one person’s odd tastes, ignorance or flawed reasoning. And that’s no way to conduct an awards ceremony. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian to host Duplass Q&A](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/10/13/enzian-to-host-duplass-qa/) **Published:** October 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![blue_jay](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/blue_jay.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/blue_jay.jpg)From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/10/13/mark-duplass-tells-all-in-a-skype-q-and-a-after-blue-jay-opens-at-enzian), September 13, 2016 *Blue Jay*, written and executive-produced by, and also starring, Mark Duplass, opens at the Enzian Theater in Maitland on Friday. The 6:30 p.m. Saturday showing will be followed by a live, remote Skype Q&A with Duplass, who was a guest of the 2016 Florida Film Festival. Co-starring Sarah Paulson and directed by Alex Lehmann, in his fictional-feature debut, the romantic comedy focuses on two former high school sweethearts who become reacquainted following a return to their hometown. The *OW* did not screen the film in advance, but it was well received last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. (If you miss it at Enzian, it’s already on video-on-demand.) *Blue Jay* will be preceded by *Pickle* (4 stars on our 0-5 scale), a short documentary that played the 2016 Florida Film Festival. Directed by Amy Nicholson, the film focuses on animals who need a little help to survive, who are in, well, a pickle. The film – in both a touching and quirky fashion, complete with animation – depicts the love of one married couple for a paraplegic possum, a fish that can’t swim, a cat with a heart defect and countless other creatures who, like ourselves, enjoy our brief moment in the circle of life. *Pickle* won the festival’s Grand Jury award for documentary short, which means it is eligible for a nomination for best short doc at the 2017 Academy Awards. This is the first time that the festival’s winner for documentary short has been eligible for an Oscar. (The festival was previously Oscar-accredited only for short animation and short narrative fiction.) For more information, visit [enzian.org](http://enzian.org/film/blue-jay/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Global Peace Film Festival continues](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/09/24/global-peace-film-festival-continues/) **Published:** September 24, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [The Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2016/) continues through Sunday in Orlando and Winter Park, Florida. Last night the festival screened 10 films at six locations. I attended what was supposed to be the 5:30 p.m. screening of *RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope* at the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café, but, regrettably, things didn’t go quite as planned. [![rfk-700x394](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RFK-700x394.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RFK-700x394.jpg)When I arrived, the one representative from the festival didn’t know which theater the film would be in. (I eventually tracked down the cinema manager, who seemed to be the only informed staff member.) After finding my seat among the roughly 10 people in attendance – which included the filmmakers – the movie began. But it was the wrong one. Instead of seeing the documentary about Robert Kennedy’s historic trip to South Africa in 1966, we watched *Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro*. That was the one silver lining of the evening, as the documentary by Max Lewkowicz (3 stars) is well worth a watch when it gets its regularly scheduled festival premiere on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., at the Winter Park Public Library. (It’s also playing on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Gallery at Avalon Island.) But that wasn’t exactly a silver lining for *RFK* directors Tami Gold and Larry Shore, who had to wait almost an hour and a half for their film thanks to an apparent Blu-ray mishap. And when it finally did begin, it was projected in the wrong aspect ratio, 1.85:1 instead of the boxier 1.37:1 in which it was shot. (*Underfire* didn’t look great, either, as it was projected on Blu-ray, but at least the aspect ratio was correct.) This necessitated another delay while festival staff tried to fix the problem. They couldn’t. So Gold rightfully walked out in frustration, as did I. Festival Artistic Director Kelly DeVine, with whom I spoke, was extremely gracious and apologetic to the filmmakers and the audience. And, admittedly, no festival is without glitches. But, nevertheless, the event should be held accountable and should find a way to make it up to Gold, Shore and its patrons. I’d suggest another showing of *RFK* in the correct aspect ratio. Executive Director Nina Streich reached out to me for comment. “Apologies for the terrible problem with the *RFK* screening,” she said. “You are right that the festival should be held accountable. You are also right that slip-ups occur. Last night’s was the worst slip-up we’ve had, and we will be paying attention to how that won’t happen again as we do our production post-mortem.” **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [What's new at MeierMovies?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/09/22/whats-new-at-meiermovies/) **Published:** September 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Some of you know I’ve been doing a lot of traveling over the last couple of months. You may also know I’ve been battling some health issues. (Don’t worry — I’ll be OK.) So I’m depressingly unfamiliar with many recent releases, including *Snowden*, *Pete’s Dragon* and others I had wanted to see. Nevertheless, I’m working to catch up and have, over the last week or two, posted several reviews and articles both here and at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com). For instance, I recommend *[The People vs. Fritz Bauer](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-people-vs-fritz-bauer/)*, *[Sully](http://www.meiermovies.com/sully/)*, *[Our Little Sister](http://www.meiermovies.com/our-little-sister/)* and *[The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-eight-days-a-week-the-touring-years/)*. But I do NOT recommend *[The Hollars](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-hollars/)* and *[Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates](http://www.meiermovies.com/mike-and-dave-need-wedding-dates/)*. Also, look for my upcoming reviews of *Denial* and *The Birth of a Nation*, two of the most highly anticipated films of the year. I’ve also been covering Orlando’s [Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2016/). If you’re in Central Florida, you should check it out. It runs through Sunday, September 25. Lastly, the Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival is nearly upon us. It runs September 1-3 and is always worth a visit. (Look for my “Selection” blog in next week’s *Orlando Weekly*.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Carry on, Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/06/13/carry-on-orlando/) **Published:** June 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![IMG_0016](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0016-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0016.jpg)As I stood amid thousands of people in downtown Orlando on Monday remembering the victims of the unthinkable massacre the day before at Pulse nightclub, I couldn’t help thinking that the shooter would have hated this. He would have hated that life was going on as normal, that people were coming together from all walks of life, races, genders and sexual orientations. That monster – sort of like the Grinch after he stole the Whos’ Christmas presents – would have been utterly bewildered that his rampage didn’t affect our spirit one bit. It just made us stronger. [![IMG_0018](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0018-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0018.jpg)The evidence was everywhere. There were the free items being passed out to everyone: candles, food, water. There was the stranger who walked up to me, smiled and handed me a small card that read simply, “You matter.” There was the Muslim woman kneeling down to sign the long tapestry of praise and remembrance for the victims of the tragedy. And there were the tiny, handmade, paper-mâché hot-air balloons being lit one by one, lifting into the night sky to honor the dead and celebrate life. [![IMG_0025](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0025-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0025.jpg)I’m a movie critic, so I don’t pretend to offer any great insight into why the shooter failed to divide us. I just know he failed — because I know what I saw and heard on Monday. I also know that Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and the other speakers got it right when they told the crowd in front of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts that we should keep being who we are and that we should be proud for not being afraid. Indeed, I saw lots of emotions on the faces of the people on Monday night, but fear wasn’t one of them. [![IMG_0021](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0021-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0021.jpg) Each citizen of Orlando will deal with this tragedy – and also the shooting death of *Voice* singer Christina Grimmie just one night before at Orlando’s Plaza Live – in his or her own way. As for me, well, I’m going to the movies, because that’s what I do. In fact, that’s where I found myself on the Sunday morning after the shooting. I was at the Enzian Theater in Maitland with friends, watching locally made films and reaffirming our sense of community. A 30-second moment of silence was observed before the program started, and when it was over and the short films began to flicker, we all felt better about ourselves, our lives and our city. [![Keep Calm and Carry On 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Keep-Calm-and-Carry-On-2-1024x561.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Keep-Calm-and-Carry-On-2.jpg)So whatever it is that you do — whatever it is that keeps you going — stay strong and keep doing it. And keep doing it. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Film criticism as poetry?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/28/film-criticism-as-poetry/) **Published:** May 28, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Thinking of seeing *Alice Through the Looking Glass* this weekend? You might want to [read a bit of poetry first](http://www.meiermovies.com/alice-through-the-looking-glass/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Reviewing Orlando Fringe 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/20/reviewing-orlando-fringe-2016/) **Published:** May 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![2015Fringe_Header](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2015Fringe_Header-300x285.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2015Fringe_Header.jpg)Switching gears slightly from film to theatre, I’ve been reviewing (as I do each year) the Orlando Fringe theatre festival in Orlando, Florida. It’s arguably the best art event in Central Florida as it brings together all types of live theatre from local, national and international performers. And even more impressive is the fact that it’s the largest Fringe festival in the country. However, because it’s not juried, quality varies widely, from off-Broadway caliber to one step above high school. But that’s almost part of the eclectic Fringe charm: You never know what you’re gonna get. For complete coverage, check out [www.OrlandoWeekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com). But for a brief glimpse at three of my favorite shows so far, check out the links below. [Simpleton: The Legend of Donald Trump](http://www.meiermovies.com/simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump/) [No Tweed Too Tight: Another Grant Canyon Mystery](http://www.meiermovies.com/no-tweed-too-tight/) [Blonde Poison](http://www.meiermovies.com/blonde-poison/) Fringe continues through May 30 at Loch Haven Park. For more information, see [www.OrlandoFringe.org](http://www.orlandofringe.org). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [NOT live action](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/04/13/not-live-action/) **Published:** April 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The new *Jungle Book* film from Disney is getting pretty good reviews, including a 4-star one in *The Orlando Weekly*, the publication for which I write. I haven’t seen it, so I can’t comment. However, it’s important to remember that, except for Mowgli, this is NOT a live-action film. So we need to stop calling it that. It’s almost entirely digitally animated. Therefore, when comparing it to the 1967 classic, you should call that one the hand-drawn version and this new one the computer-generated version. Thanks for listening. (By the way, the same can be said for many “live-action” films today. There is essentially no such thing as live-action action/adventure movies anymore. Sad.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [How much did 'The Force Awakens' REALLY make?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/03/16/how-much-did-the-force-awakens-really-make/) **Published:** March 16, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Star_Wars](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Star_Wars-300x169.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Star_Wars.png)Image copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and Walt Disney Company The record-breaking theatrical run of *Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens* is finally coming to an end, as the film will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and other platforms next month. By now, we all know that the movie broke *Avatar*’s domestic record of $761 million. In fact, as I predicted, it crushed that number and now sits at $931 million. Although my prediction that it would top $1 billion domestically was a bit off – and I still owe friends drinks for losing bets – it’s come very close and would have gotten even closer had Disney chosen to delay the DVD/Blu-ray offering, re-release the film on IMAX screens and do a final promotional push. (That still might happen, but time is running out.) The movie’s numbers seem mighty, but a closer look reveals a slightly different story. When adjusted to inflation, the gross of *The Force Awakens* doesn’t even crack the top 10 domestically, according to [www.boxofficemojo.com](http://www.boxofficemojo.com). The film currently sits at #11, right behind the adjusted gross of *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* ($948 million). And it’s light years behind the original *Star Wars* ($1.55 billion) and galaxies away from the #1 film, *Gone with the Wind* ($1.76 billion). The international box office reveals even more surprises. Globally, *The Force Awakens* has taken in $2.06 billion, which is good enough for third place, behind both *Avatar* ($2.79 billion) and *Titanic* ($2.19 billion). And that’s straight money, folks, which means *The Force Awakens* is behind two movies that generated most of their income from 2009 and 1997 dollars, respectively. Not to take anything away from the success of the recent *Star Wars*, which is phenomenal, but these numbers prove that the franchise just doesn’t connect to international audiences the way it does to Americans. Predictably, *The Force Awakens* falls farther down the list when one considers adjusted-to-inflation international numbers. Although no one agrees exactly on those numbers, thanks to unreliable collection methods over the years, Wikipedia and other sources have done a pretty good job at estimating them. Using Wikipedia’s numbers, *The Force Awakens* is at #9, right after *Doctor Zhivago* but slightly ahead of *Jaws* (the original summer blockbuster). *Gone with the Wind* tops that list too, with $3.44 billion, followed by *Avatar* and the original *Star Wars*. But *The Force Awakens*’ failure to climb higher on adjusted-to-inflation lists isn’t entirely its own fault. It’s a prisoner of today’s entertainment culture, which essentially limits theatrical runs to just a few months. *Gone with the Wind* and the original *Star Wars*, on the other hand, benefitted from multiple releases over many years. (And I won’t even begin to discuss the effects of the Internet and TV on theatrical attendance.) Still, don’t feel too sorry for *The Force Awakens*, as it had the benefit of social media and other promotional methods that films from the 1930s and 1970s could only have dreamed of. In addition, the population of the United States ($319 million) is more than double what it was in 1939 (131 million), and the potential global movie audience has arguably quadrupled since *Gone with the Wind* was released in 1939 and doubled since the first *Star Wars* came out in 1977. So maybe the deck isn’t really stacked against today’s films after all. Perhaps *Gone with the Wind*’s record will topple one day. But *The Force Awakens* won’t be the film to surpass it. The force was strong with this one, but the *Wind* blew more strongly. *Copyright 2016 © Cameron Meier* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Filmapalooza wraps up in Atlanta](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/03/09/filmapalooza-wraps-up-in-atlanta/) **Published:** March 9, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 2016 Filmapalooza — the international finale to the previous year’s 48 Hour Film Project — has just concluded in Atlanta. Click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016-2/) for my wrap-up article. And for a closer look at the Orlando winner, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-movie-to-screen-at-cannes-film-festival/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Love Your Shorts underway in Sanford](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/02/13/love-your-shorts-underway-in-sanford/) **Published:** February 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Love Your Shorts 2016](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2016-300x218.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2016.jpg)President Nancy Kruckemyer and Director Nelson Beverly open the festival. (Click to enlarge.) From *The Orlando Weekly*, February 12, 2016 The sixth annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival presented its opening-night movie block last night at the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford, Florida, with *Leo’s Love Letter* taking home the audience award. It will move on to the “Best of the Fest” block on Sunday night and compete with the audience winners from the remaining film blocks to be shown today and tomorrow. A panel of judges will choose the overall winner. The film by Gabriel Rhenals was one of seven presented Friday night. It was a diverse group ranging from animation to drama to comedy to documentary. [![DSC01384](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DSC01384-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DSC01384.jpg)The Festival honored filmmaker Charles Frisby (left). My top pick for the evening would be *Circus Nowhere*, a heartfelt and surreal Danish film directed by Lisa Svelmoe. Second would be *The Night Witch*, a nicely animated and refreshingly succinct documentary about an all-female Soviet bombing regiment in World War 2. And third would be *Suddenly*, a metatheatrical look at writer’s block, directed by Merav Elbaz Belschner. For more information, including tickets prices and a full schedule, visit [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). *Also see [this article](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2016/).* *Copyright 2016 © Orlando Weekly and Cameron Meier* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [My top 20 films of 2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/02/10/my-top-20-films-of-2015/) **Published:** February 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![spotlight-movie_Fotor](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/spotlight-movie_Fotor-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/spotlight-movie_Fotor.jpg)“Spotlight” is the year’s best. (image copyright Anonymous Content/First Look Media) Six weeks into the new year, I’m finally read to offer my list of the top 20 films of last year. Of course, any list like this is only as good as the person creating it. And, in this case, it’s only as good as the films I’ve seen. This list is still woefully short of foreign-language films and documentaries, but I do believe I’ve caught virtually all the most-buzzed-about movies and the films that made other critics’ lists. As I continue to see more 2015 films, this list might change, but probably not dramatically. And, yes, I did see *Carol, Amy, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Son of Saul, Joy, Mad Max: Fury Road, Straight Outta Compton, Mustang, Sicario* and *Ex Machina*. Though I gave positive reviews to all those films, they did not make my top 20. [1. Spotlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/27/the-best-movie-of-the-year/) – 4 ½ stars 2\. Bridge of Spies – 4 ¼ [3. Everest (3-D IMAX version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/everest/) [4. Among the Believers](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) FL 5\. Inside Out (3-D version) – 4 6\. The Danish Girl 7\. Beasts of No Nation 8\. Room – 3 ¾ [9. The End of the Tour](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-end-of-the-tour/) [10. Love & Mercy](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/) [11. Anomalisa](http://www.meiermovies.com/anomalisa/) [12. The Revenant](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-revenant/) 13\. Cinderella [14. Youth](http://www.meiermovies.com/youth/) 15\. The Good Dinosaur (3-D version) 16\. The Martian (3-D version) – 3 ½ 17\. Where to Invade Next 18\. Que Horas ela Volta? (The Second Mother) FL [19. The Walk (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-walk/) [20. Mr. Holmes](http://www.meiermovies.com/mr-holmes/) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Thoughts on Oscar's lack of diversity](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/01/20/thoughts-on-oscars-lack-of-diversity/) **Published:** January 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Everyone is talking about the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees. I admit it’s a bit odd to have almost all-white nominees for the last two years, especially considering the outstanding quality of *Beasts of No Nation*. (And Bryan Cranston over Will Smith? Really?) But, honestly, I don’t care if the nominees are all white, all black, all Hispanic or all green. It’s about quality. And I refuse to believe that the eight or nine best films of the year are ALL English-language, ALL narrative fiction and ALL live action. When will the Academy include documentaries, foreign-language films and animated films among the best-film nominees? (Yes, the rules allow inclusion of all those.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Once Upon a Time in the West' screening](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/01/14/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-screening/) **Published:** January 14, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![CMN4HW ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1969) CLAUDIA CARDINALE, SERGIO LEONE (DIR) 006 MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Once_Upon_a_time_3117807k-300x187.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Once_Upon_a_time_3117807k.jpg)Not doing anything Tuesday night, January 19? Reside in Orlando? Then why not come out to the “Creative Coterie” in Maitland for an outdoor viewing of the greatest Western of all time, Sergio Leone’s *Once Upon a Time in the West*? See [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/events/499037143610282/499432693570727/) for details. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Oscar nominations to root for](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016/01/13/oscar-nominations-to-root-for/) **Published:** January 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Spotlight-Movie](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Spotlight-Movie-1-300x222.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Spotlight-Movie-1.jpg)“Spotlight”: the best film of 2015. Image copyright Anonymous Content/First Look Media. As we prepare for the Oscar nominations tomorrow morning (January 14), here are some things I’m hoping for: 1. The Academy will finally take advantage of the larger group of best-film nominees (up to 10) to include a foreign-language film or documentary. I’m hoping for *Among the Believers*. 2. *Everest* will get a nod for best cinematography. Although it’s in my top 10 for the year, it’s been largely ignored by critics. I understand their rejection of its acting and writing, but it’s technically superb and should be recognized for its visual splendor. 3. Spielberg’s *Bridge of Spies* will be nominated for best film. It’s my second favorite of the year, behind only *Spotlight*. Directors of both flicks are deserving of best-director nods. 4. *Anomalisa*, second just to *Inside Out* among my favorite animated movies of 2015, deserves a nomination for best animated film. 5. Despite receiving rave reviews, *The End of the Tour* has been largely ignored by awards shows so far. That needs to end now with a nomination for Jason Segel as best supporting actor. 6. The same could be said for *Mr. Holmes*. Although not as good as *The End of the Tour*, the movie is notable for Ian McKellen’s great performance, and he should be among the names read in the best-actor category. (If the category is already too crowded, ditch *Trumbo*’s Bryan Cranston, whose performance was overrated and awkwardly self-conscious.) 7. Similarly snubbed so far in the acting categories of other awards shows is Elizabeth Banks. She was superb in *Love & Mercy*, as was Paul Dano. They both deserve supporting nominations. 8. Lastly, I’d like to see at least two acting nominations for *Spotlight*: Mark Ruffalo and, well, pick one (other than Rachel McAdams). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [How much $ will the new 'Star Wars' make?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/12/17/how-much-money-will-the-new-star-wars-make/) **Published:** December 17, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** For an analysis of the film’s financial potential, and a review, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/star-wars-vii-the-force-awakens/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian's Brouhaha winners announced](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/23/enzians-brouhaha-winners-announced/) **Published:** November 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 24th annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, concluded yesterday, and the winning films have just been announced. See . Those films will go on to play in the “Best of Brouhaha” block at the 2016 Florida Film Festival. Brouhaha presents some of the best locally produced student, amateur and low-budget films over a two-day period. Monthly FilmSlam winners are included (if they are less than 10 minutes), along with submissions from Orlando high schools and Florida colleges, and independently juried selections from Florida filmmakers. I was fortunate enough to be asked to judge in 2012, 2013 and 2014, but I attended this year as just a fan. Judging any film festival is certainly a difficult task, and this year’s panel deserves the thanks of all the participating filmmakers. With that said, I was surprised that my own choices this year differed so dramatically from those of the judges. In fact, it’s those differences that prompted me to compose this short blog in order to call your attention to some solid films that did not make the “Best of Brouhaha.” My overall best is *On the Same Page*, a stunning production by Ringling College of Art and Design. My other favorites, in no particular order, are *Can I Stay?* (also a Ringling pic), *Painted Faces* (a brave UCF production), *Nightfall* (an eerie offering from FSU), *Electric* (a smart sci-fi film by UCF), *Canned* (YET another Ringling film), *Babies* (a surreal and visually imaginative film by Benjamin Gill) and *None of That* (STILL ANOTHER Ringling movie). Astonishingly, not a single one of my top picks made the judges’ list, except for *None of That*, which had to make the list because it won the audience award. Admittedly, I did not see all of the first program, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage when comparing my critiques with those of the judges. Nevertheless, I believe it’s important to give a big round of applause to the six aforementioned short films that, unfortunately, won’t be playing next year’s Florida Film Festival. More importantly, all the moviemakers, judges, selection-committee members and Enzian staff deserve our appreciation for putting on another successful event and again drawing our attention to the wealth of filmmaking talent across the Sunshine State. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Two films to see NOW](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/09/two-films-to-see-now/) **Published:** November 9, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’ve been traveling recently, so I’ve had to put movie watching and reviewing on hold, but I did find time recently to see two excellent films: *Room* (3 3/4 stars on my 0-5 scale), a unique and powerful examination of a family in crisis, and *Bridge of Spies* (4 1/4 stars). Arguably the best film of the year so far, the latter features a great story told rather conventionally but still brilliantly. It’s a fine example of a director (Spielberg) at the top of his craft, and although the film doesn’t hold many surprises, it’s beautiful to watch Spielberg’s technique, not to mention the performances. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Reaching 3,000](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/09/22/reaching-3000/) **Published:** September 22, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just added my 3,000th movie to my feature-film list(s). The first (that I remember seeing): *Star Wars* in 1977. The 3,000th: *Way Down East* by D.W. Griffith. Fittingly, both are classics. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Walk away](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/09/09/walk-away/) **Published:** September 9, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *A Walk in the Woods* (2 stars on my 0-5 scale) is likable, and Robert Redford and Nick Nolte have good chemistry, with Nolte being particularly funny. But, as another reviewer cleverly phrased it (with pun intended), it’s just too pedestrian. I also was bothered by the contrived humor and lack of detail. (For instance, why don’t they comment on the weight of their packs? Why do we never see them shave? Why don’t they know where they are until they see a map two months into their hike?!) And worst of all, toward the end of the film, we see a traffic cop standing in the road, clearly holding up traffic for the film shoot, with people standing around staring at the scene being shot. Even Rick Perry would be embarrassed by that oops. [![](https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-1/p43x43/11022551_883664111685641_8871595094004774300_n.jpg?oh=4f6004f0b544faa045535fbf6210b6dc&oe=565D9656&__gda__=1449591009_6649a6b6c12a0869cdedcb8402b47227)](https://www.facebook.com/#) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Interview the interviewee](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/08/27/interview-the-interviewee/) **Published:** August 27, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’ve seen *The End of the Tour* (or read [my review](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-end-of-the-tour/)), you know that the film is the story of *Rolling Stone* reporter David Lipsky’s (Jesse Eisenberg) five-day interview with novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel). Well, on Saturday, you’ll get a chance to interview the interviewee, as Lipsky will be conducting a live Skype Q&A following the 6:30 p.m. screening of the film at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit . **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Box-office predictions](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/06/29/box-office-predictions/) **Published:** June 29, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I now predict that *Jurassic World* will overtake *Avatar* as the highest-grossing (straight money) film in U.S. history: . However, it’s in 54th place on the adjusted-to-inflation list: . Internationally, it looks like it will not catch *Avatar* and *Titanic*: [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/](http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boxofficemojo.com%2Falltime%2Fworld%2F&h=8AQEqW4n5&enc=AZOTvauUR66O4K4gPfCWmfwz4mG4V3xhzYEbZFwClB6OkgTuPl4rz_sClZ2mQnUPb_RqYUElz_ctndf-wpEaJVIh6PiqZ6BlB6oZllIHVpO4RI4JVMSpqVaDXi0S93Ww1t5qP0_QxkgNQzH9VlVBYeRAcK8TCbhWexnfnKdNY5E7a6VCu_sTygj0jyH7x8y6gfA&s=1). *Gone with the Wind* still holds the adjusted-to-inflation record for both the U.S. and international markets, although I believe the new *Star Wars* film may threaten the international record when it’s released later this year. *GWTW*‘s domestic record should be safe. *Epilogue: Oops. As of early August 2015, it looks like the film has stalled and will not beat* Avatar*. It might still pass* Titanic*, however.* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Overrated Jean Vigo](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/08/03/overrated-jean-vigo/) **Published:** August 3, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just watched all four films (two shorts, one mini-feature and one feature) of French director Jean Vigo. He made the films in the early 1930s and then promptly died. He’s regarded by some as a genius. However, I feel like this is a sick joke by misguided film historians, pretentious film critics and some French New Wave filmmakers who labeled his work “Poetic Realism.” I got almost nothing from the films and tend to agree with critics of the time who called his work “confused, incoherent, willfully absurd, long, dull \[and\] commercially worthless.” Yes, there is some nice cinematography and a modern sense of rambling nothingness, but I was not impacted emotionally or aesthetically in any way. But perhaps you should judge for yourself. Check out his bio [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Vigo), and if you’re intrigued, you might want to watch *À Propos de Nice* (my favorite of his four films: 3 stars on my 0-5 short-film scale) or his most famous work, *L’Atalante* (1 ¼ stars on my 0-5 feature-film scale). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Movie Brain Rot](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/06/12/movie-brain-rot/) **Published:** June 12, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Movie Brain Rot](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Movie-Brain-Rot.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Movie-Brain-Rot.jpg)[Listen to my latest podcast](http://www.moviebrainrot.com/2015/06/12/episode-152-attica-the-films-of-1975/) with Jim DeSantis of Movie Brain Rot. We discuss 1970s cinema and a whole lot more. Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [See photos of Spooky Empire May-hem](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/05/18/see-photos-from-spooky-empires-may-hem/) **Published:** May 18, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I turned photographer briefly this weekend at Spooky Empire’s horror-movie convention, May-hem. [Check out my pics at the Website of *The Orlando Weekly.*](http://photos.orlandoweekly.com/33-freaky-photos-from-spooky-empire-plus-one-photo-of-tom-skerritt/#1) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Age of Adaline' not one for the ages](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/05/04/age-of-adaline-not-one-for-the-ages/) **Published:** May 4, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Thumbs-up (3 stars on 0-5 scale) for *The Age of Adaline*. It got me with its Romanticism and time-travel feel, though it lacked any real magic thanks to a just-there performance by Blake Lively, an odd script that failed to really capture the haunting passage of time, and its inability to challenge our notion of time — and life itself — the way *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* did. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival ends](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/04/20/florida-film-festival-ends/) **Published:** April 20, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 10-day Florida Film Festival drew to a close yesterday. For a look back at my complete coverage, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/ "Rockwell, Balaban to headline Florida FF"). And look for my on-camera interviews with Bob Balaban and Sam Rockwell on this site in about a week. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Film criticism is a dangerous business](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/04/04/film-criticism-is-a-dangerous-business/) **Published:** April 4, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** My lawyer has now advised me that it’s OK to post this: Click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/2719-2/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Sometimes I surprise myself](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/04/01/sometimes-i-surprise-myself/) **Published:** April 1, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Sometimes I surprise even myself with my movie reviews. For example, I never would have predicted a slight thumbs-up for ANOTHER Liam Neeson kidnapping film, but nevertheless I’ve given 2 1/2 stars to the unoriginal and unchallenging yet surprisingly enjoyable *A Walk Among the Tombstones*. On the other hand, it’s a slight thumbs-down (2 1/4 stars) to *Laggies* despite the presence of three of my favorite actors (Keira Knightly, Sam Rockwell and Chloe Grace-Moretz). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Disappointing 'Don'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/01/disappointing-don/) **Published:** October 1, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Despite a remarkably self-assured directorial debut by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also wrote and stars, *Don Jon* is not a film I can recommend. It’s as crass as the pornography it depicts, and ends up being to sex what *Natural Born Killers* was to violence, although the latter film survived on style points alone, which *Don Jon* can’t quite do. The film certainly has a point to make, and it hammers home that point quite well a couple of times, embracing the vulgarity it’s supposedly criticizing. (Oooh, clever. Eh, not really.) It does improve when it focuses on religious hypocrisy and when Julianne Moore arrives, but the other characters aren’t really characters – they are caricatures lacking any subtlety or relatability. Scarlett Johansson is better than expected, but Tony Danza is simply not up to the task. (Or perhaps he was just doing the best he could with the script, which needed more intelligence and smart humor.) When all is said and done, it’s not a bad movie (2 stars on 0-5 scale), but think how good it could have been if it had more successfully juggled its over-the-top style with the real story of addiction and heartache that lay behind its vulgar flashiness. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [More Florida Film Festival coverage](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/03/24/more-florida-film-festival-coverage/) **Published:** March 24, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** My early coverage of the 2015 Florida Film Festival continues this week with a blog about the latest celebrity to join the event, Bob Balaban. See [The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/03/24/bob-balaban-to-screen-gosford-park-at-fff) for that. And see my [tastemaster page](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/program/tastemakers/cameron-meier) at the Florida Film Festival’s Website for my early picks. Lastly, [here is a short film](http://www.meiermovies.com/?attachment_id=2688) I just shot, talking about why I like the festival. Look for festival reviews and full festival coverage in *The Orlando Weekly* on April 8. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [My Florida Film Festival coverage begins](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/03/11/my-florida-film-festival-coverage-begins-now/) **Published:** March 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![ticket-annnoucement](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ticket-annnoucement-300x138.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ticket-annnoucement.jpg)My coverage of the 24th annual Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Florida, has just begun with my first announcement blog on *The Orlando Weekly*‘s site. You can check it out [here](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/03/11/florida-film-festival-announces-outdoor-flicks-and-parties). And stay tuned to [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com) and MeierMovies for all the latest information. The full festival schedule will be revealed on March 18. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [New photo galleries online](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/03/06/new-photo-galleries-online/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** MeierMovies.com now has [a section](http://www.meiermovies.com/photo-galleries/ "Photo Galleries") devoted exclusively to photos from some of the most famous movie sights in and around Hollywood, including studio lots, sound stages and theatres. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Sharknado' hits Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/03/03/sharknado-hits-orlando/) **Published:** March 3, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Sharknado 3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Sharknado-3-300x158.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Sharknado-3.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/02/23/sharknado-filming-at-universal-orlando-theme-parks), February 23, 2015 *Sharknado* fever has gripped Orlando! OK, that’s admittedly a line more suited to the famous SyFy Network movie series than the legitimate journalism of *The Orlando Weekly*. Nevertheless, Asylum Pictures has taken over parts of Universal Orlando’s theme parks and production facilities this week to film the third installment in the campy comedy-thriller series. In *Sharknado 3*, the rebellious fishies will again threaten humanity, but this time they have Washington, D.C., and Orlando in their sights. And once again they’re being brought to life by director Anthony Ferrante, writer Thunder Levin and cinematographer Ben Demaree. Ian Ziering and Tara Reid are also returning along with several other *Sharknado* veterans. As with *Sharknado 2: The Second One*, expect a few surprises, and keep your eyes peeled for local notables. Who knows, you might even spot one of your friends as an extra, since Asylum sent out a casting call for “park patrons,” “bikini girls” and “soldiers.” *The Weekly* is privy to this guppy gossip thanks to the generosity of Universal public relations department and the *Sharknado* crew members themselves, who invited me onto the set on February 20. But to avoid being fed to the sharks myself, I had to promise not to reveal any information or share any photos yet. However, rest assured that *The Weekly* and MeierMovies will be your source for all the behind-the-scenes goodies when the movie airs in July. Orlando filming will likely continue through February 24, with Universal being the only location. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian announces expansion](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/02/16/enzian-announces-expansion/) **Published:** February 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [Check out the plans](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-plans-two-new-screens-for-2016/ "Enzian plans two new screens for 2016") for the upcoming expansion of the Enzian Theater, the Orlando area’s leading art-house and independent cinema. I was the first to reveal the news (in *The Orlando Weekly*), following the Enzian’s 30th anniversary party on Sunday, February 15. Thanks to everyone at the Enzian for the opportunity to report the news and attend the event. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Ranking the 2015 Oscar Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/02/12/ranking-the-2015-oscar-shorts/) **Published:** February 12, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Oscar Shorts programs are always a reminder not necessarily of the quality of the films themselves, but of the odd nomination process. While the public undoubtedly imagines a room full of sequestered “film experts” viewing thousands of short films to determine the best of the year, that is, sadly, a fantasy. Instead, a short must win the grand jury prize at an Oscar-accredited festival to be considered for nomination. [![The Phone Call](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-Phone-Call-300x207.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-Phone-Call.jpeg)Image copyright RSA Films That might sound prestigious, but it’s actually less stellar than you might think. First, there are fewer than 90 Oscar-accredited festivals around the world. Yes, the list does include the big three: Berlin, Cannes and Venice. It also includes familiar names like Sundance and Los Angeles and even the Florida Film Festival. But there’s no Toronto, no London. So, essentially, if your short doesn’t win the votes of just a handful of individuals at one of these festivals, it can’t be considered for an Oscar. Bummer. With that said, there is usually some tremendous quality among the five live-action shorts and five animated shorts (plus the extra four animated ones that are added to round out the program). This year’s aren’t quite as strong as in the past, and one or two shockingly miss the mark, but the programs are still worthwhile. So here, in order of quality (0-5 stars), are the 14 films being shown in the two Oscar programs. (I haven’t had a chance to screen the documentary shorts, so those aren’t included.) Animated films are in blue. The Phone Call (5 stars) – my selection for best live-action short The Bigger Picture (4) – my selection for best animated short Aya (4) A Single Life (4) Footprints (3) \* The Dam Keeper (3) Butterlamp (3) Boogaloo and Graham (3) Me and My Moulton (3) Parvaneh (3) Duet (3) \* Feast (2) Sweet Cocoon (2) \* Bus Story (1) \* \* – non-nominees **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Announcing a new list](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/30/announcing-a-new-list/) **Published:** January 30, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** To make it easier to peruse my list of short films, which had previously been organized only by star rating, I’ve added a second list of shorts: an alphabetical one. Both lists are available as PDFs under the “short lists” tab. And look for a third list in the coming weeks: one organized by year, from 1888 to the present. Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The first fiction film?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/29/the-first-fiction-film/) **Published:** January 29, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Thomas Edison is credited with a lot of things he didn’t do, or did at the same time as others, including inventing the movies. But one thing he DID do was produce arguably the first fiction film, *[The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422503916&x-yt-cl=85027636&v=gCeikRNVH4k)*, a couple of months before the Lumiere Brothers premiered their movies in Paris in 1895. It’s also probably the first film to include editing, violence, special effects, period costumes and the use of trained actors. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [It's now easier to find reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/27/its-now-easier-to-find-reviews/) **Published:** January 27, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Today on MeierMovies.com, I launched my improved movie lists, which now contain direct links to roughly 200 movie reviews. This makes it possible for you to open one of the lists (by year, star rating or director, or the alphabetical list) and easily access one of my reviews or blogs. Even my list of short films contains several of these easily clickable links. Thanks again for supporting this free movie resource! And don’t forget to share the information you find here on social media, and become a fan of MeierMovies on Facebook. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Welcome the 2014 Sundance shorts!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/06/welcome-the-2014-sundance-shorts/) **Published:** January 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. It will be shown at other cinemas around the country too. It represents the best of the shorts from the Sundance Film Festival during the previous year, not the upcoming festival. For details on the program, see [www.Enzian.org](http://enzian.org) or [cinema.cornell.edu](http://cinema.cornell.edu/Fall2014/2014_sundance_film_festi.html). The program lasts 94 minutes. I was able to see just one of the films in advance this year, *Verbatim*, directed by Brett Weiner, by virtue of its appearance at the 2014 Florida Film Festival. Worthy of 3 stars (on my 0-5 scale), it’s a uniquely funny look at just how ridiculous court testimony can sometimes be. **Epilogue** After seeing tonight’s program, I admit disappointment, as I can recommend just three of the eight. And those three rise only to the level of 3 stars. The majority of the others get 2 stars, with one film dropping all the way to a 1. I thank Sundance for doing the program, but are these really the best shorts of the festival?! The 3-star films are *Afronauts*, *MeTube: August Sings Carmen “Habanera”* and *Verbatim*. The 1-star is *Love. Love. Love.* All others get 2 stars. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Site updates coming soon!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/12/18/site-updates-coming-soon/) **Published:** December 18, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m in the process of linking all my reviews to the films on my lists. I ask for your patience while this tedious task is performed. When it’s done, you will be able to pull up any of my lists (By Star Rating, By Year, By Director, etc.) and instantly tell if I’ve reviewed the films listed there. Then you will be able to click on the title and be taken directly to the review. It’s my hope that this will enhance your understanding of those films beyond seeing just the basic information (title, year, director, star rating) that’s currently on those lists. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [In defense of 'The Interview'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/12/17/in-defense-of-the-interview/) **Published:** December 17, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Keep Calm and Carry On 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Keep-Calm-and-Carry-On-2-300x164.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Keep-Calm-and-Carry-On-2.jpg)Nothing is grander than art. Nothing is nobler than free speech. When we let small, hate-filled minds take those from us, we all lose something essential not just to the enjoyment of life, but to life itself. Let’s remember the words of Winston Churchill when he confronted something far more terrifying than this bunch of amateurish, terror-bent morons we’re now facing: “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. … Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” I’m talking to you, Sony Pictures, Regal Entertainment, AMC and all other entertainment companies who have backed down from the recent, cowardly threats made by heathens lacking the courage to reveal their sad, bankrupt identities. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Happy 75th birthday, 'GWTW'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/12/15/happy-75th-birthday-gwtw/) **Published:** December 15, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Happy 75th birthday to the greatest and still top-grossing (adjusted to inflation) film of all time. *Gone With the Wind* premiered 75 years ago today in Atlanta. As an interesting side note to history, [see where Tara is today](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/iconic-tara-plantation-history-isnt-yet-gone-wind-n268311). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Regally disappointed ](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/12/11/regally-disappointed/) **Published:** December 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I thought everything was spectacular about Disney’s *Big Hero 6* except the voiceover performances, the writing, the pacing and the music. It’s as if the greatest technical skills have been implanted into brains not yet capable of handling them maturely. I suggest taking adults with IQs under 100 and children with ADD. And while I’m bashing things that almost everyone else seems to accept without question, Regal Cinemas, at least the one in Winter Park, Florida (and seemingly more), now says they are not adjusting the screen size to fit a movie’s aspect ratio, to save money. They are letterboxing instead. That revelation came after sitting through trailers for two Christian movies and a bunch of 3-D commercials and other crap that was out of focus because the projectionist forget to change the settings from 2-D to 3-D. Regal says, “Go big or go home.” I refer them to the final line in *The Wizard of Oz*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Interstellar' in 70mm IMAX](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/11/20/initial-reaction-to-interstellar-in-70mm-imax/) **Published:** November 20, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I just saw Christopher Nolan’s *Interstellar* in 70mm IMAX at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry, one of just two places in Florida capable of projecting 70mm. (Sadly, this was the last major movie that will be shown in 70mm there, as they are switching out their film projector soon for digital.) As amazing as that experience may sound, I do NOT recommend seeing it there. The image was so enormous and in your face on the domed screen that it was impossible to focus on anything. I’m sure this film would be spectacular in regular IMAX, but on a dome, it just didn’t work. The image was partially distorted and lost completely at the edges, and the top of the screen was so dirty that long strings of dust were hanging off it. All of this took me out of the film so much that it’s difficult to rate it, but I currently have it sitting at 4 ¼ stars and in my top five of the year. Its storytelling is a bit muddled and some of the dialogue forced, but it’s profound, mind-boggling and definitely worth seeing, if only to debate its science and time-travel aspects. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Farewell to a journalistic giant](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/10/22/farewell-to-a-journalistic-giant/) **Published:** October 22, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’ve been a movie critic, writer, proofreader, editor and reporter, but regardless of the hat I’ve worn, I’ve always tried to be a journalist, adhering to the ethics of journalism. And there’s never been a greater journalistic inspiration than Ben Bradlee, who passed away today at the age or 93. The world is a less noble, less intelligent and less honest place without him. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Gone Girl' good, not great](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/10/08/gone-girl-good-not-great/) **Published:** October 8, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** David Fincher’s *Gone Girl* seems like a combination of his brilliant *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and disappointing *Zodiac* in style, story and quality. It’s worth seeing and is one of the most memorable films of the year, but it seems almost as if he was swinging for a grand slam and could manage only a double or a triple. Sometimes the style is great while sometimes he pushes it to almost an embarrassing level, and I never believed any of the media characters. 3 stars (on my 0-5 scale) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The trend toward Hyper-realism ](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/08/31/the-trend-toward-hyper-realism/) **Published:** August 31, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *I wrote this blog back in 2011, but this is its first posting on this site:* I spent last night watching Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s *The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant*, and I was struck, as I am almost on a daily basis, with this generation’s obsession with realism. In contrast, Fassbinder’s 1972 movie is one of the greatest achievements of German New Wave cinema and is far from realistic. However, the stylized, brooding and, in many cases, silent and cold behavior of the characters sheds just as much light on humanity as the more realistic films of today. The trend toward hyper-realism isn’t surprising, as all art evolves. The highly stylized and artificial films of the 1930s and 1940s slowly gave way to Method Acting under Marlon Brando and James Dean, among others, which gave way to a new wave of realism in European film, which morphed into almost a type of expressionist or impressionist film in the 1960s and 1970s, at least in the way the films were written and shot, not so much in the acting, which has been on a slow progression toward true realism for decades. Now it seems that almost all aspects of film are continuing to trend more toward realism, with perhaps the notable exception of scenes being shot out of chronological sequence, made popular most recently by Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan. I suppose what I’m trying to say in a round-about way is that, sadly, the huge artistic strides we made in the 1960s and 1970s, which are probably the two greatest decades of film, are often overlooked by the average moviegoer today, who simply judges a film by how realistic it is. The same can be said for the theatre, at least mainstream Broadway, which seems obsessed with adapting popular movies and other light fare for the stage instead of focusing on new material. It doesn’t help that almost half of our television today is non-scripted, supposedly reality based, which is ironic because non-realistic art can often illuminate the human condition more than simple, real-time observation of the human condition itself. I should end on a fairly positive note by pointing out that, artistically, this is perhaps the greatest time to be a filmmaker. There is no Hayes Production Code, and directors are free to experiment with virtually anything they want to, with the added advantage of being able to draw on a 100-year film library for inspiration. And the concerns I’ve described above have always been the concerns of film critics over the years, who have bemoaned the average moviegoer’s desire to shun more artistic works for movies that are more accessible and easy to understand. So before we go longing for the good old days of classic cinema, go back and watch the average film from the 1940s. You’ll then realize how far the art form has come, the *GWTW*s, *Third Man*s and *Casablanca*s notwithstanding. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to revisit the aesthetic strides that the Kubricks, Truffauts and Bergmans made 40 years ago, just to remind yourself of where cinema came from, where it is now and where it’s going. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [IDEA showcases ethnic diversity of NYC](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/07/22/idea-showcases-ethnic-diversity-of-nyc/) **Published:** July 22, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Those of you from New York City, or those who just appreciate dialects and accents, might find [this information](http://www.dialectsarchive.com/archives/16695) interesting. By the way, this is my other job: executive editor of the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA). The Website is the largest online archive of dialects and accents of the English language from around the world. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Umbrella' is all wet](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/07/12/umbrella-is-all-wet/) **Published:** July 12, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m always thankful to the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, for showing hard-to-see classics, but [*The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*](http://enzian.org/film/the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg)?! I waited 50 years for the restoration of that? I actually admired the originality of the all-singing structure, and the color was beautiful. The trouble is almost everything else stank. I suppose if you enjoy contrived and even unintentionally laughable scenes, underwhelming emotional moments, annoyingly cool 60s jazz and a total lack of character motivations, this might be your bag. It was not mine. Perhaps most disappointing was the botched chance at a brilliant ending. Just when you thought director Jacques Demy might give us a *Splendor in the Grass* moment of lost-life heartbreak, he digs deep – and comes up with absolutely nothing in the way of an emotional impact. Groundbreaking? Yes. Interesting and colorful? Certainly. But don’t expect anything more. 2 stars (on 0-5 scale) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [48 Hour Film Project returns to Orlando ](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/07/11/48-hour-film-project-returns-to-orlando/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition, is back in Orlando. Although the Orlando event itself won’t take place until August 22-24 (with the public screenings scheduled for Sept. 10, 11 and 14 at Plaza Cinema Cafe), the meet-and-greets are already underway. Those meet-ups are designed to introduce filmmakers and foster team building. If you’re a team leader wanting to find actors, writers, cinematographers or technicians to join your group, the meet-ups are the place to do it. Similarly, if you’re searching for a team to join, now’s the time. The meet-ups are taking place at [Cue Phoria](http://cuephoria.com/) Billiards and Cafe in Winter Park throughout July and August. The next one is Sunday, July 12. Check out [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/events/697059673700391/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming) for more information, or e-mail Orlando Producer Rob Ward at Orlando@48film.com. If you’re not familiar with the 48 Hour Film Project, I suggest visiting the[ main site](https://www.48hourfilm.com/). For Orlando, click [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/en/orlando/). And if you’re not in Orlando, remember that this event takes place around the world throughout the year, so you’re bound to find one near you sometime in 2014. I’d also suggest perusing [my story](http://orlandoweekly.com/news/48-hour-film-project-returns-to-orlando-1.1546205) on the 2013 Orlando Project, when I had the good fortune to be imbedded with the team that was eventually crowned the winner. The story gives details on last year’s event and an overview on how the entire Project works, including the rules. My [follow-up blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/final-thoughts-on-the-48/) and[ story on the international competition, Filmapalooza](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/), are also worth a read. (The next international competition, which pits city winners against each other, will be in Los Angeles in early 2015.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['On the Waterfront' on the big screen](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/05/02/on-the-watefront-on-the-big-screen/) **Published:** May 2, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Elia Kazan’s 1954 masterpiece *On the Waterfront* is coming to the Enzian Theater in Maitland on May 10, 2014. But what’s the correct aspect ratio for this film? Believe it or not, there are three. See my blog at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/the-gist/for-reels/waterfront-enzian-screen/) for a discussion. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Cheers, Bob](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/05/01/cheers-bob/) **Published:** May 1, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Bob Hoskins](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bob-Hoskins-241x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bob-Hoskins.jpg) A very sad goodbye to the great Bob Hoskins. Toons everywhere are crying today. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [False 'Frozen'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/04/01/false-frozen/) **Published:** April 1, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’ve officially had enough of hearing that *Frozen* is the most successful animated feature of all time. It’s all bullshit perpetuated by the entertainment industry. Adjusted to inflation, *Frozen* is #109 on the list of highest-grossing domestic movies. Yes, #109! *Snow White* is #10, *101 Dalmations* is #11, The *Lion King* is #18, and *Fantasia* is #22. Learn the truth, people, not what you’re spoon fed by Disney and the media. For the international market, *Snow White* is #10, and *Frozen* is nowhere near the top 10. *Gone With the Wind* is still #1 both domestically and internationally. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Masquerading Muppets](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/31/masquerading-muppets/) **Published:** March 31, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Life imitates art with *Muppets Most Wanted* (2 stars on 0-5 scale). In the new comedy/musical, Kermit is kidnapped and replaced by Constantine, an evil frog that looks remarkably like the leader of the Muppets. Surprisingly, virtually none of the other Muppets can tell a difference. Sure, the replacement looks like Kermit and does some of the same things he does, but he doesn’t sound or seem like him. He doesn’t have Kermit’s heart, but no one seems to notice. The same can be said of the movie. Remarkably, it now holds a 78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and is doing decent business at the box office. I guess most people have been fooled just like the Muppets in the movie were. Yes, these Muppets may look like the originals, make us chuckle and even do a lot of the same shtick in an entertaining way, but they don’t have their sound, their heart and their soul. Sadly, these are the Muppets today’s children will remember. As I was leaving the theater, I heard one child ask another, “Who’s your favorite Muppet?” One said Fozzie, another Gonzo, and so on. I wish they had asked me. I would have mentioned a Muppet that we haven’t seen in a long time, one whom these kids will never know, and one whose subtle genius is missing from the new film: Jim Henson. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Susan Sarandon set for Florida Film Fest](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/28/susan-sarandon-set-for-florida-film-festival/) **Published:** March 28, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Susan Sarandon will be attending a screening of *Dead Man Walking* at this year’s Florida Film Festival and will be doing a Q&A session after. For details, see my blog at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/the-gist/for-reels/susan-sarandon-set-florida-film-festival/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A double dose of Sorvino at the FFF](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/25/a-double-dose-of-sorvino-at-the-fff/) **Published:** March 25, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Veteran actor Paul Sorvino will appear not once, but twice, at the upcoming Florida Film Festival. For details, see my blog at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/uncategorized/double-dose-sorvino/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Filmapalooza article now online](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/22/filmapalooza-article-now-online/) **Published:** March 22, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** For a recap of my recent trip to Filmapalooza in New Orleans, including links to many of the best films, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Florida Film Festival is coming!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/03/13/florida-film-festival-is-coming/) **Published:** March 13, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** We’re just three weeks away from the start of the Florida Film Festival. Read my blog at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/the-gist/for-reels/paul-sorvino-headline-23rd-florida-film-festival/). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Loved 'Love Your Shorts'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/02/17/loved-love-your-shorts/) **Published:** February 17, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** A huge thanks to Nelson Beverly and everyone else associated with the 2014 Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford, Florida. They treated filmmakers, judges and the public with great respect, and it was an honor to be one of the judges. We selected *Spy vs. Guy* as the best of the fest, but there were several other fine films that deserve mentioning, including *Red Snow*, *Killer Kart* and *The Committee*. Competition among the individual blocks was so competitive that a few of my personal favorites didn’t even make it to the “best of” block, including *Emit*, *Loot*, *Deadbook* and *Capture*. I also enjoyed again seeing TL Westgate’s *TechSquad*, which I had the pleasure of reporting on during last year’s 48 Hour Film Project in Orlando. If you’re in the greater Orlando area and have never been to the festival, I strongly encourage you to mark your calendars for this time next year! Visit [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com) for more information. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Get shorty!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/02/13/get-shorty/) **Published:** February 13, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### My annual review of the Oscar-nominated short films This year’s Oscar-nominated live-action and animated shorts represent a wide variety of subjects and genres. And though I’m giving a thumbs-up to all 13 – the animated program contains the five nominees plus three more “highly commended” selections – there is quite a bit of variance in quality too. Neither the animated nor the live-action group is quite a strong as last year, but there are a few gems. My pick for best animated short is Disney’s *Get a Horse!*, which I first saw when it was shown before *Frozen*. Though it’s shown here in 2-D, not the preferred 3-D format, it’s still superb. Here’s what I said about it in my original review: “Kids will love *Frozen* – and it’s admittedly better than the recent *Planes*, if not as good as *Tangled* – but the treat for adults will be the accompanying cartoon *Get a Horse!* Directed by Lauren MacMullan, the 7-minute short is a masterful mix of hand-drawn black-and-white and 3-D digital color, bringing back to life the Mickey Mouse adventure-comedy from the late 1920s and then, in a brilliant and surreal twist, breaking the fourth wall and throwing that old world wildly into the present. Featuring the original gang of Mickey, Minnie, Peg-Leg Pete, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow and even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the film is a unique work of cinema deconstructionism and an animation lover’s dream. “If *Frozen* leaves you frosty, come for the warmth of *Get a Horse!* And if you don’t get goosebumps during the credits when it’s revealed that Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney (by using old voiceovers), then your heart truly is ice.” *Get a Horse!* is followed closely by *The Blue Umbrella*, though the Pixar film isn’t even nominated! It’s included as one of the “highly commended” films. As I wrote in my original review of the vastly underrated (and Oscar-snubbed) *Monsters University*, which was shown with *Blue Umbrella* attached, this little gem is the must stunningly photo-realistic cartoon ever. The mesmerizing *Mr. Hublot* and the brilliantly dark *The Missing Scarf* are my third and fourth choices, though the latter is also among the “highly commended” additions and, disappointingly, not an Oscar nominee. The live-action group contains four real treats and one (the Finnish *Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?*) that frankly just doesn’t belong. Perhaps I’m a sucker for sentimentality, but my favorite of the bunch is *Helium*, a fantastical, magical meditation on life after the death of a child. Yes, the gritty *That Wasn’t Me* feels like a more substantial offering in many respects, but its slight heavy-handedness and handheld camera bothered me, along with the feeling that this was part of a feature film, not a great short in its own right. *The Voorman Problem* is deep and metaphysically haunting, but it’s also essentially just a good *Twilight Zone* episode, while *Just Before Losing Everything*, though subtle, mature and tense, doesn’t burn itself into your brain like *Helium*. Below is a ranking of the five Oscar-nominated animated shorts (and the three highly commended ones) and the five Oscar-nominated live-action shorts. (And don’t forget to visit my complete Short Films list, under the “Movie Lists” tab on the menu bar.) Star ratings are done on my 0-5 scale. (See [Rating Scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Rating-Scale.pdf) for more info.) For more details on each film, click [here](http://www.enzian.org/film/oscar-shorts-2014-animated) for the animated program and [here](http://www.enzian.org/film/oscar-shorts-2014-live-action) for the live action. **Animated** Get a Horse! – 5 The Blue Umbrella – 5 Mr. Hublot – 4 The Missing Scarf – 4 A la Francaise – 4 Feral – 3 Possession – 3 Room on the Broom – 3 **Live Action** Helium – 5 The Voorman Problem – 4 Just Before Losing Everything (Avant que de Tout Perdre) – 4 That Wasn’t Me (Aquel No Era Yo) – 4 Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? – 3 **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Goodbye, Mr. Hoffman](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/02/04/goodbye-mr-hoffman/) **Published:** February 4, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’m still trying to process the passing of perhaps the greatest actor of his (and my) generation last weekend. It feels like something on the scale of James Dean’s death, eclipsing or at least equalling the impact of all other similar tragic events, except probably the murder of John Lennon. Hoffman’s death falling on Groundhog Day, I felt the immediate urge, before drinking my sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist, to say a prayer and drink to world peace .. and to Philip Seymour Hoffman. And though it was Super Bowl Sunday, the only score that mattered to me was: Heroin 1, Hoffman 0. And we all lost. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Worst of 2013](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/01/23/worst-of-2013/) **Published:** January 23, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I don’t see as many bad movies as you might think. In fact, I try to devote my movie time to films I think are going to be good. So, unlike some of my movie buddies who have recently posted their “Worst of 2013” lists, I don’t have enough candidates for a “worst-10” list. Nevertheless, I’m fairly confident you won’t find three 2013 movies more terrible than these: 3\. The Canyons 2\. Sharknado TV 1\. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Three movies that are dividing critics](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/01/10/three-movies-that-are-dividing-critics/) **Published:** January 10, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Three movies I’ve recently reviewed have been dividing my friends and fellow critics: *Saving Mr. Banks* (big thumbs-up), *August: Osage County* (thumbs-up) and *The Wolf of Wall Street* (thumbs-down). I stand by my reviews and my placement of those first two films in my top 10 for 2013 so far, but I do understand the disagreement. After all, regarding the first movie, who would have ever predicted that Disney would release an uplifting, slightly too-sweet, not-competely-true fantasy film? And it seems that some who liked *The Wolf of Wall Street* thought *August: Osage County* was outlandish and over the top. Perhaps they preferred the former’s restraint and subtlety. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Here we go again, zombies](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/12/17/here-we-go-again-zombies/) **Published:** December 17, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** As many of you know, I’m not a fan of the zombie sub-genre. I always feel like I’m watching the same movie over and over, and I’m not scared, just a bit disgusted by the violence and repetitive plots. (Yeah, yeah, you’re all going to say it’s not really about the zombies. Well then, why not take them out and put in a more original plot element?) However, I still wanted to like *World War Z*. I did not. Though the acting was decent and the special effects good, isn’t this really the same movie we’ve been seeing for more than 40 years, just a bit slicker and flashier? With that said, there are always a few movies that transcend their genre, and my top four zombie films are still *\[Rec\]*, *Night of the Living Dead*, *The Last Man on Earth* and *28 Days Later*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [McConaughey my top actor of 2013](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/12/14/mcconaughey-my-top-actor-of-2013/) **Published:** December 14, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I can’t believe I’m writing this, but in a year that has seen some of the best lead-actor performances ever, my pick for best male performer is Matthew McConaughey. With his roles in *Mud* (which actually premiered at Cannes in 2012) and *Dallas Buyers Club,* not to mention *The Wolf of Wall Street*, which I’ve yet to see, it’s clearly been an extraordinary year for him and one I never could have predicted based on his past performances. Honorable mentions should go to Tom Hanks, who made a solid comeback in 2013 with *Captain Phillips* and *Saving Mr. Banks*. And I suppose the rabidly popular Benedict Cumberbatch deserves praise for *12 Years a Slave*, *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*, *August: Osage County* and *The Fifth Estate*. Talk about a busy year. But the Academy doesn’t award Oscars for an actor’s total body of yearly work. With that in mind, here are my top five picks (as of mid-December) for best performance by an actor in a leading role, in no particular order: Matthew McConaughey, *Dallas Buyers Club* Chiwetel Ejiofor, *12 Years a Slave* Tom Hanks, *Captain Phillips* Michael B. Jordan, *Fruitvale Station* Robert Redford, *All is Lost* Note: I haven’t seen *Inside Llewyn Davis*, *The Wolf of Wall Street*, *Her* or *Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom* yet, so this list could change rather dramatically when those films are thrown into the mix. Steve Coogan from *Philomena* would be my sixth choice, if the list went to six. Bruce Dern, from *Nebraska*, doesn’t even come close to making the cut. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Enzian announces expansion plans first revealed in my 'Orlando Weekly' story](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/11/16/enzian-announces-expansion-plans-first-revealed-in-my-orlando-weekly-story-earlier-this-year/) **Published:** November 16, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** In a letter to Enzian supporters, Executive Vice President Elizabeth Tiedtke has confirmed what I first reported in my April article in [The Orlando Weekly:](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/is-enzian-theater-hoping-to-expand-1.1478169) The Enzian will indeed expand to a second and third screen. “To respond to our community’s hunger for what we offer, we have developed plans to add two theaters to our current site, tucked behind the existing theater,” Tiedtke says. “Our aim is to honor and preserve the Enzian you know and love, simultaneously enhancing and improving the patron experience. The Old Florida oasis in front of the theater will remain just as it is, with the entrance to a new lobby and all three theaters just peeking around one corner. The new theaters, seating 80 and 50, will have Enzian-style seating and screens as large as our current screen. Programattically, we will offer more of what you love: more festivals, more single-event screenings and more variety. And we will stay open during this expansion, vowing the least possible disruption of your film, food and friends experience.” The Enzian is asking for donations, which are partially tax-deductible. “We will accomplish this only with the community’s support,” Tiedtke says. “Plans and more details will be revealed in the new year.” Tiedtke’s description of the expansion sounds virtually identical to the preliminary plans filed with the City of Maitland last year and revealed for the first time in my *Orlando Weekly* article in April. However, that article, and Tiedtke’s comments, did not address the issue of parking. (*The Orlando Weekly* reblogged this post, with the diagram of the preliminary construction proposal. See .) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Observe Veterans Day with a patriotic film](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/11/11/celebrate-veterans-day-with-a-patriotic-film/) **Published:** November 11, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Happy Veterans Day. If you’re in the mood for a patriotic film, let me suggest three unconventional choices: *All the President’s Men*, *JFK* and *Harlan County U.S.A.* Instead of the typical flag-waving, these films give you something deeper, something even more patriotic: the search for truth (however painful it may be) and the desire to make our country greater. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Lovelace' exciting but hard to swallow](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/11/11/lovelace-exciting-but-factually-hard-to-swallow/) **Published:** November 11, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I can’t give *Lovelace* a full-throated endorsement, mostly because of its deep disrespect for the facts, but I was excited enough by the performances and the two-way plot structure to offer a slightly limp thumbs-up (2 ½ stars on 0-5 scale). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The camera of 'I Am Cuba' conquers all ](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/30/the-camera-of-i-am-cuba-conquers-all/) **Published:** October 30, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’re a cinematographer and haven’t seen *I Am Cuba*, the Soviet/Cuban movie from 1964, watch it now! Although the film itself is mediocre in parts, the camera is fearless and beautiful. It conquers fire, water, smoke, heights and even gravity to get the right shot. (Note: Try to see the version without Russian overdubbing.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Orlando Film Festival update](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/19/orlando-film-festival-update/) **Published:** October 19, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Orlando Film Festival started on Wednesday and continues today and Sunday. For general information, see Erin Sullivan’s story in the [Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/orlando-film-festival-features-monstrous-schedule-lots-of-docs-plus-a-special-performance-by-thomas-dolby-1.1569213). The festival has expanded greatly this year, taking up one entire side of the Plaza Cinema Cafe in downtown Orlando. I spent all day there yesterday (Friday), and have a few tips and suggestions for those of you heading out this weekend. Let’s start with the bad news. Because of the greatly expanded schedule, the films are hit and miss, but that’s true of most festivals. The misses are prevalent in the Comedy Shorts program. In fact, the only two entries that are tolerable are more dramedies. *Gator Farm* is worthy of 2 stars while *No Messages* gets a 3. The others are tedious and embarrassingly unfunny (1 and 0 stars all around). The news does get better, in the form of 3 Short Docs. *True Delta* is quite good (3 stars). *Rhythm Club Fire* (2 stars) is fascinating and contains some great interviews, but it just falls a bit short technically. Only *Eye of the Storm* misses the mark, failing to provide much context or meaning to its story. The program I enjoyed the most was Time is Relative, which is not surprising considering my love of time-travel stories and the like. The three shorts that comprise this program aren’t all straight time-travel pics exactly, but they all have something to do with our perception of time. *Rose, Mary and Time* (2 stars) tries desperately to be something bigger than it is, sort of a compressed feature, and it almost works. But it’s just a bit too messy, a beautiful mess, at that. At least it’s stronger than *A Wheel & the Moon* (1 star), which is a mess without the beauty. But the program is more than saved by its first film, *Emit* (time backwards), a stunning examination of our relationship to life, death and time itself. It’s to *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* what *The Others* is to *The Sixth Sense*. (In other words, it takes a phenomenon that is happening to just one person – in this case essentially traveling backwards in time, or aging backwards – and applies it to everyone, just as *The Others* did to *The Sixth Sense’s* non-realization of death.) Despite some less-than-stellar acting, it’s a virtual masterpiece of original storytelling and perhaps the best movie I’ve ever seen at the Orlando Film Festival. A 5-star classic. Lastly, Festival Director Dan Springen deserves a big thank-you for working his butt off. He was even pouring drinks at the spectacular Elevate party on the 16th floor of the Plaza until midnight. Great job! (The only organizational suggestions I might add are to boost the sound levels in the theaters, which was quite low for two of the programs, and to organize the Q&As a bit better. One director was left to answer questions in the dark, with the background music playing, before a coordinator finally popped his head in and realized what was happening.) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Barry Anderson: Movie-Makeup Mayhem](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/07/monster-makeup-mayhem-with-barry-anderson/) **Published:** October 7, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Just in time for Halloween, famed movie-makeup guru Barry Anderson is doing a special demonstration of his art at the North Orange Branch of the Orange County Public Library in Apopka, Fla., from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12. Learn tips and tricks from Anderson, whose work was featured in such films as *As Night Falls, Hairspray, Jeepers Creepers* and *Day of the Dead*. See a demonstration of makeup, movie props, prosthetics and more. For additional information, click [here](http://calendar.ocls.info/evanced/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=191038). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Expanded Short Films list now online](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/29/expanded-short-films-list-now-online/) **Published:** September 29, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** My updated and expanded [Short Films](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Short-Films.pdf) list is now online. It contains ratings of more than 400 movies from 1888 to today. Most of the recent additions are films by groundbreaking French filmmaker Alice Guy, the industry’s first female director, from 1896 to 1907. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Act of Killing' one of 10 best docs of all time](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/23/act-of-killing-one-of-10-best-docs-of-all-time/) **Published:** September 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** *The Act of Killing*, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and executive-produced by Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, is a powerful and unforgettable addition to the family of documentaries that attempt to expose the atrocities of the past through painfully honest interviews with those who committed those atrocities. But it’s so much more: a surreal exercise in therapy and remembrance. Focused on the murder squads of 1960s Indonesia, the doc is my pick for best film of 2013 so far, though it technically came out in 2012, playing three or four festivals. (It’s eligible for an Academy Award for this year.) And it is worthy of my list of the top 10 docs of all time. It’s playing at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Fla., this week, so don’t miss it! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Peace in the City Beautiful](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/18/peace-in-the-city-beautiful/) **Published:** September 18, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Global Peace Film Festival opened in Orlando tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and continues through Sunday. Check out my cover article in this week’s [Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/news/global-peace-film-festival-returns-for-its-11th-year-1.1554068). **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [FilmSlam this Sunday at Enzian](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/12/filmslam-this-sunday-at-enzian/) **Published:** September 12, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** September FilmSlam is this Sunday, the 15th, at the Enzian Theatre in Maitland. Come out to support indie and student filmmakers in Central Florida. Although the selections always vary widely in quality, it’s a great place to network with fellow filmmakers and film fans while keeping tabs on what new moviemakers are up to. Click [here](http://www.enzian.org/film/filmslam-13) for details. This month’s Slam features seven short films, ranging from 5 to 17 minutes. The longest, *Man on the Hill*, will be screened out of competition. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [New Disney short to star Walt – yes, Walt!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/29/new-disney-short-to-star-walt-yes-walt/) **Published:** August 29, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I haven’t been this excited to see a new short film in, oh, ever? Check out [this link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Horse!) talking about the cartoon, which will be debut with *Frozen* in November, 2013. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best silent films of all time?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/22/best-silent-films-of-all-time/) **Published:** August 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** What are the top 10 silent films of all time? Yes, I’ve added yet another top-ten list to my [genre page ](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/). (It’s the second list from the bottom.) Spoiler alert: Chaplin has half the films on the list, but there are a couple of surprises that slip in. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get a Lon Chaney film on there. His two best (*The Phantom of the Opera* and *The Unknown*) fell just short, as did *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*. Honorable mentions should also go to *Battleship Potemkin*, *The Thief of Bagdad*, *Arsenal* and *Sherlock Jr*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Best film series of all time?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/14/best-film-series-of-all-time/) **Published:** August 14, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you were to make a list of the best movie series and/or franchises of all time, where would you start? Sure, most of us would place *The Godfather* Trilogy up there, along with the *Star Wars* films. But what comes after those? I believe you have to consider the quality of each movie in the series plus how well they work together to create a prolonged feel of time, place, character and emotion. It’s probably wise to deduct a few points if one or more of the films is poor (the *Indiana Jones* series comes to mind, despite the greatness of *Raiders of the Lost Ark*), while one should award a series points if all films are good (*Harry Potter*, for instance, although none of the *Potter* films quite rises to the level of *Raiders*). Sheer numbers should be looked at, as in the *James Bond* series, but in the end that matters little. If numbers were the top criteria, the *Halloween* and *Friday the 13th* series would dominate, but, of course, they don’t – at least not on my list – because they are, frankly, mostly crap. So that leads me to MY latest list: the top 10 movie series/franchises of all time. For that, see the very last list of the [Genres](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/ "By Genre") page. Enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### ['Harlan County U.S.A.' best doc of all time](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/05/harlan-county-u-s-a-best-doc-of-all-time/) **Published:** August 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** After finally seeing *Harlan County U.S.A.*, Barbara Kopple’s amazing 1976 documentary about coal miners in Kentucky, I’ve placed it atop my [all-time doc](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/ "By Genre") list. It’s now one of just two docs on my list to achieve masterpiece status (4 ¾ or 5 stars). *The Sorrow and the Pity* is the other. If you haven’t seen this astonishingly emotional, personal piece of journalism, you’re missing something special. It’s sort of a real-life combination of Elia Kazan’s two masterpieces, *On the Waterfront* and *Wild River*. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Something missing from 'The East'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/08/04/something-missing-from-the-east/) **Published:** August 4, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Was anyone a bit disappointed in *The East*? It’s Brit Marling’s latest, and though the story is intriguing, uniquely presented and tight, it just couldn’t get over the proverbial hump, quality-wise, for me. Maybe it was the contrived episode by the lake in jam #2, or the overuse of handheld camera, or the over-emphasis of the romantic relationship. Whatever it was, something is missing from this otherwise pretty good film. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Bad is never good: the lesson of 'Sharknado'](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/07/18/bad-is-never-good-the-lesson-of-sharknado/) **Published:** July 18, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Tonight the connoisseurs of crap will gather at the Falcon in Thornton Park, near downtown Orlando, Florida, to watch a special showing of *Sharknado*, the latest piece of junk that the SyFy Channel and Asylum Studios have thrown at the small screen. I and many of my friends are going, looking forward to a good laugh at the ridiculousness of the premise and execution. “It’s so bad it’s good,” they will say. They’ve never met my friend. She worked for Asylum and was appalled not just by the quality of their films but by how they overworked and underpaid their employees, how they didn’t care about quality – ANY quality, be it good or bad. They weren’t trying to be campy or clever with their stupid ideas, bad acting, dumb writing and laughable special effects. They were just trying to keep their costs low and produce quick garbage that would make them money. According to Wikipedia, not a single one of their films has ever lost money. And, thanks to their latest shark storm, they’ve hit the jackpot. Their crap isn’t even original. It rips off just about every horror and sci-fi film ever made. They even enjoy confusing their viewers by mimicking just-released films in an attempt to fool audiences into thinking they are seeing a real blockbusters when, in fact, they are seeing a cheap knock-off. There’s *Snakes on a Train* instead of *Snakes on a Plane*, *Transmorphers* instead of *Transformers*, *Paranormal Entity* instead of *Paranormal Activity*, and *The War of the Worlds* (public-domain name) at the same time as Spielberg’s *The War of the Worlds*. Not surprisingly, they’ve been sued by major studios. Hey, I’m as big a fan of crappy B-movies as the next guy. Just take a look at this site! I love to watch and make fun of *Manos: The Hands of Fate*, *Troll 2* and Ed Wood films. It’s like getting a glimpse into the mind of idiots. It’s fascinating – and often brutally funny. But make no mistake: While bad is often mesmerizing and enjoyable on a perverted or unexplainable level, like a train wreck, it’s never truly good. So while we’re drinking a beer tonight and enjoying what is arguably the worst movie since *Birdemic: Shock and Terror*, let’s put things in perspective. Let’s try to remember all the legitimate, high-quality filmmakers who can’t pay their rent and can’t put food on their table because we’re spending too much time obsessing over the giant turd that director Anthony Ferrante has pooped out for our viewing pleasure. With homage to *This is Spinal Tap*, I end by offering up my one-word review of *Sharknado*: shitnado. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [I couldn't wait for 'The End' to end](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/07/06/i-couldnt-wait-for-the-end-to-end/) **Published:** July 6, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** A lot of people, including many of my friends and the majority of film critics, seem to like *This is the End*. I found it self-indulgent, pretentious, overly crude and just plain unfunny. Though it’s not the worst comedy I’ve seen in the last couple of years, it’s another one in a long line of sophomoric films that seem to have been conceived and written by 14-year-old boys with a fascination with violence, the word “fuck” and penis references. Although I’m all for turning off your brain every once in a while and just having a good laugh – and I can think of some much better recent films that allow you to do that – it saddens me that mainstream adult comedies, with some exceptions, have lost almost all of their subtle wit and intelligence. Oh, and James Franco, I still think James Franco the Duck, from *Ted*, is a better actor than you. 1 star (0-5 scale) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Entertainment Weakly](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/07/05/entertainment-weakly/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** By now, many of you have perused *Entertainment Weekly*‘s odd collection of top-100 lists. In their latest issue, they have lists for movies, albums, plays, TV shows and books. First, let me commend them for attempting this. As a list lover myself, I was eager to see what they would select. With that said, the lists aren’t just misguided – they are just plain odd. It’s as if the movie list were written by children, or perhaps by people who hadn’t actually seen these films – or at least not seen them recently – and simply put together a list of the top 1,000 films and then drew 100 from that list in random order. Only the top 5 seem to make much sense at all and, even then, the omission of *Gone With the Wind* (dropping it to #10), ranked below *It’s a Wonderful Life* and *Mean Streets*, is a huge mistake. I fully realize most people will not agree with my own lists on this Website, but at least I tried to rationalize why a certain film was ranked, say, #51, as opposed to #50. It appears as if no such thought process went into *EW*‘s effort. Indeed, by their own admission, they didn’t want the list to be too heavy with just one director. So they chose just ONE Chaplin film, just two Kazans, etc. And in their attempt to create variety and get some contemporary filmmakers (such as Wes Anderson) on the list, they ended up with films that few critics would place in the top 100 of all time. NOT making the list: *The Sting, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Third Man, Modern Times, Children of Paradise, Wuthering Heights, East of Eden, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bridge on the River Kwai, Grapes of Wrath* and *The Exorcist.* Making the list: *The Best Years of Our Lives, The Dark Knight, Dirty Harry, It Happened One Night, The Maltese Falcon, Night of the Living Dead, The Piano, Rushmore* and *Top Hat*, which was ranked ABOVE *Lawrence of Arabia*. Really?! The music list may be an even more colossal failure. There are NO albums by CCR, Simon and Garfunkel, Queen or ELO. And the Beatles’ *Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band*, judged by many to be the best album of all time, didn’t even make the top 100. That single omission raises doubts about every other entry on all five of their lists. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [For the religiously skeptical among us](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/06/24/for-the-religiously-skeptical-among-us/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I’ve recently discovered – and highly recommend – two doc films dealing with religion: *Marjoe* and *Jesus Camp*. If you aren’t frightened by organized religion now, you will be after watching these. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Welcome to the new MeierMovies!](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013/06/24/welcome-to-the-new-meiermovies/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I hope you all enjoy the much more user-friendly MeierMovies! As always, I welcome feedback. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ## Pages ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Cameron-Meier-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Cameron-Meier-2018.jpg)**Film is the greatest art form.** That’s an admittedly bold statement. But when you consider all the other arts that motion pictures encapsulate – literature, photography, theatre, music, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture, living history, fabric and even culinary arts – the claim is justified. Further justification is found in arguably the inaugural movie review, in 1896, from Russian writer Maxim Gorky, who, after seeing the Lumiere Brothers’ first films, wrote that death is no longer final, putting profoundly into words what most modern audiences forget: The invention of motion pictures has made man immortal. If one accepts that argument, it follows that movie criticism is one of life’s noblest pursuits, insomuch as it promotes the analysis and appreciation of film while embracing freedom of speech and artistic expression. I’m not trying to elevate the reviewer above his or her station. After all, critics don’t save lives, broker peace accords or do the tireless, selfless work of teachers, doctors and firefighters. And we don’t risk our lives for our country. But if you accept the premise of Frank Woods, arguably the world’s first full-time movie critic, that film is poetry in motion, then it’s easy to contextualize the words of Robin Williams’ Mr. Keating in *Dead Poets Society*: “Medicine, law, business, engineering – these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love – these are what we stay alive for.” [![Sam_Rockwell_8](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sam_Rockwell_8-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sam_Rockwell_8.jpg)Cameron Meier interviews Sam Rockwell at the 2015 Florida Film Festival. **With that in mind, let me welcome you to MeierMovies**, the site for people who like to watch movies and love to discuss them. It’s one of the most detailed, list-loving film sites you will ever see. Here you will find rankings, ratings and/or reviews of more than 4,300 feature films from 1911 to today. ([Click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/) to go straight to those reviews.) You’ll also find something that no other site offers: [ALL those feature films in order of quality](https://www.meiermovies.com/StarRatings.pdf), starting with the top 200 movies ranked in order of quality and ending with the worst of all time, all rated in quarter-star increments. In addition, don’t miss this [unique chronological list](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf), which ranks the REAL best films of each year, not what the Academy told us were the best. You can also see ratings of more than 3,000 shorts dating back to the dawn of cinema in 1888, and hundreds of TV and web programs. But before you do anything, please visit the [Introduction](http://www.meiermovies.com/introduction/ "Introduction"), which will give you insight into the process. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/iStock-1007557230-credit-fergregory-.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/iStock-1007557230-credit-fergregory-.jpg)Of course, all of this is the opinion of just one guy: Me, Cameron Meier. So before you get too deep into this site, you might want to examine why you should be listening to me in the first place. For that, click [Who is Cameron Meier?](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-is-cameron-meier/ "Who is Cameron Meier?") In brief, I’ve been a film critic for roughly two decades, with my reviews appearing in *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com)*, *[The Detroit Metro Times](https://www.metrotimes.com/)*, *[The San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/)* and other publications. (MeierMovies offers most of those film reviews too, plus some exclusive ones, in addition to some past art, theatre and music critiques.) Before wishing you well on your journey through this site, I offer you an introduction to myself and my take on cinema: [my interviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/) with Sam Rockwell, Sissy Spacek, Bob Balaban and others. Enjoy! ***Photos on this page are by Eric Sutton, Liam Malone and iStockPhoto (fergregory).*** --- ### [New Views](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/) **Published:** August 8, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/iStock-925315058.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/iStock-925315058.jpg) What have I watched recently? This page lists my views – of new AND old films and shows – over the last two months, along with star ratings, in addition to links to reviews, if I wrote a review. To visit all my reviews of feature films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/). For all my ratings, visit my [movie lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/), and go here for a [guide to colors and symbols](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/). (Star ratings are on [a 0-5 scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf), with quarter-star increments for feature films, half-star increments for shows and whole stars only for shorts.) Feature films are in **bold**, TV/web shows are in regular, short films are in *italics*, and the names of festivals and/or screening events are in ALL CAPS. **Fackham Hall** (2025) – 2 ¾ stars (9/2/2026) **Mike Wallace Is Here** (2019) – 3 ½ stars (9/1/2026) **The Whisper Man** TV/Web/NT (2026) – 3 stars (8/31/2026) **Michael** (2026) – 2 ¾ stars (8/29/2026) **Obsession** (2026) – 1 ¾ stars (8/29/2026) [**Double Down**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/25/worst-movie-credits/ "Worst movie credits?") Hybrid (2005) – 0 stars (8/24/2026) **The Fugitive Kind** (1960) – 4 ¼ stars (8/23/2026) **It Should Happen to You** (1954) – 3 stars (8/20/2026) **Legal Eagles** (1986) – 3 ¼ stars (8/19/2026) **Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here** (1969) – 1 ¾ stars (8/18/2026) **Penelope** (1966) – 1 ½ stars (8/17/2026) **Mike’s Murder** (1984) – 1 star (8/14/2026) **For Heaven’s Sake** Sl (1926) – 3 ¼ stars (7/29/2026) **The Tall Target** (1951) – 1 ¾ stars (7/28/2026) **Ten Little Indians** (1965) – 1 ¼ stars (7/26/2026) **A Patch of Blue** (1965) – 3 ½ stars (7/25/2026) **The Emperor Jones** (1933) – 1 ¼ stars (7/21/2026) **Ode to Billy Joe** (1976) – 1 star (7/21/2026) **Sea of Love** (1989) – 3 stars (7/18/2026) [**The Odyssey**](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/ "The Odyssey") (70mm version) (2026) – 4 ½ stars (7/16/2026) – rewatch *CENTRAL FLORIDA FILMMAKING LAB* – (7/15/2026) **The Choral** (2025) – 2 stars (7/14/2026) [**The Odyssey**](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/ "The Odyssey") (70mm version) (2026) – 4 ½ stars (7/13/2026) **Night and the City** (American/international version) (1960) – 4 stars (7/12/2026) **BUtterfield 8** (1960) – 1 ½ stars (7/12/2026) *Wacky Blackout* (1942) – 3 stars (7/11/2026) **The Sheep Detectives** (2026) – 3 ½ stars (7/10/2026) [**Backrooms**](https://www.meiermovies.com/backrooms/ "Backrooms") (2026) – 3 ¾ stars (7/9/2026) **Thieves’ Highway** (1949) – 3 ¼ stars (7/8/2026) **The Long Night** (1947) – 2 ¾ stars (7/7/2026) **Tango Europa (a.k.a. I Am a Knife with Legs 2)** TV/Web/NT (2026) – 1 ¾ stars (7/7/2026) **[Against All Odds](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/07/06/bad-movie-great-song/)** (1984) – 2 stars (7/5/2026) **Ulysses** (Italian version) FL (1954) – 2 ½ stars (7/3/2026) **Vertigo** (1958) – 5 stars (7/2/2026) – rewatch **The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert** (1994) – 2 stars (7/2/2026) **Confessions of a Nazi Spy** (1939) – 3 stars (6/30/2026) **Battle of the Bulge** (1965) – 1 ¾ stars (6/30/2026) **The Unforgiven** (1960) – 1 ¾ stars (6/29/2026) ***Image is courtesy of iStockPhoto (#925315058; [tumsasedgars](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/tumsasedgars?mediatype=photography)).*** --- ### [Movie Lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) **Published:** August 16, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-1186113268-by-photoevent.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-1186113268-by-photoevent.jpg) Below is an index of my movie lists. When applicable, entries contain links to reviews of those movies. (Most of these lists are in PDF form. Saving and distributing them is a violation of copyright.) Most movies with French, Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese as their principal language are alphabetized by their original, non-English title. Movies with English titles beginning with “A,” “An” or “The” are alphabetized under the letter that begins the title’s second word. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Movie Key](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/). ## Features [By Star Rating](https://www.meiermovies.com/StarRatings.pdf): See how the films rank and rate according to a 0-5 star rating. The list includes the year released and director. [By Year](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf): Examine each year from 1911 to today, with films ranked in order of quality in each of those years. [A-Z](https://www.meiermovies.com/A-Z.pdf): See an alphabetical listing of all films, along with the year released, director and star rating. [By Director](https://www.meiermovies.com/Directors.pdf): This unique list ranks the films of some of the greatest, most famous and most influential directors, along with the years of their films’ releases and star ratings. [By Genre](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/): Explore various top-10 lists, organized by genre. ## Shorts [By Star Rating](https://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsByStarRating.pdf): See how the films rank and rate according to a 0-5 star rating. The list includes the year released and director. [By Year](https://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsByYear.pdf): Examine each year from 1888 to 2019, with films ranked in order of quality in each of those years. (This is a work in progress.) [A-Z](https://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsA-Z.pdf): See an alphabetical listing of all films, along with the year released, director and star rating. Also see my lists of the [30 greatest movie villains of all time](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-greatest-cinema-villains/), the [12 best Christmas movies](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/), the [four worst Christmas movies](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/), the [10 best movies about art and artists](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/), the [best and worst films of the *Halloween* franchise](https://www.meiermovies.com/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/ "Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers") and the [top 25 films of the 21st century](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/ "Best of the century"). (And to discover what I’ve seen recently, see [New Views](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/ "New Views").) ***Image is courtesy of iStockPhoto (#1186113268 by [Photoevent](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/photoevent?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best)).*** --- ### [FFF 2020 reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) **Published:** July 25, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FFF-2020-logo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FFF-2020-logo.jpg)Here you will find reviews of 14 features and three shorts blocks from the 29th Annual Florida Film Festival, held at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. The reviews are organized alphabetically by feature and then by shorts program. These represent the programs the media were allowed to previous in advance. Most of these reviews originally appeared in [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-2020-selected-reviews/Content?oid=27727453) on August 5, 2020. **FEATURES** ***Adam*** (3 ½ stars) ↑ [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Adam.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Adam.jpeg)*Adam* (photos courtesy Florida Film Festival) If you thought life was difficult for Rick and Isla on the streets of Casablanca, you haven’t seen Samia (Nisrin Erradi). Pregnant, unemployed, homeless and alone, she wanders the Moroccan capital looking for a job and a place to stay. She finds them when recently widowed Abla (Lubna Azabal) and her 8-year-old daughter reluctantly take her in, allowing her to live with them temporarily and help with their bakery. With methodical and muted, but tender, direction by first-timer Maryam Touzani, who penned the socially relevant screenplay, *Adam* is a reminder that the unlikeliest of relationships can change a life forever. It’s also a reminder that the Florida Film Festival’s most emotionally powerful movies are increasingly the product of international female directors. This one is a must-see. ***After So Many Days*** (1 star) **↓** Jim Hanft and Samantha Yonack are newlyweds. If that weren’t enough pressure, they’re also in a band. More precisely, they ARE the band. And things aren’t going well. So they launch a unique promotion: They will play one show a day for an entire year. Even better – or worse, it turns out – they will direct a documentary chronicling their adventure. But while their journey has something to say about the human condition and the music industry, it makes for tedious, self-indulgent cinema. At a low point in the low-budget tour, Hanft remarks, “Our time could be better served not doing this.” Sadly, despite the couple’s talent and ambition, the film makes that obvious. The feature is accompanied by a short doc, *Broken Orchestra* (2 stars), about the dismal state of music education in Philadelphia schools. Shot beautifully in ambitiously long tracking shots, director Charlie Tyrell makes a fatal mistake: He fails to include a single scene of a child playing or even discussing music. ***Amigo*** (3 stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Amigo.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Amigo.jpeg)*Amigo* Following an accident that confines Javi to a wheelchair, his friend David becomes his caregiver. Alone together at David’s country house, paranoia, claustrophobia, animosity and guilt eat away at them until there is little left. *Misery* meets *The Shining*. If the enjoyable unpleasantness of the Midnight films is your bag, the Spanish-language *Amigo* might be your new best friend. But don’t let that odd endorsement scare those of you who eschew the festival’s grosser offerings, for this high-brow mashup of drama and horror (with a drop of dark humor) is fueled by an almost unbearable stillness and an unexpectedly unique sense of the macabre. It’s also seemingly buoyed by the real-life friendship of its creators: actors Javier Botet and David Pareja (better known as comedians) and director Óscar Martín, who know how to ring every ounce of tension from the bare-bones script that they wrote together and filmed in just one week. ***At the Video Store*** (1 ¼ stars) **↓**– not reviewed ***Born Into the Gig*** (3 stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Born-into-the-Gig.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Born-into-the-Gig.jpeg)*Born Into the Gig* “There’s no birthright to this,” legendary singer-songwriter Bill Withers tells us in *Born Into the Gig*, one of the festival’s five music-themed feature documentaries. His daughter, Kori, would agree, as she both embraces and struggles with her father’s legacy. The same goes for the doc’s other subjects: Chris Stills (Stephen Stills’ son), Ben and Sally Taylor (James Taylor and Carly Simon’s children) and Skip Marley (Bob Marley’s grandson and Ziggy’s nephew). Though directors Kate Davis and David Heilbroner – channeling master documentarian Barbara Kopple – don’t exactly reinvent the genre, their film rarely hits a false note. And the simple premise slowly morphs into an enjoyable, honest and occasionally prophetic examination of what it takes to follow in the familial footsteps of giants. *Dani*, a nine-minute animated documentary from director Lizzy Hogenson, accompanies the feature. Its stop-motion puppets might be soft, but its story isn’t. ***Boys State*** (4 stars) **↑** [See separate review](http://www.meiermovies.com/boys-state/). ***Climate of the Hunter*** (½ star) **↓** [See separate review](http://www.meiermovies.com/climate-of-the-hunter/). ***Drought*** (1 ¼ stars) ↓ If I had a dime for every time “heart in the right place” is used to describe a festival film, I could pay for that second screen the Enzian wants (and needs). Well, with apologies to the cliché police, that phrase is perfect for *Drought*. That means, as you’ve probably already guessed, that almost everything else about this dramedy misses the mark. That’s sad because novice co-directors and co-stars Hannah Black and Megan Petersen – the latter giving the best performance – offer a nice premise. It’s so nice that they got support from Jay and Mark Duplass, as executive producers. It’s the tale of two sisters and their partially autistic brother (Owen Scheid) whose mother is arrested for selling pot out of her Yummy Tummy Treats ice-cream truck. While mom is in the slammer, they and a friend (Drew Scheid) abscond with the van, embarking on a dysfunctional family odyssey. But unlike Homer’s Odysseus, this film never makes it home, metaphorically. ***18 to Party*** (1 ¼ stars) **↓** I remember the summer of 1984. Like most of the characters in *18 to Party*, I was in the middle of my junior-high years and spent my evenings yelling obscenities at my friends, gossiping about suicides of local teenagers, trying to sneak into music venues and debating recent UFO sightings. Um, wait. Scratch that. That was nothing like my childhood. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t relate to writer-director Jeff Roda’s coming-of-age dramedy. Sure, there are moments of John Hughes charm in this simple, real-time tale of kids waiting for a nightclub to open. And at least three actors (Tanner Flood, Alivia Clark and James Freedson-Jackson) bear future watching. But there’s just too little joy, humor, originality and entertainment in this dimly lit, low-budget slice-of-lifer. And like the camera’s depth of field, the screenplay is a tad shallow. ***The Elephant Man*** (4 ¾ stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Elephant-Man.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Elephant-Man.jpeg)*The Elephant Man* If you’ve never seen David Lynch’s masterpiece on the big screen, now is your chance, as the 1980 drama is the Closing Night Retro offering. This brilliantly askew bio-pic of Joseph Merrick (called John in the film) features haunting black-and-white cinematography, an indescribable Gothic vibe and indelible performances from Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud, Anne Bancroft and especially John Hurt, whose emotionally jarring prosthetic makeup (by Christopher Tucker) prompted the creation of a new Oscar category. Not often considered a horror film, *The Elephant Man* nevertheless illuminates more memorably than almost any other movie the horrors humans inflict on society’s outcasts. ***Fandango at the Wall*** (2 ¾ stars) **↑** We’ve all seen music documentaries that become so obsessed with their interviewees that they forget to play the actual music. *Fandango at the Wall* doesn’t make that mistake. That might make it tedious if you’re not a fan of son jarocha, a style of regional folk music and dance from Veracruz, Mexico, that incorporates Hispanic, Indigenous and African traditions. But if you find its sweetness and cultural richness refreshing and can look past the film’s structural meanderings, there’s a lot to enjoy here. In addition, director Varda Bar-Kar mostly avoids political clichés, instead offering an honest discussion of immigration, poverty and national identity – all framed by a unique concert straddling the metal wall dividing Tijuana from California. The feature is preceded by director Julia Jansch’s *My Father the Mover* (3 stars), a vibrant and infectious South African short about one man’s devotion to dance and his daughter’s reluctance to embrace her father’s passion. ***Landfall*** (1 ½ stars) **↓** If you learn one lesson from *Landfall*, Florida Film Festival alumna Cecilia Aldarondo’s second feature documentary after *Memories of a Penitent Heart*, it’s that Puerto Rico deserves better than it’s received from the United States government, its own leadership and Mother Nature. This is clearly an enormous topic warranting an exhaustive documentary, but Aldarondo instead focuses her essay-like lens on a handful of people enduring the aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. “We try to erase the bad things, to set them aside,” one subject says. “\[But\] we can’t forget that we were left destitute.” Moments like that shine a badly needed light on the quiet despair islanders are enduring, but Aldarondo’s spotlight is often too dim, too oblique to function as anything more than an intriguing but vague tone poem for Puerto Rico’s suffering. ***Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles*** (2 ¾ stars)**↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Ottolenghi.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Ottolenghi.png)*Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles* For all the wonders of the arts, they are almost always limited to just two senses: sight and sound. Taste, smell and touch are usually absent. But that changed in 2018 with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Visitors to Versailles” exhibit, which featured not just traditional arts (painting, sculpture, tapestries, furniture, costumes and armor) but food. And director Laura Gabbert’s camera was there to capture it all, creating the most mouth-watering piece of cinema since *Jiro Dreams of Sushi.* Organized by eminent chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who brought together some of the greatest and most innovative dessert “architects” in the world, the smorgasbord was the envy of New York City and risked upstaging the 17th-century historical artifacts. Gabbert’s documentary, of course, can’t replicate the act of biting into the chocolate, jelly and cake creations. And you get just a vague sense of the smells that wafted through the grand halls of the Met for the occasion. (Where’s 1960’s Smell-O-Vision when you need it?) In addition, at just 75 minutes, the doc feels a bit rushed and underdeveloped. But the desserts – and the stories behind them – are delectable. ***The Perfect Candidate*** (3 stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Perfect-Candidate.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Perfect-Candidate.jpeg)*The Perfect Candidate* Maryam comes from a somewhat successful family of musicians and wedding singers. Though she’s a woman living in Saudi Arabia, that’s not enough for her. So she becomes a doctor. But even that doesn’t meet her expectations, so she decides, serendipitously, to run for municipal counsel. Initially without the support of her more conservative father and two sisters, Maryam struggles to gain respect in a nation unaccustomed to female leadership. Not unlike her movie’s lead character, director Haifaa Al-Mansour is a trailblazer, becoming in 2012 the first Saudi woman to direct a feature. Not surprisingly, her new Arabic-language drama addresses religious fundamentalism and misogyny, but it’s rarely heavy-handed. It occasionally seems unfocused and flat, particularly in its performances and pacing. But it more than compensates for that with cultural import, which it contains in spades. And don’t be shocked if the emotional ending punches you in the gut. ***The Personal History of David Copperfield*** (1 ¾ stars) **↓** [See separate review](http://www.meiermovies.com/david-copperfield/ "David Copperfield"). ***Shithouse*** (1 ¼ stars) **↓** Alex’s only friends are his college roommate, whom he dislikes, and his stuffed animal, the latter being a better conversationalist than the former, at least in Alex’s mind. In short, he’s having trouble matriculating. After another failed attempt to socialize (at a party held in a place nicknamed the “shithouse”), Alex unexpectedly bonds with Maggie, his dorm RA. Though she’s one year ahead of Alex in school and seemingly better adjusted, she too is emotionally vulnerable. What ensues is neither as funny nor revelatory as first-time filmmaker Cooper Raiff surely intended. Merging mumblecore with coming-of-age dramedy, Raiff does manage to tap into some of the angst of the late-teen years while ambitiously serving as writer, producer, director, editor and star (alongside Dylan Gelula, who plays Maggie). But with a rambling structure and subpar craftsmanship, *Shithouse* smells too much like a low-budget debut film. ***Some Kind of Heaven*** (3 ¾ stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Some-Kind-of-Heaven.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Some-Kind-of-Heaven.jpeg)*Some Kind of Heaven* “You don’t have to go outside The Villages.” It sounds like something Number Two would say in *The Prisoner*. But it’s actually a quote from a contented resident of the world’s largest retirement community: The Villages. Yet not everything is perfect in “Florida’s friendliest hometown,” as director Lance Oppenheim, a Sunshine Stater and festival alumnus, brilliantly demonstrates in his feature debut. But that’s not so much an insult to The Villages as it is a startlingly intimate examination of the lives of human beings approaching their final years. Highlighting the stories of a half-dozen residents of the community, Oppenheimer’s doc, which is produced by Darren Aronofsky and *The New York Times*, is a masterclass in interviewing, editing and scoring. A tragicomic (though some would say depressing) combination of *The Stepford Wives* and an Errol Morris movie, it’s one of the best documentaries you’ll see this year at the Florida Film Festival, or anywhere. ***Summerland*** (3 ¼ stars) **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Summerland-2.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Summerland-2.jpeg)*Summerland* On the southeast English coast in the early 1940s, curmudgeonly author Alice Lamb is holed up in her house, hiding from the war, the world and her broken heart. Her only joy is her writing, which debunks myths, legends and magic. Little does Alice realize she’s about to have her own mystical experience, courtesy of a young boy from London, whom she is forced to take in as part of the Blitz evacuation. The debut film of Olivier Award-winning playwright Jessica Swale, *Summerland* takes some historical liberties and often wears its social message on its sleeve. But its period charm, tight screenplay and interesting story transcend its contrivances. It’s especially buoyed by Gemma Arterton’s great lead performance, memorable support from Gugu Mbatha-Raw and the legendary Tom Courtenay, and an emotional, metatheatrical vibe reminiscent of *Atonement*. (*Summerland* – synonymous with pagan heaven – even uses the same seaside cottage as *Atonement*. Heaven indeed.) ***Your Iron Lady*** (½ stars) **↓** – not reviewed **SHORTS** **Animated Shorts** **→** Predicting which feature films you will like is a difficult – some say presumptuous – endeavor. But, to paraphrase festival guest Joe Bob Briggs, that task becomes pert near impossible when we’re talking about shorts. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Destination-Unknown.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Destination-Unknown.jpeg)*Destination: Unknown* That’s especially true for the animated block, which is often more than the sum of its parts. Adding up the individual “fresh” and “rotten” ratings for the 16 movies – eight of which are five minutes or less – seems pointless. So I’ll simply say that if you have relished the animated block in the past and enjoy cracking open the brains of the industry’s up-and-coming artists, take this unique collection of styles, mediums and subjects for a spin. (This is the American-made block. International animated shorts comprise a separate block.) The most satisfying – from both a storytelling and craft standpoint – are the opening film (***The Opposites Game*** (4 stars), a philosophical exercise in stop-motion, mixed media and collage) and ***Destination: Unknown*** (4 stars). The latter is a passion project from director Ethan Wellin, who took five years to craft his stop-motion sci-fi tale. (*Solaris* meets claymation.) The other films are hit or miss, but even a couple of the less (narratively) accessible ones deserve respect, such as the strangely beautiful, abstract ***Okami*** and ***The Coin*** (both 3 stars). (The latter, in Mandarin, is Siqi Song’s felt follow-up to her Oscar-nominated *Sister*.) And ***The Message from Space*** (4 stars) – about seemingly benevolent aliens – with a more structured narrative, grounds the program nicely. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there wasn’t enough happiness and light here. Though ***Umbilical*** (about domestic abuse), ***Walt***, ***Doll Story*** and ***Hudson Geese*** (the latter three containing themes of animal abuse and death) can’t be completely dismissed, their brutality is palpable. So by the arrival of the final film, ***If Anything Happens I Love You*** (3 stars) – a well-crafted take on gun violence – you might find yourself emotionally shaken, and not always in a good way. (Don’t bring the kids!) I commend these filmmakers for their craft. But I hope your life is already filled with joy, for you’ll find little in this program. **“8X Real” Shorts Program** **↑** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Grave-Hands.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Grave-Hands.jpeg)*Grave Hands* The documentary shorts program is always one of the festival’s best, but programmers have outdone themselves this year. Featuring eight mini-docs with a variety of subjects, styles and tones, this is one of the most emotionally impactful and well-crafted groupings of films you could hope for. The best are director Henry Roosevelt’s ***Sixth of June*** (5 stars) – about honoring history, specifically D-Day – and director Aaron Inman’s ***Grave Hands*** (5 stars), about a Vietnamese man who answers a unique spiritual calling every day. While they are both worthy of Oscar nominations, the other six films are also top-notch, covering everything from personal obsession to prejudice to found-object art to abortion. There’s even a stop-motion examination of Confucianism and a quirky doc about drilling so deep that you reach Hell. And look for the brilliant bookending, which balances vastly different approaches to a similar subject and, in doing so, might just bring pro-choicers and pro-lifers together, if briefly. (The pro-choice one, ***Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa*** (3 stars), is only available online. If you attend the Enzian screening, you can get a voucher to watch that film at home.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sixth-of-June.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Sixth-of-June.jpeg)*Sixth of June* “It is the tendency of America to forget the past,” we’re told in *Sixth of June*. You won’t forget these movies. **Shorts #1: “Grievances”** **↑** The festival has a tradition of naming its domestic shorts programs for songs by recently deceased singers. The honor has previously gone to Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and Tom Petty, among others. This year’s honorees are more difficult to spot, but that makes it all the more fun to find them. Shorts #1 is named “Grievances,” apparently for the Daniel Johnston song. A leading figure in outsider and alternative music, Johnston died last year at age 58. Though not all seven shorts in this block involve characters with the textbook definition of a “grievance,” they do focus on people searching for something different in their lives and within themselves. The program begins and ends with comedies. Though the first film – the overly broad and unfunny ***Island Queen*** (1 star), staring Rachel Dratch of *SNL* fame – seems out of place, the block ends nicely with ***Daddio*** (3 stars). Directed by and co-staring Casey Wilson, that latter short benefits from its chemistry between Wilson and the legendary Michael McKean, as a daughter and father coping (quirkily and awkwardly) with a recent family death. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Black-Goat.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Black-Goat.jpeg)*Black Goat* Between the bookends are several good (but not necessarily great) offerings of various styles and subjects. ***Feeling Through*** (3 stars) offers a unique look at what it means to help the less fortunate; ***Little Chief*** (3 stars) is a slow-burn eye-opener about a low-income Native-American teacher and her student; ***Union County*** (3 stars) painfully illustrates what a troubled young man must give up to stay sober; and ***Oh, Baby!*** (2 stars) lightens the mood (too much) with an offbeat take on a one-night stand. But it’s ***Black Goat*** (3 stars) – the lone foreign-language offering – directed by Tang Yi, that stands out thanks to its unique snapshot of a Nepali girl in a Buddhist nunnery. In the wake of COVID-19’s postponement or cancellation of most movie events, the Florida Film Festival’s shorts programs are extra valuable. That’s because the festival is one of the few in the world with Oscar accreditation in all three shorts categories: live-action, animated and documentary. In addition, this year’s event contains more shorts than ever (140), with more domestic, live-action blocks (five instead of the usual four). And you can watch almost all of them virtually. There’s never been a better time to get short. **More shorts recommendations** Because the festival’s virtual platform allows you to pick and choose which shorts you’d like to watch, there’s no need to watch an entire block. Indeed, for the domestic narrative shorts, it’s impossible to watch the programs in order unless you look at the lineup and make an effort to watch them in order. So which shorts are worth selecting? In addition to ALL the 8x doc shorts and the others mentioned above, I highly recommend the following 4-star shorts: ***Claire at Seven Months***, ***The Hour After Westerly***, ***Master Maggie***, ***The Priest*** and ***Love Bugs***. Those first four are domestic narrative shorts while *Love Bugs* is showing with *That’s Wild* (2 stars), a documentary feature with a great, humanistic story and some harrowing cinematography but a lack of narrative and dramatic flow. Among the international animated shorts (which are stronger than the domestic animated shorts), the stand-outs are **400 MPH**, **Rain**, **Muedra** and **Sous La Glace** (all 4 stars). I also recommend these 3-star shorts: **Baby Kate**, **Ear Ache**, **Fort Irwin**, **Ghazaal**, **The Door** and **Boys & Toys**. For more shorts recommendations, visit the “Short Lists” tab on this site’s menu bar. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Young Adult](https://www.meiermovies.com/young-adult/) **Published:** January 17, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Young Adult**, 2011, [4 ½ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Coming of (middle) age ## *Young Adult*, or *The Graduate, Part II* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Young-Adult-poster.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Young-Adult-poster.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 17, 2026 “Don’t you know that love conquers all? Haven’t you seen *The Graduate*?” And so goes the bar confession from middle-aged Minnesotan Mavis Gary to her new best friend, Matt. She hasn’t seen him in 20 years but, after multiple Makers Marks, finds no problem revealing her scheme to win back her high school boyfriend, Buddy, and free him from the tragic bondage of a happy marriage and beautiful baby. Mavis, an author of young-adult fiction, is living young-adult nonfiction. She’s just 37 years old, so her mid-life crisis is coming early, spurred on by a recent divorce, the cancellation of the book series she is ghost-writing and the ghosts of her youth. And when she learns of the arrival of her old beau’s newborn, something in her snaps. Surely he must be unhappy, she tells herself, if only because I am. And surely he must still want me, for he was once a true love of mine. But Scarborough Fair is nowhere to be found. Neither is Elaine Robinson’s Berkeley. Instead, we get fictional Mercury, Minnesota. But Mavis — having impulsively driven there in her Mini Cooper from her new digs in the Minneapple — finds her old hometown an unhappy stranger. Sure, it has a new sports bar and a new KenTacoHut. But above all else it holds heartbreak. And the saddest part is that everyone sees it coming except Mavis. Turns out she should have spent less time writing YA fiction and more time reading Thomas Wolfe. You can’t go home again. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Young-Adult.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Young-Adult.jpg)Patrick Wilson and an Oscar-worthy Charlize Theron star in *Young Adult*. (Images are copyright Paramount Pictures / Indian Paintbrush.) In the hands of writer Diablo Cody, director Jason Reitman and actors Charlize Theron (Mavis), Patton Oswalt (Matt) and Patrick Wilson (Buddy), *Young Adult* is arguably, alternatingly, the funniest and saddest film of 2011 while simultaneously being the most deceptively profound. It’s a coming-of-age tale for grownups, a requiem for lost loves who are never completely lost, and a mixtape of songs that remind you of your ex. And Mavis chases it all down with quaffed bourbon shots while nervously pulling hairs from her otherwise cutely coiffed head. Countering Mavis’s delusions is the down-to-earth, biting realism of Matt. A vicious attack two decades earlier left him with crooked legs and a crooked penis. Unable to make love and, at least in his own mind, be loved, he nevertheless remains uncrooked in his unlikely support of Mavis because, as he tells her, “Guys like me are born loving women like you.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Young-Adult-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Young-Adult-2.jpg)Despite writer Buck Henry’s jokes, a sequel to *The Graduate* never got filmed. But maybe *Young Adult* is a spiritual sequel, 44 years later and without the happy ending (if *The Graduate*’s finale is indeed happy). Perhaps it’s a follow-up for middle-agers, depressants, clingers-on and the Bens who never got their Elaines. Because life doesn’t have a happy ending. Because Mavis, Buddy, Elaine and Ben will all eventually forget, and be forgotten. So too we, plucked from the world and cast away, like existential trichotillomania. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1625346/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Adult_(film)).* --- ### [Movie News and Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-news/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. ### **2026** [Worst movie credits?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/25/worst-movie-credits/ "Worst movie credits?") [Love Your Shorts Summer Rewind](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/14/time-to-rewind-your-shorts/ "Time to Rewind your Shorts") [Martin Scorses embraces AI](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/06/11/shame-on-scorsese/ "Shame on Scorsese") [OIF turns 10 (and X Challenge awards)](https://www.meiermovies.com/oif-turns-10/ "OIF turns 10") [Spring into Orlando film fests (plus updates on FilmSlam and OFF) ](https://www.meiermovies.com/spring-into-orlando-film-fests/ "Spring into Orlando film fests") **35th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [Festival preview](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/ "Florida Film Festival 2026") [Feature reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [Shorts reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") [Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-announces-awards/ "Florida Film Festival announces awards") [Festival wraps](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/04/20/florida-film-festival-26-wraps/ "Florida Film Festival ’26 wraps") [Filmapalooza Lisbon 2026 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/curtain-falls-on-lisbon-filmapalooza-2026/ "Curtain falls on Lisbon Filmapalooza 2026") [Oscar-nominated shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2026/ "Oscar Shorts 2026") [Actor Awards alter Oscar race](https://www.meiermovies.com/actor-awards-alter-oscar-race/ "Actor Awards alter Oscar race") [16th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-sweet-16/ "Love Your Shorts turns sweet 16") [*Sinners* breaks Oscar nomination record, or does it?](https://www.meiermovies.com/sinners-breaks-record-or-does-it/ "‘Sinners’ breaks record, or does it?") [CenFlo turns 20](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-turns-20/ "CenFlo turns 20") [Statement on AI](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/01/09/statement-on-ai/ "Statement on AI") ### **2025** [Rob Reiner’s generation](https://www.meiermovies.com/rob-reiners-generation/ "Rob Reiner’s generation") [Orlando Film Festival canceled](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-canceled-for-2025/ "Orlando Film Festival canceled for 2025") [19th Annual Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/reel-spooky/ "Reel Spooky") [Short stuff 2025 (a look at some of the year’s best short films)](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-stuff-2025/ "Short stuff 2025") [Best of the century: my top 25 films of 2000-2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/ "Best of the century") [Fall into film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") (Orlando’s late-summer and autumn movie events) [Danny Boyle Questions his own *Slumdog Millionaire*](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/06/22/oh-danny-boy/ "Oh, Danny boy!") [Pride of the Pansy Craze](https://www.meiermovies.com/pride-of-the-pansy-craze/ "Pride of the Pansy Craze") [Trump’s artistic “hand”: President fires National Portrait Gallery director](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/05/31/trumps-artistic-hand/ "Trump’s artistic hand") [President Trump deems foreign films a national-security threat](https://www.meiermovies.com/trump-deems-foreign-films-a-security-threat/ "Trump deems foreign films a threat") [20th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sunscreen-film-festival-turns-20/ "Sunscreen Film Festival turns 20") **34th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [Teaser](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/04/06/florida-film-festival-to-begin-friday/ "Florida Film Festival to begin Friday") [Festival overview and review of opening film](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies") [Movie reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews") [An Interview with Mia Farrow](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-interview-with-mia-farrow/ "An Interview with Mia Farrow") [Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-fest-25-announces-awards/ "Florida Film Fest ’25 announces awards") [Filmapalooza Seattle 2025 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2025/ "Filmapalooza 2025") [15th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-15/ "Love Your Shorts turns 15") [LYSFF begins with Education Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/02/14/love-your-shorts-2025-begins/ "Love Your Shorts 2025 begins") [Limitless: Lynch and Szwarc](https://www.meiermovies.com/limitless-lynch-and-szwarc/ "Limitless: Lynch and Szwarc") [*Motion Picture Paradise*](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/01/17/motion-picture-paradise/ "‘Motion Picture Paradise’") ### [**2024**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024-movie-news-features/ "2024 Movie News & Features") ### [**2023**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023-movie-news-features/ "2023 Movie News & Features") ### **[2022](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022-movie-news-features/)** ### [**2021**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021-movie-news-features/ "2021 Movie News & Features") ### [**2020**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020-movie-news-features/ "2020 Movie News & Features") ### [**2019**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019-movie-news-and-features/ "2019 Movie News & Features") ### [**2018**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018-movie-news-and-features/ "2018 Movie News and Features") ### [**2017**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017-movie-news-and-features/ "2017 Movie News and Features") ### [**2016**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016-movie-news-and-features/ "2016 Movie News and Features") ### [**2015**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015-movie-news-and-features/ "2015 Movie News and Features") ### [**2014**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-movie-news-and-features/ "2014 Movie News and Features") ### [**2013**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-movie-news-and-features/ "2013 Movie News and Features") ### [**2012**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2012-movie-news-and-features/ "2012 Movie News and Features") ### [**2006**](https://www.meiermovies.com/2006-movie-news-and-features/ "2006 Movie News and Features") ***Image is courtesy of iStockPhoto (#173573801, by [KLH49](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/klh49?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best)).*** --- ### [A look at Oscar Shorts 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2018/) **Published:** February 16, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DeKalb-Elementary.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DeKalb-Elementary.jpg)Image copyright Reed Van Dyk Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 16, 2018 The best cinematic experience one can have in February is watching the Oscar-Nominated Short Films. These three groups of films (live action, animated and documentary) – all 40 minutes or less – are shown around the country in art-house cinemas and some multiplexes. (This is the 13th year they have been presented by Shorts HD and Magnolia Pictures.) If you live in Orlando, like I do, I suggest you check them out at Maitland’s [Enzian Theater](http://enzian.org/film/oscar-shorts-2018-live-action/), although the cinema shows just the live-action and animated ones. (For the documentaries, you’ll have to venture farther afield, to perhaps [Tampa Theatre](http://tampatheatre.org/fest/oscar-nominated/).) First things first: I highly recommend all three film blocks, as there’s not a dud in the bunch. But before we look at the individual shorts, let’s talk briefly about how these films are selected as the “best of the year.” In short (pun not intended), these films are NOT necessarily the best. They are simply the product of a strange system that states that films are not eligible for nomination unless they screen (for paid admission) in a commercial cinema in Los Angeles for seven consecutive days, win one of the top three awards at the Student Academy Awards competition, or take home the top prize at an Oscar-qualifying film festival. Because prizes are limited at the Student Academy Awards competition and it’s notoriously difficult for short films to get commercial distribution (unless they are the product of a major studio, such as Disney/Pixar), that leaves the final option: the film festival. That sounds easy until you learn that there are a surprisingly small number of Oscar-qualifying festivals. Here in Orlando, our very own Florida Film Festival is one of them. But there are fewer than 100 others around the globe. Then when one takes into account the small size of the typical judging panel, it’s likely that a short film’s eligibility could come down to the opinion of just one or two people. Thanks to this weird process, each year there are usually far less than 200 short films eligible for an Oscar nomination in each category – out of tens of thousands of short movies screened around the world. And by the way, if you’re a student, forget about qualifying by having your film play an L.A. cinema for a week. (Student films aren’t allowed that type of qualification.) For a list of the rules, see [http://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/90aa\_short\_films.pdf](http://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/90aa_short_films.pdf). In the live-action block, *My Nephew Emmett* (3 stars on 0-5 scale) and *The Silent Child* (also 3 stars) have a lot to say about racial discrimination in 1950s America and the misunderstood lives and ambitions of deaf children, respectively. They just don’t always quite know how to say it, as the former film (from the United States) – despite a strong lead performance – doesn’t crackle with the type of originality and exceptionalism one expects from an Oscar nominee, and the latter (from the United Kingdom) is structured more like a snippet from a feature than a complete short. Still, it’s a strong snippet. *Watu Wote – All of Us* (4 stars), from Kenya, is, surprisingly, the one foreign-language offering among all of the 15 nominated shorts. Like the previous two films, it carries a strong social message. But unlike the others, its ending delivers a powerful punch to the gut. *The Eleven o’Clock* (5 stars), from Australia, is a very different type of film from the other nominees. Without a particular social or political message, it relies on its brilliant lead performances, intelligent script, dark humor and *Twilight Zone* feel. It’s irresistible. But the best short of the bunch – and despite those odd, aforementioned rules, probably the best short film produced in 2017 – is *DeKalb Elementary* (5 stars), from the United States. A simply staged 20-minute interaction between a white male gunman (Bo Mitchell) and black female receptionist (Tarra Riggs) at a school, the film will defy your expectations and restore some of your faith in humanity. Smartly, sensitively written and directed by Reed Van Dyk, it’s based on a real 911 call and puts a unique spin on the type of potentially tragic event that has become all too familiar in recent years in America. “I don’t know your name or nothin’,” the receptionist tells the shooter after sensing his vulnerability, mental distress and profound regret. “But I want you to know that I love you and I’m proud of you.” You won’t find a better line in any 2017 film – short or feature. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Negative-Space.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Negative-Space.jpg)*Negative Space*. (Image is copyright Ikki Films / Seve Films.) The animated films are just as memorable. Despite getting most of the press, Kobe Bryant’s *Dear Basketball* (3 stars) – directed and lovingly hand-drawn by Disney legend Glen Keane, and scored by John Williams – is the least impressive. Speaking of Disney, the animated category wouldn’t be complete without a Pixar entry, and although *Lou* (4 stars) – a unique look at a schoolyard bully who learns the value of kindness – isn’t the best the company has given us recently, it will grow on you. *Revolting Rhymes* (4 stars), at 29 minutes, is by far the longest offering. It’s actually part one of a feature-length cartoon that originally aired on British TV. Presented without its second half, it feels incomplete, but it’s still a clever and humorous take on classic fairy tales. Outshining the other films are *Garden Party* and *Negative Space*, both worthy of 5 stars. The former features photographically realistic CGI and a refreshingly askew sensibility (and a lot of frogs) while the latter represents a new take on the eternal story of father and son – told through astonishing stop-motion and one of the smartest, most tender scripts in the history of animation. Because most of the animated selections each year are *very* short, three or four additional films are usually added to pad out the program to a running time of about 90 minutes. These extra “highly commended” films are usually a step or two below the five nominated films in quality. And though that’s true this year for the sweet but slight *Weeds* (3 stars) and the well-animated but muddled *Achoo* (2 stars), that’s not the case for *Lost Property Office* (5 stars), a stunning piece of stop-motion art that explores dark and magical territory rarely trodden in animation, or in *any* film of just 10 minutes. Though the animated program is unrated and contains some content that will go over the heads of young viewers, it is nevertheless recommend for children 8 years or older. While the documentary program isn’t as strong as last year’s – when a brilliant Syrian war doc, *The White Helmets*, took home the Oscar – it’s still worth watching, if you have almost three hours to spare. (The program has an intermission.) *Traffic Stop* (3 stars) might be the most topical of the films, as it deals with an encounter between a white, male police officer and a black woman arrested for speeding. While the dash-cam footage is emotionally scarring and parts of the film serve as an important social document, the production is a bit bloated and manipulative in its structure and scoring. (If you can’t attend the Oscar Shorts, you can still see it on HBO on February 19.) *Knife Skills* (3 stars) is also socially relevant, and original, to boot. Focusing on an upscale French restaurant in Cleveland that hires ex-convicts, the film – though rather conventional in composition – reaffirms the power of forgiveness. Continuing the profile theme of the nominees is *Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405* (4 stars). Or perhaps it’s more appropriate to label the movie a portrait, as its memorable subject is an artist with a history of mental illness, depression and anxiety. *Heroin(e)* (4 stars) could be labeled a profile too, as it chronicles three female fighters on the front lines of our nation’s drug-overdose pandemic, in Huntington, West Virginia. Though a hundred myriad elements must come together to create a masterpiece, in documentary filmmaking, it often comes down to luck. Unfortunately, the filmmaker’s good luck is often a subject’s bad. Such is the case for the best documentary of this year’s group, *Edith + Eddie* (5 stars), an unexpectedly intimate look at newlyweds (a black woman and a white man, both in their 90s) who are fighting to live out their lives together. Imbued with a *Harlan County U.S.A.* aura of “I can’t believe they filmed that,” this is a doc you won’t soon forget. The only downside to the blocks is the addition of some extra tidbits that programmers apparently thought were necessary to jazz up the proceedings. For instance, the animated films are separated by “interval” cartoons that dumb down and detract from the overall quality, and the credits of the live-action films include sophomoric, self-indulgent clips of the filmmakers reacting to hearing their names called during the nomination announcements. The Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on March 4. For a list of all nominees, visit . *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [By Genre](https://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## **The Top 10 Feature Films by Genre** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-493633015.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/iStock-493633015.jpg) These lists represent an attempt to designate the 10 greatest films in a variety of genres, from major ones such as drama, comedy and science fiction to sub-genres such as time travel, war and sports. These sub-genres, especially journalism, could be described instead as simply “subjects.” In two instances, I include categories (silent and foreign-language) that are more accurately described as “types” of film, rather than genres. (Also note the final list: the top 10 series or franchises.) **Drama** 1\. [Gone With the Wind](http://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/) \* (1939) 2\. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest \* (1975) 3\. The Godfather \* (1972) 4\. On the Waterfront \* (1954) 5\. The Godfather, Part II \* (1974) 6\. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) FL (1945) 7\. Wuthering Heights (1939) 8\. East of Eden (1955) 9\. Casablanca \* (1943) 10\. All the President’s Men (1976) **Comedy** 1\. [Modern Times](http://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/) SlWS (1936) 2\. [Who Framed Roger Rabbit](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-framed-roger-rabbit) (1988) 3\. The Circus Sl (1927) 4\. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 5\. City Lights SlWS (1931) 6\. Zelig (1983) 7\. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 8\. Arthur (1981) 9\. Ed Wood (1994) 10\. Bullets Over Broadway (1995) **Note:** If *The Graduate* is labeled a comedy, it would top this list. **Suspense/Thriller/Horror/Mystery** 1. [Psycho](http://www.meiermovies.com/psycho) (1960) 2. [The Third Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-third-man/) (1949) 3. Dead of Night (1945) 4. The Exorcist (1973) 5. Les Diaboliques (The Devils) FL (1955) 6\. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 7\. The Stranger (1946) 8\. [Jaws](http://www.meiermovies.com/jaws-sights-on-marthas-vineyard/) (1975) 9. Vertigo (1958) 10. Duel TV (1971) **Romance** 1\. [Gone With the Wind](http://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/) \* (1939) 2\. The Graduate (1967) 3\. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) FL (1945) 4\. Wuthering Heights (1939) 5\. Casablanca \* (1943) 6\. [Somewhere in Time](http://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/) (1980) 7\. Atonement (2007) 8\. City Lights SlWS (1931) 9\. Splendor in the Grass (1961) 10\. The Remains of the Day (1993) **Note:** For a more detailed discussion of this list, see [my Valentine’s Day blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/02/14/for-valentines-day-the-10-best-romances/). **Animated (full)** 1. Pinocchio (1940) 2. Dumbo (1941) 3. Bambi (1942) 4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 5. Alice in Wonderland (1951) 6\. Toy Story (1995) 7. Fantasia (1940) 8\. Lady and the Tramp (1955) 9. Beauty and the Beast (1991) 10. [Loving Vincent](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) (2017) **Digital Animation (full)** 1. Toy Story (1995) 2. Toy Story 3 (3-D version) (2010) 3. Toy Story 2 (1999) 4. WALL-E (2008) 5. [Monsters Inc.](https://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-inc/) (2001) 6\. [Toy Story 4](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) (2019) 7. A Bug’s Life (1998) 8\. Coco (2-D version) (2017) 9\. Inside Out (3-D version) (2015) 10\. Wreck-It Ralph (3-D version) (2012) **Science Fiction (non-superhero/comic book)** 1\. [2001: A Space Odyssey](http://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) (1968) 2\. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80) 3\. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980/97) 4\. Star Wars, or Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977/97) 5\. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983/97) 6\. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 7\. Jurassic Park (1993) 8. Inception (2010) 9\. Interstellar (2014) 10\. WALL-E (2008) **Time Travel** 1\. [Somewhere in Time](http://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/) (1980) 2\. Predestination (2014) 3\. Los Cronocrimines (Timecrimes) FL (2007) 4\. Back to the Future (1985) 5\. Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) 6\. Groundhog Day (1993) 7\. Time Bandits (1981) 8\. Source Code (2011) 9\. I’ll Never Forget You (a.k.a. The House in the Square) (1951) 10\. [A Christmas Carol](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/) (1951) **Note:** For a film to make this list, it must have time travel as the main theme or plot. *Interstellar,* *Arrival* and *Field of Dreams*, therefore, are not included. **Musical (live action)** 1\. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 2\. Chicago \* (2002) 3\. Oliver! \* (1968) 4\. [A Hard Day’s Night](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-hard-days-night/) (1964) 5\. West Side Story \* (1961) 6\. The Muppet Movie (1979) 7\. Mary Poppins (1964) 8\. The Sound of Music \* (1965) 9\. Cabaret (1972) 10\. (tie) Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952) **Western** 1\. Once Upon a Time in the West (165-min version) (1969) 2\. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 3\. Shane (1953) 4\. Dances With Wolves (1990) 5\. Unforgiven (1992) 6\. There Will Be Blood (2007) 7\. The Professionals (1966) 8\. My Darling Clementine (1946) 9\. The Wild Bunch (1969) 10\. True Grit (2010) **Note:** Not included here are films by Akira Kurosawa that could be considered westerns, such as *Ran* and *The Seven Samurai*. **Foreign Language (films not in English)** 1\. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) FL (1945): French 2\. Les Diaboliques (The Devils) FL (1955): French 3\. The Sorrow and the Pity FL (1969): French 4\. Come and See FL (1985): Russian 5\. Sansho the Bailiff FL (1954): Japanese 6\. La Dolce Vita (The Good Life) FL (1960): Italian 7\. La Regle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) FL (1939/59): French 8\. La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful) FL (1997): Italian 9\. Ran FL (1985): Japanese 10\. Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thieves) FL (1948): Italian **War** 1\. [Gone With the Wind](http://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/) \* (1939): American Civil War in the South 2\. Atonement (1987): World War II in Europe 3\. Lawrence of Arabia (most-recent restoration) \* (1962): World War I in Africa 4\. Bridge on the River Kwai \* (1957): World War II in the Pacific 5\. [Dunkirk](http://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) (2017): World War II in Europe 6\. Doctor Zhivago (1965): World War I in Europe, Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War 7\. The Sorrow and the Pity FL (1969): World War II in Europe 8\. Come and See FL (1985): World War II in Europe 9\. Saving Private Ryan (1998): World War II in Europe 10\. The Pianist (2002): World War II in Europe **Note:** Included in this list are all war-themed films, not just those that feature combat. **Documentary** 1\. [Harlan County U.S.A.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) (1976) 2\. The Sorrow and the Pity FL (1969) 3\. Bowling for Columbine (2002) 4\. Hearts and Minds (1974) 5\. The Act of Killing FL (2013) 6\. Shoah FL (1985) 7\. 28 Up Hybrid (1984) 8\. Roger and Me (1989) 9. Fahrenheit 911 (2004) 10\. Among the Believers FL (2015) **Sports** 1\. The Natural (1984): baseball 2\. Field of Dreams (1989): baseball 3\. Heaven Can Wait (1978): football 4\. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962): boxing 5\. Cinderella Man (2005): boxing 6\. The Hustler (1961): pool 7\. Chariots of Fire \* (1981): track 8\. Million Dollar Baby \* (2004): boxing 9\. [Ford v Ferrari](http://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/) (2019): auto-racing 10\. Marty Supreme (2025): table tennis **Note:** While pool could be considered more a game than a sport, I include *The Hustler* because it has the themes and feel of a sports film. **Fantasy (live action)** 1\. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 2\. Babe (1995) 3\. Babe: Pig in the City (1998) 4\. Edward Scissorhands (1990) 5\. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (3-D version) (2002) 6\. Mary Poppins (1964) 7\. Mary Poppins Returns (2018) 8\. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) 9\. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 10\. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) **Note:** I’ve placed the *Star Wars* films on the Science Fiction list, not the Fantasy list. Clearly, they could be included on both. If they were included on this list, the original trilogy would take up the #2, #3 and #4 spots. **Superhero and/or Comic Book (live action)** 1\. Unbreakable (2000) 2\. Dick Tracy (1990) 3\. [Joker](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) (2019) 4\. Superman (1978) 5\. Popeye (1980) 6\. The Avengers (2–D version) (2012) 7\. [Doctor Strange (3–D version)](https://www.meiermovies.com/doctor-strange/) (2016) 8\. Batman (1989) 9\. Men in Black (1997) 10\. American Splendor (2003) **Note:** This admittedly unconventional list draws not only from traditional comic-book and superhero movies but also from films with a comic-book theme, such as *Unbreakable*. Also included are films inspired by newspaper/magazine comics and serials but NOT films based on a single graphic novel. **Silent** 1\. [Modern Times](http://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/) SlWS (1936) 2\. The Circus Sl (1928) 3\. City Lights SlWS (1931) 4\. La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) Sl (1928) 5\. The Gold Rush Sl (1925) 6\. The Kid Sl (1921) 7\. The Artist SlWS \* (2011) 8\. The General Sl (1927) 9\. Metropolis Sl (1926) 10\. 7th Heaven SlWS (1927) **Note:** This list includes both true silent films and those with a synchronized soundtrack but no dialogue (intertitles instead). **Journalism** 1\. All the President’s Men (1976) 2\. Citizen Kane (1941) 3\. Broadcast News (1987) 4\. Network (1976) 5\. The China Syndrome (1979) 6\. Reds (1981) 7\. His Girl Friday (1940) 8\. Spotlight \* (2015) 9\. [The Post](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-post/) (2017) 10\. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) **Note:** To make this list, journalism must be central to the plot of the movie, rather than the film simply featuring a character who is a journalist, such as *La Dolce Vita*. And because all documentaries are essentially journalism, this list includes only narrative-fiction films. **Directorial Debuts** 1\. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles) (1941) 2\. [Harlan County U.S.A.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) (Barbara Kopple) (1976) 3\. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet) (1957) 4\. Arthur (Steve Gordon) (1981) 5\. Duel Hybrid (Steven Spielberg) (1971) 6\. Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton) (1996) 7\. American Beauty \* (Sam Mendes) (1999) 8\. Chicago \* (Rob Marshall) (2002) 9\. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols) (1966) 10\. Ordinary People \* (Robert Redford) (1980) **Series and Franchises** 1\. The Godfather trilogy (3 films from 1972 to 1990) 2\. [Star Wars and Star Wars Anthology](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-all-star-wars-films/) (11 films from 1977 to 2019) 3\. The “Up” series (1 short and 8 feature films from 1964 to 2019) 4\. The Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts (Wizarding World) series (11 films from 2001 to 2022) 5\. The Toy Story series (5 films from 1995 to 2026), not including spin-offs 6\. Marvel Cinematic Universe (38 films from 2008 to 2026) 7\. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit films (6 films from 2001 to 2014) 8\. Trois Couleurs (The Three Colors trilogy) FL (3 films from 1993 to 1994) 9\. The Indiana Jones series (4 films from 1981 to 2008) 10\. The James Bond films (25 official films from 1962 to 2021) **Note:** To qualify, a series must have plot and/or characters in common, forming at least a semblance of an ongoing story or linked theme. Bergman’s Trilogy of Faith would not qualify; neither would similar series that have themes in common but which were not conceived as a series and have neither characters nor story in common. The *Batman,* first *Spider-Man* and *Superman* series qualify but fall short on quality. Also see my lists of the [30 greatest movie villains of all time](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-greatest-cinema-villains/), the [12 best Christmas movies](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/), the [four worst Christmas movies](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/), the [10 best movies about art and artists](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/), the [best and worst films of the *Halloween* franchise](https://www.meiermovies.com/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/ "Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers") and the [top 25 films of the 21st century](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/ "Best of the century"). *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *Top 10 image courtesy of iStockPhoto (#493633015 by [Wetcake](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/wetcake?assettype=image&mediatype=illustration&sort=best))* --- ### [Love Your Shorts turns sweet 16](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-sweet-16/) **Published:** February 9, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 9, 2026 Love Your Shorts Film Festival is turning 16. How sweet it is! The festival will screen 81 short films (under 30 minutes in length), from 15 nations, February 12-15 at the historic Ritz Theatre, part of the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, in Sanford, Florida. The event kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. with Education Day, presented by the Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF). Local filmmaker TL Westgate will moderate a panel discussion, which will be accompanied by a screening of five short films by local filmmakers Jennifer Coe, Nick Marinucci, Gregory Mohn, Fernando Tosetti and Chad Wengel. “Education night is a great kickoff to the Love Your Shorts Film Festival,” says Westgate. “The Organization of Independent Filmmakers selects films from its yearly challenges to showcase what local filmmakers are producing, followed by a fun Q&A. I’m honored to emcee for the second year in a row.” The main part of the fest will launch on Friday at 7 p.m. with the Opening Night block, containing eight films of various genres. That will be followed by the always popular Opening Night Party, which will have a Parisian cabaret theme this year. The fête will continue on Saturday with six more blocks: E for Everyone at 10:30 a.m. (nine films), Animation at 1 p.m. (17 films), Documentary at 3 p.m. (six films), International at 5 p.m. (five films), Comedy at 8 p.m. (nine films) and Sci-Fi/Horror at 10 p.m. (eight films). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/LYSFF-Education-Night-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/LYSFF-Education-Night-2026-scaled.jpg)The Sunday blocks are: Drama at 1 p.m. (six films), Florida Flavor at 3 p.m. (eight films) and Best of the Fest at 7 p.m. That latter group will be comprised of the films audiences have selected from the previous nine blocks, plus potentially one extra film chosen by the selection committee. (So don’t forget to vote at the end of each block!) This year’s event will see the return of many festival alumni, including Lukas Hassel. The New York-based actor, originally from Denmark, is known for the NBC show *Blacklist* and the CBS show *Blue Bloods*, among other projects. His movie, *Up Close*, which he directed, wrote and stars in, will close the Sci-Fi/Horror block. “\[It is\] a very different short film, almost experimental, as I was trying to do something outside of the box,” says Hassel. “\[It is\] in the direction of my sci-fi *Into the Dark* \[from the 2015 festival\], but minus sci-fi and taken to the nth degree, … trying to see if I can tell a compelling story by what you DON’T see.” [Go here](https://www.paulmeier.com/2024/06/01/episode-77-a-unique-path-to-film-and-tv-success/) for more information on Hassel. Each block costs $12 except for the free Education Day and the E for Everyone block, which is $5. A weekend pass goes for $85. Visit [LoveYourShorts.com](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Floveyourshorts.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cakondolojy%40orlandosentinel.com%7Cdc03cad19798471bfdbb08d9e0e00dd1%7Cf7da0482aed242fa80233b240fb6598d%7C0%7C0%7C637788075942608464%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=gHUOOKs5F7KPYgpJeIXXP%2BaP8DGtz8yPup6hyHJYL5w%3D&reserved=0) for more information and to purchase tickets. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *Disclosure: I help manage and am co-owner of Paul Meier Dialect Services and the International Dialects of English Archive, which are sponsors of Education Day. I am also one of the five judges. But I have no financial, creative or organizational connection to the festival or any of the films being presented.* *Allow me to recognize my fellow judges in advance of the festival: Sarah Fisher, Tracy Frenkel, Charles Frisby and Brooke Hill.* ## Results Congratulations to the dark comedy/social commentary *Stimulants & Empathogens* and its director, Mateusz Pacewicz, from Poland, for winning best of the fest. For ratings of all the films, see the short-film lists on my [lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). ## Summer Rewind [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/08/14/time-to-rewind-your-shorts/ "Time to Rewind your Shorts") for information on the August “Summer Rewind” program. --- ### [Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/photography/) **Published:** May 5, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## **Explore MeierMovies’ photo collections** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-4.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-4.jpg)The [Niépce Heliograph](https://www.meiermovies.com/niepce-heliograph/ "Niépce Heliograph"), from 1827, is the world’s oldest, and arguably first, photograph. Click or tap the links below. [Hollywood Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-photography/) (movie-related content in Los Angeles) [Other Movie-Related Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/other-movie-related-photography/ "Other Movie-Related Photography") (outside Los Angeles) [Travel Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/travel-photography/ "Travel Photography") (not related to movies) --- ### [Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-auto-museum/) **Published:** August 16, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Orlando Auto Museum, in Orlando, Florida, is one of the world’s largest museums devoted to cars. With an extensive collection of all types of automobiles, the collection is the centerpiece of Dezerland, which bills itself as Florida’s largest indoor amusement attraction. These photos show most of the museum’s movie-themed cars. (The collection is far more extensive, featuring more than 20 rooms organized by car type, age and nation of origin.) Keep in mind most of the cars in these photos are not the originals from the movies. Instead, they are replicas and/or the same make and model of the vehicles used in the films. However, the exhibit does contain many of the actual vehicles used in the movies, making the museum a must-see for both car aficionados and movie buffs. For more information, visit [OrlandoAutoMuseum.com](https://orlandoautomuseum.com/). And [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/007-bond-lounge/ "007 Bond Lounge") to see cars and planes from the adjacent 007 Bond Lounge (James Bond Museum). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Dezerland-entrance-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Dezerland-entrance-scaled.jpg) [![Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-8-scaled.jpg) [![Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-9-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-9-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-10-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-10-scaled.jpg) [![Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-11-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-11-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-12-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-12-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-13-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-13-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-14-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-14-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-15-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-15-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-16-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-16-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-17-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-17-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-18-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-18-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-19-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-19-scaled.jpg) [![A black Batman-era car on display, with red trim, under dark, crinkled tarps in a museum setting and a Batman figure nearby in costume.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-20-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-20-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-21-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-21-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-22-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-22-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-23-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Auto-Museum-23-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Other Movie-Related Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/other-movie-related-photography/) **Published:** May 5, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-4.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-4.jpg)*Somewhere in Time*, the greatest time-travel movie of all time, was set and filmed at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. **Below you will find movie-related photos from places and events around the world not including Los Angeles.** (For Hollywood photos, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-photography/ "Hollywood Photography").) [Ames History Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/ames-history-museum/ "Ames History Museum"), in Ames, Iowa [Café Lumière and Salon Indien at Hotel Scribe](http://www.meiermovies.com/cafe-lumiere-and-salon-indien/) in Paris, France [*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* houses](http://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-button-houses-in-new-orleans/) in New Orleans, Louisiana [007 Bond Lounge (James Bond Museum)](https://www.meiermovies.com/007-bond-lounge/ "007 Bond Lounge") at Dezerland in Orlando, Florida [Edison & Ford Winter Estates and Museums](http://www.meiermovies.com/edison-ford-winter-estates/) in Fort Myers, Florida [*Field of Dreams* movie site](https://www.meiermovies.com/field-of-dreams-movie-site/ "‘Field of Dreams’ movie site") in Dyersville, Iowa [The Jefferson Hotel from *Psycho*](https://www.meiermovies.com/jefferson-hotel-from-psycho/ "Jefferson Hotel from ‘Psycho’") in Phoenix, Arizona [London Film Museums](http://www.meiermovies.com/sci-fi-and-fantasy-flicks-come-alive-at-the-london-film-museums/) [Mackinac Island, Michigan](http://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/), setting and filming location for *Somewhere in Time* [Margaret Mitchell House & *Gone with the Wind* Museum](http://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/) in Atlanta, Georgia [Marietta *Gone with the Wind* Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/marietta-gone-with-the-wind-museum/ "Marietta ‘Gone with the Wind’ Museum") in Marietta, Georgia [Martha’s Vineyard](http://www.meiermovies.com/jaws-sights-on-marthas-vineyard/), filming location for *Jaws* (Amity Island) [Michigan Theater](https://www.meiermovies.com/michigan-theater-in-ann-arbor/ "Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor") in Ann Arbor, Michigan [Museum of Pop Culture](http://www.meiermovies.com/museum-of-pop-culture/) in Seattle, Washington [Niépce Heliograph](https://www.meiermovies.com/niepce-heliograph/ "Niépce Heliograph"), the world’s oldest photo, from 1827, at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas [Oregon Film Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/oregon-film-museum-the-goonies/ "Oregon Film Museum (‘The Goonies’)") in Astoria, featuring information about and props from *The Goonies* [Oregon State Hospital](https://www.meiermovies.com/oregon-state-hospital-cuckoos-nest/ "Oregon State Hospital (‘Cuckoo’s Nest’)") in Salem, filming location for *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* [Orlando Auto Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-auto-museum/ "Orlando Auto Museum") at Dezerland in Orlando, Florida [Plaza Cinema](http://www.meiermovies.com/plaza-cinema/) in Ottawa, Kansas [Polk Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/polk-theatre/) in Lakeland, Florida [Sarasota Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-photos/ "Sarasota Film Festival Photos") in Sarasota, Florida, in 2017 and 2018 [Scarlett’s Secret *Gone with the Wind* Gifts & Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/scarletts-secret-gwtw-museum/ "Scarlett’s Secret ‘GWTW’ Museum") outside Helen, Georgia [Seaside, Florida](http://www.meiermovies.com/seaside-florida-the-truman-show/), filming location for *The Truman Show* [Seattle Cinerama](http://www.meiermovies.com/seattle-cinerama/) in Seattle, Washington [Spooky Empire’s 2015 May-hem](http://photos.orlandoweekly.com/33-freaky-photos-from-spooky-empire-plus-one-photo-of-tom-skerritt/?slide=1&dsc00558) in Orlando, Florida (from *The Orlando Weekly*) [State Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/state-theatre/ "State Theatre") in Washington, Iowa [Tampa Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/tampa-theatre/) in Tampa, Florida [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-photos/ "Telluride Film Festival Photos") in Telluride, Colorado, in 2019 --- ### [007 Bond Lounge](https://www.meiermovies.com/007-bond-lounge/) **Published:** August 16, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 007 Bond Lounge, often referred to as simply the James Bond Museum, is a permanent exhibit at Dezerland in Orlando, Florida. Billing itself as the world’s largest James Bond collection, the museum is housed in a single giant room filled with movie memorabilia, collectibles, cars and planes. Highlights, according to the museum’s [website](https://orlandoautomuseum.com/themed-rooms/bond-lounge/), include “the golden gun itself, a T-55 Soviet tank featured in the 1995 Bond film *GoldenEye*, a DB-5 microjet and six Aston Martins, including the original 1064 silver Aston Martin from *Goldfinger* and the silver Aston Martin Vanquish (equipped and displayed with machine guns) from *Die Another Day*.” The 007 Bond Lounge also contains a Bond-themed restaurant and bar and can be visited by purchasing a ticket to the adjacent Orlando Auto Museum. All of this can be found inside Dezerland, which calls itself Florida’s largest indoor amusement attraction. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Museum display of James Bond memorabilia with vintage military jeeps and a large Bond sign above posters marked 007.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-entrance-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-entrance-scaled.jpg) [![007 Bond Lounge](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-1.5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-1.5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-1-scaled.jpg) [![Indoor museum exhibit with several classic cars parked along a wall-filled display and vintage wall graphics behind them, including 1960s signage and a suspended retro vehicle model above.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-2-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-2-1-scaled.jpg) [![Exhibit wall with a red classic car, vintage Vegas signs, and movie memorabilia including Sean Connery imagery in a museum setting.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-4-scaled.jpg) [![Museum exhibit featuring vintage cars and a suspended airplane model under bright spotlights and chandeliers, with timeline banners along the wall](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-7-scaled.jpg) [![Yellow vintage taxi on display inside a museum with red walls and black-and-white portrait panels overhead.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/James-Bond-Museum-8-scaled.jpg) [![Dezerland entrance](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Dezerland-entrance-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Dezerland-entrance-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Ames History Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/ames-history-museum/) **Published:** August 15, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Ames History Museum, in Ames, Iowa, is a partially hidden gem full of historical tidbits, artifacts and memorabilia. And, pertinent to this website, it has a room dedicated to the town’s movie history. Other exhibits explore the city’s early history, in addition to transportation, industry and Iowa State University. For more information about the museum, visit [AmesHistory.org](https://www.ameshistory.org/). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Ames-History-Museum-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Backrooms](https://www.meiermovies.com/backrooms/) **Published:** July 10, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Backrooms**, 2026, [3 ¾ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Make *room* for a nightmare ## Kane Parsons serves up ‘creepypasta’ [![Backrooms](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Backrooms.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Backrooms.jpg)Like the Beatles’ Jojo, Chiwetel Ejiofor gets back to the room where he once belonged. (Images are copyright A24.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 10, 2026 What’s your recurring dream? Don’t have one? Sure, you do. We all do. I’ll tell you mine. I’m strolling through my house and discover a room I didn’t know I had. It’s a good feeling, as I realize I can use the room to house some of my stuff. And I have lots of stuff. Or maybe I can turn it into a guest bedroom, or storage space, or a second living room. As a metaphor, the dream is good too. It means I’m unearthing a hitherto unknown talent, or exploring uncharted chapters of my life, or boldly going where I haven’t gone before. That’s not the type of dream furniture salesman Clark is having. In fact, he’s not dreaming at all. He really has found a hidden room or, more precisely, an entire hidden dimension, on the other side of the wall of his store’s basement. But his discovery soon becomes something altogether different, a place where memories morph into nightmarish metaverses and alternate realities rule the day. Clark is the central character in YouTuber-turned-director Kane Parsons’ feature debut, *Backrooms*. Based on Parsons’ 24-part web series of the same name, the psychological sci-fi-drama-mystery-horror (it’s tough to define) is written by William Soodik and features knock-out performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor (as Clark) and Renate Reinsve. Indeed, it’s almost a two-hander, despite effective but brief turns by Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell. And that’s all you’ll get from this reviewer on the plot. I just hope, like me, you didn’t see the web series, as it’s best to go in blind. Even if you haven’t had the aforementioned dreams of mysterious rooms, you’ll likely experience some mind expansion of the surreal, or even absurdist, kind. (Credit production designer Danny Vermette and Alan Derksen for much of that.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Backrooms-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Backrooms-2.jpg)Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve (*Sentimental Value*, *A Different Man*) co-stars in *Backrooms*. The film is original but not that original. It’s inspired not just by Parsons’ own series but by “creepypasta” and the internet’s concept of liminal space. These ideas are touted as the 21st century’s, but they aren’t, as one can see strains of eternal notions in *Backrooms*. For cinematic reference, Christopher Nolan’s *Insterstellar* (2014) comes to mind, along with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s *Everything Everywhere All at Once* (2022), John Frankenheimer’s *Seconds* (1966), Luis Buñuel’s *The Exterminating Angel* (1962), Alain Resnais’s *Last Year at Marienbad (1961)* and the “Little Girl Lost” (1962) episode of *The Twilight Zone*, in which a child mysteriously slips into another realm behind her bedroom wall. But the best comparison is even older. It’s the 1950 short story *The Third Level*, in which author Jack Finney introduces us to an “ordinary guy” named Charley who happens upon an extra platform of Grand Central Station, one that isn’t supposed to exist. On that level, people dress older, the air smells different and the trains are out of the past. For it *is* the past. It’s 1894. After returning to the present, Charley tells the whole strange story to his psychiatrist, Sam, who doesn’t seem to believe him, until he goes searching for the third level himself and, like his patient, finds the impossible – just like in *Backrooms*, in which Clark’s therapist, Mary (Reinsve), also goes looking for the “fifth dimension,” as Rod Serling would say, and finds it. On a personal note, it took me a while to compose this article. So in my spare time, between writing sessions, I went seeking that extra room in my house I keep dreaming of. I finally found it. In fact, I’m now putting the finishing touches on this review from that room. It’s huge. And beige. And seemingly designed by M.C. Escher. I’m happy here. So if you don’t see me for a while, don’t worry. You know where to find me. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26657236/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backrooms_(film)). The film is currently playing in cinemas and will start to stream on July 14. It is rated R.* --- ### [Who is Cameron Meier?](https://www.meiermovies.com/who-is-cameron-meier/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-Meier-FFCC-photo-2017-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-Meier-FFCC-photo-2017-2.jpg)Welcome to MeierMovies, and thanks for indulging me while I wax egotistical. I am a film critic, film historian and entertainment journalist whose reviews and other articles appear on this site and have run regularly in [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/ArticleArchives?keywords=cameron%20meier) and other Euclid Media publications such as *[The Detroit Metro Times](https://www.metrotimes.com/)* and *[The San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/)*. My movie, theatre and art reviews have been featured in numerous other publications as well, including *Sunshine Artist* Magazine (for which I was editor from 2004 to 2010) and *[Jacksonville Folio Weekly](http://www.folioweekly.com)*, and on websites such as OrlandoCityBeat.com, now part of *The Orlando Sentinel*. I am a member of the [Florida Film Critics Circle](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2017/09/17/cameron-meier/) and am Tomato-meter approved on [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/cameron-meier/movies). When not covering film, I am serving as vice president of [Paul Meier Dialect Services](http://www.paulmeier.com), a company devoted to dialect and accent instruction for actors in film, television, theatre and voice-over; as executive editor, copy editor, sound editor and webmaster of the [International Dialects of English Archive](http://www.dialectsarchive.com); and as co-producer of the popular [*In a Manner of Speaking*](https://www.paulmeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking/) podcast. In addition, I have served as a festival juror and judge for such events as the Love Your Shorts Film Festival; the Orlando, Tampa and Richmond 48 Hour Film Projects; Filmapalooza (part of the [48 Hour Film Project](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/)); Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival, the Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF); and the Enzian Theater’s Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. I am currently co-chair of Filmapalooza’s Film Review Panel. And for a brief period in the early 2000s, I was a professional photographer. (I am currently a [raging shutterbug](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-related-photography/ "Movie-Related Photography").) [![Cameron at Paramount Studios](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-at-Paramount-Studios-206x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-at-Paramount-Studios.jpg)Cameron at Paramount Studios in 2015 For as long as I can remember, I’ve been crazy about film, and I have my parents, Paul and Marilyn, to thank first for that. I was also fortunate enough to work for the Walt Disney Company, at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom (as Fantasyland art/show coordinator, with a particular emphasis on the historic carousel) and at the Disney-MGM Studios, where I spent many days on the soundstage floor. That latter experience, right out of high school, helped shape my love of film. Spending time in Los Angeles – especially on the Disney, Universal, [Warner Brothers](http://www.meiermovies.com/warner-brothers-studios/), [Sony](http://www.meiermovies.com/sony-pictures-studios/) and [Paramount](http://www.meiermovies.com/paramount-studios/) lots – has also fueled my passion, as have my enriching experiences at festivals such as Florida, [Sarasota](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-photos/) and [Telluride](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/). (At the latter event, in 2019, I was finally able to meet one of my mentors, Leonard Maltin.) I’m indebted to friends, colleagues and acquaintances who have fueled my love of film. I should specifically acknowledge fellow movie enthusiastic and friend Chester Maple, who was my accomplice during many soundstage and backlot adventures, and Jim DeSantis of Movie Brain Rot, who has introduced me to countless B movies, exploitation flicks and low-budget horrors. Also deserving a hearty thanks are the actors, directors and crew I worked with back in my theatre days. (I don’t perform anymore, but I do still dabble in [theatrical reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/theatre-reviews/).) I have a degree in journalism (news/editorial, with an emphasis in film, theatre and art criticism) from the University of Kansas. (Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!) I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my journalism teachers at both KU and Lawrence High School — including Paul Jess, Ted Frederickson and Cheryl Nelsen — who instilled in me a respect for reputable journalism. And though it feels like a lifetime ago, I’m also grateful for my experiences as a copy editor at Gould Publications, *The Topeka Capital-Journal* and the Pulitzer Prize-winning *Fort Wayne News-Sentinel*. (I still say I’m a better editor than writer.) [![Cameron and Dan Aykroyd 2009](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-and-Dan-Aykroyd-2009-300x198.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-and-Dan-Aykroyd-2009.jpg)Cameron and Dan Aykroyd in 2009 I hope you find this site insightful and the information contained therein useful in discovering films you’d like to watch, or watch again. If it points you in the direction of a film that changes your life or affects you deeply, I have done my job. I welcome constructive comments, suggestions and feedback at . ```   ``` --- ### [The Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/) **Published:** July 19, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Odyssey**, 2026, [4 ½ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Epic cinematic poetry ## Visual triumphs outweigh misplaced modernity [![Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-03414-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-03414-scaled.jpg)Matt Damon stars in *The Odyssey*. (All images are copyright and courtesy of Universal Pictures / Syncopy.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 19, 2026 One of the greatest moments of Homer’s *Odyssey* is the hero’s communion with the spirits of his dead soldiers. If souls really do live on, perhaps Homer himself has just seen writer-director Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of his epic poem. And if he has, he is likely astonished (mostly good, some bad), thankful someone has finally brought a great version to the screen. He only had to wait 2,700 years. Normally a critic worries about spoilers, but you’ve had almost three millennia to catch up, so here goes. Following the events of Homer’s *Iliad* (named for “Ilion,” or Troy), which concerns the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, is headed home. But multiple obstacles stand in his way: trials that have become legend. In fact, they were legend prior to Homer writing them down. (Homer himself might be part legend, and the authorship of the epic poems is not conclusive.) Odysseus and/or his men outwit the Cyclops, are turned into pigs (and back again) by the sorcerer Circe, are ravaged by the giant Laestrygonians, barely escape the sea monster Scylla and safely pass the Sirens and their tempting but deadly song by plugging their ears with wax. But Poseidon and the sea he rules prove more difficult, as does the nymph Calypso, who cares for Odysseus so seductively that our hero can’t bring himself to leave for years. It’s only when he recovers his wits and memory that he can complete his journey home. [![Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-07772CC_MSG-scaled.jpg)Most of the story is told in flashback while Odysseus is with Calypso. Included in the flashbacks is the ultimate battle in which the Greeks trick their enemies by hiding inside a “gift”: the famous Trojan Horse, thereby gaining access to the walled city and ravaging its people – all while breaking Zeus’s moral code, a crime that will haunt Odysseus and his entire world. (Homer’s *Odyssey* only briefly mentions the horse, and it’s not in *The Iliad* at all. The most detailed account of the horse actually appears in *The Aeneid*, by Virgil, around 20 BCE.) Interestingly, Nolan chooses to not show the gods. This choice grounds the film in realism, despite the fantastical, magical elements. The one exception is Athena, with whom Odysseus converses several times. But when we finally learn what form Athena has taken, it’s heartbreaking – and becomes the film’s strongest anti-war plea. To create his visual extravaganza, Nolan employs arguably the best editing, cinematography, sound and special effects of the year. The latter are particularly impressive because we’ve come to expect CGI for these types of wonders over the last three decades. Instead, Nolan opts for practical, going so far as to build a giant animatronic puppet of the Cyclops and film it in a cave in Greece, with a real herd of sheep. Even the transformation of men into sheep is traditional, sans computers. Expect Oscar nominations for all the aforementioned categories but especially visual effects. [![Crowd of people hauling on ropes to drag a beached whale ashore along a sunny shoreline.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-02725_MSGR-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-02725_MSGR-scaled.jpg)It doesn’t deserve one for casting, however, as that is where the movie stumbles. Embracing a modern approach, Nolan eschews traditional Greek epic storytelling and features actors of all ethnicities, all with modern American accents. Acting is acting, and performers should play whatever character they want. But one hopes for some common sense and respect for the source material, not to mention Greek history and culture. So when the film begins with a bard (African-American Travis Scott) “rapping” the story of the Trojan War, count me out. Nolan apparently cast Scott to compare Greek oral tradition with today’s rap. But wouldn’t a nod to ancient Greece have been more suitable? Indeed, I would have advised Nolan to cast a Greek actor (are there any in this entire film?) speaking a few lines in Ancient Greek, subtitled, then gently transitioning to English for the rest of the picture. That decision would have immediately transported us back to 1200 BCE, when the story is set. Admittedly, we don’t know exactly what Ancient Greek sounded like then, but we can take an educated guess – and the result would have been fascinating. (It would have made more palatable the use of modern language, including the script’s liberal uses of the casual “dad” and “OK,” plus apparent inaccuracies in costume. Nolan seems to have occasionally forgotten that a story like this must be relatable but also eternal.) Even more ridiculous is the casting of Helen of Troy. Though Lupita Nyong’o is a fine actor and strikingly beautiful, the character has traditionally been depicted as fair-skinned, so fair as to contrast heavily with her fellow, more olive-toned citizens. Homer called her “white-armed,” though it’s unclear whether he was referring to paleness of skin or social status. Of course, Helen was mythical, the daughter of Zeus, so perhaps this entire conversation is crazy. But imagine if a traditionally Black character, described as the most beautiful woman in the world, were played by a White actor. The cries of bigotry would be almost as deafening as the Sirens’ song. [![Two people in beige robes stand together on a desolate shoreline with shallow water and distant rocks, looking toward the camera with serious expressions.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-54129_MSG-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-54129_MSG-scaled.jpg)Matt Damon is Odysseus, and Zendaya plays Athena. But perhaps the most laugh-out-loud moment comes when Odysseus’s troops arrive on an island, looking for provisions, only to encounter villagers who confuse them with the feared “sea people.” “We’re Greeks, from Ithaca,” a soldier comforts them. But the actor speaking the line is a person of color not even remotely resembling a Greek. (Yes, this part of the world was somewhat multi-racial, even 3,000 years ago, much more so than Hollywood showed us in their 20th-century films. But some of these choices simply don’t pass the smell test.) Often labeled “colorblind casting,” this approach can work with modern storytelling. And its goal of equality of opportunity is noble. But with period pieces such as *The Odyssey*, it’s downright ridiculous and borderline racist. It’s Greek to me. (Sadly, these decisions are often financial ones, as film funding and award eligibility are sometimes tied to diversity.) Another casting choice making news is that of Elliot Page, a transgender man formerly known as Ellen Page, as Sinon, a Greek soldier entrusted with offering the Trojan Horse to the people of Troy. Page, a capable performer, is a slightly odd pick for a warrior considering the actor’s slight build. Adding more strangeness is the fact that Sinon is featured so prominently despite not being a character in either *The Iliad* or *The Odyssey.* Instead, he is introduced in *The Aeneid*, by Virgil. Still, the character adds dramatic appeal, and Page does a fine job. If I hadn’t known about Page and hadn’t researched the character, I would have simply enjoyed the performance. So the culture-war complaints in this regard are unnecessarily distracting. Try to disregard the noise. By the way, Nolan’s script takes other liberties with the original epic poem, which presumably took liberties with the events themselves, which were 500 years old by the time Homer came along. Most of the events are actually fictional, though most historians agree Troy existed (in what is today Turkey) and there really was a Trojan War. Most of Nolan’s liberties are forgivable because his screenplay, like Homer’s poem, stays true to the spirit of the story. And most audience members won’t notice anyway, as, sadly, we’re more familiar with Homer Simpson. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-19534-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-19534-scaled.jpg)Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, and Tom Holland is Telemachus. Another elephant in the temple is the film’s lack of joy and whimsy. Unlike previous sword-and-sandal epics, Nolan’s movie chooses drama over fantasy and horror over playfulness. In doing so, he has created the best horror film of the year and maybe the best drama. But anyone expecting this R-rated flick to show the lightheartedness of Ray Harryhausen will be disappointed. Speaking of that, one cinephile friend of mine who hasn’t yet seen the film predicts it will become a Father’s Day tradition. But once he views the movie, I imagine he’ll agree with me that the only way that would happen is if the screening involved a father-son suicide pact. Before this article becomes the most negative 4 ½-star review ever, let me praise Matt Damon (Odysseus) and Anne Hathaway (his wife, Penelope), who are both deserving of Oscar nominations, for lead and supporting, respectively. This is among the finest work they have ever done, and I defy you to not be moved almost to tears as Damon’s Odysseus is mentally ravaged by the song of the Sirens. Samantha Morton is wonderfully creepy as the witch Circe while Tom Holland (as Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope) and John Leguizamo (as Odysseus’s most faithful servant) both do what is required, and then some. Their performances grow on you slowly over the nearly three-hour run time, and I enjoyed them even more the second time, as I did Charlize Theron as Calypso, though she has little to do. [![Dark, amber-lit scene of a man in heavy medieval armor looking down pensively in a dim hall.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-34089_MSG-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-34089_MSG-scaled.jpg)Robert Pattinson portrays Antinous. However, I struggled somewhat with Robert Pattinson as Penelope’s chief suitor and Odysseus’s primary enemy, Antinous. As the film’s villain, he is sleaze personified, but the turn is heavy-handed, lacking the stature of Damon’s. And without balance between performances, the portions of the film set in Ithaca lack the power of the parts that focus on Odysseus’s journey home. They simply become less interesting. Anthony Quinn played Antinous in the 1954 Italian version, *Ulysses* (the Roman name for Odysseus), and though the performance was not one of Quinn’s best, the Mexican-American actor could pass for Greek and brought a gravitas slightly missing with Pattinson. Kirk Douglas played the title role in that film and had some memorable moments, as did the movie itself, particularly the Cyclops scene, which featured a real actor and some nifty forced perspective, plus an emotional meeting between Ulysses and the ghosts of his dead soldiers. Nolan’s version of that scene is more visually striking – as is his entire movie – but director Mario Camerini’s version includes the heartbreaking admission from the ghosts that they didn’t necessarily die in pain but instead are in constant pain now, in the underworld, thanks to Ulysses’ mistakes. The fatal flaw of that version was the ridiculous European tradition of having actors among the international cast speak their own language on set. In post, the dialogue was dubbed into the language of whatever country the film was playing. So American audiences heard the real Douglas and Quinn but English-language dubbing for almost everyone else. Conversely, Italian audiences heard most of the original voices but Italian substitutes for Douglas and Quinn. No one saw a good version, but it was easier to market. Other versions of the story exist on film, primarily a 1968 European television miniseries and a few mediocre stabs at the story, pun intended. There are other interpretations, of course, such as *O Brother, Where Art Though?* (Being an animal lover, I might prefer a gopher village to a castle.) But Nolan’s is the greatest by far. ## IMAX or 70mm? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-K020-18_CROP-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CT-K020-18_CROP-scaled.jpg)This image is formatted in the wider aspect ratio of 70mm, 35mm and digital projections. It might seem as if you get more picture, but the native IMAX image contains more visual information at the top and the bottom. All other images on this page are IMAX images in the original 1.43:1 ratio. Despite the criticisms, *The Odyssey* is a grand spectacle and one of the two best films of 2026 so far, along with Steven Spielberg’s *Disclosure Day*. (*The Odyssey* is a greater technical achievement, but my heart still rests with Spielberg. Nolan certainly wins the battle over animals, though. Real always beats bad CGI.) The real question then is HOW to see *The Odyssey*. Cinephiles are flocking to 70mm, and, when projected properly, that might be the best format. The lighting and color are wonderful, especially the blues of the sea, which are the prettiest I’ve seen since a 70mm screening of Nolan’s *Dunkirk*. However, the two 70mm screenings I attended were both technically flawed, the first containing odd pulsating (perhaps a bulb issue) and the second going badly out of focus because of a problem with the pressure plate in the film gate. This reminds us of the sublime and organic, but also troublesome, nature of traditional film. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSC04289-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSC04289-scaled.jpg)The Enzian Theater, one of Florida’s leading arthouse cinemas, is screening the film on its new 70mm projector. Despite the beauty of 70mm, that format features a 2.20:1 aspect ratio. *The Odyssey* was shot with 65mm IMAX cameras and is the first feature-length, narrative-fiction movie to use that format for its entirety. But that format has a ratio of 1.43:1, meaning non-IMAX 70mm prints chop the top and bottom off the image to get its wider ratio. Keeping that in mind when watching the 70mm screenings, I became aware that I was missing important visual information. The frame needed more space to breathe. Therefore, I would recommend IMAX over 70mm. You might sacrifice some color, but you’ll get the entire image. Of course, IMAX 70mm is the perfect format, but only about 25 cinemas in the United States project it. At the very least, avoid standard digital projection, which has a ratio of 2.39:1, sacrificing the most quality and image. Regardless of your choice, you’re in for a true event. Thanks to eye-popping imagery and impactful storytelling, Nolan and his *Odyssey* have proved Thomas Wolfe wrong: You *can* go Home(r) again. Further, the film shows that the themes of humankind haven’t changed much in 3,000 years. Today, as it was then, our world is about love, family, loyalty, the desire for home — and war, which unceasingly makes a mockery of everything else. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *The film is currently in cinemas. For more information, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33764258/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_6_nm_1_in_0_q_the%20odyssey) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_(2026_film)). And if you liked this review, please follow MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/), [Twitter](https://x.com/MeierMovies), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/) and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq301WzU8zJ1RFtXQMhtzHQ).* *Correction: The original version of this story implied that the Trojan Horse first appeared in Homer’s* Iliad*. It did not. It first appeared in* The Odyssey. *For a ranking of all Nolan’s films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/07/23/where-does-the-odyssey-rank/ "Where does ‘The Odyssey’ rank?").* --- ### [O](https://www.meiermovies.com/o/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with O:** [Ode to Joy](http://www.meiermovies.com/ode-to-joy/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) [The Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/ "The Odyssey") (2026; 4 ½ stars) [Official Secrets](http://www.meiermovies.com/official-secrets/) (2019; 3 ½ stars) [Old](https://www.meiermovies.com/old/) (2021; 1 ½ stars) [The Old Man & the Gun](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-old-man-the-gun/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) [On the Basis of Sex](http://www.meiermovies.com/on-the-basis-of-sex/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) Once Upon a Crime: The Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy (2015; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood](http://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) (2019; 3 stars) 1000 Rupee Note FL (2014; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [2015 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [One Life](https://www.meiermovies.com/one-life/ "One Life") (2023; 3 ½ stars) One Week and a Day FL (2016; 3 stars), part of the [Jewish Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [The Only Living Boy in New York](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-only-living-boy-in-new-york/) (2017; 1 ¾ stars) [Only Lovers Left Alive](http://www.meiermovies.com/only-lovers-left-alive/) (2013; 2 ¼ stars) [Onward](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/ "Short takes on three recent films") (2020; 2 ¼ stars) [Oppenheimer](https://www.meiermovies.com/oppenheimer/ "Oppenheimer") \* (2023; 3 stars) [Osmosis Jones](https://www.meiermovies.com/osmosis-jones/) (2001; 2 ¾ stars) The Other Widow FL (2023; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [Our Little Sister](http://www.meiermovies.com/our-little-sister/) FL (2015; 3 stars) [Oz the Great and Powerful](https://www.meiermovies.com/oz-the-great-and-powerful/) (2013; 1 ¾ stars) --- ### [Movie Reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Cameron with camera 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-with-camera-2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-with-camera-2.jpg)Photo by Eric Sutton / Florida Film Festival This page indexes my reviews of feature films, both theatrical and TV/internet. (For reviews of short films, see the links embedded in my lists of short films, which are indexed at the bottom of my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/).) Articles are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be shared without permission. All content is written by Cameron Meier. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). In addition to the movies listed on the pages below, check out the [Posts (What’s New)](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which is a running blog of the latest reviews and news. It also contains casual, brief musings, as opposed to full, formal reviews. For a comprehensive list of everything I have seen recently, go to [New Views](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/ "New Views"). (And if you’re looking for advice on new releases but you don’t see those films on the pages indexed below, visit my [Yearly](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf) list, which rates and ranks many more movies than are listed here.) ### Recent Releases [Backrooms](https://www.meiermovies.com/backrooms/ "Backrooms") (2026; 3 ¾ stars) [Disclosure Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/disclosure-day/ "Disclosure Day") (2026; 4 ½ stars) [The feature films of the 2026 Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "FFF 2026 mini-reviews") [The short films of the 2026 Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") [The Odyssey](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-odyssey/ "The Odyssey") (2026; 4 ½ stars) [Project Hail Mary](https://www.meiermovies.com/project-hail-mary/ "Project Hail Mary") (2026; 3 ½ stars) [Toy Story 5](https://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-5/ "Toy Story 5") (2026; 4 stars) ### All Feature Films in Alphabetical Order Most films with French, Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese as their principal language are alphabetized by their original, non-English title. Movies with English titles beginning with “A,” “An” or “The” are alphabetized under the letter that begins the title’s second word. To find the movie you’re looking for, you might also check my [A-Z list](http://www.meiermovies.com/A-Z.pdf), which contains links to my movie reviews. And if I haven’t reviewed a film, you’ll still be able to see the assigned star rating on that list. [**A**](http://www.meiermovies.com/a/) **[B](http://www.meiermovies.com/b/)** **[C](http://www.meiermovies.com/c/)** **[D](http://www.meiermovies.com/d/)** **[E](http://www.meiermovies.com/e/)** **[F](http://www.meiermovies.com/f/)** **[G](http://www.meiermovies.com/g/)** **[H](http://www.meiermovies.com/h/)** **[I](http://www.meiermovies.com/i/)** **[J](http://www.meiermovies.com/j/)** **[K](http://www.meiermovies.com/k/)** **[L](http://www.meiermovies.com/l/)** **[M](http://www.meiermovies.com/m/)** **[N](http://www.meiermovies.com/n/)** **[O](http://www.meiermovies.com/o/)** **[P](http://www.meiermovies.com/p/)** [**Q**](https://www.meiermovies.com/q/ "Q") **[R](http://www.meiermovies.com/r/)** [**S**](http://www.meiermovies.com/s/) **[T](http://www.meiermovies.com/t/)** **[U](http://www.meiermovies.com/u/)** **[V](http://www.meiermovies.com/v/)** **[W](http://www.meiermovies.com/w/)** **[Y](http://www.meiermovies.com/y/)** **[Z](http://www.meiermovies.com/z/)** ### Music Films Reviews of music films are archived above, but if you want to go straight to them, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/music-reviews/). ### Food Films Reviews of food films are also archived above, but if you are too hungry to search through the alphabetical pages and need to indulge immediately, [bite this](https://www.meiermovies.com/food-films/ "Food Films"). --- ### [Joker](https://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) **Published:** October 3, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Joker**, 2019, 4 ½ stars # *Joker* is seriously good ## Origin story exposes brutality in all of us [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joker.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joker.jpeg)Image copyright Warner Brothers Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/joker-is-seriously-good/Content?oid=26105675), October 3, 2019 The Joker has been around for almost 80 years, but before Todd Phillips’ new film reimagined the character, I felt like I never really knew him. That’s the top takeaway from a movie that is destined to become a defining moment of the comic-book genre. And that’s no joke. *Joker*, which Phillips (*Road Trip* and the *Hangover* movies) directed and co-wrote with Scott Silver, is an origin story. Set in the late ‘70s or early ‘80s in New York City – um, I mean Gotham – this is the tale of Arthur Fleck, a for-hire clown who, after getting fired, turns to standup comedy despite being neither funny nor personable. But he can sure make a crowd laugh. Unfortunately, that laughter is more suited to an asylum than a comedy club. But Arthur persists, caring for his mother while suppressing his dangerously psychotic tendencies. For comfort, he tries to flirt with his next-door neighbor and dreams of hitting it big on *Live with Murray Franklin*, Gotham’s answer to *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson*. And just like millions of people outside the movies, he stays prescription-drugged to his crazy eyeballs. But when Gotham cuts the social-welfare programs that keep him medicated, he must fend for himself. Sound familiar? As Arthur (and the title character), Joaquin Phoenix channels both mania and depression. No offense to Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger, but Phoenix’s Joker is more raw, more real, less of a joke. And given the actor’s penchant for odd behavior – remember that David Letterman weirdness back in 2009? – his brand of crazy gets under your skin and stays there. Yet somehow his performance also contains deep sadness and relatability. We’ve all got a little Joker in us, it seems. *Joker* exists, of course, in the world of DC Comics’ *Batman* with which we’re all familiar. But this is a new story with twists and thematic variations all its own, in addition to a wonderfully eclectic, partially anachronistic soundtrack. Nevertheless, just as the original Joker character was visually inspired by Paul Leni’s 1928 film, *The Man Who Laughs*, the new *Joker* draws its dark inspiration from all Batman-themed films and comics that precede it, especially Alan Moore’s 1988 graphic novel, *Batman: The Killing Joke*, which imagined the Joker as a comedian. But films and directors from other genres are woven into Phillips’ reinterpretation too. Charlie Chaplin and Martin Scorsese have a distinct presence, especially the latter’s *Taxi Driver* and *The King of Comedy*. (It’s no coincidence that Robert De Niro plays Arthur’s hero, Murray Franklin.) Look also for influences from M. Night Shyamalan’s *Unbreakable*, which, like *Joker*, is a non-traditional comic-book film. Indeed, if you changed just a few details, both films would exit the comic-book genre and become either dramas or psychological thrillers. But regardless of category, both movies possess uncommon intensity and power, and belong among the top five comic-book films of all time. With power comes responsibility, though, and all artists, Phillips included, must take ownership of their creation. The uncomfortable truth is that some might think *Joker* glorifies violence or, even worse, portrays it as an understandable option for the mentally ill and disenfranchised. The film’s content becomes even more controversial when viewed in the light of the 2012 massacre in Aurora, Illinois, when a deranged gunman shot to death 12 audience members of Christopher Nolan’s *The Dark Knight Rises*. Phillips and Nolan are just two of many directors who have become embroiled in this debate. Filmmakers throughout history, especially during the Production Code collapse of the late ‘60s and ‘70s, have faced scrutiny over their movie’s violent content. Stanley Kubrick even pulled *A Clockwork Orange* from British distribution after a series of copycat crimes. *Joker* is no *Orange*, but the fact that both are part of the same conversation proves the quality of Phillips’ film. Kubrick wasn’t to blame for the real-world “ultra-violence,” and neither would Phillips if – God and much-needed gun laws forbid – a sick individual were equally inspired by his film. But we also must come to terms with our often unhealthy fascination with movie violence and our abandonment of those in need of mental and emotional support. “Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” Arthur ponders. Perhaps it is, but that’s not just Phillips’ job to solve. It’s ours. Until then, let us embrace the director’s freedom of expression and powerful storytelling while doing our best to keep this type of brutality in the only place it belongs: on the screen. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ## Epilogue: My reaction to the reaction I’m surprised and disappointed with some of my fellow critics’ response to *Joker*. Much of their analysis seems to be limited to “I didn’t like it” or “It’s unpleasant” or “It doesn’t send the proper social and cultural message.” Well, I somewhat agree with all three statements. But those are more knee-jerk reactions than a critique of a piece of art. Powerful and well-executed art is often unpleasant, and *Joker* is an example of that. If you have problems with the craft of the film itself, that’s one thing. But to say “I hate it” is actually reaffirming its power. --- ### [The Only Living Boy in New York](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-only-living-boy-in-new-york/) **Published:** August 23, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Only Living Boy in New York**, 2017, 1 ¾ stars # *Living Boy* dead upon arrival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/only-living-boy-in-new-york-dead-upon-arrival-6216738/) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/the-only-living-boy-in-new-york-is-dead-on-arrival-5086730/), August 23, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Only-Living-Boy-in-NY.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Only-Living-Boy-in-NY.jpg)Image copyright Big Indie Pictures / Amazon Studios Packed almost nauseatingly full with interesting dramatic situations such as a father-son rivalry, a marital affair, generational angst and coming-of-age disillusionment, *The Only Living Boy in New York* seems at first glance like a winner, and a sexy one at that. But a closer look reveals misshapen pieces and performances pasted haphazardly into a jigsaw puzzle that, upon completion, was supposed to resemble *The Graduate* but instead accomplishes little more than a college dropout. Speaking of college, that’s where Thomas Webb (Callum Turner) is fresh from. But just as with Benjamin Braddock, matriculation mangled maturity, and Tom is now emotionally at sea – but with a rich father to supply the life vest and a beautiful woman to swim with. (Ah, First World problems and Big Apple ambitions.) Still, he feels underappreciated by his dad (Pierce Brosnan), troubled by his bi-polar mother (Cynthia Nixon) and rejected by his lady companion (Kiersey Clemons), who views him as just a friend. So when Tom discovers that his father is having an affair with a younger woman (Kate Beckinsale), his life is predictably upended. “The farthest distance in the world is between how it is and how you thought it was going to be,” Tom’s mom tells him as he struggles to comprehend the life laid before him, a life where his married father gets the gorgeous girl but he can’t. Tom’s only real source of amusement and meaningful conversation – and the only one who encourages his writing – is his new neighbor in apartment 2-B (or not to be). Described as an “unmade bed of a man,” the character (the always interesting Jeff Bridges) is the movie’s most intriguing element and the focus of a juicy yet wholly unbelievable twist ending. Revealing that conclusion here would be as uncouth as Tom’s proclamation at his parents’ dinner party (which features a cameo by everyone’s favorite dinner guest, Wallace Shawn) that New York has turned vapid, with its SoulCycle stores “the only soul the city has left.” Sadly, that’s partially true, but it’s also true that the characters engaged in this urban analysis are somewhat soulless. They are motivationally challenged, contrived creations sprung from the pages of Allan Loeb’s derivative screenplay and given little chance of life by uninspired editing, over-scoring and tonally challenged direction by Marc Webb (*500 Days of Summer*, *The Amazing Spider-Man*). They are Woody Allen wannabes. Despite these problems, the film has poetic moments and would have flirted with competence if not for the lead actor. As Thomas, Turner grins, squints, mumbles, vocal-fries and sleepwalks through a performance that would make James Franco fawn. This living boy is bereft of life and, by contagion, robs the film of passion and relatability. *The Only Living Boy in New York* was partly inspired by the 1970 Simon and Garfunkel song, which encourages one of its characters (also named Tom) to let his “honesty shine.” Yes, that musical masterpiece is featured in the film, but by the time it chimes, the movie has squandered its own honesty for a pocketful of mumbles. Such are promises. *© 2017 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Frogtown](https://www.meiermovies.com/frogtown/) **Published:** April 21, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Frogtown**, 2026, 3 ½ stars # Amphibious ## Doc if by land, *Frog* if by sea [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Frogtown.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Frogtown.jpg)Image is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 22, 2026 The dramatic mockumentary is one of the rarest film genres, so rare that many people don’t consider it a true mockumentary. Even rarer, though, is the dramatic mockumentary / documentary. It is the cinematic unicorn. If it walks like a unicorn and talks like a unicorn, however, it might actually be a frog. That’s the takeaway from *Frogtown*, the biggest brainteaser of the recent Florida Film Festival, where it received its world premiere and won the audience award for best Florida feature. Set and shot in the Sunshine State, writer-director Costa Karalis’s film is happy as both doc and narrative fiction, and it blends the two genres in a way I’ve never seen before. Just as frogs are equally comfortable on land and in water, *Frogtown* seems to enjoy living in two worlds. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Frogtown-QA-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Frogtown-QA-scaled.jpg)From left, producer Evan Barber, cinematographer Chris Violette and director Costa Karalis participate in a Q&A session following the world premiere of *Frogtown* on April 18 at the Florida Film Festival. This is the story of the people of Marianna, a small town in the Panhandle. Over 86 odd, slow-paced minutes, Karalis invites us into this quirky community and into the strange minutia of these citizens’ lives. If the movie had been a straight documentary, it would have grown tedious, though still enjoyable thanks to its Errol Morris vibe. And if it had been total narrative fiction, it would have sunk under its own minimalism. But Karalis has found the sweet spot, fashioning a film that is part Orson Welles’ *F for Fake* and part *Nomadland*, yet all its own. At the heart of *Frogtown* is one woman’s quest to prove the existence of a giant, mythical amphibian whom she claims to have seen when she was a child. To coax the frog into returning and to give the townspeople something to celebrate, she plans a parade. The intrigue over whether she can pull off this “first annual” event, and whether she is crazy, is the film’s MacGuffin. The movie’s real raison d’être is to test whether you can believe your own eyes and ears, while separating fact from fiction, and actor from non-actor. It’s a stylistic, funny, absurd, strangely touching and intellectually challenging exercise from Karalis. It certainly challenged the premiere audience at the Florida Film Festival. In the Q&A session, a guy asked Karalis how he intimately captured one particularly awkward conversation. But the moment the audience member was referring to was fictional, featuring actors. And the woman sitting next to me cheered and verbally rooted for the citizens of Marianna on multiple occasions, as if everything were real. (But then she fell asleep and started snoring, so perhaps she’s not the best example.) Having lived the last 30 years of my life in Florida, I’m hopping mad I didn’t come up with this idea myself. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *Correction: The original photo caption mistakenly identified producer Evan Barber as the person in the middle. That person is cinematographer Chris Violette; Evan Barber is on the left.* --- ### [B](https://www.meiermovies.com/b/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with B:** The Babushkas of Chernobyl FL (2015; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Baby Driver](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/20/are-they-worth-the-hype/) (2017; 1 ½ stars) [Backrooms](https://www.meiermovies.com/backrooms/ "Backrooms") (2026; 3 ¾ stars) [Babylon](https://www.meiermovies.com/babylon/ "Babylon") (2022; 2 stars) Back to Burgundy FL (2017; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) Bad Black FL (2017; 0 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) Bad Parents, part of the [Orlando Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") (2012; ¾ stars) [The Ballad of Buster Scruggs](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [The Banshees of Inisherin](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-banshees-of-inisherin/ "The Banshees of Inisherin") (2022; 4 ¾ stars) [Bardo, Falsa Crónica de unas Cuantas Verdades (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)](https://www.meiermovies.com/bardo/ "Bardo") FL (2022, 4 ¼ stars) Basquiat, part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") (1996; 3 ¼ stars) [The Battle of the Sexes](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/mixed-doubles/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) [The Beach House](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-beach-house/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 1 ½ stars) [The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-eight-days-a-week-the-touring-years/) (2016; 3 ¼ stars) [Beatriz at Dinner](http://www.meiermovies.com/beatriz-at-dinner/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) [Beau Is Afraid](https://www.meiermovies.com/beau-is-afraid/ "Beau Is Afraid") (2023; 3 ¼ stars) [Beautiful Boy](http://www.meiermovies.com/beautiful-boy/) (2018; 2 ¼ stars) [A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/) (2019; 4 ¼ stars) [Beauty and the Beast (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/beauty-and-the-beast/) (2017; 4 stars) [Beetlejuice Beetlejuice](https://www.meiermovies.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice/ "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice") (2024; 3 stars) Before I Disappear (2014; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [Ben is Back](http://www.meiermovies.com/ben-is-back/) (2018; 4 stars) [The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel) (2012; 2 ¼ stars) [La Bête (The Beast)](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-bete-the-beast/ "La Bête (The Beast)") FL (2023; 4 stars) Beyond All Boundaries (2013; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [2014 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [A Big Bold Beautiful Journey](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-big-bold-beautiful-journey/ "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey") (2025; 3 ¾ stars) [Big Eyes](http://www.meiermovies.com/big-eyes/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) [Big in Bollywood](http://www.meiermovies.com/big-in-bollywood) (2011; 1 ¾ stars) Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton (2013; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") Big Sonia (2017; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Jewish Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [The Biggest Little Farm](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-biggest-little-farm/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) [Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2-D, 24fps version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/12/01/billy-lynns-half-ass-walk/) (2016; 1 star) [Birdemic 3 – Sea Eagle](https://www.meiermovies.com/birdemic-3-sea-eagle/ "Birdemic 3 – Sea Eagle") (2022; 0 stars) [Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)](http://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) \* (2014; 4 ¾ stars) [The Birth of a Nation](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-birth-of-a-nation/) (2016; 3 ¾ stars) [Bitter Harvest](http://www.meiermovies.com/bitter-harvest/) (2017; 1 ¼ stars) [Black Mass](http://www.meiermovies.com/black-mass/) (2015; 3 ½ stars) [Blackkklansman](http://www.meiermovies.com/blackkklansman/) (2018; 1 ¾ stars) [Black Sea](http://www.meiermovies.com/black-sea/) (2015; 2 ¾ stars) [Blade Runner 2049 (2-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/blade-runner-2049/) (2017; 4 ¼ stars) [Blue Moon](https://www.meiermovies.com/blue-moon/ "Blue Moon") (2025; 3 ¾ stars) Body (2015; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Bohemian Rhapsody](http://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/) (2018; 3 stars) [Bombshell](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) (2019; 3 ¼ stars) [Bonnie and Clyde](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/04/11/floridas-enzian-theater-to-screen-bonnie-and-clyde/) (1967; 5 stars) [Borat Subsequent Moviefilm](http://www.meiermovies.com/borat-subsequent-moviefilm/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 3 ½ stars) Borg McEnroe (2017; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) Born Into the Gig (2020; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [Boy Erased](http://www.meiermovies.com/boy-erased/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) [Boyhood](http://www.meiermovies.com/boyhood/) (2014; 4 stars) [Boys State](http://www.meiermovies.com/boys-state/ "Boys State") (2020; 4 stars) Brahmin Bulls (2013; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2014 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [Breaking Bread](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) FL (2020; 1 ½ stars) [Brian Banks](http://www.meiermovies.com/brian-banks/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) [Brigsby Bear](http://www.meiermovies.com/brigsby-bear/) (2017; 4 stars) [The Brutalist](https://www.meiermovies.com/what-2024-cinema-taught-me/) mAI (2024; 4 ½ stars) --- ### [A](https://www.meiermovies.com/a/) **Published:** December 4, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with A:** [About Time](http://www.meiermovies.com/about-time/) (2013; 1 ¾ stars) [Abu, Son of Adam](http://www.meiermovies.com/abu-son-of-adam/ "Abu, Son of Adam") FL (2011; 3 ¼ stars) Across the Sea FL (2015; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Ad Astra](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/) (2019; 4 ½ stars) Adam FL (2019; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) Adieu, Monsieur Haffmann (Farewell, Mr. Haffmann) FL (2021; 4 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) [The Aeronauts](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-aeronauts/) (2019; 3 ¼ stars) After Circus (2015; 2 stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [After So Many Days](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 1 star) After Winter, Spring FL (2012; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") Aftermath FL (2012; 4 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Against All Odds](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/07/06/bad-movie-great-song/ "Bad movie, great song") (1984; 2 stars) Aida’s Secrets (2016; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) [Aladdin](http://www.meiermovies.com/aladdin/) (2019; 2 stars) [Ali & Ava](https://www.meiermovies.com/ali-ava/ "Ali & Ava") (2021; 2 ¼ stars) [Alice Through the Looking Glass](http://www.meiermovies.com/alice-through-the-looking-glass/) (2016; 2 stars) [Alita: Battle Angel (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/alita-battle-angel/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) All about the Levkoviches FL (2024; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2024 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [All Is Lost](http://www.meiermovies.com/all-is-lost/) (2013; 3 ½ stars) [Los Amantes Pasajeros (I’m So Excited)](http://www.meiermovies.com/im-so-excited/) FL (2013; 2 stars) [American Animals](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) American Hasi (2019; 1 star), part of the [South Asian Film Festival 2019 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [American Hustle](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-hustle/) (2013; 3 stars) [American Sniper](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/24/american-sniper-vs-whiplash/) (2014; 3 ½ stars) Amigo FL (2019; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) Among the Believers FL (2015; 4 ½ stars), part of the [2015 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [Amour](http://www.meiermovies.com/amour/ "Amour") FL (2012; 3 stars) [Anemone](https://www.meiermovies.com/anemone/ "Anemone") (2025; 2 ¾ stars) [Anna Karenina](http://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/) (2012; 5 stars) [Annihilation](http://www.meiermovies.com/annihilation/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [Anomalisa](http://www.meiermovies.com/anomalisa/) (2015; 4 stars) The Archer (2017; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) Art of the Prank (2015; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) As Good as It Gets (1997; 4 ¾ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") [Ash Is Purest White](http://www.meiermovies.com/ash-is-purest-white/) FL (2018; 1 ½ stars) Asia FL (2020; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) Aspie Seeks Love (2015; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [The Assistant](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-assistant/) (2020; 2 stars) [At Any Price](http://www.meiermovies.com/at-any-price) (2012; 2 ¾ stars) [Atonement](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/ "Best of the century") (2007; 5 stars) The Attack FL (2012; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers (2014; 3 stars), part of the [2014 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [August: Osage County](http://www.meiermovies.com/august-osage-county/) (2013; 4 stars) Aulcie (2020; 3 stars), part of the [2020 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) [Austenland](http://www.meiermovies.com/austenland/) (2013; 1 ½ stars) [Avatar: Fire and Ash (3–D HFR version)](https://www.meiermovies.com/avatar-fire-and-ash/ "Avatar: Fire and Ash") (2025; 2 stars) [Avatar: The Way of Water (3–D HFR version)](https://www.meiermovies.com/avatar-the-way-of-water/ "Avatar: The Way of Water") (2022; 2 ¾ stars) [Avengers: Age of Ultron (2–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/05/11/ultron-ultrer-ultrest/) (2015; 3 ¼ stars) [Avengers: Endgame](http://www.meiermovies.com/avengers-analyzed/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars): financial analysis [Avengers: Infinity War (2–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/06/14/leo-tolstoy-meets-cecil-b-demille/) (2018; 2 ¾ stars) --- ### [The Great American State Fair](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-american-state-fair/) **Published:** June 28, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** By Cameron Meier Are you going to American Fair? Farcically staged and politically entwined. Remember me to Liberty who lived there; She was once a true love of mine. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### ['The Man of Schlemiel'](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-man-of-schlemiel/) **Published:** May 27, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # **The Man of Steel Schlemiel** By Cameron Meier Faster than a speeding bigot, More power-hungry than a loco fascist, Able to leap to tall conclusions in a single bound. Look! Up in the White House! It’s a turd, it’s a bane. It’s Stupidman! *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Miscellany](https://www.meiermovies.com/miscellany/) **Published:** May 27, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1.jpg)Here you will find links to miscellaneous articles unrelated to other content on this website. Subjects include politics, sports and poetry. [The Flowers of Urbay Decay](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-flowers-of-urban-decay/ "The Flowers of Urban Decay") [The Great American State Fair](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-american-state-fair/ "The Great American State Fair") [Lessons for Musk?](https://www.meiermovies.com/lessons-for-musk/ "Lessons for Musk?") [The Man of Steel Schlemiel](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-man-of-schlemiel/ "‘The Man of Schlemiel’") [Morning in America: the Pit and the Pendulum](https://www.meiermovies.com/morning-in-america/ "Morning in America?") --- ### [Carolina Caroline](https://www.meiermovies.com/carolina-caroline/) **Published:** April 11, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Carolina Caroline**, 2026, 3 ½ stars # Queen of the road ## Weaving reigns in Rehmeier thriller-drama [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Carolina-Caroline-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Carolina-Caroline-2.jpg)Samara Weaving stars in *Carolina Caroline*. (Image is copyright Bee-Hive Productions / FilmNation Entertainment / Magnolia Pictures.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 11, 2026 Like James Taylor, Caroline Daniels, the title character in director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s new romantic crime thriller-drama, is going to Carolina in her mind. Specifically, she’s going to South Carolina to track down long-lost family. But unlike Taylor, Caroline is also making the physical journey. She’s headed there from rural Texas but until recently hadn’t given the journey much realistic thought. It seemed out of reach for a 20-something living with her father and working unfulfilling chores at a filling station. But like Clyde to her Bonnie, in drives Oliver, to give her life a twist. Fill ‘er up, please. Oliver is smart, handsome, a few years older and wiser than her – and no good. But she doesn’t realize it immediately, thanks to their instant attraction and his mastery of the small con. (There’s some of *The Sting* in the film’s early scenes.) These small-time swindles scratch Caroline where she itches while also padding her pocketbook. And she and Oliver are soon besmitten while besmirching their souls with lives of crime – all while making their way to the Palmetto State. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Carolina-Caroline.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Carolina-Caroline.jpg)Rehmeier (*Dinner in America*, *Snack Shack*) is adept at mixing genres, and *Carolina Caroline* is a nice blend. Carefully balancing tones and moods, it transitions from near-comedy (similar to *Sugarland Express*), to road movie, to romance, to crime thriller and ultimately to drama. And it’s buoyed by Kyle Gallner’s competent performance as Oliver, not to mention a break-your-heart cameo by a famous actress later in the movie. But the film’s revelation is Australian actress Samara Weaving as Caroline. She’s 34 but could pass for 20. In this respect, she seems tossed out of time, as does the entire film, which has a 1970s feel, down to the cars, lack of cell phones and memorable though slightly overused music – without actually being set in the Me Decade. Somehow this new film is instantly recognizable, rinsed in retro. Similarly, Weaving herself has been around a while, perhaps best known to mainstream audiences as Penelope in *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri*. But, strangely, the cinematic thunderbolt, à la Michael Corleone, had not struck this critic until now. Cue Elise McKenna. With her long blonde hair, big blue eyes, rabbit teeth that besottingly bite her lower lip, and other things I shouldn’t mention in a serious film review, Weaving lives up to her last name. Regarding spells, that is. In this respect, the film is almost as much *And God Created Woman* as it is the movies that Rehmeier says he intended, such as *Bonnie and Clyde*, *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, *Thunderbolt and Lightfoot*, and *Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.* There’s certainly enough homage in this film to go around, and around again. It never loses its charm, but it can feel derivative. And though Tom Dean’s script hits that aforementioned emotional peak near the end, I never could shake the feeling I’d seen something similar to all this before. But I’d never seen Weaving, at least not like this. Yes, she resembles Margot Robbie (and Britt Ekland), but not so much in this role. In fact, she might not even resemble herself in this one, and not just because of her excellent dialect work. Rehmeier said as much in the Q&A session following the movie’s opening-night screening at the Florida Film Festival. Sometimes the right part comes along for the right person, at the right time. Lastly, credit is due cinematographer Jean-Philippe Bernier’s camera, which loves the ‘70s look, and adores Weaving. As do I. As you will too. ## Interview I interviewed Rehmeier prior to the screening of his film on opening night of the Florida Film Festival. “I really love the chemistry between Kyle \[Gallner\] and Samara \[Weaving\] in this movie,” Rehmeier told me. “And I think this movie is about sensations and about the sensations of falling in love. And I think the audience is in for a really good ride with regards to kind of a traditional romantic story. “The movie plays kind of like a ’70s type of road movie. So it’s kind of a throwback but set in an early-aughts backdrop. So it’s a little bit retro. You know, there’s no cell phones or things like that. It plays in kind of a timeless, cool way. But I think that most people, when they see the film, they will really fall in love with the idea of falling in love with Kyle and Sam. So that part’s really nice.” I guess I wasn’t the only one who fell in love with Weaving. Indeed, the entire film festival seems to have fallen for her, as she’s not just the star of the opening-night film but also the centerpiece movie, *Over Your Dead Body*. And if you squint just right, you might even think it’s her on the 2026 festival poster. As usual, festival newbies are also falling in love with Enzian itself. “I’ve never been \[to the Enzian\]. I’m very, very excited,” said Rehmeier. “I like the Spanish moss outside. … These trees are great, … very atmospheric.” *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *If you missed the movie at The Florida Film Festival (and the Miami and Sarasota film festivals, where it’s also showing), don’t worry, as Magnolia Pictures is giving it a general release on June 5.* --- ### [Toy Story 5](https://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-5/) **Published:** June 16, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Toy Story 5**, 2026, [4 stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # *Toy Story*time and again ## Pixar sequel is derivative but delightful [![Poster for Disney Pixar Toy Story 5 with Woody, Buzz, Jessie and friends gathered around a green tablet displaying 'Hi! Let’s play'.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-poster.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-poster.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 16, 2026 The *Toy Story* franchise has spanned five films (not including spin-offs) across 31 years, from the dawn of CGI to the dawn of AI. It has become part of humanity’s technological and artistic legacy, and part of the fabric of our lives. But what you get out of the latest installment will mostly depend on your own history. This critic, for instance, was a decidedly different person back in 1995 when the first film debuted. I was just out of college, working for the same company that released the film (Disney), and had never seen a full-length digitally animated movie. No one had. The awe was palpable. However, unlike many of you reading this review, I was an adult, so Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang shaped my young adulthood, not my childhood. And that makes a tremendous difference in how the characters are burned into your brain. Nevertheless, the first film brought me back to my earliest years and, specifically, to my own toys. I wrote about the bond an adult can still feel for his toys in [my review of *Toy Story 4*](https://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/), in 2019. And, frankly, I can’t think of more to say on that topic. And therein lies the problem for veteran Pixar writer-director Andrew Stanton and the rest of his crew: how to invent fresh stories while remaining true to the characters. It’s a tough task. And they only partially succeed with *Toy Story 5*. [![Buzz Lightyear central figure with Jessie on the left and Woody on the right in a colorful toy display scene.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-image-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-image-2-scaled.jpg)Images are copyright and courtesy of Disney/Pixar. At the end of *Toy Story 4* (2019), Woody (Tom Hanks) decided to stay a lost toy and not return to Bonnie. This allowed him to help find homes for other misplaced and abandoned toys while being close to his old love, Bo Peep (Annie Potts). And, let’s face it: He had never been Bonnie’s favorite, not the way he was Andy’s. Jessie was the new sheriff in Bonnie’s town, and that influenced Woody’s decision to break away. Still, the decision was a shock, if only because we thought *Toy Story 4* was the finale, which meant Woody would spend the rest of his life (can toys live forever?) away from Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark, sadly not Jim Varney), Mr. Potato Head (Jeff Bergman, sadly not Don Rickles), Bullseye and his other friends. But here he is back with the gang in *Toy Story 5*. I won’t reveal how Stanton reunites them, suffice to say the reunion is anticlimactic. But this new film isn’t really about Woody. It’s mostly about Jessie and Bonnie, and Bonnie’s effort to find a like-minded girl pal. Indeed, it’s the most female-oriented of the series. And that’s fine, especially because the first film was almost entirely a masculine one, with Andy, Woody, Buzz and Sid dominating the plot. There wasn’t even a Mrs. Potato Head yet. So, boys, let’s leave this one to the girls. [![Buzz Lightyear extends his arm forward while Woody stands behind him in a cluttered playroom with a wicker chest and blankets in the background](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-image-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-5-image-scaled.jpg)The film is also about technology, specifically our society’s obsession with screens and devices. “The age of toys is over,” we are told. “Look at \[the kids\]: all on devices.” That grim message is brought home, literally, by Lilypad, Bonnie’s new frog-themed smart tablet. Predictably, Bonnie temporarily eschews her traditional toys for this internet-connected play screen. But she doesn’t reject them completely, and therein lies part of the film’s intrigue. It seems Bonnie is an old-fashioned girl, trapped in a device-addicted world and alienated from potential friends who spend all the waking moments online. But Lilypad does not employ AI. Or at least Stanton’s screenplay never mentions the word. And that amounts to a huge lost opportunity. After all, devices have been around for years and could have been the theme of *Toy Story 4*. AI, on the other hand, is nearly new, and *Toy Story 5* would have felt fresher and more zeitgeisty had it homed in on artificial intelligence. (Imagine the script possibilities, as an aghast Woody remarks to Buzz, “That toy has no soul.”) [![Disney Pixar Toy Story 4 poster with the blue logo text on a black background and oversized yellow 3D letters spelling 'TOY' over a red block reading 'STORY'](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-logo-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Toy-Story-logo-scaled.jpg)Speaking of artificial intelligence, this film uses no generative AI, which means the filmmakers *do* have a soul. However, their statement that they experimented with generative AI for this film but ultimately rejected it doesn’t bode well for the future. It suggests that if the quality of AI improves, which it will, a *Toy Story 6* might employ it. So the status of the filmmakers’ souls is still up in the air. The good news is that even the least impressive of the five *Toy Story* films, which this one is, will become a classic thanks to the art and craft of the entire Pixar team. The story is derivative, exploring again the themes of rejection and self-discovery, the former with Jessie and the latter with Buzz or, more specifically, new Buzzes who don’t yet realize they are toys. But the film finds slightly different ways to tell those familiar tales, and the trademark humor, hyper-realistic animation and lump-in-your-throat moments remind us why we still love the best animated film series of all time. Let’s put down our devices and learn to play with our toys again. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29355505/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story_5). The film will open in cinemas in North America on June 19 and is rated PG. If you liked this review, please follow MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@cameronmeier-meiermovies) and [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/MeierMovies).* --- ### [T](https://www.meiermovies.com/t/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with T:** The Taiwan Oyster (2012; 1 ¾), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") Tale of Tales (2015; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [Tenet](http://www.meiermovies.com/tenet/ "Tenet") (2020; 2 stars) [The Territory](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-territory/ "The Territory") FL (2022; 4 stars) [Tesla](http://www.meiermovies.com/tesla/) (2020; 2 ¾ stars) [The Testament of Ann Lee](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee/ "The Testament of Ann Lee") (2025; 1 ¾ stars) [The Theory of Everything](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-theory-of-everything/) (2014; 3 ¾ stars) [They Shall Not Grow Old (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/28/going-places/) (2018; 4 ¼ stars) [The Third Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-third-man/) (1949; 5 stars) [Thirteen Lives](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-lives/ "Thirteen Lives") (2022; 4 stars) This is Martin Bonner (2013; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") Those Who Remained FL (2020; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) [Threads](https://www.meiermovies.com/threads/ "Threads") Hybrid (1984; 3 ¼ stars) [Three Thousand Years of Longing](https://www.meiermovies.com/three-thousand-years-of-longing/ "Three Thousand Years of Longing") (2022; 3 stars) [Tigre Gente](https://www.meiermovies.com/tigre-gente/ "Tigre Gente") FL (2022; 3 ¾ stars) [Time Travel Is Dangerous](https://www.meiermovies.com/time-travel-is-dangerous/ "Time Travel Is Dangerous") (2025; 2 stars) Tiny Tim: King for a Day (2021; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [To Dust: an interview with director Shawn Snyder](http://www.meiermovies.com/to-dust-director-discusses-death-and-taxes/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) To Keep the Light (2016; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [To the Wonder](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/09/17/malicks-teaser-trailer/) (2013; 1 star) [Together](https://www.meiermovies.com/moodyssons-together/) FL (2000; 1 ¾ stars) [Tomorrowland](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland/) (2015; 3 ¾ stars) Top Spin (2015; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Toy Story 4](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) (2019; 4 ½ stars) [Toy Story 5](https://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-5/ "Toy Story 5") (2026; 4 stars) [Train Dreams](https://www.meiermovies.com/existential-opposites/ "Existential opposites") (2025; 3 ½ stars) [Trial by Fire](http://www.meiermovies.com/trial-by-fire/) (2019; 2 ½ stars) [The Trip to Greece](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-trip-to-greece/) Hybrid (2020; 3 stars) [True History of the Kelly Gang](http://www.meiermovies.com/true-history-of-the-kelly-gang/) (2020; 2 ¼ stars) [The Truffle Hunters](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-truffle-hunters/) FL (2020; 3 stars) [The Truman Show](http://www.meiermovies.com/seaside-florida-the-truman-show/) (1998; 5 stars) [Tuesday](https://www.meiermovies.com/tuesday/ "Tuesday") (2024; 3 ¼ stars) [Tully](http://www.meiermovies.com/tully/) (2018; 4 stars) Tuner (2026; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [12 Years a Slave](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/28/12-years-a-slave-belongs-in-top-10/) \* (2013; 4 stars) [20th Century Women](http://www.meiermovies.com/20th-century-women/) (2016; 2 stars) 24 Jours (24 Days) FL (2014; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [The Two Popes](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) (2019; 4 ¼ stars) [2001: A Space Odyssey](http://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) (1968; 5 stars) --- ### [Lessons for Musk?](https://www.meiermovies.com/lessons-for-musk/) **Published:** June 13, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 12, 2026 John D. Rockefeller, until yesterday, was the richest private citizen in world history, when adjusted for inflation. But at the height of his wealth and power, in his 50s, he became seriously ill, suffering from alopecia and other ailments. Only when he realized the true meaning of his wealth and began substituting philanthropy for fortune did he regain his health. A wiser, happier and more empathetic man, he lived to the age of 97. Elon Musk, are you listening? --- ### [The Flowers of Urban Decay](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-flowers-of-urban-decay/) **Published:** June 12, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** By Cameron Meier Where have all the flowers gone, Long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, Long time ago? Where have all the flowers gone? Gone to small towns every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? Where have all the small towns gone, Long time passing? Where have all the small towns gone, Long time ago? Where have all the small towns gone? Grown to Detroits every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? Where have all the Detroits gone, Long time passing? Where have all the Detriots gone, Long time ago? Where have all the Detroits gone? Gone to decay every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? Where has all the decay gone, Long time passing? Where has all the decay gone, Long time ago? Where has all the decay gone? Gone to pastures every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? Where have all the pastures gone, Long time passing? Where have all the pastures gone, Long time ago? Where have all the pastures gone? Gone to flowers every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *This poem was inspired by my 2026 trip to Detroit, where I witnessed the inevitability of urban decay: entire neighborhoods reduced to fields. It is, of course, based on “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” created in 1955 by Pete Seeger, who borrowed an Irish folk melody. In 1960, Joe Hickerson revised the lyrics, turning the composition into a circular song.* --- ### [Travel Cam](https://www.meiermovies.com/travel-cam/) **Published:** July 10, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## by Cameron Meier [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Sunrise-at-Cadillac-Mountain.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Sunrise-at-Cadillac-Mountain.jpg)Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain, Maine If movies are my first love, travel is a close second. This page chronicles some of those travels: [Ode to Cairo](https://www.meiermovies.com/ode-to-cairo/ "Ode to Cairo"), 2024 [The Drug Mule, or a Trip from San Antonio to Piedras Negras](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-drug-mule/ "The Drug Mule"), 2024 [Beer and Loafing in Los Angeles](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-these-walls-could-rock/ "If These Walls Could Rock"), 2026 [The Flowers of Urban Decay](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-flowers-of-urban-decay/ "The Flowers of Urban Decay"), 2026 Stay tuned to this page in the near future for more literary explorations of my odd and eclectic adventures around the United States and elsewhere, including my recently completed quest to visit all 50 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces. I can’t promise you Kerouac, but my road stories might be worth a read. And also visit my [Travel Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/travel-photography/) and [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@cameronmeier-meiermovies). I’d also encourage you to visit the [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](https://www.dialectsarchive.com), for which I serve as executive editor. It’s the largest online archive of people from across the globe speaking English in their native accent or dialect (in addition to, in some cases, other languages), and it also serves as a great travel companion and cultural inspiration. For travel enthusiasts, the [Global Map](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/globalmap) is particularly interesting. And check out the [All 50 States Club](https://allfiftyclub.com/) too. --- ### [The Whale](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-whale/) **Published:** December 3, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Whale**, 2022, 4 ½ stars # A *Whale* of a film ## Aronofsky serves up an all-you-can-eat drama [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The-Whale-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The-Whale-scaled.jpg)Brendan Fraser stars in *The Whale*. (image copyright A24 / Protozoa Picture) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 3, 2022 Charlie lives alone in his shabby apartment. To pay his bills, he teaches online writing classes but never turns on his laptop camera, afraid to show himself to his students, for Charlie weighs 600 pounds. His drift into morbid obesity began after a personal, romantic tragedy and has accelerated into a death spiral, as he regularly consumes two large supreme pizzas in a single sitting and refuses to visit the hospital despite a blood-pressure reading in the 911 range. Practically immobile, he sports a flabby pannus hanging almost to his knees, like a deflated dirigible. Oh, the humanity. Yet the title of director Darren Aronofsky’s latest drama, *The Whale*, refers not as much to the main character’s bulk as to his strange fascination with an essay on Herman Melville’s *Moby-Dick*. Maybe he just likes the essay, or maybe he realizes he’s doomed to chase his own white whale. That whale might be the destructive force of his eating disorder combined with his genetic predisposition to obesity, or it could be something deeper, either the aforementioned tragedy or his estrangement from his ex-wife and 17-year-old daughter, Ellie, with whom he’s trying to reconnect. Shockingly, it’s Charlie who has a positive outlook on life, not Ellie, who has apparently indulged on a diet of hate and bitterness. Let that sink in: A depressed man approaching death remains an optimist while a young, attractive, intelligent teenager with her entire life ahead of her is a pessimist. “I hate everyone,” she says, while her dad proclaims, though tears of gratitude cried over those he loves, “People are incapable of not caring. People are amazing.” This is all the work of Aronofsky and writer Samuel D. Hunter, who based the script on his 2012 play. Led by an astonishing, heartbreaking performance by Brendan Fraser, *The Whale* is one of the best films of the year, and perhaps the most emotionally challenging. Confined to a single, stagey setting and framed in the classic Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the film allows its small supporting cast to shine, including Sadie Sink (*Stranger Things*) as Ellie, Hong Chau (*Downsizing*) as Charlie’s nurse and friend, Samantha Morton (*Sweet and Lowdown*, *Minority Report*) as his ex-wife and Ty Simpkins (*Insidious*) as a religious missionary who lends the story an odd spiritual touch. Credit is also due the graphically convincing work of the artists who designed Fraser’s prosthetic makeup, and composer Rob Simonsen, whose music is not particularly noticeable until you realize you’re crying partially because of that music, or, more precisely, the way it’s woven into the movie’s climax. Ultimately, though, this is a triumph for Fraser, who probably deserves the Oscar, and for Aronofsky. With a resume ranging from the provocative and nightmarish (*Black Swan* and *Mother!*) to the gritty and disturbing (*The Wrestler* and *Requiem for a Dream*) to the arthouse brainteaser (*The Fountain*) to the Biblical (*Noah*), the director has shown an ability to surprise, inflame, frustrate and astonish, all while enjoying a fair amount of both critical and commercial success. He’s been able to have his *π* and eat it too. With *The Whale*, Aronofsky and Charlie practically gorge, and their ravenous appetites feed our own hunger: a hunger for melodrama, empathy and truth. For after a while, we slowly begin to think like Charlie, who exhorts his students to abandon their formulaic essay bullshit and “just write me something fucking honest.” In keeping with Charlie’s exhortation, let me throw out my own bit of fucking honesty: It doesn’t matter what you think of this review, or even whether you appreciate *The Whale* as art, or entertainment, or whatever you label it. What counts is what you do with your own life after seeing this powerfully human piece of filmmaking. Will you choose to emulate Charlie, or Ellie? And what will you feed your head? *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13833688/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(2022_film)).* --- ### [Disclosure Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/disclosure-day/) **Published:** June 10, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Disclosure Day**, 2026, [4 ½ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Close Encounters 2.0 ## Spielberg returns to his alien roots [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Disclosure-Day-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Disclosure-Day-2-scaled.jpg)Left to right, Colman Domingo plays Hugo Wakefield, Tommy Martinez portrays Santiago, Emily Blunt is Margaret Fairchild, and Josh O’Connor is Daniel Kellner. (Images are copyright and courtesy of Dreamworks Pictures/Amblin Entertainment.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 10, 2026 The greatest living film director has had tremendous success with dramas, but he cut his (shark’s) teeth on thrillers and science fiction. So, nearly 50 years after *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (still his greatest movie) and 62 years after *Firelight* (the director’s micro-budget, alien debut film), it’s wonderful to see Steven Spielberg bookend his career with otherworldly lifeforms in *Disclosure Day*. Though Spielberg is now 79, I shouldn’t use the bookending metaphor, for the master seems almost as mentally spry as ever and likely to continue working for another decade. And his composing partner, John Williams, is still going at age 94, marking his 30th collaboration with his favorite helmer. So how is the latest collaboration? *Disclosure Day* is exhilarating, mysterious and unsettling, but also self-referential and surprisingly action-oriented. The script, penned by frequent Spielberg partner David Koepp from a story by Spielberg, goes in a few odd directions but never loses its propulsive momentum. And when combined with Spielberg’s sensibilities, terrific performances and some genuinely jaw-dropping moments, the story congeals into one of the greatest films of the decade and arguably the director’s best work since *Saving Private Ryan* in 1998, though he has made a slew of films this century that come close, such as *The Post*, *Ready Player One*, *A.I.* and *Bridge of Spies,* all significant parts of his unmatched resume. (*Catch Me if You Can*, *Minority Report* and *Munich* aren’t far behind either.) Emily Blunt, in a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination, plays Margaret, the weather reporter at a Kansas City TV station. Josh O’Connor is Daniel, a cybersecurity genius turned whistleblower, and the alarm he’s sounding concerns a decades-long conspiracy to hide evidence of alien life. The two characters seemingly have little in common, but so did Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon) in *Close Encounters*. Discovering their common bond was one of the great joys of that 1977 masterpiece, and a similar journey of discovery becomes the driving force behind *Disclosure Day* – so much that the film becomes less about alien life and more about humankind. Throughout their journey together, Blunt and O’Connor do a fair job of tapping into the angst Dreyfuss displayed. “I don’t think I know what’s happening to me,” he uttered in the famous bathtub scene. Blunt and O’Connor don’t plumb the depths of emotional despair as completely as Dreyfuss, but they do convey an out-of-body quest, one they can’t explain but are nevertheless inexplicably drawn toward, minus mashed potatoes. Complementing Blunt and O’Connor is Eve Hewson (*Bridge of Spies*) as Daniel’s girlfriend who – in either a stroke of brilliance or a too on-the-nose construct – happens to be a former nun openly contemplating what an alien reveal would mean for a religious world. Further fine support is offered by Colman Domingo (as the lead defector from the company for which he and Daniel work) and Colin Firth (as head of said company). Expect a supporting-actor Oscar nomination for Firth thanks to his dead-eye turn as the man with the dead eyes. (If this film has an equivalent to Francois Truffaut’s Claude Lacombe from *Close Encounters*, it’s Firth’s.) [![Aerial view of a person with a backpack walking a winding dirt path through a golden field of tall grass.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Disclosure-Day-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Disclosure-Day-1-scaled.jpg)The film is an homage, not just to *Close Encounters*, to which it owes its life, but to many of Spielberg’s films and loves, such as *Duel* and Disney. And for the director’s biggest fans, almost all yearnings will come true – even if you don’t wish upon a star. The only nitpicks involve some aforementioned strange choices, such as beginning an otherwise magical film with a crude wrestling match, some mediocre and unnecessary use of CGI animals, and an unexpected emphasis on Christopher Nolan-style action. In addition, a subplot imagines a potential nuclear calamity involving the United States, Russia and North Korea. That storyline has a raison d’être that becomes clear toward the end, but, nevertheless, it creates clutter. I also couldn’t shake the feeling that Spielberg was pushing just a bit too hard, forcing the magic instead of letting it come seemingly organically, as in *Close Encounters*. But all these tiny faults are forgotten at the climax, which features one of Hollywood’s greatest sci-fi reveals of all time. Visually, the film is striking and owes much to cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, who has been Spielberg’s DP since 1993. Their decision to shoot mostly on film was wise, although it makes little sense to see the movie in 70mm or IMAX, as it was shot predominantly on 35mm. And, of course, don’t forget to watch for those trademark Spielberg transition shots, partially courtesy of editor Sarah Broshar, who has worked with the director since 2011. Like all great films, *Disclosure Day* feels more like an event than a movie. And coming amid multiple government UFO disclosures, it is eerily zeitgeisty. Spielberg himself has said the film’s plot is much more tangible than that of *Close Encounters*, which he made with just a hope and a hunch that aliens were real. Fast-forward nearly a half-century, and Spielberg says E.T. presence is almost a certainty. So now would be a nice time for these cosmic creatures to reveal themselves. And it seems only right that the first human to meet them should be Spielberg, unless he is a higher being himself, which is entirely possible. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15047880/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclosure_Day). The film will open in cinemas in North America on June 12 and is rated PG-13. To see where this film ranks among all of Spielberg’s, visit my [directors list](https://www.meiermovies.com/Directors.pdf). And if you liked this review, please follow MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@cameronmeier-meiermovies) and [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/MeierMovies).* --- ### [D](https://www.meiermovies.com/d/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with D:** [Daddio](https://www.meiermovies.com/daddio/ "Daddio") (2024; 2 ½ stars) [The Dalai Lama: Scientist](http://www.meiermovies.com/dalai-lama-scientist/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) Dark Wind FL (2018; 3 ½ stars), part of the [2018 South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) [Darkest Hour](http://www.meiermovies.com/darkest-hour/) (2017; 4 ¾ stars) Dave Made a Maze (2017; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) David (2011; 2 ¼ stars), part of the [2013 Global Peace Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) The DaVinci Code (2005; 4 stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") [Dawson City: Frozen Time](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2017/) (2017; 4 ½ stars) [The Dead Don’t Hurt](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-dead-dont-hurt/ "The Dead Don’t Hurt") (2024; 2 ¼ stars) [Dear White People](http://www.meiermovies.com/dear-white-people/) (2014; 1 ¼ stars) [Death of a Nation](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-big-pile-of-pooh/) (2018; ½ star) [Denial](http://www.meiermovies.com/denial/) (2016; 4 ¼ stars) [Desert One](http://www.meiermovies.com/desert-one/) (2020; 3 ¾ stars) The Desk (2015; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Die My Love](https://www.meiermovies.com/die-my-love/ "Die My Love") (2025; 1 ½ stars) [Digger](https://www.meiermovies.com/digger/ "Digger") FL (2021; 2 stars) [The Dinner](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-dinner/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) The Diplomat (2015; 3 ½ stars), part of the [2015 Global Peace Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2015/) [The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-disappearance-of-eleanor-rigby-them/) (2014; 2 stars) [The Disaster Artist](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-disaster-artist/) (2017; 3 stars) [Disclosure Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/disclosure-day/ "Disclosure Day") (2026; 4 ½ stars) [Django Unchained](https://www.meiermovies.com/django-unchained/) (2012; 1 ¾ stars) [Doctor Strange (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/doctor-strange/) (2016; 4 stars) [Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory)](http://www.meiermovies.com/pain-and-glory/) FL (2019, 3 ½ stars) Donald Cried (2016; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Don‘t Worry, He Won‘t Get Far on Foot](http://www.meiermovies.com/dont-worry-he-wont-get-far-on-foot/) (2018; 2 ½ stars ) The Double (2014; 4 stars), part of the [Top 5 of 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/ "My top 5 of 2014 (so far)") [Downton Abbey](http://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey/) (2019; 3 stars) [Downton Abbey: A New Era](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey-a-new-era/ "Downton Abbey: A New Era") (2022; 2 ½ stars) [Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey-the-grand-finale/ "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale") (2025; 3 ¾ stars) [Dream Scenario](https://www.meiermovies.com/dream-scenario/ "Dream Scenario") (2023; 4 ¼ stars) [Dreams](https://www.meiermovies.com/dreams/ "Dreams") (2025; 1 ½ stars) [Driving While Black](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) (2015; 1 ¼ stars) [Drought](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 1 ¼ stars) [Dual](https://www.meiermovies.com/dual/ "Dual") (2022; 3 ¼ stars) [The Duke](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-duke/ "The Duke") (2021; 3 ¼ stars) [Dumbo](http://www.meiermovies.com/dumbo-remake/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) [Dunkirk](http://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) (2017; 5 stars) --- ### [Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival/) **Published:** February 21, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Florida Film Festival, in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. For full reviews of the feature films I have seen at the Florida Film Festival, visit my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). For ratings of the short films I have seen at the festival, consult the short-film lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). And for my interviews of festival guests, including Sam Rockwell, Sissy Spacek, Bob Balaban, Richard Dreyfuss, Lea Thompson and Paul Sorvino, visit my [Interviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/ "Interviews"). **35th Annual Florida Film Festival (2026):** [Festival preview](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/ "Florida Film Festival 2026") [Feature reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [Opening-night film review](https://www.meiermovies.com/carolina-caroline/ "Carolina Caroline") [Shorts reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") [Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-announces-awards/ "Florida Film Festival announces awards") [Festival wraps](https://www.meiermovies.com/2026/04/20/florida-film-festival-26-wraps/ "Florida Film Festival ’26 wraps") **34th Annual Florida Film Festival (2025):** [Teaser](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/04/06/florida-film-festival-to-begin-friday/ "Florida Film Festival to begin Friday")[](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies")[Festival overview and review of opening film](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies")[](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies")[Movie reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews")[](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies")[An Interview with Mia Farrow](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-interview-with-mia-farrow/ "An Interview with Mia Farrow") [Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-fest-25-announces-awards/ "Florida Film Fest ’25 announces awards") [33rd Annual Florida Film Festival (2024)](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/ "Florida Film Festival 2024") [32nd Annual Florida Film Festival (2023)](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2023/ "Florida Film Festival 2023") [31st Annual Florida Film Festival (2022)](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022") **30th Annual Florida Film Festival (2021):** [FFF announces program](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-host-30th-annual-florida-film-festival-in-april/ "Enzian to host 30th annual Florida Film Festival in April") [FFF combines in-person and virtual cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "FFF combines in-person, virtual cinema") [Feature film reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/ "FFF 2021 film reviews") [Short takes on the shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-the-shorts/ "Short takes on the shorts") **29th Annual Florida Film Festival (2020):** [FFF announces program](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020/ "Florida Film Festival 2020") [Festival to blend in-person, virtual events](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "Enzian’s Florida Film Festival 2020 combines in-person, virtual cinema") [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2020 reviews") **28th Annual Florida Film Festival (2019):** [FFF program announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2019/) [Richard Dreyfuss to screen *The Goodbye Girl*](http://www.meiermovies.com/richard-dreyfuss-to-attend-florida-film-festival/) [Programmers balance quality with variety](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/) [A look at domestic narrative shorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-stack/) [Richard Dreyfuss interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-richard-dreyfuss/) [It’s a (shorts) wrap](http://www.meiermovies.com/its-a-shorts-wrap/) [Award winners](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-awards/) **[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)27th Annual Florida Film Festival (2018):** [Program announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-most-movies-ever/) [Homegrown: Florida filmmakers embrace their local festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/homegrown/) [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [Pam Grier interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-pam-grier/) [Opening-night blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals-opens-festival/) [More festival photos](http://www.meiermovies.com/more-fff-2018-photos/) [Festival ends with awards and Hitchcock](http://www.meiermovies.com/festival-ends-with-awards-hitchcock/) **26th Annual Florida Film Festival (2017):** [Festival announces films, guests](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/) [Lea Thompson to screen *Back to the Future*](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-to-attend-fff/) [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Interview with Lea Thompson](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/) [25th Annual Florida Film Festival (2016)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [24th Annual Florida Film Festival (2015)](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/ "Rockwell, Balaban to headline Florida FF") **23rd Annual Florida Film Festival (2014):** [Teaser](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-is-almost-here/ "Florida Film Festival is almost here") [Intro article: Time to fest!](http://www.meiermovies.com/time-to-fest/ "Time to fest!") [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [Susan Sarandon announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/susan-sarandon-set-for-fff/ "Susan Sarandon set for FFF") [Interview with Paul Sorvino](http://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/ "Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype") [Interview with Heather Wahlquist and review of *Yellow*](http://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/) [Documentary blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/ "A double dose of docs") [Opening-night blog and mini-review of *The Trip to Italy*](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fest-is-underway/ "2014 Fest is underway") [Shorts blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-shorts/ "Ranking the shorts") [22nd Annual Florida Film Festival (2013)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") --- ### [Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF)](https://www.meiermovies.com/organization-of-independent-filmmakers-oif/) **Published:** May 1, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/OIF.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/OIF.jpg)The Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF) holds several challenges each year for local filmmakers in Orlando (its home base), Tampa, Los Angeles and New York City. For more information, visit [their website](https://independentfilmmakers.org/). Below you will find news articles related to OIF. [OIF turns 10 (and X Challenge awards)](https://www.meiermovies.com/oif-turns-10/ "OIF turns 10") [Spring into 2026 Orlando film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/spring-into-orlando-film-fests/ "Spring into Orlando film fests") [Fall into 2025 Orlando film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/) [Festivalitis hits Orlando (2024)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/09/01/festivalitis-hits-orlando/) --- ### [Contact & Social Media](https://www.meiermovies.com/contact/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![quill-pen_1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1.jpg)I welcome all feedback, especially constructive criticism or any corrections of information that you know is wrong (incorrect dates, spellings or other typos). And to reiterate, if you don’t see a movie listed on this site, that simply means I haven’t seen it in its entirety, or perhaps I saw it in an environment that was not conducive to critiquing it. So please make suggestions on movies I should see and add to my lists. You can reach me at . Contact me if you have questions or comments about my reviews, or if you would like to advertise your entertainment-related product or service on this website. (I accept reciprocal ads.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Instagram-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Instagram-logo.jpg)[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Twitter.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Twitter.jpg)And follow MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/); X, formerly known as Twitter ([@MeierMovies](https://twitter.com/MeierMovies)); [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@cameronmeier-meiermovies); and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/). Or feel free to comment on [my posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/). --- ### [Rockwell, Balaban headline '15 Florida FF](https://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) **Published:** April 1, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Sam Rockwell[1]](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam-Rockwell1-225x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam-Rockwell1.jpg)Sam Rockwell From *The Orlando Weekly*, March-April, 2015 Actors Sam Rockwell and Bob Balaban will headline the 24th annual Florida Film Festival, which will run April 10-19, 2015. Rockwell will attend a showing of Duncan Jones’s *Moon* (in 35mm) on April 17, and Bob Balaban will screen Robert Altman’s *Gosford Park*, which he co-produced, on April 12. Both will participate in Q&A’s after each film. (**To watch my interview with Rockwell, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam-Rockwell-Interview.mp4). To see my Balaban interview, visit [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPC7_fWTd1c).**) Only two celebrity events are scheduled this year, to allow a greater variety of programming, or perhaps in a nod to the difficulty of securing topnotch talent, thanks to festival proliferation. The “Afternoon With” is being scrapped but may return in 2016, according to Programming Director Matthew Curtis. Another change is the elimination of Italian night. But fans of French cinema might actually embrace that revision, as a 50th-anniversary digital restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s *Alphaville* will be shown instead, as the closing-night film. [![Bob Balaban](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Bob-Balaban-300x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Bob-Balaban.jpg)Bob Balaban The festival will include 177 movies (57 features and 120 shorts), selected from about 1,600 submissions. As usual, films will play at the Enzian Theater in Maitland and on two screens at Regal Cinemas at Winter Park Village in Winter Park. Attendance is expected to be between 20,000 and 25,000, according to Curtis. “It’s a little bigger than it’s ever been as far as the film count goes,” Curtis says. “The films in the festival represent 30 countries, and one of the things we’re proud of is we’ve got some countries represented that are not usually in the festival, certainly not for features, including Ukraine and Turkey. … We’ve got more free outdoors movies this year. We’ve got more family films this year.” Categories include competition films, spotlight films (movies that have already received distribution deals), international showcase, family films (such as *Monkey Kingdom* and *Top Spin*), midnight movies (such as *The Editor* and *Alleluia*), food films (such as *Grazers: A Cooperative Story* and *The Search for General Tso*), music films (such as *The Case of the Three-Sided Dream* and *Billy Mize and the Bakersfield Sound*) and Florida films. [![Cameron and Bob](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-and-Bob-300x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-and-Bob.jpg)Cameron Meier and Bob Balaban (photo copyright Enzian/Florida Film Festival) The opening-night film will be *Welcome to Me*, a comedy directed by Shira Piven and starring Kristen Wiig, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Jennifer Jason Leigh and James Marsden. It will be preceded by the North American premiere of the stop-motion *Submarine Sandwich*. Tickets to the film are $25, but if you’d like to combine that with a ticket to the opening-night party, that’ll set you back $110. The festival will include 22 world premieres (compared to 18 last year) and 150 Florida premieres. Of the 57 features, 22 are documentaries. Of interest to music fans will be the four main shorts programs, which are named for Everly Brothers songs, to honor Phil Everly, who died last year. But the shorts aren’t confined to just four blocks, as the international, animated, international animated and documentary blocks often have some stellar material, as does the annual “Best of Brouhaha,” which I had the privilege of helping jury for the third year in a row. (It features some of the best student and lower-budget flicks from around Florida.) Outdoor screenings have always been a big part of the festival, and this year is no exception. The first outdoor movie will be *(500) Days of Summer*, April 13 on the Enzian lawn. That will be followed on April 14 by a 50th-anniversary showing of Elvis Presley’s *Girl Happy* in Winter Park’s Central Park. The last two, both scheduled for the Enzian lawn, will be *Donnie Darko* on April 15 and *Amelie* on April 16. All outdoor films are free and begin around 8 p.m. [![Cameron talking to Bob](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-talking-to-Bob-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-talking-to-Bob.jpg)Cameron Meier and Bob Balaban (photo copyright John Ingoglia/Florida Film Festival) Discussions are plentiful as well. “Film in Florida” will take place at the Enzian on April 15 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; “Florida Film Mixer” will be held at Eden Bar on April 15 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.; “Making Meaning: Films that Change the World” is scheduled for April 16, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Enzian; “Across the Pond: American Screenwriters, British Madmen” will be held at the Enzian on April 17 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and “Filmmaker Forum” will take place at Regal Winter Park Village on April 17 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. All five events are free. What’s not free are the Filmmaker Welcome Party on April 16, the Industry Party on April 17, and the Filmmaker Awards Ceremony & Bash on April 18, all of which are either ticketed events or invite-only. However, the Festival Block Party at Winter Park Village on April 12 and the Florida Film Mixer at Eden Bar on April 15 are complimentary and open to everyone. As always, one of the big draws are the filmmakers themselves, who often participate in Q&As after their films. And just because there are only two celebrity events this year, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on the lookout for minor stars. For instance, producer Matty Simmons will be attending the closing weekend in conjunction with the documentary *Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon.* [![Sam_rockwell_4](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam_rockwell_4-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam_rockwell_4.jpg)Cameron with Sam Rockwell (photo by Liam Malone/Florida Film Festival) Ticket packages range from $99 for all matinee films to $350 for a 10-day pass. But if you’re particularly ambitious (or rich), there are the “film lover pass” for $600 and the “producer pass” for $1,500, which allow special access to press screenings and parties. Individual tickets are $11 for films after 5 p.m. and $9 for matinees. With all those details out of the way, what films do I recommend? Check out the list below, organized from best to worst. Or to see the reviews in their original form, visit [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/picks-and-previews-from-this-years-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=2380141) and [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/some-highlights-and-lowlights-from-this-years-fff-short-film-selections/Content?oid=2380103). Also click [here](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/program/tastemakers/cameron-meier) for some short reviews of the movies I enjoyed at advance screenings and [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/?attachment_id=2688) to see my short preview film. And for the full schedule and movie lists, visit [Florida Film Festival](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). But first, experience the festival in glorious Super 8mm: ## Reviews **Moon**, 2009, 4 ¼ stars Directed and co-written by British filmmaker Duncan Jones in 2009, *Moon* focuses on the psychological struggles of Sam Bell, an astronaut on a years-long solitary mission to mine the Moon for nuclear-fusion fuel. But in the grand tradition of Andrei Tarkovsky’s *Solaris* and Stanley Kubrick’s *2001: A Space Odyssey*, nothing is quite what it seems in space, both mentally and physically. [![Moon](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Moon-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Moon.jpg)Sam Rockwell in *Moon* The movie stars Sam Rockwell, and the actor will be attending the special screening at the Enzian on April 17 and participating in a Q&A afterwards. Though tickets are already on stand-by, it might be worth showing up early and trying your luck, as the chance to see this smart sci-fi film and listen to Rockwell is just too irresistible. Damla and Kevin are New York newlyweds expecting a baby she doesn’t seem to want. Hoping to better understand her wife’s upbringing in Turkey, Kevin proposes a trip to the Aegean Sea resort where Damla spent her childhood summers. What he doesn’t anticipate are the ghosts of an old relationship, which may doom their future. **Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter** FL, 2014, 4 stars As an unmarried, misunderstood 29-year-old office worker in Tokyo, Kumiko (the extraordinary Rinko Kikuchi) leads a depressing, lonely life, eschewing everything and everyone except her pet rabbit, Bunzo. Her only joy is her delusional obsession with the movie *Fargo*, which she perceives as real and, therefore, assumes that the money Steve Buscemi’s character buries in the snow is ripe for her plucking, if only she can traverse the 5,000 miles that separate her from the treasure. [![KumikoTheTreasureHunter](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/KumikoTheTreasureHunter-300x145.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/KumikoTheTreasureHunter.jpg)“I am like a Spanish conquistador,” she says. “Recently I’ve learned of untold riches hidden deep in the Americas. Long ago, Spanish conquistadors learned of such things from American Indians. Now I have learned from an American motion picture.” *Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter* could have been a ridiculous comedy substituting spoof for heart, but in the mature hands of David and Nathan Zellner – and executive producer Alexander Payne – it becomes a haunting homage to the Coen brothers and to every troubled soul who has been cinematically inspired to dream an impossible dream. **Limited Partnership**, 2014, 3 ¾ stars There may be no nobler way to live your life than to dedicate it to a cause greater than yourself, especially when that cause is forged from love, equality and justice. And that’s exactly what Filipino-American Richard Adams and Australian Tony Sullivan have done during their 40-year-old trailblazing struggle for gay rights and marriage equality. [![LimitedPartnership2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/LimitedPartnership2-300x237.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/LimitedPartnership2.jpg)*Limited Partnership*, directed by Thomas Miller, begins like many other documentaries that have chronicled similar struggles, with flashbacks and flash-forwards, interviews with friends and family, and historical highlights of the war for sexual-orientation equality. But thanks to Miller’s mature storytelling, years’ worth of powerfully personal interviews with Adams and Sullivan, and a bit of cinematic luck, we’re able to empathize not just with the on-screen subjects but with all people who have fought to have their marriages and, indeed, their self-worth recognized by the government of the United States. I’ve simply never seen a better documentary about same-sex marriage. Preceding *Limited Partnership* is the short doc *Sandorkraut* (3 stars), about revered food author and fermentation expert Sandor Katz. Though the short and feature are vastly different in subject, they are well matched thanks to their embrace of men with unquenchable passions for their loves and beliefs. **Once Upon a Crime: The Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy**, 2015, 3 ¾ stars “Seven years ago, I set out to tell a story involving crooked cops, a mafia godfather, murder, poisonings, Elvis Presley, prison gang leaders and a coke-addicted newspaper editor,” writer-director Sheldon Wilson tells us. “Who would have thought that that was just the beginning of the story?” OK, so Wilson’s documentary, *Once Upon a Crime: The Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy*, has virtually nothing to do with Elvis, cocaine or poison, but the facts of the real story are actually more fascinating. [![OnceUponACrime3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OnceUponACrime3-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/OnceUponACrime3.jpg)Retired New York policeman Mike Borelli and his friend and former cop Bob Davis were falsely accused in 1975 of the murder of a man Borelli worked with. It mattered little that there was no evidence tying them to the crime, they weren’t in the city at the time and Davis didn’t even know the victim. The police simply wanted a conviction. Wilson doesn’t exactly uncover a unique smoking gun to explain the case these 40 years later, but through emotional interviews with most of the participants, non-obtrusive re-enactments and a careful presentation of the facts, he forges an intriguing marriage of solid journalism and thrilling entertainment that’s on par with some of Errol Morris’s best work. Playing before the feature is the documentary short *Mr. Gold* (2 stars), which won’t mean much to non-locals but will grab the interest of Orlando residents who have seen the unique sign holder tipping his hat and waving to passersby on Colonial Drive. **The Cult of JT LeRoy**, 2015, 3 ½ stars Teen literary sensation JT LeRoy burned bright, but not very long. After a meteoric rise, this fire of “transgressive fiction” was extinguished in 2006 at the age of 26. But he never truly died because he never really lived, and if you don’t already LeRoy’s weird tale, that’s the only spoiler you’ll get here. Directed by Marjorie Sturm, *The Cult of JT LeRoy* doesn’t break much new journalistic ground. (Credit *The New York Times* with that.) But it does present Leroy’s life in a unique, revelatory way, complete with original interviews and an appropriately uncomfortable examination of the pretentious bullshit that accompanies fandom and fame. Once Sturm reveals the twist behind the “extraordinary found object” that is LeRoy, the documentary loses steam, as does a narrative fiction piece that has just lost its protagonist. But then it carefully navigates those difficult storytelling waters, managing to switch audience sympathies – or hatred – onto another player who is accurately described as “one of the craziest motherfuckers ever.” (It’s just too bad this worthwhile feature is preceded by *Everything That Smiles Back* (0 stars), a rambling, pointless, badly shot short doc about an eccentric trailer-park resident. I guess just about everything is film fodder these days.) **Gosford Park**, 2001, 3 ¼ stars No director dealt with multiple stars and storylines like Robert Altman. His skill at juggling and ultimately merging myriad plots and characters into a single, emotionally profound experience is legendary. From his masterpiece, *Nashville*, to classics such as *Short Cuts*, *The Player* and *M.A.S.H.*, down to underappreciated gems like *Popeye* and *A* *Prairie Home Companion*, Altman left an indelible mark on cinema. Regrettably, *Gosford Park* is not among the master’s top-tier work. For most other directors, that would mean a thumbs-down review, but not for Altman, as the 2001 British mystery starring everyone from Maggie Smith to Clive Owen to Helen Mirren has energy, charm and intelligence. It just doesn’t crackle quite like Altman’s best work, perhaps because it needed a director with more of a British sensibility, to match that of writer Julian Fellowes (of *Downton Abbey* fame). Veteran character actor Bob Balaban co-produced *Gosford Park* and also plays, appropriately, American film producer Morris Weissman, so it’s no surprise he chose the film for his April 12 “Evening With” event, at which he will participate in a Q&A. (But if you’re like me, you’ll want to ask the legendary character actor about his roles in *Seinfeld* and *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* – and why he never seems to age.) **I Am a Knife with Legs**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars [![IAmAKnifeWith Legs1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/IAmAKnifeWith-Legs1-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/IAmAKnifeWith-Legs1.jpg)What is this monstrous mound of low-budget primitive absurdism called *I am a Knife with Legs*? It’s part-animated, part-musical, part – wait, what is this thing with letters and numbers I’m typing on? It’s not really a typewriter and it’s not really a keyboard. It’s weird. I digress. [![Bennett and Cameron](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Bennett-and-Cameron-210x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Bennett-and-Cameron.jpg)Bennett Jones and Cameron (holding a weird eclair) at the Florida Film Festival So, “I’m a knife with legs and special pants and a cat with a bag of eggs,” pop superstar Bené (writer-director-musician Bennett Jones) sings to us amid halfhearted jump cuts, dream sequences, music videos, and intentionally bad mixes of looping and live sound. He’s struggling to get over the death of his girlfriend Baguette at the hands of a suicide bomber while dodging a random fatwa. Yet he still finds time to croon such classics as “Changes Make Things Different,” “Sexy Love” and “All Religion is Stupid, Especially Yours.” Accompanying Bené is his “manager/security/DJ/foil character/drinking buddy” Beefy (Will Crest) who, in a metaphor for the film, asks his abhole-shirt-wearing, Tommy Wiseau-acting friend, “Where are we going with this?” The answer: absolutely nowhere. Yet if you love folk-art cinema, long for an even-lower-budget *Borat* or have recently been beaten severely about the head and face with a custard-filled éclair while watching Harrison Ford fend off a bear and converse with a tiny Frankenstein’s monster, see this movie. Because movie. To watch my short film of Jones’s performance at the festival, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BennettJonesatFFF.mp4). **Gemma Bovery** FL, 2014, 3 stars “Desire and death are intertwined,” we’re told in *Gemma Bovery*, a clever and occasionally funny satire on Gustave Flaubert’s masterpiece. Though director Anne Fontaine’s French-language production is essentially a one-note conceit, it’s able to coast on its charm, overcoming its almost total lack of a second act and other story deficiencies. [![GEMMA BOVERYRŽalisŽ par Anne Fontaine](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/GemmaBovery-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/GemmaBovery.jpg)With just two letters separating her name from that of the doomed heroine in *Madame Bovary*, Gemma (the painfully gorgeous Gemma Arterton) is a married Englishwoman fresh to France, with a life that eerily resembles that of her literary shadow. Or at least that’s what her elderly male neighbor (the excellent Fabrice Luchini) imagines thanks to his obsession with the 19th-century novel. “Gemma, there’s a moment when life imitates art,” he tells her. Though she doesn’t see the connection, she is at least compelled to read the Flaubert book and, amusingly, comment, “Nothing happens, but at the same time it’s interesting.” The same could be said of the film, which gets bogged down in affairs between a woman we barely know and suitors we care nothing about. It also becomes needlessly preoccupied with a time-consuming subplot involving a cracked porcelain figure, perhaps a metaphor for Gemma’s damaged marriage to her husband (Jason Flemyng, well known for playing Thomas Button in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*). But like that statue, the movie feels a bit broken until it rights itself with a solid ending that balances drama, comedy and literary homage. **Top Spin**, 2015, 3 stars [![Top Spin](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Top-Spin-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Top-Spin.jpg)As an amateur ping-pong player, I didn’t need *Top Spin* to tell me that the sport is perceived as a bit of a joke in this country. But it was still refreshing to hear Americans talk about their love for the game and see, in edge-of-your-seat cinematography, just how beautiful, stressful and even lonely table tennis can be. But, as with countless other sports documentaries, you need not love the sport to appreciate the sacrifices its participants make in pursuit of their dream. Case in point: Michael, Ariel and Lily, three high school students struggling to balance their personal lives with their athletic passion while inching toward their ultimate goal: the 2012 London Olympics. [![Top Spin 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Top-Spin-2-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Top-Spin-2.jpg)Though the three teenagers’ struggles are emotionally moving, their personal battles seem just a bit too much like First World problems to create heartrending empathy. *Top Spin*, directed by Sara Newens and Mina Son, is better, therefore, when it focuses less on its interviews (only some of which are effective), turns down its overactive musical score and concentrates on the sport itself. And once it starts to do that – by immersing you in the drama of back-spinners, choppers and top-spinners all ferociously battling for just three North American Olympic slots – don’t be surprised if you end up more emotionally involved than you expected. “Table tennis is evolving,” we’re told. “It’s coming out of the basements and garages.” And *Top Spin* deserves some credit for that evolution. **Aspie Seeks Love**, 2015, 2 ¾ stars David Matthews is 46 years old, lives outside Pittsburgh, is perpetually single despite his mildly successful writing career, and, oh, he has Asperger’s. If that last tidbit sounds like a casual add-on, it sort of is, as he wasn’t diagnosed with the highly functioning form of autism until he was 41, despite years of social awkwardness and odd behavior that included posting flyers on trees and buildings advertising his interest in dating women. “I really do want to share my creative output with the world,” he says, “but, on the other hand, I feel self-conscious about presenting myself.” Those feelings are normal for David and others who suffer from the same neurological condition, but instead of presenting a figure isolated from the world, *Aspie Seeks Love*, an ambitious, multi-year documentary project from director Julie Sokolow, reminds us that we’re all quirky and unbalanced in our own unique way. Shot amateurishly and too reliant on the everyday events and chatter of David’s life, *Aspie* is still a sweet and startlingly intimate examination of one man’s quest for companionship and acceptance. The doc struggles to find a style to fit the quirkiness of its subject – *Crumb* it is not – but it ultimately succeeds by honestly embracing its odd humanity. **Sunshine Superman**, 2015, 2 ¼ stars “People like that have something inside, something to do with death.” Those words spoken by Cheyenne (Jason Robards) in the immortal *Once Upon a Time in the West* ring true for Carl Boenish, who went from engineer, to skydiver, to filmmaker, to cliff jumper before essentially founding the BASE jumping movement in the late 1970s. But they also belie the seemingly happy daredevil’s lust for life and his spiritual desire to abandon all rules of man for the rules of nature. [![SunshineSuperman](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SunshineSuperman-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SunshineSuperman.jpg) *Sunshine Superman*, a documentary of the thrill-seeker’s life, shows Boenish and his wife, Jean, in an exceedingly positive light. Through reenactments, interviews with family and friends, and abundant clips of Boenish’s adventures, director Marah Strauch fashions a documentary fitting its subject. But, regrettably, the doc, like so many others that get just a bit too close to their subjects, falls victim to reverence while neither challenging us nor breaking much storytelling ground. Yes, the soaring cinematography is spectacular and can almost convince you to follow in the footsteps of the Boenishes and their fellow daredevils. But then the music kicks in, the reenactments sap the realism and the interviewees become a tad preachy, and we’re left with a production that, though competent, isn’t weighty enough. If you’re a fan of extreme sports, particularly BASE jumping, this is a must-see. If you’re not, you may still appreciate the film on a visual level and empathize with its characters, but your time would be better served by choosing *Limited Partnership*, *Once Upon a Crime: The Borelli-Davis Conspiracy*, *The Cult of JT LeRoy, Top Spin* or another one of the stronger documentaries at this year’s festival. **The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared**, 2013, 2 ¼ stars (not reviewed) **Gabriel**, 2014, 2 stars (not reviewed) **My Life in China**, 2015, 2 stars Cinema is overflowing with immigrant stories. Indeed, those famous words by Emma Lazarus inviting the world’s tired, poor, huddled masses to America practically read like a movie premise. Joining the genre is *My Life in China*, a documentary by Kenneth Eng about his father’s defection to the United States in 1966 and their recent return to the family’s native village. But instead of reinforcing the idea of the American Dream, this Cantonese film turns that dream upside down and instead seems to seek an addendum to Lazarus’s poem: profound regret. “If I could choose all over again, I would choose to stay in China – better than in America,” Eng’s father says. “Because nowadays, when I’m in China, there’s freedom to make money. Nobody tries to stop you. … \[But back then\] I needed to find a way to help my family.” Despite a strong ending, genuine moments of emotional discovery and eye-opening truths about the changing conditions in China and the United States, Eng’s film, at just 53 minutes, feels underdeveloped and only a step or two above an impromptu handheld-camera travelogue. When combined with the 28-minute Vietnamese documentary *War Within the Walls*, about a group of disabled children living with the effects of Agent Orange, *My Life in China* could be a worthwhile watch. But judged as a stand-alone feature, it comes up just short. **The Editor**, 2014, 2 stars (not reviewed) **My Last Year with the Nuns**, 2014, 1 ¾ stars *My Last Year with the Nuns* isn’t really a documentary and certainly isn’t narrative fiction. It exists in that twilight between genres, borrowing from such “essay films” as Orson Welles’ *F for Fake* and from TV shows and movies that were based on stand-up material, such as *Seinfeld* and Mike Birbiglia’s *Sleepwalk with Me*. [![MyLastYearWithTheNun2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/MyLastYearWithTheNun2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/MyLastYearWithTheNun2.jpg)A filmed version of monologist and storyteller Matt Smith’s live show, this walk down memory lane is a re-creation of Smith’s life as a 13-year-old boy in Seattle during the racially, sexually and culturally complex 1960s. Directed competently by first-timer Bret Fetzer, divided into nine chapters and performed entirely by Smith, the movie meditates on such typical adolescent activities as disrupting Mass, smoking, shoplifting, hocking loogies at nuns, discovering stashes of nudie magazines, stealing money from the collection plate, sticking your dick through knotholes, burning said dick with a lit cigarette, street fighting and “queer-bashing.” Ah, boyhood. I wish I could say that my disappointment with this movie stems from my desire to see it live instead of on film, but, regrettably, it’s the material I found tedious. Though Smith is likeable and weaves amusing yarns that those who grew up Catholic might enjoy, he’s essentially a poor (and crude) man’s Garrison Keillor, offering us little meaningful nostalgia, little magic and little wisdom to accompany his endless tales of amateur depravity. **The Desk**, 2015, 1 ¾ stars Pretend you’re a fair-minded, professional journalist, as the creator and subject of *The Desk* (2 stars) imagines himself. A writer comes to you to pitch a piece after uncovering scandalous information that may or may not prove that a person was unjustly let go from his job. “Ah, sounds like an interesting read. So who is this wronged person?” you ask. “Me,” the writer answers. Stunned that the guy would dare approach you about a piece that is so clearly fraught with conflict of interest, undue emotional attachment and just plain motivation for revenge, you somehow muster up a “no thanks” while trying to hide your distaste for his ethical lapse. You send him on his way. Former *New York Times* columnist Andrew Goldman is essentially that writer, bringing us a fatally flawed, if somewhat unique and entertaining, blend of documentary, essay and half-fictional narrative. During his 90-minute rant, he doesn’t exactly create a bad movie, but he does commit the same crime he condemns his former employer for: bad journalism. And he too should be sent on his way. [![TheDesk](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TheDesk-300x141.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TheDesk.jpg)Goldman used to be a talented *Times* columnist, specializing in provocative and often insightful interviews with celebrities. He first got in trouble – with both his employer and politically correct social-media nut jobs – when he asked Tippi Hedren a blunt question in the wake of the movie *The Girl*. He pondered aloud why Hedren didn’t give in and have sex with Alfred Hitchcock to help her career. He was immediately – and falsely – branded a misogynist. Though he wasn’t fired, he was given a punishment harsher than the *Times* gave a known plagiarist, a one-month forced leave. His woes didn’t end there, as the *Times* apparently scrutinized his work more closely than ever from that day forward. And when another interview (with a subject the *Times* might have been pursuing as an advertiser) took a similarly awkward turn, well, the writing was on the wall, if no longer the page. He had to go. At least that’s the story Goldman feeds us, and some of it does indeed seem true. We don’t know the complete truth, though, because we shouldn’t trust the source. He just doesn’t pass the smell test, let alone the harsh scrutiny of the type of journalism he claims to revere. And then there’s the odd structure of the film itself, which Goldman describes as “a film about a film I failed to finish about a TV show I failed to make where the guy got fired for making a mistake just like I did.” If that sounds like a disaster, it actually isn’t, and the unique juxtaposition of reality and fiction gives the movie energy and somewhat balances out the dreadful reenactments. But, ultimately, the film-within-a film (which Goldman created with similarly outspoken New Zealand talk-show host Paul Henry) turns the whole project into a self-righteous romp, one that prompts even Henry to complain, “It’s just narcissistic, isn’t it?” Goldman wants his film, which is getting its world premiere here, to focus on the trampling of the First Amendment and the declining standards of the *Times*. Well, the newspaper admittedly takes some punches, but it’s really Goldman who comes across as an annoyingly whiny ex-employee who simply wasn’t a good fit for the old “Gray Lady” of newsprint. As one *Times* employee says, the problem wasn’t really Goldman’s words, it was his tone. As a proponent of outspoken, brutally honest reporting, I hate to say it, but there might be some truth in that. “I loved the job,” Goldman tells us in his badly paced, self-indulgent voiceover, “and I still love the paper, even though they had sort of fucked me in this really inconceivable way.” No, Andrew, they didn’t fuck you. They just fired you. Get over it. *The film has its second and final showing on Tuesday, April 14, at Enzian Theater, at 9:15 p.m. Goldman will attend. The movie will be preceded by the short film* Spearhunter. **Proud Citizen**, 2014, 1 ½ stars It’s quite an accomplishment to make your narrative feature seem like a documentary. So congrats to *Proud Citizen* for that. But when said film is also lacking in emotional impact, implausibly plotted, badly paced and student-filmy, you’ve got a problem. [![fff](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fff-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fff.jpg)Writer-director Thom Southerland’s black-and-white drama, which is getting its Southeast premiere at the festival, focuses like a laser on amateur playwright Krasimira Stanimirova (co-writer Katerina Stoykova-Klemer), who travels to Lexington, Kentucky, from her home in Bulgaria after winning second place in an international writing contest, to see her play performed. But when she gets there, she finds that the community-theater troupe has little time for her. “I didn’t know traveling would be so lonely,” she says to herself in Bulgarian-language voiceover. “I keep waiting for people to appear and yell ‘surprise’ at me, or at least ‘Welcome to Kentucky, genius playwright.’” Instead, she wanders the streets, tours horse farms and befriends a single mom who invites her into her home and, preposterously, gives her complete control over her young child while she spends the night with an old boyfriend. Thanks to a promising premise and an interesting autobiographical, even extemporaneous, feel, *Proud Citizen* has its heart in the right place as it tries to offer unique commentaries on unmet expectations and cultural differences. But like Krasimira’s American Dream, the film never quite congeals. **Welcome to Me**, 2015, 1 ½ stars Kristen Wiig’s colossal comedic break, *Welcome to Me*, is her chance to show whether she can carry a star-studded film virtually by herself and whether her nice turn in *The Skeleton Twins* was a fluke or a sign of better things to come. Regrettably, she disappoints on both counts. But, in a departure from the film’s title, the failure is not all about her, as she has considerable help from the writer and director and her fellow cast members. [![Welcome to me August 9 2013 028.NEF](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WelcomeToMe-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WelcomeToMe.jpg)Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a bi-polar lottery winner who decides to eschew charity or any practical uses of her $86 million winnings and instead embrace fame full-force by launching a talk show hosted by and about only herself. Even Donald Trump must be offended by the immodesty. Accompanying Alice on her misadventure is the show’s director (Joan Cusack), producer (James Marsden) and production assistant (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The only ones who seem concerned for her well-being are her love interest (Wes Bentley), best friend (Linda Cardellini**)** and therapist (an underused Tim Robbins). But it’s not genuine concern, as little in this films rings true. Thanks to underwhelming writing by Eliot Laurence, limp directing by Shira Piven and a mediocre performance by Wiig – who settles too comfortably into her low-key, deadpan, *SNL* delivery – nothing crackles the way it should in this inelegant, inarticulate and often unfunny take on our media-obsessed, selfish society. And just when you think the movie is about to make a larger, darker statement about redemption and the moral bankruptcy of fame, it pulls its punches, unable to rise above its implausibilities and contrivances. (Since when do “narrative infomercials” air live and unrehearsed, with virtually no one in the studio audience?) It’s tough to select an opening-night film. Organizers must consider the tastes of its audience, the need to create a good feeling among its patrons, and the delicate balance between pushing the envelope and playing it too safe. They also have to consider what films are available and whether those films have enough buzz to sell tickets. Admittedly, this movie might partially satisfy on those levels, as I heard a few mutterings of “OK” and “cute” from those leaving the advance screening. But even more importantly, the opener must challenge us and set the proper tone for the remaining nine days of the festival. *Welcome to Me* does neither. The best part about opening night (other than the cool party at Enzian and Eden Bar) is the stop-motion short (directed by Adam Pesapane, better known as PES) that will precede *Welcome to Me.* Though *Submarine Sandwich* (3 stars), in its North American premiere, is not as instantly mesmerizing as the director’s Oscar-nominated *Fresh Guacamole* from 2012, it’s a slice – literally – of cultural and culinary nostalgia. **Across the Sea** FL, 2015, 1 ½ stars *Across the Sea*, an unrelentingly depressing, though well-acted, drama in both Turkish and English, is a story of painful regret. It’s filled with moody, music-filled, handheld shots of contemplative characters walking the beach or strolling city streets – and almost nothing else, at least until the final emotional minutes. Directors Nisan Dag and Esra Saydam try to overwhelm us with atmospheric longing and thereby create a movie that is greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps they want to bathe us in the light of lost love and conjure up an image of Jay Gatsby, transfixed by the metaphorical light at the end of Daisy’s dock. But the only light here is the green one that this film should not have gotten. **The Tribe**, 2014, 1 ¼ stars Because of the single showing and lack of press screening, I was unable to review this film myself. However, I was quoted in a [local blog](http://lancearoundorlando.com/) as calling it a “pretentious, failed experimented.” I was quoted accurately. (But please keep in mind my rating does not apply to audience members who speak Russian sign language.) **Body**, 2015, 1 ¼ stars To say a film is bad is one thing; to say it’s unnecessary may be an even deeper cut. Yet that’s the word that comes to mind when watching *Body*, a wanna-be Hitchcockian thriller that, despite nice pacing and a refreshingly no-nonsense structure, feels unoriginal and tiresome from the get-go, relying too much on its score to deliver chills. Growing wearing of their pot smoking, three 20-something valley-girl types are seeking fun on Christmas Eve. Their quest leads them to a deserted mansion that two of the women believe is the abode of the third woman’s wealthy uncle. When they learn the truth, it’s too late, and predictable trouble ensues, leading to, of course, bloodshed and in-fighting. To successfully use the “innocent everyman in trouble” formula that the master of suspense perfected, the innocents in question must be, well, innocent. Even more importantly, they must be somewhat likeable and in a predicament that seems plausible. But after a healthy dose of unbelievability, a fairly large plot hole and such classic Hitchcock lines as “This place is fucking sick” and “Christmas is fucking awesome,” it matters little that first-time writer-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen actually have some interesting things to say about morality and decision-making in a time of crisis. “What was it like, him dying? Was it fast?” one girl ponders. “Yeah, it just sort of happened,” another responds. If only the death of this film could have been as quick. **International Shorts Program** Most people think designing a shorts program begins and ends with picking the films. And then there’s Matthew Curtis, the programming director of the Enzian Theater and the Florida Film Festival. A consummate professional, he starts by picking shorts that complement one another and ends by massaging the order until it feels just right. The longest short is usually at the end, the tone is carefully balanced, and the program doesn’t begin or end too jarringly. He doesn’t always get it correct, but when he does, the programs are a pleasure to watch – helped in no small measure by the almost equally talented programming coordinator, Clementine Leger. [![DSC00493](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00493-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00493.jpg)With that said, a shorts program is only as good as its films, and the International Shorts program is usually one of the festival’s better blocks. This year’s seems fairly strong once again. If I were to give the overall program a star rating, it would flirt with a 4 before settling in at a solid 3 on our 0-5 scale. And at 98 minutes, and with a healthy mix of English- and foreign-language choices and comedy and drama, it’s a nice watch. (Remember, these are all live action. For animated, choose the International Animated block. And don’t forget the second block of live-action international shorts, consisting of four longer flicks.) Now let’s take a closer look at the 10 films and – to paraphrase Steve Martin – get reeeaally short. The micro-short ***Don’t Eat the Meatball*** (2 stars) brings the block to a crisp, hilarious beginning. Nothing more than an adorable dog desperately resisting the urge to eat a ball of beef, it’s pure cinematic irresistibility until it ends abruptly with an overly cute, end-credit photo montage. Sigh. It could have been just a tad meatier. That comedic substance is provided by the second offering, ***Makeover*** (3 stars), which showcases, in cartoonish fashion, an elderly man’s attempt at a *Benjamin Button*-style redo with nothing more than items found around the house. After some painful nips and tucks, he’s ready for his date with a youthful goddess, or is he? In ***Bad Hunter*** (3 stars), a young man in Kurdistan comes to the aid of a woman who has been sexually assaulted, only to have the awkward situation come back to haunt them both in an unpredictable way. Directed by Sahim Omar Kalifa, this 15-minute drama is the second best of the program and offers a strangely intriguing commentary on both gender inequality and kindness in a country whose values might be more similar to ours than we had thought.[![DSC00456](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00456-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00456.jpg) In the one programming slip-up of the block, *Bad Hunter* is followed by the worst short, the German-language ***Happy B-Day*** (1 star), which starts well but doesn’t capitalize on is slick cinematography and originality. It simply doesn’t know how to end and seems unsure whether it wants to be a dark comedy or a laugh-out-loud tribute to Monty Python’s Black Knight. Ultimately, it’s neither. But, hey, our rating system does allow 0 stars, so it could have been worse. Belying its title, ***Pop-Up Porno F4M*** (3 stars) is a quirky and touching, though slight, story of a breast cancer survivor’s experiences with a new potential boyfriend. Told through the turning pages of a crudely drawn pop-up book, Stephen Dunn’s film saves its darkly funny yet slightly sad punchline for the very end. In an Egyptian-run grocery in Switzerland, trouble begins after a woman misinterprets a father’s reprimand of his child. A melee ensues – fueled by confusion and racial biases – until the young girl seems the only remnant of sanity. ***Discipline*** (3 stars) is not terribly weighty, but it’s a nice comedic addition to the program thanks to its solid acting, brisk pacing and social commentary. [![Flash1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Flash1-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Flash1.jpg)*Flash* With four solid shorts under its belt, the program at this point feels ready to bust out with something excellent, and it does just that with ***Flash*** (4 stars), an inspired reimagining of the typical photo-booth experience. Embracing the genre of mystical romance, Alberto Ruiz Rojo’s dialogue-free film, at just 7 minutes, gives the block that healthy dose of surrealism I’d been hoping for. Coming back down to earth slightly, we get ***Thicker Than Water*** (3 stars), which is no less original than *Flash* but just not as tightly edited or magical. Seung Yeob Lee’s Korean-language film is probably unlike any other vampire film you’ve seen, offering the themes of alienation, discrimination, love and sacrifice instead of violence, camp and those pale dudes who sparkle while spouting nonsense from badly written screenplays. The originality keeps on coming, though in a slightly small dose, with ***Russian Roulette*** (3 stars), which focuses on two lonely video-chat daters – one who just happens to be in outer space. A sweet though overly simple look at loneliness, Ben Aston’s 5-minute film gets the most credit for its erotically amusing ending. At 24 minutes, the Dutch-language ***Wien for Life*** (2 stars*)* is the longest film in the program. (Remember the aforementioned Curtis formula?) I can’t question its placement, but, unfortunately, this film wouldn’t quite work in any position. Tedious and tonally flawed, Alidor Dolfing’s tale of friends fighting over a winning lottery ticket strives for dark comedy but instead seems more like an uninspired, though well-acted, dramatic medication on selfishness and bad decision-making. Just like the doomed characters, the director and writer needed slightly better luck. Though the material here won’t shock most adult audiences – Midnight Shorts this is not – the adult themes and mild violence means you’ll need to leave the kids at home. This program plays on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Regal Winter Park Village and again on April 19 at 1:30 p.m. at the Enzian. **Shorts Program #1: “All I Have to Do is Dream”** We’re approaching the halfway point of the festival, and if you haven’t caught a shorts program yet, shame on you. As I’ve said repeatedly, they are the Corpse Flowers of the festival, blooming infrequently and requiring your rapt attention lest you never see them again. Regrettably, shorts too can smell like decomposing flesh once in a while, but I’m happy to report that I’ve encountered a few more sweet smells than stinkers this year. That botanical metaphor brings us to Shorts Program #1, which, like the other three live-action domestic groupings, is named for an Everly Brothers song, to honor Phil Everly, who died last year. “All I Have to Do is Dream” is the name of this one, and, indeed, several of the offerings in this block focus on dreams of one sort or another. Michael Goode’s ***The Answers*** (4 stars on our 0-5 scale) starts the program perfectly. Shot well and immediately mesmerizing, this portrait of a man reliving his life just after death balances comedy, drama and romance in a way seldom seen in short cinema. That’s a tough act to follow, but the understated, subtle and strangely effective ***Stuckey, Private First Class*** (3 stars), directed by Brantley Jones and getting its world premiere here, is almost up to the task. That’s more than I can say for ***Election Night*** (2 stars), which is bound to be a crowd pleaser – thanks in part to the appearance of Peri Gilpin (Roz from *Frasier*) – but is simply too contrived, despite the twist ending that I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t see coming. ***Dad’s Dead*** and ***Mulignans*** (both 2 stars) are next and couldn’t be more different. The first is a single-scene drama between characters addressing not just the recent passing of their father but their own mental health. Though the acting is solid and the simple structure refreshing, it ultimately becomes more of an actorly exercise than a complete film. *Mulignans*, though a comedy, suffers the same fate: tedium. But, hey, you have to admire its unique take on race. ***For Ofelia*** (3 stars), a dramedy set in the Philippines in the 1960s, is a weighty, almost haunting addition to the program. An odd Tagalog-language tale of a young boy whose mother dresses him like a girl, the film, directed by Christopher De Las Alas, is especially memorable once you realize it’s likely inspired by true events. The penultimate offering is ***Smut*** (2 stars), a quirky coming-of-age tale by director Tom Sveen. Though it has its comedic sensibilities in the right place and, like *Election Night*, will likely be a crowd pleaser, it’s a tad too familiar and rough around the edges to make much of an impact. [![RunFast](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/RunFast-300x126.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/RunFast.jpg)*Run Fast* ***Run Fast*** (4 stars) rounds out the block in spectacular fashion and is, along with *Rabbit* (Shorts Program #3), one of the two must-see festival shorts I’ve seen so far. Directed by Anna Musso and starring Robert Forster in an irresistibly crusty role, it’s the story of a poor Kenyan runner balancing her desire to win a Los Angeles marathon and her responsibilities back in her home country. Slow to start, the film will creep up on you and deliver an emotional punch at the finish line. *Shorts Program #1 has its second and final screening Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m., at Regal Winter Park Village.* **Miscellaneous Shorts** The shorts are often the most rewarding watches, and this year’s festival is packed with 120 of them. While you probably shouldn’t choose a program based on a review of just one film in that block, I nevertheless present some brief critiques – from worst to best – of the shorts I’ve seen. In ***Haze*** (1 star, part of Shorts Program #4), a young man tries to find out what really happened during a one-night stand. When he discovers the truth, it sure would be nice if he’d fill us in, because without that information, this technically well-made drama seems pointless, except to posit a vague idea about the perception of date rape. A North Korean general is torn between his obedience to his country’s oppressive regime and his daughter’s desire to attend music school in the United States in ***The Loyalist*** (3 stars, part of Shorts Program #3), an emotionally charged, politically tinged melodrama. At 23 minutes, the documentary ***Unmappable*** (4 stars, part of the 8X Very, Very Real Doc Shorts Showcase) feels too short, but, through stylistic glimpses into the both the actions and psyche of its unique subject, it nevertheless paints a memorable portrait of Denis Wood, who, for good and bad, doesn’t see the world the way most of us do. Raised by an anarchist father and believing that “laws are horrible things, by and large,” Wood doesn’t draw inside the lines. That applies both to his maps, which blur the distinction between cartography and art, and his personal indiscretions, which led to his incarceration for having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. A uniquely touching drama about the role animals play in psychotherapy, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s ***Rabbit*** (4 stars, part of Shorts Program #3) also serves as a darkly smart commentary on the similarities between animal and human captivity. It’s one of the must-sees of the festival. ## Epilogue [![Awards ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Awards-ceremony-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Awards-ceremony.jpg)The 10-day-long Florida Film Festival ended on April 19 with the closing-night film, a 50th-anniversary restoration of Jean-Luc Godard’s *Alphaville*, at 9:30 p.m. at Enzian Theater. *Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter*, one of the best films of the festival, also had its final showing, at 9 p.m. at Regal Winter Park Village. The awards bash was held April 18 at Enzian, and *Imperial Dreams* walked away the big winner, taking home the Audience Award and the Grand Jury prize for best narrative feature. *Tomorrow We Disappear* won the Grand Jury prize for best documentary feature while *Limited Partnership* won the documentary Audience Award. [![DSC00508](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00508-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00508.jpg)Tony Sullivan accepts the award for *Limited Partnership*. Among shorts, *Unmappable* won for best documentary, *Myrna the Monster* won for best live-action, and The *Pride of Strathmoor* took home the prize for best animation. The Audience Award went to *The Gunfighter*. The Florida Film Festival is an Oscar-accredited festival, which means the live-action and animation jury winners are now potentially eligible for an Academy Award nomination. The judges created three special awards this year. For “special innovation in \[short film\] storytelling,” *For Ofelia* took home an award. For “nonfiction storytelling,” *Welcome to Leith* received recognition. And Katerine Stoykova-Klemer of *Proud Citizen* won for “outstanding debut performance.” Keep in mind not all films were eligible for awards, as many, such as Spotlight films, were screened out of competition. [![DSC00522](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00522-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DSC00522.jpg)Bené (Bennett Jones) with Enzian Programming Coordinator Clementine Leger The event was hosted by Peg O’Keef in full mermaid costume, and guests were treated to music on the Enzian lawn by The Legendary JCs and a hysterical, seemingly impromptu bit of musical madness by *Bené* (Bennett Jones), the star of *I Am a Knife With Legs*. The festival was generally well received this year, with the only drawback being the weather, which forced the cancellations of all three outdoor films at the Enzian and even the shuffling of venues at Regal Winter Park Village thanks to a leaky ceiling. *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* / *Orlando Weekly* --- ### [OIF turns 10](https://www.meiermovies.com/oif-turns-10/) **Published:** May 31, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Anniversary bash features X Challenge awards [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/OIF-Awards-May-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/OIF-Awards-May-2026-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 31, 2026 The Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF) celebrated its 10-year anniversary last night at Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida. The event featured a retrospective of the first 10 years and tributes to those who have contributed to the group’s success, including founders Lenny and Tzvia LoRusso. OIF also presented 39 crystal trophies to filmmakers who had participated in the recent X Challenge, which tasked participants with creating a nine-minute film in a limited amount of time. Films had to adhere to one of three genres: psych-thriller, rom-com or superhero. The winner in the psych-thriller category was *Where the Light Stays*, the rom-com winner was *The Lounge Singer*, and *True North* took home the trophy for best superhero film. For more information about X Challenge, visit [OIFStudio.com](https://oifstudio.com/2026-x-challenge/). *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) **Published:** March 19, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Sissy Spacek, Mark Duplass to headline [![image011](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image011.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image011.jpg)Sissy Spacek ### Highlights & reviews from the 25th festival From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/03/16/sissy-spacek-and-mark-duplass-to-headline-this-years-florida-film-festival)* and *MeierMovies.com* Oscar winner Sissy Spacek will headline the 25th Florida Film Festival next month, appearing at a special screening of *Badlands* (1973) on April 15 and participating in a Q&A session. The Terrence Malick film will be one of 54 feature films at the 10-day festival, which will run April 8-17. [![image010](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image010.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image010.jpg)Mark Duplass In addition to Spacek, the festival will welcome the multi-talented Mark Duplass, who is credited with helping start the mumblecore movement. He will attend a screening of *The Puffy Chair* (2005), which he wrote, co-directed and starred in, on April 10 and participate in a Q&A. The festival will again be held at the Enzian Theater in Maitland and Regal Cinemas in Winter Park Village. Enzian Forever, the plan to add two screens to the Enzian, will not affect this year’s festival, as groundbreaking is not expected until later summer or early fall, pending approval by the City of Maitland. The event will screen 180 movies (54 features and 126 shorts). That’s more than ever before and up slightly from the 177 films (57 features and 120 shorts) last year. The lineup was revealed tonight at the Program Announcement Party at Enzian. The opening-night movie will be *The Lobster*, a dystopian, absurdist film that became one of the darlings of the festival circuit in 2015 but has not yet received even a limited release, making it highly sought after by fans of art-house cinema. [![Henry introduces FFF](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Henry-introduces-FFF-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Henry-introduces-FFF.jpg)Enzian President Henry Maldonado introduces the festival’s lineup. The feature categories look much the same as in previous years. The festival will offer 12 Spotlight Films, 10 movies in the Narrative Features competition, 10 in the Documentary Features competition, four International Showcase Features, four Midnight Features, three Family Films, two Food Films, three Music Films and two Florida Documentaries. One of the two Florida doc features (*Memories of a Penitent Heart*) and the short that precedes it (*Pink Boy*) address LGBT themes. And the second, *Wrestling Alligators*, is directed by Andrew Shea, whom Enzian patrons might remember as the director of *Portrait of Wally*, which played the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival in 2012. Retro films include Don Chaffey’s *One Million Years B.C.* (1966), which will be presented free of charge in Winter Park’s Central Park, and Mike Nichols’ *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*, which will close the festival. (Both movies are celebrating their 50th anniversary.) No outdoor films are planned at Enzian, as the “Pitcher Shows” on the lawn have been discontinued temporarily. Continuing the tradition of naming the narrative-shorts blocks for songs by musicians who have recently died, the festival will present “Let’s Deutsche: New German Shorts” in honor of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” But the tribute doesn’t stop there, as four other narrative-shorts blocks are named for Bowie compositions: “Changes,” “Ashes to Ashes,” “Young Americans” and “Modern Love.” Also, the Documentary Shorts block is called “Where Are We Now.” The rest of the shorts blocks are similar to previous years’. There are Animated Shorts, International Shorts, International Animated Shorts and Florida Shorts: Best of Brouhaha. Last but not least, the festival will again offer – to quote former Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham – “bat-shit crazy” Midnight Shorts. [![image009](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image009.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/image009.png)Thirty-six countries are represented. In addition, 24 films are making their world premieres, with 114 others getting either their U.S., regional or Florida premieres. The event is one of fewer than 100 Oscar-accredited festivals in the world, meaning the Grand Jury winners of the live-action shorts, animated-shorts and documentary-shorts categories will be eligible for an Academy Award. “I just love the diversity and filmmaking talent that will be on display in this year’s lineup,” says Programming Director Matthew Curtis. “With the most films we’ve ever programmed in one \[festival\], the most countries ever represented, the most female filmmakers (59), and an exciting mix of new voices and 35 \[festival\] alumni returning with outstanding new work, this promises to be a truly banner year.” The festival will also offer four forums, including “Perseverance: Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves” on April 13 and “An Introduction to Cinematography” on April 14. And, as always, there will be parties and special events, including the Opening Night celebration on April 8, the Awards Bash on April 16 and a farmers market on April 10. Tickets to individual films go on sale March 18 and cost $11 for a movie after 5 p.m. and $9 for a movie at 5 p.m. or earlier. Ticket packages are available now and range from Cinematic Sampler (five films for $50) to Film Buff (10 for $95) to Aficionado (20 for $180), and all the way up to the Producer pass, which costs $1,500 and gives you priority access to everything. For the full schedule and additional information, visit [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). And stay tuned to *The Orlando Weekly* for full event coverage and reviews of the films. ## Film Reviews [![Dissonance](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dissonance-300x126.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dissonance.jpg)*Dissonance*, the best short film I’ve ever seen From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/this-years-short-film-programs-at-florida-film-fest-are-ready-for-the-big-time/Content?oid=2482277), April 6, 2016 Before delving into the features, which are organized below from best to worst, let’s examine some of the shorts. The shorts were already my favorite part of the festival, but now there’s a reason to respect them even more: The Florida Film Festival is Oscar-accredited in all three major shorts categories (live action, animated and documentary) for the first time. Fewer than 20 festivals worldwide have accreditation in all three, and no other Florida festival has any type of Academy accreditation. Program #2 (“Ashes to Ashes”) is a must-see, a mind-expanding, consequential program that’s among the best the festival has ever offered. (It’s also for adults only, as it contains graphic violence and simulated oral sex.) And, befitting the David Bowie-inspired title, alternating threads of death (or some other life-changing event) and absurdism run through every short. That doesn’t mean all eight of its films are winners. For instance, ***Other People’s People*** thinks it’s a feature, introducing more characters and plots than it can handle; ***Los Niños Sicarios*** struggles to convey its message; and ***Savasana*** – well, you’ll just have to decide for yourself whether its brand of absurdism is for you. All three deserve 2 stars (on our 0-5 scale). The other five selections prove just how powerful short film can be. ***Florence*** (3 stars) is a horror about the dangers of overmedication and wrongful diagnoses, while ***Tail*** (3 stars) is a charming and unique examination of a physically challenged nerd’s quest for love. Absurdism tinges *Tail* but goes full tilt in ***My Last Film*** (4 stars), a cleverly meta-theatrical examination of film itself. The program saves the best for last. ***Black Swell*** (4 stars), starring the incomparable Richard Kind, again looks at death, but in a moralistic, almost poetic way, while ***Thunder Road*** (4 stars), which won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, teaches that grief comes in all forms, even ridiculous ones, thanks to a terrific performance by writer-director Jim Cummings. [![Black Swell](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Black-Swell-300x181.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Black-Swell.jpg)*Black Swell* The documentary shorts (6 x Real: “Where Are We Now?”) are just as good. ***The Tricks List*** and ***Traffic Stop*** (both 2 stars) don’t reach their full potential, but the other four are stellar. And though ***The Trials of Constance Baker* *Motley*** and ***The 100 Years Show*** (both 4 stars) are top-notch, my favorite is ***I Am Yup’ik*** (5 stars), a stunningly human look at how basketball unites a tiny Alaskan community. It’s the *Hoop Dreams* of short films. Shorts program #1 (“Changes”) isn’t as memorable as either program #2 (“Ashes to Ashes”) or the documentary shorts (6 x Real: “Where Are We Now?”), but about half its films are worth viewing. Most impressive is ***Zelos*** (4 stars), which takes the familiar sci-fi subject of clones and turns it on its ear. ***The Seamstress*** (3 stars), about an aging Chinese woman struggling with work and family, is also solid. More challenging thematically and stylistically is ***Peacock Killer*** (3 stars), which addresses man’s strange habit of tackling his guilt by taking revenge on things that never harmed him. Stylistically different but no less dramatically impactful is ***Verbatim: The Ferguson Case*** (3 stars), which presents, in reenactment form, the word-for-word testimony of the police officer and a witness is the 2014 shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. And for a lighter, but no less enjoyable, touch, there’s ***Sundae*** (also 3 stars), about a mom on a very serious mission that may or may not end up in ice cream. (Shorts #1 plays for the final time on April 12, at 7 p.m., at Regal Winter Park Village.) The least enjoyable shorts program, at least for my taste, is #4 (“Modern Love”), which lives up to its name and then some, as many of the eight films contain graphic discussions and depictions of sex. One even contains a brief clip of real intercourse. So please heed the festival’s warning that the program is for adults only. Though the program is for an 18-and-over crowd, I hesitate to say it’s for a mature one, as a couple of films would be better suited to the Midnight Shorts program. Instead of challenging us aesthetically or emotionally, most of the shorts instead exist only to shock or insult our intelligence. Even worse, they think they are something greater, a noble attempt at honesty or avant-garde cinema, when they really are just one step above pornography (albeit really well-shot porn). Profoundly annoying is ***Bad at Dancing*** (0 stars), which seems to be making a statement about beauty, friendship, jealousy and societal conventions regarding personal space, but stumbles badly on its tedious cinematic mini-odyssey. Especially grating is its use of the song “Red River Valley.” Not even the cowboy who loved you so true could love this film. With that admittedly harsh criticism out of the way, I must confess that the festival programmers succeed on one level: They make the experience profoundly uncomfortable, especially when we are forced to listen to our fellow audience members laugh nervously and fidget, while other viewers walk out. [![Dinner with Family](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dinner-with-Family-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dinner-with-Family.jpg)“Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman’s Family” As disappointing as most of the selections are, two deserve praise. ***Too Legit*** (3 stars) is a clever though clunky commentary on rape, while ***Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman’s Family*** (4 stars) is one of the best shorts of the entire festival. Tackling just about every nightmarishly dysfunctional family issue you can think of – and framing those issues in a breathtakingly twisty and metatheatrical way – the film, directed by Jason Woliner and starring Patti LuPone and Tony Roberts, is exactly what the rest of this program wanted to be: provocative, uncomfortable, funny and boundary-pushing. If you’re brave, horny or simply don’t trust my recommendations (you wouldn’t be the first), the program plays for the final time on April 14 at 9 p.m., at Regal Cinemas Winter Park Village 20. Even nuttier is the Midnight Shorts program, which I usually avoid. Often the realm of gross-out comedies and batshit-crazy horror, the shorts this year were something far greater: the best Midnight program I’ve ever seen. Although the block has its fair share of adolescent silliness, it carries real weight, with ***The Past Inside the Present*** (4 stars) being one of the best shorts of the entire festival. Also worthy of a watch were the oddly hilarious ***The Procedure***, the mesmerizing ***Manoman*** and the nightmarish ***Fuckkkyouuu***, all getting 3 stars. (Yes, I’m really giving a thumbs-up to a film with that latter title.) There were a few zero- and one-star flicks, but there were also a couple of near-misses that held some crazy charm, such as ***Carnal Orient***, ***Puppet Man*** and ***Double Blind No. 1***, all three getting 2 stars. Among the other shorts programs, ***Pickle*** (4 stars) is a stand-out. Directed by Amy Nicholson and preceding *Newman*, the short doc is devoted to animals who need a little help to survive – who are in, well, a pickle. The film – in a both touching and quirky fashion, complete with animation – depicts the love of one married couple for a paraplegic possum, a fish that can’t swim, a cat with a heart defect and countless other creatures who, like ourselves, enjoy our brief moment in the circle of life. If you’re into potty humor, there’s ***Killer*** (3 stars, from Shorts Program #3: “Young Americans”) – perhaps the best short film ever about masturbation – and, from the animated program, ***T.P.*** (3 stars), about actual potties. Also from the animated block is ***The Loneliest Stoplight*** (3 stars). Animated by Bill Plympton and narrated by Patton Oswalt, the film, which some might remember from this year’s Oscar Shorts program, is simple and not as edgy as Plympton’s usual fare, but it has more than its share of heart. From the “Let’s Deutsch: New German Shorts” program, there’s ***90 Grad Nord*** (90 Degrees North) (2 stars), the story of two men trapped at a pedestrian crosswalk that is perpetually red. Though the film by Detsky Graffam is well conceived and impeccably shot, it is both too long and tonally challenged, unable to successfully balance its absurdist social metaphor with its penchant for comedy-horror. Even more disappointingly, the editing fails to invoke the sense of panic that the men should feel, while the screenplay has more in common with *Rubber* than with, say, the Spanish-language absurdist films *The Phone Box* and *The Exterminating Angel*, to which it aspires. As good as many of the aforementioned films are, nothing can prepare you for another selection from the “Let’s Deutsch” program: Till Nowak’s ***D******i******s******s******o******n******a******n******c******e*** (5 stars), a jaw-dropping blend of animation and live action that is pure cinematic genius. It’s not just the best new film of the festival (features included) – it’s the best short I’ve ever seen. “You cannot talk about art,” says Carmen Herrera, the subject of *The 100 Years Show*. “You have to art about art.” With that in mind, I’m done talking. Now go see these films. ### **Features (from best to worst)** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/10-must-see-films-from-each-of-the-florida-film-festival-categories/Content?oid=2482297), April 6, 2016 and [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/08/eight-is-enough-8-more-movies-screening-at-florida-film-festival-ranked-from-best-to-worst), April 8, 2016 ***[![Who's Afraid](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Whos-Afraid-300x233.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Whos-Afraid.jpg)Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*** (4 ¾ stars) is the best – and the most emotionally wrenching – feature of the festival. The 1966 classic from Mike Nichols stars Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis. Based on Edward Albee’s play, the film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, receiving a nod in every category for which it was eligible. It won five. Yet it’s not the Oscars it’s remembered for – it’s the uncomfortably claustrophobic, even absurdist, way in which the dark comedy/drama exposes the underbelly of a marriage rife with alcoholism, jealousy and bitterness. Buy your ticket for this Closing Night Retro film (April 17, 9:30 p.m., Enzian) now, and don’t forget to order a stiff drink at Eden Bar beforehand. You’ll need it. Yorgos Lanthimos’s ***The Lobster*** (4 stars), which is this year’s Opening Night film, is a modern absurdist classic and arguably the best new narrative feature of the festival. The bad news: It’s playing only once, on April 8. The good news: It will soon be in wide release. If American TV sitcoms were Mount Olympus, Norman Lear would be Zeus. Described as the most influential producer in tube history, Lear started as a writer at the dawn of the industry and went on to mastermind such shows as *Sanford and Son*, *Good Times*, *Maude*, *The Jeffersons* and his masterpiece, *All in the Family*, which brought the social revolution of 1960s cinema to 1970s television. “Comedy was our business,” Lear says. “But we had something on our minds.” The 90-year-old icon deserves not just another talking-heads documentary but something substantial, and he certainly gets it in ***Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You*** (4 stars), which, under the direction of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (*Jesus Camp*), explores – with stylistic and narrative richness – the works of the producer and the inner workings of the man. “You can’t go home again,” Thomas Wolfe wrote. The subjects of ***The Babushkas of Chernobyl*** (3 ¾ stars), the fascinating documentary by first-time directors Anne Bogart and Holly Morris, would disagree. [![Babushkas](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Babushkas-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Babushkas.jpg)When the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster occurred in 1986, more than 100,000 people were evacuated from a thousand-square-mile area that became known as the Exclusion Zone. Most never returned to their ancestral homes. But a stubborn group violated the law and snuck back. Roughly 100 people – mostly old women – remain, and the law has essentially turned a blind eye to them, allowing them to live, semi-legally, in virtual isolation, unprotected from the radiation that still permeates the ground, the trees, the food and themselves. Yet this is not a tale of law-breakers. This is story of survival and defiance, and the meaning of happiness. Indeed, remarkably, statistics show that the women who came back and exposed themselves to years of radiation have lived longer than the women who never returned. Radiation, it seems, is less damaging than heartbreak and exile. And the documentary, which is receiving its Florida premiere, presents – in a simple, straightforward style – a remarkable historical document while also illustrating an essential truth about human existence: “You don’t get sick in your Motherland.” The feature is preceded by a short doc, ***The House is Innocent*** (3 stars), directed by Nicholas Coles, about Tom and Barbara, a couple living in a house in Sacramento, Calif., that had been the scene of grisly murders. But instead of fighting the home’s reputation, they embrace it. “It’s like creepy in a good way,” Tom says. Lacking the profundity of the feature it accompanies – and running a tad too long – the short is still a fun watch and, like *The Babushkas*, teaches that a positive attitude and a purpose in life are more important than your damaged surroundings. ***Hooligan Sparrow*** (3 ¾ stars) is that rare accomplishment documentary filmmakers dream of but rarely get: an as-it-happens, in-your-face exposé. Director Nanfu Wang followed human-rights activist followed Ye Haiyan (a.k.a. Sparrow) for many months to capture this troubling look at the Chinese government’s habit of surveillance, harassment and imprisonment, specifically as it relates to the sex trade and oppression of young women. Shot mostly with a shaky camera, lacking a solid structure and containing a less-than-stellar voiceover narration, the doc is still one of the most memorable of the festival because of its revelatory journalism. “You can kill me, but you can’t kill the truth,” Sparrow says. Unfortunately, you *can* kill the truth, especially if you’re the Chinese government. But you can’t kill film. ***[![To Keep the Light](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/To-Keep-the-Light-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/To-Keep-the-Light.jpg)To Keep the Light*** (3 ¼ stars), by first-time writer-director Erica Fae, is a quietly mesmerizing look at the lonely life of a lighthouse keeper’s wife who is struggling with her daily duties – and her sanity – while caring for her sick husband in 19th-century Maine. When a mysterious stranger washes up on shore, she is forced to confront both her past and future. Shot much like a haunted-house thriller, the film takes on an Ingmar Bergman feel in the second half. Though it offers few surprises once its twist is revealed, its beauty and confidently methodical pacing – not to mention a solid performance by Fae herself – make it one of the better offerings in the Narrative Features competition. It doesn’t utilize the rich Downeast New England dialect as much as it could, but it nevertheless captures the feel of the period and, in keeping with many other films at the festival, features an interesting feminist theme. Sissy Spacek will be making a special appearance at a screening of Terrence Malick’s ***Badlands*** (3 stars), and participate in a A&A after the film. Though the 1973 classic isn’t the director’s best, you’d be unwise to waste a chance to see the visual master’s work on the Enzian big screen. Get your tickets now for the April 15 showing. Everything is not what it seems in ***Donald Cried*** (3 stars), a seemingly slight and innocuous comedy that, if given time, becomes something deeper. In fact, if you make it through the pedestrian dialogue and handheld camera of the first 30 minutes, you will slowly discover one of the nicest surprises of the festival. Peter (Jesse Wakeman) has returned to his hometown to wrap up the affairs of his recently deceased grandmother, but after losing his wallet, he must seek help from his mentally challenged but well-intentioned childhood friend, Donald (Kris Avedisian, who also writes and directs). Thus begins an odd journey of rediscovered friendship that is as revelatory for the two men as it is for the audience, thanks to great chemistry between the actors and an odd but ultimately successful balance between stoner comedy and dramatic realism. ***[![Love & Friendship](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Love-Friendship-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Love-Friendship.jpg)Love & Friendship*** (3 stars), set in England in the 1790s and based on Jane Austen’s *Lady Susan*, is among the most highly anticipated of the “Spotlight” films. Directed by Whit Stillman, this is the saucy and amusing, if slight, tale of a widow (Kate Beckinsale) who is but one step removed from a Covent Garden nun and twice as conniving in her quest to secure wealthy husbands for both herself and her daughter. Indeed, she’s not above random giblet joining if it both tickles her fancy and helps wrest her future from destitution. Conveying a lively understanding of the plot is unnecessary here, as comprehension of the particulars is pointless. This is style over substance, but what fun the style! Particularly enjoyable is the hilarious Tom Bennett as Jane’s pudding-headed Jerry sneak. If you missed this period comedy ereyesterday, you regrettably won’t be able to view said magic lantern show overmorrow either, as it is making just one appearance at the faire. But look for it in general release within a pair of fortnights. You can put away your 18th-century dictionaries now, as the rest of my reviews embrace modernity (awesome, modern, kick-ass shit). World Nibbler champion Tim McVey (no, not Timothy McVeigh) is tired of getting asked about his favorite video game. “What’s Nibbler? What’s Nibbler? What’s Nibbler? God, I’m sick of that question,” he says. [![Man vs. Snake](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Man-vs.-Snake-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Man-vs.-Snake.jpg)After watching the documentary ***Man vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler*** (2 ¾ stars), you’ll definitely know what Nibbler is. However, you might be sick of the game itself. But despite the fact that the doc almost collapses in tedium toward the end, it has enough kooky charm to sustain itself. Directed by Tim Kinzy and Andrew Seklir, this is the unlikely story of how one nerdy teen (McVey) became the first person to score a billion points on a video game (in 1984) and then attempted to reclaim his record once it was eclipsed by fellow gaming geeks. “A billion-point game can give you carpal tunnel syndrome,” we’re told. And that’s easy to believe, as the achievement takes about 40 hours of nearly non-stop gaming. Yet reaching that 10-digit score means the world to McVey and his man-boy buddies, and the doc quirkily captures their passion. It doesn’t quite achieve the beautiful lunacy of *The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters*, to which it owes much, but it does project a sort of awkward, yet strangely touching humanity that’s easy to admire. It’s preceded by ***Live Fast, Draw Yung*** (2 stars), a short doc about Yung Lenox, a 6-year-old boy who uses marker and paper to re-create covers of rap albums. The film is shot and paced well and difficult to resist on a purely cinematic level. It is also strangely inspirational if viewed in a certain light. But it emits an unsettling aftertaste because of its refusal to delve deeply into the moral questions raised by a youth’s exposure to adult material and a father’s penchant for promotion. ***[![Louder than Bombs](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Louder-than-Bombs-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Louder-than-Bombs.jpg)Louder than Bombs*** (2 ¾ stars), another Spotlight film, may not live up to its lofty expectations for some moviegoers, thanks to its methodical pacing, non-linear structure and almost experimental use of voiceover narration. But if you’re in the right mood, you may come to embrace its *Ordinary People* feel. Directed and co-written by Joachim Trier (distant relation of Lars von Trier) in his English-language debut, the film portrays a father (Gabriel Byrne in one of his strongest performances) and his two sons (Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid) struggling to communicate with one another following a family tragedy. Calm and bloodless almost to a fault, the story feels like it’s both nothing and everything simultaneously, as if the characters are walking through life shell-shocked. That numbness – especially when combined with the screenplay’s time jumps – robs the film of forward momentum and energy, but the film’s originality and maturity end up shining through. *Louder* ultimately succeeds because it has the courage to be quieter. ***Wrestling Alligators*** (2 ¾ stars) — not reviewed ***The Jazz Loft, According to W. Eugene Smith*** (2 ¾ stars) merges photography and jazz music, alternating between the two topics in the free-form style of the latter. Specifically, the documentary tells the tale of a famous jazz loft on Sixth Avenue in New York City in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the astonishingly vast collection of photographs and audio recordings made by famous journalistic shutterbug W. Eugene Smith. Blending in with musicians such as Thelonious Monk and Zoot Sims, Smith seemed right at home. “He was playing his camera,” we’re told, riffing not with a musical instrument but with lenses, F-stops, fixer and bleach. The doc is interesting and entertaining when it explores Smith’s unique personality but, as does a jazz riff, tends to wander, especially when dwelling on the loft’s musicians. And if you’re not into the topics, it’s a bit of a snoozer. But it’s still worth a look, if only for educational purposes. Regrettably, the feature is accompanied by ***Chekhov*** (0 stars), a self-indulgent short doc with absolutely no raison d’etre. One of the festival’s four International Showcase features, ***Lamb*** (2 ¼ stars) is an Ethiopian film (in Amharic, with English subtitles) about a boy’s stubborn independence, perseverance and love for his pet sheep. Written and directed by first-timer Yared Zeleke, the film was Ethiopia’s Oscar submission for foreign-language film. (It was not nominated.) [![lamb](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/lamb-300x158.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/lamb.jpg)Following the death of his mother, young Ephraim (Rediat Amare) and his father leave their native village in search of a better life. “I don’t want to leave either,” his father tells him, “but if we stay, we may meet your mother’s fate.” Realizing that success can come only in the big city, the boy’s father leaves Ephraim with unsympathetic relatives – in rural isolation – while he seeks work in Addis Ababa. The separation devastates the boy, and he clings to the one thing that gives him comfort and reminds him of home: Chuni, his lamb. But, predictably, the relatives don’t view the animal as a pet. “You’re going to learn what all boys must do in our country: sacrifice sheep,” his uncle scolds him. *Lamb* is not the maudlin tearjerker it might have been. In fact, it’s surprisingly devoid of passion. That imbues it with a realistic maturity, especially considering its refreshing inclusion of complex female characters and beautiful landscapes. (Who knew Ethiopia was so breathtaking?) But it also makes the film a tough watch thanks to its almost unbearable pacing and lack of emotional impact. Frankly, this review could have gone either way. If Ethiopian culture and the film’s premise interest you, you might give it a try, but this reviewer simply never got enough from the actors or the story arc to merit a recommendation, especially given the weak ending. [![Hunky](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Hunky-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Hunky.jpg)In **Hunky Dory** (1 ¾ stars), Sidney (Tomas Pais) is a down-on-his-luck drag queen struggling to care for his 11-year-old son after the boy’s mother disappears. He must balance parenting with his daily dose of turning up on friends’ doorsteps to coo for cash and cock. Directed by Michael Curtis Johnson and getting its Florida premiere, *Hunky* has a solid premise, a comparatively strong ending and good chemistry between Pais and Edouard Holdener, who is excellent as Sidney’s son. But it never achieves its desired emotional impact thanks to ill-conceived (and poorly portrayed) supporting characters, a script stretched too thin, a rambling structure and the feeling that we’ve seen similar stories before, just told with more finesse. Director-producer-writer-actor Mark Duplass will attend the festival to screen ***The Puffy Chair*** (1 ½ stars) on April 10 at 7 p.m., at the Enzian Theater, and participate in a Q&A session. A ticket costs $25. (Buy yours now, as the event will likely sell out.) The 2005 film is a road-trip disaster in which Josh (Duplass), his girlfriend (Katie Aselton) and his hippie brother (Rhett Wilkins) travel hundreds of miles to purchase a vintage “puffy” reclining chair for Josh’s dad’s birthday. In keeping with the spirit of the festival – and the many talents of Duplass – I wish had more good things to say about the film, which he produced, wrote and co-directed (uncredited) with his brother, Jay. It’s admittedly a seminal event in mumblecore cinema and captures, albeit sporadically, that improvisational, naturalistic feel of the genre, complete with the home-video look. But apart from a few charming and funny moments, it has almost nothing profound or interesting to say about life, relationships or family: the very subjects it’s addressing. Indeed, its supposedly hyper-realistic feel is ruined by plot elements that stretch credibility to the breaking point. And when those story flaws are combined with characters that are mostly annoying and unlikeable (though competently acted) – and camerawork by what appears to be a monkey with an iPhone – *Chair* ends up flat rather than puffy. (For a better Duplass film, see *The One I Love*, from 2014. He was only in front of the camera on that one, but it still offers a better demonstration of his talents.) ***Mad*** (1 ½ stars) wants to be a John Cassavetes film so badly it can taste it. Instead, it’s mostly an exhausting, annoying experience thanks to its interminable pacing, haphazard editing and rambling structure. And the performances, though competent, can’t make up for the feeling that Robert Putka’s debut feature is more a series of vignettes than a complete film. Melanie (Maryann Plunkett), who has just undergone a tough divorce and a nervous breakdown, is always at odds with her daughters, who are constantly at each other’s throat. This is not a happy family, with each member seemingly madder (in both senses of the word) than the next. Putka does infuse the film with some comedy, and a subplot involving another hospital patient (Mark Reeb) is intriguing, but, like most other elements, it goes nowhere. Especially underdeveloped and confusing is another subplot with the elder daughter (Jennifer Lafleur), who is forced to confront legal problems while arguing with her sister (Eilis Cahill) and dealing with her bi-polar mom. “Your mother suffered a nervous breakdown,” a nurse tells one of the daughters. “She’s really good at crying.” That’s certainly true, but crying is not enough to make an emotionally fulfilling film, even when accompanied by a healthy heaping of bitching and complaining. ***[![Lolo](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lolo-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lolo.jpg)Lolo*** (1 ½ stars) is a French farce, with a dab of darkness. Julie Delpy, who also directs and co-writes, plays Violette, a 40-something overbearing mother (with an even more overbearing son) struggling to find romance. Embracing relationship comedy and silly slapstick, the film features a deliciously creepy premise and somewhat competent performances but fails to produce intelligent laughs thanks to its ridiculous plot, uninspired writing, overbearing score and an almost total lack of comic timing. Lolo (Violette’s 19-year-old son, played by Vincent Lacoste) strongly objects when his mom invites her new boyfriend (Dany Boon) to live with them. “We’re not going to play blended family like some dumb American comedy,” he says. Instead, we get a dumb French comedy. One of the most highly anticipated festival films, ***Hunt for the Wilderpeople*** (1 ¼ stars) is written and directed by Taika Waititi (*What We Do in the Shadows* and *Boy)*. But despite an interesting premise and the charismatic Sam Neill as co-lead, the film is an embarrassingly unfunny, badly written and tonally challenged mess. Neill, as a backwoods curmudgeon, preposterously finds himself on the run from the law with his 13-year-old adopted son, played by Julian Dennison, in a Rebel Wilson-like contrived performance gone badly wrong. Throw in a couple of other cringe-worthy actors, unneeded musical interludes, 10 (yes, 10) pretentious chapter headers, lots of aren’t-you-impressed helicopter/drone shots and a failed attempt at sweetness toward the end, and you have an unexpected misfire from the up-and-coming New Zealand filmmaker. ***In Search of the Ultra-Sex*** (1 star) is a 60-minute mash-up of old porn-movie clips, with the explicit parts removed and new French-language dialogue (with English subtitles) added, in the style of *Mystery Science Theater 3000* or Woody Allen’s *What’s Up, Tiger Lily?* Unfortunately, the film is neither as clever nor funny as those aforementioned classics. But it’s still an enjoyable romp on a certain level – especially if you’re drunk and it’s close to midnight (which is the only time this movie is playing the festival). And despite its tedium and surprisingly limp jokes (no pun intended), there’d have to be something slightly wrong with you to completely hate this film. And I hope the filmmakers wear this 1-star rating with a sense of pride for a job well done. Or, just done. Lastly, let’s take a brief look at two of the most highly anticipated films I didn’t get a chance to see. I’m thinking specifically of the “Spotlight” films. No, these movies aren’t tributes to last year’s Oscar-winning best picture. The name is simply a way of shining a light on movies that have already received distribution deals and, with a few exceptions, are not competing for awards. That distribution status makes the films notoriously difficult to screen in advance. Though it might be wise to keep all on your planning radar, three (that I didn’t get a chance to see) deserve special mention. *High-Rise*, directed by Ben Wheatley, is a British science-fiction thriller set in the 1970s. It stars Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller and Elizabeth Moss, and, at least based on those names and the trailer, looks irresistible. And who can resist Werner Herzog? OK, well a lot of sane people, actually. But that still doesn’t mean you should miss his latest project, *Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World*. ### Epilogue [![FFF 2016](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FFF-2016-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FFF-2016.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/17/florida-film-festival-presents-2016-awards-saturday-wraps-sunday-night), April 17, 2016 The 25th annual Florida Film Festival presented its awards Saturday night at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, with *The Other Kids* taking home the Grand Jury Award for best narrative feature and *Honey Buddies* picking up the audience award. *Left on Purpose* won the Grand Jury Award for best documentary feature while the audience picked *The Babushkas of Chernobyl*. The documentary *Best and Most Beautiful Things* was awarded a “special jury award for individuality of the human spirit,” and the narrative *Donald Cried* was recognized for “excellence in directing.” *Red Folder* won the Grand Jury Award for best narrative short while *The House is Innocent* won the audience award for best overall short. The Grand Jury Award for best documentary short went to *Pickle*, and *The Lingerie Show* won the Grand Jury Award for best animated short. [![Erica Fae and Cameron at 2016 Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Erica-Fae-and-Cameron-at-2016-Florida-Film-Festival.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Erica-Fae-and-Cameron-at-2016-Florida-Film-Festival.jpg)Erica Fae (the director, writer and star of “To Keep the Light”) and Cameron at festival’s awards bash The festival is one of just 19 in the world to be Oscar-accredited in the three short-film categories (live-action, animation and documentary), so *Red Folder*, *Pickle* and *The Lingerie Show* may now be considered for Academy Award nominations. *Too Legit* won a special jury prize for “achievement in satire” while the audience selected *Portal to Hell!!!* as their favorite Midnight short. This was the inaugural year for the latter award. Some of the films shown at the festival screened out of competition. For instance, American Spotlight features were eligible for neither jury nor audience awards, while international Spotlight features and international shorts were eligible for just audience awards. The ceremony was hosted by the Enzian’s Shea Suzer. The festival wraps up on Sunday night with the closing-night “retro” film, *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* See [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com) for more information. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Morning in America?](https://www.meiermovies.com/morning-in-america/) **Published:** May 27, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## The pit and the pendulum Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 2026 I can’t sleep at night anymore. And I can’t wake up knowing America will still be here. This is what Donald Trump has done. The media talk about how Trump has changed politics, society, the world. But no one talks about how he’s changed me, the everyday nobody. I want to wake up to the Kennedy Center, to the historic White House East Wing, to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to our national parks and forests, to our Constitution, to reproductive freedom, to separation of church and state, to the rule of law, to America. I want to wake up from the nightmare. I didn’t think it could get worse than January 6, 2021. I didn’t think it could get worse than a sitting president denying election defeat and inciting a deranged mob to defile the United States Capitol, hang the vice president in effigy and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power in a way not seen in our 250-year history. But it did on April 7 when Trump threatened to kill an entire civilization and then confusingly retreated from his own genocidal words, in a King George III moment of madness. I wasn’t alive during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I can imagine it now – if Khrushchev and Kennedy were schizophrenic sociopaths. I wonder where our leaders have gone. I wonder why Congress didn’t rush to reconvene when Trump hinted at Iranian nuclear annihilation. Where are our heroes of old, I wonder, like Joseph Welch, who, in 1954, hastened the end of McCarthyism with his simple yet profound “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” I know the political pendulum will eventually swing back to sanity. But when? And will I still be sane when it does? I don’t ask for much. Like billions across the globe, I just want to wake up in the morning without a pit in my stomach. Trump is the pit in the stomach of the world. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Other Articles](https://www.meiermovies.com/other-articles/) **Published:** August 16, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/quill-pen_1.jpg)**[Music Reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/music-reviews/): reviews of films that focus on music, in addition to reviews of live music and musical theatre [Theatre Reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/theatre-reviews/): theatrical criticism and analysis [Art Reviews and Articles](http://www.meiermovies.com/art-reviews/): stories about visual arts other than film and theatre [Food Reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/food-films/ "Food Films"): reviews of food-themed movies, plus an occasional restaurant critique [Travel Articles](https://www.meiermovies.com/travel-cam/ "Travel Cam"): the global adventures of “Travel Cam” [Miscellany](https://www.meiermovies.com/miscellany/ "Miscellany"): articles that don’t fit anywhere else --- ### [Michigan Theater (Ann Arbor)](https://www.meiermovies.com/michigan-theater-in-ann-arbor/) **Published:** May 26, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Opened in 1928, Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater is one of the nation’s most famous movie palaces. Still regularly showing films, the cinema features a 1,600-seat auditorium and 1927 Barton pipe organ. The building, which was designed by Detroit architect Maurice Finkel, is near the University of Michigan campus. For more information, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Theater_(Ann_Arbor,_Michigan)). Its sister cinema, the nearby State Theater, which opened in 1942, sadly lost most of its original 1,900-seat auditorium to retail space (now a Target) in 1989. However, the balcony has been converted into four small cinemas, which still show films. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-concessions-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-concessions-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-interior-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-interior-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-interior-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-interior-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-lobby-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-lobby-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-organ-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Michigan-Theater-organ-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/State-Theater-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/State-Theater-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Ode to Cairo](https://www.meiermovies.com/ode-to-cairo/) **Published:** January 1, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## The ghost town of Illinois [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cairo-downtown-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cairo-downtown-scaled.jpg)Nothing is the bill of fare for the 1929 Gem Theatre. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 1, 2024 While traveling over the Christmas holiday, I drove through Cairo, Illinois, America’s saddest city. Once a town of beauty and prosperity numbering 15,000, Cairo has shrunk to just 1,500, becoming the poster child for urban decay in a medium-sized burg. Most of the historic downtown is not derelict anymore. It’s simply gone, replaced by fields, teasing us to imagine what it looked like. And massive, weed-like plants, like Audrey II from *Little Shop of Horrors*, wholly engulf houses. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cairo-house-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cairo-house-scaled.jpg)If you’re traveling southern Illinois, you should drop in, just to witness this post-apocalyptic hellscape created not by bombs, fires, floods or tornados, but by changing economics, race riots and, above all, the march of time, which has forgotten Cairo. Remarkably, someone continues to drape Christmas decorations each year on the downtown street lights: broken lampposts illuminating ghosts. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on Cairo, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo,_Illinois) and [AtlasObscura.com](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cairo-illinois).* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Cairo-Before.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Cairo-Before.jpg)Cairo …. before --- ### [Café Lumière & Salon Indien](https://www.meiermovies.com/cafe-lumiere-and-salon-indien/) **Published:** March 13, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Café Lumière at the Hotel Scribe in Paris is a tribute to the Lumière Brothers, who premiered their first films here in December 1895. Motion pictures had arguably been invented seven years before by [Louis Le Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/). In addition, [Eadweard Muybridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge) had used his zoopraxiscope at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 to project a series of photographs, thus creating something similar to today’s stop-motion animation. And [Woodville Latham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodville_Latham) can also stake a claim to be the first to project films on a screen to a paying public, when he did so in New York City in May 1895. But it is the Lumières who get credit for inventing the institution of cinema by projecting multiple short films shot on a single camera onto a screen for a paying crowd in Paris later that same year. “Death will cease to be absolute, final,” Russian writer Maxim Gorky wrote soon after, in *La Poste*, in arguably the first movie review. The actual location of that first screening is now a basement room below the Café Lumière. The Hotel Scribe calls that room The 1895, and it’s used as a breakfast space for hotel guests. Back in 1895, it was called the Salon Indien and was part of the Grand Café, which has since moved to another location. For more information and a list of the films shown in 1895, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon_Indien_du_Grand_Caf%C3%A9). Though there is some debate as to whether the famous *Train Leaving the Station* was shown on that first day, the general consensus now is that it premiered instead in early 1896. If you want to visit the Café Lumière, you need only walk into the main entrance of the Hotel Scribe, though I highly suggest making a reservation for lunch or dinner and enjoying some of the best food in Paris. But if you want to see the 1895 room, you’ll have to inquire at the hotel’s front desk. If you’re lucky, they’ll give you a quick tour. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02705.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02705.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02708.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02708.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02710.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02710.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02709.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02709.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02707.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02707.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02706.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02706.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02711.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02711.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02714.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02714.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02713.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC02713.jpg) --- ### [Spring into Orlando film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/spring-into-orlando-film-fests/) **Published:** April 30, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Plus news on FilmSlam and OFF Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 30, 2026 With the venerable Florida Film Festival just concluded, you might think that’s all she wrote for Orlando spring film festivals, especially with Fringe ready to consume the local arts scene. But you’ve got another think coming, as a variety of smaller movie fests are on the horizon. First up is the [Organization of Independent Filmmakers’ X Challenge](https://independentfilmmakers.org/) screening on May 16 at AMC Altamonte. With multiple events each year, OIF has grown into the top filmmaking competition for locals and has even expanded outside Orlando. May’s screening will feature short films from the psychological thriller/drama, romantic comedy and superhero genres. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Central-Florida-Film-Slam.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Central-Florida-Film-Slam.jpg)The OIF screening is followed closely by [Central Florida Film Slam](https://enzian.org/film/central-florida-film-slam), set for May 17 at Maitland’s Enzian Theater. Held four times each year, the event is billed as an “independent film showcase and competition open to all regional filmmakers and students.” (Enzian offers a variety of other [“special programs”](https://enzian.org/special-programs/) in the spring.) Next up is the [Orlando Urban Film Festival](https://orlandouff.com/), scheduled for May 27-29 at Regal Cinema Pointe Orlando. That’s followed by [Spooky Empire](https://spookyempire.com/), May 29-31 at DoubleTree Orlando SeaWorld. Though there is no film festival at spring Spooky (just the fall event), the horror convention still offers a smorgasbord of movie-themed goodies, such as discussion panels and appearances by celebrity guests such as Robert Englund and Brad Dourif. The following month will see the [Orlando International Film Festival](https://www.orlandointernationalfilmfestival.org/) take over the UCF-Marriott Hotel on June 18-21. Though the Global Peace Film Festival won’t take place until September, Global Peace 360 hosts other movie events throughout the year. Check [their website](https://peacefilmfest.org/) for information. One familiar event you won’t see on this spring’s schedule is Jen Vargas’s [FilmSlam](https://thefilmslam.org/), which was last held at the Orlando Museum of Art four years ago. But despite that long absence and the lack of updates to the fest’s websites, don’t count it out just yet. “The organization remains active as a nonprofit, and our commitment to the local filmmaking community hasn’t changed,” Vargas told me. “While we haven’t yet secured an affordable public venue, we have been actively exploring ways to evolve the concept, building on what made FilmSlam special while introducing new ideas and opportunities for growth. Like many arts initiatives, funding remains our biggest hurdle, and I’m no longer in a position to personally underwrite the event. That said, FilmSlam is far from gone; we’re still here, still working, and quietly laying the groundwork for what’s next.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)Another event not held in a while is the [Orlando Film Festival](https://www.offvirtual.com/), which last welcomed the public in 2024 at the now-defunct CMX Cinemas Plaza Café 12 in downtown Orlando. Executive Director Daniel Springen was unable to hold the 2025 festival after the CMX closed and he did not secure a new location. However, he is now accepting submissions for a proposed 2026 event, which would take place October 23-30. “The CMX theater downtown is currently for sale, and we expect it to be open for the 2026 season of the Orlando Film Festival,” Springen’s message on FilmFreeway reads. “In 2025, we gave out over 40 awards and 300 laurels to filmmakers from around the world and intend to do that in 2026 while in this holding pattern. Please understand that being accepted this year may not guarantee a screening unless the theater reopens for 2026. But being accepted does grant you a chance at prizes and the laurels of a 21-year-old festival.” Neither Springen nor FilmFreeway responded to my requests to comment on whether a festival can be publicly listed on FilmFreeway and accept submissions without holding a physical event. (See [FilmFreeway’s festival rules](https://filmfreeway.com/help/article/16060/what-is-required-to-list-my-festival-on-filmfreeway), which suggest that a publicly listed festival that accepts submission fees from filmmakers must hold at least one public screening.) For background information on both Central Florida Film Slam and FilmSlam, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-slams/). And [click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-canceled-for-2025/) for information on last year’s canceled Orlando Film Festival. In other film news, Orange County this week launched its Film Incentive Program Application Portal. The program is open to production companies wishing to film in Central Florida. Eligible projects include feature films, television series, streaming productions and commercials. [Go here](https://newsroom.ocfl.net/media-advisories/press-releases/2026/04/now-accepting-applications-for-the-film-incentive-program/) to learn more. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Update On May 8, FilmFreeway responded with the following information on the Orlando Film Festival: “We take matters very seriously when a festival lists itself as a live screening event but fails to hold one. Depending on the nature of the breach, such instances can result in submission credits for filmmakers, the removal of the festival from our platform or further disciplinary actions. Please rest assured that we are closely monitoring this festival’s activity and are looking into the concerns you raised.” --- ### [Introduction](https://www.meiermovies.com/introduction/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **MeierMovies** is devoted to the appreciation of the art of the cinema. It is an online rating and ranking system, in addition to a library of my reviews of motion pictures and analysis of film history. I, [Cameron Meier](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-is-cameron-meier/), initially designed this site in 2011 to both rate [(0-5 stars)](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) and rank (200 greatest and 30 worst; and top 10 by genre) all the theatrically released films I have had the privilege to see. Since its inception, it has grown to include lists and reviews of theatrically released short films; features and shorts released on TV and the Web; and TV/Web shows — in addition to photography galleries and dozens of interviews with some of the industry’s most talented artists. [![Cameron and Malcolm master shot 2011](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-and-Malcolm-master-shot-2011-300x203.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cameron-and-Malcolm-master-shot-2011.jpg)Cameron and Malcolm McDowell in 2011 **What defines greatness?** (To skip this analysis and go straight to my reviews, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/), but I hope you’ll stick around for the conversation). When considering how to rate a movie, I turn first to simple quality, emotional impact and artistic vision. In other words, regardless of when the movie was made and what the budget was: Is it a good film? Next, one should show respect for movies that broke new ground, made a cultural impact and provided inspiration for the next generation of filmmakers, even if they may not hold up as well today. (*Intolerance* among early silent films and *King Kong* among early talkies come to mind, although the former film gets no better than 2 ½ stars here while the latter actually gets a slight thumbs-down, mostly for the atrocious acting, even when compared with many of its contemporaries.) Similarly, films are given some credit if they “did it first,” so to speak. So, in short, all appropriate criteria are considered: quality through the eye of a modern audience, influence, artistic contribution to society, superb craft, etc. By placing the emphasis primarily on quality while still considering those other factors, I hope I’ve managed to both successfully judge the true greatness of a film AND keep an open mind that many cinematic styles have existed (and, therefore, should still be embraced today) since Charles Tait shot *The Story of the Kelly Gang* in Australia, in 1906, introducing the world to what we describe today as “feature-length” movies. I’ve tried to reject the temptation to give a movie a high rating just because society pressures one to do so. “Oh, don’t you just love *Citizen Kane*,” often comes from the mouths of the film critic, even though many of those critics couldn’t really tell you why they like it. Therefore, you may see some surprising ratings on this list. Billy Wilder and Quentin Tarantino certainly aren’t done any favors here, as I believe they are both overrated. Conversely, Charlie Chaplin and Stanley Kubrick, two of my favorite directors, do quite well. In rare instances, I’ve given a film a lower-than-expected rating because of simple poor taste. Yes, it’s often good to push the boundaries of normality and standards, especially in so-called “art films” (a term I hate because, after all, aren’t all films art?), but crossing those boundaries simply for shock value doesn’t get a movie any extra credit here. And also in extremely rare instances, I’ve penalized a movie if it wildly distorts the historical events it’s based on. Artistic license is one thing, but one can’t help deducting perhaps a half-star from *Battleship Potemkin*, for instance, for its blatantly false propaganda. (Its influence and artistry, especially for the 1920s, is unquestioned, however.) [![Chaplin in City Lights](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Chaplin-in-City-Lights-300x218.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Chaplin-in-City-Lights.jpg)Considering his talents as a motion picture pioneer, actor, director, writer, composer, editor and producer, Charlie Chaplin, shown here in *City Lights*, is my pick as the greatest film talent of all time. The [star rating](https://www.meiermovies.com/StarRatings.pdf) section lists feature films by quality, starting with the top 200 of all time. The [yearly](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf) section lists movies chronologically, from 1912’s *From the Manger to the Cross* to today’s films, letting you know my selections for the REAL best pictures of those years. (Hint: The Academy usually got it wrong.) The [A-Z](https://www.meiermovies.com/A-Z.pdf) page lists features alphabetically. Then there is the [director](https://www.meiermovies.com/Directors.pdf) list, a selection of cinema’s most famous directors and their movies, ranked from best to worst. Another section lists the top 10 feature movies by [genre](http://www.meiermovies.com/by-genre/ "By Genre"). You will also find a [section comparing rating scales](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf), in addition to my [movie reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). I also recommend exploring some truly original pages: my lists of short films (40 minutes or less), which you can find indexed on my [movie list](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/) page. Lastly, don’t miss my [TV and web shows](https://www.meiermovies.com/tv-and-web-shows/) page and my [photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/photography/ "Photography"). Remember, if you don’t see a movie on this list, that doesn’t mean I’ve rejected it or passed judgment in any sense. It simply means I haven’t seen it in a format or place that would allow me to rate it fairly. (By the way, I never pass off film-viewing responsibilities to anyone else. I see every movie myself.) Motion pictures on my feature-film lists must be more than 40 minutes long (the minimum length of a feature according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute and the British Film Institute). All feature films, regardless of how they were released, are eligible for the lists, but films that never received a theatrical or major-festival release are noted either with the Hybrid or TV/Web/NT label. If movies contain alternate versions, roadshow versions or directors’ cuts, the versions rated here are the original theatrical-release versions, unless otherwise noted, keeping in mind a film’s original version might also be its roadshow version. If movies were originally released to theaters in both 2-D and 3-D, the versions rated here are indicated in parentheses after the movie title, with the exception of those from the 1950s and 1960s, which are the 2-D versions, unless otherwise noted. (If I’ve seen both 2-D and 3-D versions, the version rated here is the better of the two, which, in almost all cases of recent films, is the version consistent with the way the movie was shot and intended to be seen, i.e., 2-D if shot in 2-D and 3-D if shot in 3-D.) [![Gone with the wind](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara-300x227.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara.jpg)Because of its immense contribution to popular culture, its drama, its emotion, its groundbreaking use of color and cinematography, and its sheer quality in every department, even judging by contemporary standards, *Gone with the Wind* is my pick as the greatest film of all time. It also happens to be the highest-grossing film, when adjusted for inflation, and one of just four films to win 11 Academy Awards. It’s usually credited with 10, but it actually received 11 if you include the eight competitive awards and three special ones. (Image copyright Selznick/MGM) Movies recorded in several languages (as was common in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s) do not carry the FL designation. The version rated here is the English dub. Movies recorded principally in one foreign language carry the FL designation. The version rated here is the original foreign-language version accompanied by English subtitles. French, Spanish, Italian and German films are alphabetized by their original, foreign-language titles. Films in all other languages are alphabetized by their closest English equivalents, when applicable. Ratings are based on a 0-5 scale, with quarter-star increments for features, half-star increments for TV and web shows, and only full stars for short films. If a feature film receives 2 ¾ stars or more, that amounts to a thumbs-up rating. If a movie receives 2 ½ stars or fewer, that’s a thumbs-down. However, if a film is rated from 2 to 3 stars (the average range), take my thumbs-up and thumbs-down ratings with a grain of salt, as those judgments are somewhat subject to my own viewing experience, personal background and taste, which may be vastly different from your own. I’ve simply done the best I can to predict the reaction of the typical, somewhat intelligent, adult movie-goer, keeping in mind that adults should always try to embrace their inner child and sense of wonder, especially when viewing an animated film. Lastly, don’t forget to check out the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"), which will guide you through my colors and symbols. So now that we’ve covered all the technical stuff, sit back and enjoy the site! And feel free to share your constructive feedback by commenting on one of my blogs or by e-mailing me at . --- ### [Hollywood Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-photography/) **Published:** March 5, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00202.jpg)**Below you will find collections of my photos from movie studios and other sights in and around Hollywood and the rest of Los Angeles.** All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. If you wish to use these photos for your own site or article, please e-mail me at for permission and high-res versions. For the best display (with correct orientation and aspect ratio), I suggest viewing the photos on a larger screen. And for an interesting essay on the invention of photography, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-first-photographs/ "The first photographs?"). [Academy Museum of Motion Pictures](https://www.meiermovies.com/academy-museum-of-motion-pictures/ "Academy Museum of Motion Pictures") [Charlie Chaplin Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/charlie-chaplin-studios/) [Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now TCL Chinese Theatre)](http://www.meiermovies.com/graumans-chinese-theatre/ "Grauman’s Chinese Theatre") [Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/graumans-egyptian-theatre/ "Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre") [El Capitan Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/el-capitan-theatre/ "El Capitan Theatre") [Hollywood Forever Cemetery](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-forever-cemetery/ "Hollywood Forever Cemetery") [Hollywood Heritage Museum (Lasky-DeMille Barn)](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-heritage-museum/ "Hollywood Heritage Museum") [Hollywood Miscellaneous](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-miscellaneous-photos/ "Hollywood Miscellaneous Photos") [Hollywood Museum](http://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-museum/ "Hollywood Museum") [Paramount Studios (and the old RKO and Desilu lots)](http://www.meiermovies.com/paramount-studios/ "Paramount Studios") [Sony Pictures Studios (the old MGM lot)](http://www.meiermovies.com/sony-pictures-studios/ "Sony Pictures Studios") [Sunset Gower Studios (the old Columbia lot)](http://www.meiermovies.com/sunset-gower-studios/ "Sunset Gower Studios") [Warner Brothers Studios](http://www.meiermovies.com/warner-brothers-studios/ "Warner Brothers Studios") --- ### [Travel Photography](https://www.meiermovies.com/travel-photography/) **Published:** July 23, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Though this site is focused almost exclusively on movies, I’m sharing here some of my travel photography. In the early 2000s, I worked briefly as a professional photographer, and I am still proud to call myself an enthusiastic amateur photographer. I generally shoot on a Sony RX100 but am not shy to whip out an iPhone on occasion. (Hey, [Steven Soderbergh did it](http://www.meiermovies.com/unsane/).) All images are copyrighted, but if you want to use them for your website or publication, I’d be happy to oblige, provided you include proper credit. For permission, please write me at [MeierMovies@aol.com.](mailto:MeierMovies@aol.com) (Click to enlarge photos.) In order, photos are: 1\. Sunrise at Cadillac Mountain (Mount Desert Island, Maine, 2018) 2\. Cat at Hemingway House (Key West, Florida, 2017) 3\. Maui south coast (Hawaii, 2015) 4\. Matanuska Glacier (Alaska, 2014) 5\. Mountain near Matanuska Glacier (Alaska, 2014) 6\. Summit Lake (central Alaska, 2014) 7\. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum (Abilene, Kansas, 2018) 8\. Museumplein (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2017) 9\. Just Becquet’s *L’Abîme* (*The Abyss*), from 1901, Musée d’Orsay (Paris, France, 2018) 10 and 11. Provincetown (Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2019) 12\. Korean War Memorial (Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2019) 13\. Cape Cinema (Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2019) 14\. Pilgrim Memorial State Park (Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2019) 15\. Coast Guard Beach (Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2019) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Sunrise-at-Cadillac-Mountain.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Sunrise-at-Cadillac-Mountain.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cat-at-Hemingway-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cat-at-Hemingway-House.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maui-south-coast.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Maui-south-coast.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Matanuska-Glacier-cropped.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Matanuska-Glacier-cropped.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Matanuska-Glacier-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Matanuska-Glacier-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Summit-Lake.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Summit-Lake.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Eisenhower-Statue-with-sunlight.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Eisenhower-Statue-with-sunlight.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Amsterdam-tilt.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Amsterdam-tilt.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Musee-dOrsay.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Musee-dOrsay.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DSC03266.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DSC03266.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DSC03265-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DSC03265-1.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1730.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1730.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1756.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1756.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1776.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1776.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Cape-Cod-1880s.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Cape-Cod-1880s.jpg) --- ### [UnFortunAte](https://www.meiermovies.com/unfortunate/) **Published:** May 5, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Weirdest sushi meal ever [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jumbo-Sushi-May-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jumbo-Sushi-May-2026-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 5, 2026 If you are near Windermere, Florida, don’t go to Jumbo Sushi. It might be the worst sushi restaurant in the state. The whole place smelled like gas, like it was ready to explode. The lone server acted like he had never worked in a restaurant before. Actually, he acted like he’d never seen a restaurant before. He gawked at me when I walked in, like he expected me to serve him. I was the only customer. After an odd staring contest, I finally was invited to choose a table. It was sticky. I ordered a water with lemon. They didn’t have lemon. I ordered edamame. They didn’t have edamame. I ordered scallop nigiri. They didn’t have scallop nigiri. I asked what was in their California roll. He didn’t know. So I ordered a vegetable roll, a spring roll and miso soup – all while listening to bad music on their television, periodically interrupted by commercials. There was no bowl for the soy sauce. Speaking of sauce, the spring roll tasted like it didn’t have any, despite the server saying it did. I inquired about peanut sauce, but they didn’t have that, so I took whatever sauce they offered. It didn’t help much, as all the food was tasteless. Eventually another group walked in, and he proceeded to not answer their menu questions either. Being ignored, I was eventually forced to flag him down when I wanted a water refill. Then the check came. With a fortune cookie. In a sushi restaurant. [![Slip of paper on a wooden surface reading, 'You will have a successful bake sale.' with dark tape at the corners.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jumbo-Sushi-fortune-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jumbo-Sushi-fortune-scaled.jpg)As weird as all this is, the strangest part is that I’m experimenting with veganism and was using this outing as a test to see if I could enjoy a mostly vegan meal at a sushi restaurant. And the fortune in that cookie? “You will have a successful bake sale.” *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Food Films](https://www.meiermovies.com/food-films/) **Published:** April 24, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ottolenghi-and-the-Cakes-of-Versailles.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ottolenghi-and-the-Cakes-of-Versailles.jpg)*Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles* (image copyright IFC Films) You will find all my reviews of food films archived on my main [Movie Reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/) page, but if you’re too hungry to sift through the alphabetical listings and want to nosh now, check out the delicacies below. (But be warned that at least one of these films addresses the crucial topic of animal rights — an issue close to my heart — and is, therefore, anything but palatable.) Back to Burgundy FL (2017; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [The Biggest Little Farm](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-biggest-little-farm/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) Breaking Bread (2020; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) [Eating Animals](http://www.meiermovies.com/eating-animals/) (2018; 3 ¾ stars) [Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle](http://www.meiermovies.com/harold-kumar-go-to-white-castle) (2004; ¾ stars) Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [Paris Can Wait](http://www.meiermovies.com/paris-can-wait/) (2017; 1 ½ stars) The Sturgeon Queens (2014; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [The Trip to Greece](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-trip-to-greece/) Hybrid (2020; 3 stars) [The Truffle Hunters](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-truffle-hunters/) FL (2020; 3 stars) ## Restaurant reviews [UnFortunAte: The weirdest sushi meal ever](https://www.meiermovies.com/unfortunate/ "UnFortunAte") --- ### [Film Festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-festivals/) **Published:** February 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Film-Festival-red-carpet-iStock-1348059795-by-Alexander-Lipko-.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Film-Festival-red-carpet-iStock-1348059795-by-Alexander-Lipko-.jpg)Articles related to film festivals, other movie events and film news in general are indexed [on this page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-news/) chronologically, but the list below makes it easy to find the festival you’re looking for quickly. All the fests listed below (alphabetically) are ones I have covered, in Florida, Texas and Colorado. To go directly to movie reviews, [click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). And to discover star ratings of the films, see my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [Austin Revolution Film Festival (ARFF)](https://www.meiermovies.com/arff-barks-again/ "ARFF barks again") [Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo)](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo/ "CenFlo") [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Cosmic Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/cosmic-film-festival-launches/ "Cosmic Film Festival to launch") [End of Days Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-film-festival-to-debut/) [FantaSci Short Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-film-festival-to-debut/) [15 Minutes of Fame Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-gets-its-15-minutes-of-fame/ "Orlando gets its ’15 Minutes of Fame’") [FilmSlam(s)](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-slams/ "Film Slam(s)") [Flagler Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival/ "Flagler Film Festival") [Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival/ "Florida Film Festival") [48 Hour Film Project and Filmapalooza](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/ "The 48 Hour Film Project") [Global Peace Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival/ "Global Peace Film Festival") [Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival/ "Love Your Shorts Film Festival") [Manhattan Short Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/manhattan-short-film-festival/ "Manhattan Short Film Festival") [Megacon Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) [Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (MIFF)](https://www.meiermovies.com/miff-2020/ "MIFF 2020") [Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF)](https://www.meiermovies.com/organization-of-independent-filmmakers-oif/ "Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF)") [Orlando Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") [Orlando Intenational Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/lessons-learned-from-a-first-time-fest/ "Lessons learned from a first-time fest") [Orlando Urban Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") [Sarasota Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival/ "Sarasota Film Festival") [South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival/ "South Asian Film Festival") [Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/spooky-empire-horror-film-festival/ "Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival") [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sundance-film-festival/ "Sundance Film Festival") [Sunscreen Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sunscreen-film-festival-turns-20/ "Sunscreen Film Festival turns 20") [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival/ "Telluride Film Festival") *Also [see my tutorial](https://www.meiermovies.com/how-to-get-your-film-into-festivals-2/ "How to get your film into festivals") on how to get your film into festivals.* ***Image (iStockPhoto 1348059795) is by [AlexanderLipko](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/AlexanderLipko?mediatype=photography).*** --- ### [About](https://www.meiermovies.com/about/) **Published:** August 16, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/iStock-1270287428.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/iStock-1270287428.jpg) Let this page guide your journey through MeierMovies. But before you do anything, visit the [Introduction page](https://www.meiermovies.com/introduction/ "Introduction") for a discussion of the site. Click the links below to learn more about MeierMovies and film in general. [Who is Cameron Meier?](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-is-cameron-meier/) [Movie Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/) [Rating Scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) [New Views](https://www.meiermovies.com/new-views/ "New Views") [*In a Manner of Speaking* Podcast](https://www.meiermovies.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking-podcast/ "‘In a Manner of Speaking’ podcast") [Louis Le Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/) [*An Odyssey of Horror*](http://www.meiermovies.com/an-odyssey-of-horror/) [Short Film of the Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/) [The 48 Hour Film Project](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/) [Film Festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-festivals/ "Film Festivals") [How to Get Your Film into Festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/how-to-get-your-film-into-festivals-2/ "How to get your film into festivals") [Links and Resources](https://www.meiermovies.com/links/ "Links") *Image courtesy of iStockPhoto (#1270287428 by [Brilt](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/brilt?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best))* --- ### [Orlando Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-orlando-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Orlando-Film-Festival-2016-outside.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Orlando-Film-Festival-2016-outside.jpg)Here you will articles and posts related to the Orlando Film Festival, which is held each year in downtown Orlando, Florida. To go directly to reviews and ratings of films I have seen at the festival, visit my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [Update on 2026 Orlando Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/spring-into-orlando-film-fests/ "Spring into Orlando film fests") [2025 Orlando Film Festival canceled](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-canceled-for-2025/ "Orlando Film Festival canceled for 2025") [Fall into film fests (2025)](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") [Festivalitis hits Orlando (2024)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/09/01/festivalitis-hits-orlando/ "Festivalitis hits Orlando") [Orlando welcomes its fall festivals (2022)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/10/11/orlando-welcomes-its-fall-fests/ "Orlando welcomes its fall fests") [12th Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/dont-miss-foreign-short-dramas-at-off/) [11th Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/off-2016/) [Seventh Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") --- ### [Film Slam(s)](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-slams/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater Here you will find articles and posts related to the mini-festivals in Orlando, Florida, that have been known as both FilmSlam and the Central Florida Film Slam. Locations for the fests have included the Enzian Theater, the Orlando Museum of Art and the Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC). [Spring into 2026 Orlando film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/spring-into-orlando-film-fests/ "Spring into Orlando film fests") [Fall into 2025 film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") [Changes coming to Orlando’s film slams — both of them](http://www.meiermovies.com/changes-coming-to-orlandos-film-slams/) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orlando-Museum-of-Art.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orlando-Museum-of-Art.jpg)Orlando Museum of Art [Change coming to FilmSlam: Enzian parts ways with Jen Vargas](http://www.meiermovies.com/change-coming-to-filmslam/) [Enzian Theater to shrink FilmSlam, change Brouhaha](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-to-shrink-filmslam/) [A Changing of the guard at FilmSlam](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-changing-of-the-guard-at-filmslam/) [FilmSlam, July 2013](http://www.meiermovies.com/an-all-star-filmslam/ "An all-star FilmSlam") --- ### [F](https://www.meiermovies.com/f/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with F:** Fandango at the Wall FL (2020; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [A Fantastic Woman](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-fantastic-woman/) (Una Mujer Fantástica) FL (2017; 3 ¾ stars) [Far from the Madding Crowd](http://www.meiermovies.com/far-from-the-madding-crowd/) (2015; 3 stars) Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (2012; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [The Farewell](http://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) FL (2019; 3 ¾ star) Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965; ¼ star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [The Father](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-father/) (2020; 4 ½ stars) [The Favourite](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-favourite/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) [Feast](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) (2005; ½ star) The Feels (2017; 1 ¼ stars), [part of the Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [The Fifth Estate](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-fifth-estate/) (2013; 2 stars) [Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool](http://www.meiermovies.com/film-stars-dont-die-in-liverpool/) (2017; 3 stars) [The Final Member](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-final-member/) (2012; 3 ½ stars) [Finders Keepers](http://www.meiermovies.com/finders-keepers/) (2015; 3 ¼ stars) Finding Neighbors (2013; ¾ star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") First Comes Love (2012; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [First Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-man/) (2018; 4 ½ stars) [First Reformed](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/) (2018; 4 ¼ stars) [The Florida Project](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/20/are-they-worth-the-hype/) (2017; 3 stars) For Ahkeem (2017; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Force Majeure](http://www.meiermovies.com/force-majeure/) FL (2014; 2 stars) [Ford v Ferrari](http://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/) (2019; 4 ¼ stars) Foreign Letters FL (2012; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") Forev (2013; 1 star), part of [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [The Forgiven](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-forgiven/ "The Forgiven") (2022; 3 stars) [Forrest Gump](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-gump/ "Benjamin Gump") (1994; 5 stars) [Frances Ha](https://www.meiermovies.com/frances-ha/) (2012; 1 ½ stars) [Frankenstein](https://www.meiermovies.com/frankenstein/ "Frankenstein") (2025; 2 ¼ stars) Free Samples (2012; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [The French Dispatch](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-french-dispatch/ "The French Dispatch") (2021; 2 ¼ stars) Frida (2002; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") [Frogtown](https://www.meiermovies.com/frogtown/ "Frogtown") (2026; 3 ½ stars) [From Hell](https://www.meiermovies.com/from-hell/) (2001; 2 ¾ stars) [Frozen (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/frozen/) (2013; 3 stars) [Fruitvale Station](http://www.meiermovies.com/fruitvale-station/) (2013; 4 stars) --- ### [Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/) **Published:** April 12, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 2026 Here you will find reviews of short films of the 35th annual Florida Film Festival. For more information on the films and to purchase tickets, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/). (Images are courtesy of the Florida Film Festival.) ## Midnight shorts [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Merrimundi-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Merrimundi-3-scaled.jpg)*Merrimundi* The 2026 midnight shorts are among the best ever. I’m even tempted to use a word rarely associated with this block: highbrow. But it seems fitting, as two of the seven – yes, only seven this year – played the granddaddy of film festivals: Venice. The program is bookended by two 4-star offerings: Niles Atallah’s ***Merrimundi*** and Eric Jackowitz’s ***The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much***. The former is a mostly animated blend of horror and surrealism but also lurches from kitsch to a sort of sing-along from hell. (Hieronymus Bosch, what hath thou wrought?) The latter, the tonal opposite of *Merrimundi*, is a parody of Italian giallo, right down to the ridiculous story and cartoonish violence. It might be the funniest film of the entire fest. Let that (bad) sync in. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Seeing-Eye-Dog-Who-Saw-Too-Much-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Seeing-Eye-Dog-Who-Saw-Too-Much-1.jpg)*The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much* But for those of you who prefer your midnights trashy, never fear. There’s still goofiness, gore and pointless sexuality. Thanks to Kate Thulin’s ***American Cheese***, you might never think of the word “crowning” the same way again. And just when you thought it was safe to go back to sucking a giant teat, along comes Alexandra Hayden’s ***Wall Udder***. (At least the breast contains no ***Ultra Juice***. You’ll have to watch Carl Conway Maguire’s vape comedy for that.) If you believe put-it-together-yourself furniture is one of Satan’s gifts to humanity, you might enjoy Chris McInroy’s ***CHÄIR***, while Joe Hsieh’s ***Praying Mantis*** will scratch the itch of those of you into animated decapitation, insect-style. I can give my full-hearted endorsement to only the first two films I mentioned. But I still applaud the creative insanity of all the filmmakers, even the ones whose films left me flummoxed and a smidge disgusted. May you continue to nurse at the nipple of imagination. *At the time of the publication of this review, the block had already played Enzian on April 11, but you can catch it again at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 17 at 11 p.m. The program is nicknamed “Crazy Train,” in honor of the recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne.* ## Shorts #1 and #2 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Last-Day-of-Bryon-Bray-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Last-Day-of-Bryon-Bray-scaled.jpg)William Sadler stars in *The Last Day of Bryon Bray*. Shorts program #1 is named “Many Rivers to Cross,” after the song by Jamaican musical icon Jimmy Cliff, who died last year. The title is apropos, as most of the characters in the seven films have their own metaphorical streams to swim. But only the block’s final movie, ***The Last Day of Byron Bray*** (4 stars), mixes the right blend of story, performance, pacing and directorial sensibility. For various reasons, the others don’t quite congeal. *Byron Bray*, directed by Michael Borrelli and starring William Sadler (*The Shawshank Redemption*), is a haunting, subtle examination of personal legacy, sexuality and, ultimately, death, shot on 16mm film. And despite its overreliance on music, especially toward the end, the film never seems 20 minutes long. Its time flies, gone too soon, as is the title character, who is based on the eponymous real person. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Shorts-2-Interview-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Shorts-2-Interview-scaled.jpg)Filmmakers from the Shorts #2 block participate in Q&A session with festival programmer Kat Whitacre, left, at Regal Winter Park Village on April 11. Every shorts block will find its audience, so it’s difficult to say definitely not to watch a program. But if your time is limited, skip #1 for #2. Named “The Other One,” for the composition by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, who also died in 2025, this block sticks with you emotionally and aesthetically far more than block #1. The group’s connection to the Weir song is tenuous, but most of the characters from the seven films do seem like outsiders, forgotten or perhaps alienated from their surroundings and friends. “The bus came by and I got on,” Weir’s song goes. “That’s when it all began.” There are no buses in block #2, but almost everyone is on a journey of some sort. Take the title character in Timothy Jacob Elledge’s ***Neuman*** (3 stars), a recovering alcoholic struggling to face the one-year anniversary of his sobriety. Or the daughter in Kathreen Khavari’s part-Farsi-language dramedy ***Tub*** (3 stars), who is dealing with an abusive mother and a precariously placed, leaking bathtub. (Remember the hotel scene in *Marty Supreme*?) Or the high school students in Sterling Hampton IV’s ***Study Hall*** (3 stars), a refreshingly subtle look at Black identity through the prism of politics. They are all “others” in some sense. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Nut-Milk-in-May.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Nut-Milk-in-May.jpg)Lydian Blossom stars in *Nut Milk in May*, inspired by Mike Leigh’s *Nuts in May*, from the BBC *Play for Today s*eries. But the two best films are comedies. That, of course, doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes offer insightful social commentaries, but they do so with laughs to boot. ***Nut Milk in May*** (3 stars), directed by Brooke Trantor and written by and starring Lydian Blossom, could have easily turned into just another disposable farce. But a clever script, sagacious satire (it’s nice to see the Left laugh at itself) and Blossom’s spot-on performance make it memorable. (Clayton Farris and Alex Herrald lend fine support.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XOLO-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XOLO-scaled.jpg)*Xolo* However, the block belongs to director Matthew Serrano’s ***Xolo*** (4 stars), a hilarious, imaginative, touching take on death from the perspective of a dog and an ancient Aztec god. Yes, you read that right. Sacrifice time to see this film. ## Shorts #3 This block, which hovers between programs #1 and #2 in quality, is named “Can’t Get Enough,” as a tribute to Mick Ralphs of Bad Company, who died in June. But as my friend, fellow film critic Lisa Blanck, told me after the screening on April 16, a better name might have been “men (of all ages) behaving badly.” From crazy scout masters (***Scout’s Honor***) to racist gas-station owners (***Somewhere to Be***), to suicidal men (***Dear Shop Girl*** and ***All the Real Boys***), to gropers of girls (***Squall Mouth***), to bullies (***Iron Lake***), the men and boys in these films are poor representatives of their gender. You might think me another bad example of the male species, but I must say that not all these films succeed at their storytelling. However, even the ones that don’t leave an impression. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Dear-Shop-Girl.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Dear-Shop-Girl.jpg)*Dear Shop Girl* *Dear Shop Girl* (4 stars) has star power and uses it cleverly, which makes it the clear winner of the block. With a great performance by Rory Culkin, a solid turn by Lorraine Harris and even a voiceover by Fred Armisen, writer-director Nira Burstein’s dramedy is as eye-catching as the shop girl’s vintage clothes. Grant Swanson’s *Iron Lake* (3 stars) and Ohad Ira Amram’s *All the Real Boys* (3 stars) are both successful at turning deceptively familiar subjects on their heads while simultaneously making social statements. But it’s Caro Ribeiro’s comedy ***Cake*** (3 stars) that breaks the “bad boy” mold of this block and delivers the funniest surprises by reminding us that women can be bad too. OK, maybe not bad. Just weird. OK, maybe not weird. Just vulnerable. OK, damn it, maybe men are the bad guys in this one too. I give up. ## Non-block shorts If your belly isn’t full of nuts from Trantor and Blossom’s film, gorge on ***The Chimney Sweeper*** (3 stars), about a fourth-generation crafter of nutcrackers. What could have been an inconsequential 9-minute profile about a person you’d never heard of and weren’t particularly interested in turns into a head-turner thanks to director Jack Raese’s stylistic camera, editing and music choices. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Panther-Pat.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Panther-Pat.jpg)*Panther Pat* This is one of several shorts that, instead of being featured in a block of brief films, is presented prior to a feature. (It plays before *Santacon* and, frankly, it’s better than the long-player.) ***If You Really Love Me, Outlive Me*** (3 stars), which plays before *If These Walls Could Rock*, is another example of a profile that could have been easily forgotten if not for the fashionable sensibilities of the directors – in this case, Alejandro Ruax and Saskia d’Altena. Oh, and the music is hypnotically rockabilly too, courtesy of the doc’s subjects, Austin legends Dale and Celine Watson. ***T******h******e*** ***M******a******n*** ***W******h******o*** ***T******a******k******e******s*** ***P******i******c******t******u******r******e******s*** ***o******f*** ***F******l******o******w******e******r******s*** (4 stars) focuses on a Korean photographer who, for 45 years, has been taking nature photos. Under Yoo Lee’s direction, the short doc, which plays alongside *School for Defectors*, really blossoms, particularly because of its beautiful stop-motion animation. But perhaps the best non-block short of the fest is ***Panther Pat*** (4 stars), which plays with *A Life Illuminated*. I might sound like Dale Watson’s broken record, but this is yet another example of a profile turned on its head by style. Specifically, director Ashley Brandon chooses stop-motion doll animation to bring to life the story of the first woman (Patricia Palinkas) to play professional American football – right here in Orlando! ## 5X Real [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Baddest-Speechwriter-of-All.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Baddest-Speechwriter-of-All.jpg)*The Baddest Speechwriter of All* If you’re seeking five good films for the price of one, look no further. The short-doc block is always one of the best programs at the Florida Film Festival, and this year is no exception. Though the block feels less weighty this time – with an emphasis on light-hearted fare – it ends impactfully with my pick for best short doc of the entire festival: ***The Baddest Speechwriter of All*** (5 stars). If judges select it as the winner, it will become Oscar-eligible. But even if it doesn’t, look for it to win another Oscar-qualifying fest and receive an Academy Award nomination. Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry (yes, *that* Stephen Curry) direct this story of Clarence Jones, whose relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. changed history. This partially animated documentary is particularly revelatory thanks to its interview with the 92-year-old Jones and its analysis of the cooperative relationship between the Black and Jewish communities in the United States during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/5X-Real-QA-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/5X-Real-QA-scaled.jpg)Some of the filmmakers and subjects of the 5X Real program answer audience questions following the screening on April 17. (photo by Cameron Meier) The other four docs don’t rise to the same level, but I recommend them all. And because I’m writing this after the final screening of the block, I strongly encourage you to hunt down all these short gems, including director Winslow Crane-Murdoch’s ***Oh Whale*** (4 stars), Danny Schmidt photography-themed ***The Book of George*** (3 stars), Emily Schuman’s ***The Baker’s Hotline*** (3 stars) – about baked goods and phone-focused companionship – and Dan Perlman’s ***Being Bublé*** (3 stars). The latter, about a Michael Bublé impersonator who doesn’t look like him and can’t sing, might be the oddest of them all, and that’s saying something when it’s being shown alongside a doc about an exploding cetacean. ## Animated Shorts [![Signboard announcing the 35th Annual Florida Film Festival (Apr 10–19) at Eden Bar, Enzian, under green trees with a blue Enzian sign above.](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-2-scaled.jpg)There are no mallards in the domestic Animated Shorts program, but, collectively, the block is one big, weird, challenging and just plain odd duck. If you don’t like it, blame the sensibility of the selection-committee members, who seem to prefer an animated collection closer to the experimental Sunspots and the transgressive Midnight blocks. But also blame society, as these are the types of films being made and accepted into festivals around the world. If you love the block, however, you will want to thank the aforementioned programmers, not to mention our aesthetic world. This reviewer is in the middle, as usual. And based on my conversations with fellow festival-goers, it seems, like Stealers Wheel, I’m stuck in the middle with you. Indeed, many attendees expressed their admiration for the filmmakers’ talents while voicing their disappointment that not a single one of the 11 films represented traditional, narrative, animated storytelling. A couple came close. But almost all veered close to those aforementioned Sunspots and Midnights. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Yearn.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Yearn.jpg)*Yearn* The film that quacked the loudest for me was director Ben Smith’s ***Yearn*** (4 stars), a stunning CG story of two museum statues who long for each other, quietly, presumably for eternity – until tragedy throws them together, leaving their romance in pieces. ***Paper Trail*** (3 stars), which opens the block, leaves its emotional mark too, by reducing an entire human life to the drawings, scrawlings and legal paperwork he has left behind. What do our lives amount to? This scribbler doesn’t know, but I’m closer to finding the answer after seeing Don Hertzfeldt’s film. Kate Renshaw-Lewis’s ***Busy Bodies*** (3 stars) won’t make you feel any less depressed about existence. It might even add to your existential dread, in a tiny, Kafkaesque manner. But its monotony is entrancing. Closing the block, stop-motion style, is ***The Mushroom*** (3 stars), another film in Shengwei Zhou’s series *Perfect Motion*. As with most experimental films, you might not understand it, but if you jibe with its vibe, this champignon can prove aesthetically tasty. Make room for the shroom. ## International Animated Shorts Proving that the experimental and transgressive trend is not limited to the United States, the International Animated Shorts block includes mind-bending and mentally troublesome – “good trouble” mostly, as John Lewis would say – films from around the globe. But, in contrast to the domestic animated block, this program contains a fair amount of traditional storytelling. It also includes one masterpiece and a couple that are close. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Trading-Cards.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Trading-Cards.jpg)*Trading Cards* ***Trading Cards*** (5 stars), from Australian director Radheya Jang, is a beautifully but fairly simply drawn examination of existential dread and the horrors of adult depression and anxiety. If this sounds dour, rest assured it is not, as the fantastical tale involves a time-travel meeting between a man and his younger self. Dark, whimsical and impactful – with a stellar script and voiceover – it’s one of the fest’s best films. I wouldn’t trade it for any other animated short at this year’s FFF. In his introduction to the screening on April 19 at Enzian, festival programmer Georg Koszulinski called the block “exceptional,” and I certainly can’t argue with that adjective when it comes to this film. Estonian director Natalia Mirzoyan’s ***Winter in March*** (4 stars), about a Russian couple’s hatred for the war in Ukraine and their subsequent efforts to flee the country, is the weightiest of the block’s nine films. Don’t be surprised if you see it come Oscar time. But the much simpler, shorter ***Sorrow Doesn’t Sleep at Night*** (4 stars), from Chilean directors Josefina Montino and Martín Andre, is almost as good. You will be haunted by this fabric stop-motion gem, just as the film’s subjects, a hermit and his cat, are haunted by the ghosts of their past. The grim ***Mother’s Child*** (Naomi Noir), the surreal ***Um*** (Nieto) and the apocalyptic ***Ashen Sun*** (Camille Monnier) are all worthy of 3 stars and therefore deserve recognition too. ## International Shorts #2 Having reluctantly missed the International Shorts #1 block, I went in with enthusiasm to block #2. I left feeling sick. That’s not because of the quality of the six films, which was impressive. It was because of the brutality of the closing movie. But more on that later. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/I-Gaze-at-the-Sky.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/I-Gaze-at-the-Sky.jpg)Wiktoria Gorodeckaja stars in *I Gaze at the Sky*. The block’s opener, ***I Gaze at the Sky*** (5 stars), is also its best, and the festival audience agreed, voting it their favorite international short. A dystopian yet disturbingly realistic look at Vladimir Putin’s campaign of educational indoctrination in the wake of Russia’s war with Ukraine, director Alexandra Strunin’s film could see an Academy Award nomination. (I’m reminded of the Oscar-winning documentary *Mr Nobody Against Putin*.) ***The Spectacle*** (4 stars), a fantastical drama from Hungarian director Bálint Kenyeres, and ***It Means Hope*** (4 stars), a gritty demonstration of Iran’s human-rights violations from Iranian director Shadi Karamroudi, are difficult to forget. Both are slow-paced, with muted performances, but their aesthetic choices speak volumes. ***Candy Bar*** (3 stars), an Australian film from Nash Edgerton**,** is a welcome comedic interlude among the otherwise dark program. But the poetic ***Swim Sistas*** (2 stars), a British documentary about Black female swimmers, is out of place. The block ends with German director Simon Schneckenburger’s ***Skin on Skin*** (3 stars), about two closeted gay/bisexual men laboring at a pig slaughterhouse. Robbed of their humanity, they struggle to survive each day while doing unspeakable things to animals. With graphic depictions of pig corpses, the film is difficult to take, and even harder to interpret. I’m not sure why Schneckenburger chose the setting. If he wanted a metaphor for human suffering and degradation, he succeeded in just the right amount. If he wanted shock value, he succeeded too well. I don’t believe in trigger warnings, but this film probably needs one, especially for those who love animals. It’s easily the most disturbing film of the festival. Even more disturbing was the audience’s reaction at the Enzian screening on April 19. They seemed to be disturbed, but more by the human side of the story, and not unduly. I saw no walkouts. And many kept eating their meat. (Enzian is a dine-in cinema.) And in post-movie discussions, I heard no one mention the pigs’ agony. “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian,” Paul McCartney is fond of saying. I doubt it. *For ratings of all the short films I saw at the 2026 Florida Film Festival, plus ratings of nearly 4,000 shorts dating back to 1888, visit my [short-film lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists").* *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida FF 2026 feature reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/) **Published:** March 25, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Enzian-Theater-FFF-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Enzian-Theater-FFF-2026-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March-April 2026 There’s a little something for everyone’s taste among the 161 movies of the 35th annual Florida Film Festival, which will take place April 10-19 in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. But, as usual, what you get out of this cinematic smorgasbord may depend on what you bring to the table. Not one to correct your subjective opinion, let me simply reflect on how my own cinematic taste buds reacted to the films. Most of the feature films reviewed below were shown at the pre-festival press/passholder screenings, but I will be adding reviews of more films throughout the festival, so keep tuning in for updates. These reviews are for features only. For shorts, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews"). (All reviews are on my [0-5 scale](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf). Reviews appear in alphabetical order by movie title. For more information about the films and the filmmakers, and to purchase tickets, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films). And for my general preview of the festival and interview with Programming Director Matthew Curtis, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/ "Florida Film Festival 2026").) ## Opening night The festival opens with director Adam Rehmeier’s ***Carolina Caroline*** (3 ½ stars), a romantic crime thriller-drama. Though it’s a bit derivative, it’s a great ride, not just for its 1970s vibe but for the revelation that is Australian actress Samara Weaving. She’s tossed out of time, into our hearts. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/carolina-caroline/ "Carolina Caroline") to read my full review. ## Music to my eyes [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Chopin-Chopin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Chopin-Chopin.jpg)Eryk Kulm stars as Frédéric Chopin. (All images are copyrighted and are used by permission of the Florida Film Festival or by fair use. Click images to enlarge.) With the best art direction of any festival film, and the haunting Eryk Kulm as Frédéric Chopin, director Michał Kwieciński’s ***Chopin, Chopin!*** (4 stars) is a treat for the senses. Set in Europe in the 1830s and ‘40s, the French- and Polish-language extravaganza is the type of period piece rarely seen anymore. But Kwieciński eschews a straight bio-pic for a psychological drama about not just Chopin’s life and music but his begrudging acceptance of his tragic fate. *The film is playing Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 13 at 4 p.m. and at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater B) on April 19 at 2:15 p.m. For greater insight into this slightly controversial film, check out* [*this interview*](https://www.cultureave.com/the-true-chopin/) *with Kwieciński. And for a quick reminder of Chopin’s greatest work, revisit* [*this scene*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbUvLbgnxIQ) *from* Five Easy Pieces. ## Brushing aside greatness [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Christophers.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Christophers.jpg)*The Christophers* stars Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen. Steven Soderbergh’s ***The Christophers*** (3 ¼ stars) stars Ian McKellen as a painter whose greedy kids (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) try to exploit his legacy by hiring an artist (Michaela Coel) to forge his incomplete works. A study in contrasts, the chamber piece is lighthearted but deep, simple but multi-layered, overstated and under-performed, with lots to say about the value of one’s life work: “That’s the thing: to last in the minds of others.” *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 14 at 9 p.m.* ## Amphibious The biggest brainteaser of the festival is ***Frogtown*** (3 ½ stars), set and shot in Florida. Just as frogs are equally comfortable on land and in water, writer-director Costa Karalis’s film is happy as both doc and narrative fiction, and it blends the two genres in a way I’ve never seen before. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/frogtown/ "Frogtown") for my full review. ## Heart’s in your throat [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/I-Swear.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/I-Swear.jpg)It’s not every day a film changes your mind about something. March 26 was one of those days for me because that’s when I experienced ***I Swear*** (4 stars). The film, written and directed by Kirk Jones, was honored with six BAFTA nominations and a win for Robert Aramayo, who stars as John Davidson, a Scottish man with Tourette Syndrome. But the entertaining, inspirational, heart-tugging bio-pic hasn’t had a U.S. release and was therefore not eligible for a 2025 Oscar. Let’s hope it can now get its deserved recognition and alter people’s perception of Tourette’s, just as Davidson has. *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 13 at 6:30 p.m.* ## Rock ‘n’ roll hotel Come on a Hollywood adventure with me, and you might also get a film review to boot. Said movie might just be the music-history doc ***If These Walls Could Rock*** (3 ¼ stars). Buckle up, and [read the full review here](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-these-walls-could-rock/ "If These Walls Could Rock"). *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 13 at 9 p.m. and at Enzian on April 17 at 1 p.m.* ## Brothers in arms [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Last-Viking.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Last-Viking.jpg)Mads Mikkelsen, left, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas star in *The Last Viking*. ***The Last Viking*** (3 stars), a twisty, Danish, (exceedingly) dark comedy-drama, concerns brothers (Nikolaj Lie Kaas and a memorable Mads Mikkelsen) struggling to reconcile their past while forging a new future amid autism and repressed trauma. The subplots come fast and furious in writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen’s multi-layered film, and the balance of characters, genres and tones is often off, especially when it turns violent. But irresistible weirdness and strong performances rule the day. Skol! *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater B) on April 16 at 3:30 p.m. and at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 19 at 6:15 p.m.* ## The band played on [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Marching-Band.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Marching-Band.jpg)Pierre Lottin, left, and Benjamin Lavenhe star in *The Marching Band*, or *En Fanfare*, a French-language film about the values of family. After a leukemia diagnosis, a famous French conductor (an impressive Benjamin Lavernhe) discovers the brother he never knew (Pierre Lottin). His takeaway is blood is thicker than water, even when it doesn’t run smooth. Ours is that a professional orchestra has a lot in common with an amateur band: Music is music. Regrettably, the chords in writer-director Emmanuel Courcol’s dramedy ***The Marching Band*** (2 ¾ stars) are often dissident. But the through-line is harmonious. *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 14 at 4:15 p.m. and at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater B) on April 19 at 6:45 p.m. ## Abby *Normal* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Normal.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Normal.jpg)From the warped minds of director Ben Wheatley (*Kill List*), co-creator/star Bob Odenkirk and writer Derek Kolstad (*John Wick*) comes ***Normal*** (1 star). Set in rural Normal, Minnesota, the film combines neo-Western, outrageously violent, twisty, revenge action-thriller and ridiculous, dark comedy. It’s a dumb man’s *Fargo*. It would be a train wreck, except there are no trains in tiny, icy Normal. So it’s a snow-plough wreck, with a large body count and a small-mindedness. *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 12 at 9:30 p.m. and at Enzian on April 13 at 9:15 p.m., but this Spotlight film really should be a Midnight feature.* ## Here, there and everywhere [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Peter-Asher.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Peter-Asher.jpg)In a world without (enough) love comes ***Peter Asher: Everywhere Man*** (3 ¾ stars), a documentary about the British musician who was half of Peter and Gordon, a Beatle chum/partner, and an influential producer of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and countless other legends. Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s joyful and surprisingly revelatory doc might be the greatest pop-music story you don’t already know. Six degrees of separation? Asher apparently has just one. He was truly everywhere. *The film is playing at Enzian Theater on April 16 at 12:15 p.m. and at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 19 at 3:45 p.m.* ## Pinot (film) noir [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Paul-Giamatti-at-FFF.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Paul-Giamatti-at-FFF.jpg)Actor Paul Giamatti and director Alexander Payne must have a thing for depressed teachers. The two have teamed up twice to bring these characters to the screen: in 2004 with *Sideways* and in 2023 with *The Holdovers*. The Florida Film Festival will be screening the former on April 12 at the Enzian Theater, and Giamatti will be there to participate in a post-film Q&A session. In both films, Giamatti plays the prof, struggling with his career and perhaps hoping for a bit of romance, or at least a raison d’etre. While [*The Holdovers*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-holdovers/ "The Holdovers") is the slightly better film (4 ¼ stars), revisiting ***Sideways*** (4 stars) will be a pleasant experience, especially because the screening offers the chance to see Giamatti, one of his generation’s finest actors. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Paul-Giamatti-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Paul-Giamatti-1.jpg)Giamatti visits his fans outside Enzian Theater during a screening of *Sideways*. (photo by Cameron Meier) Based on Rex Pickett’s novel – which morphed into an entire book series – the comedy-drama features fine support from Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh and the luminous and underrated Virginia Madsen. But perhaps the best supporting performer is the wine, specifically the Pinot noir that Giamatti’s character, Miles, extols as he and his friend Jack (Church) travel southern California wine country. Following the original release of the film, sales of Pinot surged while those of Merlot, which Miles disparages, dropped. My writing is mostly limited to film criticism, but I eagerly await the opportunity to pass judgment on both wines during the upcoming screening. ## Stop the presses My favorite film of the festival is one I almost missed. ***Seized*** (4 ¼ stars) wasn’t previewed for the press, and I missed its first screening on April 11. Thankfully, I caught it on April 14, for its second and final showing. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/seized/ "Seized") for my review and interview with director Sharon Liese. ## Train dreams [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Strangers-on-a-Train.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Strangers-on-a-Train.jpg)Robert Walker, left, and Farley Granger, engage in merry horseplay. From 1951 comes Alfred Hitchcock’s forgotten masterpiece, ***Strangers on a Train*** (4 ½ stars). I say forgotten not because the plot is unfamiliar to modern audiences. Indeed, it’s one of the most famous stories ever: the “criss-cross” murder, in which two random people meet and agree to swap murders. Because they have no connections and no motives for each other’s crime – and if they successfully establish alibis – the murders are nearly fool-proof. It’s forgotten because it’s not often ranked among Hitch’s best, and, astonishingly, it’s one that today’s audiences haven’t seen. But this critic has it ranked as the Master’s #6 film, tucked between *Dial M for Murder* and *The Birds*, and far above a much better-known classic, *Rear Window*. Starring an average Farley Granger (the film’s only major fault) and a great and totally unhinged Robert Walker, *Strangers*, shot in beautiful black and white, is a treat for the eyes and brain, particularly because it was apparently the last Hitchcock film shot on nitrate, which was being phased out at the time in favor of the more stable acetate (or safety) film. Among many little delicacies, watch for one of the most cleverly filmed murders ever and the greatest carousel scene in cinema history. Also look for Hitchcock’s daughter, Pat, in her largest and best role of all her father’s films. But the best performance belongs to Kasey Rogers (credited as Laura Elliott), whose character’s murder will be burned into your brain for eternity. You will also never be able to hear “And the Band Played On” quite the same way again, as the movie does for that old standard what *A Clockwork Orange* did for “Singin’ in the Rain.” So don’t miss the 75th anniversary screening on Sunday, April 19, at 9 p.m., at Enzian. It’s the fest’s closing-night (retro) film, and it makes a nice change from the B-movie (*Race with the Devil*) that was last year’s closer. High-brow is simply more fitting for an Oscar-accredited festival. If you don’t like *Strangers on a Train*, I might just lure you to a carnival and strangle you by moonlight. Or better yet, I might find a non-cinephile to do it in exchange for knocking off one of his enemies whom I do not know. What could possibly go wrong? ## A cracking-good film [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Tuner.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Tuner.jpg)Niki is a virtuoso musician with perfect pitch, but he suffers from an auditory condition that renders him unable to play piano and even function normally in everyday life. So he makes a living at the one thing he can still do really well: tuning pianos with his mentor and adopted father, Harry. But when he discovers that his hypersensitive hearing makes him the ideal candidate for a safe cracker, he jumps at the chance to make some much-needed money. ***Tuner*** (3 ¼ stars) marks the narrative-fiction debut of Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (*Navalny*). And thanks to a captivating story, which Roher co-wrote with Robert Ramsey, a good lead performance by Leo Woodall (*The White Lotus*) and solid (though too brief) support from 88-year-old acting icon Dustin Hoffman (as Harry) and Havana Rose Liu (as Niki’s would-be girlfriend), the drama-thriller stays mostly in tune. “Tuning a piano’s about creating harmony out of chaos, and to do that you’ve gotta be OK with imperfection,” Niki says. Like pianos, *Tuner* is imperfect, but its notes can still be quite captivating. *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater B) on April 11 at 7:15 p.m. and at Enzian on April 18 at 4:30 p.m.* ## They put a spell on you ***[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/You-Had-to-Be-There.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/You-Had-to-Be-There.jpg)You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way)*** (2 stars) focuses on the 1972 Toronto production of the stage musical *Godspell* and how the relationships of its ridiculously talented cast and crew (Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, etc.) changed comedy. But Nick Davis’s partly animated, talking-heads documentary – despite its share of laughs, insights and good vibes – is as tedious, self-indulgent, rambling and self-aggrandizing as its absurdly long title. *The film is playing at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater B) on April 14 at 3:45 p.m. and at Regal Winter Park Village (Theater A) on April 19 at 8:45 p.m.* ## … more films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/A-Life-Illuminated.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/A-Life-Illuminated.jpg)*A Life Illuminated* In addition to these feature films, I suggest director Jeremy Workman’s Korean documentary ***School for Defectors*** (3 ½ stars) and Tasha Van Zandt’s deep-see doc ***A Life Illuminated*** (3 ¼ stars). But I do not recommend Audrey Olsen’s entertainment documentary ***Punkie*** (½ star), Ahmed Bouchalga’s Moroccan history doc ***The Call*** (1 star) or Seth Porges’s ***Santacon*** (1 ½ stars), despite the latter’s unbridaled insanity, which will appeal to some audiences. Though it contains an interesting anti-technology premise, I also can’t back Kyle Smith’s family dramedy ***Sylvania*** (1 ½ stars). The same goes for the midnight movie ***Mermaid*** (¾ star), from writer-director Tyler Cornack. It stinks like yesterday’s sushi. Despite my thumbs-down votes for those last films, I am glad all the filmmakers are living up to the inspirational words of groundbreaking (or more precisely, surface-breaking) marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder, the subject of *A Life Illuminated*: “My most important mission was not to lead an ordinary life.” And, again, don’t miss [my reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") of the festival’s short films. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Seized](https://www.meiermovies.com/seized/) **Published:** April 17, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Seized**, 2026, [4 ¼ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # All the Kansas men [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Seized-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Seized-scaled.jpg)Image is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 2026 What do you get when you cross Barbara Kopple, Errol Morris and Adam McKay with *All the President’s Men*? Answer: the grand jury winner for best feature documentary at the recent Florida Film Festival and arguably the best doc of 2026 so far. If all those seemingly disparate ingredients leave you feeling like you’ve been struck by a cinematic cyclone, rest assured that you *are* in Kansas. Specifically, you’re in Marion, Kansas, population 1,922. The person who has brought you here is director Sharon Liese. And the film is *Seized*. Marion is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it burg 60 miles out of Wichita. But for a moment in 2023, the town made international ink after local police illegally raided its newspaper, *The Marion County Record*. The reasons for the raid are both farcical and fascist, and Liese does a masterful job of objectively covering all sides of the story with humor, style and accuracy. At the center of the film is *The Record*’s publisher and editor, Eric Meyer, whose own house was searched during the raid. The trauma put Meyer’s mother, the 98-year-old co-owner of the publication, in her grave the following day. (“She was a martyr for the press,” Meyer says.) Astonishingly, almost everything was caught on surveillance video, which Liese uses extensively in her film. But she also expertly incorporates interviews with almost everyone involved in the raid and its aftermath, plus plenty of townsfolk. And in a nice narrative touch, she bookends the movie with the arrival and departure of a young, naïve reporter new to *The Record*, allowing us to see the story through the eyes of an outsider. It’s difficult to believe this could have happened in America. But it’s especially tough to take when it’s your own state. You see, like the staff of *The Record*, I’m also a journalist from Kansas. There’s no place like home. ## Interview Prior to the movie’s screening at the 2026 Florida Film Festival, I interviewed director Sharon Liese. “There was a police raid … on the *Marion County Record* and on two homes in Marion,” Liese told me. “And one was of the editor who lived with the, the co-owner of the newspaper, his mom, a 98-year-old woman, and she died … right after the police raid. … [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sharon-Liese-on-big-screen-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sharon-Liese-on-big-screen-scaled.jpg)Director Sharon Liese accepts, via Zoom, on the Enzian big screen, the grand jury award for best feature documentary for her film, *Seized*. “So I followed the aftermath of this town, like, kind of coping with and processing this police raid that has since been disavowed. … But it’s like an Adam McKay-esque sort of story that unfolds with all of these, all of these characters who are just so enigmatic, and interesting and colorful. And it’s about local journalism. … It’s about the violation of the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment. … “I hope that people see … that there can be a really informative documentary that’s also wildly entertaining. And so you can get the broccoli and then the important stuff about journalism and the Constitution, but you can also really enjoy meeting people that you may never have met, the kind of people that you maybe never have met before. “So that’s one takeaway. And the other takeaways have to do with that there are blind spots that we all have. And when you when you watch the film, you see how people might believe in the First Amendment, and every person will tell you that. But when feelings about people get in the way, we have blind spots, and sometimes the things we think we value get sort of tainted. … “And even especially law enforcement: They don’t understand. In the film, you will see that there are some law-enforcement personnel who just really don’t comprehend the Constitution. And they also believe that if they’re they got orders from somebody else to carry out something, that’s all they need. … “People mostly come \[to see the movie\] because they want to hear about this egregious attack on a newspaper, and press freedoms are such a huge thing right now. But then … they see something unexpected in it, which I really like.” *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival announces awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-announces-awards/) **Published:** April 18, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Festival-awards-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Festival-awards-2026-scaled.jpg)From *MeierMovies*, April 18, 2026 The 35th annual Florida Film Festival announced its awards Saturday night at Enzian Theater in Maitland. Eleven awards were presented, including six for shorts and five for features, with several audience awards to be announced after the festival. *The Last Day of Byron Bray* and *Junkie* were the big winners. The former, directed by Michael Borrelli, won the grand jury award for best narrative short, meaning it is now eligible for an Oscar nomination. The film also won the Matthew Curtis Audience Choice Award for best short film. *Junkie*, directed by William Means, took home the grand jury award for best narrative feature and the audience award for narrative feature. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Junkie-filmmakers-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Junkie-filmmakers-scaled.jpg)The filmmakers of *Junkie* accept their awards. (photos by Cameron Meier) Other grand jury winners among the shorts were Andy and Carolyn London’s *1981* for animation and Brian Gersten’s *Hollywood’s Mermaid: The Esther Williams* *Story* for documentary, meaning those two films are also now Oscar-qualified. In addition, Blake Winston Rice’s *DISC* received a special jury award for “surprising intimacy,” and Joe Purtell’s *Trapped* took home a special jury prize for “non-fiction storytelling.” *Seized*, directed by Sharon Liese, won the grand jury award for feature documentary. *Valentina*, directed by Tatti Ribeiro, won a special jury award for “resolute feature filmmaking.” And Patrick Bresnan’s *First They Came for My College* won the audience award for documentary features. Keep in mind that dozens of festival films, including all Spotlight films, were screened out of competition. The festival concludes tomorrow with another full day of films, culminating in a 75th-anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Strangers on a Train*, at Enzian. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [S](https://www.meiermovies.com/s/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with S:** [Sages–Femmes (Midwives)](https://www.meiermovies.com/midwives/ "Midwives") FL (2023; 3 ¾ stars) Salma FL (2013; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [2013 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-south-asian-film-festival/ "2013 South Asian Film Festival") Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me (2017; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (Jack and the Beanstalk version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) (1972; 0 stars) [Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (Thumbelina version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) (1972; 0 stars) [Santa Claus Conquers the Martians](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) (1964; ¼ star) [Saving Christmas](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) (2014; 0 stars) [Saving Mr. Banks](http://www.meiermovies.com/saving-mr-banks/) (2013; 4 ½ stars) [Scary Movie 2](https://www.meiermovies.com/scary-movie-2/) (2001; ½ star) [Seized](https://www.meiermovies.com/seized/ "Seized") (2026; 4 ¼ star) [The Sentence](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/) (2018; 3 ¾ stars) [Serre Moi Fort (Hold Me Tight)](https://www.meiermovies.com/serre-moi-fort-hold-me-tight/ "Serre Moi Fort (Hold Me Tight)") FL (2021; 2 ¼ stars) [The Shape of Water](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-shape-of-water/) \* (2017; 3 ¼ stars) [Sharknado 3](http://www.meiermovies.com/jumping-the-shark-in-orlando/) TV/Web/NT (2015; ½ star) [Sharknado 5: Global Swaming](http://www.meiermovies.com/sharknado-5-global-swarming/) TV/Web/NT (2017; ¼ star) Shelter (2017; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Jewish Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [Ship of Fools](https://www.meiermovies.com/ship-of-fools/ "Ship of Fools") (1965; 2 ¾ stars) [Shithouse](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) (2020; 1 ¼ stars) Shiva Baby (2020; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) Shoshana (2024; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2024 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [Shrek](https://www.meiermovies.com/shrek/) (2001; 1 ¾ stars) Siddharth FL (2013; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [2014 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") Sightseers (2012; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [Silence](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/19/making-noise-about-silence/) (2016; 4 ¼ stars) [Sinners](https://www.meiermovies.com/sinners-breaks-record-or-does-it/ "‘Sinners’ breaks record, or does it?") (2025; 2 stars) [63 Up](http://www.meiermovies.com/63-up/) TV (2019; 4 ¼ stars) [The Skeleton Twins](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-skeleton-twins/) (2014; 2 ¾ stars) [A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-skin-too-few/) (2002; 3 ¼ stars) [Sleepwalk With Me](https://www.meiermovies.com/sleepwalk-with-me/) (2012; 3 ¼ stars) [SlingShot](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/ "A double dose of docs") (2014; 3 ¾ stars) Some Kind of Heaven (2020; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [Somewhere in Queens](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2023/ "Florida Film Festival 2023") (2023; 3 ¼ stars) [Somewhere in Time](http://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/) (1980; 5 stars) [The Son](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-son/ "The Son") (2022; 2 ½ stars) [Son of God](http://www.meiermovies.com/son-of-god/) (2014; 1 ¾ stars) [The Song of Names](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-song-of-names/) (2019; 1 ¾ stars) [Southern Comfort](https://www.meiermovies.com/southern-comfort/) (2001; 2 ¾ stars) [Spencer](https://www.meiermovies.com/spencer/ "Spencer") (2021; 3 ½ stars) [Split](http://www.meiermovies.com/split/) (2017; 3 stars) [Spotlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/11/27/the-best-movie-of-the-year/) \* (2015; 4 ½ stars) [Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer **(**The People vs. Fritz Bauer)](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-people-vs-fritz-bauer/) FL (2015; 3 ¼ stars) [Stan & Ollie](http://www.meiermovies.com/stan-ollie/) (2018; 4 stars) [Stand Up Guys](https://www.meiermovies.com/stand-up-guys/) (2012; 1 ½ stars) [A Star Is Born](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) [Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens](http://www.meiermovies.com/star-wars-vii-the-force-awakens/) (2015; 3 ½ stars) [Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (2–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-all-star-wars-films/) (2017; 3 ¾ stars) [Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-rise-of-skywalker/) (2019; 4 ¼ stars) [Stay Prayed Up](https://www.meiermovies.com/stay-prayed-up/ "Stay Prayed Up") (2021; 1 ¼ stars) [Stolen Kingdom](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies") (2025; 3 stars) The Story of Luke (2012; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [Orlando Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") Strad Style (2017; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) Strangers on a Train (1951; 4 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") A Stray (2016; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Stronger](http://www.meiermovies.com/stronger/) (2017; 4 stars) [Stuber](http://www.meiermovies.com/stuber/) (2019; ¾ star) The Sturgeon Queens (2014; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Sully](http://www.meiermovies.com/sully/) (2016; 4 stars) Summerland (2020; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) Sunshine Superman (2015, 2 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Superman](https://www.meiermovies.com/superman-2025/ "Superman 2025") (2025; 1 ¾ stars) [Supernova](https://www.meiermovies.com/supernova/) (2021; 3 ¼ stars) Surviving Picasso (1996; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") [Suspect Zero](https://www.meiermovies.com/suspect-zero/) (2004; 1 ¼ stars) The Sweet Requiem FL (2018; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [South Asian Film Festival 2019 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [Swing State Florida](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2020/ "Global Peace Film Festival 2020") TV/Web/NT (2020; 3 stars) --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2026](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2026/) **Published:** March 26, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## What to expect from the 35th annual fest ### A chat with Programming Director Matthew Curtis [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2026-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2026-logo.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 28, 2026; updated March 31, 2026 “There’s nothing new in human experience,” Paul Giamatti’s character tells one of his students in *The Holdovers*. With respect to Giamatti, who is one of the Florida Film Festival’s celebrity guests this year, his curmudgeonly movie character is wrong and will be proved so by 10 days of cinematic celebration. There undoubtedly will be something new under the Florida sun, at least on the Enzian and Regal big screens. The 35th annual festival will run from April 10 through 19 at Maitland’s Enzian Theater, Regal Winter Park Village and various party locations. In addition to Giamatti (who will screen *Sideways*) and Judge Reinhold (who will screen *Fast Times at Ridgemont High*), the fest will offer 161 movies total (49 features and 112 shorts) from 31 countries, including some that are rarely represented, such as Cuba, Kenya, Morocco, Vietnam and Guatemala. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Matthew-Curtis-and-Tim-Anderson-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Matthew-Curtis-and-Tim-Anderson-scaled.jpg)Programming Director Matthew Curtis, left, and Programming Manager Tim Anderson (photo by Cameron Meier) The movies were picked from 2,729 submissions from a record 122 countries. One hundred and forty films will make their Florida debut, 66 will get their East Coast premiere, and 24 will receive a world premiere, according to Programming Director Matthew Curtis, with whom I had a lengthy festival conversation. “I just think our programming this year is, just dynamite,” Curtis says. “Every year we say, ‘Oh, this is probably the best year ever,’ \[but Programming Manager\] Tim \[Anderson\] and I are so excited at what we’ve been able to put together. “There’s a lot of really high-profile arthouse stuff. There’s indie films that are just amazing. There’s Sundance favorites and some stuff from South by \[Southwest\]. And … every shorts program (domestic) has a couple of world premieres, a couple of North American premieres. … There’s one shorts program that has four world premieres in it. … These are incredible films. “We’ve got 40 returning alumni this year. And we’ve got 40 films that have Florida connections also. So literally a quarter of the programming are alumni, and another quarter all have Florida connections.” ## Opening film [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Carolina-Caroline.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Carolina-Caroline.jpg)The festival will open on the evening of Friday, April 10, with a party at the Tiedtke Amphitheater and Belvedere at Winter Park Events Center on Morse Avenue in Winter Park. And *Carolina Caroline* will be shown twice, at Enzian and Regal, with director Adam Rehmeier in attendance for a Q&A session at each screening. (He won’t need a doppelganger, as the showings are staggered, Enzian at 6:15 p.m. and Regal at 7:30 p.m.) Tickets can be purchased at [FloridaFilmFestival.com/films](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films). “We’ve been opening with Florida features for a number of years, Florida-themed films,” Curtis says. “\[But\] we just didn’t have the right one to do that \[this year\]. Tim \[Anderson\] saw \[*Carolina Caroline*\] at TIFF \[Toronto International Film Festival\] and absolutely loved it. \[Director\] Adam Rehmeier did *Dinner in America*. And \[*Carolina Caroline*\] is, like, a really terrific couple on the run, Bonnie and Clyde type. So what starts out as a small-time con grows into, you know, bank robberies, and it’s fairly sexy and thrilling, and the actors are great.” ## Centerpiece film [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Over-Your-Dead-Body.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Over-Your-Dead-Body.jpg)The biggest addition to the festival this year is the Centerpiece film, which will be *Over Your Dead Body*, an outrageous, dark, violent comedy directed by Jorma Taccone (*Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, MacGruber* and the tenderly touching *Brigsby Bear*), who will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A session. But, as Curtis, explains, it took some creative maneuvering to get the movie. “\[It was tough\] to get the film and Jorma Taccone, who’s, you know, part of the Lonely Island comedy group with Andy Samberg that produces all the great *SNL* shorts. … IFC \[Independent Film Company\] was only giving it to festivals if they made it the opening-night film, the centerpiece or the closing-night film. “So we’re like, ‘Well, it’s not gonna be the opening-night film.’ We had already committed to *Carolina Caroline*. Plus, it’s … a little on the ultra-violent side for an opening-night film. So, so we … just decided, ‘Well, let’s create a centerpiece film.’ We’ve never had one before. It allows us to do the closing-night retro \[75th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Strangers on a Train*\], which we always love to do. “But it’s one showing only. It’s an incredibly crazy film with wild performances, and it’s an awful lot of fun. It’s like *The Roses* taking it to an extreme level. … It’s right in the smack in the middle of the festival \[April 15, 9:30 p.m., Enzian\]. So it’s, it’s centerpiece literally, chronologically, as opposed to centerpiece thematically or philosophically.” ## Paul Giamatti [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Paul-Giamatti-at-FFF.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Paul-Giamatti-at-FFF.jpg)Acting icon Paul Giamatti will be the main celebrity guest and will participate in a Q&A session following a screening of *Sideways* (Alexander Payne’s 2004 wine-themed buddy dramedy) on April 12 at 8 p.m. at Enzian. Marisa Tomei was scheduled as the second celebrity and was expected to attend a screening of *My Cousin Vinny* but cancelled. On March 30, Judge Reinhold was announced as her replacement. (He will screen *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* and participate in Q&A session on April 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Enzian.) “It was a challenge” to get Giamatti, Curtis explains. “That’s been an extended negotiation. … What made it happen is the fact that he is filming in St. Petersburg the new Tom McCarthy film, *The Statement*, with John Turturro and Paul Rudd. … It worked out nicely, and we’re psyched. “To me, he’s a giant.” ## Tributes As usual, the festival is honoring musicians who have recently died by naming the five domestic shorts programs for those musicians’ songs. Shorts #1 is “Many Rivers to Cross,” for Jimmy Cliff; Shorts #2 is “The Other One,” for Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead; Shorts #3 is “Can’t Get Enough” for Mick Ralphs of Bad Company; Shorts #4 is “Everyday People,” for Sly Stone; and Shorts #5 is “Don’t Worry Baby,” for Brian Wilson. “We also named animated shorts \[“Personality Crisis,” for David Johansen of the New York Dolls\] and midnight shorts \[“Crazy Train” for Ozzy Osbourne\],” Curtis says. “There were seven people being honored this year by shorts program titles.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Brian-Quain.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Brian-Quain.jpg)Brian Quain The festival is also remembering one of its own who passed away last year, local cinephile and filmmaker Brian Quain. “There’s a dedication to Brian in the program,” Curtis say. “He started out as my programming coordinator and filmmaker liaison. And then he was on committees for all those other years. And he also did Brouhaha \[Film & Video Showcase\] with me. … He was part of the festival family and part of Enzian for 13 years. … I miss him a lot.” ## Long shorts It might be an oxymoron, but long shorts dominate this year’s festival. “We have less films this year because we have more longer shorts,” Curtis explains. “Even midnight shorts, \[which\] normally has 12 to 15 pieces in it – it’s only seven films. So we have two half-hour shorts anchoring both international live-action shorts programs. … Almost every category has less shorts than normal because we just had too many longer shorts that we couldn’t part with. … So that’s why instead of in the 180s this year \[total number of films\], we’re in the 160s. Speaking of shorts, one program that is always an adventure is Sunpots: New Visions of the Avant-Garde, which showcases experimental films. But this year the shorts program is joined by a feature. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Man-Whom-the-Trees-Loved.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Man-Whom-the-Trees-Loved.jpg)*The Man Whom the Trees Loved* “There’s our first Sunspots feature after eight years of our experimental shorts program,” Curtis says. “It’s called *The Man Whom the Trees Loved*. \[It has\] experimental aspects to it, and … there’s parts with very little dialogue and things like that. And it’s a little on the trippy side. So, yeah, it’s a really interesting film. “It is actually co-directed by Tehben Dean, who won our Grand Jury Award for *All I’ve Got and Then Some* a couple of years ago. And it is adapted from a supernatural novella by Algernon Blackwood about a landscape painter, who is played by the co-director, Woodruff Laputka. He becomes mysteriously and wildly drawn to the Florida fauna while on vacation with his wife. And it’s got this lush soundscape and a real kinda ghostly mix of atmospheric filmmaking and forces kinda beyond normal comprehension. But it’s got a mix of black-and-white and color photography. It’s, it’s a very interesting film. “It was shot in Central Florida, and that’s a world premiere, so we’re excited about that.” ## Building a shorts program [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Enzian-Theater-FFF-2026-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Enzian-Theater-FFF-2026-scaled.jpg)Structuring a block of short films is part art and part science, part objectivity and part subjectivity. And, frankly, it’s a process that most festivals simply don’t understand. Whether or not one likes the individual shorts at the Florida Film Festival, one usually must admit that the festival does a fine job of forming the blocks. “The best way to describe that is … we are picking from a pool of shorts. And sometimes, like with a midnight-shorts program or an animated-shorts program, that’s a finite group of films you’ve selected, so you’re not then moving them into other programs. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Regal-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Regal-scaled.jpg)Films will screen at Regal Winter Park Village, in addition to Enzian. “\[But\] when we program the \[main blocks of\] competition shorts, you’re … taking 120 to 150 films that are on the board and whittling it down to the, you know, 450 minutes of programming. And then once you get that set and you’ve got those, let’s say, 35 films, then you’re starting to divide them into, into programs. “So there’s two different processes. One is pick the films for one program and then figure out how to order them. And then … pick the films for a whole section of the festival and then decide what’s going where. So in both cases, you know, we look at what are natural openers and closers. We know kinda what we’d like films to feel like when we’re opening a program and closing a program. “Often the longer pieces: Those are the best slots to either open a program or anchor a program ‘cause you … rarely wanna do, like, a 20- to 30-minute film in the middle of a program. So the best slot \[for a long film\] is to open a program or close with it if they’re strong enough or appropriate enough to do that. Sometimes they’re not. Sometimes we open with something, like, short and then go into the longer piece and play it second. But more often than not, a longer short will open or close a program.” Has Curtis ever thought of mimicking other festivals by simply grouping all short films by genre: comedy, drama, thriller, etc.? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Matthew-Curtis-and-Pete-DiPietro--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Matthew-Curtis-and-Pete-DiPietro--scaled.jpg)Matthew Curtis, left, and Technical Director Pete DiPietro (photo by Cameron Meier) “I’ll cut you off,” Curtis interjects. “I knew you were gonna ask that question. … No, no. That’s, that’s kinda just not what we’re about. “First of all, comedy’s tough. And it seems to be much tougher than drama in these times as far as filmmakers making quality films. So, generally, there’s less comedy making up the programs than dramas. So if you stuck all the comedies in one or two programs, it wouldn’t leave much elsewhere. So we just, we like to have a balance of films within each program and have some type of thematic continuity if there’s any way possible, maybe not for all the films but for a lot of the films. “We also like the program to have some momentum, you know, a narrative momentum to them where it kinda builds to a certain point. Or if something’s particularly intense, maybe we have a more chill film to follow so that we’re not, you know, it’s not overwhelming for the audience – to go from one emotional, you know, wreckage film to the next.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-3-scaled.jpg)Surprisingly, the film blocks are set first and the song title applied later. “We don’t name the programs \[immediately\],” Curtis explains. “We’ll come back, you know, a day or two later, and Tim and I will look at the board. And, you know, we still use post-its, and we’ll say, ‘OK, these are the musicians we’d like to honor. These are some of their songs that they’re most associated with. What works where?’” ## AI The only question that got Curtis slightly riled was about the use of generative artificial intelligence. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Enzian-sign-scaled.jpg)“We have a very specific question, you know, on the Film Freeway … submission form: ‘What AI was used in completion of your film and where?’ And then we decide. I mean, usually, it’s three strikes. You know, that’s it. So we really try to avoid it at all costs.” The festival wants to showcase “filmmakers’ vision and originality and creativity,” Curtis says, “not, you know, how well they play on the computer.” It should not go unmentioned that Curtis and Anderson’s work would be impossible without the tireless contribution of the festival’s selection-committee members, Enzian staff and festival volunteers. For more information about the festival, including film descriptions, showtimes, party and forum-discussion information, and prices of the various passes and tickets, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/). For reviews of feature films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews"), and [click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2026-shorts-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 shorts reviews") for reviews of shorts. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [I](https://www.meiermovies.com/i/) **Published:** December 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with I:** I Am a Knife with Legs (2014; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [I, Daniel Blake](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-daniel-blake/ "I, Daniel Blake") (2016; 4 ¼ stars) I Declare War (2012; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [I Dream of a Psychopomp](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-dream-of-a-psychopomp/ "I Dream of a Psychopomp") TV/Web/NT (2022; ¾ stars) [I Do … Until I Don’t](http://www.meiermovies.com/i-do-until-i-dont/) (2017; 1 ½ stars) [I, Robot](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-robot/) (2004; 1 ¾ stars) I Swear (2025; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [I, Tonya](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/25/misplaced-comedy/) (2017; 1 ¾ stars) Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (2013; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") Ich Fühl Mich Disco (I Feel Like Disco) FL (2014; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [If I Had Legs I’d Kick You](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-i-had-legs-id-kick-you/ "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You") (2025; 4 stars) [If These Walls Could Rock](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-these-walls-could-rock/ "If These Walls Could Rock") (2026; 3 ¼ stars) [The Imitation Game](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-imitation-game/) (2014; 4 ½ stars) In Search of Israeli Cuisine (2016; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) [Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny](https://www.meiermovies.com/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny/ "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny") (2023; 3 ½ stars) [Inherent Vice](http://www.meiermovies.com/inherent-vice/) (2014; 1 ½ stars) [Inside Llewyn Davis](http://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/) (2013; 4 ¾ stars) Interstellar (2014; 4 ½ stars), part of the [Top 5 of 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/ "My top 5 of 2014 (so far)") [The Interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-interview/) (2014; 2 stars) [Into the Woods](http://www.meiermovies.com/into-the-woods/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) [The Invisible Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-invisible-man/) (2020; 3 ¼ stars) [The Invisible Woman](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-invisible-woman/) (2013; 2 ½ stars) The Iran Job (2012; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [2013 Global Peace Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) [The Irishman](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-irishman/), a.k.a. I Heard You Paint Houses (2019; 2 ½ stars) [Irrational Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/irrational-man/) (2015; 2 stars) [Isle of Dogs](http://www.meiermovies.com/isle-of-dogs/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [It](http://www.meiermovies.com/it/) (2017; 1 ¼ stars) [It Comes at Night](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/26/audience-vs-critics/) (2017; 1 ¼ stars) --- ### [If These Walls Could Rock](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-these-walls-could-rock/) **Published:** April 15, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **If** **T****he****s****e W****a****lls Could R****o****ck**, 2026, 3 ¼ stars # Beer and Loafing in Los Angeles [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sunset-Marquis-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sunset-Marquis-scaled.jpg)Photo taken in a drunken haze, in 2015. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 15, 2026 We were somewhere around Beverly, on the edge of Hollywood, when the drugs began to take hold. Not really. (Sorry, Hunter.) We were drunk on only alcohol. My friend, Chester, and I had just watched the 2015 Academy Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel, across the street from the actual ceremony, and were now on the prowl for the perfect Oscar party. Rejected from the Elton John shindig, we hailed a cab to anywhere and were soon on the Strip. Before I knew what was happening, the taxi door had flown open and Chester was half outside the moving car. I pulled him back in with one hand and slammed the door shut with the other, and it was smooth cruising once again, all the way to a West Hollywood hotel bar that Chester, an L.A. expert, said was historic and might provide celebrity sightings. The building seemed ordinary at first, but, once inside, the charm was evident and L.A. but a memory. This was an oasis, a respite from Tinsel Town traffic and big-city bravado. Richard Linklater, whose *Boyhood* had been up for Oscars earlier in the evening, strolled by. But except for him, the pad was strangely empty, perhaps waiting for a post-post-Oscar party, or perhaps stuck in time. This low-rise hotel was highbrow, but without the pretension. It was self-assured, confident it was better than the glitzier places that had popped up around it in recent years. And it had tales to tell, if you knew how to ask. “What is this?” I asked my friend. “The Sunset Marquis,” he responded. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/If-These-Walls-Could-Rock.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/If-These-Walls-Could-Rock.jpg)This is coffee-table book that inspired the film. I hadn’t thought about the Marquis for 11 years until I saw *If These Walls Could Rock* on April 13 at the Florida Film Festival. At first, I wasn’t even sure it was the same place I had visited more than a decade prior. But as the documentary rolled, it all came flooding back. Directors Craig Williams and Tyler Measom, and writer Caroline Kessler, in 93 minutes, have fashioned nearly a complete history of the iconic Marquis, from its construction in 1963, to its ‘70s rock-and-roll heyday, to its seedy decline in the ‘80s, to its rebirth as home of the celebrity-packed Whiskey Bar in the ‘90s and ultimately to its classy rebirth as a luxury hotel. And it’s all told by the people who lived it, such as founder George Rosenthal, his son Mark and the countless A-list music legends who either crashed or lived here: Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, Slash, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, Richard Marx, Roger Daltry, Gloria Estefan, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Sheila E., Billy Gibbsons, Gene Simmons, Julian Lennon, Darius Rucker, Nancy Wilson and the “mayor” of the Marquis, Billy Bob Thornton. And the interviews themselves are fascinating, especially because most are conducted at the hotel. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/If-These-Walls-Could-Rock-with-Billy-Bob-Thornton.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/If-These-Walls-Could-Rock-with-Billy-Bob-Thornton.jpg)Billy Bob Thornton is the “mayor” of the Sunset Marquis. The doc does eventually settle into a rather numbing cacophony of talking heads. After all, stars do love to talk about the wonderful adventures of their distant youth. But the retro animated sequences and the touching story of the Rosenthals themselves ground the documentary, making it more than just another music-history retrospective. I’m sorry you didn’t get to drink with Chester and me that one night in Hollywood. But at least you can experience a little Marquis magic by watching the doc. It’s a scene, man. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [C](https://www.meiermovies.com/c/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with C:** [Café Society](http://www.meiermovies.com/cafe-society/) (2016; 1 ½ stars) Call Me Dancer FL (2023; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2024 South Asian Film Festival article](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") Calvary (2014; 4 ½ stars), part of the [Top 5 of 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/ "My top 5 of 2014 (so far)") [The Campaign](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-campaign/) (2012; 1 ¼ stars) [Can You Ever Forgive Me?](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/11/04/four-films-to-consider-this-week/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [Captain Corelli’s Mandolin](https://www.meiermovies.com/captain-corellis-mandolin/) (2001; 2 ¾ stars) [Captain Phillips](http://www.meiermovies.com/captain-phillips/) (2013; 4 ¼ stars) [Carol](http://www.meiermovies.com/carol/) (2015; 3 ¼ stars) [Carolina Caroline](https://www.meiermovies.com/carolina-caroline/ "Carolina Caroline") (2026; 3 ½ stars) The Catch (2021; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Cats](http://www.meiermovies.com/cats/) (2019; 3 stars) Ce Qui Nous Lie (What Binds Us, a.k.a. Back to Burgundy) FL (2017; 2 ¾), part of the[ Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [Cellular](https://www.meiermovies.com/cellular/) (2004; 2 ¾ stars) [Le Chêne (Heart of an Oak)](https://www.meiermovies.com/le-chene-heart-of-an-oak/ "Le Chêne (Heart of an Oak)") (2022; 4 stars) [The Children Act](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-children-act/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) Chopin, Chopin! FL (2025) – 4 stars (4/2/2026), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") The Christophers (2026; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") Circus Kid (2017; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Climate of the Hunter](http://www.meiermovies.com/climate-of-the-hunter/) (2020; ½ star) [Cold War](http://www.meiermovies.com/cold-war/) FL (2018; 1 ¾ stars) [Colette](http://www.meiermovies.com/colette/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) Colossal (2017; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Columbus](http://www.meiermovies.com/columbus/) (2017; 3 ¼ stars) [The Comedian](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-comedian/) (2016; 1 ¼ stars) [The Company You Keep](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-company-you-keep/) (2013; 3 stars) [A Complete Unknown](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-complete-unknown/ "A Complete Unknown") (2024; 4 stars) The Conspiracy Project (2015; ½ star), part of the [Central Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) [The Courier](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-courier/) (2021; 3 ¼ stars) [Crimson Peak](http://www.meiermovies.com/crimson-peak/) (2015; 1 ½ stars) [The Critic](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-critic/ "The Critic") (2024; 2 ½ stars) The Crossing FL (2020; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) The Cult of JT LeRoy (2015; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [A Cure for Wellness](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-cure-for-wellness/) (2017; 1 ¾ stars) [The Curious Case of Benjamin Button](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-gump/ "Benjamin Gump") (2008; 5 stars) [The Curse of the Jade Scorpion](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-curse-of-the-jade-scorpion/) (2001; 2 stars) [Cyrano](https://www.meiermovies.com/cyrano/ "Cyrano") (2021; 3 stars) --- ### [Interviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/) **Published:** April 27, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Sam_Rockwell_6](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam_Rockwell_6-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam_Rockwell_6.jpg)Cameron interviews Sam Rockwell at the 2015 Florida Film Festival. Photo by Liam Malone. (Click for a larger, high-res version.) I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing several well-respected actors, directors and writers over the last 20 years. Because I deal primarily in print and online, however, most of those interviews exist now only in written articles, such as my chats with [John Carpenter](http://www.meiermovies.com/from-the-mouth-of-madness/), [Stanley Tucci](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/), [Diane Lane](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/), [Heather Wahlquist](http://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/), [Pam Grier](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-pam-grier/), [Steve Guttenberg](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/), [Virginia Madsen](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/), [Blake Jenner](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals/), writer-director [Shawn Snyder](http://www.meiermovies.com/to-dust-director-discusses-death-and-taxes/) and animator [Lynn Tomlinson](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-unique-voice-in-animation/). But some have been preserved in audio or video format, and I present a handful of my favorites here. The Sam Rockwell and Bob Balaban videos were shot by Liam Malone while the Sissy Spacek film was shot by Liv Jones. Interview with Charles Fleischer, 2013, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of [*Who Framed Roger Rabbit*](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-framed-roger-rabbit): Interview with Paul Sorvino, March 28, 2014, in conjunction with the [Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/): [http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Interview\_with\_Paul\_Sorvino\_March\_28\_-2014.mp3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Interview_with_Paul_Sorvino_March_28_-2014.mp3) Interview with Barbara Kopple, 2016, in conjunction with the [Sarasota Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/): Interview with Lea Thompson, 2017, in conjunction with the [Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/): Interview with Richard Dreyfuss, 2019, in conjunction with the [Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-richard-dreyfuss/): Interview with Mia Farrow, 2025, in conjunction with the [Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-interview-with-mia-farrow/ "An Interview with Mia Farrow"): Interview with Bob Balaban, April 12, 2015, at the Florida Film Festival: Interview with Sam Rockwell, April 17, 2015, at the Florida Film Festival: If you’re having trouble loading that, or prefer to view it on this site instead of YouTube, go to [Sam Rockwell Interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sam-Rockwell-Interview.mp4). Interview with Sissy Spacek, April 15, 2016, at the Florida Film Festival: And check out my appearances on Paul Meier’s [*In a Manner of Speaking* podcast](https://www.meiermovies.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking-podcast/ "‘In a Manner of Speaking’ podcast"), which I co-produce. --- ### [N](https://www.meiermovies.com/n/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with N:** [The Naked Gun](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-naked-gun/ "The Naked Gun") (2025; 1 ½ stars) Nancy, Please (2012; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [Nebraska](http://www.meiermovies.com/nebraska/) (2013; 1 ¾ stars) Nicky’s Family (2011; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Nightbitch](https://www.meiermovies.com/nightbitch/ "Nightbitch") (2024; 1 ¾ stars) 1945 FL (2017; 4 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [1941 (premiere/extended version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/01/26/1941-and-a-ranking-of-spielberg-films/) (1979; 4 stars) [1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) (2019; 4 ¾ stars) [No](https://www.meiermovies.com/no/) FL (2012; 3 ½ stars) [Nocturnal Animals](http://www.meiermovies.com/nocturnal-animals/) (2016; 4 stars) Nocturnes FL (2024; 2 ¼ stars), part of the [2024 South Asian Film Festival article](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") [Nomadland](https://www.meiermovies.com/nomadland/ "Nomadland") \* (2020; 3 ¾ stars) Normal (2026; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) Les Nôtres (Our Own) FL (2021; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Novocaine](https://www.meiermovies.com/novocaine/) (2001; 2 stars) [Nuremberg](https://www.meiermovies.com/nuremberg/ "Nuremberg") (2025; 3 ½ stars) [Nymphomaniac: Volume 1](http://www.meiermovies.com/nymphomaniac/) X (2014; 1 ¼ stars) [Nymphomaniac: Volume 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/nymphomaniac/) X (2014; 1 ½ stars) --- ### [Y](https://www.meiermovies.com/y/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with Y:** [Yellow](http://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/) (2013; 3 ¾ stars) [Yellow Bus](https://www.meiermovies.com/yellow-bus/ "Yellow Bus") FL (2023; 3 stars) [Yesterday](http://www.meiermovies.com/yesterday/) (2019; 3 ¼ stars) You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way) (2026; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [Young Adult](https://www.meiermovies.com/young-adult/ "Young Adult") (2011; 4 ½ stars) [You’re Next](http://www.meiermovies.com/youre-next/) (2011; ¾ star) [Youth](http://www.meiermovies.com/youth/) (2015; 4 stars) --- ### [Curtain falls on Lisbon Filmapalooza 2026](https://www.meiermovies.com/curtain-falls-on-lisbon-filmapalooza-2026/) **Published:** March 29, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Warsaw’s *Diaboł* is crowned grand champion [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Sao-Jorge-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Sao-Jorge-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 29, 2026 It was a Polish night in Portugal, as the team from Warsaw dominated the 2026 Filmapalooza awards ceremony on March 28. Team Studio System and their fantastical drama *Diaboł* (Devil) were crowned grand champion and picked up five other awards: direction, cinematography, lead actor, sound design and set design. Ilusion Inteligencia Audiovisual, the team from Santiago, Chile, took home the second-highest number of awards (three), for their experimental film *Finalmente* (Finally): score, visual effects and third place. The six nominees for best film were: Warsaw, Poland (first place): *Diaboł* (Devil) by Team Studio System Antwerp, Belgium (second place): *Benny* by Fast Forward Film Crew Santiago, Chile (third place): *Finalmente* (Finally) by Ilusion Inteligencia Audiovisual San Diego, California, U.S.A.: *Tango* by Extra Rad Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.: *The Retirement Party* by Above-the-Line Entertainment Rome, Italy: *The Meatloaf* by Good Situations For all the award winners, visit [48HourFilm.com](http://www.48hourfilm.com/) or the [48HFP Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/48hourfilmproject). ## The Cannes films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Filmapalooza-2026.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Filmapalooza-2026.jpg)Twenty-two films will be screening at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in May. The 13 from the main 48 Hour Film Project competition are, in alphabetical order by city: Antwerp, Belgium: *Benny* by Fast Forward Film Crew Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A. (by winning the audience-award drawing): *Dinner Party* by Titus Touch Media Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.: *Something There* by 38 Gigabytes Cape Town, South Africa: *Beneath* by Shot by Short Notice Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.: *The Retirement Party* by Above-the-Line Entertainment Osaka, Japan: *Carry Me* by NEP Paris, France: *Vivre Ensemble* (Living Together) by L’Amour Rome, Italy: *The Meatloaf* by Good Situations San Diego, California, U.S.A.: *Tango* by Extra Rad Santiago, Chile: *Finalmente* (Finally) by Ilusion Inteligencia Audiovisual Thessaloniki, Greece: *White Tower Computers Ltd*. by At-At Uruguay: *Liberarse* by Raccord 104 Warsaw, Poland: *Diaboł* (Devil) by Team Studio System In addition to these 13 films, eight from the “Yes We Cannes” competition (including the overall winner, *Karmann* from Fast Forward Film) and one from the special-genre contests (*Meat Printer* by Nightmare on Hilton Street from Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A.) are headed to Cannes too. For the full list, visit [48HourFilm.com](http://www.48hourfilm.com/) or the [48HFP Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/48hourfilmproject). ## My top 25 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lisbon-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lisbon-2-scaled.jpg)In my role as co-chair of the Film Review Panel, I watched all 123 city-winning films from the main 48HFP competition and provided feedback. This feedback helped whittle down the 123 to a smaller number for the final panel of judges. (I had no role in the College 48, the “Yes We Cannes” competition or the special-genre contests.) I would like to thank [all my fellow judges](https://48hourfilm.zohobackstage.com/Filmapalooza2026Lisbon#/judges?lang=en), especially the other co-chair of the Film Review Panel, Deborah Braun. Let me also thank 48HFP Founder Mark Ruppert and Festival Director Indra van ‘t Hooft for their tireless work, and Master of Ceremonies Kyle Snavely for his shiny suit. (My retinas are still recovering.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lisbon-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lisbon-1-scaled.jpg)Because of the consistency of quality among this year’s films, the selection process was especially difficult. There was little to separate, say, the 10th best film from the 25th. With that in mind, as I have done in past years, I present my own personal top 25. This list overlaps the Cannes one somewhat, but several films on my list went unrecognized at Lisbon Filmapalooza, so it’s important they be praised too. I include my original, unedited notes, made without input from any other judges. I hope you find them instructional. And please keep in mind the 48HFP asks us to provide criticism, not just praise. This feedback was originally intended for and shared only with the 48HFP staff, to help guide the judging process. The final panel of judges never read my comments, and they critiqued the films independently. These comments do not necessarily represent the opinions of anyone else associated with the 48HFP. 1. Warsaw, Poland: *Diaboł* (Devil) by Team Studio System. And here’s your winner. What an amazing film, even more amazing for what they did in just 48 hours. The cinematography, particularly the camera movement, is among the best I’ve ever seen for a 48-hour film. And the concept is magical: a grandfather being a superhero, protecting kids from monsters, when the real-life monster is the broken home. It’s a great metaphor. It reminds me of last year’s Warsaw film (from a different filmmaking team), which was also my pick for best overall. 2. San Diego, California, U.S.A.: *Tango* by Extra Rad. I love this film. Brilliant concept and stellar execution. Nominations for many things, including most technical categories, along with writing, directing and lead actor. (Both actors are wonderful.) This is surely going to Cannes and will be in the running for most top awards. The songs are great too, but they aren’t listed in the credits, so I assume they aren’t original. The ending doesn’t quite live up to the rest of the film, however, though the “worm” is cool and harks back to a comment made earlier in the film. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best choreography.) 3. Santiago, Chile: *Finalmente* (Finally) by Ilusion Inteligencia Audiovisual. The film is an amazing technical accomplishment, not just for a 48-hour film but for any low-budget film. It pushes the limits of what you can do in 48 hours. I got almost nothing from the story, but that doesn’t matter much, as this seems to exist as an almost purely “art film.” The line and character trait are sandwiched in. Possible nominations for many things, including directing, cinematography, sound design, score (if it’s original), costume design, visual effects and makeup/hair. 4. Paris, France: *Vivre Ensemble* (Living Together) by L’Amour. Another wonderful effort from Paris. One of this year’s best films. Clear, impactful, concise storytelling that is perfect for a short film. Tonally, it’s wonderful too, balancing drama with just the right amount of playful humor. The ending is just a bit abrupt, though, and I thought they were going to kill four of the five. So wouldn’t they still need to kill three of the five after the heart-attack death of the person from the other group? I’m nit-picking here, though, as this is a thoroughly professional effort. Bravo. Nominations for writing, direction, editing and ensemble. The film is surely Cannes-bound. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best acting ensemble.) 5. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.: *Echoes* by Paradigm Shift. Unique and memorable, this is one of the year’s best films. It captures your imagination. The performances are heartfelt, but a bit on the nose, especially in the final, crying scene. Genre is a bit of a stretch, and the character is sandwiched in. (It makes no sense that the tutor character just happens to know the blind man, who meets the dinosaur kid randomly in the woods.) Nominations for many things, including editing, direction, cinematography, sound and costume design. For the latter, I’m counting the dinosaurs, although I don’t believe they were built for the film. 6. Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.: *Sugar Glass* by Unidentified Fox. One of the best of this year’s films, this is another assured effort from Nashville. Stunning achievement for a 48. The credits talk about “super 8 development.” Did they really shoot part of this on film?! Nominations for almost everything, including lead actor, supporting actor (the guy who plays the lawyer and other parts), plus writing, directing, definitely cinematography, sound design, ensemble and use of genre. The main thing holding it back from my top rating is the fact that it’s a bit derivative. I feel like I’m seen this story before, and the ending isn’t particularly memorable. 7. Thessaloniki, Greece: *White Tower Computers Ltd*. by At-At. Haunting, with a *Twilight Zone* ending, this film succeeds thanks to its good performances (possible nomination for Fotis, the actor playing the shop owner), sound design, overall Kafkaesque vibe and excellent pacing. Technically it could be a bit better, as the swish pans in the opening scene are a bit jerky. But it’s still competent technically. The ending has stuck with me more than almost any other film at this year’s Filma. Possible nominations for writing, directing, sound design, lead actor, use of prop and use of character. 8. Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.: *Will to Live* by Famously Hot Films. Simple, touching and pitch-perfect, this is one of the most inspirational 48HFP films I have seen in a while. Possible nominations for lead actor (Loki), writing and prop. It’s not a true workplace film, though, as no scenes take place in an actual workplace. 9. Cape Town, South Africa: *Beneath* by Shot by Short Notice. A thoroughly professional production from start to finish, this film could play at almost any festival in the world. Nominations for almost all technical categories, plus a possible one for best actress. Sound design is impeccable. And it’s very creepy. The only drawback is that there’s not enough time to tell the story. At just seven minutes, it’s underdeveloped, and not very original. 10. Melbourne, Australia: *Wish Me Luck* by Good Gravy. Sweet, tender and tonally perfect, with wonderful performances, this film proves that a simple but sincere story, if performed well, can be highly effective. Not as complicated or lavish as most of the other top 48-hour films this year, this is nevertheless one of the best. Possible nominations for writing and lead actor, though I can’t figure out which one is best. Sound design and score (if original) are possibly worthy of nominations too. I also love their use of genre. It’s rare that a vacation/holiday film can also be a touching drama. 11. Tours, France: *Always There* by Aperitif, My Darling. Great performances (possible nomination for the actress), just the right tone and a great concept make this film truly memorable. It’s very simple but effective because of its clever twist. They aren’t the first to come up with the idea of a therapist causing the behavior of the patient in order to get paid for the therapy sessions, but they still do it very well. However, this is not a true horror film. The vibe, story, music and tone make it a mash-up of genres (mostly comedy). Possible nomination for use of line. 12. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.: *The Retirement Party* by Above-the-Line Entertainment. A thoroughly pleasant and smart film. Production-wise, it’s pretty simple, but it still manages to nail it, driven by a good script and a great lead performance (the man). Possible nomination for him. And possible nominations for writing, ensemble, score, genre, prop and definitely song. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best song.) 13. Nantes, France: *Poisskai* by Ben Brothers Production. A completely enjoyable film with a lot of laughs, this film loses some of its momentum as it goes along but regains it with an unexpectedly sweet ending. It has a charming sensibility and droll sense of humor. Possible nominations for writing, use of genre, use of prop and supporting performance (Bob, the fish). 14. Bordeaux, France: *Chut* (Hush) by Collectif Egregore. An impactful and memorable film. And certainly timely. Performances and writing are both very good (possible nominations for lead actor (the main guy who runs the place) and writing). The cinematography (especially color grading and lighting) and good. But it’s not in my top 10 because it’s a bit derivative. And it seems very left-leaning, when, in truth, the threat to freedom of speech comes from both the right and the left. In that regard, it’s slightly heavy-handed. Also possible nomination for best use of prop. The dictionary essentially becomes the entire film, without feeling forced. 15. Brighton, England, UK: *FlashPoint* by Overlock Studio. A solid film in many ways, this film really sticks with you, especially the story, so possible nomination for writing. The editing and use of line are also great, so possible nominations for those. The two lead actors are very good. Also a possible nomination for set design, only because I think they are using the same location as the climax of *Atonement*. But the last scene with the two leads has some issues, such as wind blowing into the mic and the gun effect being amateurish. Also, they never explain why these young, healthy people are wanting to kill themselves. 16. Inverness, Scotland, UK: *Piece in Dal Riata* by Dropshack. This is another memorable and very funny film from the 2025 grand champions, Dropshack. Possible nominations for editing, cinematography, sound design, lead actress (Catriona Faint), acting ensemble, costume design, set design (superb) and makeup/hair. As with last year’s film, the humor is a tad broad for me, but it’s still a huge accomplishment. The character trait is so ridiculously wedged in that it’s almost comical. And technically it’s too long, but because the credits start to role during the action (and no further plot is introduced), it’s allowed. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best costume design.) 17. Geneva, Switzerland: *Related* by JJ Brothers. This is a beautiful, sad, little film with wonderful performances. And it’s technically very professional. But it’s tough to get to the heart of this story in just seven minutes. It ends up being just a tad contrived, especially because it doesn’t make much sense that this woman would make this visit during her husband’s campaign. She would have gone there on her own at another time. (They obviously had to work in the politician character.) The direction and sound design (and score, if it’s original) are superb, so possible nominations for those. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best supporting actor.) 18. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.: *Mixtape & Melody* by Stranger Studios. Polished and professional, this is one of the best mockumentaries in this year’s Filma. The graphics and visual effects are nifty and eye-catching, so possible nominations for those, in addition to editing. Holding it back from my top 15, however, is the awkward tonal shift from comedy to touching drama. They just can’t quite pull that off, and I was not as impressed by the overall film as much as I could have been, despite its accomplishments. The voiceover is better suited for a comedy than the sweet drama it turns into at the end. 19. Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.: *Opacity* by Small Step Films. A clever metaphor for social media, the film is full of great ideas and does a pretty good job of delivering them. Unlike most mockumentaries, this builds to a meaningful conclusion. Acting is solid. Possible nominations for ensemble and for original song (if it’s original). The required character seems shoehorned in. 20. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. *Memoria* by Tout Saviors. This is a solid film in almost every way, especially the concept. I don’t think the concept is original, but it’s presented in a fairly original way. I like the juxtaposition of the TV interview and the reactions from the woman. The lead actress is good. I could see some potential nominations for several categories, but the one that stands out is writing. 21. Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A.: *Dinner Party* by Titus Touch Media. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a poop film, but this is hilarious. Though it’s a totally one-note, one-performance film, they nail it. Of course, it’s totally ridiculous, but the acting and the competent technical elements make it work. Possible nomination for lead actor and original score. However, this is technically not a single-room film, as some of it is in the dining room. 22. Adelaide, Australia: *Items, Objects and Things* by Electric Milk. Irresistibly quirky, this is a film I won’t soon forget. The sound design and voiceover are excellent, and I never ceased to be curious about what weird thing the next family member would eat. However, by the end, I was feeling a bit disgusted. And despite the film’s professionalism and charm, I was left feeling empty. (Get it?) Possible nominations for sound design and use of line. Bon appetit. 23. Montana, U.S.A.: *Marinate* by Big Sky Film Company. An impressive effort driven by good cinematography, good editing and a great lead performance (possible nomination), the film is creepy and effective. But it has sound problems. The dining room just doesn’t have good acoustics, and it seems like they didn’t have enough time to sweeten the sound and fix levels. And it’s a bit hard to swallow for someone who doesn’t eat meat. Ultimately, it’s just not quite disturbing enough to make my top 20. The shot of the guy getting shot and falling into the water is great. 24. Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.: *No Fowl Play* by 52 Scripts. Charming, with good cinematography, editing and acting, this film gives off a professional vibe. It succeeds as a regular film, not just a 48-hour film. It also has a few laughs. But it won’t land in my top 15 because the story didn’t grab me enough. That might be because I don’t eat meat, or more likely because it lacks a true emotional or comedic punch. I was waiting for one huge laugh, and it just never came. But congrats on a really solid effort. Possible nomination for editing, and possible nomination for character, as it brings back the wing-delivery guy, which is a clever idea. (Post-Filmapalooza note: This film won best editing.) 25. New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.: *Delivery Driver* by Reel Amateurs. Memorable, well acted and well shot, this film leaves an impression. It uses the “fantasy” genre in a strange way. It’s more of a drama. But that’s OK. In fact, it’s kind of refreshing. I also enjoyed its quiet thoughtfulness. At the end of the day, though, it seemed almost like a slice-of-life film and probably won’t land in my top 20 because of that meandering, slow-paced feeling. This is a tough film to contain in just seven minutes. The character is sandwiched in. If your film did not make my top 25, I would still be happy to share my feedback with you. E-mail me at if interested. I was not able to attend this year’s Filmapalooza in person, but I hope to see you all next year in Curaçao! *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For all my coverage of the 48 Hour Film Project and past Filmapaloozas, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/).* --- ### [E](https://www.meiermovies.com/e/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with E:** [Eating Animals](http://www.meiermovies.com/eating-animals/) (2018; 3 ¾ stars) [18 to Party](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 1 ¼ stars) Elbow Grease (2016; ¾ star), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [Elvis](https://www.meiermovies.com/elvis/ "Elvis") (2022; 2 stars) [Elvis & Nixon](http://www.meiermovies.com/elvis-nixon/) (2016; 2 ¾ stars) [Empire of Light](https://www.meiermovies.com/empire-of-light/ "Empire of Light") (2022; 4 ¼ stars) En Fanfare (The Marching Band) FL (2025; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [The End of the Tour](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-end-of-the-tour/) (2015; 4 stars) [Everest](http://www.meiermovies.com/everest/) (3-D IMAX version) (2015; 4 ¼ stars) [Every Act of Life](http://www.meiermovies.com/every-act-of-life/) (2018; 2 ¾ stars) [Evolution](https://www.meiermovies.com/evolution/) (2001; ¾ star) [Exorcist: The Beginning](https://www.meiermovies.com/exorcist-the-beginning/) (2004; 1 ¾ stars) [Extra Ordinary](http://www.meiermovies.com/extra-ordinary/) (2019; 1 ¾ stars) [The Eyes of Tammy Faye](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-eyes-of-tammy-faye/ "The Eyes of Tammy Faye") (2021; 4 stars) [Ezra](https://www.meiermovies.com/ezra/ "Ezra") (2024; 3 stars) --- ### [The 48 Hour Film Project](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/) **Published:** July 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A chronological index of my articles [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/48-Hour-Film-Project.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/48-Hour-Film-Project.png)I have been associated with the 48 Hour Film Project in a variety of ways since 2013. I first wrote about the timed filmmaking competition in 2013 for both *The Orlando Weekly* and *MeierMovies.* I’ve since gone on to serve as a judge for the Orlando, Tampa and Richmond competitions, a judging coordinator for the Orlando competition and a judge for the 2018 Paris Filmapalooza (the international competition of the 48HFP). Since 2019, I have served as 48HFP consulting judge, assisting with the 2019 Orlando Filmapalooza, 2023 Los Angeles Filmapalooza, 2024 Lisbon Filmapalooza, 2025 Seattle Filmapalooza and the upcoming 2026 Lisbon Filmapalooza. And I’ve had the pleasure of attending nine Filmapaloozas: 2014 in New Orleans, 2015 in Hollywood, 2016 in Atlanta, 2017 in Seattle, 2018 in Paris, 2019 in Orlando (for which I served as workshop coordinator), 2023 in Los Angeles, 2024 in Lisbon and 2025 in Seattle. Below you will find links to all my articles related to the 48HFP, starting with the most recent. For more information, visit [48HourFilm.com](https://www.48hourfilm.com/home). And [go here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/orlando) for information on the Orlando competition. **2026** [Filmapalooza Lisbon 2026 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/curtain-falls-on-lisbon-filmapalooza-2026/ "Curtain falls on Lisbon Filmapalooza 2026") **2025** [Filmapalooza Seattle 2025 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2025/ "Filmapalooza 2025") **2024** [Filmapalooza Lisbon 2024 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/obrigado-lisboa/ "Obrigado, Lisboa!") **2023** [Filmapalooza Los Angeles 2023 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2023-i-love-l-a/ "Filmapalooza 2023: ‘I Love L.A.’") **2019** [The best films of Filmapalooza 2019](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-filmapalooza-2019/) [Orlando hosts Filmapalooza 2019](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-to-welcome-the-world-to-filmapalooza/) **2018** [Filmapalooza 2019 coming to Orlando](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2019-coming-to-orlando/) [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project Announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-scheduled-for-august/) [Filmapalooza Paris 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/) **2017** [Filmapalooza Seattle Review 2017](http://www.meiermovies.com/seattle-serves-up-filmapalooza-2017/) [Filmapalooza Seattle Preview 2017 ](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2017/) **2016** [Orlando’s 48 Hour Film Project screens its films](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-2016-48-hour-film-project-underway/) [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project moves to July](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-moves-to-july/) [Filmapalooza Atlanta 2016 summary and film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016-2/) [Orlando movie to screen at Cannes Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-movie-to-screen-at-cannes-film-festival/) [Orlando filmmakers head to Filmapalooza Atlanta 2016](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016/) **2015** [2015 Orlando 48 Hour Film Project screenings set](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-to-screen/) [2015 Orlando 48 Hour Film Project Announces Dates](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-announces-dates/) [Filmapalooza Hollywood 2015 ](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2015/ "Filmapalooza 2015") **2014** [Filmapalooza New Orleans 2014](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/ "Filmapalooza: hard to win in the Big Easy") **2013** [Wrap-up blog for the 2013 Orlando 48HFP](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/final-thoughts-on-the-48/) [48 Hour Film Project in Orlando](http://www.meiermovies.com/48-hour-film-project/) --- ### [L](https://www.meiermovies.com/l/) **Published:** December 9, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with L:** [La Gloria](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-gloria/ "La Gloria") (2025; 3 ¾ stars) [La La Land](http://www.meiermovies.com/la-la-land/) (2016; 4 ¼ stars) Laces, a.k.a. Shoelaces FL (2018; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [Lady Bird](http://www.meiermovies.com/lady-bird/) (2017; 4 ¼ stars) [The Lady in the Van](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lady-in-the-van/) (2015; 3 stars) Lamb FL (2015; 2 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Landfall ](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) FL TV/Web/NT (2020; 1 ½ stars) [The Last Black Man in San Francisco](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/) (2019; 4 stars) The Last Color FL (2019; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [South Asian Film Festival 2019 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [Last Flag Flying](http://www.meiermovies.com/last-flag-flying/) (2017; 2 stars) Last I Heard (a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in Queens) (2013; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [Last Night in Soho](https://www.meiermovies.com/last-night-in-soho/ "Last Night in Soho") (2021; 3 stars) [The Last Vermeer](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-vermeer/) (2020; 3 stars) The Last Viking FL (2025; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [The Last Word](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-word/) (2017; 1 ¾ stars) [Lean on Pete](http://www.meiermovies.com/lean-on-pete/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) Levitated Mass (2013; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [Liberal Arts](http://www.meiermovies.com/liberal-arts) (2012; 3 ¾ stars) [The Life of Chuck](https://www.meiermovies.com/existential-opposites/ "Existential opposites") (2025; 4 stars) [The Lighthouse](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lighthouse/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) [Like a Boss](http://www.meiermovies.com/like-a-boss/) (2020; ½ star) Limited Partnership (2014, 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [The Lion King](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) (2019; 3 ¾ stars) [Little Women](http://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/) (2019; 2 ¼ stars) [The Little Stranger](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-little-stranger/) (2018; 4 stars) The Lobster (2015; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) Lolo FL (2015; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) Lorelei (2021; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [The Lost Leonardo](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lost-leonardo/) (2021; 3 ½ stars) Louder than Bombs (2015; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Love & Friendship](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-friendship/) (2016; 3 stars), also part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Love & Mercy](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/) (2015; 4 stars) Lovesick FL (2018; 1 ½ stars), part of the [2018 South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) [Loving Vincent](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) (2017; 4 ¾ stars) [The Lunchbox](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lunchbox/) FL (2013; 3 ½ stars) Lust for Life (1956; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") --- ### [P](https://www.meiermovies.com/p/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with P:** [Paddington 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/paddington-2/) (2017; 3 ¼ stars) [Paris Can Wait](http://www.meiermovies.com/paris-can-wait/) (2017; 1 ½ stars) [Passengers](http://www.meiermovies.com/passengers/) (2016; 2 stars) [Paterson](http://www.meiermovies.com/paterson/) (2016; 1 ½ stars) [The Peacemaker](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/11/07/the-peacemaker-to-screen-at-ucf-for-free/) (2016; 4 stars) [The Peanut Butter Falcon](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-peanut-butter-falcon/) (2019; 1 ½ stars) [The Peasants](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-peasants/ "The Peasants") FL (2023; 3 stars) The Perfect Candidate FL (2020; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) The Performance (2024; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2024 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [The Personal History of David Copperfield](http://www.meiermovies.com/david-copperfield/ "David Copperfield") (2020; 1 ¾ stars) Peter Asher: Everywhere Man (2026; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2026 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2026-mini-reviews/ "Florida FF 2026 mini-reviews") [Peterloo](http://www.meiermovies.com/peterloo/) (2018; 3 ¾ stars) [The Phantom of the Open](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phantom-of-the-open/ "The Phantom of the Open") (2022; 3 ½ stars) [The Phoenician Scheme](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phoenician-scheme/ "The Phoenician Scheme") (2025; 2 stars) The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945; 3 stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") Pietà FL (2012; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [Pignorant](https://www.meiermovies.com/pignorant/ "Pignorant") TV/Web/NT (2024; 4 stars) [Planes](http://www.meiermovies.com/planes/) (2013; 1 ½ stars) Pollock (2000; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") [Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)](http://www.meiermovies.com/portrait-de-la-jeune-fille-en-feu/) FL (2019; 4 stars) Portrait of Wally (2012; 2 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [The Post](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-post/) (2017; 4 ½ stars) [Project Hail Mary](https://www.meiermovies.com/project-hail-mary/ "Project Hail Mary") (2026; 3 ½ stars) [The Promise](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-promise-opens-global-peace-ff/) (2017; 3 stars) Proud Citizen (2014; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Psycho](https://www.meiermovies.com/psycho/) (1960; 5 stars) The Puffy Chair (2005; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) Putzel (2013; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") --- ### [Margaret Mitchell House & Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/) **Published:** March 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Dating from 1899, this building on Atlanta’s Peachtree Street now houses a museum devoted to Margaret Mitchell and *Gone with the Wind*, while an adjacent structure has more exhibits on the film. Mitchell’s apartment on the ground floor is preserved, with period furniture and decoration. For photos of the nearby Marietta *Gone with the Wind* Museum, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/marietta-gone-with-the-wind-museum/ "Marietta ‘Gone with the Wind’ Museum"). And for the Scarlett’s Secret *Gone with the Wind* Gifts & Museum, [click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/scarletts-secret-gwtw-museum/ "Scarlett’s Secret ‘GWTW’ Museum"). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC. Click to enlarge.) [![DSC01445](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01445.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01445.jpg) [![DSC01446](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01446.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01446.jpg) [![DSC01447](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01447.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01447.jpg) [![DSC01448](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01448.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01448.jpg) [![DSC01449](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01449.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01449.jpg) [![DSC01450](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01450.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01450.jpg) [![DSC01451](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01451.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01451.jpg) [![DSC01452](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01452.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01452.jpg) [![DSC01453](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01453.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01453.jpg) [![DSC01454](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01454.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01454.jpg) [![DSC01455](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01455.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01455.jpg) --- ### [Scarlett's Secret 'GWTW' Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/scarletts-secret-gwtw-museum/) **Published:** March 23, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Scarlett’s Secret *Gone with the Wind* Gifts & Museum, located just outside Helen, Georgia, showcases memorabilia, collectibles and artifacts related to both the book and film *Gone with the Wind*. It also displays objects associated with Civil War history and has a gift shop that sells *GWTW* merchandise and collectibles. The museum is housed in a historic, plantation-style building along Highway 17. If you want to visit, it might be wise to call ahead to make sure it’s open or to book a reservation. Visit [the website](http://www.scarlettsecret.com/) for more information. The photos below, taken in 2026, are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. Click to enlarge. (Fans of the book and film might also be interested in the [Marietta *Gone with the Wind* Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/marietta-gone-with-the-wind-museum/ "Marietta ‘Gone with the Wind’ Museum") and the [Margaret Mitchell House & Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/ "Margaret Mitchell House & Museum").) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-8-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-9-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-9-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-10-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scarletts-Secret-10-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Project Hail Mary](https://www.meiermovies.com/project-hail-mary/) **Published:** March 10, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Project Hail Mary**, 2026, [3 ½ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Space oddity ## Sci-fi adventure/dramedy entertaining but uneven [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Project-Hail-Mary.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Project-Hail-Mary.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 10, 2026 “You seem to find humor in everything,” Burt Johnson says to title character Arthur (in the classic comedy from 1981) after his future son-in-law cracks a joke about manslaughter. The same might be said of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, as the directorial team is known not just for visual spectacle and genre blending, but also finding the funny in unlikely places. Their latest film, *Project Hail Mary*, might be the best example, as the sci-fi-comedy-drama-action-adventure (say that five times) precariously balances big, smart ideas with light-hearted, zany sass, all while telling a story of potential apocalypse. The balance is frequently off, but this highwire act succeeds thanks to charming Ryan Gosling’s suitability for the material and Lord and Miller’s knack for tugging on your heart (and brain) strings at the right times. Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle-school teacher who just happens to be one of the world’s foremost experts in molecular biology. He’s so smart that the government and other scientists seek his advice on answering the defining questions of this near-future: Why is an unexplained string of particles (dubbed the Petrova Line) sapping the energy of the Sun? And what can be done to prevent a catastrophic ice age on Earth in roughly 30 years? Grace – in a religious metaphor, he’s almost always referred to by his last name – doesn’t think he’s up to the task, but his superiors disagree and force him on the mission, which will involve flying 12 light years away, to study a star that is apparently unaffected by similar particles. (Yes, travel at near-light speed is now possible.) This reluctance makes him a good candidate for movie hero, one we can relate to. But it, along with the character’s silliness, stretch believability. Add the complex science – which is often underexplained, glossed over or downright confusing – and you have the recipe for a fun but not altogether serious look at space travel. Still, if you dig the movie’s groove, appreciate the splendid if slightly frenetic IMAX photography, and embrace the practical puppetry that is used for some of the effects, it’s one *Hail* of a ride. The film is Gosling everywhere, all the time, but that doesn’t stop acclaimed German actress Sandra Hüller (*Anatomy of a Fall*), as the project director, from stealing scenes. Her dead seriousness nicely counteracts Gosling’s jokiness and rights the ship – pun intended – when the cinematic mission appears off-course. All other actors have tiny roles, but watch for an almost unrecognizable Milana Vayntrub (Lily from the AT&T television commercials) as one of the crew members. Written by Drew Goddard, who penned *The Martian*, *Cloverfield* and *World War Z*, this film is less serious than all three. Tonally, it has just as much in common with two television shows for which Goddard wrote: *Lost* and *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*. And though I have not read the 2021 Andy Weir novel upon which *Project Hail Mary* is based, I am told the film adaptation is fairly faithful. Most science-fiction films try to be *2001: A Space Odyssey*, *Star Wars* or *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*. This flick borrows some elements from all three of those canonical sci-fi movies – including a brief musical tribute to the latter – while also adopting characteristics of *Interstellar* and *E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial*. But, ultimately, it is happier when it’s forging its own, weird path. As Grace says to his fellow crew member, “There’s no harm in pretending for a little while.” I end with a Pauline Kaelesque digression: Heading home from the press screening, I encountered something even more apocalyptic than *Project Hail Mary*: a driverless Waymo. I found it scarier than the movie. Way mo scary. (See, I can make stupid jokes about serious things too.) *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12042730/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary). The film will open in cinemas in the United States on March 20 and on either March 18 or 19 in many other countries. If you see it in IMAX, which is recommended, keep in mind the aspect ratio will alternate between a boxier IMAX ratio and a wider one (for the footage not shot with IMAX cameras). It runs 2 hours and 36 minutes.* *If you liked this review, please follow MeierMovies on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies/), [X (Twitter)](https://x.com/MeierMovies) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/).* --- ### [Oscar Shorts 2026](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2026/) **Published:** March 8, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Pearls* before pine, plus *Saliva … with a Camera* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 8, 2026 As usual, the 15 nominees for the three short Oscars represent a wide variety of styles, subjects and cultures. But this year, perhaps more than most, the films also represent a disparity in quality. The nominating process is an odd and often unfair one, and it almost always leaves out several of the year’s best shorts. So it’s not a surprise that the 2025 nominees are more of a mixed bag than usual. But one can still recognize the artistry of the five animated, five live-action and five documentary shorts while complaining about the process that brought them all to the *98th Oscar-Nominated Shorts, Presented by Taika Waititi*, which is screening at cinemas around the country. First, it’s not immediately clear why New Zealand filmmaker Waititi’s name is associated with the program. Apparently, because of his passion for short films, he partnered with Roadside Attractions to bring the program to cinemas. And for that he deserves thanks. But he didn’t truly present the program, as his image and voice are completely absent. Instead, we get a clumsy voiceover announcing each film’s name, which is entirely unnecessary except to aid the visually impaired, who can’t watch the films anyway. ## **Animation** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Girl-Who-Cried-Pearls-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Girl-Who-Cried-Pearls-1.jpg)Arguably the top film of them all is ***La Jeune Fille qui Pleurait des Perles***, or *The Girl Who Cried Pearls* (5 stars on 0-5 scale), a beautiful experiment in stop-motion storytelling from directors Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. It should and will win the Oscar for short animation. My only regret is that the Waititi program features the English-language version of the Canadian film. Set in Montreal, the movie has a decidedly French feel, and the French-language narration is simply better. If you can find that version, watch it, and then le revoir. If you didn’t know that pine trees had a soul, ***Forevergreen*** (4 stars), from Jeremy Spears and Nathan Engelhardt, might surprise you. Digitally animated in an interesting, almost pine-coney look, it’s a simple but sweet look at the relationship between a bear and an anthropomorphic tree, with an environmental message to boot. Decidedly not sweet, and not meant for small children, is ***Butterfly***, or *Papillon* (4 stars) in its native French. Hard-hitting but beautifully hand-crafted – in a paint-on-glass style – the film by Florence Miailhe was inspired by Jewish French swimmer Alfred Nakache, who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was later imprisoned at Auschwitz, where he suffered the loss of his wife and daughter. The two other nominees, [***Retirement Plan***](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-stuff-2025/) and ***The Three Sisters*** (both 3 stars), aren’t as compelling but do represent a major shift in tone, subject and style. In that respect, they make a nice addition to the program, even if they clearly aren’t among the five best cartoons of 2025. Imbued with melancholy existentialism, the former film, by John Kelly, is crudely drawn but includes nice narration by Domhnall Gleeson, as a middle-aged Irish man contemplating the rest of his life. The latter, another simply drawn dramedy, is the least impactful of the five nominees but has its own undefinably quirky charm thanks to director Konstantin Bronzit, a three-time Oscar-short nominee. Accompanying the five nominees is an additional “highly commended” short, ***Éiru*** (3 stars), a hand-drawn Irish folk talk by Giovanna Ferrari. Featuring watercolors, charcoal and ink, it is pleasing both visually and thematically and again proves that the Academy is valuing art created extensively by a human’s hand over CGI. But let’s take a moment to remind ourselves that old-fashioned CGI – I can’t believe I just said “old-fashioned CGI” – is still human-created art, as opposed to AI garbage. ## **Live Action** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Two-People-Exchanging-Saliva.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Two-People-Exchanging-Saliva.jpg)*Two People Exchanging Saliva* The live-action shorts are also dominated by a single film. It’s ***Deux Personnes Echangeant de la Salive*** (5 stars), or *Two People Exchanging Saliva*, an imaginative dive into a dystopian world in which smooching is punishable by death. Unlike *Casablanca*, a kiss is NOT still a kiss in French directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh’s film. Meyer Levinson-Blount’s ***Butcher’s Stain***, an Israeli social drama, and Lee Knight’s ***A Friend of Dorothy***, an English dramedy featuring Miriam Margolyes and an interesting cameo by Stephen Fry, are typical Oscar fare (both 4 stars). But ***The Singers*** (4 stars), from director Sam Davis, isn’t, and that’s welcome news, as its oddball vibe adds variety to the program and proves that an Oscar short doesn’t have to be “about something.” Unfortunately, the final nominee, ***Jane Austen’s Period Drama*** *(2 stars)*, directed by Julia Aks and Steve Pinder, is not “about anything” either socially or aesthetically. It is competently made, but sophomoric humor and a one-joke plot make it an odd choice for the Academy. (If there is an upset in this category, it will be *Butcher’s Stain*, which captures the Gaza zeitgeist.) ## **Documentary** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Armed-with-Only-a-Camera.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Armed-with-Only-a-Camera.jpg)The documentary program is always the longest and most emotionally exhausting. But it is also the most impactful of the three groups, tackling subjects ranging from Gaza, to gun violence and abortion in the United States, to the value of journalism in war, to … donkeys. Yes, donkeys. Though ***Perfectly a Strangness*** (3 stars), directed by Alison McAlpine, is indeed perfectly strange, it’s a unconventional choice, as it’s almost a pure art film with no issue attached. In that regard, it’s rather refreshing, if still the weakest of the five. The rest of the films are all predictably weighty. I admittedly had trouble picking a favorite but ultimately settled on ***Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud*** (5 stars), a reminder of both the enormous sacrifices of journalists and the enormous evil of Vladimir Putin. Thanks to Renaud’s brother, Craig (who spearheaded the project after his brother was killed covering the war in Ukraine), history will remember that Brent ultimately bested Vladimir. In this regard, the short is a great companion piece to the year’s best documentary feature, *Mr Nobody Against Putin*. May Renaud rest in peace and Putin join him soon, but less peacefully. Also resting in peace are the countless children lost to the insanity of gun violence in this country, a tragedy given unique perspective in ***All the Empty Rooms*** (4 stars), which might be the favorite to take home Oscar. The film by Joshua Seftel and Steve Hartman shows that what’s left behind can be more meaningful than what was. Pro-life activists would note the parallels between those aforementioned children and the unborn ones lost to abortion, the subject of ***The Devil Is Busy*** (4 stars). But, of course, the doc tackles the topic from a pro-choice stance. (This is Hollywood, after all.) Focusing on the daily struggles of an employee at a Georgia abortion clinic, directors Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton still manage to turn the topic on its head – because the clinic’s employee is devoutly Christian. Finally, we return to Gaza, or more accurately the reaction of Tel Aviv citizens to the Gaza massacres, in ***Children No More: Were and Are Gone*** (5 stars). Director Hilla Medalia’s film follows Israeli protesters who address the moral conundrum that has brought Israel to its knees: How does one decry Hamas and the wicked October 7 attacks, while also condemning the Gaza War and remembering the countless innocent Arab youths killed? I’m guessing it’s Benajmin Netanyahu’s least favorite film of the year. And for that reason alone, it’s one of my most treasured. The Academy Awards will be held on March 15. For more of my Oscar coverage, see [my commentary](https://www.meiermovies.com/sinners-breaks-record-or-does-it/ "‘Sinners’ breaks record, or does it?") on *Sinners*’ nominations and [my analysis](https://www.meiermovies.com/actor-awards-alter-oscar-race/ "Actor Awards alter Oscar race") of how the recent Actor Awards has affected the Oscar race. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Actor Awards alter Oscar race](https://www.meiermovies.com/actor-awards-alter-oscar-race/) **Published:** March 2, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Actor-Awards-2026.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Actor-Awards-2026.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 2, 2026 The Actor Awards, formerly the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, were held last night in Los Angeles, and the surprise victories for Michael B. Jordan (as best actor) and *Sinners* (as best ensemble) have slightly altered the Oscar race. Until last night, Paul Thomas Anderson’s *One Battle After Another* had all the momentum, with Timothée Chalamet (for *Marty Supreme*) the slight favorite to take home the Oscar for best actor. Now that race is less certain. The Academy Awards, of course, has no prize for ensemble, though the new casting Oscar is comparable. With *Sinners*’ Actors Awards success, some are now predicting that the film will win that new Oscar category. However, last night’s *Sinners* victory is unlikely to change the predictions for the best-film Oscar, as *One Battle After Another* is still the heavy favorite, especially after its recent wins at the Producers Guild Awards and the BAFTAs. And, at least in this critic’s opinion, Anderson’s film is the worthy choice for both categories. (Frankly, I can come up with more than two dozen feature films from 2025 with better ensembles than *Sinners*. For more on *Sinners* and its record-tying number of nominations, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/sinners-breaks-record-or-does-it/ "‘Sinners’ breaks record, or does it?").) Amy Madigan, of *Weapons*, was a slight (but pleasant) surprise for supporting actress at the Actors Awards, and her victory throws that category into toss-up status for the Oscars. However, Jessie Buckley’s win for lead actress, for *Hamnet*, means she’s an even stronger lock for an Oscar triumph. The same holds true for Sean Penn, as supporting actor, for *One Battle After Another.* One of the reasons it is difficult to compare the Actor Awards with the Oscars is the difference in voters. Roughly 120,000 SAG-AFTRA members (all actors) voted for the Actor Awards this year while only about 10,000 Academy members will vote for the Oscars. And though actors make up the largest Oscar voting group, they still comprise only about 13 percent of Academy voters. The Actor Awards themselves were a bit of a disappointment. No pun intended, they sagged. Though Kristen Bell is a talented host, the comedic setups devised for her and almost all the presenters were painfully tedious. And because the show was streamed on Netflix, profanity wasn’t forbidden, and many presenters and recipients, to quote Cosmo Kramer, let the expletives fly. Stay classy, Hollywood. Speaking of classy, there’s Harrison Ford, who was given the lifetime achievement award. It was the clear highlight of a less-than-overwhelming night, though the in-memoriam section and a rousing *Sinners*-themed musical performance were also memorable. Regarding the in-memoriam presentation, if you were watching closely, you saw some interesting historical and artistic coincidences. Yes, there were icons such as Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner. But 2025 was also the year both Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot passed. Rival sex symbols, the two stripped each other partially naked in the greatest cinematic catfight of all time, in 1971’s *Les Pétroleuses.* Even odder was the close passing of British actors Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. Among Stamp’s other triumphs was the lead role in William Wyler’s underappreciated mini-masterpiece *The Collector*, from 1965, in which Stamp’s character falls in unrequited love with Eggar’s character, then kidnaps and accidentally kills her. Creepily, when they were both in college together, Stamp asked Eggar out on a date. She turned him down. And Wyler used that awkward relationship history to further the tension between the two on set. Let’s hope Cardinale, Bardot, Stamp and Eggar are resolving their rivalries and differences in the afterlife. Probably not, but it makes for cool cinematic anecdotes. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Dreams](https://www.meiermovies.com/dreams/) **Published:** February 24, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dreams**, 2025, [1 ½ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Minimalist *Dreams* ## Understated erotic drama fails to catch fire [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dreams-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dreams-1-scaled.jpg)Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain star in *Dreams*. (Images are courtesy of and copyright AR Content / Freckle Films / Greenwich Entertainment.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 24, 2026 This month we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of master storyteller Richard Matheson, who will be born in 1926. Among many other intellectual dares, he challenged us to ponder “what dreams may come.” Mexican writer-director Michel Franco (*After Lucia*, *Memory*) has seemingly taken up this challenge by naming his new erotic drama *Dreams*. Regrettably, his answer is apparently: none of consequence. The dreams in question are those of Fernando, a stunningly talented but inexperienced ballet dancer who has the misfortune of being an illegal immigrant to the United States. But he has one advantage that no other Mexican emigrant has likely ever had: He is involved in an illicit affair with a wealthy and powerful San Francisco socialite. How the affair developed and blossomed is vague and hard to swallow, like most of the film. Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain) met Fernando (Isaac Hernández, a real ballet dancer) through her philanthropic work with the arts in Mexico and became sexually besotted. But why Fernando would risk death to cross the border to be with Jennifer and further his potential career in America when his life in Mexico is actually not that bad, at least in comparison to the typical emigrant, is never made clear. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dreams-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dreams-2-scaled.jpg)Also puzzling is why Jennifer would allow her boy toy to risk his life when she seemingly has the power and influence to bring him to California legally, at least temporarily. Simply implying that the affair is awkward and should therefore be kept a secret (while referencing a previous deportation) is just not enough to explain the film’s setup or add much to the ongoing national conversation on immigration. And though the issues involving immigration are huge, this story feels small, with supporting actors Rupert Friend (Jennifer’s brother) and Marshall Bell (Jennifer’s father) adding litte. One thing that is crystal clear is the two characters have sexual chemistry, at least on the page. Passionate, nearly explicit scenes prove it, as do the carnal, but laughable, banter about ball sucking. But, surprisingly, both the relationship and the film remain cold and flat, with dialed-in performances, moderated tones, medium shots and an almost total lack of music and close-ups. Imbued with a slice-of-life stillness, *Dreams* eventually builds to a brutal conclusion that runs counter to that previous stillness. But boring and misleading an audience for 90 minutes to eventually make a powerful political and social statement is just plain cruel. And that cruelty is not salved by the Chastain and Hernández eye candies. Speaking of cruelty, we eventually get a glimpse into the heart of Jennifer, who, despite her surface passion, apparently never considered Fernando her equal and, ultimately, does what she must to protect her station. So maybe Franco does have an answer to Matheson after all: broken ones. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31710990/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_(2025_film)). The film premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and has since played festivals around the world in addition to receiving limited theatrical releases. It will finally receive a wide release in the United States on February 27, 2026.* --- ### [Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-Ritz-Theater-scaled.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Love Your Shorts Film Festival, in Sanford, Florida. For star ratings of the films I have seen at LYSFF, consult the short-film lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [2026](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-sweet-16/ "Love Your Shorts turns sweet 16") [2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-15/ "Love Your Shorts turns 15") (plus additional [post](https://www.meiermovies.com/2025/02/14/love-your-shorts-2025-begins/ "Love Your Shorts 2025 begins")) [2024](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-ups-its-game/) [2023](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-is-lucky-for-love-your-shorts/) [2021](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-and-safe/) [2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2020/) [2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2019/) [2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshortsff2018/) (plus additional [post](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshorts2018/)) [2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2017/) [2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2016/) [2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2015/) --- ### [LYSFF ups its game](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-ups-its-game/) **Published:** February 14, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Love Your Shorts gets new screen, projector [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Black-Balloons.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Black-Balloons.jpg)In Israeli filmmaker Gal Attia’s *Black Balloons* (opening-night block), a coincidental meeting in a cemetery between a clown and a widow helps both with their grief. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 14, 2024 The Love Your Shorts Film Festival has installed a new screen and projector for the 14th annual event, which will take place February 15-18 at the historic Ritz Theater in Sanford, Florida. The new screen is significantly larger than the old, measuring roughly 23×13 feet, while the new projector is capable of projecting images at a higher resolution. “The theater’s been talking about it for years,” says Brian Casey, screening and programming director. “We kind of had to do both \[new screen and projector\] at the same time. … This is the largest screen that would fit the proscenium and still be retractable.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)The festival will present 66 short films (of 30 minutes or less) from 14 countries, not including the five films that will be shown on Thursday for Education Day. That Thursday presentation, which will also include a panel discussion (“How I Became a Filmmaker”) and Q&A session, is free and will be presented by the Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF). Festival blocks include opening night (a mix of genres), “E for Everyone” (a mix of family-friendly films), animation, documentary, international (though some international films appear in other blocks), comedy, sci-fi/horror, drama and “Florida Flavor” (movies from the Sunshine State). The event ends on Sunday night with the “Best of the Fest,” which will feature the winning films from the previous blocks, as picked by audience votes (plus, potentially, one additional film chosen by the selection committee). A panel of judges will then pick the overall winner. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Dandelion.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Dandelion.jpg)In the dystopian *Dandelion* (animation block), by Ling Zhao and Zhengwu Gu, a coal-burning robot working in a mine discovers something he has never seen before. Several movies are from Central Florida, including some with University of Central Florida (UCF) ties. And in a first, the festival will present a film from Iran, *Psychicken*, written and directed by Ata Mojabi, in the sci-fi/horror block. Noteworthy attendees will include Jason D. Gregory (a screenwriter, author, producer and lecturer at UCF, who will moderate the Thursday discussion) and festival alumnus Lukas Hassel. The actor, known for the NBC show *Blacklist*, among other projects, has two movies in the festival: *Dummy* (opening night), which he directed, and *Split Second* (sci-fi/horror), in which he acts. A ticket to a single film block is $12, except for “E for Everyone,” which is just $5. A weekend pass is $85. For the full schedule and more information, visit [LoveYourShorts.com](https://www.loveyourshorts.com/). *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *Please note that my companies, [Paul Meier Dialect Services](https://www.paulmeier.com/) and the [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/), are sponsoring this year’s festival, but I have no financial or organizational relationship with Love Your Shorts.* --- ### [Mr Nobody Against Putin](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-nobody-against-putin/) **Published:** February 4, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mr Nobody Against Putin** FL, 2025, 4 ¼ stars # Bad Education ## *Mr Nobody* exposes Putin’s indoctrination [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Mr-Nobody-Against-Putin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Mr-Nobody-Against-Putin.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 4, 2026 “I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,” Bob Dylan sang in “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” But prior to the hard rain comes indoctrination, the kind that the Oscar-nominated documentary *Mr Nobody Against Putin* exposes. The aforementioned “Mr Nobody” is Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, an event coordinator at a school in Karabash, in rural, central Russia. The town is dubbed the most toxic in the world because of its copper mining, but the film’s real toxicity is courtesy of Vladimir Putin, who, following his invasion of Ukraine in 2022, launched a campaign of patriotic brainwashing in Talankin’s school and thousands of similar ones across Russia. Talankin documented the events over a two-year period and, thanks to his status as the school’s videographer, was rarely questioned about his intent. He then fled the country with the footage, which was compiled by director David Borenstein. But, creatively, the film belongs to Talankin, who not only co-directed but narrates in an almost *Roger & Me* style, even managing to interject some humor into the tragedy. He is the Russian Michael Moore. The doc premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Though, surprisingly, it was not shortlisted for the best international feature Oscar, the movie got the last laugh when it received a nod for best documentary. If you’re lucky enough to see it in its current limited theatrical release, or streaming on Kino Film Collection, your reaction will likely be the same as mine: I can’t believe he filmed that. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34965515/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Nobody_Against_Putin).* --- ### [M](https://www.meiermovies.com/m/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with M:** Mabul (The Flood) FL (2011; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2012 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") Mad (2016; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Madres Paraleles (Parallel Mothers)](https://www.meiermovies.com/parallel-mothers/ "Parallel Mothers") FL (2021; 3 ¼ stars) [Maggie’s Plan](http://www.meiermovies.com/maggies-plan/) (2016; 3 ½ stars) [Magic in the Moonlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/magic-in-the-moonlight/) (2014; 2 ¾ stars) Magical Universe (2013; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") Man vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler (2015; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [The Man Who Invented Christmas](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-man-who-invented-christmas/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [Manchester by the Sea](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/31/best-edited-sequence-of-the-year/) (2016; 4 ½ stars) Mandibules (Mandibles) FL (2021; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Manos: The Hands of Fate](http://www.meiermovies.com/manos-the-hands-of-fate/) (1966, and 2016 restored Blu-ray version; 0 stars) [Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu](https://www.meiermovies.com/marco-polo-return-to-xanadu/) (2001; ½ star) Margarita, with a Straw FL (2014; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [2015 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [Marriage Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) (2019; 4 ½ stars) [Mary Queen of Scots](http://www.meiermovies.com/mary-queen-of-scots/) (2018; 1 ½ stars) [Master Gardener](https://www.meiermovies.com/master-gardener/ "Master Gardener") (2022; 3 stars) Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2018 South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) Matchmaking FL (2022; 2 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) [Me and Earl and the Dying Girl](http://www.meiermovies.com/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl/) (2015; 3 ¾ stars) [The Meddler](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-meddler/) (2016; 3 stars) Meet the Patels (2014; 1 star), part of the [2015 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [Megan Leavey](http://www.meiermovies.com/megan-leavey/) (2017; 3 stars) [Memoir of a Snail](https://www.meiermovies.com/what-2024-cinema-taught-me/ "What 2024 cinema taught me") (2024; 4 ½ stars) [Michael Moore in TrumpLand](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/10/29/michael-moore-in-trumpland/) (2016; 2 ¾ stars) Midnight’s Children (2012; 2 stars), part of the [2013 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-south-asian-film-festival/ "2013 South Asian Film Festival") Mighty Fine (2012; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2012 Orlando Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") [Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates](http://www.meiermovies.com/mike-and-dave-need-wedding-dates/) (2016; ¾ star) [Minari](https://www.meiermovies.com/minari/ "Minari") FL (2020; 4 ¼ stars) Miss Sharon Jones! (2015; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [Miss Sloane](http://www.meiermovies.com/miss-sloane/) (2016; 3 ½ stars) [Mistress America](http://www.meiermovies.com/mistress-america/) (2015; 1 ½ stars) [Modern Times](http://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/) SlWS (1936; 5 stars) Mogul Mowgli (2020; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Molly’s Game](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/12/20/the-game-is-up-molly/) (2017; 2 stars) [Money Monster](http://www.meiermovies.com/money-monster/) (2016; 2 ¼ stars) [A Monster Calls](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-monster-calls/) (2–D version) (2016; 3 ¾ stars) [Monsters, Inc](https://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-inc/). (2001; 4 ½ stars) [Monsters University](http://www.meiermovies.com/Monsters-University) (2013; 4 stars) Moon (2009; 4 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Moonlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/moonlight/) \* (2016; 4 stars) Moos FL Hybrid (2016; 2 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) [A Most Violent Year](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-most-violent-year/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) [A Most Wanted Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-most-wanted-man/) (2014; 4 stars) [Mother!](http://www.meiermovies.com/mother/) (2017; 4 stars) [Mr. Holmes](http://www.meiermovies.com/mr-holmes/) (2015; 3 ¾ stars) [Mr. K](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-k/ "Mr. K") (2025; 2 stars) Mr. Kaplan FL (2014; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Mr Nobody Against Putin](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-nobody-against-putin/ "Mr Nobody Against Putin") FL (2025; 4 ¼ stars) [Mr. Turner](http://www.meiermovies.com/mr-turner/) (2014; 4 ¼ stars) [Much Ado About Nothing](https://www.meiermovies.com/much-ado-about-nothing/) (2012; 2 ¼ stars) [Mud](https://www.meiermovies.com/mud/) (2013; 4 ¼ stars); also part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [Una Mujer Fantástica (A Fantastic Woman)](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-fantastic-woman/) FL (2017; 3 ¾ stars) [The Munsters](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-munsters/ "The Munsters") TV/Web/NT (2022; ½ star) [A Murder in Mansfield](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-barbara-kopple/) (2017; 3 ¼ stars) [Murder on the Orient Express](http://www.meiermovies.com/murder-on-the-orient-express/) (2017; 2 ¼ stars) [Muscle Shoals](http://www.meiermovies.com/muscle-shoals/) (2013; 3 stars) [Mutant Aliens](https://www.meiermovies.com/mutant-aliens/) (2001; ¾ star) [My Darling Vivian](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-darling-vivian/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 3 ¼ stars) My Last Year with the Nuns (2014; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) My Life in China (2015; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) --- ### [Superman 2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/superman-2025/) **Published:** February 3, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Superman**, 2025, 1 ¾ stars # Not-so-*Super* moments ## Gunn’s reboot wastes two good turns [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Superman.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Superman.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 3, 2026 I was watching an old interview with Jimmy Stewart recently in which he discussed the value of “moments” in movies. He didn’t mention writing or acting or directing specifically – just those little moments that make or break a film. For me, three such moments stand out in James Gunn’s *Superman*, which I finally saw last night. The first was when Krypto the dog appeared. Instead of using a real canine for the intimate scenes, Gunn chose to go entirely CGI. Longing for moments of realism and believability amid an exhausting smorgasbord of admittedly well-designed computer-generated imagery, I was instantly repelled. Sure, a CGI dog is necessary for many scenes. But the best way to add legitimacy to CGI is to juxtapose it with old-fashioned cinematography, especially when you’re dealing with a loveable animal. And Gunn bungled that. (At least he didn’t use AI.) Another moment that took me out was when Superman’s mom opened her mouth. It was like a scene from *Hee Haw*, featuring a bad stereotype of a Southern hick. This is Kansas, not Kentucky. And I should know, as I grew up in both states. And I run a website devoted to accents and dialects. Next time, James, show more respect for your characters. But both those moments seem tame when compared with the scene in which Lois Lane flies a spaceship. Yes, really. Sure, the movie is a fun ride for some. But the ridiculous story, a poorly cast Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, too many other supernatural characters and overreliance on digital effects wastes a good performance from David Corenswet as Superman and an excellent one from Rachel Brosnahan as Lois. Gunn’s childish, snarky, “throw everything at the screen to see what sticks” sensibility, which served him reasonably well in the overrated *Guardians of the Galaxy* films, is akin to kryptonite for the man of steel. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5950044/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(2025_film)).* --- ### [CenFlo turns 20](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-turns-20/) **Published:** January 22, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Mount Dora fest is bigger than ever [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CenFlo.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CenFlo.jpeg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 22, 2026 The Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo) is turning 20 years old by showing more films (from more submissions) than ever before, January 23-25 on three screens at Epic Theatres in Mount Dora, Florida. The event will screen 181 films (25 features and 156 shorts) picked from 246 submissions. Those numbers are up from the 175 films and 214 submissions last year. Crunching those numbers reveals that the festival, which is known for its high acceptance rate, has gotten a tad more selective. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Price.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Price.jpg)*The Price*, a sci-fi/fantasy short by Lisa Wordell, is one of the most highly anticipated films of this year’s festival. Shorts are divided into genres: animation (one block), comedy (three blocks), documentary (six blocks), drama (seven blocks), horror (three blocks), sci-fi/fantasy (three blocks), suspense/thriller (three blocks) and student projects (seven blocks). “We try to run a well-rounded festival,” says Executive Director Brendon Rogers. “So we have a lot of variety.” In addition to films, the event will feature networking events (with food and drink) in the cinema lobby, a filmmaking discussion panel hosted by Orlando entertainment icon Tracy Frenkel (with filmmakers Tim Ritter, Bill Suchy, Fred Zara and Gerald Godbout III) on Friday at 11 a.m. and an awards ceremony on Sunday at 8 p.m. Though no celebrity guests are expected, Bob Cook, who founded the event in 2006 and ran it for 12 years before handing it to Rogers, will be in attendance to accept a special award on Sunday. And if that’s not exotic enough for you, sugar gliders (small, nocturnal “gliding” marsupials) are expected to attend the screening of the short fantasy *The Eden Trials* (which features the animals) on Sunday at 1:25 p.m. What better way to celebrate independent cinema than with furry, flying possums? Even more startling than airborne mammals is the fact that the festival received many submissions of films featuring generative AI, but all were rejected, according to Rogers. Going forward, Rogers says, CenFlo and other fests will continue to debate whether to accept these films and, if so, whether to screen them alongside human-created movies or in their own block. A ticket to a single shorts block or feature costs $10, a one-day pass goes for $35, and a three-day pass will set you back $85. (A one- or three-day pass is required for parties and the awards ceremony.) For more information, visit [CenFlo.us](https://cenflo.us/). And to learn about the festival’s history, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo/). *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Festival review [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/How-to-Sleep-in-the-Cold.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/How-to-Sleep-in-the-Cold.jpg)*How to Sleep in the Cold* Quality of the films was a bit higher this year, likely because of the slighter larger number of submissions, which allowed for a slightly lower acceptance rate. However, among the more than two dozen shorts I saw, I can give a full endorsement to just one: *How to Sleep in the Cold*, which addresses the issue of homelessness in a unique way. It is directed by Fred Zara, written and produced by Daniel Wachs, and stars Wachs and Franny Titus. But many other movies showed promise, including Jesse Foy’s *Birthday Cake*, Aaron Hose’s *A City that Cares*, Andrew Pritzker’s *HomePlanet*, David Guillermo Borges’s *Kilele*, Dale Metz and TL Westgate’s *All the Money in the World*, Justin Rettke’s *Time to Kill*, Sky Cole’s *Moonglow*, Makayla Wheeler’s *Return of the Flamingos* and Hunter Brothers’s *The Superhero Project*. And, as always, filmmakers enjoyed sharing their films with fellow filmmakers. (In general, this is a filmmaker-only festival, as the public rarely attends.) For ratings of all the films I saw, visit the short-film lists [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). --- ### [Movie Key](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/iStock-1142937326.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/iStock-1142937326.jpg)**Here you will find a guide to all the colors and symbols used on this website.** Red – Thriller / Suspense / Mystery / Horror / Terror Orange – Documentary Blue – Animated (hand-drawn, computer-drawn or stop-motion) Note: It’s getting more difficult to determine what makes a movie animated and what makes it live-action, thanks to the rise of CGI. I’ve chosen to label a movie “animated” only if it relies heavily on animation both for backgrounds and characters. See the next category for further explanation. Half Blue / Half Black – Animated and Live Action, or a film that relies mostly on motion capture. Note: This category also applies to movies containing a mix of live actors and CGI/motion-capture characters, along with a large amount of computer-generated backgrounds and landscapes. (Similarly, any entry that is half one color and half another means that the film belongs to both genres, or contains enough of one genre to warrant the color distinction). AI – Artificial Intelligence. Films carrying this designation use AI either extensively or for their entirety. Films with the mAI designation use AI on a limited basis, perhaps to tweak human-produced audio or reduce the amount of repetitive animation tasks done by humans. Sl – Silent SlWS – Essentially silent (with intertitles) but with elements of synchronized sound, such as brief sound effects and/or a synchronized score ½SlWS – A mix of silent with some synchronized sound (with intertitles) and fully talking/singing (full synchronized sound) FL – This designation means a movie was filmed primarily in a “foreign language,” or a language other than English. The ½FL designation means the movie has significant portions in both English and another language. Hybrid – Features carrying this designation originally aired on television, the internet, a streaming service or on DVD/Blu-ray but subsequently received a theatrical release (general, limited or at at least two major festivals). Shorts with this designation originally aired on television, the internet, a streaming service or on DVD/Blu-ray but subsequently received at least one showing in a theater to a general, paying audience. In addition, a feature carries this designation if it was originally intended for television or the internet but first received a very limited festival release before being divided into parts for its television or internet release. TV/Web/NT – Features carrying this designation neither received a theatrical release nor screened at at least two major festivals. (“NT” stands for non-theatrical.) Shorts with this designation never played in a theater to a general, paying audience. LIVE – Features carrying this designation are filmed versions of theatrical presentations. They are done in a single take, without edits and often in front of a live audience. VR – Films carrying this designation were originally intended as and/or designed for virtual-reality presentations. Panoram – Shorts carrying this designation are “Soundies,” a precursor to modern music videos, dating from 1940 to 1947. They played exclusively on Mills Panoram machines, which were essentially video jukeboxes, in public places. \* – Best Picture Oscar winner. (An asterisk is also used on my short-film lists for movies that won the Academy Award for best short animated film, best short live-action film or best short documentary.) $ – Ranked in the top 10 among all-time highest-grossing films (U.S. gross adjusted to inflation); source: [BoxOfficeMojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2020&ref_=bo_cso_ac). For international adjusted gross, see [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films). Cinema – This column on the feature-film lists refers to the number of times I’ve seen a film in a movie theater. If the space is blank, that means I’ve seen the film on TV, on DVD, on Blu-ray, on Netflix, etc., but never in a cinema. (When assigning a star rating, I try to take into account the circumstances of the viewing, keeping in mind a theatrical viewing can be more impactful. I never watch films on mobile devices.) If I’ve seen a film at a festival, I list the name of that festival. XXX – Contains explicit, non-simulated sex ***Key image is courtesy of iStockPhoto (#1142937326 by [bubaone](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/bubaone?assettype=image&mediatype=illustration&sort=best)).*** --- ### [Jay Kelly](https://www.meiermovies.com/jay-kelly/) **Published:** November 16, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jay Kelly**, 2025, 4 stars # What price Hollywood? ## *Jay Kelly* examines fame’s fee [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jay-Kelly.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jay-Kelly.jpg)George Clooney plays Jay Kelly. (Images are copyright Netflix.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 16, 2025 It’s been 93 years since the movie industry first asked “What price Hollywood?” Since then, the question has resurfaced dozens of times, most famously in the four [*A Star Is Born*](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/ "A Star Is Born") films, the first of which, from 1937, was inspired by that original *What Price Hollywood?* from 1932. But *Jay Kelly*, the new film by director Noah Baumbach (who co-wrote it with Emily Mortimer), isn’t that type of Hollywood tale. Though it is tragic at its core, the tragedy is often hidden beneath the comedy, metatheatricality and beautiful scenery of France and Italy. And, of course, Jay (George Clooney) doesn’t drown himself, crash his car or hang himself, as do the protagonists of the *Star* films. Far from it. Jay goes on – famous but lonely. *Jay Kelly* has more in common with Woody Allen’s *Stardust Memories* (1980) and *Deconstructing Harry* (1997) – a creepy amount in common, as all three films follow a celebrity on an odyssey to attend a tribute to his work. (Allen’s films are inspired by Federico Fellini’s *8 ½*, from 1963, which shares a lot with the master Italian director’s *La Dolce Vita*, from three years earlier, which, in turn, informed Paolo Sorrentino’s *The Great Beauty*, from 2013, though the latter two movies concern journalists, not performers.) One could expound endlessly on films that inspired Baumbach’s new dramedy. But the point is *Jay Kelly* is hopelessly derivative – and an absolute delight, second only to [*Marriage Story*](https://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/ "Marriage Story") among the director’s films. (This might be his most visually appealing movie.) After an unpleasant reunion with an old acting buddy (Billy Crudup), Jay suffers a (late) mid-life crisis. Fueling his emotional breakdown is his youngest daughter’s decision to travel Europe instead of spending the last summer of her youth at home with dad. To top that off, his directorial mentor (Jim Broadbent) has just died. So instead of burying himself in another film (as is his habit), he heads to Europe to follow his daughter, accompanied, as always, by his entourage. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jay-Kelly-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jay-Kelly-2.jpg)Among the retinue are manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern), who are both living their own personal dramas. Ron is especially vexed, as Jay’s highly successful but nevertheless long-suffering companion questions whether he’s just another cog in the Kelly machine or is a true friend to the famous actor. Meanwhile, Jay is having similar doubts about his assistants’ loyalties and whether the true Jay Kelly exists only on screen. “My life doesn’t feel real,” Jay reflects. “All my memories are movies.” Indeed, as the film progresses toward the Italian awards ceremony at which Jay will be honored with a life-achievement prize, we see just what the legend has sacrificed for fame. And we wonder what Clooney himself has given up, as the film turns almost autobiographical, even to the point that the awards presentation, in a nifty but on-the-nose moment, includes clips from Clooney’s career. However you feel about the overt comparisons and slight narcissism, Clooney is wonderful and makes it difficult to imagine anyone else playing the part. (Perhaps Cary Grant?) In contrast, it’s easy (and fun) to imagine other (better) artists replacing Sandler. The actor has admittedly matured, dramatically, in recent years and has memorable moments here. But I kept substituting, in my mind, Paul Giamatti. Or a slightly younger Dustin Hoffman. Or Philip Seymour Hoffman. (I miss him painfully.) Dern does fine work as always, but she and Greta Gerwig (Ron’s wife) don’t have as much to sink their teeth into. The better roles belong to Crudup, Broadbent and Patrick Wilson (another client of Ron). Grace Edwards and Riley Keough play Jay’s youngest daughter and his eldest, partially estranged one, respectively, and do so with humor and humanity. But it’s an unexpected treat of a performer, whom I won’t reveal here, who steals the second half of the film as Jay’s father. Jay Kelly is a charismatic but flawed man, and the eponymous film is the same. But it does ooze cinema and is therefore irresistible to cinephiles. And despite its owing its life to many better movies, it provides a powerful lesson about fame, friendship and family. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30446847) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Kelly). The film is currently in cinemas. It is rated R and runs 2 hours and 12 minutes.* --- ### ['Sinners' breaks record, or does it?](https://www.meiermovies.com/sinners-breaks-record-or-does-it/) **Published:** January 23, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Oscar truth is complicated [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 23, 2026 Writer-director Ryan Coogler’s pop-culture hit *Sinners* has broken the record for most Academy Award nominations, with 16. This tops by two the old record held by *All About Eve* (1950), *Titanic* (1997) and *La La Land* (2016). Or so we’ve been told. As with most “records,” the truth is more complicated. For some mysterious reason (ignorance, disrespect or disagreement), most people don’t count special and technical/scientific Academy Awards when chronicling records. But when special awards are counted, there is one film that is tied for the most awards (11) and is now also tied (with *Sinners*) for the most nominations (16). And that film is hiding in plain sight, as it’s the most popular of all time, when judged by number of tickets sold: *Gone with the Wind* (1939). *[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sinners.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sinners.jpg)GWTW* won eight competitive Oscars, but it picked up two special ones also: to William Cameron Menzies “for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood for *Gone with the Wind*” and to Don Musgrave and Selznick International Pictures for “pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment for *Gone with the Wind*.” In addition, David Selznick took home the prestigious Thalberg Award that year too. Though the Thalberg is not traditionally given for a single film but for a body of work, it was understood that he was receiving it for *GWTW*. That brings the film’s total to 11. The film received 13 competitive nominations. So if you combine the three special awards, its nom total reaches 16, the same as *Sinners*’. Of course, some might argue that special awards aren’t “nominations” because they aren’t competitive. Therein lies the messiness of historical interpretation. Regarding *Sinners*’ nomination total, one should note that if the film had been released prior to 2020, it would likely still have reached 16 nominations (without the new casting category), as the separate sound editing and sound mixing categories were still in existence. If the Academy hadn’t combined those into a single sound category, *Sinners* would probably now be looking at 17. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gone-With-the-Wind-Tara.jpg)*Gone with the Wind* Interestingly, both *Sinners* and *GWTW* indirectly address race, albeit in vastly different ways. Both take place in the American South. And while *Sinners* is set in the 1930s, *Gone with the Wind* was filmed then. But that’s where the comparisons end, as original *Sinners* (2 stars on 0-5 scale) squanders its uniqueness on ridiculous orgies of vampire-zombie gore. And its commentaries on race, apparently lauded by Oscar voters, become heavy-handed and misguided as the film transitions from drama to cheap horror in its third act. (Those commentaries are just plain false, according to this interesting review in *[National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/04/the-cultural-heresy-of-sinners/)*.) Perhaps most disappointingly, amid the excessive violence and in-your-face political messaging of the finale, even the musical charm of Coogler’s film is gone with the wind. Still, regardless of how one counts awards, *Sinners* now has its place in history, like it or not. And that place will remain pretty solid even if, as is expected, it loses in almost every category to the superior film *One Battle After Another*. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For the full list of this year’s Oscar nominations, visit [Oscar.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2026).* --- ### [CenFlo](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Epic-Theatres-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Epic-Theatres-2021-scaled.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo), in Mount Dora, Florida. (The fest was previously held in Ocoee, Florida.) To go straight to reviews of feature films I have seen at CenFlo, visit my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). And for ratings of both features and shorts that have played the festival, see my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). [CenFlo turns 20 (2026)](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-turns-20/ "CenFlo turns 20") [17th Annual Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/01/18/get-in-the-cenflo/ "Get in the CenFlo") [Central Florida Film Festival returns following a 16-month absence](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-returns-to-mount-dora-after-16-month-absence/ "CenFlo returns to Mount Dora following 16-month absence") [CenFlo grows](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-grows/) [Central Florida Film Festival moves to Mount Dora](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-moves-to-mount-dora/) [12th Annual Central Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-2017/) [Central Florida Film Festival Celebrates 10 Years](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) --- ### [Art Reviews and Articles](https://www.meiermovies.com/art-reviews/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock_000082921207_Large-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock_000082921207_Large.jpg)This site is dedicated to movies, but, for a slight change of pace, I provide here a small sampling of my art reviews, art-related articles, artist profiles and book reviews, principally from [*Sunshine Artist* Magazine](http://www.sunshineartist.com), *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com)* and OrlandoCityBeat.com. Articles are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or Cameron Meier/MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without written permission. All content, including original headlines, is written by Cameron Meier. [The Bad Boys of the Show Circuit](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-bad-boys-of-the-show-circuit/ "The bad boys of the show circuit") [A Brush with Bikes](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-brush-with-bikes/ "A brush with bikes") [Canvassing the Movies](http://www.meiermovies.com/canvassing-the-movies/ "Canvassing the movies") [Craft Shows for Dummies (book review)](http://www.meiermovies.com/craft-shows-for-dummies/ "Craft shows for dummies") [Dicky Stone: Returning to His Roots](http://www.meiermovies.com/dicky-stone-returning-to-his-roots/ "Dicky Stone: returning to his roots") [Festival Fraud: Promoter Books Exhibitors for Show that Doesn’t Exist](http://www.meiermovies.com/festival-fraud/) [The First Photographs: When Was Photography Really Invented?](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-first-photographs/ "The first photographs?") [Handmade is Here to Stay](http://www.meiermovies.com/dont-be-blue-handmade-is-here-to-stay/ "Don’t be blue: Handmade is here to stay") [History and Prophecy](http://www.meiermovies.com/history-and-prophecy/ "History and Prophecy") [Pulp Fictions](http://www.meiermovies.com/pulp-fictions/ "Pulp Fictions") **Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Carrousel (Philadelphia Toboggan Company #46)** [A complete history and inventory in PDF form](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Complete-Inventory-and-History-of-the-Disney-World-Carrousel-PTC-46.pdf) [Recent information on the chariot](http://www.meiermovies.com/disney-snubs-history-and-art-by-altering-magic-kingdom-carousel/) --- ### [Louis Le Prince](https://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/) **Published:** June 24, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’ve seen the MeierMovies production logo (click above or [here to view on separate page](http://www.meiermovies.com/meiermovies-production-logo/)), you surely noticed the short black-and-white film that looks VERY old. What is that film, and why is it such an important feature of MeierMovies.com? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Roundhay.gif)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Roundhay.gif)“Roundhay Garden Scene” The two-second movie is *Roundhay Garden Scene*, shot in 1888 by cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince in Leeds, England. Motion had been “captured” before by such trailblazers as Eadweard Muybridge (with his assembly line of still-photography cameras) and Etienne Jules Marey (with his 12-images-per-second photo collages). And as early as the 1830s, Joseph Plateau had simulated animated motion with his phenakistiscope. But most historians agree that it was Le Prince who created the first true movie. Because he was the first to use a single camera to capture motion in real time and then project that film, recreating the motion for viewers, he is often labeled the father of cinema. Yes, Thomas Edison, William Friese-Greene, Woodville Latham, the Lumiere Brothers and others were working on similar technology during the same era, but *Roundhay Garden Scene* preceded them all and was, therefore, the breakthrough. And the odd personal history (and unexplained death) of Le Prince only serves to enhance his legend, and the legend of the films he shot in the late 1880s. [![Louis Le Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Louis-Le-Prince-1024x577.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Louis-Le-Prince.jpg)Louis Le Prince *Roundhay Garden Scene* deserves an exalted place in the history of cinema and is worthy of recognition and a proud place in the MeierMovies production logo. **The film clip is used by special permission of Britain’s [National Media Museum](http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/)/Science & Society Picture Library**, which is instrumental in the preservation and recognition of film. For more information on Le Prince, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PioneersOfEarlyCinemaLouisLePrince.pdf). And also see the [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Le_Prince) article. I’d also suggest checking out my lists of short films, which can be viewed by clicking the items under the “Short Lists” tab on this site’s menu bar. Those lists include two of Le Prince’s films — *Roundhay Garden Scene* and *Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge* — in addition to countless other shorts from the pioneers of the late 1880s and 1890s. Lastly, let me add my thanks to TL Westgate of [Creative Inlet Films](http://www.creativeinletfilms.com/), who created the production logo. (For those of you interested in the related field of the history of recorded sound, [check out my appearance on the December 2020 episode of the *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast](https://www.paulmeier.com/2020/12/01/episode-35-the-first-sound-recordings/). Also of interest is the [Niépce Heliograph](https://www.meiermovies.com/niepce-heliograph/ "Niépce Heliograph") from 1927 (the world’s oldest photograph), and [this essay](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-first-photographs/ "The first photographs?") on the invention of photography.) --- ### [The first photographs?](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-first-photographs/) **Published:** January 11, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## When was photography really invented? Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 11, 2026 [![Johann Heinrich Schulz](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Johann-Heinrich-Schulze.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Johann-Heinrich-Schulze.jpg)Johann Heinrich Schulze The first photograph, *View from the Window at Le Gras,* was taken in 1827 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, or so the story goes. ([Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/niepce-heliograph/) for more information on that groundbreaking “heliograph.”) But what if the first photographic image had been created more than 100 years earlier? It might have been. As with other major inventions, many people were working on developing photography at the same time. As early as the first decade of the 1800s, Thomas Wedgwood and Humphry Davy had some success but couldn’t produce permanent images. And around the same time as Niépce, Louis Daguerre (whom most consider the father of photography) was conducting his experiments. Slightly later, William Fox Talbot made significant advances. But there was an outlier nearly a century earlier: German professor and inventor [Johann Heinrich Schulze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_Schulze), who, astonishingly, in 1717 (using a slurry of chalk, nitric acid and silver nitrate) proved that silver salts darkened with light. And he apparently captured an image. However, he failed to make it permanent. But what if he had? What if his experiments had advanced to the point of Niépce’s? Imagine the implications. The world could have had photography 100 years earlier. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Marie Antoinette, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, King George III. We could have photographs of them all. And what if motion pictures had followed the same timeline, being developed about 60 years following photography? We could have had silent movies of the French Revolution, the inauguration of President George Washington and the War of 1812. The American Civil War would have been filmed in color, just like the Vietnam War. And footage of World War II would have been shot in 3-D and high frame rate, or whatever cinematic inventions lie ahead. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Pont-Neuf-by-Louis-Daguerre-1836.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Pont-Neuf-by-Louis-Daguerre-1836.jpg)*Pont Neuf*, by Louis Daguerre and Mathurin Joseph Fordos. (Click to enlarge.) In another, slightly more realistic twist on history, the famous [Boulevard du Temple Daguerreotype](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_du_Temple_(photograph)) created by Louis Daguerre in Paris in 1838 might not have been the first to feature people, as another Parisian Daguerreotype (created with his partner, Mathurin Joseph Fordos) might hold that title: [Pont Neuf](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1836_39_Pont_Neuf_-_Daguerre_and_Fordos.jpg). The trouble is we don’t know exactly when it was made. Some suggest as early as 1836 while others claim 1839. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the human figures are not nearly as clear as in Boulevard du Temple. You decide: Are the two figures resting against the fence, in the shadows in the lower left, people, or just an illusion? As John Adams reminded us, facts are stubborn things. Too bad we don’t have film of him saying it. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Niépce Heliograph](https://www.meiermovies.com/niepce-heliograph/) **Published:** February 25, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** French photographic pioneer Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created his heliograph, *View from the Window at Le Gras,* in 1827, using light-sensitive bitumen on a pewter plate inserted into a camera obscura. It is arguably the first successful real-world photographic experiment and certainly the oldest one to have survived. In modern terms, it’s simply a photo of his yard, taken from his window. But for photography and cinematography enthusiasts, it’s the Holy Grail. The heliograph is housed at the Harry Ransom Center on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, along with other historic artifacts, including one of only four complete Gutenberg Bibles in the United States. The Center also contains countless cinematic artifacts, including the archives of David Selznick. For more information on the Ransom Center and the Niépce heliograph, [click here](https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/niepce-heliograph/) and visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_from_the_Window_at_Le_Gras). And scroll down for my photos of the heliograph, which is best viewed from a few feet away, and at a slight angle. In other words, ironically, it’s more easily viewed in person than by looking at a photograph. The last photo is of the aforementioned Gutenberg Bible. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. Click each photo for a larger, high-res version.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-4.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-4.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Niepce-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Harry-Ransom-Center-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Harry-Ransom-Center-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gutenberg-Bible-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gutenberg-Bible-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Avatar: Fire and Ash](https://www.meiermovies.com/avatar-fire-and-ash/) **Published:** January 10, 2026 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Avatar: Fire and Ash** (3–D HFR version) mAI, 2025, 2 stars # *Avatar* overstays its welcome ## Third time is not the charm [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Avatar-Fire-and-Ash.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Avatar-Fire-and-Ash.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 10, 2026 Capturing the zeitgeist is quite an achievement. And after three weeks atop the box office, the third installment in writer-director James Cameron’s blockbuster action/sci-fi/fantasy series has clearly reached that cultural milestone. But setting aside the visual effects, which are again astonishing, *Avatar: Fire and Ash* offers little except a derivative plot and cringeworthy dialogue. So, yes, it has indeed captured the zeitgeist, for it is just like Trump’s America: big, loud and dumb. Cameron doesn’t deserve my insults in regards to his film’s technological achievements, however. What he has accomplished in that sphere deserves continued praise, as does his insistence that he will not make extensive use of generative AI. He says artificial intelligence was used only for non-creative jobs, including speeding up repetitive animation tasks. (But aren’t those creative too, in a smaller sense? Sadly, I suppose the days of the human in-betweener are over.) The visual effects are so good that I voted them best of the year during the Florida Film Critics Circle annual awards before I had seen the entire film. I did so based on having seen only clips, and I stand by that decision. With those praises out of the way, let me mention that I had issues with the visuals after plunking down $32 to see it in 3-D and 48 frames per second in a true IMAX theater. (For that price, I almost expected Cameron to attend. But more on inflation later.) My problem – and it’s one that often affects 3-D screenings – is the film looked a bit dark. In addition, the 48fps format, while enhancing the realism, made everything look a bit cheap, especially the non-motion-captured actors, such as Miles Socorro (Spider). Focus is an issue too, especially in 3-D, which makes the fuzzy backgrounds and foregrounds more noticeable when a movie employs a rather small depth of field, as *Fire and Ash* often does, especially during its rare quiet moments, such as conversations. Many people talk about the beauty of *Avatar*, but if you can’t see the beauty clearly, it’s wasted. And even when veteran cinematographer Russell Carpenter and the animation crew choose to keep almost everything in focus, the action is so frenetic that one often can’t completely appreciate the art direction. (Carpenter is a frequent Cameron collaborator, having shot *Titanic* and the second *Avatar*. So I’m clearly outclassed in this discussion. All I know is that my own eyes had problems with the presentation in 3-D IMAX.) If you don’t remember the plot of *Avatar: The Way of Water* (2022), I would encourage you to brush up before attending the new film, as Cameron throws you right in without any opening credits or exposition. In this sense, the second and third installments are a single film. And considering that the new one is an excessive three hours and 17 minutes, that’s a lot of story to absorb. Or is it? The plot, after all, is essentially a retread. With so many similarities to the past two films, with many characters favoring each other visually and thematically, and with the action coming fast and furiously, I eventually congealed into a puddle resembling that sticky stuff you step on in old movie theaters. I was both bored and overstimulated, if that’s possible. One can’t deny that, for many moviegoers, especially teenagers and those who loved the first two, *Fire and Ash* will be another exhilarating ride. “Yippee,” I could almost hear my fellow audience members yelling as they swooped and soared on the backs of mountain banshees. My retort: “Stop the cinema. I want to get off.” So, to all you bros and bitches out there (Cameron loves those words), enjoy the escapism, even if the script makes Cecil B. DeMille look like Ingmar Bergman. ## Financial perspective Now back to the money. Tickets have become so expensive that it’s not surprising when films continue to set records. Or do they? In a sign of either *Avatar* fatigue or the decline of cinema-going, this latest film will finish behind the previous two in today’s dollars (both domestically and globally) – and WAY behind in adjusted-for-inflation bucks. As the recording industry (which judges by units sold, not money) proves, that latter stat is the only true way to gauge success. I’ve been preaching this for years and will continue until the important people listen. But they won’t, because calculating success in non-adjusted dollars is the industry’s biggest marketing scheme. They shout “biggest,” “top-grossing” and “#1” when, in reality (inflation-adjusted money), their new films aren’t anywhere close to setting records. And because of the rise of streaming and the decline of theaters, the theatrical records of the old films will likely be safe for eternity. Contributing to the new *Avatar*’s monetary underperformance (if you consider a projected $1.8 billion global total an underperformance) is the novelty factor, or lack thereof. When the original movie debuted in 2009, no one had ever seen anything like it before, and that wow factor led the movie to the #1 all-time global and domestic top spots in straight money, the #2 all-time global spot in inflation-adjusted dollars (behind only *Gone with the Wind*) and the #15 all-time domestic position in inflation-adjusted bucks. Because *The Way of Water* waited 13 years to debut, audiences wanted to see how the technology had improved. But *Fire and Ash* follows just two years after, and the technological difference is small. Speaking of being wowed, I pleasantly recall basking in that aforementioned novelty while viewing the previous *Avatar* films at Pointe Orlando Regal in Orlando, Florida, the same theater at which I just screened the third. I also remember enjoying an after-movie drink and live music at B.B. King’s Blues Club, adjacent to the cinema. But the club closed. Like *Avatar*, the thrill is gone. *© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1757678/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_Fire_and_Ash). The film is currently in cinemas. For historical perspective on financial performance, see [BoxOfficeMojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2022) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films). And for my original analysis of* Avatar: The Way of Water *and its financial performance, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/avatar-the-way-of-water/ "Avatar: The Way of Water").* --- ### [R](https://www.meiermovies.com/r/) **Published:** December 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with R:** Rafea: Solar Mama FL (2012; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [2013 Global Peace Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) [The Railway Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-railway-man/) (2013; 3 ¼ stars) Rainbow (a.k.a. Dhanak) FL (2015; 2 stars), part of the [2015 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [A Rainy Day in New York](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-rainy-day-in-new-york/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) [Raising Helen](http://www.meiermovies.com/raising-helen) (2004; 1 ¼ stars) Rat Film (2017; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Rat Race](https://www.meiermovies.com/rat-race/) (2001; 1 ¾ stars) RBG (2018; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [Ready Player One](http://www.meiermovies.com/ready-player-one/) (2018; 4 ½ stars) The Red Suitcase FL (2014; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [2024 South Asian Film Festival article](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") Renoir FL (2012; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [Rental Family](https://www.meiermovies.com/existential-opposites/ "Existential opposites") ½FL (2025; 4 stars) [The Report](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-report/) (2019; 3 stars) Reste un Peu (Rest a Little, a.k.a. Stay with Us) FL (2022; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2024 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [The Revenant](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-revenant/) (2015; 4 stars) [Richard Jewell](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) (2019; 3 stars) [The Rider](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-rider/) (2017; 3 stars) [The Road Home](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-road-home/) FL (1999; 4 stars) [Robot & Frank](https://www.meiermovies.com/robot-frank/) (2012; 3 ½ stars) [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2–D and 3–D versions)](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) (2016; 4 ¼ stars) [Roma](http://www.meiermovies.com/roma/) FL (2018; 4 ½ stars) [Rules Don’t Apply](http://www.meiermovies.com/rules-dont-apply/) (2016; 4 stars) --- ### [Orlando Film Festival canceled for 2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-canceled-for-2025/) **Published:** November 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Fest plans online awards and rebooted event next year [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 13, 2025 The Orlando Film Festival will not take place this year, according to executive director Dan Springen. “There won’t be a physical festival this year,” Springen says. “But there will be an awards ceremony, potentially online … and screenings next year.” The festival, the largest in Florida when judged by the number of films, was originally scheduled for the first week of November but kept pushing back its dates because it couldn’t find a venue, after the closure of its longtime home, the downtown CMX Cinemas Plaza Café 12 (formerly the Cobb Plaza). “The theater pulled the rug out from under me,” Springen says, adding that he’s been unable to locate a replacement. Until recently, however, he says he was still hopeful that the cinema would reopen or he could find another home by November or December. But with the clock ticking down on 2025 and the festival still “in a holding pattern,” he says he realized he had to make the decision to forego a physical event this year. But he does hope to show many of the accepted films at the festival in 2026, which he plans to hold once he secures a venue. What about submission fees, which filmmakers paid on the promise of a physical festival in 2025? “There’s no way the fees can go back to everybody,” Springen says, adding that the films will be shown at some time in the future. “Twenty years of holding a festival, I’m not going to let filmmakers down. The city let me down.” Springen says he plans to notify the roughly 250 accepted filmmakers of their acceptance by November 21 and honor those films with the aforementioned online awards ceremony later this year and/or by screening the films in 2026. Despite the setback, Springen says he is enthusiastic about a 2026 festival, saying he would prefer to keep it in downtown Orlando but might explore other options, such as Epic Theatres at Lee Visita, near the Orlando International Airport. As for the future of the old venue, that’s anyone’s guess. There have even been rumors that a celebrity might swoop in and buy the property, keeping some of the screens while turning the rest of the space into a different type of entertainment destination. But the space’s cinematic future currently looks bleak, especially after several screens were vandalized earlier this year, according to Springen. “\[The building owners\] haven’t sold the theater,” Springen says, though CMX, which leased the cinema, is no longer in the picture. “But we don’t know if it’s going to be a theater” in the future. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* ## November update Though the 2025 festival will not take place, notifications still went out to filmmakers via Film Freeway on November 21. The acceptance e-mails said, “Congratulations on being selected for our 20th year of the Orlando Film Festival. Our theater downtown is currently in negotiations for the next owner and is closed. We will be announcing winners before Christmas and playing them next year for OFF 2026.” As of November 22, [Film Freeway](https://filmfreeway.com/OrlandoFilmFestival) still listed the 2025 dates as December 18-21. ## December Update As of December 30, Film Freeway had finally taken down the festival dates of December 18-21 and listed the application status as “entries closed.” (The festival did not take place on those dates, or at all in 2025. And no online awards presentation has taken place yet.) In another twist, two positive reviews of the non-existent 2025 festival recently appeared: [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Orlando-Film-Festival-2025-reviews.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Orlando-Film-Festival-2025-reviews.jpg)Because there was no 2025 festival, these reviews are likely the result of either spam bots or fraudulent advertising by the festival. ## January Update On January 1, winners were announced on the [festival’s Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoFilmFest). No 2025 awards ceremony or screening has yet to be held. On January 3, in an interesting justification for accepting submission fees while not holding an event, the festival responded to an upset filmmaker by stating that submission fees were required for judging films and not for holding a physical festival: [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/OFF-comment-January-3-2026.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/OFF-comment-January-3-2026.png) --- ### [Charlie Chaplin Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/charlie-chaplin-studios/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This small studio and office complex in the heart of Hollywood was the famous Charlie Chaplin lot. Chaplin designed his studio to look like an English village. It opened in 1917 at the corner of La Brea and Sunset Boulevard. Unfortunately, it is not open to public tours. These photos were taken in 2015 when it was the Jim Henson Studios. In 2026, following the purchase of the property by John Mayer and McG, the lot was renamed the Charlie Chaplin Studios. Click photos to enlarge. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![DSC00154](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00154.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00154.jpg)[![DSC00156](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00156.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00156.jpg)[![DSC00155](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00155.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00155.jpg)[![Chaplin 1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Chaplin-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Chaplin-1.jpg)[![DSC00157](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00157.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00157.jpg)[![DSC00158](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00158.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00158.jpg) [![DSC00159](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00159.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00159.jpg) --- ### [Here](https://www.meiermovies.com/here/) **Published:** January 30, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Here AI**, 2024, 2 ¼ stars # *Here* neither here nor there [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Here.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Here.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 30, 2025 “Years go falling in the fading light. Time passages. … I know you’re in there; you’re just out of sight.” I don’t know whether Robert Zemeckis is a fan of Al Stewart’s song, but the lyrics mimic the legendary writer-producer-director’s new experimental film, *Here*. Change “passages” to “rooms,” and you have a logline for the movie, which the boundary-pushing filmmaker co-write with *Forrest Gump* collaborator Eric Roth (based upon a graphic novel by Richard McGuire). Like the song, the film is filled with fascinating ideas and the best premise of any 2024 movie. But thanks to heavy-handed dialogue, ham-fisted directing, on-the-nose messaging and overly broad acting, it’s one of the most disappointing movies of the year, and of Zemeckis’s illustrious career. *Here* is the story of a single plot of land over millions of years, from the dinosaurs to today. And, astonishingly, we, the audience, observe the story from a fixed “camera” position. The land, buildings, characters and styles change, but our observational, voyeuristic position doesn’t (except for some intercut “snapshots” that add visual variety). “Camera” is in quotes because, predictably, Zemeckis, ever the experimenter, relies heavily on CGI, meaning there was no camera at all for several scenes. He also employs some of the most realistic de-aging technology for the actors – specifically Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (in another *Gump* reunion) – ever created, though “created” is an odd word because Zemeckis apparently relied extensively on AI. Morality aside, it is a technical triumph. The film is structured in a non-linear way, jumping frenetically back and forth from the Mesozoic Era, to pre-Colonial scenes of Native Americans, to Benjamin Franklin (whose son, in one of the movie’s many contrived moments, just happened to live in a house near the film’s focal point). But the film centers not on those eras but on several vignettes of the 20th and 21st centuries. We witness the construction of the house that becomes the film’s focus, around the turn of the last century. That’s followed chronologically by a World War I-era mini-plot featuring actress Michelle Dockery (*Downton Abbey*). Don’t blink or you’ll miss an odd escapade featuring a bohemian couple from the early 1940s. That gives way to the father (Paul Bettany) and mother (Kelly Reilly) of Hanks’ character, who purchase the home just after World War II. The rest of the tale mostly involves the Hanks and Wright characters, though we do briefly meet the Black family who bought it from them, which allows Zemeckis to sandwich in racial issues, along with a COVID-19 reference, which was probably meant to book-end a Spanish Flu sub-plot from 1919. But we never spend enough meaningful moments with anyone to truly feel the emotional sweep of time, until perhaps the very end, when Zemeckis reaches deep into his bag of tricks and plucks out an overdue magical moment, punctuated by the music of another *Gump* alumnus: Alan Silvestri. Despite that fitting finale, this project is better suited to a theme park. If you cut the 104 minutes down to 30, shot the film in 3-D and projected it on a Cinerama screen, you’d have a fine time-travel-themed attraction. But as a theatrically released picture, it lacks subtlety and character development, and is ultimately reduced to a special-effects gimmick. It is time wasted. “There’s something back *here* that you left behind, oh, time passages.” *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18272208/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(2024_film)). The film is currently streaming.* --- ### [H](https://www.meiermovies.com/h/) **Published:** December 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with H:** [Hail, Caesar!](http://www.meiermovies.com/hail-caesar/) (2016; 2 stars) Hank and Asha (2013; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2014 South Asian Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [The Happy Prince](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/11/04/four-films-to-consider-this-week/) (2018; 2 stars) [A Hard Day’s Night](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-hard-days-night/) (1964; 4 ½ stars) [Harlan County U.S.A.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) (1976; 5 stars) [Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle](http://www.meiermovies.com/harold-kumar-go-to-white-castle) (2004; ¾ stars) [Hatching](https://www.meiermovies.com/hatching/ "Hatching") FL (2022; 2 ½ stars) [The Hateful Eight](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-hateful-eight/) (2015; 2 stars) Hava Nagila (The Movie) (2013; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel (2018; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [Hearts Beat Loud](http://www.meiermovies.com/hearts-beat-loud/) (2018; 2 stars) [Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer](http://www.meiermovies.com/henry/) (1986; 2 ¾ stars) [Here](https://www.meiermovies.com/here/ "Here") AI (2024; 2 ¼ stars) [Hereditary](http://www.meiermovies.com/hereditary/) (2018; 4 ¼ stars) [The Hero](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-hero/) (2017; 3 ¾ stars) [Hidden Figures](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/31/hidden-truths/) (2016; 1 ¾ stars) [A Hidden Life](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) (2019; 1 ¾ stars) [High Life](http://www.meiermovies.com/high-life/) (2018; 1 star) [Hitchcock](https://www.meiermovies.com/hitchcock/) (2012; 3 stars) [The Holdovers](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-holdovers/ "The Holdovers") (2023; 4 ¼ stars) [The Hollars](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-hollars/) (2016; 1 ¾ stars) [The Homesman](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-homesman/) (2014; 3 stars) Hooligan Sparrow (2016; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Hoovey](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) (2015; ¾ star) Hummus Full Trailer FL (2022; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) Hunky Dory (2016; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [The Hunt](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/ "Short takes on three recent films") (2020; 1 ¾ stars) Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016; 1 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [The Hurricane](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-hurricane/) (1999; 4 stars) [Hyde Park on Hudson](https://www.meiermovies.com/hyde-park-on-hudson/) (2012; 3 ¼ stars) --- ### [Rob Reiner’s generation](https://www.meiermovies.com/rob-reiners-generation/) **Published:** December 15, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Rob Reiner](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Rob-Reiner.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Rob-Reiner.jpg)Image copyright IMDB Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 15, 2025 Rob Reiner, who died tragically and violently alongside his wife, Michele, yesterday in Los Angeles, never won an Oscar. He never makes lists of best directors or actors. But, like a barfly at Cheers, every American moviegoer knew his name, and his films. *When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, Misery, Stand by Me*. None of these films is a critical masterpiece. None won the Oscar for best movie or broke box-office records at the time of release. But each has a special place in the hearts of the cinema-going public. Reiner was The People’s Director. This is what makes the attacks from the President of the United States particularly egregious. Trump wrote, “A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!” Pressed to apologize or retract or even simply explain his unexplainable post, Trump doubled down: “I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.” I can’t think of a better retort than that of Christian conservative theologian Russell Moore, who, ironically, is seemingly aligned with Trump politically: “How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized in the United States is something our descendants will study in school, to the shame of our generation.” In the decades to come, let’s hope the films of Rob Reiner help define this generation, instead of the moral horror show that is Donald Trump. And when comparing Rob and Donald, it’s crystal clear that the latter is the meathead. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ho ho horrible](https://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) **Published:** December 17, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## The four worst Christmas films ever [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Santa-and-the-Ice-Cream-Bunny.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Santa-and-the-Ice-Cream-Bunny.jpg)*Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny* (image copyright R&S Film Enterprises) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 17, 2017 “I got depressed seeing all the crap. And the thing is, they’re making more crap. … Crap and more crap and more crap. … I don’t even want to talk about it.” With respect to Palm Apodaca from *Five Easy Pieces*, I *do* want to talk about crap. Specifically, I want to discuss the crappiest Christmas films of all time. Actually, I’d rather talk about sublime, beautiful, profound films such as *Dunkirk* and *Loving Vincent*, or debate the merits (and messages) of recent movies like *The Square*, *Marjorie Prime* and *God’s Own Country*. But those types of articles don’t get hits. What get hits are articles about crap. So I’ll indulge you with four crap fests. Why only four? Go fuck yourself – that’s why. In fourth place is a film from 1964, the year that gave us the Beatles’ invasion of America. It also gave us an invasion of North Pole crap in the form of ***Santa Claus Conquers the Martians***. Seemingly shot on 4 mm film and written on toilet paper while Santa was taking a dump, this Z-movie is beyond my ability to explain. We may never fully understand what director Nicholas Webster was thinking. Let’s just say the film is worse than its title. In third place is a non-movie. An exercise in idiocy. While the other three entries on this mini-list represent a simple failing of the craft of filmmaking, Kirk Cameron’s ***Saving Christmas***, from 2014, is a delusional essay from a religious lunatic. Between mugging to the camera and staging the oddest hip-hop dance number in the history of cinema, producer Cameron and director Darren Doane explain that it’s OK to embrace commercialism because Jesus would have approved. Indeed, all those symbols you assumed were secular and pagan? Nope. They are Christian. (If you’ve been really naughty, you might just get this DVD as a stocking stuffer.) Second place goes to a truly weird creation: ***Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny*** (1972). Not content to present just one bad film, director R. Winer shot half a terrible movie and then inserted another one: *Thumbelina* (a children’s fantasy/musical directed by Barry Mahon in 1970 and starring Shay Garner). Winer’s framing device features little more than a bad actor in a stained Santa suit stranded in a sleigh on a Florida beach, “telling” children the story of Thumbelina. The film was partially shot at the now-defunct Pirates World amusement park (in Dania, Florida), and the historic footage might hold some interest for my fellow Sunshine Staters, but it’s ruined by ear-grating musical numbers, incomprehensibly bad cinematography and the inexplicable inclusion of a pig, a sheep, a horse and a man in a gorilla suit – all trying to free Santa’s sleigh from the sand so he can get back to his workshop and deliver his presents. Oh, and then there’s the Ice Cream Bunny himself. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) Do yourself a favor: Skip the “movie” and instead watch some of the Rifftrax version on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhXEVAuwXsI). > ***It’ll make you want to tear your beans off.*** Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the sleigh, here comes the worst Christmas film of all time, and it’s the SAME film as #2 – just with an even worse film inserted into it! To create an alternate version, Winer removed *Thumbelina* and inserted another one of Mahon’s little gems, *Jack and the Beanstalk*, also shot in 1970. And if you thought *Thumbelina* was a thumbs-down, you don’t know *Jack*. It’ll make you want to tear your beans off. If, like Palm Apodaca, you’ve now exceeded your tolerance of crap, my apologies. Let me suggest a palate cleanser in the form of the *best* Christmas movie of all time: Frank Capra’s *It’s a Wonderful Life*, from 1946. And remember: “Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Live yours wisely. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Existential opposites](https://www.meiermovies.com/existential-opposites/) **Published:** November 29, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A life of nothing and a life of everything [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Train-Dreams.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Train-Dreams.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 29, 2025 *Spoiler alert: This article includes extensive plot details, so you might wish to watch the films first.* I wrote [an article](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-gump/) last year comparing *Forrest Gump* and *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*. Though the movies share similar stories and Eric Roth penned both screenplays, they are essentially opposites: Forrest is an unremarkable man leading a remarkable life while Benjamin is a remarkable man leading an unremarkable life. Director Clint Bentley’s *Train Dreams* (3 ½ stars) and director Mike Flanagan’s *The Life of Chuck* (4 stars), both released this year, have a similarly odd relationship. Based on novellas, each film recounts almost the entire life of its subject – childhood, career, marriage, children, search for meaning – partially through voiceover narration. But that’s where the similarities end, as Robert from *Train Dreams* seemingly lives a life of nothing while Chuck lives a life of almost everything. During his early years in the Pacific Northwest during the first half of the 20th century, Robert (Joel Edgerton, in perhaps his best performance) lives an unfulfilled and empty life, until he meets his wife (Felicity Jones), with whom he has a daughter. But after they are both killed in a devastating forest fire, Robert is adrift and alone, haunted by their deaths and his disturbing experiences as a railway worker. Though he manages to find some perspective or meaning in the meaningless toward the end of the film, *Train Dreams* is that rare movie exploring a person whose life never amounts to much. No big dreams. No major accomplishments. Just existence. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Life-of-Chuck.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Life-of-Chuck.jpeg)In contrast, Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) is the entire world, literally. As he lies dying in the hospital from a brain tumor, all the other characters in the first part of the film – in a fantastical premise – face the end of their world. Chuck’s brain, as Walt Whitman wrote, “contains multitudes,” meaning Chuck has populated his death-bed dream with people he has met throughout his life and given them stories that mean something to him. So when he dies, they die. “We know that a dream can be real, but whoever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings? Or are we simply parts of someone’s feverish, complicated nightmare?” That epilogue from “Shadow Play,” an episode of *The Twilight Zone* from 1961, likely served as an inspiration for *The Life of Chuck*, or perhaps the Stephen King novella on which it is based. In that *TW* story, Dennis Weaver plays a death-row inmate about to be electrocuted – in his own nightmare. And, like Chuck, he populates his dream world with real people from his life. So when the lever on the electric chair is pulled, the universe ends. Both films do a wonderful job exploring identity, so maybe they aren’t polar opposites after all. Instead, perhaps they are just different sides of the same coin, as both have a lot to say about the roles we play, or think we play. But there is still another film from this year that adds even more to that conversation, and it’s an arguably the best of all three. *[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Rental-Family.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Rental-Family.jpg)Rental Family* (4 stars) begins as a deceptively simple, sweet and funny story of an American, Phillip (Brendan Fraser), living in Tokyo, who takes a job with a company that places actors in real situations. Need a friend to play video games with you? Need a woman to stand in as your mistress and apologize to your wife for the infidelity? Need a temporary father for your child? Rental Family to the rescue. But as the story progresses, it slowly opens doors you didn’t think it had, exposing lives unled, or unfulfilled, or just plain fake. It has the courage to ask – in an otherwise lighthearted film – what it means to interact with fellow humans and how the roles we play in life shape our reality and pseudo-reality. Writer-director Hikari’s *Rental Family* may not be as good as Fraser’s 2022 triumph, *The Whale*, but it offers a whale of an existential commentary. In *Rental Family*’s final scene, Phillip visits the shrine that one of his “family members” frequented, looking for the same answers that his make-believe friend found at the end of his life. But there are no easy answers. No gods. Just a mirror. The answers that Phillip, and Robert, and Chuck, and we seek lie within ourselves. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Testament of Ann Lee](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee/) **Published:** November 20, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Testament of Ann Lee**, 2025, [1 ¾ stars](https://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) # Shaker but not stirred ## *Ann* is an original but ill-conceived misfire [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Testament-of-Ann-Lee.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Testament-of-Ann-Lee.jpg)Image is copyright Searchlight Pictures. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 20, 2025 They say every movie eventually finds its audience. Good luck, *Ann Lee*. The third feature film by Norwegian director Mona Fastvold, *The Testament of Ann Lee* is a gritty, religious-themed drama set in the 18th century, featuring difficult child births (and deaths), sexual assaults, explicit nudity, adultery and torture. And it’s a musical. But at least it will appeal to the people who still worship Shakerism – both of them. This is the story of “Mother” Ann Lee, from her childhood in 1740s Manchester, England, to her imprisonment for promoting the new “Shaking” sect of the Quaker religion, to her spiritual awakening, to her voyage to New York, to her founding American Shakerism, to her death. That’s a lot of ground to cover, both geographically and plot-wise. Throw in singing and dancing, and you have one of the most ambitious films of the year, a love-it-or-hate-it experience. Regrettably, I lean toward the latter. Though the film might become a career-defining moment for Amanda Seyfried, who plays Ann with passionate abandon, the rest of the movie is fraught – and downright difficult to sit through, thanks to its active camera, tonal mismatch and the aforementioned juxtaposition of brutalities and musical numbers, many of which aren’t true songs at all. Instead, composer Daniel Blumberg fashioned them from Shaker hymns, while also writing three originals. Admittedly, this lends the movie an authenticity that would be missing if the filmmakers had opted for a Rodgers and Hammerstein approach. But the melodies, which are almost entirely absent, and the lyrics, which are annoyingly repetitive, make the musical interludes oddly pretentious. (How many times can you hear “I hunger and thirst” in a single song before covering your ears?) Brutal topics have occasionally been the subjects of musicals – as in the greatest stage musical of all time, *Les Miserables* – but they are an odd fit with *Testament*. Most of the fault seems to lie in the writing, which is shocking considering Fastvold wrote the screenplay with her partner, Brady Corbet. They are the team behind last year’s best film, *The Brutalist*. Considering the brilliance of that project, they deserve a pass here – plus congratulations for swinging for the creative fences, though, in this critic’s opinion, they struck out, robbing the emotional powerhouse of its dramatic impact. Dialect work is mostly passable and not too distracting, which is just as important as accuracy. Actors attempt a Manchester sound. (And do I detect hints of [Original Pronunciation (OP)](https://www.paulmeier.com/shakespeare/) of Early Modern English?) But, of course, the Manchester dialect was different in the 1700s than it is today. In addition, the American characters, while speaking period dialogue, sport accents that are fairly modern. That’s always the easiest cinematic choice in order to draw easy distinction between Britons and Americans, but it’s not authentic. Historically, the film makes the odd choice of hardly mentioning the American Revolution for the first couple of years in which Ann was living in and near New York City. As Ken Burns’ new documentary series reminds us, New York was ground zero for the war, especially in the late 1770s. Politics play an important role later in the film, but that only makes their earlier near-absence stranger. At least the costumes and art direction, the latter relying on real Shaker locations, are spot-on. Plus, the film draws interesting parallels between the birth of a nation and the birth of a religion while hinting at the hypocrisy of the “all men are created equal” mantra when women are not included. *Testament* so entirely belongs to Seyfried that other actors are barely noticeable. Thomasin McKenzie (*Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho*) is memorable as Ann’s confidante and the film’s narrator while Christopher Abbot (*James White*), as Ann’s husband, does fine work and is one of the few characters who calls out the absurdity of the Shaker precept of no sex. Lacking the ability to procreate, Shakers slowly dwindled to almost no one in the 19th century. One wishes the film had focused more on the oddities of the religion instead of portraying almost everyone who opposed Ann as an intolerant enemy. After all, though Ann was a pioneer for women’s rights, her visions and many of her actions were not the result of her being the “second coming” of Jesus but instead a product of her mental illness. Like Shakerism, *Testament* is unique, ill-conceived and unpleasant. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34819091/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Testament_of_Ann_Lee). The film has had an extensive festival run and will open in American cinemas on December 25, 2025. It is rated R and runs 2 hours and 10 minutes.* --- ### [J](https://www.meiermovies.com/j/) **Published:** December 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with J:** [Jack Has a Plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/jack-has-a-plan/ "Jack Has a Plan") (2022; 3 ½ stars) [Jackie](http://www.meiermovies.com/jackie/) (2016; 4 ½ stars) [Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/jay-and-silent-bob-strike-back/) (2001; ½ star) [Jay Kelly](https://www.meiermovies.com/jay-kelly/ "Jay Kelly") (2025; 4 stars) The Jazz Loft, According to W. Eugene Smith (2016; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) [Jeepers Creepers](https://www.meiermovies.com/jeepers-creepers/) (2001; 1 ¼ stars) [John Lewis: Good Trouble](http://www.meiermovies.com/john-lewis-good-trouble/) (2020; 3 ¼ stars) [Jojo Rabbit](http://www.meiermovies.com/jojo-rabbit/) (2019; 4 stars) [Joker](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) (2019; 4 ½ stars) [Joker: Folie à Deux](https://www.meiermovies.com/joker-folie-a-deux/ "Joker: Folie à Deux") (2024; 3 ¼ stars) [The Judge](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-judge/) (2014; 3 stars) Judy (2019; 2 ¾ stars) — part of [fall 2019 movie preview](http://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) [Judy & Punch](http://www.meiermovies.com/judy-punch/) (2019; 3 stars) [Juliet, Naked](http://www.meiermovies.com/juliet-naked/) (2018; 2 ¾ stars) June Zero FL (2022; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) [The Jungle Book (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/09/the-two-best-films-of-2016-so-far/) (2016; 4 stars) [Juniper](https://www.meiermovies.com/juniper/ "Juniper") (2021; 3 stars) [Jurassic World (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/jurassic-world/) (2015; 3 ½ stars) [Just Mercy](http://www.meiermovies.com/just-mercy/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) [The Justice of Bunny King](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-justice-of-bunny-king/ "The Justice of Bunny King") (2021; 4 stars) --- ### [Fall into film fests](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/) **Published:** August 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando to host multiple movie events Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 23, 2025 If you live in or near the City Beautiful, get ready to fest! Orlando’s late-summer and fall calendar is packed, as usual, with film festivals. Kicking things off is the Orlando Urban Film Festival, which runs August 27-29 at Regal Cinemas Pointe Orlando on International Drive. For more information about the event, which runs August 27-29, visit [OrlandoUFF.com](https://orlandouff.com/). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Love-Your-Shorts-Summer-Rewind-2025.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Love-Your-Shorts-Summer-Rewind-2025.png)Overlapping the Urban Festival is Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival Summer Rewind, a one-night showcase of some of the best flicks from the main February event. Scheduled for August 29, at the historic Ritz Theatre, this year’s Rewind will screen *I’m Not a Robot*, which won the 2025 festival and went on to capture the Oscar the following month for live-action short. It will be joined by *Birdy Man, Vance and the Afterlife, Contracting the Cooties, Edson’s Gravy, Les Betes, Gopher Games, The Mooning, Stressy Squishy* and *Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob.* Go to [LoveYourShorts.com](https://loveyourshorts.com/) for more information. If you’re a local filmmaker, you’re likely to miss both those events on Friday, as August 29 is also the kick-off for the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project (at F.I.R.S.T. Institute). Held in more than 120 cities around the world, the timed filmmaking competition challenges participants to write, shoot and edit a short film in just two days. The Orlando films will screen on September 13 at Fashion Square Mall’s Premiere Cinemas on Colonial Drive. And with more than 30 entries, this year’s screening will be one of Orlando’s biggest ever. Visit [48HourFilm.com](https://www.48hourfilm.com/orlando) for details. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Barbara.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Barbara.jpg)Barbara Kopple will screen *Harlan County, USA* at the Global Peace Film Festival. (Photo by Cameron Meier) Scheduled for September 16-21 at various locations in Orlando, Winter Park and Maitland is the Global Peace Film Festival. [Go here](https://peacefilmfestival.eventive.org/films) to see the schedule, but you should probably get a ticket for now for the September 19 showing of arguably the best documentary of all time, *Harlan County, USA*, with director Barbara Kopple in attendance, at Rollins College’s Bush Auditorium. (I discussed the 1976 Oscar-winning film with Kopple during her appearance at the 2016 Sarasota Film Festival. [Revisit my interview here.](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/)) Orlando’s longest festival is also the only one that’s entirely free to attend. It’s the University of Central Florida’s Latin American / Latinx Film Festival, to be held at various locations September 27 – October 19. Check [Sciences.UCF.edu](https://sciences.ucf.edu/politics/latin-american-latinx-film-festival/) for specifics. Up next is Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival, one of the art cinema’s mini-fests. Set for October 4-6, the event will screen five features. Visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/) for details. On that same Saturday (October 4) is the Organization of Independent Filmmakers’ Reel Film Challenge, at AMC Altamonte Springs. Like all OIF’s challenges, this one offers local filmmakers a chance to showcase their talents, this time with films fitting the horror, comedy or one-take genres. Go to [OIFStudio.com](https://oifstudio.com/2025-reel-challenge/) for details. The following weekend (October 12) will see another champion of local, low-budget filmmakers: Enzian’s Central Florida Film Slam. Held several times each year, the Slam usually screens several short films over about one hour, followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers. Visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/film/filmslam/) for info. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Orlando-Film-Festival.png)The biggest film event in Florida – one of the biggest in the nation, too, when judged by the number of films (more than 300) – is the Orlando Film Festival. Scheduled for \*October 31 – November 7, the fest is still looking for a home, as its longtime venue, the CMX Plaza Cinema Café (Orlando’s only downtown movie theater) closed unexpectedly earlier this year. Unless festival organizers can convince it to temporarily reopen, expect to attend the event at a new location this year. Stay tuned to [OFFVirtual.com](https://www.offvirtual.com/) for updates. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)Also set for Halloween weekend is the Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival. Part of the larger Spooky Empire convention at the Hyatt Regency on International Drive, the film fest will screen roughly 110 horror, thriller, suspense and horror-comedy movies (almost all shorts) October 31 – November 2. (The fest received more than 300 submissions this year, the most ever.) If you attend, don’t forget to visit the celebrity guests. (This “Poseyphile” can’t wait to finally meet Parker.) Visit [SpookyEmpire.com](https://spookyempire.com/) for more information. Another Enzian event, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, is also scheduled for Halloween weekend (November 1-3 specifically). (Talk about a busy few days! Contact your doppelgangers now.) The most popular of Enzian’s mini-fests, the event celebrates Jewish culture, film and food. Expect five feature films and probably at least one short. Visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) to learn more. Lastly, Enzian Theater offers up its Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. Going strong for 33 years, the mini-fest, scheduled for November 22, usually offers about 30 short films curated mostly from film schools around Florida. Stay tuned to [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/brouhaha-film-and-video-showcase/) for details closer to the event. Of course, the film world outside Orlando gets all festivaly in the late summer and fall too, with the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival/ "Telluride Film Festival") leading the charge. But if you can’t attend those cinematic behemoths, there’s still plenty to keep you occupied among the aforementioned Orlando events. Those local fests might not carry the quality and prestige of Venice’s Golden Lion, but they can still roar. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For all my past festival coverage, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-festivals/ "Film Festivals").* *\*Update: The 2025 Orlando Film Festival has been canceled. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-canceled-for-2025/ "Orlando Film Festival canceled for 2025") for details.* *Disclosure: Paul Meier Dialect Services and the International Dialects of English Archive, for which I work, are sponsors of the Love Your Shorts Film Festival and the 48 Hour Film Project. I also am involved organizationally with the 48 Hour Film Project, but not the Orlando event specifically.* --- ### [Die My Love](https://www.meiermovies.com/die-my-love/) **Published:** November 9, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Die My Love**, 2025, 1 ½ stars # Postpartum pretension ## *Die My Love* is a stream-of-consciousness cacophony [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Die-My-Love.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Die-My-Love.jpg)Jennifer Lawrence stars as Grace in writer-director Lynne Ramsay’s *Die My Love*, alongside Robert Pattinson as Jackson. Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte appear in supporting roles in the dark dramedy based on the 2012 novel by Ariana Harwicz. (Image is copyright MUBI.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 9, 2025 A baby. Growing inside me. But I fear I’ll be the mother who buys the cheap birthday cake I should have baked from scratch with the love that isn’t there. The mother who loathes the fellow mother conversations, and the parent parties, and the family conversations, pretentions, absurdisms. Flash back to when my husband and I moved here, from the Big Apple to the Big Sky, into this leaf-strewn, life-hewn house in the country. The house in which hubby’s uncle blew his brains out, via his asshole. Is that anatomically possible? Will that be my fate? Not the asshole bit, but the underlying insanity that stalks this house and myself. And what of those in-law chinwags? The forced platitudes and the “will it be a boy or a girl?” predictabilities and the unbearable niceties. I prefer the random observations from the demented father-in-law who lives in the past because his life has passed. Am I crazy like him, or will I be? He’s dead now. I’m back in the present, battling the postpartums and flaming forest while spewing snark and vitriol to my well-meaning friends and acquaintances. And even to my hubby. He’ll have me committed soon. I would too. Then take my mother-in-law. Take her before she midnight-sleepwalks herself into oblivion, dragging her dead husband’s shotgun down a dirt road to nowhere. At least she feigns support for me when others stiff-stare in confusion and pity. Flash forward again to our wedding, conceived in naked, soft tangles on the hardwood floors and slinky stalkings in the waist-high, backyard grass, like cats. (Cats are so much better than dogs, especially that barking bitch whose brains I blew out.) Those stalkings were the only time I felt free, and loved, and in love – then, and during those blissful drives in the car, listening to Cream screeches, loved and hated, alternately, along with Jackson. Yes, I love Jackson. And he loves me, despite my rage, despite my Bedlam, despite my lack of Grace. Grace. That’s who I am, and what I lack. But life goes on. For me, for Jackson and for our baby boy. Because it must. Or maybe not. I don’t know. I guess it goes on regardless. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9362736/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_My_Love). The film is currently in cinemas.* --- ### [Nuremberg](https://www.meiermovies.com/nuremberg/) **Published:** November 6, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nuremberg**, 2025, 3 ½ stars # Trial and tribulations ## *Nuremberg* examines Göring prosecution [![Nuremberg](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nuremberg.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nuremberg.jpg)Rami Malek, left, and Russell Crowe star in *Nuremberg*. (Image is copyright Sony Pictures Classics.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies,* November 6, 2025 With deference to Jesus Christ, the “greatest story ever told” is really the tale of how humans have treated fellow humans throughout history, especially during war. And the most impactful of those tales is likely that of the Nazis. Because they are so important, you’d think all Nazi stories had already been told. But there is at least one that, until now, had not been brought to the screen. It is the relationship between Hermann Göring and his American psychiatrist prior to the Nazi’s Nuremberg trial in 1946. Based on the 2013 book *The Nazi and the Psychiatrist* by Jack El-Hai, *Nuremberg* follows Göring from the fall of Germany in 1945 until his scheduled execution following his trial at Nuremberg in 1946. But the central character in writer-director James Vanderbilt’s film is really psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who, despite his having fought in World War II, seems to treat Göring as just another patient when they first meet. Indeed, he seems impressed by his intellect and is hesitant to violate doctor-patient confidentiality. It’s only after the weight of the Nazi atrocities come to light in the trial that Kelley fully realizes the horror who sits before him, in the form of 53-year-old fat sociopath. “If we could psychologically define evil, we could make sure something like this never happens again,” Kelley conjectures. He even contemplates writing a book about Göring. But his first task is to make sure the Nazi second-in-command is mentally fit for trial, and the film spends a lot of time on that, before going deeper into related people and events, including the trial itself, which, predictably, is the narrative’s most riveting part. I have not read El-Hai’s book and am not a Göring scholar, but I suspect the film took liberties in presenting an almost bi-polar Kelley, with the first version treating his patient objectively and the second working as hard as possible to punish a monster in human form. It might not be entirely believable, but it makes for good cinema. It also affords the filmmakers a chance to present horrendous, real footage of the Nazi death camps while reminding us that the people who committed the Shoah were not aliens or mutants. They were just like us. And fascism never dies. It only sleeps. *Nuremberg* is just the second directorial effort from Vanderbilt, following *Truth* in 2015, starring Robert Redford. He’s better known as a producer and writer, and he penned the screenplay for *Nuremberg*, in addition to co-producing it. As with *Truth*, his writing and direction are competent but a bit too “by the book,” lacking stylistic punch and surprise. The characters’ conversations, at least in the first half, are also a bit pedestrian. In addition, the film is initially flawed tonally, embracing an almost odd, light-hearted touch, before dropping the emotional hammer during the trial sequences. The contrasting styles serve a purpose but might not have been the best choice. Further holding the film back from greatness is a performance from Rami Malek that is just acceptable. (I kept imagining Alden Ehrenreich in the role, perhaps because I had just seen his fine work in *Weapons*.) Malek has memorable moments, but he’s outclassed by Russell Crowe, who, as Göring, does his best work in years. Concerning dialects, an actor’s most difficult job is to master the native sound of a language other than his own. Tasked with speaking a lot of German, Crowe does his best, but a native German would not be fooled. When speaking English with a German accent, however, Crowe is highly effective. (Göring did speak English, but not as well as in the film.) The supporting cast is led by Michael Shannon as Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, who was the lead prosecutor of Göring and the other Nazis being tried with him. Cast slightly against type, Shannon is as compelling as always and makes one wish for a script that focused more on his character. Richard Grant also does fine work as David Maxwell Fyfe, an assistant prosector. Grant’s prosecutorial examination of Göring is the film’s highlight and is the only time the movie rises to the level of the superior *Judgment at Nuremberg*, from 1961. That film focused on a different event (the Judges Trial of 1947), and though it was largely fictional, it was simply a much better movie than Vanderbilt’s, with an Oscar-winning performance from Maximilian Schell and an Oscar-nominated one from Montgomery Clift, despite the latter appearing in just one scene. Despite its predictability and lack of nuance, *Nuremberg* is an essential watch for these times, or any time. It’s not necessarily one of the best films of 2025, but it is one of the most important. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29567915/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_(2025_film)). The film opens in cinemas on November 7.* --- ### [Frankenstein](https://www.meiermovies.com/frankenstein/) **Published:** November 5, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Frankenstein**, 2025, 2 ¼ stars # Creature discomforts ## *Frankenstein* is a flawed, violent creation [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Frankenstein2025.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Frankenstein2025.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 5, 2025 Let me be frank: Guillermo del Toro has a problem. Whether creating fantasy, horror, drama or comedy, del Toro seems to have a fetish for graphic violence, anatomical brutality and body horror, both when it’s warranted and when it’s not in the least. With his new, somewhat faithful retelling of Mary Shelley’s *Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus*, you would think del Toro’s penchant for body horror would serve him well. And you would be somewhat right. Indeed, on first glance, this seems like the story the writer-director was born to film, especially when he dives, head over heels (and other body parts), into the graphic depiction of the monster’s creation by depicting a sea of cadavers. But the gore continues, distractingly, into what should be the calmer, more serene, increasingly intimate parts of the story, as both Victor Frankenstein and the creature come to terms with who they are. Those sections of the narrative are also laced with savagery, including (simulated) violence toward animals. Speaking of simulated, the film relies too much on CGI, which lends it a slightly plastic look. The production design is impressive, but it too often feels like one is viewing the film through a sheet of glass, not able to relate to it on a tactile level. Even things that could have been handled practically, like stunts, are mostly rendered, or tweaked, by computer. At least the performances are real, and quite good. Oscar Isaac is compelling as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, and Mia Goth, Lars Mikkelsen and Christoph Waltz lend competent support. But it’s Jacob Elordi (*Priscilla, Saltburn*) as the creature who is most memorable. Ironically, he seems the most human of all the film’s elements, especially when he laments, “I understood that I was nothing.” If only del Toro could have forgone the visual excesses and mined the story’s emotional riches. Some of those riches can be found in the novel’s existential poetry, such as when Victor, after chasing his creation to the top of the world, observes, “Having reached the end of the earth, there was no horizon left.” But those moments are drowned by the director’s over-the-top inclinations, not to mention the fact that he blows his visual wad at the beginning by revealing an almost supernatural creature in the first scene, robbing the film of anticipatory dread and any sense of realism. To his credit, del Toro stays true to some aspects of Shelley’s novel that other film versions abandoned. For instance, most previous movies gave the story an exclusively Germanic, or Bavarian, setting. And to simplify matters, they were filmed in English, though it was clear the characters were speaking German. That works well cinematically, but it’s not quite what the author intended. Instead, the novel is set in many locations throughout Europe and the frozen wastelands of the “farthermost North.” Victor was actually born in Naples and had Swiss/French influences, though he did attend school in Bavaria. Del Toro tries to capture a bit of all of those geographic and cultural influences, but the finished product is confusing, as one is often not sure of the settings, or the languages the characters are speaking. (Despite a smattering of French and Danish, all actors speak English, mostly with English dialects.) If you adore del Toro’s sensibilities, this film is undoubtedly a treat. But for the casual fan of the Mexican director, the movie – much like Victor’s creation – is wondrous but fatally flawed: a big, beautiful, bloody, violent mess. Del Toro has addressed his embrace of violence, most recently in a [CBS interview](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guillermo-del-toro-on-frankenstein-and-remaking-a-monster/) in which he admitted his new film’s graphic depictions can be excessive. “Sorry about breakfast!” he told interviewer Seth Doane. In addition, he has also discussed his obsession with the human face and how its manipulation, or mutilation, can affect the viewer. This suggests del Toro, a master craftsman, is entirely aware of the power of his aesthetic. That’s not in doubt. What I question is his judgment. Violence has an important place in art, but knowing when and where to use it is critical. And pointing that out shouldn’t result in the critic being labeled a prude, or a square, or an ultra-conservative, or, worse still, a fan of censorship. How does del Toro’s movie compare to other *Frankenstein* films? Though not remotely close to being exhaustive, the following list might hold interest for you Frankenphiles. It also shows that, despite its flaws, del Toro’s version actually fares well compared to the previous schlock, especially 1965’s *Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster*. In that 0-star film by director Robert Gaffney, we see the “spacemonster” for only a few minutes and, even more astonishingly, there is no actual Frankenstein’s monster, just a guy named Frank. 1. *Frankenstein* (4 ¾ stars, 1931, directed by James Whale) 2. *Young Frankenstein* (4 ¾ stars, 1974, directed by Mel Brooks) 3. *The Bride of Frankenstein* (3 stars, 1935, directed by James Whale) 4. *The Strange Life of Dr. Frankenstein* TV/Web/NT (3 stars, 2018, directed by Jean Froment) 5. *Son of Frankenstein* (2 ¾ stars, 1939, directed by Rowland V. Lee) 6. *Frankenstein* (2 ¼ stars, 2025, directed by Guillermo del Toro) 7. *Frankenstein* Sl (2 stars, 1910, directed by J. Searle Dawley and produced by Thomas Edison) — short film 8. *Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein* (1 ¾ stars, 1994, directed by Kenneth Branagh) 9. *Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed* (1 ¾ stars, 1969, directed by Terence Fisher) 10. *Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein* (1 ¾ stars, 1948, directed by Charles Barton) 11. *The Ghost of Frankenstein* (1 ½ stars, 1942, directed by Erle C. Kenton) 12. *Frankenstein 1970* (¾ star, 1958, directed by Howard Koch) 13. *Frankenstein vs. Baragon* (a.k.a. *Frankenstein Conquers the World*) FL (½ star, 1965, directed by Ishiro Honda) 14. *Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster* (0 stars, 1965, directed by Robert Gaffney) And let’s not forget Tim Burton’s *Frankenweenie* (4 ¼ stars, 2012) and Frank Henenlotter’s *Frankenhooker* (1 ¾ stars, 1990). *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1312221/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(2025_film)). The film is currently in cinemas and starts streaming on Netflix on November 7.* --- ### [Reel Spooky](https://www.meiermovies.com/reel-spooky/) **Published:** October 31, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival continues to grow [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 31, 2025 In its 19th year, Orlando’s Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival continues to expand, with a record number of submissions (nearly 400) and a slate of 121 accepted films (four features and the rest shorts). An extension of the larger Spooky Empire horror convention, now in its 22nd year, the event will be held October 31 – November 2 at the Hyatt Regency on International Drive. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)The fest will feature horror, thriller, suspense, mystery, scary sci-fi and horror-comedy movies, and even spooky documentaries, and almost all the shorts will screen at least twice, offering the roughly 15,000 expected Spooky guests ample time to viddy. With many shorts blocks, plus filmmaker meet-ups, trivia and other events, in three ballrooms in the Hyatt’s convention center, it is difficult to plan your schedule. If you can pick just one thing to see, however, make it the “RIP Best of the Fest,” on Sunday at 2 p.m., in plaza ballroom F. That screening will contain some of the festival’s best shorts, as selected by the screening committee. Then stick around to discover the judges’ picks at the awards ceremony at 4 p.m. This is the fourth year that the film festival has been hosted by And You Films, and it takes a crew of 30 to bring the event together. But the heart of the team is the husband-wife duo of Brendan Rogers and Aléa Figueroa, who serve as creative director and festival director, respectively. And true to the spirit of the festival, they began their festival association as participating filmmakers. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-3-scaled.jpg)Click or tap photos to enlarge. All images are copyright MeierMovies, LLC. “Ever since 2014, when we had *Bubba the Redneck Werewolf* premiere here, there’s been a special place in our heart for Spooky Empire. After that, every year, we would submit a lot of our parody films, anything that was even remotely horror-bent,” Rogers says. “It was so much fun. The Spooky crowd is so awesome. Horror audiences, I think, are uniquely forgiving of independent-film shortcomings. You’re playing for the perfect audience. It’s a bubble of Spooky horror love all weekend. The fact that it’s a film festival attached to this amazing convention makes it a really unique venue.” When the previous festival director stepped down after the 2021 fest, he offered the job to Rogers and Figueroa. “To continue the celebration of horror cinema and to bring what we learned at other festivals and apply it here, making it a unique experience for our film-festival entries, is awesome,” Rogers says. “We love it.” So what have been the biggest takeaways for Rogers and Figueroa during their four years running the film festival? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-1-scaled.jpg)“It is so important to be around other creatives, … whether it’s a film festival, whether you’re creating a film, whether you are in a play, whatever the art may be that you’re working on, that you’re creating, it’s so important to surround yourself with creatives,” Figueroa says. “Running the film festival for four years now, I think that’s what filmmakers really gravitate toward.” For more information on the film festival, visit [AndYouFilms.com](https://andyoufilms.com/spooky-empire-film-fest). For the film festival’s schedule, go [here](https://spookyempireoct2025.sched.com/overview/type/Film+Festival). And for general Spooky Empire news, including info about tickets and celebrity guests, go [here](https://spookyempire.com/). *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Festival blog **Friday, October 31** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spooky-Empire-2025-2-scaled.jpg)The festival opened with a medium-sized crowd, typical for the first day. The beautiful weather likely lured a lot of potential attendees away from an indoor convention and outside to trick-or-treat in the evening. Attendance at the film festival was somewhat light but enthusiastic. I screened the Occult block at 1:30 p.m. and the Psychological Horror block at 3 p.m. The highlight of the former group, at least for this critic, was *The Last Word*, which built nicely from subtle creepiness to full-blown surrealism. The second block was stronger, with *Vowels*, *L’Autre Moi (The Other Me)*, *Canvas*, *The:Night:Watcher* and *Mary’s Mixtape* all deserving praise. (A word of parking advice: Choose the easier, cheaper Pointe Orlando parking instead of the overpriced Hyatt garage. It’s a short walk from the Pointe to the Hyatt.) **Saturday, November 1** As usual, the second day of Spooky was much busier, with large crowds filling the vendor and guest rooms, the tattoo festival and the panel discussions. The film festival was also well attended. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nicholas-Hoult.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Nicholas-Hoult.jpg)Nicholas Hoult My day started with the Arthouse Horror block at 11 a.m. From that group, let me commend *Bene Culturale*, especially its art direction, from director Dominik Balkow. Next up for me was the Legends of the Weird & Strange group, at 2 p.m. The two most memorable films from that block were *Hooves*, a Sri Lankan anti-hunting (partially animated) fable, and *Bocuk: An Ancient Ritual*, which is that rarest of creatures: the horror documentary. Following the Nicholas Hoult panel and explorations of the vendor and celebrity rooms, I took in the Dark & Disturbing shorts block, at 8 p.m. From that group, the outstanding entry was *Inheritance*, by director Anthony Misiano, an unsettling examination of what is passed down from mother to son. On a technical note, the films look good, projected in high definition. As is often the case at conventions, the sound is a bit muffled, but that’s mostly out of the control of the festival directors. Unfortunately, noise bleed from the adjacent tattoo festival is distracting and, I hope, something that can be addressed next year. **Sunday, November 2** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Alea-at-awards-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Alea-at-awards-scaled.jpg)Aléa Figueroa hosts the awards show. The Florida Fear shorts block began my day at 11 a.m. Though it was the least impressive of the groups I screened it’s an important one because it gives local and regional filmmakers a chance to shine. Predictably, it was the block with the most filmmakers in attendance. The group everyone was waiting, the “RIP Best of the Fest,” took place at 2 p.m. It featured eight of the fest’s best short films, curated by the selection committee. They were *The Parcel*, *Inheritance*, *Franken Struck*, *Hooves*, *Brick Boy*, *The Baby*, *Wrapped in Celluloid* and *Monster Medicine*. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hooves-winner-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hooves-winner-scaled.jpg)*Hooves* takes home best short. Next up was the awards ceremony, which saw more than a dozen awards handed out, in addition to raffle winners and some appropriately themed spooky entertainment. The biggest prizes went to Veronica Felicity Johnson for “fearmaker of the year” (director), for *Monster Medicine*; Anthony Misiano for best actor in *Inheritance*; and *Hooves*, which claimed the most prestigious award (best short film), plus audience choice. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Joe-Trent-and-TL.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Joe-Trent-and-TL.jpg)From left, Joseph O’Connor (producer), Trent Duncan (writer and director) and TL Westgate (actor) pose with the best-feature award for *Axes and Os*. The award for best feature went to director Trent Duncan for his *Axes and Os*. The festival prioritizes shorts, so just four features were screened, and only three competed for the top award. However, that means the festival had a feature acceptance rate of only 8 percent, so it was an honor just to be included. For star ratings of all of the roughly 60 shorts I saw this weekend, visit [my lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short stuff 2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-stuff-2025/) **Published:** October 30, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A look at some of the year’s best short films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 30, 2025 It’s been another strong year so far for short movies. However, the strange and misunderstood process of Oscar qualification means that, yet again, it’s tough to predict which 15 flicks (five live narrative fiction, five animated and five documentary) will receive Academy Award nominations. But I’d put my money on at least a couple of the following seven films making the cut. (All are eligible for consideration after winning a top prize at an Oscar-accredited festival.) **Freyr**, 4 stars (on 0-5 scale) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Freyr.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Freyr.jpg)Films featuring protagonists who feel they don’t belong are almost as old as cinema itself. What makes *Freyr*, the new dramedy by writer-director David Telles, different is the unique attribute of its titular character: a third hand protruding from his chest. “No one’s ever shaken my hand before,” Freyr (Auðunn Lúthersson) tells Tom (Benairen Kane), his co-worker and seemingly only friend. “No one’s ever held it.” From an original story by Tommy Orange, *Freyr* asks us to reconsider what is normal and reaffirms that one can be beautiful with two hands, or three, or none at all. **Before You**, 4 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Before-You-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Before-You-scaled.jpg)A meditation on a couple’s decision to terminate a pregnancy, *Before You* has a familiar story but an original style. Shot and edited like a dream, with fantastical transitions, writer-director Lauren Melinda’s drama is designed not so much to inform as to tug on your heartstrings. It mostly succeeds thanks to its visual imagination, hauntingly lilting score and competent lead performances from Tala Ashe and Adam Rodriguez. It’s a reminder that everyone’s journey to, or away from, parenthood, is unique, noteworthy and often heartbreaking. **Ovary-Acting**, 4 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Ovary-Acting.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Ovary-Acting.jpg)An entirely different but no less memorable commentary on potential parenthood can be found in director Ida Melum and writer Laura Jayne Tunbridge’s fast-paced, funny, but also slightly melancholy animated, adult-oriented comedy. In the creatively titled *Ovary-Acting*, a potential young mother is forced into the conversation almost all women have at some point in their lives: whether to have a child. But instead of having that talk with her partner, family, friends or priest – as most women do – Eva (voiced by Synnove Karlsen) has it with her ovaries (Sofia Oxenham). Oh, baby! **A Bear Remembers**, 4 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Bear-Remembers.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Bear-Remembers.jpg)Befitting its title, *A Bear Remembers* is the most difficult to forget of all these seven films. Part fairy tale and part environmental allegory, this drama by writer-directors Linden Feng and Hannah Palumbo is a haunting yet strangely vague tale of memory, isolation, grief and cultural loss. Set and shot in the Welsh countryside, *Bear* is bleak both visually and thematically, but also magical in a manner difficult to define. The film stars Lewis Cornay as an inquisitive youth, Anna Calder-Marshall as an old woman with an improbable story and Ciarán Hinds as the voice of the bear. The effects are practical and low-budget but lend the story an endearing, tactile quality. You want to reach out and touch this film and its characters, much like the landscapes and small towns of Wales. **Retirement Plan**, 3 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Retirement-Plan.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Retirement-Plan.jpg)An animated essay about what Ray, an Irish everyman, wants, or thinks he wants, to do after he stops working, *Retirement Plan* will resonate with audiences thanks to its relatability and charm. Directed by John Kelly, written by Kelly and Tara Lawall, and voiced by Domhnall Gleeson, the film is simple yet somewhat profound. It’s also imbued with a certain melancholy, a tragic resignation that Ray will never accomplish his retirement goals and instead needs to tackle them while still young – by becoming “aggressively present,” as he describes it. With rather crude and somewhat unimaginative animation, *Retirement Plan* is arguably the least cinematic of these seven films. But it’s also one of the most engaging because the main character is infinitely human, despite being drawn. **The Mourning Of**, 4 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Mourning-Of-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Mourning-Of-scaled.jpg)Maribel attends a lot of funerals, but not for the reason you might think. With the most clever concept of any of these seven films, writer-director Merced Elizondo’s *The Mourning Of* offers an original take on sorrow. Despite a solid lead performance by Natalia Villegas and competent support from Julio Cesar Cedillo as a priest concerned for Maribel’s well-being and that of her fellow mourners, the film never quite reaches the full emotional potential of its great premise, but it comes close. “Hiding out in other people’s grief certainly doesn’t absolve you of having to deal with yours,” the priest tells Maribel in the film’s central scene. “Grief is gray. It lingers.” So does the film. **Trapped**, 4 stars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Trapped-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Trapped-scaled.jpg)When a high school prank goes wrong, the school’s janitor finds himself ensnared both physically and metaphorically in *Trapped*, David and Sam Cutler-Kreutz’s oddly poignant drama about the American class system. Starring Javier Molina as the well-intentioned custodian stuck in an unenviable position, the movie contains the best social commentary of these seven fine short films. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* For ratings and reviews of more than 3,000 short films, [see my short-film lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). --- ### [Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/spooky-empire-horror-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Spooky-Empire-Horror-Film-Festival.jpg)Here you will find articles and photos related to the Spooky Empire Horror Film Festival, and the Spooky Empire Orlando events in general. For ratings of short films that have played the festival, consult the short-films lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). [19th Annual Film Festival (2025)](https://www.meiermovies.com/reel-spooky/ "Reel Spooky") [Fall into film fests (2025)](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") [Festivalitis hits Orlando (2024)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/09/01/festivalitis-hits-orlando/ "Festivalitis hits Orlando") [Orlando welcomes its fall festivals (2022)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/10/11/orlando-welcomes-its-fall-fests/ "Orlando welcomes its fall fests") [Photos from the 2015 Spooky Empire May-hem](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/33-freaky-photos-from-spooky-empire-plus-one-photo-of-tom-skerritt/Slideshow/30943671) (from *The Orlando Weekly*) [Interview with John Carpenter, 2014](https://www.meiermovies.com/from-the-mouth-of-madness/) --- ### [Blue Moon](https://www.meiermovies.com/blue-moon/) **Published:** October 24, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Blue Moon**, 2025, 3 ¾ stars # Hart strings ## Hawke soars as legendary lyricist [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blue-Moon.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blue-Moon.jpg)Andrew Scott, left, is Richard Rodgers to Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart. (Image is copyright Sony Pictures Classics.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 24, 2025 “Did you ever think your entire life is a play, and that 99 percent of the people in it … got no lines, you know? Just like extras. And you? You’re an extra in their play.” This Shakespearean observation by Eddie the bartender in director Richard Linklater’s *Blue Moon* seems fitting for the film’s subject, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart. After all, while Hart (“Larry” to his friends) is the undeniable center of his own universe – at least in the context of this one-location, real-time drama – he is slowly drifting into the outer orbits of his friends’ lives and of American musical culture in general. Set mostly on the evening of March 31, 1943, at New York City’s Sardi’s restaurant, following the opening of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s *Oklahoma!*, *Blue Moon* shines a beam on the mental and physical deterioration of 47-year-old Hart, just a few months before his death. *Oklahoma!* was the first collaboration between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and Rodgers’ first musical without Hart. So, predictably, attending the after-party and congratulating his former musical partner is a painful, swallow-your-pride moment for Hart. Adding an additional emotional burden to Hart’s load is an expected rendezvous with his friend and protégé, Elizabeth Weiland, with whom he also happens to be in love, despite her being 27 years his junior and much taller, and despite Hart being more inclined toward men. It’s a recipe for the most awkward evening since *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blue-Moon-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blue-Moon-2.jpg)Margaret Qualley lends solid support to Ethan Hawke. *Blue Moon* features another towering performance by Ethan Hawke, in yet another memorable collaboration with Linklater. Remarkably, Hawke has never received an Oscar nomination for lead actor, but that streak of bad luck will likely be broken next year. (He has been nominated twice for writing and twice for supporting performances but has never won.) A possible contender for supporting actor is the always mesmerizing Andrew Scott as Rodgers. Lending further, fine support are the loveable, relatable Bobby Cannavale as Eddie; the ethereal Margaret Qualley as Elizabeth Weiland; and the charmingly erudite Patrick Kennedy as author E.B. White, whose presumably fictional bar-side conversation with Hart offers a playful twist on the origin of the character of Stuart Little. Speaking of little, Hart was barely 5 feet tall while Hawke is around 5’10’’. The transformation of Hawke is both subtle and, at times, startling, and is achieved through practical, traditional means. One is reminded of the 1952 version of *Moulin Rouge*, directed by John Huston, in which José Ferrer plays Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. One might also recall the famous line from W.C. Fields in the 1932 classic short film *The Dentist*: “Is he standing in a hole?” Well, yes, as a matter of fact, Hawke is, at least in a couple of scenes. As with most Linklater films, *Blue Moon* has tons of talking. But it also has almost no action. (Think *My Dinner with Andre*.) That’s not a problem until just past halfway, when an extended conversation between Hart and Weiland almost overstays its welcome. But if you have the patience to stick with it, the emotional payoff from that scene is impressive. The aforementioned literary nugget involving White is not the only make-believe that writer Robert Kaplow includes in his screenplay. While based on real events and real people, *Blue Moon* falls into that delicious but morally complicated group of “didn’t happen but could have” movies. Yes, Hart did apparently attend the party, though history doesn’t record definitively whether it was at Sardi’s. And he did congratulate Rodgers, though Hart’s tastes leaned away from the sentimental Americana of *Oklahoma!* The interactions with the bartender, White and another famous composer (a child at the time) are almost certainly fictional. Most interestingly, the Elizabeth character is based on a real person, and the correspondences between her and Hart partially inspired this story, though her presence at the party is apparently invented. But is this screenplay true to the nature of the real people, and, just as importantly, *could* the events have happened as presented? Probably, but one can’t be sure, and, frankly, that bothers me, but not enough to begin to spoil one of Linklater’s finest films, and perhaps his saddest. Is *Blue Moon* a one-note movie? Yes, but, like “Blue Moon” and the other wonderful Rodgers-Hart tunes, it has an unforgettable melody. And like the little pet mouse that Hart describes to White, the entire film – and Hart himself – have what Hart calls a “New York look of doomed hopefulness.” *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32536315/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_(2025_film)). The film is currently in cinemas.* --- ### [Ruminations on Filmapalooza 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/) **Published:** March 12, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Filmapalooza-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Filmapalooza-2018.jpg)City producers gather before the “Best of Filmapalooza” screening. (Photos are by and copyright Cameron Meier / MeierMovies, LLC.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 12, 2018 Filmapalooza 2018 – the international competition for the [48 Hour Film Project](http://www.48hourfilm.com/) – concluded in Paris on Friday, and it was truly an experience worthy of the City of Light. This was the first year the event was held outside the United States, and it lived up to expectations, with spectacular venues in great locations. (No one could ever forget the awards party at the breathtaking 19th-century Hôtel de Ville.) I attended and covered the previous four Filmapaloozas (2014 New Orleans, 2015 Hollywood, 2016 Atlanta and 2017 Seattle) for *The Orlando Weekly* and my own site, MeierMovies.com. Part of that coverage included writing a summary article, discussing the highs and lows of the event, and publishing my own list of the best films. So this is the time one would expect to see another one of my critiques, except – stop the presses – the 48HFP actually allowed me to be a judge this year. On more than one occasion, I joked that founders Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston figured the only way to shut me up was to make me a judge. But, seriously, it was a tremendous and unexpected honor to be just one small part of this process, and I owe Mark, Liz, Christina Ruppert, Laura Schlecht, Brian Bowers, the staff of the Forum des Images (where most of the screenings were held), the staff of the Cinema Louxor and especially French city producer Olivier Dussausse a tremendous debt of gratitude. I should also thank my fellow judges (Damon Runyan, Ramiro San Honorio and Elen Bernard), with whom I had intellectually stimulating deliberations that – in a Filmapalooza first, according to Mark – stretched into multiple days. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hotel-de-Ville-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hotel-de-Ville-2.jpg)Filmmakers gather for the awards ceremony at the Hôtel de Ville. In addition to congratulating the Filmapalooza staff, volunteers and fellow judges for a job well done, let me thank all the filmmakers too. That’s 120 teams from 120 cities around the globe (not including the winners of the special competitions). Though it might sound cliché, they truly are all winners for just making it this far. Still, of course, some films are better than others, and I couldn’t be happier with the movies the judges selected as the top three. (Out of all 120 films – and, yes, I watched all of them – they happened to be my personal top three.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Clermont-Ferrand.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Clermont-Ferrand.jpg)Team FD Prod, from Clermont-Ferrand, France, receives the Grand Champion award for *La Grand Ourse.* In third place is *Nadie* by Team Lucas, from Mexico City. If you’ve never seen a horror-musical-drama themed to the apocalypse, you owe it to yourself to watch this tense, gripping and unique creation. You can view it [here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/mexico-city-mx/films/30254). In second place is *Zu* by Aveque le Sourire, from Paris. Funny, touching and charmingly quirky, it also picked up the judges’ prize for best direction, best ensemble and best actress (Paola Valentin). You can watch it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/films/28682). The grand champion is *La Grand Ourse* (The Big Dipper) by FD Prod, from Clermont-Ferrand, France. With a beautiful story, a perfect little twist, two solid performances and compelling cinematography, it feels like an accomplished piece of cinema. It’s a contender for the best 48HFP film I’ve seen since I started covering the Project six years ago. In addition to winning first place, it picked up the judges’ award for best writing. Watch it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvYORvVoh3Q). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Paola-Valentin.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Paola-Valentin.jpg)Paola Valentin (from the Parisian film *Zu*) receives the best actress award from French city producer Olivier Dussausse while awards emcee Sarah Donnelly looks on. Congratulations is due not just to these three films but to the other 12 that will represent Filmapalooza at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Selected directly by the 48HFP, with input from the judges, these films are certainly a geographically and thematically diverse group. Of those remaining 12, I’d like to throw out a personal congrats to team Settle Down Sailor’s *Foregone Intrusion* (from Melbourne, Australia), team Donny van de Beek’s *Spring!* (from Amsterdam, Netherlands) and team Zero’s *That’s La Vie* (from Rome, Italy). Luca di Giovanni, from the latter team, picked up the judges’ award for best actor. But quality ran deep among this year’s films, and there were several good ones that went unrecognized. Among my favorites are team Paper Ghosts’s *The New Mister Princess* (from Nashville, Tennessee); *My Town* (from Tokyo, Japan); team Let the Bright One In’s *Simple Things* (from San Francisco, California); team Neon Twee’s *Object Relations* (from Toronto, Canada), which one the overall audience award; team Pit Film’s *Oppassen* (from Rotterdam, Netherlands); team Faro’s *Aegidium* (from Brussels, Belgium); team Les Synedones’ *Souffle* (from Tours, France); and team One Shot’s *Bread with Butter* (from Prague, Czech Republic). Judging film is obviously a subjective exercise, and speaking for myself and not necessarily the other judges or the 48HFP staff, these films are just as worthy of inclusion in Cannes as the ones that were ultimately selected. Thus we close another Filmapalooza. To those I met, drank with, toured Paris with and – most importantly – had the privilege of watching your films, I salute you and hope to see you again at a Filma in the future. Au revoir. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [An Odyssey of Horror](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-odyssey-of-horror/) **Published:** December 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Odyssey-of-Horror-Cameron-opening-narration.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Odyssey-of-Horror-Cameron-opening-narration.jpg)*An Odyssey of Horror*, a feature-length documentary and compilation film made in 2019, attempts to redefine what we think of as horror. Using brief clips of classic horror scenes — from not just horror and suspense movies but also animation, documentary, drama and even comedy — the movie juxtaposes themes, stories, horror tropes and editing techniques to put a new spin on the horror genre. Pay special attention to similarities between films, including the use of what I refer to as the *Frankenstein* shot (medium shot cut to close-up cut to extreme close-up, in rapid succession). The film is divided into two parts, with commentary at the start of each part. All copyrighted clips are featured through fair use and are intended for commentary and educational purposes only. I encourage you to purchase the films in their entirety. The MeierMovies production logo uses *Roundhay Garden Scene* by pioneering filmmaker Louis Le Prince. That clip is used by special permission of Britain’s [National Media Museum](http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/)/Science & Society Picture Library, which is instrumental in the preservation and recognition of film. For more information on Le Prince, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/louis-le-prince/). © 2019 MeierMovies, LLC --- ### [Anemone](https://www.meiermovies.com/anemone/) **Published:** October 10, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Anemone**, 2025, 2 ¾ stars # Blowin’ in the wind ## Day-Lewis’s return breathes life into *Anemone* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Anemone.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Anemone.jpg)Sean Bean, left, and Daniel Day-Lewis star in *Anemone*. (Image is copyright Focus Features.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 10, 2025 “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” If you doubt Leo Tolstoy’s words, watch *Anemone*. I guarantee no family in the history of cinema has been miserable in quite the same way as the Stokers of northern England. Ray, still shell-shocked from his experiences during the Northern Irish “troubles” and other trauma, has been a hermit for nearly two decades, leaving his brother Jem as the stand-in father for Brian, the son Ray never met. Adding an almost incestuous layer to the story is the fact that Jem and Nessa (the woman Ray abandoned while pregnant) are now married. Brian is haunted by his dad’s absence and reputation as a war criminal. At a crossroads in his young life, the son is seeking to understand the father’s supposed sins, if only to reassure himself that he need not suffer them. So, to bring the family peace, Jem ventures into the wilderness to find his brother and convince him to reconnect with his son. *Anemone* is the feature debut of director Ronan Day-Lewis, the son of the great Daniel, and they wrote the film together. The elder Day-Lewis obviously believed in the project, as he came out of an eight-year retirement to play Ray. And he does so superbly, having not lost any of his acting power during the hiatus. As Jem, Sean Bean is solid, holding his own with the acting legend. Samantha Morton, as the wife and mother, is outstanding, but she – and especially Samuel Bottomley as Brian and Safia Oakley-Green as Brian’s friend – don’t have quite enough to do in the slightly underdeveloped screenplay. Having a lot to do – and doing it well – is cinematographer Ben Fordesman, who elevates the film considerably. In addition, some mystical elements are introduced to lend the movie thematic heft, to limited success. An anemone, also known as a windflower, has petals that are easily blown away in a breeze. The characters in *Anemone* also seem windblown, struggling for any kind of shelter they can find during the ungodly weather they face, both metaphorically and literally. But the real delicate flower here is the film itself, which is both exasperatingly slow and overly reliant on Day-Lewis. Depending upon your mood and your level of patience, the movie will either bloom for you or lose its petals one by one over 126 minutes of methodicality until all that remains is another wonderful performance by Day-Lewis but not much else. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33549447/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone_(film)). The film is currently in cinemas.* --- ### [G](https://www.meiermovies.com/g/) **Published:** December 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with G:** [Gemini Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/gemini-man/) (2-D 24fps version) (2019; 2 ¼ stars) [Gemma Bovery](http://www.meiermovies.com/gemma-bovery/) FL (2014; 3 stars), also part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Genius](http://www.meiermovies.com/genius/) (2016; 2 ¾ stars) Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story (2018; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) Ghost Stories (2018; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [A Ghost Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-ghost-story/) (2017; 3 ¼ stars) [Ghostbusters: Afterlife](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostbusters-afterlife/ "Ghostbusters: Afterlife") (2021; 4 stars) [Ghostlight](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostlight/ "Ghostlight") (2024; 3 ½ stars) [Ghosts of Mars](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghosts-of-mars/) (2001; ½ star) Girl Flu (2016; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") Girls Will Be Girls (2024; 3 ¼ stars,), part of the [2024 South Asian Film Festival article](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") [Glass](http://www.meiermovies.com/glass/) (2019; 2 ¾ stars) [Gloria Bell](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/07/12/and-the-oscar-goes-to/) (2019; 4 stars) [Good Boy](https://www.meiermovies.com/good-boy/ "Good Boy") (2025; 1 ¾ stars) [Good Ol’ Freda](http://www.meiermovies.com/good-ol-freda/) (2013; 3 ½ stars) [Goodbye Christopher Robin](http://www.meiermovies.com/goodbye-christopher-robin/) (2017; 3 ½ stars) Gosford Park (2001; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [The Grand Budapest Hotel](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) Le Grand Méchant Renard et Autres Contes (The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales) FL (2017; 2 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty)](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-beauty/) FL (2013; 4 ½ stars) [Gravity (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/10/08/bringing-gravity-down-to-earth/) (2013; 3 ¾ stars) [The Great Gatsby (3-D version)](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-gatsby/) (2013; 3 stars) [Greed](http://www.meiermovies.com/greed/) (2020; 1 ½ stars) [Green Book](http://www.meiermovies.com/green-book/) \* (2018; 4 stars) The Green Prince FL (2014; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Greta](http://www.meiermovies.com/greta/) (2019; 1 star) [The Guilty](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/10/28/the-guilty-returns/) FL (2018; 4 stars) --- ### [Good Boy](https://www.meiermovies.com/good-boy/) **Published:** October 10, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Good Boy**, 2025, 1 ¾ stars # Bark bigger than bite ## *Good Boy*, though original, is not a good film [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Good-Boy.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Good-Boy.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 10, 2025 With horror, everyone is always trying to reinvent the wheel. But the coolest reinvention this year doesn’t roll – it walks on four legs. *Good Boy*, the debut feature from writer-director Ben Leonberg, is your standard, often ridiculous supernatural horror except for the fact that the story is told from the perspective of a dog. It’s not one of those annoying POV films, though. Instead, it uses a Hitchcock-style subjective camera, which just happens to be from the dog’s perspective. Todd (Shane Jensen) and his dog, Indy, move from New York City to the abandoned country house of his departed grandfather. Suffering from a serious lung condition, Todd hopes the natural setting with either improve his health or bring him peace. But Todd’s sister (Arielle Friedman) doesn’t like the idea of Todd and Indy living alone, as she thinks the home is haunted. Indeed, the solitude didn’t help his grandfather, as he and his own four-legged friend died there years ago, under eerily similar circumstances. Leonberg, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Cannon, took years to film, mostly because of the low budget, tiny crew and four-human cast, plus the fact that a single reaction shot from Indy often took an entire day to shoot. But despite the intriguing concept and solid cinematography, this is a one-note film and, at just 73 minutes, a slight one at that. If you look past the lovability of the loyal, lead canine, you will find little to sink your teeth into. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35521922/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Boy_(2025_Leonberg_film)). The film is currently in cinemas.* --- ### [If I Had Legs I’d Kick You](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-i-had-legs-id-kick-you/) **Published:** October 7, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **If I Had Legs I’d Kick You**, 2025, 4 stars # Fixing a hole ## Rose Byrne shines in dramatic nightmare [![If I Had Legs](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/If-I-Had-Legs.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/If-I-Had-Legs.jpg)Rose Byrne stars in *If I Had Legs I’d Kick You*. (Image is copyright A24.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 7, 2025 After a burst water pipe blows a massive hole in her bedroom ceiling, Linda and her ill daughter, who is attached to a feeding tube through a hole in her stomach, must move into a hole of a motel. Meanwhile, her ship-captain husband is emotionally at sea, while Linda, a therapist, is herself in therapy. She has more holes in her life than Blackburn, Lancashire. One thing without holes, however, is the film itself, for the oddly titled *If I Had Legs I’d Kick You*, the sophomore feature from writer-director Mary Bronstein (*Yeast*), is, unlike Linda’s broken pipe, water-tight. It does have something even more frightening, though: triggers. More than a Texas gun show. There’s violence, (simulated) animal suffering, child abandonment, abortion, property damage, near drowning, therapy gone wrong, stalking, body horror, drug abuse and plain old mental illness. And it’s all packaged in a partially surreal (almost absurd) and claustrophobically filmed package. Despite being billed as a comedy-drama, *Legs* – a weird, Lynchian blend of *Mother!* and *Ordinary People* – is one of the most nightmarishly uncomfortable films of the year. It’s also one of the best. Rose Byrne plays Linda, and she’s never been better. As her therapist, Conan O’Brien is oddly cast but nevertheless effective, while Christian Slater, in a mostly voiceover role, plays Linda’s husband. More memorable are Danielle Macdonald (*Dumplin’*), as a disturbed patient of Linda, and ASAP Rocky, as Linda’s motel neighbor. But the film belongs to Byrne, who, in one extreme closeup after another, displays an almost unbearable vulnerability. Expect an Oscar nomination. Last year, *Nightbitch* (starring Amy Adams, in an almost equally vulnerable performance) attempted a similar, though more light-hearted, commentary on the psychological trauma of motherhood. It mostly failed, as do many attempts to tackle this most universal of topics. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why *Legs* stands while other films fall, but the success seems to lie not so much in the writing as in Byrne’s performance, Christopher Messina’s cinematography, Lucian Johnston’s editing and, most of all, Bronstein’s direction, which methodically ratchets up the intensity to a nearly intolerable level. Frankly, I’m afraid to see her next film but, being a cinematic masochist, cannot wait. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18382850/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Had_Legs_I%27d_Kick_You). The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and is opening wide theatrically in the United States on October 10.* --- ### [The Naked Gun](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-naked-gun/) **Published:** October 3, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Naked Gun**, 2025, 1 ½ stars # *The Naked Gun* misfires ## Neeson no Nielsen, Schaffer no Zucker [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Naked-Gun.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Naked-Gun.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 3, 2025 As Monty Python taught us, there is a knack to walking silly. And if you don’t have the moves, your silly will soon stroll stupid. And so it goes for *The* *Naked Gun*, the reboot of that beloved spoof franchise from the ‘80s and early ‘90s. The new film is set in the present, and the original policemen (Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin and George Kennedy’s Ed Hocken) are long gone. So this movie follows the shenanigans of their sons, Frank Jr. (Liam Neeson) and Ed Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), plus new characters such as a femme fatale (Pamela Anderson) and a villain (Danny Huston), who – in a plot that is over-the-top even for a *Naked Gun* flick – has designs on essentially destroying the world. David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, created the original *Police Squad!* TV show and the subsequent films, imbuing them with the appropriate sensibility. Though they clearly cherish the franchise and fill their new movie with cinematic nostalgia, writer-director Akiva Schaffer (*Hot Rod, The Watch*) and fellow writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand are often left grasping for something they can’t quite capture. Despite some fun moments and sporadic chuckles, the new *Naked* is too frequently exposed for what it really is: a cheap knock-off. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Naked-Gun-2025.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Naked-Gun-2025.jpg)The elephant in this review is the fact that Anderson and Neeson (*Schindler’s List* notwithstanding) have simply never been very good actors. And despite their apparent real-life chemistry, they seem miscast, stretching or squeezing themselves to fill the gumshoes of Nielsen and the original films’ bombshell, Priscilla Presley, who, thanks to their cinematic alchemy and a pitch-perfect, noir-style script, made the original 1988 film memorable. *Smell of Fear*, from 1991, didn’t have quite the same scent but was still good fun. Only with 1994’s *Final Insult* did the series wear out its welcome. Regrettably, Neeson and Anderson’s welcome is exhausted from the get-go, as Schaffer opts mostly for action instead of the original series’ trademark droll goofiness and old-fashioned slapstick. Admittedly, there are some fun sight gags, and a great joke referencing O.J. Simpson, who played Detective Nordberg in the originals. One hates to use the word “subtle” to describe those earlier films, but they did contain an understated quality that has gotten lost in the reboot. Despite the plethora of dad jokes, this isn’t your father’s *Naked Gun*. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402138/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Gun_(2025_film)). The film opened in cinemas on August 1 and is now streaming on Paramount+.* --- ### [A Big Bold Beautiful Journey](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-big-bold-beautiful-journey/) **Published:** September 18, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Big Bold Beautiful Journey**, 2025, 3 ¾ stars # Taking the door less opened ## Romantic *Journey* forges its own path [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Big-Bold-Beautiful-Journey.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Big-Bold-Beautiful-Journey.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 18, 2025 When one door closes, another opens, so the saying goes. But what if you could, if only for a day, reopen the doors you thought were forever closed to you? And what if instead of going through the doors alone, as you originally did, you can now take someone with you? Further, what if that person is a potential new love who has doors of her own to enter again, accompanied by you? Those existential questions are the guiding forces behind Korean-American director Kogonada’s *A Big Bold Beautiful Journey*, the most visually imaginative (and comma-challenged) film of the year. With its heart-on-its-sleeve sentimentality and unpredictable tonal shifts, it’s not a journey for everyone. Yet your acceptance of the film might depend not as much on the film’s journey as on your own – where life, with its joys and sadnesses, has deposited you emotionally at this moment. And if that moment is similar to that of either David (Colin Farrell) or Sarah (Margot Robbie), the film should resonate. After a kismet meeting at a wedding, David and Sarah randomly meet again while driving home to their residences in “the city.” (This and other unnamed locations give the film an “everywhere” feel, adding to its otherworldly vibe.) Yet they soon learn their second meeting wasn’t random at all, but part of a pre-programmed rendezvous. That meeting was seemingly engineered by a surreal company and its odd employees (played by a quirky Phoebe Waller-Bridge and a sweet yet underused Kevin Kline) who might represent gods, the Fates or – in one of the film’s best metaphors – the real deities in Hollywood: casting directors. However you interpret those characters and their motives behind manipulating David and Sarah, you will likely appreciate the undefinable element they bring to the otherwise in-your-face romanticism of this journey of discovery. This is Kogonada’s third film, after *Columbus* (one of the best little discoveries of 2017) and 2021’s *After Yang* (also starring Farrell and consumed with themes of memory, loss and humanity). Those films were both written by Kogonada while *Journey* was penned by Seth Reiss. Still, Kogonada’s askew sensibility is undeniable, aided by compelling production design by Mary Florence Brown and Katie Byron. I look forward to seeing what creative doors all these artists walk through next. What prevents *Journey* from approaching greatness are the aforementioned tonal jumps from sad to crude, quirky to mawkish and profound to pedestrian. There’s also the question of chemistry between Farrell and Robbie, who, despite stellar individual performances, don’t always click, perhaps because of their 14-year age difference. Still, Farrell is easy on the eyes while Robbie is arguably the most beautiful creature currently walking the Earth – too beautiful, in fact, if that’s possible, which buoys the film’s fantastical nature. Looking for cinematic comparisons, *Sliding Doors* and *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* seem to fit, with shades of *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*. But, despite its flaws, *Journey* is original, fusing a time-travel tone with a pure love story with a heartbreaking drama, before finally settling into a dreamy melancholy. In addition, this is one hell of a road film and a powerful ode to those who choose to travel alone but subsequently long to share the trip’s revelations with a sympatico human. (If only the film didn’t rely so much on songs, which are liberally peppered throughout.) Mixed with the sporadic heavy-handedness are some genuinely profound insights, such as the realization by the characters that, if you’re still alone at middle age, you shouldn’t necessarily settle, but you might need to change your definition of happiness. “Choose to be content, and enjoy the moments of happiness that come from that,” Sarah tells David. And so goes the film itself. Though I am not overjoyed by all Kogonada’s choices, I am content. And that quiet contentment is affording me a surprising amount of movie happiness. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13650700/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Big_Bold_Beautiful_Journey). The film is in cinemas starting September 19.* --- ### [Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey-the-grand-finale/) **Published:** September 11, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale**, 2025, 3 ¾ stars # End of an era ## *Downton Abbey* bids fitting farewell [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-scaled.jpg)Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville star in *Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale*. Images are courtesy of Focus Features. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 11, 2025 Sing a cinematic swan song for the landed gentry. *Downton Abbey* is finally over and will soon pass into our collective memories, joining the upstairs-downstairs world that inspired it. When the show premiered on England’s ITV in 2010 and America’s PBS the following year, it took television by storm and is still regarded by this critic as possibly the finest dramatic, scripted series ever. The first two movies never lived up to that standard, however, with the second (*A New Era*, from 2022) ending up rather ridiculous and unnecessary, except, of course, for the death of the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-2-scaled.jpg)But with the latest – and apparently last – installment, creator and writer Julian Fellowes and director Simon Curtis have gotten it mostly right. By returning to the behaviors that made each character special and creating a plot that fits not just those characters but also the current of change in 1930s Britain, *Downton* is going out the way it came in: stylish, emotional, tonally on-point and quietly profound. In this regard, *The Grand Finale* is a suitable, sentimental sendoff for an entertainment institution and easily the best of the three films. A discussion of plot is unnecessary except to say that this latest film feeds not just off events of the previous one (see [this Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey:_A_New_Era) for a refresher) but events that have taken place since that last film, such as Downton’s further financial struggles, the death of Cora’s (Elizabeth McGovern) mother in the United States, domestic drama for Mary (Michelle Dockery), and Cora’s brother’s (Paul Giamatti) mishandling of the American side of the family fortune. (Giamatti plays a prominent role in this film without overshadowing the core characters.) Let the rest unfold as a surprise, like you did when watching the show. (But if you never watched the show or the previous films, starting with this movie is a bad idea.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-3--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Downton-Abbey-2025-3--scaled.jpg)“Sometimes I feel like the past is a more comfortable place than the future,” says Giamatti’s character, as he reflects on his and the family’s financial and social uncertainty. For *Downton*’s characters, particularly Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, still the best of the cast), those words ring true as the world in which he grew up continues to disappear. And, for us, trapped in world that is as foreign to Downton as the surface of Mars, it’s also wonderful to sojourn in the unrecognizable past: pre-World War 2, pre-television, pre-internet, pre-AI, but with hints of the positive changes to come, changes that would lead to a more classless Britain but would inexorably alter the lives of Downton Abbey’s residents, just like they did those of the masters of Highclere Castle, the real Downton. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31888477/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey:_The_Grand_Finale). [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey/ "Downton Abbey") for my review of the first film and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey-a-new-era/ "Downton Abbey: A New Era") for my review of the second.* --- ### [Best of the century](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-the-century/) **Published:** September 1, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Top 25 films of 2000-2025 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Atonement.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Atonement.jpg)Joe Wright’s *Atonement*, starring James McAvoy, is my pick for best film of the century. Interestingly, the film’s central scene, the evacuation at Dunkirk, is also the topic of my #3 film, Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk*. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 1, 2025 As we celebrate the quarter-century mark, film critics and historians are launching their lists of top feature films. Not one to eschew bandwagons, I too am offering my inventory of the finest cinematic achievements of the 21st century. Though I didn’t attempt to construct a diverse list, it ended up rather varied, with four suspense/horror/thriller films, two animated movies, two documentaries and one musical. There are five war films and even a (mostly) silent flick. Foreign-language films are disappointingly underrepresented, with just three. Christopher Nolan alone has that many. Other great directors are represented, including Joe Wright, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Sam Mendes, Roman Polanski, Michael Moore, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee and the Coen Brothers. In fact, the list reads almost like a “greatest directors list.” (Sadly, only one woman made the list.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Benjamin-Button.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Benjamin-Button.png)David Fincher’s *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* comes in at #2. Most surprisingly, perhaps, is the absence of arguably the greatest director of the last 50 years, Steven Spielberg, though he would have several on the list if it were expanded to 50 (mostly notable *Bridge of Spies* and *A.I.*). Foreign-language movies would also be more prevalent if the list grew to 50. ([*Roma*,](http://www.meiermovies.com/roma/) *[La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty)](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-beauty/)* and *Spirited Away* just missed this list.) Even more shocking than the underrepresentation of Spielberg, female directors and non-English-language movies is the fact that only four of these 25 films won the Oscar for best picture. It makes you doubt the purpose of the Academy Awards. For more movie rankings, [see my lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). 1. Atonement (2007), directed by Joe Wright. British auteur Joe Wright’s *Atonement*, my pick for the best film of the 21st century, redefines the war genre more than any other movie of its era. With its book-within-a-film format, it challenges our notions of storytelling, continuity and old-fashioned romance. Written by Christopher Hampton from Ian McEwan’s novel, the film is set over a period of five years, or perhaps four, in a nod to the muddled nature of memory or perhaps the vascular dementia of the “author.” (Look for other incongruities.) Starring an ethereal but also occasionally earthy Keira Knightley and an almost angelic James McAvoy, *Atonement* is a tale of late 1930s England and the early days of World War II. But it’s also a metatheatrical morality tale for all ages, in which nothing is quite what it seems for the characters or the audience. And like the beaches of Dunkirk in early June 1940, it’s a spectacle not to be forgotten. 2. [The Curious Case of Benjamin Button](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-gump/) (2008), by David Fincher 3. [Dunkirk](https://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/ "Dunkirk") (2017), by Christopher Nolan 4. Hugo (2011), by Martin Scorsese 5. The Prestige (2006), by Christopher Nolan 6. Chicago \* (2002), by Rob Marshall 7. Unbreakable (2000), by M. Night Shyamalan 8. [Anna Karenina](http://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/) (2012), by Joe Wright 9. The Others (2001), by Alejandro Amenabar 10. [Loving Vincent](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) (2017), by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman 11. [1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) (2019), by Sam Mendes 12. The Pianist (2002), by Roman Polanski 13. Toy Story 3 (2010), by Lee Unkrich 14. Bowling for Columbine (2002), by Michael Moore 15. The Artist SlWS \* (2011), by Michel Hazanavicius 16. [Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)](http://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) \* (2014), by Alejandro González Iñárritu 17. The Act of Killing FL (2013), by Joshua Oppenheimer 18. Holy Motors FL (2012), by Leos Carax 19. Finding Neverland (2004), by Marc Forster 20. Letters from Iwo Jima FL (2006), by Clint Eastwood 21. [The Banshees of Inisherin](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-banshees-of-inisherin/) (2022), by Martin McDonagh 22. Gladiator \* (2000), by Ridley Scott 23. Inception (2010), by Christopher Nolan 24. Life of Pi (2012), by Ang Lee 25. [Inside Llewyn Davis](http://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/) (2013), by Joel and Ethan Coen For the best short film of the century, let me commend [*Dissonance*](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-dissonance/), by Till Nowak, from 2015. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [W](https://www.meiermovies.com/w/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with W:** [Waiting for the Barbarians](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/ "Short takes on three recent films") (2020; 4 stars) [The Walk (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-walk/) (2015; 3 ¾ stars) [Walt Before Mickey](http://www.meiermovies.com/walt-before-mickey/) (2015; 1 star) Wanda, Mein Wunder (My Wonderful Wanda) FL (2020; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Waves](http://www.meiermovies.com/waves/) (2019; 1 ¾ stars) [The Way, Way Back](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-way-way-back/) (2013; 3 ¼ stars) [The Way We Speak](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-way-we-speak/ "The Way We Speak") (2024; 1 ¾ stars) [We Don’t Live Here Anymore](https://www.meiermovies.com/we-dont-live-here-anymore/) (2004; 3 ½ stars) The Wedding Guest (2019; 2 ½ stars), part of the [South Asian Film Festival 2019 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [Welcome to Marwen](http://www.meiermovies.com/welcome-to-marwen/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [Welcome to Me](http://www.meiermovies.com/welcome-to-me/) (2015; 1 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [Wendy](http://www.meiermovies.com/wendy/) (2020; 2 stars) [Went Up the Hill](https://www.meiermovies.com/went-up-the-hill/ "Went Up the Hill") (2025; 2 ¾ stars) [West Is West](https://www.meiermovies.com/west-is-west/) (2010; 3 ¾ stars) [West Side Story](https://www.meiermovies.com/west-side-story/ "West Side Story") (2021; 3 stars) [Wetlands](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/15/when-words-just-wont-suffice/) (2013; ¾ star) [The Whale](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-whale/ "The Whale") (2022; 4 ½ stars) What Will People Say FL (2018; 4 stars), part of the [2018 South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) [What’s Up, Doc?](https://www.meiermovies.com/whats-up-doc/ "What’s Up, Doc?") (1972; 3 ½ stars) When Comedy Went to School (2013; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Where to Invade Next](http://www.meiermovies.com/where-to-invade-next/) (2015; 3 ½ stars) [Where’d You Go, Bernadette](http://www.meiermovies.com/whered-you-go-bernadette/) (2019; 1 ¼ stars) [What’s Up, Doc?](https://www.meiermovies.com/whats-up-doc/ "What’s Up, Doc?") (1972; 3 ½ stars) [Whiplash](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/24/american-sniper-vs-whiplash/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) [White Boy Rick](http://www.meiermovies.com/white-boy-rick/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) [Whitney](http://www.meiermovies.com/whitney/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 25th anniversary Blu-ray release and Charles Fleischer interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-framed-roger-rabbit) (1988, 2013; 5 stars) [Widow Clicquot](https://www.meiermovies.com/widow-clicquot/ "Widow Clicquot") (2024; 3 stars) [Widows](http://www.meiermovies.com/widows/) (2018; 1 ¾ stars) [Wildcat](https://www.meiermovies.com/wildcat/ "Wildcat") (2024; 2 ½ stars) [Wimbledon](https://www.meiermovies.com/wimbledon/) (2004; 1 ¾ stars) Winterjagd (Winter Hunt) FL Hybrid (2017; 4 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [The Wolf of Wall Street](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-wolf-of-wall-street/) (2013; 1 ½ stars) [The Woman in Black](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-woman-in-black/) (2012; 3 ½ stars) Woman on Fire (2017; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) The Women’s Balcony FL (2016; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) --- ### [Love Your Shorts turns 15](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-turns-15/) **Published:** February 10, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Sanford fest marks its quindecennial anniversary [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-2025.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Love-Your-Shorts-Film-Festival-2025.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 10, 2025 Your 15th anniversary is your “crystal” celebration. I don’t know whether Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival plans to embrace that mineral, but I do know the fest has made one thing crystal clear over the last decade and a half: It’s the second-best movie event in the Orlando area, following the Oscar-accredited Florida Film Festival. And with continuing support from the community, and roughly two dozen filmmakers expected to attend this year, its position keeps improving. The festival will run February 13-16 at the historic Ritz Theater at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford, Florida, and will screen 76 films in competition (from 11 countries), plus five on Thursday’s Education Day. That free event, scheduled for 7 p.m., is hosted by the Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF) and will include five additional short movies plus a panel discussion with local filmmakers Albert Gonzalez, Kimberly Di Persia, Jason True, Jasmin Alexa and Parissa Glaser. Local filmmaker TL Westgate will moderate, and the topic will be “Florida Film Works: How I Became a Filmmaker.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Les-Betes.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Les-Betes.jpg)*Les Bêtes* (The Beasts), directed by Michael Granberry, will screen in the Animation block. The main part of the fest will launch on Friday night at 7 p.m. with the Opening Night block, containing eight films of various genres. That will be followed by the legendary Opening Night Party, which will be themed this year to *Alice in Wonderland*. But you won’t need a pill to make you small, as all the films are already short: under 30 minutes. Your cinematic trip down the rabbit hole will continue on Saturday with six more blocks: E for Everyone at 10:30 a.m. (12 films), Animation at 1 p.m. (13 films), Documentary at 3 p.m. (six films), International at 5 p.m. (six films), Comedy at 8 p.m. (eight films) and Sci-Fi/Horror at 10 p.m. (eight films). That latter block will include the Oscar-nominated Dutch movie *I’m Not a Robot*. The Sunday blocks are: Drama at 1 p.m. (five films), Florida Flavor at 3 p.m. (nine films) and Best of the Fest at 7 p.m. That latter block will be comprised of the films that audiences have selected from the previous blocks, plus potentially one extra film chosen by the selection committee. Each block is $12 except for the free Education Day and the E for Everyone block, which is $5. A weekend pass costs $85. Visit [LoveYourShorts.com](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Floveyourshorts.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cakondolojy%40orlandosentinel.com%7Cdc03cad19798471bfdbb08d9e0e00dd1%7Cf7da0482aed242fa80233b240fb6598d%7C0%7C0%7C637788075942608464%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=gHUOOKs5F7KPYgpJeIXXP%2BaP8DGtz8yPup6hyHJYL5w%3D&reserved=0) for more information and to purchase tickets. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Im-Not-a-Robot.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Im-Not-a-Robot.jpg)The Oscar-nominated *I’m Not a Robot*, directed by Victoria Warmerdam, will screen in the Sci-Fi-Horror block. Voting tip: At the conclusion of each block, the audience will be asked to vote by text. (If you don’t have a mobile phone, you can request a paper ballot.) You can vote for one or two films, but if you vote for two, you are hurting the chances that your top film will win. As an example, let’s say 99 out of the 100 audience members prefer film A. However, they are told they can vote for two films, so they also select film B. Because the votes are not weighted, their votes for A and B are equal. Then along comes that 100th audience member, who dislikes film A, so he votes for films B and C. So film B wins, though 99 out of 100 audience members preferred film A. This remains a flaw in the system and one of the reasons the best film often doesn’t move on to the Best of the Fest. The overall winner is then selected by a panel of judges, but if the film doesn’t move on, those judges can’t vote for it. In recent years, organizers have come up with a way of recognizing a great film that might have been overlooked by the audience. They reserve the right to include one additional film of high quality, which guarantees a slightly fairer process. But to make the process even more fair, I recommend audiences vote for just one film, unless you genuinely can’t make up your mind or have a film of your own in that block. (In the latter instance, one assumes you will vote for your movie, so it’s only fair that you vote for an additional one.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/LYSFF-2025-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/LYSFF-2025-scaled.jpg)This will be my 11th time attending the festival and tenth time covering it. Let’s look back at my decade of articles: [2024](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-ups-its-game/) [2023](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-is-lucky-for-love-your-shorts/) [2021](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-and-safe/) [2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2020/) [2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2019/) [2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshortsff2018/) (plus additional [blog](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshorts2018/)) [2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2017/) [2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2016/) [2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2015/) *Disclaimer: Paul Meier Dialect Services and the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA), which I co-own, are sponsors. In addition, I will serve as a judge. (The other judges are filmmaker and actor Sarah S. Fisher, filmmaker and photographer Charles Frisby, filmmaker and University of Central Florida professor Georg Koszulinksi and filmmaker Stanley Pomianowski.)* *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Results Nine films won their respective blocks and moved on to the Best of the Fest screening on Sunday. Those were *Radio Silence*; *Contracting the Cooties*; *Gopher Games*; *A Night, After All*; *Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob*; *I’m Not a Robot*; *Turduck-In*; *SilverSizzle*; and *Filter 14*. In addition, the screening committee picked *Les Bêtes* to join the block winners. Judges selected *I’m Not a Robot* as the overall winner. ## Summer Rewind [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests"). --- ### [Global Peace Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Global Peace Film Festival, which is held each year in various locations in metro Orlando, Florida. To go directly to reviews and ratings of features and shorts I have seen at the festival, consult my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [Fall into film fests (2025)](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-into-film-fests/ "Fall into film fests") [18th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2020/ "Global Peace Film Festival 2020") [15th Annual Global Peace Film Festival opening-night blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-promise-opens-global-peace-ff/) [14th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2016/) [13th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2015/) [11th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) --- ### [Went Up the Hill](https://www.meiermovies.com/went-up-the-hill/) **Published:** August 20, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Went Up the Hill**, 2025, 2 ¾ stars # Death becomes them ## Ghost story embraces mood, lacks logic [![Went Up the Hill](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-3-scaled.jpg)Images are courtesy of and copyright Greenwich Entertainment / POP Film / Causeway Films. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 20, 2025 When Jack, an emotionally fragile 20-something, shows up unexpectedly at the funeral of a woman he barely knew, claiming he was invited, the dead woman’s wife and sister are bewildered, until it’s revealed that the deceased had a power for possessing people metaphorically in life – and, seemingly, literally in death. They say you can’t make a good movie from a bad script, yet director Samuel Van Grinsven spends 100 minutes proving otherwise. “Bad” is perhaps a bit harsh for Grinsven and Jory Anast’s screenplay, though, so let’s just go with “hard to swallow” and “paper thin,” or perhaps “plodding.” Part ghost story and part tale of possession, *Went Up the Hill* is just as much psychological drama as suspense, and works, despite the aforementioned issues, because of its atmosphere and excellent performances by Australian actor Dacre Montgomery (*Stranger Things*) and the always fascinating Vicky Krieps (*Phantom Thread*, *Old*, *Bergman Island*). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-2-scaled.jpg)The compelling but brief turn by New Zealand actress Sarah Peirse as the departed’s sister notwithstanding, this is a two-hander. For most of the film, Jack (Montgomery) and Jill (Krieps) are alone in the house Jill shared with her wife, she trying to come to terms with death and he trying to learn why the mother he barely knew abandoned him as a baby. The surreal story, which stretches credibility to the breaking point, might have been better suited to the stage. Yet the movie medium does allow cinematographer Tyson Perkins, along with production designer Sherree Phillips, art director Ben Milsom and set decorator Michelle Freeman, to shine. (It’s not often I mention multiple members of the production crew in a review, but because of the spare and implausible story, *Went Up the Hill* succeeds largely because of them, plus Grinsven’s ability to keep us on the edge of our seats even when the end reveal is underwhelming.) The elephant at the wake is the awkward sexuality. Intended to be more unsettling than erotic, it succeeds, aided by the interesting twist of the characters’ own sexual orientations. I won’t ruin the intrigue here, suffice to say this is the exceedingly rare film that depicts homosexual love through heterosexual proxies. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Went-Up-the-Hill-1-scaled.jpg)Like the plot, the title makes little sense too until you remember the names of the two main characters. They aren’t exactly fetching a pail of water, but there is some “tumbling after,” both symbolically and literally. And Van Grinsven, an Australian making just his second feature, deserves praise for directorial self-assurance. Setting the film in his birth country of New Zealand – though the film feels like it could be anywhere – perhaps gave Van Grinsven confidence. And maybe that confidence was further buoyed by the established Kriep’s involvement not just as executive producer but as songwriter. (She writes and sings the ending theme song, “Jill.”) The rarely quoted second and third verses of the nursery rhyme might hold further clues to the story’s themes: “Up Jack got and home did trot, As fast as he could caper; Went to bed to mend his head With vinegar and brown paper. Jill came in and she did grin To see his paper plaster; Mother, vex’d, did whip her next For causing Jack’s disaster.” Or perhaps those verses serve only to further muddle the film’s meaning. I suggest you take your own trek up this hill and try to make your own sense of the characters’ journey. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *The film, which premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, is in limited theatrical release. For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14303268/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Went_Up_the_Hill).* --- ### [I, Daniel Blake](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-daniel-blake/) **Published:** August 11, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **I, Daniel Blake**, 2016, 4 ¼ stars # I’m Daniel Blake ## Economic slavery demands new Spartacus [![Daniel Blake](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/I-Daniel-Blake.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/I-Daniel-Blake.jpg) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 11, 2025 “I’m Spartacus.” Those words, spoken in 71 B.C. (as depicted in the 1960 film by Stanley Kubrick), were apropos for their time, when vast swaths of humanity lived in slavery. Fast-forward 2,100 years to a different enslavement, one that imprisons normal people in a modern hell of broken technology, uncaring bureaucracy, underemployment and unbalanced economics. This 21st-century servitude requires a different mantra, and legendary British director Ken Loach answered the call in his 2016 social drama: “*I, Daniel Blake*.” Written by frequent Loach collaborator Paul Laverty, the film focuses on the working-class struggles of its title character, portrayed remarkably by Dave Johns. Doctors have told recent widower Daniel that he is unable to work following a heart attack. But the government disagrees, forcing Daniel to appeal. While waiting for a verdict, he is required to look for employment. However, when he gets a job offer, he must reject it because of his health. He is, therefore, stuck in arguably the scariest cinematic loop since 1945’s *Dead of Night*. Worse still, Daniel is computer illiterate and unable to jump through the numerous technological hoops his circus of a government has placed in his way. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley didn’t quite imagine the 21st century this way, but they probably wouldn’t be surprised. [![Daniel Blake](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/I-Daniel-Blake-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/I-Daniel-Blake-2.jpg)While on his dystopian odyssey, Daniel meets and befriends Katie (Hayley Squires), who is fighting her own battles. They have seemingly nothing but everything in common – different genders, different ages, different predicaments and even different dialects. (Cockney Katie is newly arrived from London while Daniel speaks in thick Geordie.) Yet they find unlikely friendship in Newcastle, a microcosm of modern Britain. It’s no surprise Loach made a film that delivers such an emotional yet truthful pummeling. After all, he’s been neglecting to pull his punches since the late 1960s, when his breakthrough films, *Poor Cow* and *Kes*, became hallmarks of the British kitchen-sink drama genre. And with *I, Daniel Blake*, he’s at it again, practically forcing you to lean into the punch, happy to take the blow. And for delivering this beating, the film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and best British film at the BAFTAs, and became Loach’s highest-grossing movie. Daniel deserved more respect than what he got. Spoiler alert: He shouldn’t have died on the dirty floor of a government building’s bathroom, waiting for help that never came. For Daniel, life was unfair and cruel. We are all Daniel Blake. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5168192/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Daniel_Blake).* --- ### ['In a Manner of Speaking' podcast](https://www.meiermovies.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking-podcast/) **Published:** June 30, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo-with-registered-mark-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/In-a-Manner-of-Speaking-logo-with-registered-mark-scaled.jpg)Since 2018, I have co-produced the popular *In a Manner of Speaking* podcast with my father, Paul Meier. The podcast addresses all topics related to the spoken word but places a strong emphasis on cinema, theatre, accents, dialects and performance in general. [Go here](https://www.paulmeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking/) to explore the episodes, or look for the podcast on your favorite podcast channel or index. I have co-hosted and/or appeared on 11 episodes: **[July 2025 (Episode 90)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2025/07/01/episode-90-a-retrospective-2018-2025/):** *A Retrospective*: 2018-2025 **[June 2025 (Episode 89)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2025/06/01/episode-89-voice-coaching-sound-design-and-amplification-in-the-theatre/):** *Voice Coaching, Sound Design, and Amplification in the Theatre*, with Sarah Nichols **[May 2025 (Episode 88)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2025/05/01/episode-88-ai-and-the-human-voice/ "Episode 88 (AI and the Human Voice)"):** *AI and the Human Voice*, with Michael McAuliffe and Tanera Marshall **[November 2024 (Episode 82)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2024/11/01/episode-82-american-and-british-dialects-in-popular-song/):** *American and British Dialects in Popular Song*, with Karen Burgos **[July 2024 (Episode 78)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2024/07/01/episode-78-transatlantic-and-old-movie-dialects/):** *Transatlantic and Old Movie Dialects*, with Barrie Kreinik **[June 2024 (Episode 77)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2024/06/01/episode-77-a-unique-path-to-film-and-tv-success/ "Episode 77 (A Unique Path to Film and TV Success)"):** *A Unique Path to Film and TV Success*, with Lukas Hassel [**March 2023 (Episode 62)**](https://www.paulmeier.com/2023/03/01/episode-62-fast-talkin-dudes/): *Fast-Talkin’ Dudes* **[December 2020 (Episode 35)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2020/12/01/episode-35-the-first-sound-recordings/ "Episode 35 (The First Sound Recordings)"):** *The First Sound Recordings*, with Patrick Feaster **[October 2019 (Episode 21)](http://www.paulmeier.com/2019/10/01/episode-21-movie-dialects/):** *Movie Dialects* **[July 2018 (Episode 6)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2018/07/01/episode-6/):** *A Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of IDEA!* **[May 2018 (Episode 4)](https://www.paulmeier.com/2018/06/30/episode-4/):** *The Art of the Newscaster and Broadcast Journalist* --- ### [2014 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2014. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [My Top 5 of the year, so far](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/ "My top 10 of 2014 (so far)") [16th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [20th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [John Carpenter interview, for Spooky Empire’s May-hem](http://www.meiermovies.com/from-the-mouth-of-madness/ "From the mouth of madness") **23rd Annual Florida Film Festival:** [ Teaser](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-is-almost-here/ "Florida Film Festival is almost here") [Intro article: Time to fest!](http://www.meiermovies.com/time-to-fest/ "Time to fest!") [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/ "2014 FFF reviews") [Susan Sarandon announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/susan-sarandon-set-for-fff/ "Susan Sarandon set for FFF") [Interview with Paul Sorvino](http://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/ "Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype") [Interview with Heather Wahlquist and review of *Yellow*](http://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/) [Documentary blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/ "A double dose of docs") [Opening-night blog and mini-review of *The Trip to Italy*](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fest-is-underway/ "2014 Fest is underway") [Shorts blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-shorts/ "Ranking the shorts") [Filmapalooza in New Orleans](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/ "Filmapalooza: hard to win in the Big Easy") [Get Shorty: Review of 2013 Oscar Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014/02/13/get-shorty/) --- ### [Love & Mercy](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/) **Published:** June 9, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Love & Mercy**, 2015, 4 stars # Good and bad vibrations ## Biopic explores the highs and lows of Brian Wilson [![LM_00304.CR2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Love-and-Mercy-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Love-and-Mercy.jpg)Image copyright River Road Entertainment/Battle Mountain Films From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/beach-boys-biopic-love-and-mercy-explores-the-highs-and-lows-of-brian-wilson/Content?oid=2399361)*, June 3, 2015 “Wouldn’t it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we belong?” the Beach Boys sang in 1966 on their iconic *Pet Sounds* album. But what the LP’s listeners didn’t realize was that beneath those upbeat lyrics lurked a musician struggling to find a world where he himself belonged. *Love & Mercy* is the story of the artistic rise and psychological fall of Brian Wilson, the creative force behind the top-selling American band of the 1960s. It’s essentially two movies in one, with Paul Dano (*There Will Be Blood*, *Little Miss Sunshine*) perfectly capturing the frenetic musical perfectionism of the young Wilson and John Cusack tackling the tormented, overly medicated man from the 1980s. Dano is more believable as Wilson than Cusack, and the shooting style and color palette of the 1960s segments – not to mention Dano’s slight resemblance to Wilson – might make even hardcore Beach Boys fans do a double take. Throw in the other band members and some clever re-creations of the group’s performances and promotional films, and this easily ranks as the best cinematic examination of the band ever, one of the best films of the year and one of the best music movies of the last decade. Though accepting Cusack as Wilson physically might be a stretch, he embodies the musician aesthetically, helped along by an outstanding performance by the perpetually underrated Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket in *The Hunger Games* movies) as Wilson’s girlfriend. Paul Giamatti is his usual stellar self as Wilson’s manipulative and overbearing psychologist, but it’s Banks who stands out. Seriously, when will she be treated as more than just an alternative to Rachel McAdams and given the respect she deserves? Well, I may have just answered my own question, as Banks could be in the discussion for a supporting-actress nod here, to perhaps accompany a nomination for Dano too. Director Bill Pohlad (better known as a producer) and writers Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner have fashioned a satisfyingly creative, if not particularly revolutionary, overlapping format. We get little bits of Dano’s musically innovative Wilson (with some wonderfully detailed studio moments) followed by stretches of Cusack’s Wilson on the psychological brink, and vice versa. And along the way, we learn to appreciate the greatness of Wilson and discover what separated him from the rest of his group. That separation is never sharper than when, in a deliciously metaphorical moment, Dano’s Wilson invites his band mates to swim out to him in the pool. “We’re too shallow for the deep end,” one replies. The dual storytelling structure and strong performances are what most moviegoers will first notice about *Love & Mercy*, which shares its name with a song Wilson wrote for his 1988 eponymous album. But the film’s greatest cultural contribution might be its revelatory portrait of a man we mistakenly thought we already knew – a man who, for much of his life, lacked his own inner harmony despite his ability to create beautiful harmonies for the rest of us. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Pride of the Pansy Craze](https://www.meiermovies.com/pride-of-the-pansy-craze/) **Published:** June 1, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gene-Malin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gene-Malin.jpg)Gene Malin Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 1, 2025 It’s Pride Month, when we recognize “queer” culture and act like LGBTQ celebration is a new thing. It isn’t. As with other social movements, the general public is mostly unaware of what came before. For many, gay rights began with the Stonewall riots in 1969. Its roots go much deeper, of course, to ancient times. But because I’m a film critic and not a general historian, let me point out just one small but fascinating historical episode: the [Pansy Craze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansy_Craze) of the late 1920s and early 1930s, during which drag performers and overall gay culture briefly gained mainstream recognition. The queen of this movement was [Gene Malin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Malin), an actor, emcee, singer and drag performer who became the face of the gay world, at least to straight audiences, during the Speakeasy era. Malin died in a car accident in 1933, at age 25. His death, followed by the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code, or the Hays Code, starting in 1934, put the kibosh on the Pansy Craze just when it was reaching its peak. Gay culture in American cinema was thereby essentially shut down until the Code began to weaken in the late 1950s and early 1960s as an eventual result of the 1952 Supreme Court [“Miracle Decision”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Burstyn,_Inc._v._Wilson) giving First Amendment protection to film. (That decision overturned a [1915 ruling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Film_Corp._v._Industrial_Commission_of_Ohio) denying First Amendment protection to movies and opening the door for eventual censorship.) Malin is mostly forgotten today. But had he lived, he would have been witness to — and likely participant in — not just Stonewall but an accelerating series of events culminating in the large-scale acceptance of LGBTQ life we see today. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For another discussion of LGBTQ culture before it was labeled LGBTQ, check out the [February 2021 episode of the ](https://www.paulmeier.com/2021/02/01/episode-37-polari-the-secret-language-of-gay-men/)*[In a Manner of Speaking](https://www.paulmeier.com/2021/02/01/episode-37-polari-the-secret-language-of-gay-men/)*[ podcast](https://www.paulmeier.com/2021/02/01/episode-37-polari-the-secret-language-of-gay-men/), which I co-produce. In this episode, Paul Baker discusses Polari, the secret language of gay men in England.* --- ### [La Gloria](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-gloria/) **Published:** May 5, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **La Gloria**, 2025, 3 ¾ stars # Borderline ## Topical drama eschews politics for truth [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/La-Gloria-Film-Still-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/La-Gloria-Film-Still-4-scaled.jpg)Jaklyn Bejarano stars in *La Gloria* with David Morse and Bill Heck. (Image is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 5, 2025 Ever been to the United States-Mexico border? I have. I went there in 2013, traveling from San Antonio to Eagle Pass, Texas. After parking my car on the American side, I crossed the international bridge on foot, with trepidation. I was greeted on Mexican soil by a single sentinel, holding aloft an assault rifle. He didn’t ask for I.D. He didn’t make eye contact. He stayed silent. I continued. The Gran Plaza was devoid of life sans the beggars who approached me for spare change. The town’s main museum was closed, its door and windows shattered. Militia in black masks with machine guns patrolled the plaza in the back of pick-up trucks. And they were the good guys. But I could never shake the feeling that I just didn’t belong. Speaking little Spanish, I found no one willing to utter a word in English. Or assist me in ordering food. Or give me directions. My only joy came with a delightful discovery of a stereotypically touristy street filled with quaint carts offering handcrafted gifts themed to Dia de los Muertos. I bought a couple of figurines, thankful for something resembling a genuine Mexican cultural moment. If I had been braver, or dumber, I would have ventured on. But after an hour or two of roaming, I decided to play it safe and again traverse the bridge. It was then I encountered the American authorities, who somehow doubted my claim that I had ventured into another nation simply to buy a souvenir or two. Surely my plans had been more devious and I was involved in a narcotics ring of some sort. So there I was, in that dusty waiting room, held for 30 minutes (or what felt like two hours) while they investigated my claims. I felt bare, stripped of my passport, car keys and drivers license. But somehow I never felt threatened, confident my story would check out and, if they doubted me, I would be able to defend myself from a position of wealth, advantage and U.S. citizenship. Finally, the verdict came down: “OK, you can go.” I did. But immigrants rarely hear those words. Most of them are trapped in a metaphorical, dusty waiting room, or, worse still, perpetually on the run. Irena is one of the lamentable latter. Pregnant, abandoned by her coyote and recently wounded by gunfire, she has nowhere to turn – except, in a Shakespearean turn, to the man who shot her: a bitter, isolated Texas rancher. Still mourning the death of his wife, fearfully protective of his property, partially estranged from his son (who, ironically, works for the Border Patrol) and prone to calling migrants “wetbacks,” Carson Tidwell is an unlikely one to show compassion to an illegal immigrant. And therein lies the intrigue in writer-director Joseph T. Walker’s new zeitgeisty drama, *La Gloria (*“the glory,” in English*)*. Cutting through politics and stereotypes, Walker, with a script co-written with Christopher Young, puts humanity and realism on display in methodical fashion. Carson, played by Oscar-nomination-worthy David Morse (*The Green Mile, The Hurt Locker*), is never a villain, and Irena, portrayed wonderfully by newcomer Jaklyn Bejarano, is never blameless. They are just people, stuck in an impossible situation, stuck on the borderline. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18546840/). Parts of this review were lifted from a travel article I wrote last year for MeierMovies. This review is also available on [Substack](https://meiermovies.substack.com/p/movie-review-la-gloria).* --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'The Hand'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-hand/) **Published:** April 1, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:**  **April 1, 2020** Often considered one of the 10 best animated shorts of all time, *The Hand* (1965) is Czech director Jiří Trnka’s masterpiece. Created mostly with stop-motion puppetry and clay, the film carries a powerful anti-fascist message. For more information, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hand_(1965_film)). And for an index of my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [The future of movies, viewed through the lens of the past](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-future-of-movies-viewed-through-the-lens-of-the-past/) **Published:** June 5, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Back to the future ## Cinema’s yesterday holds clues to its tomorrow [![Predicting the future](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/From-the-past-to-the-future-iStock-1295289697-by-Dilok-Klaisataporn.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/From-the-past-to-the-future-iStock-1295289697-by-Dilok-Klaisataporn.jpg)From *MeierMovies*, June 2024 “Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old,” Christopher Nolan reminded us upon accepting his directing Oscar for *Oppenheimer*. “Imagine being there 100 years into painting or theater. We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here.” No, we don’t know, but we can guess. And for assistance, we can turn to the place that has always helped predict the future: the past. In December 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinema, or so the story goes. The truth is Eadweard Muybridge had used his zoopraxiscope at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 to project a series of photographs, creating something similar to today’s stop-motion animation. And Woodville Latham can also claim to be the first to show films on a screen to the public, in New York City, several months before the Lumières’ Paris debut. But as is the norm for technology, the invention preceded the unveiling by a few years. Inspired by magic lanterns and Muybridge’s horses, Louis Le Prince, a Frenchman working in Leeds, England, arguably invented motion pictures when he captured, with a single camera, a couple of seconds of people dancing in 1888 and then projected the footage. But because of his untimely death, Le Prince was never able to publicly share his work. So what happened between the invention and the social artform’s launch seven years later? Answer that question and you might get your prediction for film’s future. The invention initially went nowhere, with Englishmen William Friese-Greene, William Crofts and Wordsworth Donisthorpe, and others, all experiencing limited success. Meanwhile, French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey continued perfecting his chronophotographic gun, which he had used as early as 1882 to capture 12 photos each second. But it was Thomas Edison who finally broke through, in 1894, when 10 of his kinetoscopes were unveiled in New York City. He and his employee William Dickson (who would assist Latham in his projections a year later) designed the machines for a single person to look through a peephole. Muybridge’s zoopraxiscope notwithstanding, Edison claimed the first public exhibition of motion pictures. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kinetoscope-image-from-1894-by-Gaston-Tissandier.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kinetoscope-image-from-1894-by-Gaston-Tissandier.jpg)Kinetoscope image from 1894 by Gaston Tissandier But unlike the Lumiere presentation a year later, this was a lonely experience, a performance for one, a novelty in a nickelodeon. Nowhere to be found were the laughs, applause and shared experiences the cinema would soon foster. Absent was the collective, theatrical joy. Sound familiar? Today’s moviegoers are looking more and more like those of 1894, except with even more isolation, as each living room becomes a personal nickelodeon. Eschewing theaters, the general public now prefers to stream at home. With theatrical windows shrinking or becoming non-existent, one doesn’t have to wait long, or at all, for new films. And the astonishing improvement in TV and web dramas over the last two decades, though a boon artistically, has further encouraged the trend toward individual viewing. If film historian Charles Musser was correct when he said that “modern cinema began with the nickelodeons,” he might want to add, “that’s where it will end.” There’s a reason *Gone with the Wind*’s box-office record (adjusted for inflation) will likely never be broken, despite the U.S. population more than doubling and the world population quadrupling since that film was released in 1939. Theatrical audiences are increasingly homebound, by choice. And the next phase is almost here: virtual reality and the metaverse, which will encourage people to share their viewing experience with no one, as headsets allow complete immersion and quarantine. Eventually, inevitably, social interaction will be removed almost entirely from motion pictures, and substantially from life itself. Admittedly, as with Mark Twain, the report of the death of cinema has been exaggerated before – for over a century. The artform has survived threats from radio in the 1920s, television in the 1940s, personal computers in the 1980s and the internet in the 1990s and beyond. And just as the industry fought these intruders with Technicolor, 3-D, wider aspect ratios and provocative, adult-oriented content (upon the collapse of the Production Code), it could invent new tricks to get people out of their homes. (Remember 4DX?) But something feels different now, as if the human brain is being reprogrammed by our addiction to cell phones. (You don’t even have to drop a nickel in the slot.) Add in the eventual ability of VR and the metaverse to place the viewer inside the movie and select the outcome, and the seeds of the collapse of traditional cinema have been sown. Sprinkle in AI, and the dehumanization of a profoundly humanistic artform is complete. Not everyone sees it this darkly. Some argue that the metaverse could facilitate new moviegoing formats, similar to Zoom, during which audiences thousands of miles apart enjoy a shared screening, albeit virtually. And *Entertainment Weekly*’s Brian Raftery, [in a March 2022 article](https://ew.com/movies/future-of-movie-theaters/), speculated that the new technologies could co-exist with traditional screenings: “Does that mean you might walk into a theater in 2032 wearing your VR or AR gear, watching a movie while simultaneously hanging out in the metaverse? Perhaps.” Others eagerly await advancements in 360-degree cinematography, which could further revolutionize the industry while rendering aspect ratios irrelevant. But the practical applications of these potential advancements still seem geared more toward the experience of an individual than an audience. It’s a frightening prediction, not just for cinema purists but for the “ancient race” that Harmonica described to Frank in *Once Upon a Time in the West*. Forgetting they were facing death in an impending duel, the enemies bonded briefly over their fear that modernity would kill off humankind as they knew it. Frank and Harmonica are long dead, as are the actors who played them, so the future of movies, and the society that creates them, isn’t their concern. Perhaps the same can be said for the elderly and middle-aged among us. But for you younger moviegoers, this will likely be your future. It would behoove you to prepare. Ready, player one? *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This article can also be found on [Substack](https://meiermovies.substack.com/p/back-to-the-future).* *Featured image (iStock 1295289697) by [Dilok Klaisataporn](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/DilokKlaisataporn?mediatype=photography)* --- ### [The Phoenician Scheme](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phoenician-scheme/) **Published:** May 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Phoenician Scheme**, 2025, 2 stars # Anderson, and then some ### *Scheme* is sumptuous, stuffed, derivative, exhausting [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Phoencian-Scheme.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Phoencian-Scheme.jpeg)From *MeierMovies*, May 19, 2025 Something extraordinary happened to me while writing this review. After staring at my empty screen for an hour, I finally hit upon what I thought was a unique idea: I will compare Wes Anderson, a maximalist, to the great Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer, a minimalist. But when I finished, a strange familiarity washed over me. So I checked [my review of Anderson’s *The French Dispatch*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-french-dispatch/), from 2021. To my astonishment, I found an identical twin, down to adjectives and punctuation. Do I have dementia? Perhaps. But a better explanation might be I’ve simply run out of things to say about Anderson. Maybe the acclaimed writer-director can relate, as he seems to have run out of things to say too, or at least new ways to say them. His plots are usually different, for sure. But with *The Phoenician Scheme*, he has been reduced to a cookie cutter. He’s the type that produces those tasty, colorful, sprinkly Christmas treats everyone enjoys each December, the ones shaped like trees and Santas. But they are no longer original. *Scheme* is admittedly more fun than the dry-as-dust *Asteroid City*. But it still feels like just another Anderson film, no more, no less. With this new 1950s-era adventure-espionage-comedy, Anderson has again assembled an astonishing cast. In lead roles, Benicio del Toro and relative newcomer Mia Honey Threapleton (Kate Winslet’s daughter) are solid. Del Toro clearly relishes the role while Threapleton has mastered the Anderson deadpan. He plays Zsa-Zsa Korda (an eccentric billionaire with a convoluted plan to industrialize and modernize “Phoenicia,” or the Middle East) while Threapleton is his estranged daughter who gives up her nunnery life to help her dad. Together they thwart death plots, negotiate international finance and discover the meaning of family – or something like that, as the often incomprehensible plot (from a story by Anderson and frequent collaborator Roman Coppola) exists mostly to pad Anderson’s whimsical art direction and comedic setups. Except for Michael Cera, who steals the show as a supposedly Swedish tutor to Korda’s kids, the rest of the film is a long parade of cameos. We get Tom Hanks, Riz Ahmed, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham and, of course, Bill Murray, as God, in an emotionally phoned-in role. Speaking of Murray – that most regular of Anderson regulars – he, Dafoe and Abraham appear only briefly in repeating scenes, shot in black and white, depicting the afterlife, following Korda’s numerous scrapes with death. These surreal segments have great potential but, like most of the movie’s other scenes, are overstuffed, rushed and relegated to just another piece of miscellany from Anderson’s fertile yet cluttered cranium. Among the supporting cast, only Cumberbatch, as Korda’s half-brother, the man who could make or break the scheme, has much to do. The other actors add only superfluous charm. That’s fine for farce, but except for some well-choreographed sight gags, the film is neither consistently funny nor engaging. Loaded with Anderson’s trademark irreverence and unexpressive performances, the film flounders in its own tedium. Frankly, I can’t remember the last time I was so bored by such visually imaginative, beautiful art. As Sera’s character remarks about a recent trip to a brothel, “It left me cold.” Further using the film’s own quotes to skewer it – which I and other critics do when we have run out of intelligent critiques – let me again mention Korda. After explaining his scheme to a confidante, he is told in no uncertain terms, “This is just crazy.” “If it works, it’s a miracle,” he responds. The film produces no miracles – unless you are a devout Andersonphile. And if you are, please write me, or find me at a festival, or accost me on the street, and tell me what you still find so appealing about these films, nearly three decades after *Bottle Rocket*. So, Mr. Anderson, I offer a challenge. Get away from your routine, rethink your storytelling and, for the love of God, try something different. Ponder a small romantic comedy, a drama, a quirky documentary or a Gothic horror. Show us something new, something we didn’t think you had inside. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* The Phoenician Scheme *premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and will receive a limited release in American cinemas on May 30 before going wide on June 6. For more information about the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30840798/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phoenician_Scheme). This review is also available on [Substack](https://meiermovies.substack.com/p/movie-review-the-phoenician-scheme).* --- ### [Threads](https://www.meiermovies.com/threads/) **Published:** May 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Threads** Hybrid, 1984, 3 ¼ stars # Nuclear apocalypse, by BBC ## *Threads* is British answer to *The* *Day After* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Threads.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Threads.jpg)Images are copyright BBC and ABC. Exclusive to *MeierMovies, May 13, 2025* Ever see your hometown destroyed in a nuclear war? I did. The year was 1983, and the movie was ABC’s *The Day After*, set and filmed in and around Lawrence, Kansas, my home. Though the film was traumatic for Kansans, you didn’t have to live in the Sunflower State to be emotionally moved by nuclear holocaust. Television viewers all around the United States felt the gut punch. Those outside the United States didn’t, however. So, one year later, the BBC aired an even grittier and arguably more realistic look at nuclear war, with emphasis on the long-term aftermath. The film was *Threads*. Though largely forgotten today, and stylistically odd (partially because of its low budget), the film is a suitable, and terrifying, companion piece to both *The Day After* and an even earlier BBC-produced film, *The War Game* (1966), which inspired both later movies. That older film was so disturbing for its time, apparently, that the BBC didn’t air it. Instead, it got a limited release in cinemas and festivals. [![Threads](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Threads-movie-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Threads-movie-2.jpg)Directed and produced by Mick Jackson (*L.A. Story*, *The Bodyguard*) and written by Barry Hines, *Threads* was filmed in and around Sheffield, in northern England, on a threadbare budget (no pun intended), which influenced its choices. For example, it relies too much on voiceover narration (Paul Vaughan), on-screen text (some of which becomes rather tedious), still photography and surprisingly brief scenes with abrupt cuts. (Remember the long tracking shot of Dunkirk beach in Joe Wright’s *Atonement*? *Threads*’ depiction of destruction is the opposite of that.) Nevertheless, the film offers a frightening, no-frills, neo-realistic approach to the subject, focusing mostly on two families. The ensemble cast is effective, with Karen Meagher getting the largest role, as the newly engaged, newly pregnant Ruth, who, following the nuclear holocaust, gives birth to her baby in a barn beside a barking dog. And in an “I can’t believe they showed that on 1980s television” moment, she bites through her own umbilical cord. (The prop was apparently licorice.) Though the screenplay suffers both from the film’s low budget and its rushed, slide-show feel in the third act, it retains a lot of the folk feel of Hines’ superior *Kes* (1969), which he wrote with legendary British director Ken Loach. It also tends to jumble its characters and not bring clear resolutions to all their stories. But the script, with its docu-drama vibe, gets its details right, thanks to the production’s exhaustive research. (Jackson had previous experience with the topic, directing an episode of the popular British science documentary program *Q.E.D.*) For instance, its speculation that language would devolve several years after nuclear war is both shocking and likely accurate. And above all, over its 112 minutes, it continues to emotionally escalate the inescapable tragedy. This visceral relentlessness is its cinematic modus operandi. [![The Day After](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Day-After.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Day-After.jpg)As a devotee of *The Day After*, what struck me the most about *Threads* was its similarity to that earlier American film, including subplots involving a pending marriage, pregnancy, being trapped in a basement, learning how to plant crops, etc. But because *Threads* was in the works for years, *The Day After* was not as big an influence as one might assume. Instead, the resemblances might be due simply to circumstance. It seems there are a finite number of ways to depict, in a relatable way, the destruction of the human race. Though it is regrettable that *The Day After*, by beating *Threads* by 10 months, stole some of its thunder, the latter’s style and its longer exploration of the societal impacts of nuclear war (over 13 years rather than just months) set it apart from the American movie. *Threads* hit American television the following year (1985), about the same time that *The War Game* finally aired on British TV. With three powerful films about nuclear destruction burned into the brains of the viewing public on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-1980s, it’s little wonder that Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan (who said he watched *The Day After*) took the world a few steps back from the nuclear precipice. We cinephiles like to say that cinema can save the world. In the 1980s, it actually did. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads_(1984_film)).* Threads *is available on the free streaming service Kanopy. Following its television screenings,* Threads *played a limited number of cinemas and festivals, as did* The Day After*, thus my “hybrid” designation for both movies (originally aired on television, the internet, a streaming service or on DVD/Blu-ray but subsequently received a theatrical release (general, limited or at at least two major festivals)). For more information on* The Day After*, I recommend the excellent documentary* Television Event*, from 2021.* --- ### [Theatre Reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/theatre-reviews/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![HiRes](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HiRes-1024x791.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HiRes.jpg)Although this site is dedicated to movies, my first cultural love was theatre. Part of a theatre family, I grew up in and around the community theatre in my hometown of Paducah, Kentucky, acting, doing tech work and absorbing the atmosphere. Those early experiences fostered my participation in theatre at the university level (at Austin Peay State University and the University of Kansas). Though I slowly transitioned to journalism (and film criticism), I still return to theatre occasionally — as a reviewer. I also am still absorbed in the world of theatre through my work as vice president of [Paul Meier Dialect Services](http://www.paulmeier.com) and executive editor of [The International Dialects of English Archive](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/) (IDEA). (I’m particularly proud of playing a very small part in bringing back to life the [Original Pronunciation](http://www.paulmeier.com/shakespeare/) of Shakespeare’s day.) I provide here a small sampling of my theatre reviews, all of which cover productions in Orlando, Florida. The articles were written for either [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com) or OrlandoCityBeat.com (now part of *[The Orlando Sentinel](http://www.orlandosentinel.com)*). Articles are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without written permission. All content (except, when noted, copyrighted photos) is by Cameron Meier. Productions appear in alphabetical order. [Art](http://www.meiermovies.com/art/) (Mad Cow Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Best Picture](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-picture/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [Blonde Poison](http://www.meiermovies.com/blonde-poison/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Bullshot Crummond](http://www.meiermovies.com/bullshot-crummond/ "Bullshot Crummond") (Vine Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2004) [Cat on a Hot Tin Roof](http://www.meiermovies.com/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof/ "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof") (Mad Cow Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Chocolate Cake](http://www.meiermovies.com/chocolate-cake/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Cock](http://www.meiermovies.com/cock/ "Cock") (Mad Cow Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Decades Rewind](http://www.meiermovies.com/decades-rewind/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Doubt, A Parable](http://www.meiermovies.com/doubt-a-parable/ "Doubt, A Parable") (Beth Marshall Production at the Garden Theatre; Winter Garden, Florida; 2015) [Ferdinand](http://www.meiermovies.com/ferdinand/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [The Glass Menagerie](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-glass-menagerie/ "The Glass Menagerie") (Mad Cow Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2000) [Glory Days](http://www.meiermovies.com/glory-days/ "Glory Days") (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-goat-or-who-is-sylvia/ "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?") (DiDonna Production at Lowndes Shakespeare Center; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Hay Fever](http://www.meiermovies.com/hay-fever/ "Hay Fever") (Theatre Downtown; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe](http://www.meiermovies.com/jett-backpack-and-the-battle-at-the-end-of-the-universe/ "Jett Backpack and the Battle") (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2013) [Killer Joe](http://www.meiermovies.com/killer-joe/ "Killer Joe") (Theatre Downtown; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Lay, Ms.](http://www.meiermovies.com/lay-ms/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [Mark Twain’s *Is Shakespeare Dead?*](http://www.meiermovies.com/mark-twains-is-shakespeare-dead/ "Mark Twain’s ‘Is Shakespeare Dead?’") (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Murder Sleep](http://www.meiermovies.com/murder-sleep/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Nashville Hurricane](http://www.meiermovies.com/nashville-hurricane/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2018) [No Tweed Too Tight: Another Grant Canyon Mystery](http://www.meiermovies.com/no-tweed-too-tight/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [Orlando International Fringe Festival 2001](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2001/ "Orlando Fringe Festival 2001") (Downtown Orlando, Florida; 2001) [Orlando International Fringe Festival 2005](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2005/ "Orlando Fringe Festival 2005") (Lowndes Shakespeare Center; Orlando, Florida; 2005) [Orlando International Fringe Festival 2014 Preview](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2014-preview/ "Orlando Fringe Festival 2014 Preview") (Lowndes Shakespeare Center; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [7 (x1) Samurai](http://www.meiermovies.com/7-x1-samurai/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [Simpleton: The Legend of President Trump](http://www.meiermovies.com/simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [6 Guitars](http://www.meiermovies.com/6-guitars/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [Snack](http://www.meiermovies.com/snack/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2017) [Table Manners](http://www.meiermovies.com/table-manners/ "Table Manners") (Mad Cow Theatre; Orlando, Florida; 2014) [Taking it Up the Notch](http://www.meiermovies.com/taking-it-up-the-notch/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2017) [Teaching Shakespeare](http://www.meiermovies.com/teaching-shakespeare/ "Teaching Shakespeare") (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2013) [13 Dead Dreams of “Eugene”](http://www.meiermovies.com/13-dead-dreams-of-eugene/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida, 2018) [Tiger Tail](http://www.meiermovies.com/tiger-tail/ "Tiger Tail") (Theatre Downtown; Orlando, Florida; 2013) [Title and Deed](http://www.meiermovies.com/title-and-deed/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2018) [“We Burned Down the White House” and other Canadian Folk Songs](http://www.meiermovies.com/we-burned-down-the-white-house-and-other-canadian-folk-songs/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2017) [Who, Me](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-me/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2017) --- ### [Orlando Fringe Festival 2001](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2001/) **Published:** February 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *The Orlando Weekly*, May, 2001 If the Fringe were a circus, one wonders what kind of acts there would be. A naked clown with water-filled plastic bags taped to her breasts? Perhaps, and if you put mechanical wind-up fish into the bags, you have this year’s ***Out of My Skin***, by renowned Canadian clown Shannan Calcutt. Few performers in this year’s festival command a crowd like “Shannan and the Monkeys.” For an hour, she keeps the crowd hanging on her every word and act. She shows personality and humor and is a clear favorite with Fringe-goers. However, her narcissistic theatre of the absurd is as pointless as the big round clown nose she wears. At times she injects her skits with heart, commenting on her insecurities and laying bare her soul. There are also some genuinely funny moments such as when she picks volunteers to join her in a simulated synchronized swimming exercise. But there is not much to hold the skits together thematically as she rambles through her monologues. That could be forgiven because of the show’s absurd nature, but little Calcutt does is unique or meaningful. Despite her charm and boundless energy, she comes across as uninspired and self-absorbed. “I’m tired of apologizing for being too much,” Calcutt says. She’s not really too much — she just acts as if she thinks she is. The Ed Wood award for this year’s Fringe goes to the Grimy Brothers. Embarrassingly ill conceived and executed, their ***Lights Out Grimeville, Lights Out!*** pokes fun at everything from politics to Hollywood icons. Richard Paul and Charles Frierman play the Grimys, brothers who host a bizarre children’s show but are somehow called upon to save the world. As if that’s not confusing enough, the two attempt to portray a dizzying array of other characters, including everyone from the coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs to Marilyn Monroe, in a story that would have even Robert Altman shouting “simplify!” Adding to the madness is a lengthy sequence done in total darkness with rambling voiceovers. The blackness at least prevents the audience from walking out. But even when the lights were on, both I and the actors were groping around in the dark for the purpose of this production. “You spend seven bucks…. on a show that sucks,” sings Fiely Matias of ***Asian Sings the Blues***. He might be referring to some of the shows I saw this weekend, but certainly not to his own. The Oops Guys Comedy Troupe’s new show is fresh on the heels of last year’s *The Naked Guy*, and they again have created one of the favorite events of the festival. *Asian* is billed as a lounge act spoof, but it goes far beyond that, into musical satire and improvisational comedy. “I musically exploit my Asian heritage all in the name of financial gain,” Matias jokes. Add to the list of things being exploited sexual orientation, love, the city of Orlando and the Fringe itself, and you have a funny, intelligent hour of revelry, most of it due to the music written by Dennis Giacino and performed brilliantly by Matias. Not every skit works, and like many other Fringe shows, the venue holds the actors back. But the troupe makes the best of it, even going so far as to stop the show briefly to hand out “train candy” to the audience when a passing locomotive is heard on the tracks adjacent to the green venue. Art Sake Studio provides us with one of the year’s most complex and psychological shows. ***Shakers***, by John Godber and Jane Thorton, depicts the life of four British barmaids. We see them rail against men and the abuse waitresses endure at their thankless jobs. But we also see the actresses depart from their waitress characters and lapse into a variety of other roles, such as the men they so bitterly bash and the drunk, immature women they are called upon to serve each night. The four actresses work well together and slip from role to role without losing energy or pacing. But their bad accents, their inability to focus on some of the play’s deeper meanings and the script’s weaknesses hinder the production. Director Simon Needham goes for just the humor in many scenes instead of exploring the ironies behind the actresses playing both the waitresses and the customers they hate. The customers fade into the background without giving the audience a better understanding of the lives of the barmaids. Lauren O’Quinn is the strongest and is best able to show her character’s fragility. She also gets the biggest laughs as a drunk and love-struck bar patron. Christy Moore also lights up the stage with a glowing performance that is at times both touching and humorous. Marisa Odom and Yvonne Suhor also give the play their full energy, creating a humorous and entertaining, if not particularly meaningful, show. If you want to know why burlesque died, see ***Incense and Nonsense: A Night of Religious Burlesque****.* That’s not to say that the art was without merit or that this particular production is not entertaining. In fact, burlesque contributed greatly to the art of the 20th century. However, most of the skits the Act About Players include in their combination of a second-rate vaudeville show and a religious revival fall flat. Rob Labby is the show’s heart, playing host and a variety of roles in several predictable skits. But it is the energy and freshness of Tim Dunn and Peter Halpern that create the few funny moments. Karen Monsalvatge also stands out, quite literally, in a push-up bra, as the blonde bimbo kept alive in recent years through Johnny Carson’s Art Fern sketches. The production is more a history lesson about a past art than good entertainment. True to both burlesque and religious revivals, the cast at one point even ventures into the crowd to sell souvenirs such as tambourines and gag gifts. It seems like a joke until they really start taking money from the audience. “You can find god in the strangest places,” Labby says. “Sometimes you may even find god in a shoddy Burlesque show.” Labby’s description of his work is correct, but the best thing I found in the orange venue that night was the exit door. In ***Mickeys’ Teeth***, playwright Amlin Gray shows the difficulties an ex-Mouseketeer has in shedding his past. But the play goes deeper than that, satirically exposing the strange psychological effect Disney has on us. Directed intelligently by Stephen French, the Verge Diversions production is one of the shortest at this year’s Fringe, but it’s also one of the funniest and most poignant for Orlando’s Disney-brainwashed audience. In a coffee shop in California in the 1970s, former rat packer Steve (Ward Ferguson) drinks away his worries and curses the fact that he can never close a business deal because of childhood celebrity. The waitress (Leneil Bottoms) does the best she can to console him. “Walt Disney ruined my life too,” she complains. Steve is there to meet fellow Mouseketeer Leah whom he hasn’t seen in years and admittedly can’t quite remember, for good reason, as she is more of a stalking fan than a true club member. Apparently, she appeared in only a few episodes and has carried the memory of meeting Steve with her since. Leah reunites with Steve not to rekindle her own pixie dust but to get even for the heartbreak she suffered at the hands of both Steve and Mr. Disney. Once the mouse club passed her by those many years ago, her dreams of Neverland vanished as quickly as Peter Pan’s shadow. She was left in rural Nebraska to milk cows and deal with her farm’s rodent problem. “The mice overran everything,” she says. Lori Babson, as Leah, brings out the humor and irony of the play. She captures the sickeningly sweet Disney demeanor perfectly, and her transformation from Snow White to wicked queen is appropriately creepy. And in true Disney fashion, the story is wrapped up neatly in fairy-tale fashion. Two women’s journey from friends to lovers is explored in Black River Production’s ***Stop Kiss****,* one of the most sensitive and touching productions of the festival. The intelligent script by New York’s Diana Son, the fast-paced direction of Laurel Clark and the brilliant performance by Leesa Halstead combine to elicit both laughter and heartbreak. Callie (Halstead) and Sara (Adonna Niosi) become friends but over time sense they want to become closer, despite the fact that Callie has never seen herself as homosexual. Halstead captures Callie’s sexual confusion perfectly, bringing the appropriate balance of humor and vulnerability to her role. Niosi’s character is not as complex emotionally, but she manages to bring to life the inner struggles Sara faces. Bill Warriner and Anthony James Holsten are also excellent as ex-boyfriends of the two women, as is Jon Freda as a New York detective. Two specific times in the lives of Callie and Sarah are juxtaposed to great effect. Most of the action focuses on the developing love between the two, but there are repeated flash forwards to the aftermath of a violent attack Sarah endures on the streets of New York City one evening. The attack brings the two even closer together, and the way in which the two different times in the women’s lives are presented makes this play one of the must-sees of the Fringe. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Trump deems foreign films a threat](https://www.meiermovies.com/trump-deems-foreign-films-a-security-threat/) **Published:** May 4, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Proclamation casts further doubt on his mental health Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 4, 2025 President Donald Trump announced today that films made outside the United States constitute a national-security threat. “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,“ Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” It is unclear what this tariff would include (theatrical releases or streaming, or both) and how it would be enforced. Also unclear is whether the tariffs pertain to American production companies making films outside the United States, or to all movies made outside the country. It is worth noting, for perspective, that the vast majority of movies are today made outside the United States. In addition, the movie industry was born outside the United States, though America came to dominate after the collapse of the European industry during World War I. This announcement comes on the heels of the President’s statement that he would like to be Pope (after posting an AI-generated image of himself as Pope), his refusal to state that he would abide by the Constitution regarding due process, his refusal to rule out a military invasion of Greenland, his instructions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to completely defund PBS and NPR (despite the likely illegality of such an executive order) and his announcement that he would be reopening Alcatraz as an active military prison. It is now painfully clear that this is no longer a debate about policy. It is a debate about competence. Clearly, the President of the United States is mentally ill, and the sooner he can be removed from office by the 25th Amendment, or impeachment and conviction, the better. For more information on Trump’s movie proclamation, see [*Variety*](https://variety.com/2025/film/news/trump-tariff-foreign-film-national-security-1236386566/). Also see their [follow-up story](https://variety.com/2025/film/global/trump-tariffs-films-produced-outside-us-reactions-europe-1236386675/) detailing the reaction from the European film industry. And for more perspective on his mental health, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_health_concerns_about_Donald_Trump). As difficult as this situation is, particularly for the motion-picture industry, a far more disturbing question remains: How did 77 million people (49.8 percent of voters) select a mentally ill person as President of the United States? Ever wondered what you would do in 1933 Germany or 1922 Italy? You’re doing it now. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Update Following criticism and confusion from the movie industry, President Trump appeared to walk back his tariff announcement the following day. In addition, analysis has pointed out that the tariff proposal was neither logistically nor legally possible because movies are delivered as digital content, which is not subject to tariffs. --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/) **Published:** April 17, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## What to see, and to skip, at the 34th annual fest Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 2025 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Unmoored-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Unmoored-scaled.jpg)*Unmoored* Before diving into this article, check out [my festival overview](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies"). Now, let’s start the debate! Let me briefly recommend the Swedish mystery-drama *Unmoored* (3 ¾ stars); the nuanced yet zeitgiesty drama *[La Gloria](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-gloria/ "La Gloria") (3 ¾ stars),* starring David Morse; the socio-political documentary *Hacking Hate* (3 ¼ stars)*;* the French-English romantic dramedy *Jane Austen Wrecked My Life* (3 stars); and the opening film, *Stolen Kingdom*, which I reviewed [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies"). But I cannot recommend the brainteasing *Somnium* (2 ¼ stars), though I expect big things from its director and star in the future; the socio-romantic drama *On Swift Horses* (2 stars); the surreal, Kafkaesque [*Mr. K*](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-k/ "Mr. K") (2 stars), starring Crispin Glover, though I applaud its imagination and Buñuel vibe; *The Summer Book* (1 ¾ stars), a slow-burn family drama starring Glenn Close; David Cronenberg’s new body-horror-drama *The Shrouds* (1 ¼ stars); the photography documentary *Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere* (1 ½ stars); the end-of-days comedy *Apostasy Blues* (1 ¼ stars); or the slice-of-life period piece *Eastern Western* (1 star). Among shorts, let me commend Jennie Butler’s *Georgie* (4 stars), an oddly mesmerizing documentary profile of a former mobster, and Mike Bradley’s *This Land* (4 stars), a fascinating and well-crafted doc about the Mohawk Indians of Upstate New York. Both will likely be in contention for top awards at the festival, which is significant considering the fest’s Oscar-qualifying status. If you’re a fan of Midnight Shorts, this year’s is a must-see, as it’s one of the strongest ever. (The supernatural horror *Wake* (3 stars) and the BAFTA-nominated (yes, really) body horror/social drama *Stomach Bug* (3 stars) are the best.) But if the program’s batshit-crazy vibe is not your bag, stay away, baby. Speaking of Midnights, in honor of that program’s 25th anniversary, the festival elevated one of this year’s batch to a place usually reserved for more mainstream films: opening night. That’s right, *Rushmore* (1 star), a cartoony, satirical depiction of rednecks killing children for fun, played in front of *Stolen Kingdom* on opening Friday. Though the short isn’t quite as tasteless as my description implies, it’s still way out there. And *Rushmore*‘s prominent placement is confirmation that the transgressive trend of not just this festival but film festivals in general has reached its inevitable crescendo. It’s now Midnight everywhere, all the time. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bad-Hostage-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bad-Hostage-scaled.jpg)*Bad Hostage*, part of the 5X Real doc shorts program, is one of the fest’s best shorts. (All images are courtesy of Florida Film Festival.) For more serious fare, don’t miss the 5X Real documentary-shorts program. It’s always one of the highlights of the fest, and this year is no exception, with well-crafted films ranging in topics from abortion (*The Devil Is Busy*, 4 stars), to Florida conservation efforts (*The Little Brown Bird*, 3 stars), to a weird “petrified” curse (*The Conscience Files*, 4 stars), to an exploration of “Stockholm Syndrome” (*Bad Hostage*, 4 stars). Narrative Shorts #1 is a decidedly mixed bag, but I would be remiss if I didn’t applaud the final short in that block, *Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting* (4 stars). (It’s far more profound than its title suggests.) The block is nicknamed “Kick Out the Jams” to honor Wayne Kramer, of the band MC5, who died last year. The fest traditionally honors recently deceased musicians this way, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out a linking jam to this block. Still, it’s a cool tradition. However, another tradition related to the shorts blocks seems to be dead. As recently as a few years ago, the festival usually put the more prestigious “Winter Park crowd” films into Shorts #1. Shorts #2 and #3 got progressively edgier and weirder, while #4 was sort of a “Midnight Junior.” But Shorts #1 this year — with a film about sex strangulation, a one-woman flick culminating in a one-night stand (with nudity) and a panic attack-inducing verbal cinematic tornado (featuring more “fucks” than you can shake a stick at) — is certainly not your father’s Shorts #1. If the films tackled these topics in a particularly stylish or profound way, that would be one thing. But, regrettably, they lean mostly toward silly comedy. The prestige of Shorts #1 from past years is more abundant in this year’s Shorts #3 program, with almost all eight films creating a lasting, and occasionally unique, impression. So take my advice and see the block. You won’t be sorry. In fact, you might never be sorry about anything else your entire life. (If you see the block, you’ll know what I mean.) Shorts #3 is nicknamed “Anywhere’s Better Than Here,” to remember Bob “Slim” Dunlap of the Replacements, who died last year. And that title does fit most of the shorts in the block, as their subjects seem to be searching for a better place, both literally and metaphorically. In their own, unique ways, they are all slightly homeless. *We Buy Houses* (4 stars) is the most impactful, but *Last Hope*, *Portland Is the New Portland*, *Bloom*, *Sorry* and *Out for Delivery* deserve accolades too (all 3 stars). Many films in International Shorts #2 have an aesthetic gravitas that is somewhat lacking in the aforementioned domestic shorts programs. Though not all succeed dramatically, they are all superbly crafted, with some being shot on film. The methodically paced but hard-hitting *The Assistant* (4 stars) is the best, but the charmingly deranged *The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste* (3 stars) stuck with me the most. [![Trash movie](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TRASH.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TRASH.png)*Trash* International Animated Shorts, usually a stellar program, is more up-and-down this year, but kudos to the team behind *Trash* (4 stars), a CGI masterclass. The stop-motion *Dolores* and *Holy Heaviness*, *The Night Boots* and *On Weary Wings Go By* (a unique blend of time-lapse and stop-motion photography) — all 3 stars — are also a joy. The fest concluded with *Race with the Devil* (1 ¼ stars), an action-horror flick from 1975 starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. I remember when the closing-night retro film celebrated cinematic prestige and played to a packed house. But the selection of this borderline-B-movie — though an admittedly fun romp for some moviegoers — represents the continued slide toward a “genre fest,” though I hate that term. The event still features enormous variety, a little something for everyone. But the trend toward trash is accelerating. Let me leave you with a personal rant. Upon leaving Shorts #3, I was standing behind a fellow moviegoer, waiting to cast my votes on the eight films. Peering over this guy’s shoulder, I saw that he gave five stars (the highest rating) to EVERY film. Kill me now. But before you do, please explain to this cretin that if every film is a five-star, NO film is a five-star. A rating system exists for a reason, and this “everyone deserves a medal” mentality will eventually be the death of excellence. The aforementioned dolt’s voting habits are also no help to festival organizers, who need voting variety to effectively crown the audience-award winners. Thanks to all the festival organizers, judges, selection-committee members and volunteers for their work. For more information on all the movies, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com/films](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). And for ratings of all films, visit my [Movie Lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). (It’s easy to find the Florida Film Festival shorts if you search for “Florida Film Festival 2025” on the short-film lists.) *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Great Gatsby](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-gatsby/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Great Gatsby (3-D version)**, 2013, 3 stars # The not-so-great *Gatsby* ### Luhrmann infuses Fitzgerald classic with lots of life but little soul [![The Great Gatsby](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Great-Gatsby-300x157.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Great-Gatsby.jpg)Tobey Maguire plays Nick in the latest version. (image copyright Warner Brothers / Village Roadshow Pictures) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/the-great-gatsby-1.1486662), May 10, 2013 How do you film the best novel of the 20th century? The answer is, of course, that you can’t, as three previous cinematic versions of *The Great Gatsby* have shown. Yet director Baz Luhrmann, with his provocative new take on the classic, deserves some credit for trying a new, if slightly misguided, approach and for delivering his own unique brand of grand entertainment instead of the spectacular disaster fans of the book feared. The plot hardly bears repeating. If you’re like me, you discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece in high school and were immediately transfixed. Perhaps you imagined yourself as the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a man who challenged himself – and inexorably changed himself – to achieve his ultimate romantic dream. Maybe you even took a greater mental leap and cast your real-life love as the ethereal, unattainable Daisy. But just in case you didn’t obsess over the story as much as I, you may need some Cliffs Notes. It’s the jazz-infused summer of 1922, and Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a poor stockbroker, is new to West Egg, a fashionable village on Long Island, New York. He has rented a small house across the bay from old-money East Egg, home to his cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and her husband, Tom (Joel Edgerton). Nick soon meets his next-door neighbor, Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a millionaire bachelor of dubious background whose sole purpose, it seems, is to throw lavish parties for the Empire State’s high society. What Nick doesn’t know at first is that Gatsby has invented this life not for himself but to attract Daisy, his lost love from before the war – the one who wouldn’t wait for him, the one who got away. In a tragically ironic twist – which Luhrmann only slightly captures – Gatsby hates the parties, which are thrown for the sole purpose of drawing Daisy. And until that day comes, Gatsby waits patiently on his side of the water, staring across the sound to Daisy’s, transfixed by the “green light at the end of her dock,” which, since the book’s publication in 1925, has become a metaphor for something magical and inspirational, yet just out of reach. Nick is the book’s narrator, and Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay, fully embraces that construct, expanding it to make Nick not just the verbal storyteller but the writer as well. That allows Luhrmann to emphasize the language of the novel, with the actual words sometimes springing off the screen in 3-D. That’s an improvement over the famous 1974 film directed by Jack Clayton and staring Robert Redford, which trampled on the language at times. Yet the framing device of placing Nick in a Midwest sanitarium following his departure from New York, writing the story as therapy following a mental collapse, is unnecessarily distracting. Though Luhrmann does respect Fitzgerald’s words, he doesn’t always respect their meaning. The director apparently envisioned the novel not as a character study and societal commentary, but as a 3-D spectacular with rap and hip-hop existing alongside jazz and blues. If that sounds ridiculous, you may be pleasantly surprised, as the modern music is used more sparingly than advertised. Gershwin and other period tunes are sprinkled in, and the soundtrack in the second half is fairly traditional. Still, the unconventional musicality comes across as little more than a cool gimmick and not the eclectic infusion of energy that the director had hoped for. [![Gatsby_1925_jacket](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatsby_1925_jacket-200x300.gif)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatsby_1925_jacket.gif)Luhrmann’s problems stem not so much from his choice of musical genre, though, as from his overemphasis on music in general, not to mention the frenetic visuals, which fly by so quickly in the film’s first half that one barely has time to digest them. The depictions of Gatsby’s “kaleidoscope carnival” notwithstanding, this isn’t a tale suited to aesthetic overload, but instead a brooding, heartbreaking story of lost love, obsession and societal divisions. To do it justice, Luhrmann needed more Ingmar Bergman and less Busby Berkeley. Despite that muddying of meaning, Luhrmann’s film leaps to life in stunning fashion. With superb art direction, the settings come alive but still retain a dreamlike quality. The 3-D camerawork is admittedly more impressive during the CGI moments and less so during interior scenes, when out-of-focus foreground objects dominate the composition. Yet for all this amazing aesthetic, the movie projects little emotion. After all, when Gatsby’s dream dies, so dies the American Dream, but we can’t truly hear that death above Luhrmann’s cacophony of sight and sound. The cast does a fair job but doesn’t always connect to us emotionally. DiCaprio is competent but can’t top Redford’s performance in the 1974 film. The latter imbued the role with class and an inexplicable mix of sadness and hopefulness. DiCaprio, especially in his first few scenes, often comes across as a spoiled buffoon, someone who thinks he is worthy of Daisy’s love simply because of the money he has made. THAT is not the true Gatsby. The older film had its flaws too, often failing to show much life, but it did have more soul. Daisy is practically an unplayable part, but Carey Mulligan does her best, slightly outdoing Mia Farrow from the 1974 version, though both display the requisite ethereality. However, Joel Edgerton as her slimy husband, Tom, is invisible at times, lacking the passion, the naturalism and the slime of the Bruce Dern turn from the aforementioned adaptation. Tobey Maguire, as Nick, simply does what’s asked of him, which is also all that can be said for Sam Waterston, who played the part 39 years ago. The characters that Luhrmann botches are Myrtle (Isla Fisher), with whom Tom is having an affair, and her husband, George (Jason Clarke). Buried almost entirely by the jazzy jumble of Lurhmann’s style, they never come to meaningful life, and that robs the finale of its emotional punch. Luhrmann changes some minor details of the book, and that’s fine, as a film must live and breathe on its own, and not be trapped in a paper plot. For instance, Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) is almost completely excised, reduced from Nick’s summer girlfriend to his passing acquaintance – and that actually strengthens the story. Other minor moments and characters, such as Gatsby’s father, are either deemphasized or forgotten entirely, and that matters little, too. What does matter, unfortunately, is that Luhrmann’s pacing and editing are so erratic, especially in the first 40 minutes, that we never fully comprehend the characters. The director’s style works better here than in *Romeo + Juliet*, but not quite as well as in *Moulin Rouge*. See the movie for what it is: an exciting, visual celebration of love, life and longing. But to truly understand Jay Gatsby, a haunted man who knew that “falling in love would change his destiny forever,” peruse the pages of the Fitzgerald classic. So we beat on, boats against the current, still longing for the truly great *Gatsby*. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For a unique perspective on* The Great Gatsby*, listen to [my interview with Mia Farrow](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-interview-with-mia-farrow/ "An Interview with Mia Farrow").* --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'A Trip to the Moon'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-a-trip-to-the-moon/) **Published:** April 5, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 5, 2020** *Le Voyage dans la Lune*, or *A Trip to the Moon*, is the oldest of all my 5-star films. Released in 1902, a year before the Wright Brothers invented heavier-than-air flight and 67 years before men really did travel to the Moon, the film is considered the masterpiece of pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Inspired principally by Jules Verne, the film is notable for its dissolve shots, art design and innovative special effects, the latter being a trademark of Méliès, who is considered the father of the art form. Also note the total lack of camera movement, closeups, credits and intertitles. Though color photography had been invented in the 1860s, color cinematography proved much more difficult and wasn’t mastered until the early 1930s, though two-strip Technicolor was used in the 1920s. So to achieve his color, Méliès and his assistants (who included Jehanne D’Alcy, whom he would later marry) hand-painted individual frames of several prints. As with most silent films, an original score either was not composed or has been lost. The score accompanying the version seen here is new; you might want to turn the sound off. For more on the film, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Trip_to_the_Moon). And for an index of all my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Time Travel Is Dangerous](https://www.meiermovies.com/time-travel-is-dangerous/) **Published:** April 30, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Time Travel Is Dangerous**, 2025, 2 stars # Too much *Time* ## Mockumentary is a charming, funny, undisciplined mess [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Time-Travel-Is-Dangerous.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Time-Travel-Is-Dangerous.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 30, 2025 British writer-director Chris Reading is right: Time travel IS dangerous. Even travelling into the future at the rate of one second per second, like we’re doing now, can be perilous. Just ask your arthritis. But that is, of course, not the type of journey Reading’s film depicts. As with most such films, *Time Travel Is Dangerous* involves going to the past, something that in real life would require traveling faster than the speed of light (impossible), a really cool machine (also impossible) or a wormhole (probably impossible). But narrative filmmaking is all about the impossible. So let’s suspend our disbelief and take a ride on Reading’s machine, if only for the time it takes to read this review. Based on [*The Unreason*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfuyIIIBeqk), his short film from a few years ago, Reading’s feature version uses the same brilliant idea: Two antique-store owners stumble upon a discarded time machine and pilot it to centuries past to pilfer valuable items to sell in their shop. By escaping back to the future, the women can’t be caught. And they save money on present-day purchases. And their “vintage” items bring top dollar. It’s a win-win-win, in timely fashion. “Since we found the time machine, we can pretty much get whatever we want,” the women explain. “You can’t run a vintage shop without a time machine these days.” At less than five minutes, *The Unreason* barely had time to establish this amazing premise. Instead, it relied on quintessentially British humor, fast-paced editing, an endearing mockumentary format and surprisingly good performances by Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson, who, in a weirdly meta-theatrical way, play alternate versions of themselves. (The women really run the London bric-a-brac shop depicted in the film.) At 99 minutes, *Time Travel Is Dangerous* has more than enough time to expand the story. In fact, it has too much time. And therein lies its downfall. The feature begins much like the short did, with Syratt and Stevenson reprising their roles. The feature even uses footage from the short. But we are soon introduced to new characters from a local science group, including the inventor of the machine, who never was able to make it work properly, realized its potential to destroy the space-time continuum and therefore threw it out with the rubbish. Assuming it would end up on the literal trash bin of history, he forgot about it. But upon learning of Ruth and Megan’s escapades, he and the rest of his amateur scientist friends blow a metaphorical fuse. Unfortunately, the machine itself has blown an actual fuse and stranded Megan in “the unreason,” a land between the present and the past. But Megan is not the only thing lost in Reading’s exhaustingly overstuffed screenplay, which he wrote with Anna-Elizabeth and Hillary Shakespeare, who produced. Also mislaid is sustainable pacing, replaced by a frenetic mockumentary style, which, frustratingly, is often violated when the camera is in places it never could be in a documentary. (A non-realistic piece of art need not obey the rules of the real world, but it should obey its own rules.) Forfeited, too, are truly smart ideas about time travel, replaced by clever gags and subplots involving the science club. But the most egregious misplacement occurs in the third act when the beautifully simple premise is hijacked by a completely different film. Instead of continuing the Christopher Guest-like vibe of the first two acts, the movie transitions to Terry Gilliam, and not a particularly good Gilliam at that. Points for imagination, but demerits for confusing excess. The supporting cast (especially Johnny Vegas) is wonderful, and the production design and special effects contain kitschy charm. But giving high billing to Stephen Fry is gimmicky, as the legendary actor gets only a minute or two of off-screen narration. “The most useful form of time travel would be to go back a year or two and rectify the mistakes we made.” Inspired by this quote by British comedian and actor Matt Lucas, I would gladly travel at 700,000,000 miles an hour and show Reading this review before he made his film. He’d probably ignore me, which is understandable. But at least I’d have a mind-bending story to tell, one involving paradoxes and moral dilemmas. Sure, it wouldn’t be as funny as Reading’s, but it would get to the heart of the seduction of time travel, which Reading’s film, for all its allure, never quite reaches. Instead, his tale is stuck at the funny bone. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8345918/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Travel_Is_Dangerous). The movie is currently playing cinemas in the United Kingdom and festivals in the United States. I saw the Florida premiere at St. Petersburg’s Sunscreen Film Festival on April 26. Reading and two of his fellow filmmakers attended the screening and participated in a Q&A session.* --- ### [Mr. K](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-k/) **Published:** April 21, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mr. K**, 2025, 2 stars # A single room, Mr. Kafka? [![Mr. K](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MR-K-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MR-K-scaled.jpg)Image is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 21, 2025 In *The Trial*, Franz Kafka’s Mr. K, an unassuming bank clerk, is accused by unspecified people of an unnamed crime. After endless bureaucratic nonsense and fantastical entanglements, Mr. K is stabbed and strangled in a quarry, “like a dog.” The predicament “Mr. K” faces in writer-director Tallulah H. Schwab’s new surreal mystery-fantasy-dramedy is rosier than that of his Kafkaesque namesake, but just a skosh. Initially Mr. K’s only problem is bad service at a creepy hotel, at which he intended to spend just one night. But after repeatedly failing to find the exit the following morning, he soon realizes, like the characters in the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” that he can check out any time he likes, but he can never leave. The already unhinged Crispin Hellion Glover plays the increasingly unhinged Mr. K, a traveling magician who must use all the tricks up his sleeve to find his way out of this M.C. Escheresque hell of a hotel. During his quest for freedom, he meets employees and guests who – in a Christ-like odyssey – view him first as a “liberator,” then as their destruction, then as a demigod to the hotel’s own “oracle.” He’s even briefly employed in the establishment’s kitchen, which places an almost religious emphasis on eggs. Combine the aforementioned Jesus theme with those eggs, and throw in a rabbit – yes, there really is one – and you suddenly have an entertaining Easter flick. (The film played on Easter Saturday at the recent Florida Film Festival.) Have I lost you yet? No? That’s surprising, considering Schwab nearly lost me at about the 30-minute mark of her film, when Mr. K seemingly gives up his desire to escape and appears resigned to pal around with his new co-workers. After all, if the protagonist loses his will so soon, for what and whom am I rooting? Specifically, I was rooting for a better movie. Maybe Orson Welles’ version of *The Trial*. Or Darren Aronofsky’s *Mother!* Or *The Double,* based on the novella by Dostoyevsky, whom Kafka considered a “blood relative.” Or Luis Buñuel’s *The Exterminating Angel*, which is an inspiration for *Mr. K*, with its dinner guests inexplicably unable to leave their dinner party. Or *The Shining*, which beats *Mr. K* in the paranormal-lodging department. Or maybe even *The Shawshank Redemption*. That last one seems a stretch, but swap a Raquel Welch poster for a chifforobe, and a tunnel to freedom for a worm-like portal to another realm, and Mr. K morphs into an absurd Andy Dufresne. (Like Kafka’s Mr. K from *The Trial*, Dufresne was also an unjustly accused banker.) If any of this gibberish piques your interest, check it out. There is actually quite a bit to enjoy. Though Nicolas Cage would have brought far more to the role than Glover, the latter resembles Kafka physically, and perhaps mentally. And the production design and sense of escalating madness make the movie impossible to dismiss. In addition, it’s good to see Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan again. (Twenty-four years after *The Others*, she has hardly aged.) But I can’t abide the lack of tension, existential dread and claustrophobia. I applaud your imagination, Ms. Schwab, but next time spend more time channeling Rod Serling. For while *Mr. K*’s dimension has plenty of sight and sound, it doesn’t have enough mind. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7972570/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._K_(film)).* --- ### [Sunscreen Film Festival turns 20](https://www.meiermovies.com/sunscreen-film-festival-turns-20/) **Published:** April 28, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## St. Pete event is famous for its filmmaker-friendly vibe [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festval-2025-AMC-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festval-2025-AMC-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 28, 2025 The Sunscreen Film Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary April 24-27 in St. Petersburg, Florida, with lavish parties, great weather, 16 workshops/panels and 224 films (33 features and the rest either shorts or “mid-length” movies). Held at the downtown AMC Sundial 12 Cinema, the festival enjoys a filmmaker-friendly reputation, buoyed by its great location and glorious Florida spring temperatures. It’s also organized well, with the only confusion being its recommendation that passholders reserve tickets in advance when, in actuality, they are able to walk into every screening and workshop except the few that sell out. (If you don’t have a pass, you will, of course, need to buy individual tickets.) Led by co-founder Tony Armer (industry professional, novelist and former St. Petersburg-Clearwater film commissioner), the annual festival draws a wide variety of films and filmmakers. Attendees include students screening their first films to celebrities such as actress Tara Reid, and everyone in between. It’s a great place to people-watch and network. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-Awards-Board-of-Directors-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-Awards-Board-of-Directors-scaled.jpg)The Sunscreen Film Festival board of directors pose for a photo at Saturday’s awards celebration. (All photos are by Cameron Meier and are copyrighted MeierMovies, LLC.) Movies range from professional projects with distribution deals, to locally made debut features, to high school shorts. Just like Forrest Gump’s mother and her proverbial chocolate box, you never know what you’re gonna get. Indeed, the filmmakers behind the locally produced *Jebus* proudly proclaimed that Sunscreen was the only festival that accepted their stoner comedy. So if you’re a Florida production that has seen rejection from other fests, try Sunscreen. But if you’re looking for consistently high-quality offerings, you’d be better off at that other “Sun” festival out in Utah. Thursday’s opening-night party was held at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art; Friday’s party was at the gloriously funky FloridaRAMA, which is sort of a cross between an indoor theme park, a museum and a soundstage; and Saturday’s awards ceremony/party (with a generous open bar) was at the St. Petersburg pier. ([Go here](https://sunscreenfilmfestival.com/winners.html) for the winners.) This was my first visit to Sunscreen, and I was treated well, as were, I assume, other members of the press. Regrettably, I saw only a tiny portion of the films, but let me commend two shorts: *Darling*, directed by Finola Hughes, and *Fuel*, directed by Marc Cleary. Visit [SunscreenFilmFestival.com](https://sunscreenfilmfestival.com/) for more information. And for a review of the British sci-fi mockumentary *Time Travel Is Dangerous*, which had its Florida premiere at the festival, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/time-travel-is-dangerous/ "Time Travel Is Dangerous"). *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* Photos below show the the workshop/panel on film commissions, which was held on Friday afternoon, and the interior of the AMC Sundial 12 Cinema. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-Film-Commissioner-panel-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-Film-Commissioner-panel-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-AMC-inside-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sunscreen-Film-Festival-2025-AMC-inside-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Florida Film Fest '25 announces awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-fest-25-announces-awards/) **Published:** April 20, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bad-Hostage-Award-Winner-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Bad-Hostage-Award-Winner-scaled.jpg)Awards host Meg Wittman, left, presents the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short to Mimi Wilcox, director of *Bad Hostage*. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 20, 2025 The 2025 Florida Film Festival announced its awards last night at Enzian Theater. The Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature went to *Sisters*, directed by Susie Yankou, while *I’m Your Venus*, directed by Kimberly Reed, took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. *It Ends*, directed by Alexander Ullom, received the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and *Fatherless No More*, directed by Kayla Johnson, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. Judges also gave two special awards to feature films. *Burt*, written and directed by Joe Burke, won the Special Jury Award for Best Screenplay, and *No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story*, directed by Pat Taggart, received the Special Jury Award for Editing of a Documentary Feature. Though features usually get more attention, it’s the awards for short films that really matter at this event. Because the festival is Oscar-accredited, the three short films honored by the judges are now Oscar-eligible. Those films are *The Truck*, directed by Elizabeth Rao, which won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short; *Bad Hostage*, directed by Mimi Wilcox, which took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short; and *Voyage of the Red Rabbit*, directed by Sam Gualtieri, which got the Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Award-Winners-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Award-Winners-scaled.jpg)Award winners pose on the Enzian stage. Judges gave the Special Jury Award for Courageous Voice to the short film *After What Happened at the Library*, directed by Syra McCarthy. *Snow Bear*, directed by Aaron Blaise*,* received the Matthew Curtis Audience Award for Best Short Film. Voting continues on other audience awards. Those winners will be announced following the festival, which continues today at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/ "Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies") for my previous coverage of the festival and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews") for film reviews. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [An Interview with Mia Farrow](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-interview-with-mia-farrow/) **Published:** April 16, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Actress to screen *Rosemary’s Baby* at Florida Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/actor-and-activist-mia-farrow-comes-to-orlando-for-fff-screening-of-her-first-film-rosemarys-baby-39311392), April 16, 2025 On the eve of her appearance at the 2025 Florida Film Festival, where she will screen the 1968 horror masterpiece *Rosemary’s Baby*, actress Mia Farrow shared her movie memories and reminisced about her career and personal life. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-at-2025-FFF.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-at-2025-FFF.jpg)Photos by Cameron Meier “I was thrilled when I was offered the part \[of Rosemary\],” Farrow recalls. “I know that I was not \[the first choice. They\] offered it to Jane Fonda, who would have been wonderful, and a bunch of other people. But, fortunately, for me, it was turned down by, you know, these extraordinary actors.” Farrow even claims Fonda would have been better, as she was more suited physically and more age-appropriate, being eight years older than Farrow. But once production started, Farrow says she gained confidence. “Luckily, I had that book \[by Ira Levin\], so though we didn’t shoot it in sequence, I was able to always know where I was. Now, back at the time, our director, Roman Polanski, a superb director, spoke very little English. I got very little direction except for the physical part, like your move. \[Polanski\] also wrote the script, but, as I say, he barely spoken English at the time, so it was directly taken from the book. “Obviously it was a very complex \[part\]. I’m in every scene,” Farrow says. “It takes me from a happy, young wife all the way to something different. But that’s what an actor lives for, and I had never been offered a part like that. … But, also, I have to say I don’t think I’ve been offered a part that … substantial since. … I should hope for a part that asks a great deal of us, and that part certainly asked a great deal of me as an actor. And, and we live for that, you know, as actors. So, you know, most of the other films that I’ve done haven’t asked that much.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-at-2025-FFF-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-at-2025-FFF-2-scaled.jpg)The shoot was also dangerous, requiring Farrow to walk into real traffic on a busy New York City street, with Polanski following her with a handheld camera because his crew members refused. “\[The rest of the crew\] were way too rational,” Farrow explains. “It was not a very safe thing to be doing. And Roman told me, ‘Oh, don’t worry. Nobody will hit a pregnant woman.’ \[But\] I knew it was risky. I also knew that I would be the one hit before Roman because he was on the other side of me. But, you know, I don’t know if I’d do it now.” Another type of danger lurked on the set: creative tension, fueled by disagreements between Polanski and Farrow’s co-star, John Cassavetes, who was an older and more established director. “John was, what seemed to me, a lot older at the time. And I was also worshipful of his wife \[Gena Rowlands\]. And I loved his films. So they started off on a great foot – the two men – and then as the shooting went on, John’s style of acting and directing was so organic to John \[that\] he wanted certain moves that seemed comfortable to him. He wanted to be able to have … latitude with the dialogue, … improvise a little bit. You know, his films are … ostensibly improvisational, \[but\] Roman was every ‘and,’ ‘but’ and ‘er.’ “It really came to a height during the very last sequence of the movie,” Farrow explains. “Roman had set up each person where he wanted them, and John had a different idea of where he should be. … It came to a point where they were heading toward each other in a not very nice way \[and\], fortunately, Ruth Gordon \[who won an Oscar for her supporting role in the film\] walked in and she said in that voice that could crack glass, ‘Now, now, now, let’s all get back to work.’” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-on-the-phone.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Mia-Farrow-on-the-phone.jpg)Rosemary’s Baby So what about the infamous *Rosemary’s Baby* curse? “That last scene in the movie, the witches’ gathering, … they were all supposed to say something like ‘Hail, Satan,’ \[and actor\] Sidney Blackmer just shook his head and said, you know, ‘No good will come of this. It’s not \[right\].’ Some people wouldn’t say it. And a year later Sidney was blind \[like one of the film’s characters\], and \[composer\] Krzysztof Komeda, who was there that day watching, was dead \[from a fall\]. And Roman’s wife, dear, beautiful angel Sharon \[Tate\], was killed \[in the Charles Manson murders\]. \[And\] my husband \[Frank Sinatra\] left me. It seemed like the end of the world. … I don’t know what to say, you know. I don’t believe in curses. … It might have been bad luck.” On a lighter note, one thing that would have profoundly changed the film was the proposed casting of Robert Redford over Cassavetes. “He would have been great, \[but\] it would have been different, and maybe it wouldn’t have been as good,” Farrow says. “He’s a very different actor. \[John\] seemed old for the part. … But he gave that role a kind of New York actor feeling, but Redford had the West Coast gorgeousness.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatsby_1925_jacket.gif)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatsby_1925_jacket.gif)Farrow ended up working with Redford, with whom she became good friends, on 1974’s *The Great Gatsby*, which received mixed reviews, something Farrow says she understands. “\[F. Scott Fitzgerald’s\] writing is so exquisite. It’s in the writing. It’s in the passages,” she says. “I don’t know if there can be a successful version of it because of the brilliance of that dazzling little book.” The 1980s saw an astonishing creative collaboration between Farrow and Woody Allen. Despite the well-publicized personal tragedies, the relationship produced classics such as *Zelig*, *Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors* and what Farrow refers to as the “rose” year. “We did two films that Woody and I would refer to as ‘the year of the roses.’ It was *Broadway Danny Rose* and *Purple Rose of Cairo*,” Farrow says, adding that she sometimes went out in public wearing the films’ costumes, which were vastly different: one “mousy” and the other with “fake boobs, fake hips.” She says she learned how a woman’s appearance can affect how she is treated. “The way I was treated when I was in either one of those costumes was very, very different,” she says. “If I was the mousy girl from *Purple Rose of Cairo*, people treated me much more respectfully.” Almost more than acting, Farrow is known for charity, specifically her work with children, involvement with UNICEF and trips to war-torn Darfur. “That’s been very meaningful to me,” she says. “We go this way but once, and I just wanted a way to give. … I did what I could, where I could.” Despite her accomplishments, she remains humble. “I’ve been very, very lucky,” Farrow says. *Rosemary’s Baby* will screen at Maitland’s Enzian Theater on April 18, at 7:30 p.m., and will be followed by a Q&A session with Farrow. Tickets cost $100 and were still available at press time. Visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/) for more information. *© 2025 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival to screen 187 movies](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-187-films/) **Published:** April 10, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Event to open with a “Buzz” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/StolenKingdom_4.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/StolenKingdom_4.jpg)Buzzy “stars” in *Stolen Kingdom*, the opening film of this year’s Florida Film Festival. (Images are courtesy of the Florida Film Festival.) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/disney-documentary-stolen-kingdom-plumbs-the-weird-psychology-of-theme-park-explorers-39254553), April 9, 2025 The Florida Film Festival will screen 187 movies (50 features and 137 shorts), April 11-22 at Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village. Highlights of the 34th annual event include the Oscar-accredited shorts programs, the “spotlight” films (higher-profile features that already have distribution), five film-focused forums and appearances by actresses Mia Farrow (who will screen her 1968 horror masterpiece *Rosemary’s Baby* on April 18) and Christina Ricci (who will screen her 1995 coming-of-age dramedy *Now and Then* on April 13)*.* Both will participate in Q&A sessions. Forty nations are represented among the films, 164 movies are receiving some sort of premiere (world, national, southeast or Florida), and more than 100 filmmakers plan to attend. The flicks were picked from a record 2,923 submissions from a record 119 countries. The festival will again have a strong environmental and socio-political focus, but it will also embrace anarchy by celebrating the 25th anniversary of its love-it-or-hate-it Midnights Shorts program. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FFF-2025-logo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FFF-2025-logo.jpg)Florida films will be well represented thanks to an expanded Florida Showcase block (four features) and many shorts. But it’s the opening film, *Stolen Kingdom*, that will likely turn the most heads thanks to its irresistible local focus. “We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot,” sing the animatronics in Disney World’s *Pirates of the Caribbean*. But, being robots, they can’t really commit those crimes. Instead, it’s the real park visitors, many of whom are Disney cast members, who are the true criminals. “Urban exploration” – in which trespassers explore abandoned properties and retired attractions, and sometimes steal souvenirs – are the topics of the debut film by Joshua Bailey. *Stolen Kingdom* (3 stars on 0-5 scale) is an entertaining, comical, disturbing and downright tragic look at what was supposed to be a cultural utopia. But because of neglect and disinterest from Disney itself, plus felonious behavior by the very people who should respect the Mouse, that dream world in many instances has turned post-apocalyptic. The doc is bookended by the story of Buzzy, the animatronic star of Cranium Command, an extinct show at Epcot’s old Wonders of Life pavilion. First, someone stole Buzzy’s clothes. Then someone stole Buzzy himself. But that’s just one part of the movie, which, in an Errol Morris manner, spends most of its time addressing the odd psychology of theme-park “explorers.” The film features remarkably candid interviews with both savory and unsavory characters. Some love Disney and view their gonzo adventures (and their video documentation) as an important part of preserving Disney World’s heritage, while others see just cheap thrills or dollar signs. “I kind of realized very quickly that there was a whole community of people that went and explored abandoned places,” says one explorer. “So I figured, well, you know, if other people can make a living out of this, then maybe I can make a living out of it too.” The worst of the bunch is Patrick Spikes, who was convicted of stealing and selling Buzzy’s clothes. Spikes is unrepentant, going so far as to brand himself a Disney legend. Hey, even the aforementioned pirates were “loved by their mommies and dads.” Spikes is seemingly loved only by himself. The movie lacks some of the finesse of the aforementioned Morris and can be a tough watch for those who love, or used to love, Disney. But because of its local lean, it’s a good fit for the Florida Film Festival. Among all interviewees, *The Orlando Weekly*’s own Seth Kubersky is most profound: “Disney is very fond of saying theme parks are not a museum. If you say a theme park is not a museum, you’re also implying that themed attractions are not art. And for me and a lot of other people who are theme-park fans, we feel like it is an artform and these are things that should be preserved.” This lack of artistic respect has led not just to the crimes Bailey documents in his film but offenses perpetuated by Disney itself, such as the demolition of cherished attractions and, in perhaps the company’s greatest “Penn Station” moment, the destruction of Tom Sawyer Island, the park within a park that was the Magic Kingdom’s aesthetic heart. “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality,” Walt Disney said. The world has let Walt down. “This film feels like a culmination of my entire life up until this point, Bailey told me. “I grew up in Tampa with a deep fascination in theme parks. While being interested in Disney, I was also a skateboarder and went to hardcore shows, so I came across a few of the subjects in the film that felt like an intersection of those interests, and that led me to the world of underground Disney fans. “A few years after I moved to Orlando at 18 for college and to work at the parks, there was an uptick in Disney urban exploring, so I started to entrench myself in that world,” Bailey says. “I decided to make a film on the subject, and then two months later the Buzzy animatronic went missing. So we felt like we HAD to make this film. “I hope people that have no exposure to this world watch this film and see a different side of the Disney parks. I think a lot of people will and already have viewed it as a partly comedic documentary, but I genuinely hope they take away something more profound. … Disney has become something that’s ingrained in American pop culture, and whether it’s paying $20,000 for a piece of Disney World or jumping out of a dying attraction to desperately preserve it, these people feel like they have ownership over this thing. And that’s the ‘stolen kingdom’ for me. Things were quite literally stolen in the film, but this figurative ‘kingdom’ of Disney culture has been stolen away from them and is a part of us all at this point.” For more information about the festival, including schedule and ticket options, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/). And for reviews of the films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2025-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2025 reviews"). *© 2025 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Parts of this article were originally published [here](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/florida-film-festival-kicks-off-this-week-with-a-bounty-of-nearly-200-adventurous-films-39256487).* --- ### [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival/) **Published:** February 13, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Telluride Film Festival, in Telluride, Colorado. For full reviews of the films I have seen at Telluride, go to my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). [Telluride: Gotta be vaxxed](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/07/03/telluride-gotta-be-vaxxed/ "Telluride: Gotta be vaxxed") [Telluride Film Festival 2020 cancelled](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/14/telluride-film-festival-canceled/ "Telluride Film Festival canceled") [Telluride Film Festival photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-photos/ "Telluride Film Festival Photos") [Fall movie preview and Telluride Film Festival wrap-up](http://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) [Telluride Film Festival 2019 epilogue](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019/09/08/telluride-epilogue/ "Telluride epilogue") [Telluride Film Festival 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/ "Telluride Film Festival 2019") --- ### [Filmapalooza 2025](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2025/) **Published:** April 2, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Revelry in the rain: a festival wrap-up [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios--scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 2, 2025 “When life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles,” Winnie the Pooh said. Though Pooh is a bear of very little brain, his wise words rang true at Seattle Filmapalooza 2025, which saw hundreds of filmmakers from around the world shrug off the bad weather and bask in the cinematic glow of another successful year for the 48 Hour Film Project. Filmapalooza is the international competition of the 48HFP, the world’s largest and most prestigious timed filmmaking competition. Held annually, in a different city each year, Filma screens all the roughly 120 city-winning films from the previous year, along with several from related competitions, such as special-genre contests for horror and science fiction, the College 48 Hour Film Project, the Yes, We Cannes competition and the Four Points Project. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SIFF-Cinema-Uptown-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SIFF-Cinema-Uptown-scaled.jpg)The event culminates in an awards ceremony, in which a grand champion is crowned, various other prizes are handed out and the 48HFP announces which films go on to screen at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. (Twenty-five films made the cut this year, 15 from the main 48HFP competition and 10 from related contests.) This year’s Filmapalooza was held in Seattle, March 19-22, and featured the aforementioned screenings (at SIFF Cinema Uptown), along with workshops, parties, a massive networking and filmmaking event at Harbor Island Studios and a lavish awards ceremony at Fremont Studios. Not to be forgotten was the legendary karaoke shindig at Ozzie’s bar and grill, which saw Filmapalooza Master of Ceremonies Kyle Snavely and French 48HFP City Producer Olivier Dussausse rekindle their musical bromance by crooning Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to an enraptured but packed-in-like-sardines crowd – at the very location in which they inaugurated this annual tradition eight years ago (the last time Seattle hosted Filmapalooza). Unless you’re the main characters of my favorite film of Filmapalooza, Warsaw’s *Everything to Remember*, and can be in two places at once, it was impossible to attend all eight workshops. Topics included virtual production, AI in filmmaking (enlightening but truly terrifying), social media, audition strategies for actors, developing television series, cinematography and comedy writing. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/David-Ward-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/David-Ward-scaled.jpg)Let me personally thank actress Sarah Minnich, who conducted the acting workshop. I met Sarah eight years ago when she attended the last Seattle Filmapalooza, as an actress in a 48HFP film. Since then, she’s gone on to mainstream success in film and television. I enjoyed both her workshop and the cinematography discussion by her husband, Jannis Schelenz. And I’m proud to have played a small part in bringing them back to Filma. The highlight for me and many other cinephiles was meeting Oscar-winning screenwriter David S. Ward at the opening-night screening of *The Sting*, which he penned. Ward participated in a Q&A session and chatted and signed autographs at Harbor Island Studios the following evening. That event also allowed filmmakers to browse booths offering filmmaking services and equipment, check out the impressive facilities that Harbor Island (a former flour mill) has to offer and even shoot an impromptu short film using one of the studio’s existing sets. (Those films were shown two days later during a screening of Filmapalooza’s audience-award winners.) The Harbor Island evening was arguably the highlight of Filmapalooza and warmed attendees’ hearts, which was essential because the studio, with its lack of heat, was an icebox. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Four-Points-by-Sheraton-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Four-Points-by-Sheraton-scaled.jpg)Not receiving similarly rave reviews was the host hotel, the Four Points Sheraton Downtown Seattle Center, which, thanks to its lack of a full-service restaurant, its tiny lobby and location – essentially in the middle of a construction zone – was a poor choice, according to most filmmakers with whom I spoke (despite the reasonable price). ## The winners Judging, being a subjective animal, is eternally fraught. And with easily a dozen films in the running for top awards, the awards were, frankly, a crapshoot. Still, I (as one of two consulting judges, tasked with helping the 48HFP reduce the nearly 120 city-winning films to a more manageable number), a panel of three judges (to pick the top awards) and eight more judges who selected winners in other categories (music, sound, post-production elements, design and the 48HFP’s required elements, such as prop, line of dialogue, character name and trait, and use of genre) did our best. Despite my involvement, my choices differed dramatically from those of the final three-judge panel and also from the list of films headed to Cannes. So, as I have in past years, I am presenting here my own personal top 25. But first let us honor the official winners. (Links to films are included when available.) **Grand champion:** Aberdeen, Scotland ([*Here Comes the Nun*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLcrIqx9Wss), by Dropshack) Second place: Rotterdam, Netherlands (*Pedro*, by the Antagonists) Third place: Adelaide, Australia (*This Is Fine.*, by Cram) Also in the top five: Warsaw, Poland ([*Everything to Remember*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_lbS98F8co), also translated as *Anything to Remember* by Hiper) and Rennes, France (*The Cord*, by Tabloid) Direction: Lyon, France (*Fragments*, by Metam Production) Writing: Adelaide, Australia (*This Is Fine.*, by Cram) Cinematography: Rennes, France (*The Cord*, by Tabloid) Lead actor: Aberdeen, Scotland (Catriona Faint from [*Here Comes the Nun*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLcrIqx9Wss), by Dropshack) Supporting actor: Melbourne, Australia (Lyanna Kea from *Last Call*, by Bunnitten Studios) Acting ensemble: Paris, France ([*Fennec & Pingouin*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6oPRmgbTY0), by BOA) Editing: Lisbon, Portugal (*tempodotempo*, by Fusion 3) Graphic design: Lausanne, Switzerland (Reboot, by Cheap Motion Picture) Visual effects: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States ([*Among My Souvenirs*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05AES7d-30), by Lumen Productions) Original score: Beirut, Lebanon (*EntouRage* by Eyedia) Sound design: Lisbon, Portugal (*tempodotempo*, by Fusion 3) Song: Brighton, England, UK (*Shades of Red*, by On the Level) Choreography: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States (*Waiting on You*, by Half & Half) Make-up and hair: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (*Sow Much Love*, by Coconutmeat) Set design: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States ([*Among My Souvenirs*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05AES7d-30), by Lumen Productions) Costumes: Arnhem, Netherlands (*Niemand Weet*, by Peepeepoopoo) Use of line: Arnhem, Netherlands (*Niemand Weet*, by Peepeepoopoo) Use of genre: Wisconsin, United States (*My Fair Dairy*, by Hill Bros Home Videos) Use of prop: San Antonio, Texas, United States (*The Tearable Tale of Trey and Louise*, SM/PK Films) Use of character: Eindhoven, Netherlands (*For That Which Cannot Be*, by Tweede Klap) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-Seattle-2025.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-Seattle-2025.jpg)Let us also recognize award-winners from related competitions, such as the special-genre team from Washington, D.C., United States, for best direction and overall film, and the special-genre team from Richmond, Virginia, United States, for cinematography. The University of Idaho deserves recognition for winning the College 48 Hour Film Project, out of 50 films submitted from 38 universities. Lastly, Poland deserves praise for winning best direction and best overall film in the Yes, We Cannes competition. I was not involved in judging those contests (only the main 48HFP), but I did have a chance to see several of the films during Filmapalooza, and I’d like to applaud *Idle Hands*, the special-genre (horror) entry by Vision Rey Films from Los Angeles, California, United States. It outshone the others with its retro cinematography, mature use of the horror-comedy genre and outstanding lead actress. ## The Cannes-bound films In alphabetical order, here are the 15 films from the main 48HFP competition that will screen in May at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner: Aberdeen, Scotland, UK ([*Here Comes the Nun*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLcrIqx9Wss), by Dropshack) Adelaide, Australia (*This Is Fine.*, by Cram) Columbus, Ohio, United States (*Memoir*, by B24) Denver, Colorado, United States ([*brothergirls.*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFzOpBZTerI), by MVP Productions) (by winning a drawing among the audience winners) Eindhoven, Netherlands (*For That Which Cannot Be*, by Tweede Klap) Lyon, France (*Fragments*, by Metam Production) Melbourne, Australia (*Last Call*, by Bunnitten Studios) New York City, New York, United States (*Scattered*, by Giant Cookie Films) Osaka, Japan (*Human Farm*, by 48 Hours of Work) Paris, France ([*Fennec & Pingouin*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6oPRmgbTY0), by BOA) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States ([*Among My Souvenirs*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05AES7d-30), by Lumen Productions) Puerto Rico (*Los Santos*, by Clase Maestra) Punta del Este, Uruguay (*Symphony of Silence*, by Crown Films) Rotterdam, Netherlands (*Pedro*, by the Antagonists) Warsaw, Poland ([*Everything to Remember*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_lbS98F8co), by Hiper) These films will be joined by eight more from the Yes, We Cannes Global Film Competition. That annual, online challenge allows teams that placed in the top three in their city in the main 48HFP competition a chance to compete again, bettering their odds of making Cannes. In all, 127 teams competed in December 2024. They are: Poland (*Food Chain*, by B98) Beirut, Lebanon (*In Loving Memory*, by Eyedia) Belgium (*Edgefail*, by Kluut) France (*Last Meal*, by Les Humains) Los Angeles, California, United States (*Spread*, by Baby Bird Worldwide) Netherlands (*Going Dutch*, by Shenanigans) Italy (*BOH – Choose For Me*, by Cookie Slatt) Canada (*Crispy*, by Smash) Lastly, *Trou Story* by Salada de Films, from Belgium, will be headed to Cannes from the Four Points Project (newly christened the Kickoff 48); and *Turkey Interrupted* by Shrug Productions, from Washington, D.C., United States, is Cannes-bound from the special-genre competitions. ## My top 25 For the first time as a consulting judge, I am sharing all my original, off-the-cuff notes on each of my top 25 films from the main 48HFP competition. Filmmakers, I hope you find them useful. This feedback was originally intended for and shared only with the 48HFP staff, to help guide the judging process and whittle down the massive number of films to a smaller, more manageable number for the final panel of judges. Those judges never read my comments and critiqued the films independently. These comments do not necessarily represent the opinions of anyone else associated with the 48HFP. An asterisk means the film is going to Cannes. 1. Warsaw, Poland: [*Everything to Remember*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_lbS98F8co), by Hiper. This is a stellar effort in every way. I recommend nominations for many categories, especially writing and directing. It’s imaginative, professionally made, memorable and magical. It could compete at any festival in the world. The only drawback is the slight vagueness of the story, but that almost adds to its mystique. I had to watch it three times before (I think) I figured it out. It’s quite profound. The lead acting nom should go to the male lead. \* 2. Osaka, Japan: *Human Farm*, by 48 Hours of Work. Containing a moving metaphor about animal imprisonment, this film is one of the best of this year’s Filma. I suggest possible nominations for writing, directing, editing, lead actor and set design. This one really sticks with you. It’s a stunning concept for a 48-hour film. \* 3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States: [*Among My Souvenirs*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05AES7d-30), by Lumen Productions. This is an amazing achievement for a 48-hour film. It’s certainly Cannes-bound. I recommend nominations for almost all technical categories, and likely the top award for special effects. It’s also a possible winner for cinematography. The writing and acting, though good, are a step below the technical achievements. The use of song is superb and proves the value of choosing a tune that is 100 years old (public domain). But some of the dialogue sounded a bit too looped. \* 4. Lyon, France: *Fragments*, by Metam Production. A stellar production, this deserves to go to Cannes. Though the concept of a camera taking photos of the past isn’t new, it’s used well here. I had to watch it a second time to figure out the photo was damaged so badly that they couldn’t see the guy in it. They should have made that more clear. Performances are good but not great, and that’s maybe the reason this isn’t in my top three. I suggest possible nominations for writing, editing, directing, cinematography, sound design, graphic design and use of character. \* 5. Tokyo, Japan: *Hai Kara-san*, by Great Scott! Wonderfully creative in every way, this should be Cannes-bound. It juggles different moods very well and has an unexpected and original ending. I suggest possible nominations for directing, writing, ensemble and use of genre. But the flashbacks to the mom are a bit cheesy. 6. Tours, France: [*Always*](https://www.studio-n.fr/portfolios/always/), by Studio N. We’ve seen this type of twist before but not quite this way, with an AI app. It contains excellent use of genre (possible nomination). I strongly recommend a nomination for lead actress (Léa Archimbaud), who is superb, plus possible nominations for writing, editing, directing, graphic design and sound design. 7. Utrecht, Netherlands: *A Flower Without Words*, by QV Creative. Irresistibly absurd and surreal, this is one of my favorites. I suggest possible nominations for many things (editing, direction, sound design, acting, set design and use of prop). It also has a nice Wes Anderson vibe. However, the use of character is a bit of a stretch, and it seems to run out of ideas toward the end. 8. Eindhoven, Netherlands: *For That Which Cannot Be*, by Tweede Klap. Beautiful, sensitive and powered by an effective metaphor (being pulled in directions you can’t control), this is one of the best films. It’s nearly as good as last year’s film from Eindhoven, which was my choice for top film at Filma 2024. That city produces amazing work. I recommend possible nominations for both the lead actress and lead actor, although if I chose one, it would be the actress. She has a great screen face. I suggest further possible nominations for direction, sound design and original music. The downside is the lackluster ending and the feeling that, beyond the central metaphor, the story has nowhere to go. \* 9. Columbus, Ohio, United States: *Memoir*, by B24. A beautifully conceived and well-executed film, this has Cannes potential. The performances are solid but not quite good enough to land the film in my top five. The story and screenplay are what set this film apart. I suggest possible nominations for directing, editing, ensemble and sound design, and definitely a nomination for writing. \* 10. Rennes, France: *The Cord*, by Tabloid. Genuinely creepy, this is a sort of Gothic horror story, which is rare among 48-hour films. Though I feel that it needed more time to set up and tell its story, it’s still among the very best of this year’s crop. I suggest possible nominations for writing, editing, directing, cinematography and lead actor (both are very good). But the real star is the sound design. It uses sound to tell its tale. It should win that award. 11. Tirana, Albania: *Senium*, by Paradox. This is one of this year’s smartest films, so a nomination for writing makes sense. The ending hits hard, though I wonder whether the filmmakers could have created more heartbreak by making it more obvious that she had killed herself. Maybe a final shot showing her dead with no one around? Still, it’s a fine effort (though it’s not a disaster film). 12. Toulouse, France: [*Gros Con* (*Big Idiot)*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mChf_ymdmYI), by Les Eclopes Magnifiques. This film uses a similar story to *La Grande Ourse*, the film from Clermont-Ferrand, France, that won Paris Filmapalooza in 2018, so, for me, knowing that film, this one is less impactful. It also doesn’t juggle its mood (from slightly comic to very serious) as well as that earlier film. But this is still one of the best of the year, with two great performances (possible nominations for both of them), great music (another possible nom) and a professional feel to both the story and the execution. Writing and direction also deserve possible nominations. But the use of prop is forced. 13. Brussels, Belgium: *Papa a Vote (Father Voted)*, by The Good Corner. This is one of the best films of the year, but the ending is a slight disappointment. A resolution of some sort with the child might have helped, though not seeing the child drives home the point of alienation even more. The lead performance is terrific, possibly the best of all Filmapalooza performances. And the writing and directing are sharp (possible noms for those). And it’s a great twist on the social influencer genre (possible nom for use of genre). It also uses the prop extremely well (another possible nom). 14. Beirut, Lebanon: *EntouRage*, by Eyedia. Technically, this is one of the best films of this year’s Filma, with stunning cinematography and editing. So I suggest nominations for those categories plus probably sound design. As with many “art films,” the story and writing don’t necessarily grab you, and therein lies the issue for many judges. But this is a visual triumph. 15. Seattle, Washington, United States: [*Connection Lost*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSOef2zw4Mg), by Emax Films. The Filmapalooza host city has delivered a technically superb 48-hour film. I suggest nominations for many technical categories, including editing, cinematography, sound design, graphic design, costumes, set design and also acting ensemble. But the story is a bit vague and not as emotionally impactful as I would have hoped for. It’s a better 48-hour film than a film in general, but it’s still a strong contender for Cannes. The genre and required elements are not strong, however, and performances and dialogue are a bit ham-fisted when compared to the film’s technical prowess. 16. Las Vegas, Nevada, United States: *Sow Much Love*, by Coconutmeat. This is absolutely insane, but I love it – until the ending, which could have been stronger. Still, it’s a great accomplishment technically and has some hysterical moments. I recommend possible noms for cinematography, directing, editing, sound, score, song and set design. And definitely a nomination for the lead actress, Samantha Kraly, and for makeup. 17. Melbourne, Australia: *Last Call*, by Bunnitten Studios. The idea is intriguing, if just a tad vague, at least initially. I’m not completely sold on the shoes because it reminds me of the Holocaust. And the fact that this “tearjerker” is a comedy for about half of its runtime detracts from the emotional impact at the end. But the last half of the film is really good, driven by a great performance. So I suggest a nomination for best supporting actress for Lyanna Kea. Overall, this is one of the most memorable films this year, despite the tonal challenges, and is imbued with a *Defending Your Life* \* 18. Groningen, Netherlands: *Unspoken*, by Familia Asesina. One of the best-conceived films of this year’s Filma, this movie has impressive cinematography, editing and sound design. And the overall artistry and message are memorable. Ultimately, I wasn’t affected as much emotionally or aesthetically as I should have been, perhaps because the film doesn’t build to much. Interestingly, it seems to be just as much of a horror film as a dance film. 19. Aberdeen, Scotland, UK: [*Here Comes the Nun*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLcrIqx9Wss), by Dropshack. This is hysterical, with great pacing and nutty humor. It’s very Scottish, in a good way. The film is driven by a great lead performance by Catriona Faint (possible nomination for her), but all the performances are good. I also recommend a possible nom for Olivia Caw for supporting, and a possible nomination for editing. This is one of the funniest films of this year’s Filma, but it doesn’t linger in the memory quite like those in my top 10, perhaps because of its broad humor. And it’s not really an inspirational film (its genre). \* 20. Bordeaux, France: *Mental Salad*, by Obelus Production. With two of the best lead actors (father and daughter) of the year, this is a performance-driven piece. But it’s also quite touching, funny and enjoyingly absurd. It’s a nice, quirky commentary on loneliness and has a nice ending. It just didn’t stick with me quite as much as films in my top 10. I suggest possible nominations for editing, directing, sound design, lead actor (both) and use of prop. But the character seems a bit forced (she doesn’t seem like a tattoo artist), as does the opening scene, which doesn’t really fit with the rest of the film. And this isn’t really a buddy film. 21. Paris, France: [*Fennec & Pingouin*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6oPRmgbTY0), by BOA. Paris has delivered another professional-looking film. Everything about it is solid, and it’s quite funny, especially the torn frock at the end. Plus, the lead actress is wonderful (possible nomination for her). But it isn’t as revelatory or memorable as some of Paris’s past films, and it doesn’t quite rise into my top 10, perhaps because the ending feels a bit unsatisfying. But it is one of the year’s strongest comedies. \* 22. Fukuoka, Japan: *Disposable Life*, by ArigaTO. The Japanese films are solid this year. The beginning and ending of this one aren’t particularly strong (except for some nice drone shots), as they don’t quite fit in with the story and tone of the central part of the story. That part of the story is quite touching and intriguing, not at all in tune with the “dark comedy” genre. I was really into that part of the story until the rather abrupt ending. But the performances are good, and this film sticks with you. It’s a wonderful concept. (I’m not sure the jarring rock music was the right choice.) 23. Punta del Este, Uruguay: *Symphony of Silence*, by Crown Films. Heartfelt and satisfying, this feels like a complete film. Unlike many of the really good films this year, this one has a good ending. But it still feels like it’s biting off a bit more than it can fully chew, story-wise. Performances are good (possible nomination for ensemble), as is the writing (another possible nom). Sound design is excellent too. \* 24. Lisbon, Portugal: *tempodotempo*, by Fusion 3. This film is all about the atmosphere. It enjoys great cinematography (possible nomination), lighting, editing and use of music. I suggest other possible noms for set design, prop and sound design. And the creepy mood is great. But the story, particularly the ending, is vague. I’m not quite sure what they were trying to say. And it’s not a true period piece (its required genre). 25. Denver, Colorado, United States: [*brothergirls.*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFzOpBZTerI), by MVP Productions. Infused with a 1980s buddy vibe, this film is well acted and technically solid except for some problems with sound mixing. It’s quite charming but might miss out on Cannes because the story isn’t quite memorable enough. But it does deserve a possible nomination for acting ensemble, as all the performances are memorable. To nitpick, the character is sandwiched in, and it’s a bit of a stretch for inspirational film (its required genre). But the filmmakers clearly knew what they wanted to do and mostly succeeded. \* Thank you to Mark Ruppert, Indra Van ‘t Hooft, Christina Ruppert, Wouter van Gestel, Duane Trammell, Deborah Braun (my fellow consulting judge) and the rest of the 48HFP staff – especially Seattle city producers Kirk Nordenstrom and Kris Flink – for their hard work. And, of course, thanks most of all to the filmmakers! For 2026, Filmapalooza will return to Lisbon, Portugal, where it was held last year. Olá novamente, Lisboa! *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC (photos are copyrighted and cannot be posted elsewhere without consent and credit)* *For more information on Filmapalooza and the 48 Hour Film Project, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/ "The 48 Hour Film Project").* ## More photos [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/M5-Creative-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/M5-Creative-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/M5-Creative-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/M5-Creative-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Schedule-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Schedule-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Harbor-Island-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Harbor-Island-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Harbor-Island-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Harbor-Island-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sarah-Minnich-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Sarah-Minnich-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Filmapalooza-awards-at-Fremont-Studios-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Space-Needle-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Space-Needle-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Seattle-waterfront-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Seattle-waterfront-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Oregon Film Museum ('The Goonies')](https://www.meiermovies.com/oregon-film-museum-the-goonies/) **Published:** March 28, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Fans of everything related to filmmaking in the state of Oregon — but particularly lovers of *The Goonies* — will be interested in a visit to the Oregon Film Museum in historic Astoria. And because it’s housed in the old county jail, the museum has something to offer history buffs too. *The Goonies* (1985) was filmed in Astoria, and the building itself was briefly featured in the movie. The museum is dominated by *Goonies* props and information but offers info on other famous films too. It also retains the jail’s original cells, in addition to a green-screen room for filmmakers. For more information about the museum, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Film_Museum). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-6--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-6--scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-8-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-9-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-9-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-10-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-10-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-11-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-Film-Museum-11-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Oregon State Hospital ('Cuckoo's Nest')](https://www.meiermovies.com/oregon-state-hospital-cuckoos-nest/) **Published:** March 27, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Just outside downtown Salem, Oregon, lies the historic Oregon State Hospital, the prime filming location for the 1975 cinematic masterpiece *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*. Though most of the portions of the psychiatric hospital featured in the movie have been demolished, the core of the 1883 building remains. Below you will find photos, taken in 2025, of that building, which now houses a museum. For more information on the hospital, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Hospital). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oregon-State-Hospital-5-scaled.jpg) --- ### [South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater Here you will find articles related to the Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival, held annually in the fall in Maitland, Florida. To go directly to reviews of the films that have played the festival, visit my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). [30th Annual South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") [25th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [24th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) [22nd Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-gets-short/) [21st Annual South Asian Film Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [20th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/ "2014 South Asian Film Festival") [19th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-south-asian-film-festival/ "2013 South Asian Film Festival") --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Sarasota Film Festival, held annually in Sarasota, Florida. To go directly to reviews of feature films I have seen at the festival, visit my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Lists"). And for photos of celebrity guests Stanley Tucci, Steve Guttenberg, Virginia Madsen, Barbara Kopple and Diane Lane, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-photos/). [22nd Annual Sarasota Film Festival to go virtual while regular event is delayed](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-go-virtual-while-its-normal-event-is-delayed/ "Sarasota Film Festival to go virtual") [21st Annual Sarasota Film Festival announces films, guests](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2019/) **20th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Festival celebrity-guest announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-announces-guests/) [Festival to begin with *Class Rank*](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-begin/) [Festival concludes with awards and red-carpet ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/) [A chat with Barbara Kopple](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-barbara-kopple/) **19th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Festival reveals lineup](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup/) [Tucci, Arquette to attend the festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/tucci-arquette-to-attend-sff/) [Festival concludes with awards and red-carpet ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/) **18th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Sarasota FF to honor Sophia Loren](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-ff-to-honor-sophia-loren/) [Festival announces lineup of films, celebrities](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016/) [Full summary article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) --- ### [TV & Web Shows](https://www.meiermovies.com/tv-and-web-shows/) **Published:** April 10, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iStock-997124740credit-scanrail.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iStock-997124740credit-scanrail.jpg)This page indexes my reviews of television and web series and mini-series, and includes a link to my list of TV and web shows. [Alfred Hitchcock Presents / The Alfred Hitchcock Hour](https://www.meiermovies.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents/ "Alfred Hitchcock Presents") (1955-1965; 4 stars): a discussion of the show and a list of the best episodes [The Beatles: Get Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-get-back/ "The Beatles: Get Back") (2021; 3 ½ stars) [The Neighbors](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-neighbors/) (2015; 0 stars) [The Outer Limits](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-outer-limits/ "The Outer Limits") (1963-1965; 3 stars): a discussion of the show and a ranking of the best episodes, performances and directors [The Prisoner](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-prisoner/) (1967-1968; 4 ½ stars): ranking each episode [The Twilight Zone](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-twilight-zone-episodes/) (1959-1964; 5 stars): a list of the best episodes [Click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/TVandWebSeries.pdf) for my comprehensive list of television, web and streaming shows and mini-series (with star ratings). ***Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto (credit: scanrail)*** --- ### [OFF 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/off-2016/) **Published:** October 19, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando Film Festival bigger than ever [![te-ata](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Te-Ata.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Te-Ata.jpg)*Te Ata*, the opening-night film. Image copyright Chickasaw Nation. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/10/19/orlando-film-festival-offers-up-more-than-300-shorts-and-features-during-its-five-day-run), October 19, 2016 The Orlando Film Festival is getting big – really big. Although it’s considered the city’s #2 movie event (after the Florida Film Festival, which is twice as long and twice as well attended, and considered more prestigious), the OFF has grown into a monster, with 327 movies, the most in its 11-year history. That makes it the biggest in Central Florida, and possibly the state, judged by number of offerings. Held at downtown’s Cobb Plaza Cinema Café, the festival is taking over six screens and running through Sunday. Most of the films are short ones: 258 spread over 35 programs. Of the 69 features, 44 are narrative and 25 are documentaries. Nine are foreign-language films. Highlights include the opening-night film, *Te Ata*; a Kevin Smith double feature on Saturday, including the world premiere of the biopic *Shooting Clerks*; and several films with an LGBT theme. The festival also offers parties, discussion panels and a tour of the DAVE School on the Universal Studios backlot. The festival does not sell individual-film tickets, so you must buy a one-day ticket for $20, a festival pass (good for all films) for $50 or a VIP pass (good for all films and almost all other events) for $100. And because the schedule allows one to see no more than about a fifth of the offerings, you’ll also need to do your homework, or just hope you get lucky. Viddy well! For more information, visit [www.orlandofilmfest.com](http://www.orlandofilmfest.com). *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ### Friday blog[![orlando-film-festival-2016-outside](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Orlando-Film-Festival-2016-outside.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Orlando-Film-Festival-2016-outside.jpg) The Orlando Film Festival continues through Sunday at downtown’s Cobb Plaza Cinema Cafe. I enjoyed my time there yesterday, although, as with all festivals, the films were a mixed bag and one was missing its subtitles. (I knew I should have learned Spanish in college.) But their hospitality was definitely appreciated, and it was nice to see some filmmaker friends. My favorite shorts were *Circle* (directed by Markus Kaatsch, from the Surreal Shorts program) and *Life Sentence* (directed by Alfredo Huereca, from the Foreign Drama #2 program), both worthy of 4 stars (on my 0-5 scale). --- ### [Manhattan Short Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/manhattan-short-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Manhattan-Short-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Manhattan-Short-Film-Festival.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Manhattan Short Film Festival, a New York-based festival that screens a program of films at many cinemas around the world once each year. For ratings of the films I have seen at this festival, consult the short-film lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [Short films from Manhattan to Mumbai](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/09/28/short-films-from-manhattan-to-mumbai/ "Short films from Manhattan to Mumbai") [20th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/manhattan-short-film-festival/) [18th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/manhattan-short-film-festival-2015/) [16th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-manhattan-short-film-festival/ "2013 Manhattan Short Film Festival") --- ### [Flagler Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival/) **Published:** February 23, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/flaglerlogo-1.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/flaglerlogo-1.png)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Flagler Film Festival, in Palm Coast, Florida. [Fifth Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-turns-5/) [Fourth Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-2017/) [Third Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-set-for-this-weekend/) --- ### [Changes coming to Orlando’s film slams](https://www.meiermovies.com/changes-coming-to-orlandos-film-slams/) **Published:** November 15, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater From *The Orlando Weekly*, November 15, 2019 January will mark a new beginning for Orlando’s film slam programs – both of them. The Enzian Theater will continue its slam (a showcase and competition for student, independent, low-budget and no-budget short movies from Florida filmmakers) on January 19, but it will now be known as Central Florida Film Slam (CFFS). And a week later, Jen Vargas, former host and programmer of the Enzian’s slam, will host her own event at the Orlando Museum of Art. The Enzian’s slam will again be supervised by Enzian Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson, who hosted and programmed the slam from 2009 to 2015. Enzian staff member Lorraine Sovern will serve as new host and lead programmer while fellow staff member Paige Babbage will fill the second of three programmer slots, the Enzian announced yesterday. The third will be filled on a rotating basis by student interns. In addition, the Enzian has formed a CFFS advisory board that will include nearly a dozen industry professionals, including former Florida Film Festival programming coordinator Clementine Leger. Perhaps the biggest change is that one film from among the six monthly winners will now automatically be accepted into the Florida Film Festival. The other five will automatically advance to the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase selection committee. That doesn’t guarantee that those films will be accepted into November’s Brouhaha – as they were before the Enzian changed that policy last year – but it does mean filmmakers can avoid submitting films themselves and paying a submission fee. In conjunction with CFFS, the Enzian will offer production grants totaling $2,000 to local filmmakers during 2020 and also provide access to informational sessions and workshops designed to teach filmmakers about the world of film festivals. Submission to CFFS will continue to be free, and audiences will continue to select the winning film for each of the six monthly events. “I am proudest that, combined, these changes represent a total about-face from the previous strategy,” Anderson said, in a prepared statement. “We’re moving from merely showcasing local films to an all-inclusive program designed to showcase, develop and prepare local filmmakers for the greatest possibility of success in the future. The fact that a film can now move directly from CFFS to the Florida Film Festival’s Florida Shorts program is huge. That alone should be both a challenge and a benefit to filmmakers, encouraging them to step up their game.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orlando-Museum-of-Art.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Orlando-Museum-of-Art.jpg)The Orlando Museum of Art will host Vargas’s FilmSlam. (photo courtesy OMA) Back in 2015, Anderson handed the hosting and programming duties to Vargas, who ran it until the Enzian parted ways with her earlier this year. Upon her departure, Vargas pledged to continue hosting and programming her own version. And earlier this month, she followed through on that promise by announcing that her slam would be held 10 times a year, as the Enzian’s slam used to be. Her event will launch on January 26 at the Orlando Museum of Art’s SunTrust Auditorium, with monthly winners being automatically accepted into Mount Dora’s Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo), which is scheduled for January 2021. Vargas is marketing her program as the one, true slam in metro Orlando and the rightful heir to the 15-year tradition that started at the Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC) in 2005 and moved, one year later, to the Enzian. Indeed, she is using the original, one-word “FilmSlam” name and claims that the Enzian is copying her event, not the other way around. But neither the Enzian nor Vargas owns the trademark to either “FilmSlam” or “Film Slam,” which means both can legally operate their own version, unless the real owners of the “FilmSlam” trademark (the Cleveland International Film Festival) have something to say about it. “FilmSlam is excited to return for its 15th season on January 26, at our new home, the Orlando Museum of Art,” Vargas says. “Filmmakers will have the opportunity to screen their work 10 months out of the year. Each month’s audience-vote winner will win an automatic screening during the 15th annual Central Florida Film Festival, a cool trophy and other opportunities to screen with our local film-festival partners!” For more information about the Enzian’s slam, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/film/filmslam/). And to learn more about Vargas’s program, check out [its Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/FilmSlam/). *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2013 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2013. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [15th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [19th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-south-asian-film-festival/ "2013 South Asian Film Festival") [16th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-manhattan-short-film-festival/ "2013 Manhattan Short Film Festival") [11th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) [48 Hour Film Project in Orlando](http://www.meiermovies.com/48-hour-film-project/) [FilmSlam, July 2013](http://www.meiermovies.com/an-all-star-filmslam/ "An all-star FilmSlam") [Enzian Theater Hoping to Expand](http://www.meiermovies.com/is-the-enzian-hoping-to-expand/ "Is the Enzian hoping to expand?") [22nd Annual Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/ "Florida Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation") [In Film, Short Doesn’t Mean Easy: The Lessons of *Charlie* ](http://www.meiermovies.com/in-film-short-doesnt-mean-easy/ "In film, short doesn’t mean easy") [Sundance Shines Again at Enzian, with comedy A.C.O.D.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sundance-shines-again-at-enzian/ "Sundance shines again at Enzian") --- ### [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater Here you will find articles and posts related to the Enzian Theater’s Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, in Maitland, Florida. The festival is co-presented by Shalom Orlando. To go directly to reviews of films that have played the festival, see my [Movie Reviews page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). [26th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [25th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/ "Jewish Film Festival 2023") [22nd Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/ "Jewish Film Festival 2020") [20th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [19th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [18th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) [16th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [15th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [14th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") --- ### [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sundance-film-festival/) **Published:** February 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Sundance-Film-Festival.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Sundance-Film-Festival.jpg)Here you will find articles and posts related to the Sundance Film Festival tour screenings. For star ratings of the short films I have seen as part of the Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour, see the short-film lists on my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists"). [Getting short at Sundance](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/01/27/getting-short-at-sundance/ "Getting short at Sundance") [Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour](http://www.meiermovies.com/lets-sundance/) [Sundance Shines Again at Enzian, with comedy A.C.O.D.](http://www.meiermovies.com/sundance-shines-again-at-enzian/ "Sundance shines again at Enzian") --- ### [Links and Resources](https://www.meiermovies.com/links/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Links](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Links.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Links.jpg) - [Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2022): a site that reveals what the highest-grossing movies of all time REALLY are. This list chronicles the highest grossing films by their inflation-adjusted domestic gross, the only true measure of success over time. For inflation-adjusted international gross, see [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films). (These figures differ. For instance, [this site](http://calculatorgames.info/mogul/) offers some different numbers.) - [Copyright Law](http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/fair-use): a discussion of what constitutes “fair use.” You will see images from copyrighted movies on this site and might wonder whether you can use these images on your own website. Although the issue is complicated, the short answer is if these images 1) represent just a tiny portion of the entire copyrighted work, 2) are not misrepresented as your own creation, 3) are not used for profit and 4) are intended to foster an intellectual or critical discussion of the work, they are NOT an infringement of copyright. Please note, however, that original photos by Cameron Meier found in the [Photo Gallery pages](http://www.meiermovies.com/photo-galleries/) may not be used without written permission. - [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/): the leading alternative and entertainment publication for Detroit. My reviews have been featured in the newspaper and on the website. - [Enzian Theater](http://www.enzian.org): the top art-house cinema in Central Florida (located in Maitland, just north of Orlando) and home of the Florida Film Festival. - [Facebook for MeierMovies](https://www.facebook.com/MeierMovies): Like MeierMovies’ official FB page. - [The Florida Film Critics Circle](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/): an organization of professional films critics, of which I’m a member. - *[Folio Weekly](http://folioweekly.com/)*: the leading alternative and entertainment publication for Jacksonville, Florida. My reviews have been featured in the newspaper and on the website. - [*In a Manner of Speaking*](https://www.paulmeier.com/in-a-manner-of-speaking/): a free, monthly podcast on everything related to the spoken word, including film. (I am co-producer and an occasional guest.) - [Instagram for MeierMovies](https://www.instagram.com/meiermovies/): Follow MeierMovies on Instagram. - [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](http://www.dialectsarchive.com): the world’s leading online archive of dialects and accents of the English language, as spoken by people from all around the world. I serve as [executive editor](https://www.dialectsarchive.com/cameron-meier) of IDEA. - [Internet Movie Database](http://www.imdb.com) (IMDB): the bible of movie information. - [Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.loveyourshorts.com/): a festival held every February in Sanford, Florida, that showcases short films from around the world. - [Organization of Independent Filmmakers (OIF)](https://independentfilmmakers.org/): a Florida-based film group that promotes independent cinema and holds short-filmmaking competitions. - *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com)*: the leading alternative and entertainment publication for Orlando, Florida. My reviews and entertainment news articles have been featured in the newspaper and on the website. - [Paul Meier Dialect Services](http://www.paulmeier.com): a site devoted to dialect and accent instruction for actors. In addition to being a film critic, I serve as vice president of PMDS, which my father, Paul Meier, founded. (For a great audioblog from Paul about the importance of respectful, accurate dialect coaching in film, click [here](http://www.paulmeier.com/bridging-cultural-divides-through-dialect-coaching/).) - [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/cameron-meier/): the leading film-review aggregator and archive of critics’ reviews. See how my opinions compare to those of other critics. - *[The San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/)*: the leading alternative and entertainment publication for San Antonio, Texas. My reviews have been featured in the newspaper and on the website. - [Tampa Theatre](http://tampatheatre.org/): a great, old movie palace from the 1920s in downtown Tampa, Florida, which hosts new films, classic movies and live events. If you’ve never seen a silent film accompanied by a live Wurlitzer organ, this is the place to do it. - [X (Twitter) for MeierMovies](https://twitter.com/MeierMovies): Follow MeierMovies on X, formerly known as Twitter. --- ### [CenFlo celebrates 10 years](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) **Published:** September 7, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![DSC00836](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00836-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00836.jpg)Festival founder and director Bob Cook. All photos by Cameron Meier. (Click to enlarge.) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/09/08/cenflo-film-festival-celebrates-10-years), September 8, 2015 The 2015 Central Florida Film Festival came to a close Sunday with an awards ceremony and a tribute to filmmakers who have been part of the event over the last 10 years. This year’s fest screened 57 films (eight documentary features, 11 narrative features and 38 shorts) over three days at the West Orange 5 Cinema in Ocoee, Florida. Special guest Dan Haggerty, who was scheduled to attend a screening of *The Capture of Grizzly Adams*, was unable to attend because of health issues.[![DSC00813](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00813-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00813.jpg) Festival director Bob Cook held the first event in 2006, and the first three years were hosted by the Osceola Center for the Arts in Kissimmee, Florida, before the event moved to Ocoee. Attendance averages just under 2,000 each year, making it one of the most popular small festivals in Central Florida. It attracts slightly fewer patrons than Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival but a bit more than the Enzian’s Jewish and South Asian festivals. (The Florida Film Festival easily takes the top spot, with the Orlando Film Festival in second.) [![DSC00817](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00817-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00817.jpg)Luca Elmi, director of *Roman Citizen* Though Cook would love to see more guests, he says, for him, it’s all about providing the best networking opportunities for his filmmakers while “putting on a show” for all. Although he admitted he started the festival so he could personally network with his fellow filmmakers, he soon realized he had the ability to help others. “If I can network, why can’t everyone?” he says. In addition to screenings, panel discussions, Q&As and a slickly produced awards ceremony, the 2015 event featured multiple parties and a Sunday brunch at the nearby Sabal Hotel on Colonial Drive.[![DSC00828](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00828-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00828.jpg) For the public, festival tickets range from $10 for a single screening to $125 for an “all-access” pass, which allows entry to all events plus complimentary food and drink. As with almost all other small festivals, quality is hit-or-miss. I saw just four features, and, regrettably, all were misses. *Driving While Black*, directed by Paul Sapiano, was the best of the bunch and had its heart in the right place, but the darkly comedic social commentary suffered from structural malaise and performances that ranged from effective to mediocre. Still, it was far better than the 2005 amateur horror film *Feast*, which occupied the “special screening” slot on Saturday night and offered audiences little more than genre schlock and a healthy heaping of blood. [![DSC00840](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00840-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00840.jpg)Henry Davies, director of *Caring for the Recently Deceased* For audiences not into mindless gore, the festival offered the faith-based *Hoovey* in the same time slot. Directed by Sean McNamara and featuring Lauren Holly, Patrick Warburton (David Puddy on *Seinfeld*) and Cody Linley, it features solid production value but degenerates quickly into a heavy-handed and embarrassingly obvious exercise in proselytism. But I guess some people enjoyed it – because it was awarded best feature. [![DSC00848](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00848-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00848.jpg)Sonny Dyon, director of *Clarity* I save my harshest criticism for *The Conspiracy Project*. Directed and written by and starring Neal Fox, this pseudo-documentary is both amateur filmmaking and irresponsible journalism. Mixing truth with lies, Fox seems to throw ideas and events at the screen just to provoke us, without taking responsibility for anything or creating a comprehensible piece of entertainment. By playing fast and loose with facts, and frightening us with unreliable statistics, Fox is guilty of the same crime he accuses society of: spreading ignorance and fear. It’s as if the dumbest conspiracy theorist crapped a musical PowerPoint presentation. [![TL and Dale](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/TL-and-Dale-279x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/TL-and-Dale.jpg)Local filmmakers TL Westgate (*M-Theory*) and Dale Metz Thankfully, some of the shorts were better. I screened 22 of the 38, and my favorites were Christopher Leps’ *Muse*, which won best dramatic short; Dustin Whitehead’s *Somewhere in the Midwest*; and James Everett’s *I’ll be Home Soon*. Henry Davies’ *Caring for the Recently Deceased* and Sonny Dyon’s *Clarity* also received raves, the former winning both best foreign project and best comedic short and the latter taking home the audience award, but I saw neither. (The festival has three screens, making it difficult, though not impossible, to see everything. You just have be there almost all day every day and, sadly, give up some of the free wine.) [![Diane and Tom](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Diane-and-Tom-172x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Diane-and-Tom.jpg)CenFlo supporters Diane Wilson and Tom Judd The rest of the shorts ranged from entertaining to “nice try” to cringe-worthy. However, as a networking and social event, the festival was a solid thumbs-up, as evidenced by the loyal following of filmmakers who return year after year. (This year’s fest saw 35 of the 55 filmmakers in attendance, and 19 of those had been to the event before.) Next year’s festival is again scheduled for Labor Day Weekend. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [CenFlo moves to Mount Dora](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-moves-to-mount-dora/) **Published:** September 5, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival also sees change in dates, leadership [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Epic-Theatres-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Epic-Theatres-1.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cenflo-film-fest-makes-moves-on-the-way-to-mount-dora/Content?oid=18012390), September 5, 2018 The Central Florida Film Festival is reinventing itself, with new leadership, different dates and a move from Ocoee to Mount Dora. Former director Bob Cook has handed the reins to local filmmaker and theater director Brendon Rogers, who has shifted not just the festival’s location but its dates. Usually held on Labor Day weekend, it will now be held September 7-9. The move to Mount Dora was influenced by four factors. First, Cook’s relationship with Ocoee’s West Orange Cinema (the festival’s former home) was ending. Second, Ocoee was never particularly friendly toward the festival, according to Cook. Third, Mount Dora’s new Epic Theatres seemed to both Rogers and Cook to be a good venue. And fourth, Mount Dora already had a reputation as a festival-friendly town. “Mount Dora is known as the festival city. They have the art festival every year,” Rogers says. “But they also have other things. They always have smaller festivals throughout the entire year, so it’s an arts city, … and there is an appetite for the arts. We’ve gotten a good response from the community … And the fact that \[Epic\] Theatres was being built there – it just seemed like a natural fit.” The date change was due to a request from Epic Theatres, but Rogers says he suspects the weekend after Labor Day might be more convenient for festival-goers. He also admits that attendees – who numbered around 2,000 each year in Ocoee – are different in Mount Dora. “The demographic in Mount Dora is much different,” Rogers says. “I mean you have a lot more retired people. It’s a bit more of a suburban atmosphere. It’s not quite Ocoee.” For that reason, Rogers says he decided to rent three screens on all three days of the festival, instead of just two on the first day, as Cook did at West Orange Cinema. That means that although the festival is showing about 10 fewer films than it did in 2017, the number of screenings will actually increase. That will allow for a larger Friday crowd and also make it easier to see all the movies. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Mindy-Sterling-in-Austin-Powers.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Mindy-Sterling-in-Austin-Powers.jpg)Mindy Sterling in *Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery* The 13th annual festival will include 66 films (17 feature-length movies and 49 shorts) across many genres. New this year is a shorts program devoted to suspense. CenFlo has always been a friend to Orlando filmmakers, perhaps because it’s actually run by them. “We are local filmmakers. They’re our people,” says Rogers, whose own movies played the festival in 2015 and 2016. “\[The festival\] gives them a venue \[for their films\] that couldn’t be seen in a larger venue. And, thankfully, we have several this year that are local films.” *Testament*, directed by UCF film faculty member Tim Ritter, was filmed locally, with local actors. Other locally produced movies include the shorts *Your Carriage Awaits*, *Senses* and *Outer*, the feature *Sam and Elvis* (based on a local play) and Jacqueline Siegel’s own follow-up to the award-winning documentary *The Queen of Versailles*, titled *The Princess of Versailles*. Siegel won’t be the only celebrity in attendance. Mindy Sterling will attend a screening of *Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery* (in which she plays Frau Farbissina), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa will screen *Mortal Kombat* (in which he plays Shang Tsung), and Stan Zimmerman will present *The Brady Bunch Movie*, which he co-wrote. Other guests will include actor Greg Pitts, comic-book artist George Perez and actress Lisa London, who will screen her 2015 short, *Finding Momma.* A single film costs $10, an all-day pass goes for $35, and a three-day pass is $100. Events include not just screenings, but panel discussions, a screenwriting competition and year-round educational workshops. For more information, see [www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/](http://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Best of Film Festival to debut](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-film-festival-to-debut/) **Published:** May 9, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Wyndham Orlando to host fest, job fair [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BFFlogo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BFFlogo.png)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/09/wyndham-orlando-resort-to-host-new-film-festival-and-job-fair), May 9, 2017 When is a first-year festival really not a first-year festival? When it’s comprised of the best films from already established events. Such is the case for the Best of Film Festival (BFF), which will hold its inaugural event Saturday, May 13, at the Wyndham Orlando Resort’s convention center, near the corner of International Drive and Sand Lake Road. The festival will include 54 short films and a free job fair focusing on employment opportunities in the movie industry. The all-day event will include some of the best movies from the Love Your Shorts Film Festival, STARTFEST (a student festival), the End of Days Film Festival and the 48 Hour Film Project. In addition, it will feature the first FantaSci Short Film Festival, which will screen short fantasy and science fiction movies. “BFF began as an idea between three local film festival coordinators,” says Kyle Snavely, founder and director of STARTFEST and the Orlando city producer for the 48 Hour Film Project. “We were sitting around talking about the efforts we all had to make to secure a location, promote and host a film festival. There are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes. So we decided to team up. Not only has this made the process easier from an individual standpoint since we’re able to divvy up responsibilities – which ultimately improves the final product – but because this is a collaboration, we’re able to provide the best content from each festival. “We’re simultaneously hosting a free job fair for people looking for work in film/video as well,” says Snavely. “This all-day event is a place to mingle with other local filmmakers and production companies.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Orlando-Wyndham.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Orlando-Wyndham.jpg)Local filmmaker Trent Duncan, founder and director of the End of Days Film Festival, is the second piece of the organizational puzzle. “The End of Days Film Festival is a great fit for the BFF because we showcase apocalyptic-themed films that have grown in popularity over the years in our culture,” Duncan says. Expanding on that science-fiction theme is the new FantaSci Short Film Festival, founded by the third BFF puzzle piece, local filmmaker TL Westgate. “I had a short sci-film film on the festival circuit a few years ago and found there to be a lack of sci-fi-specific festivals, so I’ve been wanting to start my own for a while,” Westgate says. “I knew Trent and Kyle ran their own festivals, and they were getting ready for their next yearly installments when they prompted me to stop thinking about it and do it. And in doing so, we were able to combine our fests into something bigger, which is a great start for mine, as first-year fests can sometimes be lackluster. I’ve had great success out of the gate with over 80 entries, and next year we’re hoping to expand our concept to multiple days to accommodate screening more of these excellent films. Future goals include bringing in genre-favorite celebrities as well.” The job fair runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with films beginning at noon. First up are nine films from the Love Your Shorts Film Festival from 12 to 1:15 p.m., followed by 17 STARTFEST films from 1:45 to 3 p.m., 10 FantaSci films from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. and nine End of Days films from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. After a dinner break, the fest will conclude with nine of the best films from the 2017 Orlando 48 Hour Film Project from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., the 48 Hour Film Project’s awards ceremony and a wrap party starting at 10:30 p.m. A ticket to a single block of films is $5 while a ticket to everything is $15. However, if you purchased a ticket to the 48 Hour Film Project screenings last weekend, that ticket is good for all the BFF screenings. For more information on the FantasSci Short Film Festival, [go here](http://www.fantascifilmfest.com/). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Flagler Film Festival turns 5](https://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-turns-5/) **Published:** January 8, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Flagler-Film-2018-Poster-to__-customer.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Flagler-Film-2018-Poster-to__-customer.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 8, 2018 The Hilton Garden Inn, in Palm Coast, Florida, will host the fifth annual Flagler Film Festival, January 12-14. The festival, which takes place in the hotel’s convention room, will screen 55 independent films (nine features and 46 shorts). Though the event is not a big one – drawing a small, local crowd – it’s considered a good networking experience for Central Florida moviemakers. Speaking of the Sunshine State, the festival will screen 16 films from Florida filmmakers, including ones from Orlando filmmakers Fred Zara, TL Westgate, Dale Metz, Michelle Brown and Christina Carmona. In addition to the local flavor, the festival features a surprisingly large number of international films, including *You Go to My Head* (a Belgium/French/German feature drama shot in Morocco), *Thou Art Dublin* (an Irish documentary feature) and *F\*\*K It, It’s Over* (a British documentary feature). Student and first-time filmmakers hail from the American Film Academy (*Lawman*), Florida State University (*The Wednesday Sessions*, *Caretaker*, *Jeremy*), Miami Dade College (*Thicker Than Paint*), Full Sail University (*Magic Mouse*) and Florida Film Academy (*The Pen*). Short films will be presented in five blocks spread across the three days. Block themes include “anything goes/light,” “horror/thriller/anything goes/dark,” “anything goes/drama/dark,” drama and documentary. A single block costs $5 in advance while a one-day pass is $10 in advance. An all-festival pass is $25 in advance. Tickets are also available at the door and cost $7 for a single block, $14 for an all-day pass and $35 for an all-festival pass. Now if the festival could just get the hotel to give steeper discounts to festival-goers ($105 for a room is a bit ridiculous) and keep their bar open all day for the filmmakers, everyone would be a bit happier. Still, Sunday night’s awards ceremony and party is usually fun. And if you get tired of the lack of amenities at the Hilton Garden Inn, the Funky Pelican oceanside bar and restaurant in Flagler Beach is just five miles away. ## Festival in review The fifth annual Flagler Film Festival concluded on Sunday night with an impressive block of dramatic short films and a cake-and-champagne-filled awards ceremony hosted by Festival Director Kathryn Barry and Orlando filmmaker Christina Carmona (who picked up an award of her own for directing the best “micro-short,” *Blink*). Though I saw just 26 of the 55 films, several of those are worthy of mention. ***A Soldier’s Rest*** (3 stars on 0-5 scale; winner of the award for best dramatic short), marks an impressive film debut for producer/writer/actor Shane Willis. Centered on a military veteran’s dark deed of revenge, the 14-minute movie, which is directed by Jeff Rose, is well acted and paced, and deliciously twisty. Even better is the 17-minute ***Birthday Cake*** (4 stars), directed by Brantly Jackson Watts. Though the domestic-abuse story is rather conventional, it’s presented in an unexpectedly poetic manner and buoyed by strong acting and editing. Among documentary shorts, ***The Fourth Kingdom*** (by Adan Aliaga and Alex Lora) and ***Five Awake*** (by Susan Willis and Donna Dees) – both 3 stars – were worth a watch. But the best movie I saw all weekend was ***The Shepherd***, a 22-minute Dutch documentary originally created for television by Joust van der Wiel. An emotionally moving yet understated glimpse at 92-year-old doctor and Holocaust survivor Nico van Hasselt, the short has more to say about human compassion that most films four times its length. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Flagler Film Festival set for this weekend](https://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-set-for-this-weekend/) **Published:** January 14, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![flaglerlogo-1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/flaglerlogo-1.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/flaglerlogo-1.png)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/01/14/third-annual-flagler-film-festival-scheduled-for-this-weekend)*, January 14, 2016 The third annual Flagler Film Festival will be held January 15-17 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast, Florida. The festival is open to the public, with ticket prices ranging from $5 for a single block, to $10 for a day, to $25 for the entire weekend. But because the event showcases many low-budget and no-budget shorts and features from independent filmmakers, in a no-frills setting, it’s viewed primarily as a networking opportunity for local moviemakers. Indeed, participants view it as a chance to not just meet filmmakers from both in and outside Florida but to get some much-appreciated cinematic encouragement. “As a first-time filmmaker submitting a comedic short about a condom and doomsday preppers, I was ready to face a lot of rejection,” says Denise De La Vega, a Miami filmmaker whose short movie, *January’s Waiting*, will screen on Friday. “Imagine my surprise that not only was my film accepted, but it was even nominated for a couple of awards. It’s pretty exciting to be part of a festival that takes a chance by screening indie filmmakers.” The festival received roughly 150 submissions this year, according to Director Kathie Barry, and will screen 49 of them. The program includes 37 short films and 12 features (films of 40 minutes or more), in 15 themed blocks that include comedy, drama, horror/thriller, documentary, anything goes (light) and anything goes (dark). Although about half the films are from Florida, others come from as far away as Spain, Uganda and Australia. Almost every block will be followed by a Q&A session with the attending filmmakers, and the event will end with an awards ceremony on Sunday night at 10 p.m. Despite the festival’s emphasis on new filmmakers, at least one actress needs no introduction: *Gone with the Wind* star Olivia de Havilland, who narrates *I Remember Better When I Paint*. The 2009 documentary about Alzheimer’s plays on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. Also of note are *Ride or Die* and *Carnet de Gaviota*, which were accepted into the Cannes Film Festival. Though the small convention-room setting will remain the same this year, one difference will be the improved quality of the presentation. “Last year at Flagler, films were screened from DVD, so in standard-definition format or a maximum resolution of 720 x 480 pixels,” says Orlando filmmaker Dale Metz, who is serving as technical adviser. “This year, the festival encouraged filmmakers to submit their entries with online screeners so that the screening committee could view the films, usually in high-definition format (1280 x 720 pixels or 1920 x 1080 pixels) without having to pass around DVD discs. This is a slightly ‘greener’ approach. … “A festival that values the way the film looks and sounds during the event screening is likely highly regarded by the filmmaker who put considerable effort and consideration into how their film should look to an audience. \[This year\] the festival will utilize high-definition projection equipment and a professional live-performance sound system to provide the very best viewing experience given the impromptu theater environment.” *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Flagler Film Festival 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-2017/) **Published:** January 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Palm Coast event celebrates fourth year From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/01/09/flagler-film-festival-celebrates-4th-year), January 9, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Flagler-Film-Festival-logo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Flagler-Film-Festival-logo.jpg)The fourth annual Flagler Film Festival will be held January 13-15 in Palm Coast. The Hilton Garden Inn will again host the event, which will screen five feature films and 55 shorts. The festival is held in a hotel conference room and attracts roughly 400 attendees. Because of its small size, it is viewed predominantly as a networking opportunity for filmmakers, in addition to a draw for Flagler Beach and Palm Coasts residents. Although many of the movies come from filmmakers across the United States, and even outside the country, the festival is heavy on Florida content. Filmmakers from the Orlando area will include Scott Mena (*Talking to Myself*), Kevin J. O’Neill (*Undertaking*), William Bajalia (*Shoelaces*), Steven Schoen (*Groaning from the Soul*), TL Westgate (*Shadows in the Dark* and *Resolution*), Dale Metz (*Manifest Destiny*) and Christina Carmona (*The 13th Hour*). Other notable movies will include *The Call from the Sea* by Florida filmmaker Taylor McNulty; *Cuerdas* (Strings), an animated movie from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Solis Garcia; *The Telegram Man*, a drama from Australian director James Francis Khehtie; *Seed: The Untold Story*, a documentary that *The Los Angeles Times* called a “gorgeously made film”; and *Nathan East: For the Record*, a feature about bass player Nathan East that includes interviews with Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Quincy Jones and Al Jarreau. What does the future hold for the festival? “I would like to see it grow to be large enough to have it at a somewhat larger local venue, but we don’t have a mid-size facility available right now in Flagler County,” says Director Kathie Barrie. “I do like the intimate size of the venue we are using right now. I find it to be relaxed and small enough for people to gather and mingle with other audience \[members\] and to meet the filmmakers and their casts and crews. We like the location right off of I-95 and that visitors from out of town can stay right where the festival is being held. I have filmmakers attending this year from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto \[Ontario, Canada\]. Longer term, our area is growing very rapidly, and I know some new facilities are in the works. It may be a few years out, but I believe the festival should continue to grow and will attract more filmmakers and audience each year.” A single film block costs $5 while a one-day pass is $10. A pass for all three days is $25. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando gets its '15 Minutes of Fame'](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-gets-its-15-minutes-of-fame/) **Published:** April 27, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### 15-Minutes of Fame Film Festival comes to International Drive [![15-Minutes of Fame Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/15-Minutes-of-Fame-Film-Festival-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/15-Minutes-of-Fame-Film-Festival.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/04/23/15-minutes-of-fame-film-festival-to-hit-i-drive)*, April 23, 2015 The Florida Film Festival has been over for less than a week. But if you’re a festival junkie and can’t wait for Fringe, fear not, for the 15-Minutes of Fame Film Festival has relocated from Cocoa Beach to Orlando and will be screening roughly 50 short movies this weekend – for free – at the International Palms Resort and Conference Center on I-Drive. This mini-festival has an odd history. Although this is its seventh year – and 12th festival, thanks to its sporadic scheduling – this is its first time in Orlando, which means expectations should be kept to a minimum regarding the quality and the display of the films. However, three factors make the festival more attractive than it might appear at first glance. First, it’s in an area sorely lacking in festivals – but not in audience. The hotel, at 6515 International Drive, is in the heart of tourist country, halfway between Sand Lake Road and Wet ‘n Wild. Second, it’s a nice showcase for local filmmakers, some of whom will be in attendance. In this respect, it has a lot in common with the Enzian’s monthly FilmSlam, though many of the 56 films being show here may share FilmSlam’s low-budget and student-film feel. Still, with dramas, comedies, thrillers, animated films, experimental movies, music videos and documentaries from around the world, there may be some topnotch surprises. Third, the event is free and promises complimentary parking as well. That convenience, combined with the easy-to-follow schedule of hour-long blocks, makes this one of the most user-friendly mini-festivals ever. “For the past six years, our screenings have all been in Brevard County in a variety of different venues,” says co-director Migdalia Etheridge, who runs the event with her husband, Ray. “We moved the festival into Orlando this year because it is more centrally located, making it easier for filmmakers to attend. All of the screenings will be in one room, so that the audience will not miss any. \[Dolphin Room\] capacity is 100, so getting a seat will not be a problem.” As with smaller festivals, however, don’t expect stadium seating or movie-palace projection. “We are completely non-sponsored and have been able to offer our shows free by sticking to a no-frills approach to our presentation,” Etheridge says. “The films are projected onto a pulldown seven-foot screen from desktop DLP projectors. We use either Blu-ray or standard DVDs, depending on how the movies were sent to us. There are also awards, without the expensive banquet, and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. We try to keep everything casual, and the filmmakers seem to appreciate that. There is plenty of time for networking, and it’s always fun.” Belying the festival’s name, films run from 5 to 27 minutes. (We also have no explanation for the unnecessary hyphen in the event title.) The event will take place from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday, and from noon until 7 p.m. on Sunday. No tickets or reservations are required. [Go here](https://aug2025.odoo.com/) for more information on the festival. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Cosmic Film Festival to launch](https://www.meiermovies.com/cosmic-film-festival-launches/) **Published:** February 13, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cosmic-film-festival-8252.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 13, 2017 Orlando’s inaugural Cosmic Film Festival will take place February 18-19 at AMC Universal City Walk and the Caribe Royale Orlando Resort, with a kick-off party on February 17 at B.B. King’s at Pointe Orlando, 9101 International Drive. Despite the space-age name, the new festival is not devoted to science fiction but will include 113 films from many genres – with an emphasis on female filmmakers. About a third of the films are from Florida, and about a quarter are from outside the United States. Thirteen are feature-length movies (more than 40 minutes), and the rest are shorts, according to festival founder and director Ranelle Golden. The event will also offer discussion panels and parties at the Caribe Royale, at 8101 World Center Drive, which is 10 miles south of Universal (about a 20-minute drive, considering I-4 traffic). “I started this festival with the idea of creating one in Florida that represents women in film as a key element to the festival,” Golden told me. “However, I also wanted to make sure that we had judges that cared and were not the founders or just in-house, but industry professionals. Too often, I see these festivals come together with the thought they can make money. They solicit filmmakers personally almost daily and make false promises. Then they judge in-house, having little to no experience in the industry. I want ours to be different. So far we are. I was anticipating about 100 \[submissions\] this season, and we have almost 300 from 28 countries.” What does the future hold for the festival? “I also have a bit \[of\] a dream to create a program that can go year-round with learning programs and summer camps for high school and college-age students, or really anyone that would like to learn the industry, though this is a few years off,” Golden says. “This year is a hard, excited year, as we learn the ropes and prove ourselves. We have only one sponsor, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and everyone else is working in-kind with us as partners. We are all volunteers and doing this for the love of film, and bringing together filmmakers with audiences hungry for things different from mainstream movies.” A ticket to a single film block is $12 while Saturday’s screening of *The Second Coming of Christ* is $15. A single day of films costs $45 while a two-day film pass is $90. Other ticket packages are available, including ones that provide unlimited access to panels and parties. (Yes, panels and parties also require tickets, ranging from $45 for one day of panels to $95 for the awards ceremony and masquerade party.) A ticket to everything costs $299. Add it all up, and it’s arguably the most ambitious first-year festival you’ve ever encountered. For more information, visit [www.cosmicfilmfest.com](http://www.cosmicfilmfest.com). *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *Correction: The original version of this article contained outdated information. The kick-off party was originally to be held at Blue Martini at Pointe Orlando. The location has now been moved to B.B. King’s.* ## Festival review Based upon my experience at the festival this year, I do not recommend that filmmakers submit their work. From the poor organization, to the extremely low quality of the films, to the almost non-existent attendance, to — worst of all — the technical difficulties with the screenings, the inaugural event was a disappointment. I’m sure the hearts of the organizers were in the right place, but the end result was not what everyone had hoped for. I would especially caution non-local filmmakers from incurring the expense of traveling to the festival. --- ### [MIFF 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/miff-2020/) **Published:** October 20, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Melbourne celebrates local filmmakers [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/MIFF-2020-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/MIFF-2020-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 20, 2020 The Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (MIFF) wrapped up on Saturday. In normal times, the town rallies around its local fest, but this year, understandably, the crowd was small. Still, kudos to festival organizers for cobbling together an enjoyable in-person event at Premiere Theaters Oaks in Melbourne, Florida. The three-day fest is a showcase mostly for local low-budget and no-budget films. Indeed, the fest seems more focused on giving a voice to locals than displaying quality, which is, understandably, inconsistent. Still, some good movies shone through this year, such as Florida filmmaker Kevin O’Neill’s *Resemblance* and *Motherland*, a Ukrainian film about the Chernobyl disaster, directed by Colby Blackwill. The latter film was one of the few non-Florida movies not confined to the “international” block on Friday afternoon. (Strangely, a film from Georgia made it into that block. Not the European country. The Peach State.) The most interesting aspect of this year’s fest was the outdoor, drive-in event on Friday evening, which featured a weird mix of karaoke, stand-up comedy (from Flip Schultz), multiple documentary-style commercials for craft-beer brewing and an odd assortment of short comedies. It wasn’t quite the “grindhouse” event that was advertised, but the crowd seemed mostly enthused just to experience a film-related event. Though the festival focuses almost exclusively on short films, three features were presented this year: Steven Shea’s *Surviving Supercon*, which opened the fest on Thursday night; Lear Bunda’s *Intelligent Thinking (Patent Pending);* and Nathaniel Menninger’s *The Porter: The Untold Story at Everest.* The moral of this story is if you’re looking for consistently good movies, this is not your destination. But if you’re a Florida filmmaker (especially near the Treasure Coast) and you’re having difficulty getting into larger festivals, this is your event! (There’s even a fun red-carpet ceremony and awards presentation on Saturday night to make you feel special.) Or if you simply enjoy networking, having a few drinks and talking film, the festival is worth checking out. For more information, visit [MelbourneFilmFest.com](https://www.melbournefilmfestival.org/). And while you’re in town, check out Squid Lips. Not the sea creature’s kisser. The restaurant. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2024 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024-movie-news-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2024. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [What 2024 cinema taught me](https://www.meiermovies.com/what-2024-cinema-taught-me/ "What 2024 cinema taught me") [26th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") [30th Annual South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30") [Festivalitis hits Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/09/01/festivalitis-hits-orlando/ "Festivalitis hits Orlando") [Back to the future: Cinema’s yesterday holds clues to its tomorrow](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-future-of-movies-viewed-through-the-lens-of-the-past/ "The future of movies, viewed through the lens of the past") [Sony Pictures purchases Alamo Drafthouse](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/06/16/remember-the-alamo/ "Remember the Alamo …?") [33rd Annual Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/ "Florida Film Festival 2024") [Filmapalooza Lisbon 2024 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/obrigado-lisboa/ "Obrigado, Lisboa!") [14th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-ups-its-game/ "LYSFF ups its game") [Golden Globes are reborn](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/01/08/globes-are-reborn/ "Globes are reborn") [Farewell, Tom Wilkinson](https://www.meiermovies.com/2024/01/01/farewell-tom/ "Farewell, Tom") --- ### [2023 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023-movie-news-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2023. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Enzian Theater gets 4K projector](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-gets-4k-projector/ "Enzian Theater gets 4K projector") [25th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/ "Jewish Film Festival 2023") [Curtain closes on original Netflix](https://www.meiermovies.com/curtain-closes-on-original-netflix/ "Curtain closes on original Netflix") [The death of Netflix discs](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-death-of-netflix-discs/ "The death of Netflix discs") [32nd Annual Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2023/ "Florida Film Festival 2023") [Filmapalooza 2023 wrap-up](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2023-i-love-l-a/ "Filmapalooza 2023: ‘I Love L.A.’") [13th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-is-lucky-for-love-your-shorts/ "Thirteen is lucky for Love Your Shorts") [The first movie sequel?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/02/01/the-first-movie-sequel/ "The first movie sequel?") [17th Annual Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo)](https://www.meiermovies.com/2023/01/18/get-in-the-cenflo/ "Get in the CenFlo") --- ### [2022 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022-movie-news-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2022. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Orlando welcomes its fall festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/10/11/orlando-welcomes-its-fall-fests/ "Orlando welcomes its fall fests") [Odd movie pairings](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/08/04/movie-pairings/ "Movie pairings") [Farewell to Paul Sorvino and David Warner](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/26/farewell-to-paul-sorvino-and-david-warner/ "Farewell to Paul Sorvino, David Warner") [Last call for Joe Turkel](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/07/02/last-call-joe/ "Last call, Joe") [The decline and fall of home entertainment (the diminishment of Netflix discs)](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-decline-and-fall-of-home-entertainment/ "The decline & fall of home entertainment") [“Judgment Night” for Nehemiah Persoff](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/04/27/judgment-night-for-nehemiah-persoff/ "‘Judgment Night’ for Nehemiah Persoff") [31st Annual Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022") [Austin Revolution Film Festival (ARFF)](https://www.meiermovies.com/arff-barks-again/ "ARFF barks again") [Thoughts on the 2022 Academy Awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/02/25/why-i-wont-watch-the-oscars/ "Why I won’t watch the Oscars") [“The fairest one of all”: reimagining *Snow White*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-fairest-one-of-all/ "‘The fairest one of all’") [Getting short at Sundance](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/01/27/getting-short-at-sundance/ "Getting short at Sundance") [TV/web films join theatrical releases](https://www.meiermovies.com/2022/01/07/tv-web-films-join-theatrical-releases/ "TV/web films join theatrical releases") --- ### [2021 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021-movie-news-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2021. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Best films of 2021?](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/12/31/best-films-of-2021/ "Best films of 2021?") [Short films from Manhattan to Mumbai](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/09/28/short-films-from-manhattan-to-mumbai/ "Short films from Manhattan to Mumbai") [Telluride: Gotta be vaxxed](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/07/03/telluride-gotta-be-vaxxed/ "Telluride: Gotta be vaxxed") [A nod to Ned](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/06/29/a-nod-to-ned/ "A nod to Ned") [A temporary goodbye](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-temporary-goodbye/ "A temporary goodbye") **30th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [FFF announces program](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-host-30th-annual-florida-film-festival-in-april/ "Enzian to host 30th annual Florida Film Festival in April") [FFF combines in-person and virtual cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "FFF combines in-person, virtual cinema") [Feature film reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/ "FFF 2021 film reviews") [Short takes on the shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-the-shorts/ "Short takes on the shorts") [Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy and scraps plans for Orlando cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy-scraps-orlando-cinema/ "Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy, scraps Orlando cinema") [11th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-and-safe/ "Short and safe") [Central Florida Film Festival returns following a 16-month absence](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-returns-to-mount-dora-after-16-month-absence/ "CenFlo returns to Mount Dora following 16-month absence") --- ### [2020 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2020-movie-news-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2020. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Year in review: film in the time of corona](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-in-the-time-of-corona/ "Film in the time of corona") [22nd Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/ "Jewish Film Festival 2020") [*Halloween*: The Ranking of Michael Myers](https://www.meiermovies.com/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/ "Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers") [Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/miff-2020/ "MIFF 2020") [Love (of film) in the time of coronavirus](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-of-film-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/ "Love (of film) in the time of coronavirus") [Orlando’s *Indie Cinema Showcase* returns at the unlikeliest time](http://www.meiermovies.com/indie-cinema-showcase-is-back/ "Indie Cinema Showcase is back") [Regal closing again, temporarily](http://www.meiermovies.com/2020/10/05/regal-closing-again/ "Regal closing again") [Lessons learned from a first-time fest (OIFF)](http://www.meiermovies.com/lessons-learned-from-a-first-time-fest/ "Lessons learned from a first-time fest") [18th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2020/ "Global Peace Film Festival 2020") [AMC reopening, turning back time](http://www.meiermovies.com/2020/08/14/amc-reopening-turning-back-turn/ "AMC reopening, turning back turn") **29th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [FFF announces program](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020/ "Florida Film Festival 2020") [Festival to blend in-person, virtual events](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/ "Enzian’s Florida Film Festival 2020 combines in-person, virtual cinema") [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2020 reviews") [Orlando’s Alamo Drafthouse delayed, likely until 2021](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlandos-alamo-drafthouse-delayed/ "Orlando’s Alamo Drafthouse delayed") [Old Hollywood has died: Olivia de Havilland, 104, is gone](http://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/26/old-hollywood-has-died-olivia-de-havilland-104-is-gone/ "Old Hollywood has died: Olivia de Havilland, 104, is gone") [What’s on, what’s not during pandemic](http://www.meiermovies.com/whats-on-whats-not/ "What’s on, what’s not") [Telluride Film Festival canceled](http://www.meiermovies.com/2020/07/14/telluride-film-festival-canceled/ "Telluride Film Festival canceled") [Florida cinemas reopening](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-cinemas-reopening/ "Florida cinemas reopening") [Sarasota Film Festival to go virtual while regular event is delayed](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-go-virtual-while-its-normal-event-is-delayed/ "Sarasota Film Festival to go virtual") [Coronavirus batters film industry, closes cinemas and postpones Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/coronavirus-batters-film-industry/) [Film industry tackles coronavirus](http://www.meiermovies.com/film-industry-addresses-coronavirus/) [22nd Annual Sarasota Film Festival announces films, guests](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup-2/) [Florida’s first Alamo Drafthouse to open in Orlando later this year](http://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-coming-to-florida/) [Enzian Theater seeks second screen](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-seeks-second-screen/) [10th Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2020/) [Oscar Predictions](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-predictions-2020/) [Oscar Shorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) --- ### [2019 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2019-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2019. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [The best films of 2019 and the decade](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2019-and-the-decade/) [The Great Star Shift](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-star-shift/) [Changes coming to Orlando’s film slams — both of them](http://www.meiermovies.com/changes-coming-to-orlandos-film-slams/) [James Dean reborn?: Everything dead is new again](http://www.meiermovies.com/james-dean-reborn/) **14th Annual Orlando Film Festival:** [Opening blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/10/17/orlando-film-festival-begins-today/) [OFF continues](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-2019/) [25th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) [Change coming to FilmSlam: Enzian parts ways with Jen Vargas](http://www.meiermovies.com/change-coming-to-filmslam/) [Fall movie preview and Telluride Film Festival wrap-up](http://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) [The 46th Annual Telluride Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/) [CenFlo grows](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-grows/) [Love Your Shorts Film Festival Summer Rewind](http://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-summer-rewind-2019/) [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-2019/) [*Avengers: Endgame*‘s profits analyzed: What does the money mean?](http://www.meiermovies.com/avengers-analyzed/) **28th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [FFF program announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2019/) [Richard Dreyfuss to screen *The Goodbye Girl*](http://www.meiermovies.com/richard-dreyfuss-to-attend-florida-film-festival/) [Programmers balance quality with variety](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/) [A look at domestic narrative shorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-stack/) [Richard Dreyfuss interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-richard-dreyfuss/) [It’s a (shorts) wrap](http://www.meiermovies.com/its-a-shorts-wrap/) [Award winners](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-awards/) [21st Annual Sarasota Film Festival announces films, guests](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2019/) [Director Shawn Snyder discusses *To Dust*](http://www.meiermovies.com/to-dust-director-discusses-death-and-taxes/) [The best films of Filmapalooza 2019](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-filmapalooza-2019/) [Orlando hosts Filmapalooza](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-to-welcome-the-world-to-filmapalooza/) [Ranking the 2019 Oscar nominees](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-2019-oscar-nominees/) [Top 30 movie villains of all time](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-greatest-cinema-villains/) [Ninth Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2019/) --- ### [2018 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2018. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Year in Review: the best films of 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-review-2018/) [My top 12 Christmas films: a curmudgeon’s holiday list](http://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/) [David Schillhammer resigns as Enzian director](http://www.meiermovies.com/david-schillhammer-resigns-as-enzian-director/) [20th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [Enzian Theater to shrink FilmSlam, change Brouhaha](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-to-shrink-filmslam/) [24th Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) [Central Florida Film Festival moves to Mount Dora](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-moves-to-mount-dora/) [Enzian cancels expansion; what’s next for the cinema?](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-drops-expansion-plan/) [Lynn Tomlinson: a unique voice in animation](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-unique-voice-in-animation/) [Enzian’s proposed expansion passes penultimate hurdle](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-passes-penultimate-hurdle/) [Filmapalooza 2019 coming to Orlando](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2019-coming-to-orlando/) [Enzian Theater expansion nears approval](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-nears-approval/) [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project Announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-scheduled-for-august/) [Megacon Orlando’s tribute to *2001: A Space Odyssey*](http://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) **20th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Festival celebrity-guest announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-announces-guests/) [Festival to begin with *Class Rank*](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-begin/) [Festival concludes with awards and red-carpet ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/) [A chat with Barbara Kopple](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-barbara-kopple/) **27th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [Program announcement](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-most-movies-ever/) [Homegrown: Florida filmmakers embrace their local festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/homegrown/) [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) [Pam Grier interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-pam-grier/) [Opening-night blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals-opens-festival/) [More festival photos](http://www.meiermovies.com/more-fff-2018-photos/) [Festival ends with awards and Hitchcock](http://www.meiermovies.com/festival-ends-with-awards-hitchcock/) [Filmapalooza 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/) [Oscar-Nominated Short Film programs](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2018/) [Reel Representation: Diversity in Film](http://www.meiermovies.com/reel-representation/) [Eighth Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshortsff2018/) [LYSFF blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshorts2018/) [Fifth Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-turns-5/) [Ranking all *Star Wars* films](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-all-star-wars-films/) --- ### [2017 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2017-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2017. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [The best films of the year](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2017/) [Ho ho horrible: The four worst Christmas films ever](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) [Enzian Forever update: Parking remains problem](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-submits-revised-proposal/) [19th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) [12th Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/dont-miss-foreign-short-dramas-at-off/) [Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/manhattan-short-film-festival/) [Global Peace Film Festival opening-night blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-promise-opens-global-peace-ff/) [12th Annual Central Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-2017/) [Love Your Shorts Film Festival Summer Rewind](http://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-summer-rewind/) [Asbury Short Film Concert](http://www.meiermovies.com/winter-garden-gets-short/) [Enzian Theater loses Live Oak](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-loses-live-oak/) [Best of Film Festival to debut at Orlando Wyndham Resort](http://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-film-festival-to-debut/) [Maitland conducts interim review of Enzian expansion plan](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-forever-update/) **26th Annual Florida Film Festival:** [Festival announces films, guests](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/) [Lea Thompson to screen *Back to the Future*](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-to-attend-fff/) [Film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Interview with Lea Thompson](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/) [Enzian Theater to resubmit expansion plan (plus tree update)](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-resubmit-expansion-plan/) **19th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Festival reveals lineup](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup/) [Tucci, Arquette to attend the festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/tucci-arquette-to-attend-sff/) [Festival concludes with awards and red-carpet ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/) [Filmapalooza Review 2017](http://www.meiermovies.com/seattle-serves-up-filmapalooza-2017/) [Filmapalooza Preview 2017](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2017/) [Josh Martin leaving Uncomfortable Brunch](http://www.meiermovies.com/josh-martin-leaving-uncomfortable-brunch/) [Oscars 2017: Will *La La Land* tie the record?](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscars-2017/) [Cosmic Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/cosmic-film-festival-launches/) [Seventh Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2017/) [Florida cinemas to screen Oscar Shorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-cinemas-to-screen-oscar-shorts/) [Fourth Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-2017/) [Enzian hires executive director](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-hires-executive-director/) [Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour](http://www.meiermovies.com/lets-sundance/) --- ### [2016 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2016-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2016. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [Year in Review](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-film-2016/) [18th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) [Enzian Theater delays expansion](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-delays-expansion/) [11th Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/off-2016/) [Regal Cinemas Winter Park launches renovations](http://www.meiermovies.com/regal-winter-park-renovations/) [22nd Annual South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-gets-short/) [14th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2016/) [Enzian Forever update](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-forever-summer-2016-update/) [Orlando’s 48 Hour Film Project screens its films](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-2016-48-hour-film-project-underway/) [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project moves to July](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-moves-to-july/) [25th Annual Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) **18th Annual Sarasota Film Festival:** [Sarasota FF to honor Sophia Loren](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-ff-to-honor-sophia-loren/) [Festival announces lineup of films, celebrities](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016/) [Full summary article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) **Filmapalooza 2016:** [Orlando filmmakers head to Filmapalooza 2016](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016/) [Orlando movie to screen at Cannes Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-movie-to-screen-at-cannes-film-festival/) [Filmapalooza 2016 summary and film reviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016-2/) [Sixth Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2016/) [Enzian expansion plans draw questions, complaints](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-plans-draw-questions-complaints/) [Third Annual Flagler Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/flagler-film-festival-set-for-this-weekend/) --- ### [2015 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2015-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2015. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [“Enzian Forever” construction update](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-update/) [A Changing of the Guard at FilmSlam](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-changing-of-the-guard-at-filmslam/) [13th Annual Global Peace Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2015/) [21st Annual South Asian Film Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) [18th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/manhattan-short-film-festival-2015/) [Central Florida Film Festival Celebrates 10 Years](http://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-celebrates-10-years/) [2015 Orlando 48 Hour Film Project screenings set](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-to-screen/) [Jumping the Shark in Orlando (the *Sharknado 3* story)](http://www.meiermovies.com/jumping-the-shark-in-orlando/) [2015 Orlando 48 Hour Film Project Announces Dates](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-announces-dates/) [*Tomorrowland* Boosts Orlando Economy (Interview with Mayor Buddy Dyer)](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland-boosts-florida-filmmaking-today/) [Enzian Hires New Programming Coordinator](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-hires-new-programming-coordinator/) [15 Minutes of Fame Film Festival 2015](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-gets-its-15-minutes-of-fame/) [24th Annual Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/ "Rockwell, Balaban to headline Florida FF") [Filmapalooza 2015](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2015/ "Filmapalooza 2015") [Enzian Theater Plans Two New Screens](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-plans-two-new-screens-for-2016/ "Enzian plans two new screens for 2016") [Fifth Annual Love Your Shorts Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2015/ "Love Your Shorts 2015") --- ### [2012 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2012-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film festivals and other events, and the film industry in general from 2012. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [The Year in Pictures](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-pictures-2012/ "The year in pictures") [14th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Sci-fi and Fantasy Flicks Come Alive at the London Film Museums](http://www.meiermovies.com/sci-fi-and-fantasy-flicks-come-alive-at-the-london-film-museums/ "Sci-fi and fantasy flicks come alive at the London Film Museums") [Seventh Annual Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/ "Orlando Film Festival") --- ### [2006 Movie News & Features](https://www.meiermovies.com/2006-movie-news-and-features/) **Published:** February 12, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This page contains links to articles about film, film events and the film industry from 2006. They are copyrighted by the publications in which they originally appeared and/or MeierMovies, LLC, and cannot be reproduced or reposted online without permission. All content, unless otherwise noted, is by Cameron Meier. (MeierMovies is based in Orlando, so the news is often focused on Central Florida.) If you want to skip directly to reviews of specific films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-reviews/ "Movie Reviews"). You might check out the [Posts](http://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/) page, which contains casual, brief musings on timely film-related subjects and events. For a guide to colors and symbols, see the [Key](http://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/ "Movie Key"). Articles appear in chronological order, with the most recent stories first. [The Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") --- ### [Short on time, not quality](https://www.meiermovies.com/manhattan-short-film-festival-2015/) **Published:** September 24, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Manhattan Short Film Festival celebrates 18 years [![Bear Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bear-Story-300x203.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bear-Story.jpg)*Bear Story* (image copyright Punkrobot Studio) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 24, 2015 The 18th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival will screen 10 short films from around the world Sept. 25 through Oct. 4. Unique among festivals, the event is based in New York City but screens at more than 250 theaters on six continents, allowing audiences to watch the shorts and vote for their favorites. The winning film and actor will be announced on Oct. 4. This year’s films were picked from 678 entries from 52 countries. For general information about the festival, see [www.manhattanshort.com/info.html](http://www.manhattanshort.com/info.html). If, like me, you’re in Central Florida, you can catch the films at the Enzian Theater in Maitland on Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. visit [www.enzian.org/film/manhattan-short-2015](http://www.enzian.org/film/manhattan-short-2015) for information about that screening, a short description of each movie and to purchase tickets. The films in order of presentation: 1. *Listen*, from Finland and Denmark, 12 minutes, directed by Hamy Ramezan and Rungano Nyoni 2. *Dad in Mum*, France, 6 minutes, directed by Fabrice Bracq 3. *Bear Story,* Chile, 10 minutes, directed by Gabriel Osorio 4. *Forever Over*, Germany, 13 minutes, directed by Erik Schmitt 5. *Shok*, Kosovo/United Kingdom, 21 minutes, directed by Jamie Donoughue 6. *Au Sol (Grounded)*, France, 19 minutes, directed by Alexis Mikhalik 7. *Sundown*, Turkey, 15 minutes, directed by Sinem Cezayirli 8. *Patch,* Switzerland/Germany, 3 minutes, directed by Gerd Gockell 9. *El Camino Solo (The Lonely Road),* United States, 12 minutes, directed by Shawn Telford 10. *Bis Gleich (Until Then),* Germany, 15 minutes, directed by Benjamin Wolff The films in order of quality, from worst to best: 10\. Sadly, the only film in the bunch that doesn’t quite succeed artistically or emotionally is the American entry, *El Camino Solo*, or *The Lonely Road (2 stars on my 0-5 scale)*. “We’re all on the lonely road, but we’re not alone,” says the film’s director. But his film does little to convey that thought, as it’s the most pedestrian and least imaginative of the group, and is hampered by a mediocre lead performance. 9\. *Patch* (3 stars), a slightly experimental stop-motion piece, is brief and slight but nevertheless an intriguing and refreshing break from the more mainstream offerings. 8\. *Sundown* (3 stars), too, feels slight, but it succeeds – as only a short can do – because of its simplicity. Depicting just one woman’s reaction to sudden tragedy, the film paints the universal themes of family and death with a hyper-realistic brush. [![Grounded](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Grounded-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Grounded.jpg)Stéphanie Caillol in *Au Sol*, or *Grounded* (image copyright FullDawa Films / Mon Voisin Productions) 7\. *Dad in Mum* (3 stars) is a uniquely comedic and beautifully innocent examination of two kids’ reaction to, well, you’ll just have to see the film. Vive le cinema Francais! 6\. Opening the festival is *Listen* (3 stars), about an abused Muslim woman struggling to convey her story to police. It’s a thoughtful examination of the complexities of human perception and language. For me, it never quite closes the emotional deal, if you will, though I did find parts of it intriguing, especially the scenic repetitions, inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s *Persona*, among other experimental films. 5\. *Forever Over* (4 stars) is a creative and innovative cinematic warning – both negative and positive – that you should always be careful what you wish for. 4\. Closing the fest is *Bis Gleich, or Until Then* (4 stars), which starts slowly but builds to a magical and heartfelt conclusion. An emotional story of two elderly neighbors who build a distant but meaningful relationship under unusual circumstances, the German production is an appropriate conclusion to the best Manhattan Short Film Festival in at least three years. 3\. *Shok* (4 stars) is the most dramatically ambitious offering. Shown through the eyes of a child now grown, the film provides a unique glimpse at the ethnic cleansing during the Kosovo War in the 1990s. 2\. *Au Sol*, or *Grounded (4 stars)*, proves that the simplest story can carry the most powerful message. With a great performance by its two leads (especially Stéphanie Caillol, my choice for the festival’s best actor), the French film is about the importance of human respect and dignity in our increasingly cynical and impersonal world. 1\. From Chile, *Bear Story* (5 stars) is a digitally animated tale of an anthropomorphic bear passing on his story of struggle in a breathtakingly unique way. Mesmerizingly beautiful, it’s the most moving and visually arresting animated short film I’ve seen so far this year. Look for it come Oscar time. *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ranking the shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-shorts/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/04/06/ranking-the-festival-shorts), April 6, 2014 As I mentioned in the my main review article on this year’s Florida Film Festival, it’s the shorts programs that are often the most anticipated. While some of the best features will likely get picked up by distributors – if they haven’t been already – you may never get to see these shorts outside the festival, except maybe on Vimeo or YouTube, and that’s no way to watch a movie. [![SetupPunch1jpg](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/SetupPunch1jpg-300x125.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/SetupPunch1jpg.jpg)*Setup, Punch*, one of the best shorts of this year’s festival, stars Elijah Wood. So which are the best, and worst, programs to see? Of the 10 total, I’ve had the chance to see four so far. I reviewed one (the English-language animated shorts) in the aforementioned article and found it slightly disappointing, though still sporadically entertaining. I recuse myself from passing judgment on the second, Best of Brouhaha, because I sat on the jury. So, without further ado, let’s look at the third and fourth programs: International Shorts and Shorts #1: Perfect Day. The International Shorts Program feels weightier than the Animated Shorts offering, but it’s almost equally disappointing. A short film must know what it wants to be and what impact it hopes to have, both story-wise and aesthetically, from the get-go, and several of the movies in this program are unfocused, poorly paced and ultimately unimpactful. Ironically, it’s the worst of the shorts, *Requiem for a Robot* (0 stars) that seems most sure of its artistic intention from the start. Unfortunately, it’s so oddly and poorly conceived, and so technically deficient, that its coolness and quirkiness is totally lost. There are a bunch of 1 and 2 stars, including the zombie *Cargo*, the socially aware but sluggish *Uproot* and *More Than Two Hours* (both of which feel like more than two hours), the cleverly shot but vague *Inertial Love* and perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch on a purely visual and conceptual level, *B-Class Cultural Heritage*. But none of these films leaves an impact or really has much point in existing, beyond a few minutes of intrigue. Rising slightly higher but still coming in at 2 stars are *The Parachutist*, which has a great time-travel premise but seems a bit clunky, especially toward the end, and *Memorable Moi* (Remember Me), which is indeed memorable thanks to its fascinating commentary on people who need attention all the time. (I’m talking to you, Facebook addicts.) Sadly, the short goes off the rails at the end with some unnecessary animal cruelty (suggested) and some over-the-top graphic violence (explicit). It’s as if the short itself had adopted its own plot and concluded that the only way it could be remembered by its audience was if it did something outrageous and unnecessary. The only solid thumbs-up in this group is *The Fall*. Though not quite worthy of 4 stars, it nevertheless is the most mature and tense of the program. And if you have a fear of heights, this may be the scariest short you’ll see in a while. Shorts Program #1: Perfect Day, named in tribute to Lou Reed (as are all four of the regular shorts offerings), is not quite perfect, but it may just be the best of this year’s fest. It gets off to a rough start with the ill-fitting, badly acted, overly long and just plain over-the-top *Fool’s Day* (1 star),which could have been cut down to a great 5-minute short if the filmmakers had excised everything after the initial head explosion. (Yes, I said head explosion.) Thankfully, after this silliness, the program settles down into maturity. The simple and sweet *Cash for Gol*d and *The Bravest, The Boldest* (both 3 stars) are both somewhat predictable but offer more emotional impact than any others films in the program. *ZZZZZZZ* (3 stars) is a cleverly surreal look at love, while *The Immaculate Reception* (also 3 stars) is a unique twist on the famous Steelers vs. Raiders football game from 1972, complete with 16mm photography that brilliantly captures the necessary period feel. *Milk and Blood* (2 stars), though shot and paced well, isn’t as impactful as it might have been, thanks to a nothing of a third act (if shorts can really have three acts), but the program ends strongly with the slightly overlong but extremely intriguing *Setup, Punch* (3 stars), starring Elijah Wood as a stand-up comic delivering his most gutsy set ever. Shorts Program #1 will screen for the second and final time on Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. at Regal Winter Park B. Don’t miss it. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Music Reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/music-reviews/) **Published:** September 25, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![eight-days-a-week](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Eight-Days-a-Week.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Eight-Days-a-Week.jpg)This page contains links to my reviews of films that focus on music. The movies could be biographies of musicians or bands; examinations of particular songs or music movements; concert films; or musicals. You will also find a small selection of my reviews of musical theatre, plus my lone recent review of a live music event. (And, on a personal note, while I’m obviously passionate about film, you likely won’t find a bigger Beatles fan.) ## Music Films After So Many Days (2020; 1 star), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-eight-days-a-week-the-touring-years/) (2016; 3 ¼ stars) [Bohemian Rhapsody](http://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/) (2018; 3 stars) Born Into the Gig (2020; 3 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) Fandango at the Wall FL (2020; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2020 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/) [Good Ol’ Freda](http://www.meiermovies.com/good-ol-freda/) (2013; 3 ½ stars) [A Hard Day’s Night](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-hard-days-night/) (1964; 4 ½ stars) Hava Nagila (The Movie) (2013; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2013 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [Inside Llewyn Davis](http://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/) (2013; 4 ¾ stars) The Jazz Loft, According to W. Eugene Smith (2016; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) Judy (2019; 2 ¾ stars), part of [2019 Fall Movie Preview article](http://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) [Love & Mercy](http://www.meiermovies.com/love-mercy/) (2015; 4 stars) Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018; 1 ¾ stars), part of the [2018 South Asian Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) Miss Sharon Jones! (2015; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) [Muscle Shoals](http://www.meiermovies.com/muscle-shoals/) (2013; 3 stars) Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me ( 2017; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-skin-too-few/) (2002; 3 ¼ stars) [A Star Is Born](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/) (2018; 3 ½ stars) Tiny Tim: King for a Day (2021; 3 ¾ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2021 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) [Whiplash](http://www.meiermovies.com/2015/01/24/american-sniper-vs-whiplash/) (2014; 3 ¼ stars) [Whitney](http://www.meiermovies.com/whitney/) (2018; 3 ¼ stars) [Yesterday](http://www.meiermovies.com/yesterday) (2019; 3 ¼ stars) ## Musical Films [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)[Aladdin](http://www.meiermovies.com/aladdin) (2019; 2 stars) I Am a Knife with Legs (2014; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) [The Jungle Book (3–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/09/the-two-best-films-of-2016-so-far/) (2016; 4 stars) [La La Land](http://www.meiermovies.com/la-la-land/) (2016; 4 ¼ stars) [The Lion King](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) (2019; 3 ¾ stars) ## Music TV/Web Mini-series [The Beatles: Get Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-get-back/ "The Beatles: Get Back") (2021; 3 ½ stars) ## Musical Theatre [Lay, Ms.](http://www.meiermovies.com/lay-ms/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) [Nashville Hurricane](http://www.meiermovies.com/nashville-hurricane/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2018) [Simpleton: The Legend of President Trump](http://www.meiermovies.com/simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2016) [6 Guitars](http://www.meiermovies.com/6-guitars/) (Orlando Fringe; Orlando, Florida; 2015) ## Live Music [The RedCoats at Fiddler’s Green](http://www.meiermovies.com/redcoats-rock-fiddlers-green/); Winter Park, Florida; September 2016 ## Song Analysis [The eerie similarities between Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” and Bread’s “If”](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-i-could-save-time-in-a-bottle/ "‘If’ I could save ‘Time in a Bottle’") … and check out [my blog on “illustrated songs” and “soundies.”](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/26/before-beatles-illustrated-songs-and-soundies/) --- ### [Inside Llewyn Davis](https://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/) **Published:** December 7, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Inside Llewyn Davis**, 2013, 4 ¾ stars # Good folk ### Coens concoct mesmerizing mix of music, comedy and pathos From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/loving-llewyn-davis-1.1613179)* and *[The Jacksonville Folio Weekly](http://folioweekly.com/Its-a-Folk-Song,8644)*, January 7, 2014 Mining their own askew, often bleak outlook on life and channeling Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” Joel and Ethan Coen have given us, in *Inside Llewyn Davis*, a powerful and darkly comic meditation on the duality of life and the paths we choose along the way. In doing so, they’ve delivered perhaps the best narrative feature of 2013, one that’s second only to *Fargo* in their remarkable repertoire. [![Inside Llewyn Davis 1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Inside-Llewyn-Davis-1-300x215.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Inside-Llewyn-Davis-1.jpg)Images copyright StudioCanal/CBS Films. The three performers in this photo are, from left, Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver. (Click to enlarge.) Inspired by folk singer Dave Van Ronk – and featuring haunting renditions of “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me” and other traditional tunes he covered – the Coens’ latest flick lacks a traditional narrative structure but is content to meander in a melancholy, oddly beautiful and sometimes circular way, as are its characters. It’s simply the story of a few days in the life of Llewyn Davis, a fictional 1960s New York folk singer struggling to cope with his disappointing career and the world he seems reluctant to be a part of. Llewyn is played perfectly by relative newcomer Oscar Isaac, who, like some of the other actors, sings the established songs live and in one take, infusing the movie with a mesmerizing naturalism. Yes, the Coens have featured music prominently in their past films, especially *O Brother, Where Art Though?*, but never like this, and the credit should go to not just the musical director T. Bone Burnett, but the actors, including Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan. In non-musical but no less memorable turns are F. Murray Abraham as a music producer and Coen regular John Goodman as a traveling companion whose surreal rant about the digestive perils of Welsh rarebit is another gem in the directors’ comedy pantheon. [![Inside Llewyn Davis 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Inside-Llewyn-Davis-2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Inside-Llewyn-Davis-2.jpg)Despite the masterful music and mirth, *Inside Llewyn Davis* is most delicious when it’s dark. “Everything you touch turns to shit, like King Midas’s idiot brother,” Llewyn’s sometimes-lover (Mulligan) spouts at him. And, tragically, she’s right, because though Llewyn can’t always see it, his tale is one of wrong turns and what-ifs. Even the cats he befriends become symbols of life’s duality, a “Tale of Two Kitties,” if you will, with one feline enjoying the best of times, the other the worst – but both ultimately harmed by their association with Llewyn. One of the oddest moments comes when Llewyn, in a ships-passing-in-the-night scene, is presented with an opportunity, during an ill-fated trip to Chicago, to make amends with a lost love. He balks, choosing to “travel unknown and unnoticed,” as Bob Dylan sang. Yet, in a *Sliding Doors* touch, we see a similar car take the highway exit that might have led to an emotional payoff. Perhaps in a parallel universe, Llewyn did steer his soul down that more fulfilling road instead of charting a course of missed moments. Still, those mistakes make great fodder for folk music and film. Maybe *Inside Llewyn Davis*’s greatest achievement is that it feels both instantly recognizable and impossible to forget, not dissimilar to the music that inspired it. For, as Llewyn says, “If it was never new and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song.” *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short Film of the Day](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/) **Published:** March 24, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/iStock-1191001701.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/iStock-1191001701.jpg)As we practiced social distancing in 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it was increasingly important to bring the world together through our most popular and accessible art form: cinema. With this in mind, I created this “Short Film of the Day” series. Join me in celebrating these wonderful short movies, all of which are worthy of 5 stars (my highest ranking). And for ratings of more than 3,000 shorts, see my lists of short films, which are indexed at the bottom of [my lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). (Please note that some of the original free video links on these pages are no longer functional because of copyright issues. I encourage you to seek other ways to see these films.) [March 24: ***Copy Shop***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-copy-shop/) (2001), directed by Virgil Widrich [March 25: ***The Ballad of Holland Island House***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-ballad-of-holland-island-house/) (2015), directed by Lynn Tomlinson [March 26: ***Neighbours***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-neighbours/) (1952), directed by Norman McLaren [March 27: ***The Immigrant***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-immigrant/) (1917), directed by Charlie Chaplin [March 28: ***Emit***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-emit/) (2013), directed by J.S. Mayank [March 29: ***Beanstalk Bunny***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-beanstalk-bunny/) (1955), directed by Chuck Jones [March 30: ***Edith+Eddie***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-editheddie/) (2017), directed by Laura Checkoway [March 31: ***Curfew***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-curfew/) (2012), directed by Shawn Christensen [April 1: ***The Hand***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-hand/) (1965), directed by Jiří Trnka [April 2: ***I Am Yup’ik***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-i-am-yupik/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘I Am Yup’ik’") (2016), directed by Daniele Anastasion and Nathan Golon [April 3: ***Thru the Mirror***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-thru-the-mirror/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Thru the Mirror’") (1936), directed by David Hand and creative-produced by Walt Disney [April 4: ***Pitter Patter Goes My Heart***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-pitter-patter-goes-my-heart/) (2015), directed by Christoph Rainer [April 5: ***Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-a-trip-to-the-moon/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘A Trip to the Moon’") (1902), directed by Georges Méliès [April 6: ***Bear Story***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-bear-story/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Bear Story’") (2014), directed by Gabriel Osorio Vargas [April 7: ***Dissonance***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-dissonance/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Dissonance’") (2015), directed by Till Nowak [April 8: ***One Week***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-one-week/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘One Week’") (1920), directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Cline [April 9: ***I Have a Message for You***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-i-have-a-message-for-you/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘I Have a Message for You’") (2017), directed by Matan Rochlitz [April 10: ***La Cabina*** **(*The Telephone Box*)**](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-la-cabina-the-telephone-box/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘La Cabina’ (‘The Telephone Box’)") (1972), directed by Antonio Mercero [April 11: ***Free as a Bird***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-free-as-a-bird/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Free as a Bird’") (1995), directed by Joe Pytka and the Beatles [April 12: ***Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon)***](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-le-ballon-rouge-the-red-balloon/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Le Ballon Rouge’ (‘The Red Balloon’)") (1956), directed by Albert Lamoriss ###### *iStockPhoto #1191001701 courtesy of [Roman Valiev](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/romanv13?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best)* --- ### [Limitless: Lynch and Szwarc](https://www.meiermovies.com/limitless-lynch-and-szwarc/) **Published:** January 19, 2025 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Elephant-Man-production-image.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Elephant-Man-production-image.jpg)David Lynch and John Hurt on the set of *The Elephant Man* Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 19, 2025 With the recent deaths of [David Lynch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch) and [Jeannot Szwarc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannot_Szwarc), we are reminded that the best movie directors often show that we are limited only by our imaginations. In Lynch’s finest film, *The Elephant Man*, he proved that humans can overcome almost any physical limitation, while Szwarc, in his greatest accomplishment, *Somewhere in Time*, demonstrated, at least in a fictional setting, that we can overcome time itself. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Somewhere-in-Time-production-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Somewhere-in-Time-production-2.jpg)Jeannot Szwarc and Christopher Reeve on the set of *Somewhere in Time* As William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Now Szwarc and Lynch are somewhere in time. *© 2025 MeierMovies, LLC; images copyright Brooksfilms/Paramount and Rastar/Universal* --- ### [The Banshees of Inisherin](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-banshees-of-inisherin/) **Published:** October 11, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Banshees of Inisherin**, 2022, 4 ¾ stars # With friends like these … ## *Banshees* screams Irish metaphors [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Banshees-of-Inisherin.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Banshees-of-Inisherin.jpg)Image copyright Searchlight Pictures / Film 4 / Blueprint Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 11, 2022 “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have,” says an Irish proverb. In writer-director Martin McDonagh’s new allegorical film, *The Banshees of Inisherin*, crusty old Colm doesn’t necessarily disagree with that nugget of his nation’s wisdom. He just happens to think his clover – the one he has shared for years with his mate Pádraic – has an expiration date. And that date is today. Pressing Colm for a reason, Pádraic gets little response other than a brusque “I just don’t like you no more.” As the former friends’ standoff intensifies, Colm elaborates on that cursory explanation in an increasingly frustrating yet profound manner. Indeed, the film’s quiet profundity makes it the best, if oddest, commentary on friendship one is likely to see at the cinema this year. It also makes it, at least so far, this critic’s best overall film experience of 2022. This brooding tragi-comedy of lost human companionship has a lot to say about animals too. In fact, if *Banshees* had premiered at Cannes instead of Venice, Jenny the donkey likely would have taken home on her back the Palm Dog Award, which the festival gives to the year’s top animal performer. Yet it’s not just Pádraic’s beloved miniature donkey that is featured prominently; it’s a variety of other barnyard characters, plus Colm’s dog, who are all elevated to the stature of supporting players, with a touching respect paid to their place in the world. This is the type of casting diversity I can support. Nevertheless, it’s still the human actors one best remembers, and the principal four are stellar. Colin Farrell, as Pádraic, took home the top honor at Venice last month and will likely be nominated for best lead actor at the Oscars, while the equally revelatory Brendan Gleeson, as Colm, could see a nom for supporting actor. Astonishingly, neither man has ever received an Oscar nomination. And Kerry Condon (*Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri*; *Avenger*s films), as Pádraic’s sister, and Barry Keoghan (*Dunkirk*, *The* *Killing of a Sacred Deer*), as the village’s kindhearted dolt, flesh out one of the best ensembles of the year. (Keoghan’s character’s lot in life is particularly heartbreaking, thanks to great writing and the actor’s quirky charisma, though some of his speech is a bit garbled.) And perhaps more important to the film’s integrity, realism and sociopolitical observations, all four actors are Irish and the movie was shot there. *Banshees* is being billed as a dark comedy, but it isn’t really one, at least not in the vein of McDonagh’s *In Bruges*. Tonally, it has more in common with the director’s aforementioned *Three Billboards*, though it’s better than both movies. Still, there are moments of mirth, both by design and because sometimes life, with its disappointments and tragedies, leaves one with no choice but to laugh. And then there are times, as with Colm, when you just want to be left the feck alone. Though this strange plea for isolation drives the conflict between the two friends, *Banshees* is ultimately a movie about Ireland: its bleak beauty, its loneliness, its people and its violence. Set against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War in 1923, *Banshees* displays the nation’s (and Colm’s) ugly habit of cutting off their fingers to spite their hand. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11813216/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banshees_of_Inisherin).* --- ### [What 2024 cinema taught me](https://www.meiermovies.com/what-2024-cinema-taught-me/) **Published:** December 28, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## An eclectic look at the year in film Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 28, 2024 I didn’t learn as much from 2024 as Sister Paxton. She is, of course, the abducted missionary in *Heretic*, the year’s best horror film. Attempting escape, she stumbles upon door after door in Mr. Reed’s chamber of horrors and, like Alice, is compelled to open each. She uncovers what’s beyond every gateway but, more revelatory, discovers, figuratively, another hatch, beyond which lies truths about her faith and, perhaps, the nature of existence. No, I wasn’t that lucky in 2024. I had the misfortune of going mostly unabducted, physically and spiritually, content to glean a few things from some great, and not so great, movies. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/The-Brutalist.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/The-Brutalist.jpg)Chief among them is *The Brutalist*, which reminded me that epic filmmaking is still alive and well, complete with overtures, intermissions and runtimes of more than three hours. Length doesn’t necessarily equal quality, but it does in the case of writer-director Brady Corbet’s tale of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), the famous Hungarian-Jewish pioneer of the architectural style known as Brutalism. But the movie’s most fascinating aspect is not its immigrant story, its tale of overcoming prejudice or even its lessons in architecture. Instead, it’s the fact that this bio-pic isn’t a bio-pic at all, as one will learn after madly Googling László Tóth and finding no matches. Remarkably, Corbet has styled his fictional film as a true-life one, complete with a hyper-realistic epilogue. It’s the coolest, and most meta-theatrical, cinematic trick of 2024. Australian writer-director-producer Adam Elliot played another wonderful trick on us this year. He and his team of animators spent more than five years lovingly creating a new stop-motion classic, *Memoir of a Snail*, about a woman trapped in a metaphorical shell. (She also happens to love gastropods, literally.) The aforementioned trick is that the Elliott has turned what is usually family-friendly fare into a meditation on birth, death, loneliness, alcoholism, religion and sex – in some instances graphically and tragically. Adult stop-motion is not new, but it’s never been done so well. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Memoir-of-a-Snail.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Memoir-of-a-Snail.jpg)It was the year for weird musicals, from the surprisingly effective *Emilia Pérez*, to the strangely irresistible [*Joker: Folie à Deux*](https://www.meiermovies.com/joker-folie-a-deux/ "Joker: Folie à Deux"), to the spectacularly ill-conceived *The End*. *Wicked*, of course, was the most mainstream, and best, if you could get past the heavy-handed social messaging and in-your-face CGI. But it was Pablo Larraín’s *Maria* and James Mangold’s [*A Complete Unknown*](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-complete-unknown/ "A Complete Unknown"), which, despite not being musicals, had the most profound things to say about music, and musical performances. It was also the year of sequels. (Isn’t every year?) *Dune: Part Two* was expected, as was *Moana 2* and *Inside Out 2*. (Disney is now apparently king of sequels despite Walt himself hating them.) [*Beetlejuice Beetlejuice*](https://www.meiermovies.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice/ "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice") was a bit more surprising, but the oddest, of course, was the aforementioned *Joker* follow-up. However, considering it had been 24 years since Ridley Scott made his Oscar-winning Roman epic, perhaps *Gladiator II* was the most shocking. (For me, the most interesting part of all this is whether the film uses Roman numerals, Arabic numerals or English words.) The most frustrating film might have been *The Substance*, which began as John Frankenheimer (*Seconds*), transitioned to David Cronenberg and devolved into an unnecessary Quentin Tarantino bloodbath. Nevertheless, it made this 52-year-old film critic realize, depressingly but inclusively, that I find 61-year-old Demi Moore as attractive as 29-year-old Margarat Qualley. Check back with me in 30 years and I might also find “Monstro Elisasue” sexually appealing. Even trippier than *The Substance* was *A Different Man*, which spent its first half displaying an actor (Sebastian Stan) in *Elephant Man* makeup and its second half showcasing an actor (Adam Pearson) who really has neurofibromatosis. Talk about meta-theatricality. Also refreshingly odd was [*Tuesday*](https://www.meiermovies.com/tuesday/ "Tuesday"), starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus in arguably her best post-*Seinfeld* performance. Most of us fear death, but only her character has the courage to eat it. Bon appétit! [![Pignorant review](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pignorant-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pignorant-scaled.jpg)But it was [*Pignorant*](https://www.meiermovies.com/pignorant/ "Pignorant") that affected my food choices the most in 2024. This shockingly honest documentary about the pork industry reminded me that factory farming is evil. And though I gave up most meat, including pork, years ago, director Joey Carbstrong’s film spurred me further toward full vegetarianism. Watch the movie not for yourself but for the animals without a voice. It’s the most necessary film of the year. *Tuesday* and *Pignorant* were not the only films to address death. [*The Red Suitcase*](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/ "South Asian Film Festival turns 30"), a Nepali-language mystery-drama, involves a truck driver on a two-day trip from Katmandu, Nepal, to deliver a suitcase to a remote village. But mirroring his journey is a solitary figure with a seemingly identical suitcase. Rod Serling would be proud. *Suitcase* was tops for me among films in languages other than English, but *The* *Seed of the Sacred Fig*, director Mohammad Rasoulof’s powerful drama about the political and social pressures a family experiences during the 2022 Iranian protests, taught me more about that country than perhaps any film I’ve ever seen. I also learned a lot about Christopher Reeve (*Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story*), John Williams (*Music by John Williams*) and Jim Henson (*Jim Henson: Idea Man*). But, among documentaries, it was *The Remarkable Life of Ibelin*, about a young man who escapes his muscular-dystrophy prison by embracing the World of Warcraft online game, that taught me the most about human existence. And let’s not forget director Greg Kwedar’s *Sing Sing*, which continued the exciting trend of combining narrative fiction with documentary (as did the aforementioned *Fig)*. Both *Sing Sing* and Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s unexpectedly tender [*Ghostlight*](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostlight/ "Ghostlight") proved again the power of theatre. *[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Conclave.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Conclave.jpg)Conclave* and *Anora* both landed in my top five. The former, directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, reminded me, despite my atheism, that the heart of Christianity is pure, while the latter taught me that a sex action-comedy can reach much greater heights in the hands of a talented writer-director (Sean Baker) and a red-hot rising star (Mikey Madison). But it was writer-director Bertrand Bonello’s [*The Beast*](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-bete-the-beast/ "La Bête (The Beast)"), or *La Bête*, technically a 2023 film, that most impressed the Florida Film Critics Circle, of which I am a member. In my original review, I compared this French brainteaser to *Somewhere in Time*: One can almost hear Elise McKenna asking Richard Collier, “Is it you?” Yes, it is he, and in both *Somewhere in Time* and *La Bête*, as William Fawcett Robinson predicted, he came to destroy her, again and again. Returning to Sister Paxton – in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ film, starring Hugh Grant and Chloe East – she is led to believe that her belief system is false, not just because Mormonism is bunk but because she is living in a simulation, as are we all. If that’s true, the best part might just be the cinema. Therefore, I award director of the year to our alien overlords. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *To discover where all the films rank on my 2024 list, go to my [lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/ "Movie Lists") and select the “by year” list.* --- ### [Taking it Up the Notch](https://www.meiermovies.com/taking-it-up-the-notch/) **Published:** May 22, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shirley-Gnome.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shirley-Gnome.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/18/orlando-fringe-2017-review-shirley-gnome-taking-it-up-the-notch), May 18, 2017 Shirley Gnome is a cunt. But that’s not really meant as an insult, as the award-winning Canadian performer spends several minutes of her new show, *Taking it Up the Notch*, explaining in song how the c-word is actually a good thing. Though that unnecessarily vulgar and just plain unfunny ditty, in addition to tunes encouraging animal abuse and bashing vegans, were met with mostly crickets at Wednesday’s press review, her other songs allowed her solid singing and competent guitar playing (accompanying pre-recorded music) to shine as brightly as her cabaret costume’s rhinestones. “I sing mostly about fucking,” Gnome tells us. And she’s not exaggerating, as *Notch* (written by Gnome and directed by Wes Borg) features several songs about sex and bodily functions, as did her Patrons’ Pick from last year, *Real Mature*. Most entertaining is the opening “Believe in Yourself,” in which she encourages women to shove whatever they can up their vaginas. And through a concealed-in-her-dress contraption that would make Steve Martin’s Great Flydini jealous, she offers a hilarious demonstration, sans actual nudity. Even more offensive (in a somewhat good way) is her nun-themed ode to her giant merkin (a Biblical “burning bush”) and her melodic explanation of why babies cry. (Hint: It has to do with vaginas.) But Gnome is actually at her best when she explores her sweet and silly side in “A Walk in the Park” (where she advocates “crop-dusting lovers” by farting on them), “Pillows in the Shape of a Man” and “The Nipples Will Always Upstage You.” In other words, she’s better when she’s less in your face and more from her heart. Her dirty, dirty heart. Her final number, “Death is Coming,” will probably polarize audiences just like her other songs. Some will find it an unfunny downer while others will appreciate Gnome’s description of her relationship with a testicular-cancer survivor. (“We had a ball because he lost the other one,” she croons.) I, for one, saw the hidden optimism when she sang “I’m so glad I met you all before I died.” Though I’m not exactly glad I experienced every moment of this show, I’m begrudgingly honored to have experienced Gnome’s bawdy talent. *Shirley Gnome: Taking it Up the Notch* Yellow Venue Thursday, May 18, 10:45 PM Friday, May 19, 8:30 PM Saturday, May 20, 10:15 PM Monday, May 22, 9:00 PM Wednesday, May 24, 10:45 PM Friday, May 26, 8:30 PM Saturday, May 27, 12:00 AM *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A Complete Unknown](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-complete-unknown/) **Published:** December 10, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Complete Unknown**, 2024, 4 stars # Coming from the heart ## Mangold captures the soul of Dylan’s art [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/A-Complete-Unknown.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/A-Complete-Unknown.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 10, 2024 “The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet,” Salvador Dali said. “The first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.” And therein lies the nearly impossible task of replicating the life of Bob Dylan, one of our greatest poets and musicians, on screen. Rather than creating new art, you risk ridiculing the original and therefore yourself. But James Mangold is no idiot. He’s a great artist in his own right. He’s also no stranger to turning the lives of poets and musicians into movies. He did so admirably in *Walk the Line* (2005), the story of Johnny Cash. *A Complete Unknown* is even better, though that’s likely because Timothée Chalamet, surprisingly, is a better fit for Dylan than Joaquin Phoenix was for Cash. Mangold is perhaps better known as the director of two *X-Men* movies and the final *Indiana Jones* flick. But his best film, *Ford v Ferrari* (2019), like his two musical bio-pics, also focuses on real people. And though he takes some liberties with the facts in all three films, he clearly has a knack for capturing the spirit of a true tale. Speaking of liberties, Mangold and co-writer Jay Cocks (who was a film critic before shifting to screenplay writing, including frequent collaborations with Martin Scorsese) bend the facts slightly in their new film. (Their screenplay is based on a 2015 book by Elijah Wald, *Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties*.) One could argue that the changes are necessary to successfully tell the story of Dylan from his arrival in New York City in 1961 until he controversially went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. However, one alteration is particularly odd: renaming Dylan’s girlfriend. Suze Rotolo becomes Sylvie Russo. But before you go criticizing Mangold for historic revisionism, you should know it was actually Dylan, who served as film advisor, who apparently insisted on the change, to protect Rotolo’s privacy. Dylan even claims he convinced Mangold to include an entirely fabricated scene, which proves the futility of total accuracy in a narrative-fiction film while also reinforcing Dylan’s reputation as a troublemaker, even at the age of 83. For clarification, it’s also worth mentioning that, though Dylan was close to Johnny Cash, as the film portrays, it was Peter Yarrow who handed Dylan a guitar for his acoustic encore at Newport, not Cash. And Dylan did not write *Girl from the North County* from scratch, as the film suggests. Instead, he based it on folk singer Martin Carthy’s arrangement of a traditional English ballad, *Scarborough Fair*, the same arrangement Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel used for their *Scarborough Fair/Canticle*. Returning to more relevant matters, Chalamet is astounding as Dylan, mastering his mannerisms and his singing while never reducing his turn to just an impersonation. Equally wonderful is Edward Norton, who perfects Dylan’s friend and iconic folk singer in his own right, Pete Seeger. (Look for a supporting-actor Oscar nom for him.) Elle Fanning is both charming and relatable as Sylvie, while Monica Barbaro accomplishes a task almost as tough as Chalamet’s: bringing to life the incomparable Joan Baez, whose professional and personal relationship with Dylan drives the film. And Dan Fogler is hysterical – and just what the film needs to breathe – as Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman. The movie’s soul wouldn’t be the same without Dylan’s hero, Woody Guthrie. And Scoot McNairy delivers a heartbreaking rendition of the folk father, who, in the 1960s, was dying a slow death from Huntington’s disease in a New Jersey hospital. Dylan, who learned of Guthrie’s whereabouts soon after arriving in New York, made a pilgrimage to visit him, sitting by his side in that dingy hospital room, not hastening to bid him adieu. The bond they established surely brightened both their lives for a while, as it might yours while watching its re-creation on screen. And it’s this and the other characters’ relationships, plus, of course, the amazing music, that more than compensate for some slightly contrived and conventional moments. So, no, Mangold is no idiot. In fact, by creating one of the five best films of the year, he’s about as far from a cinematic moron as one can get in 2024. Yet he and his movie still don’t fully understand, or explain, Dylan. But that’s OK. Other Dylan films didn’t either, such as Todd Haynes’ annoyingly odd *I’m Not There* (2007). Neither does Dylan himself, as the singer has admitted. He’s an enigma, content in his recent concerts to never pick up a guitar or harmonica, and not perform any of his folk classics, at least not in a way that most audience members can understand. He also skipped his own Nobel Prize ceremony in 2016. This makes *A Complete Unknown* (a line from *Like a Rolling Stone*) the perfect title for his bio-pic, as it seems the answer to the age-old question “Who is Bob Dylan?” is still blowin’ in the wind. In one revelatory scene from the film, a frustrated Dylan muses about people who pepper him with questions yet don’t really want to know how he writes what he writes. Instead, they long to know why *they* can’t write it. Perhaps that’s the darker side of Dylan’s legacy. For Bob, life is colorful and bountiful. But for everyone else, this reviewer included, after comparing our art to his, life’s color is black and its number none. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11563598/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Complete_Unknown). It is scheduled to open wide theatrically in the United States and Canada on December 25.* --- ### [My top 12 Christmas films](https://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-12-christmas-films/) **Published:** December 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A curmudgeon’s holiday list [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/its_a_wonderful_life.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/its_a_wonderful_life.jpg)*It’s a Wonderful Life* Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 23, 2018 I don’t like Christmas movies. There, I said it. (Ah, I feel so much better now.) But before you go judging me the Grinch reincarnate, let me explain. My dislike of holiday flicks has little to do with my feelings for the season and everything to do with the films themselves. Seriously, if you took away the yuletide spirit, the spiked egg nog and the joy of family and friends, and objectively examined Christmas movies, what would you see? Mediocre direction, lame dialogue, subpar production values and bad acting. Come on, deep down you know it’s true. Still, as is the case with every cinematic genre, some films shine through. And to prove it, below you will find a dozen – for the 12 days of Christmas – that reached through my sternum to caress my cold, dead heart. But before we begin, my apologies to *Edward Scissorhands*, *Love Actually*, the new [*Ben is Back*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ben-is-back/) and other flicks that aren’t 100 percent Christmassy. If there is any debate about their status as a holiday film, I left them off. The list also does not include *The Greatest Story Ever Told*, *The Last Temptation of Christ* and other films that tell the life of Jesus. Neither does it contain *The Ten Commandments* and similar, Biblical movies. Their exclusion has little to do with my agnosticism and a lot to do with the fact that the best films addressing those subjects do not focus solely on the birth of Jesus (at the time of year we now celebrate Christmas), and are, therefore, an ill fit for this list. However, I realize such films are an important part of many Christians’ holiday traditions and probably deserve their own, separate article. **12.** ***Gremlins***. We start with the least Christmassy movie on my list, this sci-fi/horror dramedy from 1984. (Who can forget Phoebe Cates’ nightmarish narrative about the death of her father, who died in their family’s chimney while dressed as Santa Claus?) **11. *Miracle on 34th Street*.** This 1947 classic directed by George Seaton established Edmund Gwenn as the cinematic Santa for all time. Though it’s overrated, the film features memorable performances by Maureen O’Hara and a 9-year-old Natalie Wood as the girl who, like all of us, wants to believe in Kris Kringle. **10. *A Charlie Brown Christmas*.** My unconventional list contains not just feature films but shorts and TV specials too. My #10 entry, which debuted on CBS in December 1965, falls into the latter category. Though a tad primitive and slight – at just 25 minutes – when compared with other entries, this animated Peanuts tale nevertheless encapsulates the holidays for an entire generation of Americans born in the late 1960s and ‘70s. **9. *The Muppet Christmas Carol*.** This 1992 feature directed by Brian Henson was the first Muppets project released after the death of founder/demigod Jim. And though the new voice of Kermit took (and still takes) getting used to, the film’s inventive characterizations and its casting of Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge make it a worthwhile addition to the cinematic holiday canon. **8. *The Polar Express*.** Though the “uncanny valley” special effects of this 2004 Robert Zemeckis holiday flick (based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg) freaked out some audiences, the film deserves praise for its groundbreaking use of motion-capture technology and its imaginative examination of a boy’s belief – or disbelief – in Santa. **7. *The Man Who Invented Christmas*.** Another re-telling of *A Christmas Carol*, this one is unique because it casts Charles Dickens (*Downton Abbey*’s Dan Stevens) as a central character, along with a Scrooge stand-in (Christopher Plummer) and Dickens’ father (Jonathan Pryce). Released in cinemas in 2017, it’s a surprisingly inventive, touching take on a familiar story. ([Read my full review here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-man-who-invented-christmas/).) **6. *Mickey’s Christmas Carol*.** This delightful short film from 1983 was the first new Mickey Mouse theatrical cartoon produced by Disney after Walt’s death. In fact, you’d have to go way back to 1953, with *The Simple Things*, to find the last original mouse tale to hit the big screen. (And only three have been created since.) So, upon its release, it felt like a rare animated gem, and it still does. **5. *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!*** What can one say about the best and most iconic Grinch story ever created? Sure, this 1966 animated TV short might lack some of the production values of the more recent Grinch releases, but it’s tough to top the creativity of director Chuck Jones, writer Dr. Seuss, narrator Boris Karloff and singer Thurl Ravenscroft. It’s become almost as important to the holidays as wrapping paper and nutcrackers. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/A-Christmas-Carol.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/A-Christmas-Carol.jpg)Alastair Sim in the 1951 version of *A Christmas Carol* **4. *A Christmas Carol* (1951).** This list contains four adaptations of the Dickens classic, and none is more revered than the early ‘50s British version (titled simply *Scrooge* in the U.K.) directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring the incomparable Alastair Sim, who has essentially become Scrooge in our mind’s eye. (And let’s not forget Mervyn Johns – better known as the protagonist of *Dead of Night* – as Bob Cratchit.) If this list were longer, I might have room for other versions of the 1843 novella, which practically reinvented Christmas for Britons. The 1984 television movie starring George C. Scott might be worth a mention, along with the 1970 *Scrooge* with Albert Finney, the 1935 *Scrooge* with Seymour Hicks, the 1988 *Scrooged* featuring Bill Murray and the 1938 adaptation starring Reginald Owen. Heck, I might even throw in my own stage appearance as Tiny Tim back when I was just 10 years old. (On second thought, probably not.) But my list is limited to just 12, and the 1951 movie best stands the test of time and will continue to do so for countless Christmases Yet to Come. Oh, and before moving to the next movie, let me wallow for a moment in act of blatant self-promotion: Check out [this brilliant examination of the dialects of the Dickens story](https://www.paulmeier.com/a-christmas-carol/), by my dad, Paul Meier. (When I’m not writing about movies, I serve as vice president of Paul Meier Dialect Services.) **3. *Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas*.** Before the original *Muppet Movie*, in 1979, there was this Christmas gem, which debuted on Canada’s CBC Television Network in 1977 and became an HBO tradition in the 1980s. Lovingly directed by Jim Henson, it features no fewer than seven great songs, including the masterpiece “When the River Meets the Sea.” Surprisingly, the 48-minute film never got a theatrical release until earlier this year, when Fathom Events hosted a two-day run. But if you missed it in your local cinema, never fear: Grab the Blu-ray and some friends, and warm your snakes and beavers by the fire while enjoying *Otter* on your tube. **2. *The Nightmare Before Christmas*.** Often regarded as the best stop-motion animation ever, the Henry Selick-Tim Burton musical fantasy has the distinction of being not just one of the best Christmas films, but one of the best Halloween ones too. The 1993 story of Jack Skellington, who discovers a portal from his world into Christmas Town, continues to inspire and entertain audiences 25 years after its release. **1. *It’s a Wonderful Life*.** This 1946 Frank Capra masterpiece starring Jimmy Stewart sits atop most Christmas lists, and mine is no exception. Embodying all that’s best about not just the holidays but the human spirit, the movie is wonderfully entertaining before turning surprisingly dark toward the end – all in a perfectly calculated effort to teach the eternal lessons that “No man is a failure who has friends” and “Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Just thinking about this film makes my small heart grow three sizes. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For my article on the worst Christmas films, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/).* --- ### [Nightbitch](https://www.meiermovies.com/nightbitch/) **Published:** December 6, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nightbitch**, 2024, 1 ¾ stars # Ugly mutt ## Amy Adams stars in movie mongrel [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nightbitch.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nightbitch.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 6, 2024 For Amy Adams’ character in writer-director Marielle Heller’s new film, life is a bitch. Misunderstood by her husband, depressed that she has no time to pursue her promising artistic career, annoyed by her fellow mothers (with whom she feels nothing in common), filled with claustrophobia at the prospect of being perpetually homebound with her toddler and grieving the loss of her younger self (who “died in childbirth”), she’s at a breaking point. Oh, and she also might be turning into a nocturnal dog. *Nightbitch*, based on the well-received 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder, is a commentary on not just new motherhood but on primal womanhood, attempting to answer, in metaphorical terms, what it means to create bones, flesh, brains and a beating heart inside oneself, expel that entity violently from one’s womb and then be expected to abandon one’s previous life and raise this new creature, often with little help from anyone else. It’s no walk in the dog park. As the unnamed “mother,” Adams embraces her inner beast, though she’s never quite scary or dirty enough for the role. She’s certainly ugly enough, though, having gained weight for the part and, for the first time, looking downright plain. New mothers will undoubtedly relate to her, and to the themes. Scoot McNairy is competent but not much more as the unnamed husband, while no other supporting performers are particularly memorable. This is Adams’ film almost entirely, though the twins playing the son are excellent and Jessica Harper (*Suspiria*), as an odd librarian who might (was it a dream?) have loaned “mother” a book about female magic, is intriguing. But that character, like the film’s interesting premise, never gets fully explored. The movie wanders obligatorily into preachiness and feminism, with Adam’s somewhat maladroit voiceover growing tiresome. That narration is the enemy of mystery and robs the movie of true suspense. It feels very bookish and proves, if you didn’t know already, that the story was adapted from a novel. Most predictable is Heller’s depiction of “husband” as incapable of understanding motherhood and inept at raising his own son. There’s the compulsory scene of him failing at bathing and feeding his child. (Think the early scenes in *Kramer vs. Kramer*.) But what this and most films fail to mention is that, as an on-the-road, working husband, the character is woefully untrained in these matters. You can blame him, or society, or his job, but he simply hasn’t had the requisite instruction to master those tasks. If the roles were reversed and mother was thrown into husband’s job with no teaching, she would undoubtedly fail as miserably as he does. The truth is I don’t necessarily believe that. But it’s good, provocative food for thought. Food Hollywood rarely serves. But *Nightbitch* isn’t a political film. It tries to be just about every other type of film, though: fantasy, Absurdist, body horror, drama, dark comedy, social commentary and even Lifetime. However, it’s too grounded for fantasy, too safe for Absurdism, too palatable for body horror, too silly for drama, too unfunny for dark comedy, too heavy-handed for social commentary and too adult for Lifetime. Ultimately, it’s a mongrel: a film only a mother could love. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12810074/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightbitch_(film)). It is currently playing in theaters.* --- ### [Alamo Drafthouse coming to Florida](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-coming-to-florida/) **Published:** February 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando cinema to open later this year [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)This photo, taken March 1, shows construction underway. Click for a larger version. From *The Orlando Weekly*, February 25, 2020 (updated March 1) Florida’s first Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is scheduled to open later this year in south Orlando. Though an opening date has not been officially announced, [the original plan](https://vinelandpointeorlando.com/directory/) calls for phase three (which will include Alamo) to be completed this summer. The Texas-based chain of dine-in theaters is currently under construction at the intersection of Daryl Carter Parkway and Regency Village Drive, as part of the new Vineland Pointe shopping and dining center, about two miles southwest of SeaWorld. That’s where Daryl Carter Parkway crosses over I-4, but that Interstate interchange is not scheduled to be completed until 2022. Until then, drivers on I-4 west will exit on SR 528 (Beachline Expressway) and take International Drive south, while I-4 east travelers can exit on either SR 536, SR 535 or Central Florida Parkway. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-2-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-2-scaled.jpg)The cinema will have 10 screens, with a total of 942 seats, according to the company’s original announcement last year, in addition to the ability to project 35mm film. That projector, in addition to Alamo’s penchant for playing not just first-run studio films but arthouse fare and older movies, will put it in competition with Maitland’s Enzian Theater, which is currently the only cinema in metro Orlando that regularly uses a 35mm projector. But because the two theaters are 33 miles apart – and because Enzian is planning improvements that include a second screen – it’s unclear whether Alamo will take much business from the Maitland movie house. “Continuing the company’s commitment to preserving 35mm, Alamo Drafthouse Orlando will … feature 35mm changeover projection so that both classic films and new releases can be experienced in glorious celluloid,” the company said in a press release. “Alamo Drafthouse’s much-loved repertory programming will also make its way to Orlando, like … deep dives into classic movies, documentaries and foreign-language films, as well as family-friendly choices like low-cost ‘Kids Camp’ screenings that raise money for local nonprofits and schools.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alamo-Drafthouse-seats.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Alamo-Drafthouse-seats.jpg)This photo, courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse, shows a typical auditorium. Founded in 1997, Alamo Drafthouse currently has fewer than 50 locations nationwide, with its theater in Raleigh, North Carolina, being the closest to Orlando. The chain is known for expansive food and drink selections, table service (similar to that of Enzian), a strict no-talking policy and luxury recliners. According to the company, the Orlando theater will also feature “The Big Show,” which is Alamo’s name for its large-format theater. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* **Correction:** The original story contained a photo labeled “Alamo Drafthouse under construction.” But the building in the photo was actually a new Target store, which is also under construction nearby. Alamo Drafthouse will be right across Daryl Carter Parkway from Target. **Update:** This project was scrapped in 2021. As of 2024, the land was still partially developed. [Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy-scraps-orlando-cinema/) for details. In 2024, Alamo Drafthouse finally opened its first Florida cinema, in Naples. --- ### [Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy, scraps Orlando cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/alamo-drafthouse-files-for-bankruptcy-scraps-orlando-cinema/) **Published:** March 5, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)Construction of Orlando’s Alamo Drafthouse had already begun, as shown in this photo from March 1, 2020. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/alamo-drafthouse-scraps-orlando-cinema-and-files-for-bankruptcy-28901424), March 3, 2021 “Remember the Alamo” will now haunt Orlando almost as eerily as it does San Antonio, after the Texas-based movie chain today announced it is scrapping plans for an Orlando theater. The cancellation is part of a pending bankruptcy and sale to its senior lender group, including Altamont Capital Partners, funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC, Alamo founder Tim League, and other investors. Alamo Drafthouse, founded in 1997, had planned to open its first Florida location last fall. Construction of the dine-in cinema began about a year ago at the intersection of Daryl Carter Parkway and Regency Village Drive, as part of the Vineland Pointe shopping and dining center, about two miles southwest of SeaWorld. But the pandemic, and now the bankruptcy and sale, have permanently ended those plans. The company also plans to permanently close three existing theaters: the historic Ritz in downtown Austin, Texas, plus cinemas in Kansas City, Mo., and New Braunfels, Texas. But the overall company hopes to survive and prosper. “We’re excited to work with our partners at Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group to continue on \[a\] path of growth on the other side of the pandemic,” said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Shelli Taylor in a prepared statement. “And we want to ensure the public that we expect no disruption to our business and no impact on franchise operations, employees and customers in our locations that are currently operating.” The Orlando cinema was to have had 10 screens, with a total of 942 seats, according to the company’s original announcement in 2019, in addition to the ability to project 35mm film. Perhaps John Greenleaf Whitter said it better than any press release: “O*f all sad words of tongue or pen*, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” For more information on the company’s bankruptcy and sale, see *[The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/business/the-alamo-drafthouse-movie-theater-chain-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html)*. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* **Update:** Alamo Drafthouse finally opened its first Florida cinema in 2024, in Naples. --- ### [The Holdovers](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-holdovers/) **Published:** November 28, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Holdovers**, 2023, 4 ¼ stars # Teaching moments ## Payne delivers heartwarming, hilarious holiday gift [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Holdovers.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Holdovers.jpg)Dominic Sessa, left, and Paul Giamatti star in *The Holdovers*. (image copyright Miramax / Focus Features) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 28, 2023 Curmudgeonly Paul Hunham teaches history at a New England boarding school for boys. With his button-down shirt and button-down mind, his googly eye and googly soul, Paul persists, despite being disliked by both pupils and faculty. It’s Christmastime 1970, and the Vietnam War is raging. But the only things raging on the snowy campus of Barton Academy are the hormones of the boys, who are chomping at the bit to get home for the holidays. But not all have places to go. Specifically, five students are “holdovers,” stuck at school with only Mr. Hunham and the head cook as chaperones. This seemingly predictable, comedic scenario eventually turns more melancholy and ultimately meaningful in the hands of director Alexander Payne. Buoyed by a lovingly laid-back pace, gentle dissolve shots and meticulous attention to period architecture, dress, mood and music, *The Holdovers* feels like IT was held over – from 1970. With its earthy tones, old cars, fake flicker and classic production logos, the film screams time travel. All these wonderful choices allow you to sink into a movie that, without them, wouldn’t have been nearly as engrossing. But the story speaks volumes sans style. Both a coming-of-age tale (for Angus, the student whose story is featured most prominently) and a moment of late-life crisis (for both Mr. Hunham and the cook, whose son was just killed in Vietnam), *The Holdovers* doesn’t break new ground on either topic. But it does retread that ground with a tenderness that will not soon be forgotten, thanks to a smart script by David Hemingson, good performances by Dominic Sessa as Angus and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as the grieving mother, and a masterful turn by the great Paul Giamatti as Mr. Hunham. Some characters from the first act go underdeveloped and are, oddly, almost thrown away mid-movie, but the payoffs involving the principals mostly make up for that. Part *Dead Poets Society*, part *It’s a Wonderful Life* and all Payne, *The Holdovers* should be included among the director’s best films, alongside *About Schmidt*, *The Descendants* and *Citizen Ruth*. And it’s nice to see him working again with Giamatti, almost 20 years after their first collaboration (*Sideways*). They’re both older and wiser than the last time they tangoed, and it shows in the film’s meandering gate, biting humor and can’t-miss message straight from that aforementioned Capra classic: Each man’s life touches so many other lives. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14849194/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holdovers). It is currently screening in theaters and streaming on Amazon Prime Video.* --- ### ['Field of Dreams' movie site](https://www.meiermovies.com/field-of-dreams-movie-site/) **Published:** November 26, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** About four miles northeast of the small town of Dyersville, Iowa, nestled among corn fields, lies one of the most iconic outdoor locations in cinema history: the baseball field from *Field of Dreams*. Open sunrise to sunset most days of the year, and free of charge (save a donation request), the site has remained mostly undeveloped. It includes the field itself, the house (available for tours and rentals at certain times of the year), a gravel parking lot and three barn-like structures (one a store and another a restaurant closed from late fall to early spring). In the off-season, visitors will have to settle for a single porta-potty. Talk about rustic. Don’t count on corn. When the photos below were taken, in November 2024, the crop had been harvested, leaving the area beyond the outfield flat and bare. But you can still feel the magic. You just can’t feel your hands if you visit in the winter without gloves. If you’re wondering about the Major League Baseball stadium constructed on the site, you can see it in the distance beyond the original field, but it isn’t open to the public. And because the bleachers were temporary, there wouldn’t be much to see anyway. My suggestion is to visit during warm weather and stay at least 30 minutes, soaking in the atmosphere. And then visit the “If You Build It” museum in Dyersville, which, disappointingly, is closed in the off-season. For more information, [visit the official website](https://www.fieldofdreamsmoviesite.com/). And to learn more about the 1989 classic movie, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-8-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-9-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Field-of-Dreams-9-scaled.jpg) --- ### [State Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/state-theatre/) **Published:** November 25, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The State Theatre, in Washington, Iowa, has been certified by Guinness Book of Records as the oldest continually operating cinema in the world. The current building, which opened as the Graham Opera House in 1893 (after the original 1886 building burned), screened its first motion picture in 1897. That’s just two years after movies were projected on a screen for the public for the first time, in both Paris and New York City. For more information on the cinema, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Theatre_(Washington,_Iowa)) and the [city’s website](https://washingtoniowa.gov/washington-state-theatre/). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Washington State Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-2-scaled.jpg) [![Washington State Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/State-Theatre-3-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Jewish Film Festival 2024](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/) **Published:** October 18, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian Theater mini-fest to screen five features [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Stay-With-Us-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Stay-With-Us-scaled.jpg)Gad Elmaleh stars in *Reste un Peu* (*Stay with Us* or, literally, *Rest a Little*). Images are courtesy of Enzian Theater. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/orlandos-26th-central-florida-jewish-film-festival-embraces-culture-and-history-in-five-feature-films-38125622), October 30, 2024 The most popular of Enzian Theater’s mini-festivals, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival will screen five features and one short November 2-4. Co-presented by Shalom Orlando, the event will be held at the Orlando Science Center and Enzian. Jewish film fests have a surprisingly short history. The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, founded in 1980, is considered the oldest and largest. In contrast, film festivals in general have been around since 1932, when the Venice International Film Festival was born. But Jewish fests have been steadily on the rise over the last 40 years and now number more than 100 worldwide. Enzian’s fest has been a beacon for the Orlando Jewish community, and for the city’s overall culture, for 26 years. The event has been scaled back from four days to three this year to avoid Election Day, according to Matthew Curtis, programming director. In addition to film, the event offers Jewish cuisine, plus the theater’s regular fare. The special menu includes potato latkes, holishkes, bagels and lox (smoked salmon), Hebrew National hot dogs and Dr. Brown’s Soda. The event begins at the Orlando Science Center at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 (after sundown, to honor the Sabbath) with ***The Performance*** (3 stars on 0-5 scale), in which Jeremy Piven plays Harold May, an aging Jewish-American tap dancer bumming his way around small European clubs in 1936. His troupe is talented but is struggling with recognition and funds. So when he is offered a Berlin show for a prestigious Nazi audience and a large check, he can’t resist. Much like Colonel Nicholson in *The Bridge on the River Kwai*, Harold is so motivated by the job that he forgets for whom he is working. Writer-director Shira Piven’s tale, based on a 2002 Arthur Miller story, grapples with tone and, like Harold, initially struggles to find its footing. But the history and morality lessons are memorable, as is Jeremy Piven’s performance. You might even find yourself wondering, if faced with a similar situation, would you dance for the devil? Also filled with interesting questions is ***Unspoken*** (2 stars) (11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3), a coming-of-age narrative getting its Florida premiere. After his grandfather’s death, a closeted, gay American teenager named Noam discovers he might share something else with his grandfather besides Judaism: sexual orientation. Noam’s research reveals not just truth about the Holocaust and his family’s past but himself too. Considering its great story and relatable performance by Charlie Korman as Noam, writer-director Jeremy Borison’s film is disappointingly pedestrian and never achieves the emotional highs it should, even when revealing its twists. It will find its audience, as it did at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, where it won best narrative. But if you’re looking for one film to skip, this is it. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Levkoviches-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Levkoviches-1.jpg)*All About the Levkoviches* If the first two films offer an undergraduate discussion of morality and religion, the fest’s third, ***Stay with Us*** (3 ½ stars) (literally *Rest a Little* in French) (2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3), is at a doctorate level. Half drama, half comedy, and half fiction, half documentary, the French film from famous comedian Gad Elmaleh examines the bonds of religion and family. Elmaleh, his sister and their parents – playing slightly fictionalized versions of themselves – clash over Gad’s conversion from Judaism to Catholicism. “Return to your religion, the one we gave you,” implores his father. “You’re our son. And we don’t want to lose you.” The genre-bending movie is the fest’s best and most original thanks to its many nuggets of wisdom, such as a rabbi’s advice to “never ask directions from someone who knows the way, or you will never be able to get lost. … You’re fortunate to be lost.” *Stay with Us* is as close to a doc as the fest gets. Regarding the lack of true documentaries, Curtis says, “We did have a couple of good docs that were in the mix at the final selections meeting, but the committee just felt stronger about the five narrative features that were chosen.” The feature is accompanied by ***Judy-ism*** (2 stars), a short dramedy about a Jewish woman contemplating her life on the eve of her wedding. Another enjoyable comedy-drama about family bonds, ***All About the Levkoviches*** (3 ¼ stars) (4:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4) concerns a father and son (Zoltán Bezerédy and Tamás Szabó Kimmel, in fine performances) who haven’t spoken in eight years after the son became ultra-religious and moved from the family’s Hungarian home to Israel. When the family matriarch unexpectedly dies, the two undergo an uncomfortable but ultimately revelatory reunion. After a traditional Shivah ceremony is forced upon him, the father confronts his son: “You don’t get to tell me how to mourn. What do you know about my pain?” His son might not understand his pain, but director Adam Breier does, and he mines that pain to produce a fine film. The fest’s most lavish production is ***Shoshana*** (2 ¾ stars) (6:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4), writer-director Michael Winterbottom’s epic drama about violence in British Palestine in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Zionist Shoshana Borochov (Irina Starshenbaum) and British policeman Thomas Wilkin (Douglas Booth) are lovers on opposite sides of the conflict but with respect for each other, while Tom’s boss, Geoffrey Morton (*Harry Potter*’s Harry Melling, who steals the show), is determined to quell protests in any way possible. The characters’ real-life stories are slightly altered but retain the heart of the truth and thereby provide a valuable history lesson. The love affair feels sandwiched in and forgotten at times while the entire narrative is occasionally jumbled and rushed. Nevertheless, the film is an important reminder that the Middle East has been blowing itself apart for well over a century. The dates might change, but violence remains constant. The one positive is that we have films, and festivals, like this to educate us, in hopes that we might one day break the cycle. A mensch pass, which includes priority seating to all films and a donation to Shalom Orlando, costs $118; a series pass, which includes second-priority seating to all films, is $65; and a single ticket goes for $14. For more information, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/). *© 2024 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [U](https://www.meiermovies.com/u/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with U:** El Ultimo Traje (The Last Suit) FL (2017; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2018 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) [The Uncles](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-uncles/) (2000; 2 ¾ stars) [Uncut Gems](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) (2019; 2 ¼ stars) [Undine](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/06/07/4000/) FL (2020; 2 ¼ stars) [Unfrosted](https://www.meiermovies.com/unfrosted/) TV/Web/NT (2024; 1 ¾ stars) [Unhinged](http://www.meiermovies.com/unhinged/) (2020; 1 ½ stars) Unlocking the Cage (2016; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Sarasota Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) Unrest (2017; 3 ½ stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2017 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) [Unsane](http://www.meiermovies.com/unsane/) (2018; 2 stars) Unspoken (2024; 2 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2024 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2024/ "Jewish Film Festival 2024") --- ### [Jewish Film Festival 2023](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) **Published:** October 16, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian Theater mini-fest turns 25 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Farewell-Mr.-Haffmann.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Farewell-Mr.-Haffmann.jpeg)*Adieu, Monsieur Haffmann* (images courtesy of Enzian Theater) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/25th-annual-central-florida-jewish-film-festival-comes-to-orlando-saturday-35413734), November, 2, 2023 As the world watches the horrors in Israel and Gaza, the 25th annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival reminds us of the power of cinema to educate, unite and promote peace. This year’s fest, co-presented by Enzian Theater and Shalom Orlando, will screen five narrative-fiction features and one feature documentary November 4-7. Adding to the event’s appeal is Jewish food: spinach-and-cheese knishes; latkes with applesauce and sour cream; tzimmes with beef, carrots and sweet potatoes; holishkes (stuffed cabbage); and Hebrew National hot dogs with sauerkraut and brown mustard. (Enzian will also offer its regular menu.) Starting the fest is a film that asks you to reimagine *Romeo and Juliet* as a Hebrew-Yiddish comedy. Directed and co-written by Erez Tadmor (*A Matter of Size*) and screening at the Orlando Science Center on Saturday at 7:45 p.m., ***Matchmaking*** (2 ½ stars on 0-5 scale) was a huge hit in Israel and is an understandable choice to open this festival. Nevertheless, its fast pace, contrivances, jumble of characters and somewhat lost-in-translation plot make it difficult to fully appreciate. Still, it’s got an undeniable charm, plus humor and social commentary. Those elements, along with a likeable lead performance by Amit Rahav (as an Orthodox Jew who will do anything to meet his “unacceptable” dream girl), will probably make it a crowd pleaser. But this critic never became fully engaged – pun intended. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/June-Zero-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/June-Zero-scaled.jpeg)*June Zero* The Hebrew-language ***June Zero*** (3 ½ stars) continues the festival on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Enzian. An oddly structured but emotionally fulfilling historical drama of three people whose lives are woven together by the 1962 execution of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann, writer-director Jake Paltrow’s film, inspired by real events, is the most original movie ever about the Nazi monster. It’s the Robert Altman Nazi film he never made. Over a slightly misshapen but nevertheless revelatory 105 minutes, we meet a prosecutor (Tom Hagi) who proved Eichmann’s guilt, a jailer (Yoav Levi) who guarded him and a 13-year-old boy (talented newcomer Noam Ovadia) who, through unlikely circumstances, helped build the crematorium that burned him to ashes, like millions of his victims. “I touched history. Or it touched me,” the latter says. Now, 61 years after Eichmann’s death, *June Zero* is touching history too. In a 180-degree tonal pivot, it should come as no surprise that a powerful player in New York City’s pornography industry in the ‘60s and ‘70s was a tough-as-nails entrepreneur with mafia ties. What’s surprising is that entrepreneur was a gay female Holocaust survivor with an unbreakable devotion to her family. And it’s the family that is front and center in ***Queen of the Deuce*** (2 ¾ stars; Sunday, 2 p.m., at Enzian), director Valerie Kontakos’s documentary about Greek-born Chelly Wilson, who, following her pre-war escape from Europe, turned a hot dog stand into property ownership into an empire of porn theaters and skin flicks. Never quite weird or stylistic enough for its strange subject (despite the animated segments), *Queen* is an unconventional choice for the festival because it sometimes focuses more on porn than on Wilson. But the story is unique and ultimately illuminates not just an odd time in the history of 42nd Street (“the deuce”) but an unusual tale of the American Jewish experience. Another strange, but entirely different, examination of Jewish culture can be found in the fourth film, ***The Other Widow*** (3 ¼ stars), playing Monday at 4:15 p.m. at Enzian. Nominated for nine Israeli Oscars, writer-director Maayan Rypp’s film exposes an undoubtedly common but rarely depicted grieving process: that of a mistress. After her lover dies unexpectedly, Ella shows up at the Shiva, at first troubled by the awkward situation and not sure what to say to the grieving wife. But she slowly comes to terms with her feelings, allowing herself to mourn in her own way. Dramatic and cultural insightful, but also surprisingly humorous and surreal, the Hebrew-language film feels slight at times but ultimately sticks with you thanks to Rypp’s interesting portrait of a cultural outcast and the relatable performance of Dana Ivgy as said outcast. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Other-Widow.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Other-Widow.jpeg)*The Other Widow* Switching to full comedy (with lots of action and violence), the fest continues at Enzian on Monday at 6:45 p.m. with its weakest offering, writer-director Asaf Kobrovsky’s ***Hummus Full Trailer*** (1 ½ stars). A poor man’s Tarantino, this frenetic and annoyingly overscored caper involves a mix-up of three shipping containers full of weapons, flowers and a portable brothel. Yes, really. The confusion almost turns deadly because the containers’ recipients happen to be rival mafia families. The plot makes little sense even if you can follow it, but that wouldn’t matter if the film were funnier or less stylistically grating. (When will slow-motion musical interludes finally die?) It also helps if you know Hebrew and French, as the English subtitles are occasionally difficult to read. At least the title is appropriate, as the film is paced like a trailer and, like, hummus, is tasty in small doses but not meant for a meal. The festival ends on Tuesday at 7 p.m., back at the Orlando Science Center, with ***Adieu, Monsieur Haffmann** (****Farewell, Mr. Haffmann)*** (4 ¼ stars), a World War II morality tale. As the Nazis invade Paris, Jewish jeweler Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil) sends his family away, hoping to join them after he secures their business. To that end, he arranges a fake sale to a gentile employee (Gilles Lellouche), with the understanding that he’ll get the shop back after the war. But when his escape fails, he, his employee and the employee’s wife (Sara Giraudeau) are stuck in the same cramped quarters. Director and co-writer *Fred Cavayé* weaves a claustrophobic, twisty tale of the best and worst of humanity, slowly ratcheting up the tension toward a stunning climax. This French-language drama is not just the best of this year’s fest – it’s one of the greatest ever screened during the event’s quarter-century. Tickets are $14 for one film, $78 for a series pass and $136 for a Mensch Pass, which provides priority seating. For more information, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/). *© 2023 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [South Asian Film Festival turns 30](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-30/) **Published:** September 23, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian mini-fest offers 4 features and 4 shorts [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-Red-Suitcase-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-Red-Suitcase-scaled.jpg)*The Red Suitcase* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/movies-tv/orlando-celebrates-the-30th-south-asian-film-festival-with-four-features-four-shorts-and-plenty-of-samosas-37924494), October 2, 2024 The Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival, co-presented by the Asian Cultural Association (ACA), is celebrating 30 years of proving that Indian subcontinent cinema is more than just Bollywood musicals. This year’s fest, set for October 5-7, will screen four features and four shorts either from South Asia or focused on its culture and people. The diverse genres include supernatural road trip, nature documentary, coming-of-age, comedy and social docudrama. After three decades, Orlando takes the festival for granted, but it had an unlikely beginning thanks to collaboration between Enzian and Jasbir Mehta, founder and program director of the ACA. “My whole motivation in the arts is to … bring people together, so that we come face to face and eliminate our fears and find common ground,” Mehta says. “So I’ve always used, in my life, arts as a way to bring people together. “Thirty years ago, there was no forum in the state for Indian film \[or\] independent filmmakers to showcase their work, so … we wanted to give them a platform. … So I went to Enzian and … put together a program.” [![Girls Will Be Girls](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Girls-will-be-girls_1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Girls-will-be-girls_1.jpg)*Girls Will Be Girls* Three decades on, Mehta is still creating that program, along with Enzian Programming Director Matthew Curtis and Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson, plus input from the ACA. They watch 40-50 films to form the fest, choosing from movies submitted to them and ones they seek themselves. “To our knowledge, this festival is the longest continually running South Asian film festival in the United States,” Curtis says, “so reaching our 30th anniversary is certainly a source of pride for both Enzian and the Asian Cultural Association.” At least one thing is different today: Mehta is no longer preparing the food herself. (“I remember making 60-100 samosas and bringing them to the festival,” she recalls.) That’s now handled by Enzian chefs. This year’s menu includes samosas with tamarind sauce, mint chutney sandwiches, chicken curry with rice and vegetables, Mumbai margaritas, Kingfisher beer, mango lassi and pistachio ice cream, plus the theater’s regular fare. Both the food and the films offer those who have never visited the Indian subcontinent an education, but the event holds value for Indian expats too. “When immigrants come here, you know, the country freezes at the time that you come,” Mehta says. “I’ve been in this country now more than 40 years, so it’s only through the movies that we keep current.” The 2024 event is bookended by its best offerings, ***The Red Suitcase*** (3 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale) and ***Girls Will Be Girls*** (3 ¼ stars). The former (Oct. 5, 11 a.m.), a haunting directorial debut from Fidel Devkota, is receiving its Southeast premiere. This Nepali-language mystery-drama involves a truck driver on a two-day trip from Katmandu, Nepal, to deliver a box and a red suitcase to a remote village. But mirroring his journey is a solitary figure with a seemingly identical suitcase. Rod Serling would be proud. *Girls Will Be Girls* (Oct. 7, 6:30 p.m.), directed by Shuchi Talati, is a multi-national production, filmed mostly in English but set in India, also getting its Southeast debut. At a Himalayan boarding school, Mira is the star pupil but is having difficulty balancing her books with a budding romance and her meddlesome mother. But Talati’s study in adolescence is anything but adolescent. Assured, tender, well-acted, naturalistic and surprisingly complicated, the coming-of-age film has a lot to say about girls, and women. The other two features are documentaries, balancing the festival perfectly between fiction and non-fiction. ***Nocturnes*** (2 ¼ stars) (Oct. 6, 11 a.m.), directed by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinvasan, is a serene, occasionally mesmerizing look at researchers studying moths in the eastern Himalayas. Co-presented by the Science on Screen program, the minimalist, mostly Hindi-language doc, at just 83 minutes, might have been better as a short. But nature-lovers and those seeking a break from our crazy, urban world will be drawn to it like a moth to, well, you know. The other documentary is ***Call Me Dancer*** (1 ¾ stars) (Oct. 5, 1:30 p.m.), helmed by Pip Gilmour and Leslie Shampaine. Filmed in English and Hindi over several years, it follows an aspiring dancer as he struggles to find prestige and pay. Accompanying him on his unlikely journey from Mumbai to international fame is an aging Israeli ballet master with his own unusual story. The unique *Dancer* has a lot to say but doesn’t always have the right moves, resulting in a film that rarely feels consequential or compelling. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Places-Ive-Called-My-Own.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Places-Ive-Called-My-Own.jpg)*Places I’ve Called My Own* (images courtesy of Enzian Theater) *Chhota Cinema: New Indian Shorts* (Oct. 6, 2 p.m.) offers four fiction films. (“Chhota” means “short” in Hindi.) Two are captivating: ***Places I’ve Called My Own** (4 stars)*, an emotionally resonant look at a young, gay woman’s alienation upon returning to India for her father’s funeral; and ***Men in Blue*** (3 stars), a gritty glimpse into the exploitation of Indian workers in Texas, based on real events. The other shorts are vastly different from one another. ***Dosh*** (2 stars), an intimate but vague glimpse into a family’s mental-health struggles, flirts with profundity but bites off a bit more than it can chew for a 16-minute film. Lastly, ***Barely Breathing*** (2 stars) is the fest’s only full-on comedy, and a broad one too, complete with autoerotic asphyxia. Both it and *Dosh* are odd choices considering they are set in the United States, filmed in English and offer little Asian cultural insight. If you’re looking for commonality among the films, you might find serenity, minimalism and especially calmness, especially in *The Red Suitcase*, *Nocturnes* and even *Girls Will Be Girls*. “That calmness comes from that region,” Mehta says, referencing Nepal, the setting of *The Red Suitcase*. “There is a sense of being. There is a sense of something internal about it, which we … have lost with the commercialization of everything that’s going on in this world, the fast pace of life, everything. You know, calmness we tend to lose.” If you wish to regain calmness, it’ll cost you $60 for a festival pass, which guarantees priority seating, or $13 for a single ticket. (There’s that dreaded commercialism again.) To purchase tickets, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/). *© 2024 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Joker: Folie à Deux](https://www.meiermovies.com/joker-folie-a-deux/) **Published:** October 3, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Joker: Folie à Deux**, 2024, 3 ¼ stars # Sing me deadly ## Joker returns with a song in his heart [![Joker: Folie a Deux](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Joker-Folie-a-Deux.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Joker-Folie-a-Deux.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 4, 2024 “Knock, knock. Who’s there? Arthur Fleck. Arthur Fleck who?” Indeed, the world had never heard of Arthur Fleck until he found a super(anti)hero inside himself in director Todd Phillips’ original *Joker*, from 2019. He was the epitome of Thoreau’s “quiet desperation,” with a side of mental illness. Then came his murder spree, which culminated in the on-air massacre of television talk-show host Murray Franklin. Now, in the unlikely sequel, Arthur finds himself incarcerated at Gotham’s Arkham Asylum, awaiting trial. Clinging to his last bit of sanity, he finds a seemingly kindred spirit, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Harley Quinn), who has been committed to the asylum’s minimum-security wing by her own mother, after she set fire to her family’s apartment building. For Arthur and Lee, it is love at first joke. Together, they embrace their affinity for song and fantasize about a life together outside the asylum while staging *Chicago*-like musical numbers in their own minds. The original film was a cross between a drama, a psychological thriller and a comic-book-origin story, but the sequel audaciously combines even more genres, including romance, dark comedy, musical and even animation, in the form of a clever opening cartoon that makes Itchy and Scratchy look like Mickey Mouse. Above all else, it’s daringly dark and startlingly strange. An eclectic and original vision from Phillips, who again co-wrote the script with Scott Silver (based, of course, on DC Comics characters), the film both embraces and transcends its weirdness. It doesn’t always work and flirts with tedium, especially in its musical interludes, which feature established tunes such as “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “Get Happy” and “For Once in My Life.” And the story is weaker than the original’s. In fact, the main reason it succeeds is simply because it exists in the shadow of the original, which is one of the three best comic-book films of all time (without really being a comic-book film). But the sequel’s own oddness is mesmerizing, mostly thanks to another completely unhinged performance from Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. Lending nice support is Lady Gaga as Lee (who is, thankfully, a much better singer than Phoenix), Brendan Gleeson as an asylum guard, Catherine Keener as Arthur’s lawyer, Harry Lawtey as prosecuting attorney Harvey Dent, Steve Coogan as a TV interviewer and Leigh Gill as Arthur’s former friend. The latter steals the courtroom scenes when he painfully recounts witnessing Arthur’s brutal slaying of their mutual friend. It’s the movie’s most honest moment and a reminder that a single act of violence can mean a lifetime of psychological trauma. The movie’s weirdness isn’t for everyone. Take the preview audience I had the misfortune of sitting with. (Take them, please.) They never shut up except when shoving popcorn in their fat faces. And they groaned aloud when each new song began, apparently unaware in advance that *Joker: Folie à Deux* is part-musical. And they made fun of things they couldn’t comprehend. It makes one understand, if not forgive, Arthur’s desire to blow up the whole sick world in which he lives. Most glaringly, the audience didn’t seem to understand the movie’s surprises, and the biggest one – spoiler alert – is that Arthur ultimately rejects Joker and claims some responsibility and guilt for his brutality. His joke finally comes to an end, at least in his own mind, and he exhibits a degree of humanity – or at least as much humanity as that aforementioned audience. Befitting the darkness in the movie – and this review – perhaps Phillips should have subtitled his film not *Folie à Deux* (madness for two) but *Folie à Tout* (madness for all). *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11315808/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker:_Folie_%C3%A0_Deux). It is currently screening in cinemas. And to read my review of the original* Joker*, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/joker/ "Joker").* --- ### [The Critic](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-critic/) **Published:** September 9, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Critic**, 2024, 2 ½ stars # Non-critical ## Ian McKellen mystery-drama is intriguing but flawed [![The Critic](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Critic-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Critic-1-scaled.jpg)Ian McKellen and Gemma Arterton star in *The Critic*. (Images are copyright and courtesy of Sony Pictures / BK Studios / Culminations Productions.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 9, 2024 Theatre critic Jimmy Erskine’s pen is deadlier than his sword. But for the crusty old journalist, there’s something even deadlier than ink: blackmail. Erskine has been a literary institution at *The Daily Chronicle* for 40 years. Known more for his scathing wit and William F. Buckley-like command of the English language than his respect for actors or his audience, he is stubbornness personified. “I doubt our readers are familiar with the word,” a copy editor tells him upon encountering an archaism in his review. Erskine’s retort: “I doubt our readers can read.” But when a scandal involving his Black male secretary and lover – because that was common in London in 1934 – threatens to end his career, he abandons the safe confines of the Fourth Estate and makes his own news by hatching a plot to blackmail his editor and thereby retain his job. Remember that critic in *Birdman*? The one who promised to “kill” Riggan Thomson’s play before even having seen it? She’s Mother Theresa next to Erskine. *The Critic* is directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber. Tucker has directed about a dozen films but is perhaps better known as the producer of *Girl with a Pearl Earring* and a handful of other movies, while Marber is famous for penning the Oscar-nominated script for *Notes on a Scandal*, from 2006. He based his script for *The Critic* on the 2015 novel *Curtain Call* by British author Anthony Quinn. But while the tale has all the twists and turns of an Agatha Christie story, the finished product has little of the Christie whimsy and intrigue. What it does have is a predictably delicious performance by Ian McKellen in the title role; competent support from Gemma Arterton as Nina Land, an up-and-coming actress caught in Erskine’s evil web; and a great turn by Mark Strong, who, as David Brooke, Erskine’s boss and blackmail target, projects a relatability and sweetness that the rest of the film lacks. [![The Critic](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Critic-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Critic-2.jpg) Erskine, in contrast, is mean, unsympathetic and ultimately just not that interesting. These characteristics apparently bothered test audiences so much that the filmmakers reworked the movie. I loathe test audiences and would have liked to see the original, especially because this final version still suffers from the unrelatability of the title character. The film starts with a memorable monologue from McKellan about the purpose of a critic but then mostly abandons its theatrical focus. Indeed, Erskine could be any person, from a lawyer to a janitor, who will do anything to keep his job. His brand of evil isn’t unique to the world of the stage, or the media. “Truth is imperative” for a great critic, Erskine says in the aforementioned speech. But he then spends the rest of the film cloaking himself in deception. So much for journalistic integrity. This criticism would be mostly pointless, however, if the film were more carefully crafted. Alternatingly and frustratingly briefly, it wants to be about Erskine’s ego, Nina’s career, Nina’s relationship with her mother (Lesley Manville), Nina’s affair with a married man, that married man’s faltering marriage, the life of Erskine’s lover (Alfred Enoch), Brooke’s family and career (after taking over the paper from his recently deceased father) and Brooke’s philandering with Nina. In the end, it’s not about much of anything at all, except perhaps a contrived, anachronistic statement regarding LGBTQ rights, or lack thereof, in 1930s Britain, when homosexuality was illegal. This is the point in the review when Erskine would rip the film to shreds, roasting the cast and crew mercilessly. But the truth is that there’s almost as much to like (performance, pacing, mood and twists) about *The Critic* as to dislike. While that might make for a boring article – or at least one less entertaining than the typical Erskine composition – it makes for a fairer, more balanced one. And, ultimately, that is what Erskine’s reviews, and the film itself, lack: balance and focus. The best critics cut through the bullshit. So let’s do that. Are critics really needed? Probably not, unless they are that rare breed who create a unique piece of new art from the art they are reviewing and thereby allow audiences to see that original art in a new light. If they can’t do that, what’s the point of telling another person what to think? It’s unnecessary. And so are films about critics – at least this one. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13457790/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520critic) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critic_(2023_film)). It will receive a general release in cinemas on September 13, 2024.* --- ### [Beetlejuice Beetlejuice](https://www.meiermovies.com/beetlejuice-beetlejuice/) **Published:** September 6, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Beetlejuice Beetlejuice**, 2024, 3 stars # Let us re*juice* ## Long-awaited sequel is a messy but crazy-fun romp [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice-2.jpg)Images are copyright Warner Brothers / Tim Burton Productions / Plan B Entertainment. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 6, 2024 The modern adjective “weird” has fateful beginnings, literally. It derives partially from Old English “wyrd,” which referred to destiny, fate and chance. Other incarnations, including the Old Saxon and Old High German, also dealt with fate, as well as “turning” or “becoming.” After taking on a supernatural meaning in Middle and Early Modern English, it eventually settled, in the 19th century, into the definition we know today. Enter Tim Burton, a master of cinematic weirdness. I have no way of knowing whether the director knows the origin of “weird,” but he and his new film certainly embrace the term, and then some. Indeed, it’s almost as if Burton were fated – despite the 36-year wait – to make this deliciously odd, supernatural, fantasy-comedy sequel. Turns out Old and Middle English aren’t dead after all. But Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) is, along with just about half the cast of this crazy film, which is even more fantastical than the first. Defying plot description, *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* (don’t say the name one more time) picks up three and a half decades after the events of the 1988 film. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now the host of a supernatural talk show. She also has a teen daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), from whom she is partially estranged following the death of Astrid’s father. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice.jpg)Lydia’s own father, Charles, has just died, which is convenient considering the actor who played him (Jeffrey Jones) is registered sex offender and, therefore, would have been uncastable. (Jones is featured in photos, and his character is shown in a brilliantly executed stop-motion-style animated sequence.) And Lydia’s stepmom, Delia (Catherine O’Hara), is still a pretentious artiste who throws herself into fake, performance-style mourning upon the death of her husband, bolding announcing, “We need to unpack the art of sorrow.” To do that, Delia, Lydia, Astrid and Lydia’s suspicious manager/boyfriend (Justin Theroux) all journey to Winter River and temporarily move back into the formerly haunted family abode. The Maitlands (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) no longer spook the attic, as they have “moved on,” we’re told. But a host of other characters and plotlines fill the void left by the original movie’s main characters. Some succeed, such as Monica Bellucci as Betelgeuse’s dead ex-wife from the Middle Ages, while others, like a poorly conceived and miscast Willem Dafoe, don’t. (You know a film is weird when Dafoe is too conventional.) Others, like a potential love interest (Arthur Conti) of Astrid, are hit-or-miss. Oh, and it turns out Betelgeuse himself still has a little thing for Lydia. The story is a mess, but that matters little if the mood is right, and it mostly is thanks to a totally beetle-shit-crazy Burton, who is entirely in his element. (It was written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.) In many ways, this is old-school Burton, relishing the chance at retro art direction and musical interludes, including a B-movie-horror resurrection of Bellucci’s character, who literally staples herself back together to the strains of the Bee Gee’s “Tragedy.” Simply put, if you liked the first film, you’ll probably like this, though it lacks much of the originality and cohesiveness of the 1988 movie. If you didn’t like *Beetlejuice* or didn’t see it, you’re not going to appreciate the follow-up except for, perhaps, a grudging acknowledgement that *Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* represents a healthy dose of pure insanity. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2049403/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetlejuice_Beetlejuice). It is currently screening in cinemas.* --- ### [Widow Clicquot](https://www.meiermovies.com/widow-clicquot/) **Published:** July 17, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Widow Clicquot**, 2024, 3 stars # A unique period piece ## Haley Bennett powers French historical drama [![Widow Clicquot](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Widow-Clicquot.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Widow-Clicquot.jpg)Haley Bennett stars in *Widow Clicquot*. (The image is copyright Fourth and Twenty Eight Films / WME Independent / Vertical Entertainment.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 17, 2024 A young woman‘s beloved husband dies under tragic circumstances. Against all odds, including her society’s rules that make it almost impossible for women to succeed in commerce, she grows her family’s business and defies the patriarchy. No, it’s not an anecdote from J.D. Vance’s future America. It’s the plot of *Widow Clicquot*, the new film by director Thomas Napper, set in 19th-century France. The Clicquot in question is Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who, upon the death of her spouse, Francois, in 1805, took over the business instead of selling it or allowing men to run it, as was expected. “My husband is not dead,” she proclaims in the movie. “He lives in the vines.” Pioneering new methods of production and a new rosé blend, she eventually succeeded, becoming known as the “Grande Dame of Champagne.” (The company, now known as Veuve Clicquot, apparently consulted on the film.) The screenplay, by Erin Dignam and Christopher Monger, is based loosely on the book by Tilar J. Mazzeo. That book is more expansive than the film, focusing on the entire life of Clicquot. The film, as films are wont to do, pares down the plot to the time immediately preceding and following the death of Francois. Though somewhat necessary, the edits are regrettable, as many of the most interesting aspects of Clicquot’s life are left on the page. What is more regrettable are the poetic licenses and simplifications, such as brushing aside the official cause of Francois’s death and the introduction of a close friendship (with bisexual overtones) between Francois and his wine merchant, Louis. (I confirmed with the film’s publicist that this relationship, which they describe as simply a “friendship,” is fictional and not present in the book.) Films have, of course, been taking such licenses since the dawn of the artform. (Spoiler alert: The felines in Thomas Edison and William Dickson’s *Boxing Cats* of 1894 weren’t really professional pugilists.) But with a runtime of only 89 minutes, it’s a shame the filmmakers couldn’t spend more time on the real details of Barbe-Nicole’s amazing life. Though we do learn something about the economic and social policies of Napolean Bonaparte, in addition to tidbits about the riddling process of champagne, this is first and foremost a message picture. Part inspiring, part heavy-handed, it will resonate with many and annoy others who view it as a “check the box” movie. “The truth is, as I listened to you, I was glad to be a woman, even if I lose the rights of men,” Barbe-Nicole says in a rousing defense of the rights of women that is simultaneously uplifting, well delivered, justified, hard to swallow and misandrous. “Men are so certain, but does that mean they know the truth, or does it just mean they are certain of themselves?” Despite sumptuous art direction, costumes and cinematography, *Widow Clicquot* would be rather pedestrian – for the aforementioned reasons and its slightly rushed, haphazard structure – if not for Haley Bennett, who, in the title role, successfully balances vulnerability and power, while projecting her trademark radiance. She is still one of the most underrated and under-the-radar actresses working today, despite her success in more than two dozen films, including *Cyrano*, *Swallow* and *Hillbilly Elegy*. (Take that, Vance!) She is also the partner of master director Joe Wright, who produced this film and directed her in *Cyrano*. (Napper, who is helming just his third feature, served as second-unit director on many Wright projects, including *Atonement*, *Darkest Hour* and *Anna Karenina*.) Lending fine support are Sam Riley as Louis, Tom Sturridge as Francois and Ben Miles as Francois’ father. The scenes between Miles and Bennett are appropriately tense while those between Sturridge and Bennett are suitably romantic, even pulpy, awash in smooches and whispered poetry that might have seemed too saccharine if not for the undercurrent of mental illness that possibly played a role in Francois’ death. Most viewers will remember the film’s feminism, but a metaphor concerning the vineyard – and Barbe-Nicole herself – is more powerful. When asked why she wants to limit the water supply to the vines, she says, “When they struggle to survive, they become more deeply reliant on their own strength. They become more of what they are meant to be.” *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *The film debuted at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, has played various festivals in 2024 and will see a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 19, 2024. For more information about the film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3234122/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow_Clicquot).* --- ### [Le Chêne (Heart of an Oak)](https://www.meiermovies.com/le-chene-heart-of-an-oak/) **Published:** July 7, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Le Chêne (Heart of an Oak)**, 2022, 4 stars # Tree of life ## Nature doc is a simple yet profound pleasure [![Heart of an Oak](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Le-Chene.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Le-Chene.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 7, 2024 “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” Joyce Kilmer’s words still ring true 110 years later. But you can’t draw the same comparison between trees and movies, at least not when discussing *Le Chêne*. This stunning French nature documentary, in just 80 narration-less minutes, rids your mind of the problems of the modern world, replacing them with an oak tree and the creatures great and small living in and around it. And it’s just as lovely as its subject. Directors Laurent Charbonnier and Michel Seydoux introduce us to the 200-year-old oak, which lives in the Sologne region of north-central France, but it’s the squirrels, boars, deer, mice, birds, insects and countless other characters that give the film its entertainment value. It might not have enough intrigue for small children, at least not for the entire run, but it is family-safe, with the only hint of death coming at the hands – or lack of hands – of a snake that unsuccessfully stalks baby birds. That moment, and many others, might have been staged through clever editing by Sylvie Lager, but it matters little, as *Le Chêne* (literally “the oak” in English but changed to *Heart of an Oak* for its non-French release) is one of the most genuine and magical movies of the last few years. [![Heart of an Oak](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Le-Chene-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Le-Chene-2.jpg)Images from the film are courtesy of and copyright Gaumont/Winds/Camera One. As with similar nature docs, the real star is the cinematography. Charbonnier is joined by Mathieu Giombini and Samuel Guiton, and the trio conduct a masterclass in camera placement, framing, microdetail and patience, as they document the changing of the seasons over 12 months. It’s a shame that their accomplishments, and similar work by other nature-doc cameramen, have gone largely unrecognized by the big award shows. Despite its status as a “true-life adventure,” to borrow a phrase from genre pioneer Walt Disney, *Le Chêne* features some nifty special effects, including segments that seem to employ either CGI or time-lapse photography, or both. (The film’s publicist was unable to clarify except to say the film employs the “latest audiovisual techniques” such as “360-degree virtual cameras, machinery, special effects, etc.”) And the movie’s use of music is occasionally anachronistic, but that only enhances the film’s whimsical brilliance. Admittedly, the movie is a tad repetitive, but only if you’re unable to adapt to the slower pace of the natural world. See *Le Chêne* on the biggest screen possible. But if you can’t, put down your phone, walk away from your computer and spend time among nature, which is the only experience more satisfying than a good piece of art. I guess Kilmer was right after all. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *First released in 2022, the film is now in limited release around the world. For more information about this movie, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Oak_(film)) and [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10368758/).* --- ### [Daddio](https://www.meiermovies.com/daddio/) **Published:** June 30, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Daddio**, 2024, 2 ½ stars # Taxi to the dull side ## This cab ride is too pedestrian [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Daddio.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Daddio.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 30, 2024 “I know people. I don’t drive a cab 20 years and not know people.” Those words from Sean Penn’s cabbie in *Daddio*, the debut feature from Christy Hall, ring true. But that still doesn’t mean Dakota Johnson’s character, a gorgeous 30-something with seemingly nothing in common with her driver, would spill her guts to him during an hour-and-a-half, $52 ride from JFK Airport to Midtown Manhattan. And therein lies the main fault with the film, which is otherwise a fairly well acted, intriguing, minimalist drama. Yes, her character, known only as “girlie,” is at an emotional crossroads, but the premise is still a tough sell. Perhaps if the characters had spent more time addressing society’s issues rather than their own, in the style of *My Dinner with Andre*, this two-hander would have been easier to swallow. But except for a spot-on assessment of our overreliance on apps, the conversation stays mostly personal, focusing on issues of family, self-worth and romantic relationships. (The film’s title presumably refers to a much older man with whom “girlie” is involved.) To overcome the contrivance, the performances would have to be Oscar-worthy, and they never rise to that level, particularly Johnson’s. In addition, Hall’s script offers too few revelations, except at the end. But by then, a twist is expected, if only to give the film a raison d’être. So its reveal seems forced. Ultimately, thanks either to its spareness, contrivance or lack of genuine surprises, or all three, *Daddio* ends up dull. The film might appear technically simple, but it’s not easy to re-create a real-time ride on a route many filmgoers know by heart. I’ll let those New York natives among us decide whether the movie gets it exactly right, but this non-New Yorker was completely convinced. Even more astonishingly, the taxi interiors were shot on a soundstage utilizing LED video screens. Think how far we’ve come from rear projection and green screen. But cleverly executed visuals, sharp editing and well-meaning performances aren’t quite enough for *Daddio*. It’s often engaging, even when it relies on overused inserts of text messages and mobile-phone screens. But just like all the taxi rides I’ve taken in my life, I forgot this one as soon as the cab door slammed shut. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddio_(film)) and [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7461686/). The film is currently showing in theaters.* --- ### [Big Eyes](https://www.meiermovies.com/big-eyes/) **Published:** December 12, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Big Eyes**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars # Lyin’ eyes ## Burton deals blow to painterly plagiarism Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 12, 2014 Tim Burton clearly has a thing for exaggerated, even distorted, body parts. Several of his films embrace a Victorian, almost Steampunk, look, complete with over-the-top hourglass figures and Romantic visions of femininity. This visual style even invaded his personal life several years ago, when he commissioned painter Margaret Keane – famous for her depictions of girls with enormous eyes – to create a portrait of his then-girlfriend Lisa Marie. [![????????](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Amy-Adams-in-Big-Eyes-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Amy-Adams-in-Big-Eyes.jpg)Photo copyright Tim Burton Productions/The Weinstein Company/Silverwood Films Fast forward to today, and it should come as no surprise that Burton – after first being involved just as a producer – has directed *Big Eyes*, the story of Keane and her battle with her slimy ex-husband, Walter, over authorship of the paintings. We now know she painted them, but the story of how we came to realize that is a fascinating one, and a subject that’s a bit of a departure for Burton, who hasn’t done a biopic like this since he created his masterpiece, *Ed Wood*, 20 years ago. And though he struggles to find a balance between more conventional storytelling and his usual brand of brilliant, surreal lunacy, he gets it mostly right and still manages to imbue the film with his signature sense of style and humor, despite the odd casting of Christoph Waltz as Walter. The film is narrated sporadically, and a bit intrusively, by the character of Dick Nolan, a slightly disreputable newspaper reporter who came to know the Keanes. He starts this “strangest goddamn story” in the late 1950s, when Margaret abruptly leaves her first husband. “All she had were her paintings in her trunk and her daughter in her back seat,” he tells us. That soon changes when she meets Walter, whom she (and we) believe to be another artist, while both are exhibiting at an outdoor show in the San Francisco area. Walter immediately senses her vulnerability and fragility, and takes her under his wing, both professionally and romantically. “You undervalue yourself,” he tells her, “\[but\] what’s with the big, crazy eyes?” “I believe you can see things in the eyes,” she says. “Eyes are how I express myself.” Yet despite finding a husband in Walter, she loses some of that expression after he starts taking credit for the creations. And thus begins a decade-long extravaganza of pop-art success and unabashed plagiarism that doesn’t end until, well, you’ll just have to see Burton’s film to find out. And though I do recommend it, the movie is not in Burton’s upper echelon. While Amy Adams is her usual magical self as Margaret, Waltz is slightly miscast. He has the requisite smarm, charm and manic energy, but not much of the subtlety – which, admittedly, is not what Burton is known for. And though Adams takes great care in cultivating a nicely understated Tennessee dialect, Waltz can’t quite escape his Austrian accent, even though Walter is an all-American guy from Nebraska. Supporting Adams and Waltz are Terence Stamp in a brilliant but too-brief role as an art critic, Danny Huston as the narrating reporter and an unfunny, unneeded Jason Schwartzman as the owner of a rival art gallery. And, as always, Burton’s production design, though muted by his usual standards, adds flair, as does the simple but wonderfully melancholy title song by Lana Del Ray. But, ultimately, the finished product is a bit clunkier that one expects from such a wonderful storyteller. Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the screenplay condenses some incidents and alters the timeline significantly, but the basic events are accurate. More importantly, the heart of the story – and the heart of Margaret herself, which seems as pure as the children in her paintings – is preserved, while we are treated to a unique examination of the personal value of art and one’s own self-worth. Oh, and even better: Walter, one of history’s most untalented, pathetic, misogynistic hacks, gets a healthy heaping of humiliation on screen for an hour and 45 minutes. What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit! *© 2014 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Kinds of Kindness](https://www.meiermovies.com/kinds-of-kindness/) **Published:** June 26, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Kinds of Kindness**, 2024, 3 ¼ stars # Trippytych ## Three-parter is another Lanthimos mind-bender [![Kinds of Kindness](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kinds-of-Kindness.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Kinds-of-Kindness.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 26, 2024 Sorry, Jim Morrison, but many people remember your name when you’re strange, especially if your name is Yorgos Lanthimos. With *Kinds of Kindness*, the Greek director is back in fine absurd form, after his dalliance with surrealism in *Poor Things*. Though the two styles are similar, Lanthimos’s latest film, which he wrote with frequent collaborator Efthimis Filippou**,** has more in common with the absurdity of *The* *Killing of a Sacred Deer* and *The Lobster*, though this new project is arguably less dry and more laugh-out-loud insane. *Kinds of Kindness* is a triptych of the weird, stuffed with metaphors, like a turducken. The three tales have elements of the supernatural and even (body) horror but are, at their core, absurdist comedies. They have neither plot nor characters (except one, the silent “R.M.F.”) in common, but they are thematically linked. In addition, all lead actors appear in each, like a rep company. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are superb; Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Mamoudou Athie add memorable support; and Willem Dafoe is Willem Dafoe. Or are any of us really ourselves? That’s a question posed by the second tale: *Body Snatchers* meets John Frankenheimer’s *Seconds*. The other two stories focus more on cults, deception (similar to *Dogtooth*) and devotion, with the opener asking – in song, no less – “How deep is your love?” You won’t get many plot details from either this review or the movie’s title. It might as easily have been called “Kinds of Cruelty,” unless you consider that “kin,” the root of “kindness,” speaks to family, belonging and blind trust. Therein lies a thematic clue to Lanthimos’s puzzle. But if you seek specifics in advance, which you shouldn’t, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinds_of_Kindness). Speaking of pedia, bring neither the kiddies nor your own childlike sensibilities to this film, lest they be shredded by Lanthimos’s occasionally unnecessary and outrageously crude reliance on violence, sex, animalism and food. Yes, food. But the director’s almost fetishistic use of these elements can also be unsettlingly brilliant. Equally unnerving is the sound design, specifically English composer Jerskin Fendrix’s score, which is less music and more a cacophony of chanting and dissonant notes. It is just as much the star of the film as Stone and Plemons. Like that latter actor’s hair, which inexplicably becomes stubbier in each story, this critic’s attention span grew progressively shorter over the film’s 164-minute runtime. And as with all anthology films, except 1945’s *Dead of Night*, *Kinds of Kindness* is less than the sum of its parts. But the parts are spasmodically fantastic and, when allowed to simmer in the film’s Louisiana kitchen, produce the strangest three-course meal of the year. Dig in. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22408160/). The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Plemons won best actor, and is scheduled for wide release in the United States on June 28. (This review was revised on June 28, 2024.)* --- ### [K](https://www.meiermovies.com/k/) **Published:** December 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with K:** Kidon FL (2013; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2014 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") [The Killing of a Sacred Deer](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/) (2017; 2 ¾ stars) [Kinds of Kindness](https://www.meiermovies.com/kinds-of-kindness/ "Kinds of Kindness") (2024; 3 ¼ stars) [The King of Staten Island](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-king-of-staten-island/) TV/Web/NT (2020; 2 ½ stars) [King Richard](https://www.meiermovies.com/king-richard/ "King Richard") (2021; 3 ½ stars) [Knives Out](http://www.meiermovies.com/knives-out/) (2019; 3 ¾ stars) [Kong: Skull Island (2–D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/kong-skull-island/) (2017; 1 ¾ stars) Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter FL (2014; 4 stars), part of the [Florida Film Festival 2015 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/) --- ### [Unfrosted](https://www.meiermovies.com/unfrosted/) **Published:** May 10, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Unfrosted** TV/Web/NT, 2024, 1 ¾ stars # Pop-trite ## Seinfeld food farce is overcooked [![Jerry Seinfeld in Unfrosted](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Unfrosted.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Unfrosted.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 10, 2024 Inspired by the real competition between Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts and Post’s Country Squares in the early 1960s, Jerry Seinfeld’s *Unfrosted* is packed with antics and clever comedic situations but lacks nuance, cohesiveness and consistent laughs. Despite its occasional charm and talented cast, it tastes stale. Seinfeld wrote the script with his team of Spike Feresten, Barry Marder and Andy Robin, and its jokes and gags come fast and furiously. Indeed, the comedic pacing is superb. But not many people but Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd ever strung together a successful feature on gags alone, and Seinfeld, in his directorial debut, fails to successfully bring his script to the screen. Too many bits end in groans rather than chuckles, and the only guffaw comes when a member of the Pop-Tart tasting team is accidentally blown up and given a “full cereal burial,” complete with milk and fruit poured into his grave. It sounds macabre, but in the context of farce, it’s hilarious. The rest of the film lacks anything close to this moment. The elephant in the room is Seinfeld’s acting. A gifted comedian and co-creator of one of the best sitcoms ever, he’s just not a very good actor and never has been. He has surrounded himself with better actors, such as Hugh Grant and Melissa McCarthy, but the film also stars Jim Gaffigan (as Edsel Kellogg III, an entirely invented character) and Amy Schumer (as Marjorie Post, a fictionalized version of Marjorie Merriweather Post), who are just as mediocre as Seinfeld (who plays Kellogg’s head of development, a character based loosely on the man who really did invent the Pop-Tart). Everyone is trying a bit too hard, forcing the laughs, and more often than not they simply don’t arrive. But the film’s fatal flaw might be its relationship to the companies it’s lampooning – because it’s not truly lampooning them. Yes, the story is almost entirely fictional (which seems odd, even for satirical silliness), but the true problem is that *Unfrosted* comes across as one, big, bloated commercial for breakfast food. I’ve eaten fewer than 10 Pop-Tarts in my life but now find myself craving them, along with all the many Kellogg and Post cereals thrown in our faces for 93 minutes. In this regard, *Unfrosted* might be the best commercial ever made, but it’s not much of a movie. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14914430/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfrosted). The film is now streaming on Netflix.* --- ### [Pignorant](https://www.meiermovies.com/pignorant/) **Published:** May 30, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Pignorant** TV/Web/NT, 2024, 4 stars # Required viewing ## If you eat pork, see *Pignorant* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pignorant-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pignorant-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 30, 2024 More than 1 billion human children are imprisoned, slaughtered and eaten each year. Of course, that’s not true – but it could be if humans were not the planet’s dominant species. The comparison is apt because pigs are judged to have the cognitive ability of a 3-year-old child. If that metaphor didn’t grab your attention, how about this: Nazis sent millions of people, mostly Jews, to gas chambers in World War II. Those crimes are often considered, rightfully so, the worst in the history of humankind. Yet most of you reading this article are guilty of, or at least indifferent to, a crime of even larger proportions, the annual slaughter of 1.3 billion pigs. And thanks to “advancements” in technology, most die in CO2 gas chambers, not completely dissimilar to the Holocaust. The horrible metaphors are mine, but they are inspired by *Pignorant*, directed by and starring Joey Carbstrong. In his new essay-style, first-person documentary, the animal activist, vegan, social-media influencer and, oddly, former gang member infiltrates a slaughterhouse in England to document the living (and dying) conditions of pigs, specifically how the animals react to the supposedly humane slaughter method of gassing. The findings are worse than one could imagine, proving damning not just for the slaughterhouse itself but everyone involved in the farm-to-plate process. Most shocking is the culpability, both moral and financial, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), often regarded as the world’s most reputable animal-rights organization. The film documents Carbstrong’s lengthy efforts to expose the horrors of factory farming and includes interviews with experts and the average “man on the street,” but it centers on his plan to plant his cameras in a prominent *abattoir*. Assisted by fellow activists, one of whom secures a job at the factory, Carbstrong takes his life in his own hands, risking not just arrest but death if the mechanical gas chamber activates unexpectedly. Admittedly, Carbstrong has a knack for showmanship, and one occasionally feels he might be exaggerating his safety threat. One also gets a sense he is sometimes just as focused on promoting himself as the pigs he’s working to protect, in a style akin to Michael Moore. But those are fleeting concerns given the essential nature of this documentary and the compelling, as-it-happens structure. And while the doc is overscored and frenetic, those might be stylistic choices designed to simulate the anxiety a pig feels as the end of his or her life approaches. That freneticism, along with the hellish images, certainly boosted this critic’s anxiety over the film’s 100-minute runtime, making the movie both the worst and best documentary I have seen this year. Not content to advocate simply for kinder care of animals prior to slaughter – as was mostly the case in *Eating Animals*, a comparable doc from 2017 – *Pignorant* concludes its argument by asking us why we need to eat pigs at all. Do a few minutes of taste enjoyment override the right of sentient beings to exist? If you eat pork – or, indeed, any meat – that is the question you must ask yourself. And if you either refuse to answer or have no interest in *Pignorant*, you just might be a sociopath. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31029309/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime.* --- ### [How to get your film into festivals](https://www.meiermovies.com/how-to-get-your-film-into-festivals-2/) **Published:** June 18, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This is a video tutorial that TL Westgate and I created in 2024, in conjunction with the 48 Hour Film Project and, specifically, Filmaplooza in Lisbon, Portugal. It contains advice on how to get your 48-hour film into film festivals, but the advice is useful for all filmmakers and all types of films. (And [here is a downloadable, printable summary of the workshop](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/How-to-Get-Your-Film-Into-Festivals.pdf).) --- ### [La Bête (The Beast)](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-bete-the-beast/) **Published:** April 15, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **La Bête (The Beast)** FL, 2023, 4 stars # A winning *Bête* ## Star-crossed, across time [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/La-Bete.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/La-Bete.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 15, 2024 Few phrases conjure the magic of pre-destined love like “Have we met before?” Tweak that to “Have you killed me before?” and you have the multi-lingual, multi-temporal *La Bête* *(The Beast)* in a nutshell. George MacKay (*1917*) and Léa Seydoux (*Blue Is the Warmest Colour*, *The French Dispatch*) play star-crossed lovers in 2044 dystopian Paris. Given the option of a futuristic lobotomy courtesy of AI, they must first contemplate their past lives – in 1910 flood-ravaged Paris and 2014 Los Angeles – when their love affairs were doomed. These mental and spiritual trips through reincarnation station give them, and us, the chance to decide whether their destinies have already been decided or whether, like the characters in Henry James’ *The Beast in the Jungle*, they have nothing to fear but fear itself. Director and co-writer Bertrand Bonello based this surreal romance on James’ 1903 novella, but it also owes a debt to *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*, *Jacob’s Ladder,* *Love Streams* (the naked man/dog scene), *Vanilla Sky* and *Somewhere in Time*. One can almost hear Elise McKenna asking Richard Collier, “Is it you?” Yes, it is he, and in both *Somewhere in Time* and *La Bête*, as William Fawcett Robinson predicted, he came to destroy her, again and again. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14407336/).* --- ### [The Dead Don't Hurt](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-dead-dont-hurt/) **Published:** May 16, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Dead Don’t Hurt**, 2024, 2 ¼ stars # Western wanderings ### Mortensen movie meanders, pulls its emotional punch [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dead-Dont-Hurt.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dead-Dont-Hurt.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 16, 2024 When a direction is not just a direction but a state of mind, it must be the American West. Holger Olsen, despite being a Danish immigrant, embodies that state of mind like few characters in recent movie history. Quiet, inscrutable, isolationist and driven, he could have strolled in from a John Ford film if not for his European accent. He’s an intriguing character, but over the course of two hours, in the hands of writer-director-actor-producer-composer Viggo Mortensen, Holger strolls a tad too much. Accompanying him on his walk is his love, Vivienne Le Coudy, a fellow immigrant, played passionately and memorably by Vicky Krieps (*Phantom Thread*, *The Last Vermeer*), one of the best actresses whose name you might still not know. After meeting randomly in San Francisco around the start of the Civil War, they travel to the Middle of Nowhere, California, to Holger’s tiny ranch, to somehow begin an unlikely life together. “What do you do here?” she asks him upon arrival, astonished at the seclusion. “As little as possible,” he replies. But Holger actually does a tremendous lot. He builds barns, plants trees, provides financially for Vivienne and even becomes sheriff of the nearby town. And when the Union comes calling for soldiers to help push the Confederates out of the New Mexico Territory, he is compelled to do his duty, though it means leaving Vivienne. She’s the epitome of a strong Western woman – that’s one of the film’s central themes – but the town (mostly thanks to one particularly sadist citizen, Weston Jeffries, who has a hankering for Vivienne) can be dangerous for a single female. This is the 1860s, after all. “How was your war?” Vivienne asks Holger upon his return. “Too long. Not what I expected. How was yours?” he answers. Indeed, she has fought her own battles, which inspire the central narrative of the movie’s second half. This reviewer won’t reveal them here. In fact, you’re probably thinking I’ve shared too much already. I would normally agree, but the time-jumping structure of *The Dead Don’t Hurt*, Mortensen’s sophomore directorial effort, disappointingly reveals most of the whats up front, with only the hows left to discover. That upside-down storytelling might be its biggest flaw, but it’s in cahoots with unnecessary ambiguity and an amateurish turn from Solly McLeod (*Jericho Ridge*) as Weston. (That’s the most important supporting role, requiring something akin to Jack Palance in *Shane*. And the British actor botches it.) “Does it hurt?” Holger is asked about a bird that’s shot. His titular retort: “No, the dead don’t hurt.” But the missed opportunities of a promising story, memorable ambience and two good lead performances ache excruciatingly. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22773644/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Don%27t_Hurt). The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and has been playing various festivals and limited international markets ahead of its U.S. theatrical release on May 31.* --- ### [Obrigado, Lisboa!](https://www.meiermovies.com/obrigado-lisboa/) **Published:** April 3, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A review of Filmapalooza 2024 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_4083-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_4083-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 3, 2024 We partied, we mingled, we karaoked, we workshopped, we screened more than 140 short films, and, most importantly, we ate more pastéis de nata (custard tarts) than Portuguese laws allow. So maybe it’s a good thing the official hotel, the Dom Pedro, refused to turn on its air-conditioning, as we were able to sweat off those extra calories. Yes, that’s officially a wrap on Filmapalooza 2024! Filmapalooza is the international competition of the 48 Hour Film Project. This year’s event was held in Lisbon, Portugal, March 20-23. Official attendance for the screenings and workshops at the historic Cinema São Jorge was 439, but that number swelled to nearly 600 for the awards ceremony. To view that ceremony, go to [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dHKHYJdMmA). In a rarity, the film from the host city was crowned grand champion, as the judging panel picked Lisbon’s *On the Other Side*, by 2880 Filmes. In second place was Cape Town (*What Would Maggie Do?* by the Good Boy Project), with Denver (*The Movement* by Cinema Geeks) third. The other two nominees for best film were Eindhoven (*swapID* by Beyond Borders) and Shanghai (*Dream Butterfly Dream* by WMF). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_4023-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_4023-scaled.jpg)Other honors included Cape Town for direction and sound; Lyon (*Valhalla* by La Looma) for writing; Shanghai for cinematography; Nashville (*Lords of Fruit Town* by UFP) for editing; London (*Death Hack* by Dispel Films) for lead actor/actress; Edinburgh (*Learning Magic* by Average Joes Gym) for supporting actor/actress; Eindhoven for acting ensemble, score and makeup/hair; Prague (*Missing Pieces* by Nanosekunda) for visual effects; Chicago (*Perfect* by Flunky and Dangle Productions) for set design and line of dialogue; Geneva (*Dusk* by Slow Hyperspace) for graphic design; Nairobi (*These Moments Are to Die For* by Team Vortex) for song; Reunion (*The Legend of Chop Swing* by La Guilde) for choreography; Rennes (*The Crossroads Needle* by Le Pediluve) for costumes, Austin (*Phrogger* by Unpossible Films) for genre; and Pittsburgh (*Headcase* by Conrad Studios) for prop. Thirteen films from the main 48HFP competition were picked to screen at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner in May. As a consulting judge, I proudly had a hand in selecting those, as I watched all 109 movies from the main 48HFP competition and provided feedback to 48HFP staff. The films, in alphabetical order by city, are: Cape Town, South Africa (*What Would Maggie Do?* by the Good Boy Project) Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. (*The Movement* by Cinema Geeks) Eindhoven, Netherlands (*swapID* by Beyond Borders) Lisbon, Portugal (*On the Other Side* by 2880 Filmes) London, England (*Death Hack* by Dispel Films) Lyon, France (*Valhalla* by La Looma) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. (*Lords of Fruit Town* by UFP) Prague, Czech Republic (*Missing Pieces* by Nanosekunda) Rome, Italy (*Good to Die For* by Cookie Slatt) (audience winner) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. (*Sheet Talk* by Panscape Pictures) Shanghai, China (*Dream Butterfly Dream* by WMF) Tours, France (*Quits or Double* by Studio N) Warsaw, Poland (*Girl with a Suitcase* by Studio Hologram) In addition, nine films from the “Yes We Cannes” contest made the cut (including the overall winner from that contest, Beirut), along with the AI competition winners from France and San Diego, plus the Four Points Winner, from Europe. That brings the Cannes total to 25, higher than ever before. Though my selections ended up being very close to the Cannes list, the order in which I placed the films was quite different from that of the judging panel. But that’s the nature of judging: highly subjective. I wish to congratulate the top films, but, as I’ve done in past years, I also would like to share my own rankings. Think of it as simply another reality … what could have been … just like the plot of Lyon’s *Valhalla*. So without further ado, I present my personal top 25 from the 2023 48HFP main competition. (An asterisk indicates the film is going to Cannes.) 1. Eindhoven, Netherlands: *swapID* by Beyond Borders \* 2. Tokyo, Japan: *Rain Lily* by Acting Space PIW 3. Prague, Czech Republic: *Missing Pieces* by Nanosekunda \* 4. Lyon, France: *Valhalla* by La Looma \* 5. Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.: *Sheet Talk* by Panscape Pictures \* 6. Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.: *Lords of Fruit Town* by UFP \* 7. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.: *The Movement* by Cinema Geeks \* 8. Tours, France: *Quits or Double* by Studio N \* 9. Groningen, Netherlands: *Choking in Silence* by NakedHearts Film 10. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: *Josephine* by Smash 11. Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.: *Perfect* by Flunky and Dangle Productions 12. Utrecht, Netherlands: *Parallel Promises* by Wonsaponatime 13. London, England: *Death Hack* by Dispel Films \* 14. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A.: *Never Fade* by Intellego 15. Arnhem, Netherlands: *G4-LA-TH3A* by De Onkruidzaiiers 16. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.: *Verisimilitude* by Videoramascope Pictures 17. Shanghai, China: *Dream Butterfly Dream* by WMF \* 18. Glasgow, Scotland: *By Now* by Level Five Films 19. Warsaw, Poland: *Girl with a Suitcase* by Studio Hologram \* 20. Brussels, Belgium: *Eat Your Dead* by Holy shit, a name?! 21. Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.: *Behind the Pink Glasses* by The French Family Robinson 22. Geneva, Switzerland: *Dusk* by Slow Hyperspace 23. Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.: *Black Harvest* by The Extremely Mature Adults 24. Edinburgh, Scotland: *Learning Magic* by Average Joes Gym 25. Adelaide, Australia: *hush* by MOSCO On a personal note, I caught the “festival flu” on the first day of Filmapalooza, forcing me to miss not just all the screenings but also the awards ceremony and my own workshop, “How to Get Your Film into Festivals.” But my workshop partner, TL Westgate, conducted the seminar solo, so I’d like to thank him for that. I truly regret missing it and also not being able to meet most of you. So I hope you will watch the post-festival version of our workshop that TL filmed. (It is available on the [YouTube channel of the 48HFP](https://www.youtube.com/c/48HFPCENTRAL) and is embedded at the bottom of this page. And [here’s a downloadable, printable summary of the workshop](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/How-to-Get-Your-Film-Into-Festivals.pdf).) And if you have comments of questions about either the workshop or this article, please don’t hesitate to contact me at . Thanks to Mark Ruppert, Indra van ‘t Hooft and the rest of the 48HFP staff for another successful year. Now it’s on to Seattle for Filmapalooza 2025! *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the 48HFP, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/).* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2015/) **Published:** September 30, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # South Asian Film Festival turns 21 ### Enzian event to again feature five films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/annual-south-asian-film-festival-brings-five-features-to-the-enzian/Content?oid=2437491), September 30, 2015 If Bollywood musicals are all you associate with Indian cinema, it’s time you headed for the Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival, which dispels cinematic stereotypes by embracing all aspects of Indian and Pakistani culture. The festival turns 21 this year and will feature five films October 3-5. Co-presented with the Asian Cultural Association, the event draws about 700 patrons each year, second only to the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival among Enzian mini-festivals. Tickets to each movie are $11, with a festival pass costing $50. (The latter gets you priority seating.) The menu includes tempura vegetables for $6, vegetable samosas for $7, chicken tikka with coconut rice for $9, and chicken kabobs with pita and green chutney for $10. For dessert, there’s jalebi (deep-fried flour batter soaked in sugar syrup) for $6. And you can wash all that down with a Kingfisher beer for $3.50 or a mango lassi (yogurt-based drink) for $6. The festival opens with the East Coast premiere of ***Dhanak** (2 stars)*, or *Rainbow* in English, on Saturday at 11 a.m. Not only is this motivational tale the most traditional of the offerings – it’s the only one entirely suitable for kids. *Dhanak* is the story of an indomitable pair of Indian children: Chotu, an 8-year-old blind boy, and his 10-year-old sister, Pari. Neglected at home, they set out alone on a 180-mile journey across the Indian desert to meet Pari’s cinematic idle, whom they believe will secure an operation to restore Chotu’s sight. “Off we go to change the world and reach for the sky!” Pari tells her brother. Though overflowing with sweetness and not without charm, the Hindi-language *Dhanak* is tonally challenged. Wanting to blend inspirational drama and fantasy, the overly long film even embraces Bollywood musical briefly. Though Hetal Gada as Pari and Krrish Chhabria at Chatu are competent child actors, they simply aren’t compelling enough to carry this Indian “genre film,” which suffers from stagey scenes, stiff performances and subpar editing. [![Among the Believers](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Among-the-Believers-300x165.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Among-the-Believers.jpg)“Among the Believers” (image copyright Changeworx / Manjusha Films) *Dhanak*’s polar opposite, ***Among the Believers*** (4 ½ stars), which screens on Saturday at 1:45 p.m., is an astonishingly realistic and balanced documentary about the Red Mosque movement in Pakistan. Focusing on chief cleric Maulana Aziz, his moderate opponents and two children affected by his campaign of terror, the film is a horrifying glimpse into Pakistan’s political nightmare. Directors Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Naqvi (at least one of whom will be at this Southeast premiere, along with producer/writer Jonathan Goodman Levitt) were granted unprecedented access to their subjects, and their film is not just the best of the festival, but the greatest doc I’ve ever seen on this subject. “We already have 5,000 students, but there’s always room for more. After all, Allah provides for everyone,” Aziz says of his network of madrassahs, or religious schools. Then, turning to one of his young, brainwashed followers, he asks, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A jihadist fighter,” the boy answers obediently, while another young child adds, ominously, “All this hard work will pay off when we die.” A weightier, more adult-oriented version of *Dhanak*, director Shrihari Sathe’s ***1000 Rupee Note*** (2 ¾ stars), which screens on Sunday at 11 a.m., is a parable similar to John Steinbeck’s *The Pearl*. A dirt-poor widow in rural India, Budhi is still mourning the suicide of her young son when she is encouraged by a friend to attend a political rally. Moved by her story of grief (or just looking to buy another vote), the corrupt politician hands Budhi four 1,000-rupee notes. Though the film muddles the story surrounding the amount of money she receives and how much people thinks she’s really been given – partially because of bad Marathi-to-English translations – the filmmaker’s message is both clear and emotionally powerful: “When the goddess of wealth comes, she brings trouble with her too.” The pacing and supporting performances aren’t stellar, and the third act gets bogged down in police politics, but Budhi (portrayed well by Usha Naik) is a compelling character caught up in the most universal and relatable of allegories. (This is the Southeast premiere, and the director will attend.) ***Margarita, with a Straw*** (3 ¼ stars), on Sunday at 1:45 p.m., is for mature audiences only, in every sense of the word. This uncomfortably personal film – directed by Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar – forces us to deal with issues we might prefer to ignore, including misogynism, prejudice, bi-sexuality and physical disability. A talented young lyricist, Laila seeks educational opportunities and a sense of normalcy that are tough to achieve when you have cerebral palsy – and doubly tough when your mother and Indian culture are holding you back from your full potential as both a musician and a sexually healthy adult. So she journeys to New York City to find a different life. The film’s first act feels rushed and deprives of us some plot details. There are also some structural flaws that make the movie sometimes feel like a collection of scenes instead of a fluid narrative. But a stunning performance by Kalki Koechlin (Laila), a quiet maturity, a powerful ending and the guts to navigate unchartered waters make this the second-best festival offering. Though the festival is well balanced, it regrettably ends with a documentary that has no *raison d’etre* beyond being a promotional device for Indian-American actor Ravi Patel, who is on a quest to find his life partner. Though ***Meet the Patels*** (1 star), screening on Monday at 6:30 p.m., will undoubtedly elicit laughs thanks to its cloying attempts at quirky charm and cultural commentary, it is better suited to reality television than the Enzian. Speaking to his sister and co-director, Geeta, Ravi says, “And behind the camera was you, sister, documentary filmmaker but by no means a cinematographer. That’s why, for the next hour and a half, we will be treated to footage that is out of focus, poorly framed and often has a microphone in the upper right-hand corner.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. For more information on the festival, visit [www.enzian.org/festivals/south\_asian](http://www.enzian.org/festivals/south_asian). *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Nymphomaniac](https://www.meiermovies.com/nymphomaniac/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nymphomaniac: Volume 1**, 2014, 1 ¼ stars; and **Volume 2**, 2014, 1 ½ stars # Director maniac ## Trier’s *Nymphomaniac* embarrassingly excessive From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/nymphomaniac-volume-i-and-ii-are-embarrassingly-excessive-1.1685310)*, May 13, 2014 [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nymphomaniac.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Nymphomaniac.jpg)Image copyright Magnolia Pictures The term “train wreck” is tossed around more liberally in cinematic circles than in the railway industry. It seems working on films all the live-long day can make you more cuckoo than a choo-choo driver. Case in point: Lars von Trier. The guy begs psychological analysis and, by his own admission, is a bit nuts. However, the Danish writer-director is certainly no hack, at least not on the surface, thanks to his comprehension of craft and his desire, albeit misguided at times, to break new artistic ground. Love or hate *Antichrist* and *Melancholia*, the first two films in his “depression trilogy,” you can’t easily dismiss them. His final additions to the trilogy are *Nymphomaniac: Volume 1* and *Volume 2*, though they have no stories or characters in common with his earlier films. These latest works have been cut into separate offerings from an original movie totaling an exhausting five hours. Despite von Trier’s ambitious intentions of profoundly probing sexual addiction, the movies are essentially studies in his own “auteurmania.” The symptoms are excess, pretension and delusions of grandeur, and, unfortunately for us, he prefers to battle this demon on the big screen rather than in therapy, where he belongs. In *Volume 1*, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) meets sex addict Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) after she’s brutally beaten. She refuses medical treatment, so Seligman, a sympathetic listener with a secret of his own, takes her to his home, where she proceeds to recount her life, in a sort of contrived, half-ass shrink session. “You wouldn’t understand,” she tells Seligman when he asks to hear her story. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.” But von Trier knows where to begin. He just doesn’t know where to end, as the two films last a combined four hours. Maybe we should have paid more attention when Joe said to Seligman, “It’ll be long,” referring to her tale. She wasn’t kidding. The rest of the first film is devoted to Joe’s childhood and young adulthood. We meet her father (Christian Slater), a jealous wife of one of her lovers (Uma Thurman, in an embarrassingly unbelievable role) and the love of her life (Shia LaBeouf, who lives up to his name by often being in the buff.) And, yes, we do see penetration and fellatio, but apparently porn actors’ genitals were digitally added. That might have saved LaBeouf embarrassment, but the fake British accent brings back the shame in spades, as it does for many of the other actors, whose dialects also seem adrift. *Volume 2*, which is darker, more violent, more tragic and even sexier at times, is also a tad better and might have risen as high as 2 stars (on my 0-5 scale) if not for the jaw-droppingly bad ending. It features Gainsbourg herself as the younger Joe (as opposed to the much younger version, played competently by Stacy Martin in *Volume 1*). It also introduces Joe’s young friend and protégé (the mesmerizing Mia Goth), a business partner (Willem Dafoe), a sadist (Jamie Bell) and an older version of LaBeouf’s character, though Joe stays the same age during the same time span. (Can someone introduce von Trier to aging makeup?) Divided into chapters, Joe’s stories are told in flashback, complete with changing shooting styles, color palettes and aspect ratios, along with a nauseating overuse of handheld camera, tight close-ups that cut off tops of heads in the 2.35:1 format and von Trier’s annoying habit of inserting unnecessary visuals to punch up metaphors. (Apparently we need an image of stars to accompany the phrase “alone in the universe.”) The stupidity doesn’t stop at the visual insertions, as von Trier peppers ridiculous analyses throughout his subpar script. Instead of engaging in mature conversations about obsession, he throws around off-the-wall ideas about fishing, religion, history and even culinary arts. In an attempt to either shock or confuse, he includes lines such as “Fill all my holes,” “I discovered my cunt as a 2-year-old,” and “Your story is like a blasphemous re-telling of the transfiguration of Jesus on the Mount.” Once all this mess seeps in, you may realize that you know little more about nymphomania than when *Volume 1* started. But you will know more about von Trier, which is maybe the way the self-absorbed director wants it. “How awful that everything has to be so trivial,” Joe says. Maybe life has to be trivial, but movies don’t, unless you’re a certain Danish director who wants to force his stupidity and psychosis on the viewing public. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Drug Mule](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-drug-mule/) **Published:** February 20, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Or a trip from San Antonio to Piedras Negras [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/International-Bridge-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/International-Bridge-scaled.jpg)Eagle Pass International Bridge Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 20, 2024 Sitting in a holding room in Eagle Pass, Texas, detained by Homeland Security on suspicion of being a drug mule, I surveyed my surroundings. Worn-out immigrants slumped in worn-out chairs. Potheads stuck in time. And a Texan or two, fresh from a dental extraction in the border burg of Piedras Negras, because they couldn’t afford the safer surgery in America. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, for them, or me. I had started my vacation of privilege in San Antonio two days earlier, on November 4, 2013, in splendor at the Menger. Naively, I had hoped to see ghosts of the past wandering the haunted halls of the historic hotel. But the only specters on this trip would be the aforementioned ghosts of the present. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Gran-Plaza-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Gran-Plaza-scaled.jpg)Piedras Negras Gran Plaza Determined to add cultural meaning to my sojourn, I drove the two hours from the Alamo City to the Mexican border, past regal ranches and bleak but bracing vistas, finally reaching the Rio Grande. The tour books and websites had advised me to avoid the more dangerous Neuvo Laredo and instead pay a visit to the supposedly quaint Piedras Negras, which they said had somehow avoided the horrors of nearby towns. They were wrong. After parking my rental car on the American side, I crossed the Eagle Pass International Bridge on foot, with trepidation. I was greeted on Mexican soil by a single sentinel, holding aloft an assault rifle. He didn’t ask for I.D. He didn’t make eye contact. He stayed silent. I continued. It became immediately clear to me just how wrong the tour books had been. The Gran Plaza was devoid of life sans the beggars who approached me for spare change. The town’s main museum was closed, its door and windows shattered. Militia in black masks with machine guns patrolled the plaza in the back of pick-up trucks. And they were the good guys. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Church-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Church-scaled.jpg)Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Piedras Negras My only sanctuary was the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe church. Finally, I had found beauty and normalcy. Perhaps my fears were unwarranted and I was guilty of overreaction, or of responding the way most Americans would, accustomed to safety and plenty. Perhaps. But I could never shake the feeling that I just didn’t belong. Speaking little Spanish, I found no one willing to utter a word in English. Or assist me in ordering food. Or give me directions. My only joy came with a delightful discovery of a stereotypically touristy street filled with quaint carts offering handcrafted gifts themed to Dia de los Muertos. I bought a couple of figurines, thankful for something resembling a genuine Mexican cultural moment. If I had been braver, or dumber, I would have ventured on. But after an hour or two of roaming, I decided to play it safe and again traverse the bridge. It was then I encountered the American authorities, who somehow doubted my claim that I had ventured into another nation simply to buy a souvenir or two. Surely my plans had been more devious and I was involved in a narcotics ring of some sort. So there I was, in that dusty waiting room, held for 30 minutes (or what felt like two hours) while they investigated my claims. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Piedras-Negras-shops-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Piedras-Negras-shops-scaled.jpg)Street in Piedras Negras I felt bare, stripped of my passport, car keys and drivers license. But somehow I never felt threatened, confident my story would check out and, if they doubted me, I would be able to defend myself from a position of wealth, advantage and U.S. citizenship. Finally, the verdict came down: “OK, you can go.” I did. A travel article is supposed to offer happy advice, like see the Alamo, the Riverwalk, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the San Antonio Zoo, the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and the batshit-crazy Buckhorn Museum, and stay at the legendary [Menger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menger_Hotel). Yeah, you should do all that. But that guidance seems shallow in the face of what I witnessed in Piedras Negras. I guess my only solid counsel is to not visit the border – for another century or two. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *Photos are by Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission. (Click or tap to enlarge.) For more information on San Antonio, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio). And to learn more about Piedras Negras, also consult [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedras_Negras,_Coahuila).* ## Photos of San Antonio The photos below are of the Alamo, the Alamo Cenotaph and San Fernando Cathedral. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-Cenotaph-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alamo-Cenotaph-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/San-Fernando-Cathedral-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/San-Fernando-Cathedral-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Wildcat](https://www.meiermovies.com/wildcat/) **Published:** April 23, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Wildcat**, 2024, 2 ½ stars # Embedded narrative drift [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wildcat-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wildcat-scaled.jpg)Maya Hawke stars as Mary Flannery O’Connor. (Image is courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 23, 2024 Southern Gothic writer Mary Flannery O’Connor was a wildcat: one who drills for oil in areas not known for it, metaphorically, of course. Misunderstood by both publishers and her own family for her dark, unconventional stories, she persisted in exploring content not often considered suitable or enjoyable for mainstream audiences, until her death from lupus at age 39. The stories were especially unusual for a female author in the 1950s. That wildcatter spirit dominates Ethan Hawke’s new drama. It inspired not just the title, but the structure and tone of the film, which recounts O’Connor’s early adulthood, including her career and health struggles. Hawke co-wrote it with Shelby Gaines, who is perhaps better known as a composer. It should come as no surprise then that *Wildcat* sometimes feels more like a symphony, drifting from one movement to another, sans a traditional narrative structure. It’s also memorably poetic, as when O’Connor’s lifelong friend, the famous author “Cal” Robert Lowell, tells her he loves her but has “a lot of eggs to fry.” Her response: “You let me know when you’re done with breakfast.” Later, when questioned about her argumentative disposition, she tells him, “I try to turn the other cheek, but my tongue is always in it.” But, like O’Connor, *Wildcat* is difficult, unruly and downright hard to understand. The aforementioned relationship with Lowell only became clear to this reviewer upon internet research. Not knowing much about O’Connor going into the movie, I didn’t know much more when leaving. The film might mean more to those familiar with the author’s short stories and novels, as the script repeatedly adopts an “embedded narrative” that blurs the line between O’Connor’s life and her characters’. That confusion can be splendid at times, particularly in the hands of Maya Hawke (Ethan Hawke’s daughter), who delivers a knock-out performance as O’Connor, and Laura Linney, as O’Connor’s mother (and the mother character in O’Connor’s stories). (If the film were receiving better notices – reviews are mixed – Linney might be in line for an Oscar nomination for supporting actress.) But other actors (Philip Ettinger as Lowell, Rafael Casal as O.E. Parker (one of O’Connor’s most famous characters) and even Liam Neeson as the family’s priest) become victims of the film’s hodgepodge. Most of the cogs in the *Wildcat* wheel function well, but, inexplicably, the wheel simply doesn’t turn as it should. Indeed, when it played the recent Florida Film Festival, everyone I asked was stumped to explain their indifference. Strangely, no one said they didn’t like it, almost afraid to express discontent. But the disappointment was there for them and me, fed by lack of focus (both in the script and the shallow-focus cinematography) and the ending, which seems too unimaginative and abrupt for such a visionary project. “The truth doesn’t change according to your ability to stomach it,” O’Connor tells a man offended by her writing. I hope whatever truth you find in *Wildcat* – and there is a lot to be found – sits better in your gut than it did in mine. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26442871/).* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2024](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/) **Published:** April 3, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian’s big fest celebrates 33 years [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Florida-Film-Festival-2024-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Florida-Film-Festival-2024-logo.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 2024 The 33rd annual Florida Festival will screen more than 160 movies, from 37 countries, including 24 world premieres, April 12-21 at Maitland’s Enzian Theater and nearby Regal Winter Park Village. Celebrity guests include John Cleese, who will screen *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* on April 14 at Enzian, and Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall, who will screen *But I’m a Cheerleader* on April 19, also at Enzian. In addition, legendary animator Bill Plympton will attend a screening of his new film, *Slide*, on April 15 at Enzian. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Regal-facade-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Regal-facade-scaled.jpg)The festival will open with the drama *Rachel Hendrix*, directed by Victor Nunez and starring Lori Singer, both of whom will be in attendance. The screening will be followed by a party at Winter Park Events Center. This year’s Closing Night Retro movie is the 1974 blaxploitation *Foxy Brown*, starring Pam Grier, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Following the festival, Enzian will close for two weeks to renovate its lobby. The theater will reopen on May 3. For more information about the festival, including the schedule and ticket options, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/). ## Reviews & Ratings [*La Bête (The Beast)*](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-bete-the-beast/ "La Bête (The Beast)") FL (4 stars) [*Ezra*](https://www.meiermovies.com/ezra/ "Ezra") (3 stars) *Foxy Brown* (1974; ½ star) — not reviewed [*Ghostlight*](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostlight/ "Ghostlight") (3 ½ stars) *Happy Campers* (1 ¼ stars) — not reviewed *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* (1975; 5 stars) — not reviewed (but you already know how good this movie is, you sons of window-dressers!) [*The Queen of My Dreams*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-queen-of-my-dreams/ "The Queen of My Dreams") FL (1 ¾ stars) [*Sages–Femmes (Midwives)*](https://www.meiermovies.com/midwives/ "Midwives") FL (3 ¾ stars) *Sleep* FL (3 stars) — not reviewed *Thelma* (3 ¼ stars) — not reviewed [*Tuesday*](https://www.meiermovies.com/tuesday/ "Tuesday") (3 ¼ stars) [*The Way We Speak*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-way-we-speak/ "The Way We Speak") (1 ¾ stars) [*Wildcat*](https://www.meiermovies.com/wildcat/ "Wildcat") (2 ½ stars) [*Yellow Bus*](https://www.meiermovies.com/yellow-bus/ "Yellow Bus") FL (3 stars) [Shorts #1, #2 and #3](https://www.meiermovies.com/shorts-1-2-and-3/ "Shorts #1, #2 and #3") [International Animated Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/international-animated-shorts/ "International Animated Shorts") *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/John-Cleese.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/John-Cleese.jpg)John Cleese takes questions from moderator Roger Moore and the Enzian audience on April 14 following a screening of *Monty Python and the Holy Grail*. --- ### [Marriage Story](https://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) **Published:** December 5, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Marriage Story**, 2019, 4 ½ stars # *Story* brimming with humanity [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Marriage-Story.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Marriage-Story.jpeg)Image courtesy of Telluride Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/marriage-story-opening-in-orlando-is-brimming-with-humanity/Content?oid=26404535), December 4, 2019 “Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other,” Katharine Hepburn said. “Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.” And so it goes for newly separated Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) in writer-director Noah Baumbach’s latest dramedy, *Marriage Story*. Problem is, Charlie wants Nicole and their son, Henry, to stay in New York City near him while Nicole is eyeing Los Angeles, which is home to her mother, sister and budding movie career. And a bicoastal relationship isn’t what Charlie – or Hepburn, for that matter – had in mind. But Nicole is headstrong, goal-oriented and tired of playing second fiddle to Charlie, who is an accomplished theater director. Though Baumbach takes great pains to show from the outset that the two still admire and love each other, their marriage is no longer healthy for Nicole. “I got smaller,” she confesses. Charlie is struggling with the idea of divorce, though, ironically, he is the one who cheated. And despite their seemingly amicable separation – which includes counseling and the assumption that divorce will eventually follow – Charlie is devastated when Nicole serves him papers. It was his hope they could avoid lawyers, but it’s not to be. In *Margot at the Wedding* and *The Squid and the Whale*, Baumbach explored issues of marriage and divorce. But, until now, he’s never created anything this emotionally powerful, so overflowing with humanity. And he knows it, as he told the audience at the Telluride Film Festival, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever been involved with.” He was speaking about a single scene in which Driver and Johansson leave their tears and souls on the soundstage floor, but he might as well have been discussing the entire movie, which – once it moves past its slow, somewhat ordinary beginning – is simultaneously hilarious, thought-provoking and heartbreaking. And the cherry on top is a lovely score by Randy Newman. This is an actor’s movie, one in which Baumbach trusts his performers with his tender writing and isn’t afraid to let them emote in mesmerizingly long takes. Expect Oscar nominations for both Johansson and Driver, with the latter my choice to collect the trophy over *Joker*’s Joaquin Phoenix. Nominations could come for supporting actors too, specifically Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta as a wonderfully eclectic trio of squabbling attorneys. And though Wallace Shawn (Charlie’s theater friend) and Julie Hagerty (Nicole’s mom) don’t add much narratively, they are interesting additions to the best ensemble of the year. Lastly, let’s not forget young Azhy Robertson (Henry), who conjures memories of Justin Henry’s performance in *Kramer vs. Kramer*. *Marriage Story* might lack the razzle-dazzle of the aforementioned *Joker,* the existential depth of *Ad Astra* and the visual magic of the upcoming *1917*, but it still deserves a spot alongside those films in this year’s top 10. Regrettably, it has received only a limited theatrical release, which means most of you will have to stream it on Netflix starting this week. That’s an awfully small place for such a big film, but at least you’ll get to ugly-cry (and laugh) in the privacy of your own home. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: I first reviewed this film in capsule form at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival. See [my original review](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/).* --- ### [Shorts #1, #2 and #3](https://www.meiermovies.com/shorts-1-2-and-3/) **Published:** April 15, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## From soup to nuts [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Deep-In-My-Heart.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Deep-In-My-Heart.png)*Deep in My Heart Is a Song* (images courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 15, 2024 With apologies to Mrs. Gump, short-film programs are like boxes of chocolates, with the boxes getting increasingly nutty in recent years. And this critic seems to be developing a nut allergy. That matters little, it seems, as shorts #1, #2 and #3 were well attended during the Florida Film Festival opening weekend, and the three blocks were equally well received, proving again that each short will finds its audience. Still, from a conventional vantage point, it’s tough to deny that shorts #1 is the strongest. “More commercial” is how Programming Director Matthew Curtis described it to me. He’s right, but sometimes films are commercial for a reason: better writing, acting, direction and overall storytelling. The festival’s live-action, domestic short films are divided into five blocks, but I screened just the first three. They are each nicknamed for a song by a musician who has recently died. It’s a cool way to honor a recently deceased artist; plus it gives the block a theme. Not every film adheres to that theme, but the nickname nevertheless provides the program a flavor. Shorts #1 has the moniker “Long Time Gone,” presumably to honor David Crosby, who left this realm last year. And, indeed, most of the films are imbued with a feeling of melancholy or loss, or contain characters looking to restart their lives. A couple are lighthearted, even comedic, which prevents the program from becoming too dark. But, at least in this block, darker is better. Director Jonathan Pickett’s ***Deep in My Heart Is a Song*** (4 stars) is the moodiest and most emotionally impactful of the seven films. It tumbles along for a few minutes, like the tumbleweeds in the song sung by the lead character. But it soon finds its calling, and then some, just like the aforementioned lead, a country-western crooner who stumbles into the most important gig of his life. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ricky-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ricky-scaled.jpg)*Ricky* ***Ricky*** (3 stars) is close behind. Also initially content with more than the average amount of slice-of-life exposition, director Rasha Frett’s film about a man freshly released from prison and struggling to hold a job ends with a sledgehammer. Director Henry Jinings’ ***Sadness*** (based on a true story about a DJ in 1970s New York City who receives a call from a person attempting suicide) and Margaux Susi’s ***Guts*** (about a lonely young women recovering from an eating disorder), both 3 stars, are different in style and subject. But both are gripping and well acted, especially the latter. (Expect great things in the future from Angela Giarratana, who possesses an eminently relatable Emma Stone quality.) The other three offerings – ***Catherine & Michael*** (with Molly Ringwald and Peter Grosz), ***The Runt*** and ***Any Sign at All*** – should also be commended but nevertheless lack that final element that pushes a film over the finish line. Perhaps it’s narrative clarity, or character development, or originality, or one big laugh-out-loud moment that makes one forget the nit-picks. But all the filmmakers are on the right track. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Shadow.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Shadow.png)*Shadow* That can’t be said for Shorts #2. Nicknamed “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” to honor Tina Turner, who also died last year, the block is narratively lackluster. The only standout is the undeniably creepy ***Shadow*** (3 stars), directed by Kamell Allaway, a smart metaphorical horror about substance abuse haunting a family. (***The Shadow Wrangler*** and ***Bust*** also deserve commendation for their unique storytelling twists.) Shorts #3 is arguably the most buzzed-about of the five domestic live-action blocks, but it’s still not as strong as the more mainstream #1. “A House Is Not a Home” is its tagline, to honor the late Burt Bacharach. (Most of the films address themes associated with one’s home (either literal or metaphorical) or physical house.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/I-Cant-Be-Sorry.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/I-Cant-Be-Sorry.png)*I Can’t Be Sorry* With four of its seven movies falling more into the comedy genre, the block is actually led by a drama, director Robert Machoian’s ***I Can’t Be Sorry*** (4 stars), a contemplative, atmospheric three-hander disguised as a slice-of-life conversation piece until its powerful third-act reveal. Its only rival, quality-wise, in this program is the quirky, irresistible ***I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For*** (3 stars), from director Steve Collins. You may never look at Bono, or a Joshua tree, the same way again. A positive shout-out to Lee Eddy (the writer-director-star of ***You’re Invited to Tuscan’s 5th Birthday Party***) for the most batshit-crazy performance you’re likely to see at the festival. But a negative shout-out to the filmmakers behind ***The Sacrifice***, who tastelessly depict the decapitation of a goat (fake, of course) in their misguided Satanic comedy. Ending the block with that film is a terrible decision but isn’t particularly surprising considering the aforementioned drift toward nutty (a.k.a. transgressive, shocking) content at this and other festivals. It’s better suited to Midnight Shorts. Why do filmmakers and audiences find animal cruelty funny, I wondered almost out loud as I stormed out of the screening. But then I attended the special presentation (with John Cleese) of *Monty Python and the Holy Grail*, which famously beats a cat against a wall, blows up a rabbit, and lobs cows and other barnyard animals over castle walls. And that’s regarded as a comedic masterpiece. It just goes to show that if your film features simulated animal abuse, it must BE FUNNY. *The Sacrifice* isn’t. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This article is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this program is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). And to view ratings of all the films in these three blocks, plus ratings for more than 3,000 other short films, visit my [Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/).* --- ### [Tuesday](https://www.meiermovies.com/tuesday/) **Published:** April 17, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tuesday**, 2024, 3 ¼ stars # Death becomes her [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tuesday-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tuesday-scaled.jpg)Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars in *Tuesday*. (Image is courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 17, 2024 Ingmar Bergman imagined a chess player, Rod Serling a hitchhiker and Martin Brest Brad Pitt. Writer-director Daina Oniunas-Pusic, in her feature debut, instead depicts death as, well, you’ll see – suffice to say polly wants more than a cracker. In arguably her best post-*Seinfeld* performance, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Zora, the mother to a terminally ill teenager, Tuesday, played well by Lola Petticrew (the BBC show *Bloodlands*). But when the Grim Reaper, voiced hauntingly by Nigerian-British actor Arinzé Kene, flies in to snatch her daughter, Zora fights back. For her, bird is *not* the word. Refreshingly weird and darkly imaginative, *Tuesday* is a fantasy-dramedy reminiscent of both *Swiss Army Man* and *The Seventh Seal*. Memorable not just in its presentation of maternal grief but also in its depiction of a world briefly deprived of death – it’s not as good as you think – *Tuesday* embraces an askew, surreal sensibility that, admittedly, might not resonate with mainstream audiences. But I hope you love it to death. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14682800/).* --- ### [The Way We Speak](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-way-we-speak/) **Published:** April 15, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Way We Speak**, 2024, 1 ¾ stars # Discourse, off course [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Way-We-Speak.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Way-We-Speak.jpg)Patrick Fabian and Diana Coconubo star in *The Way We Speak.* (The image is courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 15, 2024 Simon Harrington is an up-and-coming writer, but that’s no compliment considering he’s over 50. The description is especially emasculating considering his wife, Claire, is already famous. But she’s also dying, which makes Simon even more eager to prove his worth to her, and to himself. A prominent futurist and atheist, Simon is invited to debate his friend George at a prominent conference. This is the break he has been waiting for, but his plans are dashed when tragedy befalls George and the conference selects a different opponent, renowned Christian author Sarah Clawson, to take the side of God. But little goes according to plan, not so much because of Simon’s cerebral shortcomings but because of his hubris, anxiety, anger and marital difficulties. The debut feature of writer-director Ian Ebright begins with a quote from Gore Vidal: “Envy is the central fact of American life.” That successfully encapsulates Simon’s insecurities, but like so much in *The Way We Speak*, the quote teases an intriguing intellectualism that never quite materializes, shrouded by debates that go nowhere and personal situations that rarely rise above their contrivances. The leads – Patrick Fabian (*Better Call Saul*) as Simon, Diana Coconubo (*Incarcerated*) as Claire, Kailey Rhodes (*Half Sisters*) as Sarah and Ayanna Berkshire (*Twilight*) as the head of the company holding the conference – are occasionally effective but can’t overcome the stiff, heavy-handed direction and unexciting script. What could have been a fascinating examination of one man’s pomposity, a discourse on religion and a socio-political dialogue – *My Dinner with Andre* meets *Inherit the Wind* – instead gets mired in tedium. Even more surprisingly, the film has little to say about God. And though there is no winner or loser in the debate, I would have voted for Sarah Clawson – and this coming from an agnostic atheist. Ebright has big ideas and will have better films: ones that more successfully combine erudition with entertainment. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. The film had its world premiere on April 13 and will screen again at Enzian Theater, with cast and crew in attendance, on April 18. To buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt25994554/).* --- ### [Ghostlight](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostlight/) **Published:** April 15, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ghostlight**, 2024, 3 ½ stars # Wherefore art thou, Dan? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ghostlight.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ghostlight.png)Dolly De Leon and Keith Kupferer star in *Ghostlight*. (image courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 15, 2024 “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Turns out Shakespeare was right, at least in the case of construction worker Dan, who, through a bizarre set of circumstances, is cast in a community-theatre production of *Romeo and Juliet*. Though the play is, of course, mostly fictional, Dan finds that the famous plot mirrors his own life. Indeed, he identifies with the characters in such a way as to stretch believability – if not for the well-placed ambiguities and subtle reveals of Kelly O’Sullivan’s sensitive script. *Ghostlight* – named for the mysterious tradition of never leaving a theatrical stage unlit – is the first directorial collaboration for O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, who previously teamed as writer and director, respectively, on *Saint Francis* (2019). Though it’s a tad pedestrian, especially in its first act, it’s ultimately memorable not just for its almost Shakespearean plot, wherein art imitates life, but for the strong chemistry between its leads (Keith Kupferer as Dan, Tara Mallen as his wife and Katherine Mallen Kupferer as their daughter), who form a real-life family. The younger actress is particularly strong and should expect to see ghostlight turn to spotlight soon for her. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30321095/).* --- ### [International Animated Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/international-animated-shorts/) **Published:** April 12, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## **Redraw your world, one frame at a time** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Stabat-Mater.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Stabat-Mater.jpg)*Stabat Mater* (images courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 12, 2024 When most of you ponder animated shorts – cartoons, for you commoners – you likely think of whimsy, fantasy and childlike joy. You’ve got another think coming. Bring on the International Animated Shorts, arguably the most mind-bending, surreal, dark and consequential program at this year’s festival. The block is headlined by the extraordinary ***Stabat Mater*** (5 stars), digitally brought to life (with a stop-motion vibe) by a team of French animators. Echoing the clay creation myth (Enki, Khnum, Prometheus, etc.), with shades of the original *Frankenstein* short film from 1910, by J. Searle Dawley and Thomas Edison, *Stabat Mater* (“sorrowful mother,” referring to Mary mourning Jesus) is part Dali, part horror, part experimental and entirely haunting. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A-Kind-of-Testament.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A-Kind-of-Testament.jpg)*A Kind of Testament* Nearly as memorable is Stephen Vuillemin’s ***A Kind of Testament*** (4 stars, flirting with 5), an unsettling, metatheatrical, metaversy, hand-drawn-style portrait of a woman whose social-media photos have been inexplicably stolen and endowed with an alternate, wildly imaginative existence by a trolling stranger. ***On the 8th Day*** (4 stars), which opens the program, is so tactile that one can almost feel the fabric used to create this stop-motion gem. Like *Stabat Mater*, it’s helmed by a talented crew of French animators and offers a creation theme or, more specifically, a de-creation theme, as its apocalyptic, environmental message is palpable but never overbearing. ***The Smallest Power*** (4 stars), by Andy Sarjahani, is a welcome addition to the program, as it’s the lone documentary, featuring a real-life voiceover recorded secretly during an Iranian uprising. The female narrator recounts the tense moments when the life of a fellow doctor was threatened by governmental goons, and it shows yet again how animation can conceal a subject’s identity while still allowing her to share her powerful voice. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bye-Bear.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bye-Bear.png)*Bye Bear* The German ***Bye Bear*** (4 stars), which almost defies explanation, should be appreciated for its technological, otherworldly aesthetic instead of overanalyzed. (That’s code for “this critic didn’t quite understand it.”) With creation, or re-creation, themes similar to *Stabat Mater*, Jan Blitzer’s film blurs the distinction between robot and animal. Though somewhat crude – in both style and subject – when compared with the aforementioned films, ***Matta and Matto*** (3 stars) has a charm all its own: the kind of charm you experience in your deepest nightmares. In a world that forbids touch, the characters in this Swiss film by Bianca Caderas and Kerstin Zemp resort to David Cronenberg-like methods to satisfy their cravings for flesh. It might sound repulsive but is driven by big ideas. While the abstract ***& More***, the existential ***Minus Plus Multiply*** and grossly comedic ***Drijf*** (all 2 stars) don’t stand on their own as successfully as the movies mentioned above, they serve somewhat well as palate cleansers – all except the final film, *Drijf*, which is downright unpleasant and should have been considered for Midnight Shorts. Still, it sticks with you, unlike an amputated appendage. (You’ll see what I mean.) Strangely (because this is an international program), *Drijf*, by Levi Stoops, is the only one of the 10 films with a non-English voiceover (Dutch.) It’s also the most adult-themed, containing graphic violence and nudity. Perhaps that’s why the programmers put it last, allowing children a chance to leave. But, frankly, no child should see any of this program. Indeed, that would be my one jab: There’s not enough light amid the darkness of this block. Lastly, let me commend ***My Name Is Edgar and I Have a Cow*** (3 stars), from Filip Diviak, for its animal-rights message. Though it doesn’t have the dramatic, comedic or aesthetic heft of several other films in this block, it fits in with the program’s theme: alternate realities. Edgar – like the creator in *Stabat Mater*, or Matta and Matto, or the robots in *Bye Bear*, or the anonymous subject in *The Smallest Power* – imagines a different world: a world where cows are friends, not food. Think of this film when ordering your burger at Eden Bar. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This article is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this program is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/).* --- ### [Yellow Bus](https://www.meiermovies.com/yellow-bus/) **Published:** April 11, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Yellow Bus** FL, 2023, 3 stars # Justice in an unjust land [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Yellow-Bus-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Yellow-Bus-scaled.jpg)Image courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 11, 2024 When you’re a stranger in a strange land – like Indian emigrants Ananda (Tannishtha Chatterjee), her husband (Amit Sial) and their two daughters – life is already tough. Unaccustomed to Islam, Arabic and the general culture of her new home in the Middle East, Ananda feels isolated. But when a tragic accident takes the life of the couple’s youngest daughter, Ananda’s grief overwhelms her, threatening her marriage and her future. “Imagine living in a country where you’re not seen,” Ananda says. But despite those feelings of disrespect, and her profound loss, Ananda forces herself to be seen by confronting those responsible for her daughter’s death. The feature debut of writer-director Wendy Bednarz has its heart in the right place but suffers from slow pacing, predictability and contrivance. In addition, the stakes never seem high enough for Ananda, as those responsible for the tragedy were partially held accountable from the very beginning. But *Yellow Bus* succeeds because of claustrophobic cinematography (Sofian El Fani, *Blue Is the Warmest Color*), cultural commentary and Chatterjee’s plaintive performance. Misgivings aside, I felt I was on that yellow bus with Ananda’s daughter when she was left to die in the scorching Arabian heat. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19550082/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).* --- ### [Q](https://www.meiermovies.com/q/) **Published:** November 1, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with Q: Queen of the Deuce (2023; 2 ¾ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2023 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2023/) [The Queen of My Dreams](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-queen-of-my-dreams/ "The Queen of My Dreams") FL (2024; 1 ¾ stars) --- ### [Midwives](https://www.meiermovies.com/midwives/) **Published:** April 9, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Sages-Femmes (Midwives)** FL, 2023, 3 ¾ stars # Pushed to the limit [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Midwives.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Midwives.png)Image courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 9, 2024 What will be the final frontier of film? Some argue it will be AI, or a complete digital replacement of actors with CGI. Some suggest it will be interactive cinema, in which the audience picks the plots, in a sort of cinematic metaverse. Or it could be genre-blending, in which animation and live-action alternate, or documentary and narrative-fiction are interspersed. If the latter is the answer, the future is already here. In fact, the future has been here since the 1920s, when the first “documentary,” *Nanook of the North*, used non-doc elements alongside real people and events. Though inserting non-doc content into true documentaries is no longer common, the reverse has blossomed in recent decades: adding real content to narrative fiction. Even Oscar winners have done it, from *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* to *Nomadland*. But it’s still not prevalent, and is rarely done well. So when it IS done well, such as in *Midwives*, it creates a lasting impression. Part slice-of-lifer, part straight-up drama, part buddy dramedy and part political protest, writer-director Léa Fehner’s *Sages-Femmes* (literally “wise women” in French) is an intimate, emotional portrait of the women who deliver babies in a French hospital with limited resources and staffing. Focused on two new midwives, Sofia (Khadija Kouyaté) and Louise (Héloïse Janjaud), the French-language film also finds room for some sweet, lighthearted moments courtesy of a male hospital worker, Valentin (Quentin Vernede). The chemistry of the three actors, plus the aforementioned footage of real births featuring non-actors, makes for a gripping, intense, frenetic, hyper-realistic experience that is not easily forgotten. The hurried relentlessness, combined with the active camera, can be exhausting, but one is left with a sense of the fatigue midwives must feel. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26680242/).* --- ### [Ezra](https://www.meiermovies.com/ezra/) **Published:** April 10, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ezra**, 2024, 3 stars # On the road to reconciliation [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ezra.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ezra.jpeg)Image courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 10, 2024 Autism is a tough cinematic subject. The performances of non-autistic actors often appear contrived or forced, as if they are begging for our sympathy, while casting autistic performers can be impractical. So I’m happy that *Ezra*, the new dramedy directed by Tony Goldwyn and penned by Tony Spiridakis, gets it mostly right. I use the weary word “happy” on purpose, as *Ezra* is infused with joy, despite its difficult subject. Max (Bobby Cannavale, in a career performance) is a New Jersey stand-up comic with a collapsing career and a collapsed marriage. Forced to live with his curmudgeon of a dad, Stan (Robert De Niro, in a must-see turn for De Nirophiles), Max reaches his breaking point when his 11-year-old autistic son Ezra (William Fitzgerald, in his debut) is expelled from school. Rejecting his wife’s (Rose Byrne) decision to put Ezra in a special school, Max makes a crazy decision that is likely not the best for his son but, despite the contrivances, is a good MacGuffin. Hey, everyone likes a cross-country road trip during which the characters discover themselves, right? *Ezra* is mostly unremarkable and hard to swallow in its third act, but the strong cast – Whoopi Goldberg, Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson and even Jimmy Kimmel have small roles – make it eminently likeable. Like Max and Ezra, it’s got moxie. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20315818/).* --- ### [The Queen of My Dreams](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-queen-of-my-dreams/) **Published:** April 10, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Queen of My Dreams** FL, 2024, 1 ¾ stars # *Dream* unrealized [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Queen-of-My-Dreams.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Queen-of-My-Dreams.jpg)Image courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 10, 2024 “I used to worship my mother,” Azra declares at the beginning of *The Queen of My Dreams*, the debut feature from festival alumna Fawzia Merza. However, different lifestyles, religious beliefs and sexual orientations have driven Azra (Amrit Kaur) and her mom, Mariam (Nimra Bucha), apart. But when Azra’s father (Hamza Haq) dies suddenly on a trip from the family’s adopted home of Canada to their native Pakistan, the women are forced to confront their generational differences. One interest Azar and her conservative Muslim mother share is their love for Bollywood musical fantasies. And just like those movies, *Queen* enjoys stylish genre-jumping, from drama, to comedy, to coming-of-age. It even flirts with epic, as the film alternates between Azra’s childhood in 1980s Nova Scotia, Azra’s adulthood in 1999 Toronto and Mariam’s early adulthood in 1969 Karachi (during which Kaur awkwardly plays the mother character, a multiple-role tradition straight out of Bollywood). The movie also often switches from English to Urdu, and back again. With all that thematic, temporal, geographic and linguistic hopping, one would expect *Queen* to fly, but instead it drags, held back by average performances and tonally and stylistically challenged direction. It does offer a nice retro feel, inspired by 1960s Bollywood choreography and cinematography, but its helter-skelter ingredients never congeal into a fully satisfying Gulab Jaman. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2024 Florida Film Festival. To find out when this movie is playing and buy tickets, go to [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://floridafilmfestival.com/films/). For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2024/). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21876438/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).* --- ### [One Life](https://www.meiermovies.com/one-life/) **Published:** March 12, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **One Life**, 2023, 3 ½ stars # The English Schindler ## *One Life* is a righteous retelling of Winton tale [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/One-Life.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/One-Life.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 12, 2024 “Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Those words were spoken, of course, about George Bailey, in 1946’s *It’s a Wonderful Life*. But they could just as easily apply to Nicholas Winton, who, seven years prior, had engineered the evacuation of 669 children, mostly Jewish, from Prague to England on the eve of World War II. Winton has since been dubbed the English Oskar Schindler, but his story wasn’t widely known until 1988, when the British television show *That’s Life* featured Winton. That famous clip, in which Winton is surprised by the audience, almost all of whom were those he saved, or their children, has been seen by millions. And the story has already been told on film, three times by Slovak filmmaker Matej Mináč and once by American documentarian Mark Jonathan Harris. Mináč’s most famous version was 2011’s *Nicky’s Family*, which has powerful moments but suffers from some of the clunkiness typical of a half-biopic, half-doc format. ([Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) to read my original review.) Harris’s *Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport*, from 2000, won the Oscar for documentary feature. So, unfortunately for first-time feature director James Hawes (all his previous work has been in television), there are few surprises left for his new drama, *One Life*. Still, one might argue that, thanks to its excellent cast, most notably Anthony Hopkins, Hawes’ version is the best. But with few new details left to share – and Winton’s big reveal taking place more than three decades ago – this reviewer can’t help asking Hawes: “Why now?” These are critiques more of context than content, however, as there is plenty to appreciate in *One Life*. Hopkins, arguably our greatest living actor, brings his usual humanity and quiet power to the role of the elderly Winton, while Johnny Flynn (*The Outfit*) is surprisingly effective as the younger Winton, able to hold his own with Hopkins when the film cuts between times. He even upstages Hopkins occasionally, but that’s likely because the part of the movie set in the late 1930s is more tension-filled than the segments in the late 1980s. Hopkins, for all his acting chops, simply doesn’t have quite as much to do as Flynn, and a potentially delicious cameo by Jonathan Pryce, as Winton’s friend (reuniting the two actors following their triumph with *The Two Popes* five years ago), is mostly wasted. The excellent performances of Winton’s co-workers from the portion of the film set in the late 1930s also go somewhat unfulfilled, as their storylines are mostly dropped toward the movie’s end, in favor of focus on the elderly Winton. That was probably the only practical choice, but it speaks to the difficulty of juggling timelines and perhaps the shortcomings of either Hawes’ direction or the script by Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake and Barbara Winton. The most memorable supporting performer is Helena Bonham Carter, as the younger Winton’s mother, who helped secure safe passage for the children in England while Winton was busy in Prague. She is so strong, in fact, that – even more than the other actors from the 1930s segment – we feel a profound sense of cinematic loss when she disappears toward the film’s end. Not as effective is the wife of the elderly Winton, played by Lena Olin. Her performance and character get a bit lost, and the obvious age difference between Olin and Hopkins begs an explanation. Other aspects (art direction, score and mood) are mostly spot-on, but, of all elements, only Hopkins’ and Carter’s performances will likely linger in audience’s minds, unless one has never heard of Winton, which seems unlikely. But the film is still a great reminder that, as Winton said, “If something isn’t blatantly impossible, there must be a way of doing it.” *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13097932/?ref_=ttrel_ov) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Life_(2023_film)). The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and is opening this week theatrically in limited release in the United States.* --- ### [Oppenheimer](https://www.meiermovies.com/oppenheimer/) **Published:** July 21, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Oppenheimer \***, 2023, 3 stars # Nolan’s near miss ## *Oppenheimer* is powerful but flawed [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Oppenheimer-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Oppenheimer-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 21, 2023 “Go big or go home,” the filmmaking of Christopher Nolan screams. From *Dunkirk* to *Interstellar* to *Inception* to *Tenet* to his Batman movies, Nolan proffers big ideas, big scope, big sound and big film stock (70 mm IMAX). J. Robert Oppenheimer offered the same to the United States military in World War II, just with a different conjunction: “Go big AND go home.” In other words, he gave America the biggest weapon the world had ever seen, allowing our troops to return stateside. So you’d think the two would be a perfect match. Well, it turns out there is such a thing as too big. For while the master craftsman has engineered a compelling and occasionally powerful production, *Oppenheimer* is also unnecessarily frenetic, unfocused, loud, overscored and just plain confusing. It’s impossible to fully resist its vigor and panache, but after being bombarded with trailer-type pacing and sound for three hours, this critic was relieved when the 70mm projector flickered dark. That’s not to say that said projector doesn’t display moments of profound beauty, not just in the film print’s color, clarity and light, but also in the movie itself, which takes us from the early career of Oppenheimer, through World War II, to Oppenheimer’s post-war career and controversies. And several performances are memorable, particularly Cillian Murphy in the title role and Matt Damon as the top military official on the Manhattan Project. Florence Pugh, as Oppenheimer’s one-time girlfriend and subsequent mistress, is quite good, and quite naked. Emily Blunt, as his wife, can’t rely on the scene-stealing technique of getting nude, but she still does reasonably well with the limited action the screenplay gives her. Most of the other members of the stellar ensemble (Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Josh Harnett, Alden Ehrenreich and Kenneth Branagh, to name a few) get a bit lost, though. (Not lost is Robert Downey Jr., but more on him later.) And cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (perhaps the best in the business not named Roger Deakins) deserves praise, as does the practical-effects crew. *Oppenheimer* is at its best when it’s one part contemplative (as when a conflicted title character confronts the bomb’s moral complexities), one part surreal (particularly in a scene of haunting montage) and one part quiet (which is almost never). But it struggles as a bio-pic. Indeed, it’s not really a bio-pic at all. Instead, it’s a drama-thriller that, in typical Nolan style, jumps around in time and place. That approach has worked well for the director in the past, particularly with *Dunkirk*, but it’s exhausting here, especially when it’s focusing on Lewis Strauss (Downey), the former chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Shockingly, Nolan spends more time on Strauss than on the science behind the bomb. That might have worked well in the 2005 biography *American Prometheus* (by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin), upon which Nolan based his screenplay, but it almost ruins the film. Simply put, Nolan takes his eye off the ball, or, more precisely, the bomb. Maybe he should have heeded the words of President Truman, who, in a badly misrepresented cameo, reminds Oppenheimer that the Japanese don’t care who made the bomb, only who dropped it. Transpose that sentiment to the film, and one is reminded that however interesting the story of Oppenheimer (and however uninteresting the story of Strauss), the bombs (Trinity, Little Boy and Fat Man) will always be the main characters in this tale. And despite Nolan’s best intentions, relegating the bombs to supporting roles is tantamount to James Cameron spending most of his time on events prior to and after Titanic’s maiden voyage while giving short shrift to the ship. That decision doesn’t sink *Oppenheimer*, but it’s an iceberg just off the starboard bow. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15398776/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_(film)).* --- ### [The Peasants](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-peasants/) **Published:** March 2, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Peasants** FL, 2023, 3 stars # Paint it black ## *Loving Vincent* follow-up is brutally dark [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The-Peasants-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The-Peasants-1.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 2, 2024 In 2017, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and more than 100 artists redrew animation history with *Loving Vincent*, the first entirely oil-painted feature. Though the movie used rotoscoping for many of its characters, a technique by which animators draw over live-action footage, all frames were painted by hand, with no digital manipulation. That film was a masterpiece not just for its artistry but because it told a tale perfectly suited to paint. Indeed, in [my review](https://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/ "Loving Vincent"), I called it the best animated movie of the century and the most nobly conceived of all time. That latter praise is due to the film’s re-creation of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings and people, and the use of those painted people to try to explain the artist’s death. It is impossible to imagine it as anything but animated. The same cannot be said for the follow-up, *The Peasants*. Though the Polish Kobiela and English Welchman are now happily married – that’s an amazing story by itself – they have failed to marry story and craft as seamlessly as they did seven years ago. And while the new Polish-language film is predictably beautiful, representing another leap forward in adult animation, the movie is only as good as its writing and live-action footage, which is unrelentingly brutal, occasionally monotonous and sometimes ham-fisted. The story is based on Władysław Reymont’s early 20th-century novel, which tells the tale of Polish peasants, particularly the misfortunes of beautiful, young Jagna (Kamila Urzędowska). Forced to marry the much older but considerably wealthy Maciej (Mirosław Baka) and ultimately misjudged by the petty, gossiping villagers, Jagna becomes the Hester Prynne of the village of Lipce. The film contains powerful moments of passion and tragedy, to be sure, particularly in the relationship between Maciej and his son, Antek (Robert Gulaczyk), with whom Jagna has an affair. But these moments fade rather quickly, one spectacular image passing into another without leaving enough of an impact, possibly because, except for Jagna, the characters simply aren’t likeable or relatable. (Perhaps Polish director Jan Rybkowski’s 1973 adaptation was more emotionally satisfying.) The central metaphor of the film (and the novel, which was published in four parts) is the changing of the seasons, and the events occur over roughly one year, allowing the animators to utilize a variety of landscapes and color palettes. But the happenings don’t necessarily correspond to the seasons. There is no rebirth in spring, for example, only a relentless march toward sadness, proving again that the story is an odd fit for the style. But at least the changing seasons allow the artists to pay homage to great works of art. The tributes aren’t as obvious as in *Loving Vincent*, but Polish art enthusiasts familiar with Józef Chełmoński and Ferdynand Ruszczyc, among others, will likely appreciate them. Music plays a strong part too, with Polish rapper and activist Łukasz Rostkowski’s score driving much of the action and sentiment. Despite *The Peasants*’ incongruity, I eagerly anticipate the Welchmans’ next project. I just hope it is less unpleasant. But perhaps unpleasantness is the point, as the filmmakers push the boundaries of animation, filling their film with fighting, death, betrayal, poverty, starvation and rape. This isn’t Disney. It’s not Miyazaki. It’s not even Jérémy Clapin, of severed-hand fame. It’s unspeakable ugliness portrayed in the most beautiful way. *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10651230/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peasants_(2023_film)). The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and is now playing in theaters. It was the Polish entry for the best international feature for the 2024 Academy Awards but didn’t make the final cut for that award or best animated feature.* --- ### [Benjamin Gump](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-gump/) **Published:** March 2, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## The curious case of conjoined films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Forrest-Gump.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Forrest-Gump.jpg)Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump (image copyright Paramount Pictures) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 2, 2024 Except for their Southern roots – one with an Alabama drawl and the other with a New Orleans lilt – Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button seem to have little in common. Think again. Their similarities shouldn’t be surprising, as both of the famous movie characters were born of screenwriter Eric Roth, by way of original stories from Winston Groom and F. Scott Fitzgerald, respectively. Both were shaped by their military service (Forrest in Vietnam and Benjamin in World War II) and the men they served under (Lieutenant Dan and Captain Mike). And both were devoted – over the years and through numerous cross-purposed hardships – to women (Jenny and Daisy) who would change their lives and father their children. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Benjamin-Button.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Benjamin-Button.png)Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button (image copyright Warner Brothers / Paramount Pictures) The overall movies have much in common too, as both the 1994 film directed by Robert Zemeckis and the 2008 one helmed by David Fincher were box-office successes and nominated for numerous Academy Awards. (*Forrest Gump* enjoyed more Oscar success, winning six, including best picture, while *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, though nominated for a whopping 13, took home just three.) Thematically, the two films are portraits of America: its wars, its people, its cultural richness. Combine Forrest and Benjamin and you’ve got the 20th century in a nutshell. And they are both largely stories within stories, told by their subjects. Ultimately, though, the two characters are mirror images: Forrest was an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances while Benjamin was an extraordinary man in ordinary circumstances. And while the former was mentally challenged, the latter was physically, though Forrest too overcame physical disabilities early in life. But whether life is “like a box of chocolates” or simply a “series of intersecting lives and incidents,” *our* lives have been incalculably enriched by Mr. Gump and Mr. Button. And as the latter taught us, “I hope you live a life you’re proud of, \[and\] if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” *© 2024 MeierMovies, LLC* *For information on and photos of filming locations of* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-button-houses-in-new-orleans/). And for fun, watch the film again, paying close attention to Benjamin’s dog. (He ages backwards too.)* --- ### ['If' I could save 'Time in a Bottle'](https://www.meiermovies.com/if-i-could-save-time-in-a-bottle/) **Published:** February 9, 2024 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 9, 2024 I’ve always been struck by the time-travelesque, existential lyrics of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” and Bread’s “If.” They are oddly similar and have a weird, overlapping history. Croce wrote “Time in a Bottle” for his pregnant wife in 1970, but it wasn’t released until 1972, while David Gates of Bread wrote “If” in 1971, the same year it was released. So neither song could have influenced the other. But both Croce and Gates were seemingly channeling the same sentiment. Love knows no temporal boundaries. “If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true, the box would be empty except for the memory of how they were answered by you.” “If a man could be two places at one time, I’d be with you, tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.” --- ### [Beau Is Afraid](https://www.meiermovies.com/beau-is-afraid/) **Published:** September 26, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Beau Is Afraid**, 2023, 3 ¼ stars # Ari is absurd ## … with a heavy dose of Surrealism [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Beau-Is-Afraid.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Beau-Is-Afraid.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 26, 2023 Surrealism is often described as an artistic movement devoted to releasing the potential of the subconscious (or unconscious, if you prefer), often through the use of incongruous, irrational or shockingly imaginative images and thoughts. Absurdism, though similar, is often characterized by an even more bizarre or ridiculous assortment of events and situations that make little sense on their face but have the potential to expose essential truths about human existence. Combine these two styles, throw in writer-director Ari Aster’s penchant for shock and actor Joaquin Phoenix’s unsettling unpredictability, add a dash of Kafka (himself a master of the absurd) and blushes of Darren Aronofsky’s *Mother!*, and you get *Beau Is Afraid*, one of the year’s most visionary and inventive yet grueling cinematic odysseys. With that pretentious analysis (fitting for an occasionally pretentious film) out of the way, let me pivot to a complete lack of pretention: When attempting to critique this type of film, it often helps to throw explanations aside and simply ask, “Do I like it?” or “Does the film, in its infuriating confusion, speak to me?” The exhausting three-hour runtime aside, my answer is yes. Phoenix is Beau, an emotionally besieged man in an emotionally besieged world, who is continually vexed in his attempt to visit his mother. Through inconveniences (such as oversleeping and then losing his apartment key just two hours before his flight) and tragedies (like being chased and stabbed by lunatics and struck by a car), Beau struggles onward, not knowing what awaits him at home. Predictably, he meets an assortment of odd characters on his journey, including a seemingly well-meaning yet creepy couple (Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan) and a woman from his past (Parker Posey, in a performance that will blow the mind of Poseyphiles). In other noteworthy appearances are Richard Kind as Beau’s family lawyer, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Beau’s therapist and Patti LuPone as his mother. Regardless of your reaction to the film – which is more drama and comedy than horror, marking a departure for Aster – you must admit that the writer-director and his usual cinematographer, Pawel Pogorzelski, have balls, metaphorically. But Beau has balls literally – giant ones, apparently thanks to his never having ejaculated. He’s avoided sex because he swore to save himself for a childhood sweetheart and because his mother told him his heretofore virgin father died on their wedding night from an undiagnosed heart condition. He came and he went. Or so we think until the oddest moment in this odd film reveals that his dad might actually be a gigantic penis and testicles living in his mom’s attic. That’s a bridge too far for this film critic, but by the time that scene arrives, I had already invested enough energy in the movie to make it jumping-the-shark-proof. How you react to that moment and the many others that defy logic and discipline will depend on your own taste, patience and emotional baggage. To paraphrase the great Tom Lehrer (and in keeping with the mood of much of the movie), “Film is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.” Despite the aforementioned crudeness, the film can be high-brow too, most noticeably in one spectacular, partially animated sequence in which Beau imagines himself as the protagonist of a play he’s watching. He projects his own life, anxiety and fear onto the production’s lead character, going so far as to assign himself the wife and children he never had. It’s an invented life even more surreal than the one he’s actually living, or, depending upon your interpretation, imagining he’s living. And it goes far beyond anything hinted at in Aster’s simple seven-minute short from 2011 (simply titled *Beau*) that serves as inspiration for the feature. But even that short is laced with unease and presented in a fever dream of discomfort that Aster (*Hereditary*, *Midsommer*) has come to be known for. These are not the lives any of us would want to live, or even dream about. But if surreal and absurd cinema has taught us anything, it’s that bad dreams often make good films. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13521006/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Is_Afraid).* *Following a theatrical release,* Beau Is Afraid *is now available on DVD/Blu-ray and via streaming at Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and Apple TV.* --- ### [ARFF barks again](https://www.meiermovies.com/arff-barks-again/) **Published:** March 13, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## But the venue is a dog [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ARFF-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ARFF-logo.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 13, 2022 At the risk of gross oversimplification, I contend there are two types of film festivals: those designed almost exclusively for filmmakers and those meant for both filmmakers and the public. The Austin Revolution Film Festival (ARFF), which returned to the Texas capital February 15-19 (after a COVID cancellation last year), is the former. But that’s not an insult, as the festival has found its niche, becoming a popular event for low-budget (and no-budget) independent filmmakers, especially those who have found difficulty getting into other fests. Indeed, one filmmaker I spoke to at this year’s event said ARFF was the only fest that had accepted his movie. That’s both good and bad. It’s positive for the obvious reason: Filmmakers who have previously gone unrecognized get to share their work, facilitating feedback and the chance for growth. Conversely, a festival needs standards. Letting in too many films can foster the “everyone deserves a medal” culture, making festival acceptance meaningless. Lower standards can also make it more difficult to attract the public, especially in a city like Austin, which has numerous higher-profile fests, not to mention several Alamo Drafthouses. Nevertheless, most participants and festival director James Christopher seem relatively satisfied with ARFF, with Christopher pointing out that the acceptance rate is relatively low considering the event received 3,000 submissions in 2020 and 2,200 in 2022. “Our festival is dedicated to blue-collar filmmakers,” Christopher said in his *Screen Jocks* podcast on March 2, adding that ARFF doesn’t shy away from “gritty” films. And while Christopher said he recognized the value of drawing the public, he admitted that the fest wasn’t really designed to draw people off the street. Indeed, he said he was worried about “overselling the space” if ARFF’s attendance increased dramatically, though, admittedly, that’s a bit of a reach considering many screenings – especially on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – were mostly empty. A couple of Friday and Saturday screenings in addition to Saturday’s massive awards ceremony were the only parts of this year’s event that approached capacity. (I still don’t know how they engineered the room renovations in time for the awards. That was the most impressive technical achievement of the entire event.) Ultimately, it might be nice if the festival could attract the type of community support enjoyed by another filmmaker-friendly festival held at a similar time as ARFF each year: the Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford, Florida. But that’s a tough task and, admittedly, easier for a small town such as Sanford than the megalopolis that is Austin, especially when the latter city is already dominated by the South by Southwest Film Festival. When it came to screening quality, Christopher said, “Everything was so well oiled that I was able to actually hang out with filmmakers.” Well, sort of. Though ARFF probably had the best projection and sound of any fest I’ve attended at a hotel, it’s still a fest in a hotel. In other words, there were issues. For instance, sound tended to be a bit tinny in the largest room, though that’s more the fault of the acoustics than anything the fest did. Unfortunately, the two smaller rooms also weren’t without problems. For example, at least one block of short films was projected incorrectly, with the picture zoomed in, meaning some of the image on all four sides was cut off. (When I told Christopher, he corrected it immediately.) Frame-rate glitching (a jerky image usually caused by problems converting 30 frames per second to 24) was also common, as it is as many smaller festivals. (It’s often difficult to prevent unless a festival requires DCPs.) But most attendees didn’t seem bothered, and the general mood in the large and conveniently located bar following and proceeding screenings was jovial and appreciative. Christopher and other staff members seem open to improvements, including tweaking the Q&A sessions. This year many took place in a small room just off the hotel restaurant, instead of in the screening rooms, which resulted in low attendance and lack of continuity. That will change next year, as ARFF plans to schedule enough time during the screening blocks to allow for a Q&A in the screening room immediately following the presentation of the films. ## The films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Who-Wants-Dessert-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Who-Wants-Dessert-scaled.jpg)The fest screened nearly 300 films: about 20 features and the rest shorts. By Christopher’s own admission, that is massive, but it’s understandable considering this year’s event combined two years (the ninth and 10th annual festivals), owing to past pandemic cancellations. Next year’s fest, which is scheduled for February 8-11, according to Film Freeway, should and will be smaller, utilizing two screens instead of three. I saw about 50 films, and several deserve praise. Venita Ozols-Graham’s deliciously dark *Who Wants Dessert?* (starring Sean Young and Brigitte Graham), Mike Peebler’s slapstick single-taker *For Closure* and Christopher Piazza’s magically realistic romantic comedy *Still Together* are at the top of the list, while John Gray’s *Exit Package*, Craig Mooneyham and Jacob Reynolds’ *Salting the Fly*, Neil Holland’s *The Dump*, Robyn Paris’s *Fruitless* and *Couple of Guys* (a series pilot by Debra Markowitz) also merit recognition. *Couple of Guys* stars festival favorite Lukas Hassel, who also appeared in two other projects at this year’s fest. In addition, he received the Director’s Choice award for best actor. “ARFF is one of those rare festivals where most filmmakers who submitted a film actually attend as well, making for an amazing opportunity to network with fellow artists and truly be a part of the indie filmmaking community,” Hassel said. Paris would seem to agree, saying, “The Austin Revolution Film Festival is a down-to-earth festival that fosters a supportive vibe amongst filmmakers and stands out as one of the friendliest and most upbeat festivals I’ve attended. And it’s in Austin, which is such a great town. I’m so glad I screened my film *Fruitless* there and would submit again in a heartbeat.” Speaking of that supporting vibe, the festival does offer filmmakers plenty of networking opportunities, but it also makes it slightly more difficult because it doesn’t list the filmmakers’ names in its program or on its website. This also makes it harder to find the films on IMDB. And if I, as a critic and journalist, can’t confirm that information, I can’t add the films to my movie lists. So I would respectfully request that ARFF (and all fests) include the director’s name (and other information, such as writer, producer and runtime) in their programs and on their websites. Nevertheless, most of the ARFF films I saw have made my lists, which you can find [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2812-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2812-scaled.jpg)The temporary banner was the only signage on the outside of the Radisson. ## The hotel I don’t wish to turn this film article into a travelogue, but the elephant in the room (or, more specifically, the skunk in the hotel) must be addressed. Christopher himself mentioned it at the awards ceremony: “This has not been a great experience from a venue perspective. We’re aware of that.” Simply put, the Radisson Austin North should be closed, renovated, sold or all of the above. The hotel experience was a disaster for almost everyone attending the festival. For the first two days of the fest (and apparently at least a day before that), there was no hot water. This also meant no food service. Though they did hand out a “breakfast burrito” to gullible patrons one morning, I believe it was actually meant for dogs, which is carrying the “ARFF” theme a step too far. The front desk didn’t seem to care and continually provided wrong information about the problem and incorrect estimates on when the issue would be fixed. And even when the hot water was restored, the restaurant never resumed full food service, opting instead to serve just four food choices in the bar during the evenings. All of those choices had meat, so non-meat-eaters had to eat off property. And on the first morning they resumed breakfast, almost all the food was gone well in advance of the advertised end time. There were numerous other problems. The light burned out in my bathroom; the TV remote and clock didn’t work properly; the doors to my chest of drawers had been ripped off, leaving just hinges; hotel keys didn’t work properly in the elevators; and several guests reported insects in their rooms. In the outdoor pool area, the Jacuzzi appeared to be open. But upon closer inspection, it was full of dirty water. When I asked if it was functional, an employee said it hadn’t worked since the beginning of the pandemic. Yet no sign told people it was closed, and the dirty water likely posed a health hazard. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2811-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2811-scaled.jpg)Perhaps the biggest problem, other than the lack of hot water, was that the lobby doors were under construction. For most of the fest, the doors were gone, allowing the 40-degree air to permeate the first floor of the building. The hotel apparently made no attempt to cover the opening with plastic or turn on the heat, so people had to walk around in coats and eat breakfast dressed for winter. And the construction noise meant you couldn’t comfortably hold a conversation in the lobby. The hotel staff did finally agree to refund two nights of our stay (the nights with no hot water), but they were unable to provide printed receipts. They said their system was down and they would e-mail them. That’s fine, but, more than three weeks later, I have received neither that e-mail nor a response to my online feedback. Festival attendees were reluctant to blame festival organizers for the hotel’s failings. Indeed, Christopher and others were apologetic and seemed just as appalled at the poor service. But the hard truth is that ARFF is not blameless. Though the hotel was apparently much nicer in previous years, a festival still has a responsibility to ensure a high-quality venue every year. The good news is Christopher told the ARFF crowd he would be exploring new locations for next year. And he has since confirmed it, telling me, “Yes, we’re changing venues.” This positive step, in addition to the other improvements Christopher has mentioned, should guarantee a bright future for ARFF, as long as you don’t mind some “gritty” movies sprinkled among the polished products. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information, visit [AustinRevolution.com](https://www.austinrevolution.com/).* --- ### [FFF combines in-person, virtual cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/) **Published:** April 8, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://issuu.com/euclidmediagroup/docs/orlando_weekly_april_7__2021/22), April 7, 2021 Just eight months after the Florida Film Festival became the first major movie fest to be held in the Southeast United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, the event is returning to its traditional April timeslot. The festival will again be held at just one location, Maitland’s Enzian Theater, because its pre-COVID partner, Regal Winter Park Village, didn’t announce its reopening in time to coordinate with Enzian. This means that, like last year’s event, movies will be shown on just one screen. So to accommodate the 164 films, the 30th annual fest will again last 14 days (April 9-22), instead of its pre-COVID format of 10. The festival will again be a hybrid event, with all films screening in-person and all but three also available online for Florida residents. And to guard against coronavirus, Enzian will institute the same safety protocols it has been using for the last year: mask requirements (when not eating and drinking), spaced-out seating, reduced capacity and temperature checks. Social gatherings will be scaled back, as they were last year, but Enzian still plans three parties and two Sunday brunches, in addition to live music at Eden Bar. And perhaps most importantly, attendees will be able to meet filmmakers, about 60 of whom are expected to attend. Though no in-person celebrity events are planned, Karen Allen will participate in a Zoom Q&A session following a screening of John Carpenter’s *Starman*, and Isabella Rossellini will do the same following a showing of David Lynch’s *Blue Velvet*. The lineup comprises 36 features and 128 shorts representing 31 countries, with 151 films having premiere status (world, United States, Southeast or Florida). Those were curated from roughly 2,200 submissions from 95 nations. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Because-of-Charley-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Because-of-Charley-scaled.jpeg)Ashley Jones and John Amos star in *Because of Charley*, this year’s opening film. (image courtesy of Florida Film Festival) Though the international scope is undeniable, the opening-night offering, *Because of Charley*, was produced, filmed and set in Central Florida. In fact, it’s the first COVID-compliant film shot in the Sunshine State. Directed by local filmmaker Jon Binkowski and starring a cast of locally well-known actors, the movie tells the tale of two stepfamilies holed up together during Hurricane Charley in 2004 and features veteran actor John Amos (*Good Times*, *Roots*, *Die Hard 2*), who plans to attend the screening. (The film is not available online.) “There is always a very concentrated effort to make sure that the best films being produced in Florida are showcased at the Florida Film Festival, but we don’t program to a quota for Florida, just like we’re not programming to meet quotas for any other category,” says Matthew Curtis, programming director. “We have over 30 films this year with Florida connections. This is the third straight year that the Florida Film Festival has opened with a filmmaker based in Central Florida or \[a film\] shot in the state. We are also extremely proud of the content in the Sunshine & Swampland program, as we think it represents the strongest and most unique program in that block’s history. Florida films or films made by Florida filmmakers are featured in all manner of categories from narrative features, doc shorts, narrative shorts, animated shorts, experimental shorts (Sunspots), food films, and midnight shorts, and we are very proud of that. We are also proud to see alumni and former staff members from Florida State University, Daytona State, Ringling, the University of Central Florida and Full Sail represented in this festival.” Ticket options include a single film or shorts block ($12), a five-pack ($55), a 10-pack ($105) and a 20-pack ($200). All passes (matinee, binge, film lover and producer) are sold out. Visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/) for more information. And to guide you through your copious choices, we present the following reviews of films we were allowed to screen in advance. For film reviews, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/). *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [FFF 2021 film reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/) **Published:** March 22, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Most of the following reviews were originally published in *[The Orlando Weekly](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/short-reviews-of-every-florida-film-festival-movie-we-were-able-to-see-in-advance/Content?oid=29107038)* on April 7, 2021. That article contains five additional reviews by my fellow *OW* writers, so I suggest you check it out. (All star ratings are on [a 0-5 scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf).) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Isabella-Rossellini.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Isabella-Rossellini.jpg)Isabella Rossellini (image copyright IMDB; by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) ***Blue Velvet*** (2 stars) ↓THUMBS DOWN Yes, you read that right. I don’t like *Blue Velvet*. I’ve even spoken to my therapist about this, and she can’t explain it. But I’ve always had a love-or-hate relationship with director David Lynch. So, for me, it’s not a huge surprise that this 1986 modern classic leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The taste? It’s somewhere between clunky, campy and just plain crappy. Sorry, David. Hey, we’ll always have *Elephant Man*. But you don’t need me to tell you whether to see this film. You’ve had three and a half decades to decide for yourself. If you like it, go see it at the Florida Film Festival’s special 35th anniversary screening on April 18, featuring a Zoom Q&A with Isabella Rossellini (if you can get a ticket). If you don’t like it, let me recommend a much better, smarter and more subtle Lynch film that not everyone has seen: *The Straight Story*. How’s that for giving it to you straight? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Catch.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Catch.png)*The Catch* ***The Catch*** (1 ¼ stars) ↓THUMBS DOWN An old Hollywood tradition called “day for night” allows filmmakers to shoot night scenes in daytime by either underexposing them or darkening them in post-production. Conversely, *The Catch* appears to be that rarest of movies that shoots night for day. Snarky insults aside, the plain truth is I simply couldn’t see a lot of this film. Using natural light is noble, but not if you can’t see what’s in the frame. Compounding that problem, first-time writer-director Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer’s drama is narratively challenged, with needlessly confusing character backstories and motivations. And despite the talent of Katia Winter (*Sleepy Hollow* TV series), her and her fellow actors’ performances are often reduced to a contrived and unending chain of curse words, emotional brutality and unpleasantness. Inspired by real events, the story’s sincerity isn’t in question. Indeed, there’s some good content to be uncovered in this tough-minded study of a dysfunctional family in a hardscrabble lobster-fishing village in Maine, but it’s hidden in darkness – literally and figuratively. ***Lily Topples the World*** (2 ¾ stars) ↑THUMBS UP — not reviewed [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Lorelei-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Lorelei-scaled.jpeg)*Lorelei* ***Lorelei*** (2 stars) ↓THUMBS DOWN From first-time writer-director Sabrina Doyle comes this occasionally impactful look at an ex-con, his former girlfriend and the non-traditional family they cobble together on little more than a chicken wing and a prayer. Produced by the team that brought us *The Florida Project*, *Lorelei* is similarly gritty and socially relevant. However, it lacks the previous film’s vibrancy and originality, and much of the dialogue feels forced, even cheap. Buoyed by a charismatic lead performance from Jena Malone (*The Neon Demon*) and solid support by its juvenile actors, *Lorelei*, like *Project*, makes an interesting pivot from pluck to whimsy in its final act. But by the time that finale arrives, the film has worn out most of its overly long 111-minute runtime. Most significantly, in Pablo Schreiber (*First Man*), as the ex-con, it lacks a strong male lead on the scale of Willem Dafoe. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mandibles.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mandibles.jpeg)*Mandibles* ***Mandibules (Mandibles)*** FL (2 ¾ stars) ↑THUMBS UP If you’re one of the few people who thinks *Dumb and Dumber* would benefit from a giant insect, *Mandibles* is your film. But even if that thought never crossed your mind, this French-Belgium absurdist comedy from writer-director Quentin Dupieux might still be your slice of brie. After dimwitted friends Manu (Grégoire Ludig) and Jean-Gab (David Marsais) discover the world’s largest housefly in the trunk of their stolen car, they name it Dominique, feed it cat food and train it to be their personal drone. Take that, Amazon! As with Dupieux’s other films, such as 2010’s *Rubber* – featuring a murderous car tire – *Mandibles* hits rough patches. But its playfulness and surreal humor is tough to resist. It’s admittedly an acquired taste and, therefore, a tough film to fully endorse. But I suggest you try it and see for yourself what all the buzz is about. *Mandibles* is preceded by the even better and equally absurd French-language *Squish* (4 stars), a short, pitch-black farce about the accidental smooshing of a child. Magnifique! [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mogul-Mowgli.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mogul-Mowgli.jpeg)*Mogul Mowgli* ***Mogul Mowgli*** (3 ½ stars) ↑THUMBS UP Riz Ahmed has cornered the market on portraying musicians with unusual health problems. Hard on the heels of his well-deserved Oscar nomination for *Sound of Metal*, Ahmed is again exploring the genre. But this time he substitutes rap for heavy metal, England for America and an autoimmune disease for deafness. If that summation is cursory, my apologies, as Ahmed and director Bassam Tariq (who co-wrote the script with Ahmed) deserve better. So how’s this for praise?: Ahmed gives the best performance I’ve seen at this year’s festival. His acting (and rapping) seem particularly suited to the script, which alternates between socially provocative (even incendiary) and personally heartbreaking. Those pivots lead to unevenness, but Tariq’s confrontational filmmaking style retains its power throughout. Though the third act is somewhat underdeveloped, Tariq’s embrace of surrealism and contemplation of cultural identity – plus a wonderful supporting turn by Alyy Khan as the father – make *Mogul Mowgli* a festival must-see. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Les-Notres.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Les-Notres.jpeg)*Les Nôtres* ***Les Nôtres*** (***Our Own)*** FL (3 stars) ↑THUMBS UP In small-town Quebec, Magalie is a seemingly normal 13-year-old, until she faints during dance class. At the hospital, doctors reveal the cause of her collapse, and their revelation reverberates throughout the close-knit community. Director Jeanne Leblanc’s dark, uncomfortable drama gets points for intrigue and provocation, but it too often coasts upon its intriguing premise. Indeed, the ending of *Les Nôtres* seems trapped between ambiguity and total absence. But Emilie Bierre, as Mag, gives arguably the best juvenile performance of the festival. And the script, which Leblanc co-wrote with Judith Baribeau, who also lends her acting chops to the production, is both suspenseful and agonizing. You might not always like where the story is going, but you will be compelled to follow. ***Prisoners of the Ghostland*** (½ star) ↓THUMBS DOWN — not reviewed [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Karen-Allen.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Karen-Allen.jpg)Karen Allen (image copyright IMDB) ***Starman*** (3 ½ stars) ↑THUMBS UP The most non-Carpenter of all director John Carpenter’s films, *Starman* took audiences by surprise in 1984. Though the movie is no longer a surprise, the Florida Film Festival’s screening of the film will be bouyed by a Zoom Q&A session with Karen Allen, who stared alongside Jeff Bridges. Trading the director’s usual horror for sci-fi/romance, the film — with an original screenplay by Bruce Evans and Raynold Gideon — wasn’t particularly well received upon its initial release. However, Bridges (playing an alien in human form) got an Oscar nomination for best actor, and in the years since, the film has become a cult classic. When I met Carpenter in 2014, he shared some perspective: “Well, it’s a girl movie. I got to make a romantic comedy, which was really nice. And it came along at the right time for me. \[It’s\] something I wanted to do. … I don’t know if it’s my best film. … It’s less savage than some of the films.” Girl movie or not, this guy likes it. And the opportunity to ask a question of Allen makes the screening super special. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Sesame-Street.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Sesame-Street.png)*Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street* ***Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street*** (3 ¾ stars) ↑THUMBS UP One of the most enjoyable documentaries of this year’s Florida Film Festival – or any film festival – *Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street* is a thorough examination of the early years of the most iconic children’s show in the history of American television. And if you think you know the show’s history, don’t count on it – as Count von Count might say. You’ve still got a lot to learn. And isn’t that the real message of *Sesame Street*: that we’ve all got something new to learn every day? At least that’s what I remember from watching the show as a kid. What I don’t remember, however, because I never understood it, was just how socially groundbreaking the show was, especially in regards to economic status and race. It was politically correct before political correctness was politically correct. In that regard, it was something today’s political correctness is almost never: brave. Regarding the integrated cast, Jon Stone (who, even more than Jim Henson, was the chief creative force behind *Sesame Street*) said, ““That really speaks for itself on the air. We’ve never beaten that horse to death by talking about it. We simply show it.” In contrast, the doc – directed by Marilyn Agrelo and based on a book by Michael Davis – talks a lot about race, perhaps a tad too much. But that’s the trend in docs these days. And, admittedly, this one deserves the talk, considering the enormous change it brought to our social fabric in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The doc’s format is a bit conventional and never quite as imaginative as *Sesame Street* itself. It also relies too heavily on talking-heads interviews, both old and new. But there are times when the format suits the subject, as it allows us to revisit old on-camera friends and finally meet the off-camera folks behind the original magic. *Street Gang* will invariably be compared to another recent documentary about another beloved children’s show, *Won’t You Be My Neighbor?* The comparisons are worthy. *Street Gang* might not have as many emotionally devastating moments, perhaps because this film’s focus is so much more diffuse than the doc about Mr. Rogers. But if *Street Gang*’s clip of a little girl extemporaneously telling Kermit the Frog “I love you” doesn’t tug on your heart strings, check those strings. You might be a puppet. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Tiny-Tim.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Tiny-Tim.png)*Tiny Tim: King for a Day* ***Tiny Tim: King for a Day*** (3 ¾ stars) ↑THUMBS UP Herbert “Tiny Tim” Khaury might have tiptoed through the tulips, but he unapologetically galloped through life, forging a path unlike almost any other entertainer in the history of showbiz. And by doing so, he inspired a generation of underground artists, sexually androgynous performers and loveable oddballs – including Weird Al Yankovic, who partially narrates director Johan von Sydow’s documentary. Combining extraordinarily personal interviews, old clips and darkly expressive animation, *Tiny Tim: King for a Day* is an irresistible portrait of a man we may never fully understand. Alternatingly offbeat, funny and tragic – but ultimately inspiring – the doc is never quite as strange as Tim himself. But that’s OK. No one was. And that’s Tim’s legacy, a legacy this film joyously cements. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Truffle-Hunters-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Truffle-Hunters-scaled.jpeg)*The Truffle Hunters* ***The Truffle Hunters*** FL (3 stars) ↑THUMBS UP Like the mysterious food that inspired it, *The Truffle Hunters* is inscrutable. You can’t quite grasp the documentary’s journalistic backstory, even after attempting to read between its minimalistic lines. Perhaps directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw should have lengthened their movie to provide more historical and culinary context. Or perhaps, at 84 minutes of observational mesmerism, their film is perfect. The truth lies closer to the latter, as the film’s humor and beauty overwhelm its vagueness. You will be particularly overjoyed to spend time with Birba, Nina, Fiona, Charlie, Yara, Vasco and Leo – the truffle hounds – and their elderly masters, as they hunt the forests of northern Italy for everyone’s favorite subterranean fungus. The movie, which is not available online, will be followed by a Zoom Q&A with the filmmakers, including Dweck, who attended the 2018 Florida Film Festival. At that festival, his documentary, *The Last Race*, won the Special Jury Award for Artistic Vision. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/My-Wondefful-Wanda-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/My-Wondefful-Wanda-scaled.jpeg)*My Wonderful Wanda* ***Wanda, Mein Wunder (My Wonderful Wanda)*** FL (4 stars) ↑THUMBS UP Impeccably crafted in a formal three-act structure – complete with epilogue – *My Wonderful Wanda* (literally, *Wanda, My Wonder* in its native German) is my pick for best flick of this year’s fest. The story of a Polish caretaker and her unconventional relationship with a wealthy Swiss family has more than its share of unsettling and heart-rending moments, but writer-director Bettina Oberli balances that drama with levity by occasionally emphasizing the story’s absurdity. And by doing so, she trades the darkness of many of this year’s festival dramas for an irresistible blend of satire, social commentary and perfectly placed pathos. Agnieszka Grochowska deserves praise for her eponymous role, but the film is chiefly an ensemble triumph, with André Jung as family patriarch, Marthe Keller as matriarch and Birgit Minichmayr as the eldest daughter, all dancing together in a Cassavetes-style choreography that would make Bob Fosse swoon. Here’s a film that lives up to its title. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *All images are courtesy of the Florida Film Festival and are copyrighted by the production companies that made the films. They may not be copied and reused without the permission of the Florida Film Festival and/or the production companies.* --- ### [Short takes on the shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-the-shorts/) **Published:** April 9, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Films trend darker but still offer something for everyone [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/David.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/David.png)*David* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/enzian-theaters-florida-film-festival-shorts-trend-darker-this-year-but-still-offer-something-for-everyone/Content?oid=29153438), April 14, 2021 There’s something for everyone among the 13 shorts programs, and this year’s Florida Film Festival is making it easier for online viewers to appreciate the eclecticism. “Last year was a learning curve for both festivals and filmmakers,” reflects Matthew Curtis, programming director. “By the time we opened, we had 99 percent of the shorts content online. But when we launched the site, we did not have a single complete program projected to occur. As you know, the Florida Film Festival prides itself on very careful placement of films in the context of the overall program. Thus we were concerned with building shorts blocks with missing content that might make the flow jarring. The patch was to just make one gigantic block in alphabetical order.” That “patch” is not necessary this year, as online viewers can watch entire shorts programs, just as they would in the theater. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Wiggle-Room-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Wiggle-Room-scaled.jpeg)*Wiggle Room* “We’re happy to report we have 100 percent shorts participation this year, and, so, all of the shorts program will be shown identically as they would be in the theater in separate blocks,” says Curtis. “Another cool thing that the virtual platform allows us to do is, for the first time, patrons can watch all nine documentary shorts that are also paired with the documentary features competition in one location for a single price. So while all nine films can be seen in-theater separately preceding doc features, this grouping will be a virtual-only program.” I screened just three blocks in advance: Shorts #1, and International Shorts #2 and #3. Though that represents only 18 of the festival’s 128 shorts, it’s apparent that the festival’s trend toward darker, emotionally brutal cinema is continuing. Shorts #1 (named “Hello in There” in tribute to singer John Prine, who died last year) is arguably the lightest but still offers uncomfortable dramatic moments and stylistic challenges. Nevertheless, one is left with the feeling that the films’ characters will survive their tribulations and come out stronger and wiser. That’s especially true for the characters in *David* (starring a more dramatic Will Ferrell than normal), who endure a particularly odd therapy session. And while the characters in the block’s best film, *Wiggle Room* (Sundance award winner for acting), have further to go to reach their happy place, I felt profoundly connected to their journey. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Girl-Meets-Boy.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Girl-Meets-Boy.jpeg)*Girl Meets Boy* International Shorts #2 goes even further into darkness, embracing transgressive cinema. Indeed, at least two films could have been included among midnight shorts. The first, *Each Other*, is a dialogue-free dive into surrealism featuring an entirely naked man, while the second, *Handbook for a Privileged European Woman*, is, as the title suggests, so woke it’s practically an insomniac, with a dash of Tarantinoesque style. *Dustin* (a slice-of-life profile of a transgender woman seeking respect) and *Radio Vanille* (a frenetically edited, essay-style documentary about the vanilla trade in Madagascar) are also unconventional choices, designed to provoke, even alienate audiences. But maybe that’s what one should expect from a program titled “Agony or Ecstasy?” In contrast with those four diamonds in the (very) rough, the program offers two gems: *Like the Ones I Used to Know* and, to end the block, *Girl Meets Boy*. The former, a French Canadian production, is an emotionally resonant glimpse at a dysfunctional family’s Christmas celebration, while the latter, a romantic German dramedy (yes, they do exist), challenges our perception of dating in a wonderfully twisty way. International Shorts #3 is slightly more conventional but also less interesting. Monikered “My Name Is Nobody” in homage to another recently deceased musician (master composer Ennio Morricone), the block lurches from minimalism to freneticism to surrealism to a sports documentary that consists mostly of what one might call B-roll footage. The program does have moments of tension – mostly in *Incident at School* (a Danish film about a university shooting) – but your time would be better spent with a different shorts block or one of the festival’s 36 features. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *All images are courtesy of the Florida Film Festival and are copyrighted by the production companies that made the films. They may not be copied and reused without the permission of the Florida Film Festival and/or the production companies.* --- ### [Short and safe](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-and-safe/) **Published:** February 10, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Love Your Shorts Film Festival adapts for COVID [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LYSFF-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LYSFF-2021-scaled.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/sanfords-love-your-shorts-film-festival-to-be-held-both-in-person-and-virtually-in-2021-28766228), February 7, 2021 Love endures, even in the age of coronavirus. Love of short films, that is. Taking cues from other recent, local festivals that have been held safely, Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival will take place on Valentine’s Day weekend, as it has for the last 11 years. Though this year’s fest will include slightly fewer films than in the past (62, down from 81 films in 2020 and 77 in 2019), attendees will notice bigger changes. For instance, Thursday’s “education day” will be gone. Also absent will be parties and discussion panels, replaced by mask mandates and a 50-percent cap on attendance inside the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. (But because the theater’s capacity is about 500, a sizeable crowd is still possible.) Perhaps the biggest alteration will be the ability to watch the entire festival – and vote for your favorite movies – from home. “The streaming has … been a huge challenge,” says Brian Casey, festival president. “We are planning on having each block available to stream and watch as it is being shown in the theater. There will not be an on-demand option to use later or the ability to watch film by film, as this complicates things with voting. We are intending for voting via our text system in the theater to also be open to the online viewers live but are still testing that system. As we firm everything up, we will post the instructions on our website for easy access by the public.” An even bigger task, according to Casey, is maintaining the festival’s standards while keeping attendees safe. “For me, the biggest challenge in putting the festival together is how to put on our typical quality festival safely,” says Casey. “Our goal has been to put on an event that is safe for the audience, attending filmmakers and our board members and volunteers. Fortunately, the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center has been having live shows and plays, as well as movies, for the past few months and have put in the hard work to figure out the theater-seating aspect: with reduced capacity, assigned seating to maximize social distancing, mask mandates and general cleanliness to provide a safe environment for attendees. “For the safety of filmmakers and volunteers, we have had to forgo some of our usual gatherings, such as the opening-night party, Saturday and Sunday after-parties and Sunday filmmakers breakfast. We will still be offering a pared-down version of the filmmakers lounge but not encouraging indoor gathering, but rather providing outdoor seating and a sort of a grab-and-go offering for the filmmaker’s lounge.” The festival will begin Friday, February 12, at 7 p.m. with seven films of different genres. The fest continues on Saturday with the family-friendly “E for Everyone” block at 10:30 a.m., animation at 1 p.m., documentary at 3 p.m., international at 5 p.m., comedy at 8 p.m. and sci-fi/horror at 10 p.m. The event wraps on Sunday with drama at 1 p.m., “Florida Flavor” at 3 p.m. and “Best of the Fest” at 7 p.m. (That final block will include the best from the previous nine groups, as voted by the audience. A team of judges then will select the overall champion.) All films are less than 30 minutes in duration. Thirteen countries are represented: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Those international entries include *O Wimbowé* from Parisian filmmaker Sabine Crossen, whose *Resurrection* won last year’s festival.) Despite that worldwide vibe, the festival always has a strong Sunshine State feel, and not just in Sunday’s “Florida Flavor” program. Scattered throughout the blocks this year are 18 Florida films, including at least seven from filmmakers with Orlando connections, including *The Mechanical Dancer* by Jenna and Joshua Jaillet, *Heritage* by Dale Metz and TL Westgate, *The Next Stop* by Janice Derosier, *Resilient* by Gusta Shine, *Lost Memory* by Jill Minton, *Coming Home* by Joey Maxwell and *Son of a Sweeper* by Lisa Mills. Perhaps the biggest question facing all festivals is whether COVID-19 is reducing the number of submissions. Are filmmakers – many of whom remain in lockdown, still making movies? “We wondered if film submissions would be down this year because of all the pandemic hurdles that filmmakers had to deal with, but that was not the case,” says Gene Kruckemyer, festival co-founder. “We had more films than ever submitted. Maybe filmmakers had more time to put finishing touches on projects while staying at home. Several of the films submitted this year were even about the pandemic.” That’s turning lemons into lemonade. A ticket to a single block of films costs $10 (except the “E for Everyone” block, which is $3), and a pass for the entire festival sells for $75. For more information, visit [LoveYourShorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [CenFlo returns after 16-month absence](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-returns-to-mount-dora-after-16-month-absence/) **Published:** January 19, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Fest is back at Epic Theatres in Mt. Dora [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Epic-Theatres-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Epic-Theatres-2021-scaled.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/central-florida-film-festival-returns-to-mount-dora-after-16-month-absence-28637639), January 15, 2021 From new management to a new venue, from date changes to a hurricane *and* a pandemic, the Central Florida Film Festival has seen it all over the last three years. Now, after a nearly 16-month absence, CenFlo is finally back at Epic Theatres in Mount Dora, January 22-24. The changes began in 2017 when festival founder and director Bob Cook handed the reins to Brendon Rogers, who moved the event from the West Orange Cinema in Ocoee to Mount Dora the following year. Rogers also shifted the festival from Labor Day weekend to the weekend after the holiday, as that was a better fit for Epic. But because of a hurricane in 2019, the festival scooted to late September. Fed up with bad weather, Rogers and his team finally decided to move CenFlo permanently to January. “\[In 2019\], we had to postpone because of Hurricane Dorian, and unfortunately because of that postponement, there were a number of filmmakers … who were unable to attend,” says Rogers. “We kind of had a little powwow between the board and the executive team and decided \[to put\] together an exploratory committee to find a better time of the year. … So we opted for January because it was after the holidays and people could plan their traveling better – and the weather, of course. … And also the snowbirds are back.” Rogers and Jennifer Fink, director of operations, also avoided conflicts with other local events, such as the Mount Dora Arts Festival and Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival in February. But they could not have anticipated COVID-19, which has forced them to again alter their event. “Since we have taken over the festival, we have faced some unique challenges,” says Fink. “It’s been a lot. However, we continue to do the best that we can, producing a festival that filmmakers enjoy and want to keep coming back to. We also, despite these challenges, have increased the number of films shown every year.” That’s an understatement, as the festival has expanded from 66 films in 2018 to 125 in 2019 to an anticipated 173 this year. That includes 12 documentary features, 11 dramatic features, three comedic features and 147 shorts. The films were curated from 177 submissions, not counting four films that were accepted outside the normal submission process, including two accepted by virtue of winning Orlando’s FilmSlam (the one run by Jen Vargas, not Enzian Theater). If you do the math, that means CenFlo has accepted almost all films that applied, but Rogers insists quality is high. “We’ve got some truly amazing films this year,” Rogers says. “They’re just outstanding, and it was very easy for the selection committee to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, absolutely.’” Rogers also says the increase in accepted films is commensurate with an increase in submissions, which also grew by about 50 from 2019. So why did submissions rise so dramatically, especially during a pandemic? “Part of it was definitely being more aggressive on social media to create awareness about the festival itself. And then there \[were\] a number of … filmmakers who had had films in the festival in previous years who have just kept coming back year after year,” Rogers says. “We were thrilled. We didn’t expect \[that many\], especially this year with COVID. … We kind of had very tempered expectations when we opened submissions up back in February, \[but\] because we moved the festival from September to January, our submission window is a lot wider than it had been.” “We have a lot more shorts this year, and that could possibly be COVID-related because it’s easier to make a short than a feature,” Rogers says. “Every year that we’ve actually been running CenFlo, we’ve added a category \[of shorts\]. The first year we had added suspense/horror shorts. \[In 2019\] we added … animated back in, … and then this year we’ve added sci-fi/fantasy shorts.” [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Mechanical-Dancer.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Mechanical-Dancer.jpeg)*The Mechanical Dancer,* an animated short film directed by Jenna Jaillet from Sunrise, Florida, is one of the many Sunshine State films in this year’s festival. Though this year’s CenFlo includes films from as far away as Iran, homegrown movies have always been a big part of the event. That tradition continues, with more than a third of this year’s movies having a Florida connection. But, unfortunately, networking opportunities for local filmmakers will be slightly more limited thanks to coronavirus. The festival will still offer two in-person panel discussions and several meet-and-greets, but with fewer food options, a scaled-back red carpet and spaced-out tables (including some outdoors if weather allows) – all while observing mask protocols. In addition, attendance will be somewhat restricted to ensure social distancing within the three auditoriums being used for the festival. “Most festivals this year were virtual, which absolutely makes sense,” Rogers says. “Film festivals don’t have an SOP \[Standard Operating Procedure\] or a playbook that they can refer to if something like \[COVID-19\] happens, and the last time that there was a pandemic this size was over 100 years ago when there were no such things as film festivals. So I think film festivals – all of them – are trying to figure out how to do it in real time. But when we were told by Epic that they would be open, … we decided to just go with it. “\[Epic\] is a big theater. … The size of the building, along with the fact that Hollywood \[is\] still really not putting anything out, would logically lead one to the thinking that most of the people in the building that weekend will probably be our people for the festival, the filmmakers. So we’ve just been very clear about … the protocols that we’re doing. Not all of them are required by the city; not all of them are even required by the theater. But it’s things that we’re doing just to make sure that everyone’s on the safe side.” A ticket to a single feature, shorts block or panel discussion is $10, a day pass costs $35, and an all-festival pass sells for $85. Those tickets are available online at [CentralFloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/) and will also be available at the door, subject to capacity restrictions and availability. The website also contains a full list of films and a screening schedule. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Film in the time of corona](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-in-the-time-of-corona/) **Published:** December 31, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## 2020: Cinema soldiers on during pandemic [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Father.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Father.jpg)Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins in *The Father* (image copyright Sony Pictures Classics / Film4) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/film-in-the-time-of-corona-even-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic-cinema-soldiers-on/Content?oid=28544032), December 30, 2020 According to Benjamin Button, “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.” And so went 2020, a year of lost opportunities. But if there is a cinematic silver lining to this annus horribilis, it’s that small flicks and new filmmakers gained opportunities passed up by big studios and established moviemakers, many of whom delayed their releases. Documentaries benefitted the most. After all, docs are rarely blockbusters even in good times, so they had little to lose from limited releases and virtual festivals. And at the top of the list is *Boys State*, which captures – through fly-on-the-wall moments and intimate interviews at a summer camp for future politicians – the best and worst instincts of tomorrow’s leaders. *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington* meets *Lord of the Flies*. On the other end of the stylistic spectrum is *Gunda*, a serene yet agonizing look at animals in captivity. Using beautiful black-and-white cinematography, director Viktor Kosakovskiy profiles the lives of pigs, cows and chickens. It’s a plea to humanity to slow down, care for our fellow creatures and put aside our ADD, consumer-driven lifestyle. That’s a lesson taught, in a different way, by another doc that garnered more attention: *The Social Dilemma*. For a masterclasses in doc editing, consider *Some Kind of Heaven*, which, appropriately, played the Florida Film Festival. An oddly stylistic glimpse into life in the retirement community of The Villages, Florida, this debut film from Lance Oppenheim is one of the most unsettling yet strangely enjoyable films of 2020. But if you’re looking for something conventional, you can’t go wrong with master documentarian Barbara Kopple’s *Desert One*, a journalistically solid discussion about the failed 1980 mission to rescue American hostages from Iran. In a year filled with discussions of race, *Soul* and *Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom* could be the best films focused on the Black American experience. The former, a Pixar fantasy directed by Pete Docter, might seem like a mix of *Up* and *Inside Out*, but its heart is all its own. Meanwhile, *Ma Rainey*, starring the incomparable Viola Davis, is a deceptively simple story told almost in real time. This adaptation of the August Wilson play, like his *Fences*, is intimate and heartbreaking, even more so because it showcases the final performance of Chadwick Boseman, whose unexpected death four months ago left a scar on the acting community. When Oscar nominations are announced on March 15 – more than a month later than normal – Davis and Boseman will likely be joined by Ben Affleck, who gives a career performance in *The Way Back* as an alcoholic basketball coach. It feels real because, in large measure, Affleck lived the part. Equaling deserving is the greatest stage-and-screen actor of his generation, Mark Rylance, in the year’s most underrated film, *Waiting for the Barbarians*, director Ciro Guerra’s English-language debut. Rylance, regrettably, is unlikely to get a nod because of the film’s low profile. The same goes for other outstanding performers such as Amy Adams in Ron Howard’s otherwise-average *Hillbilly Elegy;* Elisabeth Moss in the year’s best thriller-horror, *The Invisible Man* (though Moss is also getting raves for *Shirley*); newcomer Abigél Szõke in the Hungarian drama *Those Who Remained*; and Michael Shannon for his offbeat supporting role in *Quarry*. One who is practically guaranteed a nomination, however, is Frances McDormand in *Nomadland*, a haunting, hyper-realistic tale of modern American gypsies. And then there’s reliable Tom Hanks, as father-figure comfort food, in the revisionist western *News of the World*. The year’s best ensembles might be found in Lee Isaac Chung’s *Minari* (a superbly crafted and unique glimpse into the lives of Korean immigrants struggling to raise a family in 1980s Arkansas) and *The Trial of the Chicago 7*, from writer-director Aaron Sorkin. Yuh-jung Youn, from the former film, and Eddie Redmayne, Rylance (again) and Sacha Baron Cohen (who also deserves praise for the year’s funniest film, *Borat Subsequent Moviefilm*) are impossible to forget in *Trial*. The year’s greatest movie (with the best performance) is possibly *The Father*, starring Anthony Hopkins, though, like *Minari and Nomadland*, most audiences won’t see it until 2021. A heart-crushing, deconstructionist, even experimental dissection of dementia, writer-director Florian Zeller’s drama – adapted from his Tony-winning play – is proof that, even in the film industry’s most destructive year since 1918, cinema still found a way to illuminate the human condition. It’s also a reminder that, unlike the aforementioned Mr. Button, we are all doomed to age. So as 2020 comes to a close, we find ourselves older but exponentially wiser than we had anticipated. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *And for my complete ranking of 2020 films, from best to worst, [see my yearly list](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf).* --- ### [Jewish Film Festival 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2020/) **Published:** November 21, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian event goes virtual, with local flavor [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/THOSE-WHO-REMAINED.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/THOSE-WHO-REMAINED.jpg)*Those Who Remained* is the best of this year’s films. (images courtesy of Enzian Theater) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-central-florida-jewish-film-festival-goes-virtual-this-time-around-and-adds-some-local-flavor/Content?oid=28267040), November 11, 2020 As with most 2020 events, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival is reinventing itself. For the first time in its 22-year history, the most popular of Enzian Theater’s mini-fests will be held entirely online, with six features and two shorts streaming November 14-16. And in another first, the fest will include two films by local directors. “We’re thrilled to be able to include two acclaimed shorts this year that have local roots,” says Matthew Curtis, Enzian programming director. “Both *Resemblance* and *The Shabbos Goy* are by Central Florida filmmakers \[Kevin O’Neill and Talia Osteen\]. We’ve very happy with the diversity and quality of this year’s program and the balance of narrative and documentary, drama and comedy, and domestic and international filmmaking.” The decision to go virtual is somewhat surprising considering Enzian is currently screening films in-person and was able to host a safe Florida Film Festival in August. However, this wasn’t Enzian’s decision to make unilaterally, and it came down to demographics. “Our demographic skews significantly older, and we didn’t feel comfortable holding it in person this year,” says Keith Dvorchik, chief executive officer of the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, which co-sponsors the festival. “Our committee spoke with Matthew \[Curtis\] and Enzian, and they agreed to our request to go virtual this year. We are very excited and hopeful that the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival will be back in person in 2021.” A festival pass, which provides access to all films, costs $60 while access to a single film is $12. The all-festival passes are limited to Florida residents, and just 200 will be sold. For more information, visit . As Curtis suggests, the films represent a satisfying balance of subjects, tones and genres. As with any festival, quality is inconsistent, but even the two weakest offerings, the food documentary *Breaking Bread* and the coming-of-age dramedy *Shiva Baby*, will find their audience. The former, directed by Beth Elise Hawk, is the story of Nof Atamna-Ismaeel, an Arab living in Israel. She strives to bring Jews and Muslims together through cuisine, proudly proclaiming, “I believe there is no room for politics in the kitchen.” To achieve that goal, she founded Haifa’s A-Sham Arabic Food Festival. Meat-eating foodies might embrace the film, but as a piece of cinema, ***Breaking Bread*** (1 ½ stars) fails to rise and, at 85 minutes, somehow seems both stretched thin and rushed. Despite its best intentions, there are only so many ways to say “let’s all get along.” (The film is also a stomach-rumbling reminder that, with a virtual festival, you don’t get real food. You can’t stream blintzes.) ***Shiva Baby*** (1 ¾ stars) holds more charm and has been receiving praise at LGBT festivals for its awkwardly honest, claustrophobic portrayal of a young woman torn between her family’s expectations, her religion and her sexuality. Relative newcomer Rachel Sennott, in particular, has drawn praise for her nuanced performance. But, as with *Breaking Bread*, this debut feature from writer-director Emma Seligman (based on her own short) never quite fills its runtime. And despite moments of laughter and poignancy, the film – which is essentially one long scene at a Jewish funeral gathering – leaves one with a palpable feeling of “Is that all?” *Shiva Baby* is accompanied by the aforementioned ***The Shabbos Goy*** (2 stars), a comedy concerning a uniquely Orthodox Jewish conundrum. Directed by Talia Osteen, who grew up in Longwood, the film is an encore from the Florida Film Festival. Though the humor is a bit too broad for this writer, the short film is memorable for its great lead performance by Milana Vayntrub, known mostly for her recent television work. Look for big things from her. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/THE-CROSSING.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/THE-CROSSING.jpg)*The Crossing* Representing a leap in quality – sensing a trend? – ***The Crossing*** (2 ¾ stars) is a Norwegian drama about two Jewish children’s remarkable attempt to flee Nazi persecution by traversing the border into neutral Sweden during the height of World War II. Seen through the eyes of the kids, the movie, directed by Johanne Helgeland, has shades of *Jojo Rabbit* and *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas*, though it’s far tamer than both. Indeed, with its simplicity, lack of violence and almost fairy-tale vibe, the movie might be suitable for a younger audience (if that audience can sit through subtitles). ***Aulcie*** (3 stars), the extraordinary story of American-Israeli basketball player Aulcie Perry, is a great change of pace. Hey, when was the last time you saw a sports documentary at a Jewish festival? Putting jokes about stereotype aside, director Dani Menkin does a good job – despite some slight overproduction and underreporting – of relaying a remarkable tale of a national hero’s rise, fall and redemption. Another unconventional selection is ***Asia*** (3 stars), a film that, although made and set in Israel, has seemingly little to do with Israeli/Jewish culture. But it also happens to be one of the fest’s two best offerings. Russian immigrants Asia (Alena Yiv) and Vika (Shira Haas) are more like friends than mother-daughter until a sudden illness forces them to reexamine their relationship and their lives. The emotional impact of that reexamination takes a while to build, and, under the direction of first-timer Ruthy Pribar, the storytelling isn’t always as crisp as it could be. But the payoff is profound. If you have time or money for just one film, make it ***Those Who Remained*** (3 ¼ stars). Directed tenderly by Barnabás Tóth, this was Hungary’s entry for the 2020 Academy Awards. It’s 1948, and middle-aged Jewish doctor Aldo (Károly Hajduk) is soul-scarred from the war. All alone in the world, he finds an unexpected companion in 16-year-old Klara (Abigél Szõke). “Why do you live?” she asks him. “Is there any real answer to that?” he responds. But, despite all odds, they find a reason – together. *Those Who Remained* is partnered with Kevin O’Neill’s ***Resemblance*** (3 stars), and it’s a fitting pairing considering both films take the tragically familiar topic of Nazi persecution and apply unexpectedly original alterations. If you think you’ve seen all that the genre has to offer, you’ve got another think coming. And isn’t that what film festivals are for? *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Halloween: The Ranking of Michael Myers](https://www.meiermovies.com/halloween-the-ranking-of-michael-myers/) **Published:** October 27, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Halloween-original.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Halloween-original.jpg)Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Laurie Strode in the original *Halloween* from 1978. (image copyright Falcon International Pictures) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 27, 2020 “Get a life, will you, people? … You’ve turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a colossal waste of time!” That’s how William Shatner (whose face inspired the mask worn by Michael Myers) described hardcore Trekkies’ devotion to his work, jokingly, on *Saturday Night Live* in 1986. But it might just as well apply to fans of the *Halloween* movies. Though creator and original director John Carpenter, [whom I interviewed back in 2014](https://www.meiermovies.com/from-the-mouth-of-madness/), is much too nice a guy to say so, our obsession with Michael Myers – not to mention the endless parade of brainless sequels – borders on the ridiculous. Still, here I am, writing about the franchise, 42 years after the first film debuted. So I guess I’m just as much to blame as the producers, writers, directors and fans who keep Michael alive through all the shootings, burnings, explosions and decapitations. Call it a guilty pleasure. (And, hey, it’s better than the *Friday the 13th* and *Nightmare on Elm Street* films.) It’s certainly a pleasure for Carpenter, who told me that meeting his fans, particularly at horror conventions, was one of his greatest thrills. “Love it, love it,” he said. “They’re really nice. … It’s fun, a lot of fun. The most fun is, of course, the questions you get from the audience \[at the discussion panels\] because you never know what you’re going to get.” One of the biggest debates at those aforementioned conventions is which *Halloween* films are the best, and the worst. It’s a debate Carpenter was reluctant to weigh in on when I met him six years ago, though, presumably, he would put his own directorial creation (the 1978 original) ahead of all the sequels and remakes. Still, it consumes the film’s fans. So without further ado, here is my ranking, best to worst, followed by a chronological list of all the films. And because the *Halloween* franchise isn’t linear – remakes, reboots, redundancies and reimaginings abound – I include a handy little flow chart designed by Will Locatelli and courtesy of Wikimedia Commons to explain the madness. (Oh, and if you truly love the franchise, please ignore my abysmal star ratings, which are on a 0-5 scale.) ## Ranking by quality 1\. *Halloween* (3 ¼ stars), 1978, directed by John Carpenter 2\. *Halloween II* (2 ¼ stars), 1981, directed by Rick Rosenthal 3\. *Halloween* (1 ½ stars), 2018, directed by David Gordon Green 4\. *Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers* (1 ¼ stars), 1988, directed by Dwight H. Little 5\. *Halloween H20: 20 Years Later* (1 ¼ stars), 1998, directed by Steve Miner 6\. *Halloween* (1 star), 2007, directed by Rob Zombie 7\. *Halloween III: Season of the Witch* (1 star), 1982, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace 8\. *Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers* (1 star), 1989, directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard 9\. *Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers* (1 star), 1995, directed by Joe Chappelle 10\. *Halloween II* (¾ star), 2009, directed by Rob Zombie 11\. *Halloween: Resurrection* (¾ star), 2002, directed by Rick Rosenthal ## Chronological ranking 1\. *Halloween* (3 ¼ stars), 1978, directed by John Carpenter 2\. *Halloween II* (2 ¼ stars), 1981, directed by Rick Rosenthal 3\. *Halloween III: Season of the Witch* (1 star), 1982, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace 4\. *Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers* (1 ¼ stars), 1988, directed by Dwight H. Little 5\. *Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers* (1 star), 1989, directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard 6\. *Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers* (1 star), 1995, directed by Joe Chappelle 7\. *Halloween H20: 20 Years Later* (1 ¼ stars), 1998, directed by Steve Miner 8\. *Halloween: Resurrection* (¾ star), 2002, directed by Rick Rosenthal 9\. *Halloween* (1 star), 2007, directed by Rob Zombie 10\. *Halloween II* (¾ star), 2009, directed by Rob Zombie 11\. *Halloween* (1 ½ stars), 2018, directed by David Gordon Green For more on the franchise, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_(franchise)). Oh, and no article on slasher films would be complete without an award for sexiest scream queen. Congratulations, Kathleen Kinmont, from *Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers*. (Acting nods, predictably, go to original stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, with a shout-out for the best “up and coming” performance to Paul Rudd, in *Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers*.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Halloween-Films-Explained-By-Will-Locatelli-Own-work-CC-BY-SA-4.0-httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid79920884.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Halloween-Films-Explained-By-Will-Locatelli-Own-work-CC-BY-SA-4.0-httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid79920884.png)*© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC; flow chart copyright Will Locatelli* / *Wikimedia Commons* --- ### [Love (of film) in the time of coronavirus](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-of-film-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/) **Published:** October 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Regal-Cinemas-closing-2020-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Regal-Cinemas-closing-2020-2.jpg)“Temporarily closed” signs greet visitors to the Regal cinema in Winter Park, Florida. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 12, 2020 Watching football and tennis this weekend on television made me sad. I wasn’t sad for the sports themselves. In fact, I was joyful, as I’m a pretty big fan of college athletics and an even bigger tennis enthusiast, and was glad that spectators were able to attend the events. I was instead sad that these events allowed thousands – in many cases, more than 10,000 – spectators while film and theatre are dying. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as our culture values sports over art. But seeing the disparity between sports (which are slowly getting back to normal) and the film industry (which has almost completely shut down because of COVID-19 concerns) made me weep for our priorities. After a brief reopening, Regal Cinemas recently announced they are closing all U.S. locations again. And the parade of delays of major studio releases continues unabated – even into December, with Disney announcing that their latest Pixar movie, *Soul*, will skip cinemas and instead go straight to streaming, at least in the United States. Shame on them for damaging the long-term success and cultural viability of cinema. (See [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/soul-disney-plus-pixar-movie-christmas-day-free/) for more information on that.) As COVID-19 death rates decrease and we learn more about the virus and the [negative effects of lockdowns](https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/coronavirus-who-backflips-on-virus-stance-by-condemning-lockdowns/news-story/f2188f2aebff1b7b291b297731c3da74), I’m reminded that we *can* slowly return to large gatherings. Sports have proved that. Of course, with indoor activities, the risk is greater. But some film festivals and even some live theatre events have taken place over the last couple of months. (Kudos specifically to the Florida Film Festival and the Garden Theater, both in the greater Orlando, Florida, area.) The events looked a bit different, but they worked, with no adverse effects or reports of “super-spreaders.” It can be done. We – and specifically our political leaders – must step up to the plate (to again mix in a sports metaphor) to save film, theatre, music and other in-person art events. And in those instances when events simply can’t take place yet – such as on Broadway or in the West End, where theatres rely on packed houses for financial profitability – governments around the world must be willing to discuss financial bailouts on par with those being discussed for other industries. The show must go on. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Indie Cinema Showcase is back](https://www.meiermovies.com/indie-cinema-showcase-is-back/) **Published:** October 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Orlando’s *ICS* TV show returns at the unlikeliest time [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS.jpg)Gerald Godbout III, left, poses with show hosts Christina Carmona and Nando Luis Roman at Orange TV Studios. (photos courtesy Indie Cinema Showcase / Orange TV) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/this-orlando-public-access-show-gives-indie-filmmakers-local-exposure/Content?oid=28068843), October 7, 2020 They say timing is everything, but don’t tell Orlando’s *Indie Cinema Showcase*. In a year that has seen major fests scrapped and local events, such as this week’s South Asian Film Festival, go virtual, *ICS* has bucked the trend by relaunching itself following a seven-year absence. The TV show is back, albeit in a tweaked format, doing what it did when it began in 2009: giving local, low-budget, independent filmmakers a broadcast voice. Episodes air on Orange TV’s entertainment channel, Vision TV (Spectrum channel 492 or Comcast channel 98), at 8 p.m. on Saturday and again at 6 p.m. on Sunday, in addition to YouTube, Vimeo, Roku and eventually Apple TV. Most episodes last 15-30 minutes and feature interviews, local movie news and films. Those films (or trailers) are all made by Floridians and usually run less than 10 minutes. *ICS* is the brainchild of Emmy-winning local filmmaker Gerald Godbout III. “I did a pilot episode \[in 2009\] to convince the program director \[at Orange TV\] that I could do a show on my own. Before that, I was just doing editing for them,” Godbout says. “I went to my boss, Bill Suchy, and I said, ‘You know, I would love to do a show about filmmakers.’ And he said, ‘I’ll let you do a pilot. … And we’ll go from there.’” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS-2.jpg)The pilot was a success, as was the entire first season, which was hosted by John Theisen (former FilmSlam producer) and Tim Anderson (now Enzian Theater’s programming coordinator). But when Theisen and Anderson left to pursue other projects, Godbout rang the changes. “I wanted to do something bigger,” Godbout says. “It wasn‘t just talking heads. It had packages. I had a little bit more of a typical entertainment show.” That format continued until 2013, when Godbout ended the show to focus on his filmmaking and writing. But *ICS* wasn’t forgotten, and, against the odds, Godbout rebooted it in January. But even when COVID-19 “slammed the brakes on the show,” according to Godbout, he soldiered on with a format devoted exclusively to screening films. *ICS* recently played local filmmaker Erin Laine’s *I Just Want You to Be Happy*. Though the short film had already played traditional fests, Laine says she is happy to have her movie get a different type of exposure. “Local-access TV is pretty cool,” she says. “The fact that you can tell your friends and family you’ll be broadcast is pretty neat. The hosts seem genuinely interested in the genre since they are filmmakers themselves.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICS-3.jpg)Those hosts are Nando Luis Roman and Christina Carmona, and their involvement dates back to the early days of *ICS*. (Roman and Carmona are also the Orlando city producers for the [48 Hour Film Project](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/).) “I joined the show toward the end of the third season,” says Roman. “At the time, their in-studio hosts had moved, and it left Christina to do the show as the sole host. So she approached Gerald and pitched the idea of bringing me on board as a guest host until they could find a replacement. He ended up liking the chemistry that we brought on screen \[and\] asked me to continue.” That chemistry was rekindled seven years later. “When Gerry was approached by Mike Seif, who runs Orange TV, and asked if he’d be interested in bringing back *ICS*, Gerry said yes as long as he could bring his host back as well,” Roman says. “So he reached out to us \[and\] asked us if we would be interested in once again taking up the mantle.” “It was a no-brainer for us to jump right back in because we loved working with Gerry and working with *ICS*,” says Carmona. “This time it’s very different, though, because Nando and myself aren’t just hosts – we also co-produce and co-write episodes. “I believe that one of the biggest things that sets *ICS* apart is that we are more than just a film showcase. … We spotlight everything from makeup artists, prop and special effects, and even film schools. We try to provide different aspects of the filmmaking process because you never know who out there is wanting to get into the field as a voice-over actor, or a music composer or even a stunt/fight choreographer. *ICS* is a big supporter of the arts and in particular filmmaking, and our goal is to help the film community in Florida grow.” For more information, visit [IndieCinemaShowcase.com.](https://www.indiecinemashowcase.com/) *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lessons learned from a first-time fest](https://www.meiermovies.com/lessons-learned-from-a-first-time-fest/) **Published:** September 23, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando International FF off to rocky start [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Orlando-International-Film-Festival-2020-1-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Orlando-International-Film-Festival-2020-1-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 23, 2020 If a film screens at a festival but there’s no audience, does it make a sound? I received the answer on September 17 when I attended the inaugural day of the Orlando International Film Festival (OIFF) and was, for one feature film and one shorts block, the only person in the house. Though the answer to my rhetorical question is, of course, yes, that surely doesn’t lessen the disappointment of festival organizers, or the filmmakers who, like the public, failed to show for this first-time festival. The new event was admittedly fraught from the outset, enduring at least two postponements and a change of venue from the Orange County Convention Center in south Orlando to the Enzian Theater in Maitland. But the problems weren’t entirely the fault of the organizers. After all, if you think it’s difficult getting a new festival off the ground in good times, try doing it in the middle of a health crisis. Still, there are lessons to be learned from the failings (and successes) of the Orlando International Film Festival, which wraps up tomorrow and Friday. And those lessons are invaluable for every organizer of a new festival. So I offer the following analysis not to criticize the OIFF as much as to caution other first-time fests. ### Communicate A new festival must build trust with its filmmakers, the public and the media. And good communication can go a long way to compensating for newbie problems, such as lack of money and name recognition. Unfortunately, the OIFF earlier in the year posted conflicting dates on its website (), its Facebook page and Film Freeway. When I e-mailed festival founder and director Florence Alexander, I never got an explanation for the discrepancy. And when the dates and venue were finally nailed down, I received no follow-up e-mail, as I was promised. (The festival’s Twitter page still says it’s taking place May 28 at the “Orlando Convention Center.”) Even more important is accurate information about the films. Websites and brochures must gel with the program itself. For OIFF, they didn’t. In the case of the suspense/horror shorts, one film listed on the website (*Rainy Season*) was not shown, while another that was not listed on the website started the block. (I still don’t know the name of that French film, which is disappointing because it was the best of the group. When I asked the festival staff, they said they didn’t know but that the movie’s information would be on the website shortly. It wasn’t. Instead, the entire day’s program was removed from the schedule.) ### Create a user-friendly schedule Remember that your attendees are people, and people need to sleep. Starting a festival at 8:15 a.m. just isn’t practical. People also need to eat, so don’t forget to build breaks for munching and networking. Those activities are just as essential to a festival as the films. No OIFF staff members seemed to know in advance whether the Enzian would be serving food in the theater. That announcement was left to Enzian staff, who said food would be available outside at Eden Bar, rather than in the theater. That meant the roughly half-dozen of us who attended the suspense/horror block, which ended at 11:30 a.m. had to run to order food before the start of the next program, the feature *Bad Witch*, at 11:50 a.m*.* And the food still wasn’t ready on time. I guess that might explain why I was the only one in the audience for that, except for a couple of volunteers. Everyone else seemingly chose food over film. This also begs the larger question: If you rent the Enzian, shouldn’t you know whether you’ve been promised food service? I was going to bring this up to Alexander, but she didn’t show up. To be fair, staff told me she was ill. I wish her well. Still, if you’re asking patrons and staff to attend your festival in the middle of pandemic, you better do all you can to be there. Or make sure there is someone serving as host, welcoming everyone and introducing the programs. Showmanship counts! (One person gave an intro and outro for the suspense/horror block, but no announcements were made to start or end *Bad Witch* or the afternoon comedy block.) ### Pick a great venue I’ve seen too many new festivals rent space in bars or comic-book stores or other places not conducive to watching films. And they project the films in standard definition, with bad sound and wrong aspect ratios. So my simple advice is if you can’t afford a decent venue and proper equipment, it might be time to rethink your priorities. By renting the Enzian (Orlando’s leading art-house cinema), the OIFF got it right. For all their other shortcomings, they at least managed to show respect for their filmmakers by screening the movies the right way. That bodes well for their future. (Even the successful Love Your Shorts Film Festival didn’t do that well in its inaugural year.) ### Reach out to the media I don’t mean to sound like a privileged critic, but it would behoove all new festivals to show the media some love. After all, we’re the ones who can spread the word. That’s crucial if the festival can’t afford advertising. In the case of OIFF, I paid my own way: $50 for a day. Even with that hefty price tag, I was glad to support a new festival – if only they could have met me halfway by sharing information in advance. I must say that the staff at the actual event were friendly and accommodating, and I think they felt genuinely embarrassed to be misinformed. One woman even offered to bring my food into the theater so I wouldn’t miss any of the movie. But it should have never reached that point. ### Don’t get too big for your britches Confidence is one thing. Promising things you can’t deliver is another. Successful festivals take time to build enthusiasm and support, and don’t overreach. And while it’s important to dream big, it’s also important to be realistic. Keep prices reasonable. In the case of OIFF, $50 is too much for a day. And $100 for a virtual pass (which allows you to watch all the content online) might seem reasonable until you remember that the Oscar-accredited Florida Film Festival charged less for its virtual pass earlier this year. The inflated pricing should have become painfully obvious when festival organizers compared their cost structure to other, well-established events. Making the festival seem even more out of touch are its glowing testimonials and claims of multiple discussion panels, filmmaking opportunities and cash prizes, in addition to a page on their website that offers memberships for as much as $1,000. The promised “full access to celebrity lounge” sounds pretty nice. But remember: For about four hours last Thursday, I was the ONLY one at the festival. And the last time I checked, I’m not a celebrity. I don’t mean to sound harsh, as even the world’s best festivals have been canceled or scaled back this year. Still, it behooves a new festival to be humble and practical. And though all the aforementioned perks might still be in the works for future events (and some did happen this year, just virtually), the festival should have accurately described this year’s scaled-down event. As with most new festivals, OIFF will – I hope – lick its wounds and get back in the game with a less expensive, better structured and better attended event next year. Holding it in south Orlando, as originally planned, might be a good option, as that part of town has a dearth of film events. (Location, location, location.) Hey, maybe they could event rent the new Alamo Drafthouse, if it eventually opens. If they do, I’ll be the first in line. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: The Orlando International Film Festival is not affiliated with the Enzian Theater; it just rented space. It is also not affiliated with the Orlando Film Festival.* --- ### [Global Peace Film Festival 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2020/) **Published:** September 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The 18th annual Orlando Film Festival is scheduled for September 24 – October 4 in Orlando, Florida. It will be almost entirely virtual this year. The following two film reviews are part of a larger article that appeared on September 16, 2020, in [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/orlandos-global-peace-film-festival-is-mostly-online-this-year-but-theres-no-change-in-its-commitment-to-the-value-of-dialogue/Content?oid=27950686). **Swing State Florida** (3 stars on 0-5 scale) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Swing-State-Florida.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Swing-State-Florida.jpg)Image courtesy Bertelsmann Foundation We’ve heard the phrase “quid pro quo” a lot recently in the world of politics. But it isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, in the context of a political campaign, it can simply mean that a candidate vows to keep a promise to fight for a better life for citizens in exchange for their votes. Nowhere is that promise more important than the Sunshine State, which just might decide the 2020 presidential contest. Yet the Floridians living in the three communities profiled in *Swing State Florida* feel forgotten. Most disaffected are the migrant farm workers of Immokalee, whose daily deportation fears are palpable. But the residents of the historically Black community of Liberty City, in Miami, are equally disappointed in their government, as are the citizens of the Hurricane Michael-ravaged Panhandle. Though director Samuel George’s documentary is a bit rough around the edges and only touches on the political and social issues at the film’s core, it rarely fails to inform and inspire. And in our current media-crazy cacophony, the doc satisfyingly lowers the volume to a quiet, cinema-vérité level, allowing an honest examination of the lives of real people. It’s important viewing for all Floridians. **Can Art Stop a Bullet: William Kelly’s Big Picture** (3 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Can-Art-Stop-a-Bullet.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Can-Art-Stop-a-Bullet.jpg)Image courtesy F-Reel Film The declaration that “art can stop a bullet” seems cliché. A cynic, or even a realist, might point out that, for art to succeed, it better be a sculpture capable of stopping a steel projectile traveling 1,800 miles an hour. Thankfully, director Mark Street isn’t a cynic. And though his documentary, *Can Art Stop a Bullet: William Kelly’s Big Picture*, has a long title, it never overstays its welcome. It might be described as overly ambitious, thanks to its globe-trotting structure and almost two-dozen interviews of artists and activists. But partially because of that ambition, it offers an inspiring, stylish examination of how painting, drawing, photography and sculpture can salve the wounds of bullets and bombs. Further, it shows how, if shared with the right people, art can prevent those bullets being fired and bombs being dropped in the first place. Despite its packed format, the film is, at its heart, the story of one man: American-Australian artist William Kelly. And that story is framed, both literally and figuratively, by his creation of a monumental peace-themed tapestry for the State Library of Victoria. Over the film’s 90 minutes, his work is slowly revealed, turning the collage into the movie’s MacGuffin. So while the interviews play out and the issues behind the images are discussed, the tapestry becomes the audience’s carrot (sans stick). In fact, if Kelly’s dreams come true, there will be no more sticks. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020/) **Published:** July 15, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## FFF announces program for August event [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy Enzian Theater From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/enzian-theater-announces-program-for-augusts-florida-film-festival-27624515), July 15, 2020 The Enzian Theater has announced the program for the 29th annual Florida Film Festival, which was originally scheduled for April 17-26 but is now slated for August 7-20. The festival, which will screen 177 films from 37 countries, will be the first major event of its kind in Florida since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the virus has forced Enzian to alter its format. Instead of utilizing three screens – one at Enzian and two at Regal Winter Park Village – the festival will use just Enzian. Further reducing the festival’s potential audience is the fact that the theater is operating at half-capacity. To partially compensate for these reductions, the festival has been extended from its usual 10 days to 14. But even with that change, each film and shorts block will play just once. The festival will also include a virtual component, though most of its 177 films (37 features and 140 shorts) will be screened live at Enzian. (At least one feature and one short film will be virtual only.) The festival received 2,850 submissions (its most ever) from 101 countries. For its opening night, the festival is going local. Orlando filmmaker Steven Shea’s *Surviving Supercon* will launch the festivities. “As someone who lived in Orlando for 15 years – graduating from Valencia as a filmmaker, to then volunteering at the Florida Film Festival – it is an incredible honor to return to world-premiere our new film,” Shea, who now lives in Los Angeles, says. “This documentary is built around a major Florida-based, pop-culture event, using a Sunshine State-based cast and crew. It really is beautifully fitting to get to world-premiere at the Florida Film Festival.” Closing the festival will be a retro showing of David Lynch’s *The* *Elephant Man*. Experienced festival-goers won’t notice much change in the film’s groupings. As usual, the event will offer the following genres: family, music, food, Florida, Sunspots (avant-garde) and, of course, the love-them-or-hate-them midnight movies. Thirty films are receiving their world premieres. The “spotlight” films, which are screened out of competition, are often considered the best of the fest. Likely because of the difficulty of acquiring high-profile new releases during the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s festival will contain just five: *Boys State*, directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (online only); *Jimmy Carter: Rock ‘n’ Roll President*, directed by Mary Wharton; *The Perfect Candidate*, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour; *The Personal History of David Copperfield*, directed by Armando Ianucci; and *Summerland*, directed by Jessica Swale. If you notice a lot of female names, that’s because half of the festival’s films are directed by women. “This year’s lineup includes 88 women filmmakers, the most in our 29-year history, … and their voices will be represented throughout every part of the festival,” says Matthew Curtis, programming director. “In addition, we have added a fifth live-action shorts program to the American Independent Competition for the first time ever, thereby giving seven more filmmakers a chance at Oscar glory and our audience another terrific collection of films to experience. “We are also excited that the virtual platform will allow a large amount of these official selections to be available to festival-goers across the state of Florida. Some highlights include the Sundance Film Festival award-winner *Boys State*, as well as international features *Adam* and *The Perfect Candidate*, in addition to a number of our short films and competition features. … More films than ever will be making their Florida debut at the festival, and we could not be more thrilled about introducing these talented filmmakers and presenting such an entertaining and diverse group of films to our audience.” Speaking of thrills, the fact that the festival is happening at all is a bit of surprise, considering the recent rise in the number of Florida coronavirus cases and yesterday’s cancellation of the Telluride Film Festival, one of the top four fall festivals. The other big three – Toronto, Venice and New York – still plan to proceed, though Toronto will be mostly virtual. But the Florida Film Festival’s challenges are admittedly not as daunting as those other events, as its audience is almost entirely local. Though out-of-town filmmakers might opt not to attend, the festival will still feature at least one celebrity event: “An Evening with Joe Bob Briggs: How Rednecks Saved Hollywood,” on August 14. In addition, the schedule will include social events such as a Sunday brunch on August 9, a filmmaker welcome party on August 13 and live music at Enzian. However, the filmmaker forum will be entirely virtual. To ensure guest safety, Enzian will likely utilize the same procedures currently in place for regular screenings, such as temperature checks, required masks (when not eating and drinking), social distancing and repeated cleanings of the theater. But that might not be enough for those who started a Change.org petition last month to convince Enzian to delay or cancel the festival. Begun by someone named “Anon Enz,” the petition reads, “As the number of Florida COVID-19 cases continue to rise each day, many employees have grown frightened of working. … Most employees would like to exempt themselves from working Florida Film Fest.” The petition goes on to describe various concerns, including increased guest contact during the festival and “lax … cleaning policies in order to divert focus to customer service.” However, it’s not clear how many of the 333 people who signed the petition are current or former Enzian employees, so it’s impossible to verify the petition’s claim that it represents the views of the theater’s staff. Furthermore, Enzian says it has taken steps in recent weeks to address the petitioner’s concerns. And the conversation does seem amicable, reflected by the petition’s closing statement: “We are working on other solutions to work with and not against our favorite place to work.” The full festival schedule and ticket options will be available soon at [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). *© 2020 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian's Florida Film Festival 2020 combines in-person, virtual cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-combines-in-person-virtual-cinema/) **Published:** August 6, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy Enzian Theater From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-will-happen-live-at-maitlands-enzian-theater-combining-in-person-and-online-screenings/Content?oid=27723256), August 5, 2020 Shouting from the rooftops that film is essential, even during a pandemic, Maitland’s Enzian Theater will present its rescheduled Florida Film Festival August 7-20. In a year that has seen almost everything change, it’s no surprise that Orlando’s biggest film event has changed too. What is a surprise is that the festival is taking place at all after being postponed from its original April dates. But with reduced capacity, a mix of in-person and virtual screenings, and safety measures such as temperature checks, increased cleaning, social distancing and facemask requirements (when not eating and drinking), organizers have created what will be the first major film festival in the Southeast United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival will screen 177 films (37 features and 140 shorts) from 37 countries. Instead of utilizing three screens – one at Enzian and two at Regal Winter Park Village – the festival will use just Enzian, which is operating at roughly half-capacity (about 120 seats). To partially compensate for these reductions and to keep people safer, the festival has been extended from its usual 10 days to 14. It has also added a virtual component, which will allow audiences to watch more than 150 of the films online by purchasing a virtual pass. (That includes almost all the shorts and about a third of the features.) While some films will be available online during the entire festival, some have a brief time window. In addition, a few virtual screenings will be viewer-limited (first-come, first-served). All films will be screened just once at Enzian, except the opening movie (which will be shown twice), *Boys State* and the short *Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa* (part of the 8X Real documentary program), the latter two being available only online. (If you attend 8X Real in person, you can get a voucher to watch *Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa* on the internet.) In-theater passes and ticket packages are already sold out, likely because of the reduced capacity. But individual tickets ($12) and virtual passes ($40) are still available. See [FloridaFilmFestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com) for details. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FFF-2020-logo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FFF-2020-logo.jpg)For opening night, the festival is going local. Orlando filmmaker Steven Shea’s *Surviving Supercon* will launch the festivities. “As someone who lived in Orlando for 15 years – graduating from Valencia as a filmmaker, to then volunteering at the Florida Film Festival – it is an incredible honor to return to world-premiere our new film,” Shea, who now lives in Los Angeles, says. “This documentary is built around a major Florida-based, pop-culture event, using a Sunshine State-based cast and crew. It really is beautifully fitting to get to world-premiere at the Florida Film Festival.” Closing the festival will be a 40th-anniversary showing of David Lynch’s *The* *Elephant Man*. Experienced festival-goers won’t notice much change in the film’s groupings. As usual, the event will offer the following genres: family, music, food, Florida, Sunspots (avant-garde) and, of course, the love-them-or-hate-them midnight movies. Thirty films are receiving their world premieres. The “spotlight” films, which are screened out of competition, are often considered the best of the fest. Likely because of the difficulty of acquiring high-profile new releases during the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s festival will contain just five: *Boys State*, directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss; *Jimmy Carter: Rock ‘n’ Roll President*, directed by Mary Wharton; *The Perfect Candidate*, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour; *The Personal History of David Copperfield*, directed by Armando Ianucci; and *Summerland*, directed by Jessica Swale. If you notice a lot of female names, that’s because half of the festival’s films are directed by women. “This year’s lineup includes 88 women filmmakers, the most in our 29-year history, … and their voices will be represented throughout every part of the festival,” says Matthew Curtis, programming director. “In addition, we have added a fifth live-action shorts program to the American Independent Competition for the first time ever, thereby giving seven more filmmakers a chance at Oscar glory and our audience another terrific collection of films to experience. “We are also excited that the virtual platform will allow a large amount of these official selections to be available to festival-goers across the state of Florida. Some highlights include the Sundance Film Festival award-winner *Boys State*, as well as international features *Adam* and *The Perfect Candidate*, in addition to a number of our short films and competition features. … More films than ever will be making their Florida debut at the festival, and we could not be more thrilled about introducing these talented filmmakers and presenting such an entertaining and diverse group of films to our audience.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Joe-Bob-Briggs.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Joe-Bob-Briggs.png)Joe Bob Briggs Though out-of-town filmmakers might opt not to attend, the festival will still feature one celebrity event: “An Evening with Joe Bob Briggs: How Rednecks Saved Hollywood,” on August 14. In addition, the schedule will include social events such as a Sunday brunch on August 9, a filmmaker welcome party on August 13 and live music at Enzian. However, the filmmaker forum will be entirely virtual, as will audience voting (no paper ballots). But the alterations might not be enough for those who started a Change.org petition in June to convince Enzian to delay or cancel the festival. Begun by someone named “Anon Enz,” the petition reads, “As the number of Florida COVID-19 cases continue to rise each day, many employees have grown frightened of working. … Most employees would like to exempt themselves from working Florida Film Fest.” The petition goes on to describe various concerns, including increased guest contact during the festival and “lax … cleaning policies in order to divert focus to customer service.” However, it’s not clear how many of the 334 petition-signers are current or former Enzian employees, so it’s impossible to verify the petition’s claim that it represents the views of the theater’s staff. Furthermore, Enzian says it has taken steps to address the petitioner’s concerns. And the conversation does seem amicable, reflected by the petition’s closing statement: “We are working on other solutions to work with and not against our favorite place to work.” *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For film reviews, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2020-reviews/ "Florida Film Festival 2020 reviews").* --- ### [Orlando's Alamo Drafthouse delayed](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlandos-alamo-drafthouse-delayed/) **Published:** August 4, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## New cinema now scheduled to open in 2021 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Alamo-Drafthouse-under-construction-scaled.jpg)Since March, when this photo was taken, the only major addition has been a concrete foundation. From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 4, 2020 The opening of Orlando’s Alamo Drafthouse movie theater has been delayed but not canceled, according to Peter Bergner, president of O’Connor Capital Partners, the company overseeing development of the shopping and dining complex that will house the cinema. With the film industry stalled and movie houses shuttered because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some cinephiles feared the project had been scrapped. Those fears were exacerbated when Alamo Drafthouse announced extensive layoffs last month and temporarily removed the Orlando page from its website. (It’s back up now, at [Drafthouse.com/Orlando](https://drafthouse.com/orlando).) In addition, construction of the cinema at Vineland Pointe in south Orlando (near the intersection of I-4 and Daryl Carter Parkway) has been stalled for months while construction of the complex’s other businesses — Target, for instance — has continued. But Bergner sounds enthusiastic that the project will open next year. “The theater’s construction has been delayed until the normalization of film releases and ability to properly distance patrons,” Bergner says. “It will open 2021 – and it will be a winner!” The Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse was founded in Austin in 1997 and has since spread to nearly 50 locations in 10 states. The Orlando cinema (the first Drafthouse in Florida) will have 10 dine-in auditoriums, with a total of 942 seats, according to the company’s original announcement last year, in addition to the ability to project 35mm film. Most if not all of the company’s theaters are currently closed. For more information on the phased reopening, visit [Drafthouse.com](https://drafthouse.com/orlando/news/how-were-reopening-alamo-drafthouse). And to see the exact location of the cinema, go to [VinelandPointeOrlando.com](https://vinelandpointeorlando.com/directory/). *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida cinemas reopening](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-cinemas-reopening/) **Published:** June 5, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Enzian, Aloma Cinema Grill lead the way in Orlando [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/orlando-movie-theaters-reopening-soon-include-enzian-aloma-cinema-grill-27411821), June 5, 2020 Though Florida cinemas outside Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are allowed to reopen at 50-percent capacity today, most movie houses are choosing to wait. Leading the charge will be the Enzian Theater and Aloma Cinema Grill. “In accordance with the Governor’s Phase Two reopening plans, we will open the cinema at 50-percent capacity next Friday,” Enzian said today in a press release. “Our comfortable seating you’ve all come to love will be physically distanced to ensure your safety.” If Enzian sticks to its posted schedule, the 1957 classic *12 Angry Men* will be its first big screening in nearly three months, though its Enzian on Demand series has been entertaining streaming audiences for the last several weeks. That series will continue next week. (The theater’s outdoor restaurant, Eden Bar, reopened three weeks ago.) The Aloma Cinema Grill, which, like Enzian, can rearrange tables and chairs to reduce capacity, plans to reopen even sooner. The theater has not yet responded to our request for confirmation, but its outgoing phone message says the cinema will reopen on June 8. However, it will require patrons to make reservations in advance by calling its office at 407-671-4964. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Aloma-Cinema-Grill.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Aloma-Cinema-Grill.jpg)Photo copyright Aloma Cinema Grill Among chains, Cinemark appears to be the first to test the post-quarantine waters, as it has pegged June 19 for its tentative reopening. Regal and AMC have not released reopening dates yet, but Cineworld, the London-based owner of Regal, says they expect a July opening, according to *The New York Post.* Meanwhile, AMC has been blunt about its financial situation, saying they have “substantial doubt” about the company’s long-term survival. Another challenge is content. With big studio releases coming to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, cinemas are left without major new films. However, that could change next month if Christopher Nolan’s *Tenet* and Disney’s *Mulan* stick to their opening dates of July 17 and July 24, respectively. Until then, cinemas that choose to reopen will likely screen older films or new, independent offerings, such as movies that played festivals in late 2019 and early 2020. The fate of one of the most anticipated local events of the year, the opening of Alamo Drafthouse, remains unclear. Construction on the new theater at Vineland Pointe, south of SeaWorld, began a few months ago but appears to be stalled. (The company has not responded to requests for information.) The only Florida cinemas not shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic have been drive-in theaters, such as the Ocala Drive-In and Lakeland’s Silver Moon Drive-In, which have seen a resurgence of popularity recently. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Update: As of June 8, the Aloma Cinema Grill was not open. A post on its website says the theater now plans to open on June 12.* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival to go virtual](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-go-virtual-while-its-normal-event-is-delayed/) **Published:** April 14, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Regular event still delayed, maybe until fall [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/sarasota-film-festival-to-go-virtual-while-its-normal-event-is-delayed-27152524), April 14, 2020 In another sign of how the coronavirus is affecting the film industry in Florida, the Sarasota Film Festival has announced it will hold an online festival April 27 – May 3. In a prepared statement, the festival said, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sarasota Film Festival, in conjunction with the arts community of Sarasota, presents the first-ever virtual film festival, including feature-length films, documentaries, short films, student films, conversations, Q&As and other live events.” However, this does not necessarily mean the in-person festival, which was originally scheduled for March 27 – April 5, will be canceled. Indeed, Mark Famiglio, the festival’s president and chairman, says he is still hopeful the festival can go forward later this year. “We are hoping to do a presentation in the fall to complement and supplement everything we are doing now,” Famiglio told me, hinting that support for some sort of festival this month was great enough to inspire him to launch a virtual event. “We had such great demand from our audience and the support of the independent filmmakers who were set to screen films in this year’s festival and are trying to continue supporting the arts community in Sarasota and Florida.” The online festival will be accessible through the festival’s app, which is available at SarasotaFilmFestival.com or by searching the app store for “Sarasota Film Festival.” This virtual event, which has yet to announce its lineup, will include an audience-award competition for feature films, along with a panel of judges who will recognize short films and student features. The Sarasota Film Festival is regarded by many as one of the three most prestigious movie events in the state, along with the Miami Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival. The latter, organized by Central Florida’s Enzian Theater, was originally scheduled for this month but has been indefinitely postponed, though Enzian staff is eyeing August. Until then, the arthouse cinema is offering a streaming option, “Enzian on Demand.” (For more on that, visit Enzian.org.) *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Coronavirus batters film industry](https://www.meiermovies.com/coronavirus-batters-film-industry/) **Published:** March 16, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Outbreak temporarily closes cinemas [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 17, 2020 *Please note: This is a revised version of [this previous story](http://www.meiermovies.com/film-industry-addresses-coronavirus/).* From *12 Monkeys* to *Contagion* to zombie flicks, the movie industry loves viral-outbreak films. Now it’s starring in a real-life one. Though the coronavirus, or COVID-19, is exponentially less serious than the health crises depicted in Hollywood disaster films, the outbreak has led to the temporary closure of Maitland’s Enzian Theater and the **postponement of the Florida Film Festival**. The arthouse cinema announced on Monday that it will be closed through April 2 and will tentatively reopen on April 3, and will delay its festival. And, in a surprise move, the Enzian has revealed its entire lineup, which include 195 films, more than ever before, though the lineup is subject to change. [Go here for a list of all the films](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films/). Regarding the temporary closure of the theater, Janie Pope, director of development and public relations, said, “We believe this is the best course of action to ensure the safety of our patrons and our staff. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the temporary closure of both our theater and Eden Bar is not without financial burden. We are very grateful to our supporters and appreciate any contributions made to help Enzian and its staff during this time.” “In light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended guidelines regarding COVID-19, this year’s Florida Film Festival, scheduled for April 17-26, has been postponed,” the Enzian said in a prepared statement. “Festival staff members are tentatively aiming to reschedule for August 2020. Exact dates are still to be determined. To reiterate, the festival is not canceled; it is postponed. In doing so, we stand in solidarity with leading cultural institutions and other film festivals, as well as the CDC, by taking proactive steps towards combating the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. The well-being of our guests, partners, and staff is of utmost importance. While this postponement is regretful and hard to swallow considering the thousands of hours that the staff and selection committees have devoted to creating an amazing festival, moving it from April is clearly the safest thing for our audiences and filmmakers, and the right thing to do.” The postponement of the Florida Film Festival comes on the heels of the cancellation of the South by Southwest Film Festival and the postponements of the Tribeca and Sarasota festivals. The overall film industry is facing an economic calamity due to the prohibition of large public gatherings. And though most cinema chains, such as AMC and Regal Cinemas, were initially content to limit attendance to 50 percent, they are now starting to close completely. American cinemas seem to be taking a cue from France, which limited attendance to 100 people in each auditorium before eventually announcing theaters would close. However, in some hopeful news out of that country, the Cannes Film Festival, scheduled for May, announced on March 14 that it would wait until mid-April to decide to cancel or postpone. Cinema closures are due partially to lack of content, as the openings of films such as *Mulan*, *Fast & Furious 9,* *A Quiet Place Part II* and *No Time to Die* have been postponed, leaving the industry with no major releases for the rest of March. Netflix’s decision to halt production for the next two weeks, which *The New York Times* first reported on March 13, could also produce a ripple effect. And the Florida Office of Film & Entertainment announced on Twitter on March 16, “In light of the declaration of emergency in the City of Miami, we will not be granting film permits until further notice. Permits that have been approved are hereby revoked.” One thing is certain: This story’s ending remains to be written. *Updated at 10:30 a.m. on March 17.* *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ###### *Image courtesy iStockPhoto (#173573801, by [KLH49](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/klh49?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best))* --- ### [Film industry tackles Coronavirus](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-industry-addresses-coronavirus/) **Published:** March 13, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## COVID-19 delays movie releases, impacts festivals [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 13, 2020 (Updated March 16) From *12 Monkeys* to *Contagion* to zombie flicks, the movie industry loves viral-outbreak films. Now it’s starring in a real-life one. Though the coronavirus, or COVID-19, is exponentially less serious than the health crises depicted in Hollywood disaster films, the industry is facing an economic calamity due to the prohibition of large public gatherings, postponement of movie releases, and cancellation or postponement of festivals, including the Sarasota Film Festival, which was scheduled for March 27 – April 5 but is now indefinitely delayed. But as of Monday, Orlando cinemas remain open, and the city’s biggest movie event – the Florida Film Festival – is still scheduled for April 17-26. “We plan to move forward with the festival and will issue an updated statement should anything change,” says Janie Pope, director of development and public relations for Maitland’s Enzian Theater, which runs the Florida Film Festival. In an e-mail to patrons, the theater expounded on that statement: “We at Enzian Theater are looking forward to a successful Florida Film Festival 2020, as well as our upcoming special events and regular programming. … Enzian’s priority is the health and safety of our patrons and employees. In addition to our standard procedures, staff has implemented additional precautionary measures … to ensure our guests may continue to enjoy the Enzian experience. “We will continue to monitor the situation and follow the guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as local and state public-health authorities. During the Florida Film Festival, many of our volunteer teams will be assisting us in maintaining a safe environment for all. We have and will continue to train staff on proper sanitary practices and encourage those who feel ill to stay home.” If the Florida Film Festival is held as scheduled, it could still be affected, as the cancellation of the South by Southwest Film Festival and the postponements of the Tribeca and Sarasota festivals could impact programming. For instance, in a positive development, movies scheduled to debut at those other festivals could now be premiering at the FFF. Conversely, filmmakers could decide to either not attend the festival or pull their films in the hopes of premiering at a larger festival in the fall. “As of \[March 14\], all filmmakers are still participating in this year’s FFF,” says Matthew Curtis, programming director, who nevertheless admits the event is in jeopardy. And that was before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that public events for the next two months be limited to 50 people. If government were to adopt that recommendation, the FFF and all similar events would likely cancel or postpone. Though the Enzian’s regular schedule has not yet been affected, its Popcorn Flicks in the Park, slated for March 12, was canceled by the City of Winter Park. And the theater is temporarily removing some tables and chairs. “We are currently rearranging the theater in order to allow for social distancing: six feet between tables,” says Valerie Cisneros, marketing manager. “This will reduce our capacity slightly, … but we will remain open as of \[March 16\].” Movie theaters nationwide aren’t immune to the virus either. Though most major chains remain open as of March 16 (except in certain locations, such as New York City and Los Angeles), many are cutting back capacity to accommodate social distancing. That includes two of the biggest in Central Florida: Regal Cinemas and AMC. Specifically, Regal Winter Park Village, Regal Waterford Lakes and AMC Altamonte Mall confirm they are limiting attendance to 50 percent, while the latter is temporarily cutting employee hours and implementing stringent cleaning procedures. (AMC Altamonte Mall admits they were already less than half full before the policy change.) American cinemas seem to be taking a cue from France, which limited attendance to 100 people in each auditorium before eventually announcing theaters would close. But even if Regal Winter Park Village remains open, its new policy of running at half capacity could doom the Florida Film Festival, which uses the theater. However, in some hopeful news, the Cannes Film Festival, scheduled for May, announced on March 14 that it would wait until mid-April to decide to cancel or postpone. If cinemas nationwide decide to temporarily close – a move *The Wall Street Journal* reports might be inevitable – that might be due partially to lack of content, as the openings of films such as *Mulan*, *Fast & Furious 9,* *A Quiet Place Part II* and *No Time to Die* have been postponed, leaving the industry with no major releases for the rest of March. Netflix’s decision to halt production for the next two weeks, which *The New York Times* first reported on March 13, could also produce a ripple effect. And the Florida Office of Film & Entertainment announced on Twitter on March 16, “In light of the declaration of emergency in the City of Miami, we will not be granting film permits until further notice. Permits that have been approved are hereby revoked.” One thing is certain: This story’s ending remains to be written. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ###### *Image courtesy iStockPhoto (#173573801, by [KLH49](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/klh49?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best))* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival reveals lineup](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup-2/) **Published:** March 10, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/sarasota-film-festival-announces-lineup-of-films-and-celebrity-guests-26958330), March 9, 2020 ***UPDATE**: As of March 13, the festival has been postponed indefinitely.* The Sarasota Film Festival, which runs from March 27 through April 5 in downtown Sarasota, Florida, will open with director Euros Lyn’s *Dream Horse* (starring Toni Collette) and close with director Andrew Cohn’s *The Last Shift* (starring Richard Jenkins, who will attend), it was announced Monday. The 22nd annual festival’s “centerpiece film” will be *The Artist’s Wife*, directed by Tom Dolby and starring Lena Olin and Bruce Dern. In addition to Jenkins, celebrity guests will include actresses Wendie Malick (TV’s *Just Shoot Me* and *Frasier*) and Connie Nielsen (*Gladiator*, *Wonder Woman*). All three will participate in the festival’s “In Conversation With” series, while Malick will receive the TV Comedy Icon Award and Nielsen will get the Impact Award. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Last-Shift.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Last-Shift.jpg)Shane Paul McGhie and Richard Jenkins star in *The Last Shift*. (image copyright Park Pictures / Bona Fide Productions / Front Row) Often considered one of the top three film festivals in the state – along with the Florida Film Festival and the Miami Film Festival – the Sarasota Film Festival will screen more than 200 movies at Regal Hollywood Cinema, the Sarasota Opera House and Municipal Auditorium. And, in a rare occurrence, this year’s festival will not overlap the Florida Film Festival, meaning Central Florida cinephiles can attend both events. Tickets go on sale Tuesday. For more information, visit [sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian seeks second screen](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-seeks-second-screen/) **Published:** February 18, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Cinema plans scaled-down improvements [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Enzian-improvements-2020.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Enzian-improvements-2020.png)Public-record document courtesy City of Maitland. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/maitlands-enzian-theater-seeks-second-screen-in-scaled-down-improvement-plans-26839016), February 18, 2020 The Enzian Theater still wants a second screen. Maitland’s arthouse theater surprisingly abandoned their ambitious “Enzian Forever” expansion in 2018 because of parking issues. However, the cinema is now seeking to add an additional screen by walling off the back of the existing auditorium, in addition to renovating its kitchen and restrooms. This change would technically be an improvement rather than an expansion because it would use most of the building’s existing structural “footprint.” It would also not boost indoor capacity beyond the allowable 250 (though the theater currently limits its attendance to about 220). The plan, therefore, would not require additional parking or an approval process on the scale of Enzian Forever. Indeed, the Maitland City Council has already given the go-ahead, on a 3-1 vote at a meeting on February 10. (That vote overturned a previous decision, on December 18, that claimed the plans did not amount to a “minor change” and would require a lengthier approval process and public hearings.) However, this doesn’t represent a final approval, according to Robert Sargent, Maitland’s public information officer. Instead, it means that no further involvement of the City Council or the Planning and Zoning Commission is required. The next step is a simple approval from city staff, contingent upon the construction plans meeting the scope of a “minor change.” That approval could happen in as little as a month, according to Sargent, though the Enzian has provided no construction timetable. “Renovation plans have been approved as a minor change by Maitland’s City Council, and in light of this, Enzian staff will continue to work with city staff on the project moving forward,” says Janie Pope, Enzian’s director of development and public relations. The Enzian has not yet shared precisely how it intends to partition its existing theater and how it intends to achieve the ceiling height necessary for a second movie screen. Of particular interest is whether the new auditorium will include tables and seats, like the existing theater, or just seats. Plans filed with the City of Maitland call for the following: 1. “Increase of structure by 1,000 square feet to provide approximately 450 square feet for purposes of kitchen efficiency and to improve the men’s and women’s bathrooms. The exterior of the addition provides for no openings and is totally contained within the city’s setback area; 2. Separating 50 of the 250 permitted seats into a second “intimate” theater to allowfor staggered starting times. Seat count is the same as presently permitted; 3. Addition of a weather canopy to protect public from inclement weather when standing in line; 4. Upgrading handicapped parking area to comply with current standards and adding one additional handicapped parking space; and 5. Moving interior stairwell to office from inside the existing structure to outside the existing structure.” The document also states, “The cumulative effect of these changes do not result in the reasonable likelihood of adverse impact to adjacent properties.” It’s unclear whether a 4K digital projector and 35mm reel-to-reel film projector are part of the project. That 35mm projector, which programmers have long wanted, would make it easier to secure film prints. It would also allow the Enzian to better compete with Alamo Drafthouse, which is expected to open a cinema later this year in south Orlando, on Daryl Carter Parkway, near Vineland Premium Outlets. That theater is expected to have a reel-to-reel 35mm projector, in addition to multiple 4K projectors. (The Enzian currently has a 2K digital projector and a platter-system film projector, which is not as popular with studios as the reel-to-reel system.) The Enzian has not said how much the project will cost or how it intends to pay for it, but the theater could use money left over from the $6.5 million Enzian Forever project. That plan called for a new lobby, restrooms, offices and two additional screens, so this new plan is likely to be significantly less expensive. But it’s not clear how much of that money remains. (When Enzian Forever was canceled, the theater offered donors their money back upon request, but many chose to let Enzian keep the donations contingent upon the funds being used for future renovations, according to David Schillhammer, former Enzian executive director.) *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ## Update Construction plans still have not been released as of March 8, but two new details have emerged. According to a source familiar with the project, the existing auditorium will likely be partitioned at the point where the existing projection booth overhangs the auditorium. This would preserve part of the existing back section, including four-top tables at the front of that section. It might also allow room for high two-top tables to be positioned against the back wall. The new auditorium, which will seat 50, would extend from that wall to the exterior front wall of the building. But because the second floor (with offices and the existing auditorium’s projection booth) will remain, how will the second auditorium be tall enough for a movie screen? That could be achieved, according to a source familiar with the project, by lowering the floor by up to 10 feet. Below is the section of the existing auditorium that will be altered. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Enzian-back-section-March-2020-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Enzian-back-section-March-2020-2.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Enzian-back-section-March-2020.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Enzian-back-section-March-2020.jpg) --- ### [Love Your Shorts 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2020/) **Published:** February 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival brings international films to Sanford [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Resurrection.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Resurrection.jpg)*Resurrection*, by France’s Sabine Crossen, will screen in the drama block on Sunday at 1 p.m. (image courtesy Nicolas Roucou) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/2020-love-your-shorts-film-festival-brings-a-slew-of-international-movies-to-sanford/Content?oid=26805987), February 12, 2020 Turning 10 years old this year, Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival has always been a local favorite thanks to its commitment to Orlando filmmakers. But with a new emphasis on international selections, the event is drawing increased interest from around the globe. Turns out it’s a short world after all. “We have long had strong international submissions,” says Brian Casey, screening and programming director. “What changed this year is … we noticed that we had so many great international submissions, and we have talked about a block for foreign films for several years. \[So\] we felt it was time to take the step and do it this year because when we grouped some of the international films together, … it freed up space in other blocks to show more films in general.” Indeed, the festival, which is scheduled for February 13-16 at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, will screen more films than ever: 81 total. As usual, all movies are less than 30 minutes and are divided into genre blocks. With the addition of the international program on Saturday at 5 p.m. (a time filled in past years by a discussion panel), the festival will now contain 10 blocks. (International films are not confined to the international block.) To kick things off, organizers will hold a free “education day” on February 13, with a discussion panel and films by UCF students. The festival then gets underway in earnest on Friday evening with a block of films from all genres. It continues on Saturday with E for Everyone, animation, documentary, international, comedy and sci-fi/horror, and concludes on Sunday with drama, Florida Flavor and Best of the Fest, which compiles the audience winners from the previous blocks. A panel of judges then picks the overall winner. France’s Sabine Crossen and England’s Andrew Margetson both hope to hop the Atlantic Ocean for Florida. Margetson’s movie will screen in the international block while Crossen’s will play the drama program. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Metal-Detector.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Metal-Detector.jpg)*Metal Detector* by France’s Jennifer Fox Geraghty, will screen in the international block on Saturday at 5 p.m. “I hope to meet fellow filmmakers, exchange with film buffs and make myself available to the public to talk about my short film, *Resurrectio*n … and film in general. I would love to visit local places and, well, if the film is well received, why not bring back an award from Sanford to Paris?” Crossen jokes. “I first heard about Love Your Shorts from the Film Freeway website,” Margetson says. “My film, *Housekeeping*, had just shown at Naples \[Florida\] International Film Festival, where I’d had a great experience. … If I come \[to Sanford\], I will use the opportunity to meet as many other filmmakers and industry people as possible, plus see a load of shorts. If I have any spare time, I’ll look into trying to do some fishing!” Other filmmakers will also be fishing: for feedback. Moviemakers from around the world often submit to the festival to receive both compliments and constructive criticism from Sanford audiences, which often differ from those in the filmmakers’ countries. Those nations include Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Moldova, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Despite the international attention, the festival’s success is due mostly to its local connections. “None of this could have happened without the involvement of the Sanford community: our sponsors, volunteers, partners and friends of the festival, who have supported this event from the beginning,” says festival co-founder Gene Kruckemyer. “The right people have become involved at the right time along the way.” Perhaps Australia’s Henry Boffin, director of *Lavender*, says it best. “The vibe I got from the festival was that the coordinators truly believe in making a showcase of films that the community will respond to and they wish to celebrate those who pour their all into the often thankless task of filmmaking,” Boffin says. “I can tell that Love Your Shorts does exactly what it says in the name.” Tickets to a single block cost $10, except for E for Everyone, which is $3. A weekend pass is $75. For more information, visit [LoveYourShorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). ## [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Best-of-the-Fest.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Best-of-the-Fest.jpg)Epilogue The above article proved partially prophetic, as Crossen’s film, *Resurrection*, won best of the fest. Congratulations, Sabine (far left in the photo)! I wrote this article having not seen her movie, but after seeing it, I’d place it among my top two of the entire festival. The other film joining *Resurrection* at the top of my list would be the Oscar-nominated *Daughter*, which played in the animation block. That film, sadly, was not picked by the audience and was therefore unable to move on to the best of the fest. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Oscar predictions 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-predictions-2020/) **Published:** February 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## My picks for the 92nd Academy Awards [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)Sam Mendes’ *1917* is the front-runner for best film. George MacKay (center) stars as Schofield. (image copyright DreamWorks / Universal) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 7, 2020 The 92nd Academy Awards, honoring the best filmmaking of 2019, will be held February 9 in Los Angeles. I predict [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) will have a strong night, taking home six trophies, including best film. Below are my complete predictions, along with my opinions of who “deserves to win” (out of the nominees) and who “really deserves to win” (out of ALL films, not just the nominees). And for a complete ranking of all 2019 films I’ve seen, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf). **Best Film** Will win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Really deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Note: Based on its wins at the BAFTAs, the Directors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes (though the latter doesn‘t have any cross-over voters with the Academy), [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) seems a lock. But *Parasite* could be a spoiler. The biggest snub of the year – even more egregious because no one seems to be discussing it – is [*Ad Astra*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/). **Best Director** Will win: Sam Mendes, [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Deserves to win: Sam Mendes, [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Really deserves to win: Sam Mendes, [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) **Best Actor** Will win: Joaquin Phoenix, [*Joker*](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) Deserves to win: Adam Driver, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Really deserves to win: Adam Driver, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Note: Phoenix and Driver dominate the most competitive category of this year’s Oscars. Though I’m rooting for Driver, as his performance seemed a tad more complete and versatile, this is Phoenix’s year and I’ll be happy if he wins. (I’m still a bit sad that Eddie Murphy didn’t receive more recognition for *Dolemite Is My Name*). **Best Actress** Will win: Renée Zellweger, [*Judy*](http://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) Deserves to win: Scarlett Johansson, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Really deserves to win: Julianne Moore, [*Gloria Bell*](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/07/12/and-the-oscar-goes-to/) **Best Supporting Actor** Will win: Brad Pitt, [*Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*](http://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) Deserves to win: Anthony Hopkins, [*The Two Popes*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) Really deserves to win: Jonathan Majors, [*The Last Black Man in San Francisco*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/) Note: The lead-actor category was so competitive this year that actors who might have otherwise been considered for lead were pushed into consideration for supporting actor. Hopkins and Tom Hanks ([*A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood*](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/)) illustrate that. One actor noticeably missing from this category is Tracy Letts ([*Ford v Ferrari*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/)), in addition to Jonathan Majors ([*The Last Black Man in San Francisco*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/)), who really deserves to win (if you consider his performance a supporting one). If Pitt wins, which I expect him to, justice will have at least been served, as he was left out of the lead-actor category for [*Ad Astra*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/). **Best Supporting Actress** Will win: Laura Dern, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Deserves to win: Margot Robbie, [*Bombshell*](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) Really deserves to win: Adèle Haenel, *Portrait of a Lady on Fire* Note: Haenel’s performance could be considered a lead, but it’s noticeably smaller than her co-star. So, in keeping with this year’s pattern of sliding smaller lead roles into the supporting category, she would be my pick. Alas, she didn’t get nominated. Neither did the film. **Best International Feature (Foreign-Language)** Will win: *Parasite* Deserves to win: *Parasite* Really deserves to win: *Portrait of a Lady on Fire* Note: Thanks to the flawed nominating process, which allows just one nominee per country, France nominated *Les Miserables* instead of *Portrait of a Lady on Fire*. **Best Original Screenplay** Will win: Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin-Won, *Parasite* Deserves to win: Noah Baumbach, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Really deserves to win: Noah Baumbach, [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) **Best Adapted Screenplay** Will win: Taika Waititi, [*Jojo Rabbit*](http://www.meiermovies.com/jojo-rabbit/) Deserves to win: Anthony McCarten, [*The Two Popes*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) Really deserves to win: Anthony McCarten, [*The Two Popes*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) **Best Editing** Will win: [*Ford v Ferrari*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/) Deserves to win: [*Joker*](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) Really deserves to win: [*Joker*](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) **Best Cinematography** Will win: Roger Deakins, *[1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/)* Deserves to win: Roger Deakins, *[1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/)* Really deserves to win: Roger Deakins, [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Note: Bet the farm on this one. **Best Production Design** Will win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Really deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Note: [*Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*](http://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) could be the spoiler here. **Best Costumes** Will win: [*Little Women* ](http://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/) Deserves to win: [*Little Women*](http://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/) Really deserves to win: [*Little Women*](http://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/) **Best Makeup and Hairstyling** Will win: [*Bombshell*](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) Deserves to win: [*Bombshell*](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) Really deserves to win: [*Bombshell*](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) **Best Visual Effects** Will win: [*The Irishman*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-irishman/) Deserves to win: [*The Lion King*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) Really deserves to win: [*The Lion King*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) Note: [*The Lion King*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) should also have been nominated for best animated film, but it was marketed as a live-action film, which is ridiculous. The quality of this category is crazy-good this year. (Not even making the cut were [*Ad Astra*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/), [*Alita: Battle Angel*](http://www.meiermovies.com/alita-battle-angel/) and *[Gemini Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/gemini-man/)*, all of which are deserving.) **Best Original Score** Will win: [*Joker*](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) Deserves to win: [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) Really deserves to win: [*Marriage Story*](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) **Best Original Song** Will win: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” *Rocketman* Deserves to win: “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” [*Toy Story 4*](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) Really deserves to win: “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” [*Toy Story 4*](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) **Best Sound Editing** Will win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Really deserves to win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) **Best Sound Mixing** Will win: [*1917*](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) Deserves to win: [*Ad Astra*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/) Really deserves to win: [*Ad Astra*](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/) Note: The sound categories invariably confuse people not familiar with the art of sound design. Think of sound editing as something that happens first, on a micro level. Then sound mixing comes along, on a macro level, and puts it all together. (If you can’t hear the dialogue underneath the explosions and music, blame the sound mixing.) **Best Animated Feature** Will win: [*Toy Story 4*](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) Deserves to win: [*Toy Story 4*](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) Really deserves to win: [*Toy Story 4*](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) Note: *I Lost My Body* probably won’t win, but it deserves recognition as the most original and visionary animated feature of the year. **Best Documentary Feature** Will win: *For Sama* Note: I haven’t seen all the nominees yet, so I’ll pass on naming my preferences. However, my top two docs are [*63 Up*](http://www.meiermovies.com/63-up/) and *Apollo 11*. (Among the nominees, *American Factory* is better than *Honeyland*.) **Best Documentary Short** Will win: [*Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Deserves to win: [*Life Overtakes Me*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Really deserves to win: [*Rooting for Roona*](http://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) **Best Live-Action Short** Will win: [*Brotherhood*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Deserves to win: [*The Neighbors’ Window*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Really deserves to win: *This Time Away* **Best Animated Short** Will win: [*Mémorable*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Deserves to win: [*Mémorable*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Really deserves to win: [*Mémorable*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) Note: [*Hair Love*](http://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) has a good chance of winning, though it’s only the fourth best of the nominees. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Oscar Shorts 2020](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscar-shorts-2020/) **Published:** January 29, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### A look at the animated, live-action narrative and doc nominees [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/maitlands-enzian-will-screen-oscar-nominees-for-animated-live-action-and-documentary-shorts/Content?oid=26719920), January 29, 2020 ‘Tis the season to get short, as Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater and similar cinemas around the country screen the Academy Award nominees for animated, live-action narrative and documentary shorts of 2019. To be eligible for nomination, films must either complete a seven-day theatrical run in New York City or Los Angeles; win a “qualifying award” at one of only about 100 Oscar-accredited festivals, the Florida Film Festival being one; or win a top prize at the Student Academy Awards. (These shortlisted films are then winnowed down to five for each category.) It’s an odd, unpredictable, hoop-jumping competition dependent on just a few judges, but it’s still the closest thing to a “best of the year” collection, and it’s always a pleasure to behold. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/memorable.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/memorable.jpg)*Mémorable*, written and directed by Bruno Collet, is the best of the 2019 short-film nominees. (image copyright Vivement Lundi) The animated block is often the audience favorite, as it’s the most visually imaginative. Even better, you get more than just the five nominees, as the Academy adds three “highly commended” films to round out the program. The one animated revelation is the French-language ***Mémorable*** (5 stars out of 5), which offers a unique, surreal view of dementia. As do all of this year’s animated selections, it eschews cookie-cutter, hyper-realistic CGI for a more organic look. Indeed, stop-motion is the medium of choice, as five of the eight films employ or digitally mimic this technique, with the other three embracing a hand-drawn look. Thematic similarities abound too, with ***Daughter*** (4 stars), ***Hair Love*** (3 stars) and ***Sister*** (4 stars) exploring familial issues. (The latter, which played last year’s Florida Film Festival, excoriates China’s one-child policy.) And, as usual, the “highly commended” offerings are just as good if not better than a couple of the nominees. ***Henrietta Bulkowski*** (4 stars) is particularly memorable for its affirmation that our perceived flaw can be our strength, while the deceptively simple ***The Bird & the Whale*** (4 stars) offers a beautiful metaphor on friendship and spirituality. The live-action narratives require more patience, but each film, though flawed, posits something powerful. Surprisingly, the one that starts the weakest ends the strongest. ***The Neighbors’ Window*** (4 stars) is the anecdotal story of busy parents enamored of the carefree lifestyle of the young couple in a neighboring apartment. It’s an existential, metatheatrical reminder that the greener grass on the other side of the fence might just be your own. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Life-Overtakes-Me.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Life-Overtakes-Me.jpg)*Life Overtakes Me*, directed by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson, is my pick for the best of this year’s short doc Oscar nominees. (image copyright Netflix / Stylo Films) The rest of the films (all 3 stars) showcase a variety of cultures, traditions and stories but are similarly gritty, realistic and tense, with refreshingly unpredictable narratives. Regrettably, those narratives don’t conclude with as much emotional punch as the directors probably intended, but the program is still worth watching. (I just regret that *This Time Away*, starring Timothy Spall, didn’t make the cut, as it’s better than all nominees.) Though the doc shorts are usually the toughest to take, this year’s group isn’t as brutal as in the past, with each of the five concluding with a sense of hope and positivity. The most serene, at least stylistically, is ***Life Overtakes Me*** (5 stars), a Swedish doc about refugee children with a mysterious illness called Resignation Syndrome. This eye-opening look, literally, at the consequences of childhood trauma is the best of the bunch. The rest of the docs – except the contrived ***Walk Run Cha-Cha*** (2 stars) – are also socially and politically essential and a reminder of the power of short filmmaking. ### **All Oscar Shorts ranked** 1\. Mémorable FL — 5 stars 2\. Life Overtakes Me FL — 5 stars 3\. Sister FL — 4 stars 4\. In the Absence FL — 4 stars 5\. Dcera (Daughter) FL — 4 stars 6\. The Neighbors’ Window — 4 stars 7\. Learning to Skate in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) FL — 4 stars 8\. Henrietta Bulkowski — 4 stars (highly commended, not nominated) 9\. Hors Piste (Off Road) — 4 stars (highly commended, not nominated) 10\. St. Louis Superman — 4 stars 11\. The Bird & the Whale — 4 stars (highly commended, not nominated) 12\. Brotherhood FL — 3 stars 13\. Une Soeur (A Sister) FL — 3 stars 14\. Saria FL — 3 stars 15\. Nefta Football Club FL — 3 stars 16\. Hair Love — 3 stars 17\. Kitbull — 3 stars 18\. Walk Run Cha-Cha — 2 stars *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Best of 2019 and the decade](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2019-and-the-decade/) **Published:** December 31, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## What are the top films of this year and the 2010s? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)George MacKay stars in Sam Mendes’ *1917*, the best film of 2019. (image copyright Universal Pictures / Amblin Partners / DreamWorks) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 31, 2019 Creating a list of the best films of a given year before you’ve seen all the good films from that year is a silly exercise. A rush to judgment. A click-bait clinic. But yet here I am again: putting out a list before I’ve caught up on all the end-of-the-year domestic releases, not to mention some of the best foreign-language and documentary films, many of which don’t get seen by American audiences (and even American critics) until well into the next year. So please take this top-20 list with a large salt lick. (And keep checking [my big Yearly List](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf), which I update constantly as I see new films.) More set in stone, however, is my top 10 of the decade, which I’ve had a chance to mull over for nearly 10 years. I’m particularly proud of that list’s diversity, as it includes a documentary, two foreign-language offerings, a couple of animated films, a silent film, a couple of “art films” and even two films that appear to have been shot in a single take. It’s quite the eclectic group. Before we look at the movie lists, let us recognize some of 2019’s best performances. In the lead-actor race, Adam Driver in *Marriage Story* wins in a photo finish over Joaquin Phoenix in *Joker*. For lead actress, I am sticking with my early selection of Julianne Moore in the disappointingly overlooked *Gloria Bell*. For supporting actor (if you can really call it a supporting performance), I recognize Anthony Hopkins in *The Two Popes*. And for supporting actress (again, if it’s truly a supporting performance instead of a lead), I pick Adèle Haenel from *Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)*. **Best of 2019 (so far)** 1\. [1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) – 4 ¾ stars 2\. [Ad Astra](http://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/) – 4 ½ 3\. [Joker](http://www.meiermovies.com/joker/) 4\. [Marriage Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/marriage-story/) 5\. [Toy Story 4](http://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) 6\. 63 Up TV – 4 ¼ 7\. [The Two Popes](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) 8\. [A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/) 9\. Apollo 11 10\. [Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-rise-of-skywalker/) 11\. [Ford v Ferrari](http://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/) – 4 12\. [Gloria Bell](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/07/12/and-the-oscar-goes-to/) 13\. [The Last Black Man in San Francisco](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/) 14\. Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) FL 15\. [Jojo Rabbit](http://www.meiermovies.com/jojo-rabbit/) 16\. Rocketman 17\. [Knives Out](http://www.meiermovies.com/knives-out/) – 3 ¾ 18\. Parasite FL 19\. Midsommar 20\. [The Farewell](http://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) FL [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk-2.jpg)Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk* is the best film of the decade. (image copyright Syncopy / Warner Brothers) **Best of the Decade** 1\. [Dunkirk](http://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) – 5 stars 2\. Hugo (3-D version) 3\. [Anna Karenina](http://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/) 4\. [Loving Vincent](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) – 4 ¾ 5\. [1917](http://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) 6\. Toy Story 3 (3-D version) 7\. The Artist SlWS \* 8\. [Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)](http://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) \* 9\. The Act of Killing FL 10\. Holy Motors FL And just for fun, here are the four worst of the decade. (You can catch them playing in a cinema with an out-of-focus projector, broken seats, crackly speakers and sticky floors – in hell.) 4\. [Saving Christmas](http://www.meiermovies.com/ho-ho-horrible/) – 0 stars 3\. [Bad Black](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) FL 2\. Fateful Findings 1\. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [James Dean reborn?](https://www.meiermovies.com/james-dean-reborn/) **Published:** November 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Everything dead is new again [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/James-Dean-2020.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/James-Dean-2020.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 8, 2019 After seeing the first films by the Lumière brothers in 1895, a journalist wrote, “Death will cease to be absolute.” Well, death is apparently about to be dealt another technological blow, as it was just announced that iconic actor James Dean has been cast in a new movie, 64 years after he was killed in a car crash. Dean’s likeness will appear next year in *Finding Jack*, a Vietnam War narrative, thanks to the same CGI process that brought Peter Cushing back to life for *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story* in 2016. But who will give voice to Dean? In the movie, it will be another actor, as it was for Cushing in *Rogue One*. But Dean remains silent in real life, and therein lies the moral dilemma. Yes, the actor’s estate has given permission to use Dean’s likeness, but who are they? Dean, who died at age 24, had no wife or kids. And everyone who knew him well is now dead. So they seem ill suited to make this decision, especially because Dean was apparently anti-war and will now be associated with a war-themed movie. The film’s producers brag about how far the technology has come and how realistic the creation will be. And they also seemingly pay tribute to Dean by claiming that they could find no one else to play the part. “We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean,” co-director Max Ernst is quoted in *[The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afm-james-dean-reborn-cgi-vietnam-war-action-drama-1252703)*. He couldn’t find another 24-year-old white actor? That’s doubtful. Frankly, this sounds like a publicity stunt, one that is admittedly difficult to resist. Indeed, the technology was tough for director Gareth Edwards to resist in *Rogue One*, and the re-creation of Cushing – which seemed far more appropriate and ethical than Dean’s – was one of the reasons I gave the film such [a good review](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) three years ago. But while the re-creation of Dean might be irresistible, it’s also reprehensible. Let our technological dive down the rabbit hole begin. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *Update: As of 2023, this project has been canceled.* --- ### [Orlando Film Festival 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival-2019/) **Published:** October 21, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## OFF continues at Cobb Plaza Cinema Café [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Tattooed-Heart.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Tattooed-Heart.jpg)Jennifer Morrison stars in *The Tattooed Heart*. (image courtesy Orlando Film Festival) From *The Orlando Weekly*, October 21, 2019 The 14th annual Orlando Film Festival continues through Thursday at the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café downtown. This year’s event is screening 317 films (including features and shorts), according to Executive Director Daniel Springen. Though that total is down slightly from previous years, OFF is still one of the largest film festivals in North America, judging by number of movies. Quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality, however, so the best plan is to purchase a one-day pass for $20 (or an all-festival pass for $100) and then pick your films wisely. The most highly regarded feature this year has been writer-director Taika Waititi’s *JoJo Rabbit*, which received its Florida premiere on Saturday night. Surprisingly, the house was only about half full, but the audience was overwhelmingly appreciative, and rightfully so, as the film is an unexpectedly mature and refreshingly eclectic mix of comedy and drama. The film won’t screen again at the festival, but you can catch it when it gets a general release in Orlando on November 8. (And look my full review that week.) If you want some short recommendations, literally, you can’t go wrong with the “Suspense & Thrillers 2” group, screening for the final time on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Comprising six short movies, it’s the smartest and most professional block I saw at the festival. The best of the bunch is writer-director Raymond Wood’s *Cells*, a 12-minute, edge-of-your-seat thriller with both a twist and a social message. But just as emotionally gripping is *The Tattooed Heart*, directed by Sheldon Schwartz and starring Jennifer Morrison as an instructor at a juvenile-detention facility who forms a unique, and dangerous, bond with one of her students. Also worth a watch is the “Sci-Fi 1” block, screening again on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Though not all the ideas in the five films are entirely original, most of these mini-movies have something aesthetically interesting to say. And if you’re lucky, you might meet some of the filmmakers, which is, after all, one of the top reasons for attending the festival. Visit [OrlandoFilmFest.com](https://orlandofilmfest.com/) for more information. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [South Asian Film Festival turns 25](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-turns-25/) **Published:** October 2, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Sweet-Reqiuem.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Sweet-Reqiuem.jpg)*The Sweet Requiem* (all images courtesy of Enzian Theater) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/south-asian-film-festival-offers-orlando-hits-and-misses-in-its-25th-year/Content?oid=26135198), October 9, 2019 The Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival, scheduled for October 12-14, is celebrating its silver anniversary with four features, five shorts and cuisine honoring the culture of the Indian subcontinent. “This year there’s a lot of variety and diversity to the programming, to the types of films we’re playing, to the themes that are covered, which are quite important. There’s a lot of premieres, a lot of things making their Florida premiere that we’re excited about,” says Enzian Programming Director Matthew Curtis. “We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish all these years. As far as we can tell, this is the longest continually running South Asian film festival in the country.” OK, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Saturday’s films are the weakest. So if you’re able to attend just two days, make it Sunday and Monday. Still, the $55 pass, which allows entry to all films (plus priority seating), is a decent deal. Without it, you will pay $12 for each block and might not get the best seats. *The Last Color* is first, at 11 a.m. on Saturday. A Hindi-language production directed by Vikas Khanna and based on his novel, this drama explores the treatment of widows in Indian culture, through the eyes of an “untouchable” orphan girl. While struggling for survival on the ancient streets of Banaras, 9-year-old Chhoti meets Noor, who explains that widows are not permitted to participate in Holi, the Indian festival of color. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Field.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Field.jpg)*The Field* “There is an age-old tradition that after a woman’s husband dies, she has to wear only white … so that she always remains colorless,” Noor tells Chhoti. Though that misogynistic tradition stifles Noor’s freedom, it doesn’t steal her empathy, and the old woman’s kindness stays with Chhoti throughout her life. The subject is obviously worthwhile, which makes it all the more frustrating that the film is amateurishly executed. The heavy-handed storytelling, coupled with clunky editing, reminds one of the difficulties of bringing a book to the screen, especially when it’s the director’s first feature. Curtis and his fellow programmers usually do a good job of juggling genres, and this year’s event is no exception. Because three of the four features offer serious fare, programmers obviously felt the need to lighten the mood. And so they do with the festival’s second film, *American Hasi*, directed by Laura Asherman and scheduled for Saturday at 1:45 p.m. But intentions do not always a good movie make, and this documentary about an Indian-American comedian returning to his native country plays more like a 75-minute reality-television episode than an exploration of cultural differences and career struggles. “I’ve gotta be funnier,” Tushar Singh tells himself as he endeavors to connect with his audience. True that. The festival gets back on track at 11 a.m. on Sunday with “Chhota Cinema: New Indian Shorts,” which includes five short offerings. “Chhota” means “tiny” in Hindi, but there is nothing small about these filmmakers’ achievements. *Lady Bikers of Kolkata*, a documentary about female motorcyclists in India, will probably hold the most interest for attendees, as it was directed by University of Central Florida students Ramsey Khawaja and Sarah Holland. It’s good to see the Enzian embrace local talent, and it will mean even more because Holland will be attending the festival, as will filmmakers representing four of the nine films. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Wedding-Guest.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Wedding-Guest.jpg)*The Wedding Guest* Two of the shorts are Hindi-language dramas, and both deliver an emotional impact, though the subjects are quite different. *Difficult People* focuses on generational struggle between a father and son following the mother’s death. Nothing in director Sohil Vaidya’s film is particularly unique, but the assured cinematography, effective score and memorable performances mean the 20-minute drama adds up to more than the sum of its screenplay’s parts. The second short drama, *The Field*, is even better. Helmed by Sandhya Suri, it’s a tale of poverty in agricultural India – until an unexpected rendezvous upends our expectations of both the film and the culture it depicts. As they did with *American Hasi*, programmers understandably wanted to inject comedy into the shorts collection. But director Kate Chamuris’s *A Sari for Pallavi* – about an Indian-American’s fashion-based culture clash – is just too comedically broad for this otherwise respectable program. All festival shortcomings are washed away, however, by *Rooting for Roona*, a documentary about an Indian girl with a remarkable birth defect. Shot over five years, Pavitra Chalam and Akshay Shankar’s film will lock you in an emotional vice for 40 minutes. It’s the best movie of the festival – short or feature. That’s a tough act to follow, but *The Sweet Requiem* (Sunday at 2:15 p.m.) is up to the job thanks to its performances and cultural relevance. Dolkar is a young Tibetan woman living in Delhi, India. Refugeed at a young age, she still honors her homeland but has repressed most of her childhood – until a mysterious stranger brings her memories flooding back. Directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam fill their film with enough compassion and intrigue to offset some slow pacing and narrative lightness. And their flashbacks, which paint a picture of Dolkar’s harrowing escape from Tibet, never feel fake. Indeed, integrity is the hallmark of their effort. On Monday at 7 p.m., *The Wedding Guest* brings the festival to a mysterious, twisty, slightly ambiguous conclusion. The toughest film of the festival to categorize, it’s equal parts action heist, neo-noir, romantic slow-burner and film de femme. But that’s not surprising considering writer-director Michael Winterbottom’s penchant for genre diversity. Though this trip is often tough to follow, with Winterbottom embracing mood over story and Michelangelo Antonioni-style misdirection over predictability, the film never entirely loses its way thanks to beautiful location work (throughout Pakistan and India) and strong turns by the infinitely watchable Radhika Apte and Dev Patel (*Slumdog Millionaire*, *Lion*). If the movies don’t whet your appetite, the menu might. It features tempura vegetables, vegetable samosas, chicken ticka, chicken kabobs, tofu and curry pita sandwiches, mango lassi (a yogurt-based drink), Singha beer and chai masala hot tea. For more information about the festival, which is co-presented by the Asian Cultural Association, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/). *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Change coming to FilmSlam](https://www.meiermovies.com/change-coming-to-filmslam/) **Published:** September 27, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Enzian parts ways with host Jen Vargas, but she has other ideas [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam.jpg)Enzian Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson and FilmSlam host and programmer Jen Vargas address attendees at a 2015 Slam. From *The Orlando Weekly*, September 27, 2019 Maitland’s Enzian Theater announced yesterday that it will relieve FilmSlam volunteer host and programmer Jen Vargas of her duties and instead utilize its interns under the supervision of Enzian Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson, the former host of FilmSlam. However, Vargas says her involvement with the event will not end. “Please join us on October 6 at 1 p.m. at Enzian Theater … as we conclude this year’s film slam \[sic\] showcase, and say farewell and thank you to volunteer and host Jen Vargas,” the Enzian said in a prepared statement. “Beginning in January 2020, Enzian staff will put a fresh spin on its ongoing, local independent film showcase by enhancing the brand, streamlining the program’s marketing and increasing local filmmaker outreach. Staff also plans to incorporate interns into the programming, scheduling and hosting of the program.” FilmSlam began in 2005 at the Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC) and moved to Enzian one year later. It has been held there since, run by different hosts, including Anderson, who helmed it for six years prior to handing it to Vargas. But because it was not created by the Enzian and has always been a volunteer-run event, ownership of the FilmSlam name has been disputed. Indeed, Vargas says she will retain the rights to the logo and social-media accounts, and suggests her version of FilmSlam is here to stay. “When FilmSlam’s original founder, Jason Neff, brought the idea to Central Florida from the West Coast in 2005, the vision was always clear,” Vargas says. “FilmSlam has always been championed by us, the filmmakers. This will never change as long as I’m around, and I’m not going anywhere. FilmSlam’s physical venue may change, as it will again in 2020, but our dedication to community and giving a platform to Florida’s independent filmmaker never will. We thank Enzian Theater for their partnership these past 13 years and look forward to what’s next.” But Janie Pope, Enzian’s director of development and public relations, stresses that FilmSlam will remain at Enzian. “Since 2006, when Enzian took ownership of the program per DMAC’s request – and willingly, of course – we’ve been operating FilmSlam in every way,” Pope says. “So we’ve had volunteers that have coordinated it, and also we have paid for it and hosted it at our facility as a venue. And our staff has put the segments together. “I am under the understanding that Jen created all of the social-media accounts except for the Facebook page, and she did that during her time as a volunteer, host and coordinator for the program for us, but since she did create them and she’s interested in continuing her own program, both Elizabeth \[Mukherjee\] and I were comfortable with her keeping the accounts that she created because, at the end of the day, we’re going to continue doing the program that we’ve been doing, and if Jennifer would like to do her own local indie showcase, she’s welcome to. And we just consider that to be more opportunities for filmmakers locally.” And what’s the legal situation regarding the name? “To be honest, there really isn’t one,” Pope says. “FilmSlam is similar to a poetry slam or a film festival, and while I do recognize that it’s been used in the sense of a formal … noun \[as\] the name of our event series, it existed before us when DMAC created it, and it has been called FilmSlam this entire time. If Jen chooses to use that, we aren’t gonna do anything other than support her endeavor to provide local filmmakers opportunities for programming. We are going to continue calling ours FilmSlam, and we are doing a rebranding just so that it’s clear that it’s Enzian FilmSlam. And the only thing I could ask from Jen is, if she should choose to continue her program, that she not use the Enzian name. That’s where it gets legally confusing. “FilmSlam with the two words pushed together in the logo: It’s my understanding that was created by DMAC, so we have been operating that,” Pope says. “But Enzian does not have any sort of copyright or legal ownership of that in particular, and neither does Jen. So we felt much more comfortable using our brand and continuing with that, and if she chooses to work with the logo that has been in use up to now, then that’s her prerogative.” The logo controversy might become moot, however, as Anderson confirms that the Enzian will be redesigning the logo and thereby creating a new copyrighted image. In addition to a change in leadership of Enzian’s FilmSlam, Pope stresses that the event will focus more on filmmaker education. “I can’t think of a better way to initiate students into the organizational side of festival planning” than by involving the Enzian’s filmmaking interns, Pope said in a prepared statement. “As Orlando’s local art-house theater, Enzian and its film slam \[sic\] program is the perfect setting for students to gain experience in the independent film industry. In 2020, Enzian will celebrate 15 years of hosting this ongoing event for local filmmakers. It’s the perfect time to kick things up a notch, and we’re excited for what is to come.” This is the second major change in FilmSlam in the last 12 months. It follows the Enzian’s announcement in October 2018 that the event would shrink from 10 presentations each year to six and FilmSlam winners would no longer automatically qualify for November’s Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. (However, winning films are still automatically forwarded – without a submission fee – to Brouhaha jurors, who review them for possible inclusion.) The 2020 dates for Enzian’s FilmSlam will be Jan. 19, March 8, May 17, June 14, August 9 and Oct. 11. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *[See this related article](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-to-shrink-filmslam/) concerning the changes in 2018.* ## Update [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Central-Florida-Film-Slam.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Central-Florida-Film-Slam.jpg)The final FilmSlam of the year was held October 6. The Enzian said goodbye to FilmSlam host and programmer Jen Vargas while inviting attendees to return to Enzian next year for more slams. Janie Pope, Enzian’s director of development and public relations, also revealed a new logo (left). The Enzian event is being rebranded as Central Florida Film Slam. Vargas insisted again that she would be taking the event with her to a yet-to-be-announced venue in 2020. Indeed, in social-media posts, Vargas is describing her event as the “one and only” version. At Sunday’s Slam, she and former FilmSlam host and programmer John Theisen invited attendees to support Vargas’s version in the future. However, Vargas’s statement that Enzian’s “new program will not be a FilmSlam program” is incorrect. In fact, that event is moving forward with “Film Slam” in the name, with Enzian interns and staff members running it, and with a greater emphasis on educational outreach. It is scheduled for January 19. Vargas will be keeping the social-media accounts that have been associated with FilmSlam, according to both her and the Enzian. So if you wish to follow the Enzian’s Central Florida Film Slam, you must do so not on the existing FilmSlam pages but instead on the official Enzian social-media pages and at [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/film/filmslam/). --- ### [Fall movie preview](https://www.meiermovies.com/fall-movie-preview/) **Published:** September 25, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Telluride and other festivals shape autumn film schedule [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/telluride-and-other-festivals-shape-orlandos-autumn-film-schedule/Content?oid=26055936) and [*Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/telluride-and-other-festivals-shape-autumn-film-schedule/Content?oid=22804039), September 25, 2019 For 140 years, the tiny Colorado town of Telluride has been shaping the future. Starting in the 1870s, it did so in gold, silver and copper. And in 1974, after the minerals were exhausted, the city turned to celluloid. But the Telluride Film Festival, which I attended over Labor Day weekend, is not alone in molding film’s future. Each September, moviemakers premiere their productions at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and countless, smaller events too. It’s these fests – along with filmmakers who opt for the simpler method of a single, general release – that get cinephiles’ blood pumping and Oscar oddsmakers posturing. And rightfully so, as the fall is cinema’s best season. ***Judy*** (2 ¾ stars stars on 0-5 scale) was the opening-night highlight at Telluride, so that’s where I begin this eclectic examination of some of the best and most notable upcoming films. And it’s a fitting start, as the biopic of movie legend Judy Garland opens nationally this week. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Judy.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Judy.jpeg)Renée Zellweger stars as Judy Garland in “Judy.” (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) Directed by Rupert Goold, the film focuses on the last year of Garland’s life. But it also uses flashbacks to her early MGM days to paint a sad picture of an astonishingly talented but ultimately doomed performer. Renée Zellweger, as Garland, deserves praise for her mimicry, but it’s awfully tough to capture a legend’s soul. And considering the immense joy Garland brought to millions, the film is surprisingly joyless. Still, there’s enough nuanced storytelling to hold one’s interest, and Zellweger is likely to get an Oscar nomination for her physical and vocal transformation. An even better female performance is found in another Telluride gem: ***Marriage Story*** (tentative release date of November 6; 4 ½ stars). Scarlett Johansson plays a headstrong, career-minded wife going through a divorce from a character portrayed by Adam Driver. Together the actors conjure on-screen magic that is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. Writer-director Noah Baumbach told us at Telluride, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever been involved with.” It’s also the best performance of Driver’s career, and that’s saying something considering the actor is everywhere these days. At Telluride alone, he was honored by Martin Scorsese and praised not just for *Marriage Story* but director Scott Burns’ ***The Report*** (November 15; 3 stars), about the CIA’s illegal torture practices post-9/11. But Driver is not an Oscar lock, as he has competition from yet another Telluride entry. ***The Two Popes*** (November 27; 4 ¼ stars), starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, was arguably the hottest ticket at the festival, as writer Anthony McCarten and director Fernando Meirelles have crafted a unique and surprisingly stylish meditation on spirituality. Portraying a mostly fictional meeting between Benedict (Hopkins) and Francis (Pryce), the film entertains and surprises with its boundless energy and intellectualism. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Marriage-Story.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Marriage-Story.jpeg)Look for Oscar nominations for Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, who star in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) Just as enjoyable and similarly powered by two memorable performers (Matt Damon and Christian Bale) is ***Ford v Ferrari*** (November 15; 4 ¼ stars), the tale of the 1960s rivalry between the two great automakers. The most visually impressive film ever made about racing, James Mangold’s movie is that rare, almost Spielbergian combination of art and entertainment. It probably won’t grab Oscar nominations, but ***The Aeronauts*** (December 6; 3 ¼ stars) is to the air what *Ford v Ferrari* is to the road. Directed by Tom Harper and featuring the undeniable chemistry of Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne as pioneering 19th-century balloonists, the film is one of the year’s best family-friendly adventures. It’s impossible to see everything at a festival, so for the following films I rely solely on good buzz and high expectations. And not many upcoming flicks have more of that than ***Waves*** (November 1) and ***Parasite*** (October 11). A darling of both Telluride and Toronto, the former film, directed by Trey Edward Shults, is an emotional examination of family, love and masculinity. *Parasite* delivers punches too, but it does so as a satirical thriller. And apparently enough of those punches landed at Cannes for the festival to award writer-director Joon-ho Bong its top prize. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)Jonathan Pryce, left, and Anthony Hopkins star in “The Two Popes.” (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) *Waves* is drawing comparisons to the work of Terrence Malick, but Telluride and Toronto both included a film by the visual master himself. ***A Hidden Life*** (December 13) is rumored to mark a return to form for Malick’s storytelling but also promises a meditation on spirituality. If you find Malick’s cinema inaccessible, you might enjoy Martin Scorsese’s ***Irishman*** (November 1), Edward Norton’s ***Motherless Brooklyn*** (November 1), Pedro Almodóvar’s ***Pain and Glory*** (October 4), Todd Haynes’ ***Dark Waters*** (November 22), Michael Apted’s ***63 Up*** (the latest chapter of the greatest documentary series ever; November 22), Céline Sciamma’s ***Portrait of a Lady on Fire*** (December 6), Roger Michell’s ***Blackbird*** (no release date yet) and Marielle Heller’s ***A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood*** (November 22), starring Tom Hanks. Slightly stranger choices include Taika Waititi’s ***JoJo Rabbit*** (October 18), Robert Eggers’ ***The Lighthouse*** (October 18) and Todd Phillips’s ***Joker*** (October 4), which won the top award in Venice, thanks in part to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. (But if art-house fare isn’t your bag, the fall will also feature blockbusters such as ***Frozen 2*** (November 22) and ***Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker*** (December 20).) Couldn’t afford a ticket to Telluride? Orlando might be several cinematic steps down from those prestigious locales, but our city still offers its own assortment of fall festivals. This weekend is the hurricane-rescheduled Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo) in Mount Dora while next month will see the Enzian Theater’s South Asian Film Festival on October 12-14 and the Orlando Film Festival on October 17-24. And the events continue the following month with the Enzian’s Central Florida Jewish Film Festival on November 9-12 and the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase on November 23-24. Though this has been by no means an exhaustive study of fall film, I hope it points you in the right direction. And just like those 19th-century Telluride miners, perhaps you too will discover your own nugget of gold. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / Euclid Media / MeierMovies, LLC --- ### [Telluride Film Festival 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/) **Published:** August 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-2019-poster-by-Edwina-White.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-2019-poster-by-Edwina-White.jpg)Poster by Edwina White Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, 2019 The 46th annual Telluride Film Festival is set for August 30 – September 2, 2019, in the little mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. I’ll be attending for the first time. Stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the festival, including photos and film recommendations. Updates will be posted in chronological order below, with the newest content at the top. And don’t miss my wrap-up article and fall movie preview, which will appear in the *The Orlando Weekly* on September 25. And as the films get general releases in the coming months, I will be publishing full reviews here, and in the *OW* and other Euclid Media papers. (For more festival information, visit [TellurideFilmFestival.org](https://www.telluridefilmfestival.org).) **Monday, September 2** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)*The Two Popes*, with Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins The final day of the festival used to be a sleepy one, with most people leaving town and a handful of festival-goers catching the few remaining screenings and encore presentations of the fest’s most popular offerings. Not anymore. Indeed, at the screening of my final festival movie, *The Two Popes*, the audience was essentially read the riot act about saving seats. That’s how intense the competition to get into the Palm Theatre was. But it’s not surprising considering how good the movie is, powered by a writer (Anthony McCarten), a director (Fernando Meirelles) and actors (Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce) at the top of their games. The film is arguably the best of this year’s festival. *The Two Popes* speaks to the necessity of listening and taking into consideration the views of others. But, strangely, Meirelles made an off-the-cuff remark that stunned the audience. While praising Pope Francis and the idea of tolerance, he then said that if it were up to him, he’d shoot President Trump and the president of Brazil. Such comments are never appropriate. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ken-Burns-QA.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ken-Burns-QA.jpg)From left, Dayton Duncan, Julie Dunfey and Ken Burns discuss *Country Music* with the festival moderator. In contrast, Ken Burns is a true beacon of tolerance and respect, and he’s also one of my journalistic heroes. Following a morning screening of one of the episodes of his new documentary, *Country Music*, I told Burns I was looking forward to seeing the entire series on PBS. “I can’t wait for you to see it,” he told me. Ah, the feels. But Labor Day was not just about seeing movies, for this is picnic day in Telluride. It’s a chance for festival-goers to eat, mingle and talk film in a breathtaking setting. It makes one forget the troubles of the world, if just for a few hours. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Telluride-picnic.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Telluride-picnic.jpg)Telluride Film Festival’s Labor Day picnic My biggest festival regret is that I couldn’t see more films, but that’s the regret of every festival-goer. *Parasite*, *63 Up*, *Lyrebird* and *Motherless Brooklyn* were particularly tough to miss. I’ll be seeing them soon, I hope, and I’d recommend you do the same, as the festival buzz was strong on those four films. (Not so for Adam Sandler’s *Uncut Gems*, which generated perhaps the fest’s worst word of mouth.) Safe travels home to all my new friends and acquaintances, especially those of you on the Southeast coast, as Hurricane Dorian continues to tease us. The storm is my only thumbs-down over the four-day festival weekend, as all the cinematic offerings were worth a watch. Thanks, Telluride! **Sunday, September 1** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg)Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and Tom Harper discuss *The Aeronauts*. It’s a wonderful way to start a new month: watching director Tom Harper and actors Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne discuss their latest film, *The Aeronauts*. The movie is a fantastical and energetically hopeful look at pioneering balloonists in 19th-century England. It has its moments of anachronisms and contrivances, but it’s also arguably the best family adventure flick at this year’s festival. Regrettably, I missed the much-buzzed-about *Motherless Brooklyn* and *Lyrebird*, but I did catch the Q&As, which featured Willem Dafoe and Edward Norton for the former and Guy Pearce and Vickie Krieps for the latter. (I also had the privilege of meeting and chatting to Krieps about her wonderful performance in one of the best short films of all time, *Pitter Patter Goes My Heart*, which, astonishingly, she told me was a student film.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg)From left, Guy Pearce, director Dan Friedkin, Vicky Krieps and Claes Bang talk about *Lyrebird*. The highlight of my festival thus far was the evening screening of Noah Baumbach’s *Marriage Story*, at the Galaxy Theatre. This infectious, riveting, riotous and emotionally powerful look at divorce is one of the five best films of 2019 to this point. And the Q&A — with Baumbach, Adam Driver, Alan Alda and Laura Dern — was almost equally inspiring. (We were warned to beware of street-roaming bears on our exit from the theater, but I imagine even wild animals would be tamed by this film’s charms.) **Saturday, August 31** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Martin-Scorsese.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Martin-Scorsese.jpg)Martin Scorsese and Varda’s son, Mathieu Demy (photo by Jen DeSantis) The Telluride Film Festival, above all else, is about sharing movie moments with fellow cinephiles. And there might not be a bigger cinephile in the world than Martin Scorsese, who was among the guests for a special Q&A preceding a screening of the final film of Agnes Varda, *Varda by Agnes*. Listening to Scorsese reminisce about his friendship with Varda and her contributions to filmmaking might turn out to be the highlight of the fest for me. Oh, and the essay-style film itself is definitely worth a watch too, though its rambling structure demands patience. One magical moment that occurred during the aforementioned Q&A was Scorsese’s description of Varda’s interpretation of memories. She viewed them as butterflies that eventually fly away as you age, leaving you lighter, Scorsese said. Interestingly, a moth kept circling Scorsese and Mathieu Demy, Varda’s son, during the entire conversation. Perhaps Varda, who passed away in March, was present at Telluride after all. My other film of the day was *The Report*, starring Adam Driver, who received a special festival tribute. The movie, directed by Scott Z. Burns, chronicles the efforts of Daniel Jones (in attendance) and the Senate Intelligence Committee to expose the illegal torture practices of the CIA following the terrorist attacks of September 11. It’s a powerful story and a sympathetic performance by Driver, though the film lacks a good deal of dramatic ebb and flow. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-cast-and-crew.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-cast-and-crew.jpg)The creative team behind *The Aeronauts* stop for a photo on Colorado Avenue. On a lighter note, I briefly played paparazzi when Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones introduced an outdoor screening of *The Aeronauts*. I didn’t stay for the screening because I intend to see the film on Sunday, but I did put on my fanboy hat and follow them down Colorado Avenue while they were posing for pictures. Yes, Jones is just as striking in person as on screen. My final thought for the day concerns Antonio Banderas, who is here at the festival with the latest Pedro Almodovar film, *Pain and Glory*. Though I missed today’s screening of the movie, I caught a few minutes of his excellent Q&A, during which he said that a recent heart attack had changed his life for the better because it put his life in better focus. It’s a worthwhile reminder that what doesn’t kill you often makes you stronger. **Friday, August 30** Today’s introductory patron/press screening featured *Ford v. Ferrari*, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, and directed by James Mangold (in attendance). Shown in the expansive Werner Herzog Theatre, the film is that rare, almost Spielbergian combination of art and entertainment. It’s arguably the most visually impressive film ever made about auto racing. Though it didn’t quite stick its landing (to mix sports metaphors), the movie will surely end up on my “top 5 of Telluride” list. Look for a more detailed review in the coming weeks in both *The Orlando Weekly* and on this site. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Werner-Herzog-Theatre.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Werner-Herzog-Theatre.jpg)Rushing from the Herzog in Town Park to the Palm on the west side of town, I next took in the tribute to Renee Zellweger, featuring a screening of the much anticipated *Judy*, about the life of Judy Garland. It’s an impressive job of mimicry by Zellweger, but considering how much joy Garland brought to the world, this film is surprisingly joyless. It needs to sit in my brain for a couple of days before I pronounce a thumbs-up or -down, but it won’t be on my list of the top films of the festival. Perhaps the highlight of the evening (other than seeing Zellweger in person) was meeting iconic film critic Leonard Maltin. His books, particularly his Disney ones, helped inspire me to create my own movie lists, so it felt good to finally be able to thank him. **[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-1.jpg)Thursday, August 29** The festival unofficially began last night with an outdoor screening of *Bridget Jones’s Diary* — in 35 mm, no less. (Yes, the festival brings a film projector to Elks Park.) But the fest excitement really kicked into high gear this morning at 10 a.m. when its Brigadoon tent opened (so named because it appears at festival time and then magically disappears into the mist just a few days later). The tent opening coincided with the official announcement of the festival program, including all films and special guests. For the complete line-up, go to [TellurideFilmFestival.org](https://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/). Among my must-sees are a special tribute to Renee Zellweger, featuring a screening of *Judy*; *Pain and Glory* featuring a Q&A with Antonio Banderas; the doc *Varga by Agnes* featuring a Q&A with Martin Scorsese; a tribute to Adam Driver, which includes screenings of *Marriage Story* and *The Report*; *Motherless Brooklyn* featuring a Q&A with Edward Norton and Willem Dafoe; *The Two Popes* featuring a Q&A with Jonathan Pryce and Anthony McCarten (but apparently no Anthony Hopkins); *The Aeronauts* featuring a Q&A with Felicity Jones (be still my heart), Eddie Redmayne and Tom Harper; *Lyrebird* featuring a Q&A with Ridley Scott, Guy Pearce and Vicky Kriepes; and an episode of the upcoming *Country Music* doc, featuring a Q&A with Ken Burns (my first celebrity sighting this morning). Oh, and a screening of *Marriage Story* will feature a Q&A with Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern and Alan Alda. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Telluride-Film-Festival-2.jpg)If I can be in two places at once, I will also try to see what sounds like a spectacular experience: a 35mm print of *The Phantom Carriage*, a silent classic that will apparently be accompanied by a live orchestra. And then there’s the new *Up* movie: *63 Up*, which will feature a Q&A with director and creator Michael Apted. So much to see, so little time, so little oxygen (at 8,600 feet above sea level). And all this while contemplating the potential of a hurricane back in my home town of Orlando. (Please pray that the storm spares the Sunshine State so I can enjoy my Telluride experience in peace and keep you updated on the latest festival news and buzz.) *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [CenFlo grows](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-grows/) **Published:** August 21, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Epic-Theatres-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Epic-Theatres-1.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 21, 2019 *Update: Because of Hurricane Dorian, the festival has been postponed until September 27-29.* Often considered one of the top five film festivals in the Orlando area, the Central Florida Film Festival, or CenFlo, moved last year from its longtime home at Ocoee’s West Orange Cinemas to the new Epic Theatres in Mount Dora. And under the leadership of Brendon Rogers – who took the reins from Bob Cook in 2018 – the festival is back at the new venue for its second year, to be held September 6-8. As one might expect after a big move and a change in leadership, the festival is still experiencing growing pains – but not the way you might expect. Surprisingly, the number of films has jumped from 66 last year to approximately 125 this time. Although that total includes short films, it’s still an ambitious undertaking because it makes CenFlo the third-largest film festival (by number of movies) in Central Florida, after the Orlando Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival. “The 14th annual Central Florida Film Festival will be our biggest yet, with over 125 films from around the world, including features, shorts, documentaries, animated shorts, outstanding student projects and several world premieres,” Rogers says. “Special filmmaker panels with industry professionals, our nightly networking parties, special appearances and more will add to the fun throughout the weekend.” The festival has not confirmed any celebrities yet, and Rogers says they are concentrating more on films than on VIP guests. But the festival might have some announcements closer to kick-off. Tickets to a single screening are $10, a day’s worth costs $35, and an all-festival pass goes for $85. For more information, visit [CentralFloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/). *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [LYSFF Summer Rewind 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-summer-rewind-2019/) **Published:** August 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 20, 2019 “Don’t want no short people,” Randy Newman sang. In Sanford, that sentiment certainly doesn’t extend to short films, which are again in demand as the town celebrates the Love Your Shorts Film Festival Summer Rewind. Held at the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, the program will include 10 films selected from among the best of the ninth annual festival, which took place in February. Every festival genre will be featured – drama, comedy, sci-fi/horror, animation, documentary and “E for Everyone” – with almost half the movies made by Florida filmmakers. Among those Sunshine State selections are *Marcus* by Fort Lauderdale’s J.R. Poli (the winner of the February festival), *Time Was* by Orlando’s John VonMutius, *Rebooted* by Sarasota’s Sagar Arun and Rachel Kral, and *Game Changer* by Sarasota’s Aviv Mano. It’s a refreshing palate cleanser in advance of September’s Central Florida Film Festival (CenFlo) and Global Peace Film Festival. 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 | Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, 201 S. Magnolia Ave., Sanford | [LoveYourShorts.com](http://loveyourshorts.com/) | $8 *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-2019/) **Published:** July 29, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Annual contest set for August at Valencia [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Picture-Perfect-1.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Picture-Perfect-1.png)Picture Perfect, by team Rotten Rabbit, won the Orlando contest in 2018. From *The Orlando Weekly*, July 29, 2019 The 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s oldest and largest timed moviemaking competition, will return to Orlando on August 16-18, with screenings August 23-24 at Valencia Community College East Campus. The contest invites participants to write, shoot, edit and submit a film from 4 to 7 minutes in length in just two days. To prevent teams from working outside the time limitations, films must include a prop, line of dialogue and character name and trait – all of which are revealed seconds before the contest starts. And participants are given a choice of just two genres. Teams can secure equipment, locations, crew and actors in advance, but no one is allowed to receive compensation. The winning films will be screened September 6 at a yet-to-be-announced location. Awards will be presented in several categories, and the overall winning film will compete against nearly 120 other city winners from around the world at Filmapalooza in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in March 2020. (Orlando hosted Filmapalooza earlier this year.) Then the best films from Filmapalooza will be shown at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival.) Local filmmakers Christina Carmona and Fernando Roman are the new Orlando producers. “I’m looking forward to continuing to make the 48 Hour Film Project the best it can be while also showcasing what makes Orlando great by partnering with local sponsors,” says Carmona. “This city has a lot to offer, and I think the 48 Hour Film Project is a great way to not only highlight some of Orlando’s hottest spots, but the outstanding amount of talent it has. We really want Orlando to shine.” What does she suggest for those new to the competition? “My advice for filmmakers registered and those thinking about registering is to go into this competition with an open mind. Plan, but not too much. You never know what genre you’re going to pull, so you may have to take yourself out of your comfort zone, and that’s OK. You just have to be ready for anything.” Roman stresses that professional equipment is not as important as one might think. “You don’t need fancy gear, millions of dollars or two years to tell a good story. Sometimes all it takes is a group of like-minded individuals and 48 hours,” he says. “Be flexible! That is the key to a successful 48 Hour Film Project. Not everything is going to go according to plan. So always have backup plans and be ready to improvise.” Despite their short time in the job, Carmona and Roman are enthusiastic about the Orlando competition’s future. “What I’m looking forward to as one of the new city producers is taking the 48 to a new level,” Roman says. “We’re very limited with the amount of time we had to put together this year’s competition, since we stepped into the role literally a month and half before the event is set to happen. So we have worked hard to just get this year’s event off the ground, and so far we are very pleased with what we have accomplished on such short notice. But we are really wanting to get the city of Orlando behind this event and grow our community involvement. We want the 48 Hour Film Project Orlando to be a staple here in our city.” The team entry fee is $168 before August 6 and $188 after that. For more information, visit . *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2019/) **Published:** March 23, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Fest to show more films than ever before [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Enzian-Stock-Photo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Enzian-Stock-Photo.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 20, 2019 The Florida Film Festival announced tonight that it will screen 184 films (54 features and 130 shorts) at its 28th annual event, more than ever before. The festival will open on April 12 with a “first look” at director Todd Thompson’s *Woman in Motion* (a documentary about the contribution of women and minorities to NASA, partially shot in Florida) and will conclude on April 21 with Monty Python’s *Life of Brian*. Films will screen at Maitland’s Enzian Theater and Regal Cinemas Winter Park Village 20. One of the highlights will be a 20th-anniversay celebration of *The Blair Witch Project*, the first Orlando-produced feature to play the Sundance Film Festival. (The film had its second U.S. showing as the opening-night film of the 1999 Florida Film Festival.) Directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick (both UCF film graduates) will be in attendance for the screening on April 14, along with other members of the cast and crew. The guest and film for the second celebrity event have yet to be announced. Always a popular part of the event, this year’s 12 “spotlight films” will include movies directed by Kenneth Branagh (*All Is True*), Alex Ross Perry (*Her Smell*, starring Elisabeth Moss) and Noble Jones (*The Tomorrow Man*, starring John Lithgow and Blythe Danner). There will even be one credited partially to the late Sydney Pollack. (His documentary concert featuring Aretha Franklin, *Amazing Grace*, is finally finished.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Blair-Witch-Project.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Blair-Witch-Project.jpg)“The Blair Witch Project” (Image copyright Haxan Films / Artisan Entertainment) The usual genre suspects will again be present, ranging from dozens of documentaries, to four music films, to two food selections, to two family flicks. But don’t get too comfortable with traditional labels, for this year’s festival will see the return of “Sunspots: New Visions of the Avant-Garde,” which debuted to critical acclaim last year. Rarely receiving critical acclaim – but never giving a damn about it – are the “midnight” films. From a French feature titled *Knife + Heart* to shorts named *The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds* and *Gwilliam’s Tips for Turning Tricks into Treats*, these odd cinematic experiments will take no prisoners. One thing the festival does take seriously is its commitment to female artists, as almost half of this year’s filmmakers are women, according to programming director Matthew Curtis. (There will even be an international shorts block devoted entirely to female directors.) And along with gender balance comes geographic equality, thanks to the inclusion of films from 41 countries. The festival is chock-full of debuts too, with 155 having some sort of premiere status (world, United States, East Coast or Florida). But local films haven’t been forgotten, as this year’s festival will debut “Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts,” which replaces “Best of Brouhaha.” And representing Florida features will be the world premiere of *Marching Forward* (directed by Lisa Mills and Robert Cassanello) and *Pahokee* (directed by Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan). In addition to movies, the festival will offer three filmmaker forums, a brunch buffet, cocktail tastings, numerous parties and an awards bash on April 20 at Oliver’s Classic Cars in Winter Park. For ticket information and the full schedule, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Richard Dreyfuss to attend Florida FF](https://www.meiermovies.com/richard-dreyfuss-to-attend-florida-film-festival/) **Published:** April 1, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian Theater will screen *The Goodbye Girl* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Richard-Dreyfuss.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Richard-Dreyfuss.jpg)Richard Dreyfuss in *The Goodbye Girl* (image copyright Warner Brothers / MGM / United Artists) From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 1, 2019 Richard Dreyfuss will attend a screening of *The Goodbye Girl* at the upcoming Florida Film Festival, the event’s organizers announced today. Dreyfuss won the best-actor Oscar for his role as a struggling thespian in the 1977 romantic comedy. The screening will take place April 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Maitland’s Enzian Theater. For more information on the 28th annual festival, [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2019/) or visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films/the-goodbye-girl/) to purchase tickets, which cost $60 each. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival programmers balance quality and variety](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/) **Published:** April 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Marching-Forward.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Marching-Forward.png)*Marching Forward* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/Content?oid=25044627), April 10, 2019 It sounds like a joke: How do you whittle 2,015 submitted films down to just 184? The punchline: carefully. But for Florida Film Festival Programming Director Matthew Curtis and Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson, it’s no joke. It’s their job. “It’s not easy,” Curtis understates. “You know, it’s something that we kind of have an innate sense of how to balance a program, how to order a program, what we like in each section of the festival. … One of the tag lines long ago of the festival was ‘films for everyone.’ And we’ve always prided ourselves on having as eclectic and diverse a slate as possible. So it is a kind of juggling act and a balance. There are always really good films that fall by the wayside because we have too many of those type of films.” Speaking of pride, Curtis and Anderson brag that 47 percent of this year’s films are directed by women, with one shorts program devoted exclusively to female directors. But just as they sometimes sacrifice quality to balance subjects, do they sacrifice quality to create other types of balance? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Matthew-Curtis-by-Rob-Bartlett.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Matthew-Curtis-by-Rob-Bartlett.jpg)Matthew Curtis (photo by Rob Bartlett, courtesy *Orlando Weekly*) “No. It’s the easiest no I’ll ever have to answer,” Anderson says. “Quality trumps everything. The fact that we keep breaking the record \[of number of female filmmakers\] is total happenstance. We didn’t set out to do it. … It is 100-percent happening organically.” But what about Florida flicks? After all, this is the Florida Film Festival. Well, everything being equal, Curtis and Anderson admit they might give extra credit to homegrown movies. But they also stress that this is an international event. “Let’s say everything was exactly identical about \[two competing\] movies, we’d be programming the one from Florida,” Anderson says. “\[But\] your film \[is accepted\] based on its quality and not based on an ancillary item about it, which I think maybe is a misconception because we are called the Florida Film Festival: that somehow we’re uniquely responsible for playing films that are made here. … But like we would not sacrifice quality to put a female filmmaker ahead of a male filmmaker, we essentially would not necessarily sacrifice quality to put a Florida filmmaker above, you know, a filmmaker from Iowa. … A lot of times it really breaks our heart.” Knowing they beat out filmmakers from around the globe surely made acceptance all the more gratifying for UCF professors Lisa Mills and Robert Cassanello, who co-directed *Marching Forward*. The world-premiere documentary explores segregation in 1960s Orlando and joins *Pahokee* (a coming-of-age documentary set in the Florida Everglades) as this year’s “Florida Features.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tim-Anderson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tim-Anderson.jpg)Tim Anderson (photo by Eric Sutton) And new to the festival in 2019 is “Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts,” a collection of 10 Florida shorts, half receiving their world premiere. The program replaces “Best of Brouhaha,” which was a favorite among locals because it included winners of the Enzian’s monthly FilmSlam competitions. Its elimination was not without controversy, but Anderson says the change was made mostly to allow the festival to select the best films. (Other movies by filmmakers with Florida connections are scattered through the festival too, notably in the Midnight Shorts program.) Helping Curtis and Anderson are their committee members, who work without pay, though they do receive perks, including free Enzian membership. One such volunteer, Kate Shults – filmmaker, curator and lecturer at the University of Central Florida – sits on the domestic narrative features and experimental shorts committees. “Each committee is sent every single film submitted for that particular category, and we watch them all!” she says. “For about two to three months, I will watch 10 feature films every week. Some committees meet, watch and discuss the films together. Other committees work remotely, then have one very long meeting where we debate and fight for the films we feel strongly about programming. “Unique and underrepresented perspectives are very important to me as a programmer. I look for films with stories that are subtle and complex. I like a film with a confident style that makes sense for the film and isn’t just an unrevised copy of something else. But I think everyone can relate to the sentiment that when you see a good film, you just feel it. Guts and hearts are definitely part of the process.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Pahokee.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Pahokee.jpeg)*Pahokee* Because Charles Sutter sits on both the documentary features and documentary shorts committees, he saw around 600 shorts and 280 features. And the toughest task, he says, was cutting those doc features down to a shortlist of just 25. “This year was a strong year,” says Sutter, who is both a filmmaker and online instructor for the LA Film School. “That makes sense when things are a little politically turbulent. Documentaries are more interesting.” But regardless of the quality in a given year, Sutter says the process is more a group effort than a personal crusade. “I try not to make it about myself, like these are my tastes, this is what I want, this is what I think should be in the festival,” he says. “In terms of coming up with those 25 movies that we can all agree on, … there are a couple of different kinds of criteria that we use to get there \[such as\] how well did this movie execute its own goals.” Though Curtis and Anderson rely on Shults, Sutter and the other 19 people across nine committees, they watch about 600-700 films themselves. That’s especially impressive considering Curtis has been involved since the festival’s debut in 1992. So what keeps him going? “I think I’m a fairly patient person and fairly even-keeled,” Curtis says. “Oh, God, he’s very patient,” Anderson interjects, adding that they both have more than their share of OCD. “I get an awful amount of pleasure and take an incredible amount of pride in bringing the best films I can to this community,” Curtis continues. “And I’m kind of really happy I’ve been given this opportunity to be in such a unique situation. You know, I still love it. And how many people can say that after doing the same job for decades?” *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short stack](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-stack/) **Published:** April 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Florida Film Festival’s domestic narrative shorts [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/One-Cambodian.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/One-Cambodian.jpeg)Emily Mortimer in *One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure* From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 15, 2019 Overlooked by most mainstream audiences and even some critics, short films are nevertheless essential to cinema. And by virtue of its Oscar accreditation, the Florida Film Festival is one of the world’s most important shorts showcases. This year’s fest features 130 shorts, most of them contained in 12 blocks ranging from experimental to international to animated to documentary, but it’s the four domestic narrative blocks that are traditionally viewed as the heart of the program. Contained in these four blocks are 31 films, and though quality is a bit more hit-or-miss than in most past years, there are any thought-provoking, intriguing, emotionally satisfying, funny and just plain strange films to recommend seeing all four. In my [recent interview with festival staff](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-programmers-balance-quality-and-variety/Content?oid=25044627), Programming Director Matthew Curtis reminded me of the festival’s old tag line: “films for everyone.” And nowhere is that motto more evident than in these blocks, which offer something for every age and sensibility. Indeed, the tradition of featuring conservative narratives in Shorts #1 and getting progressively weirder with Shorts #2, #3 and #4 seems to have mostly given way to a programming free-for-all. Yes, #4 is a tad edgier than the other three blocks – even featuring a beautiful experimental film – but all four blocks push the envelope. Sometimes they practically shove it. (At least they don’t fill the envelope with feces and set it ablaze. That task is reserved for the Midnight Shorts.) All four blocks are named for Aretha Franklin songs, in tribute to the late Queen of Soul, and all four are being presented at Regal Cinemas Winter Park Village. Shorts #1 (Tuesday, April 16, 7 p.m.) is labeled “Respect,” and each of the seven films contains characters who are either seeking or deserve admiration. The block trends toward understated, often deadpan comedy, with a touch of sweetness – such as ***Father Figurine*** (think Wes Anderson meets Norman Bates), ***Sweet Steel*** (helmed by Orlando’s own Will Goss) and ***Kenny*** (about a man dealing with his dying mother and loathsome, unsupportive family). But the block also makes room for ***East of the River***, an almost mumblecore look at a day in the life of a suspended high school student. Regrettably, the latter film and a couple of borderline-absurdist selections aren’t impactful enough, but that only makes the final film, ***One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure***, shine more brightly. One of the best shorts of the entire festival, this quirky, endearing commentary on immigration is directed by A.M. Lukas and stars Emily Mortimer, and it might just get shortlisted for the Oscar. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Debris.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Debris.jpeg)“Debris” Shorts #2 (Wednesday, April 17, 4 p.m.) is labeled “Think,” and if you believe you can predict the subjects from that title, you’ve got another think coming. In fact, it might be the most intellectually challenging of the four domestic narrative blocks. ***Dominant Species*** and ***Unzipped*** tackle existential topics in vastly different ways, while *Will “The Machine”* creeps up on you with its understated power. ***Sorry, Not Sorry*** provides a comedic palette cleanser while telling a complete, satisfying story in just seven minutes. But it’s Julio Ramos’s ***Debris***, a gritty examination of the throwaway lives of illegal immigrants, that hits the hardest emotionally. Frankly, I’m amazed the block didn’t conclude with that film instead of the ill-conceived and sophomoric ***Funeral***. It’s a rare mistake from programmers who are usually competent at balancing tone and theme. I can’t recommend Shorts #3 (Thursday, April 18, 4:30 p.m.) as strongly as the other blocks, but three of its eight films are noteworthy. The block is named “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” and most of its films focus on sex and relationships. The deceptively simple ***Androgen*** encapsulates the anxiety and body-image issues of a booty call, while ***I Want to Marry a Creative Jewish Girl*** is uniquely weird, in a neighborly way. But Arthur Halpern’s *Touchscreen*, a poetic tale of social and sexual-preference anxiety, is the block’s must-see selection. Labeled “Chain of Fools,” Shorts #4 (Thursday, April 18, 8:30 p.m.) lives up to its name and then some. A mix of comedy, drama and that aforementioned excursion into experimentalism (***Dog in the Woods***), the block highlights the ineptitude of man (and the smarts of “man’s best friend”). ***Squirrel*** and ***The Toll Road*** will make you laugh, squirm and almost tear up, while ***Lockdown*** – about a girl who fakes a terror incident at her school just to get closer to her crush – is the tensest of the block’s eight shorts. But the best is Shange Zhang’s ***The Five Minutes***, a Mandarin-language production straight from *The Twilight Zone* playbook. It reminds us that, even in another dimension, we can never change our past mistakes. Many films and shorts blocks were at or near sell-out last weekend. That’s good news for the festival, but it’s also a reflection of how much the 2016 Regal renovation – in which the cinema replaced traditional seats with large recliners – reduced capacity. This is an issue that will continue to plague the festival now that the Enzian expansion has been canceled, unless the festival leases more than two Regal screens in the future. But for now, this means you should buy your tickets online in advance. And if you’re a filmmaker, volunteer, press member or anyone else who is granted complimentary admission after paying guests are let in, your chance of seeing films (or getting a good seat) could be slim. So you might consider purchasing a ticket if there’s a must-see film on your list. And it would be nice if festival staff could work with Regal to move the stand-by line inside, where it has been in the past. Hard-working volunteers and talented filmmakers deserve better than standing in 90-degree heat. But, hey, at least I was able to sweat off the tasty cupcakes I consumed at the festival’s free block party in Winter Park Village. Bon appetit, my fellow cinephiles! Visit [www.FloridaFilmFestival.com](http://www.FloridaFilmFestival.com) for more information. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A chat with Richard Dreyfuss](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-richard-dreyfuss/) **Published:** April 16, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Acting icon stresses value of ‘the hunt’ [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Richard-Dreyfuss.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Richard-Dreyfuss.jpg)Richard Dreyfuss in “The Goodbye Girl” (image copyright Warner Brothers / MGM / United Artists) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/04/17/richard-dreyfuss-says-hello-and-goodbye-to-orlando-at-the-florida-film-festival-this-friday), April 17, 2019 Something strange happened to legendary actor Richard Dreyfuss when, at the age of 30, he became the youngest person to ever win the Oscar for best actor. He experienced unease. “It took me about 10 years to understand why I felt so uncomfortable at the end of the evening when I got the Oscar \[for *The Goodbye Girl*\],” Dreyfuss told me when I spoke with him by phone this week. “I didn’t know why, because I really did know I was going to win. I was not surprised at the win, and I was thrilled and happy. But at the end of the evening, I was not at ease. And it took me years and years to realize the oldest cliché, which is, you know, sometimes things happen too soon.” “I knew that I was much more comfortable on the hunt than I was having already achieved something. And … from that moment on, there would be this assumption that I would be great or be something, and I didn’t like that. I wanted to prove it. I was much more comfortable proving it.” Despite those mixed emotions, Dreyfuss says he couldn’t be prouder of his performance in *The Goodbye Girl*, from 1977. So it’s no surprise that’s the film he has chosen for the Florida Film Festival. “If there was an appropriate film that showed me at my best, that’s it,” Dreyfuss says of his depiction of a struggling stage actor thrown into an unconventional living arrangement with a single mom and her precocious daughter. “And it actually didn’t occur to me until within the last year or two that I had never really done a part since then like that one, which was an all-out, ballsy comedy. It’s not definable as a romantic comedy. It’s just a funny performance. And, yes, it is romantic. But I never had an experience like it before or since. And I used to say that I could play Elliot Garfield until I retired with a Swiss watch 50 years later because … Neil Simon somehow heard in me that character. And … from the first moment I read that script, it was a miracle.” So what’s the method in Dreyfuss’s miracle? “I’ve never been able to say anything about my process or how I come to a role,” he admits. “I do know that I didn’t have to be a theatre actor to play that role. I knew that I had to be me, and me squared. … I didn’t have to, when *Goodbye Girl* came up, have to draw upon a specific thing. It was my whole life. It was my romantic life, my professional perspective. It was the willingness to just jump in and be.” But cinema succeeds not just through individual talent but also collaboration, and Dreyfuss says *The Goodbye Girl* had plenty of the latter. “It was written by Neil, and it was played by Marsha \[Mason\] and Quinn \[Cummings\], and directed by Herb Ross, \[to\] all of whom you just add water, and what comes out is a graceful, creative miracle.” But contrary to scripture, real miracles don’t happen overnight, and Dreyfuss’s 1977 thaumaturgy was fueled by more than a decade of hard work. Still, his success was perhaps less about time and more about a change in medium. “I was a television actor for 10 years. And then I started to do features, and I was 10 times better immediately,” Dreyfuss says. “When you look at my work on television and then you look at my work in movies, it’s just night and day. I just relaxed.” Of course, it helps that Dreyfuss’s early film resume reads like a dream, from an uncredited role in *The Graduate*, to a breakout ensemble part in *American Graffiti*, to a charismatic supporting turn in *Jaws*, to the lead in arguably his best film, *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*. But setting aside the quality of the movies, what exactly allowed Dreyfuss to find his footing? “I think it had to do with maturity,” he says. “And it had to do with a little bonding ceremony that I had with a camera once. When I was 16, 17 years old, I was doing some TV show. … I was staring at the camera while everyone else was doing something else. And I went up to the camera, and I leaned into the lens, and I said very quietly, ‘I want you to like me. And I like you. And we’re going to be together for a very long, long time.’ And then knowing that one never touches the lens of a camera, I just kissed the air in front of that lens and went back. And I was never nervous again.” *The Goodbye Girl* will screen Friday at 7 p.m. at Maitland’s Enzian Theater, with a Q&A session with Dreyfuss to follow. The event is already sold out, but standby tickets, for $60, might be available that evening. See [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films/the-goodbye-girl/) for more information. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [It’s a (shorts) wrap](https://www.meiermovies.com/its-a-shorts-wrap/) **Published:** April 21, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guaxuma.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guaxuma.jpeg)*Guaxuma* Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 21, 2019 The 28th annual Florida Film Festival is concluding today. (Look for my blog tomorrow on last night’s awards ceremony.) Though I didn’t see as many features as I usually do, I did manage to screen 57 of the festival’s 130 short films. You can find my article on the four domestic narrative shorts blocks [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-stack/), but I’d also like to recognize a few films I enjoyed from two other blocks: the international animated shorts and midnight shorts. (Yes, I actually liked midnight shorts this year. Pick your jaw up off the floor.) Among international animated shorts, *Guaxuma* (5 stars), by Nara Normande, is my pick for not just the best of the block, but the best of the entire festival (keeping in mind I’ve seen only about half). Check out the trailer [here](https://vimeo.com/274537503?fbclid=IwAR13vzuRS8KEJK0bG1AbV_viv1OrcOWuMQVeNBke99kP2BjJ2Y3Pds6-i7I), though it doesn’t begin to do justice to this multi-medium masterpiece. Other strong entries in that block include, in order of quality, *Hybrids*, *The Call*, *Cerulia*, *Caterpillarplasty* and *Selfies*. Among midnight selections, *Special Day*, a wonderfully concise, complete and scary tale, takes the cake, literally. (See it and you’ll know what I mean.) Others worth a watch include the unique documentary *Everything You Wanted to Know about Sudden Birth\* (\*But Were Afraid to Ask)* and the imaginative and quirky horror shorts *Black Spot* and *First Kiss*. See you at next year’s festival! *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival reveals awards](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-awards/) **Published:** April 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Chained-for-Life.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Chained-for-Life.jpeg)*Chained for Life* From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 22, 2019 The Florida Film Festival announced most of its awards over the weekend, with *Chained for Life,* directed by Aaron Schimberg, taking the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature and Nancy Schwartzman’s *Roll Red Roll* picking up the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. *Postal*, directed by Tyler Falbo, won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. *The Interpreters*, directed by Andres Caballero and Sofian Khan, won the Special Jury Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking while David Hambridge’s *Kifaru* collected the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. Tayler Buck, from *Princess of the Row*, won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance, and Alix Lambert, director of *Edge of Daybreak* and *Prison Zoo*, received the Female Filmmaker to Watch Award. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Postal.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Postal.jpeg)*Postal* The features usually get most of the attention, but it’s the awards for short films that matter more, as the Florida Film Festival is Oscar accredited in all three shorts categories (narrative, documentary and animation). This means the grand-jury winners in those categories now qualify for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short went to *Lockdown*, directed by Celine Held and Logan George; the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short was presented to *Departing Gesture*, by Brian Bolster and Jonathan Napolitano; and Ana Perez Lopez’s *Las Del Diente* picked up the Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short. The Special Jury Award for Innovative Storytelling went to *Technology Lake: Meditations on Death and Sex*, by Brandon Daley, while *The Next Edition*, by Alice Li and Whitney Shefte, collected the Audience Award for Best Short Film. *Chowboys: An American Folktale*, by Astron-6, won the Audience Award for Best Midnight Short. The festival announced all the aforementioned winners on Saturday night at the awards bash at Oliver’s Classic Cars in Winter Park. International filmmakers had to wait until Monday, with the Audience Award for Best International Feature going to Abu Bakr Shawky’s *Yomeddine* and the Audience Award for Best International Short going to Yves Piat’s *Nefta Football Club*. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* Oh, and [here’s some (really bad) 16mm footage](http://www.meiermovies.com/experiments-in-16mm/) I shot at this year’s festival. --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2019/) **Published:** March 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## SFF to welcome Kinnear, Danner, Heche [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Greg-Kinnear.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Greg-Kinnear.jpg)Greg Kinnear (Image copyright Biography.com) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/03/14/sarasota-film-festival-to-welcome-greg-kinnear-blythe-danner-and-anne-heche?fbclid=IwAR1-mOXevFQZd0KwgAo_hAB7lqTY0l-znDKp8xECSTv6wzffiT-kjo-RpK8), March 14, 2019 Greg Kinnear, Blythe Danner and Anne Heche will be among the celebrity guests at the 21st annual Sarasota Film Festival. The event will screen more than 200 films April 5-14 at Regal Hollywood Stadium 11, the Sarasota Opera House and the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, all in downtown Sarasota. Kinnear will attend the world premiere of his directorial debut, *Phil*, which will close the festival. Danner and Heche will receive the festival’s Icon Award and Career Tribute Award, respectively, while Danner will also screen Noble Jones’s *The Tomorrow Man*, in which she stars. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tomorrow-Man.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tomorrow-Man.jpeg)*The Tomorrow Man*, starring Blythe Danner and John Lithgow, will be the festival’s Centerpiece film. (Image copyright Anonymous Content / Bleeker Street Media.) The festival will open with *Mike Wallace Is Here*, a documentary directed by Avi Belkin, who will also be in attendance. Belkin will also be a featured guest at the festival’s “In Conversation With” series, along with Kinnear, Danner and Heche. Because this year’s festival will begin one week before the Florida Film Festival, Orlando cinephiles will be able to attend the first few days of the Sarasota Film Festival before returning for our city’s premier film event. These two events, along with the Miami Film Festival, are considered among the state’s three best movie festivals. For more information, visit [SarasotaFilmFestival.com](https://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com/). *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Death and taxes](https://www.meiermovies.com/to-dust-director-discusses-death-and-taxes/) **Published:** March 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A conversation with *To Dust* director Shawn Snyder [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/To-Dust.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/To-Dust.png)Image copyright Good Deed Entertainment / King Bee Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/to-dust-director-shawn-snyder-discusses-death-taxes-and-filmmaking-in-florida/Content?oid=24651996), March 13, 2019 Benjamin Franklin famously said that the only certain things were death and taxes, and both were on the mind of Florida native Shawn Snyder when I spoke to him recently about his debut feature, *To Dust.* Raised near Miami and now residing in New York City, Snyder has chosen as his first feature a refreshingly odd tale he concocted with fellow Floridian Jason Begue. The unlikeliest buddy dramedy of the year, *To Dust* is the story of a man grappling with his wife’s death. Morbidly obsessed with the body’s decomposition and its relationship to the soul, Shmuel (Géza Röhrig, *Son of Saul*) reaches out to his rabbi. But unable to find answers, he turns to a snarky science teacher (Matthew Broderick), and together they embark on an absurd odyssey of intellectual and spiritual growth. It’s as if the Coen Brothers rewrote *The Odd Couple*, making Oscar even more irreverent and turning Felix into a Hasidic Jew. “The heart and the emotional core of it all stems from my mom’s death about 10 years ago and sort of my experiences with grief afterwards,” Snyder says. “I come from a Reform Jewish background, which is certainly not Hasidic, and it waxes and wanes on my own kind of ongoing pilgrimage with Judaism and spiritual questions at large. Judaism has a timeline for grief, … and objectively I’ve always found it to be incredibly profound and poignant and life-affirming in the face of loss.” But emotions don’t always run on a timeline, and both Snyder and his character struggled with traditional mourning. “I found my grief to be spilling outside the boundaries of those confines, and the sense that any grief could be contained or defined felt very unfitting to me. And I started to realize that grief is specific – and as specific as the relationship between the person who has been lost and the person who is left behind. And then my own grief goes on 10 years later, and it’s something that evolves, and it’s something that grows, and it’s not something that I feel I need to exorcise or purge. I’m very appreciative of the way in which it grows, and it keeps my mom present and my relationship with her evolving. So the movie sort of emotionally comes from … the right to grieve in a wholly personal and idiosyncratic way.” Though Snyder – who comes to filmmaking by way of a blues-folk music background – says he is content in New York City, he still embraces his Miami roots. Indeed, he says he would love to shoot a film in Florida if the financial terrain were friendly. “The idea is \[to set my next film\] in South Florida, ‘cause I do think there are so many indigenous South Florida stories,” Snyder says. “I think that one of the first issues with tax incentives is that they are amazing, but … you get the big Hollywood production that comes into town, uses up the workforce but then moves back to Hollywood. \[The production\] ships in and exploits this place and exploits the workforce, \[and\] there isn’t necessarily this encouragement of local, South Florida storytelling or storytelling that’s specific to that place. “I have these crazy, sort of activist ideas about how you can hack the tax incentives to give more … to a South Florida … filmmaker in that location, making stories about that location, instead of just using Atlanta \[as\] your generic urban environment for the next Marvel movie.” Florida lawmakers seem somewhat more inclined recently to embrace filmmaking, but even if tax incentives never materialize, we can still take joy in the knowledge that homegrown moviemakers like Snyder are exercising their unique cinematic voices. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB.com](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7117594/?).* --- ### [Orlando welcomes world to Filmapalooza](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-to-welcome-the-world-to-filmapalooza/) **Published:** February 26, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Cobb-Plaza.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Cobb-Plaza.jpg)Cobb Plaza Cinema Café. (Photos are by and copyright Cameron Meier / MeierMovies, LLC.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 26, 2019; updated March 4, 2019 Downtown Orlando will welcome hundreds of filmmakers from around the world when the City Beautiful hosts Filmapalooza for the first time, on March 6-9. The annual international competition of the [48 Hour Film Project](https://www.48hourfilm.com/home), Filmapalooza will screen 115 city-winning short films from six continents, plus a small collection of winners from the 48HFP’s other timed competitions. Paris was last year’s Filmapalooza host, with previous events being held over the last two decades in places such as Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Orleans. The 48 Hour Film Project is the world’s oldest and largest timed filmmaking competition. It brings together thousands of moviemakers from around the globe, who are challenged to write, shoot, edit and submit a short film in just 48 hours. (Films must be between 4 and 7 minutes and include certain required elements, such as a prop, a line of dialogue, and a character name and trait, to prevent teams from working before the competition begins. And a movie must fit one of two genres that team leaders select at random at the start of the contest.) Filmapalooza represents the culmination of those filmmakers’ efforts, as it screens the winning films from all participating cities. ([Click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/) for my wrap-up article of last year’s Filmapalooza, at which I served as a judge.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/48_hour_film_project.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/48_hour_film_project.jpg)The event will be open not just to filmmakers but to their friends and members of the public, who can purchase festival passes for $395 each. That pass entitles you to admission to all events, including films, parties and discussion panels. But if a festival pass is out of your budget, keep in mind that tickets to individual screening blocks and the awards screening on Saturday might be available for $10 each, depending upon availability. (Special discounts are also available for Orlando 48HFP filmmakers. [Contact the 48HFP for more information](http://www.48hourfilm.com/en/contact-us) before March 5 for more information.) The event represents the climax of Orlando City Producer Kyle Snavely’s campaign to bring Filmapalooza to Orlando. It’s also the culmination of his own tenure as city producer, as he will be handing the reins to someone new in the coming months, thanks to Snavely’s recent relocation to Charlotte, North Carolina. “Words cannot express how honored and excited I am to host Filmapalooza in Orlando!” Snavely told me. “Both Filmapalooza and Orlando mean a great deal to me. They both represent the very best in community, art and culture, and to bring the two together for four amazing days has been a dream of mine for the past three years. It’s going to be an experience of a lifetime, and I cannot wait!” ## Schedule [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Marriott.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Marriott.jpg)Marriott Orlando Downtown All events will take place downtown, except a couple of specially arranged backstage tours of Universal Studios, on Wednesday and Friday. (These tours are already fully booked, and participants must provide their own transportation to and from the studios.) The [Marriott Orlando Downtown](https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mcodo-marriott-orlando-downtown/) is the official hotel, and events kick off there on Wednesday, March 6, at 2 p.m. with Filmapalooza registration. The festivities then move to the other side of I-4 with a 4:30 p.m. opening reception [EVE Orlando](http://eveorlando.com/). That reception will be followed by a special screening of previous 48HFP winners (and some surprises) at 7 p.m. at the [Cobb Plaza Cinema Café](https://www.cobbtheatres.com/plazacinema12.aspx) (so named because they serve pretty good food and drink), with an opening-night party to follow at 9:30 p.m. at EVE. Screenings and parties continue on Thursday and Friday, with all movies being shown at the Cobb and the celebratory gatherings at various downtown watering (and munching) holes. A unique feature of Filmapalooza is the panels and workshops on Saturday morning, March 9. Starting at 9:15 a.m. and continuing until 12:30 p.m. at the downtown Orlando Public Library, they cover topics ranging from how to succeed on the festival circuit, to the practicalities of low-budget filmmaking, to pre-production protocol, to makeup. And they are free to everyone, including members of the public and local filmmakers. (I helped organize two of nine panels, and I encourage you to attend as many as you can.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Marriott-restaurant-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Marriott-restaurant-1.jpg)Shade Bar and Grill at the Marriott Filmapalooza will conclude with a viewing of the best films – which will go on to screen at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner – and an awards presentation. Weather permitting, this gala finale will take place at the [Walt Disney Amphitheater](https://www.orlandoatplay.com/venue/walt-disney-amphitheater-at-lake-eola/) at Lake Eola. (If it rains, it will move indoors to the Cobb.) For more information and the basic schedule of events, visit , and to find out when specific city’s films are screening, see . Or download the [Filmapalooza app](https://app.meetingapplication.com/event-app/Filmapalooza-512698?fbclid=IwAR3tuDu0scoQFhhcJ9CzIIoA8y_rzjHTUWEqNdRiIO1aK3R2bCYh9a_KymM). But keep in mind some venues and times are subject to change. ## Planning your visit If you’re new to Orlando, you’re coming during the perfect weather season. Sure, we could get some sprinkles, but in general you can expect mostly clear skies and high temperatures ranging from 63 to 84 Fahrenheit (17 to 29 Celsius). That’s a nice change from the bitter cold of Paris in 2018 and Seattle in 2017, when the latter saw a freak snow storm. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Orlando-Public-Library.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Orlando-Public-Library.jpg)Orlando Public Library If you have extra time and money before or after Filmapalooza, you should check out the four theme parks, two water parks and countless other goodies of Walt Disney World, and the two theme parks and one water park of Universal. But if you’re looking for alternatives, you might enjoy the cultural attractions of [Loch Haven Park](https://beta.orlando.gov/Parks-the-Environment/Directory/Loch-Haven-Park) (about three miles north of downtown), which include the Orlando Museum of Art, the Orlando Science Center, the Mennello Museum of American Art, the Orlando Fire Museum, the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre and the Orlando Repertory Theatre. But the greatest museum metro Orlando has to offer is Winter Park’s [Morse Museum of American Art](http://www.morsemuseum.org/), which contains the world’s best collection of Tiffany glass. You will also find the [Cornell Fine Arts Museum](https://www.rollins.edu/cornell-fine-arts-museum/) in Winter Park, on the campus of Rollins College. And farther afield are Sea World and the myriad attractions of International Drive, including [ICON Orlando 360](https://iconorlando.com/), which features the second-largest Ferris wheel in the United States (after Las Vegas), Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and an aquarium. If you want to stick to downtown, there’s the [Orange County Regional History Center](http://www.thehistorycenter.org/) and the [Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts](https://www.drphillipscenter.org/), plus a smattering of galleries and shops. (But downtown is mostly businesses, bars and restaurants.) The closest beach to Orlando is Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic, which is roughly an hour’s drive east (though the Gulf Coast’s beaches are nicer). But if you’re looking for nature a bit closer, [Wekiwa Springs State Park](https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/wekiwa-springs-state-park) is only about 30 minutes north/east on I-4 and offers stunning swimming and canoeing. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Orange-County-Regional-History-Center.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Orange-County-Regional-History-Center.jpg)Orange County Regional History Center If you’re looking for a cinematic experience, check out our local arthouse theatre: [the Enzian](https://enzian.org/). Located in Maitland, it’s about a 15-minute drive east/north on I-4, unless the under-construction interstate lengthens your trip. (Tip: Avoid I-4 like poison during the morning rush hour and between 4 and 6:30 p.m. on weekdays.) You might be wondering how you get back and forth between the Cobb and the Marriott. Of course, you can drive if you have a car, but the hotel charges a valet fee, and downtown garages charge from $5 to $15. (You can get a parking voucher from Cobb if you opt for their multi-story car park, but it’s not exactly the most user-friendly garage, as it was seemingly designed by M.C. Escher. I prefer the garages near the corner of Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard, just two blocks north of the Cobb.) So I’d suggest the free downtown bus. It’s the LYMMO Orange Route 60. The pick-up is at the Bob Carr Theater, just across the street from the hotel, and the drop-off is five stops later, at the Orange County Public Library. The bus system has an app to track buses in real time:[ https://www.golynx.com/tripapps/](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.golynx.com%2Ftripapps%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1JzmYzAmDqqRntucC0DHzSZw1gSeBS6U-WhUBC4E0A1dHhRzZ0whWwb_I&h=AT0XgR8gCgUeabFEuVUEeB4WJCBm_IyGZJjauATssUidi7tNz6m8gcE6arpSnfEQIpUffIkxdgF02-vbGly9nnmyUcyqFSxCSkP8z87SjR8EJu3bE6jrf8QT-PZyejlRKXZ7MCVu3XI2uDMuK5SawBkE0LY). You could also walk the nearly one-mile route. It’s doable in about 20 minutes, especially in nice weather if you stick exclusively to Orange Avenue and Livingston Street. But if you attempt it at night, walk with a group of friends instead of alone. (And please be warned that I-4 construction might block some of the route, especially late at night.) Lastly, there’s no shortage of eateries downtown, but let me suggest two rather classy joints: the bar/restaurant at the [Grand Bohemian Hotel](https://www.kesslercollection.com/bohemian-orlando/dining/) (one block south of the Cobb on Orange Avenue) and [Chela Tequila and Tacos](http://chelatacos.com/) (adjacent to the Cobb). ## Thank you On a personal note, let me thank the entire 48HFP staff, including founders Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, along with Laura Schlecht, Brian Bowers, Krk Nordenstrom, Orlando’s TL Westgate and especially the aforementioned Kyle Snavely. (And best wishes to Langston, who, after 18 years, is stepping down from her role with the 48 Hour Film Project. This year’s Filmapalooza will be her last.) In addition to helping with the discussion panels, I assisted with the jury process this year. This means I’ve already watched all 115 films competing in the main Filmapalooza competition, and, as usual, there are some superb ones. I can’t wait for you to see them too. Welcome to Orlando! *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ranking the 2019 Oscar nominees](https://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-2019-oscar-nominees/) **Published:** February 24, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)“Roma” is the best of this year’s nominated features. (Image copyright Netflix.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 24, 2019 The hostless and classless Academy Awards air tonight, and a discussion of which nominated films are the best seems rather pointless, considering that the eight best-picture nominees aren’t representative of the eight top films of 2018. Still, let’s take a stab at ranking them, shall we? (And don’t forget to check out my [Year in Review article](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-review-2018/) from December 2018 and [my initial analysis](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/01/22/a-series-of-firsts-for-oscar/) of the nomination announcement last month.) 1\. [Roma](http://www.meiermovies.com/roma/) FL – 4 ½ stars 2\. [Green Book](http://www.meiermovies.com/green-book/) – 4 stars 3\. [A Star Is Born](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/) – 3 ½ stars 4\. [The Favourite](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-favourite/) – 3 ½ stars 5\. Black Panther – 3 ¼ stars 6\. [Bohemian Rhapsody](http://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/) – 3 stars 7\. [BlacKkKlansman](http://www.meiermovies.com/blackkklansman/) – 1 ¾ stars 8\. Vice – 1 ½ stars So I’ll be rooting for *Roma*, which would be the first foreign-language film to ever win best picture. And though I pick winners based on quality, not politics, a *Roma* victory would be a nice slap in the face to Trump and his “Mexican emergency.” (Conversely, a victory for Alfonso Cuarón’s film would spell even more trouble for traditional cinematic distribution, as *Roma* was primarily a Netflix-streaming product.) And, now, compare the eight nominated films to my list of the actual eight best films of 2018: 1\. [Ready Player One](http://www.meiermovies.com/ready-player-one/)– 4 ½ stars 2\. [Roma](http://www.meiermovies.com/roma/) FL – 4 ½ stars 3\. [First Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-man/) – 4 ½ stars 4\. Mary Poppins Returns – 4 ½ stars 5\. [They Shall Not Grow Old (3-D version)](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/12/28/going-places/) – 4 ¼ stars 6\. [First Reformed](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/) – 4 ¼ stars 7\. [Hereditary](http://www.meiermovies.com/hereditary/) – 4 ¼ stars 8\. [The Guilty](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/10/28/the-guilty-returns/) FL – 4 stars [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Oscar-trophy.jpg)Unsurprisingly, the nominated short films are also not the best of the year, owing mostly to the weird method of their selection via limited theatrical runs and/or winning grand-jury prizes at Oscar-qualifying festivals. But they too deserve respect, and a ranking. Here are the five nominated live-action shorts, listed from best to worst: 1\. Detainment – 4 stars 2\. Fauve FL – 4 stars 3\. Marguerite FL – 4 stars 4\. Madre (Mother) FL – 4 stars 5\. Skin – 4 stars And the five nominated animated shorts: 1\. Bao – 5 stars 2\. Weekends – 3 stars 3\. One Small Step – 3 stars 4\. Late Afternoon – 3 stars 5\. Animal Behaviour – 2 stars If the above list were truly reflective of the five best animated films of 2018, it would include Lynn Tomlinson’s [*The Elephant’s Song*](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-unique-voice-in-animation/) (5 stars), Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe’s *Lost & Found* (5 stars) and Phil Brough’s *Fire in Cardboard City* (4 stars). I’ve seen just two of the Oscar-nominated short documentaries – *A Night at the Garden* (3 stars) and *Black Sheep* (4 stars) – and neither seems likely to win. The former, though chilling and historically important, is essentially just a repackaging of documentary footage shot by someone else decades ago, while the latter, though powerful, is an unusual, genre-blurring mix of docudrama and documentary interview. As for actors, I’m still grieving over the lack of nominations for Toni Collette (*Hereditary*) and Ethan Hawke (*First Reformed*). In the lead-performance category, I suppose I’ll be rooting for Glenn Close (*The Wife*) and Rami Malek (*Bohemian Rhapsody*), who give arguably the best female and male performances, respectfully, of the nominees. I wish you all happy Academy Awards viewing! As for me, I’ll be watching reluctantly. Just call me Oscar the Grouch. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Greatest Cinema Villains](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-greatest-cinema-villains/) **Published:** February 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Psycho-Norman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Psycho-Norman.jpg)\#1: Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), from *Psycho* (1960). Image copyright Paramount / Universal. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 18, 2019 What makes a great movie villain? In compiling this top-30 list, I eschewed most of the typical movie “monsters”: those from the supernatural world (Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, the Mummy, Mr. Hyde, the Wolfman) and also many criminals from the cinema of realism (notably Michael Corleone from *The Godfather* films) and film noir (such as the charming Harry Lime from *The Third Man*). Instead, I’ve focused on those who 1) appear in a movie masterpiece, 2) are truly disturbing, 3) personify evil, 4) you loathe, 5) you root against and/or 6) are the antagonist. Using these criteria, the classic Universal monsters are out, as most of them are sad, sympathetic beings, unfairly persecuted or misunderstood. And the aforementioned Corleone – and his ilk – don’t qualify because they are protagonists. (Using those rules, I almost ditched my #1 and #18 choices but decided to keep them, as they brutally murder the films’ other protagonists.) I also chose to not include characters or concepts whose presence is merely alluded to. (Sorry, Richard Nixon in *All the President’s Men*, *The Graduate*’s “plastic generation” and [*Modern Times*](http://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/)’ industrial capitalism.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Nurse-Ratched.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Nurse-Ratched.jpg)\#2: Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), from *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest* (1975). Image copyright Fantasy Films / United Artists. What I’m left with is an odd and eclectic assortment of villains from all walks of life and genres. Some you might have seen on other lists, such as [this one from AFI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years...100_Heroes_%26_Villains). But a few are unique to mine. I hope you enjoy the following glimpse into evil: 1. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), [*Psycho*](https://www.meiermovies.com/psycho/) (1960) 2. Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), *One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest* (1975) 3. Frank (Henry Fonda), *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968/1969) 4. Basil Collins (himself), [*Harlan County U.S.A.*](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) (1976) 5. The Shark (Bruce), *Jaws* (1975) 6. Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), *It’s a Wonderful Life* (1946) 7. Regan MacNeil as possessed by the demon (Linda Blair/Mercedes McCambridge), *The Exorcist* (1973) 8. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), *The* *Wizard of Oz* (1939) 9. Hal (Douglas Rain), [*2001: A Space Odyssey*](http://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) (1968) 10. Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones), several *Star Wars* films 11. The Evil Queen/Witch (Lucille La Verne), *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Frank.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Frank.jpg)\#3: Frank (Henry Fonda), from *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968/1969). Image copyright Paramount Pictures. 12. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), *The* *Silence of the Lambs* (1993) 13. Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* (1974) 14. Hugo, *Dead of Night* (1945) 15. Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), *On the Waterfront* (1954) 16. Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt), *Great Expectations* (1946) 17. The Truck, *Duel* (1971) 18. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), *The Shining* (1980) 19. Bob Ewell (James Anderson), *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962) 20. Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), *The Sting* (1973) 21. Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), [*Who Framed Roger Rabbit*](http://www.meiermovies.com/208-2/) (1988) 22. Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), *Harry Potter* films 23. The Emperor, or Palpatine, or Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), *Star Wars* films (1980-2019) 24. The Hunter, *Bambi* (1942) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Basil-Collins.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Basil-Collins.jpg)\#4: Basil Collins from *Harlan County U.S.A.* (1976). Image copyright Cabin Creek. 25. Mountain Man (Bill McKinney), *Deliverance* (1972) 26. Bill Sikes (Robert Newton), *Oliver Twist* (1948) 27. Chernabog, *Fantasia* (1940) 28. Michel Delassalle (Paul Meurisse), *Les Diaboliques* FL (1955) 29. Scar, *The Lion King* (1994) 30. Cruella de Vil, *101 Dalmations* (1961) **Ensemble award: Nazis.** From *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, to *Schindler’s List* (specifically Amon Goeth, played by Ralph Fiennes), to *Come and See*, to *Shoah*, Nazis are the epitome of evil on the silver screen and in life. *© 2019 Meier Movies, LLC* --- ### [The year in review: 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-review-2018/) **Published:** December 27, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## When you get caught between the moon and Mexico City From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/a-look-at-some-of-the-best-films-of-2018/Content?oid=22555669), December 26, 2018 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)“Roma” is the year’s best drama. (Image copyright Netflix / Participant Media) As the year draws to a close, audiences and critics alike are realizing that 2018 might not have a must-see film. But don’t let that depress you, as there is a plethora of should-see productions spread across every genre. It’s been a strong year for horror/suspense flicks and documentaries. In the former category, [***Hereditary***](http://www.meiermovies.com/hereditary/) wowed us with its *Rosemary’s Baby* sensibility and an unbearably intense Toni Collette. ***Ghost Stories*** and [***The Little Stranger***](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-little-stranger/) also helped solidify this year’s reputation as one of the best for smart spooks. And don’t forget [***The Guilty***](http://www.meiermovies.com/2018/10/28/the-guilty-returns/), a Danish production that impressed audiences at the Florida Film Festival with its quiet tension. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iStock-664324386.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iStock-664324386.jpg)Good docs have been even more abundant. Though none approaches the level of, say, *Harlan County U.S.A.* or *The Sorrow and the Pity*, you can’t go wrong with biographical offerings such as ***RBG**;* ***Love, Cecil**;* and the uplifting, zeitgeisty ***Won’t You Be My Neighbor?*** If you find yourself too happy after the latter film, why not watch [***Eating Animals***](http://www.meiermovies.com/eating-animals/)? Perhaps the best of this year’s issue-focused documentaries, it will make you take a second look at your lunch plate. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mary-Poppins-Returns.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mary-Poppins-Returns.jpg)“Mary Poppins Returns” is the best live-action musical of the decade. (Image copyright Walt Disney Studios) Need a palate cleanser after that last offering? Don’t miss ***Free Solo***. It’s quite the cliffhanger, literally, and my pick for best doc of 2018 (unless the upcoming ***They Shall Not Grow Old***, by Peter Jackson, changes my mind). In animation, it’s been a year of sequels, with ***Ralph Breaks the Internet***, ***Incredibles 2***, ***Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse*** and[ ***Isle of Dogs***](http://www.meiermovies.com/isle-of-dogs/). OK, so the last two aren’t really sequels. They just feel like them, thanks to *Spider-Verse* being the millionth Spidey film and *Isle of Dogs* mimicking almost every other Wes Anderson movie. (But kudos to all four – plus the Japanese fable ***Mirai*** – for their visual imagination and attention to detail.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/First-Man.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/First-Man.png)Damien Chazelle brought us the moon in “First Man.” (Image copyright Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures) The best comedy and coming-of-age films are, respectively, ***The Death of Stalin*** and ***Eighth Grade***. And as Poppie from *Seinfeld* said, “On this issue, there is no debate. And no intelligent person can think differently.” Smart people might disagree on the best musical or music-themed movie, however. The sheer number of them even prompted the Hollywood Foreign Press to place two ([***A Star Is Born***](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/) and [***Bohemian Rhapsody***](http://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/)) among the dramas, leaving the superior ***Mary Poppins Returns*** – the year’s best family film – as the only true musical in the musical/comedy category. Tackling the topic of race in vastly different but equally effective ways are Barry Jenkins’ ***If Beale Street Could Talk***, Peter Farrelly’s [***Green Book***](http://www.meiermovies.com/green-book/) and Ryan Coogler’s ***Black Panther***. Though the latter is overrated, its originality has made it 2018’s biggest domestic moneymaker. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” is 2018’s best film. (Image copyright Amblin Entertainment / Warner Brothers) As usual, most of the year’s best films are dramas. Marc Turtletaub’s ***Puzzle*** is an unexpectedly sweet treat; Hirokazu Koreeda’s ***Shoplifters*** redefines family values; ***The Front Runner***, by Jason Reitman, is an insightful political document; Paul Schrader’s *[**First Reformed**](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/),* starring Ethan Hawke, addresses climate change and spirituality; and Peter Hedges’ [***Ben is Back***](http://www.meiermovies.com/ben-is-back/), with Julia Roberts and the director’s wunderkind son, Lucas, powerfully deconstructs drug addiction. But the two top dramas are Alfonso Cuarón’s [***Roma***](http://www.meiermovies.com/roma/), a deeply personal and quietly profound study of social status in 1970s Mexico City, and [***First Man***](http://www.meiermovies.com/first-man/), Damien Chazelle’s uniquely impressionistic trip to the moon via auditory and visual storytelling. Amidst the gut-wrenching drama, disturbing horror and enlightening docs, let’s not forget the pure pleasure that movies bring. And no other film of 2018 brought me more happiness than Steven Spielberg’s [***Ready Player One***](http://www.meiermovies.com/ready-player-one/). You won’t find it on many critics’ top-10 lists, but it should still be embraced for its joyful escapism. And perhaps that’s what we need more than anything else in 2018. *For a complete list of my best films of 2018, click “By Year” under the “Feature Lists” tab on this site’s menu bar.* *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC; 2018 image by [Tortoon.](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/tortoon?mediatype=photography&sort=best)* ## Update As suspected, ***They Shall Not Grow Old*** *did* change my mind. It’s my new pick for best documentary of 2018, topping the aforementioned ***Free Solo***. And after seeing ***Of Fathers and Sons***, the powerful documentary about religious extremism in Syria, I’d also place that film just above *Free Solo*. --- ### [Schillhammer resigns as Enzian director](https://www.meiermovies.com/david-schillhammer-resigns-as-enzian-director/) **Published:** December 20, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Enzian-Stock-Photo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Enzian-Stock-Photo.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, December 17, 2018 Enzian Theater Executive Director David Schillhammer has resigned and plans to leave the arthouse cinema next month to become the new executive director of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra in Melbourne. “Enzian thanks David for his two years of leadership,” Board Chairman Allan E. Keen said in a prepared statement. “We will always remain grateful to Schillhammer for his contribution. Enzian has always known that music is David’s first love, and we wish him well in his new endeavor in Brevard.” Schillhammer commented, “I have loved every minute of my two years at Enzian and am grateful to all the committed individuals – board, staff, volunteers and patrons – who help make this theater so important to Central Florida. I will miss this unique oasis, but my pull toward the orchestra business is quite strong, and I look forward to my new adventure with the Brevard Symphony.” Schillhammer’s resignation comes on the heels of Enzian’s withdrawal of its expansion plan in August. A replacement for Schillhammer, who came to the Enzian after more than a decade with the Orlando Philharmonic, is yet to be announced. He will remain at Enzian until January 16. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Theater to shrink FilmSlam](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-to-shrink-filmslam/) **Published:** October 26, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase will also be altered [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam.jpg)Enzian Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson and FilmSlam Producer Jen Vargas address attendees at a 2015 Slam. (photo by Cameron Meier) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/10/26/enzian-theater-to-shrink-filmslam-introduce-changes-to-brouhaha?fbclid=IwAR25Xkmvnqiup7aYkaBbc3RWKynZxjBy9myH00j1cHTQuQk_I6etCGNXqC8), October 26, 2018 Maitland’s Enzian Theater plans to cut its FilmSlam presentations from 10 to six annually, remove FilmSlam winners’ automatic qualification to the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, and replace the Best of Brouhaha program with a new Florida shorts block at the 2019 Florida Film Festival, according to Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson and FilmSlam Producer Jen Vargas. FilmSlam – Orlando’s best-known showcase of local, low-budget, independent short films – has been cut for December, so the program will resume in January. The five other Slams will occur in March, May (FemmeSlam), June (Orlando United), August and October (HorrorSlam). Other changes are also coming to Brouhaha, which, for 27 years, has presented locally produced short films. This year’s event, to be held November 17-18, has discontinued the longstanding policy of automatically accepting films from certain Florida high schools and colleges. Instead, each school is allowed to submit 15 minutes of content free of charge, but those films will be judged by the Brouhaha selection jury based solely on quality. The same goes for monthly FilmSlam winners, which will be allowed to submit to Brouhaha free of charge but without a guarantee of acceptance. However, that change will take place in 2019 and does not affect next month’s Brouhaha, which will still feature 2018 FilmSlam winners that are less than 10 minutes. An even bigger change for Brouhaha is the possible reduction of the screening program itself, from four blocks over two days to as few as two blocks on just one day, though Anderson stresses that next year’s selection committee will not necessarily adhere to a number but will instead be guided by quality. Florida filmmakers – including micro-budget and student moviemakers – have come to rely on FilmSlam and Brouhaha to gain exposure for their films, so this reduction in screenings will likely turn heads. The reasons for the decisions are varied and involve more programs than just FilmSlam and Brouhaha. “Much of what … we did is to elevate the programs, all the way through to the Florida Film Festival,” says Anderson. “The FilmSlam decision was made for several reasons, but the two key ones are: First, reduction in the number of Slams allows Jen \[Vargas\] the ability to have a larger pool of entries to craft content of the highest-possible caliber for the programs and flex her programming muscles a bit more. Second, this frees up Enzian for four additional special programming slots, which will allow the programming department to pull off more special event content like the recent CatVideoFest, the SNAP! event with the Cecil Beaton documentary and the upcoming *Brewmaster* doc and panel.” Another reason for the changes is the introduction of a new Florida shorts program for the 2019 Florida Film Festival. This will replace Best of Brouhaha but will allow not just shorts made in Florida, but ones about Florida that were made elsewhere. “A jury will no longer select a 90-minute Best of Brouhaha program for the Florida Film Festival,” starting this year, Anderson says. “One grand-jury award winner and one audience award winner will be guaranteed entry into the new Florida shorts program at the 2019 Florida Film Festival. These changes were made based on years of feedback from local filmmakers. As, you know, many local indie filmmakers find it difficult to get their films in Brouhaha due to the limited number of open slots after school curation is complete. By eliminating all \[automatic\] curation in 2019, we hope more people will enter the Brouhaha next year.” Enzian’s hope of more Brouhaha submissions could potentially be dashed by the elimination of the Best of Brouhaha. That program provided an incentive for filmmakers to submit to Brouhaha and FilmSlam, knowing their films had a decent shot at the Florida Film Festival. In addition, FilmSlam attendance could suffer, as the chance to vote your film into Brouhaha was one reason cast and crew attended the event. “On the surface, this seems to eliminate any future desire to submit a film to FilmSlam, knowing that it can’t proceed with \[a reasonable\] possibility of a shot at the Florida Film Festival,” says one filmmaker whose movies have played multiple Slams. “I don’t see how reducing the number of FilmSlams is going to increase quality, especially when filmmakers are disincentivized on the back end, because for many people without budgets or named talent, we have no shot at getting into the Florida Film Festival through the normal channels.” This view is seemingly not shared by Anderson, who says the changes will boost the quality of all of Enzian’s Florida-related programming. He and Vargas also stress that films that play FilmSlam and Brouhaha do still have a chance of being juried into the Florida Film Festival. “By eliminating the Brouhaha \[judges\] picking \[the Best of Brouhaha for\] the Florida Film Festival six months before the event, we allow a newly created Florida shorts selections team the opportunity to cull the best, freshest and most spectacular programming from … Brouhaha films and from direct entries to the Florida Film Festival. Part of what has been discussed in programming is the duration of time that might pass between when a film might win a FilmSlam and finally end up at the Florida Film Festival, which could be as long as 17 months. We’re trying to close that gap a bit and make sure that filmmakers have a fair shot at getting their newest films in the Florida Film Festival. … It’s also giving more filmmakers more chances to get into the Florida Film Festival, as we can always retroactively contact a filmmaker that played Brouhaha and tell them we want their film for the Florida Film Festival even if it didn’t win the grand-jury award.” Vargas says, “When Tim and I first discussed the upcoming program changes, I put myself in the place of our filmmakers. I know our filmmakers will take issue at first, and I know there will definitely be pushback. After 13 years of FilmSlam participation, this is a significant change. I’m hoping our Facebook Q&A on November 13 with Tim will help answer questions and quell any concerns. The great news is our very popular themed months in May, June, and October aren’t going anywhere! “We absolutely need to see more Florida-made films and a Florida filmmaker presence at the Florida Film Festival. That’s always been my personal goal with FilmSlam. Hopefully this change will set our filmmakers up for more success and maybe even inspire more ambitious storytelling,” she says. Anderson says, “The end goal is the one that everyone wants: the best films in the Florida Film Festival, made in Florida or about Florida.” *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [South Asian Film Festival 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-2018/) **Published:** September 19, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian embraces Indian, Pakistani, Tamil cultures [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/What-Will-People-Say.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/What-Will-People-Say.jpg)*What Will People Say* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/enzian-theater-mini-festival-embraces-south-asian-culture/Content?oid=18840734), September 26, 2018 The Enzian Theater’s decision to abandon its expansion affects its mini-festivals more than any other element of the arthouse cinema. But even with just one screen, the theater’s South Asian Film Festival remains an important cultural contribution. And though this year’s documentaries aren’t as well made as in past years, the variety of genres, subjects and styles – plus tasty cucumber chutney, vegetable samosas and chicken tikka – makes the festival a worthy three-day destination. The 24th annual celebration of the culture of the Indian subcontinent begins on Saturday, September 29, at 11 a.m. with the Southeast premiere of ***Dark Wind*** (3 ½ stars out of 5), a Hindi-language drama set in the Rajasthan region of northwest India, where old, blind Hedu bemoans the heat and drought that have turned his family’s fortunes to dust. “Earlier we had four seasons,” Hedu tells his granddaughter. “The wind brings the winter, summer and everything else. In my youth, it would bring sweet fragrances from all four directions. I don’t know what has happened to it now. It feels like the wind has some illness.” Mixing familial tragedy with small doses of comedy, director Nila Madhab Panda has fashioned a profound, if underdeveloped, parable of suicide, sin, loyalty and loss – methodically viewed against the backdrop of climate change and featuring solid performances by Sanjay Mishra as Hedu and Ranvir Shorey as a debt collector dubbed “the god of death.” As strange a pair as you’d ever meet, the two form an unlikely partnership to protect their families but, by doing so, risk their souls. Introduced in 2016, Chhota Cinema: New Indian Shorts have quickly become a popular festival addition. “Chhota” means small in Hindi, and though this year’s five short films – scheduled for Saturday at 1:45 p.m. – are brief, they are long on emotional impact. “Bad things can happen to us, but do they define who we are?” asks the protagonist of ***The Peanut Seller*** (4 stars). Orphaned on the streets of New Delhi as a child, he struggles with his life’s purpose until a fortuitous encounter opens his eyes to both his past and his destiny. This Hindi-language drama, stylistically helmed by Etienne Sievers, will open your eyes too. The rest of the shorts aren’t as stellar, but good genre balance makes it a worthwhile ticket. ***The Never-Ending Marathon of Mr. Dharam Singh*** (3 stars) is a slickly produced, funny documentary that examines what it takes to stay young. ***Shivani*** (3 stars) is also a doc, but its director chooses a grittier, more intimate approach to the story of a 3-year-old Indian girl trained in archery by parents who think she is destined to carry on their dead son’s legacy. ***Kaashi*** (2 stars), a drama about an Indian girl’s effort to help her family while overcoming gender stereotypes, is, regrettably, hampered by a muddled story and unimpactful performances. In the end, it’s more a PSA for health and sanitation than a mature narrative. And ***Tara Versus*** (not previewed) is an English-language dramedy about a stand-up comic who loses her sense of humor when her friend’s career success overshadows her own. The festival continues on Sunday at 11 a.m. with ***Lovesick*** (1 ½ stars), a documentary about Suniti Solomon. The first doctor to diagnose AIDS in India, Solomon is now a matchmaker who unites HIV-positive people struggling to find a life partner. HIV still carries a stigma in India, as does being unmarried. “A single man – people will think of him as a low-life,” one interviewee observes. “That’s why one has to get married.” Though the doc’s heart is in the right place, its camera often isn’t, as the movie is poorly filmed and constructed. We almost never see the faces of the couple Solomon is uniting, presumably because they didn’t want to be viewed. Instead, we’re treated to random, handheld shots of whatever strikes the cinematographer’s fancy, combined with tedious interviews and long, slow fades that rob the doc of its emotional impact and lend it a reality-television tone. The next offering, at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, is not just the best of the festival – it’s Norway’s foreign-language Oscar entry, and deservedly so. ***What Will People Say*** (4 stars) is a shocking look at how far an immigrant Pakistani family will go to preserve their perceived dignity after their 16-year-old daughter is found kissing a boy, a behavior they, as Muslims, consider unacceptable, though they live in liberal Norway. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Matangi.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Matangi.jpg)*Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.* Featuring unforgettable performances by Maria Mozhdah as the daughter and Adil Hussain (*Life of Pi*) as her strict but emotionally tortured father, writer-director Iram Haq’s Urdu- and Norwegian-language drama is based on her own experiences. Though it is over-reliant on handheld camera, it’s the must-see movie of the festival and a powerful reminder of the subjugation of women at the hands of religious extremism. The festival ends on Monday at 6:30 p.m. with the Southeast premiere of its most stylistically challenging film. ***Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.*** (1 ¾ stars) is a startlingly intimate look at the rap/hip-hop/urban music superstar now known as M.I.A. Born in Sri Lanka, she immigrated to England as a child but has never forgotten her Tamil roots. Refusing to play the part of a pop princess, she infuses her work with social commentary while shoving a literal and metaphorical middle finger in the face of the establishment. If you’re not familiar with M.I.A., this alternatingly gripping and messy documentary won’t allow you to fully understand her impact, as director Stephen Loveridge’s film is filled with pretentious home videos shot badly over 20 years. And if you don’t like M.I.A.’s music, this might be a tough watch, though, surprisingly, the film spends little time analyzing her cross-cultural music (something M.I.A. herself complained about). Instead, it tries to be both a cinema-verité bio-doc and an examination of Sri Lankan genocide. While it has some success at both, the finished product suffers from self-indulgence and narrative clutter. Individual film tickets cost $11 while a series pass is $50. For more information, visit [Enzian.org](https://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian drops expansion plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-drops-expansion-plan/) **Published:** August 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## What’s next for the Maitland cinema? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/08/09/whats-next-for-maitlands-enzian-theater-now-that-its-expansion-plans-have-failed), August 9, 2018 As the [*Orlando Weekly* first reported yesterday](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/08/08/enzian-withdraws-expansion-plans-from-consideration-by-the-city-of-maitland), Maitland’s Enzian Theater, in a surprise announcement, revealed it has withdrawn its application for a long-planned expansion with the City of Maitland because of the theater’s lack of confidence in its impermanent parking agreement with Park Maitland School. Though the proposal never reached a final vote before the City Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended a yes vote to the Council. And Enzian has already raised roughly $5.5 million of the $6.5 million budgeted for the expansion. Any donor wishing a refund will get one, says Enzian board chairman Allan Keen, who also says none of the money has yet been spent. “All of the money we spent during the \[more than\] two-and-half-year period we were seeking the approvals were paid from Enzian reserves, and none from donor money,” Keen says. “So all the contributions are available to be returned, in full, to the donors. A large number of donors have said they did not want their contributions back, and we are talking with each donor.” The “Enzian Forever” expansion would have added two new screens, in addition to a new lobby, kitchen, concession area, restrooms and employees offices, though there was vocal concern from nearby residents about the expansion’s impact on traffic, parking, noise and light pollution in the neighborhood. In a statement released today, Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer explains the decision to permanently drop the plan. “As you are aware, we have been diligently working toward Enzian’s expansion for some time,” Schillhammer says. *“*The City of Maitland’s parking code necessitated a long-term joint parking commitment from the Park Maitland School. Upon further consideration of the recent sale of Park Maitland to an out-of-town company \[Nobel Learning Community Inc., based in Pennsylvania\], and after careful review and considerable discussion, Enzian’s board of directors determined that if Enzian moves forward with our submission to the city and is granted our approvals, we would face potentially unacceptable new risks. “Among the risks, if the school’s new owners, or its landowners, decide at any time to redevelop their site, then we would lose the use of all the additional seating we would be building with our expansion and would have to reduce operations below that which we have today to an unsustainable level. Therefore, we are regretfully withdrawing our application for this expansion with the city and must abandon our current plan to better serve Maitland and our greater community.” Schillhammer is referring to a clause in the expansion proposal that could have forced Enzian to cease operation of its two new theaters if Park Maitland School canceled the parking agreement. But, according to Keen, the Enzian was not completely comfortable with the parking agreement even before Park Maitland’s change in ownership. “It’s kind of a combination of \[the sale\] and the fact of making sure that that parking agreement was going to be permanent, and it appeared that it was not going to be permanent, and that could have happened with the current owners or the prior owners,” says Keen. “If the parking went away, … then we would have to cease using those new screens, you know. It made no sense. It was just not a good decision.” Keen says the theater plans to offer other long-term improvements, but no details have yet been provided except for renovations to the existing bathrooms and kitchen. “There are no long-term plans at all,” Keen says. “We’re just gonna kind of sit back, take a breath and make sure that whatever we choose to do in the future will make the experience better. \[Enzian is\] by far the most financially sound not-for-profit in Central Florida, and the last thing we want to do is make anything to effect that. “Enzian, its board, staff, and the Tiedtke family are deeply appreciative of the strong support from those of you who love Enzian and its mission, and the board intends to work towards making the Enzian experience even better for you, and our large base of members and supporters – for Enzian holds a very special place as a unique and highly valuable community asset, one that will continue to serve our members and film-loving Central Floridians for years to come,” Keen says. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) **Published:** October 26, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/enzian-theater-hosts-18th-annual-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/Content?oid=2539969), November 9, 2016 [![fannys-journey](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/fannys.journey.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/fannys.journey.jpg)*Fanny’s Journey*, or *Le Voyage de Fanny*. Image copyright Bee Films/Origami Films. If the smell of knishes, latkes, holishkes and tzimmes are wafting from the Enzian Theater’s kitchen, you know it’s time once again for the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival. In addition to feasting on those culinary delicacies, attendees of the 18th annual event, which runs November 12-14, will be gorging on five features and one short film, all themed to Jewish culture. “This year we previewed about 60 narrative and doc features in total, plus an additional dozen shorts,” says Enzian Programming Director Matthew Curtis. “The process begins in early June and takes us to late September. The selection committee consists of myself, Enzian Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson and a small committee of dedicated and passionate volunteers and film lovers from the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando. … We we try to put together the best and most diverse program possible.” First up is ***Fanny’s Journey**,* or *Le Voyage de Fanny* (3 ¼ stars on my 0-5 scale), at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Orlando Science Center. Based on real events, the third feature from French director Lola Doillon is the tale of Jewish children sent by their parents to a French boarding school during World War 2. When their safe haven is exposed, they must flee to Switzerland. And after adults are forced to abandon them, the burden of leadership falls upon 13-year-old Fanny. “Don’t ever show your fear,” the children’s caretaker (the excellent Cécile De France) tells Fanny. “You’re a hard-head. That’s a good thing. That’s why you’ll survive.” The film offers few surprises, pulls some emotional punches and shies away from true horror. Still, expressive performances from most of the children (especially Léonie Souchaud as Fanny), poetic cinematography and moments of genuine emotion and heartbreak – not to mention relevance to the current Syrian refugee tragedy – make the film a fitting festival kick-off. ***In Search of Israeli Cuisine*** (1 ¾ stars), screens next, at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Enzian (the location for all remaining films). It’s a worthy attempt to define Israel’s diverse cuisine and will leave your mouth watering (unless you’re a vegetarian or pescetarian), but the documentary reminds one of a wonderful tourist destination where, regrettably, you’ve booked the wrong guide. “It’s about tasting new things and talking about history,” says Michael Solomonov, an American-Israeli chef who ushers us along on our foodie journey. His description is spot-on, and the movie does a good job of examining the nation’s history through its underappreciated comestible culture. But it meanders into mediocrity too often thanks to bland interviews and Solomonov’s bad on-camera persona, poor voiceover, lame attempts at humor and repeated interjections of “awesome.” You certainly will learn about Israeli food, but writer-director Roger Sherman should have made a Food Network mini-series instead of a big-screen offering. There’s a lot to feast on, but his table is not properly set. The feature is nicely complemented by ***Bagels in the Blood*** (3 stars), about Irwin Shlafman, a third-generation bagel maker in Montreal. The short doc elicits an odd nostalgia, even a strange melancholy, as if Shlafman is resigned to his destiny. We don’t learn much about bagels, but we do learn about family business, tradition and commitment to quality. ***Moos*** (2 stars), playing at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, proves a nice balance to the rest of the festival by virtue of its genre (romantic dramedy), but despite some sweetness and best of intentions, it never rises above its lightweight, made-for-TV feel. Revolving around its title character, an unassuming and underachieving young Jewish woman from Amsterdam, this Dutch-language production fails to build enough emotion, humor or narrative clarity to balance its bungled third act. Sure, we can all relate to Moos’s dream of attending theater school, her rekindled (yet slightly awkward) friendship with her childhood friend Sam and her feelings of inadequacy, but a good performance by Jip Smit, as Moos, cannot erase the lack of character development and uninspired editing. Monday starts off strongly, at 4:30 p.m., with ***Aida’s Secrets*** (3 stars), an emotional journey of self-discovery that encompasses post-Holocaust mysteries, familial reunions and genuine suspense spanning 70 years and three continents. Izak, born in Europe under mysterious circumstances following World War 2 and now living in Israel, has never known the full facts about his mother (Aida) or father. He longs for answers, but truth is often more complicated than fiction, and, indeed, this documentary is twistier than the festival’s fiction films. While the first half is both riveting and revelatory, the second gets slightly bogged down in familial minutiae and struggles to be both a personal drama and an examination of the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp. Nevertheless, the characters’ quest for identity and self-worth is eternal and makes for powerful, if imperfect, cinema. Wrapping up the festival at 7 p.m. on Monday is ***The Women’s Balcony*** (2 ¾ stars). It might not be the strongest of the five features, but it’s the most fitting, as the Hebrew-language film exposes the heart of Judaism by examining the role women play in the religion. After the women’s balcony in a Jerusalem synagogue collapses, the congregation must decide how quickly to rebuild and, by doing so, just how much it values its female members. Complicating matters are the orthodox views of the new rabbi and one woman’s attempts to challenge those views. “God gave us minds of our own, too,” she tells the rabbi. “We don’t always have to follow the most stringent laws. … Is that what a rabbi’s supposed to do? Enter a community of good people and fill them with fear?” Despite the weighty subject, the film is half-comedy and half-drama, and it cleverly balances the two genres. First-time director Emil Ben-Shimon is less successful, however, at juggling the film’s many characters and slightly jumbled storylines. Robert Altman, he is not. Still, the film weaves a rich tapestry, intertwining themes of friendship, tradition, faith and family. A single film costs $11, a Series Pass is $50, and a $75 Mensch Pass provides priority access to everything. For more information, visit . *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A unique voice in animation](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-unique-voice-in-animation/) **Published:** August 7, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Lynn Tomlinson merges music, clay and social consciousness [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Elephants-Song.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Elephants-Song.jpg)*The Elephant’s Song* (Images copyright Lynn Tomlinson) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 7, 2018 Maryland artist Lynn Tomlinson has created just two animated shorts in the last five years, but those two films have already cemented her reputation as a unique voice on the film festival circuit. In 2015, Tomlinson gained attention with *The Ballad of Holland Island House*. Part documentary, part anthropomorphic allegory, part Irish folk tune, it’s an emotionally involving, stunningly animated tale of a real Chesapeake Bay building slowly succumbing to rising seas and sinking sands. Created by Tomlinson in an Impressionistic, clay-on-glass, stop-motion style – with soulful, narratively rich music – the four-minute masterpiece combines the imagery of Winslow Homer and Vincent Van Gogh with the urgency of climate-change awareness. (Watch it [here](https://vimeo.com/123155966).) Tomlinson’s new film is *The Elephant’s Song*, which is just now building momentum at festivals and picking up awards as it goes. It’s the best and most emotionally resonant animated short film I’ve seen yet in 2018 and, like her previous film, it’s almost entirely self-financed. *Song* again features Tomlinson’s hand-crafted, clay-on-glass technique, which she first used back in 1989 with *I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died*, which was based on an Emily Dickinson poem. But, at just one minute and four minutes, respectively, *Fly* and *Ballad* pale in comparison to the complexity of *The Elephant’s Song*, which is an eight-minute, fully-realized narrative that took roughly a year to create. It’s the tale of the first American circus elephant, Old Bet, who was brought to upstate New York in the early 19th century by Hachaliah Bailey. (Adding to its structural and aesthetic depth, the film departs briefly from clay animation to include rotoscoped pastel drawings.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Lynn-headshot.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Lynn-headshot.jpg)“Thematically, I was interested in a story from a non-human perspective, ‘cause that’s just the challenge I’ve set myself recently,” Tomlinson told me. “Like the house \[in *The* *Ballad of Holland Island House*\] was a non-human perspective, and before that I did a performance piece that … was from the point of view of a jellyfish. So I had a few ideas, but then I \[was listening to a\] podcast, and I heard an episode about Old Bet, and something about the sort of loneliness appealed to me. And thinking about elephant hide, I thought maybe that would be an interesting thing to do with my clay process. So it was both appealing to me from a thematic perspective and then, as I went into the story, there were so many interesting tangents and such interesting stories connected to the story of this elephant.” Both *Ballad* and *Song* are infused with the sweep of history and a sense of loss. But they approach those themes in slightly different ways. While *Ballad* is an overtly environmental tale, *Song* seems more concerned with animal rights. *Song* might also be seen as a commentary on the slave trade, with the elephant representing the soul of the African people being ripped from their homeland, though Tomlinson cautions that interpreting the film as a direct metaphor for slavery could be distasteful. “Both \[films are\] thematically about the changes to the environment and human’s impact on that, and also about impermanence and change, and about kind of the wonderfulness of the past and maybe things that should change and need to change,” she says. “And to me it was important that this was an African elephant. … I was very interested in that because of the connection to the slave trade and the continuation of slavery because of the ivory trade. … I think it’s complicated about whether it serves as a metaphor \[to slavery\], but the mistreatment of animals is also tied to the mistreatment of humans.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Master-and-Dog-from-Elephants-Song.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Master-and-Dog-from-Elephants-Song.jpg)*The Elephant’s Song* Unlike live-action filmmaking, animation can often be a lonely business. But Tomlinson offsets that isolation with collaboration. For *Ballad*, she worked with composer Anna Roberts-Gevalt and singer Elizabeth LaPrelle, and for *Song*, she partnered with singers Brooks Long and Deletta Gillespie, among many other contributors. But she also worked with someone even more familiar: her son, Sam Saper, who co-wrote the story and song lyrics with his mom, and also composed the music. For Saper, exploring a real subject in unreal ways was irresistible. “Parts of it are true, right? There’s no talking dog,” Saper reminds us, tongue in cheek, referencing the cartoon mutt who is Old Bet’s best friend and also the film’s singing narrator. “And we don’t necessarily know everything historically, so just like any documentary, it’s on this sort of borderline of what … is truth. It is a shaped narrative that uses real historical reference points, and I think that \[it’s\] important to sort of tell stories in that kind of way where there are the facts but we also have a clear point of view on those facts.” Saper stresses that by using the dog, not the elephant, as the narrator, the entire story was enriched. “\[The dog\] is torn between these two worlds,” he says. “In some sense, it’s an animal and feels kinship with the elephant, but it’s not a wild animal. … It’s a domesticated animal. It feels a degree of loyalty to the master, and the story is sort of about how that is undercut, how that loyalty is undercut. And that is a much more complicated and rich narrative than just the story of the elephant and the farmer.” The biggest similarity between *Ballad* and *Song* is the music, which drives both stories, though the two films’ tunes are remarkably different in style and mood. While *Ballad* is set to, well, a ballad – specifically with Irish and folk influences – *Song*’s song swings with a slightly grittier, more upbeat design, infused with the energy of rhythm and blues, and even soul. Saper describes it as “Americana.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ballad-of-Holland-Island-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ballad-of-Holland-Island-House.jpg)*The Ballad of Holland Island House* “This time I wanted a different type of song,” Tomlinson says. “I didn’t really want to animate something exactly the same. … We started off with blues as our ideal. I like the idea of blues because it’s a sad story. But then blues are so repetitive, and I thought I just can’t spare two lines being the same thing.” “It was almost 13 minutes long as a blues song,” explains Saper. “So it was not gonna work.” Instead, they looked for inspiration to the lead singer of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens, and also to the band Punch Brothers. “Some of \[the song\] came from me compositionally,” Saper says, “and then a lot of it was the capabilities and the preferences of the band that we were working with, Trucker Talk … who were our arrangers. I basically came with lyrics and music and a chord progression, but the specific notes and also the instruments chosen \[were\] a collaborative effort.” Despite her recent surge in festival recognition, animation is not something new to Tomlinson, as she’s been creating it for about 30 years. But education is also close to her heart, as Tomlinson has taught at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art, Delaware College of Art and Design, and Cornell University, and is currently on the faculty of the department of Electronic Media and Film at Towson University. But whether she’s reaching people one on one in a classroom or through her films, Tomlinson’s artistic creations inspire and provoke her audience. “I hope they can be conversation starters,” she says. If you want to join that conversation, visit [Tomlinson’s website](http://www.lynntomlinson.com/the-elephants-song/) to find out more about her art. And don’t forget to check out *The Elephant’s Song* at a festival near you. After its debut in May at the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore, it screened at the Peekskill Film Festival in New York (where it won the Best of Festival Award) and the Woods Hole Film Festival in Massachusetts. It’s headed next to the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 24; the Vaasa Wildlife Festival in Vaasa, Finland, on September 21; and the Chesapeake Film Festival in Easton, Maryland, on October 12. Expect a long festival run in 2019, followed by an online release. And to learn more about the story behind the story, check out the [Wikipedia article on Old Bet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bet). So what’s next for Tomlinson? Not surprisingly, it could be another film with a strong environmental theme: underwater sound or, specifically, human’s sound pollution of the oceans. “My family are biologists, … and I guess I started out as a biology major before becoming an English major,” she says. “\[Environmentalism is\] our most pressing and crucial concern right now, and everything is connected to it.” *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *Update: In August 2021, after a successful festival run,* The Elephant’s Song *was released online. [Watch it here](https://vimeo.com/591721025).* --- ### [Enzian expansion passes penultimate test](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-passes-penultimate-hurdle/) **Published:** July 24, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/07/24/enzian-theaters-expansion-passes-hurdle-and-will-go-to-a-vote-next-month), July 24, 2018 The Maitland City Council decided unanimously last night to move the Enzian Theater’s expansion plan to its final stage: a vote on August 13. This “vote before the vote” was largely a technicality, but the Council could have decided to not vote on the proposal in August. That was unlikely, however, as the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission had already recommended that the Council approve the project, which would expand the Enzian from one to three screens while adding new restrooms, kitchen, lobby and offices. Nine members of the public spoke against the plan at the meeting, with the most common complaints being the potential increase in noise, traffic and light for the neighborhood, plus the shortage of on-site parking. But a dozen spoke in favor, lauding the Enzian’s cultural value and the fact that the theater has a written agreement with Park Maitland School to provide overflow parking and will continue to improve signage and safety along Magnolia Road. Among the local citizens speaking in favor of the plan was John Rogers, the son of Fred Rogers. (The Enzian is currently showing *Won’t You Be My Neighbor?*, a documentary about the life of Rogers, and has been using the film as metaphor for the theater’s relationship with the community.) If the Council approves the plan on August 13, groundbreaking would likely occur in the spring, according to Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer. With construction predicted to last at least a year, work would likely finish after the 2020 Florida Film Festival. But if the Council votes no, the Enzian would probably be forced to either abandon their expansion or significantly redesign the proposed addition or the parking arrangement. For more information on the expansion plan, see [my previous article](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-nears-approval/). ## Update: Enzian asks to delay vote From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/08/02/enzian-asks-maitland-city-council-to-postpone-final-vote-on-expansion), August 2, 2018 The Enzian Theater has asked the Maitland City Council to delay their vote on the theater’s expansion proposal, which was scheduled for August 13. The request to postpone the vote was a surprise, considering the Council recently decided to vote on the proposal in August, following a positive recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission. If the Council agrees to the delay at their next meeting on August 13, the new vote will likely be held September 24. But if the Council denies the continuance request, it could proceed with a vote on August 13, according to Maitland public information officer Robert Sargent. “At Enzian’s July 26 annual meeting, board member Allan E. Keen was named chairman of the board, with Chairperson Sigrid Tiedtke concluding her long term as chair, while remaining a board member and secretary of the board,” says Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer. “With this change in leadership, Enzian’s board has requested a continuance of the next Maitland City Council meeting, originally scheduled for August 13, as the board wishes to contemplate the various issues and options that were discussed at the most recent City Council meeting.” The proposed expansion would boost the theater from one to three screens while also adding new restrooms, employee offices, kitchen, lobby, box office and concessions area. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *Cameron Meier* --- ### [Enzian expansion nears approval](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-nears-approval/) **Published:** June 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Commission votes “yes,” with changes [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/06/22/enzian-theater-expansion-plan-nears-approval), June 22, 2018 The Enzian Theater’s expansion plan cleared its biggest hurdle on June 21 when the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission recommended, in a 3-1 vote, that the City Council approve the project. The theater’s expansion has been rumored for more than a decade, but the effort officially began in November 2012 when the cinema filed a preliminary proposal. That proposal, first reported by *The Orlando Weekly* in April 2013, morphed into the plan that the City Council will vote on in August. The plan, dubbed “Enzian Forever,” calls for two new theaters (bringing the number to three) and a new lobby, restrooms, kitchen and employee offices. The additional theaters would seat 80 and 50 in table settings. Construction would be on the east and north of the existing structure and would preserve the current entrance, Eden Bar, live oaks and fountain. Square footage would increase from 9,439 to 25,175. The project has been controversial, and the final plan contains concessions to the P&Z Commission and neighborhood residents. For instance, the main theater would be reduced from 230 to 210 seats, and outdoor “pitcher shows” have ended. Other revisions have addressed “dark-sky” lighting, landscaping, and visual and noise buffers, the latter of which will be partially accomplished by a 6-foot-tall wall on the property’s east side. But the biggest issue has been parking. With extra theaters, Enzian’s potential attendance could approach 500 (including Eden Bar), necessitating an estimated 200 parking spots. However, the lot, after construction, would contain just 114, down from the current 124. So the Enzian has an agreement (which some have criticized as non-binding) with Park Maitland School to use 88 school spaces, bringing the total to 202. “I am confident that we have the number of spaces to accommodate two additional screens,” Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer said. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Enzian-blueprint.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Enzian-blueprint.jpg)In addition, the theater is providing free valet service and has partnered with Maitland to enforce no-parking rules on neighborhood streets. But the changes were not enough to completely satisfy the commissioners, who recommended a “yes” vote to the City Council only after five modifications, among them the inclusion of more parking signage and a lighted crosswalk between the school and Enzian. “Enzian has respected and is committed to following the process as outlined by the City of Maitland, and we’ve done our due diligence on that over many years,” said Schillhammer. “We continue to respect the process, … and we will continue the address the outstanding issues that remain with respect to the commission and our neighbors.” Commissioner Jamie Kay Sokos expressed the majority opinion when she said, “Almost all of the concerns were addressed in some way, … so it appears like they are committed to making the plan work.” Commissioner Barry Kalmanson disagreed and cast the lone dissenting vote, saying, “It seems like this is half-baked … They haven’t solved the parking issues. It’s the elephant in the room.” Though most speakers at the meeting supported the plan, with many calling Enzian a “cultural gem” and citing the economic benefits of the plan, seven citizens agreed with Kalmanson. Among them was Enzian’s oldest and closest neighbor, Erin Miner. “I do object to the constant noise, traffic and parking we have had to endure over the past 30+ years,” Miner said in a recent public e-mail to the P&Z Commission. “They plain and simply do not have the space or parking to expand, and … the City of Maitland \[should\] make sure the ambience of our uniquely established neighborhood is protected for once.” If the plan is approved by the City Council, groundbreaking would likely occur in spring 2019, said Schillhammer. With construction predicted to last at least a year, work would likely finish after the 2020 Florida Film Festival. The theater has raised about $5 million of the $6.5 million cost, according to Schillhammer. For more information, including visual renderings, see [Enzian.org/forever](https://enzian.org/forever/). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project scheduled for August](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-scheduled-for-august/) **Published:** June 13, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando 48 Hour Film Project scheduled for August [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/06/13/orlando-48-hour-film-project-scheduled-for-august), June 13, 2018 The 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s oldest and largest timed filmmaking competition, will return to Orlando in August. The contest – which invites participants to write, shoot, edit and submit a film from 4 to 7 minutes in length in just two days – is scheduled for August 10-12, with screenings to follow August 17-19 at Valencia College East Campus. “The experience of the 48 Hour Film Project is like no other,” says Orlando City Producer Kyle Snavely. “Because of the ever-looming deadline, filmmakers are forced to act quickly and decisively. This thread follows throughout all aspects of the filmmaking process. And when something unexpected happens – and it always does – only the teams who have the ability to effectively and efficiently adapt will succeed. It’s a high-stress environment if you’re not accustomed to it, but when it’s all said and done, teams not only walk away with a film; more importantly, they’ve learned valuable skills in time management and teamwork.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/For-Luck.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/For-Luck.jpg)*For Luck*, directed by TL Westgate and starring Westgate and Aléa Figueroa, won last year’s competition. (image copyright Creative Inlet Films) To help guarantee that teams don’t create films in advance, they must incorporate a specific character name and trait, prop and line of dialogue – all of which are revealed just seconds before the competition begins. And they are given a choice of just two genres. Teams are allowed to secure equipment, locations, crew and actors in advance, but no one is allowed to receive compensation. Early-bird registration is $148 per team and ends July 16. The cost then rises to $168 if the team registers before July 31, and $188 after that. Winners will be selected in several categories by a panel of judges, and the overall winning film will compete against nearly 130 other city winners from around the world at Filmapalooza in March. (The best films from Filmapalooza will be shown at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.) The best way to join a team, meet fellow filmmakers and learn more about the process is to attend the official meet-ups, the first of which was held Sunday in conjunction with the Enzian Theater’s monthly FilmSlam competition. For more information, visit . *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* */ MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Open the MegaCon doors, Hal](https://www.meiermovies.com/open-the-megacon-doors-hal/) **Published:** May 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gary-Lockwood-and-Keir-Dullea.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gary-Lockwood-and-Keir-Dullea.jpg)Gary Lockwood (left) and Keir Dullea participate in a panel discussion at MegaCon Orlando 2018. (photo by Cameron Meier) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/05/25/open-the-megacon-doors-hal), May 25, 2018 MegaCon Orlando got underway yesterday at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse and continues through Sunday. Though the four-day extravaganza is filled with enough celebrity signings, discussion panels, merchandise booths and cosplay events to satisfy almost every pop-culture taste, it was the 50th birthday of arguably the greatest film ever made that attracted a small but loyal group of cinephiles on opening day. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood are attending this year’s event to mark the golden anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s *2001: A Space Odyssey*, and they participated in a discussion Thursday evening. Though that is the only scheduled discussion for the actors who co-starred as the film’s lead astronauts, both will be available for photos and autographs for the duration of MegaCon. “Interestingly enough, \[the movie\] didn’t affect my career one bit after it came out,” Dullea told me. “I kept on working, and I’ve done a lot of work since then, but the jobs I did after *2001* would have happened all by themselves anyway. But to be in the film, I just consider it one of the greatest honors I’ve ever had that Stanley \[Kubrick\] chose me to be in it. It will always be the very special experience in my life because it’s unique, not because it’s the most challenging role. It isn’t the most challenging role I’ve ever had. But I think, overall, it’s the most challenging film that I will have appeared in, and that means a lot to me.” Both Dullea and Lockwood deferred almost all credit for the movie to Kubrick, whom they characterized as a genius. Ironically, Lockwood said the role of Frank Poole was a “piece of cake” but claimed that proved the genius of Kubrick’s creation, which Dullea called a “visual symphony.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gary-Lockwood-Keir-Dullea-and-Cameron-at-Megacon-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Gary-Lockwood-Keir-Dullea-and-Cameron-at-Megacon-2018.jpg)Shameless fanboy photo. Thanks, Keir and Gary! Though the film is so impactful that viewers often discuss it in spiritual terms, Dullea and Lockwood reminded the audience at their discussion panel that neither they nor Kubrick were particularly religious. Yet when this writer confessed to Dullea that the film was about as close to a religious experience as possible for me, he responded, “You’re not alone. A nun at the movie premiere said the same thing.” But Dullea and Lockwood are just the tip of the celebrity iceberg. MegaCon is featuring 33 official celebrity guests, including Jeff Goldblum, Elijah Wood, Lucy Lawless, Elijah Wood, Paul Reubens, Norman Reedus and Billy Dee Williams. If you’re a *Princess Bride* fan, don’t miss Cary Elwes, Chris Sarandon and Wallace Shawn. And if sci-fi television is your fix, check out Mitch Pileggi, Annabeth Gish and William B. Davis of *X-Files* fame. (The latter is smoking, man.) As Dullea said in *2010: The Year We Make Contact*, “My God, it’s full of stars.” For further information, visit [www.megaconorlando.com](http://www.megaconorlando.com). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival to begin](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-to-begin/) **Published:** April 12, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Opera-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Opera-House.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/04/12/sarasota-film-festival-to-begin-with-screening-of-eric-stoltzs-class-rank), April 12, 2018 Depressed that the Florida Film Festival is ending this weekend? Never fear, for another, even larger festival is just getting ready to begin. The 20th annual Sarasota Film Festival will get underway Friday evening at the Sarasota Opera House with a screening of *Class Rank*, directed by Eric Stoltz and starring Kristin Chenoweth and Bruce Dern. The fest will continue through April 22 and include more than 200 films. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Film-Festival-logo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sarasota-Film-Festival-logo.png)Held at venues in downtown Sarasota – principally Regal Hollywood 11 Cinemas, Art Ovation Hotel Ballroom and the Opera House – this year’s event will include appearances by Stoltz, Steve Guttenberg, Virginia Madsen, Rory Kennedy and Jon Heder, among others. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival announces guests](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-announces-guests/) **Published:** March 16, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Guttenberg, Madsen to receive awards [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Police-Academy-with-Steve-Guttenberg.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Police-Academy-with-Steve-Guttenberg.jpg)Steve Guttenberg in *Police Academy*. Photo copyright Warner Brothers Studio. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/03/16/steve-guttenberg-and-virginia-madsen-will-attend-sarasota-film-festival), March 16, 2018 Steve Guttenberg and Virginia Madsen will receive lifetime-achievement awards at the 20th annual Sarasota Film Festival, which is scheduled for April 13-22. Eric Stoltz’s coming-of-age comedy *Class Rank* will open the festival at the Sarasota Opera House while Rory Kennedy’s *Above and beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow* is slated as the closing-night film. Kennedy will be in attendance. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Virginia-Madsen.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Virginia-Madsen.jpg)Virginia Madsen The Florida and Sarasota film festivals only partially overlap this year, which means Orlando residents can attend all 10 days of the Florida Film Festival and still catch the final week of the Sarasota Film Festival. Similarly, Gulf Coast residents have time to enjoy the first few days of Florida Film Festival before the Sarasota event begins. Stay tuned to *The Orlando Weekly* and MeierMovies.com for more information, and visit . *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Festival ends with awards, Hitchcock](https://www.meiermovies.com/festival-ends-with-awards-hitchcock/) **Published:** April 16, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Florida-Film-Festival-Awards-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Florida-Film-Festival-Awards-2018.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/04/16/florida-film-festival-concludes-with-awards-party-hitchcock-flick), April 16, 2018 The 27th annual Florida Film Festival ended this weekend with an awards presentation and party on Saturday and a 75th anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Shadow of a Doubt* on Sunday. Executive Director David Schillhammer presided over the awards ceremony at Maitland’s Enzian Theater, at which 12 prizes were presented. For narrative feature films, the Grand Jury Award went to *Savage Youth* while the audience voted for *Prison Logic*. The Special Jury Award for Performance went to Christina Parrish and Andrew Dismukes for *Call Me Brother*. Among feature documentaries, *TransMilitary* took home the Grand Jury Award while *My Indiana Muse* won over the audience. *The Last Race* won the Special Jury Award for Artistic Vision. The features might get more attention, but it’s actually the shorts that have more riding on the awards, as the three Grand Jury Award winners are now eligible for Academy Award consideration. The Florida Film Festival is one of only about two-dozen festivals worldwide with Oscar accreditation in all shorts categories: live-action narrative, documentary and animated. The Grand Jury Awards for best live-action narrative and best animated shorts were surprises, with *Flatbush Misdemeanors* picking up the former prize and *Shahkboy* winning the latter. The Grand Jury Award for best documentary short was given to *The Tables*. And *Caroline* received a Special Jury Award for direction. The audience picked *Let My People Vote* as the best overall short, out of 59 that were eligible. (Many shorts – including several foreign-language ones, those with distribution deals and ones that were eligible for Academy Awards last year – were screened out of competition, as were the Spotlight features.) *Hair Wolf* took home the audience award for best Midnight short. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [More FFF 2018 photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/more-fff-2018-photos/) **Published:** April 14, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Here are some more photos from the 2018 Florida Film Festival. The last one shows Cameron talking film with Enzian Programming Director Matthew Curtis. (Thanks to John Ingoglia for that one.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/DSC02846.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/DSC02846.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-at-FFF-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-at-FFF-2018.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-at-FFF-2018-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-at-FFF-2018-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Cameron-and-Matthew-Florida-Film-Festival-2018.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Cameron-and-Matthew-Florida-Film-Festival-2018.jpg) --- ### [‘American Animals’ opens festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals-opens-festival/) **Published:** April 7, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-2.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 7, 2018 One of this year’s Sundance darlings, *American Animals* (3 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) opened the 2018 Florida Film Festival last night. The second feature film from writer-director Bart Layton, *Animals* bombastically announces that it’s not based on a true story – it IS a true story. And thanks to its half-documentary, half-narrative-fiction format, that announcement is spot-on. Although that unique structure – think Warren Beatty’s *Reds* – might seem gimmicky at first, it grows on you, despite some inconsistent pacing. And by the film’s end, you have a clear understanding of 10 people: the five leads in the fictional part of the film and their five real-life (non-actor) counterparts. You might also come to embrace the movie’s playful, meta-theatrical, deconstructionist sensibility. *Animals* focuses on a heist gone wrong in Lexington, Kentucky, but it’s less about the robbery itself and more about how the events affected the lives of the four men who planned the job (and the victim). The film stars Barry Keoghan (who was brilliant in *Dunkirk* and *The Killing of a Sacred Deer*), Evan Peters, Jared Abrahamson and Blake Jenner. The latter was in attendance last night and participated in a brief Q&A with Enzian Theater Executive Director David Schillhammer following the film. (They are pictured below, with Jenner on the left.) *American Animals* will not have another screening at the festival, but look for it in theaters later this year. The festival runs through April 15. For more information, visit [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). And be sure to check out all the festival coverage on this site and at [OrlandoWeekly.com](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/screens/Section?oid=2240411). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-1.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-3.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-4.jpg) --- ### [A chat with Pam Grier](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-pam-grier/) **Published:** April 6, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Actress discusses her life and career [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Pam-Grier-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Pam-Grier-2.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/pam-grier-opens-up-about-her-career-ahead-appearance-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=12465108), April 6, 2018 Pam Grier will attend a Florida Film Festival screening of Quentin Tarantino’s *Jackie Brown* on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Maitland’s Enzian Theater, and participate in a Q&A session. For modern audiences, that movie might be the defining moment in Grier’s career, but for the actress herself, it’s just another memorable stop on a long and winding road to respect. “I’ve got 50 years \[in the business\],” Grier told me by phone from her home in Colorado. “Everyone assumed that I lived in maybe Los Angeles and had a pool and ate chocolates every day, you know? Little did they know that I’m from Colorado. My family’s from Wyoming. My mom – the black West: They homesteaded; they arrived on the Underground Railroad. … I was fortunate to have and to share the fact that my upbringing was military, rural and urban – the best of three worlds – and have the confidence to … go to California … work three jobs, try to get into UCLA film school … and then literally stumble into the film industry.” Her break came courtesy of American International Pictures and legendary B-movie king Roger Corman, with *The Big Doll House* in 1971. Yet she admits that – despite being arguably the industry’s first sexy, female action star – she “didn’t know what ‘sexy’ meant or ‘action star’ meant.” She also describes her first year in the business as a “culture shock.” But it was a far more serious series of shocks that shaped both her life and career. “I had personally a sexual attack when I was 6, and it traumatized me,” she says. “They thought I had, you know, polio and all kinds of other health issues because I couldn’t talk. I was no longer the outgoing child I had been.” To help herself cope, Grier turned to what we today call animal therapy. “My granddad would take me up to the farm,” she says. “I discovered the draft horse, which I got on. And he befriended me and helped me tremendously in therapy. And so it helped me to become more confident \[but also\] cautious around people. And it helped me understand people.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Pam-Grier-at-Enzian.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Pam-Grier-at-Enzian.jpg)Tragically, Grier endured two more assaults as a young adult. “I had another attack when I was in college the first year in Denver,” she says. “\[It was\] a family friend, and I stayed quiet about it. I could have started the Me Too movement then, but I didn’t because I loved my family, and the male members of my family would have surely gone out and, you know, with revenge, gone to prison or hurt people, \[or\] they could have been hurt. … I stayed quiet because I was threatened. … And then the third attack was in California – a family mentor – but I didn’t allow it. I fought back!” Grier says that before that third attack, she had considered giving up acting, at least temporarily, to complete film school. Ironically, that attack helped convince her to stay in the industry. “I had been working \[two receptionist jobs\], and that attack was so upsetting because it seemed like it was a societal malaise, if you will, cultural malaise, political-patriarchal ownership of women, and you’re just gonna get attacked,” she says. “That third attack forced me to go back to Roger \[Corman\] and say, through my agent, ‘Is there a chance still available as an actor?’ I just wanted to take the job. I can’t be fired. I need help not to be fired. And I just want to get away from this society for now and figure out who I am. And they said I’d be making $600 a week. And I was working three jobs and making $140. I said, uh, I want to be an actress!” Aware of what Grier had given up to star in his films, Corman provided Grier with acting resources. “He had me read *An Actor Prepares* by Konstantin Stanislavski, so I wouldn’t be fired,” she says. “And that’s when I was absolutely enamored by the design, the purpose, the effectiveness, the definition of what an actor is, through that book. It gave me the tools to not only not be fired, … but it gave me the tools to elevate my work.” Proving her range, Grier turned away from her adult-oriented, B-movie origins to – of all things – a Disney film: *Something Wicked This Way Comes*, in 1983. She credits the filmmakers for opening the doors to diversity by casting her – a mixed-race actor – in a role that might have traditionally been played by a white performer. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)“We grew up on Disney. We grew up on Cinderella. Every white Cinderella was me. All the characters were me,” she says. “Fast-forward to today: diversity. And \[producer\] Peter Douglas and \[writer\] Ray Bradbury \[asked me to be\] in that film. They had vision. They had a cultural, you know, awareness.” Grier stayed busy in the 1980s and 1990s with appearances in *Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey*, *Mars Attacks!* and *Escape from L.A.*, among other films. She also embraced the stage. But it’s Tarantino’s *Jackie Brown* that is sometimes labeled her “comeback,” a term Grier rejects. “It’s a false marketing system like Blaxploitation,” she says. “Come back from where? Actors don’t come back. And \[audiences\] don’t realize that often actors will take a break because they have children to raise, and they’re gone for two or three years … or they’ve been ill, or they just didn’t find the work and they wanted to enjoy their life.” Still, Grier fully embraces *Jackie Brown*, which garnered her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress, and she credits the theatre for preparing her for that role. “I think if I hadn’t done the theater, I may not have been prepared to work with \[Tarantino\] on his level of directing. He likes to rehearse. Not all actors rehearse. That means we’re off book by the time we start work,” she says. “\[I was\] able to work at his level of intensity. … He’s artistic, and he’s disciplined. … He makes everyone comfortable. He asks everyone what kind of music do you like, and he’ll play it on the set.” So how does Grier feel about her latest project, an appearance at this year’s Florida Film Festival? “Do you know how vital film festivals are to continuing \[and\] developing … political \[and\] regional aspects of our very vast culture in America? To be invited … is extraordinary,” she says. “\[Festivals\] are so important to share our cultures, to open our ears and our hearts and be inspired by the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s so necessary, and … when they asked me to come, I said ‘absolutely!’” *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/) **Published:** March 18, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Read reviews of this year’s movies [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-Florida-Film-Festival-logo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-Florida-Film-Festival-logo.png)Below you will find the films I have reviewed for the 2018 Florida Film Festival. Most of these reviews were originally featured in *The Orlando Weekly* on April 4, 2018. To see them on the *OW* site — and to read festival reviews by other *OW* writers, click [here](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-movies-not-to-miss-at-the-2018-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=12373197). Reviews appear in alphabetical order. Please remember that this is just a tiny sample of the more than 180 movies at this year’s event, and I would encourage you to sample as many as you can, especially the shorts programs. For more information on the films, including a complete schedule and purchase information, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). ***Back to Burgundy*** FL (2 ¾ stars on my 0-5 scale) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Back-to-Burgundy.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Back-to-Burgundy.jpeg)One of the festival’s two food features, *Back to Burgundy* (or *Ce Qui Nous Lie*, literally “what binds us” in French) focuses on fine wine and the struggles of running a family vineyard, but it appeals just as much to the heart as to the palate. Like a grapevine, the story – three siblings searching for meaning in their lives following their father’s death – needs some heavy pruning. But, like wine, it also requires time and space to breathe, and writer-director Cédric Klapisch certainly gives us more than enough time to indulge. ***The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales*** (2 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Big-Bad-Fox-and-Other-Tales..-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Big-Bad-Fox-and-Other-Tales..-3.jpg)A three-part animated anthology – in French, with English subtitles – *The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales* (directed by [Benjamin Renner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Renner) and Patrick Imbert, and adapted from Renner’s book) will be a tough sell to American audiences. Sure, it’s just as charming and likeable as one would expect. (Who can resist the adventures of a pig, a duck, a rabbit, a chicken, a fox and a wolf – each with a unique personality?) In fact, at first glance, it seems like a great choice for one of the festival’s family films. But because its stories are rather simple (though sweet), its humor not quite sharp enough and its animation crude (a mix of computer and hand-drawn), adults will be a bit bored. And, unfortunately, most American children simply won’t have the patience for the subtitles. But, hey, if you’re a French-speaking child living in Orlando, this is your movie! ***[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Borg-McEnroe.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Borg-McEnroe.jpg)Borg McEnroe*** (3 stars) Directed by Janus Metz, *Borg McEnroe* focuses on the rivalry between the famous Swedish and American tennis players, and, specifically, the 1980 Wimbledon finals. Like the sport itself, the film is dramatic and beautiful. Tennis has simply never looked better on the big screen thanks to great cinematography and a career performance by Shia LaBeouf as McEnroe. (Sverrir Gudnason and Stellan Skarsgård are also excellent as Borg and Borg’s trainer, respectively.) Nevertheless, the events of the film are embarrassingly hyped, and the script plays fast and loose with the facts. (For instance, the two players were already familiar with each other, having played seven times prior to the events of the film, with Borg holding the 4-3 advantage. And Jimmy Connors was just as much in the mix as McEnroe.) But if you don’t know the real story, the cinematic interpretation will be an intriguing and mostly satisfying experience. ***Curse of Snakes Valley*** FL (½ star) This was the “secret screening.” Apparently we were just the second American audience to ever see this film and the second audience anywhere to see it since its release in the Soviet bloc in 1988. I wish we hadn’t. Dubbed the “Russian Indiana Jones,” the film actually cured my fear or snakes. I now have profound empathy for them and all the other actors who had to endure this production. But kudos to the Enzian for tracking down this difficult-to-find, forgotten film and using it to waste 99 minutes of our lives at midnight on a Thursday night when we could have been doing so many other worthwhile things, like sleeping. Admittedly, the main point of these midnight screenings is often to laugh at the films’ bad quality, and there were several so-bad-it’s-good moments in *Curse of Snakes Valley*. Still, my main mood was boredom. ***[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Feels.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Feels.jpg)The Feels*** (1 ¼ stars) A partially improvised dramedy about friends at a lesbian bachelorette party, *The Feels* is more an acting experiment than a complete film. Writer-director Jenée LaMarque does manage to make each of the seven characters distinct, partially thanks to some competent performances (one of which is hers), but her film has little sense of pacing and lacks the ebb and flow of polished moviemaking. Admittedly, it’s probably not polish LaMarque is going for. Instead, it’s naturalism and honesty, not to mention sexual openness. But, regrettably, she squanders much of that naturalism on conventional plot twists and ill-conceived, tonally challenged “interviews” in which the characters discuss orgasms. I appreciated the effort, but I just wasn’t feeling it. ***Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story*** (2 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Getting-Naked_The-Schlep-Sisters-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Getting-Naked_The-Schlep-Sisters-1.jpg)In this up-close and exceedingly personal documentary, director James Lester follows the careers of several New York burlesque performers. Alternating between stage performances and intimate glimpses of the dancers’ everyday lives (and with even a little burlesque history thrown in), Lester attempts to illuminate a sub-culture unfamiliar to most Americans. But while each performer is uniquely sexy and talented, the documentary is disappointingly unsurprising, straightforward and rather dull. It’s certainly well intentioned, though, and challenges the assumption that burlesque is “the lowest of the low entertainment,” as one performer puts it. But thanks to over an hour of the subjects talking about themselves, the doc flirts with pretention. (I was almost expecting Christopher Guest to pop out from behind a fan-dancing Parker Posey.) Frankly, I’d much rather watch the burlesque acts in person, buy the performers a drink afterwards and ask them my own questions rather than viewing them through Lester’s lens. The feature doc is preceded by a short one, *Taobao*, about the fleeting nature of fame in the Chinese modeling industry. ***Ghost Stories*** (4 stars) This smart, twisty British horror might be the best festival midnight film I’ve ever seen. It will conjure memories of both *Dead of Night* (with its anthology structure) and *Jacob’s Ladder*. ***The Guilty*** FL (4 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Guilty.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Guilty.jpg) Combining *Sorry, Wrong Number*’s radio-drama appeal and *Locke*’s claustrophobic tension, *The Guilty* might be the best film of this year’s festival. This compelling, twisty Danish thriller is helmed by first-timer Gustav Möller and stars Jakob Cedergren as a police officer in an emergency call center. Relying on one simple set, a stunning and sympathetic performance by Cedergren, a well-crafted and socially relevant story, and the audience’s own imagination, *The Guilty* is the story of a flawed man desperate to save the life of a person he doesn’t know and, by doing so, prove his own worth. ***[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)Jackie Brown*** (4 stars) Arguably one of Quentin Tarantino’s three best films (along with *Pulp Fiction* and *Inglourious Basterds*), this movie is being shown in conjunction with one of the two celebrity events at this year’s festival. Pam Grier will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening. [Click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-pam-grier/) for my interview with Grier. ***Lean on Pete*** (3 ½ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lean-on-Pete.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lean-on-Pete.jpg)One of the festival’s most anticipated Spotlight films, *Lean on Pete* is a bleak and unexpectedly complex story of despair, perseverance and, ultimately, survival. Directed by Andrew Haigh (*45 Years*), it’s the tale of Charlie, a 15-year-old whose life goes from comfortable to chaotic when family tragedy strikes. Determined to make it on his own, he chooses as his companion a horse (Pete) destined for a Mexican slaughterhouse. The film is structured more like three movies than a single, cohesive narrative, but it’s powered by a strong animal-rights message and great performances by Charlie Plummer (*Boardwalk Empire*) as Charlie, Steve Buscemi as the horse’s owner and Chloë Sevigny as a jockey. ***My Indiana Muse*** (3 stars) — not reviewed ***RBG*** (3 ¾ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RBG.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RBG.jpg)An extraordinary person regardless of your political leanings, Ruth Bader Ginsburg gets the documentary she deserves in *RBG*. Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the film is nothing less than a life-defining document of the Supreme Court justice, but it also illuminates the entire gender-equality movement that Ginsberg has championed since the 1960s. As with similar bio-docs, it’s occasionally too predictable, too reliant on talking heads and too in love with its subject. But after seeing the film, you’ll likely also find yourself in love with the woman one interviewee calls “the closest thing to a superhero.” Eat your heart out, Marvel. ***Requiem for a Dream*** (3 ¼ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-Headshot-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ellen-Burstyn-Headshot-1.jpg)This powerful, love-it-or-hate-it psychological drama from Darren Aronofsky is being presented as one of the two celebrity events at the fest. It was one of the director’s most controversial films when it debuted back in 2000, and it’s a brave choice for the festival. Ellen Burstyn, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, will be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening. The film also stars Jennifer Connelly and Jared Leto. The festival will screen the unrated version (which originally received an NC-17 from the MPAA), rather than the R-rated, according to Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson. (The difference is the inclusion of a graphic sex scene.) So, parents, don’t allow your child into this screening. ***Samantha’s Amazing Acro-Cats*** (1 ¾ stars) — not reviewed ***Shadow of a Doubt*** (3 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Shadow-of-a-Doubt.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Shadow-of-a-Doubt.jpg)This Alfred Hitchcock classic from 1943 stars Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, it’s the festival’s closing-night film. Though not on the level of his best work, it’s still a scary study in the David Lynchian theory that everything is not quite what is seems in idyllic, small-town America. **Shorts #5: Animated Shorts** The shorts programs are the highlight of the festival for me. While the best features often return to the Enzian or Regal Cinemas, this is usually our one chance to see the shorts on the big screen in Orlando. Unfortunately – and despite a nice variety of styles – the overwhelmingly dark Animated Shorts program (which is NOT for kids) isn’t as strong as in past years. In fact, I cannot recommend the program as a whole and was surprised by the lack of whimsy, magic and intelligent humor. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Velvet-Underground-Played-My-High-School.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Velvet-Underground-Played-My-High-School.png)The Velvet Underground Played My High School On the bright side, five of the 14 films deserve commendation: the Barack Obama-inspired *Fired Up;* the semi-documentary *The Velvet Underground Played at My High School;* the lonely, dreamlike *Weekends*; the surreal hand-drawn *Fundamental*; and *The Driver is Red*, a hand-drawn interpretation of the 1960 capture of Nazi monster Adolf Eichmann. “This film was the first like proper film I’ve made that wasn’t like a skateboard cartoon or something kind of silly,” Randall Christopher, the artist and director of *The Driver is Red*, told me. Though he won the Grand Jury short-animation award at the festival in 2013 for *Backyard Jam*, his latest film represents an enormous shift in tone and style, from humorous irreverence to weighty, historical documentary. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Driver-is-Red.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Driver-is-Red.jpg)The Driver is Red “I just got really interested in the story in January 2016. I came across an article in the *The New York Times*, … \[and I went\] down the internet rabbit hole and just got completely obsessed with the story,” he says. “I didn’t grow up knowing a lot about the Holocaust. \[This\] was the first time I really, really started studying the Holocaust, and I was completely fascinated, and eventually I just started thinking I think I want to tell this story. … I knew how to do animation, and it just organically became more and more of this real thing.” Despite the film being easily the best in this year’s animated shorts program, the director told me, “I don’t consider myself a filmmaker.” Well, Randall, you are now. **Shorts #2: “Don’t Do Me Like That”** This shorts block (named in honor of the Tom Petty tune) is also one of the weaker ones I’ve screened in the last few years, although, as usual, there are at least a couple of films that make the program worthwhile. Specifically, *Caroline* (a tense, claustrophobic examination of one mother’s really bad parenting day), *Everything’s Gonna Be Okay* (an edgy glimpse at a life-or-death situation, with a ballsy twist ending) and *Life Boat* (a look at a teacher’s unusual motivational methods, starring Stephen Dorff) make for compelling cinema. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Life-Boat-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Life-Boat-1.jpg)Life Boat Despite those high-quality shorts, I’d look for another option unless your goal is to see all the shorts programs. Admittedly, this is just the second shorts block I’ve seen at this year’s festival (as of the opening weekend). I would have seen Shorts Program #1, but it was so crowded that I couldn’t find a seat. (Press – such as yours truly – are let in only on stand-by after passholders and ticketholders have been seated.) While disappointing to me, I’m sure it was good news for the festival, as it means ticket sales are fairly strong. (Of course, the packed house does also have something to do with the smaller-capacity houses at Regal, which are the result of last year’s reduction in seat numbers so viewers can recline in slovenly comfort and more easily accommodate their obese bottoms. But I digress.) So, yes, attendance does seem slightly up this year. But don’t take my word for it: Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer says early estimates indicate better numbers than in 2017, although he cautioned that the festival won’t know for sure until final ticket sales are tallied. And while I’m handing out accolades and complaints, cheers to the festival for hosting a very tasty Festival Block Party on Saturday, April 7, in front of Regal Cinemas in Winter Park Village. Parties like that are a big reason to purchase festival passes, and the free food and drink (for press even) helped make up for my less-than-stellar experience in the standby line. But let me end on a grumble (because – let’s face it – that’s what some of you have come to expect from me): Dear Regal, what the f\*%# is up with your air-conditioning? Everyone sweated their balls and vaginas off in “Regal B” cinema yesterday. (If you think that last comment inappropriately vulgar, I apologize. I’m my defense, I’m just trying to fit in with the shorts program, which included a film about perspiring lady parts. Admittedly, *Valentina* was trying to make a larger, metaphorical point. But they muffed it.) **Sunspots: New Visions of the Avant Garde** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Garden-of-Delight.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Garden-of-Delight.jpeg)The Garden of Delight Like a breath of fresh air, this program blew into the festival this year for the first time. Although not all of the 11 shorts — most of which could be labeled experimental — were winners, the overall program was mind-expanding and wholly necessary. Let me specifically commend *Animal Cinema*, *Blot*, *Edge of Alchemy*, *The Knits* and *The Garden of Delight.* (The latter was probably the best of the block and might be the best sexually explicit short film I’ve ever seen.) I’d also like to congratulate my friend Clementine Leger (former programming coordinator of the Florida Film Festival) for *Holy Pink: Fragrant*, a music film that, although just two minutes long, had a captivatingly cinematic quality. I encourage the festival to make this program a permanent part of the festival. My one regret is it sucks some of the avant garde films away from the Midnight Shorts program, which suffered this year from sophomoria. (That’s not really a word, but after seeing Sunspots, I figure I’m allowed to embrace my inner Lewis Carroll.) ***Tully*** (4 stars) This new dramedy by director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody is a must-see. If you missed it at the festival, you should be able to find it when it opens in wide release. Look for my full review in the coming weeks. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Homegrown](https://www.meiermovies.com/homegrown/) **Published:** April 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Florida filmmakers embrace their local festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-filmmakers-embrace-their-local-festival/Content?oid=12372527), April 4, 2018 As one of the nation’s most prestigious movie events, the Florida Film Festival has international scope. But there’s no denying its name, and this year’s festival includes roughly 40 films with some form of Florida connection. But because the festival concentrates on quality, variety, diversity and premiere status, its focus is not necessarily on movies from the Sunshine State. Some Orlando filmmakers have even labeled the festival unfriendly toward local talent. But don’t tell that to the Florida moviemakers whose films were accepted this year. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/My-Indiana-Muse.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/My-Indiana-Muse.jpg)My Indiana Muse “We’re very excited to be in the festival, and the main reason for that is because it is the festival we attended when we were in high school,” says Ric Serena, who directed the documentary *My Indiana Muse* with his wife, Jen. Both filmmakers were born and raised in Sanford and met while attending Seminole High School. “Part of me is excited about the potential of sharing this with all my friends and family in the Central Florida area, and then there’s this part of me that \[is\] nostalgic about being in the festival that was the first film festival that I ever attended,” he says. “Even aside from the festival, the Enzian is a place we would typically go to see independent cinema. I have such a nostalgic memory of how beautiful the theater is.” Nostalgia also runs deep for Randall Christopher. Not only is the Orlando native proud to have his award-winning, animated documentary *The Driver is Red* – which he calls his “first proper film” – in Shorts Program #5, but he’s happy to return to the festival that crowned his *Backyard Jam* the Grand Jury winner for animation in 2013. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Driver-is-Red.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Driver-is-Red.jpg)The Driver is Red Typical of born-and-bred Florida moviemakers, both Serena and Christopher are now living in California. Though it wasn’t specifically filmmaking that precipitated the moves, there’s no denying that Florida – through a lack of tax breaks for the movie industry – isn’t the easiest place to film. Sure, if you’re an amateur working with no budget, you will certainly find resources, such as Full Sail University and the Orlando Film Commission. But if you have loftier goals, your road will be rockier. “When I started working at Disney in the late ‘80s, there was a huge push … where Orlando was trying to get the film industry,” Christopher says. “Tax incentives are really important, and there just needs to be support from the government and from the people.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/In-A-Heartbeat.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/In-A-Heartbeat.jpg)In a Heartbeat Though the Florida film dream of 30 years ago was never fully realized, Orlando filmmakers *can* make a living. For instance, Jason Murphy sees success sans festivals with his unique brand of direct-to-video family films; Brendan Rogers, Will Phillips and Aléa Figueroa of And You Films produce direct-to-internet, parody mash-up movies; and Stephen Stull is again bringing his twisted cinema to the Florida Film Festival’s Midnight Shorts program, with *The Jerry Show*. Other locals enjoy seeing their short films play Enzian’s monthly FilmSlam and annual Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase. Those two mini-festivals are filled exclusively with films made in Florida, as is the Florida Film Festival’s “Best of Brouhaha,” which this year includes 13 short films. (Among them is *In a Heartbeat*, an animated gem from Sarasota’s Ringling College of Art & Design that was shortlisted for an Academy Award.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Mediocre-Documentary-with-Tom-and-Dan.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Mediocre-Documentary-with-Tom-and-Dan.jpeg)A Mediocre Documentary with Tom and Dan And don’t tell director Kirk Murray that locals can’t succeed, as his *A Mediocre Documentary with Tom and Dan* is getting its world premiere at this year’s festival. Not only is the documentary set and filmed in Orlando with an almost entirely local crew, but its subjects (radio legends Tom Vann and Daniel Dennis) are local too. And Murray’s movie is not a festival anomaly, as *Prison Logic* (a comedy directed by Romany Malco Jr.) and *Long Time Coming* (a documentary feature directed by Jon Strong, about one of the first integrated Little League baseball games in the South) are also set and filmed partially in Central Florida. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Prison-Logic.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Prison-Logic.jpg)Prison Logic Another topic close to Floridians’ hearts is voting, and at least two festival films address that topic: *Let My People Vote* (a short documentary directed by Gilda Ann Brasch, about re-enfranchising felons) and *A Greater Society* (a feature doc about “super voters” in a South Florida retirement community). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/A-Greater-Society.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/A-Greater-Society.jpg)A Greater Society “Everybody was telling us you’ve really gotta screen at the Florida Film Festival. It’s one of the best,” says Stacy Goldate, co-director of *A Greater Society*. “It’s just really exciting to be able to premiere in Florida our film that is about Florida, \[and\] we really want to reach out beyond the festival, into the community to help people get out and vote.” Oh, and while you’re at your polling place, why not vote for candidates who support filmmaking tax breaks? Local moviemakers will surely thank you. Until those financial incentives arrive, the Florida Film Festival will continue to prove how much the state has to offer the world of cinema. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-to-screen-most-movies-ever/) **Published:** March 15, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival to screen most movies ever [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-to-screen-the-most-movies-ever-this-year/Content?oid=11683797), March 14, 2018 *Note: For reviews of the movies, click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2018-movies/).* The Florida Film Festival announced today that it will screen more movies than ever before at its 27th annual event: 183 total (55 features and 128 shorts) at the Enzian Theater in Maitland and Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20. The festival opens on April 6 with the East Coast premiere of Bart Layton’s *American Animals* and concludes on April 15 with a 75th-anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Shadow of a Doubt*. In the days between, expect to see 23 world premieres and more Florida debuts than at any previous festival. The lineup also includes films from 82 female filmmakers (45 percent of the total) and 38 countries. The only celebrity event revealed so far is “An Evening with Pam Grier” on April 8, which will feature Quentin Tarantino’s *Jackie Brown* and a Q&A session with Grier. (Expect at least one more celebrity screening to be announced soon. And though it’s not billed as a “celebrity screening,” the opening-night showing of *American Animals* will feature a Q&A with star Blake Jenner.) Always a favorite among festival-goers are the Spotlight films, which are screened out of competition. Some of the most anticipated this year are Jason Reitman’s *Tully,* Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s *RBG*, Janus Metz’s *Borg McEnroe* and Brett Haley’s *Hearts Beat Loud*. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pam-Grier.jpg)Pam Grier New to the festival in 2018 are an experimental shorts block (“Sunspots: New Visions of the Avant Garde”) and the first “X-Real” documentary shorts block directed solely by women. But the rest of the festival is structured similarly to past years, with features organized into the aforementioned Spotlights (11), narratives (10), documentaries (11), international showcase (four), midnights (four), family films (two), food films (two), music films (three), Florida films (three) and closing-night retro (one). Shorts are organized into documentaries (16), narratives (29), animated (14), international (19), international animated (11), midnights (15), Best of Brouhaha (13) and the aforementioned experimental block (11). And as in past years, shorts programs are named for songs by a musical artist who recently died. This time it’s Tom Petty, with blocks assigned names such as “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Listen to Her Heart.” In addition to movies, the festival will offer three filmmaker forums, a farmers market, a brunch buffet, a cocktail tasting, an awards bash and numerous parties. With the Enzian still seeking approval of their proposed expansion from the City of Maitland, the festival will again utilize just three screens: one at Enzian and two at Regal Winter Park Village. (If the expansion is approved, the first festival that could benefit from the extra Enzian screens would be the 2020 event.) For ticket options and more information, visit [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Theater gets 4K projector](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-gets-4k-projector/) **Published:** December 6, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Enzian-exterior.jpg)Photo courtesy of Enzian Theater. From *MeierMovies*, December 6, 2023 Maitland’s Enzian Theater, Central Florida’s premier arthouse cinema, has replaced its old 2K projector with a new 4K one, sources confirmed today. Long desired, the new laser projector will increase the resolution of the projected image from 2,000 pixels across (2,048 x 1,080, or 2.2 million pixels) to 4,000 pixels across (4,096 x 2,160, or 8.8 million pixels). The image will also be brighter, which is crucial in an environment like Enzian, which has lots of ambient light. The projector was installed earlier this week, and the first 4K presentation will take place tomorrow evening with the theater’s first screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s *The Boy and the Heron*, one of this year’s most highly acclaimed animated films. The new projector will allow Enzian to more successfully compete with other area cinemas, many of which already have 4K projectors. The old projector is being traded in to the company that sold Enzian its new projector. (There had been speculation that the old projector could potentially be used for a second, smaller theater, which would be situated in what is now the rear of the existing theater, but Enzian has not commented on those plans recently.) The addition of the new projector does not affect the Enzian’s 35mm film projector, which will exist side-by-side with the new digital projector. That film projector is used for the theater’s Cult Classic Tuesday series, which is still presented twice a month exclusively in 35mm. That projector was also used recently for a special 35mm engagement of Christopher Nolan’s *Oppenheimer*. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Dream Scenario](https://www.meiermovies.com/dream-scenario/) **Published:** December 1, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dream Scenario**, 2023, 4 ¼ stars # Dream a little dream of me ## Nicolas Cage will stalk your sleep [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dream-Scenario-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dream-Scenario-scaled.jpeg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 1, 2023 I dreamed about Nicolas Cage last night. Well, not specifically Cage, but Professor Paul Matthews, his character in the new fantasy-dramedy, *Dream Scenario*, which I had just watched twice, back to back, enraptured with its smart premise and almost equally intelligent execution. The dream was a spectacular example of life imitating art because, in the movie, Matthews inexplicably turns up in the dreams of thousands, perhaps millions, of random strangers around the world. This phenomenon makes Matthews a cultural icon, then a pariah, when the dreams turn to nightmares. *Dream Scenario* is just the third feature from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, but it shows a remarkable maturity and imagination. Powered by Cage’s best performance in years and managing its mood shifts with dexterity, *Dream* is irresistible and easily one of the best films of 2023. Offering fine support is Julianne Nicholson as Paul’s wife, Dylan Gelula as a business associate whose own dreams of Paul shape their oddly hilarious relationship, Michael Cera as head of a company wishing to take advantage of Paul’s celebrity and Tim Meadows as Paul’s boss, a so-called friend who, like today’s society, is more than willing to drop his mate at the first hint of scandal. Borgli’s film, not surprisingly, has a lot of surreal stuff to say about dreams. The movie might even make you rethink your own, much like Christopher Nolan’s *Inception* did for many, this reviewer included. But at its core, the film is a commentary on cancel culture and herd mentality. Using Paul as a metaphor, Borgli shows what happens when unfounded fears run amok and we pass judgment on people based on events that are entirely manufactured by our own hippocampus. And most impressively, *Dream* does all this while remaining wickedly funny. They say Hollywood is the stuff dreams are made of. For me, for at least one night, that was more than a metaphor. So see *Dream Scenario*. Then go to sleep. Maybe Cage will visit you too. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21942866/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Scenario). It is currently screening in theaters.* --- ### [Filmapalooza 2023: 'I Love L.A.'](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2023-i-love-l-a/) **Published:** March 27, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-awards-ceremony--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-awards-ceremony--scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 27, 2023 We’ve partied hard. We’ve networked with fellow filmmakers. We’ve watched films from almost every corner of the Earth. We’ve honored the winning movies. And we’ve heard Kyle Snavely and Olivier Dussausse sing *Bohemian Rhapsody*. That must mean we’ve just survived another Filmapalooza. Filmapalooza is the international competition of the 48 Hour Film Project. This year’s event was held in downtown Los Angeles, at the Biltmore Hotel and Regal L.A. Live, March 15-18. Filma included not just screenings of roughly 135 short films but also workshops, the aforementioned parties, a scavenger hunt and pub crawl through the streets of Hollywood, and a special advance screening of *Sweetwater*, a new feature written and directed by Martin Guigui and starring Cary Elwes and Jeremy Piven, who were in attendance. Filmmakers from 21 countries attended this year’s Filmapalooza, along with producers from 60 cities. In fact, according to 48HFP Creator and Executive Producer Mark Ruppert, attendance was the highest in the 21-year history of the event, with 550 people at the awards ceremony. Without further ado, let’s recap the winners. *Threshold*, by Jartoman from Jacksonville, Florida, United States, was crowned grand champion. (Watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdjBnABt7eo).) Second place went to *De Kleine Astronaut (The Little Astronaut)* by Nahshon Films, from Rotterdam, Netherlands. And third place was awarded to *Le Grand Menage (The Spring Cleaning)* by Slipday, from Tours, France. These three films are headed to the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner later this year, along with 11 others from the main 48 Hour Film Project competition. They are, in alphabetical order: Accra, Ghana Dallas, Texas, United States Detroit, Michigan, United States (by virtue of being the overall audience winner) Mexico City, Mexico Nantes, France Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States Portland, Oregon, United States Shanghai, China Tokyo, Japan Toronto, Canada Warsaw, Poland [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Regal-LA-Live-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Regal-LA-Live-scaled.jpg)The winner of the Four Points competition (Arnhem, Netherlands) will also be going to Cannes, along with nine films from the “Yes We Cannes” Global Film Challenge. (That was an invitational contest featuring the first-, second- and third-place teams from each city in 2022. Those teams were invited to make new films during the first weekend of December. Fifteen of those were screened at this year’s Filmapalooza, and eight of those, plus the theme winner, will play at Cannes.) Other major award winners included Shanghai for direction and cinematography, Toronto for writing and acting ensemble, Rotterdam for lead actor and Nantes for supporting actor. For a list of all winners, [go here](https://48hourfilm.com/news-articles/225/2023-Filmapalooza-Awards-Announced). My role at Filmapalooza was unique. As a consulting judge, I assisted Ruppert and the rest of the 48HFP staff by providing feedback on all 105 of the city-winning films from the main competition. That feedback guided the judging process and ultimately helped the final panel of judges, who were tasked with selecting the best three films plus several other top awards. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-opening-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-opening-scaled.jpg)Mark Ruppert addresses attendees at Wednesday’s opening reception. But because production quality – especially among the top 40 or so films – was so high this year, the judging process was especially difficult and highly subjective. As I told Mark and others, I could have placed my top 20 in a hat, tossed them into the air and been almost as satisfied with how they landed as I was with my final list – except for my top three, which I felt rose above the rest. My top movie was *Né de la Dernière Pluie (The Last Rain)* by Pinksoap Productions, from Paris, France. This beautifully conceived environmental fairy tale captured my heart and actually won best 48HFP French film, beating out two other French films (Tours and Nantes) that are going to Cannes. So it’s a mystery how this one isn’t also going to Cannes. (Watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bucBUx4GvlA).) My runner-up was *The Light of Your Life* by Monsieur Soeur, from Portland, Oregon, United States. These accomplished artists created a stop-motion animated movie in just 48 hours – an amazing accomplishment by itself. The fact that it’s a clever and charming creation when judged by non-48HFP standards is the cherry on top. I’m glad it’s going to Cannes. I just wish it could have been shown at the awards ceremony. But with a runtime of more than three hours, the ceremony was already quite lengthy. (Watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lg8xleWXfY).) My third-place pick was the film that the main judging panel chose as their runner-up: *De Kleine Astronaut (The Little Astronaut)* by Nahshon Films, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, a simple yet profound glimpse into the grieving process of two parents. (Watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c75Jjbh5HXM).) And in fourth place I have a great little comedy, *How to Build a Bird House* by Through the Door, from Portland, Maine, United States. (Watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZX8jG_P20k).) Below you will find the rest of my top 25. An asterisk indicates that film is going to Cannes: 5. London, England 6. Bogota, Colombia 7. Toronto, Canada \* 8. Toulouse, France 9. Seattle, Washington, United States 10. Lisbon, Portugal 11. Mexico City, Mexico \* 12. Dallas, Texas, United States \* 13. Tours, France \* 14. Shanghai, China \* 15. Detroit, Michigan, United States \* 16. Jacksonville, Florida, United States \* 17. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States \* 18. Tokyo, Japan \* 19. St. Louis, Missouri, United States 20. New York City, New York, United States 21. Nantes, France \* 22. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 23. Geneva, Switzerland 24. Montpelier, France 25. Rennes, France I’d also like to recognize my three favorite films from the special genre competition: Amsterdam (the winner), Los Angeles and Seattle. (I didn’t provide feedback on these films. I simply saw them as a spectator at Filmapalooza.) Congratulations again to all the movies screened at this year’s event. And, as always, a big thank-you to the entire 48HFP staff. See you all at Filmapalooza 2024, which, if rumors hold true, could be back in Europe! *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-registration-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-registration-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-registration-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Filma-registration-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Krk-interview-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Krk-interview-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Biltmore-Hotel-entrance-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Biltmore-Hotel-entrance-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Biltmore-concourse-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Biltmore-concourse-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Curtain closes on original Netflix](https://www.meiermovies.com/curtain-closes-on-original-netflix/) **Published:** September 29, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Netflix-goodbye.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Netflix-goodbye.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 29, 2023 Today is the final day that Netflix will mail DVDs and Blu-rays. After 25 years, the original Netflix is no more. (You still have a few weeks to mail back your discs, or you can choose to keep them.) For my thoughts on this sad day, see my [April 20 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-death-of-netflix-discs/ "The death of Netflix discs"). For further cultural context, check out [this article](https://blog.dvd.netflix.com/new-dvd-releases/a-fond-farewell-to-dvd-netflix?), and this one from [*The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/23/business/media/netflix-dvds.html?). I’ve been getting Netflix discs for 16 years, since September 2007. That’s 1,466 titles, roughly 1,350 of those being feature films (and the rest shows or collections of short films). That means that of the 4,488 feature films I’ve watched throughout my life (or at least those I remember watching and rating), I saw almost a third of them through the Netflix disc program. It will be missed. For my entire Netflix disc history, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Camerons-Netflix-Disc-History.pdf). --- ### [Glory Days](https://www.meiermovies.com/glory-days/) **Published:** February 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **[![Glory-Daysjpg](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Glory-Daysjpg.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Glory-Daysjpg.jpg)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/orlando-fringe-review-glory-days-2283452), May 12, 2014 “In high school, everything is so goddamn easy,” bemoans Barrett, a frustrated 40-something who is missing his glory days of high school football and wondering whether he and his best friend David will soon be fired from their jobs at the local chemical plant. Throw in a couple of unstable marriages, a sexy ex-girlfriend, a down-on-his-luck bartender, a heaping of double-crossing and a dose of religious bigotry, and you’ve got the makings of a white-trashier version of *August: Osage County*. In *Glory Days*, writer-director Kerry Giese has fashioned a two-scene dramedy involving longtime friends whose lives, which were already teetering on the brink, are turned upside down by jealousy and betrayal. There are moments of comedy, many of which fall flat, such as one character’s nonsensical induction into the “Secret Brotherhood of the Bovine Order,” but like the deceptively upbeat Bruce Springsteen song, this *Glory Days* is, at its heart, a tragedy. The cast members aren’t going to win any Tonys, but they do have a natural chemistry, as if they are friends outside Fringe. That camaraderie is helped along by situational and even sexual tension, such as when Barrett’s wife, Amy (played well by S. Elizabeth Brock), spices up the second scene by stripping down to a corset. If that seems gratuitous, it sort of is, but it makes sense when you consider she’s just trying to outdo Barrett’s former girlfriend, Pam, portrayed memorably by the noticeably well-endowed and easy-on-the-eyes Jennifer Bonner, who had stripped down in the first scene to, well, not much of anything. Not being able to rely on the old Fringe standby of getting mostly naked to attract attention, the men in the cast must depend on their own acting talents and the script, neither of which are particularly strong. However, Giese has just enough tricks up his sleeve to keep things interesting (if a bit contrived), especially toward the end when he piles twist upon twist. Holland Hayes (Barrett) and Karl Anthony (Jimmy, the bartender) carry the play at times – the latter being the best among the six-person cast – while David Clayton West (Barrett’s best friend, Trent) and Darby Ballard (Trent’s wife, Ginger) are reduced to caricatures at best and invisibility at worst. *Glory Days*, just like its redneck characters, is rough around the edges. During previews, the production suffered from awkward pacing and line dropping, but by the time it opens to the public – and certainly by the second week – it may have something to offer. It shouldn’t be your first choice, but it’s tough to totally dismiss the commentary on life’s painful disappointments lurking just beneath the play’s crude, slightly amateurish exterior. *[Glory Days](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/glory-days/)* [One Pearl Entertainment](https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Pearl-Entertainment/438265002970084) – Casselberry, FL Length: 60 Venue: Pink Price: $10 (+svc. charge) Disc.: FA | FV | STU | SR | Teachers | Theater Professionals Rating: 18 & Up – Strong Language, Sexual Themes, Nudity *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [RedCoats rock Fiddler's Green](https://www.meiermovies.com/redcoats-rock-fiddlers-green/) **Published:** September 25, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![redcoats](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RedCoats-1024x747.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RedCoats.jpg)From left: John Link, Jim Melvin and John Washburn Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 25, 2016 Some would describe The RedCoats as a Beatles cover band, but after watching them belt out dozens of rockers, and a couple of ballads, by not just the Beatles but the Stones, Badfinger, the Kinks, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Byrds, I’d simply call them one of the best live bands in Central Florida. The four-man group rocked Fiddler’s Green in Winter Park on Saturday night from about 8:15 p.m. until the early hours of the morning, and I do mean rocked, as I’ve never seen the popular Irish bar quite so loud and dance-crazy. Indeed, that might be my only complaint: The venue was simply too small for their volume and energy. Still, whether one was dancing just inches from the stage or slumping next to the amp, the intimacy made for an unforgettable experience. The Orlando group, which formed in 2011, consists of Jim Melvin on lead guitar, John Link on mostly rhythm guitar, Mike Hanson on base and John Washburn on drums. All contribute vocals, but Melvin (whose voice has a George Harrison quality, but also a spark of Paul McCartney’s rocking energy) and Link lead the way. And it’s all about the music, as they neither dress like nor try to physically resemble the Beatles in any way, though their musical arrangements hew closely to the Fab Fours’ (with the notable exception of a very stylish country version of “I’ve Just Seen a Face.”) Their [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/TheRedCoats/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item&tab=page_info) currently lists no upcoming gigs, which is tough to believe, but look for them soon at both Fiddler’s and Dexter’s. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny](https://www.meiermovies.com/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny/) **Published:** July 15, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny**, 2023, 3 ½ stars # Jonesing for nostalgia [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Dial-of-Destiny.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Dial-of-Destiny.jpeg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 15, 2023 After a disappointing *Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull* (Steven Spielberg’s worst film, in 2008), I thought my Indy nostalgia had run dry. It turns out I was wrong, and it took not the usual suspects (Spielberg and George Lucas) to prove me incorrect but, instead, the unlikely pair of director/co-writer James Mangold and a past-his-prime and occasionally youthenized Harrison Ford. *Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny*, helmed by the aforementioned Mangold and penned with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp (writer of *Crystal Skull* but also much better films), is the trippiest and most rollicking combination of reminiscence and big-screen adventure you’ll see this summer. For the fifth and final installment in the series, Dr. Jones is on the hunt (in both 1944 and 1969) for something called the [Antikythera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) or the Dial of [Archimedes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes), which the Greek mathematician created in 213 B.C. If that doesn’t ring in your ears the way the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail did in previous movies, that’s because the screenwriters partially invented this relic – and then added the element of time travel. Seriously. But – suspending my disbelief to the breaking point – the story kind of works. (And it even incorporates a nod, perhaps unintentional, to my favorite time-travel movie, *Somewhere in Time*.) Tempus fugit when you’re having amet. *Dial* isn’t close to the quality of the original *Raiders of the Lost Ark* – what adventure movie is? – but it’s almost on par with *Last Crusade*, from 1989. If not for the contrived plot (even more so than past Indiana Jones films) and the overuse of CGI, it might be a contender, at least for this critic, for the best action-adventure flick of the year. But, sadly, Mangold and his accomplished crew of effects wizards can’t resist jumping the shark a few times – specifically during a wholly unnecessary and ridiculous horse chase through New York City subway tunnels. This and a couple of other action pieces make *Dial* seem a bit too tightly wound. But the de-ageing of Ford is superb, demonstrating just how far technology has come since Brad Pitt was briefly made younger in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as Indy’s goddaughter, is a surprisingly effective addition to the story and a worthy successor to the previous films’ lead actresses, including Karen Allen, who makes a brief appearance in this one. Toby Jones, as Indy’s friend in the 1944 section, is also effective, as is Mads Mikkelsen as the villain. However, John Rhys-Davies (another dose of nostalgia) and Antonio Banderas feel sandwiched-in. A nod must go to the production designers, stunt coordinators and cinematographer (Phedon Papamichael). Though nothing beats the all-practical feel of the original (with their “how did they *really* do that?” vibe), *Dial* often presents a nice blend of digital magic and traditional cinema techniques (including spectacular location shoots and use of more than a thousand extras). That added to the budget, but it was worth it, and gives *Dial* an air of legitimacy that *Crystal Skull*, with its lack of location shoots and bad CGI, never had. So why is *Dial* underperforming at the box office? I suggest it’s not necessarily because of the film itself. Sure, some cinephiles might stay away because Spielberg didn’t direct. (But those same film fans should know that Mangold, with *Ford v Ferrari*, *3:10 to Yuma* and *Walk the Line*, among other successes, is top-notch.) In addition, critics have been somewhat lukewarm, and the fatigue that set in after *Crystal Skull* can’t be dismissed. Neither can Ford’s age, 80 when *Dial* was shot. But the real culprit might be society. When one can stream the movie in just a couple of months at home, in 4K, without the distractions, annoyances and hefty price of a cinema, why leave your house? Case in point: my own experience. I missed the press screening, so I caught the flick with a regular audience at Pointe Orlando Regal, in Orlando, Florida. Once considered a minor movie palace, the facility is now understaffed and poorly maintained. My complaint about the sound went unanswered, and the cinema’s sight lines were so bad that if I reclined my chair, the screen was partially blocked. And don’t get me started on the endless parade of pre-show crap that numbs the soul. I’m talking to you, Maria Menounos (host of Noovie). At least we get to lie back in comfortable chairs, which come in handy if you’re comatose or obese. As for me, I was always reasonably happy with regular seats, which were pretty much the standard for public performances since the days of Archimedes. And this review has just come full circle. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* Spoiler: Pay attention to what happens to the Dial at the end of the movie. If Indy had left it with Archimedes, it would have created a time paradox similar to the pocket watch in *Somewhere in Time*. But even flirting with the paradox is fascinating. (Mangold clearly relishes time travel, as he also demonstrated in *Kate & Leopold*, in 2001.) *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462764/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Dial_of_Destiny).* --- ### [Academy Museum of Motion Pictures](https://www.meiermovies.com/academy-museum-of-motion-pictures/) **Published:** April 18, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, bills itself as the world’s largest museum devoted to the movies. And when roaming the extensive collections across multiple floors of the historic Wilshire May Company building, one can believe it. The museum comprises that building, opened in 1939 as the May Company Building and extensively remodeled when the museum opened in 2021, and the adjacent Sphere Building. The latter houses the David Geffen Theatre and the Dolby Family Terrace, which affords visitors spectacular views of the city, looking north toward Hollywood. Though the museum often seems more concerned with representational quotas and politics than the history of film, it’s nevertheless an astonishing addition to the city of Los Angeles and the world of cinema, not just for its exhibits but for its theaters’ ability to project DCPs, 35mm, 70mm and nitrate film. The photos below, taken in 2023, are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. Click to enlarge and to see a description of each photo, which will appear in your browser window. Highlights include the exhibits devoted to *The Godfather*, *Casablanca*, famous costumes and props, and the history of early cinema and pre-cinema, including a fascinating display of magic lanterns. For more information, visit [AcademyMuseum.org](https://www.academymuseum.org/en/). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-entrance-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-entrance-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-lobby-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-lobby-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-atrium-with-Bruce-the-Shark-replica--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-atrium-with-Bruce-the-Shark-replica--scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-roof-view-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-roof-view-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Casablanca-display-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Casablanca-display-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-office-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-office-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-horse-head-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-horse-head-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-camera-and-editor-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Godfather-camera-and-editor-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-2001-A-Space-Odyssey-miniature-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-2001-A-Space-Odyssey-miniature-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-R2-D2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-R2-D2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-C-3PO-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-C-3PO-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-costume-room-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-costume-room-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Dick-Tracy-costume-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Dick-Tracy-costume-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Almodovar-exhibit-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Almodovar-exhibit-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Stefano-Psycho-typewriter-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Stefano-Psycho-typewriter-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Frank-Thomas-animation-desk-from-Disney-Studios-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Frank-Thomas-animation-desk-from-Disney-Studios-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Oscars-invite-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Oscars-invite-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Harold-Lloyd-makeup-kit-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Harold-Lloyd-makeup-kit-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Melies-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Melies-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-Lumiere-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-2--scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Academy-Museum-magic-lantern-2--scaled.jpg) --- ### [Sunset Gower Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/sunset-gower-studios/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This 14-acre lot in Hollywood is the former Columbia Studios. (Columbia is now part of Sony, which owns and operates the old MGM lot.) Unfortunately, Sunset Gower Studios is not open to public tours. Click each photo for a larger version. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![DSC00294](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00294.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00294.jpg)[![DSC00296](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00296.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00296.jpg)[![DSC00295](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00295.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00295.jpg) --- ### [El Capitan Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/el-capitan-theatre/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The El Capitan Theatre was opened in 1926 by Sid Grauman and Charles Toberman. Now owned by the Walt Disney Company, the complex includes the adjacent El Capitan Entertainment Centre (in the old Hollywood Masonic Temple), which is home to *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* Click each photo to enlarge. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) For more information, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Capitan_Theatre). [![El Cap 1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/El-Cap-1-683x1024.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/El-Cap-1.jpg)[![IMG_1715](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1715.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1715.jpg) [![IMG_1716](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1716-1024x765.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1716.jpg)[![DSC00025](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00025.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00025.jpg)[![IMG_1728](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1728.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1728.jpg) [![IMG_1729](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1729.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1729.jpg) [![IMG_1730](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1730.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1730.jpg) [![IMG_1731](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1731.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1731.jpg) --- ### [Grauman's Egyptian Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/graumans-egyptian-theatre/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The oldest of Sid Grauman’s three movie palaces, the Egyptian opened in 1922 and was the site of Hollywood’s first movie premiere. Click each photo to enlarge. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) Netflix purchased the theater in 2020, and as of 2023, it was still closed and under renovation. For more information, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grauman%27s_Egyptian_Theatre). [![Egyptian](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Egyptian.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Egyptian.jpg)[![IMG_1710](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1710.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1710.jpg) [![IMG_1711](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1711.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1711.jpg)[![IMG_1746](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1746.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1746.jpg) [![IMG_1747](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1747.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1747.jpg) [![IMG_1748](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1748.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1748.jpg) --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2023](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2023/) **Published:** April 1, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Florida Man goes to the movies [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-big-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-big-logo.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 1, 2023 Florida Man gets a bad rap. But, hey, at least he likes to go to the movies. That’s according to the Enzian Theater, which is featuring “Florida Man” as its theme for the 32nd annual festival. Of course, it’s all a bit tongue in cheek, so expect some playful parodies of the colorful stereotype. Also expect movies, a lot of them: 168 total. That’s 50 features and 113 shorts from 38 countries. “This is definitely our most diverse festival yet, and we have more Florida films, music films, animated features and LGBTQIA+ content than ever before,” says Programming Director Matthew Curtis, who adds that “143 films will have at least a Florida premiere at the festival, and 29 films will be having their world, North American, or U.S. premieres.” The event runs April 14-23, with all screenings held at Enzian Theater or Regal Winter Park Village (with one Popcorn Flick at Winter Park’s Central Park). Regal is undergoing a major renovation that is unlikely to be completed in time for the festival. However, the lobby might be finished, and the theaters themselves are not affected. Just be prepared to walk between construction walls. Parties, music performances and panel discussions will be held at the new Winter Park Public Library and Events Center, Full Sail University, Sanford Brewing Company, the Copper Rocket, Hannibal’s On the Square and, of course, everyone’s favorite movie hangout, the Enzian’s Eden Bar. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-logo.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-logo.png)The festival’s opening film will be the Florida-centric *You Were My First Boyfriend*, directed by Cecilia Aldarondo and Sarah Enid Hagey. It will be preceded by the short film *The Greatest Poem*, directed by Elyse Kelly. John Cusack is this year’s celebrity guest. Though tickets are going for a hefty $150, the event on April 21 is already on standby status. It seems people will pay anything for *Say Anything.* Living up to its name, the Florida Film Festival is more Floridey than ever before, with 40 movies containing direct Florida ties, according to Tim Anderson, programming coordinator. Plus, the Florida Sidebar program has expanded from one shorts program to two, and the festival has added an audience-choice award for best Florida feature and best Florida short. The festival is also focused on LGBTQIA+ content, with 24 films containing related themes or characters. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-Enzian-2023-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-Enzian-2023-scaled.jpg)This is the tenth anniversary of my covering the festival. Though I’ve been attending for more than two decades, I first reviewed festival films back in 2013 for *The Orlando Weekly*. So I’m proud to celebrate a decade of movie madness. Some recent health issues have slowed me down (nothing too serious), but I still hope to review several films and see a lot of you at the fest! Unfortunately, I’ve been able to preview just two films. I recommend the drama ***Master Gardener*** (3 stars on my 0-5 scale). [Go here for my review](https://www.meiermovies.com/master-gardener/ "Master Gardener"). But I can’t recommend the action-comedy ***Polite Society*** (1 star). Some will connect to its outrageous mix of Tarantino and Bollywood, but I found it annoying, unfunny and ridiculous. For more information, a schedule of screenings and ticket options, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). ## Further recommendations [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-Regal-Construction-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/FFF-2023-Regal-Construction-scaled.jpg)If you’re a fan of Ray Romano and *Everybody Loves Raymond*, check out *Somewhere in Queens* (3 ¼ stars). The dramedy, which marks Romano’s directorial debut, is several degrees removed from the famous sitcom but enjoys a similar sensibility, with Romano and Laurie Metcalf starring as parents trying to balance the needs of their family with their own personal struggles and those of their teenage son. Somewhat contrived, the film hits a few stumbles along the way, but its path is worth following both for the dramatic and comedic payoffs. (And fans of the aforementioned TV show will enjoy revisiting Romano’s chemistry with Jon Manfrellotti, who played Gianni on *Raymond*.) If you see just one domestic live-action shorts program, make it shorts #1 (nicknamed “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” both for the themes the films present and as a tribute to Olivia Newton-John, who died last year). The most surprising and rewarding of the bunch are Matt Kazman’s *Donkey* and Austin Kolodny’s *Two Chairs, Not One* (both 4 stars). Also deserving of 4 stars are *Imelda Is Not Alone*, directed by Paula Heredia, and *Breaking Silence*, directed by Amy Bench and Annie Silverstein, from the 6x Real documentary shorts program. (The former won the Matthew Curtis Audience Award for best short film.) Finally, the stunning *Ecce*, from the international animated shorts program, deserves recognition. Directed by Margherita Premuroso, it presents a surreal, absurdist, rotoscopy world that I would rather watch on screen than visit in person. That sentiment applies to many other films I saw this year. Therein lies the vicarious joy of a film festival. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC. Images are courtesy of Enzian / Florida Film Festival.* --- ### [Birdemic 3 - Sea Eagle](https://www.meiermovies.com/birdemic-3-sea-eagle/) **Published:** April 20, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Birdemic 3 – Sea Eagle**, 2022, 0 stars # Birdbrained ## *Birdemic 3* is the worst sequel ever [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Birdemic-3.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Birdemic-3.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 20, 2023 In attempting to critique writer-director James Nguyen’s *Birdemic 3 – Sea Eagle*, I find it helpful to borrow a quote from a film by a better director, Ed Wood: “There comes a time in each man’s life when he can’t even believe his own eyes.” But we should be able to believe, as this is the third film in the series that began with *Birdemic: Shock and Terror* in 2010. So we’ve had time to prepare. And though the camerawork is better in this one, the story is almost a complete retread, substituting new characters and different backstories. Yet, astonishingly, *Sea Eagle* is worse than the second film, *Birdemic 2: The Resurrection*, which, despite its poor quality, at least had a degree of campy self-awareness. That isn’t present in *Sea Eagle*, which takes itself far too seriously, to the point of drifting into accidental farce. Except even the unintended laughs are gone this time, replaced mostly by boredom. I can’t begin to understand Nguyen or his motivations. Outside of the movies, he might be a nice, talented guy. And he loves the environment and Alfred Hitchcock – something he likes to tell us. A lot. But he’s no filmmaker, as every frame of his films proves. From the inconsistent lighting and color correction (within the same scene), to bad sound mixing, to sound just plain dropping out entirely in places, to heavy-handed and downright incorrect messaging, to inconceivably bad dialogue, to inanely choreographed and nonsensical dance scenes, to the infamously bad CGI, *Sea Eagle* is the poster child for bad student filmmaking. Except Nguyen isn’t a student. And then there’s the acting. Alan Bagh is back, briefly reprising his role from the earlier flicks. The lead this time is Ryan Lord, and if he had been any more wooden, Guillermo del Toro would have borrowed him for the title role in his stop-motion *Pinocchio*. The second lead is Julia Culbert, and though there might be an actress hidden in her somewhere, we never see it here, as she just doesn’t seem to give a crap, which might make her the second-smartest participant in this debacle. Who is the smartest? Whitney Moore, co-star of the first and second films, who apparently chose not to endure a third installment. That officially makes her smarter than me. *Sea Eagle* is the final chapter in the trilogy, or so we’ve been led to believe. If it is, let’s hope the memory of these movies fades quickly, like the inexplicable and abrupt disappearance of the feathered fiends at the end of each *Birdemic* flick. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15701872/).* --- ### [The death of Netflix discs](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-death-of-netflix-discs/) **Published:** April 20, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 20, 2023 Netflix announced on April 18 that it is ending its disc-by-mail program (DVD.com). This is the thing that started it all: easy access to tens of thousands of movies and TV shows in the comfort of your own home. It changed the world of cinema. Now, with its demise, it is changing cinema again – for the worse. Hundreds of thousands of film lovers, critics and historians rely on this program to watch classic films and TV shows. These titles simply can’t be found anywhere else, unless you’re lucky enough to still have a great rental store in your hometown. But few of those exist anymore thanks in part, ironically, to Netflix. Of course, one can always spend thousands of dollars buying these titles or try to find them on streaming services that specialize in classics, such as Kanopy. But the former idea is too costly and impractical, and the latter service offers only a small fraction of the titles that Netflix discs offer. Newer titles will be more difficult to get too, as the Netflix disc customer will now have to subscribe to multiple streaming services to get the same content currently offered by Netflix discs. The news is shocking but not entirely unexpected, as the disc service has been declining in recent years. (See [my article](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-decline-and-fall-of-home-entertainment/) from June 2022.) But the death still feels too soon, and too sudden. Though we’ve enjoyed, with eager anticipation, the arrival of our iconic red envelopes over the last two decades, it’s not really about the DVD or the Blu-ray. Many Netflix disc customers would be just as happy to stream these titles – if they were available. But they aren’t. Case in point: Of the 180 titles currently in my Netflix disc queue, only three are available to stream. So I implore Netflix to add as many of their disc titles to their streaming service as they can. If they don’t, the world of cinema will suffer an inconceivable, devastating blow when the service is discontinued on September 29 and the last envelope is mailed. It will be like losing our best friend. For more information, visit . *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hollywood Heritage Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-heritage-museum/) **Published:** April 2, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Hollywood Heritage Museum, affectionately known as “The Lasky-DeMille Barn,” is the oldest surviving building in California devoted almost exclusively to filmmaking. Built in 1901, it was rented by Cecil B. DeMille in 1913 for his production of one of the first American feature films, *The Squaw Man*. It was moved to the Paramount Studios lot and served a variety of purposes over the years before eventually being abandoned, then renovated and moved to its current location across the street from the Hollywood Bowl. The museum is now home to many artifacts of early cinema, but the building itself is a time capsule of the dawn of Hollywood and well worth a visit. Pictured here are parts of the collection, including memorabilia and props associated with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino, in addition to historic cameras and other moviemaking equipment, including a Technicolor camera used on *Gone with the Wind*, *The Wizard of Oz* and other films. For more information on the building, [visit the museum’s website](https://www.hollywoodheritage.org/) and the [Historical Marker Database](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=189633). The museum’s hours are limited, so plan in advance. After seeing the museum, I recommend walking to the Hollywood Bowl and its museum (if they are open) and then strolling down the hill to Hollywood Boulevard, where your drinking and eating options are numerous, including the historic Musso and Frank Grill or, for something easier and cheaper, Mel’s Drive-In. (These photos, taken in 2023, are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. Click to enlarge.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Chaplin-display-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Chaplin-display-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-desk-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-desk-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-props-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-props-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-shoes-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-DeMille-shoes-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Fairbanks-display-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Fairbanks-display-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-GWTW-camera-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-GWTW-camera-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Keaton-display-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Keaton-display-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-kinetoscopes-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-kinetoscopes-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-old-cameras-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-old-cameras-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-old-equipment-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-old-equipment-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Paramount-Miniature-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Paramount-Miniature-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Valentino-display-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-Valentino-display-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-widescreen-camera-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HHM-widescreen-camera-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Master Gardener](https://www.meiermovies.com/master-gardener/) **Published:** April 1, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Master Gardener**, 2022, 3 stars # ‘And all will be well in the garden’ [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Master-Gardener.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Master-Gardener.jpg)Image copyright Magnolia Pictures and courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 1, 2023 “Gardening is a belief in the future,” Narvel Roth preaches, but it’s the character’s shocking past that forms the beating heart of this edgy drama from writer-director Paul Schrader. This is familiar territory for Schrader, whose last directorial effort, *The Card Counter*, was a near-miss but whose previous offering, *[First Reformed](https://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/)*, was one of the most revelatory films of 2017. *Master Gardener*, controversial title and all, can be a tough watch, both in subject and aesthetic, as Schrader’s directing is not always up to presenting his powerful yet oddly on-the-nose screenplay. But Joel Edgerton is solid as he channels another understated landscaper, Peter Seller’s Chauncey Gardiner, from *Being There*. However, Sigourney Weaver, as the grand dame of the estate on which Roth works, unfortunately resembles another Sellers character, Fu Manchu. (At least Sellers had an excuse for his wooden performance: He was dying.) And Quintessa Swindell provides competent support as a troubled youth whom Roth lovingly prunes of weeds. *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2023 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2023/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15342244/).* *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Psycho](https://www.meiermovies.com/psycho/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Psycho**, 1960, 5 stars # *“*T*h*e*y*’r*e* p*r*o*b*a*b*l*y* *watchi*n*g* m*e*” ## **The act of observation in Hitchcock’s *P*s*y*c*h*o** [![Psycho](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Psycho-225x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Psycho.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, 1994 When *Psycho* was released in 1960, it made an indentation upon the minds of the American audience as few films had ever done. It broke a tremendous amount of new ground for mainstream U.S. cinema in terms of perceived violence, sexuality and crime. Never had the heroine of a picture been killed off halfway through the movie. Never had an audience had to deal with transvestism, Freud and repressed sexuality all in one evening at the local theatre. Amazingly, few, if any, moviegoers had ever even seen a toilet being flushed on screen. Therefore, these minor points of plot, as Hitchcock saw them, distracted the audience from the true importance of the film, its style. And it is that, observational, even voyeuristic, style that is the film’s ultimate statement and one of its continuing legacies. A director worrying about story is comparable to a painter wondering whether the apple he is painting is sweet or sour, Hitchcock said. Any story can be told; what makes it noteworthy is the style in which it is told, the director thought. Therefore, according to that definition, the shocking nature of *Psycho*’s plot should forever be secondary to the style the creator chose. And so, being a purist, Hitchcock chose a subjective camera. This style had been his favorite for years, allowing the audience to observe the action along with the characters. Hitch would typically begin with a close-up of a person observing a scene, then cut to the scene itself, then cut back to the close-up, this time with the person’s reaction. The director, therefore, was merely recording the scene, almost dispassionately. But he also lets the audience identify with the character and, in the case of *Psycho*, feel as if they are being drawn into this strange world of Norman Bates by being able to spy on it in a slightly voyeuristic way. But an analysis of the subjective style only scratches the surface of a film literally packed with images and themes related to voyeurism, eavesdropping, observation and “being watched.” As Norman says to Marion Crane while his stuffed birds peer down on him, the cruel eyes are studying you. He is speaking of a mental institution, but the metaphor is unmistakable – he’s the one being watched, by his mother, by his birds, and by us, as we spy on his world through the convenience of Hitchcock’s camera. In addition, Marion, the other characters, and, indeed, the audience, are both watching and being watched. This observation theme is the most obvious message of the film and can be expounded upon almost endlessly. What follows is a summary of the most interesting elements of this aspect of the suspense classic. The strongest examples of this theme are impossible to ignore, even if one is wrapped up in the bizarre details of the plot, which most moviegoers were in 1960. The first two surface as obvious elements of Norman’s personality and the third as Hitchcock’s means of introducing us to two of the characters at the movie’s start. The director begins the film with a long helicopter sweep – the only element captured more successfully by Gus Van Sant in his inferior 1998 remake – and then cuts to an open window. He then zooms in, as if we, the audience, were literally voyeurs spying on this meeting between two lovers in a hotel room. The frank sexual nature of the scene added tremendously to the voyeuristic effect in 1960 and set the tone for the rest of the film by making audiences repeatedly feel as if they were in a place, overseeing and overhearing events, that they were not supposed to be. The second obvious moment of observation comes when Marion overhears Norman fighting, or so she and the audience thing, with his mother. It is not so much voyeurism as unintentional eavesdropping. Again, Hitchcock is slowly revealing this strange world to us, not by traditional use of the camera, but by letting us identify with a character and feel the discomfort of that character overhearing a private conversation. The third and by far most overtly voyeuristic moment of the film – or any film of the day – comes when Norman spies on Marion through the hole in his parlor wall. To achieve this view, Norman removes a painting of *Susanna and the Elders*, the biblical story of a bathing woman overtaken by voyeurs who had been aroused while spying on her from a secret place. This and the subsequent shower murder represent the rape of Marion. This and the overall sexual nature of the film’s plot and style will be addressed later. Before moving on with more images from the film, one should consider Hitchcock’s technical brilliance and how he used the camera to heighten the observational feel of his work. The director was no stranger to this feel. He used it extensively in *Rear Window* and other films and drew immense pleasure from letting the audience have little bits of information while concealing them from the characters on screen. He felt this both created tension and aroused a feeling of helplessness in those watching because we could not effect a change. Therefore, Hitchcock’s style served *Psycho* beautifully. He used not only the subjective style, as mentioned before, but a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera. This was the closest approximation of the human eye’s field of vision Hitch could get. In other words, when Norman peers through the hole at Marion, we see exactly what he sees (minus, of course, the color, perhaps the only distortion of our gaze into this new world, but a necessary distortion in order to capture the dark mood of the movie). Hitch also used a forward-moving camera instead of exclusively cutting from frame to frame, as if the audience were walking into, say, the Bates house, with Lila. Finally, the high-angle shot surfaces several times, as when Norman carries the corpse down the stairs and comes out of the bedroom dressed as mother to kill Detective Arbogast. In these instances, we become slightly disengaged from the action, a little embarrassed to be there, and a bit scared of being discovered. This shot both adds to the feeling that we, the audience, might actually be there and lets us analyze the behaviors of the characters as if we were slightly removed. [![Psycho2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Psycho2-233x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Psycho2.jpg)Photos copyright Paramount Pictures/Universal Pictures Despite Hitchcock’s assertion in interviews that the style, not the story, is by far the most important part of a film, even he would have to admit that *Psycho*’s story lends itself perfectly to the observational approach he takes. The movie was based on the novel by Robert Bloch, which, in turn, was inspired by the actual murders of Ed Gein, a psychopath from rural Wisconsin who was convicted in 1957 of killing his family and many others. His escapades, which make *Psycho* look like a bedtime story, included incest, transvestism, graverobbing, cannibalism, necrophilia and torture. However, the reaction of the town in which he lived was one of disbelief. How could this have happened, they asked themselves. So they had to erase the crime, at least in their own minds, as the psychiatrist at the end of *Psycho* says about Norman. The locals joked about Gein and played the roles of observers, coming to Gein’s house to peer in and get their kicks, following his sentencing to a mental institution, where he died in 1984. The villagers had discovered a strange new world, but they did not want to get too close or it might reveal something about the nature of their peaceful little town or even themselves. So they played voyeurs, just as we do in *Psycho*. Bloch, of course toned down the details of Gein’s crimes, putting the emphasis on the mother fixation, the Freudian sexuality and the shower murder. But the observational motif is there in Gein’s story, in the Bloch novel and in the Hitchcock film. It would, by the way, take more than ten years for many of the true horrors of Gein to surface, in *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre*. Another place in which this theme can be found is in the lines themselves as written by Bloch and screenwriter Joseph Stefano. The scene with Norman and Marion in the parlor is packed with them. Marion wants to escape to a “private island,” presumably where she cannot be watched. Norman shows a glimpse of the mother side when he speaks of a mental institution. “The cruel eyes studying you … the laughing and the tears … my mother there?” he asks. At one point, after showing his hatred of her, he leans back in his chair, allowing the staring bird in the background to dominate the shot. “But I know I can’t,” he says of his contemplation of leaving her. It’s as if the mother is watching again through the eyes of the stuffed bird, which moments before he had compared to her. The final scene too is a commentary on the feeling of being watched: *“They’re probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I’m not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They’ll see. They’ll see, and they’ll know, and they’ll say, ‘Why, she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’ ”* Incidentally, it makes the audience feel somewhat relieved when we, having been the fly on the wall throughout the entire picture, realize we have escaped unharmed too. Before concluding with a brief discussion of the film’s sexuality, the image of the eye cannot be ignored. In short, it is the ultimate symbol of watching and being watched. Every character, at some point, is being studied, except for, perhaps, the policeman who questions Marion on the road. He is the only one who is constantly watching both Marion and the audience, never being watched himself. And what does he wear throughout his time on screen? Sunglasses. In addition, when Marion is killed, it is the dead stare that affects us more than even the murder. Life is running out like water down the drain, and we can literally see it in her eyes. Finally, the haunting, hollow eyes of the corpse in the fruit cellar, maybe the most chilling image of the film, come to life under the moving light of the swinging bulb. The stare of death grips us, just as it does when Norman ends the movie with his evil gaze. That gaze, even for us voyeurs, seems a little too close for comfort, especially when the superimposed skull is slightly visible, a choice Hitchcock made so late that some prints do not contain it. Today the sexuality of *Psycho* seems fascinating but not shocking. But in 1960, its shock value was a chief reason the audience felt like voyeurs. They simply were not used to hearing discussions of transvestism, seeing women lying in bed in only their underwear and witnessing the normal activities that take place in bathrooms. The extremely brief, soft-focus nudity (if it is there at all) was rather eye-opening in 1960 as was Janet Leigh walking around in a bra and slip. The spectacle was even a bit much for Leigh and the film crew, who went to great pains to keep the actress covered by moleskin cutouts. The presence of the nude body double on the set was foreign enough to some to create a rather surreal atmosphere on the set as well. This was unusual filmmaking, and the audience knew it. The Freudian overtones are abundant, especially when Lila visits the house, taking us along for the visit. Norman’s room is that of a little boy, stuck in an infantile stage of sexual development. The book Lila discovers might also be shocking to her, judging by her curious reaction and the musical crescendo. Could it be pornography, as the story of Gein and Bloch’s novel suggest? We, as the audience, are eager, and a bit embarrassed, to discover, just as Lila is. Ultimately, though, the sexual theme is played out through the murder, or rape, of Marion, in the shower no less, and the impression of transvestism and incest. By the way, the “real” in “a son is a poor substitute for a real love” was axed. This subject matter was obviously new for mainstream cinema in 1960, and the audience reactions ranged from slight titillation, which is what Hitchcock preferred, to complete shock. Despite all these elements, it was the sexual and violent nature of the story and the way Hitchcock told it that dominated viewers’ thoughts, not the more subtle overall theme of being watched. Only when considering all the elements discussed as parts of the whole can this theme be fully understood. Admittedly, it is easier to do this today than in 1960, as the revised negative critical assessments prove. Understanding the theme also makes one aware that Hitchcock was more like his audience than most thought: curious, slightly scared of real-life conflict and desirous of a way to eavesdrop on the world to experience the drama he so loved without having to deal with its often disturbing outcome. *Psycho* allowed him and his audience to fulfill their desires of observing a fascinating, macabre world by becoming a fly on the wall without being swatted. *© 1994 MeierMovies, LLC* ## *R*e*f*e*r*e*n*c*e*s Brill, Lesley. *The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock’s Films*. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1988. Deutelbaum, Marshall and Leland Poague, editors. *A Hitchcock Reader*. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1986. Hitchcock, Alfred, director. *Psycho*. MCA/Universal (orginal distributor: Paramount), 1960, videocassette. Leitch, Thomas. *Find the Director and Other Hitchcock Games*. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1991. Mordden, Ethan. *Medium Cool*. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Rebello, Stephen. *Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.* New York: Dembner Books, 1990. Schickel, Richard, producer. *The Men Who Made the Movies – Hitchcock*. MPI, 1973, videocassette. Spoto, Donald. *The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock*. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1983. Wood, Robin. *Hitchcock’s Films Revisited.* New York: Columbia University Press, 1989. *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)). And for modern photos of the old Jefferson Hotel, which was featured in the opening establishing shot of the movie, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/jefferson-hotel-from-psycho/ "Jefferson Hotel from ‘Psycho’").* --- ### [Jefferson Hotel from 'Psycho'](https://www.meiermovies.com/jefferson-hotel-from-psycho/) **Published:** March 28, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Jefferson Hotel, now known as the Barrister Place Building, at 101 South Central Ave., in downtown Phoenix, was used for the opening establishing shot of Marion Crane and Sam Loomis’s afternoon tryst in Alfred Hitchcock’s *Psycho*. Built in 1915, at six stories, it was one of the tallest buildings in the state of Arizona at the time, though at the time of the making of *Psycho* (1960), it was shorter than many other downtown buildings, including the one immediately to its west. (That building can be seen on the far right of the first image and on the left in the fifth photo.) By 2023, when these photos were taken, it was dwarfed by everything around it. At that time, it was under renovation, with an apparent future as condos. Hitchcock and his actors never filmed at the Jefferson or even went to Phoenix, as the building was used only for the establishing shot. The exterior of the bedroom window was re-created in Hollywood. The first image shows the aforementioned establishing shot, just after the opening credits. The other photos were taken on March 13, 2023. (The first image is copyright Universal/Paramount while all other photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Psycho-opening-shot.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Psycho-opening-shot.png) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jefferson-Hotel-5-scaled.jpg) --- ### [The Son](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-son/) **Published:** February 25, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Son**, 2022, 2 ½ stars # *The Son* is no *Father* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Son-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Son-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 25, 2023 The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, the saying goes – unless you’re *The Son*, which has little in common with *The Father*. Both films were birthed by French writer and director Florian Zeller. And despite *The Son*’s pedigree as a prequel to *The Father*, the only obvious similarity is the presence of Anthony Hopkins. The plot is wholly different. Peter (Hugh Jackman) is a successful New York lawyer who has recently remarried. His 17-year-old son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), has dropped out of school. The reasons are unclear, but depression, anxiety and bullying are suspected. Complicating matters is the dysfunctional nature of the extended family. Peter has a baby with his new wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby), and a close but contentious relationship with his ex-wife, Kate, (Laura Dern). And, of course, there’s Nicholas, who can’t seem to relate to or confide in anyone. Even more strained is the relationship between Peter and his own father, Anthony, played by Hopkins in what might appear like a younger version of his character from *The Father*. But this new character has seemingly nothing in common with the much better role in that much better 2020 film. Both *The Father* and *The Son* are based on Zeller’s plays, with this newest movie adapted from his and Christopher Hampton’s 2018 work. But while *The Father* moved seamlessly from stage to screen, *The Son* is clunky, stagey and emotionally predictable. A twist ending is somewhat effective, and all the performers have their moments, especially Jackman, who received a Golden Globe nomination, but Zeller’s screenplay and direction never offer us quite enough to grab hold of, or surprise us. Those suffering similar life circumstances will undoubtedly be moved but will likely still be struck by the derivativeness, not to mention, of course, the unpleasantness of the subject. The best I can say is I was intrigued by to whom “the son” refers. On first blush, it’s Nicholas. But after an emotionally painful scene between Peter and Anthony, I realized it could just as easily refer to that older relationship, which would illustrate the multi-generational baggage and elevate the story from a coming-of-age tale to a commentary on families that are unable to break free of their past. If that latter hypothesis is valid, it’s further proof that Zeller and Hampton had their hands on something potentially profound but simply got a bit lost along the way. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14458442/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Son_(2022_film)).* --- ### [Empire of Light](https://www.meiermovies.com/empire-of-light/) **Published:** November 6, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Empire of Light**, 2022, 4 ¼ stars # Empirical quality ## Mendes shines *Light* through darkness [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Empire-of-Light.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Empire-of-Light.jpg)Olivia Colman stars in *Empire of Light*. (image copyright Searchlight Pictures / Neal Street Productions) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 6, 2022 Director Sam Mendes’ last film, *1917*, is a tale of the most awesome conflict the world had ever known. The Great War is blamed for the death of nine million soldiers and five million civilians, with still more carnage coming from the subsequent Spanish Flu pandemic. For his next film, Mendes has chosen even deadlier topics: emotional isolation, racism and mental illness. Meet Hilary (Olivia Colman), a forlorn and unfulfilled employee at an imposing but past-its-prime cinema (the Empire) in the southeastern English seaside resort town of Margate in the early 1980s. Though she doesn’t see the same combat as characters in *1917*, Hilary fights her own battles. Getting up each morning and going to work is her Verdun. Enduring sexual harassment from her boss (Colin Firth) is her Somme. And groping for meaning in melancholy is her Gallipoli. Yet as World War I had its Armistice, Hilary too is occasionally able, thanks to friendship from the cinema’s projectionist (Toby Jones) and an unexpected and briefly romantic bond with a co-worker (Michael Ward), to “find where light in darkness lies.” The latter relationship is understandably fraught – because of Hilary’s fragility, their age difference and his race. He is a Black man, one of the few living in an almost all White area of Thatcher’s Britain, a region and era known for racial strife. Their personal tortures couldn’t be more different: hers an interior, often invisible torment, and his an almost unbearable public spectacle. But they endure, with a little kindness from each other and a helping hand from film itself, which, as the Empire’s projectionist reminds them, in the movie’s central metaphor, offers a way to become blind to the darkness. *Empire of Light* is more of an acquired taste than *1917*, *American Beauty* and *Road to Perdition*. Its pacing is more methodical and its comparatively simple script (the first Mendes has written by himself) doesn’t have as much to offer on first flicker. But the movie, thanks in great part to another astonishing performance by Colman, slowly casts a spell all its own, eventually conjuring another grand, if slightly odder, piece of fine art from a master craftsman. The film’s critical rejection is crushing and makes one wonder how Hilary would respond. Not one to eschew angry outbursts, at least when off her lithium, she might coax critics to check their snark and cynicism at the theater door. Yes, some of the supporting characters, particularly Firth’s, are a tad underdeveloped and the screenplay somewhat uneven, but these nitpicks don’t detract much from the overall mood, which is enhanced by wonderful music and, ultimately, hopefulness. Hilary might also remind us that simplicity and sentimentality can actually be noble, especially when staged by the mind of Mendes and refracted through the lens of Roger Deakins. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14402146/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Light_(film)).* --- ### [Thirteen is lucky for Love Your Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-is-lucky-for-love-your-shorts/) **Published:** February 7, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Sanford festival embraces international and local films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2023-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2023-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 7, 2023 Some would say the Love Your Shorts Film Festival, now in its 13th year, is lucky. After all, the festival started on a wing and a prayer in the Chamber of Commerce building in Sanford, Florida, and has since grown into arguably the second-best movie fest in the Orlando area, trailing only the Oscar-qualifying Florida Film Festival. Not discounting luck entirely, festival organizers would likely paraphrase actor John Houseman when describing their success: They earned it. “In the beginning, we had a core group of people that did everything,” co-founder Nelson Beverly once told me. “At our inaugural film festival in 2011, we created a theater from the ground up at our Chamber of Commerce. We had to rent a screen, borrow a projector, bring in chairs and even bring our own popcorn machine.” How times have changed. Now firmly ensconced in the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center’s 100-year-old Ritz Theater, the festival draws submissions from around the world. This year’s event, scheduled for February 9-12, will feature 75 short movies (30 minutes or less) from 12 countries, including *Uprooted*, by Ukrainian filmmakers Andzej Gavriss and Konstantin Koval. The fest will also see another movie by Sabine Crossen, a Parisian filmmaker with roots not just in France but also New Zealand and the United States. “Love Your Shorts is my favorite festival because they make it special,” says Crossen. Crossen’s last appearance at the festival, in 2020, was indeed special, as her *Resurrection* won the “Best of the Fest” award. Her *Bievenue chez Candy* (*Welcome to Candy’s*) will screen in this year’s Sci-Fi/Horror block. But the event still embraces its local roots. A handful of this year’s films have UCF ties, and the fest’s Education Day, on Thursday, will feature seven locally produced shorts and a panel discussion with local moviemakers, in partnership with the Organization of Independent Filmmakers. Plus, as usual, the fest’s Florida Flavor section of shorts will screen on Sunday. In addition, Orlando filmmaker Derek Ziegler’s film, *A Murder Most Trivial*, which he created for the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project last year, will screen in the Opening Night block on Friday at 7 p.m. “I’ve been coming to the Love Your Shorts Film Festival for many years, but this is the first time having one of our own projects accepted into the fest,” Ziegler says. “It’s an absolute honor to be selected to screen during the Opening Night block. This block kicks off the event and sets the tone for the whole weekend, and it feels great to be a part of that. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)“I look forward to Love Your Shorts every year. Not only do you get to spend the weekend watching great films from around the world, but you also get to meet and network with other talented filmmakers. It’s an entire weekend where we get to nerd-out on filmmaking. What’s not to love?” It’s not just filmmakers who attend the festival, though, as is common with many other small fests. It’s the general public too. Indeed, the event typically draws 2,000-3,000 people each year from all over Central Florida but especially Sanford, a city of 61,000 that retains a noticeably small-town vibe. “I love this fest because it is the culmination of a community’s dream into reality,” says festival director and Sanford champion Christina Holllerbach. “We have a dedicated life force of residents that want to make their town better, especially for the arts. Honoring filmmakers through sincere hospitality and connection to true film fans is essential to our festival’s philosophy.” As usual, films are divided into 10 blocks, not including the Thursday group of local films. After the Opening Night block on Friday, movies are organized into E for Everyone (family friendly), Animation (intermittently family friendly), Documentary, International, Comedy and Sci-Fi/Horror (definitely not family friendly) on Saturday. Drama, Florida Favor and Best of the Fest follow on Sunday. That latter group will consist of the most popular film of each previous block, as selected by the audience, plus one additional pick from the selection committee (if that pick hasn’t already been selected by the audience). Then a group of judges will choose the best overall film. Speaking of judges, Tracy Frenkel has offered his critical eye since the festival started. “LYSFF and the town of Sanford consistently, genuinely welcomes and encourages filmmakers internationally,” Frenkel, a local actor, casting director and producer says. “The attention to detail at all levels of fest organization is exceptional. \[It’s a\] fest in an amazing venue that creates a true sense of family and support for the attending filmmakers and audience alike. Consistently, every year I am happy to be included as part of the LYSFF family and the reenergization that it brings to our local film community.” Board member and festival co-founder Gene Kruckemyer echoes Frenkel’s comments. “We’re feeling pretty good about this being the 13th year of the festival because it’s coming after two complicated years of lockdowns and quarantines,” Kruckemyer says. “The festival is a lot of work for our board throughout the year, but we’ve been fortunate since the beginning to have generous sponsors, dedicated volunteers and creative filmmakers who have learned about us and want to submit films. Many of the filmmakers come from around the country and even abroad. “From the beginning, our volunteer board has been made up of friends, which helps overcome hurdles that come up when putting together something like this. The first year of the festival when we didn’t know what kind of turnout to expect, we had to construct a scaffolding for our screen in a Chamber of Commerce meeting room, which held about 115 folding chairs. We may not have to build scaffolding any more since we partnered with downtown Sanford’s Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, but our growth has meant there’s more time needed for organizing the event, pre-screening more films, managing our box office, promoting the festival, decorating and overseeing all the other components. It’s a lot of work, but also a lot of fun that we think benefits Sanford.” A ticket to a single block of films costs $12 (except $5 for E for Everyone) while a weekend pass is $85. See [LoveYourShorts.com](https://www.loveyourshorts.com/) for more information. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* ## Opening Night blog [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2023-Ritz-Front-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Love-Your-Shorts-2023-Ritz-Front-scaled.jpg)The Love Your Shorts Film Festival got off to a good start in Sanford on Friday night. The party theme was lumberjacks. It was more than OK. And the winning film was Steve Oen’s *Sucker*, from the Netherlands. (It was one of my top two films from the seven-film block, along with Niels Bourgonje’s *Shut*, also from the Netherlands. Kudos also to the Ukrainian *Uprooted* for its political message, cinematography and special effects.) ## Wrap-Up Blog Congratulations to Dana Caitlin Reilly and her documentary, *Favorite Daughter*, which the judges deemed “best of the fest.” My top film, however, was *All That Glitters*, a British *Twilight Zone*-inspired drama from Dan Bronzite, to whom festival organizers gave the award for best director (along with Garrett Martin, for *Eulogy*.) Kudos also to Heesoo Choi’s *The Dark Room* and Niels Bourgonje’s *Shut*, which did not win the audience awards for their respective blocks and were, therefore, not included among the “best of the fest” screening on Sunday night. --- ### [Reel Representation](https://www.meiermovies.com/reel-representation/) **Published:** February 15, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Diversity gets Reel at new Enzian festival [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Bee-Nation.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Bee-Nation.jpg)*Bee Nation* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/diversity-gets-reel-at-new-enzian-festival/Content?oid=2457848), February 14, 2018 Adult patrons of Maitland’s Enzian Theater have been waiting two decades for a new festival. That wait is finally over, as Maitland’s arthouse cinema is launching Reel Representation: Diversity in Film, February 17-18. Better described as a mini-festival or showcase, the event will screen four movies (two narrative features and two documentary features), making it similar in size to the theater’s South Asian Film Festival and Central Florida Jewish Film Festival. The latter’s debut 20 years ago marked the last time the Enzian introduced a festival geared predominantly to adults. (KidFest and the Reel Short Teen Festival are targeted toward children and families.) Each film highlights a particular ethnicity, culture, social issue and/or sexual orientation that has historically been underrepresented in cinema. For instance, *Bee Nation* (Saturday, 11 a.m.) is a documentary about indigenous families in Canada preparing for the inaugural First Nations Provincial Spelling Bee while *Signature Move* (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.) is an LGBT-themed dramedy set in multi-ethnic Chicago. *Quest* (Sunday, 11 a.m.), which *The Village Voice* called one of the best documentaries of 2017, follows a black family in North Philadelphia for more than a decade, offering an intimate portrait of a unique African-American story. And *Woodpeckers* (Sunday, 2 p.m.) is a drama that examines love – against all odds – inside a prison in the Dominican Republic. (The latter film was shot inside the actual jail and used real inmates for non-lead roles.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Signature-Move.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Signature-Move.jpg)*Signature Move* Though this is the first year for this stand-alone event, it actually was born at last year’s Florida Film Festival. “We had a very good response at last year’s Florida Film Festival, so we’re doing a separate showcase as like a lead-up event to this year’s Florida Film Festival,” Matthew Curtis, programming director, says. Though Curtis cautions that it’s not an event that the Enzian is “100-percent committing to as a long-term project,” he says the theater is passionate about cinematic diversity. “We feel obviously, with Enzian’s mission, that it’s important to highlight and represent different communities that are often underrepresented on local screens,” Curtis says. “These are all acclaimed films from other festivals that without this type of mini-festival or showcase would never get on screen here in Orlando.” Perhaps the most significant part of the event is the chance for audiences to engage with the filmmakers. Jennifer Reeder, the director of *Signature Move*, will be in attendance and take questions following her film, while filmmakers associated with the other three movies will participate in Skype Q&A sessions. A ticket to a single film costs $11, and a series pass is $40. (Enzian members are not allowed table reservations.) See [Enzian.org](http://enzian.org/films/festivals/reel-representation/) for details. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Love Your Shorts 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshorts2018/) **Published:** February 7, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 7, 2018 I’m gonna get short this weekend, but I’m not complaining. In fact, I think I’m gonna love it. No, I’m not Matt Damon in *Downsizing*. I’m still Cameron, and I’ll be attending the Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford, Florida. (See [OrlandoWeekly.com](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sanfords-love-your-shorts-film-festival-returns/Content?oid=10579212) for my article on the eighth annual event.) Actually, I won’t just be attending – I’ll be participating in two panel discussions on Thursday. The first, at 9 a.m., will focus on what makes a movie scary, while the second, at 10 a.m., will address why Florida is a good place to make scary movies. Both panels (which will include six industry professionals with experience in filmmaking, teaching and writing) will take place at the Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce, on the corner of Sanford Avenue and East First Street. That’s just three blocks from the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, where the main part of the festival will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As with all such festivals, the movie quality is always hit-or-miss, but if history proves a guide, each film block will contain one or two little gems. If you plan to attend the Thursday panels, prepare to be bombarded with useful information and tons of resources to help you make a scary movie. To whet your appetite (and to prevent you from having to furiously take notes during the panels), let me provide some of that information here: [Orlando Film Commission, division of Orlando Economic Partnership](http://www.orlandoedc.com/Industries/Film-Digital-Media/Filming-in-Orlando.aspx) This is an organization that supports and provides resources to local filmmakers. If you have basic questions about the business of filmmaking, this is a good place to turn. [Florida Office of Film and Entertainment](https://filminflorida.com/) Ditto for this organization. [Women in Film and Television Florida](http://www.womeninfilmfl.org/) And ditto again, except, of course, with an emphasis on female filmmakers and topics and themes that are particularly important to women. [The Enzian Theater](http://www.enzian.org/) Central Florida’s leading art-house cinema and producer of the Florida Film Festival. (The theater’s monthly FilmSlam is a great place to get your student, low-budget or no-budget film shown.) [Central Florida Film Network](https://www.facebook.com/groups/CentralFloridaFilmNetwork/?ref=group_header) This is a group of local filmmakers and film enthusiasts who usually meet once a month, typically at the Enzian Theater’s Eden Bar or other locations in Winter Park or Maitland. **Films to watch (and watch again)** You’ll certainly learn a lot about creating scary, smart and tension-filled films by watching the following classic (though slightly underappreciated) movies: *[Dead of Night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_of_Night)* *[The Stranger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(1946_film))* *[Les Diaboliques](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Diaboliques_(film))* And don’t forget these short films that have played at local festivals recently: *[88:88](https://vimeo.com/31963455)* by Joey Ciccoline, from the 2013 Florida Film Festival *[The Flesh of My Lovers](https://vimeo.com/129724603)* by Joshua Guiliano, from the 2017 Love Your Shorts Film Festival *[Into the Dark](https://vimeo.com/105701493)* by Lukas Hassel, from the 2015 Love Your Shorts Film Festival And for a list of some famous scary (and just plain campy) films that have filmed in Florida over the years, check out [this *Orlando Weekly* article](http://photos.orlandoweekly.com/the-definitive-top-25-scariest-movies-filmed-in-florida/?slide=1&creature-of-the-black-lagoon) from a few years ago. Visit [LoveYourShorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com/) for more information on the festival. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Longing for shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/loveyourshortsff2018/) **Published:** February 15, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sanfords-love-your-shorts-film-festival-returns/Content?oid=10579212), February 7, 2018 Sanford isn’t skimping on shorts this year. In fact, there are more to love than ever before, as the Love Your Shorts Film Festival will screen 80 films (nine more than last year, mostly thanks to a larger number of animated micro-shorts). Scheduled for February 8-11, the festival will begin with Thursday’s Education Day, sponsored by the University of Central Florida’s College of Arts and Humanities. Two morning discussion panels at the Greater Sanford Regional Chamber of Commerce will address how to make a scary movie, and 15 short movies by University of Central Florida film students will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. (If you count those student films, the festival’s total is actually 95.) The festival’s main portion will follow over the next three days at the Wayne Densch. Movies (all less than 30 minutes) are divided into nine blocks: opening night (mix of genres), E for Everyone, animation, documentary, comedy, sci-fi/horror, drama, Florida Flavor and Best of the Fest. That last block will feature the top films from the previous blocks, as voted on by audience members. (Judges will then select the overall winner from that final block.) And a discussion panel on Saturday at 5 p.m. will address the art of filmmaking. Though the festival will show films from 10 countries and many U.S. states, it has long been a friend to local filmmakers. That tradition continues this year with movies by Fred Zara, Dale Metz, TL Westgate, Christina Carmona, Sarah Holland, Dimitri Pantchev and David Witwer. Now in its eighth year, the event has retained its small-town charm while growing into one of the top five film festivals in the Orlando area, with an annual attendance of more than 2,000. It’s been a tall order, but the Shorts haven’t let Sanford down. “The biggest challenge is putting on a growing and engaging festival with all volunteers,” says festival co-founder and board member Gene Kruckemyer. “We’re a nonprofit organization, and we’ve pretty much been able to do everything for eight years on a shoestring. Everyone involved is a volunteer – our board members and others in the community who help – and I think it has been a remarkable team effort.” If coordinating the 2018 festival sounds like a difficult job, consider the event’s first year. “In the beginning, we had a core group of people that did everything,” says co-founder and Festival Director Nelson Beverly. “At our inaugural film festival in 2011, we created a theater from the ground up at our Chamber of Commerce. We had to rent a screen, borrow a projector, bring in chairs and even bring our own popcorn machine. “The transition from a startup film festival to an established film festival has been challenging. … Fast forward to now and we are blessed to have a great partnership with the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, where our festival has occurred every year since 2012. This takes a huge burden off our shoulders, as a movie-theater environment is always ready to go. As such, we have been able to focus our efforts on growing the festival by providing a free education day of films and activities, along with offering filmmaker grants.” Just like many other festival directors, Beverly says he has grown to appreciate the value of teamwork. “One thing I have learned during my time with LYSFF is the importance of collaboration, both in making films and in running a film festival,” he says. “As the festival has grown, more people have gotten involved, and this has required us to develop new systems, focus on leadership, have planning meetings, and make sure we are managing our resources effectively.” Despite overcoming most of its challenges, the event has had its share of surprises. But fortunately for Kruckemyer, his most significant surprise has been a positive one. “The biggest surprise is that filmmakers and film fans from all over the United States and the world have come to Sanford for the festival: China, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean and elsewhere. For most of them it was a first visit, and some of them have returned,” Kruckemyer says. “It’s always rewarding to be part of the impromptu weekend film community of filmmakers, fans, sponsors and volunteers that pops up in downtown Sanford.” A single film block costs $10 while $70 will get you a pass to all movies. (Discussion panels and Thursday’s student films are free.) For more information, visit [LoveYourShorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ranking all 'Star Wars' films](https://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-all-star-wars-films/) **Published:** January 3, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## How does *The Last Jedi* compare? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Last-Jedi.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Last-Jedi.jpg)*The Last Jedi* (image copyright Jonathan Olley / Lucasfilm Ltd. / Walt Disney Company) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 3, 2018 Now that the dust has settled from the blockbuster release of *The Last Jedi* and hardcore *Star Wars* fans have had the chance to see it (and see it again), the time seems right to contemplate its place in the canon. First, yes, it’s better than *The Force Awakens*, though not by much. Except for the abysmal Laura Dern (who is a casting disaster), the mediocre Carrie Fisher (apologies for the disrespect, as she will be sorely missed) and the embarrassingly hammy (on purpose?) Domhnall Gleeson, the acting is better than in the last film. Though this new film sorely misses Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley is excellent and the rest of the cast, including Mark Hamill, pull their weight. Adam Driver is better than in the last outing, perhaps because his character is given more development and inner conflict. And Oscar Isaac gets some nice screen time. As always (well, except for *The Phantom Menace*), this new *Star Wars* never fails to entertain. It’s pure Cecil B. DeMille, with CGI (offset by some traditional effects). Perhaps the harshest thing that can be said about it is it simply tries to pack too much in and throw too much at the screen, and, by doing so, can’t achieve the balance and emotional impact of the original trilogy. In some ways, director Rian Johnson’s film lacks discipline and pacing, and starts weakly. But, hey, it’s better to start weak and end strong than to do the opposite, as *The Force Awakens* did. (The twist ending involving Luke is superb.) It’s also worth noting – SPOILER ALERT – that the film’s sensibility seems different, sometimes as if it’s spoofing itself, with a heavy dose of snark. For hardcore *Star Wars* fans, that can be either refreshing or off-putting, or sometimes both. The film’s reinterpretation of the Force is also odd, as it suggests that discipline, training and even lineage matter little. Indeed, seemingly the only reason for the ghost of Yoda to appear is to destroy the sacred texts of the Jedi. If he had explained that the Force flows in and around us and not just in books, that might have been acceptable. But for him to joke that the books weren‘t much of a read – well, that’s just disrespectful and sophomoric. In this new *Star Wars* world, it seems anyone can stumble into the Force regardless of knowledge or bloodline. How democratic. With that mini-review out of the way, please indulge my countdown of the best *Star Wars* films. Though *Rogue One* is admittedly not part of the canon, I include it here because of its positive reception by both critics and audiences. It feels like it belongs in the Lucas universe. For the monetary list, I rank films based on inflation-adjusted gross, and I use domestic figures only, not worldwide, which is a better way to compare the success of films from different eras. (My source is [BoxOfficeMojo.com](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm).) **Quality** 1. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – 5 stars 2. Star Wars, a.k.a. Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) – 5 stars 3. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) – 5 stars 4. [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) (2016) – 4 ¼ stars 5. Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) – 4 stars 6. Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) – 3 ¾ stars 7. [Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens](http://www.meiermovies.com/star-wars-vii-the-force-awakens/) (2015) – 3 ½ stars 8. Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002) – 2 ¾ stars 9. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (2000) – 1 ½ stars **Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Gross** 1. Star Wars, a.k.a. Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) – **$1,590,608,000** (#2 all time behind Gone with the Wind) 2. [Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens](http://www.meiermovies.com/star-wars-vii-the-force-awakens/) (2015) – **$965,467,800** (#11 all time) 3. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – **$876,753,100** (#13 all time) 4. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) – **$839,950,500** (#16 all time) 5. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (2000) – **$806,486,800** (#18 all time) 6. Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) – **$614,352,000** (#44 all time as of February 3, 2018) 7. [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) (2016) – **$539,743,700** (#58 all time) 8. Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) – **$529,768,500** (#65 all time) 9. Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002) – **$477,473,400** (#95 all time) *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Best of 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-2017/) **Published:** December 29, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## True stories dominate top-five list [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)The best film of 2017: *Dunkirk*. Image copyright Syncopy Films / Warner Brothers. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/true-stories-fill-up-the-list-of-2017s-best-films/Content?oid=9615063), December 27, 2017 It’s been an odd year in film. The Harvey Weinstein scandal and Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox have rocked the industry. While quality has been stellar, ticket sales have been disappointing, though *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* is erasing Hollywood’s financial frowns faster than Ridley Scott deleted Kevin Spacey. Picking a top five in December is always tough, as American audiences and critics have yet to see all the best documentaries and foreign films. Nevertheless, the following films will restore some of your shattered faith in humanity, just in time for Christmas. Several movies seem a good fit for fifth place, including *Blade Runner 2049*, *War for the Planet of the Apes*, *Lady Bird* and the Hungarian-language *1945*. But in keeping with the oddness of 2017, I offer ***Dawson City: Frozen Time***, an experimental documentary by Bill Morrison. Weaving together old nitrate film previously thought lost and setting it to Alex Somers’ hypnotic score, Morrison has fashioned a transcendent experience that’s as close as one can come to time travel. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Dawson-City-Frozen-Time.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Dawson-City-Frozen-Time.jpg)The best documentary of the year is *Dawson City: Frozen Time*. Image copyright Hypnotic Pictures / Picture Palace Pictures. No list would be complete without an entry from Steven Spielberg, and this one is his best since *Saving Private Ryan* almost two decades ago. ***The Post***, which stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, focuses on *The Washington Post*’s efforts to publish the top-secret Pentagon Papers in the early 1970s. In these days of Trump, it’s an important reminder of the power of the press. It’s also a perfect prequel to *All the President’s Men*, which is fitting since *The Post* is the best film about print journalism since that 1976 masterpiece. Another powerhouse director comes in at number three: Joe Wright with ***Darkest Hour***. By conducting a unique visual symphony of pacing, editing, cinematography and music – not to mention the best performance of the year, by Gary Oldman – Wright has resurrected Winston Churchill and emotionally reimagined the bleakest moments of World War II. In a typical year, Disney/Pixar’s *Coco* would be the top animated flick. But 2017 brought us something unique, something we’ve never seen before and will likely never witness again: a fully oil-painted feature. All 65,000 frames of ***Loving Vincent*** – the brainchild of Polish filmmaker Dorota Kobiela – were brought to life by more than 100 artists over six years. It’s the story of the life, death and art of Vincent van Gogh, told by the subjects of his paintings. It’s also the best animated film of the century and the most nobly conceived of all time. Another World War II drama and blockbuster director take the top spot. ***Dunkirk***, by Christopher Nolan, is a 65mm masterpiece of sound and fury, signifying everything. It’s a movie that the thousands of men who died on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 earned the right to expect, and it’s the finest film of the decade. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian submits revised proposal](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-submits-revised-proposal/) **Published:** December 8, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Parking remains biggest problem for expansion project [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzian-Expansion-View-from-the-East.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Enzian-Expansion-View-from-the-East.jpg)This artist’s rendering shows the east side of the proposed expansion. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/12/08/parking-remains-biggest-problem-for-enzian-theaters-expansion-project), December 8, 2017 On-site parking remains the main sticking point for the Enzian Theater’s expansion plan, according to members of the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission, who held a public meeting on the revised proposal last night. Though the Enzian Theater first submitted their preliminary proposal for expansion in November 2012, Thursday’s meeting marked the unveiling of the revised proposal, which would boost the theater from one to three screens. Though mostly identical to the previous one, the revised plan includes details such as “dark sky” outdoor lighting and 30-foot landscaping buffers to shield neighbors from the sights and sounds of the theater. It also provides a more detailed analysis of the Enzian’s 113 on-site parking spaces while making clear that the Enzian has a written agreement with Park Maitland School to use their 90 spaces. That would bring the total spaces to 203. But that wasn’t enough for Commissioner Barry Kalmanson and the nine members of the public who spoke out against the proposal. “I don’t know how parking is much better than two years ago,” said Kalmanson, referring to the previous proposal. “Parking is just huge for this. If you solve that, you’ve got a wonderful project.” Kalmanson suggested that a parking garage might be the only solution, one which the Enzian has rejected for aesthetic reasons. Others were less open to solutions, arguing that an expansion would only increase parking, noise and security issues in the neighborhood east of the Enzian’s three-acre property. And while most admitted that no-parking zones on Magnolia Street were now well enforced, one neighborhood resident claimed – with photographic evidence – that some Enzian patrons were venturing deeper into the neighborhood to find parking on crowded nights. (Parking at First Watch, across US 17-92, has been rejected as a solution because of the inconvenience of crossing that busy road, though the recent addition of crosswalks has made it safer.) Ten members of the public, including at least two who live within a couple of blocks of the Enzian, spoke in favor of the proposal, calling the Enzian a treasure and thanking the Tiedtke family for their contributions to Maitland culture. Speaking for the Enzian were attorney Hal Kantor, Executive Director David Schillhammer and President Henry Maldonado. “Above all we are good neighbors,” Maldonado said. “Now we need some help from our neighbors.” That statement drew a negative reaction from some members of the public, including *Erin Miner*, whose Magnolia Road property is adjacent to the *Enzian. She* said the Enzian had only become a good neighbor in the last two years while they were seeking approval for their expansion. “Arts organizations cannot remain stagnant,” Schillhammer argued while announcing that $5 million of the project’s estimated cost of $6.5 million had already been raised. Kantor stressed that the current code regulating permitted uses already allows for this expansion while adding that the Enzian had, upon the urging of neighborhood residents, permanently discontinued their “Outdoor Pitcher Shows.” Those free events sometimes drew close to 200 attendees, far less than the combined capacities of the proposed additional theaters, which would seat 80 and 50. Several members of the public suggested they might support an Enzian expansion if the theater guaranteed that buffers on the north and east of the property would shield them from unwanted noise and lighting. “We just want to be able to sleep at night,” said one resident of Lake Maitland Terrace Condominiums. Commissioner Jamie Kay Sokos also sounded cautiously optimistic, saying she and her fellow commissioners would like to “work to make sure there is a solution for everyone.” Thursday’s meeting was characterized as a “fact-finding” hearing, and the commissioners voted unanimously to forward the Enzian’s planned development (PD) amendment to the Development Review Committee (DRC) with the request that the DRC work with the Enzian to resolve the problematic issues and report back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. No timetable exists for that, though a city staffer suggested it “could be a few months” and stressed, “It’s very early in the process.” The expansion, first revealed by this reporter in *The Orlando Weekly* in 2013, would include not just two new screens but also a new entrance, kitchen, lobby, restrooms and employee offices on the northeast side of the existing building, while preserving most of the existing landscaping and “old Florida” ambience. Based on initial estimates that construction would take about a year, the expansion, if approved, would likely open sometime after the 2019 Florida Film Festival. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Jewish Film Festival 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/jewish-film-festival-2017/) **Published:** November 6, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Three-day event celebrates Jewish film, culture, food [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/1945.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/1945.jpg)*1945* (image copyright Katapult Film) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/annual-jewish-film-festival-celebrates-film-culture-and-food/Content?oid=8183541), November 1, 2017 Arguably the most popular of the Enzian Theater’s mini-festivals, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival is returning for its 19th year. Co-sponsored by the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, the event honoring Jewish life, culture and history will begin after sundown on Saturday, November 4 (to honor the Jewish Sabbath), and continue through Monday, November 6. This year’s festival will screen five feature films (one documentary and four narratives), plus one short, but it’s also a food event. The menu will include knishes (baked dough filled with spinach and cheese), latkes (potato pancakes), holishkes (cabbage rolls with meat or rice filling), Hebrew National hot dogs and tzimmes (sweet stew with beef, carrots and sweet potatoes). In keeping with the merger of food and film, ***The Pickle Recipe*** kicks off the festivities at the Orlando Science Center at 8 p.m. on Saturday. (All subsequent films will be shown at the Enzian.) Though it’s the one film the *OW* didn’t screen in advance, this lighthearted look at Detroit’s Jewish community (starring David Paymer and Lynn Cohen) is likely to be a crowd pleaser. It’s preceded by ***The Chop*** (3 stars on 0-5 scale), a well-paced and cleverly written short comedy about the culinary clash of Jewish and Muslim cultures in England. It’s a tough watch for non-meat-eaters, but its originality and charm make it a nice choice to open the festival. Next up is the Hungarian-language ***1945*** (4 ¼ stars), which will screen at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Directed by Ferenc Torok, this powerful, atmospheric examination of Holocaust complicity is the highlight of the festival, according to not just this reviewer but also Matthew Curtis, Enzian programming director. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Pickle-Recipe.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Pickle-Recipe.jpg)*The Pickle Recipe* (image copyright Storyboard Entertainment) “While the range and scope of genres, ideas, themes and emotions in this year’s lineup is truly exciting, I am particularly psyched to be able to bring *1945* to our audience,” says Curtis. “This stunning black-and-white, post-war Western set in Hungary is certainly one of the more unusual films to ever make our lineup, and it’s no surprise it was a knockout at last year’s Berlin Film Festival.” An even more unconventional choice is ***One Week and a Day*** (3 stars), which plays at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Deceptively simple, the Hebrew-language film appears at first glance not to tackle any big issues. Instead, it seems content to amble through a day in the life of an Israeli husband and wife who have just sat a week-long Shiva for their dead son. But look more closely and you’ll find a surprisingly tender and irresistibly quirky dramedy that offers a new perspective on the traditional Jewish grieving process. It won’t be everyone’s taste, but assured direction by Asaph Polonsky in his debut, along with strong performances, make it an interesting, though admittedly slight, festival selection. ***Big Sonia*** (3 ½ stars), this year’s lone doc, plays Monday at 4:30 p.m. It isn’t exactly groundbreaking cinema, but it has more humanity than should be allowed in a rather simple profile of 91-year-old manager of a tailor shop in a rundown Kansas City mall. For Sonia Warshowski is not just a shopkeeper – she’s a great-grandmother, Holocaust survivor and inspiration to everyone from high school students to prison inmates, whom she encourages to never give in to hate. “The most important message that Sonia shares with all us is that no matter what has happened to you, it does not have to be the defining experience of your life,” one acquaintance of Sonia says. “No matter what you’ve gone through, you can choose to be who you want to be in the future.” ***Shelter*** (2 ¾ stars), a methodically paced espionage thriller, closes the festival on Monday at 7 p.m. It’s the weakest of the four films the *OW* screened, thanks to a rushed, confusing and anti-climactic second act, not to mention a jaw-dropping but tough-to-swallow third-act twist. Still, Israeli director Eran Riklis (*Lemon Tree*, *Zaytoun*) infuses his film with quiet tension that is buoyed by a stand-out performance by Naomi Rimon as a Mossad agent assigned to guard a Lebanese informant on the run from Hezbollah. A ticket to a single film is $11 while a Series Pass costs $50. Even more prestigious is the Mensch Pass, which costs $75 and permits priority seating at all screenings. For more information, visit [www.Enzian.org](http://enzian.org/films/festivals/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Don't miss foreign short dramas at OFF](https://www.meiermovies.com/dont-miss-foreign-short-dramas-at-off/) **Published:** October 21, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando Film Festival returns for its 12th year [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Pushing-Night-Away.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Pushing-Night-Away.jpg)*Pushing Night Away* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/10/21/dont-miss-foreign-short-dramas-at-orlando-film-festival), October 21, 2017 With roughly 400 films, the Orlando Film Festival has grown into one of the largest movie festivals in the world. So chances are you will find something that suits your taste, especially if you’re into short films, which range from comedy to drama to science fiction to horror, and to just about any sub-genre you’d want. But before you go for the obvious, mainstream choice, please consider the “Foreign Dramas 2” block. Having premiered on Friday night, that block plays just once again, on Monday, October 23, at 2 p.m. (As with all festival films, it’s playing at Cobb Plaza Cinema Café in downtown Orlando. This one is slated for theater 10.) Though the block includes just four films, three of the four are so good they could easily be short-listed for best narrative short at the Oscars. And the fourth is no slouch either. The German-language *Vera’s Tongue in my Mouth Full of Chocolate* (3 stars on 0-5 scale), directed by Hellmut Mario Fulss, is an odd love story between an old socialist curmudgeon and a housekeeper who comes to work for him and his son. Though they can’t agree on food or politics, they somehow manage to bond over a bottle of Riesling. Unfortunately, just when the 13-minute film is hitting its stride, it ends. But, hey, being left wanting more is still an admirable achievement for a short film. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Transfer.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/The-Transfer.jpg)*The Transfer* *Piscina* (4 stars), or *Pool*, is next. Directed by Leandro Goddinho, this 29-minute Portuguese-language film is a unique and haunting examination of the Nazi’s persecution of gay men and women during World War II. Searching for the truth about her recently deceased grandmother and armed with only a half-century-old letter to guide her, a young woman seeks answers about her family’s history and her own identity. Better still is *The Transfer* (4 stars), a deceptively simple 22-minute look at the transportation of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli soldiers. Helmed by Michael Grudsky and filmed in Hebrew, the movie examines what happens when captor and captive are suddenly forced to set aside their differences and cooperate, if only briefly, for their common good. It’s a tiny lesson in humanist filmmaking. The magical pièce de résistance is *Pushing Night Away* (5 stars), a 23-minute Norwegian film by Jade Hærem Aksnes. Pairing a desperate, suicidal man with a hopeful girl wanting nothing more than to survive, the film focuses on opposites: real and unreal, light and dark, life and death. Unapologetically surreal yet grounded in heartbreaking realism, it’s the best short film I’ve seen so far this year. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [CenFlo 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/cenflo-2017/) **Published:** August 31, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival to mark final year in Ocoee [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00813.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DSC00813.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/08/29/cenflo-to-hold-last-film-festival-in-ocoee-before-it-moves-to-mount-dora-in-2018), August 29, 2017 The 12th annual Central Florida (CenFlo) Film Festival, scheduled for September 1-3, will be the final one in Ocoee. The festival will move to Mount Dora, Florida, next year, says Founder and Director Bob Cook, who plans to make this year’s event his last. “I am stepping down at the awards show as executive director, and a gentleman by the name of Brendon Rogers is going to take over. And Brendon’s idea was to move it to Mount Dora, and I’m all for it. I brought Brendon in, he’s much younger, and I think … we’ve taken \[the festival\] about as far as I can take it, and it needs younger and newer ideas.” Rogers is a local actor and director of both stage and screen. CenFlo audiences might remember him as co-producer and co-star of Sonny Dyon’s *Clarity*, which played the festival two years ago. Rogers has proposed holding the 2018 festival on Labor Day weekend at the Mount Dora EPIC Theatre multiplex currently under construction. The festival was held at the Osceola Center for the Arts in Kissimmee for three years before moving to Ocoee’s West Orange Cinema, at 1575 Maguire Road, in 2009. That cinema will host the event for the final time this weekend, with parties at the Fairfield Inn and Suites, across West Colonial Drive from the cinema. The three-day event is considered one of the top five annual film festivals in Central Florida, along with the Florida, Orlando, Global Peace and Love Your Shorts festivals. CenFlo drew a record 2,187 patrons last year, according to Cook. This year’s festival will screen 76 films, including 10 narrative features and 10 documentary features (movies longer than 40 minutes). The rest are shorts organized into drama, comedy, foreign-language and student. The selection is light on animation and has no horror category, although some of the dramatic features and shorts could be labeled horror. Seven are vintage films with “special screenings.” More than 20 films were made in Florida, including 10 from Florida State University, three from the University of Central Florida and one from Full Sail University. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CenFlo-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CenFlo-2017.jpg)From left to right: Festival Founder and Director Bob Cook, festival videographer Tom Judd and special guest Robert Carradine. CenFlo is known for filmmaker loyalty, and Cook says he expects about a dozen returning filmmakers this year among the 46 who plan to attend. Celebrity guests include Robert Carradine (who will attend a screening of *Revenge of the Nerds*), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman from the 1966 *Batman* movie) and John Ashton (who will attend a screening of *Midnight Run*). Other noteworthy selections include *Treasure* (the feature-film debut of local writer/director Chris Williamson,) the world premiere of *Garlic & Gunpowder* (directed by Harrison Smith and starring Felissa Rose) and *New Comic Day* (directed by Michael Seminerio). All the aforementioned guests will participate in Q&A sessions. The festival, which will also include informational seminars and a Saturday fundraiser to benefit the victims of the Pulse massacre, will use three of West Orange Cinema’s theaters. Their capacities are 175, 98 and 65. Tickets are $10 for a single film, $35 for an entire day of films, $100 for a three-day film pass and $200 for a “VIP all-access” pass, which gets patrons into all films and parties. For more information, including the entire schedule, visit [www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com](http://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com/). So what does the future hold for Cook? “I’ve accomplished what I needed to accomplish,” he says, adding that he’ll be living part time in Indiana, where he’s taking over as operational director of a film studio. “So it’s hard to do both.” Actually, it’s difficult to do even one of those tasks, according to Cook, who says Florida filmmaking is not what it used to be. “We wanted to keep jobs here in Central Florida, and to a point we did that, but, you know, Florida is not the production entity I have tried for 12 years to make it. … I mean Miami is a lot better than it was, but, you know, Orlando isn’t the mecca that it could have been. Now with Universal and Disney both reminding themselves that they are full-time theme parks as opposed to being production studios, it’s very, very hard for the independent filmmaker. “After nine years in Ocoee, we’ve brought in for the economical development to the city … almost $2 million, \[but\] one of the reasons why I didn’t fight for the city of Ocoee \[to keep the festival next year\] was they really didn’t seem as enthusiastic about what we do. \[With\] the new mayor that they have, Rusty Johnson, it’s just not pro-festival at all. So if you’re not showing enthusiasm, I’ll find someone who does.” Though Cook calls the staff of West Orange Cinema “wonderful,” he says he’s not afraid to criticize Ocoee. “They can’t fire me,” he jokes. “I’m stepping down.” *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [LYSFF Summer Rewind](https://www.meiermovies.com/lysff-summer-rewind/) **Published:** August 28, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Sanford gets short again [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The-Wishgranter.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The-Wishgranter.png)*The Wishgranter* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/08/24/love-your-shorts-film-fest-showcases-13-of-their-favorite-shorts-from-this-year-at-sanfords-wdpac), August 24, 2017 If the long, hot summer has got you down, get short and cool at the Love Your Shorts Film Festival’s Summer Rewind at the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford, Florida, on Friday, August 25. Thirteen short films previously screened at the main festival in February will be shown, with a party and auction to follow at Rabbitfoot Record Store Café just a block away. The movies were selected by festival organizers and represent a variety of genres, though the program is almost half animation thanks to the inclusion of crowd pleasers such as *The D in David* and *Wishgranter*, both of which are Florida productions. Dramas include *Birthday* and *Mine* while the documentary *Cotton Country* is a worthy selection. Though the *OW*’s favorites from February’s festival (*Pitter Patter Goes My Heart* and *Nelly*) were left out, there’s enough here to tide short-film lovers over until the main festival rolls around again in six months. **8 p.m. / Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, 201 S. Magnolia Ave., Sanford / [www.facebook.com/LoveYourShorts/](http://www.facebook.com/LoveYourShorts/) / $5** *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Winter Garden gets short](https://www.meiermovies.com/winter-garden-gets-short/) **Published:** August 2, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Garden Theatre to host Asbury Short Film Concert [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Fait-dhiver.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Fait-dhiver.jpeg)*Fait d’Hiver* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/08/01/garden-theatre-in-winter-garden-to-screen-asbury-short-film-concert), August 1, 2017 They may be short, but the films playing Winter Garden’s Garden Theatre on Friday night are not short on respect. In fact, all 11 of the mini-movies that comprise the Asbury Short Film Concert have received major recognition, from Oscar nominations to festival awards. The event is set to start at 7:30 p.m. and is divided into two sections, each totaling about one hour, with a 15-minute intermission. Tickets cost $11. “Asbury Shorts is New York City’s longest-running non-competitive short-film showcase \[36 years\], with a mission to keep great short films in theaters as opposed to You Tube, smart phones and computers,” says Director Doug LeClaire. “We are not a traditional film festival, more of an Off-Off-Broadway, non-competitive touring exhibition of award-winning shorts from the past. This is our first foray in the mid-Florida area.” Though LeClaire never releases all titles in advance, to mimic the spontaneity of a live concert (and to prevent the public from simply searching YouTube), he has revealed more than half the lineup. Friday’s show will include *The Tailor* (2011), a black-and-white comedy by Gordon Grinberg; *The Quality of Mercy* (2002), a dark comedy by Stephen Marro; *Dad in Mum* (2014), a comedy with a decidedly French sensibility that previously played the Manhattan Short Film Festival, by Fabrice Baracq; *Tulip* (2000), a former Academy Award nominee by Rachel Griffiths; director Dirk Beliën’s dark comedy *Fait d’Hiver* (2001), another former Oscar nominee; *Love at First Sight* (2010), a dramedy starring John Hurt; and Bryan Buckley’s Oscar-nominated Somali drama *Asad* (2012), which, at 18 minutes, is the longest film. Rick Spencer of Orlando’s Universal Studios will serve as guest host. The show is recommended for ages 16 and up. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit [www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2988895](http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2988895). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Theater loses Live Oak](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-loses-live-oak/) **Published:** July 12, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Enzian-dead-tree.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Enzian-dead-tree.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/07/10/one-of-enzian-theaters-iconic-southern-live-oak-trees-has-died), July 10, 2017 One of the Enzian Theater’s iconic Southern Live Oak trees has died, and the majority of its branches have now been cut down. Though the vigorous efforts to save the tree have fallen short, the theater is contemplating a plan to preserve the remains. The Enzian would not elaborate on those plans but advised patrons and arborists to stay turned for further news. The death was related not to any type of infestation but instead to problems with the roots of the hundreds-year-old tree, though the Enzian has not released an official cause of death. Removing the remains of tree could potentially provide room for additional parking spaces, but the theater has given no indication it is contemplating that plan. The property’s two largest Live Oak trees are still intact, in front of the theater. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### ['Enzian Forever' update](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-forever-update/) **Published:** May 1, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Maitland conducts interim review of expansion plans From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/28/maitland-conducts-interim-review-of-enzian-theaters-expansion-plan), April 28, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.png)The Maitland Development Review Committee conducted an interim review of the Enzian Theater’s expansion plan Thursday at Maitland City Hall, discussing topics such as parking, landscaping and signage but not passing judgment on the plan itself. This review was “not meant to be a recommendation meeting,” according to the agenda notes, “but \[was\] intended to provide guidance to the applicant based upon concerns that the residents and the City may have concerning the project.” Enzian Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee says the theater still hopes to break ground on the expansion before the 2018 Florida Film Festival and be finished by the 2019 festival. But for that to happen, the Enzian must resubmit the proposal for formal approval by the City of Maitland’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and that might not happen until this summer. “The applicant requests interim review of proposal to amend the existing, planned development, to obtain approval to permit the addition of 11,500 square feet on the first floor, 3,706 square feet on the second floor and a 530-square-foot covered entry/walkway,” Thursday’s agenda states. “The building height is proposed at 28 feet. Modifications to the existing structure include but are not limited to two new theaters with a total of 130 seats \[80 and 50\], lobby area, restrooms, concessions area, theater kitchen on the first floor and offices on the second floor.” Mukherjee clarified that the existing theater’s movie-watching capacity was 230 but would be reduced to 210 after the expansion to help ease the parking crunch. Indeed, parking was the main issue discussed at Thursday’s meeting, with Maitland requesting a formal valet-parking plan and the agenda stating, “Enzian proposes 113 on-site parking spaces and an additional 90 off-site parking spaces at Park Maitland School … for a total of 203 parking spaces.” But verifying those numbers has proved problematic, and Maitland and the Enzian are also still working on a plan that would improve parking-lot lighting while not over-lighting the property and destroying what Enzian attorney Hal Kantor described as an “ambient” quality. The structure itself was not discussed, leading one to believe that the sticking points all relate to other matters, including landscaping, which took up more discussion than any other topic except parking. For instance, “it appears that the Live Oak across from Orlando Avenue has died,” the agenda reads. “Please address the condition of this tree and remove if it is dead.” However, while Mukherjee admits the tree is ill, she says she is still hoping for a recovery. Buffer walls on the north and east sides of the property were also discussed, but no recommendations were made. Both Maitland and the Enzian admitted that building a wall would be difficult without destroying some of the native vegetation. One proposal that now seems set in stone is the permanent discontinuation of the outdoor “Pitcher Shows,” as the agenda states, “Outdoor movies are prohibited and will not be shown on-site.” In contrast to the public hearing held in January 2016, when many of Enzian’s neighbors complained about the proposed expansion, Thursday’s meeting drew just one citizen speaker. Her concerns centered more on issues related to the City of Maitland, such as better no-parking signs and a request to ban parking on Leslie Terrace. Improvements to the pedestrian crosswalk on Magnolia Road were also discussed. Fans of the Florida Film Festival, which continues through April 30, might also be interested in the attendance numbers listed in Thursday’s agenda. “The attendance and projected data provided indicated a total of 46 events and an attendance of 5,685 for an average attendance of 124 per event during the 2016 Florida Film Festival,” the agenda states. This is contrast to the often-stated total festival attendance of 20,000, although the agenda refers only to the Enzian and does not include Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20 or other non-Enzian festival locations. For more information on the interim review, visit [www.ItsMyMaitland.com](http://maitlandfl.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2395). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lea Thompson talks 'Back'](https://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/) **Published:** April 21, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Actress to appear at Florida Film Festival [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Lea-Thompson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-to-attend-fff/lea-thompson/)Image copyright IMDB.com From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/21/lea-thompson-talks-back-before-her-appearance-at-florida-film-festival), April 21, 2017 Lea Thompson isn’t shy about talking *Back*. (*Back to the Future*, that is.) But that shouldn’t be a surprise considering Thompson is appearing at the Florida Film Festival on April 23 to screen the iconic film. “It was a massive hit, and people loved the movie, and then it just like seemed to quiet down for a while,” she says. “But then I think what happened is all the people who saw it when they were kids grew up and had kids and started infecting a new generation, and then it really took on this whole other thing. “It’s aged well, even though its depiction of, you know, 2015 wasn’t’ that perfect. But … the deep, deep, deep themes of it are really powerful to different generations or all generations of filmgoers. And it also was a great script. It was a script that people study at UCLA, in the screenwriting classes at NYU.” Thompson, who played Marty McFly’s (Michael J. Fox) mother, Lorraine, in the film and its two sequels, also credits the cast for the movie’s longevity. “It always starts with the script form, but they were also lucky to just make a great movie and really have a perfect cast, which is very rare. Usually there’s some big mess-up in the casting. And there really wasn’t any. Every single part was great.” The element of time travel, which has grown even more prevalent in pop culture since *Back to the Future* was released in 1985, has played a role too, Thompson says. “I think people are fascinated with time travel not just because of machines or all that. They’re fascinated with it because of our humanity, you know, or fascinated how people change and don’t change over time, and how people’s aspirations and desires really don’t change,” she says. “And I think \[that is\] the deeper meaning of the time travel in *Back to the Future*.” The other element in the film’s success, of course, is director Robert Zemeckis, whom Thompson calls “the smartest guy in the room.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/lea_thompson-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/lea_thompson-2/)“He is a great director,” she says. “My feeling about him was like how great it was to make him laugh, how great it was to tickle him and make his vison come true, and how completely obsessed he was with every single detail in *Back to the Future*. … It felt so lovely to be part of that vision of such a genius.” Though Thompson is from Minnesota, Orlando is memorable for her because of 1983’s *Jaws 3-D*, which was filmed extensively at SeaWorld. “*Jaws 3-D* is, you know, close to my heart in Orlando because that was my first film,” she says. “And imagine my surprise when I showed up for a shark movie and it was inland. Like, where’s the ocean?” Though it was her first film, Thompson told the producers it wasn’t. She also told them she could water ski, which she couldn’t. But bravery seems the rule rather than the exception in a stage-and-screen career that spans nearly 35 years and includes *Dancing with the Stars* (which Thompson admits took guts) and a love scene with an animatronic bird (*Howard the Duck*). “I call it like jumping in cold water,” she says about her risk-taking. “I find doing scary things keeps me from being scared. … A lot of times, just don’t think – just do it. … You don’t want to do it now. You know, it seems like it’s gonna be inconvenient or scary. And just do it because … that’s how you keep staying young. You keep staying alive. You keep trying new things. And the minute you get scared and you say no, it starts to get easier and easier, and then you find yourself living in a very beige world.” *Back to the Future* will screen at Maitland’s Enzian Theater on April 23 at 7 p.m. A ticket to the film and Q&A session costs $50 while a backstage pass (which includes a photo with Thompson and admission to the film) costs $125. See the [festival’s site](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/program/special-guests/an-evening-with-lea-thompson-featuring-back-to-the-future) for details, although, at press time, tickets were on stand-by. “If people come to the screening,” Thompson says, “I will be sure to have some great stories.” *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida FF 2017 reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/) **Published:** April 19, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Analysis of the festival’s films [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC02100.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/dsc02100/)This page contains all my reviews from the 2017 Florida Film Festival. Most were first featured in *The Orlando Weekly*, and the links to the original stories are included at the start of each review. (I suggest you check out my fellow reviewers’ critiques there too.) The three reviews that are unique to MeierMovies are labeled as such. Before diving into these reviews, I suggest you first check out my [festival-summary article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/), in addition to [my interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-talks-back/) with festival guest Lea Thompson. Reviews appear in alphabetical order, and star ratings are on [my usual 0-5 scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Rating-Scale.pdf). ***Airplane!*** (1980; 4 stars) — not reviewed ***The Archer*** (1 star) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-Archer.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/the-archer/)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 19, 2017 Director Valerie Weiss’s third theatrical feature, *The Archer*, is a daring, twisty action-thriller tackling topics from sexual abuse to women’s rights to judicial corruption. But despite the well-placed ambitions of Weiss and writer Casey Schroen, their story – though inspired by actual events – seems so ridiculous and tonally challenged that it begs comparison to women-in-prison sexploitation films. Lauren is a high school archery champion whose friend is in an abusive relationship. When the boyfriend attacks the friend, Lauren comes to her defense and lands the guy in the hospital. But after criminal charges are brought against Lauren, she inexplicably finds herself in a reform school from hell, where abuse at the hands of male guards is rampant. Well shot and edited, and featuring a solid lead performance by Bailey Noble (*True Blood*, *The Last Tycoon*), *The Archer* suffers not from rudimentary filmmaking mistakes but from creative ones. Ineffective performances, an intrusive score, overemphasis on sexuality and a bizarre subplot involving a father and son who run the detention facility all stretch credibility past the breaking point and waste a unique and socially relevant premise. ***Back to the Future*** (1985; 4 ¼ stars) — not reviewed ***Bad Black*** FL (0 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bad-Black.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/bad-black/)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 19, 2017 After watching *Bad Black*, I assumed writer-director Nabwana I.G.G. had never made a film before. Actually, I assumed he’d never *seen* a film. But, astonishingly, this is just the latest in a string of campy, zero-budget, action films the director has made in the slums of his native Uganda. Intended to both spoof and celebrate 1980s Schwarzenegger flicks – and to infuse them with a unique brand of Ugandan storytelling – *Bad Black* sounds like it was recorded on an iPhone and looks like it was shot with a GoPro strapped to a goat: a GoatPro. Though it enjoyed limited success at last year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas (presumably where audiences came to laugh at its bad quality or admire its participants’ commitment to combat), this “midnight movie” defies explanation and is unwatchable on any level. It’s the worst festival feature I’ve ever seen. “What a movie! Good thing it’s over,” exclaims the inane voiceover as *Bad Black* is coming to a merciful end. True that. ***Circus Kid*** (3 ¼ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Circus-Kid-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/circus-kid-1/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/12-movies-you-have-to-see-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889128), April 19, 2017 For most of us, it’s too late to run away and join the circus. But the next-best thing might be watching *Circus Kid*, a delightful documentary that shines its followspot not just on the history of the modern American circus but the meaning of family. At just 69 minutes, *Circus Kid* might seem too slight. And the fact that it’s directed and partially narrated by its subject, Lorenzo Pisoni, might strike some as self-promotional. But the stories that Pisoni presents about the famous Pickle Family Circus (which his dad, Larry, founded) and the countless clowns and acrobats (including Bill Irwin) it inspired will likely inspire you too, whether or not you’re big on the Big Top. The feature is accompanied by *Richard Twice (3 stars)*, a short, partially animated documentary about a talented musician who walked away from potential fame after a life-altering stage experience in the late 1960s. It’s a fascinating yet melancholy examination of how a single event can irreparably alter one’s life. ***Colossal*** (3 ¼ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Colossal.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/colossal/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/24/florida-film-festival-opens-at-enzian-with-brett-haleys-the-hero), April 24, 2017 The one “Spotlight” film I was able to see in advance of the festival is a unique blend of fantasy, science fiction, comedy and dark drama. That mix of genres isn’t always blended just right in director Nacho Vigalondo’s (*Timecrimes*) imaginatively metaphorical film about human relationships gone bad — so bad they morph into metropolis-mangling monsters. But if you like your dramedies with a side of surreal and a dash of disaster, don’t miss the one festival showing (April 22, 6:30 p.m., Regal Winter Park) of *Colossal*, which features a sincere performance by Anne Hathaway and a wonderfully nuanced one by Jason Sudeikis. ***The Commune*** FL (4 stars) — not reviewed ***Dave Made a Maze*** (1 ¾ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Dave-Made-a-Maze-9.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/dave-made-a-maze-9/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/6-movie-to-skip-at-the-2017-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889389), April 19, 2017 “Dave is trapped in a cardboard maze in his living room, and he can’t get out,” utters a character in *Dave Made a Maze*. Indeed, like the party-goers in Luis Buñuel’s *The Exterminating Angel* and the child in *The Twilight Zone*’s “Little Girl Lost,” the title character and his friends become trapped in a labyrinth that logic dictates should not exist. Throw in a Minotaur, puppets, a meta-theatrical film crew and imaginative booby traps sprung from the fertile and apparently troubled mind of Dave (Nick Thune) himself, and you have the blueprints for a delightfully surreal construction. Though first-time director Bill Watterson and writer Steven Sears deserve thanks for thinking outside the box, literally, and creating magical props and sets on a small budget, *Dave*’s dilemma is in its writing, editing and acting, none of which are smart or crisp enough to fulfill the movie’s metaphysical promise. Instead of a meaningful commentary on unfulfilled ambition or the claustrophobia of human existence, we’re given silly tedium only occasionally interrupted by profundity. Still, it’s a noble newbie effort and will likely attract a small cult following on the festival circuit. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Faster-Pussycat.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/faster-pussycat/)***Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!*** (¼ star) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 19, 2017 You don’t need me to tell you whether to see this 1965 Russ Meyer classic. You probably already have your opinions about the movie John Waters called the greatest ever made and the *San Francisco Chronicle* said was the worst written of all time. I’m simply here to voice my frustration that instead of relegating this sexploitation film to a midnight slot, where it belongs, festival programmers made it their closing-night retro selection. Last year they bestowed that honor upon a true masterpiece, *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* How the mighty have fallen. ***For Ahkeem*** (3 ½ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/For-Ahkeem_Stills_00_Clean_300dpi.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/For-Ahkeem_Stills_00_Clean_300dpi.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/12-movies-you-have-to-see-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889128), April 19, 2017 Most documentaries either report past events or observe unfolding ones. *For Ahkeem* is a memorable example of the latter, as its camera provides extraordinary access to Daje Shelton, a 17-year-old black girl from the slums of St. Louis. The film, directed by Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest, follows her for a year and a half, as she struggles to avoid legal trouble, graduate high school, raise a baby and maintain a relationship with her boyfriend – while he is trying to stay out of jail. And behind it all is the shadow of the 2014 Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Though the subjects’ actions are undoubtedly altered by the camera, the film is still a memorable and painful portrait of a world that seems hopeless. (The film’s executive producer is Jeff Truesdell, former editor of *The Orlando Weekly*, but he currently has no relationship with the *OW* or this reviewer.) The feature is preceded by a short Florida doc titled *The Rabbit Hunt* (3 stars), which is exactly what its name suggests. Directed by Patrick Bresnan, it is extremely difficult to watch, especially if you’re an animal lover, but it also feels culturally and morally necessary. ***Girl Flu*** (1 star) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/6-movie-to-skip-at-the-2017-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889389), April 19, 2017 One of the best things about festivals is they show movies that challenge our perception of “normal” relationships and neatly categorized genres. *Girl Flu* is one of those films. The story of a 12-year-old girl traumatized by her first period, the film is, at first glance, a comedy. But throw in an atypical mother-daughter relationship and an even stranger boyfriend-girlfriend story, and the tale morphs into a rambling, slice-of-life, coming-of-age drama. First-time writer-director Dorie Barton should be commended for challenging our expectations of that all-too-common genre, but, regrettably, her newbie status betrays her, as the unique elements collapse into derivative storytelling, hindered by pacing, writing and cinematography not far removed from a student project. And though the acting is mostly competent, it’s no match for the air of amateurism. Barton will do better work, and probably soon, but this *Flu* is not one you want to catch. ***The Hero*** (3 ¾ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Hero_Image-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/the-hero_image-1/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/24/florida-film-festival-opens-at-enzian-with-brett-haleys-the-hero), April 24, 2017 Directed by Brett Haley (who attended the screening and participated in a Q&A session) and starring Sam Elliott in perhaps his finest performance, *The Hero* (4 stars) was a fine opening to this year’s event. It won’t play again at this year’s festival, but look for it when it returns to Enzian, possibly in June. It’s the story of an aging – and possibly dying – actor looking to write just one more chapter in his life. The ensemble cast (which includes Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman and Elliott’s real-life wife, Katharine Ross) is excellent, but it’s Elliott you could be hearing from come Oscar time. **International Animated Shorts** (3 ½ stars) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/12-movies-you-have-to-see-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889128), April 19, 2017 This annual block is known for filmmakers who push the thematic and technical limits of animated cinema. This year’s offering is a mixed bag of quality, but discovering the assorted treats is nevertheless a worthwhile, mind-expanding experience. Most of the 12 films are surreal, absurd or experimental, and the group would have benefitted from one or two selections with a traditional narrative structure, to serve as palate cleansers for the stranger fare. In addition, *Pussy* (2 stars) is better suited to the midnight-shorts block. (About a vagina that springs to life and escapes a woman’s body to wreak havoc, it is surely President Trump’s nightmare.) But those complaints fade when we’re confronted with a variety of styles from hand-drawn to computer-generated to claymation to how-the-heck-did-they-do-that? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Billy-Crudup-at-FFF.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Billy-Crudup-at-FFF.jpg)Most accomplished is the Spanish-language *Decorado* (4 stars). The only foreign-language film (with subtitles) in the group, it’s both laugh-out-loud funny and hauntingly dark. Only slightly less brain-bending are *The Absence of Eddy Table* (4 stars), *Journal Animé* (3 stars) and *This Is Not an Animation* (3 stars), while *Fears* (3 stars) is the sweetest. But sweet or not, make no mistake: This is an adults-only program. ***Jesus’ Son*** (1999; 4 stars) — not reviewed ***Manifesto*** (2017; 2 stars) — not reviewed ***Paris Can Wait*** (1 ½ stars) — not reviewed ***The Peacemaker*** (4 stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Peacemaker.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/the-peacemaker/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/24/florida-film-festival-opens-at-enzian-with-brett-haleys-the-hero), April 24, 2017 This might just be the weightiest documentary of the festival. It’s that rare doc that successfully blends a newsworthy subject (international peace negotiations) with an intimate portrait. In this case, that portrait is of the legendary but little-understood man behind those negotiations, Padraig O’Malley. In just its second U.S. showing, director James Demo’s film both reflects on the past achievements of the 74-year-old O’Malley while examining with extraordinary intimacy what his life has become. Don’t miss its final festival showing on April 27 at Regal Winter Park Village, at 3:45 p.m. ***Rat Film*** (1 star) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/RAT-FILM-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/rat-film-3/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/6-movie-to-skip-at-the-2017-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889389), April 19, 2017 If you’ve been longing for an absurdist, experimental documentary about rats, your wait is over. If, however – like 99 percent of the population – you haven’t, you should stay away from this disappointing piece of performance art. Surprisingly, *Rat Film*, written and directed by first-timer Theo Anderson, is, at its core, not really about rodents. Instead, it’s some sort of rat-shit-crazy metaphor about Baltimore’s history of segregation and how we treat our fellow humans like rats. It’s also a strange tapestry of tales woven in the style of Robert Altman – if Altman were a rat fetishist and tripping on acid. Lurching from a gritty, handheld profile of a rat exterminator, to a glimpse of people keeping rats as pets, to video-game simulations, to a hypnotically narrated overview of Baltimore’s history, to rednecks crooning about bashing in rodents’ brains, this film is ill conceived and unnecessary. For some, its unique brand of essay filmmaking will be mesmerizing in a pretentious, art-film kind of way – à la Werner Herzog. But for most of you, I predict an unpleasant, confusing grind that will teach you little about either rats or people. *Rat Film* is coupled with a much better short doc, *Clean Hands* (3 stars), about a drive-in Christian church in Daytona Beach. Let us pray, with the parking brake on. **Shorts Program 2: “Everybody Knows”** (3 ½ stars) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/12-movies-you-have-to-see-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889128), April 19, 2017 This narrative shorts block is titled “Everybody Knows,” in tribute to Leonard Cohen. And, fittingly, most of the characters in the eight films are either being watched or judged, but ultimately exceed or defy expectations. Only one of the eight deserves a bad review. I won’t embarrass that film by naming it, but I will praise the four best. *Cul-de-Sac* (3 stars), written by and starring Oscar winner (and Florida Film Festival friend) Shawn Christensen, is well acted, shot and paced but lacks some context and emotional punch. *Laurels* (3 stars) offers a unique and twisty take on film festivals while providing the block with its only comedy, albeit a dark one*. Zaar* (3 stars) is an unconventional and touching examination of an act of terror – from the terrorist’s point of view. And *Zero-Zero* (4 stars), about an unlikely bond between a little girl and her seemingly unscrupulous neighbor, is an absolute gem. ***Strad Style*** (1 ¼ stars) — not reviewed ***A Stray*** (1 ½ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/A-Stray-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/a-stray-4/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/6-movie-to-skip-at-the-2017-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889389), April 19, 2017 Most of us became familiar with Minneapolis’s Somali immigrant population when Barkhad Abdi received his Oscar nomination for *Captain Phillips* in 2014. Now *A Stray*, starring another actor from that movie (Barkhad Abdirahman), teaches us more about that refugee community. Adan (Abdirahman) is one such refugee, and when he’s abandoned by his family and friends, he turns to the one who won’t judge him: a dog. But, in an interesting cultural twist, we’re reminded that many Muslims view canines as unclean. “My people stick with camels and goats,” he says. “At least they are useful.” Yet both Adan and his companion – essentially both strays – forge an existence together in this film by Musa Syeed (who also directed *Valley of Saints*, which played the South Asian Film Festival five years ago). And there you have a great beginning to a movie that goes nowhere and further disappoints with each passing, rambling scene and undeveloped subplot. If Abdirahman had given a more compelling performance or sharper editing had created a more dynamic pace, *A Stray* might have found a home in my heart. But the production is a bit too mangy for my taste. ***Unrest*** (3 ½ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Unrest.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Unrest.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/12-movies-you-have-to-see-at-the-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889128), April 19, 2017 The festival is presenting a special screening of *Unrest*, a documentary about people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E). The film is special not just for its topic but because the director and subject, Jennifer Brea, grew up in Orlando. After developing a high fever several years ago, Brea slipped into what is often labeled “chronic fatigue syndrome.” But she didn’t fight just the condition, she fought for answers – on film. “It was like I had died but was forced to watch as the world moves on,” she says in the documentary. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I just kept filming.” But instead of becoming a self-indulgent cinematic exercise, *Unrest* embraces everyone who has suffered silently with this misunderstood condition (17 million worldwide, 85 percent women) and partially morphs into a medical thriller by exposing the horrible history of “female hysteria.” “Central Florida is where I spent all of my formative years, and it’s where I spent all of my time, dreaming what I would grow up to become and what I would do with my life, and it’s also where I fell in love with film,” Brea told me. “\[This screening\] rivals how I felt about appearing at Sundance. I’m really excited to be coming home.” From inception to completion, the film took four years, and though Brea was able to edit the movie and rely on iPad and Skype-like technology for interviews (many of them from bed), she relied heavily on her crew for other jobs. “One of the amazing and I think really beautiful things about filmmaking is that it is a collaborative, creative process,” she says. “When I stated production, I was almost homebound and almost entirely bed-ridden, and at first I tried to travel to go on shoots, and I would, you know, go an hour from my house and would shoot for a day on location and would spend the next 30 days in bed. … It took six months to get to six shoot days. And it was really hard. And then … I started to think about what were some sort of technological solutions that would allow me to have a presence in the field without actually having to travel to set. “What I want people to take away \[from the film is that\] life is fragile and often unpredictable, but I think that it is … possible to find a way to survive, and I think that’s what a lot of the film is about on the deepest level,” she says. “We are fighting. This is a movement.” ***Woman on Fire*** (1 ¾ stars) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Woman-on-Fire_Brooke-in-truck-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-ff-2017-reviews/woman-on-fire_brooke-in-truck-2/)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/6-movie-to-skip-at-the-2017-florida-film-festival/Content?oid=3889389), April 19, 2017 Festivals are about breaking barriers, and the Florida Film Festival does just that. Movies addressing LGBT issues, for example, are being featured again this year, with *Woman on Fire* – a documentary about the first openly transgender firefighter in New York City – being one of the most memorable. Growing up in a family of firemen, George Guinan understood the male-dominated culture but never embraced it. First coming out as gay and then transitioning to female, George – now Brooke – had to deal not just with the realization that “being a woman was in \[her\] heart and mind” but also the fact that her parents were initially “sick to \[their\] stomach” and “devastated” at Brooke’s revelations. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Carousel-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/The-Carousel-2.jpg)“The Carousel” precedes “Woman on Fire.” Though Brooke’s story has already been covered by mainstream media, there is still a tale to tell. Sadly, the doc doesn’t live up to its subject’s promise, as it relies too heavily on predictable interviews, focuses too closely on the minutia of Brooke and her boyfriend’s life, and comes across as slightly self-indulgent, the last thing one wants from a film that is so personal and potentially inspiring. Writer-director Julie Sokolow did a better job with *Aspie Seeks Love*, which played the festival two years ago, and will do better again. The feature is preceded by *The Carousel* (4 stars), a doc about a historic merry-go-round in Binghamton, New York, which inspired hometown hero Rod Serling’s creation of *Walking Distance*, one of the best *Twilight Zone* episodes. Watching this excellent short is akin to grabbing the brass ring. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lea Thompson to attend FFF](https://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-to-attend-fff/) **Published:** April 5, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Actress will screen *Back to the Future* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Lea-Thompson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/lea-thompson-to-attend-fff/lea-thompson/)Image copyright IMDB.com From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/05/lea-thompson-to-screen-back-to-the-future-at-2017-florida-film-festival), April 5, 2017 Actress Lea Thompson will make a special appearance at the 2017 Florida Film Festival on April 23 at 7 p.m. at the Enzian Theater in Maitland. She will screen the original *Back to the Future* and participate in a Q&A session. In addition to playing Lorraine McFly in the *Back to the Future* trilogy, Thompson is known for her roles in *Switched at Birth*, *Some Kind of Wonderful*, *The Beverly Hillbillies* and *Caroline in the City*. Thompson is the fourth major celebrity scheduled for this year’s festival, addition to Billy Crudup, David Zucker and Robert Hays. For more information on the festival, see [my previous festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival reveals films, guests](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/) **Published:** March 30, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Billy-Crudup.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-announces-movies-celebrities/billy-crudup/)Billy Crudup From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/29/florida-film-festival-announces-movies-and-celebrity-guests), March 29, 2017 The 2017 Florida Film Festival, scheduled for April 21-30, will include 182 movies (the most ever) and appearances by actor Billy Crudup, writer-director-producer David Zucker and actor Robert Hays, it was announced today. Crudup will screen a 35mm print of *Jesus’ Son* on April 28, and Zucker and Hays will screen *Airplane!* on April 29. They will participate in Q&A sessions following the films. And for the first time since 2014, a third celebrity event is planned, but that has not been announced yet. The Oscar-accredited festival will again be held at Maitland’s Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20, and the biggest news at the 26th annual festival will likely be the reduced capacity of the latter venue. With the installation of reclining, sofa-like seats, Regal’s capacity has been reduced. The two houses that the Florida Film Festival previously rented used to hold 279 and 179 guests, but this year the festival will be using cinemas that seat just 163 and 135 (not including wheelchair spaces). “More tickets will be on standby now that the theaters are smaller, and the amount of tickets offered for each film will be less,” says Marketing Director Valerie Cisneros. “So we highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance or buying a pass to guarantee admission.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FFF-2017-Announcement-party.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/fff-2017-announcement-party/)Indeed, pass holders will likely not be affected, but single-ticket buyers might be out of luck unless they make their selections online and in advance. And non-paying attendees such as volunteers and press could be shut out of many films. (At least festival-goers – unlike regular Regal moviegoers – won’t have to pick their seats in advance; the festival is general admission.) Some said the festival should have rented extra screens to compensate for the decreased capacity, but that, of course, would have cost the festival considerably more money. In addition, many movies (particularly the “spotlight” films and others that already have distribution deals) are not contractually able to be shown more than once or twice. The smaller Regal capacity means the festival will screen the opening-night film, *The Hero*, at Enzian, which seats 230. (That is a decision likely to be applauded because it allows the film and party to be held at the same location.) *The Hero*, directed by Brett Haley and starring Sam Elliott as an aging movie star reflecting upon his life, will probably be a crowd-pleasing, if slightly safe, choice. (It premiered at Sundance to mixed-to-positive reviews.) Crudup seems like a strong celebrity selection, given his extraordinary run over the last couple of years. Particularly memorable were his supporting roles in *Spotlight* and *Jackie*, my picks for the best films of 2015 and 2016, respectively. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/David-Zucker.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/david-zucker/)David Zucker Zucker and Hays are fun picks, but the former is admittedly an interesting choice considering he’s been making Republican propaganda films for the last several years. He did sit out the 2016 election, but President Trump’s proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts – an organization the Enzian supports – might rub some patrons the wrong way. (“Surely you’re not interjecting politics into a festival-announcement article,” you might be saying. Yes I am. And don’t call me Shirley.) Still, few movie-goers will be thinking about politics while enjoying the best spoofy comedy this side of *Young Frankenstein*. Fifty-five of the 182 films are features and 127 are shorts, picked from a record 2,041 submissions. Seventeen are world premieres while 122 others have another type of premiere status (national, Southeast or Florida). One film that is certainly not a premiere – but probably deserves its final showing – is the closing-night retro film, Russ Meyer’s *Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!* But its almost charmingly bad B-movie quality is perhaps the reason it was picked. In a 180-degree turn, the other retro film is 1967’s *Barefoot in the Park*, written by Neil Simon and featuring endearing but slightly dated performances from Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. It will play Winter Park’s Central Park. (There will be no movies on the Enzian lawn, presumably out of respect to neighborhood residents, whose support the theater needs if its proposed expansion is to proceed.) The festival is arguably the most diverse it has ever been, with films from 40 countries and 76 films directed by women – picked from a record number of submissions. And the themes are just as varied as ever, too, with movies focused on food, music, LGBT topics and women’s issues, along with three family films and several movies made in or about Florida. (The documentary *Unrest* is particularly noteworthy because its director and subject, Jennifer Brea, is from Winter Park.) It’s a lineup that Programming Director Matthew Curtis cites for its “bold and uncompromising filmmaking talent.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Robert-Hays.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-reveals-movies-guests/robert-hays/)Robert Hays Genres are again well balanced, with a healthy amount of narrative fiction, documentary and animation – along with an exceedingly unhealthy serving (four features and 16 shorts) of the love-them-of-hate-them “midnight movies.” (For best worst title, the winner is a three-minute Japanese film, *Summer’s Puke is Winter’s Delight*.) Usually generating the most buzz – but screening out of competition – are the “spotlight” films, which often enjoy big budgets and big names. Selections this year include Thomas Vinterberg’s *The Commune*, Julian Rosefeldt’s *Manifesto* (starring Cate Blanchett) and Eleanor Coppola’s *Paris Can Wait*. Tickets to these will go quickly, but if you miss them at the festival, never fear. They often return to the Enzian. Also highly anticipated are the documentary *Strad Style*, the Yiddish-language *Menashe*, the Thai feature *Pop Aye* and the music documentary *Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.* As in past years, the shorts programs are named for songs by musicians who recently died, including Prince, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones and George Michael. (Watch out for the “I Want Your Sex” shorts block.) Passes and ticket packages range from $50 for five films to $1,500 for the ultimate “producer” pass, while a single movie costs $11 for an evening showing and $9 for a matinee. For a complete schedule of movies, filmmaker forums and parties, and to purchase tickets, visit [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian to resubmit expansion plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-resubmit-expansion-plan/) **Published:** April 7, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Iconic trees undergoing root therapy [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Enzian-Live-Oak-April-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-resubmit-expansion-plan/enzian-live-oak-april-2017/)From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/07/enzian-theater-wil-resubmit-expansion-proposal), April 7, 2017 The Enzian Theater has submitted plans for an “interim review” to Maitland’s Development Review Committee, Maitland Communications Coordinator Shauna Moulton has confirmed. “It is not a formal, planned development submittal but is for city comments relating to plan changes made to address concerns raised at the initial public hearing held in January of 2016,” Moulton says. “The public hearing process will begin anew when the plans are formally submitted, as it has been over a year since the first public hearing was held by the Planning & Zoning Commission. The interim review will take place in the City Hall council chambers at 2 p.m. on April 27.” Enzian Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee says the recent discussions have been related to parking and exactly how many cars can fit in the parking lots of the Enzian and Park Maitland School, which handles the theater’s overflow. She confirms that the parking capacity of First Watch, the restaurant across US 17-92 from the Enzian, has not factored into the discussion because the Maitland Planning & Zoning Commission does not consider it a safe, viable option, despite the recent addition of crosswalks. No updates to the proposed construction timetable have been announced since [my last article](http://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-delays-expansion/) in November. The project calls for two additional theaters (with capacities of 80 and 50) to be built on the northeast side of the existing theater, along with a new lobby, offices, kitchen, snack area and restrooms. “Enzian Forever,” if approved in the next couple of months, could be finished in time for the 2019 Florida Film Festival. (The 2017 festival begins on April 21 and will use the Enzian’s current single screen and two additional ones at Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20.) In related news, the three large live oak trees south and west of the theater are currently being treated for root problems. The small stone wall that partially encircled the largest of the trees has been removed, allowing more oxygen to the roots. That tree and the one closest to the front of the Enzian have a good chance of survival, according to the Enzian’s arborists. However, they confirm that the live oak closest to US 17-92 is in far worse shape (with no new growth visible), although they and Mukherjee say they are still hopeful of a recovery. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival concludes](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/) **Published:** April 10, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Event ends with awards, red-carpet ceremony [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stanley-Tucci-at-SFF-2017-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/stanley-tucci-at-sff-2017-4/)Stanley Tucci (photo by Cameron Meier) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/04/10/sarasota-film-festival-concludes-with-awards-and-red-carpet-ceremony), April 10, 2017 The 19th annual Sarasota Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend with an awards and red-carpet ceremony at the Sarasota Opera House and appearances by Rosanna Arquette, Kenny Anderson, Aisha Tyler, Stanley Tucci and Diane Lane. The last three also participated in “conversation with” Q&A sessions at the Florida Studio Theatre. John Trengove’s *The Wound* won best narrative feature while Firas Fayyad’s *Last Men in Aleppo* was awarded best documentary feature. Lane received the festival’s award for cinematic excellence. Following the awards ceremony, the audience watched *Paris Can Wait*, directed by Eleanor Coppola and starring Lane. (The film will play the Florida Film Festival on April 27 at Maitland’s Enzian Theater.) I spoke with Lane and asked how she picked her roles. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Diane-Lane-at-SFF-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/diane-lane-at-sff-2017/)Diane Lane (photo by Cameron Meier) “I aspire to live up to what I heard George Roy Hill say at an interview he gave when we were both promoting a film a million years ago, and he said he makes films about innocence,” Lane told me. “And that can’t always be true, but I think there’s always that element of the character is losing some of their innocence inevitably by the \[end of the\] story. And we do inevitably from our lives. And so I think that valuing that and feeling the preciousness of that and being able to keep it \[is important\] despite what appearances may say: ‘Gee, you’ve been around the block a few times.’ Oh, no, I feel like a virgin!” I asked the same of Tucci. “Every movie is different,” he says. “\[I look at\] the director, the other people in the film, the location, the money – all those things. They’re all factors.” I also asked how he prepared for his role in the Oscar-winning *Spotlight.* “I looked at a lot of video of that fellow \[Mitchell Garabedian\],” Tucci explained. “He’s a really interesting, more-than-interesting guy. There’s a lot of footage \[of\] him on the internet. So that was very helpful. … All he’s trying to do is sort of fight the good fight.” Though Tucci said, at Sunday’s Q&A session, that he never met or spoke with Garabedian before filming *Spotlight*, he admitted that Garabedian was so impressed with the finished product that the two became friends after the movie’s release. For more information on the festival, visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tucci, Arquette to attend SFF](https://www.meiermovies.com/tucci-arquette-to-attend-sff/) **Published:** March 25, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Stanley-Tucci.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/tucci-arquette-to-attend-sff/stanley-tucci/)Stanley Tucci (image copyright IMDB) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/24/stanley-tucci-and-rosanna-arquette-to-attend-sarasota-film-festival), March 24, 2017 Stanley Tucci and Rosanna Arquette plan to attend the upcoming Sarasota Film Festival as part of the event’s “In Conversation With” series, it was announced Thursday. Tucci’s production company, Olive Productions, will be screening Amber Tamblyn’s directorial debut, *Paint it Black*, at the 19th annual festival, while Arquette will attend the event in conjunction with her new movie, *Born Guilty*, directed by Max Heller. They will be joining previously announced celebrities Diane Lane, Aisha Tyler, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple and Kenny Anderson. The festival also announced that a $5,000 prize (presented by actor/producer Sam Slater) will be awarded to the winner of the Narrative Competition Award. For more information on the festival, which is scheduled for March 31 – April 9, see [my previous article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup/) or visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival reveals lineup](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup/) **Published:** March 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Diane-Lane_Headshot-copy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Diane-Lane_Headshot-copy.jpg)Diane Lane From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/13/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-lineup), March 13, 2017 The 19th annual Sarasota Film Festival, scheduled for March 31 – April 9, announced its lineup of films and celebrity guests today. The festival will screen 79 features and 130 shorts at the Regal Hollywood 20 Theater and Sarasota Opera House (both in downtown Sarasota), with Diane Lane, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Aisha Tyler and former NBA star Kenny Anderson attending. The documentary *Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton*, directed by Kennedy, will open the festival, while *Paris Can Wait*, directed by Eleanor Coppola (the wife of Francis), will close it. The latter film is Coppola’s narrative directorial and screenwriting debut, and Lane (the movie’s star) will be in attendance, although the festival announcement makes no mention of whether co-star Alec Baldwin will make an appearance. (Lane will be presented with the Sarasota Film Festival Award for Cinematic Excellence.) For the first time in more than a decade, the festival will not overlap the Florida Film Festival, which is slated for April 21-30. Though the Sarasota festival is not Oscar-accredited like its Orlando cousin, it does include more films and theaters, and it draws about 50,000 patrons (roughly twice the attendance of the Florida Film Festival). The two festivals are widely considered the two best in the state. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Aisha-Tyler_Headshot-copy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Aisha-Tyler_Headshot-copy.jpg)Aisha Tyler The Sarasota Film Festival is known for highlighting social issues and celebrating female filmmakers. For instance, the “Environment, Science and Sustainability Focus” will include Matt Tyrnauer’s *Citizen Jane: Battle for the City*, Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s *Let There Be Light*, David Fairhead’s *Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo*, David McIlvride and Roger Williams’s *Riverblue: Can Fashion Save the Planet?***,** Derek Murphy’s *Sarasota Half in Dream*, Sam Wainwright Douglas’s *Through the Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film*, Matt Rutherford’s *The University***,** plus several shorts. The festival will also include Anderson’s *Mr. Chibbs* as part of its “Sports in Cinema” focus and Kopple’s *This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous* as one of its LGBT-themed films. Narrative features will include *Beach Rats* (written and directed by Eliza Hittman), *Clash* (directed by Mohamed Diab), *Graduation* (written and directed by Cristian Mungiu), *Katie Says Goodbye* (written and directed by Wayne Roberts), *One Week and a Day* (written and directed by Asaph Polonsky) and *The Wound* (directed by John Trengove). Among the documentary features will be *The Challenge* (directed by Yuri Ancarani), *The Cinema Travellers* (directed by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya), *Dina* (directed by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini), *The Force* (directed by Peter Nicks), *Last Men in Aleppo* (by Firas Fayyad and Steen Johannessen) and *Nowhere to Hide* (directed by Zaradasht Ahmed). Narrative Spotlight films will include Brett Haley’s *The Hero*, Ken Loach’s *I, Daniel Blake*, Joshua Z Weinstein’s *Menashe*, Amber Tamblyn’s *Paint It Black* and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s *The Unknown Girl*. The Independent Visions competition will feature Aisha Tyler’s *Axis* and Mike Ott’s *California Dreams*, among others*.* Tickets go on sale March 17 and cost $15 for the general public. For more information, visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Seattle serves up Filmapalooza](https://www.meiermovies.com/seattle-serves-up-filmapalooza-2017/) **Published:** March 7, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01926.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01926.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 7, 2017 The 2017 Filmapalooza has come and gone, and though the weather was as frosty as the post-Oscar reception given Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, our hearts and minds were kept warm by great films, pleasant company, good food, prodigious amounts of alcohol and, yes, legal marijuana. Thanks, Seattle! Filmapaloooza, the international competition for the 48 Hour Film Project, brought together winning filmmakers from about 140 cities from around the world. In all, 18 short-film screenings (plus two feature films) were presented March 1-4. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01917.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01917.jpg)Seattle city producer Krk Nordenstrom addresses attendees on Wednesday night. Click photos to enlarge. The event was held at several locations near Seattle Center, and the proximity to cultural attractions such as the Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Glass and Garden, SIFF Film Center and the Space Needle enhanced the experience. Though the event seemed less glamorous and a bit grungier – fitting for Seattle – than in years past, attendance and enthusiasm were strong. Indeed, a couple of the screenings at the SIFF Cinema Uptown (the main movie location) were so packed that it was difficult to find even standing room. (Bigger theaters next year, perhaps in Paris?) Similarly crowded was the host Maxwell Hotel, which didn’t seem suited to big events but still managed to serve well as party central – though let’s not forget the great roles played by the bars on Roy Street (Solo, McMenamins and Streamline Tavern) and also Ozzie’s on Mercer Street, which served up a smorgasbord of drinks and karaoke on Thursday night. (And did anyone else try the amazing brunch at Toulouse Petite Kitchen? Saint-merde!) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0548.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0548.jpg)While revelry and networking are crucial to Filmapalooza, the films are always front and center. The quality of the top five might have been a tad down from past years, but the top 15 or so were all solid, making it a crapshoot as to which films the judges would select. Each of the three judges undoubtedly brought a unique sensibility, taste and personality to the process, and that subjectivity should always be honored. Therefore, I congratulate all winners, especially grand champion Cote d’Azur, France (*Marginaux* by RIP Productions); runner-up Prague, Czech Republic (*Bio Buddy* by POPOJEDEM!); third-place Leeuwarden, the Netherlands (*Giraffe* by J.S. Film); fourth-place Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States (*Screen: Righter* by \[REDACTED\] Media); and the other eight films that were included among the judges’ top 12 films and will be going to the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. (Also going to Cannes will be three films not selected by the judges but instead picked by the 48 Hour Film Project staff after Filmapalooza: *Secondhand Sunset* from Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States; *The First Week* from Cape Town, South Africa; and *The Answer*, which was the Four Points competition winner.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0584.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0584.jpg)The judges overlooked several of my picks, including Nancy, France; Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States; Johannesburg, South Africa; Punta del Este, Uruguay; and Lynchburg and Richmond, Virginia, United States; and they also denied Toronto, Canada, a deserved nomination for best cinematography. But they (and the process) still deserve respect, as do every filmmaker, volunteer and staff member at Filmapalooza, particularly Mark Ruppert, Liz Langston, Christina Ruppert and Seattle city producer Krk Nordenstrom, who all worked tirelessly. With that said, let’s not ignore the obvious: The judges made some just plain weird choices. For instance, why would Nancy, France, be included among the four nominees for best writing and best editing but not among the 12 best overall films? (Hey, it’s not like writing and editing are important.) And why would *Morgen is er Zon* (Tomorrow’s Sun), from Utrecht, the Netherlands, (a great “midnight film” that I have in my personal top 10) be nominated for best ensemble when there are just two performers, neither of whom were nominated for best actor or actress? If they were that good, don’t they also deserve a nomination for individual actor? Wouldn’t “best ensemble” have been better suited to, say, *Giraffe* from Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, a film that featured more than half a dozen solid performances? (Maybe the judges wanted to spread the awards around a bit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01931.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01931.jpg)But, hey, I represent just one imperfect opinion, as do we all. Still, it’s not stopping me from – admittedly self-indulgently – presenting for the fourth year in a row my personal top 15, keeping in mind I was unable to see the special-genres block, in addition to most of blocks B, F and H because of the overlapping screenings. (If Filmapalooza could return to the format from 2014, which allowed everyone to see all films, that would enhance the film viewing and camaraderie. Regrettably, with a four-day format that includes two 48-day feature films, genre shorts, seminars and parties, that would be impossible unless the number of 48 Hour Film Project cities were reduced, which has been discussed.) With no further ado, cue drum roll. And please be forgiving of me as we’re forgiving of the three Filmapalooza judges (Marco Grandia, Wayne Slaten and Hannah Macpherson, all of whom are past 48 Hour Film Project city winners): 1. Nancy, France – *Pour de Faux* (It’s Not Real) by LAMBDA. My pick for best film is a charming, reality-bending story with a decidedly French sensibility. It’s the third year in a row that a film from France has been my top pick, following *Symptomes d’Amour* (Symptoms of Love) by Les Parasites from Montpellier in 2015 and *Les Temps des Adieux* (Time to Say Goodbye) by Compose It Art from Lyons in 2016. However, it did not make the judges’ list and, sadly, will not be going to the 2017 Cannes Festival. You can watch it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa1lfoAN15M). 2. Leeuwarden, the Netherlands – *Giraffe* by J.S. Film. The smartest comedy of this year’s Filmapalooza couldn’t have been much better had the filmmakers been given 48 days. It represents a solid understanding of absurdism, and the judges agreed, as they gave it third place and nominated its lead for best actress. It also won best writing and the first-ever Filmapalooza audience award. It will be going to Cannes. Watch it [here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/leeuwarden-nl/films/24150). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Filma-theater.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Filma-theater.jpg)48 Hour Film Project founders Liz Langston and Mark Ruppert speak to the audience at the awards screening on Saturday night. 3. Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States – *Secondhand Sunset* by Mixed Minds. This film represents my greatest departure from the judges’ selections, as it wasn’t nominated for anything. Though the story is somewhat predictable, it’s a beautiful and touching meditation on family, loss and personal ambition featuring a great performance by Sarah Minnich, who deserved a best-actress nomination. On a very positive note, it was announced on the Tuesday following Filmapalooza that, even though it wasn’t selected by the judges, *Secondhand Sunset* WILL be going to Cannes. Watch it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/albuquerque-nm/films/19544). 4. Johannesburg, South Africa – *The Mould & the Maker* by Polony Calzone. One of the top crowd-pleasers of this year’s event, this dramedy about a block of cheese that comes to life has more charm than should be legally allowed in a 48-hour film. No Cannes do. See it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/johannesburg-za/films/23000). 5. Prague, Czech Republic – *Bio Buddy* by POPOJEDEM! Thanks to its instantly lovable ending, I predicted that this dramedy would be the 2017 grand champion. Instead, the judges picked it as runner-up, though it picked up the award for best director. It’s headed to Cannes. View it [here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/cs/prague-cz/films/22270). 6. Punta del Este, Uruguay – *Betty* by Blackfox. Part comedy, part horror and all smart, this little gem might have a familiar premise, but I’ve never seen the subject explored this well in a 48-hour film before. Too bad it’s not going to Cannes. You can view it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/es/punta-del-este-uy/films/20636). 7. Lynchburg, Virginia – *Mr. Scratch* by Rocket Films Production Team GO! With its *Babadook*-inspired feel, *Mr. Scratch* was the best psychological horror at this year’s Filmapalooza. No Cannes trip is in its future, unfortunately, which will make Mr. Scratch even angrier. Watch it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/lynchburg-va/films/20805/mr.-scratch-by-rocket-films-production-team-go!). 8. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01913.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC01913.jpg)Amsterdam, the Netherlands – *My Pleasure* by Tripple3Film & Faber’s Fabels. Films from the Netherlands won the grand prizes at the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Filmapaloozas, so the odds were against both this film and *Giraffe* from Leeuwarden. Still, the art direction and performances in this period piece were solid enough to land it in my and the judges’ top 10, giving the Netherlands its second Cannes submission from the 2017 Filmapalooza. Watch it on [Vimeo](https://vimeo.com/170163748). 9. Richmond, Virginia – *No One* by Pixel Drop. One of the best American films at Filmapalooza, this suspense film keeps us guessing until the very end. But it did not make the judges’ list and will not be going to Cannes. View it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/richmond-va/films/19599). 10. Utrecht, the Netherlands – *Morgen is er Zon* (Tomorrow’s Sun) by Pretty Fly. A 1976 Spanish horror film asks, *Who Can Kill a Child*? The answer: This film, and in a comedy to boot – with squibs! But because it’s a fellow 9-year-old who has ordered the hit, the film isn’t the train wreck of offensiveness you’d expect. It’ll be right at home at Cannes, along with the other two films from the Netherlands. Watch it [here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/utrecht-nl/films/21520). 11. Bogota, Colombia – *Regresion* by Iman Music. Time travel meets psychological therapy in this *Memento*-like exploration of tragedy. It’s headed to Cannes, but you can see it now [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/es/bogota-co/films/23467/regresi%C3%B3n-by-iman-music). 12. Brasov, Romania – *Stapled* by Epic Ideas. What if Cupid were never allowed to fall in love? That sad dilemma is sweetly explored in this dramedy, though it won’t be going to Cannes. 13. Cape Town, South Africa – *The First Week* by Mason Brothers Films. Recognized by the judges for its cinematography and score, this is the best silent film of the 2017 Filmapalooza. Though it wasn’t picked by the judges as one of the 12 best films, it WILL be one of 15 films going to Cannes, and deservedly so. See it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/cape-town-za/films/20925). 14. Cincinnati, Ohio, United States – *Lessons in Accidental Magic* by Drive Media House. This fun, playful film is magic, literally, with some nifty special effects that are almost as impressive as the judges pick for best effects, *Wander* from Denver. (Perhaps it can magically transport itself to Cannes against the judges’ wishes.) You can view it [here](http://www.48hourfilm.com/cincinnati-oh/films/19165). 15. Cordoba, Argentina – *Concentrico* by Ilusion Inteligencia Audiovisual. The best pure art film at this year’s Filmapalooza was shot in a single take – in water! The judges recognized its achievement and are sending it to Cannes. Watch it [here](https://www.48hourfilm.com/es/cordoba-ar/films/23081). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0640.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0640.jpg)French producer Olivier Dussausse and Orlando city producer Kyle Snavely belt out “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Ozzie’s on Thursday night. I’d also like to recognize the films from Denver, Rome, Nashville and Tokyo. I do not have those on my “best of” list, but the judges do, and they will traveling to Cannes. For a complete list of all winners and more information on the 48 Hour Film Project (the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition), visit [the Filmapalooza website](http://www.48hourfilm.com/filmapalooza/2017). *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Filmapalooza 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2017/) **Published:** February 24, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Moviemakers head to Seattle [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Filma-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Filma-2017.jpg) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 24, 2017 It’s again time for one of the most memorable film experiences of the year: Filmapalooza. The international competition of the 48 Hour Film Project (the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition), Filmapalooza is scheduled for March 1-4 in Seattle. Sixteen screenings will be held over four days at SIFF Cinema Uptown. The screenings will feature the 137 city-winning films from around the globe in addition to two 48-day feature films and a special Seattle and “grand champion” retrospective. And, as in years past, the final morning will include instructional seminars. The Maxwell is the official hotel while the SIFF Film Center will host the party on Friday night. I’ve been fortunate enough to cover Filmapalooza over the last three years (2014 in New Orleans, 2015 in Los Angeles and 2016 in Atlanta), and am looking forward to a fun (if potentially snowy) event in Seattle this year. I’m also eagerly anticipating the screening of the film from my city (Orlando), *Imaginary Day*. The movie, from group Take the Cannoli, is written and directed by Michael Aiello, produced by Chad Raucci and stars Kristin Shirilla. For more information, visit the [official website](https://www.48hourfilm.com/filmapalooza/). *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Martin leaving Uncomfortable Brunch](https://www.meiermovies.com/josh-martin-leaving-uncomfortable-brunch/) **Published:** March 7, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Josh-Martin.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Josh-Martin.jpg)Josh Martin. Image copyright *Orlando Weekly.* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/03/07/josh-martin-leaving-uncomfortable-brunch), March 7, 2017 Things are about to get REALLY uncomfortable at Uncomfortable Brunch: Josh Martin is leaving. The founder of the popular monthly film series is moving to Chicago, and with that move comes a passing of the UB torch to friend and fellow cinephile Katy Whitacre. The brunch on April 2 will be Martin’s last and will feature Gaspar Noé’s *Irreversible*. It will also likely be the last at Will’s Pub. (A new location has yet to be announced.) A ticket costs $10. For more information, visit . Martin started the event as a pot-luck affair at his home with his friends back in 2014. After about a year, Martin and his friend Dan Lauer moved it to Will’s Pub, where it became a paid, catered event. On the first Sunday of each month, it has been screening films of disturbing – often sexual or violent – but culturally relevant subject matter ever since. From *Straw Dogs* to *Salò* to multiple movies by Lars von Trier (one of Martin’s favorite directors), the brunch has attracted an eclectic, film-loving crowd. “I am still surprised it is still going and people still care about it,” Martin says. “While I am proud of the idea and still think it is clever, I also know it is for a limited audience. Not everyone wants to eat brunch while watching a movie with incest. The response continues to be great. I have a core audience, which is awesome. I know there are the die-hards who will almost always be there, but it is nice to see new faces when I show a flick that is a little bigger, like *Requiem for a Dream* or *Blue Velvet*. To know that what I am doing can engage people outside of my friend circle is cool. It is easy to convince your friends to support your dumb idea; to get strangers to is a little trickier.” So what’s in Martin’s future? “As for future prospects, it is bittersweet,” he says. “Orlando has become my home. Despite it making me sound like a functional alcoholic, Will’s Pub and Lil’ Indies are my home. The friends I have in the community on Mills/50 are my family. Leaving that is going to be tough. I really love the people who make this little district what it is. If I hadn’t gotten the positive feedback when I started over two years ago, I probably wouldn’t have to courage to take the next step now. That said, it is time to move on. It is really easy to run in circles and not even realize you aren’t living up to your potential. I want to see film series like this succeed; I want as many people as possible to see these films. I feel the best move now with the experience I have gained is to take it to a bigger market. It is scary, but if it doesn’t happen now, it may never.” What can we expect from Orlando’s Uncomfortable Brunch after Martin leaves? “What I aim to do with Uncomfortable Brunch is continue the legacy that Josh has created, by exposing Orlandoans to the culturally significant, though sometimes painfully uncomfortable, films that are out there,” says Whitacre. “Sometimes it takes an omelet, pancakes and a room full of strangers to get the courage to finally watch that awkward art flick you’ve been planning on watching for years. I also plan to have more of a social-media presence, but that will be a work in progress.” More Q than A, a movie series that Martin started last year with Patrick Greene and Kyle Eagle, is expected to continue at Avalon. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* ### Update As of mid-April, Martin had changed his plans and was not expected to move to Chicago anytime soon. He’ll be partnering with Whitacre in the management of Uncomfortable Brunch, which is expected to stay at Will’s Pub. So, basically, this entire blog was incorrect, though it was accurate when written. --- ### [Oscars 2017](https://www.meiermovies.com/oscars-2017/) **Published:** February 23, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Will *La La Land* tie the record? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Oscars.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Oscars.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 25, 2017 With *La La Land* expected to dominate (somewhat undeservedly) the Oscars on Sunday night, the only suspense left is whether the romantic musical dramedy will tie or break the record for most Academy Awards won by a single film. That record is 11, and it’s currently held by four films: *Gone with the Wind* (1939), *Ben-Hur* (1959), *Titanic* (1997) and *Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* (2003). *GWTW*, however, is usually not on that list because three of its awards were special, non-competitive ones, including the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which was presented that year to David Selznick. (Thalbergs are usually given for career achievement, but it was blatantly obvious that it was given that year for Selznick’s achievement on *GWTW*. That’s an “alternative fact” you can actually trust.) The short answer to the aforementioned question: No, *La La Land* won’t tie or break the record. Here’s why. It’s nominated for 14, and that ties the record for most nominations also held by *All About Eve* (1950) and *Titanic* (1997). (*GWTW* would be credited with 16 nominations if a film were actually nominated for special awards.) However, *La La Land* is eligible for just 13, as it’s double-nominated for best song. It’s also extremely unlikely to win best actor, as Ryan Gosling is almost certain to lose to either Denzel Washington (*Fences*) or Casey Affleck (*Manchester by the Sea*). I give the slight edge to Affleck. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)“La La Land” will likely win 8-10 Oscars, including best picture. Image copyright Black Label Media / Gilbert Films. OK, so that means we’re down to 12 possible Oscars. But *La La Land* probably won’t get sound editing or original screenplay either. The former often goes to an action film or one laden with special effects, and that should be the case this year too, with *Hacksaw Ridge* perhaps the favorite. And for original screenplay, the favorite is justifiably *Manchester by the Sea*. That leaves *La La Land* picking up 10: picture, actress (Emma Stone, whom I love but is not as deserving as Natalie Portman for *Jackie*), director (Damien Chazelle), editing, cinematography, production design, costume design, sound mixing, original score and original song. It doesn’t deserve them all, but it has a good chance of getting them. Even if it drops production design and costume design (which might go to period films such as *Fantastic Beasts*, *Hail, Caesar!* or *Jackie*), that would leave *La La Land* with a respectable (not hateful) eight. And since we’re talking about which films actually *deserve* Oscars, allow me to present my not-quite-final-but-better-than-last-time list of my top 25 movies for 2016 (keeping in mind that, unlike the Academy, I’ve labeled *The Lobster* a 2015 film): 1. [Jackie](http://www.meiermovies.com/jackie/) – 4 ½ stars 2. [Denial](http://www.meiermovies.com/denial/) – 4 ¼ 3. [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story](http://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) (2–D and 3–D versions) 4. [Silence](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/19/making-noise-about-silence/) 5. [Manchester by the Sea](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/31/best-edited-sequence-of-the-year/) – 4 6. [La La Land](http://www.meiermovies.com/la-la-land/) 7. [Nocturnal Animals](http://www.meiermovies.com/nocturnal-animals/) 8. Arrival 9. [The Jungle Book](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/05/09/the-two-best-films-of-2016-so-far/) (3–D version) 10. [Sully](http://www.meiermovies.com/sully/) 11. Snowden 12. [Moonlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/moonlight/) – 3 ¾ 13. Lion 14. Life, Animated 15. [Rules Don’t Apply](http://www.meiermovies.com/rules-dont-apply/) 16. [Doctor Strange](http://www.meiermovies.com/doctor-strange/) (3–D version) 17. Eye in the Sky 18. [Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) 19. Fences – 3 ½ 20. O.J.: Made in America 21. [A Monster Calls](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-monster-calls/) (2–D version) 22. Midnight Special 23. The BFG (2–D version) 24. [Hooligan Sparrow](http://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2016/) 25. A Man Called Ove FL Special praise is also due for Tom Wilkinson (*Denial*) and Alan Rickman (*Eye in the Sky*) for their supporting performances, which were not recognized with nominations, and for Pablo Larraín (*Jackie*) and Martin Scorsese (*Silence*), who were similarly snubbed in the director category. Finally, let me express my astonishment that, once again, all nine nominees for best picture are English-language narrative-fiction films. Yes, foreign-language, animated and documentary films are eligible. And wasn’t that the point of expanding the number of nominees: to achieve diversity of language, culture and genre? I guess we’ve been so focused on racial and ethnic diversity that we overlooked cinematic diversity. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short circuit](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2017/) **Published:** February 9, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Love Your Shorts returns to Sanford for 7th year From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/love-your-shorts-film-festival-returns-to-sanford-for-a-seventh-year/Content?oid=2561399), February 8, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pitter-Patter-Goes-My-Heart.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Pitter-Patter-Goes-My-Heart.jpg)*Pitter Patter Goes My Heart* is my pick for best film of this year’s festival. In seven years, Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival has grown from a small-town dream into one of the most highly regarded movie events in the Orlando area. Indeed, only the Florida, Orlando and Global Peace film festivals draw significantly more than LYSFF’s roughly 2,400 attendees. This year’s festival, scheduled for February 9-12, will feature 71 short films of 30 minutes or less (nine more than last year) from 12 countries, chosen from 325 submissions. After Thursday’s filmmaker workshops at the Greater Sanford Chamber of Commerce, and short movies from University of Central Florida students at the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, the festival gets into full swing on Friday at the Wayne Densch with the first of nine film blocks. That initial block offers various genres, but the next seven cover one genre or theme each. They are “E for Everyone,” documentary, animation, comedy and sci-fi/horror on Saturday, and drama and “Florida Flavor” on Sunday. The festival finishes with the “Best of the Fest,” containing the top films from the previous blocks, as voted by attendees. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/love_your_shorts_2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/love_your_shorts_2017.jpg) One winner from each block goes on to the “Best of the Fest.” Because the audience is partially comprised of filmmakers and others supporting a particular film, the voting is somewhat skewed and occasionally results in the highest-quality films not reaching the awards block. Nevertheless, the system gives the festival a friendly, interactive feel while allowing a panel of qualified judges to pick the overall best film. *The Orlando Weekly* previewed a dozen films, and while quality is mixed (as at all such festivals), three stood out. ***Amerigo***, an Italian-language production screening in Sunday’s “Florida Flavor” block, is especially impressive when you consider it was shot with limited resources in Central Florida. “*Amerigo* is a foreign film shot 99.9 percent in Central Florida,” says director Todd Thompson. “It is a true story about my grandfather. … Due to budget constraints, I couldn’t make the film in his hometown of Montelanico \[Italy\], as I had hoped, so we found locations in historic downtown Sanford and Clermont to recreate the Italian countryside. For the scenes that take place inside his home, we recreated the small apartment he grew up in on a warehouse stage near the Florida Mall from plans my mother drew up from memory. \[But\] I needed true Italians to pull this off, … so what I did was leverage my social network on Facebook and found an entire club of Italians in Orlando and Tampa who ended up booking the starring roles.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0544.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0544.jpg)Even better is the German-language ***Nelly***, a beautifully filmed, dreamlike examination of what it means to go home. It plays on opening night while another German production, ***Pitter Patter Goes My Heart***, screens in Sunday’s drama group. The latter, which gazes deeply into the heart of a romantic idealist and asks how far one should go for love, will likely be a contender for best film. But the festival is not just about watching movies. “We always offer an educational component,” says festival co-founder Gene Kruckemyer. “This year our Thursday ‘education day’ has three workshops for veteran and aspiring filmmakers that are focused on animation. And for the first time, we have a Saturday demonstration for middle and high school students interested in filmmaking, so they can experience what it’s like to be on a working film set with green screens, cameras and other equipment.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/AMERIGO-Signature.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/AMERIGO-Signature.jpg)“Amerigo” Organizers have a history of picking local moviemakers to shoot fun, promotional films that introduce each block. This year they turned to LYSFF veterans TL Westgate and Dale Metz. (Westgate’s ***Shadows in the Dark*** plays the Florida Flavor block on Sunday.) The two co-directed several *Star Trek*-inspired shorts that include cameos by festival director Nelson Beverly and vice president Chris Wise, who play spoofy versions of Spock and Bones. “As a local filmmaker, I love the Love Your Shorts Film Fest,” says Westgate. “An actor friend of mine \[called it\] a boutique festival – very aptly put. It’s intimate but still has the best of the bigger festivals: great parties and mixers, great networking, great people and a great location. If you’re local, you should attend just to absorb the atmosphere.” A ticket to one block costs $8 (except the $2 “E for Everyone” group) while a festival pass is $55. For a schedule and list of films, visit [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Correction: A previous version of this story reported that audience members voted on electronic devices passed out to them. Instead of passing out electronic voting devices, the festival now asks audience members to vote using their cell phones. If an audience member has the courage to shun the 21st century and not have a cell phone, volunteers are available to record votes the old-fashioned way: by asking which film you would like to win.* ## Opening-night blog [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nelly.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nelly.jpg)“Nelly” The festival got off to a strong start (after a brief technical glitch) on Friday night with arguably the best opening-night block of films in its history. And the 1980s-themed party was suitably rad, right down to the retro Atari video games and the cardboard cutout of Ronald Reagan standing in the corner. (If only we could have the Gipper now, instead of our current president — and that’s coming from a liberal. But I digress.) The audience selected the emotional, crowd-pleasing ***Birthday*** as their favorite. Directed by Chris King, it’s the brief story – told mostly in silent collage – of a wounded Marine returning from war. It will now go on to compete with future block winners in Sunday night’s “best of the fest” group. My favorite was ***Nelly*** (see the main article above), an Austrian film directed by Chris Raiber, but it’s worth noting that all eight films, even the one I’m giving just 1 star to, were professionally made, with solid cinematography and sound. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0539.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0539.jpg)The opening-night party had a 1980s theme. **My ranking of the opening-night films:** 1. ***Nelly***, directed by Chris Raiber (4 stars on 0-5 scale) 2. ***Sing for Your Supper***, a dystopian period musical (yes, really) directed by Mu Sun (3 stars) 3. ***METUBE 2 – August Sings Carmina Burana***, an experimental musical directed by Daniel Moshel (3 stars) 4. ***Hyper-Reality***, a dystopian sci-fi directed by Keiichi Matsuda (3 stars) 5. ***Illegal Move***, an animated film directed by Sana Srinivasan and Kyle Lopez (3 stars) 6. ***Domestic Policy***, a social-commentary comedy directed by Alicia MacDonald (2 stars) 7. ***Birthday***, directed by Chris King (2 stars) 8. ***Finless***, a documentary directed by Gabriel Souza (1 star) ## Epilogue: top 10 of the fest ***Undertaking***, directed by Kevin James O’Neill, was selected as the best overall film of the festival. However, because the festival relies heavily on audience voting, some of the most critically acclaimed films — particularly foreign-language films and those with disturbing or provocative subject matter — often get overlooked. Case in point: Most of my top 10 didn’t even make the “best of the fest” on Sunday night. But, hey, I don’t exactly have a monopoly on wisdom. But I do have some strong feelings about the following films: 1. ***Pitter Patter Goes My Heart*** (5 stars) 2. ***Nelly*** (4 stars) 3. ***The Flesh of My Lovers*** (4 stars) 4. ***Hound*** (3 stars) 5. ***Sing for Your Supper*** (3 stars) 6. ***Cleansing Hour*** (3 stars) 7. ***Cotton Country*** (3 stars) 8. ***METUBE 2 – August Sings Carmina Burana*** (3 stars) 9. ***Rabbit Blood*** (3 stars) 10. ***Again*** (3 stars) --- ### [Florida cinemas to screen Oscar Shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-cinemas-to-screen-oscar-shorts/) **Published:** February 6, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/02/06/enzian-and-cinemark-artegon-among-florida-cinemas-to-screen-oscar-shorts), February 6, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Oscar-Shorts-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Oscar-Shorts-2017.jpg)Several Central Florida cinemas will screen the Oscar Shorts programs this month. Maitland’s Enzian Theater plans to show the animated and live-action selections later this month, with dates and times yet to be announced. Visit [Enzian.org](http://enzian.org/) for more information. The historic Tampa Theatre (in downtown Tampa) also plans to screen the animated and live-action shorts but, unlike Enzian, will screen the documentary films as well. See [TampaTheatre.org](http://tampatheatre.org/) for showtimes. The [MPAA’s website](http://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/theatrical-release/?submittedLat=27.6648274&submittedLng=-81.51575350000002&addressInput=florida&tag_to_search_for=All&radiusSelect=200) also lists Disney Springs 24, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace, Lakewood Ranch 6 in Bradenton, Indian River 24 in Vero Beach, Veterans Expressway 24 in Tampa, and Burns Court in Sarasota as theaters that plan to show the shorts, although that could not be confirmed by visiting the theaters’ websites. All plan to show the animated and live-action shorts, but only Tampa Theatre and Lakewood Ranch 6 will screen the doc shorts. (If you’re outside Central Florida, search [this page](http://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/theatrical-release/?submittedLat=27.6648274&submittedLng=-81.51575350000002&addressInput=florida&tag_to_search_for=All&radiusSelect=200) for cinemas near you that are showing the programs.) For details on all nominated films, visit the [MPAA’s website](http://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/). The Academy Awards are scheduled for February 26. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian hires executive director](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-hires-executive-director/) **Published:** January 5, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## David Schillhammer to lead theater’s staff From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/01/05/enzian-theater-hires-david-schillhammer-as-executive-director), January 5, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Enzian-Theater-2016.jpg)The Enzian Theatre in Maitland has hired David Schillhammer, former executive director of the Orlando Philharmonic, as its new executive director. This is new position designed to focus on “cultivating a vision for Enzian’s future,” according to Valerie Cisneros, marketing manager. “David will be leading the entire staff with a focus on strategic planning and what our future looks like with the expansion on the horizon,” Cisneros says. Prior to serving as the Philharmonic’s director for 16 years, Schillhammer held the same job with the San Antonio Symphony for six years. In addition, he has held operations and production positions with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Saint Paul, Minn., and the Rochester Philharmonic in Rochester, N.Y. “I can think of no better way for us to settle into our third decade than to have David lead us through this time of opportunity,” says Sigrid Tiedtke, Enzian chairwoman. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Let's Sundance](https://www.meiermovies.com/lets-sundance/) **Published:** January 2, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian Theater to present Sundance Shorts From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/01/03/enzian-theater-to-present-annual-sundance-film-festival-shorts), January 2, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ThunderRoad.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ThunderRoad.jpg)Jim Cummings stars in *Thunder Road*. Image copyright Jim Cummings / Mark Vashro. The Enzian Theater in Maitland will present the annual Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour on January 3 at 6:30 p.m. This year’s program features eight shorts ranging from documentary to dramedy to absurdism, totaling 94 minutes. The movies represent some of the best content from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Fourteen other cinemas around the country are screening the program, but the Enzian is the only Florida theater on the list. (For a complete list of theaters, see [www.Sundance.org](http://www.sundance.org/festivals/short-film).) I screened half of the films in advance, by virtue of their inclusion in last year’s Florida Film Festival. *Bacon & God’s Wrath* (3 stars on 0-5 scale) is a partially animated documentary about an elderly Jewish woman’s decision to finally try pork, *The Procedure* (3 stars) is an askew and unexpectedly hilarious glimpse at an odd human experiment, *Edmond* (4 stars) is a dark and contemplative work of stop-motion animation, and *Thunder Road* (4 stars) is a sweet and funny realization that grief comes in many forms. I consider the latter film (directed by and starring Jim Cummings) one of the most memorable shorts of 2016, and Sundance obviously agreed, as the festival awarded it the Grand Jury Prize. Tickets are $11 for general admission, $9 for students and seniors, and $8.50 for Enzian members. For more information, including the complete lineup of films, visit . At press time, table reservations were at maximum capacity, but tickets were still available. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Plaza Cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/plaza-cinema/) **Published:** November 29, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Plaza Cinema in Ottawa, Kansas, is certified by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest continuously operating purpose-built cinema. The first movie shown at this location was *The Great Train Robbery* in 1905. Though it’s gone by different names over the years, this theater in the small town in eastern Kansas has been showing films without significant pause since 1907. It was divided into two houses a few decades ago, but it’s still going strong, screening new releases. And if you take the behind-the-scenes tour, you will see the original stage (hidden behind the current screens) and the Movie Memorabilia Museum. For more information, visit the [cinema’s website](https://plaza1907.com/). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1608.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1608.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1598.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1598.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1601.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1601.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1602.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1602.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1604.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1604.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1605.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1605.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1606.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_1606.jpg) --- ### [The year in film: 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-film-2016/) **Published:** December 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/honest-messy-and-intense-the-best-films-of-2016-so-far/Content?oid=2549236), December 21, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Jackie.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Jackie.jpg)Natalie Portman in *Jackie*. (Image copyright Jackie Productions / Wild Bunch / Fabula.) The calendar may say 2016 is ending, but for cinephiles, it’s just getting warmed up. So because a definitive list of the best films of the year is not yet possible, I offer instead some flicks that might land on that list once the dust of December premieres and awards season settles. But before we examine the films, let’s award a couple of special prizes. For biggest business story, the winner is *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*, which smashed *Avatar*’s domestic box-office record. James Cameron may have the last laugh, though, as his *Titanic* is still ahead of *The Force Awakens* in adjusted-to-inflation dollars. Indeed, *The Force Awakens* didn’t even crack the top 10 of that list. The award for innovation goes to a film that also is the biggest disappointment: *Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk*. Director Ang Lee shot the film in 3-D and 120 frames per second, instead of the standard 24, and those who saw the movie in that format – which includes virtually nobody, as most theaters weren’t properly equipped – reported a uniquely realistic if slightly uncinematic experience. Unfortunately, the writing, acting, pacing and editing are so bad that the only format in which this film would look good is 0 frames per second. Before focusing on features, let’s give a round of applause to short movies and the filmmakers who pour their love into them for no financial reward. For, as Louis C.K. said at the most recent Academy Awards, these are people who, if they are lucky enough to win an Oscar, drive it home in a Honda Civic, wearing their cheaply rented tux. And among all shorts I saw in 2016, one rises above all others: *Dissonance*, by German filmmaker Till Nowak. It’s a jaw-dropping blend of animation and live action that is pure cinematic genius and quite simply the best short I’ve ever seen – and that’s saying something, as the art form dates back to 1888. Now to the best features, and to two that will battle for best special effects but, sadly, have little hope of other Oscar glory: *The Jungle Book* and *Doctor Strange*. The former is a spectacularly imaginative and well-produced combination of the Rudyard Kipling books and the 1967 hand-animated Disney version, while the latter is among the top 10 superhero films ever. Also likely to receive a snub from the Academy is *Arrival*, the smartest sci-fi flick of 2016 and a throwback to an even better one: *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-tom-wilkinson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-tom-wilkinson.jpg)Tom Wilkinson in “Denial.” (Image copyright BBC Films/Foster Entertainment.) The more “serious” subjects usually fare better come Oscar time, and this year should be no exception. One of the best is Tom Ford’s *Nocturnal Animals*, a brilliantly layered, twisty thriller starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and the incomparable Michael Shannon, who deserves a nomination for best supporting actor. Also praiseworthy is the emotionally moving *Moonlight*, which reminds us that the sun shines brightly on people of privilege, but if you’re meek, poor, black or gay, you might have to settle for the light of the moon instead. (Naomie Harris, as the main character’s drug-addled mother, should be a shoo-in for a supporting-actress nod.) Among big-name directors, there’s Clint Eastwood’s *Sully* and Oliver Stone’s *Snowden*. Though neither is the best movie by the two helmers, they are arguably two of the most intense and memorable films of the year. (Don’t be surprised if Tom Hanks gets another nomination, though his achievements are eclipsed by Meryl Streep, who is likely to garner her record 20th Oscar nomination, for *Florence Foster Jenkins*.) Unable to be categorized are Damien Chazelle’s musical, *La La Land*, and another flick by a Hollywood legend (Warren Beatty): the absurdist dramedy/bio-pic, *Rules Don’t Apply.* Both are a bit of a mess but are nevertheless a joy to behold. And though *La La Land* may not revive the American musical as well as *Chicago* did (briefly), it certainly resuscitated my love of the Hollywood musical tradition and the city that produced it. The most honest film of the year, at least among non-documentaries, is *Manchester by the Sea*. Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan’s film focuses on an emotionally crippled man trying to handle the latest tragedy life has dealt him. It’s brimming with emotion and, surprisingly, humor and is the most likely candidate for the best-film Oscar, with Casey Affleck a strong contender for best actor. Though they might be bested by some foreign films that haven’t yet screened in the United States and are, therefore, embarrassingly absent from this article, my three top films so far are *Jackie,* *Denial* and *Rogue One.* The latter is the best *Star Wars* film since *Return of the Jedi*, with arguably the most astonishing CGI ever. *Jackie*, directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Natalie Portman in the finest female performance of 2016, is both a hyper-realistic and dreamlike look at Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the assassination of her husband. And Mick Jackson’s *Denial* focuses on those who reject the Holocaust, with its top takeaway being that we must always fight against hate and ignorance, even if the person preaching them is a cartoonish and unworthy adversary. Come to think of it, that’s a fitting takeaway for all of 2016. *Writer’s note: When I wrote this article, I hadn’t seen Martin Scorsese’s* [Silence](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/01/19/making-noise-about-silence/) *yet. It’s also worthy of inclusion.* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Theater delays expansion](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-theater-delays-expansion/) **Published:** November 4, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Image copyright Enzian Theater](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Enzian_Exterior_View_1_Small.jpg)Image copyright Enzian Theater From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/11/02/enzian-theater-delays-expansion), November 2, 2016 The Enzian Theater plans to submit its final proposal for expansion to the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission early next year, not this year as previously reported by the *Orlando Weekly*. This mean the construction, if approved, would be finished for the 2019 Florida Film Festival, not the 2018 event, as first planned. “We were hoping to maintain a timeline that had the project completed by Florida Film Festival 2018, but right now it looks like even the quickest possible timeframe would put us a couple months past that for completion,” says Enzian Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee. “The three-to-six-month timeframe for the city process once we go back to Planning and Zoning, and three-to-six-month timeframe for permitting, still is my best guess, but I think the earliest we’d be back with Planning and Zoning would be February 2017. \[That\] pushes our prior timeframes back to a potential project completion date of late summer \[or\] early fall of 2018. The summer held slower progress than we’d expected. We continued to spend the summer working on coming up with the best possible expansion plan and site map to offer the community that we hope will make our patrons, the city and our neighbors happy.” The Enzian Forever project would expand the Maitland art cinema from one to three screens while also adding a new lobby, restrooms and staff offices. The initial proposal was publicly presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission in January and drew both praise from Enzian patrons and criticism from neighborhood residents, who expressed their concern over the lack of parking and other issues related to increased attendance. [![regal-cinemas-winter-park](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)In related news, Mukherjee says the Enzian does not expect the 2017 and 2018 Florida Film Festivals to be greatly impacted by the shrinking capacity of Regal Cinemas Stadium 20 at Winter Park Village, which [I reported](http://www.meiermovies.com/regal-winter-park-renovations/) in September. The Regal renovations will reduce the seating capacity of all theaters by about 60 percent by installing reclining, sofa-style seats with footrests. “We are not expecting to see any issues arise from the shrinking theaters,” she says. “We will have smaller auditoriums for our Florida Film Festival screenings over there, but I’ve carefully reviewed the attendance data from past festivals, and the majority of the time our audience would still fit into the new smaller seat-count theaters. They will just reach capacity more often. This does mean that more screenings will reach stand-by and sell out, but we show most of our programs twice, so patrons will get two opportunities to get in to most films. It will be an incentive for festival-goers to get their tickets early or purchase a pass if they want the flexibility to choose at the last minute. … And I’m sure everyone will be happy with the upgraded seating Regal is installing!” By sticking with three screens (one at Enzian and two at Regal) for the next two festivals, the event’s total seating capacity would drop from 989 to 538. “We’ve considered adding a third screen \[at Regal\] for shows that we expect to have an exceptionally strong draw, but for now we are planning on still just using two screens at Regal,” Mukherjee says. The only major change the Enzian is considering is moving the opening-night film from Regal to the Enzian. “\[The Regal renovation\] makes our Enzian auditorium the largest of the three available screens,” Mukherjee says. “In the past, we’ve had to debate whether we want to show a film at ‘home’ (Enzian) or in the largest auditorium. Now there’s no trade-off. \[But for now\] we haven’t made any decisions on where the opening-night film will screen.” *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Regal Winter Park launches renovations](https://www.meiermovies.com/regal-winter-park-renovations/) **Published:** September 29, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Seat replacement will boost comfort, lower capacity [![regal-cinemas-winter-park](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Regal-Cinemas-Winter-Park.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/09/29/regal-winter-park-renovations-will-boost-comfort-lower-capacity), September 29, 2016 Regal Cinemas Stadium 20 at Winter Park Village, in Winter Park, Florida, is in the middle of a renovation that will install reclining, sofa-style seats with footrests while slashing theater capacity by about 60 percent. The new chairs, similar to those at Artegon Cinemark, will dramatically improve viewer comfort but reduce the number of seats by roughly 60 percent. All 20 of the building’s theaters will be renovated by January. According to Regal staff, the capacity of the two largest houses will drop from 479 to 168, affecting not just regular theater-goers but future Florida Film Festival patrons too. The two next-largest screens will see capacity lowered from 280 to 140. The two smallest houses will go from 85 to 36. (These numbers include spaces for wheelchairs.) If you’re wondering why Regal would spend millions of dollars to reduce its capacity, check out this [*Wall Street Journal* article](http://www.wsj.com/articles/now-at-the-movies-fully-reclining-seats-1404679140) from 2014, which analyzed a similar strategy adopted by AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Though Regal would not confirm whether tickets prices for the new auditoriums would increase immediately, industry analysts expect prices to go up eventually (and more dramatically than at non-renovated theaters). The theater will remain open during the renovations. The Enzian Theater has not yet announced how it plans to compensate for the potential loss of seats at the 2017 Florida Film Festival. The festival currently uses its own 230-seat auditorium and two houses at Regal. Though the Enzian may be expanding to three screens for the 2018 Florida Film Festival, thus slightly reducing its dependence on Regal, the renovations at Regal will affect next year’s festival. For instance, the total seating capacity for the 2016 festival was roughly 700. But if the 2017 event uses the Enzian and the two largest screens now available at Regal, that capacity would be reduced to roughly 530. This might necessitate the use of more screens at Regal, perhaps most of an entire wing (similar to the format of the Sarasota Film Festival, which takes over roughly half of downtown Sarasota’s Regal Cinema every year). In addition, the opening-night film would likely move from Regal to the Enzian, as the latter will soon be larger than any of Regal’s screens. The Enzian declined to comment until they have consulted with Regal Cinemas. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: This story was updated with corrected numbers on March 28, 2017. The original version implied that the Florida Film Festival rented the largest of the Regal houses, which was based on information supplied to me by Regal at the time of original publication. However, the Florida Film Festival claims it never rented the largest screen but instead occupied screens with capacities of 279 and 179.* --- ### [South Asian Film Festival gets short](https://www.meiermovies.com/south-asian-film-festival-gets-short/) **Published:** September 29, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![from-here-or-to-go](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/From-Here-or-to-Go.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/From-Here-or-to-Go.jpg)*For Here or to Go* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/09/29/enzians-south-asian-film-festival-features-films-from-and-about-the-indian-subcontinent), September 29, 2016 The South Asian Film Festival is getting short. But that actually means audiences will get to see even more movies at the Enzian Theater’s annual showcase of film, food and culture from the Indian subcontinent. For the first time in the festival’s 22-year history, an entire block of short films will be included with the usual features. “Chhota Cinema: New Indian Shorts” (featuring six short films) will screen on Saturday at 2:15 p.m., following *For Here or To Go?*, a feature-length dramedy about cultural assimilation in the United States, which plays at 11 a.m. Two more features will screen on Sunday. *Original Copy*, a documentary about Mumbai’s only remaining painter of billboard-sized film posters, will play at 11 a.m., and *Waiting*, an Indian drama about loss and friendship, will follow at 1:45 p.m. The festival closes on Monday at 6:30 p.m. with *Dheepan*, a French drama about Sri Lankan refugees. **Saturday-Monday, Enzian Theater, 1300 South Orlando Ave., Maitland, FL 32751, 407-629-1088,** [**http://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/**](http://enzian.org/films/festivals/south-asian-film-festival/)**, $11 for a single program or $50 for a series pass.** *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Global Peace Film Festival 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2016/) **Published:** September 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Taking the Pulse of Orlando ### Global Peace FF highlights issues relevant to our city and the world [![global-peace-film-festival-opening-night-2016](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-opening-night-2016-1024x768.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-opening-night-2016.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/global-peace-film-festival-highlights-issues-relevant-to-both-our-city-and-the-world/Content?oid=2526545), September 19, 2016 With the Pulse massacre still fresh in the minds and hearts of Orlando residents, there’s perhaps never been a more relevant time for the Global Peace Film Festival. And this year’s event, which runs September 19-25, will address that tragedy head on, with a screening of Vicki Nantz’s short film, *We Are Gay, We Are Proud, We Are Orlando*, on Thursday night, followed by a ceremony to honor LGBT activists Billy Manes and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan. “The Pulse massacre affected me on a deeply personal level, although I didn’t know the victims and I wasn’t there,” says Nantz. “A couple of days after Pulse, I took my camera downtown just to document things, not even thinking about an actual project when I set out. I just knew that this horrific event should never be forgotten or minimized. … The short is my personal reflection of the awful attack in my own words. It follows the initial shock and grief that we all felt, but I also express my anger about our culture that still demonizes gay and transgender people, and now makes assault weapons available for the mass murder of gay and transgender people.” “A lot of \[the festival\] aligns with healing after Pulse,” says Executive Director Nina Streich. “That’s why \[we chose\] *Love Is Strange* as the opening-night film. And we have several films in the festival, including Vicki Nantz’s film, \[that address Pulse-related issues\]. We’re showing it with *Puzzles: When Hate Came to Town*, which is about an attack in New Bedford, Mass., … at a gay bar. The film is about all the different factors that went into that and the community coming together.” But with a total of 29 films (25 documentary features, two narrative-fiction features and two shorts), the 14th annual event has much more to offer at its eight venues scattered throughout Orlando, Winter Park and Maitland. It’s even offering an art exhibition (the K-12 Peace Art Exhibit at City Hall) and, for the first time, a live, one-man play (Tom Bird’s *Bearing Witness* on Wednesday at Mad Cow Theatre). “Though the title is Global Peace Film Festival, I see it as much broader than that,” Streich says, adding that she’s overjoyed to be able to present *Bearing Witness*, which tackles war and the Holocaust. “This is a unique opportunity.” Surprisingly, the movie total is significantly lower than that of last year’s event, which screened 57 films. However, Streich doesn’t see that as a problem. [![gpff16_we_are_gay_we_are_proud_we_are_orlando_1_](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/gpff16_we_are_gay_we_are_proud_we_are_orlando_1_-1024x531.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/gpff16_we_are_gay_we_are_proud_we_are_orlando_1_.jpg)“We aim to show everything twice,” Streich says. “This year we’ve cut down drastically. … We couldn’t devote enough attention to each film individually \[last year\]. We felt we had too much, \[so\] we felt that it would be better for both filmmakers and audiences to cut down.” The total may seem small when compared to other festivals because the GPFF includes almost no shorts, mostly because of the difficulty of sensitively pairing a short with a feature when both films tackle difficult topics in their own right, says Streich. But when comparing the number of features between GPFF and the Florida Film Festival, which is twice as long, GPFF isn’t vastly smaller. The five main film venues are the Bush and SunTrust auditoriums at Rollins College, the Gallery at Avalon Island, the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café and Winter Park Public Library. In addition, Valencia College West Campus, Valencia College Winter Park Campus and the Enzian Theater will each be holding one screening, with the latter hosting the opening-night film and party on Tuesday. (The only Monday event is the aforementioned art exhibit, making Tuesday the film kick-off day.) Highlights of the film lineup include *Memories of a Penitent Heart* (directed by University of Central Florida graduate Cecilia Aldarondo, who will be in attendance) and *Newtown*, which address issues similar to *We Are Gay, We Are Proud, We Are Orlando.* Also notable are *CARE* (about elder care and featuring a panel discussion after the Saturday showing), *The If Project Documentary* (about recidivism in women’s prisons), *Letter to a Terrorist* (one of the two shorts), *Why Can’t I Be a Sushi* (about Sunni and Shiite friendship), *Speed Sisters* (about the first all-female racecar-driving team in the Middle East), *Sustainable* (about the food industry) and *RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope*. With annual paid admissions of about 2,000 and attendance at all events around 6,000, according to Streich, the GPFF is arguably the third-highest-attended film festival in Orlando, behind the Florida and Orlando film festivals. A Gold Pass, which offers priority access to everything, sells for $199. A Silver Pass, which is the same as the Gold, just without priority access, goes for $99. The festival also offers a Weekend Pass for $50 and a Weekday Pass for $25. Individual films cost $8. For more information, visit [www.peacefilmfest.org](http://www.peacefilmfest.org). ## Opening-night blog The 14th annual Global Peace Film Festival opened Tuesday night at the Enzian Theater in Maitland with a screening of *Love Is Strange*, starring John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei. [![gpff16_love_is_strange_sony_pictures_classics](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/gpff16_love_is_strange_sony_pictures_classics.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/gpff16_love_is_strange_sony_pictures_classics.jpg)Image copyright Parts and Labor/Sony Pictures Classics About 150 patrons attended the film and Eden Bar after-party. Though none of the film’s stars attended in person, Lithgow addressed the audience via a brief filmed introduction. The festival, which runs through Sunday at several venues in Orlando and Winter Park, officially opened on Monday with an art exhibit at City Hall, but Tuesday night marked the launch of this year’s film lineup, which includes many movies with LGBT themes. Though *Love Is Strange* is just as much about family and loss as LGBT issues, it poignantly tackles the topic of gay marriage, especially as it relates to job discrimination. In addition to the films, the festival is noteworthy for discussion panels and directors who will be attending screenings of their films, including Vicki Nantz for *We Are Gay, We Are Proud, We Are Orlando*, Tami Gold and David Pavlosky for *Puzzles: When Hate Came to Town*, Kathlyn Horan for *The If Project*, Mitra Sen for *Under the Same Sun*, Francisco Alarcon for *The Deportation of Innocence*, Cecilia Aldarondo for *Memories of a Penitent Heart*, Robert Frye for *The Nuclear Requiem*, Kim Snyder for *Newtown* and Full Sail graduate Famor Botero for *ProjectMAD*. ## Friday-night festival foibles [![rfk-700x394](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RFK-700x394.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/RFK-700x394.jpg)The Global Peace Film Festival continued on Friday night with 10 films at six locations in Orlando and Winter Park. I attended what was supposed to be the 5:30 p.m. screening of *RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope* at the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café, but, regrettably, things didn’t go quite as planned. When I arrived, the one representative from the festival didn’t know which theater the film would be in. (I eventually tracked down the cinema manager, who seemed to be the only informed staff member.) After finding my seat among the roughly 10 people in attendance – which included the filmmakers – the movie began. But it was the wrong one. Instead of seeing the documentary about Robert Kennedy’s historic trip to South Africa in 1966, we watched *Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro*. That was the one silver lining of the evening, as the documentary by Max Lewkowicz (3 ¼ stars) is well worth a watch when it gets its regularly scheduled festival premiere on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., at the Winter Park Public Library. (It’s also playing on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the Gallery at Avalon Island.) But that wasn’t exactly a silver lining for *RFK* directors Tami Gold and Larry Shore, who had to wait almost an hour and a half for their film thanks to an apparent Blu-ray mishap. And when it finally did begin, it was projected in the wrong aspect ratio, 1.85:1 instead of the boxier 1.37:1 in which it was shot. (*Underfire* didn’t look great, either, as it was projected on Blu-ray, but at least the aspect ratio was correct.) This necessitated another delay while festival staff tried to fix the problem. They couldn’t. So Gold rightfully walked out in frustration, as did I. Festival Artistic Director Kelly DeVine, with whom I spoke, was extremely gracious and apologetic to the filmmakers and the audience. And, admittedly, no festival is without glitches. But, nevertheless, the event should be held accountable and should find a way to make it up to Gold, Shore and its patrons. I’d suggest another showing of *RFK* in the correct aspect ratio. Executive Director Nina Streich reached out to me for comment. “Apologies for the terrible problem with the *RFK* screening,” she said. “You are right that the festival should be held accountable. You are also right that slip-ups occur. Last night’s was the worst slip-up we’ve had, and we will be paying attention to how that won’t happen again as we do our production post-mortem.” *© Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Forever Summer 2016 Update](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-forever-summer-2016-update/) **Published:** September 15, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Enzian Forever update ### Enzian to submit final expansion plans later this year [![first-floor](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/first-floor-1024x691.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/first-floor.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/09/13/enzian-to-submit-final-expansion-plans-to-maitland-zoning-board-later-this-year), September 13, 2016 The Enzian Theater plans to submit its final proposal for expansion to Maitland’s Planning and Zoning Commission later this year, according to Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee. “It looks like we will be submitting our plan to the city in the next few months, but not until we’re sure we have the right plan that works for Enzian, the city of Maitland, and our neighbors and patrons,” says Mukherjee. “We are still actively fundraising and getting closer and closer to our goal.” The Enzian Forever project would expand the Maitland art cinema from one to three screens while also adding a new lobby, restrooms and staff offices. The initial proposal was publicly presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission in January and drew both praise from Enzian patrons and criticism from neighborhood residents, who expressed their concern over the lack of parking and other issues related to increased attendance. Though it’s been almost eight months since that meeting, Mukherjee says she is still hopeful that the project, if approved, could be done in time for the 2018 Florida Film Festival. “It is my best guess that once we go back to \[the Planning and Zoning Commission\], we will have another three to six months with the city before the project is formally approved. If we are able to work on permitting concurrently, that will save us some time, but if we need to wait until we are completely through the city process, then permitting will likely take another three to six months. Then we can break ground and hope to see the project completed within a year of groundbreaking. Right now we are aiming for Florida Film Festival 2018 for completion.” *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* / *Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/) **Published:** April 7, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## What to expect from 18th annual event [![SFF](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SFF-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SFF.jpg)Regal Cinemas Hollywood 20 in Sarasota. (Click photos to enlarge. All images are copyright Cameron Meier unless otherwise indicated.) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/08/what-to-expect-from-the-sarasota-film-festival), April 7, 2016 As Orlando cinephiles gear up for the 25th annual Florida Film Festival, which begins Friday, there’s a similar event already in full swing on the Gulf Coast, and it’s arguably just as good. The Sarasota Film Festival has been going strong for 18 years. With an annual attendance of just over 50,000, a slate of films numbering around 250 and six separate screens at the downtown Regal Cinemas Hollywood 20 (not to mention other venues for special screenings and parties), the Sarasota event is quite a bit larger than the Florida Film Festival. It doesn’t have Oscar accreditation like its Orlando cousin and it doesn’t offer anything quite as magical as the ambience of the Enzian Theater (which hosts the Florida Film Festival), but it’s still something to behold thanks to its enormous number of films, special events, celebrities and excellent organization. Oh, and the best part: For the first time in more than a decade, it doesn’t completely overlap the Florida Film Festival. That means, of course, that Orlando movie buffs can attend the Sarasota event, and vice versa – although, if you want to go, you better get your skates on (and be prepared to miss some of the Florida Film Festival’s opening weekend), as the Sarasota festival wraps on Sunday, April 10. ### Overview and Travel Tips [![SFF queue](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SFF-queue-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SFF-queue.jpg)Held in downtown Sarasota, the festival has more of an urban feel than the Florida Film Festival. It also has a better selection of restaurants, thanks to the theater’s location on Main Street. Particularly convenient and delicious are Bravo Pizza & Eatery (adjacent to the theater) and Sol’s NYC Deli (offering a wide selection of Jewish delicacies). Parking is convenient, plentiful and free (if you show your ticket stub) at the theater garage. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the festival is its organization. The nearly 300 volunteers are helpful and easy to find (if not always perfectly informed), films start on time, Q&As with filmmakers (more than 100 of whom are in attendance) are abundant, and badge holders are given priority seating before the regular ticketholders are ushered in from well-organized queues in the lobby. (Unlike the Florida Film Festival, however, badge holders do not see films in advance.) The festival films are clearly not treated as cineplex afterthoughts. Instead, they essentially take over the venue, with general-release movies relegated to second class. If you’re planning an overnight trip, remember that you get what you pay for in Sarasota. I’d suggest spending a bit extra instead of settling for the array of mediocre and just plain nasty motels along the Tamiami Trail north of downtown. (Avoid the Regency Inn & Suites as if your life depended on it.) [![Ringling](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ringling-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ringling.jpg)If you’re a visiting filmmaker, you might check out the Ringling College of Art and Design. The school, which is widely considered one of the three best in the country for digital animation (and one of the 25 best for live-action film), is building a new library, art museum, soundstage facility and post-production complex. For more information, see . “We’re a town of cinephiles,” says Festival President and Chairman Mark Famiglio. “\[The festival\] spans 10 days now, and, so, it’s gotten to the size where people come here for the event, … whereas maybe 12 or 15 years ago, we were the tail wagging the dog. … We’re well entrenched now. … The community embraces the filmmakers.” That reputation is reflected in the number of submissions, which increased from about 800 in 2015 to roughly 1,300 this year. When you include all the films that were considered but didn’t go through the formal submission process, the number balloons to around 2,000. Particularly noteworthy, according to Famiglio, is the festival’s youth-film program. Whereas Famiglio has been involved with the festival from the beginning – serving as president since 2008 – Programming Director Michael Dunaway is in his second year. But the two have good camaraderie and are passionate about their filmmakers. “We’re famous for being one of the most filmmaker-friendly of the major festivals in the U.S.,” says Dunaway, who seems particularly proud of the large proportion of female filmmakers. “We’re pretty sure we were the first major American festival … to have films by 100 women filmmakers.” However, Dunaway stresses that the number of female-helmed movies is not due to quotas but is “the unintended consequence of doing things the right way. … We’re not going to accept an inferior film just because it’s directed by a woman, but if it’s directed by a woman, we especially want to look at it.” And how does Famiglio view the Florida Film Festival? “Good festival! We’ve always kind of considered them maybe not a sister, but a cousin,” he says. “They’re all like-minded people. They’re creative; they’re artists. … We love the Florida Film Festival!” ### The Films I don’t consider my three days at the festival adequate to fully gauge quality, but I can point you in the right direction. And if you are unable to catch these films in Sarasota, look out for them at other festivals, or in wide release later this year. The best I saw was ***Tale of Tales*** (3 ½ stars), a uniquely structured fantasy-horror offering three interwoven stories. Based on the writings of 17th-century poet and fairy-tale collector Giambattista Basile, the film is directed and co-written by Matteo Garrone. Perhaps because it’s his first English-language project, the dialogue and pacing can be clunky and inelegant, especially during the first section, which also features an awkward performance by John C. Reilly. But stick around for the full two hours and you’ll be enchanted by breathtaking visuals and the power of the 400-year-old stories, not to mention interesting performances by Toby Jones and Bebe Cave. ***The Man Who Knew Infinity*** (3 ¼ stars) features Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel, the latter playing Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who revolutionized his field in the early 20th century. The film holds few surprises and feels too often like a pedestrian biopic, but it is well acted and emotionally satisfying. (If you miss it here, it’ll be in wide release soon.) Films you’re unlikely to see in your neighborhood multiplex are ***Art of the Prank*** and ***Unlocking the Cage***, both also worthy of 3 ¼ stars. The former tells the strange story of master jokester and performance artist Joey Skaggs and the brilliant hoaxes he’s perpetrated on the media for 40 years. (As entertaining as the film is, I was hoping the doc itself might be part-hoax, similar to Orson Welles’ *F for Fake*. Alas, it rejected that metatheatrical approach.) The latter movie, about animal rights (or, more specifically, non-human rights) is directed by doc legends Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker. Although it sometimes struggles to find the best way to tell its story and fails to fully answer all the pertinent questions, it’s well worth a watch even if the subject isn’t your favorite. ***After Circus*** (2 stars), about the life of retired circus performers, is, predictably, a crowd pleaser in Sarasota, “the circus capital of the world.” Lovingly directed by Vivika Melki, who was nice enough to sit down for an interview with me, it contains some great and profoundly human moments, but it ultimately doesn’t justify its feature-length runtime thanks to its overreliance on interviews and everyday trivialities. Still, it’s nice to see circus history being preserved and celebrated, which Melki told me was one of her main reasons for making the film. The one big disappointment for me is ***Elbow Grease*** (¾ star), a comedy, which, despite some honesty and sweetness – specifically by stars R. Keith Harris, Whitney Goin and Burt Reynolds (who is vastly underused) – is an exercise in amateurism, particularly in regards to its editing and writing. I wish I could be kinder, especially because supporting actor Michael Abbott Jr. spent time with me talking about the film, but the movie simply never coalesces or produces enough laughs. (Look for better work from the multi-talented Abbott.) As at most festivals, shorts are a mixed bag. I attended Shorts 7 (Documentary Shorts 1) and Shorts 5 (Narrative 2) and would recommend both. The former program is described by Festival Programmer Larisa Apan as “what it is to go past the obstacles” of life. That’s a fitting description considering two of the five docs are about surviving cancer. While ***One Way: A Journey to This Moment*** (2 stars) doesn’t feel profound or cinematic enough, ***Phil’s Camino*** (4 stars) is a beautiful and unique meditation on how cancer can kill us but the idea of death can ultimately save us. Also strong is ***The House is Innocent*** (3 stars), which is playing the Florida Film Festival too, and, to a slightly lesser extent, ***The Gnomist*** (3 stars), a sweet story of one family’s remarkable gift to their neighbors. [![rated still 3x5 300dpi](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rated-still-3x5-300dpi-300x180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rated-still-3x5-300dpi.jpg)“Rated” (photo copyright John Fortson) The Shorts 5 program is notable for two wonderfully surreal offerings, ***Twisted*** (4 stars), about a balloon-animal duel (yes, really), and ***Rated***, by John Fortson. The latter asks the question: What if we were burdened with our own star-rating hovering above our heads, announcing to the world whether we’re a 1-star human or a 5? This reviewer doesn’t know how he’d be rated (I’m hoping for at least a 3), but I can safely say *Rated* rates at least a 4. Lastly, the pre-show material is somewhat effective. Before each program, an aesthetically pleasing presentation rolls across the screen offering audiences the soothing sounds of the surf and wind chimes. However, the rest of the pre-show – especially the cute but dumb “My Mom on Movies” film-preview segments – can get a bit grating, especially on multiple views. ### The Incomparable Barbara Kopple Though this year’s festival features Sophia Loren, Matthew Modine, Olympia Dukakis and Rosie Perez, my personal highlight was sitting down with documentary-film goddess Barbara Kopple to discuss her career and her new film, ***Miss Sharon Jones!*** (2 ¾ stars), which is screening at the festival. [![Barbara](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Barbara-221x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Barbara.jpg)Barbara Kopple Though Kopple’s latest offering – the tale of the legendary soul singer’s inspirational battle with cancer – isn’t necessarily her finest work, it’s infused (as are all her films) with overwhelming humanity and moments of “I can’t believe her camera captured that!” And though she’s best known for *Harlan County U.S.A.* (1976), which I contend is the best documentary ever, she’s spent just as much time chronicling celebrities, such as Mike Tyson, Gregory Peck and Woody Allen. So how does she switch from covering the little guy (as in *Harlan County U.S.A.* and *American Dream*) to focusing on the stars? “I think it’s not so much about the celebrities as it is about the story,” she says. “For example, *Wild Man Blues* – Woody Allen – I mean he was petrified about going to all these different cities \[to perform\], you know. He didn’t want to go, so that was what his nervousness was about. … So we just followed him.” Celebrity or not, Kopple’s subjects are always captured truthfully, as if Kopple herself doesn’t know what to expect until her camera rolls. “I never really anticipate,” she says. “You don’t go in with a prescribed plan because it’s real life, and real life takes you around whatever corner it’s gonna take you, and you just have to be fast enough and together enough to go with it.” And what about her apparent objectivity, her non-Michael Moore approach? “No, in *Harlan County*, I was not objective,” she says. “I lived with the coal miners. They took care of me. I was very much for them. And in *American Dream*, it was very complicated. It was three different sets \[of people\]. … So I just sort of let it play out.” Finally, because Kopple’s films are so emotionally gripping, is she able to forget them once they wrap? “Never,” she says. “I totally stay in touch with my subjects, even the ones in *Harlan County* – their children and their grandchildren are calling me still. No, once you’ve signed up for it, we’re all part of each other’s lives. … They’re part of you, they’re part of your soul, they’re part of who you are.” **My full interview with Kopple:** *For more information, including a complete schedule and list of films, see [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). I owe a special thanks the entire staff of the festival, particularly Famiglio, Dunaway and publicist Nicole Kerr, and to Ringling College Public Relations Manager Stephanie Lederer.* *Also see [this blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-ff-to-honor-sophia-loren/) about festival guest Sophia Loren and [this article](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016/) about the other celebrities.* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016/) **Published:** March 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival reveals films, celebrities [![Rosie Perez](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Rosie-Perez-300x198.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Rosie-Perez.png)Rosie Perez (image courtesy of Facebook) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/03/18/sarasota-film-festival-reveals-films-celebrities), March 18, 2016 The Sarasota Film Festival, in Sarasota, Fla., revealed its lineup of movies and special events yesterday, including a celebrity list that includes Olympia Dukakis, Rosie Perez, Matthew Modine, George Hamilton, Robert Mrazek, Treat Williams and the previously announced Sophia Loren. The festivities will get underway on March 31 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, with “An Evening with Sophia Loren,” during which she will receive the 2016 Legend Award. The festival proper will then kick off the next day with the opening-night film, *Other People*, directed by Chris Kelley. [![Sophia Loren](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sophia-Loren-203x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sophia-Loren.jpg)Sophia Loren The 18th annual event will run through April 10, when it closes with *The Congressman*, directed by Jared Martin and Congressman Robert Mrazek. Other notable films include the festival’s Centerpiece movies, *Five Nights in Maine* and *Unlocking the Cage*; a presentation of Stanley Kubrick’s *Full Metal Jacket*, with Modine in attendance; and a screening of *Mommie Dearest* with Rutanya Alda, who played Carol Ann. This is the first year in more than a decade that the event does not completely overlap Orlando’s Florida Film Festival. The latter event will run April 8-17, which will make it easier for Orlando and Sarasota residents to attend both festivals, which are arguably the two best in the state. The event will feature more than 250 films – even more than the Florida Film Festival’s 180 – including features and shorts of many genres such as narrative fiction, animation, documentary and kid-friendly material. [![matthewmodine06](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/matthewmodine06-203x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/matthewmodine06.jpg)Matthew Modine (image via Wikipedia Creative Commons) Both the Sarasota and Florida film festivals are placing female filmmakers front and center this year. “We are pleased to honor two female icons in film \[Loren and Dukakis\], especially at a time where it’s so important to celebrate women in the industry,” says Michael Dunaway, the festival’s programming director. “The Sarasota Film Festival is proud to screen films from 113 female filmmakers.” A ticket to a single film costs $15 ($10 for students and $11 for members), with film packages ranging from $30 to $1,200. Most movies will be shown at Regal Cinemas Hollywood 20 Theater on Main Street in downtown Sarasota. The venue will devote six screens to the festival. For more information, including the full schedule, list of films and ticket options, visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *Also see [my previous blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-ff-to-honor-sophia-loren/).* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota FF to honor Sophia Loren](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-ff-to-honor-sophia-loren/) **Published:** March 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Sophia Loren](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sophia-Loren-203x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sophia-Loren.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/03/10/sarasota-film-festival-to-honor-sophia-loren-on-march-31), March 10, 2016 The Sarasota Film Festival will present screen legend Sophia Loren with the 2016 Legend Award on March 31, one day before the festival officially begins. “An Evening with Sophia Loren” will be held at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota. The 18th annual festival will run through April 10. This is the first year in more than a decade that the event does not completely overlap Orlando’s Florida Film Festival. The latter event will run April 8-17, which will make it easier for Orlando and Sarasota residents to attend both festivals, which are arguably the two best in the state. The full lineup of films for both the Sarasota and Florida film festivals will be announced March 16. For more information on the Sarasota Film Festival, see [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Filmapalooza 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016/) **Published:** February 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando filmmakers head to Atlanta for Filmapalooza [![Alvin Teves shoots Alea Sigueroa with his Sony A7S on the set of 'Wake Up'](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Alvin-Teves-shoots-Alea-Sigueroa-with-his-Sony-A7S-on-the-set-of-Wake-Up--300x180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Alvin-Teves-shoots-Alea-Sigueroa-with-his-Sony-A7S-on-the-set-of-Wake-Up-.jpg)Alvin Teves films Alea Figueroa with his Sony A7S on the set of *Wake Up*. From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/02/23/orlando-filmmakers-head-to-atlanta-for-filmapalooza)*, February 22, 2016 Orlando will be one of 128 cities from around the world represented at Filmapalooza in Atlanta on March 2-5. The event will screen the best films from the 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition. The “48,” as filmmakers call it, requires participants to write, shoot and edit a short film (4-7 minutes long) in just two days. Though one can assemble a team, acquire equipment and plan locations beforehand, nothing else can be done in advance. And to prevent cheating, teams are given a genre, prop, line of dialogue, and character trait and name to incorporate into the films. The top movies from Filmapalooza, as selected by judges, will screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Filmapalooza’s Orlando entry this year is *Wake Up*, written and directed by Joshua Ortiz and starring Hunter Rhyne and Alea Figueroa. The film about a man haunted by a recurring nightmare beat out 27 other movies during Orlando’s 48 Hour Film Project on August 21-22 and also won best direction, best cinematography and best actor. (Full disclosure: I was one of the four judges.) Surprisingly, Ortiz says the most difficult part of the process wasn’t the filming itself, but the genre he was given. “The biggest challenge was probably the fact that we got thriller/suspense. I’d never tackled that genre before,” he says. “When I opened \[the envelope\], everyone else was excited, but deep inside I was really nervous. “Once I came up with the story, \[the biggest challenge\] was making sure everyone else was on page because … it’s a convoluted story,” Ortiz says. “It’s not straightforward.” His efforts obviously paid off, and he says he’s eagerly anticipating Filmapalooza. “What I’m really looking forward to, you know, is meeting all the other filmmakers who are just as excited as I am, because I feel like there’s gonna be a lot of first-timers there, too, and we’re all going to be entering this with this excitement and anxiousness and \[confusion\]. I’m just excited.” Also enthusiastic about his first Filmapalooza is Rhyne, winner of the best-actor award at the Orlando competition. “I’m really excited about seeing the product that we worked so hard to make,” Rhyne says, “and I’m really excited to see it in an even larger venue with an even larger audience. And, you know, in particular, it think it would be nice to see, I guess, the competition,” Rhyne laughs, suggesting that he, like most other filmmakers, view fellow participants more as comrades than competitors. “Working under the time constraints \[was\] the most difficult part of the competition,” Rhyne says. However, in contrast to some filmmakers who like to hammer out a completed script prior to filming, he suggests that improvisation worked best for *Wake Up*, but only after the cast and crew agreed on a “big-picture idea” for the film. “We didn’t even have a working script for most of the experience,” he says. “It was a lot of improv. It was a lot of working with Josh \[Ortiz\] directly. I spent a lot of time just sort of working with the story to come up with what the character would say, how it would work, that sort of thing. There was a lot of on-the-fly stuff.” Orlando’s Dale Metz, who also participated in the most recent Orlando 48 Hour Film Project and attended Filmapalooza when it was held in New Orleans two years ago, plans to journey to Atlanta this year, too. “I think we all enjoyed the camaraderie with fellow filmmakers at the various social events and, in particular, with fellow 48ers,” Metz says of the 2014 event. “The 48 is a unique experience and one that is kind of fraternal. We can generally empathize with the challenges and experiences that a 48 weekend brings for most teams. The opportunity to view all of these winning films … is also quite memorable. So many of the films do leave an impact, in particular when one contemplates the time constraints involved.” Kyle Snavely, producer of the Orlando 48, will also be attending Filmapalooza for the second time and says the event is a great one for not just participating filmmakers but anyone who loves film. “I would encourage any film lover to attend Filmapalooza, and not just the screenings, but all of the additional networking events and workshops, as you will meet filmmakers from literally around the world,” he says. “It is such an amazing time simply having a conversation with someone from Paris, or having a drink with a team from Israel, or singing karaoke with a director from South Africa. It’s an experience like no other.” Filmapalooza will be held in midtown Atlanta. In addition to the 128 city-winning films, the event will include 16 other movies (including two “48 Day” feature-length films), filmmaker workshops, parties and an awards ceremony. The W Midtown will serve as the official hotel, with screenings taking place in two theaters across the street. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit . For more information on the Orlando 48, see . And to watch *Wake Up* online, visit [vimeo.com/gomojo/wakeup](http://vimeo.com/gomojo/wakeup). *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short stuff](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-film-festival-2016/) **Published:** February 11, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival celebrates sixth year [![LoveYourShorts](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts-300x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/02/10/love-your-shorts-film-festival-returns-to-sanford-with-more-than-60-short-flicks-from-around-the-world)*, February 10, 2016 “I think that short films often contain an originality, a creative freedom, an energy and an invention that is inspiring and entertaining,” Kenneth Branagh once said. “I think they are, as Shakespeare put it, a good deed in a naughty world.” Naughty or not, our world is richer for short films. Specifically, Sanford has become a bigger cultural contributor to Central Florida since the Love Your Shorts Film Festival was launched in 2011. The four-day event returns to the historic Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center on February 11-14 with 62 short movies (under 30 minutes) from 17 countries. The event begins with a free “education day” featuring filmmaker workshops and movies from University of Central Florida students. The first of nine film blocks kicks off the festival proper at 7 p.m. on February 12. While that block offers various genres, the next seven blocks cover one genre or theme each. They are E for Everyone, Documentary, Animation, Comedy and Sci-Fi/Horror on February 13 and Drama and Florida Flavor on February 14. The event concludes with the Best of the Fest block, containing the top films from the previous blocks, as voted by attendees. A block costs $8, except E for Everyone, which costs $2. A weekend pass is $55. See [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com) for more information. *For information on opening night, see [my blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/02/13/love-your-shorts-underway-in-sanford/).* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian expansion plans draw questions](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-plans-draw-questions-complaints/) **Published:** January 23, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian expansion plans draw questions, complaints From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/01/22/enzian-theater-expansion-plans-draw-questions-and-complaints-from-neighbors)*, January 22, 2016 [![Phil Tiedtke addresses crowd](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Phil-Tiedtke-addresses-crowd-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Phil-Tiedtke-addresses-crowd.jpg)Philip Tiedtke addresses the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. Tiedtke is a member of the Enzian Governing Board and also represents Eastgate Corporation, which owns the Enzian property. The owners of the Enzian Theater presented their expansion plans to the Maitland Planning & Zoning Commission on Thursday night, drawing questions from commissioners and criticism from about a dozen citizens who live near the theater. The plans – similar to those first revealed by my *Orlando Weekly* article in 2013 – call for the addition of two theaters (both much smaller than the existing house), a new lobby, restrooms and employee offices on the north and east sides of the existing structure. On-site parking will be increased by 17 spaces (from 95 to 112), according to civil engineer Jay Jackson of Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. “We think we’ve dealt with parking,” he said. His comments were echoed by both Enzian Governing Board member Philip Tiedtke and Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee, who discussed an increased partnership with Park Maitland School that would allow valet parking for roughly 100 vehicles. Mukherjee also stressed that, with the forthcoming addition of two crosswalks at U.S. 17-92 (Orlando Avenue) and Magnolia Road, parking at First Watch (across U.S. 17-92) would be safer for Enzian patrons. But most of the neighborhood residents who spoke weren’t convinced, several expressing anger at both the Enzian and police for not taking the parking situation more seriously. “This has gotten worse over the years,” said Erin Miner, whose Magnolia Road property is adjacent to the Enzian. “We’re now going to have a facility that can seat up to 420 people, … and there is not enough \[parking\] when you use Park Maitland. … When their parking lots are full, they’re valet-parking their cars in our neighborhood. … People still literally pull up into our yard and park. We’re told by Enzian staff to calm down and not get upset. We have a crappy-looking yard now.” “Parking: I’ve put up with it,” said Bill Mahoney, who also lives on Magnolia Road. “Enzian Theater I love, … but in the city of Maitland, you have to have parking for the cars that you have on your property.” Commissioners expressed similar doubts about the project. “My concern is also parking,” Commissioner Michael Dabby said. “A parking study will need to be done for this.” [![First floor](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/First-floor-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/First-floor.jpg)First-floor plans, showing the new lobby and two new theaters. Click to enlarge. Dabby and others also said they were worried that the Park Maitland parking agreement was scheduled to expire soon and the parking agreement with First Watch was simply a verbal one. (Mukherjee said the Park Maitland agreement would be extended, stressing that it benefitted both the Enzian and the school because the school used the theater’s parking on weekday mornings and afternoons.) “This is a challenging situation,” said Commissioner Kathy Hattaway. “Clearly mistakes have been made by the Enzian.” Commissioner Michael Thomas also voiced concerns but reserved most of his criticism for city government and the police. “I think the city has dropped the ball” on parking enforcement, he said. Still, Dabby and other commissioners said they recognized the value of not ruining the existing property’s aesthetic by building toward U.S. 17-92 (which would be the traditional method) or erecting a parking structure, which Mukherjee pledged the Enzian would not do. And several commissioners hinted that they would support the project if the parking issues were addressed. “I’d like to see this move forward in some form or fashion,” Dabby said. Commissioner Barry Kalmanson echoed, “I think this is a great project.” Those comments prompted one neighborhood resident to shout from the audience: “Is this a done deal already?” No, commissioners responded, stressing that issues needed to be resolved and the process was ongoing. Commissioner Sara Blanchard speculated, when pressed by Dabby, that the project would likely come before the Commission again in four to six weeks, when citizens would have another chance to speak. Parking was not the only complaint. Residents also discussed increased noise, trash, traffic flow and removal of vegetation, with Miner and others suggesting the Enzian expansion might be better suited to the new cultural corridor being constructed near Maitland City Hall. “We still anticipate breaking ground in August,” Mukherjee told me before the meeting. “We will have a few more city benchmarks \[and\] reviews between now and our official project approval, which should take about three months. That would potentially put us before the City Council in April. While there are several parts to the review of this project, including Thursday’s meeting, none of them involve official verdicts until that council meeting. Staff and committee members will be submitting recommendations that will go to the City Council, and the City Council will make the final decision, we hope, in April. So while they are only recommendations, they are very important recommendations. Then we think permitting will take about three to five months, and after that’s complete we will be able to stick a shovel in the dirt.” [![Second floor](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Second-floor-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Second-floor.jpg)Second-floor plans, showing the new employee offices. Click to enlarge. But she too suggested that compromises might be necessary, including either permanently canceling the Enzian’s outdoor “Pitcher Shows” (which have already been temporarily halted) or partnering with the neighborhood to fix what even Tiedtke admitted was a parking “mess” on nights when movies were shown both inside the theater and outside on the lawn. (Indeed, though the outdoor movies have little to do with the proposed expansion, they received the harshest criticism of the evening, with residents complaining not just about parking and noise but also the sometimes sexual and violent nature of the films.) “We want our neighbors to be happy,” Mukherjee said. “We care very much about this project being completed and being completed right.” The current theater’s capacity is 230, which would be reduced to 210 after the opening of the additional two screens, according to Mukherjee. The new theaters would hold 80 and 50. Adding the roughly 80 seats at Eden Bar, that would bring the potential on-property attendance to about 420, not counting patrons mingling in the new lobby or those attending special events on the lawn during the Florida Film Festival. By comparison, the total on-site attendance during a single sold-out indoor movie and a crowded outdoor screening is about 500. Therefore, if outdoor screenings were permanently discontinued, the property’s maximum occupancy might actually be reduced, even with the additional two screens. Tiedtke stressed that the Enzian had already experienced the types of crowds the theater expected to receive if two screens were added. “We do a couple of big events a year – really big ones – where we have many more people than the number that would just come to the movies and sit at Eden Bar and have dinner, and already we’ve been practicing this valet-parking thing, and for those events, that’s already happened,” he said. “And those events – it runs very smoothly. … So we’ve already tested this thing. It’s not a kind of one of these things that somebody does on paper, hoping it’ll work.” For more information on the proposed expansion, see [www.enzian.org/forever](http://www.enzian.org/forever). *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Expansion Update](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-expansion-update/) **Published:** December 7, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian to start expansion construction in summer 2016 [![EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1-300x169.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.png)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/12/08/enzian-hopes-to-begin-expansion-construction-in-fall-2016), December 8, 2015 The Enzian Theater in Maitland plans to break ground on its expansion in summer 2016, not this year, as was originally speculated. The project, first revealed by *The Orlando Weekly* in April 2013, will add two screens, a new lobby and other amenities. “We have a site plan submitted to the city \[of Maitland\] and hope to be through the process … by April. It took a tad longer than we expected,” says Elizabeth Mukherjee, Enzian’s executive vice president. “Permitting should take three months or so, leaving us with a possible groundbreaking date around August. Then we hope to complete the project in under a year. Of, course we could always run into a wrinkle that could cause further delays, or we could get lucky, move quickly and be done by Florida Film Festival 2017, but right now, realistically, we’re looking at being completed summer after the 2017 \[festival\].” [![430669-1-52-01 Signing and Pavement Marking for Magnolia Rd.](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/430669-1-52-01-Signing-and-Pavement-Marking-for-Magnolia-Rd.-300x193.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/430669-1-52-01-Signing-and-Pavement-Marking-for-Magnolia-Rd..jpg)Photo courtesy of Florida Department of Transportation. Click to enlarge. One project that has already begun is the addition of two pedestrian crosswalks at the intersection of Orlando Avenue (17-92) and Magnolia Road, which would make it safer for Enzian patrons who park on the opposite side of Orlando Avenue from the theater. Improvements to the sidewalks and curb ramps are currently underway. The crosswalks themselves – one on the north side of the intersection closest to the Enzian and the other on the south side closest to Park Maitland School – are expected to be done by March, according to Chris Coleman of the Florida Department of Transportation. For more information, visit . *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A changing of the guard at FilmSlam](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-changing-of-the-guard-at-filmslam/) **Published:** October 12, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Jen Vargas taking over from Tim Anderson [![Tim Anderson and Jen Vargas at FilmSlam](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tim-Anderson-and-Jen-Vargas-at-FilmSlam.jpg)Jen Vargas addresses the FilmSlam crowd after being introduced by outgoing director and host Tim Anderson. (Click to enlarge.) From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/10/13/jen-vargas-to-take-over-as-director-of-enzian-theaters-filmslam)*, October 12, 2015 After six years at the helm of the Enzian Theater’s FilmSlam, Tim Anderson has handed over the duties of director and host to Jen Vargas. FilmSlam is a monthly competition featuring student, independent, low-budget and no-budget short movies made by Florida filmmakers. It’s held on the second Sunday of each month, and the monthly winners (as long as they are less than 10 minutes) move on to the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase each November, with the best of those playing the Florida Film Festival the following April. Last Sunday’s event, which saw Benjamin Gill’s absurdist short film, *Babies*, take top prize, was Anderson’s last. There will be no FilmSlam in November (to make room for Brouhaha), so Vargas will take over in December. Anderson took charge of the event in late 2009, three years after it moved from the Downtown Media Arts Center (DMAC) to Enzian. He is leaving to concentrate on his new full-time job as programming coordinator of Enzian and the Florida Film Festival. Vargas is no stranger to the local film scene. In addition to being the managing editor of Central Florida Top 5, she serves on Film Florida’s marketing committee and on the Florida board of Women in Film and Television. She’s also been involved with FilmSlam in many capacities over the years, going back to the DMAC days. “Jen will be the next generation – our first female host!” Anderson says, “I’m excited about that. … If it wasn’t Jen, I don’t think that I would have been OK with completely letting it go.” But Anderson won’t be leaving FilmSlam entirely. “I’ll still be able to see everything that’s going on. … I’m still gonna come, and I assume \[Vargas\] won’t lock me out of the Facebook page,” Anderson jokes. “And, you know, maybe she’ll ask me a question here or there, but … I believe in Jen 150 percent. She knows everybody. She has excellent taste in movies.” Though Vargas paid an emotional tribute to Anderson on Sunday and says she has no plans to change the FilmSlam format, she says she’d like to expand the event’s social-media outreach and involve more filmmakers. She also admits she’s both honored and a tad anxious about taking the reins from Anderson. “I’m feeling more nervous than I thought I would, but I’ve been part of this event since even before Tim was part of this,” she says. “I went to a couple \[of FilmSlam events\] at the DMAC, … and then when it moved here to Enzian, I just started coming and didn’t stop. What most people don’t know is that I’ve been helping with the social media since Tim took over, so I’ve had sort of a relationship with FilmSlam already. “I do want to move more digitally,” she says. “I want to move toward more of a – I don’t want to say statewide presence, but opening it up more \[to\] film schools \[and\] local filmmakers that I know should be submitting their films into this.” Despite the talk about FilmSlam’s future, Sunday was more about paying tribute to Anderson and, of course, the filmmakers who make the event possible. “We exist because of all of you,” Vargas told the crowd after being introduced by Anderson. “We wouldn’t have a FilmSlam if we didn’t have films to play.” For more information on FilmSlam, visit [www.enzian.org/festivals/filmslam](http://www.enzian.org/festivals/filmslam). *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Global Peace Film Festival 2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/global-peace-film-festival-2015/) **Published:** September 30, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/global-peace-film-festival-hopes-to-use-movies-to-make-change/Content?oid=2437464)*, September 30, 2015 These three reviews are part of a larger article. See the link above for the full piece and many other reviews. Below are my three contributions. [![Ballad of Holland Island House](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ballad-of-Holland-Island-House-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ballad-of-Holland-Island-House.jpg)Image copyright Lynn Tomlinson Part documentary, part anthropomorphic allegory, part Irish folk tune, ***The Ballad of Holland Island House*** (5 stars on my 0-5 short-film scale) is an emotionally involving, stunningly animated tale of a real Chesapeake Bay building slowly succumbing to rising seas. Created by Lynn Tomlinson in an Impressionistic, clay-on-glass, stop-motion style – with soulful music by Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle – the four-minute film combines the imagery of Winslow Homer and Vincent Van Gogh with the urgency of climate-change awareness. The film will screen with *Planetary* at Rollins College’s Bush Auditorium at 3 p.m. on October 3 and again at Fashion Square Mall’s Premiere Cinema at 1 p.m. on October 4. ***The Diplomat*** (3 ½ stars on my 0-5 feature-film scale) is an informative and even occasionally emotional portrait of Richard Holbrooke, a man described as the diplomatic hope for a generation. Arguably the most influential negotiator and foreign-policy wonk never to have achieved Cabinet status, Holbrooke died unexpectedly five years ago, leaving behind a legacy stretching from Vietnam to Bosnia to Afghanistan. Though it focuses heavily on interviews with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Henry Kissinger, Bob Woodward and others, the documentary is almost as personal as it is political. After all, it’s directed by Holbrooke’s son, David, who is just now coming to terms with his father. Though the film is still more of a talking-heads history lesson than compelling cinema, it’s a solid piece of journalism and an important epilogue to the Dayton Accords of 1995 and the failed negotiations with the Taliban in 2010. *The Diplomat* will screen at Rollins College’s Bush Auditorium at 6 p.m. on September 30 and again Fashion Square Mall’s Premiere Cinema at 5:30 p.m. on October 1. Though it’s being presented as a stand-alone feature, ***Parables of War*** (2 stars on my 0-5 short-film scale), at just 32 minutes, is actually a short. It’s an odd attempt to document choreographer Liz Lerman’s *Healing Wars*, a theatrical project that interprets, through dance, the American war experience. And in a greater sense, both the dance project and the film provide a unique commentary on the artist’s relation to the art. Despite a noble effort by director Nina Gilden Seavey and actor Bull Pullman, *Parables* works as neither a feature nor a short. Not only is it awkwardly conceived and executed, but, despite its obviously heartrending subject, feels pretentious. It might work as live theater, but as a film, it has more in common with Christopher Guest’s *Waiting for Guffman* than inspirational or artistically challenging cinema. The film plays the Sun Trust Auditorium at Rollins College at 6:30 p.m. on September 30 and again at Fashion Square Mall’s Premiere Cinema at 6 p.m. on October 1. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Love Your Shorts 2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2015/) **Published:** February 8, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Sanford film festival celebrates its fifth year [![Into the Dark](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Into-the-Dark-300x188.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Into-the-Dark.jpg)*Into the Dark* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/love-your-shorts-film-festival-celebrates-its-fifth-year/Content?oid=2358147), February 11, 2015 Showing only movies under 30 minutes, Sanford, Florida’s film festival may be short on runtimes, but it’s not short on accomplishments. Beginning in 2011 with screenings in a 100-seat room at the chamber of commerce, the Love Your Shorts Film Festival has grown into arguably one of the top five movie events in Central Florida, drawing about 2,000 attendees to the 585-seat Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center. “Our initial ideas were just to have a little projector and a little screen in one of the local pubs,” Festival Director Nelson Beverly says. “But somehow it evolved into much more than that, and … our second year we ended up at the Wayne Densch Theatre, and we’ve been there ever since. … It’s our fifth year, so we’re starting to build on our hard work and success of years past. It’s still a lot of work, … but we’re not having to reinvent the wheel this year.” Still, expect to see some changes for the 2015 event, which runs February 12-15. In addition to presenting 61 films from 11 countries, the festival is introducing an audience voting system and an additional day of activities. “We’re incorporating an electronic voting system,” Beverly says. “Each member of the audience will have an electronic device that they can \[use to\] vote for their favorite film in each block. And \[we can\] tally the results and have instantaneous feedback.” Audience award winners go on to compete in the Best of the Fest, on Sunday at 7 p.m. A panel of judges then picks the overall winner. “The other item that we’re doing is, on Thursday, we’re expanding the festival by one official day,” Beverly says. “We’re having an education day. … We’ve got two free filmmaker workshops that start at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and then we have a 7 p.m. screening for films that were shown at the STARTFEST Film Festival, which is the local film festival that only shows student films. … It’s to add an extra layer to the festival and give back to the community ‘cause everything \[that day\] is free.” The rest of the weekend is not complimentary, however, with prices running from $8 for a single block to $55 for all nine. [![Vigilante](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vigilante-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vigilante.jpg)*Vigilante* So which of the films (juried from about 270 submissions) are worth watching this year? Because it makes sense to select by block rather than movie, you should peruse the festival website and pick the groups that are right for you. And if you choose wisely, you might just get a glimpse into the future of entertainment, as some of the low- and no-budget filmmakers – including a few from Orlando (in the sci-fi/horror and “Florida Flavor” blocks) – might go on to greater fame. The comedy block (Saturday, 8 p.m.) is often a crowd favorite. There you’ll find *Wishful Thinking* (3 stars, on 0-5 scale), a funny and clever, if slight, look at indecisive friends debating what to ask a magical genie. The film is even more impressive considering it was made in just two days, as part of the 48 Hour Film Project. From the same block is *One-Minute Time Machine* (3 stars), a surprisingly thought-provoking flick that, despite its low production values, has more intelligence in its 5 minutes and 40 seconds than *Hot Tub Time Machine* had in its entirety. Those films helps offset *Hell Hath No Fury* (2 stars), which starts strong but ends up as just another riff on superheroes, and *The Sunny Side* (2 stars), an alternatingly profound and goofy commentary on events that affect us throughout our lives. The latter is competently made and charming almost to a fault, but collapses under the weight of its amateurism and its protagonist’s ridiculously repetitive reactions to his changing world. At least they are both stronger than the relationship comedy *Lust in Translation* (1 star), which is well shot and briskly paced but falls far short of its intentions, thanks to subpar writing, acting and dialect work. Proving that longer is not better, the comedy-monster flick *Hellyfish* (1 star), from the sci-fi/horror program (Saturday, 10 p.m.), takes too long to reach its punch line and doesn’t know how to deliver it once the time comes. It seems to exist only to show that the filmmakers could master the art of low-budget CGI. From the same block – and substantially better – is *Valiant* (2 star). This slightly muddled post-apocalyptic adventure is slick and technically ambitious but ultimately feels like a feature-wannabe lacking a gripping story. Thank goodness, then, for *Into the Dark* (4 stars), a stunning achievement for new filmmaker Lukas Hassel. If you don’t remember this compelling offering from last year’s Orlando Film Festival, you’re in for a smart, twisty treat. If science fiction and comedy aren’t your bag, you should find some memorable films in the “E for Everyone” (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), animation (Saturday, 3 p.m.) and documentary (Saturday, 1 p.m.) blocks, the latter containing, among its seven films, *Mr. Gold* (2 stars), which won’t mean much to non-locals but will grab the interest of Orlando residents who have seen the unique sign holder tipping his hat and waving to passersby on Colonial Drive. [![Some Things Won't Sleep](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Some_Things_Won_t_Sleep-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Some_Things_Won_t_Sleep.jpg)*Some Things Won’t Sleep* Two of the most noteworthy movies from the other programs are *Vigilante* (drama block, Sunday, 1 p.m.) and *Some Things Won’t Sleep* (opening-night block, Friday, 7 p.m.). The former is a unique, inter-generational look at the violent madness that enveloped the lower-class streets of London in August 2011, while the latter is an atmospheric psychological thriller with surprising ambiguity. Both deserve 3 stars. If you’re not into watching short films, the festival offers an opening-night party at 9 p.m. on Friday (invitation only) and a free filmmaker discussion at 5 p.m. on Saturday. To top that off, the theater is just a couple of blocks from downtown Sanford’s restaurants, so you can also eat your shorts. To purchase tickets and see a complete list of films, visit [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com). *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Avatar: The Way of Water](https://www.meiermovies.com/avatar-the-way-of-water/) **Published:** January 27, 2023 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A****vatar: The Way of Water** (3-D HFR version), 2022, 2 ¾ stars # Evaluating *Avatar* ### How profitable (and good) is *The Way of Water*? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Avatar-The-Way-of-Water.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Avatar-The-Way-of-Water.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 28, 2023 Taylor Swift, Drake, BTS, Eminem, Adele. Everyone knows those are the top-selling recording artists of all time, right? Wrong. It’s actually the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. But if the music industry measured success in money instead of units sold, those aforementioned five – thanks to their recent dominance – would be at or near the top. Sound ridiculous? It is – unless, of course, you’re the movie industry. Because that’s exactly how Hollywood measures success. Never mind that prices for a 3-D movie are now in the $20+ range, guaranteeing that popular recent releases always end up near the top of the “all-time” lists. (How can films from the 1930s and 1940s, with their prices measured in dimes, compete with that?) The odd thing is that the media don’t seem to mind. They have jumped on the bandwagon, happy to declare that the newest *Star Wars* flick, or the latest Marvel movie, or fill-in-the-blank with the newest CGI spectacle is a “record breaker” or “one of the biggest ever.” Of course, it’s garbage, but it sure does help the films’ marketing. That brings us to *Avatar: The Way of Water*, which is quickly climbing the list of top-grossing films of all time. Or is it? Let’s take a closer look. As of January 28, 2023, the film sits at about $600 million in domestic earnings, which places it at #13. But when adjusted for inflation, the movie still hasn’t cracked the top 50, according to [BoxOfficeMojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2022). Atop that list is *Gone with the Wind* at $1.895 billion. Yes, you read that right. The original 1977 *Star Wars* is the only film that comes close, with $1.668 billion. The new *Avatar* would have to gross more than $1 billion in today’s money to make the top 10 adjusted-for-inflation list, and no one is predicting that. It will do better on the [straight-money domestic list](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?ref_=bo_cso_ac), probably settling in around $700 or $800 million, which would put it in the top five, close to the straight-money gross of the original *Avatar*, which is number four. But, remember, that film came out in 2009, when ticket prices were lower, so its gross is more impressive than its sequel’s take, at least so far. The global list is a bit different, as the original *Avatar* tops the straight-money list and sits second on the adjusted list, at $3.5 billion. Only *Gone with the Wind* is higher, at $3.9 billion, according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films). (*Titanic* and the original *Star Wars* are still sitting pretty on these adjusted lists, by the way.) On the [unadjusted global list](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross/?area=XWW), as of January 28, the new *Avatar* is already up to number five, at more than $2 billion. It should easily pass *Titanic*, which sits at $2.194 billion, and end up close to the top two, the original *Avatar* ($2.923 billion) and *Avengers: Endgame* ($2.799 billion). But, again, the real targets are *GWTW*’s adjusted gross of $3.9 billion and the original *Avatar*’s adjusted total of $3.5 billion. And *The Way of Water* simply has no way of reaching those figures. Some say comparing older films with modern films is unfair, and it is – for both films. While today’s films have smaller theatrical windows and must compete against DVDs, Blu-rays, 4k discs, television and streaming, they do enjoy a much larger potential audience. The population of the United States, for instance, is more than twice what it was in 1939, and the global moviegoing audience has exploded in recent decades. And to those who rightfully point out that older films accumulated their money through multiple releases, one could counter that *Titanic*, the *Star Wars* films and even the original *Avatar* have had multiple reissues, the latter as recently as last year. And *Titanic* is getting another soon – in 3-D. (Groan.) Complicating matters are the potential inaccuracies of the adjusted-for-inflation numbers. These adjusted numbers must factor in not just the average ticket prices at the time of a film’s initial release but also the prices at the time of the film’s reissues. They must also consider whether that film’s tickets were sold at the average price, or perhaps more, as was common with roadshow releases. The only solution to this madness seems to be to ditch the gross (both meanings apply here) method of measuring movie success and instead gauge success by the number of tickets sold. Of course, the industry won’t change, but maybe some media will. And it can start with us: When you see social-media posts bragging about how much money a movie has made, don’t share that post. And don’t be influenced by marketing articles talking about how the latest film is the “biggest ever.” Be smart. And may the (original) force be with you. With the money discussion out of the way, let’s look at the film that inspired this discussion: *Avatar: The Way of Water*. Financial success aside, how good is the movie? Well, it’s about what you would expect from writer-director James Cameron, a.k.a. Cecil B. DeMotionCapture. Like DeMille’s later films (not his early, edgier fare) and the original *Avatar*, the sequel is big, spectacular and dumb. If you see it projected the way it was meant (big screen, the best 3-D and at a high frame rate), it can be quite beautiful, even jaw-dropping, especially the underwater scenes. But the high frame rate can also be off-putting, even cheap in its glassy hyper-reality, like watching a hockey game on an 8K television. It will dazzle some audiences but leave others, like this critic, a bit cold. Frankly, I’d prefer a 1940s nitrate experience. (At least the 3-D, HFR look is smooth. So you can leave your Bonine and Dramamine at home.) Nevertheless, Cameron’s technical achievement is remarkable and has just enough dazzle to counter the mediocre acting and dialogue that could have been written by a middle-schooler. Cameron even brought back his perennial favorite line: “You’re not in Kansas anymore.” And if you get bored during the three-plus hours of runtime, see if you can count the times a character says “bro.” If you liked the original *Avatar*, you’ll like this one, mostly because it’s essentially the same, just with water instead of woods. And the effects are even more realistic, creating some genuine moments of “how did they do that?” wonderment. And any film that creates a sense of wonder these days deserves some credit. But, Mr. Cameron, please hire better writers for your sequels. *© 2023 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1630029/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Way_of_Water).* --- ### [The Final Member](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-final-member/) **Published:** May 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Final Member**, 2012, 3 ½ stars # When dick meets doc ## Infamous penis documentary returns to Enzian From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 3, 2014 Thought you’d seen the final showing of *The Final Member* at this year’s Florida Film Festival? Well, it turns out you saw the next-to-final one, as the fascinatingly surreal documentary is back for a one-week engagement at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, starting on May 9. Seems that even without an overdose of Viagra, it’s hard to keep a good penis down. [![Does size matter? Apparently so, at least if you're trying to get into the world's only penis museum. (photo courtesy of the Florida Film Festival)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheFinalMember-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheFinalMember.jpg)Does size matter? Apparently so, at least if you’re trying to get into the world’s only penis museum. (image courtesy of the Florida Film Festival) This is the bizarre tale of an Icelandic man who founded the world’s only penis museum, and the two men who are competing to be the first to donate a human organ to the collection. One is a famous Icelandic playboy who has bequeathed his member upon his death, while the other is an American so eager to have “Elmo” join the museum that he’s willing to have him removed BEFORE his death. (Yes, he’s named his unit and has even turned him into a comic-book hero.) One might expect this film to be nothing but R-rated silliness. Well, it’s definitely R-rated, but it has a serious and even touching side. Yes, it’s viciously funny, and you might even expect Christopher Guest to jump into the frame at any moment to announce, “Gotcha!” But these are real people, with real stories and real desires, and directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math have taken great pride – and many years of shooting – to bring a touching brand of lunacy and passionate insanity to the screen, in the tradition of Errol Morris. Be prepared for patriotic penis tattooing, a hilarious and painful scene involving a plaster cast, and embarrassing revelations that trouser monsters shrink with old age. (Yes, the men must be a certain size, or larger, to be considered, but it’s never made quite clear whether the 5-inch minimum is the erect or flaccid measurement. Ah, the weighty questions posed by a dick doc.) “I try to provoke people, make them look differently at things,” says Sigurdur Hjartarson, the museum’s founder and curator. As amazing as it sounds, you may never look at a penis quite the same way again. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Bardo](https://www.meiermovies.com/bardo/) **Published:** December 19, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Bardo, Falsa Crónica de unas Cuantas Verdades (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)** FL, 2022, 4 ¼ stars # Transitional tale ## *Bardo* both belies and embraces its Buddhist subtext [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bardo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bardo.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 19, 2022 There’s often a fine line between Surrealism and Absurdism, with some of the best surreal films often drifting into absurdity, and vice versa. *Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths*, Alejandro Iñárritu’s new profoundly personal, grand experiment, is one example. But what sets this film apart from many of its predecessors is its ability to stay grounded in reality and produce, despite its occasional narrative drift and 159-minute runtime, one of the strongest emotional punches of this cinematic year. Its title notwithstanding, *Bardo* is anything but false, at least once you figure out what the heck is happening. Sharing any clues here would be almost as absurd as the film itself, so I’ll say simply that this is the story of Silverio (Daniel Giménez-Cacho), a Mexican-American journalist and filmmaker living in Los Angeles who, with his wife (Griselda Siciliani) and teenage son (Iker Sanchez Solano), returns to his home country to receive a prestigious award and reconnect with old friends. But this is less a geographic journey than a spiritual one, peppered with reminiscences, ghosts, dreams, waking visions, graphically sexual imaginings and scenes from Silverio’s latest movie, which shares its title with Iñárritu’s film, making this one of the most imaginative and twisty films within a film in recent memory. Iñárritu’s hands are all over *Bardo*, from the writing (with Nicolas Giacobone), directing, producing, editing, to even co-composing the music. Yet two of the things he allowed others to do, cinematography (Darius Khondji) and production design/art direction (Eugenio Caballero/Carlos Jacques), are the film’s strongest suits. In fact, they are the best of any film I’ve seen this year. And it’s the combination of all these elements that makes *Bardo* the most visionary and arguably the best non-English-language film of 2022. It’s also the most challenging and occasionally self-indulgent, as many critics have mentioned. But this critic was happy to indulge. In Buddhism, bardo is a transitional state between death and rebirth: a flight into existentialism, if you will. This isn’t the first time Iñárritu has taken wing. He did it with *Birdman* and, in the process, swooped down on an Oscar. Though *Bardo* isn’t not nearly as accessible to mainstream audiences as *Birdman*, if you’re a patient and visually oriented filmgoer, you’ll adore the flight. Buckle up. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14176542/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo,_False_Chronicle_of_a_Handful_of_Truths).* --- ### [Babylon](https://www.meiermovies.com/babylon/) **Published:** December 16, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Babylon**, 2022, 2 stars # The golden (showers) age of Hollywood ## *Babylon*’s crude excesses overwhelm its story [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Babylon.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Babylon.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 16, 2022 *Babylon*, Damien Chazelle’s epic examination of 1920s Hollywood, opens with an elephant crapping in the camera. Over the next three hours, the writer-director follows that defecation with urination, vomit, graphic nudity, animal torture and an exaggerated array of debauchery. It’s not quite on par with 1979’s *Caligula*, but it’s close – all in an apparent attempt to present the excesses of the early movie business not by objectively showing said excesses but by instead engaging in Chazelle’s own. *Babylon*, therefore, represents an astonishing devolution of one of the industry’s heretofore most exciting, story-driven filmmakers. Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy, and regal she is not. Instead, she’s a cruder version of the lead in *A Star Is Born*, an aspiring actress lacking any meaningful aspirations beyond fame and all its trappings. Not lacking aspiration is Manny Torres, a Mexican-American truly enamored of the movies. Portrayed by the relative newcomer Diego Calva, Manny is the only character that captures the “dream factory” mystique of Hollywood, before he’s chewed up and spat out. Brad Pitt – always interesting but a bit lost here – plays Jack Conrad, a playboy film star struggling with the transition to talking pictures and inspired by John Gilbert, with a dash of Douglas Fairbanks. Nellie is also based loosely on real-life stars, possibly Clara Bow and Joan Crawford, while other characters are either borrowed from reality or entirely fictional. Then there’s Tobey Maguire, who arrives late in the film with an irresistibly odd but mostly pointless performance. In a standout supporting role is Jovan Adepo (*Fences*) as a trumpet player who experiences the highs and lows of a culture that simultaneously loves and devalues him. Also of interest is Li Jun Li (*Wu Assassins*) as a party girl who makes a living writing intertitle cards. But much like her art post-1928, her performance gets forgotten amid the cacophony of subplots and visual indulgence. The dramedy owes much to other films about Hollywood history, specifically those addressing the transition from silence to sound. In parts, it’s practically a rewrite of *Singin’ in the Rain*. But it at least has the courage to admit its repurposing, especially toward the end, when, in a brilliant moment of meta-theatricality, it confronts its inspiration head-on. What a glorious feeling. I was happy again! Until I remembered the film’s aforementioned flaws, which reduce it to an unnecessarily crude, tonal misfire. “You ever been on a movie set before? It’s the most magical place in the world,” we’re told. But except for fleeting moments, *Babylon* isn’t magical. It’s simply ridiculous and exhausting, like *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* without the subtlety. (I am now officially the only film critic in history to call Quentin Tarantino subtle.) One of those fleeting moments comes when Jack, realizing his career is over, is given words of encouragement by the very gossip columnist (Jean Smart) who torpedoed him. “You’ll spend eternity with angels and ghosts,” she flatters, referring to the immortality that movies offer their stars. If only we could have had some of those angels and ghosts in *Babylon*. Instead, Chazelle offers an unimpactful, rambling, overbearing script bathed in anachronistic fucks, until those curses and even the story itself have lost their meaning. This critic is no prude, and the nudity – and many of the impeccably designed set pieces – command your attention, stimulate your senses and pique your interest in the silent-film industry. Cinematographically, *Babylon* holds your interest too, with its lovely tracking shots (which offset the overabundance of swish pans and surprising moments of poor focus). But this Los Angeles, unlike the one Chazelle painted in *La La Land*, is comparatively joyless. Tinseltown has lost its sparkle. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10640346/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_(2022_film)).* --- ### [The Munsters](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-munsters/) **Published:** October 2, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Munsters** TV/Web/NT, 2022, ½ star # Stinky *Munster* cheese [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-Munsters.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-Munsters.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 2, 2022 They say the world needs more kindness. That’s true. But sometimes the kindest thing one can do for people is tell them the truth. With that in mind, Rob Zombie: Your movie stinks. Not only is *The Munsters* the worst movie of the year, but your wife, Sherri Moon Zombie, as Lily Munster, delivers one of the worst performances in a major motion picture in the last decade. And, regrettably, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman and Daniel Roebuck as the Count (Grandpa) aren’t much better, as they lack most of the charm and nuance of Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis, who originated the roles. The film serves as an origin story for the Munster family, who featured in the 1960s CBS sitcom of the same name. The idea to give the characters a movie might have initially been a good one, but the result is badly written, ill conceived, unfunny, poorly acted, tone deaf, overlong and amateurish. And though writer-director Zombie was admittedly trying to emulate the kitschy charm of the original show, this cheese stinks. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14813212/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Munsters_(2022_film)).* --- ### [Magic in the Moonlight](https://www.meiermovies.com/magic-in-the-moonlight/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Magic in the Moonlight**, 2014, 2 ¾ stars # Marginally magical ## Woody Allen’s new comedy is charming but listless [![Magic in the Moonlight](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Magic-in-the-Moonlight-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Magic-in-the-Moonlight.jpg)Image copyright Dippermouth/Gravier Productions From *Jacksonville Folio Weekly*, August 13, 2014 There aren’t many geniuses in film, but Woody Allen might just be one of them. Arguably the greatest comedic writer-director after Charlie Chaplin – though the Coen Brothers are breathing down his neck – Allen will leave the world a less intelligent, less wondrous place when he finally retires or becomes too feeble to bang away at his 1950s manual Olympia SM-3 typewriter. So, now that those compliments are out of the way, let’s talk about Allen’s current problems, which are far too evident in his latest sleight of hand, *Magic in the Moonlight*. Those problems are pace and personality. Excluding *Blue Jasmine* and *Midnight in Paris*, Allen’s latest offerings have too often relied on a good story while suffering from a tired tempo, mediocre directing and miscast leads. It’s almost as if Allen has fallen in love with the idea of working with certain actors, such as Scarlett Johansson, Owen Wilson and Penelope Cruz, without considering whether those performers – talented though some may be – are right for the task at hand. The latest on that list is Emma Stone, who is luminous in *Magic* but still not quite right for the role. Stone plays Sophie, a young psychic in the 1920s who may actually be nothing more than a con artist who, with the help of her mother (an underused Marcia Gay Harden), is attempting to swindle wealthy families on the French Riviera out of their money by staging fake séances. Skeptical of Sophie’s intentions, one family seeks the help of Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney), a well-known magician and debunker of fake mediums. But when Howard can’t figure out Sophie’s schemes, he turns to his friend Stanley (Colin Firth), who, in addition to being famous magician Wei Ling Soo, is Europe’s top exposure of charlatans. Stanley is all business, all common sense, and seemingly passionless. “There is no metaphysical world,” he explains. “What you see out there is what you get.” And he applies that philosophy not just to his prestidigitatorial profession but to every aspect of his life, down to his relationship with his fiancée (Catherine McCormack), whom he seems to love mostly because it’s the logical thing to do. It’s no surprise then – this is a Woody Allen romantic comedy, after all – that his world is upended by the unexpected allure of Sophie, who proves his equal on the battlegrounds of both intellect and love. With a smart premise and a good turn from Firth, *Magic* has the makings of an Allen classic close to the quality of, say, *Mighty Aphrodite* or even *Purple Rose of Cairo*, but, regrettably, it’s worthy of only the slightest recommendation thanks to tedious scenes lacking in comedic punch, almost no chemistry between Stone and Firth, and an obvious twist that takes too long to reveal itself. At its best, it’s a touching commentary on faith, trust and love, but once its weaknesses become visible, it turns into not much more than a charming caper-comedy that is alternatingly clever and clumsy. *© 2014 Folio Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [What's Up, Doc?](https://www.meiermovies.com/whats-up-doc/) **Published:** March 23, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **What’s Up, Doc?**, 1972, 4 ¼ stars # Farcical farewell [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Whats-Up-Doc.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Whats-Up-Doc.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 23, 2022 Keeping alive its tradition of honoring the recently departed, the Florida Film Festival is recognizing director Peter Bogdanovich with a Closing Night Retro presentation of *What’s Up, Doc?* Full of unpretentious fun and mostly lacking in political statements, the 1972 film will screen on Sunday, April 17, at 8:45 p.m. Even better, it will be shown in 35mm. Bogdanovich, who died on January 6 at age 81, is perhaps best known for *The Last Picture Show*, *Targets*, *Paper Moon*, *Daisy Miller* and *Nickelodeon*. But he’s also remembered for his love of Buster Keaton, which informed his regrettably subpar documentary *The Great Buster*, his last film, from 2018. However, his love for silent and screwball comedies also inspired the wonderful slapstick of *What’s Up, Doc?* Co-written by Buck Henry, the film stars Barbra Streisand and Bogdanovich regulars Ryan O’Neal and Madeline Kahn. It should sell out, so get your tickets now for this side-splitting and plaid bag-busting treat that also features the always oddball Kenneth Mars and a 21-year-old Randy Quaid. The grateful dead thank you in advance. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069495/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Up,_Doc%3F_(1972_film)).* *Note: Unfortunately, the Enzian’s film projector broke just hours before the scheduled presentation. But the theater staff scrambled brilliantly and found a high-resolution digital file, so the screening went ahead as planned, albeit without true celluloid.* --- ### [Florida Film Festival 2022](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/) **Published:** March 17, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Beam yourself up to the 31st annual fest [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2022-1.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 17, 2022 (with updates throughout the fest) The 31st annual Florida Film Festival will be held April 8-17 at Maitland’s Enzian Theater and on two screens at Regal Winter Park Village. This year’s fest marks a return to normalcy, as patrons will not be required to wear COVID masks and films will be shown at the two traditional locations for the first time since 2019. (The pandemic forced the closure of Regal in 2019 and 2020.) The festival will screen 167 films from 37 countries, with 24 being world premieres and 121 others having another type of premiere status (U.S., East Coast or Florida). (Total submissions came from 108 nations, a festival record.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Star-Trek.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Star-Trek.png)William Shatner is the one celebrity guest. He will be in attendance for a screening of *Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home* (promoting the festival’s ecological theme) on April 15 and will participate in a Q&A session. Tickets go for $150, and, no, that’s not the time-travel, inflation-adjusted price. That’s today’s money. (Scroll to the bottom of this page for photos of the event.) The opening-night film is *Pre Fab!* Directed by Todd Thompson (whom festival attendees might remember as the helmer of *Woman in Motion* from the 2019 fest), this world-premiere documentary profiles Colin Hanton, the original drummer of the Quarrymen, a little skiffle group from Liverpool which morphed into the biggest band in the history of music. The opening-night party will be held about a mile and a half south, outdoors at the new Winter Park Events Center. To honor Peter Bogdanovich, who died in January, the closing-night retro film will be the screwball comedy *What’s Up, Doc*, from 1972, which stars Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand. It will be the only film presented in 35mm. Tickets will be a hot commodity, as Enzian’s capacity (160) is still not back to its pre-pandemic max of 220, according to Matthew Curtis, programming director. The capacities of the two Regal houses are 190 and 130. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FFF-2022-Plympton-ad.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FFF-2022-Plympton-ad.png)For more information, including the full line-up of films, parties, forums (which will be held at Winter Park Public Library) and ticket options, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). On a personal note, this will be my tenth time covering the fest. (Cue the confetti.) Though I’ve been attending off and on for more than 20 years, my initial journalistic foray was in 2013. ([Here’s a look back at those reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/).) My coverage this year will be a bit different, as I’ll be writing exclusively for this site (with reviews posted on Rotten Tomatoes). And after years of slumming it as a press member, I have splurged and purchased a Film Lover pass, which I highly recommend. So I’m prepared to sit back, relax, have a drink, cover what I want (or don’t want) and be first in line to the screenings. Regrettably, though, I seem to have little money left over to splurge for Shatner. So if I can’t make it to his special event, tell Bill hi for me and remind him to steer clear of gremlins, mystic seers and glass eyeballs. ## The feature films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Opening-night-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Opening-night-scaled.jpg)Below you will find an index of my capsule reviews. Click on the film’s name to read the review. Movies appear in alphabetical order, and all images are courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. [Click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf) for a guide to star ratings and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-key/) for a color/symbol key. These movies represent just a small portion of the overall program, so to find the feature film (or block of short films) that’s right for you, peruse the [festival website](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films/). [Ali & Ava](https://www.meiermovies.com/ali-ava/ "Ali & Ava") (2 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) Avec Amour et Acharnement (With Love and Fury) (a.k.a. Both Sides of the Blade, or Fire) FL (1 ½ stars) — not reviewed [Digger](https://www.meiermovies.com/digger/ "Digger") FL (2 stars) [Dual](https://www.meiermovies.com/dual/ "Dual") (3 ¼ stars) [The Duke](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-duke/ "The Duke") (3 ¼ stars) [Hatching](https://www.meiermovies.com/hatching/ "Hatching") FL (2 ½ stars) [Jack Has a Plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/jack-has-a-plan/ "Jack Has a Plan") (3 ½ stars) [Juniper](https://www.meiermovies.com/juniper/ "Juniper") (3 stars) [The Justice of Bunny King](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-justice-of-bunny-king/ "The Justice of Bunny King") (4 stars) Path of the Panther (3 ½ stars) — not reviewed [The Phantom of the Open](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phantom-of-the-open/ "The Phantom of the Open") (3 ½ stars) Pre Fab! (3 ½ stars) — not reviewed Resurrection (3 ½ stars) — not reviewed River (4 ¼ stars) — Beautiful and profound, director Jennifer Peedom’s documentary, which is the sequel to her 2017 *Mountain*, is probably the closest thing to a spiritual experience you will have at this year’s festival. (And it demonstrates yet again that the Enzian Theater needs a 4K projector.) [Stay Prayed Up](https://www.meiermovies.com/stay-prayed-up/ "Stay Prayed Up") (1 ¼ stars) [The Territory](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-territory/ "The Territory") FL (4 stars) [Tigre Gente](https://www.meiermovies.com/tigre-gente/ "Tigre Gente") FL (3 ¾ stars) [What’s Up, Doc?](https://www.meiermovies.com/whats-up-doc/ "What’s Up, Doc?") (4 ¼ stars) ## The short films [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-Cartoon-of-a-Cat-Sleeping.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A-Cartoon-of-a-Cat-Sleeping.png)*A Cartoon of a Cat Sleeping* A Cartoon of a Cat Sleeping (3 stars) — This simple but delightfully funny film by Randall Christopher preceded *Fab Four!* on opening night. Featuring the same characters (Kleeman and Mike) as his 2013 short, *Backyard Jam*, this seven-minute movie isn’t as weighty as Christopher’s Oscar-qualifying *The Driver Is Red*, from 2018, but it’s infused with slapstick energy and joyfully unpretentious silliness. **Shorts Program #1** (“Keep On Moving”) and **Shorts Program #2** (“Come See About Me”): Though both programs have stand-out films — *Skim* from program #1 and *In the Water* (both 3 stars) from program #2 — I can’t recommend the entire blocks, as the overall quality isn’t on par with past years, especially considering programs #1 and #2 have often been the festival’s “prestige” collections for domestic narrative shorts. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Skim.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Skim.png)*Skim* Honorable mentions go to *Dear Mama* and *A Significant Problem* from program #1 and *Hysterical* and *Hold Up* from program #2. Dishonorable mentions go to the lighting in several of the shorts (or maybe it was a projection and/or file rendering issue), which was sometimes so dark that it was difficult to see anything at all. I was also struck by how many “boxes” the shorts programs (and some of the features) have attempted to “check” in terms of inclusion and diversity. Presenting a variety of topics and styles and cultures, in addition to including the works of a diverse group of filmmakers, is a noble thing and has been since the dawn of cinema — one could argue that *Workers Leaving* The *Lumière Factory in 1895* was a social film — but not if one sacrifices quality or adopts quotas. To be clear, I’m not claiming that’s what the festival has done. Programmers must engage in the exhaustive and often thankless task of filling a program, and these films might represent the best of the submissions in a world in which moviemakers are increasingly focusing on political and social issues. But as for me, I like my movie meals made of quality, with a side order of social justice, and not the other way around. **Shorts Program #5** (Animated Shorts: “Tell Me Is It True”), as a whole, is also not as impactful, either emotionally or aesthetically, as I had hoped. Be it story, voiceover, pacing, tone or the actual craft of animation (which is skewed toward sketchy, primitive hand-drawn, or a style that resembled that), the block left me more disappointed than inspired. Still, as with any Florida Film Festival program, there are gems, and the stand-outs in this block are the mesmerizing and experimental *Fulcrum* (4 stars), by Timothy David Orme, and the blissfully odd *Oldboy’s Apples* (4 stars), by Brad Hock, featuring stop-motion creatures that are just begging to be touched, despite their creepiness. An honorable mention goes to Conner Griffith’s *Still Life* (3 stars), which will etch itself on your brain. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/How-Do-You-Measure-a-Year.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/How-Do-You-Measure-a-Year.png)*How Do You Measure a Year?* Over the last several years, the **4X Real Program** has contained multiple films that went on to receive Oscar nominations. Let’s hope that holds true for the 2022 program, as Jay Rosenblatt’s *How Do You Measure a Year?* (5 stars) might be worthy of not just a nom but the top prize, which would be sweet redemption considering Rosenblatt was robbed of the Oscar last month when his *When We Were Bullies* documentary lost to *The Queen of Basketball*. (His doc, along with *Lead Me Home*, were far better.) *How Do You Measure a Year?*, following in the grand tradition of the greatest doc series of all time, the *Up* films, chronicles the life of Rosenblatt’s daughter over 17 years. It sounds simple (if time-consuming), but in Rosenblatt’s hands, the doc slowly morphs into a profound study of humanity from ages 2 to 18. And who says time travel isn’t possible? [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Chucky-at-FFF-2022-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Chucky-at-FFF-2022-scaled.jpg)Chucky enjoyed attending Midnight Shorts. The other three films in the 4X Real program (*Neurodivergent*, *Seasons* and *Time & Temperature*) should also be commended (3 stars), but *Measure* is the standard by which all other doc shorts at this year’s festival should be, well, measured. On the other end of the spectrum are the **Midnight Shorts**, which I’m proud to say I survived. This odd assortment of on-the-fringe films are essentially critic-proof, so I will refrain from passing judgment except to single out the Taiwanese horror film *Part Forever* (3 stars), directed by Alan Chung-An, which rose above the gross-out comedy and gratuitous violence of many of the other shorts to reach genuine nightmare status. (This article contains a discussion of only a small amount of the festival’s short films. For all my ratings, go to my [Movie Lists page](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-lists/).) ## Projection [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Florida-Film-Festival-at-Regal-2022-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Florida-Film-Festival-at-Regal-2022-scaled.jpg)The Enzian uses a 2K lamp projector for almost all its projection, switching to its 35mm platter projector for film prints. (Only the Closing Night Retro movie, *What’s Up, Doc?*, will be shown on that.) Though Regal Winter Park Village does have several of the superior 4K projectors, the cinema will be using 2K projectors in the two festival auditoriums. However, those 2K projectors are laser projectors (with 24,000 lumens, according to Regal management), which sometimes produce brighter images with better color contrast than lamp projectors. (I was unable to confirm the Enzian projector’s lumens.) Some attendees of the advance festival screenings (for press and passholders) voiced concerns that a few films looked very dark on the Enzian screen. Clearly a few of the films were shot darkly, but that might not fully explain the darkness. Deanna Tiedtke, Enzian’s director of public relations, told me the Enzian performed a pre-festival servicing of the projector and changed the bulb on April 4, which means the films should look brighter than during the advance screenings. “Rest assured,” Tiedtke said, “we are continuing to look after our beloved projector.” That’s good news because, for overall atmosphere, Enzian is one of the coolest cinemas in the nation. Nevertheless, films that are shot darkly (especially *Digger* and *Ali & Ava*) might look a bit better at Regal, especially considering that Enzian has more ambient light than most theaters. (It’s a restaurant too, so house lights are kept on their dimmest setting during the movies to assure server and patron safety.) ## An Evening with William Shatner The festival held a screening of *Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home* at the Enzian on April 15. William Shatner introduced the film and reemerged upon the movie’s conclusion for what amounted to a one-man show, sans a moderator (whom Shatner rejected at the last minute), plus a few haphazardly selected questions from the audience. Shatner answered some of the questions but mostly used the queries as chances to launch into more monologues about everything from Skittles in space, to elephants and termites, to the meaning of the universe. It was full-force Shatner. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-7.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-7.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-8.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-8.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Shatner-1-scaled.jpg) *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Jewish Film Festival 2018](https://www.meiermovies.com/2018-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** October 18, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## 20th annual fest more necessary than ever [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Winter-Hunt.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Winter-Hunt.jpg)*Winter Hunt*, or *Winterjagd*. Image copyright Das Kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF) / Venice Pictures. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-central-florida-jewish-film-festival-is-more-necessary-than-ever/Content?oid=20669722), November 7, 2018 Spanish author and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno wrote, “Racism is cured by traveling.” It’s also cured by movies, and if the anti-Semitic lunatic who gunned down 11 Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh two weeks ago had been regularly exposed to the type of art at this year’s Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, perhaps his rampage never would have occurred. That might be a bridge too far, but it doesn’t negate the fact that the Enzian Theater’s festival of Jewish film, food and culture is more necessary than ever. Still, good intentions are not enough – quality is equally important. And the movies of the 20th annual event have plenty of that. In observance of the Sabbath, the festival – which is co-presented by the Roth Family Jewish Community Center – kicks off at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 10, at the Orlando Science Center with a documentary about Israel’s unlikely success at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. ***Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel*** (1 ½ stars on 0-5 scale) is the only festival film not at the Enzian, and the only weak offering. Though it will likely be a crowd-pleaser thanks to its feel-good glow, there’s no halvah-coating the fact that it falls flat both journalistically and cinematically. (It’s tough to work up much emotion over an anti-climactic, reality-TV-type doc about wealthy American ballplayers claiming distant Jewish heritage in order to qualify as “Israeli.”) But if the temptation to see and be seen on opening night is too strong to resist, the good news is the dramatic short that accompanies the feature is stellar. ***Wig Shop*** (4 stars), starring Emily Mortimer as an orthodox Jewish-American woman on a uniquely emotional shopping trip, will inform, entertain and confound you – all in just 16 minutes. The festival continues at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Enzian with ***Laces***, also known as *Shoelaces* (3 ¼ stars), a Hebrew-language look at a unique familial bond. Having barely seen his special-needs son (Nevo Kimchi) since his birth 36 years ago, a father (Doval’e Glickman) is forced to reexamine their relationship while also confronting his own past and his attitude toward people with disabilities. Though it takes a while to find its footing and occasionally struggles to balance comedy and drama, this Israeli Academy Award nominee slowly and unexpectedly builds momentum. By the end, expect a punch in the emotional gut. Taking a 180-degree turn in genre and a step up in quality, the festival continues at 2 p.m. on Sunday with ***Winter Hunt*** (4 stars), or *Winterjagd*. The best of this year’s five features, this German thriller focuses on a young woman who unexpectedly turns up on the doorstep of a 91-year-old man and his daughter. Yet we soon discover the visit is not random and is instead designed to deliver a shockingly personal act of vengeance. Grappling with themes of morality, prejudice and self-righteousness, Astrid Schult’s film, at just 75 minutes, is tight as a drum. But this seemingly small, stagey flick still finds time to ask big questions concerning the nature of the hunter and the hunted. And it’s powered by three memorable performances that, despite the extraordinary story, are infinitely relatable and humanistic. Speaking of humanity, wait until you see ***I Have a Message for You*** (5 stars), the short, partially animated documentary accompanying *Winter Hunt*. As does the feature, this 13-minute, French-language mini-masterpiece confronts the legacy of the Holocaust, but it does so with astonishing unpredictability. Director Matan Rochlitz has created a masterclass in short-doc moviemaking. Taking another sharp genre pivot, the festival continues on Monday at 4:15 p.m. with ***Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me*** (3 stars), a documentary about the incomparably talented entertainer. Though it packs in a lot of its subject’s accomplishments, it’s more concerned with showcasing Davis’s indomitable spirit and bravery. It’s occasionally both jumbled and bland, and places an odd emphasis on Davis’s surprising embrace of President Richard Nixon, but Sammy’s spirit and talent does shine through. Even better, juicy interviews with Jerry Lewis, Kim Novak and countless other celebs – including Donald Rumsfeld (yes, really) – add some much-needed hipness to a film about the man who practically invented the stuff. Despite its entertainment value, the film is an odd choice for the festival, as it spends only about five minutes discussing his Judaism. Still, Davis’s explanation for his conversion is memorable: “After I had the accident \[in which Davis lost his eye\], I needed something desperate to hold onto and found myself being more and more convinced that Judaism was it for me. I know that there is sort of a kinship between the plight of the Negro and the plight of the Jew.” ***The Last Suit****, or El Ultimo Traje* (*3 ½* stars) is appropriately last, wrapping up the festival at 7 p.m. on Monday. It’s the tale of the final, strange odyssey of Abraham Bursztein, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. Directed by Pablo Solarz, the drama is a powerful reminder of the value of long-term friendships and the kindness of strangers. And though a couple of those relationships stretch believability, the film succeeds on both a metaphorical and literal level thanks to clever writing and Miguel Ángel Solá, who gives the festival’s best performance. “Sometimes we old people don’t accept our age, but we don’t want to be a burden for anyone either,” Abraham says before embarking on a journey from Argentina to Poland. “So we’re going to face the time we have left to live with gratitude and joy.” Experiencing that gratitude vicariously through Abraham is a wonderful way to wrap up this year’s festival. Despite these good reviews, you might still be tempted to stay home and eventually seek out the films on a streaming service. But unless Netflix has opened a Jewish deli, you’ll miss the festival’s knishes (baked dough with cheese and spinach), latkes (potato pancakes), holishkes (cabbage rolls with meat), Hebrew National hot dogs and tzimmes (stew of beef, carrots and sweet potatoes). So get your and your mishpocha’s tuchuses to the festival. Don’t make me noodge you again! *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ship of Fools](https://www.meiermovies.com/ship-of-fools/) **Published:** August 30, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ship of Fools**, 1965, 2 ¾ stars # *Fools* imitates life [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Ship-of-Fools.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Ship-of-Fools.jpg)Vivien Leigh co-stars in *Ship of Fools.* Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 30, 2022 Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I’m one film closer to being a Vivien Leigh completist. The channel recently aired a tribute to the legendary British actress and included her last movie, *Ship of Fools*, from 1965. The title comes, of course, from Plato’s *Republic*, written around 375 B.C., and is a metaphor for ignorant government. Under the direction of Stanley Kramer – and with a script by Abby Mann, based on the novel by Katherine Anne Porter – the ship gets an update. The story involves an eclectic collection of passengers and crew sailing from Mexico to Germany in 1933 (just as Hitler is coming to power). Aside from the Robert Altmanesque array of interwoven plots, what struck me were the similarities between cast and characters. Leigh, for instance, was close to a full mental and physical breakdown, and her character, the middle-aged Mary Treadwell, is in a similarly fragile state. (Leigh died two years after the film’s release, at age 53.) Lee Marvin and Leigh get top billing, but the film really belongs to Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner. Signoret, whose character, like Leigh’s, also contemplates the ravages of time, looks noticeably older than in *Les Diaboliques*, from 1955. And Werner, whose character (the ship’s doctor) dies of a heart attack, also succumbed to a heart attack, at age 61. Further, in real life, Werner (an Austrian pacifist and anti-Socialist) married a Jewish woman and was partially outcast because of it, a fate shared by another character in the film (Freytag, played by Alf Kjellin). Lastly, Glocken, a passenger played by Michael Dunn, is relegated to a lesser dinner table, presumably because others are uncomfortable with his appearance. (He’s a dwarf.) Dunn received the same treatment in real life but overcame most of it, paving the way for today’s similarly sized actors. And he, along with Signoret and Werner, received Oscar nominations for their work on this film. (The film itself got a nom for best picture.) The film contains other social messages too, which isn’t surprising, considering this is a Kramer production. They range from the lesson that people are generally hot messes (a point Kramer’s masterpiece, *It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* also makes) to a commentary on the treatment of migrant workers to observations on the rise of fascism and anti-Semitism. Some of this messaging is heavy-handed and, along with the 150-minute runtime and large doses of melodrama, might make the film a tough watch for today’s audiences. It was even a tough one for some contemporary critics, who labeled it “*Grand Hotel* afloat.” It was an occasional struggle for me too, though, in the end, I agreed less with the film’s detractors and more with *The New York Times*’ Bosley Crowther, who called it a “powerful, ironic film \[with a\] wealth of reflection upon the human condition.” *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this film, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059712/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Fools_(film)).* --- ### [Serre Moi Fort (Hold Me Tight)](https://www.meiermovies.com/serre-moi-fort-hold-me-tight/) **Published:** August 26, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Serre Moi Fort (Hold Me Tight)** FL, 2021, 2 ¼ stars # *Hold* loses its grip ### Dramatic brainteaser is a poetic but difficult watch [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Hold-Me-Tight.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Hold-Me-Tight.jpeg)Vicky Krieps stars in *Serre Moi Fort*, or *Hold Me Tight.* (images copyright and courtesy of Les Films du Poisson / Kino Lorber) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 26, 2022 *Serre Moi Fort* (or *Hold Me Tight*), the new French-language drama from writer-director Mathieu Amalric, begins with a woman playing a game of “picture match” with old photographs, trying to pair identical images, or reconstruct memories of her family. “Let’s start again, and again, and again,” Clarisse cries, frustrated at her failure. At this point in the film, we don’t understand the nature of that failure, or her grief. In fact, for most of this impressionistic drama, we’re just as lost as she, tossing around images in our own mind, trying to establish connections. All we know, or think we know, is that Clarisse has abandoned her husband (Marc) and two children (Paul and Lucie). (“You broke mom,” Paul says to his dad.) But the details are shrouded in seemingly random editing, which embraces overlapping time lines, events and conversations (real and imagined), to the point of introducing what appears like continuity errors. There are cryptic references to Friday, and to “waiting for spring,” all accompanied by piano compositions that, like each scene, often lack a beginning and an end. Maybe the best plot clue can be found early in the film when Clarisse says to Marc (or is it to herself?): “I’m not the one who left.” Amalric based his script on a play by Claudine Galea, and one can’t escape the feeling that it might play better on stage, or as a short film, because the repetitive, confusing scenes wear thin over 97 minutes. Still, this arthouser has been well received since it premiered last year at Cannes, though I disbelieve anyone who claims to understand everything on a first viewing, or even a second. *[![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Hold-Me-Tight-2.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Hold-Me-Tight-2.jpeg)The Sixth Sense* and *I am the Cheese* (a similarly twisty drama about loss, from 1983) come to mind. But the plot reveals of those two movies carry a sense of awe, gratitude and empathy. Once you uncover the truth of *Hold Me Tight*, there is little sense of accomplishment, just a revealed secret at the end of an exhausting maze. The failings are not due to Luxembourgish actress Vicky Krieps, whose absorbing performance powers the film. She is one of the best actresses that most American audiences still don’t know, despite her wonderful turn alongside Daniel Day-Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson’s *Phantom Thread* (2017). She was also memorable in *The Last Vermeer* (2019), *Old* (2021) and a wonderful short film from 2015, *Pitter Patter Goes My Heart*. There’s a subtle beauty about her and her performances, but also a sadness, which fits this film’s mood. I first saw Krieps in *Pitter Patter* and was thrilled to discuss it with her at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival. If I were able to talk to her again, though, I’d pepper her with questions about the deeper meanings of *Hold Me Tight*. Film critics aren’t always the smartest bunch, so maybe I’m missing something. But even if I’m not, I’d still like to know her (and Amalric’s) interpretations, plus how Krieps mentally prepared for the role considering she, like her character, has a boy and a girl. As Marc, French actor Arieh Worthalter does what is asked of him, as do the four actors who play the young and slightly older versions of the children, especially Juliette Benveniste. (Look for big things from her in the future.) But they don’t have much to do compared to Krieps. Their characters are pawns in Clarisse’s world. If you embrace this film’s poetic ambiguity, you will find meaning. But if you’re looking for a thorough thematic summation, I can only suggest listening to Lucie tell her friend a joke: “A guy goes in a bar, and he says, ‘Hi, it’s me.’ But it wasn’t him.” *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13137576/).* --- ### [Three Thousand Years of Longing](https://www.meiermovies.com/three-thousand-years-of-longing/) **Published:** August 18, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Three Thousand Years of Longing**, 2022, 3 stars # Wish fulfillment ## George Miller fashions an adult fairy tale [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Three-Thousand-Years-of-Longing.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Three-Thousand-Years-of-Longing.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 18, 2022 If you had three wishes, what would you ask for? I’m approaching 50, so my first request would probably involve youth. I might even ask to start aging backwards, like Benjamin Button. (It shouldn’t surprise you – especially if you’d read my reviews over the last 28 years – that I’d make a movie reference in this situation.) The more relevant question is what will Tilda Swinton – or, more precisely, Alithea, her character in George Miller’s new film, *Three Thousand Years of Longing* – wish for when a djinn (or genie) unexpectedly appears. Her eventual wishes surprise both her and the djinn, but what will surprise you is that, for most of the film, the wishes are just a MacGuffin. Instead, the dual beating hearts of this fantastical tale are the djinn’s anthological retelling of his life and Alithea’s own philosophical outlook, which, prior to meeting the man in the bottle, was dominated by the belief that (thanks to science) the myths and monsters of the past have been “reduced to metaphor.” Well, enter metaphor stage right, in the shape of Idris Elba. Alithea, a British narratologist, accidentally releases him while cleaning a decorative glass bottle she bought in an Istanbul antique shop. She’s in the Turkish metropolis to speak at a conference at which she will espouse her aforementioned theories on the obsolescence of magic. Considering her beliefs, her fantastical discovery might seem the height of irony – until you realize that a narratologist is just a fancy word for a storyteller. And the lonely and imaginative Alithea – if you buy this critic’s theory that most of the movie’s plot exists only in her mind – is about to tell a whopper. Following the djinn’s release and a clever, metatheatrical discussion about the rules of wishing – “I am familiar with the concept,” she tells him – the djinn recounts his life, from his initial entrapment 3,000 years ago to his current predicament. Along the anthological way, we meet colorful characters from Middle Eastern history and folklore, along with a visually stunning collection of fantastical creatures. Indeed, the film might be suitable for kids if not for its existential subjects, mild violence and graphic eroticism. Aladdin, meet Guillermo del Toro. None of the djinn’s tales are dramatically or emotionally significant enough to carry the film on their own, or even when combined. Instead, it’s the quiet moments and chemistry between Elba and Swinton – who, thankfully, is sans her familiar physical gimmickry – that sustain legendary Australian writer-director Miller’s visual epic. Co-written by Augusta Gore, *Longing* is based on A.S. Byatt’s short story, *The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eyes*. And its literary origins show, as the screenplay occasionally seems overstuffed. Still, the film succeeds largely because of imaginative art direction by Roger Ford, Nicholas Dare and Sophie Nash; otherworldly cinematography by John Seale; and a competent team of digital magicians. At its best, Miller’s movie has something to say about its titular longing and even more to say about loneliness. (“We exist only if we’re real to others,” the djinn tells Alithea.) Even more impactful are the film’s thoughts on technology and why modern England is no country for old genies. But at its weakest, it suffers from narrative drift and some misplaced wokeness in the final act. Despite its unevenness, though, *Longing* is a contemplative story stuffed with other stories stuffed with an eclectic array of treasures. This genie-in-the-bottle fantasy might not be everything you wish for, but it’s still a dream worth having. And if you are like Alithea, who “finds feelings through stories,” you might just turn into a narratologist yourself, if only for 108 minutes in a dark room. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9198364/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Thousand_Years_of_Longing).* --- ### [I Dream of a Psychopomp](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-dream-of-a-psychopomp/) **Published:** August 16, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **I Dream of a Psychopomp** TV/Web/NT, 2022, ¾ star # *Pomp* and unceremonious ## *Dream* is imaginative but amateurish [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/I-Dream-of-a-Psychopomp-1.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/I-Dream-of-a-Psychopomp-1.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 16, 2022 After a limited festival run, Danny Villanueva Jr.’s debut feature, *I Dream of a Psychopomp*, has dropped on the [Terror Films YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krwkIR9NQWM), with a release on other digital platforms to follow. And though the anthological, imaginative *Psychopomp* is a logical step in the director’s creative progression, the suspense-horror suffers from too little story development, too much ambiguity and an aura of low-budget amateurism. Villanueva, who co-wrote the film with J. Anthony Ramos, is a Mexican-American filmmaker best known for How Bizarre, a web channel focusing on horror-themed shorts, such as the creepy *Don’t Cry, Papa*, from 2017. That short’s twisty, supernatural vibe informs *Psychopomp*, but moving from four minutes to 80 requires Herculean labors, and Villanueva, though seemingly well intentioned, gets lost somewhere in the stables. Staying in familiar (short) territory, Villanueva has created an anthology or, more precisely, a collection of three vaguely related tales interwoven with and framed around a fourth. The connection between them is certainly intriguing: Kerry (Elohim Peña), while visiting the grave of his recently deceased wife, Eveyln (Kulani Kai), comes upon fellow weepers, all with a tale of death. There’s an educator grieving over a school shooting (or so we infer), a middle-aged man dredging up the sad memories of a child predator (Peter Knox) from his youth and a mother mourning the death of her terminally ill daughter. And all three contain a supernatural element that Kerry is somehow able to see, or at least relate to. In this respect, he is both the “dreamer” of the psychopomp and, by the film’s end, the psychopomp itself. Frankly, though, most of my analysis is guesswork, as the movie borders on “art film,” a term I abhor because, of course, all film is art. What I’m saying – admittedly as inelegantly as Villanueva – is that *Psychopomp* is lacking a traditional narrative structure and embraces ambiguity when it should instead offer good old-fashioned, scary storytelling. At least the director has partially avoided the pitfalls of anthology films that lack a framing story and, therefore, lose you when lurching from tale to tale. In this respect, like *Dead of Night* (the 1945 granddaddy of anthology horrors), *Psychopomp* does build toward a climax – or at least would have if the writing and acting had been sharper, more developed, more dynamic and more frightening. The film defines a “psychopomp” as a “guide of souls to the place of the dead” or “the spiritual guide of a living person’s soul.” And, fittingly, it features characters in need of guidance. (My favorite is the sick child who seeks a vampire’s bite so she can live forever.) But the movie itself also needs a guide. Without it, *Psychopomp* is left in cinematic limbo. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7315032/).* --- ### [Love & Friendship](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-friendship/) **Published:** May 25, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Love & Friendship**, 2016, 2 ¾ stars # Couth frivolity ### Smart comedy offers a charming glimpse at Austen-era mirth [![Love & Friendship](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Love-Friendship-1024x682.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Love-Friendship.jpg)Image copyright Westerly Films/Amazon Studios Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 25, 2016 *Love & Friendship*, set in England in the 1790s and based on Jane Austen’s *Lady Susan*, is a refreshing change of pace from the summer’s action-oriented bill of fare. Directed by Whit Stillman, this is the saucy and amusing, if slight, tale of a widow, Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), who is but one step removed from a Covent Garden nun and twice as conniving in her quest to secure wealthy husbands for both herself and her daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark), whom she describes as the “greatest simpleton on earth.” She’s not even above random giblet joining if it both tickles her fancy and helps wrest her future from destitution. Her charm knows no bounds, and her unparalleled sweetness is enough to make one cast up one’s accounts. “How dare you address me, sir!” she rails at a gentleman in public. “Be gone or I will have you whipped.” “Outrageous,” her friend profers to Susan’s outburst. “Have you never met him?” “No, I know him well,” Susan presents as her rejoinder. “I would never speak to a stranger like that.” Conveying a lively understanding of the plot is unnecessary here, as comprehension of the particulars is pointless. This is style over substance, but what fun the style! Especially enjoyable is the hilarious Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin, Jane’s pudding-headed Jerry sneak. “How jolly. Tiny green balls. What are they called?” he asks when confronted at dinner with the culinary novelty of peas, with which he was heretofore apparently unacquainted. In short, he plays the cat’s uncle gringog to a fault. But Sir James’ lack of intelligence matters little to Jane, who unabashedly describes him as “vastly rich and rather simple.” He – like all other characters she encounters – is merely part of her plot to better her and her daughter’s situation. Indeed, she cares not one whit that her supposed friends view her as both a “fiend” and “the most accomplished flirt in all England.” This period comedy, which was enthusiastically received at the recent Florida Film Festival, won’t necessarily make a dog laugh, so I wouldn’t urge a viewing to-morrow, or even over-morrow. Nevertheless, I do propose seeing said magic lantern show within a fortnight’s time. *If this review has left you in the dark, I would suggest consulting that most astonishing of 20th-century inventions: the internet. Specifically, visit* [*http://georgiarefugees.tripod.com/oldslang.htm*](http://georgiarefugees.tripod.com/oldslang.htm) *and* [*http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/a-to-z-guide-to-street-slang-from-the-1700s-1601888*](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/a-to-z-guide-to-street-slang-from-the-1700s-1601888)*.* *This review was first published, in capsule form, at [www.orlandoweekly.com](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/11/more-reviews-from-the-2016-florida-film-festival).* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Outer Limits](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-outer-limits/) **Published:** August 6, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Outer Limits** TV show, 1963-1965, 3 stars # Into the *Outer* ## An analysis of the iconic sci-fi show [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 6, 2022 **There is nothing wrong with your computer or mobile device. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I am controlling transmission. For the next few minutes, sit quietly and I will control all that you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to … *The Outer Limits*.** Over the course of two memorable seasons and 49 hour-long episodes from September 1963 to January 1965, *The Outer Limits* lived up to its name by pushing science-fiction television to and beyond its existing boundaries. It boldly went where no man, or at least no American television show, had gone before – more than a year before *Star Trek* claimed the same. Though *The Outer Limits* was most influenced by *The Twilight Zone* (1959-1964), the show’s strongest ties lie not with Rod Serling but with Gene Roddenberry. (Even some of *The Outer Limits*’ monster costumes were reused by *Star Trek*, as were some actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan.) But *The Outer Limits* stands alone in the annals of American television as a unique mix of straight sci-fi, sci-fi horror and occasional fantasy. The show was much more pure sci-fi-based than *The Twilight Zone*, and its opening and closing monologues took themselves so seriously – making pronouncements about the very nature of man and his place in the universe – that they sometimes sounded more like Ed Wood than Serling. Indeed, rewatching every episode today (as I did when preparing this article), I was struck by how most episodes proffered ideas both big and smart, but too often were presented in ways that turned them small and dumb. That doesn’t mean today’s audiences won’t enjoy the series, as even the worst episodes have a B-movie charm. And the best ones are among the smartest sci-fi ever televised, inspiring generations of writers, directors and fans. And that is the show’s ultimate legacy: its influence, rather than its production quality. Comparing it to its suspense contemporaries, *The Outer Limits* (3 stars on 0-5 scale) was a step below *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (4 stars), which was a step below *The Twilight Zone* (5 stars). Still, each show was quite different and can still be appreciated as unique moments in American culture. (To compare programs, see my previous articles on [*Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*](https://www.meiermovies.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents/) and [*The Twilight Zone*](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-twilight-zone-episodes/).) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits-OBIT.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Outer-Limits-OBIT.jpg)Season 1, Episode 7: *O.B.I.T.* *The Outer Limits* was created by Leslie Stevens, who served as executive producer, but Joseph Stefano (who penned the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s *Psycho*) was the creative force. He not only produced the first season and wrote or co-wrote 11 episodes, but he wrote what he referred to as the show’s canon or bible. At the time, this was a fairly new concept, meant to guide the anthology show’s other writers, who were tasked with creating new tales and characters (or occasionally adapting previous works) each week that would be fresh but still have a consistent feel. One consistency, at least in the first season, was the “bear,” a phrase coined by Stevens and adopted by Stefano to describe the hook: a character, creature or prop that would pull the audience in and, more often than not, try to scare them. Unfortunately, toward the end of season one, the bear acquired mange, often becoming overused and laughable, especially during the opening “tease,” which previewed (and often ruined) a moment in the episode you were about to see. There is a limit, after all, to how many times one can be spooked by an actor in bad makeup and a rubber costume. (Even Stefano admits, in the interview featured on the DVD of the final episode of season two: “Our effects are not that great.”) Tiring of the bear, ABC executives took creative control away from Stefano for season two, replacing him with producer Ben Brady. On paper, that might have been a good decision, and, admittedly, some of season two seems a bit smarter. But its episodes often lack the bite of season one. For this or other reasons, season two was much shorter: 17 episodes compared to 32 in season one. Despite his demotion, Stefano was the one who always grasped the show’s essence. In the aforementioned interview, he discussed how *The Outer Limits* required the writers and audience to “go into the darkness of yourself.” He also described his three M’s: mystery, magic and majesty. Most episodes didn’t quite reach those lofty goals, but the fact that we’re still talking about and watching the show almost 60 years later speaks volumes. “*The Outer Limits* really spoke to people,” Stefano said. “It wasn’t there just to entertain them.” The best way to watch the show today is on DVD. You can purchase the discs, but I suggest viewing them on Netflix DVDs. (Yes, Netflix still offers that service.) But I don’t suggest watching all 49 episodes unless you’re a completist. Instead, I offer my top 10, below. I also present a list of the best directors, performers and cinematographer. Other than the top 10, I didn’t restrict each list to a certain number. The people listed are simply the ones who rose above the rest. And I mean no disrespect to the women; the show, as was the standard at the time, gave most roles to men, leaving fewer females to choose when presenting accolades. For a discussion of each episode, click the Wikipedia links. **Best Episodes** 1\. Season 2, Episode 10: *[The Inheritors, Part I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* Season 2, Episode 11: *[The Inheritors, Part II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 3\. Season 1, Episode 16: *[Controlled Experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Experiment)* 4\. Season 1, Episode 7: *[O.B.I.T.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.B.I.T.)* 5\. Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* 6\. Season 1, Episode 3: *[The Architects of Fear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Architects_of_Fear)* 7\. Season 1, Episode 20: *[The Ballero Shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bellero_Shield)* 8\. Season 2, Episode 5: *[Demon with a Glass Hand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand)* 9\. Season 2, Episode 16: *[The Premonition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Premonition_(The_Outer_Limits))* 10\. Season 1, Episode 1: *[The Galaxy Being](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galaxy_Being)* **Best Directors** 1\. James Goldstone, Season 2, Episodes 10 and 11: *[The Inheritors, Parts I and II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 2\. Gerd Oswald, Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* **Best Actors** 1\. Robert Duvall as Adam Ballard in Season 2, Episodes 10 and 11: *[The Inheritors, Parts I and II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 2\. Cliff Robertson as Allan Maxwell in Season 1, Episode 1: *[The Galaxy Being](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galaxy_Being)* 3\. Carroll O’Connor as Deimos in Season 1, Episode 16: *[Controlled Experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Experiment)* 4\. Don Gordon as Agent Spain in Season 1, Episode 19: *[The Invisibles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisibles_(The_Outer_Limits))* 5\. Robert Duvall as Louis Mace in Season 1, Episode 31: *[The Chameleon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chameleon_(The_Outer_Limits))* 6\. Martin Landau as Richard Ballero in Season 1, Episode 20: *[The Ballero Shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bellero_Shield)* 7\. Macdonald Carey as Roy Benjamin in Season 1, Episode 28: *[The Special One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Special_One_(The_Outer_Limits))* 8\. Robert Culp as Trent in Season 2, Episode 5: *[Demon with a Glass Hand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand)* **Best Actresses** 1\. Sally Kellerman as Judith Ballero in Season 1, Episode 20: *[The Ballero Shield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bellero_Shield)* 2\. Jacqueline Scott as Carol Maxwell in Season 1, Episode 1: *[The Galaxy Being](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galaxy_Being)* 3\. Vera Miles as Kassia Paine in Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* 4\. Gale Kobe as Janet Lane in Season 2, Episode 12: *[Keeper of the Purple Twilight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeper_of_the_Purple_Twilight)* 5\. Joanna Frank as Regina in Season 1, Episode 18: *[ZZZZZ ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZZZZZ)* 6\. Arlene Martel as Conseulo in Season 2, Episode 5: *[Demon with a Glass Hand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand)* **Best Supporting Actors** 1\. Steve Ihnat as Lt. Mims in Season 2, Episodes 10 and 11: *[The Inheritors, Parts I and II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 2\. David McCallum as Tone Hobart in Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* 3\. Jeff Corey as Byron Lomax in Season 1, Episode 7: *[O.B.I.T.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.B.I.T.)* 4\. Ed Asner as Sgt. Siroleo in Season 1, Episode 11: *[It Crawled Out of the Woodwork](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Crawled_Out_of_the_Woodwork)* 5\. James Frawley as Pvt. Robert Renaldo in Season 2, Episodes 10 and 11: *[The Inheritors, Parts I and II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 6\. Ivan Dixon as Sgt. James Conover in Season 2, Episodes 10 and 11: *[The Inheritors, Parts I and II ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inheritors_(The_Outer_Limits))* 7\. Leonard Nimoy as Judson Ellis in Season 2, Episode 9: *[I, Robot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(1964_The_Outer_Limits))* **Best Supporting Actresses** 1\. Geraldine Brooks as Yvette Leighton in Season 1, Episode 3: *[The Architects of Fear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Architects_of_Fear)* 2\. Nellie Burt as Ethel Latimer in Season 1, Episode 26: *[The Guests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guests_(The_Outer_Limits))* 3\. Barbara Rush as Leonora Edmond in Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* **Best Cinematographer** Conrad Hall for Season 1, Episode 32: *[The Forms of Things Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forms_of_Things_Unknown)* **I now return control of your computer or mobile device to you …** *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Thirteen Lives](https://www.meiermovies.com/thirteen-lives/) **Published:** August 5, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Thirteen Lives**, 2022, 4 stars # Ron to the rescue ## *Thirteen* is lucky (and unlucky) for Howard [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Thirteen-Lives-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Thirteen-Lives-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 5, 2022 As opposed to Mick Jagger, time is not on Ron Howard’s side. That’s because the master director’s new film, *Thirteen Lives*, is at least the fourth filmed retelling of the famous 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach, who were trapped for more than two weeks inside Thailand’s Tham Luang Nang Non cave. Though Howard’s late arrival at the rescue party has lessened the legacy and relevance of his film, *Thirteen Lives* is likely the best of the multiple versions, allowing the audience to feel the crisis in a way few directors can. (Think *Apollo 13* underwater with stalagmites.) And in doing so, Howard has created his best movie since 2005’s *Cinderella Man* and one of the best of 2022. The harrowing story was first told, of course, on TV, radio, newspaper and the internet four summers ago. We all lived it in real time, along with the “Wild Boars” team (who ranged in age from 11 to 16), their 25-year-old coach and the thousands of volunteers who poured in from around the world, hoping for a miracle after the early monsoon rains turned the cave into a potential watery grave. The tale was then picked up by the PBS show *NOVA*, which featured it in season 45, episode 14, in late 2018. *The Cave*, a Thai feature helmed by Thai-Irish director Tom Waller, followed the next year. Though it’s narrative fiction, it has a documentary feel, with several of the real participants playing themselves, including Irish rescue diver Jim Warny. National Geographic’s *The Rescue* came two years after that, opening to critical acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival. It too crosses genres, as it relies heavily on reenactments, by the actual participants. (They couldn’t exactly carry 4K Steadicams with them during the rescue.) But it’s the original, shaky, grainy footage that is most powerful, especially those initial, dark, desperate images of the hungry yet somehow hopeful boys filmed by the two British rescue divers who found them. Those two divers were Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthem (Colin Farrell), and it’s they whom Howard and writers William Nicholson and Don MacPherson highlight. Harry Harris (Joel Edgerton), an Australian doctor who played a unique role, is also featured prominently, along with Narongsak Osatanakorn (Sahajak Boonthanakit), the territorial governor. All actors are excellent, as is the cultural and linguistic balance between the Brits and the Thais. Howard – aided of course by the script but also by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s cinematography and James Wilcox’s editing – chooses to tell the story in a documentary style, packed with details and explanatory graphics. It’s an effective but odd choice considering the success of *The Rescue* less than a year ago. Of course, Howard was too far into production of his film when *The Rescue* premiered for him to change his focus. Nevertheless, it would have been nice if *Thirteen Lives* had departed from the comprehensive doc structure and focused instead on smaller stories that the other films missed. The one part of the story that is front and center in all versions is the unique method of extracting the children. If you’ve forgotten the details, good for you, as it will lend the film even more power. I won’t spoil it, except to quote Mortensen (as Stanton) when he learns of the logistical nightmare: “You try and dive those kids the whole way, all you’ll be bringing out is dead bodies.” So hats off for the umpteenth time to the actual people who lived this event, which, despite multiple retellings, retains its visceral strength. And kudos, too, to Howard and his team, who show an uncanny ability to induce claustrophobia while simultaneously illuminating the humanity hidden deep underground in the flooded darkness. “It takes a certain kind of mindset for the deep-cave diving,” says one of the rescuers. “You have to be a bit nuts.” The same goes for a director who would tackle such a difficult shoot, especially after multiple filmmakers have told the same tale. Well, if Stanton, Volanthem and Howard are indeed nuts, sanity suddenly seems overrated. A far more insane act is being committed against the film itself. After a theatrical window of a single week, *Thirteen Lives* is being relegated to a streaming release on Amazon Prime. Streaming. The very word seems small. Too small for such a big movie. Unfortunately, a similar fate has befallen too many recent releases, wearing thin the fabric of the traditional film industry. But unlike the boys trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave, no one seems poised to rescue cinema. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12262116/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Lives).* --- ### [Elvis](https://www.meiermovies.com/elvis/) **Published:** July 24, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Elvis**, 2022, 2 stars # Baz dazzles but befuddles ## That’s not all right, mama [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Elvis.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Elvis.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 24, 2022 “Wise men say only fools rush in,” Elvis Presley sang. Director Baz Luhrmann should have taken those words to heart, as almost all he does in *Elvis*, his new whirlwind of a musical bio-pic, is rush. The freneticism is so prominent that much of the movie, particularly the first hour, resembles a trailer. And by the time I reached the end of this 159-minute bloated extravaganza, I was exhausted – yet thankful that Elvis had finally left the building. (If only he had exited 30 minutes sooner, and more quietly.) The film is a heavily embellished and partially anachronistic story of Presley from 1955 to his death in 1977 (with flashbacks to his childhood), told by his manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker. Labeled the “snowman” (a twist on “showman” to emphasize his knack for a con), Parker is played by Tom Hanks in a distracting fat suit, prosthetic makeup and an unnecessary and confusing (Dutch?) accent. The real Parker was apparently sans that sound, at least later in life, as evidenced by [this interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfsDx4IsQe0). But reality seems to hold little sway over Luhrmann, as he proved to positive effect with *Moulin Rouge!* But while that 2001 classic was almost pure fantasy, *Elvis* is rooted in the story of a real person, who sang real music, and changed the lives of real people. And despite the movie’s wildly entertaining cinematography, clever special effects and general lust for life, Presley – both the man and his music – often get a bit lost. The main reason the King doesn’t get dethroned entirely is the stellar turn from Austin Butler, the 30-year-old California actor impossibly tasked with embodying Elvis and even doing some of the singing (mostly when Elvis is young). Amazingly, the Butler did it – and thereby saves Luhrmann’s film from falling into farce. I wish I could say see the movie if you like Presley’s music, but I can’t. (Modern interpretations often ruin the rustic feel of the early rock and roll.) And I wish I could say see it if you aren’t already familiar with Presley, but I can’t do that either. (Though Luhrmann gets most of the major life events right and offers factual insights into Parker, he and co-writers Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce exercise too much creative license for this critic’s tastes. See *[The Wrap](https://www.thewrap.com/elvis-movie-how-accurate-fact-vs-fiction/)* for a factual analysis.) So I’m left with a recommendation only for diehard Luhrmann fans and friends. Oh, and if you see Baz – who probably won’t return my calls after this review – please thank him for his auteur sensibility and his artistic bravery, but remind him to take his Ritalin. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3704428/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_(2022_film)).* --- ### [A Hard Day's Night](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-hard-days-night/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Hard Day’s Night**, 1964, 4 ½ stars # The Beatles’ influence on film and culture as seen through *A Hard Day’s Night* [![HDNstrip1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip1-79x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip1.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, written in 1994 It hardly seems like an event that would shape film history. An American film director with three little-known movies to his credit was being hired to shoot a documentary-style comedy/musical about a British rock band. Filming would take place over less than two months, much of it on a train that was rented for 600 pounds a day. But this unique 1964 “day in the life” chronicle was to feature the Beatles, and therein lies the revelation. Producer Walter Shenson chose the 32-year-old Richard Lester to direct the Fab Four in A Hard Day’s Night, their first film, and it was the combination of the group and Lester, in addition to the crisp, comedic script of Alun Owen — handpicked by the Beatles — that made the film what is often regarded today as the *Citizen Kane* of juke-box musicals, according to film historian Neil Sinyard. The “boys” were even compared to the Marx Brothers by the British press after the premiere of the movie on July 6, 1964. The phenomenal popular success of the film is easy to understand. After all, the Beatles had, by the summer of 1964, broken most musical chart records in Britain and the United States and become a worldwide sensation that would surpass the group’s closest musical rival, Elvis Presley. However, the lasting critical acclaim and cultural impact of *A Hard Day’s Night* and, to a lesser extent, the Beatles’ other films, is more difficult to explain and appears to rely on four distinct explanations. The most basic explanation is the revolutionary style of the work, which helped bring about music video montages and MTV-like promotional films. Second, the Beatles’ charm and Lester and Owen’s ability to capture it were crucial. Third, the social statement of the new “youth freedom” of 1960s Britain was featured more successfully in *A Hard Day’s Night* than perhaps any other film. Finally, the fact that any film the Beatles did was not seen just as a film but as a piece of the Beatles legacy cast all their work in a different light than other artists’ work. They were not just films starring the Beatles; they were the next installment in the Beatles legacy. Thus, even the worst of the bunch, arguably *Magical Mystery Tour*, lives on. When one watches the group’s first film today, the style makes it seem fresh. But in 1964, the style was revolutionary. The fast-paced juxtaposition of shots and thrown-together look of much of the action captured audiences and critics alike. But it was the musical sequences that would have the most impact, and it was here that Lester shone, along with the new Lennon-McCartney music. The director had had experience staging musical numbers before in *It’s Trad, Dad,* but in *A Hard Day’s Night*, he hit upon a style, reflected well by photographer Gilbert Taylor, that broke new ground. [![HDNstrip2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip2-78x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip2.jpg)Rock music had had a place in film since *The Blackboard Jungle* in 1955 and then *The Girl Can’t Help It.* And, of course, the endless array of Elvis movies provided audiences with a steady stream of staged rock numbers. But none of these had the carefree, natural feel of the Beatles sequences. In addition, only the Beatles’ music segments can today stand alone from the movie itself when shown on, say, MTV or VH-1. Without knowing it, Lester and the Beatles were creating what many regard as the first music videos. They do compliment the loose narrative of the film, but they also seem as if they could slip in or out of the movie with ease. The freedom expressed in the fire “escape” episode, with “Can’t Buy Me Love,” the tune of choice, is probably the best sequence. Not only does it capture the youth freedom theme and the clash between the older and younger generations — the gentleman’s reprimand of “this is private property” — but it is the most original stylistic segment, certainly on par with much of what is created in both film and music video today. The second “Can’t Buy Me Love” sequence also stands out along with the intimacy of the “I Should Have Known Better” number, the simple beauty of “And I Love Her” and the wild abandon of the “A Hard Day’s Night” opening and closing. Another reason for the film’s success was the Beatles’ personalities, and Lester and Owen’s ability to bring it to the screen. From their earliest press conferences, it was clear the boys had intelligent, witty personas that would endear them to their audience. The lines they spouted at actual press conferences bear a striking resemblance to the movie script itself: ``` ``` ``` “There’s some doubt you’re cancelling?” “No, we need money first.” ``` ``` “Which one of you is bald?” “We’re all bald... We’re deaf and dumb too.” ``` ``` “Are you going to get a haircut at all?” “We had one yesterday,” George answers. ``` ``` “Is it true you’re just another Elvis?” “It’s not true, it’s not true,” says Ringo as he imitates an Elvis hip thrust. ``` ``` “How did you find America?” “Turned left at Greenland.” ``` ``` “Has success changed your life?” Deadpan and monotone: “Yes.” ``` ``` “What would you call that haircut you’re wearing?” “Arthur.” ``` ``` “Are you a mod or a rocker?” “No, I’m a mocker.” ``` It’s not so obvious that the first four lines are from actual press conferences and the latter four from the film. Owen’s script was just that well thought out. And, of course, ad libs and spontaneous comedy did not hurt either, such as John’s “Rule, Brittannia” bathtub scene. The Marx Brothers comparison seems reasonable when the boys’ elderly train companion spouts, “I shall call the guard,” and Paul responds a la Groucho, “Ah, but what; they don’t take kindly to insults, you know.” No one could carry off that oddball humor in the 1930s like the Marx Brothers, and the Beatles seemed to have captured some of that magic in their film debut. The third element of *A Hard Day’s Night* and its impact that deserves attention is the social system the movie reflects. The class structure in Britain in the early 1960s appeared more flexible than ever, and the youth culture was promoting a new freedom, with the Beatles at the helm. And at no other time did the Beatles seem as carefree as in this film. That aura fascinated the American public, in addition to the strange new British culture that few American teenagers were familiar with. But that mystique did not last long. Even *Help!* , a year later, seems to find the group more confiined, more a prisoner of their predicament. A comparison of the two title songs shows how the first film captures the group’s, and the period’s, innocence more successfully than their 1965 movie project. “And now these days are gone,… I’m not so self-assured,” John sings in ‘65. But the group did appear self-assured in 1964, enough to turn the tension between generations — the old men on the train and in the field — into comedy and send up the typical musical genre while they were at it, John’s “Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s do the show right here. Yeah!” being a perfect example of the latter. [![HDNstrip3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip3-74x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HDNstrip3.jpg)The final legacy of *A Hard Day’s Night* and even Lester himself will be that they were part of the greater Beatles legacy, the event that reflected and shaped the ‘60s. The 1964 project, which fittingly got its title from an offhand Ringo remark, rather than from any formal screenwriter’s meeting, was the first in a chain of five. *Help!*, another Lester project, showcased the building mayhem in the group’s life and their inability to escape. Taking it without any larger symbolic meaning, which is fine, especially for such a crazy British comedy, it is simply another way to present the Beatles to their fans, this time in a more Monty Pythonesque way. *Magical Mystery Tour*, in 1967, captured the psychedelic phase. And if it seems as if it has a thrown-together, as-it-happened feel that surpasses even *A Hard Day’s Night*, it is because it was literally thrown together, with no experienced director looking on. It was the Beatles’ first project after Brian Epstein’s death and the first with no supervision, although Paul was basically in charge. Looking back, the bad reviews were unfortunate, for when seen today in color, as originally intended, it does have some striking musical scenes, ones that continue the Beatles’ tradition of developing music videos. They also released two promotional films the same year, one for “Penny Lane” and another for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” perhaps the first stand-alone music videos when judged by today’s standards. *Yellow Submarine*, from 1968, and *Let it Be*, from 1970, would follow, both strikingly different from their predecessors, the latter being the group’s truest and most painfully honest documentary-style film, winning them an Academy Award. So, *A Hard Day’s Night* is not just a movie: It is a part of this film legacy, which is, in turn, part of the larger legacy of Beatledom. No other musicians have had this type of impact on contemporary culture, whether it be music, fashion or film. And the 1964 collaboration of Lester, Owen and the Fab Four was a crucial part of establishing that impact, and for that reason will continue to be seen as a revolutionary piece of cinema. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day%27s_Night_(film)).* --- ### [The Forgiven](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-forgiven/) **Published:** July 9, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Forgiven**, 2022, 3 stars # Just deserts ## *The Forgiven* forges a Moroccan morality tale [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Forgiven.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Forgiven.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 9, 2022 Similar to Vegas, what happens in Morocco apparently stays in Morocco. But that should be no consolation to David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), an unhappily married couple who, while attending a pretentious house party in the High Atlas Mountains of this North African nation, experience a terrible accident and are forced to confront its repercussions. Their marriage is in the desert, both geographically and metaphorically, and the party – packed with vacuous celebrants and temptations to cheat on one’s spouse – is not exactly the therapy the Henningers need. He’s a doctor whose practice is in peril after a missed diagnosis that will lead to a patient’s death, and she’s a children’s book author who dislikes children and hasn’t written anything in eight years. She’s been forgotten by today’s “feckless” youth, she complains. They are primed for a moral reckoning. They get one when, on the long drive to the party, their car strikes a boy in the road. “I hate to say it, but the kid is a nobody,” David says, seemingly dismissing his responsibility. “He’s from a village far away, and nobody knows who he is.” Fiennes seems to be genetically programmed to play these types of bitingly nasty narcissists who might or might not experience a redemptive character arc. And he portrays this one with aplomb – and a plum, as he and the other party guests are constantly eating Moroccan delicacies. Cinematographer Larry Smith’s camera, at least briefly, even turns *The Forgiven* into a food film, before things take a darker turn. But even when events turn grim, the grieved individuals bond over fruit, which could carry a religious metaphor if you’re prone to overanalyze. Chastain is one of her generation’s finest actresses but, unlike Fiennes, sometimes seems a bit lost here, appearing – except for her smoldering sexuality – to phone it in until the climax. Little chemistry exists between the lead actors, leading this critic to wonder how Rachel Weisz, for instance, might have handled the role. (The two have been in three films together and are nearer in age than Fiennes and Chastain.) But perhaps a sense of disengagement and vapidity is what was intended for Chastain. Indeed, even Jo herself seems to recognize her emptiness, remarking to a man she meets at the party (Christopher Abbott), “It’s good to know that there are other useless people in this world besides me.” The meat of writer-director John Michael McDonagh’s drama is not the relationship between David and Jo but the one between David and those related to the accident victim. That part of the film also produces the two most interesting performances, from Moroccan actors Ismael Kanater and Saïd Taghmaoui. Conversely, Matt Smith and Caleb Landry Jones, who play the party hosts, fall mostly flat, as do most of the scenes at the soiree, as McDonagh seems unable to successfully juxtapose the party’s privileged frivolity with the seriousness of the situation in which David finds himself. McDonagh, who based his script on the novel by Lawrence Osborne, brilliantly tackled tough issues in *Calvary* (2014) but can never get the tonal balance quite right in this one. Despite that shortcoming and the fact that the movie is just plain unpleasant for much of its two hours, *The Forgiven* – unlike its main characters – never completely loses it way. Indeed, the suspense, moral underpinnings and cultural commentary keep the story on an interesting path. Most importantly, in the back of my mind for most of the film (as should always be the case in such pictures) was the unrelenting refrain: “What would I do in this situation?” The fact that I have no clear answer is the best compliment I can pay McDonagh’s movie. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *As of July 1,* The Forgiven *is in limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada and is scheduled for VOD release on July 15. For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3696180/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgiven_(2021_film)).* --- ### [The decline & fall of home entertainment](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-decline-and-fall-of-home-entertainment/) **Published:** June 23, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Netflix discs are slowing dying [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Netflix-DVD.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 23, 2022 I remember a time, about a decade ago, when Netflix discs were king. I could watch a DVD or Blu-ray on a Monday night and drop it in the mail on Tuesday morning. Then the Netflix shipping facility in my hometown of Orlando would receive it on Wednesday morning, process it immediately and ship me another disc that same day. I would receive it on Thursday, which represented a lightning-fast, two-day turnaround. That means that, with the two-disc plan, I almost always had a disc at home ready to watch. But then the streaming revolution came. People, in their rush to embrace the latest thing, forgot the superiority of the Netflix discs library, which, at its height, contained more than 100,000 titles. It was heaven for cinephiles and a boon to film critics like myself, who often have to research older films before reviewing new ones. The irony is that streaming (Netflix and other companies) can exist quite successfully alongside Netflix discs and the few remaining brick-and-mortar rental stores. Indeed, I’ve had both the Netflix streaming and disc plans for years. (Netflix streaming, though, even now still contains only about one-tenth of the titles offered by Netflix discs, further proving the value of the discs plan.) But the end of Netflix discs is coming. You can feel it. The first nail in the coffin, at least for Florida customers, was recently hammered when the Orlando discs facility closed. This means my discs are now shipped to and from Duluth, Georgia. That two-day turnaround has now grown to four days minimum and often balloons to six thanks to increasingly poor service by USPS. Regrettably, the Netflix discs library itself, once the treasure of American home entertainment, is shrinking. Titles in my queue are often bumped down into the “saved” category or disappear entirely. For a better discussion of this decline, see [Jim Vorel’s excellent article in *Paste Magazine*](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/netflix-dvd-service-plan-subscribers-discontinued-closing/). In it, Vorel calls the Netflix discs library a “lost treasure we’ll never seen again.” He’s right. And the decline he describes has only continued since he wrote his article in March 2021. It didn’t have to be this way. The industry didn’t have to splinter into dozens of streaming services offering a fraction of what Netflix discs once offered. (And with theatrical-release windows either shrinking or disappearing entirely, multiple streaming accounts are increasingly becoming the only option for consumers.) Like countless other treasures from the past, Netflix discs is experiencing its inevitable decline and fall – all because we the people made or were forced into the wrong choices and Netflix either wasn’t willing or wasn’t able to preserve the status quo. In the meantime, you’ll find me sitting on my front porch, disc-less, yelling “get off my lawn.” *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Brigsby Bear](https://www.meiermovies.com/brigsby-bear/) **Published:** August 19, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Brigsby Bear**, 2017, 4 stars # Believe in *Brigsby Bear* ## Fantastical dramedy is an odd, magical ride [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Brigsby-Bear.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Brigsby-Bear.jpg)Image copyright 3311 Productions / YL Pictures From [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/fantastical-dramedy-brigsby-bear-is-an-odd-magical-ride/Content?oid=4995441), August 16, 2017 In a post-apocalyptic world, 25-year-old James lives with his dad and mom in an underground bunker. Though his existence is an odd one, he seemingly does not lack for love or support. “We have dreams and imaginations to help us sustain,” James’s father tells him. “And no one can take that away from you, ever.” James fills most of his time obsessing over Brigsby Bear, a character in a low-budget, sci-fi, educational TV show. The program is the only one James is allowed to watch and, seemingly, the only one in existence. Bear is part teacher, part space traveler, part real-life companion, not just to James but to the “friends” James makes in his Brigsby-themed internet chat rooms. With apologies to Aldous Huxley, it’s a Bear New World. “Brigsby is the greatest hero,” James explains, “and when everything is against him, he never gives up, even if it’s hopeless. He’s my whole life.” Trouble is, none of this is real, as James finds out in the film’s first act. The rest of the movie is not just a journey of discovery for him and for us, but a study in perceived reality. It’s a reminder that we can make our own existence and assign it meaning. Admittedly, the film’s pacing isn’t perfect and its plot stretches believability to the breaking point, but only when judged as a conventional drama, which it isn’t. Instead, it’s part fantasy, part dramedy, part coming-of-age tale and part pop-culture commentary, with elements of *Room*, *Truman Show* and even *Being There.* With this strange combination of influences, *Bear* builds a world – and a character – that is strangely relatable, despite its surreal silliness. As James, Kyle Mooney (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Costello) delivers an emotionally resonant performance. His transition from fake to real world seems a tad too easy, even too graceful, in the vein of Chauncey Gardner, but it somehow fits the movie’s sensibility. As James’s “fake” parents, Mark Hamill and Jane Adams are effective, with the former being a wise, even meta-theatrical choice, considering the *Star Wars*-level devotion lavished upon Brigsby. While some of the supporting performances could be sharper, Greg Kinnear (as a police officer who helps James adapt to his new world) and Claire Danes (as a therapist) are effective. My favorite among the supporting cast, though, is Kate Lyn Sheil (*House of Cards*, *Buster’s Mal Heart*), who plays – well, you’ll just have to wait and see. Structurally, *Bear* gets a bit mangy at the midpoint but quickly finds its direction again and builds to a satisfyingly original, even slightly profound conclusion. Nothing about director Dave McCary’s film seems shopworn or constructed on a Hollywood assembly line. *Bear* is instead crafted with care and stuffed with love. *© 2017 Detroit Metro Times* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Wendy](https://www.meiermovies.com/wendy/) **Published:** February 29, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Wendy**, 2020, 2 stars # The film that wouldn’t grow up ## *Wendy* is both childlike and childish [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Wendy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Wendy.jpg)Image copyright Searchlight Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/with-childlike-and-childish-wendy-benh-zeitlin-hits-a-sophomore-slump/Content?oid=26964181) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/with-childlike-and-childish-wendy-benh-zeitlin-hits-a-sophomore-slump/Content?oid=24068779), March 11, 2020 Benh Zeitlin is the type of kid I wish I had grown up with, as the writer-director has a way of fashioning fantasy from ordinary childhoods. He did it in 2012 with *Beasts of the Southern Wild*, and he’s done it again with *Wendy*, an ambitious reinterpretation of J.M. Barrie’s *Peter Pan*. But while *Beasts* mixed Southern mythology, environmental allegories and coming-of-age storytelling into a magical cinematic gumbo, *Wendy*’s similar ingredients never congeal, leaving us with a visually intriguing but tiresome tale that disappoints its fantastical premise. Wendy Darling (newcomer Devin France) is a young girl growing up above a café adjacent to train tracks in rural Louisiana. Each day, while her mom (Shay Walker) slings hash for customers, she and her twin brothers (Gage and Gavin Naquin) watch the locomotives carry passengers to distant lands they will never see. “Your life will go by,” Wendy fears, “and nothing will ever happen.” But one day something does happen, and then some: A mysterious lad named, of course, Peter (Yashua Mack) whisks Wendy and her brothers away to Zeitlin’s version of Neverland. (It is, in reality, Montserrat, and Zeitlin takes full advantage of the Caribbean territory’s beauty.) Once there, the siblings discover a land where children never age – unless they lose someone they love. If that tragedy befalls them, they are cast off to a bleak part of the island, seemingly at war with their lost innocence and a mysterious creature referred to in vague metaphorical terms as “mother.” Viewed literally, the animal is an aquatic version of the aurochs from *Beasts.* But Zeitlin undoubtedly views mother as the heart of his kingdom, something akin to a soul. Yet, as with all elements of the movie, this metaphor is not explored with enough narrative clarity or power. As with *Beasts*, Zeitlin’s new film is packed with life lessons, the most prominent being Wendy’s call to “Remember the voice in your head, the one that said, ‘Sneak away into the night.’” But she also tells us to “never slow down, never think twice.” And, regrettably, that’s just what the film itself does, as its nausea-inducing camera combines with the cacophonous sound design to overwhelm the story’s inherent intelligence. In *Beasts*, similar themes interacted naturally and pleasingly, but in *Wendy* they too often resemble a conductor-less orchestra. And with an undeveloped and unengaging script that too often relies on collections of quotes and inane utterances of “what the hell!” instead of mature dialogue, *Wendy* is a noble but largely wasted effort. (But look for big things from little France in the future.) It took Zeitlin eight years to release this follow-up to *Beasts*, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought about this film every second of those eight years. But just like Terry Gilliam and *The Man Who Killed Don Quixote*, Zeitlin appears to have gotten lost in his passion project. Let’s hope this Peter Pan-like director can reclaim his pixie dust in time for his third film. *© 2020 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Downton Abbey: A New Era](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey-a-new-era/) **Published:** May 16, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Downton Abbey: A New Era**, 2022, 2 ½ stars # False worship at the *Abbey* ## Sequel is enjoyable but compromises show’s soul [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Downton-Abbey-A-New-Era.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Downton-Abbey-A-New-Era.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 16, 2022 In season five, episode six of the original *Downton Abbey* television show, the Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith, remarks to her stuffy lady’s maid, Denker, “I hope your standards are not so high as to prevent you from remaining in my employment.” Julian Fellowes (*Downton*’s creator, producer and writer) might well have said the same to himself and his collaborators when assembling the latest movie, as *Downton Abbey: A New Era*, though enjoyable, represents a precipitous drop in quality from the TV show, especially seasons one and two. It’s such a steep drop – thanks to poor pacing, dialed-in performances and contrived, unbelievable and ultimately pointless plot twists – that it left this hardcore *Downton* fan hoping that *New Era* is the final chapter in the Crawley story. That is unlikely, as the plot – after the ridiculous red herrings are cast aside – seems designed for another sequel. Indeed, the film represents not so much a “new era” at Downton as the logical progression of the Crawley family. There’s a marriage, a birth and a death. But as momentous as that latter event is, it’s not surprising, as it was all but promised toward the end of the previous film. And because we’ve had so much time to mentally prepare, once it arrives, it’s not the tearjerker we expected. That lack of emotion, at least on the part of this reviewer, might be partially explained by the aforementioned herrings, which include a weird trip to the French Riviera, a health scare and a chance at an extramarital affair, which all seem too contrived – even by the standards of the sometimes soapy plots of season four and five of the original show. Further explanation might be found in Fellowes’ hurried and lackluster script, which apparently had to be reworked to explain the absence of Mary’s husband, played by Matthew Goode, who was too busy filming *The Offer* to appear in *New Era.* Like the first movie (2019), this is not Fellowes’ finest work and suggests again that he is a better writer for episodic television than feature films. And the screenplay’s shortcomings are exacerbated by director Simon Curtis, who is new to *Downton* and seems to lack the proper sensibility. This leaves the audience not with a grand cinematic version of the beloved show but, as was the case with the slightly better (or at least more believable) first movie, simply another (longer) episode of the show, and only an average one at that. The main subplot of the new film involves British Lion Films using Downton Abbey as a shooting location for its new motion picture. Initially hesitant, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) acquiesces because he needs the money – a subplot within the subplot that, along with the changing status of England’s country estates between the wars, should have been explored more deeply if the film wanted to live up to its title. (Political changes in both England and on the continent go oddly unexplored too.) Nevertheless, the movie within a movie is fascinating, not just because it offers a glimpse of the film industry as it transitioned from silent to sound, but because the real Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle, where the show and films were shot) was faced with a similar decision when approached by Fellowes and Carnival Films. This metatheatrical subplot also facilitates a bit of true happiness (finally) for Mr. *Molesley (Kevin Doyle)* and Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), upping the film’s joy quotient inexorably. And Laura Haddock, as the female star of the film within the film, is an unexpected delight. “Nothing in life is sure,” Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nichol) says when she learns of the Titanic sinking in the show’s first episode, back in 2010. The same is true for *Downton Abbey* itself, especially in regards to the quality of the two feature films. But, like the Crawleys, the new movie has its strengths and weakness, its ups and downs – no class-structure pun intended. And you must decide, as did Denker, whether to adjust your own standards. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11703710/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey:_A_New_Era). And for my review of the first film, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey/ "Downton Abbey").* --- ### [Downton Abbey](https://www.meiermovies.com/downton-abbey/) **Published:** September 19, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Downton Abbey**, 2019, 3 stars # *Downton* redux ### Cinematic adaptation is merely acceptable [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Downton-Abbey.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Downton-Abbey.jpg)Image copyright Carnival Film / Focus Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/downton-abbey-cinematic-adaptation-is-merely-acceptable/Content?oid=26016133), September 18, 2019 *Downton Abbey* is arguably the best episodic television drama in history. If screen entertainment were an exact science, that would make the new film version the greatest movie ever. It would also make the 2012 cinematic adaptation of *Les Miserables* a masterpiece. And we all know how that turned out. Alas, cinema is not a science but an unpredictable art. And great TV shows, like brilliant stage musicals, don’t always make wonderful films. That’s not to say the new *Downton Abbey* movie, written by series creator Julian Fellowes and helmed by four-time series-episode director Michael Engler, is either wholly disappointing or unnecessary. It’s neither. It’s simply a charming, if contrived, extra narrative chapter that will please most loyalists but mean little to viewers unfamiliar with the upstairs-downstairs world of the Crawley family and those who serve them. From 2010 to 2015, the series bewitched millions on both sides of the Atlantic – on ITV in England and PBS in America. Employing rich characterizations, sumptuous production values and engaging storytelling, it touched the hearts of both native Britons and Anglophiles everywhere. For many fans, it transcended television to embody Britain itself or, more precisely, a Britain remembered now only by centenarians. The good news is the film conjures many of the same feelings as the show. And considering it has been more than three years since we’ve been through the doors of Downton, merely being back will be enough for some audience members. But the movie could have been more than an extension of the series, and a rather forced one, at that. It could have added depth to the characters, challenged our notions of the post-Edwardian period and produced that same aesthetic giddiness we experienced in season one. It could also have given those unfamiliar with the TV show a reason to watch. It has done none of this. The plot revolves around a visit by King George V and Queen Mary. It’s the summer of 1927 (two years after the events of season six), and their majesties plan to pay their respects to the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), the Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) and the rest of the family while on a tour of Yorkshire. Predictably, this throws the household into a tizzy, necessitating the Herculean efforts of the staff and the return of Charles Carson (Jim Carter), the former butler. But the royal pop-in is just pretext. The real narrative meal – and there are many, frenetic courses – concerns the goings-on (mostly romantic) of the beloved characters, especially Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier) and Tom Branson (Allen Leech), whose lives were left somewhat unfulfilled at the end of the series. But almost all the other characters – including new ones – get subplots of their own as well, courtesy of Fellowes’ prodigious brain. It’s a mind that served him well in the series but apparently isn’t quite as well suited to the big screen, despite previous success with *The Young Victoria* and *Gosford Park*. When hearing of the royal visit, the cook, Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), remarks, “He’s the king of England. There’s only one of them.” Similarly, there’s only one Downton Abbey, and despite the tube-to-cinema stumbles, it’s a pleasure to be invited into its world once again. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Campaign](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-campaign/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Campaign**, 2012, 1 ¼ stars # A losing *Campaign* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Campaign.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Campaign.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-campaign/Content?oid=2246776), August 9, 2012 Political campaigns and movies both start with the best intentions. But as candidacies implode morally, films do so aesthetically. Indeed, Will Ferrell’s latest comedy, *The Campaign*, simply runs out of good ideas and, like a politician behind in the polls, starts throwing anything and everything at the voters, um, audience to see what sticks. Not much does. Jay Roach (*Meet the Parents,* *Austin Powers* films) directs, so one shouldn’t expect *Wag the Dog* or *Dave*, but some of the cleverness and honesty of Roach’s *Dinner for Schmucks* – arguably his best offering – would be nice. What we get instead are penis and fart jokes, heavy-handed and offensive sight gags, sexual shenanigans and a frenetic pace that doesn’t give the few genuinely funny moments time to breathe. Ferrell is incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Cam Brady. Despite his status as an incompetent slimeball, he is running unopposed for reelection in his tiny North Carolina district. After his popularity slips, two powerful CEOs (a miscast Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow) concoct a scheme to draft a Republican challenger and force him to later turn control of the district over to China – cue the xenophobia – in order to exploit cheap labor. That challenger is Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), an unknown, slightly goofy local whose only claim to fame is running the local tourist bureau. Why the CEOs spend millions morphing Huggins into a slick politician, with the assistance of campaign manager Tim Wattley (Dylan McDermott) and Huggins’ famous father (Brian Cox), instead of finding a good candidate in the first place remains mostly unanswered. Yes, the believability is bolstered by the endless cameos by the likes of Chris Matthews, Wolf Blitzer and Bill Maher, whose reputations are now slightly soiled, but Roach and writer Shawn Harwell (*Eastbound and Down*) don’t seem to care about plausibility as long as the setup produces shtick between Ferrell and Galifianakis. And that shtick is endless, some chuckle-worthy, some biting, but most either stupid or in patently poor taste. Remember the baby-punching you’ve been seeing in the trailers, with the baby thankfully just off screen? Well, here’s a spoiler alert: Ferrell is shown actually punching the (digitized) baby – twice! Ferrell punches a dog too (Uggie from *The Artist*, no less). And on a drunken binge, he then proceeds to crash a stolen police car into a cow. Yes, if you see just one political satire with child and animal abuse this year … *The Campaign* does have a point to make: Politics has degenerated so far that virtually anything is possible. But in making that point, the movie becomes even dumber than the system it’s lampooning. And when it departs from farce and tries to show sweetness and morality, it misses the mark even more, despite the solid performance of Galifianakis, who again proves he’s far funnier than the overrated Ferrell. Sadly, even Galifianakis becomes the celluloid equivalent of the butterfly ballot by the end of the mercifully brief 85-minute runtime. Can we get Jimmy Stewart to filibuster this film? *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790886/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Campaign_(film)).* --- ### [Marietta 'Gone with the Wind' Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/marietta-gone-with-the-wind-museum/) **Published:** May 13, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Marietta *Gone with the Wind* Museum, housed in historic Brumby Hall, contains the collection of Christopher Sullivan, which features countless items related to the 1939 film, which is still the highest-grossing movie of all time, both domestic and international, when adjusted for inflation. Items in the collection include two original costumes (the ones in cases) and several replicas (outside the cases), cast photos and autographs, memos, historical and cinematic tidbits, props, scripts and conceptual artwork, plus a gift shop. These photos offer a glimpse of what you will see at the museum. (The two letters were written by Oscar Polk (Pork) and Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) for the film’s defense of its racial representations and characterizations.) For more information about the museum, visit [GWTWMarietta.com](https://www.gwtwmarietta.com/). In the Civil War era, Brumby Hall stood adjacent to the [Georgia Military Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Military_Institute), which was burned to the ground by the Union Army and never rebuilt. Interestingly, the Hilton Marietta Hotel and Conference Center, built in a historic plantation style, now stands in that location, mimicking the look and layout of the old Institute. Cinematic history meets the harsh, difficult reality of actual history across the street at the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, which is shown in the last four photos. The “Butler” grave, of course, has no relationship to Rhett. Or does it? For more history — both real and cinematic — visit nearby Marietta town square and discover how the town played a central role in the real story behind Buster Keaton’s *The General*. And for photos of the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum in nearby Atlanta, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/margaret-mitchell-house-gwtw-museum/). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. Click to enlarge the photos.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-8-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-8-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-9-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-9-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-10-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-10-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-11-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-11-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-12-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-12-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-13-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-13-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-14-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-14-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-15-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-15-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-16-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-16-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-17-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-17-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-18-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-18-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-19-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GWTW-Museum-19-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Curfew'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-curfew/) **Published:** March 31, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:**  **March 31, 2020** *Curfew* (2012), written and directed by Shawn Christensen, won the Oscar for live-action short at the 85th Academy Awards. In 2014, Christensen adapted the story into a feature, *Before I Disappear*, which never quite lived up to expectations. But that’s more of a compliment of the short than an insult of the feature, as *Curfew* is one of the most memorable short dramedies of all time. For more on the film, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curfew_(2012_film)). --- ### [Alfred Hitchcock Presents](https://www.meiermovies.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents/) **Published:** April 28, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Alfred Hitchcock Presents / The Alfred Hitchcock Hour** TV series, 1955-1965, 4 stars # Ranking Hitch ## [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Alfred-Hitchcock-Presents.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Alfred-Hitchcock-Presents.jpg)The top 80 episodes Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 28, 2022 Goood eeeveeening. And welcome to my list of the best 80 episodes of one of the most revered shows in the history of television, *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and its successor, *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*. Why 80? With 268 episodes of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and another 93 of *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour*, the anthology show (which originally aired on CBS in 1955 and then alternated between CBS and NBC until its run ended in 1965) simply doesn’t lend itself to a neat and tidy top 25, or even 50. Eighty seems about right, especially considering that’s the age at which the Master of Suspense departed this realm, in, fittingly, 1980. Still, that doesn’t mean I haven’t taken a crack at narrowing the 80 down to a top 10. Indeed, episodes in **bold** are lucky enough to gain that distinction. Further, episodes in **BOLD AND ALL CAPS** are in the top five. And the episode in **BOLD, ALL CAPS AND RED** is my pick for the best episode ever. I have avoided a discussion of the specific episodes and have instead linked each to its IMDB article. ([The Hitchcock Zone](https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents) is also a great source.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/The-Glass-Eye.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/The-Glass-Eye.jpg)“The Glass Eye” (1957), directed by Robert Stevens, is one of the most frightening episodes and the only one to win an Emmy. Picking the best director is easy. It’s isn’t Hitch himself, though he does land four in my top 80, and one in the top 10. (He created and produced the show while serving as its host.) Instead, that honor goes to Robert Stevens, with a whopping 16 episodes in my top 80. John Brahm has six, though he’s perhaps more famous as the director of 12 *Twilight Zone* episodes, including my favorite, “Judgment Night,” from 1959. He also directed a couple of episodes of *The Outer Limits*, the third part of the holy trinity of suspense/mystery shows from the golden age of television. (Interestingly, even after *The Twilight Zone* premiered in 1959, *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* mostly avoided the supernatural, with fewer than 10 episodes engaging in the metaphysical or science-fiction-based alternate realities.) Paul Henreid also has six episodes on the list. Joseph M. Newman lands five, including my pick for #1. (Scroll down to discover that gem.) Herschel Daugherty has five, too. Norman Lloyd gets four, but his greater contribution to the show was his work as associate producer, not to mention some fine performances. Arthur Hiller and Alan Crosland Jr. also have four. Alf Kjellin has three. And though he’s trailing the pack with just two, Robert Altman’s name is an eye-catcher. For a complete breakdown of all 361 episodes’ directors, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents), which also has great analysis about the show in general. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/An-Unlocked-Window.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/An-Unlocked-Window.jpg)“An Unlocked Window” (1965), which used the *Psycho* house as its exterior setting, was scored by *Psycho*‘s composer, Bernard Herrmann (as were many other episodes), and directed by Joseph M. Newman. One of the joys of watching the show today is seeing famous actors near the beginning of their careers (Robert Redford, Steven McQueen, Ed Asner, John Cassavetes, Bruce Dern, Walter Matthau, Gena Rowlands, Cloris Leachman and Katharine Ross, to name just a few) and occasionally near the end (Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Everett Sloane, John Williams and Jane Darwell). Then there were a few giants whom Hitch managed to snag in their prime, such as James Mason and Peter Falk. Selecting which actors to honor is difficult, but if you scroll to the bottom of this page, you will see my best attempt at presenting the four traditional awards, plus many honorable mentions. Lists are well and good, but you’re probably wondering how you can watch these episodes. With the show rarely seen on TV anymore, that can get tricky. Unfortunately, tracking down high-quality versions — or any watchable versions, as evidenced by the two years it took me to watch all these episodes — is difficult. As I was writing this article, all episodes were available on DVD, but you might have to spend more time Googling than you’re accustomed to. Be careful to pick the correct region, as region two (Europe) is often easier to find than region one (North America). And be aware that the quality of *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* DVDs might be far worse than those for *Alfred Hitchcock Presents*. (The ones I found seemed to be bootlegs, ripped off cable television in the 1980s.) You might even be able find some on YouTube and other websites and/or streaming services, but, again, beware poor quality. (Netflix offers seasons one and two on discs but not streaming.) I hope this article allows you appreciate anew the show that, for an entire decade, brought a unique combination of horror, suspense, mystery, intrigue and (mostly) high-quality storytelling into American living rooms, all lovingly bookended by its legendary host’s macabre humor. Episodes are listed below in chronological order. Enjoy! And get ready to sleep with the lights on for a while. I leave you with the full version of *Funeral March of a Marionette*, the 1872 tune by Charles Gounod that Hitchcock selected as his show’s theme music. [Listen here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pOXhAF7L0I). (Somehow this version is even creepier than Hitch’s.) **Season 1** [The Long Shot](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508319/) (E9, 11/27/55) [The Case of Mr. Pelham](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508268/) (E10, 12/4/55) [Shopping for Death](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508245/) (E18, 1/29/56) [Help Wanted](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508171/) (E27, 4/1/56) **[PORTRAIT OF JOCEYLN](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508230/)** (E28, 4/8/56) [The Gentleman from America](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508295/) (E31, 4/29/56) **Season 2** [DeMortuis](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508147/) (E3, 10/14/56) [Crack of Doom](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508144/) (E9, 11/25/56) [The Manacled](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508323/) (E18, 1/27/57) [A Bottle of Wine](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508103/) (E19, 2/3/57) [The Cream of the Jest](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508273/) (E24, 3/10/57) [The Hands of Mr. Ottermole](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508299/) (E32, 5/5/57) **Season 3** **[THE GLASS EYE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508296/)** (E1, 10/6/57) [Heart of Gold](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508170/) (E4, 10/27/57) [The Young One](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508354/) (E9, 12/1/57) [Together](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508357/) (E15, 1/12/58) [The Return of the Hero](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508338/) (E22, 3/2/58) [The Right Kind of House](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508339/) (E23, 3/9/58) [Lamb to the Slaughter](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508189/) (E28, 4/13/58) [The Crocodile Case](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508275/) (E34, 5/25/58) [Little White Frock](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508192/) (E39, 6/29/58) **Season 4** [Poison](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508229/) (E1, 10/5/58) [The Jokester](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508308/) (E3, 10/19/58) [The Crooked Road](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508276/) (E4, 10/26/58) [Design for Loving](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508152/) (E6, 11/9/58) [A Man with a Problem](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508197/) (E7, 11/16/58) [Tea Time](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508254/) (E10, 12/14/58) [The Morning of the Bride](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508327/) (E19, 2/15/59) [**THE WAXWORK**](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508351/) (E27, 4/12/59) **[Banquo’s Chair](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508132/)** (E29, 5/3/59) [A True Account](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508114/) (E34, 6/7/59) **Season 5** [Dry Run](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508156/) (E7, 11/8/59) [Road Hog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508237/) (E11, 12/6/59) [Specialty of the House](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508249/) (E12, 12/13/59) [The Man from the South](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508196/) (E15, 1/3/60) [Across the Threshold](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508117/) (E22, 2/28/60) [Insomnia](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508182/) (E30, 5/8/60) [One Grave Too Many](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508221/) (E32, 5/22/60) [Letter of Credit ](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508190/) (E36, 6/19/60) **Season 6** [Pen Pal](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508228/) (E6, 11/1/60) [The Changing Heart](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508269/) (E14, 1/3/61) [The Last Escape](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508314/) (E17, 1/31/61) [The Landlady](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508312/) (E19, 2/21/61) [Incident in a Small Jail](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508181/) (E23, 3/21/61) [The Gloating Place](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508297/) (E31, 5/16/61) [Coming Home](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508139/) (E35, 6/13/61) **Season 7** [Cop for a Day](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508142/) (E4, 10/31/61) [The Right Kind of Medicine](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508340/) (E11, 12/19/61) [The Case of MJH](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508267/) (E16, 1/23/62) [The Kerry Blue](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508309/) (E28, 4/17/62) [The Matched Pearl](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508324/) (E29, 4/24/62) [Where Beauty Lies](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508365/) (E38, 6/26/62) [The Sorcerer’s Apprentice](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508346/) (E39, unaired) **Hour Season 1** **[Don’t Look Behind You](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394039/)** (E2, 9/27/62) [Night of the Owl](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394070/) (E3, 10/4/62) [Captive Audience](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394026/) (E5, 10/18/62) [Day of Reckoning](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394032/) (E10, 11/22/62) [Bonfire](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394024/) (E13, 12/13/62) [A Tangled Web](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394089/) (E18, 1/25/63) [The Dark Pool](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394031/) (E29, 5/3/63) [Dear Uncle George](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394033/) (E30, 5/10/63) **Hour Season 2** [A Home Away From Home](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394048/) (E1, 9/27/63) [Terror at Northfield](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394092/) (E3, 10/11/63) [Blood Bargain](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394022/) (E5, 10/25/63) [Starring the Defense](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394088/) (E7, 11/15/63) [The Dividing Wall](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394038/) (E9, 12/6/63) [The Magic Shop](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394060/) (E13, 1/10/64) **[The Jar](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394054/)** (E17, 2/14/64) **[Final Escape](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394041/)** (E18, 2/21/64) [Murder Case](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394066/) (E19, 3/6/64) [Beast in View](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394017/) (E21, 3/20/64) [Who Needs an Enemy?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394104/) (E28, 5/15/64) [The Second Verdict](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394083/) (E30, 5/29/64) **Hour Season 3** [The Life Work of Juan Diaz](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394056/) (E4, 10/26/64) **[SEE THE MONKEY DANCE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394085/)** (E5, 11/9/64) **[Consider Her Ways](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394029/)** (E11, 12/28/64) [Final Performance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394042/) (E14, 1/18/65) **[AN UNLOCKED WINDOW](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394099/)** (E17, 2/15/65) [Power of Attorney](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394079/) (E24, 4/5/64) [The Second Wife](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394084/) (E27, 4/26/65) **Best Actor:** T.C. Jones, **[AN UNLOCKED WINDOW](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394099/)** (HS 3, E 17) Honorable Mentions (in chronological order): Claude Rains, [The Cream of the Jest](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508273/) (S2, E24) Crahan Denton, [Coming Home](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508139/) (S6, E35) Robert Redford, [The Right Kind of Medicine](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508340/) (S7, E11) Jeffrey Hunter, **[Don’t Look Behind You](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394039/)** (HS1, E2) Brian Keith, [Night of the Owl](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394070/) (HS1, E3) James Mason, [Captive Audience](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394026/) (HS1, E5) Peter Falk, [Bonfire](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394024/) (HS1, E13) Bruce Dern, [Night Caller](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394068/) (HS2, E15) John Cassavetes, [Murder Case](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394066/) (HS2, E19) Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., **[SEE THE MONKEY DANCE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394085/)** (HS3, E5) Roddy McDowall, **[SEE THE MONKEY DANCE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394085/)** (HS3, E5) **Best Actress:** Jo Van Fleet, [Shopping for Death](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508245/) (S 1, E 18) Honorable Mentions: Jessica Tandy, **[THE GLASS EYE](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508296/)** (S3, E1) Cloris Leachman, [Where Beauty Lies](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508365/) (S7, E38) Zohra Lampert, [A Tangled Web](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394089/) (HS1, E18) Lois Nettleton, [The Dark Pool](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394031/) (HS1, E29) Diana Hyland, [Beyond the Sea of Death](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394020/) (HS2, E14) Gena Rowlands, [Murder Case](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394066/) (HS2, E19) Joan Hackett, [Beast in View](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394017/) (HS2, E21) Joanna Moore, [Who Needs an Enemy?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394104/) (HS2, E28) Barbara Barrie, **[Consider Her Ways](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394029/)** (HS3, E11) **Best Supporting Actor:** Kenneth Haigh, **[Banquo’s Chair](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508132/)** (S4, E29) Honorable Mentions: John Baragrey, **[PORTRAIT OF JOCEYLN](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508230/)** (S1, E28) Nehemiah Persoff, [Heart of Gold](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508170/) (S3, E4) Everett Sloane, [**THE WAXWORK**](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508351/) (S4, E27) Clu Gulager, [Pen Pal](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508228/) (S6, E6) Barry Morse, [A Tangled Web](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394089/) (HS1, E18) Ed Asner, [To Catch a Butterfly](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394096/) (HS1, E19) Lou Jacobi, [Dear Uncle George](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394033/) (HS1, E30) R.G. Armstrong, [Terror at Northfield](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394092/) (HS2, E3) Frank Gorshin, [The Second Verdict](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394083/) (HS2, E30) **Best Supporting Actress:** Collin Wilcox, **[The Jar](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394054/)** (HS2, E17) Honorable Mentions: Barbara Baxley, [Across the Threshold](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508117/) (S5, E22) Vivian Nathan, [Final Arrangements](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508161/) (S6, E36) Madeleine Sherwood, [Make My Death Bed](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508194/) (S6, E37) Joanna Moore, [Most Likely to Succeed](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508204/) (S7, E31) Madlyn Rhue, [The Dark Pool](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394031/) (HS1, E29) Katharine Ross, [The Dividing Wall](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394038/) (HS2, E9) Louise Latham, **[AN UNLOCKED WINDOW](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394099/)** (HS3, E17) **Best Ensemble Cast:** **[The Jar](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394054/)** (HS2, E17) *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival ends](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/) **Published:** April 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Opera House hosts awards, red-carpet ceremony [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Steve-Guttenberg.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Steve-Guttenberg.jpg)Steve Guttenberg (All photos by Cameron Meier. Click to enlarge.) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/04/23/sarasota-film-festival-concludes-with-awards-and-red-carpet-ceremony), April 23, 2018 The 20th annual Sarasota Film Festival ended over the weekend with an awards presentation and red-carpet ceremony at the Sarasota Opera House, which featured appearances by Penelope Ann Miller, Steve Guttenberg, Virginia Madsen and Rory Kennedy. The last three also participated in Q&A sessions at the Florida Studio Theatre. Following the awards, the audience watched *Above and Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow*, a documentary directed and narrated by Kennedy, the daughter of Senator Robert Kennedy. (If you missed the Discovery Channel/Science Channel film at the festival, it will be available on television and online.) Guttenberg and Madsen received lifetime-achievement awards. While both expressed their gratitude, Guttenberg surprised the audience by requesting that the festival hold his award until he proves himself more worthy by garnering an Oscar nomination. The star of *Cocoon*, *Short Circuit* and *Three Men and a Baby*, Guttenberg was a 1980s pop-culture icon, but I spoke to him about a television movie that, along with *Diner* and *Police Academy*, put him on the cinematic map: *The Day After*. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Rory-Kennedy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Rory-Kennedy.jpg)Rory Kennedy with film critic Joe Neumaier “It was done so well,” Guttenberg told me. “This was a movie about nuclear war and what happened if the bomb dropped. They had like 500 to 1,000 extras almost every day \[in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas\], all in full makeup. … Seeing it every day \[on set\] was an awesome effect, and I started having nightmares every night. … It really had a great effect on everybody ‘cause \[of\] the makeup. When you look at yourself, there was a part where I was affected by all the radiation. My skin was starting to peel off, and my hair was gone. And it was a terrible, terrible experience thinking about what would happen. “The direction was brilliant: Nicholas Meyer,” Guttenberg continued. “And I got to work with the great Jason Robards. I would sit in his room and talk to him. He was THE actor for \[Eugene\] O’Neill. I was so lucky to sit with him. And John Lithgow. I sat with John Lithgow, night after night. I just loved the experience. Just loved it.” But it was business advice from Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn on the set of Ron Howard’s *Cocoon* that Guttenberg said stuck with him just as much as Robards’ creative inspiration. “Save your money,” Tandy and Cronyn told him. Madsen’s career has been even more eclectic than Guttenberg’s and has included roles in David Lynch’s *Dune*, Francis Ford Coppola’s *The Rainmaker*, David O. Russell’s *Joy*, Robert Altman’s *Prairie Home Companion* and Alexander Payne’s *Sideways*, the latter bringing her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Virginia-Madsen-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Virginia-Madsen-3.jpg)Virginia Madsen “Every director is very different in the way that they work,” Madsen told me. “David \[O. Russell\] has a different style from Francis Ford Coppola, and it’s very exciting to be able to go with that, ‘cause I don’t like just being left to my own devices ‘cause, man, I’ll milk it you give me a chance. I’d rather have a strong director. I prefer really working hand in hand because if they are a very good director, then you know what they want. And they’ve gotta figure out how to get it out of you.” Still, Madsen said it was usually the screenplay that sold her on a part. “It’s usually the script first,” she stressed. “I work with a lot of first-time directors ‘cause most of the movies I make are very small, independent films. So I have to look at their material and then be in conversation with them to see how they visualize the film. And since most of the time I’m more experienced, I sort of want to be able to help them to make this come to reality.” At the awards ceremony, *I Am Not a Witch*, directed by Rungano Nyoni, won the jury award for best narrative feature while *Minding the Gap*, helmed by Bing Liu, took home the jury prize for best documentary feature. Among shorts, *Lunch Time*, directed by Alireza Ghasemi, won best narrative; *The Burden*, directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr, took home the prize for animation; and the documentary award went to *Sand Men*, directed by Tal Amiran. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg)Festival favorite and legendary documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple attended SFF again this year. Her new doc, *A Murder in Mansfield*, is a thought-provoking examination of the human aftermath of a horrific crime. Among the jury’s special awards, *Milford Graves: Full Mantis*, directed by Jake Meginsky and Neil Young, won the Independent Visions prize; *The Rider*, directed by Chloé Zhao, took home the Terry Porter Visionary Award; Helena Howard, of *Madeline’s Madeline*, won an award for breakthrough performance; *Notes on an Appearance* was recognized for its visionary storytelling; and *The Sentence* was lauded for its social commentary. Rudy Valdez, director of the latter film, told me his documentary was a decade-long labor of love. “*The Sentence* is about a woman \[Valdez’s sister\] who received a 15-year federal prison sentence for a first-time, non-violent offense, and she received the sentence six years after the crime,” Valdez explained. “During those six years, she rebuilt her life through the encouragement of her family and her friends. She got her life back together, she married a wonderful man, she had two children and was pregnant with her third when the federal government came, tried her, convicted her and sent her away.” Valdez’s debut, *The Sentence* is a powerful argument against mandatory minimum sentencing. If you missed it at the fest, it can be seen on HBO soon. And for all aspiring filmmakers, Valdez offered advice: “Stop calling yourself an aspiring filmmaker. There’s no excuse. Make a film.” For more festival information, visit [www.sarasotafilmfestival.com](http://www.sarasotafilmfestival.com). *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Scroll down for more photos of festival locations, plus the Art Ovation party on Friday night.* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opera-House.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Florida-Studio-Theatre.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Florida-Studio-Theatre.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Art-Ovation-Hotel.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Art-Ovation-Hotel.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Friday-night-party.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Friday-night-party.jpg) --- ### [Jack Has a Plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/jack-has-a-plan/) **Published:** April 14, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jack Has a Plan**, 2022, 3 ½ stars # A *Plan* to die for [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Jack-Has-a-Plan.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Jack-Has-a-Plan.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 14, 2022 “Nothing in this life that I’ve been trying could equal or surpass the art of dying,” George Harrison sang. If dying is indeed an art, Jack Tuller is practically Picasso. Faced with a brain tumor that has been slowly killing him for more than two decades, Jack – a San Francisco musician-turned-realtor – partners with a close friend, director Bradley Berman, to film his life and, he presumes, his death. The latter is made possible by California’s End of Life Option Act, enacted in 2016, which gives terminally ill people access to lethal medication. Though Jack’s specific predicament is unique, the film owes much to many movies that have dealt with dying. Among narrative fiction, *The Fault in Our Stars, Harold and Maude, The Fire Within* and *Me and Earl and the Dying Girl* come to mind. (I even stole that famous Harrison line from my review of the latter film from back in 2015.) But *Plan* owes even more to similarly themed documentaries, such as *Life Itself*, *End of Life*, *How to Die in Oregon* and *Dick Johnson Is Dead.* Now that I’ve bibliographically bored you, let me posit that *Plan* is actually more about living than dying, as Berman’s camera follows Jack off and on over several years, focusing not just on his illness but his quest to discover his own familial identity. And, like Jack, the movie never loses its sense of humor. At just 73 minutes, the film, though tight, does occasionally feel rushed, and it would have benefitted from inclusion of the story of Jack’s dog, who died shortly before Jack – also presumably of a brain tumor. (Berman relayed this remarkable coincidence to the audience at the recent Florida Film Festival, where the film premiered. Disappointingly, that parallel tale ended up on the cutting-room floor.) The greatest takeaway from *Jack Has a Plan* is that only nine other states have legislation similar to California’s. That means that, in a nation built on freedom, perhaps the greatest freedom of all – to decide one’s own fate – is denied to residents of 40 of the 50 states. And the predominant reason seems to be some form or another of religious bullshit. I’m just glad Jack was able to cut through the crap and take control of his own life, and death. And I’m glad Berman’s camera was there to capture it. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14222380/). And to learn about the “Death with Dignity” movement in Florida — the state in which the movie premiered but in which Jack’s “plan” would have been illegal — [go here](https://floridadeathwithdignity.org/).* --- ### [Ali & Ava](https://www.meiermovies.com/ali-ava/) **Published:** March 30, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ali & Ava**, 2021, 2 ¼ stars # Similarities overshadow differences [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Ali-Ava.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Ali-Ava.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 30, 2022 On the surface, Ali and Ava couldn’t be more different. Hailing from different neighborhoods in Bradford (northern England), different cultures, different professions and different ethnicities – British-Pakistani and British-Irish – the two are unlikely partners. But they are both lonely and struggling to keep their families from falling apart. So when a chance encounter and a shared love of music bring them together, they embrace their similarities. Sound familiar? It should, as these against-all-odds relationship stories have been around since *Romeo and Juliet,* in the 1590s. Shakespeare even borrowed his play from *The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet* (1562), by Arthur Brooke, who borrowed it from 15th-century European folklore. *Ali & Ava*’s plot is completely different, of course, but its themes are alike – with the addition of race, as is common these days. So while the performances (Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook) are stellar, there’s not quite enough in Clio Barnard’s script and direction to make *Ali & Ava* unique. And considering the thick Yorkshire dialects and dark cinematography (which looks even darker at Enzian, where dimly lit films sometimes look dimmer), the film can be a tough watch. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11559472/).* --- ### [Juniper](https://www.meiermovies.com/juniper/) **Published:** April 4, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Juniper**, 2021, 3 stars # Gin and tonic [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Juniper.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Juniper.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 4, 2022 Often used as ornamentals, the attractive juniper plant gives gin its lovely flavor. Conversely, it is quite stubborn, thriving in many environments. And its pointy, needle-like foliage can prick you if you’re not careful. For purposes of a cinematic metaphor, Ruth (Charlotte Rampling) is a juniper. The key difference, of course, is that she doesn’t provide the flavor for her gin – she drinks it. A lot of it. So, understandably, her 17-year-old grandson Sam is apprehensive when, upon returning home from boarding school, he learns that the wheelchair-bound, alcoholic curmudgeon is moving in with him and his dad temporarily. He’s already suffered the recent loss of his beloved mother, and he must now endure this crusty, unwanted addition to his already dysfunctional family. The feature directorial debut of New Zealand’s Matthew J. Saville (who also penned the script), *Juniper* is unabashedly derivative, adding little to the familiar stories of a seemingly unapproachable old person warming to the companionship of a youth, and vice versa. *Scent of a Woman* comes to mind, despite the obvious story differences and lack of “hoo-ah” charisma. Still, in the hands of the irresistible Rampling, Ruth would be more than a match for Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade. And competent performances from relative newcomer George Ferrier as Sam, Marton Csokas (*The Last Duel*) as his dad and Edith Poor (*The Power of the Dog*) as Ruth’s nurse turn *Juniper* from a simple domestic drama into a more meaningful meditation on family. The movie also doubles well as a commentary on both aging and coming-of-age. And, as gin has juniper, the film is flavored nicely with Aboriginal Kiwi. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11599576/).* --- ### [The Justice of Bunny King](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-justice-of-bunny-king/) **Published:** April 3, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Justice of Bunny King**, 2021, 4 stars # The dog days of Bunny [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Justice-of-Bunny-King.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Justice-of-Bunny-King.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 3, 2022 Bunny King and Sonny Wortzik are both fundamentally moral people longing for normal lives with their loved ones. But in a world that has chewed them up and spat them out, they’ve gone crazy. Though the characters’ predicaments are different, the comparison between *The Justice of Bunny King* (the debut feature from New Zealand’s Gaysorn Thavat) and Sidney Lumet’s 1975 masterpiece *Dog Day Afternoon* are unavoidable. *Justice* never approaches *Dog*’s quality, but the fact that the films are in the same conversation speaks volumes about Thavat’s movie, which contains one of the best performances of last year (this is officially a 2021 release), by Essie Davis (*The Babadook*), plus memorable support by Thomasin McKenzie (*Jojo Rabbit*, *Last Night in Soho*). “I’ve got this animal rage,” Bunny says, trying to explain her irrational but relatable efforts to see her children, whom the state has taken from her. There’s some Bunny and Sonny in us all. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11041106/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).* --- ### [The Phantom of the Open](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-phantom-of-the-open/) **Published:** April 1, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Phantom of the Open**, 2022, 3 ½ stars # Relying on Rylance [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Phantom-of-the-Open.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Phantom-of-the-Open.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 1, 2022 With three Tonys, three BAFTAs, two Oliviers and an Oscar, England’s Mark Rylance is the greatest actor most Americans seem to still not know. Let’s hope *The Phantom of the Open* – like *Dunkirk*, *Waiting for the Barbarians*, *Ready Player One*, *The BFG*, *The Trial of the Chicago Seven*, *Don’t Look Up* and *Bridge of Spies* (for which he won the Academy Award) – will further acquaint audiences with his astonishing talent. If Rylance were portraying a toad, he would still be revelatory. So imagine how entertaining he is in *Phantom*, in which he plays real-life Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator from northern England who, in 1976, became the “world’s worst golfer” after he shot the most dismal 18 holes in the history of the British Open qualifying round. Craig Roberts’ dramedy (penned by Simon Farnaby and based on Farnaby and Scott Murray’s book) is, at its heart, about perseverance, respect, family and utter lunacy. Like Flitcroft’s putting and driving, *Phantom* sometimes loses its way. But on the whole, and thanks in part to a wonderful performance by Sally Hawkins as Flitcroft’s wife, *Phantom* is the *Ed Wood* of links flicks. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12572040/).* --- ### [Hatching](https://www.meiermovies.com/hatching/) **Published:** March 31, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hatching**, 2022, 2 ½ stars # Bird is the word [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hatching.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hatching.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 31, 2022 This unsettling directorial debut by Finland’s Hanna Bergholm spins the story of Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), a 12-year-old aspiring gymnast pushed to perfection by her overbearing mother (Sophia Heikkilä), who, despite her desire for domestic utopia, is cheating on her cuckold of a husband. In what could be viewed as a metaphorical act of revenge, an outlandish quest for love or simply a supernatural occurrence, Tinja discovers a bird’s egg, cares for it until it hatches and, well, you’ll see. Thanks to animal cruelty, an abundance of vomit, a slow first act and some questionable choices in the third, *Hatching* laid an egg for me – albeit an interesting one. But fans of midnight movies and body horror will enjoy cracking open this psychological, satirical thriller to discover what lies inside. *Hatching* owes a lot to B-movies and David Cronenberg, but, surprisingly, something to Alfred Hitchcock too. It’s *Psycho* meets *The Birds*. And just wait until you see Norman Bates’s mother. I mean sister. I mean bird. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12519030/).* --- ### [King Richard](https://www.meiermovies.com/king-richard/) **Published:** November 18, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **King Richard**, 2021, 3 ½ stars # Will Smith is King (Richard) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/King-Richard.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/King-Richard.jpeg)Image copyright Warner Brothers Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 18, 2021 Consistent, prolonged success (like that achieved by Venus and Serena Williams) often breeds complacency, even boredom, among spectators. We often need Hollywood to remind us how extraordinary and unique such a story is. *King Richard* – for all the flaws of both the film and the man – is that reminder. Though the new biopic by director Reinaldo Marcus Green (*Monsters and Men*) occasionally compromises its integrity by becoming a cheerleader for the tennis phenoms rather than an objective storyteller, there’s no denying its emotional power. There’s also no denying Will Smith’s continually improving position among the pantheon of great actors. Smith plays the eponymous Richard Williams, who, until he engineered the remarkable rise to fame of his daughters, was the king of nothing. “The world never had no respect for Richard Williams,” he tells his daughters. “But they’re gonna respect ya’ll.” Turns out, after Green’s film, the world will also respect Richard, or at least the cinematic version, which received the blessings of the family. (Venus and Serena are executive producers.) Still, Zach Baylin’s script, which tells the story of the sisters’ early years under the tutelage of their father, sticks close to reality, fudging only timelines, private conversations and minor details. Serena gets a bit ignored except for a nice father-daughter moment late in the film, but considering the fact that Venus matured earlier, that’s an understandable choice in order to limit the already bloated 138-minute runtime. Green’s handling of race can sometimes seem heavy-handed, with scenes at the almost all-white tennis clubs appearing more reminiscent of the 1950s than the 1990s. (Have we forgotten Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe so soon?) Nevertheless, I have no reason to doubt their integrity, especially considering the fact that the Williams sisters turned heads not just for their race but for their Compton upbringing. It was Richard, after all, who emphasized the racial barriers his daughters were breaking, referring to them as “ghetto Cinderella: ghettorella.” And it was he who admitted, because of his violent upbringing in Louisiana, “I had a war against the white race.” Some critics speculate that *King Richard* might garner an Oscar nomination for best film. I’m not sure I buy that, as 2021 will certainly end up producing a dozen or more better movies. I’m also not yet cynical enough to believe that Academy voters will crown *King* simply because it “checks all the boxes” on the issue of race. But as far as a nomination for Smith, it’s game, set, match. Also serving aces is Aunjanue Ellis, as Venus and Serena’s mother, Brandy. The young Saniyya Sidney is similarly remarkable as Venus, as are the scenes of her (or her double) playing tennis. (Kudos to veteran cinematographer and Oscar winner Robert Elswit and the film’s special-effects crew.) Though the script overemphasizes one contest early in Venus’s career against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, the match is a thing of beauty. While the film spends too much time on that match, it allocates too little to Richard’s backstory. The filmmakers made the choice to name their movie for him and not the sisters, which some critics have branded an odd move. The finished product, however, strikes a nice balance between Richard and his daughters – almost too nice, as I longed to know more about him. In addition, Richard and Brandy’s complicated relationship – they both have children from other marriages – is either glossed over or mishandled, while Richard’s knack of attracting (and encouraging) odd publicity is placed in a mostly positive context. As Richard told his wife, “We’ve just got to stick to the plan.” Despite the Hollywoodizing of that plan, there’s little doubt it was developed out of love and was more successful than even Richard dreamed. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9620288/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Richard_(film)).* ## Epilogue This review certainly hasn’t aged well, considering the events of the 2022 Oscars. Still, I make no apologies or retractions. Indeed, I’ve always thought personal behavior should be kept separate from artistic criticism. Nevertheless, if I had it to do again, I might tamp down my praise for Smith, particularly the headline. --- ### [Tigre Gente](https://www.meiermovies.com/tigre-gente/) **Published:** March 24, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tigre Gente** FL, 2022, 3 ¾ stars # Saving a species [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tigre-Gente.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Tigre-Gente.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 25, 2022 Proving again that “as they happen” documentaries are usually better than “talking heads” docs, *Tigre Gente* is one of the most impactful and journalistically credible of the 2022 Florida Film Festival’s many ecologically themed films. Spanning two continents, this is the dual story of Marcos (the director of Bolivia’s Madidi National Park) and Laurel (a Chinese journalist). Despite their geographic difference, they are both fighting to save the jaguar from extinction by tracking down criminals who profit from poaching. “I consider the jaguar part of my family. They’re my brothers,” says Marcos, who once fantasized about becoming a “tigre gente,” or human in cat form. But when that spiritual experience never materialized, he instead dedicated himself to saving the species. Laurel, too, is striving to change minds – but from the consumer end of the business of animal slaughter and sale. Director Elizabeth Unger’s exposé is beautifully shot but also carries that gritty quality you want in a “breaking news” doc. It also has something that no filmmaker can plan for: luck, in the form of caught-on-camera moments that will change the lives of jaguars for the better and poachers for the worse. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14759612/).* --- ### [The Territory](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-territory/) **Published:** March 29, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Territory** FL, 2022, 4 stars # Territorial rights and wrongs [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Territory.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Territory.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 22, 2022 For a doc to go right, something often needs to go wrong. In the case of *The Territory*, the revelatory film from director Alex Pritz (in his solo feature debut) and co-producer Darren Aronofsky, that something is death. But even without that tragedy, the movie might still be the best documentary of 2022 so far. Fewer than 200 members of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau (or Jupaú*)* tribe remain in Brazil’s rainforest region of Rondonia, and this is their story, told against the backdrop of a divisive presidential election, deforestation, murder, COVID-19 and a tenuous future for these Indigenous people. Yet, refreshingly, Pritz remains on the sidelines, allowing his ever-present but objective camera to tell the tale of not just the tribe and a conservationist fighting for their rights but also the settlers and farmers (both legal and illegal) who are threatening the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau and the ecology of the entire Amazon basin. *The Territory* is *Harlan County U.S.A.* for Indigenous Brazilians. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16378164/).* --- ### [Stay Prayed Up](https://www.meiermovies.com/stay-prayed-up/) **Published:** March 27, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Stay Prayed Up**, 2021, 1 ¼ stars # The gospel truth [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Stay-Prayed-Up.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Stay-Prayed-Up.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 27, 2022 Eighty-two-year-old Lena “Ma” Mae Perry, the last surviving member of the North Carolinian vocal group the Branchettes, is a considerable talent in the world of gospel music. And her joy for living and penchant for helping others is infectious. But that’s simply not enough to carry D.L. Anderson and Matthew Durning’s well-intentioned documentary, which, at just 74 minutes, still feels stretched thin. Indeed, amid its music (which gospel fans will enjoy) and slice-of-life moments, the film struggles to find a unique or fittingly impactful way of telling of Perry’s story. It also adopts the regrettable habit of appearing to preach the devout Christian message of its subjects rather than adopting a purely objective camera and viewpoint. God forbid we learn something unexpected, complicated or less than wonderful. To be blunt, the proselytizing was palpable. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15331166/).* --- ### [The Duke](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-duke/) **Published:** March 27, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Duke**, 2021, 3 ¼ stars # Stolen moments [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Duke.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Duke.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 27, 2022 To embrace this enjoyable British comedy in advance, you need know little save its irresistible premise and cast: Jim Broadbent pinches a famous Goya painting from London’s National Gallery, with help from son Fionn Whitehead (*Dunkirk*), while attempting to conceal the heist from wife Helen Mirren. The fact that the story is based on a real crime, supposedly perpetrated in 1961 by 60-year-old Kempton Bunton – his name alone encapsulates his well-intentioned buffoonery – adds even more appeal. Directed by Roger Michell (*Notting Hill*) and written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman, *The Duke* (named for the pilfered painting, *Portrait of the Duke of Wellington*) is somewhat uneven and coasts on its charm rather than delivering any true dramatic or comedic revelations, save some sandwiched-in social commentary. But while it won’t exactly steal your heart, *The Duke* is a royal treat. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11204094/).* --- ### [Digger](https://www.meiermovies.com/digger/) **Published:** March 25, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Digger** FL, 2021, 2 stars # A tough dig [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Digger.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Digger.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 25, 2022 *Digger* is dark, dank, dirty and depressing. However, this gritty story of an estranged father and son fighting to save their way of life from a greedy mining company is also well intentioned and acted. Nevertheless, the four aforementioned D’s mean this critic is unable to award passing marks to this Greek drama. Marking the feature debut of writer-director Georgis Grigorakis, *Digger* is a tough watch both visually and thematically. It’s filmed darkly and in shallow focus with a wide aspect ratio that, instead of enhancing the visual information, often limits it. Adding to that gloomy aesthetic are conflict, foreboding, familial betrayal and impending doom, dominated by a sense that “the monster is coming, eating everything up” – the monster being environmental and social disaster at the hands of the miners. Vangelis Mourikis crafts a quietly superb performance as a farmer clinging to his rural existence, but it’s not enough to overcome the slow pacing and unimpactful story choices in the third act. I dug deep into *Digger* but came up empty. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9389916/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).* --- ### [Dual](https://www.meiermovies.com/dual/) **Published:** March 24, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dual**, 2022, 3 ¼ stars # Clone wars [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Dual.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Dual.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 25, 2022 With *Doctor Who*, two *Jumanji* films, many Marvel movies and now *Dual*, Scotland’s Karen Gillan has established herself as a top sci-fi star. And in her newest film, written and directed by Riley Stearns (*The Art of Self-Defense*), you get two Gillans for the price of one. A social satire premised on the concept of cloning or “replacing” yourself prior to your anticipated death, *Dual* allows Gillan to shine as technological twins struggling to co-exist in a world not so different from ours. Adding strong support are Aaron Trent as a combat trainer with a secret desire to learn hip-hop dancing and Sanna-June Hyde as a doctor with the bluntest bedside manner this side of Dr. Kevorkian. The film takes an unnecessarily keen interest in violence briefly in the second half while also momentarily running low on ideas, but its wonderfully dark humor, nice twist and exploration of the adage “be careful what you wish for” bring *Dual* in for a smooth landing. It might be only half as metaphysical as *Marjorie Prime*, which presumably inspired it, but *Dual* is twice as satisfying as *Attack of the Clones.* *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2022/ "Florida Film Festival 2022"). For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9005184/).* --- ### [FL Film Fest 2013: celluloid saturation](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-2013-a-celluloid-saturation/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Central Florida’s top movie event returns for 22nd year From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/news/orlando-weekly-39-s-guide-to-the-2013-florida-film-festival-1.1467043), April 3, 2013 It’s film festival time in the City Beautiful again, and beautiful is not a bad word to describe this year’s smorgasbord, which allows Orlando to stand alongside Venice, Cannes and Sundance, if only on April 5-14. From a gritty documentary about a Detroit pimp to a Q&A with Cary Elwes of *The Princess Bride* to a special showing of Fellini’s *8 ½*, the 22nd annual event has the proverbial “little something for everyone.” And speaking of little, the shorts programs may be this year’s highlight. Numbering 121, the short films are split into 11 programs, with the four main narrative groups each cleverly named for a recently deceased musician, such as *I’m a Believer* for Davy Jones and *Stayin’ Alive* for Robin Gibb. Of course, there’s no guarantee of quality, as programmers must dig deep to fill their schedule. But discovering which films move you to tears and which move you to the bathroom is just one of the joys of this event. If shorts aren’t meaty enough for you, the festival contains 45 new features (19 documentaries and 26 narratives) and seven older ones. There’s just one animated feature, but four separate programs contain either all or some animated shorts. Wanters of weird will flock to the Midnight Movies: four offbeat, adult-oriented features. Their even uglier cousins are the Midnight Shorts, which committee member Jim DeSantis describes as “raunchy and shocking,” adding, “We try to make people uncomfortable.” Making patrons uncomfortable isn’t exactly the goal of Festival President Henry Maldonado, who wants the audience to feel at home at all festival locations, which include the Enzian in Maitland, Regal Cinemas in Winter Park Village and the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden. “This is a festival of independent film, … and the people who come to the festival know exactly what the filmmakers are doing, and they have a tremendous appreciation for them,” Maldonada says. “These are people who do it for the love of the movie, and for the love of the art, and for the getting a message across in a medium that really allows you to just kind of jiggle all your senses at the same time.” Some festivals make or break a filmmaker, giving the event a rather formal and intimidating air. Not this one. “This is a festival that we hope … filmmakers come to \[in order to\] lick their wounds and kind of re-energize. And as opposed to being a festival where you come to kind of hustle the deal, this is a festival where you come to make friends and … renew relationships.” And thanks to 21 world premieres and 24 participating countries, plus food events, parties and celebrity appearances, you’re likely to make friends with people you never even dreamed of meeting. ## Films, from best to worst: [![Mud](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mud-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mud.jpg) **Mud** (4 ¼ stars) If *Mud* isn’t the best movie of this year’s festival, it’s certainly the most instantly satisfying. Director-writer Jeff Nichols follows up his captivatingly moody *Take Shelter* with this little gem about love, loyalty, revenge and redemption. It’s both a clinging-to-the-past story and a coming-of-age one, filled with societal nuances and a cultural honesty on par with such Southern films as *Sling Blade* and *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. Matthew McConaughey, in the performance of his career, plays the title character, a drifter looking to simultaneously escape his criminal past and reunite with the love of his life (Reese Witherspoon), all while hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River. Helping him are two young boys in the tradition of Huck Finn and Tim Sawyer, played brilliantly by future superstars Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. Though Witherspoon and the always intriguing Michael Shannon are underused, they and their fellow supporting actors are all pitch perfect and imbue the piece with such crackle that the excessive length and forced finale fade to minor quibbles. Particularly memorable is Sam Shepard, whom young Sheridan’s character calls a “worn-out old man” in one of the film’s many bits of beautiful but brutal dialogue. *Mud* may not be a true 5-star film, but it is the best of the 15 features I screened for this year’s festival, and for that, it deserves the highest mark. But if you miss it at the festival, don’t worry, as it’s almost certain to play the Enzian or Regal Cinemas again soon. **F****a****r** **O****u****t** **I****s****n****’****t F****a****r** **E****n****o****u****g****h****:** **T****h****e** **T****o****m****i** **U****n****g****e****r****e****r** **S****t****o****r****y** (4 stars) It’s tough to beat a documentary that takes an already intriguing subject and makes it even more fascinating. *Far Out Isn’t Far Enough* takes famed illustrator, author and satirist Tomi Ungerer and does just that, making it the best of the documentaries I saw for this year’s festival. Ungerer grew up in Alsace, a region historically divided between France and Germany, and saw firsthand the horrors of both the Nazis and the repressive French post-war government. Those horrors, plus the death of his father, scarred Ungerer but also allowed him to later hone his history into his own brand of dark genius. It’s not surprising, therefore, that Ungerer was able to publish his first children’s book just one year after arriving in the United States in 1956, and then later branch out into political and even graphically sexual subjects. His macabre imagery and themes were “disarming and funny, and not respectful at all,” according to Maurice Sendak, author of *Where the Wild Things Are*, which Ungerer heavily influenced. But what else would you expect from an artist whose main inspiration was Matthias Grünewald’s *The Temptation of St. Anthony*, a nightmarish depiction of supernatural horrors on par with the works of Hieronymus Bosch and Salvador Dali? So if Ungerer was such a genius, why did he disappear in the early 1970s, at the height of his fame? Was he simply “crushed by his ideas,” as Ungerer describes it, or was there something more sinister afoot? That’s the question writer-director Brad Bernstein answers, and he does so with intelligence, style, a great interview with Ungerer himself, and some superb animation that gives renewed life and meaning to the artist’s drawings. **Renoir FL (3 ¾ stars) Most films labor furiously, trying to infuse every frame with passion. *Renoir* is content to sit still, creating effortless beauty in the style of its subject, painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. A French-language production set on the Riviera in 1915, this drama is both a love poem to Renoir’s art and a love triangle between the 74-year-old painter, his 21-year-old son Jean, and a beautiful but mysterious model who becomes the muse of both father and son. Set during World War I, *Renoir* unfolds in a tranquil part of France touched only distantly by conflict. This striking contrast between serenity and hell is heightened by the fact that Jean is convalescing, waiting to return to the butchery of battle. “It’s us – old people, the infirm – whom they should send to the front, in the mud and the trenches,” Pierre-Auguste says, fearing the loss of both Jean and Jean’s older brother. Yet he can only truly express emotion through his paintings, which he continues to create despite crippling arthritis. “I still have progress to make,” he tells Jean. “I’ll carry on till I collapse.” Director Gilles Bourdos and cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin have created a work worthy of its subject. Colors breathe and light glows almost as hauntingly as in Stanley Kubrick’s *Barry Lyndon.* But as with a painting that you admire at first glance, the film’s emotion – or lack thereof – fades after viewing. Perhaps it needed a bit less of Pierre-Auguste’s quiet beauty and more of the drama of Jean, who, after the war, became one of the world’s great film directors, producing such classics as *The Rules of the Game* and *Grand Illusion*. Despite those shortcomings, the film makes us appreciate anew the gifts that the Renoirs left us, while giving us a rare glimpse into their lives. **Pietà FL (3 ¾ stars) The pietà is the Christian depiction of Mary cradling her dying son following his crucifixion. Its most famous depiction is Michelangelo’s sculpture in St. Peter’s Basilica, and it’s no stretch to say that South Korean writer-director Kim Ki-duk considers himself a Michelangelo of film, proudly proclaiming in *Pietà*’s opening credits, a la Quentin Tarantino, that this is his 18th film. But he certainly does his best to back up that bravado with his shockingly depraved twist on religious iconography. Though surprisingly non-graphic visually, *Pietà* is nevertheless brutally disturbing, and over the top at times. We should all be appalled by its subjects – violence, poverty, rape, cannibalism, implied incest and animal cruelty – but if those subjects disgust you so much that you are unable to see them on screen, stay away from this movie. However, if you want a unique experience, a sort of macabre celluloid poem, treat yourself to the most memorable film of the festival. Lee Jung-jin plays Lee Kang-do, a monster of a man who loans money to poor machinists, charges astronomical interest and then, if they can’t pay, tortures them with their own machinery so he can collect their insurance. The borrowers understand their situation all too well, and some are even tragically resigned to their fate. (“Make me a cripple,” one man begs Lee, so he can share in the insurance claim.) Yet Lee’s unbearably bleak outlook on life changes when a mysterious woman (the brilliant Jo Min-su) shows up on his doorstep, claiming to be his long-lost mother. *Pietà* won the top prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival, and though some audience members walked out in disgust, as they will surely do in Orlando, the Florida Film Festival deserves credit for scheduling this one. Love them or hate them, movies like this prove that this event is culturally relevant. As Festival President Henry Maldonado says, “There may have been a time in which \[we\] said we’re the Florida Film Festival, and they would said, ‘That’s in Miami, right?’ Not anymore.” [![IcebergSlim_300](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IcebergSlim_300-300x172.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IcebergSlim_300.jpg) **Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp** (3 ¾ stars) Many of the best documentaries take a subject with which you’re either unfamiliar or uncomfortable and allow you to embrace it, if only for an hour and a half in the dark. That’s especially true with *Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp*, a unique glimpse into the world of Robert Beck, a.k.a. Iceberg Slim, a famous Chicago pimp of the 1930s and 1940s who somehow transformed himself into one of the most famous urban writers of his generation. Directed by Jorge Hinojosa, this dynamic doc – one of the best of the festival – makes good use of animation, graphics and music to transport you to Beck’s gritty world, but it’s the interviews that make you want to stay. All the black-culture commentators you might expect are here, from Snoop Dogg to Quincy Jones to Chris Rock. However, it’s a complete unknown, Beck’s first wife, Betty, who steals the show. In a jaw-dropping, almost nauseatingly honest interview, she transforms the film into something part sad, part enlightening. Half dressed, half coherent and smoking her head off, she tells the real story of Iceberg as only she can. Add in some offbeat interviews with Beck’s daughters, and the story of a juicy figure in American literature gets even juicier. Beck got his nickname from his reaction to a gunfight in a bar when he was young. High on cocaine, he sat motionless while a bullet whizzed through his hat, barely avoiding blasting his brains into his brewski. He was cool like a berg, and this doc is a fittingly hip tribute to that coolness, wit and intelligence. As Beck said, “A lot of people think top pimps are dummies. That’s not true; they’re just perverted.” **The Forgotten Kingdom** FL (3 ¾ stars) – not reviewed **Starbuck** FL (3 ½ stars) – not reviewed **This is Where We Live** (3 ¼ stars) – not reviewed **Lore** FL (3 stars) – not reviewed **Nancy, Please** (2 ¾ stars) *Nancy, Please* tries to replicate the paranoia of Francis Ford Coppola’s *The Conversation* and the creepy claustrophobia of Roman Polanski’s *The Tenant*. If you haven’t seen those films, that’s OK, since all you need in order to understand this film is an ounce of OCD. It wreaks of obsession more than Calvin Klein. Will Rogers – the alive, less famous one – plays Paul, an anal-retentive PhD candidate at Yale who has just moved into a new house with his overly sensible girlfriend Jen (Rebecca Lawrence). His dissertation work and, indeed, his entire life is brought to a crashing halt when he realizes he’s left his cherished copy of Charles Dickens’ *Little Dorrit* at his previous residence, where his former roommate Nancy (Eleanore Hendricks) still lives. The book contains his crucial, hand-written notes, and he needs it back, desperately. Adding to Paul’s frustration is an invasion of squirrels in the walls of his new house, eating away at his property and, seemingly, his sanity. For his first feature, director-writer Andrew Semans has fashioned an odd, tedious study in minutia that may bore you to death during the first 40 minutes. Don’t be surprised to hear some groans and see a walk-out or two in the early going. But then the story starts to annoy you, then intrigue you, and finally fascinate you. Why won’t Nancy just give us, I mean Paul, back the book!? “It’s like she’s holding me hostage,” Paul screams! Like Edvard Munch, Semans makes his audience feel that scream, if only for the final few minutes of the film. **This is Martin Bonner** (2 ¾ stars) *This is Martin Bonner* needs festivals to survive. In the world of general releases, it wouldn’t stand a chance. It’s too plodding and empty, at least at first glance. But let it wash over you at its own steady pace and you might get sucked into its quiet, lonely world. Martin (Paul Eenhoorn) has just moved to Reno, leaving behind two grown children and seemingly everything else he held dear. Financially and spiritually adrift after years spent devoted to his church, he’s found a new job helping prisoners make the transition from incarceration to freedom. It allows him to honor his faith while keeping a certain distance from it too. Also starting anew is Travis (Richmond Arquette), just released from prison after 12 years, trying to reconnect with his daughter and looking for a friend. He finds an unlikely one in Martin. With his sophomore feature, director-writer Chad Hartigan has tackled a topic that is anything but sophomoric: facing the world, and yourself, alone. It’s tough to do at any age and under any circumstance, let alone as middle-aged men inventing new lives for yourselves. Obvious and a bit amateurish at times, *Martin Bonner* could have fallen flat if not for Hartigan’s patient, panning camera and the touching and naturalistic, though unpolished, performances of Eenhoorn and Arquette. Some may find the subtle Christian overtones off-putting or the overall piece passionless, more a photograph than a film. But allowed to slowly develop, it becomes a lovely snapshot. **The History of Future Folk** (2 ¾ stars) – not reviewed **Unfinished Song** (2 ¼ stars) – not reviewed **Year of the Living Dead** (2 ¼ stars) – not reviewed **Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton** (2 stars) You shouldn’t have to like a documentary’s subject to appreciate the doc itself. *Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton* sure puts that theory to the test, though, as directors Stephen Silha, Eric Slade and Dawn Logsdon have fallen under the spell of experimental filmmaker and poet Broughton, believing almost everything he created was pure magic instead of the pretentious garbage some claim it to be. Broughton was the product of post-war West Coast bohemia, and he greatly influenced the San Francisco performance-poetry scene and the gay movement. (As the doc reminds us, “Even in San Francisco, it \[was\] dangerous to be queer in the 1950s.”) Yet Broughton’s greatest fame came as an experimental filmmaker and director of such well-known shorts at *The Potted Psalm* (1946) and *The Pleasure Garden* (1953). Whether you love or hate Broughton’s work, the filmmaker makes a worthy subject, and this movie, in just its second U.S. showing, embraces his own special celebration of life in all its self-indulgent, crazy, joyous incarnations. But by refusing to step away from its subject and examine the purpose and merit of experimental film, it squanders an opportunity to become more meaningful. One interviewee goes as far as to claim that Broughton “in a sense, invented and perfected the poetic cinema.” That’s an outrageous exaggeration and briefly gives the film the feel of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Yet, thankfully, it’s Broughton himself, toward the end of the doc and the end of his own life, who finally makes sense of the “big joy” he so passionately projects to the world: “Everything is an act,” he admits. “When people ask how you are, always say you’re fine. It makes your friends happy and your enemies furious.” **The Taiwan Oyster** (1 ¾ stars) “I feel like a minor character in someone else’s story,” the main character in director Mark Jarrett’s debut feature tells his friend. The same goes for the audience of *The Taiwan Oyster*, as we often feel like mere observers, watching the action without much emotion or interest. Two American friends, Simon and Darin, are teaching English in Taiwan (and running a small newspaper, *The Oyster*) when a fellow countryman dies accidentally. Knowing that the orphaned American has no one to claim him and will be cremated against his wishes, the two slightly disillusioned friends plan a Texas-style road trip across Taiwan to look for the perfect burial spot. And in predictable fashion, they meet an attractive and similarly disillusioned woman, and discover something about themselves along the way. It’s all just a bit too neat. It didn’t have to be this way. Jarrett and his co-writers invented a unique scenario, found a good actor in Billy Harvey, who plays Simon, and an interesting “MacGuffin,” or ultimately unimportant plot device to keep things moving, as Alfred Hitchcock would describe it. Jarrett also makes good use of his camera, capturing both the urban grittiness and the rural beauty of Taiwan, often in a sad, contemplative way. But after an hour and 45 minutes of deep conversations, bad acting by Jeff Palmiotti (as Darin), forced literary references and plot points that stretch believability, we’re ready for this trip to end. Don’t expect a pearl inside this oyster. The best you can hope for is some tasty meat without too much sand. **Sightseers** (1 ¾ stars) Something goes bad along the way in *Sightseers*, but you already know that if you’ve seen the British film’s trailer. However, I’m talking about not just the characters’ idyllic vacation-turned-disaster, but the movie itself, which morphs from cleverly quirky to deliciously dark to just plain mean-spirited and unfunny, all in only 90 minutes. Feeling guilty over the accidental death of her dog and in desperate need of an escape from her clinging mother, Tina (Alice Lowe) sets out with her new boyfriend, Chris (Steve Oram), for a road tour of the Yorkshire countryside. But during a horrible accident, a screw is apparently knocked loose in their brains because they then proceed to rampage about the countryside in a misguided metaphor for selfishness, anarchy and the trappings of a civilized society. If you don’t like that posh explanation, you can take director Ben Wheatley’s terrifying travelogue at face value: a dark comedy bordering on bloody farce. Whatever meaning you embrace, it’s difficult to escape the fact that, though well acted and intriguing, this caravan of comedy has far too few laughs and runs out of gas about an hour in. It wants to be Jean-Luc Godard’s *Weekend* but ends up more like *Weekend at Bernie’s*. If you’d planned to watch *Sightseers* on Tuesday, April 9, skip it and instead see a different type of crime caper: *The Sting*. This 1973 masterpiece starring Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Robert Shaw is playing in Winter Park’s Central Park, weather permitting, at 8 p.m. that night. The picture and sound quality on the outdoor screen are never that great, but, hey, you get to see one of the greatest movies of all time for free, in commemoration of his 40th anniversary, so stop complaining and go eat your free popcorn. [![putzel](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/putzel-300x172.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/putzel.jpg) **Putzel** (1 ¾ stars) “Listen to the guilt. It’s like a GPS for the soul.” For Walter, those words ring true, but what else would you expect for a guy whose nickname is Putzel, or essentially “little putz” or “schmuck” in Yiddish? They are his guiding light in life, his blueprint for lowering his expectations, allowing his wife to cheat on him and resigning himself to a life as the manager of his family’s lox deli. Never mind that he has bigger dreams, such as summoning the courage to shlep himself far away from Manhattan’s Upper West Side and escape his domineering shmendrik (look that one up, my fellow goys) of an uncle. Directed by first-timer Jason Chaet and written by Rick Moore, *Putzel* plays like a charming sitcom, one you can’t quite hate but can’t fully appreciate either. Its premise is promising, and Walter, played lovingly by Jack Carpenter, is not as annoying and uninteresting as his monikor would suggest. In addition, John Pankow and Melanie Lynskey, as Walter’s uncle and new love interest, respectively, add some honesty to the piece. But despite those characters’ moments of tenderness and one of the funniest sight gags you’ll see at this year’s festival, Chaet’s film is just too contrived to be anything more than a comedic diversion for viewers seeking mainstream entertainment. Like its title character, *Putzel* perhaps deserves a bit more respect than it’s received here. However, it’s difficult to embrace a film that is a bit of a putz itself: sweet and well meaning, but ultimately underachieving and easy to overlook. **I Am Divine** (1 ¾ stars) – not reviewed **Bad Brains: A Band in DC** (1 ½ stars) – not reviewed **Magical Universe** (1 ½ stars) Unless you’re Michael Moore or Bill Maher, it’s probably not a good idea to insert too much of yourself into your own documentary. In the style of Errol Morris, the award-winning director of such docs as *Gates of Heaven* and *The Thin Blue Line*, you’d do better to stay behind the camera and let your subjects speak for themselves. Jeremy Workman has not learned this lesson. Workman spent a decade chronicling and developing a friendship with Maine artist Al Carbee. He first exposed Carbee’s odd work (consisting mostly of photographs of Barbie dolls and other odd crafts and collages) in the 2002 short film *Carbie’s Barbies,* which he wrote, directed and edited, as he did *Magical Universe*, which is making its world premiere at the festival. The short finally brought attention to the painfully reclusive and socially awkward photographer. “I’m completely in control of Barbie,” Carbee tells Workman. “She’s the perfect model. Barbie never complains.” Adding to that outlook is Carbee’s honest admission that he’s gotten even odder in recent years. “If you are obsessive about something,” he says, “that increases as you get older.” And for 80-something Carbee, that equals a lot of OCD! If that’s not a psyche worth delving into with a good doc, I don’t know what is. But, regrettably, for his first solo feature, Workman, though well intentioned, focuses too much on himself and his friendship with Carbee. He even goes so far as to provide unnecessary personal anecdotes in the form of horribly annoying voiceovers. Workman is simply too tied to his topic, and the result is a tedious and amateurish bungling of a potentially solid story. **First Comes Love** (1 ½ stars) Most directors cut their film teeth on their own home movies. Nina Davenport has never stopped cutting. Davenport is one of the most prominent auto-biographical documentarians, and she clearly has a knack for turning the seemingly mundane into decent cinema. Her latest effort, *First Comes Love*, chronicles her quest, at age 41, to have a baby though artificial insemination, while dealing with romantic and familial relationships. “Seemingly everyone on earth has managed to marry and procreate except me,” she says early in the documentary. That’s a frank admission of what most single 40-somethings feel, including, quite frankly, me. However, that’s the extent to which I bonded with Davenport while watching her film because she spends most of it self-indulgently perusing the minutia of her life. Those minutia include the dating habits of her friends and her strained relationship with her father, who clearly has issues of his own – enough to form a pretty good short film, in fact. Of course, you’d have to be completely heartless not to sympathize slightly with Davenport’s desire to raise a child. And when a friend tells her, bluntly, to “put down the camera, go get some sperm and get pregnant,” you get a sense that the movie is about to become more important, more relevant for its entire audience. Unfortunately, as with many self-centered docs, we end up not truly caring. “I guess I have this biological compulsion to have a child, and I don’t even know why,” Davenport says. There is great truth to that statement, but it doesn’t mean the world needs to see your home movie about it. **Free Samples** (1 ½ stars) Discovering a great short film is often the best thing about a festival. Conversely, the worst part is often discovering a feature that should have stayed a short. Case in point: *Free Samples*, the story of Jillian, a disillusioned 20-something who agrees to watch her friend’s ice-cream truck and hand out free servings. In the process, she discovers a bit about herself, her offbeat customers and the meaning of life. This is the first feature by director Jay Gammill and writer Jim Beggarly, and it shows. Perhaps, as with those glossy food photos in restaurant menus, this ice cream looked better on paper. How else does one explain the involvement of Jesse Eisenberg, who is both miscast and underused as Jillian’s potential love interest, and Tippi Hedren as one of the customers? Playing Jillian is the quirky Jess Weixler, who is trying her best to overcome the material. But at just 80 minutes and with some misplaced sincerity toward the end, the film just doesn’t give her enough to work with. After all, sometimes in art, as in life, less really is less. The fact that I, your friendly festival reviewer, was able to see this film as a free sample made it somewhat palatable. If you’re stuck having to pay for this concoction, though, you may be left with buyer’s remorse. “You’re the best-looking woman I would never, ever consider having sex with,” a friend tells Jillian. Sadly, judging just by *Free Samples*, Weixler is the best-looking woman I would never, ever consider seeing in a movie. So stay away and instead see the other Tippi Hedren film playing this year’s fest: Alfred Hitchcock’s *The Birds*, on April 12, if you can manage a stand-by ticket. And as an added bonus, Hedren herself will be there. **I Declare War** (1 star) All’s fair in love and war, and *I Declare War* has a little of the former and a lot of the latter. But to be completely fair, the drama deserves a bit more than just one star. However, it is the least competent of the 15 flicks I saw for this year’s festival and, therefore, must receive that dubious honor. Director-writer Jason Lapeyre and co-director Robert Wilson were obviously inspired by both the friendship themes of *Stand By Me* and the darker tones of *Lord of the Flies*. In an odd hybrid of the two, they have created a story of middle-class kids who infuse their simple summer war games with jealousy, revenge and real violence. All the young actors pour their hearts into the project, but only P.K. (13-year-old Gage Munroe) truly stands out. A romantic subplot, though well acted by the only girl in the film (Mackenzie Munro), goes nowhere, as do the various “battle scenes,” which slowly build to a contrived conclusion. Yet the worst mistake Lapeyre makes is not allowing the kids to show their innocence at the beginning of the film, as *Lord of the Flies* does. Instead, he launches right in with nastiness and brutality, making it difficult to relate to the characters or even tell which kids are on which teams. And the misguided blend of real, pretend and imagined violence only lessons the emotional impact. Much like the kids’ “war,” the movie feels like a work in progress, something that’s being made up as it goes along. In short, it’s only a step or two above a student film. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian hires new programming coordinator](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-hires-new-programming-coordinator/) **Published:** May 19, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Tim Anderson](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tim-Anderson-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tim-Anderson.jpg)Photo of Tim Anderson by Eric Sutton/Florida Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/15/enzian-hires-new-programming-coordinator), May 15, 2015 The Enzian Theater has hired Tim Anderson as its new programming coordinator. He will be the first full-time, year-round coordinator for both the Enzian and the Florida Film Festival. The announcement follows the departure of the well-respected Clementine Leger, who served as programming coordinator for the festival for two years. Leger has left to become the new Slamdance Film Festival manager, in Los Angeles. (She served as the Slamdance programming intern prior to her Enzian involvement.) Anderson is an award-winning producer with both film and television experience, and has served on multiple festival committees, but he may be best known in Orlando for hosting the monthly FilmSlam competitions at Enzian. He will continue to host that event for the foreseeable future. [![Clementine Leger](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Clementine-Leger-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Clementine-Leger.jpg)Photo of Clementine Leger by Eric Sutton/Florida Film Festival “With the expansion \[to three screens\] looming ahead, I am both humbled and grateful to be afforded the trust and opportunity to help craft the programming at one of the finest art-house cinemas in the country,” Anderson says. Anderson has earned the respect of the local film community through his years of involvement with Enzian and his vast knowledge of cinema, but he’ll still have big shoes to fill and a few broken hearts to heal after the departure of Leger, who endeared herself to filmmakers and patrons alike. “It was an honor to work for the Florida Film Festival, which is an amazing event that we are able to organize … to bring amazing independent film to our local community,” Leger says. The coordinator reports to Matthew Curtis, who will remain as programming director of both Enzian and the Florida Film Festival. “\[The coordinator\] is basically being the director’s right arm. The coordinator is the person who is in touch with all the filmmakers to organize the programming. … \[Curtis\] is the one who runs the show, but then the coordinator is the person who fits all the pieces together,” Leger says, adding that, unlike Anderson’s new job duties, her responsibilities did not involve Enzian’s non-festival activities. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian plans two new screens for 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-plans-two-new-screens-for-2016/) **Published:** February 14, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Theater expects to break ground this year on major expansion [![EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/EF_Enzian_Exterior_View_1.jpg)Click to view an enlarged, high-resolution version (mage courtesy of and copyrighted by the Enzian Theater) From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/02/15/enzian-theater-plans-two-new-screens-for-2016), February 15, 2015 The Enzian, the Orlando area’s non-profit art-house and independent cinema, hopes to break ground this year on an expansion that will roughly double its size, the theater announced Sunday during its 30th anniversary celebration. Construction is expected to take about a year, Enzian President Henry Maldonado says, with fall 2016 as the completion target. “We want to give you more movies \[and\] maintain an environment that cares about the viewer,” Maldonado says. “As we move on, we are adding, for lack of another word, audiences to ourselves.” The permitting process is expected to begin soon. The plans, called Enzian Forever, are similar to those first revealed in my *Orlando Weekly* article in 2013. Two theaters, one seating 80 and another seating 50, will be added to the existing 230-seat venue, increasing the movie-going capacity by 57 percent. The addition, planned for the north and east sides of the existing structure, will also feature restrooms, an expanded kitchen, a box office, office space and a large lobby with an indoor eating area. The rest of the property will remain mostly unchanged. The current entrance will morph into either additional eating space for Eden Bar or a staging area for special events, but the marquee will remain. Parking, too, won’t be significantly altered, except for the loss of a few employee spaces and the addition of some handicapped-parking spots. Valet service will be available more often, but speculation that a portion of the main lot would be designated as valet parking is unfounded, Maldonado says, adding that Park Maitland School will continue to provide space for valet parking and self-parking overflow. On especially crowded days, guests may have to park on the other side of Orlando Avenue, although Maldonado says the City of Maitland does not plan to add a crosswalk at Magnolia Road. [![Site_Plan](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Site_Plan1-300x232.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Site_Plan1.jpg)Click to view an enlarged, high-resolution version. “Parking is not a problem for the permitting, and it’s not going to be a problem for the festival,” Maldonado says. The Enzian does not plan to acquire additional land or significantly alter the forested area on the north and east. The 400-year-old live oaks will remain, as will virtually all the landscaping on the south and west sides. A small citrus grove will be added on the northeast side, and some native plant species will be reintroduced. The expansion, designed by Malcolm Holzman, will require raising $6 million, $3.6 million of which has already been acquired through major contributions from nine organizations, including the Tiedtke family, who own the Enzian. “We are committed to maintaining a sense of place at Enzian, a home where friends come together to appreciate and discuss film,” says Executive Vice President Elizabeth Tiedtke Mukherjee, the project’s manager. Maldonado says he anticipates no lengthy closures during the construction and no interruption to the Florida Film Festival, which he calls Enzian’s “tent pole.” Indeed, once the project is finished, the festival will probably expand to five screens: three at the Enzian and two at Regal Cinemas at Winter Park Village. And the number and variety of the smaller events might also be expanded, Maldonado says, with an African-American and a Hispanic festival among the possibilities. Though the new theaters will be small, they will offer table service, and, perhaps most importantly for Maldonado, the screens will be close to the size of the current one. “The experience that we want to give you is the big screen. OK, we’re not IMAX or anything, but we are a big, traditional silver screen.” Maldonado says. “We’re maintaining the experience.” *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [My top 5 of 2014 (so far)](https://www.meiermovies.com/my-top-10-of-2014-so-far/) **Published:** December 17, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cameron-meiers-favorite-films-of-2014-so-far/Content?oid=2321720)*, December 17, 2014 [![Birdman 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Birdman-2-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Birdman-2.jpg)Michael Keaton stars in *Birdman*. (image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures) As we approach the end of the year and struggle to pass early judgment on this annum’s cinematic achievements, it seems appropriate to quote the old clichés about hindsight being 20/20 and never being able to judge an event until it’s in the distant past. With that disclaimer out of the way, I’ll take an admittedly premature stab at listing the best films of 2014. **5. The Double**, 4 stars While other gems such as *Nightcrawler*, *A Most Wanted Man* and *Boyhood* could have slipped in at No. 5, I instead offer *The Double.* Based on a Dostoevsky story, this mind-bending mystery stars Jesse Eisenberg as a dystopian cubicle worker who is somehow the only one who notices that the new office employee is his identical twin seemingly intent on usurping not just his job but his entire existence. **4. Calvary**, 4 ½ stars This mysterious, morally complex movie stars Brendan Gleeson as an Irish priest trapped in a *Straw Dogs* town, coping with the fact that one, if not all, of the villagers has designs for his destruction. **3. The Imitation Game**, 4 ½ stars Coming in at No. 3 is the best straight drama I’ve seen this year. *The Imitation Game* tells the story of Alan Turing (the man who broke the Nazi’s Enigma code in World War II) with flair, passion and a clever, almost meta-theatrical, framing device. It finally gives the life of this mathematical genius – filled with both triumphs and tragedy – the respect it deserves. **2. Interstellar**, 4 ½ stars Christopher Nolan’s space-time sci-fi divided critics. Some proclaimed it contrived, talky and too desperate to dazzle its audience with scientific conceits. I found those criticisms weak and was instead bowled over by the majesty and creative vision of what should be considered a lesser, but still worthy, offspring of *2001: A Space Odyssey*. **1. Birdman**, 4 ¾ stars Perched at the top is director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s *Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)*, starring a startlingly good Michael Keaton. I’ve simply never seen anything like this blend of brilliant hidden jokes, Charlie Kaufman ambience, fantasy-based realism and dreamlike yet intensely personal camerawork, and I doubt you have either. To paraphrase that greatest of directorial failures, Ed Wood: “This is the one. This is the one 2014 will be remembered for.” *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* /*MeierMovies, LLC* *[Go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-imitation-game/) for a full review of* The Imitation Game *and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) for a full review of* Birdman*. And to find out whether all these films stayed in my top five for 2014, [visit my yearly list](https://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf).* --- ### [From the mouth of madness](https://www.meiermovies.com/from-the-mouth-of-madness/) **Published:** December 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## John Carpenter discusses his career From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/05/27/on-the-eve-of-spooky-empires-may-hem-john-carpenter-discusses-his-career)*, May 27, 2014 John Carpenter is an accomplished composer, screenwriter and director of movies in multiple genres, so does he ever get tired of being associated with only horror? “God, no! Oh, no, no. I love horror,” Carpenter told me. “Making horror movies, making science-fiction movies, I got to be John Carpenter. What’s wrong with that?” [![John Carpenter](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/John-Carpenter-300x229.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/John-Carpenter.jpg)Carpenter, the helmer or such horrors as *Halloween* (1978) and *The Thing* (1982), will be appearing at Spooky Empire’s May-hem May 30 – June 1, at the DoubleTree by Hilton at the entrance of Universal, in Orlando. He will participate in two discussion panels, one on Saturday at 2 p.m. with Nick Castle, P.J. Soles and other cast members of *Halloween*, and another on Sunday at 1 p.m. with Roddy Piper to discuss *They Live*. Carpenter will also be available for photos and autographs. Though hundreds, if not thousands, of fans will come to see Carpenter because of his horror-movie fame – and despite the director’s comfort with that genre – he got into film for a different reason. “I got into the movie business to make Westerns, but the Western died,” Carpenter explains, citing Howard Hawks as an early influence. “My first hit film was *Halloween*, and that kind of tightened \[my reputation\] there, and I grew up watching horror and science fiction, \[so my horror status\] is fine with me. I don’t long for \[anything else\].” Carpenter may have no secret longings, but he certainly has regrets. “In the very beginning, when you’re trying to get into the movie business, every job \[that you don’t get\] is a regret … because you don’t have any job,” he says. “But things happen the way they happen. I have HUGE regrets for things, but not for movies I didn’t get.” So what are these mysterious regrets? “I look at every movie I made, and I say, ‘Why did I do that? God, that’s crap. What am I doing?’” Carpenter says. “When I watch my movies – it’s a terrible thing – I look at it and say, … ‘Why did I cover that, why did I shoot that angle?’” Despite that self-criticism, are there any films that stand out to Carpenter? “No, I couldn’t pick it. I have no idea,” he says. “I’m the worst judge of my own work.” If Carpenter can’t fully embrace his most famous horror creations, how does he feel about his other work, notably *Starman*, starring Jeff Bridges? “Well, it’s a girl movie. I got to make a romantic comedy, which was really nice,” he says. “And it came along at the right time for me. \[It’s\] something I wanted to do. … I don’t know if it’s my best film. … It’s less savage than some of the films.” If Carpenter’s comments leave you thinking he is generally joyless or unhappy with his work, think again. “I’m happy and joyful that I finished \[each movie\], because I think the worst thing that can happen to a director is \[not to finish a film\] or have it taken away from you. … So I have a great deal of joy at all my movies.” Carpenter also draws joy from film itself, specifically Panavision anamorphic 35mm, instead of digital, because “that’s the best-looking image. … It’s just a magical thing.” He also seems passionate about meeting his fans, which he’s done at several previous horror-movie conventions. “Love it, love it,” he says. “They’re really nice. … It’s fun, a lot of fun. The most fun is, of course, the questions you get from the audience \[at the panels\] because you never know what you’re going to get.” Carpenter is confident discussing his films and relating to his fans. So what makes the director uneasy or sad? What gives the creator of nightmares nightmares? “You’ve been under Rick Scott too long!” Carpenter laments, offering a shout-out to citizens of another state with a conservative governor, Kansas. “\[They’ve\] got \[Sam\] Brownback up there. … He’s cool!” says Carpenter, tongue planted firmly in cheek. And if Florida’s politics don’t scare you, Carpenter adds, “Maybe not in our lifetime, but part of your state will be underwater.” On a more serious note, film itself – or more specifically the loss of film – also gives him pause. “It’s all over, dude. All over. Pretty much all of \[the projection houses\] project digital,” Carpenter says with some sadness and nostalgia, which is understandable considering every film he’s made has been shot on film, though some have been finished digitally. At 66 years of age, and with regrets and nightmares perhaps fading, Carpenter seems comfortable in his own skin and remains active, his next project being a music album – despite his claim that, “I’m an old man. I have to slow down.” Oh, and how does he feel, with the benefit of hindsight, about all those movies that were panned? “I love \[*In the Mouth of Madness*\]. I thought I did a great job with it. I thought everybody else thought it was bullshit,” he says. “\[And with\] *The Thing*, I thought this is the best I can do. Other people didn’t feel that way. … It was hated, \[but\] I know that \[it’s loved today\]. Director’s revenge!” *Weekend tickets to May-hem cost $50 in advance, and $60 at the door. Single-day tickets are $30-$35 in advance, and $35-$40 at the door. Other media guests this year include Robert Englund and the cast of the original Godzilla, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. For more information, visit [www.spookyempire.com](http://www.spookyempire.com).* *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Florida Film Festival is almost here](https://www.meiermovies.com/florida-film-festival-is-almost-here/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Paul Sorvino to headline 23rd Festival From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/the-gist/for-reels/paul-sorvino-headline-23rd-florida-film-festival/)*, March 2014 When *Goodfellas* was released in 1990, Paul Sorvino was asked what he thought of it. “I thought it was boring, excessively violent and not a good movie,” he said. “I thought I was boring. I thought that I had hurt my career. I thought that this movie should not have been made and it’s not a good movie.” After thinking about it some more, he revisited that opinion, according to WhosDatedWho.com. “I’m kind of coming through a clearing here, and I’m thinking that’s not a boring movie; that’s a good movie; that’s a great movie maybe,” he reflected. “And I’m really good in it!” Most people would agree with Sorvino’s second take on the Martin Scorsese classic, but you may want to resume the debate with the actor himself when he appears at next month’s Florida Film Festival, which runs April 4-15. Sorvino’s appearance at the screening of his new film, *Last I Heard*, is probably the biggest festival news so far, although, as of press time, we were still awaiting confirmation of perhaps an even bigger celebrity, since Sorvino isn’t as big a draw as recent attendees Cary Elwes, Cloris Leachman and Barry Levinson. Still, even if bigger names aren’t confirmed, the festival can also boast Giancarlo Esposito of *Breaking Bad* fame, who will be there for a 25th-anniversary showing of Spike Lee’s *Do the Right Thing*, and animator Bill Plympton, whose first feature in five years, *Cheatin’*, will play on April 7. (He’ll also be at the Enzian on March 22 to screen his *Hair High*. That costs just $5 but is open only to Enzian members.) On April 3, expect a full *Orlando Weekly* spread on the festival, with reviews and informational tidbits, but what you should know now is that some of the more popular events may sell out, so start planning now by visiting the new, interactive [www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). There you can see all ticket options and peruse the schedule. Most importantly, you can reserve a seat for “An Evening with Giancarlo Esposito” on April 6 and Paul Sorvino’s screening of *Last I Heard* on April 11. (Sorvino may also be booked for an “Afternoon With” event.) However, keep in mind that even if an event is “on standby,” you often have a decent chance of getting in if you show up an hour early, as not all platinum members claim their seats. Other items of note include the retro films, such as the Italian classic *Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion* on April 7, *The Big Lebowski* on April 9 outdoors at Eden Bar and *Murder on the Orient Express* on April 8 in Winter Park’s Central Park. Add all the parties, filmmaker forums, midnight movies and multiple shorts programs (which are often the highlight of the festival), and it’s enough to make your head swim, though, as always, there will be plenty of clunkers mixed in with classics. The festival will offer 170 films (roughly 50 features and 120 shorts) from 26 countries, at three theaters (Enzian and two theaters at Regal Winter Park Village). It gets underway on April 4 with The Trip to Italy, the follow-up to The Trip, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and ends with the James Bond classic *Goldfinger* on April 13. By the end of the 10-day extravaganza, let’s hope you’re both shaken and stirred. [Click here](https://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/ "Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype") for my interview with Paul Sorvino. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Time to fest!](https://www.meiermovies.com/time-to-fest/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Meet the movies of the 23rd annual Florida Film Festival ### Susan Sarandon, Paul Sorvino and Giancarlo Esposito to attend From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-2014/Content?oid=2242569), April 1, 2014 The Florida Film Festival has been around for almost a quarter-century and is considered one of the two best in the state, along with Sarasota’s. Despite the event’s increasing age and solid reputation, organizers still like to shake things up a bit each year, and 2014 is no exception. [![FFF 2014](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/FFF-2014-300x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/FFF-2014.jpg)While the fest, which runs April 4-13 at Enzian and Regal Winter Park Village, is identical to last year in the number of films (173, with 118 shorts and 55 features), the shorts programs have been cleverly re-themed. In a tribute to recently departed singer Lou Reed, the live shorts programs are each named for a Reed song, such as “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Vicious.” And replacing last year’s “British Shorts Now!” is “SOS: Short Order Swedish,” referencing the ABBA song. “We change it around every year,” says Matthew Curtis, Programming Director. “We always seem to have a pool of films that really stand out that we can group together, and this year’s kind of wild-card international-shorts program is Swedish shorts, which we’ve never done before. … And I like the fact that some of our international entries … are from countries that aren’t normally represented. … This year we are showing films from Singapore and Poland and Syria and Iran, and that’s fairly unusual for us.” In all, 26 countries are represented in categories ranging from documentary to food films to animation to classics such as *Goldfinger*, *Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion*, *The Big Lebowski* and *Murder on the Orient Express*. And regarding the newer movies, 137 can claim some sort of premiere status (Florida, Southeast, East Coast, U.S., North American or world). If you’re looking for celebrities, as usual there will be two “evening with” events and one “afternoon with,” this year featuring Susan Sarandon at *Dead Man Walking*, Paul Sorvino at *Goodfellas* and Giancarlo Esposito at a 25th-anniversary showing of *Do the Right Thing*. In addition, animator Bill Plympton plans to attend the first showing of his new feature, *Cheatin’*. If your sensibilities are even more warped than Plympton’s art, you’ll again enjoy the midnight movies, in addition to what Curtis characterizes as more askew fare than in the past. “We always kind of, you know, try to push the envelope a little bit and have a little bit of an edge and something for everybody,” he says, “but this year there’s things that are probably a bit darker and even more twisted than we’ve ever done.” We wish you luck on your cinematic journey. Choose wisely by spending time on the new, interactive website ([www.floridafilmfestival.com](http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/)) – which has all the necessary information about schedules, ticket options and parties – and perusing the following reviews by your helpful Orlando Weekly writers. And don’t miss our ongoing blogs in the coming weeks. But above all, embrace the words of Enzian President Henry Maldonado by becoming “spellbound in darkness for 10 glorious days.” *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2014 FFF reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-reviews/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Presenting the films, from best to worst From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-2014-movie-reviews/Content?oid=2242403), April 1, 2014 *This includes all the films I screened for this year’s festival. Films reviewed by other* Orlando Weekly *writers can be found in the link above.* **Yellow**, 2013, 3 ¾ stars Little Nick Cassavetes has finally grown up and is making his daddy proud. Indeed, if John, the pioneering independent filmmaker, were alive today, he’d probably be making films like his son’s *Yellow*, a boldly original and surreal take on mental illness, drug abuse, incest, religion and family dysfunction. [![Yellow 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yellow-2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yellow-2.jpg)Co-written by and starring Nick’s wife, Heather Wahlquist (who plans to attend one screening), the film focuses on the crumbling life of Mary Holmes, and her equally insane relatives. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, unable to hold a job and haunted by an unbearable secret, she leaves Los Angeles to stay with her mom (Melanie Griffith, in her best role in years) in Oklahoma. There she’s also reunited with her mentally disturbed sister (the brilliant Lucy Punch) and her religious harpy of a grandmother (Gena Rowlands, Nick Cassavetes’ mother), while juggling other characters from her past. One of Mary’s sisters has Tourette’s, but Mary has a sort of mental Tourette’s, unable to separate reality from imagination, and her fantasies are portrayed in off-the-wall deconstructionist ways. A drama on the surface, *Yellow* launches oddly, and not always successfully, into comedy, musical and even animation to depict the crazy world inside Mary’s cranium. It’s *August: Osage County* – with a lot more psychedelic drugs! I overheard fellow critics describe *Yellow* as a vastly entertaining train wreck. Well, this is one train I’d like to be on – just give me a seat belt. *Also [see my interview with Heather Wahlquist](http://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/).* **SlingShot**, 2014, 3 ¾ stars, part of my [Double Dose of Docs article](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/) **Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto** (**Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion)** FL, 1970, 3 ½ stars **The Final Member**, 2012, 3 ½ stars, part of my [Double Dose of Docs article](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/) **For No Good Reason**, 2013, 3 ½ stars **Levitated Mass**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars [![Levitated Mass](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Levitated-Mass-207x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Levitated-Mass.jpg)Image copyright Electric City Entertainment and courtesy of the Florida Film Festival The biggest rock star to ever visit Los Angeles arrived in 2012. The celebrity journeyed a circuitous 105-mile route from a quarry in Riverside, California, through four counties and 22 cities, at a cost of $10 million. Why all the fuss for just one trip? Because this rock star is a literal rock, a 340-ton, 900-million-year-old granite boulder that is now “Levitated Mass,” an art exhibit outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In his documentary of the same name, director Doug Pray competently and entertainingly captures the logistical nightmare of transporting the boulder, which created a media frenzy. Thousands of people lined the route to catch a glimpse. Some even attached religious significance to it, while others gave it its own Twitter account. The simple story of the rock’s trip is interesting, but *Levitated Mass* is best when it examines the project’s meaning – and the meaning of art itself – as seen through the eyes of the public and the artist, Michael Heizer. “We’re living in a world that’s technological and primordial simultaneously,” says Heizer, who came of artistic age in 1960s New York. “I guess the idea is to make art that reflects this premise.” Pray’s film, though not as weighty or groundbreaking – no pun intended – as its subject, nevertheless does a good job of presenting both art and artist, a man for whom “the studio, the city, the museum was too small.” **American Jesus**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars **The Babadook**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars **Ich Fühl Mich Disco (I Feel Like Disco)** FL, 2014, 3 stars For a film that often hits quite hard, *I Feel Like Disco* (*Ich Fühl Mich Disco*) has an odd title. But, then again, everything about Axel Ranisch’s German-language dramedy is odd. Florian (Frithjof Gawenda) is a teenager who loves nothing more than disco and his mom (Christina Große). Struggling with both his sexuality and his relationship with his father, Hanno (the very funny Heiko Pinkowski), Florian can always find solace with those two loves of his life. But when a family tragedy and a new male acquaintance turn his and his father’s life upside down, they must learn to balance their fantasy with reality. “Life is not always fries and disco, I’m telling you here,” a disco star sings to Hanno, in one of the film’s many funny and strange moments. “Sometimes life is just a bottle of beer.” Not all of the quirkiness works, as some clumsy and tonally odd moments detract from the honesty, but Ranisch’s film, with its unique balance of heartbreak and surreal laughs, is one of the more charming and original international films of this year’s fest. **Dom Hemingway***,* 2013, 3 stars **Before I Disappear**, 2014, 2 ¾ stars You always hear of new filmmakers using festivals to launch their careers, and maybe even win an Oscar someday. But does that ever really happen? It certainly does if you’re writer-director Shawn Christensen, who screened his short film, *Curfew*, at the 2012 Florida Film Festival and took home the Academy Award for it the next year. Christensen is returning this year with *Before I Disappear*, a feature-length adaptation of that brilliant short, and is also appearing on April 11 at a discussion forum, “Pushing the Curfew: A Case Study from Short to Feature.” Although the session is bound to be informative, it’s a shame his feature isn’t as good as the short. It’s the story of a man whose suicide attempt is thwarted by a call from his sister (Emmy Rossum), who is in trouble and needs him to babysit her daughter. It’s a simple tale of honor, responsibility, family and the need to be needed. It worked beautifully for the short and could have worked equally well for the feature had Christensen not padded it with contrived subplots involving a violent, distraught friend (Paul Wesley) and a menacing, controlling boss (Ron Perlman). Still, thanks to great performances by Christensen and Fatima Ptacek (who also played the daughter in the short), *Before I Disappear* has just enough sweetness, magic and visual originality to prevent it from, well, disappearing. **After Winter, Spring** FL, 2012, 2 ¾ stars With more than a dozen documentary features to choose from at the festival, *After Winter, Spring* should not be your first pick. Interestingly enough, it isn’t even part of the documentary competition but is instead labeled a food film. But whether you’re a foodie or just enjoy honest, cultural commentary, this quiet, insightful look at the changing face of French farming is worth your time, though it certainly could have been shot better. Director Judith Lit moved to the Périgord region of southwest France to recapture the rural life that is dying in her native Pennsylvania, only to find it’s fading away in France too. Though she provides brief voice-overs comparing the cultures of the two countries, it’s her interviews with the French farmers that are the highlights. “I was a peasant by choice. No one forced me into it. Today, it is no longer a beautiful profession,” one farmer tells us, referencing increased factory farming, urbanization and financial struggles, though the rise of organic farming offers hope. The film is not afraid to show a brutal side of this seemingly idyllic life: animal slaughter. We see a freshly killed pig being scraped clean, a chicken being bled out and a goose being force fed. “To have beautiful foie gras, you have to love your animals,” the farmer says, apparently numb to the torture. This is one part of traditional farming that needs to die, but the doc rarely editorializes, and it deserves credit for that. **The Trip to Italy** TV, 2014, 2 ¾ stars*,* part of my [opening-night blog article](http://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fest-is-underway/ "2014 Fest is underway") **Cheatin’**, 2014, 2 stars **Last I Heard (a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in Queens)**, 2013, 2 stars The bad news: The film that Paul Sorvino is coming to the festival to promote, *Last I Heard*, isn’t very good. The good news: Sorvino is excellent in it, good enough to make the movie watchable and even somewhat touching. [![A053_C003_04234S.0001853F](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino-300x158.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino.jpg)Sorvino plays “Mr. Joe,” an aging former mob boss from Queens who is released from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Awaiting him is his 43-year-old daughter (Renee Props) whom he’s never really known and a world he no longer recognizes. It’s clearly time to give up the mafia life, his old friend and lawyer Ben (Chazz Palminteri, in a strangely brief role) tells him. “He was the man, but not anymore,” agrees his devoted neighbor and friend, Bobby, played compassionately by Michael Rapaport. “Now he’s just a regular Joe Citizen.” Writer-director David Rodriguez’s film would be nothing without Sorvino, as the veteran actor seems born to play this part. He draws you in and holds you for the duration, almost making you forget the less believable moments and slightly clunky script. But if that half-hearted endorsement seems unimpressive, play it safe by skipping the film and instead seeing Sorvino at a screening of *Goodfellas* on April 12. *Also [see my interview with Paul Sorvino](http://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/ "Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype").* **Animated Shorts** Because they are rarely seen outside festivals, short films are often fest-goers’ favorites, and the English-language animated program is often a top draw. Though this year’s block is entertaining and even moving at times, and features a variety of styles and tones, the quality is down from years past, with only four of the 17 films deserving a thumbs-up. [![Yearbook](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yearbook-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yearbook.jpg)This copyrighted image of “Yearbook,” which is arguably the best animated short at this year’s event, is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Though *Yearbook* (4 stars), a meditation on the fleeting nature of human civilization, is crudely animated in a hand-drawn style, and the voiceover could be crisper, it’s viciously intelligent and thought-provoking, and might elicit a tear. It’s too bad you have to sit through some mediocrity to get there, as the film by Bernardo Britto is the ninth of the block. Yes, you’ll encounter Steven Vander Meer’s meticulously crafted *Salmon Deadly Sins* (3 stars), an imaginative take on greed, envy and the rest of the traditional no-no’s, but you’ll also have to sit through *Raw Data* (0 star) and *The Last Orange Grove of Middle Florida* (0 star), in addition to a couple of flicks better suited to the Midnight Shorts program. Depending upon your taste for the abstract, you may appreciate the surreal and nicely animated *Shelter* (3 stars), which precedes *Yearbook*, but if you stay for the duration, you’ll cringe through the hopelessly unnecessary *Drifters (0 star)*, *Twiller Parkour* (1 star) and *Twiller Parkour #2* (0 star). Seriously, there are TWO films by Morgan Miller, the creator of last year’s *Prometheus Shrugged*, and that’s two too many. Missing the mark, though still enjoyable, are *Roadkill Redemption* (1 star), *Sidewalk* (1 star), *Spy Fox* (1 star), and *Tome of the Unknown* (1 star), which all lead to the longest and most serious piece, *Crime: The Animated Series* (3 stars), an illustrated documentary featuring six voice-over interviews with real people affected by crime. Its disjointed feel is offset by its originality and strong subject matter, and, regrettably, that’s more than can be said for many other shorts in this program, which, by the way, are intended for adults only. Judged as a whole, the program isn’t bad, and the order of the films seems to make sense (though we could have done with fewer, but slightly longer, selections). But evaluated individually, there’s just not quite enough magic. **Forev**, 2013, 1 star *Forev* dares to answer the question that all other films have shied away from: What would happen if you took a road trip with a girl you only casually knew, asked her to marry you, broke down in the desert after hitting an armadillo and had to rescue your sister from some creepy bearded guy she met at a bar – all while trying to make it back home so your spur-of-the-moment fiancée could star in a hot-dog commercial? That’s a weighty question indeed, and first-time writer-directors Molly Green and James Leffler deserve absolutely no credit for answering it. “We should probably just get married then, if you’re going to be here anyway,” Pete (Matt Mider) tells Sophie (Noël Wells). Other clumsy and seemingly impromptu lines follow, including “This is, like, a really good idea” and “Sophie and I are getting married, and it’s going to be awesome.” This is enlightening stuff. After sitting through too little drama, too few laughs and too much handheld camera for 88 minutes, it almost hurts to admit that this film is not badly acted and actually has some sweetness to it. But it has a fake, student-film feel that is impossible to ignore. Instead of fully exploring the vulnerability and fragility of the characters, *Forev* offers too many ridiculous, unfunny scenarios on the way to a somewhat honest and effective ending. **I Believe in Unicorns**, 2014, 1 star **Finding Neighbors**, 2013, ¾ star *Finding Neighbors* may take this year’s festival prize for the most boring, contrived and downright ridiculous scenarios. Writer-director Ron Judkins’ movie is so tone deaf, badly paced, poorly scored and amateurishly acted that the only thing you’ll be finding is the door when you walk out early from this clunker of a dramedy. Sam is an aging author of graphic novels. Fame has passed him by, and his inspiration has dried up. He mopes around the house while his wife supports him financially, and he can’t even work up any emotion when the sexy next-door neighbor (Julie Mond) takes naked showers outside his window. “I miss it, the glory days,” he tells himself. “\[I’m\] stuck, immobile. … I want to wake up.” Regrettably, that’s exactly how the audience feels too after sitting through this tiresome meditation on one man’s intellectual reawakening. As Sam, Michael O’Keefe, whom you might remember from *Caddyshack* and *Michael Clayton*, is ineffective, as are Blake Bashoff and Sean Patrick Thomas, who play a gay couple whom Sam befriends. Only Catherine Dent as Sam’s wife, Mary, displays naturalistic emotion, which only makes you pity her for having to suffer through the awful script. In fact, the film’s only interesting elements are the interspersed illustrations, which, despite their infrequency and mediocrity, add some needed visual and emotional energy. “You’re in your shit or shut-up years,” Mary tells Sam, referring to his mid-life crisis. It’s too bad the movie chose the former. **Wetlands**, 2013, ¾ star *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Susan Sarandon set for FFF](https://www.meiermovies.com/susan-sarandon-set-for-fff/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/03/27/susan-sarandon-set-for-florida-film-festival)*, March 27, 2014 [![Susan Sarandon](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Susan-Sarandon-300x163.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Susan-Sarandon.jpg)Sarandon in *Dead Man Walking* (image copyright Working Title Films) Susan Sarandon will be the guest at the Florida Film Festival’s “Evening with” program on April 11, at the Enzian Theater. *Dead Man Walking* will be shown, and Sarandon will do a Q&A session. Tickets are available at the Enzian box office and at www.floridafilmfestival.com, for $75. As previously announced, the other main celebrity events will be “An Afternoon with Paul Sorvino, featuring *Goodfellas*,” on April 12, and “An Evening with Giancarlo Esposito, featuring *Do the Right Thing*,” on April 6. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype](https://www.meiermovies.com/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Veteran actor to screen *Goodfellas* at the FFF From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/04/02/paul-sorvino-slaying-the-stereotype), April 2, 2014 [http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Interview\_with\_Paul\_Sorvino\_March\_28\_-2014.mp3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Interview_with_Paul_Sorvino_March_28_-2014.mp3) Paul Sorvino has a lot on his mind, and a lot on his proverbial plate, but not a single one of those items has anything to do with the mafia. [![A053_C003_04234S.0001853F](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino-300x158.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Paul-Sorvino.jpg)“Most people think I’m either a gangster or a cop or something, but the reality is I’m a sculptor, a painter, a best-selling author, many, many things – a poet, an opera singer, but none of them is gangster, but, you know, obviously I sort of have a knack for playing these things,” Sorvino says. “It’s almost my later goal in life to disabuse people of the notion that I’m a slow-moving, heavy-lidded thug, and most people’s impression of me IS that – because of the success of *Goodfellas* and a few other things, but they forget that I was also Dr. Kissinger in *Nixon*, … the deaf lawyer in *Dummy*, and they forget a lot of things that I’ve done. … It would be nice to have my legacy more than that of just tough guy.” Despite his eagerness to distance himself from that stereotype, Sorvino says he couldn’t resist the part of a former mob boss just released from prison, in his new film, *Last I Heard*, which he’s promoting and attending a screening of at this year’s Florida Film Festival. Sorvino was at his home in California last week when I called him to speak about that film and other topics. (Proving his versatility, my call interrupted his playing of Beethoven’s *Pathetique Sonata* on piano.) “My son knew the director, Dave \[Rodriguez\], and then we were in a movie together that he sort of directed, called *Mineville*, and my son, myself and Dave … we became friendly, and I really liked his directing style and liked him, and my son Michael said, you know, Dad, \[Rodriguez’s screenplay of *Last I Heard*\] is a very good script. … As soon as I read it, I knew that this would be a very, very good role for me. … More than the category – gangster – was the heart that was in it.” So what about that other gangster film Sorvino will be screening on April 12 at the festival, Martin Scorsese’s *Goodfellas*? Did he really hate it upon first watch? “That was for the first three hours. But I was blown away by it, and my natural critical eye was damaged because of the effect the movie had on me. I thought it was excessively violent, boring, and I was boring in it,” he says. “About three hours later, somehow, I don’t know how, I came out of the haze that the movie had put me in, semi-comatose, and was looking at it in reality and thinking about it and saying, ‘Wait a minute, I think I’ve just seen a great movie, and I think \[I’m\] good in it.’ … It’s as if I had gotten a concussion and had rebounded.” Scorsese isn’t the only great director with whom Sorvino has worked. Films starring the actor have been helmed by the likes of Sydney Pollack (*The Firm*), Oliver Stone (*Nixon*) and Warren Beatty (*Reds* and *Dick Tracy*), the latter being a “wonderful director,” according to Sorvino. But it’s Scorsese whom the actor focuses on most. “Everybody is different,” he says. “Some directors don’t know what acting is really all about, and so they ask for results … ‘You have to cry here; you have to laugh here. You’re sad here.’ You know, they talk in those terms. … The polar opposite of that is Scorsese, … a man who essentially creates such a \[nurturing\] atmosphere and encourages improvisation. *Goodfellas* is at least 30 to 40 percent improvised.” Sorvino admires Scorsese and other great directors so much, in fact, that he puts them on a pedestal above actors. “I can work with any kind of director. The only thing that I really hope the director has is taste,” he says. “He can speak any language … as long as he transmits to me the idea of what the scene should be about. … It’s his job and his vision that has to be followed. \[Actors\] don’t sign on as directors; we sign on as collaborators in the best sense, or as pawns in the other fellow’s chess game. We are craftsmen in movies; we’re not artists. Artistry is definable as an autonomous practice, and certainly that is not the profession of movie acting. You do as you’re told. You supply bits and pieces; that is, you supply tiles for the mosaic maker. … But the artist in movies is the director.” In the last 15 years, Sorvino has taken off that craftsman’s hat four times to step into the role of artist, having directed one cinematic feature, a TV movie and two episodes of the TV show *That’s Life*. His versatility extends not just to those projects and his aforementioned forays into music and the visual arts, but to his championing of animal rights, particularly horse-rescue efforts, and asthma prevention. However, at least in our interview, there was one topic that seemed to evoke more frustration and passion than any other: the current state of acting. “Acting on stage is an art. Acting in film is a craft,” he explains. “As the late Robert Culp said, … ‘This is a trade, Paul, and you learn it on the stage.’ … Without learning it on the stage, it’s difficult to learn how to act out loud. For instance, I’m noticing that on television and in movies now, it’s more difficult to understand the actors because they have such, such powerful microphones now that you can pick up speech even at a mumbling or whispered level. Unfortunately, that means that most of the actors don’t feel like they have to act out loud. … You have to learn how to act out loud, and that’s a skill that you pretty much learn on the stage. You don’t have to learn it in films, so you don’t. Of course, the great masters like Al Pacino and Bobby De Niro, they know what they’re doing. And they’ve both done stage.” Sorvino’s criticism of young actors goes beyond their lack of stage experience, however. “If I have a complaint about the modern actors, it’s that they’re not well enough prepared. And they’re not a lot of actors who want to be great actors, and that’s disturbing to me,” he says. “I have a feeling that they want great careers, but I am not convinced … that the so-called ethics of the profession are as strong as they once were.” Still, Sorvino seems at peace with himself and says he enjoys acting now more than ever. “I’ve come to understand and enjoy my movie career much more; … it took me a long time,” he says. “But once I recognized that movie acting is a job, and a better job than heavy lifting, which I did in my youth, then you can start to enjoy the parts of it that are fun. You don’t have to take on the responsibilities of leading this wagon train across the prairie. You can just be one of the drivers. … And it then can become a good job. It can become fun, as long as you have other things that give you the satisfaction of primary art, and in this case that is sculpting and writing.” Despite all his stereotype-busting endeavors, Sorvino still can’t help admitting that he may have a little tough guy in him after all, especially when it comes to directors and producers who have tried to push him around. “They tried that,” Sorvino laughs. “No, that’s never happened.” *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Discussing Yellow](https://www.meiermovies.com/yellowheather-wahlquist/) **Published:** December 13, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Discussing *Yellow* ## Heather Wahlquist talks about her latest film From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/04/24/discussing-yellow), April 24, 2014 Heather Wahlquist is far from yellow. Indeed, after her throw-everything-at-the-screen performance in the recent Nick Cassavetes film, which she co-wrote, it’s obvious she’s anything but scared. Still, if you’re talking about the script for *Yellow* and not the fearful adjective, she has a surprising amount in common with her cinematic concoction. (I spoke with Wahlquist at the 2014 Florida Film Festival, when she attended a screening of the film.) [![Heather Wahlquist and Cameron at FFF 2014](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Heather-Wahlquist-and-Cameron-at-FFF-2014-235x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Heather-Wahlquist-and-Cameron-at-FFF-2014.jpg)Cameron and Heather at the 2014 Florida Film Festival “It was coming out of a really, like, accidental time in my life, where you wake up one day, 12 years have \[gone\] by, and … I decided that it was better to have fun than anything else,” she says. “And so I went on this crazy spree of whatever and in the process had a kid. \[The film is\] partially auto-biographical, I’d have to say.” Though that “spree” helped inspire *Yellow*, Wahlquist makes clear that the surreal and boldly original film, which explores drug abuse, incest, mental illness and even hallucinations, is only partially based on her life. “I don’t see animals at the table,” she jokes. However, she did mention in the post-film Q&A that she has a sister with whom she fought constantly and might even have a half-brother – both eerie similarities to her movie’s character. The film focuses on the crumbling life of Mary Holmes (Wahlquist), and her equally insane relatives. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, unable to hold a job and haunted by an unbearable secret, she leaves Los Angeles to stay with her mom (Melanie Griffith, in her best role in years) in Oklahoma, the real-life home of Wahlquist and also where much of the movie was shot, thanks to that state’s tax credits. Once there, Mary is also reunited with her mentally disturbed sister (the brilliant Lucy Punch) and her religious harpy of a grandmother (Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes’ mother), while juggling other characters from her past. One of Mary’s sisters has Tourette’s, but Mary has a sort of mental Tourette’s, unable to separate reality from imagination, and her fantasies are portrayed in off-the-wall deconstructionist ways. A drama on the surface, *Yellow* launches oddly, and not always successfully, into comedy, music, dance and even animation to depict the crazy world inside Mary’s cranium. Ray Liotta even shows up at the end in a great but brief supporting role. It’s *August: Osage County* – with a lot more psychedelic drugs! For director/co-writer Cassavetes (Wahlquist’s husband), the film marks a sort of coming home, considering his cinematic lineage. In fact, if John, the pioneering independent filmmaker, were alive today, he’d probably be making movies like his son’s *Yellow*, though Wahlquist says her husband didn’t necessarily try to copy his dad. “I can’t comment on anything that has to do with \[the Cassavetes family\],” she says, “but I will say \[John\] and \[Nick\] were, I think … best friends, so, of course, they shared everything together. I heard great stories.” John died in 1989, at the age of 59, when Nick was 29 – well before Nick married Wahlquist, his second wife. But the work of his father obviously still affects Nick, and after a string of very un-*Yellow* like projects, such as *The Notebook* (in which Wahlquist also had a part), the similarities between father and son seem stronger than ever. Not only is *Yellow* a departure from many of the younger Cassavetes’ other films thematically, it’s also a departure logistically and financially, considering that the movie embraces so many genres. [![Heather in Yellow](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Heather-in-Yellow-300x151.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Heather-in-Yellow.jpg)“They stopped trying to figure out how much it would cost,” Wahlquist says. “It became such a huge production when Nick decided Busby Berkeley-style things needed to go in it. Literally, he spent the rest of \[the budget\], and we just kept shooting the rest of the film.” So how did the movie, which is still undergoing post-production tweaks in preparation for a possible limited or general release later this year, get finished? “It was a lot of favors. I think it just got worked out,” Wahlquist says. “We got shut down the first week of filming, and we got shut down for a year … and then came back and finished.” Clearly, the film was a financial gamble, literally. “Nick tells a great story,” she says. “He went to Oklahoma, … to Riverwind, which is this big casino outside Norman, Oklahoma, and he went in and won the money he needed … to get the rest of the money for financing.” Lastly, since the film’s title obviously has little to do with timidity, what does it mean? In her Q&A, she told the Florida Film Festival audience that “yellow” refers to the color of the pill – whether it be Valium, Libutol or another drug – that makes you temporarily happy and keeps your life worth living, as opposed to higher-dose drugs of other colors. So, just as in the Rolling Stones’ *Mother’s Little Helper*, there’s a little yellow pill for Mary. Yet it’s actually the audience that benefits most from *Yellow*, as Cassavetes and Wahlquist’s creation is one of the most memorable film experiences you’ll have all year. You’ve probably heard that blue is the warmest color. I vote for yellow instead. **Yellow**, 2013, 3 ¾ stars From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/florida-film-festival-2014-movie-reviews/Content?oid=2242403)*, April 1, 2014 Little Nick Cassavetes has finally grown up and is making his daddy proud. Indeed, if John, the pioneering independent filmmaker, were alive today, he’d probably be making films like his son’s *Yellow*, a boldly original and surreal take on mental illness, drug abuse, incest, religion and family dysfunction. Co-written by and starring Nick’s wife, Heather Wahlquist (who plans to attend one screening at the Florida Film Festival), the film focuses on the crumbling life of Mary Holmes, and her equally insane relatives. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, unable to hold a job and haunted by an unbearable secret, she leaves Los Angeles to stay with her mom (Melanie Griffith, in her best role in years) in Oklahoma. There she’s also reunited with her mentally disturbed sister (the brilliant Lucy Punch) and her religious harpy of a grandmother (Gena Rowlands, Nick Cassavetes’ mother), while juggling other characters from her past. One of Mary’s sisters has Tourette’s, but Mary has a sort of mental Tourette’s, unable to separate reality from imagination, and her fantasies are portrayed in off-the-wall deconstructionist ways. A drama on the surface, *Yellow* launches oddly, and not always successfully, into comedy, musical and even animation to depict the crazy world inside Mary’s cranium. It’s *August: Osage County* – with a lot more psychedelic drugs! I overheard fellow critics describe *Yellow* as a vastly entertaining train wreck. Well, this is one train I’d like to be on – just give me a seat belt. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A double dose of docs](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-double-dose-of-docs/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 3, 2014 The *Orlando Weekly* just released our big Florida Film Festival article featuring reviews of roughly 30 feature films, but since there are more than 50 at this year’s fest, that means we just weren’t able to get to all of them by our press deadline. Two we missed in our main story – but that you should NOT – are *SlingShot* (3 ¾ stars) and *The Final Member* (3 ½ stars). [![The Final Member](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Final-Member-300x270.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Final-Member.jpg)*SlingShot*, directed by Paul Lazarus, is an eye-opening bio of inventor Dean Kamen, who invented the Segway, founded the FIRST science-education program, and is now pushing a cheap, effective method of delivering purified water to millions of the world’s poorest people. “We could empty half of all the hospital beds in the world by just giving people clean water,” Kamen says. “I like technology. I like machines. I like the efficiency they deliver.” But the doc is much more than a description of a new technology – it’s an examination of why science is not more highly valued in our society. As Kamen says, “We don’t have an education problem in this country. We have a culture problem.” Though the doc drags a tad toward the end, and there are few minutes in the middle where you feel like you’re watching a commercial for Coke (Kamen’s corporate partner), the film is one of the strongest docs at this year’s festival. Kamen named his SlingShot water purifier for the tale of David and Goliath, in which a tiny invention brought down a mighty problem. Until that original slingshot was demonstrated, I imagine not many people gave little David much of a chance. It would be unwise to similarly underestimate Kamen. Swinging 180 degrees, we have *The Final Member*, a truly surreal documentary about an Icelandic man who founded the world’s only penis museum, and the two men who are competing to be the first to donate a human organ to the collection. One is a famous Icelandic playboy who has bequeathed his member upon his death, while the other is an American so eager to have “Elmo” join the museum that he’s willing to have him removed BEFORE his death. (Yes, he’s named his unit and has even turned him into a comic-book hero.) One might expect this film to be nothing but R-rated silliness. Well, it’s definitely R-rated, but it has a serious and even touching side. Yes, it’s viciously funny, and you might even expect Christopher Guest to jump into the frame at any moment to announce, “Gotcha!” But these are real people, with real stories and real desires, and directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math have taken great pride – and many years of shooting – to bring a touching brand of lunacy and passionate insanity to the screen, in the tradition of Errol Morris. Be prepared for patriotic penis tattooing, a hilarious and painful scene involving a plaster cast, and embarrassing revelations that trouser monsters shrink with old age. (Yes, the men must be a certain size, or larger, to be considered, but it’s never made quite clear whether the 5-inch minimum is the erect or flaccid measurement. Ah, the weighty questions posed by a dick doc.) “I try to provoke people, make them look differently at things,” says Sigurdur Hjartarson, the museum’s founder and curator. As amazing as it sounds, you may never look at a penis quite the same way again. The only limp moment – sorry, had to sneak in an anatomical joke somewhere – among the two selections is *A Night at the Jai Alai* (0 stars), a short documentary preceding *SlingShot*. It’s a 9-minute glimpse at Orlando’s jai alai arena and some of the people who either play or hang out there. The film, directed by Drew Blatman and getting its world premiere here, may sound intriguing because of its local subject, but it offers little dialogue, no context and no background information on the Orlando venue or jai alai itself. Without that, and with little knowledge of the sport, we’re left to wonder who these people are, what they are doing and why we are supposed to care. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2014 Fest is underway](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fest-is-underway/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *The Trip to Italy* opens the festival From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 4, 2014 The Florida Film Festival is officially underway. The opening-night party at Enzian was a blast, and the opening film, Michael Winterbottom’s *The Trip to Italy* (2 ¾ stars), seemed to be fairly well received. It won’t play again at this year’s festival, so I’ll spare you a formal review here, but it is worth seeing if and when it gets a general release later this year. Yes, it’s a bit of a tedious one-noter in the early-going, and Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s back-and-forth banter is a bit of an acquired taste, but its charm and clever humor should win you over, especially if you’re already a fan of the British TV shows and previous feature film (*The Trip*, from 2010, which, at 3 stars, was slightly better and sharper) upon which this latest movie is based. Staying true to their promise to go darker this year, the festival showed the animated short *Oh Sheep!* (0 stars) as the starter and pissed off a large portion of the audience in the process. I do admire shaking things up and pushing people out of their comfort zone, but this unnecessarily violent and over-the-top attempt at political allegory sullied the main film’s intelligence and subtlety. Hey, there’s nothing like opening a festival with pseudo-social commentary featuring cute animals getting bludgeoned to death in various unimaginative and disgusting ways. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The End of the Tour](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-end-of-the-tour/) **Published:** August 25, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The End of the Tour**, 2015, 4 stars # Transcendent *Tour* ### Eisenberg and Segel have this summer’s best conversation [![endofthetour](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/endofthetour-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/endofthetour.jpg)Image copyright Modern Man Films / Anonymous Content From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-end-of-the-tour-is-this-summers-best-conversation/Content?oid=2423603)*, August 14, 2015 Summer was once the domain of family reunions, outdoor adventures and long, lazy conversations. Now it’s the season of the action blockbuster, filled with fake people from fake worlds who lack both a fear of death and the power to converse intelligently. It’s films like *Me and Earl and the Dying Girl*, *Mr. Holmes* and now, even more significantly, *The End of the Tour*, that remind us of what we’re missing from almost all other recent flicks: a healthy dose of humanity. The latter is a unique, subtle, almost uncomfortably intimate look at the way we perceive ourselves and others. Directed by James Ponsoldt (*The Spectacular Now*), the film dramatizes the now-famous five-day interview between young *Rolling Stone* writer David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), during the final few days of Wallace’s promotional tour of his 1996 dystopian masterwork, *Infinite Jest*. Lipsky flies from New York to the snowy tundra of Illinois during the dead of winter to meet Wallace and bunk in his unassuming, shabbily decorated abode. They then journey together to Minnesota for the final leg of Wallace’s brief foray into fame, before he settles back into relative obscurity. Though the film includes a few other characters – Joan Cusack is a nice addition as the driver who ferries Wallace to his gigs – *The End of the Tour* is *My Dinner with Andre* for this generation. Though it might not mesmerize you as instantly as that 1981 classic, you might be surprised at how difficult it is to look away, as you eagerly await each line, hoping either one or both of the participants in this journalistic tête-à-tête will reveal something extraordinary about inspiration, talent, the American way of life or, at the very least, their own lives. Disappointingly or pleasingly – depending on what type of film you want – the movie doesn’t reveal anything particularly profound about the human condition, and it occasionally lacks tension. Lipsky and Wallace actually develop a strange bond during their verbal mastication. (This is no *Frost/Nixon*.) In addition, there’s almost no discussion of *Infinite Jest*, which might frustrate fans of the novel. We do get glimpses into Wallace’s insecurities and odd addictions, which would, of course, come back to haunt him 12 years later. But the film, more often than not, is content to just let us soak up a refreshingly real encounter while displaying two actors (particularly Segel) at the top of their game. Written by Donald Margulies and based on Lipsky’s memoir, *Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself*, the film has been mildly criticized for interjecting unneeded conflict into the interview – conflict that perhaps never occurred. But it’s also been criticized for not packing *enough* dramatic punch. Not having read Lipsky’s memoir, I can’t comment, but judging from the contrasting opinions, it sounds like the screenwriter created a nice balance. “The conversation is the best one I ever had,” Lipsky would reflect years later. It’s certainly the best cinematic one of the summer. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *For more on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416744/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Tour).* --- ### [48 Hour Film Project](https://www.meiermovies.com/48-hour-film-project/) **Published:** December 13, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # The fastest films in Florida ## The 48 Hour Film Project returns to Orlando [![techsquad](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/techsquad-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/techsquad.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/48-hour-film-project-returns-to-orlando/Content?oid=2243465ttp://)*, September 3, 2013 *This is the first part of my extensive coverage of the 2013 48 Hour Film Project, which included a [follow-up blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/final-thoughts-on-the-48/) and story on the international competition, [Filmapalooza](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/ "Filmapalooza: hard to win in the Big Easy"), held in New Orleans in March 2014. See [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6GSBywiRTM) to view TechSquad.* Time was not on his side. In just 48 hours, TL Westgate, along with his team of 12 crew members and actors, had to write, shoot and edit a short film. It was an exercise in drive, discipline and insanity, all for the self-satisfaction it brought – along with the opportunity to see the finished film this week at Premiere Cinemas at Fashion Square Mall and the remote chance it will advance to the 2014 New Orleans Filmapalooza, where it could win $5,000 and eventually be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. But TL was not alone. Thirty-five other filmmaking teams subjected themselves to the same challenge from 7 p.m. on Friday, August 23, to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 25, hoping their film would rise above the rest. And this year more than 120 other cities also took part, making the 48 Hour Film Project the world’s largest timed moviemaking competition. ### **How it works** Teams can come together, select shooting locations and secure equipment in advance, but no writing or production can begin before the kick-off event. Cheating is possible and has occurred in the past without repercussions, but the Project makes that difficult by having teams draw one of 14 genres (slightly different each year), from general ones such as comedy or drama, to specific ones like crime/gangster or mistaken identity. Films must also incorporate elements that are revealed at kick-off: a prop (a tablet this year), a character name and trait (Don or Donna Bleshing, a tightwad) and a line of dialogue (“Terrific. That is just terrific.”). Movies must run 4-7 minutes, not counting end credits, and adhere to certain technical requirements, such as resolution, aspect ratio and frame rate (surprisingly, 30fps instead of 24). No stock footage may be used, and no one may receive compensation, not even SAG-AFTRA actors. In addition, the Project shares copyright, regardless of whether the films go on to other festivals. All movies are shot digitally, rendered as digital files and submitted on DVD or flash drive. (Since the Project began in Washington, D.C., in 2001, only three groups – none in Orlando – have been ambitious enough to shoot on film.) “I got wind of it through fellow filmmakers back in 2008 when the 48 Hour Film Project first came to Orlando, so I was there for the inaugural Orlando one, and I was part of another team,” says TL. “I had always toyed around with short films, and I got my degree in media production, … so this official team environment for a contest sort of got my juices flowing, and from then on I’ve not stopped making films.” [![Hans and TL](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Hans-and-TL-225x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Hans-and-TL.jpg)Hans (left) and TL pose as their characters in the film. He’s clearly learned from his previous experiences, with include directing audience-award winner and overall runner-up for 2010, *Beachwatch*, a mockumentary and *Baywatch* spoof. “The biggest challenge is writing a script that’s shootable in the allotted time,” TL says. “You can’t overwrite. You can’t be too ambitious with such a limited amount of time.” Like TL, local filmmakers Allen Paschel and Aimee Maynard have participated before. “It’s fun and extremely stressful at the same time,” Allen says. “Story is the biggest challenge. Second is definitely editing. … I typically don’t sleep until we are well on our way to having a final draft.” Adding to Allen’s sleepless nights last year were endless disasters, starting with the assignment of Western, an often difficult genre, and continuing until about half of his 16-member team dropped out. His chances of success were dampened further when a water main broke at his shooting location, but he still finished the film. Aimee’s experiences have not been trouble-free either. “Last year the people in my group kind of disappeared, so I went to a meet-up and met six guys from Full Sail \[University\], and they had a group, so I joined them,” she says. “\[This year\] I’ve been feeling pressure because we have a lot of professionals. Very serious people are coming on board. Normally, I just, like, don’t care – we’re gonna make a good movie or make the best we can, and have something nice for our portfolio.” Rob Ward, the Orlando Project director since 2010, says the biggest filmmaker problems he’s seen are clashing egos and computer problems, such as rendering. But for him, the problems are different. “\[My biggest challenge\] is trying to find local sponsors who will help out with the cost. It’s pretty much non-existent,” Rob says. “My challenge pretty much starts when they drop off the project, because then I have to edit them all together.” ### **A Project play-by-play** Upon Rob’s suggestion, I “embedded” with a group. Having chosen TL’s team (Creative Inlet Films) a few weeks in advance, it’s now Friday, August 23, at 7 p.m., and I’m waiting nervously with them to discover our assignment. (Though I’m shadowing and not providing input, I feel emotionally invested too. How could I not be? After all, I’d been hanging out with TL and other filmmakers at the multiple meet-and-greets in July and August, which fostered team-building and introduced filmmakers to actors, and vice versa.) After receiving the informational packet – TL had paid his $140 entry fee weeks before – and watching other teams draw genres, TL is ready to do the same. “I get nervous pulling the genre,” he confides. “My heart is beating.” [![TL drawing the genre](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TL-drawing-the-genre-300x220.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TL-drawing-the-genre.jpg)TL draws his team’s genre. He draws buddy film. “OK, we can do this,” the director says, obviously relieved he got something he could turn into comedy, his preferred genre. Not every team is as happy. Allen draws fantasy and is clearly not in a magical mood. But he, like all team leaders except one who drew “musical or Western,” chooses to keep his pick and not opt for one of the nine slightly off-the-wall wild cards, such as martial arts, zombie and B movie. Amazingly, TL and Michelle Bretana (his writing partner, assistant director and script supervisor) have the basic idea planted in their brains when the group convenes for dinner at Tijuana Flats at 8 p.m. Between flautas and burritos, the concept becomes clearer: A hero cop and his tech-savvy, nerdy, Google Glass-wearing partner thwart the evil plans of a pair of James Bond-like villains. It’ll have action and suspense, but mostly it will showcase outrageous comedy, thanks to – spoiler alert! – a missile homing device implanted in the nether regions of a kidnapped cop. It’s “Lethanal Weapon,” if you will, although an admittedly PG-13 one, to conform to the standards of the Project, which stipulate no nudity or excessive use of adult language (although Rob admits a few entries this year push those limits, so parents beware). “Let’s fool the audience into thinking it’s all action, and then get goofy,” TL says. “Kick ‘em in the comedic balls.” By 8:30 p.m., we have a title: *TechSquad*. And finally joining us for dinner are the two villain actors, Christina Carmona and Nando Luis Torres, the latter having rushed here from his tech-school graduation ceremony. At 9 p.m., the conversation turns technical, and cinematographer Corey Steib gets involved, discussing lighting, lenses and set-ups with TL. At 10:30 p.m., after more discussion about costumes and plot, the group disbands, slightly giddy and loopy, but the screenplay isn’t finished until 4 a.m., allowing Michelle – who, in her first significant film role, will also play the police captain – just one hour of sleep. TL doesn’t do much better, getting just three hours of fitful rest. Saturday is shooting day, and we arrive, eager but sleep deprived, at the offices of graphics company Edge Factory, which, conveniently, TL and a couple of other crew members have access to. It will serve nicely as police office and missile-control room. The camaraderie is evident, as all actors come early, even those whose scenes won’t be shot until the afternoon. Showing up for the first time this morning are two actresses TL has worked with before, Brittany Isham and Amanda Powell, who will play a second pair of buddy cops, and Hans Christianson, who, as Agent Bleshing, will be imprisoned, chained and beaten by the two villains – the day after receiving a vasectomy in real life. Talk about dedication. [![hans](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/hans-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/hans.jpg)At 9:05 a.m., the shoot begins with green-screen work that graphics and animation supervisor Grayson Blackmon will turn into the film’s intro. At 10 a.m., after TL confers with cinematographer Corey and camera operator Jay De Los Santos, the true filming begins and doesn’t stop until we break for lunch, hungry and a bit weary, at 1:30 p.m. But despite the weariness, TL, often joking, can’t resist a sarcastic barb to his actors: “They say never work with children or animals. I’m working with both.” An hour’s lunch at Chili’s is our only downtime. And in the proud workaholic tradition of Chaplin, Kubrick and Kazan, TL turns to me while eating and exclaims, “I haven’t peed yet today.” At 4 p.m., after a furious rainstorm and a trip to a Halloween store to buy fake blood, shooting begins at the other location, a small hut in Grayson’s backyard. It’s a structure so creepy it’s dubbed the “murder shack.” It needs no dressing. Rehearsals precede the shooting, and exhaustion and nerves emerge. “We’re all in a daze land right now,” Michelle says, while Christina, who eventually plays her evil part to perfection, is struggling with lines, thanks to her revealing, restrictive costume and the fact that she, like the other actors, first saw the script that morning. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this right now. My tits are out,” she says. “I just need to look at \[the script again\]. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” At 5:15 p.m., we’re ready to film the scene in which Hans is chained – for real, thanks to advice from sound technician Danny Page, who doubles as weapons specialist – to the rafters of the shack and repeatedly fake-punched by Nando. After multiple takes, though, their timing falters and Nando really punches Hans in the mouth – a take regrettably not useable in the final cut – allowing a drop of real blood to mix with the fake. Hans: “I can taste the blood.” Nando: “If the freaking audience doesn’t like this scene …” Technical challenges are overcome on the fly. “Good ol’ gaff tape,” proclaims production manager Jen Vargas. “There’s nothing it can’t do.” Adds camera operator Jay: “I saw gaff tape deliver a baby once, like Doogie Howser.” [![TL, Corey and Jay](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TL-Corey-and-Jay-300x204.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TL-Corey-and-Jay.jpg)From left, TL, Corey and Jay plan a shot. All photos copyright Cameron Meier/Creative Inlet Productions. With no natural light left, shooting wraps at 8:15 p.m., with Hans in just a bit of pain and Corey’s shoulders not too sore thanks to a comfortable spider brace for his Sony FS 100 camera. Though the actors, cameramen and audio techs are done, in many ways the work is just beginning for TL on Saturday night and into Sunday. And it’s solitary work, indeed, as the director-turned-editor labors over the right takes, the right audio levels and the right royalty-free music choices, using Adobe Premiere and Adobe Audition to cobble together a finished film. The only other team members still working are Michelle, creating credits; Grayson, finishing graphics; and Jen and Jay, re-shooting footage of a moving car with their versatile GoPro camera. Jay even doubles as last-minute voice-over talent. TL is clearly in his element. “I heard the boom pole,” he notes. “I need to use a different take.” Minutes later: “I just combined two sound effects to make a new one!” Despite joking at 1:50 p.m. that “I’m going to kill somebody today,” by 4:10 p.m. TL has finally finished and invites the group to an impromptu screening in his living room. “I’d like to spend another week tweaking,” he says, “but for this event, it’s good.” ### **Drop-off and screening** For the group I was embedded with, the hard work and sleep deprivation paid off. After a couple of last-minute sound tweaks, they turned in their finished film at 7:20 p.m., relieved and ready for food and drink – and then sleep. But what about Allen Paschel, the guy who was unhappy with his genre? Well, he also finished his film, *Tablet Racers*, on time, thanks to “more planning than we ever had before” – without breaking anymore water mains. “We almost caused a fire, though,” he admitted. “It was kind of scary.” Not all teams were so lucky. Of the 36 that entered, 13 didn’t make the deadline, including Aimee Maynard, who, before this year’s Project began, admitted she was feeling the pressure. She turned in her film five minutes late. “We drew holiday/vacation. It was an easy \[genre\], so I was totally unprepared,” Aimee joked. “We wrote the script early, and some of the team members \[26 in all, far above the average size of 6-15\] weren’t happy, … so we struck on something else.” [![DSC01330](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DSC01330-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DSC01330.jpg)Orlando 48 Hour Film Project director Rob Ward addresses the filmmakers. But the writing delays put time pressure on filming, culminating in the walk-off of two of her directors of photography. However, she says she is still able to appreciate the fact that her film (the Christmas-themed *Heart Strings*), though tardy and therefore disqualified from receiving judges’ awards or advancing to New Orleans, was finished and will screen in the B group on Thursday. “We’re happy with what we’re turning in,” she says. And why shouldn’t she be? After all, thanks to years of being spoiled to a lengthier process and big budgets, would famous filmmakers be up for a similar challenge? In an interview for the DVD release of his 1971 classic *Duel* – a 74-minute movie that he was forced to shoot in less than two weeks and edit in three – Steven Spielberg admitted he might not be. “I look back at it, … saying how did I get all those shots in 12 or 13 days? How is that possible? If I had to go back right now and re-create *Duel* in 12 to 13 days, I don’t think I could do it – impossible,” he says. “I think I was so hungry back then; I was so ambitious; I was so excited about having been given this chance. I couldn’t do it that way again today, which means a lot of the spontaneity would be left out.” Spontaneity is certainly something the 48 Hour Film Project doesn’t lack. Whether it lacks quality is something you will have to discover when you attend the public screenings. Group A, which includes TL’s and Allen’s films, is at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4, with group B at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5, followed immediately by group C around 8:30 p.m. Tickets for a single group are $10; a pass to all groups is $25. ### **What next?** Of course, TL and the other filmmakers hope to win the Orlando competition and go on to future fame. But if they don’t, what can they take away from the Project? “What I’ve heard over and over is the fun of it, how much fun they have and how much they love making films,” Rob says, adding that he’s pleased all 36 groups eventually turned in films and will get to see their work screened. TL agrees. “Painters paint, and they don’t necessarily show all of their stuff to galleries or sell it. It’s in them and it wants to come out,” he says. “I just want to make short films. I have no aspirations that the 48-hour film I make this year or any year is going to make somebody in Hollywood call me. But I like the collaboration process. I like working with new actors. I like getting something out that we can show people and be proud of. … For me, it’s another film I can put on my demo reel and show people what I can do.” While his long-term future is uncertain, we at least know what TL will be doing in the coming days. “After a good night’s sleep, the haze of the 48 had worn off and it struck me: I could just go outside and run across my lawn with my audio recorder \[to fix one last audio problem\],” he says. “The tweaks continue for the version we’ll get to put on YouTube after the premieres.” And so TL the tinkerer is never quite able to let the project rest. The editing goes on, and the process never truly ends. But at least he’ll be able to eat and sleep a bit better now. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [An all-star FilmSlam](https://www.meiermovies.com/an-all-star-filmslam/) **Published:** September 3, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian’s July contest features three past winners From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/july-s-film-slam-is-an-all-star-edition-1.1517910), July 10, 2013 FilmSlam, that eclectic monthly concoction of the good, the bad and the ugly of aspiring Florida filmmakers, returns to the Enzian in Maitland on July 14. Eight short films are scheduled, along with a Q&A with the creators. “This is something of an all-star Slam, with three past FilmSlam winners in the running,” said programming director and host Tim Anderson. “We also have a new music video from Adam Arnali for the Orlando band Soulswitch. And \[we have\] a brand-new short from experimental filmmaker Carl Knickerbocker, whose production *A Dog Goes From Here to There* played the Florida Film Festival in 2010. We are also featuring a 16mm production from Full Sail University that has some of the most naturalistic 16mm cinematography that I have seen in quite a while.” The Slam opens with *Changing Worlds* (6 minutes, 45 seconds), a sci-fi apocalyptic adventure from Dale Metz, who won FilmSlam in January 2012 with his short film *See*. It’s co-directed and written by Ted Souppa. From director/writer Forrest Hughes comes *Gifts* (10:18), the story of Sarah, who despite barely being able to make ends meet, strives to get her grandfather the best Christmas present ever. Also bursting with ambition is the protagonist in director Grant Martin’s *Bittersweet* (13:28), who relishes his first assignment as a dessert baker. (You might remember Martin as the director of *Charlie*, a highly touted local film project, still in production, about a boy with autism.) On the darker side, we have *Shootin’ the Breeze* (4:46), directed and written by TL Westgate, a comedy about two co-workers with a little time to kill, and the aforementioned music video by Soulswitch, *Saving Me* (4:25), which delves into the divided – and shattered brain – of a love-torn man. *The Last Orange Grove of Middle Florida* (2:44), directed and written by the aforementioned Knickerbocker, brings a decidedly Sunshine State flavor to the competition, as it depicts the all-too-familiar occurrence of an orange grove being displaced by a housing subdivision. Rounding out this month’s smorgasbord is the 16mm *Moving* (10:00), directed by Kyle Romanek and written by David Brescia, and Tyler Falbo’s *Lend a Hand* (7:25). The former focuses on a struggling couple who discover a moving box that helps them reminisce on what they once had together, while Falbo’s tale centers on the odd repercussions of a night of heavy drinking. The protagonist in the final film gets so drunk he flips his car. As an alternative, might I suggest a single drink at Enzian’s Eden Bar before taking in what will undoubtedly prove to be an interesting collection of the latest treats – and some trash – from the next generation of moviemakers. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enzian Theater hoping to expand](https://www.meiermovies.com/is-the-enzian-hoping-to-expand/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Enzian expansion](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Enzian-expansion-217x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Enzian-expansion.jpg)The preliminary plans for the Enzian’s expansion show the current building in brown and the proposed additions in purple. (photo provided by City of Maitland) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/is-enzian-theater-hoping-to-expand-1.1478169), April 24, 2013 The Enzian Theater could be seeking to almost triple its current size by adding two screens and two lobbies to its existing building, according to the City of Maitland and other sources with knowledge of the plans. The independent art cinema currently has just one screen, in addition to an outdoor bar and restaurant. In November, the Enzian submitted a proposal to the City of Maitland, according to Jacqueline Holt of the city’s Planning Department. The proposal is only a preliminary one, and subsequent plans must be approved by the City of Maitland before construction begins. But if the ideas come to fruition, the expansion would be an exciting and welcome boost for independent and art-house cinema in Orlando. The Enzian has not made an official announcement, and would not directly confirm its plans for an expansion, instead saying that the theater is simply “exploring the possibilities,” adding, “it will get much more interesting in time, if there ends up being a story at all.” The preliminary proposal on file with the city of Maitland lists Chronus Construction as the builder and calls for a second theater on the north side of the current building and a third one on the east. The two new theaters would be connected by a concessions lobby, while a main lobby and additional restrooms would be situated to the south of the third theater. The current entrance, fountain area, iconic trees, Eden Bar and outdoor movie area would be untouched. It’s not known whether the two new theaters would be built in a café style, mimicking the current auditorium, or whether they would contain seats only. Despite the specificity of the current plan, any final proposal would likely look quite different. “The drawing … is simply an expression of area to see if that space would be usable,” said Enzian General Manager Hollie Mahadeo. “It is in no way actual construction plans, and the interior layout is not a design we would consider bringing to life \[exactly as it appears in the preliminary proposal\].” The Florida Film Festival, which just completed its 22nd year on April 14, might also be in for exciting changes. Instead of being split between the Enzian and Regal Cinemas in Winter Park Village, the event could become a single-site affair. However, the preliminary proposal depicts the two new Enzian theaters as smaller than the current one – and considerably smaller than the largest of the Regal theaters – perhaps necessitating the continued involvement of Regal. But the festival’s future is difficult to predict, as sources say the positions and sizes of the new theaters may change drastically from the depiction in the current drawing if and when the Enzian chooses to submit a final proposal. The expansion depicted in the preliminary proposal would be the largest in the Enzian’s 28 years, bringing the building’s square footage from 7,629 to 19,127. The entire site covers about 3 acres, and the proposal calls for keeping almost 2 acres of green space while also preserving virtually all of the parking area. The height of the proposed structure would not exceed 50 feet. The Enzian is already in the midst of a major renovation, this one on the inside of the current auditorium. The carpets, wall coverings and most of the tables and chairs are being replaced. The theater has sought donations for those improvements, but it’s not known whether funding for the proposed expansion would also come from donations, or from another source. No timetable for fundraising or, indeed, any of the new plans has been announced. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* ## Update In a letter to Enzian supporters in November 2013, Executive Vice President Elizabeth Tiedtke confirmed what I first reported in my April article in [*The Orlando Weekly*:](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/is-enzian-theater-hoping-to-expand-1.1478169) The Enzian will indeed expand to a second and third screen. “To respond to our community’s hunger for what we offer, we have developed plans to add two theaters to our current site, tucked behind the existing theater,” Tiedtke said. “Our aim is to honor and preserve the Enzian you know and love, simultaneously enhancing and improving the patron experience. The Old Florida oasis in front of the theater will remain just as it is, with the entrance to a new lobby and all three theaters just peeking around one corner. The new theaters, seating 80 and 50, will have Enzian-style seating and screens as large as our current screen. Programattically, we will offer more of what you love: more festivals, more single-event screenings and more variety. And we will stay open during this expansion, vowing the least possible disruption of your film, food and friends experience.” The Enzian is asking for donations, which are partially tax-deductible. “We will accomplish this only with the community’s support,” Tiedtke said. “Plans and more details will be revealed in the new year.” Tiedtke’s description of the expansion sounds virtually identical to the preliminary plans filed with the City of Maitland in 2012 and revealed for the first time in my *Orlando Weekly* article in April 2013. However, that article, and Tiedtke’s comments, did not address the issue of parking. (*The Orlando Weekly* reblogged this post, with the diagram of the preliminary construction proposal. See .) --- ### [In film, short doesn't mean easy](https://www.meiermovies.com/in-film-short-doesnt-mean-easy/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Charlie*, a locally produced movie about autism, seeks support from the community From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/short-film-charlie-to-begin-filming-in-april/Content?oid=2245189), March 27, 2013 When trying to create a movie, the old adage is if you can’t go long, go short, at least until you can build support for a feature-length production. Yet that often belies the fact that a short film can be a complex and costly undertaking in its own right. [![Charlie](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Charlie-197x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Charlie.jpg)Case in point: *Charlie*, the little local film that could, or at least is trying to. The movie will tell the story of an autistic teenager and his football-coach dad, who is struggling to deal with his son’s condition. It’s being produced by Sunset Studios, an Orlando production company founded last year by Ryan and Cristina Cimino, who intend to finance the 20-minute project for just $2,500 – because almost everything is being donated and everyone is working for free. (Food, basic supplies and a mandatory general-liability policy are the only major expenses.) Still, the complicated process has already taken many months, with no footage to show for it yet. That should finally change in April, when the weeklong shoot is planned. To find the project’s origins, you have to go back to a news story from 2006. “I was watching a newscast of a young man that has autism,” Rob Tuscani, the film’s writer, cinematographer and co-producer says. “He was a water boy on a basketball team, and the last game of the season they put him in. … He shot like six three-pointers. I started balling my eyes out, watching this kid, and I thought, wow, you know, what would it be like to have this son that was, you know, perhaps a tremendous athlete, but \[the dad is a\] really awful person and said, you know, ‘To hell with my son. I don’t want to have anything to do with him.’” Director Grant Martin, creator of the 8-minute *The Cab*, which played Enzian’s FilmSlam showcase last July, is himself still a student (at Full Sail University). He was invited into the project by his mentor, Tuscani, with whom he had worked before. “It’s a love story between father and son, and it’s because of Charlie’s condition that Harlin, the father \[experienced local actor Jim Mullins\], has to condition himself to face, sort of, his past and himself,” Grant says. “\[Autism\] is a tough topic, and I think because we’re bringing that value into somebody who is so young, that’s just gonna be a real challenge, but it’s gonna be very fun and very memorable.” The project has already benefitted from its subject, as autism awareness was perhaps the main reason the film drew close to 100 people to a fundraiser on February 15 at 310 Lakeside café and bar in downtown Orlando. The public was invited, for $25 a person. In exchange, donors were treated to food, drink, prizes, information about the movie and a speech by Dr. Andrew Pittington, an expert in social disorders. “I think this movie touches on such a wonderful component,” Pittington says. “Autism itself is not a one-size-fits-all condition. … I know \[someone like\] Charlie. … I have Charlie \[as a patient\]. He sees me every week. … Charlie lives amongst us every single day, and I guarantee Charlie’s dad lives amongst us, and we need to help him too.” Despite the good will, and about $1,300, generated by the fundraiser, it should be noted that none of the profits – if there are any, which is rare for a film like this – will go to charity. “In asking the community to support the fundraiser, we again let folks know what the film was about and created an event that gave something back to them for their support,” says Ryan Cimino. “\[But\] we did not reach out to organizations in the community that support autism. Most of them have their hands and schedules full, not to mention that they campaign for support in a different way.” With or without the support of such organizations, can Cimino really produce this film for just $2,500? Maybe, says Tim Anderson, local filmmaker and programming director of FilmSlam, but only because Cimino isn’t paying for actors, technicians and equipment. “Their budget is basically covering craft services and whatever incidentals they might need,” Anderson speculates. “You still have to have insurance on your shoot, so that’s probably about $400 a day. … You can still do it for $2,500.” Shooting on private property is best, Anderson says, as is keeping the locations to a minimum. And *Charlie* is certainly doing that, since a football field, a house and a hospital will be the only sets. Tuscani has secured an Arri Alexa digital camera and related equipment, similar to the ones used on *Skyfall* and *Hugo*, for free, which he says will save $6,000-$8,000. That’s admittedly a great accomplishment, but it’s no safeguard against what Anderson describes as the greatest potential pitfall. “The biggest problem with a short film, if you can get all the technical fundamentals down, … is bad acting and bad line delivery,” Anderson says. “There’s no reason whatsoever in the digital age to capture a bad performance. … You should be able to shoot until they get it right. It doesn’t cost. We’re not Stanley Kubrick-ing like a million feet of film.” Tuscani agrees that films, be them short or feature-length, are fraught with difficulties. “It looks so easy and seamless when you go and watch a film, but it is extremely difficult,” he says. “There are so many challenges along the way, be it locations, be it insurance, be it the proper talent, be it the music.” New filmmakers could learn a lot from *Charlie*: Keep your budget small by seeking donations, find talented people who will work for little or no money, and pick a topic that might gain support within the community. And be prepared for the process to last longer than you expect. In the case of *Charlie*, that will likely be at least a year, once post-production is done and this unique project is finally ready for submission to film festivals. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2013 Manhattan Short Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-manhattan-short-film-festival/) **Published:** December 12, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Short but sweet (with a little sour) ### Manhattan Short Film Festival will make two stops in Orlando [![Manhattan SFF](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Manhattan-SFF-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Manhattan-SFF.jpg)*Faces from Places* From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/manhattan-short-film-festival-makes-two-stops-in-orlando-1.1558044)*, September 24, 2013 What’s in a name? Not much if you’re the Manhattan Short Film Festival, as the event is being held not just in New York, but in 300 locations around the world. Luckily for us here in Orlando, the Enzian and the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café are two of seven Florida venues. The 16th annual festival features 10 films chosen from 628 entries from 48 countries. You get everything from a couple of mildly amusing throwaways to an emotional powerhouse of Oscar quality. And the most intriguing part is that all of the estimated 100,000 worldwide viewers get to vote for their favorites, with winners to be announced Oct. 6. For the audience, it’s a global, cinematic coming-together, while for the filmmakers – who hail from six different counties – it’s a coming-out. First up is ***\#30*** (1 star) an Australian comedy, with a hint of pathos, about an actress struggling through an audition for *Hamlet*. The weakest of the films, it misses its mark and ends up as tedious and awkward as the event it’s depicting. Only slightly better is the entry from Finland, ***Do I Have to Take Care of Everything*** (2 stars), a somewhat sweet comedy about juggling parenthood and social responsibilities. These two icebreakers are included seemingly to whet your appetite for the good stuff, which comes quickly in the form of Seb Edwards’ ***Friday*** (5 stars). An English entry, this is a touching and insightful examination of grief, anger and prejudice in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings. Don’t be surprised to see *Friday* take home the prize for the festival’s best film and lead actor Reece Noi get the nod for best actor, an award that’s being given for the first time this year. Up next are the French ***No Comment*** (3 stars), a comedic twist on gender relations, and ***Irish Folk Furniture*** (4 stars), an ambitious and fascinating stop-motion-animation documentary that patrons of the 2013 Florida Film Festival will remember. ***Black Metal*** (2 stars), a too-brief contemplation of whether musicians are responsible for the evils committed by their fans, doesn’t deliver the emotional punch it intended, but the French ***Faces from Plac****e****s*** (3 stars), a collection of three animated documentaries – spaced out between the other nine entries – is a refreshing and unique addition. Watch for the interesting juxtaposition of motion-capture imagery and what appears to be crude but creatively colorful hand-drawn backgrounds. The final three entries are all touching and a bit mystical in their own way. ***I Am a Great Big Ball of Sadness*** (3 stars) feels overwhelmingly contemporary and real, ***Kismet Diner*** (4 stars) seems magically unreal, and the Russian historical drama ***The Pale of Settlement*** (4 stars) may be the most beautifully shot of the films – and the best after *Friday*. The Enzian screening will be Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m. and cost $10 ($7.50 for members), while the Cobb Plaza Cinema Café showing will be October 4 at 7 p.m. and cost $9.50. The program lasts about one hour and 45 minutes. For more information, visit [www.Enzian.org](http://www.enzian.org). *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2013 South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-south-asian-film-festival/) **Published:** December 15, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Mumbai by way of Maitland From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/south-asian-film-festival-returns-to-enzian-1.1558061)*, September 24, 2013 Experiencing movie-fest withdrawal and can’t wait for the Orlando Film Festival to start on October 16? The Enzian Theater may just have your remedy in the form of the 19th annual South Asian Film Festival, which showcases the cultures of India and Pakistan through films both from and about those countries. Held this Saturday and Sunday, the event will include four features and one short. The comedy *Jadoo* (preceded by *Unravel*), the political thriller *The Reluctant Fundamentalist* and the epic *Midnight’s Children* are the narrative features, with *Salma* being the lone documentary. A pass to the entire festival, which is co-presented by the Asian Cultural Association, costs $35, while a single ticket is $10. See [http://www.enzian.org/festivals/south\_asian](http://www.enzian.org/festivals/south_asian) for details. **Salma** FL, 2013, 3 ¾ stars “Most girls start periods at 13. That’s when the outside world becomes strictly forbidden,” Salma says. “After puberty, you lose the outside world. One by one, my school friends got locked up. That’s how it is for Muslim girls.” And that’s how it was – and still is – for girls in this conservative Indian village, including Salma, who was imprisoned by her parents for nine years, from puberty to marriage. She was then imprisoned mentally by her husband and his family until she miraculously found a way to break free and become one of her country’s greatest poets. “Allah has written this fate on our hands,” Salma’s mother told her. The daughter’s reaction: “The anger was boiling inside me. That’s when I started writing poetry.” If this heartbreaking and insightful Tamil-language documentary by Kim Longinotto doesn’t make you angry too, you’re not paying attention. Yet despite its powerfully personal story, *Salma*’s message is that the villains of misogynistic oppression are not the people, but the traditions themselves, those centuries-old rules that subjugate in the name of religion. And not just Islam, but any religion that preaches inequality, ignorance and fairy tales over fairness. **Midnight’s Children**, 2012, 2 stars An epic spanning 60 years, *Midnight’s Children* is the unique tale of babies born at 12 a.m. on Aug. 14, 1947, the day of India’s independence. Blending drama, romance and even fantasy in the tradition of Indian cinema, Deepa Mehta’s movie shows that though two of those children were switched at birth, their lives and destinies are forever intertwined, as are the destinies of all Indians and Pakistanis. “A child and a country were born at midnight,” says one of the boys. “Great things were expected of us both. The truth has been less glorious than the dream, but we have survived and made our way. And our lives have been, in spite of everything, acts of love.” Written by Salman Rushdie, who based it on his novel, the film is also an act of love carrying the burden of great expectations. But as with many overly ambitious epics, it struggles to fulfill those expectations and can’t quite juggle its complicated storylines, its heavy-handed narration and its awkward transitions between drama and fantasy. **The Reluctant Fundamentalist**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars (not reviewed) *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** December 15, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival expands to three days ### Enzian’s 15th annual event offers five films From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-expands-to-three-days-1.1584512)*, November 12, 2013 This year’s Central Florida Jewish Film Festival will be the largest and longest in the 15-year history of the event, screening five features instead of the usual four and opening on Saturday instead of Sunday – but just after sundown, to honor Sabbath restrictions. The event will also expand beyond the Enzian Theater for the first time, to the Orlando Science Center. “Science Center got involved because the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando got involved, and they’ve been doing quarterly screenings at the Science Center of recent Israeli films,” says Matthew Curtis, Enzian Programming Director. “We’d been talking about how we can expand, because obviously Enzian is a single screen and it’s challenging … to bump a Saturday-night show at Enzian, … but going outside of the venue and doing it off-site was an inspired idea.” Though the festival contains no shorts this time, all five features – whittled down from more than 60 potential films – are worth seeing. “We’ve got a pretty wonderful balance of three narrative features \[and\] two doc features,” Curtis says. “We’ve got some lighter stuff and some heavier stuff, and we just thought … this is a nice mix.” The food options are expanding this year too. Although the themed menu will be available only inside the Enzian during screenings – not at Eden Bar or the Science Center – it’ll still be impressive enough to draw both Jew and gentile foodies. There will be Hebrew National kosher hotdogs and homemade dishes such as potato knishes, latkes and apricot-raisin ice cream. And for something a bit rarer, try tzimmes, a traditional stew of vegetables and dried fruit. The festival, co-presented by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, runs November 16-18 and offers three payment options. If you have time for just one film, visit the Enzian on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for the powerful, controversial *Aftermath,* which will, like the other four movies, cost $10. If you’re planning to see all five, the Series Pass ($45) will save you money and get you second-priority seating. But if you wish to be truly spoiled, purchase the Mensch Pass for $70 and enjoy first-priority seating. **Zaytoun** FL, 2013, 3 stars A road-trip movie unlike any you’ve seen before, *Zaytoun* (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Orlando Science Center) tells of the unlikely pairing of an Israeli pilot (Stephen Dorff) and an orphaned Palestinian refugee (Abdallah El Akal) during the 1982 war between Lebanon and Israel. The pilot has been shot down in Beirut, while the 12-year-old boy longs to return to his ancestral village in Israel, if only long enough to plant a zaytoun (Arabic for olive) tree that he and his father nurtured together. The two slowly realize that their journey will succeed only if they stick together. A British-French-Israeli production directed by Eran Riklis (*Lemon Tree*) in English, Arabic and Hebrew, *Zaytoun* is noble in concept and tone but often lacks urgency. Shot well and with a lot to say about cooperation and humanity, it nevertheless isn’t as memorable as the festival’s other narrative features, perhaps because the pair’s journey from Beirut to Israel, though balanced fairly well between comedy and drama, feels too brief, too forgettable. What does stick with you is the theme of the olive branch, which is extended between Jew and Arab both literally and metaphorically, making *Zaytoun*, despite its shortcomings, a worthy addition to the lineup. **When Comedy Went to School**, 2013, 2 ¾ stars Ever heard the one about the Jewish comedian who got his start in the Catskills? Chances are if you haven’t seen *When Comedy Went to School* (Sunday, 11 a.m., Enzian), you haven’t heard the full story. The lone American film among the five selections, this documentary offers a glimpse into the history of Jewish-American comedy, from the days of vaudeville to the transition to modern standup. It also reveals a bygone era, a more innocent time when the resorts of New York’s Catskill Mountains were the nation’s top summer travel destination and a training ground for comedians. And the best part is that this world is brought back to life by legends such as Jerry Lewis, Jerry Stiller, Sid Caesar and Jackie Mason, not to mention countless clips of everyone from Woody Allen to Rodney Dangerfield. “You had to have a sense of humor, for Christ’s sake. That’s what got the Jews through it,” says Lewis. “It was our salvation, and it was our understanding that we’ll get through if it we’re not too terribly serious.” Although simultaneously funny, touching and informative, the film too often plays like a TV special thanks to bad writing, an overbearing score, unnecessary reenactments and heavy-handed narration by Robert Klein. Still, *Comedy*, though the weakest of the five movies, is a nice counterbalance to the more serious festival fare. **Aftermath** FL, 2012, 4 stars The town of Jedwabne, Poland, kept a horrible secret for 60 years. Until Polish historian Jan Gross revealed the truth in his 2001 book, *Neighbors*, the townspeople were silent about their wartime past. As controversial as the book was, writer-director Wladyslaw Pasikowski’s *Aftermath* (Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Enzian), which is getting its Southeast premiere at the festival, may be even more incendiary, as it introduces elements of fiction while turning the story into a tense, twisty thriller. [![Jewish FF 2013-2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Jewish-FF-2013-2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Jewish-FF-2013-2.jpg)The film focuses on two fictional brothers, one who has lived in the town his entire life and the other who moved to America. But the American brother has now returned to check up on his sibling, who has mysteriously become the village outcast. *Aftermath* is better when you know little in advance, and you’ll get no spoilers here, other than to reveal that reaction to the movie has been so strong that Maciej Stuhr, who plays the Polish brother, has been subjected to the same racial abuse as his character. People have called him “a Jew, and not a Pole anymore,” and have even threatened his life. Intrigued? You should be, and you won’t be disappointed, as the film is the best of the festival. So why not five stars for this year’s best? Well, the climax is slightly overdone, motivations are not always clear, and, like a lot of genre pieces, there’s a letdown on second viewing, after you’ve discovered the secret. In this respect, *Aftermath* is a bit of a one-note film – but what a note! **Hava Nagila (The Movie)**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars If you think you’ve never heard the song *Hava Nagila*, you’re wrong. Maybe you’ve never been to a bar mitzvah or a Jewish wedding. Or perhaps you’ve been holed up in a gentile cave your entire life. Trust me: You’ve still heard the tune. “What’s up with this song?” asks this simple but surprisingly entertaining and thoughtful documentary by Roberta Grossman. “So kitschy, yet so profound. Is *Hava Nagila* a hundred years old or a thousand? Did someone sit down to write it, or did it come down from Sinai? And what’s the deal with the chair?” These and a multitude of other questions you never thought to ask are answered by this film, an American-Ukrainian-Israeli production filmed in English and featuring dozens of fascinating historical tidbits and celebrity interviews. Though the analysis of the song itself is intriguing, *Hava Nagila (The Movie)* (Monday, 4:30 p.m., Enzian) is at its best when it addresses broader issues such as the Jewish-American migration from the cities to the suburbs, the changing nature of Jewish culture and how, as Harry Belafonte puts it, music allows humanity to “find a place … to reside where there is no fear.” **The Attack** FL, 2012, 3 ½ stars It’s not often that a movie makes you rethink something as heinous as a civilian-targeted suicide bombing. Yet *The Attack* (Monday, 6:45 p.m., Enzian) does just that by offering a unique glimpse into extremism. A multi-national production in Hebrew and Arabic, *The Attack* is the story of Amin (Ali Suliman), a Palestinian living in Israel. Despite his initial prejudices against Israelis, he has assimilated, thanks to his own tolerant nature and his job as a successful surgeon. “And what you considered your enemy is now lying on your operating table,” Amin tells his colleagues. “Isn’t it the right time to re-examine your own certitudes?” Yet those certitudes fall apart when his seemingly peace-loving wife is accused of blowing up a Tel Aviv restaurant. Not able to believe that she was capable of such horror, Amin begins a quest for the truth, a search that leads him back to the Palestinian territories and into the heart of terrorism. As his quest drags on, so does the movie, which becomes a tad tedious. It’s as if the details of the bombing are simply a Hitchcock “MacGuffin,” or a device to move the plot along while focusing on the real meaning, which in this case is the Arab-Israeli conflict and the themes of tolerance, revenge and dignity. Still, on that level, the film has profound moments. *The Attack*, directed by Ziad Doueiri, never claims that terrorism is justified, but it does address the issue in an honest and often uncomfortable way – a way you’re unlikely to see elsewhere anytime soon. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sundance shines again at Enzian](https://www.meiermovies.com/sundance-shines-again-at-enzian/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A.C.O.D. will screen at the Maitland art cinema From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/acod/Content?oid=2245837), January 30, 2013 The Sundance Film Festival is turning its spotlight on the Enzian for a second year in a row by allowing the Maitland cinema to show the comedy *A.C.O.D.* (Adult Children of Divorce) on January 31 at 6:30 p.m., just days after the film premieres at the Utah festival. Sundance will also be sending either the film’s director or one of its stars to conduct a Q&A. Orlando is one of only 10 cities so honored by the Sundance Film Festival USA program. Last year Enzian screened *Arbitrage*, starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Brit Marling, the latter being chosen to represent the film and take questions. *A.C.O.D.* may not have the early buzz that *Arbitrage* had, but its cast is no less impressive. First-time director Stu Zicherman, in his own original screenplay, tells the story of a seemingly well-adjusted adult who discovers he was part of a study on children of divorce when he was young. This revelation has profound effects on his life, and the lives of his new family. If that sounds serious, think again. Although the *Weekly* was unable to screen the film – not even Enzian has seen it yet – the cast list suggests a Christopher Guest sensibility, with probably less of a “mockumentary” mood. Starring Adam Scott (*Parks and Recreation,* *The Guilt Trip*), *A.C.O.D.* features Guest regulars Jane Lynch and Catherine O’Hara, along with Amy Poehler, Richard Jenkins and Jessica Alba. “Sundance USA is kind of an outgrowth of the work we’ve been doing with Sundance for many years,” says Enzian Programming Director Matthew Curtis. “We were part of the original art-house project \[which began\] a few years ago to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sundance Institute. They asked a few select art-house screens around the country to get together and show a program … So the first year we showed past films from Sundance. Then we started showing shorts programs.” The most recent shorts program was held on January 15 and offered an eclectic selection of Sundance shorts from last year, including the excellent *Fishing Without Nets*, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for shorts. But Sundance eventually had more than just the previous year’s shorts in mind for the Maitland theater. “Three years ago Sundance started the Sundance USA program to have art screens around the country participate in the Sundance Film Festival by featuring a film and a filmmaker while Sundance was actually going on,” Curtis says, adding that Enzian joining the list of participating cinemas in 2012. “We’re honored and thrilled and very proud to be part of the program.” It’s a relationship that seems fitting given both organizations’ love of film. Metaphorically it’s appropriate too, as the Sun’s rays are shining again on the Maitland icon, which draws its name from a blue trumpet-shaped flower. That flower also gave its name to the original Enzian, a cultural organization formed in New York in 1922 by a group of artistically talented immigrants. Their goal, just like our Enzian’s, was to celebrate culture and aesthetic traditions, a history lesson that is undoubtedly not lost on the Utah festival’s chairman and the original “Sundance,” Robert Redford. Tickets to *A.C.O.D.* are $15 and already on stand-by, so act quickly. But if you can’t get in, there’s always Winter Garden’s StarLite Film Festival ([www.starlitefilmfest.com](http://www.starlitefilmfest.com/)), one of the area’s many small festivals and yet another reason for the cinephile to love Orlando. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The year in pictures](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-year-in-pictures-2012/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Pi*, ‘*weenie*s and other tasty movie morsels from 2012 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/first-rate-films-1.1421392), December 26, 2012 In a year that saw a spectacular Olympics in London, a heartbreaking hurricane in the Northeast and a closely contested presidential election that turned out to be not so close after all, Hollywood provided its usual respite from the real world. So without further exposition, let’s turn off the lights, rewind the projector and revisit the films of the last year of human existence (or so a Mayan calendar maker once conjectured). Getting the bad news out of the way first, I offer two choices for the year’s biggest disappointment. After five critically praised projects, Paul Thomas Anderson tried to fulfill his dream of making “the great American movie,” but, unfortunately, the 70mm film canister filled with *The Master* landed with a confused thud, albeit a beautiful one. At least it’s still worth a watch, which is more than can be said for the overly violent, overly long *The Dark Knight Rises*, which managed to suck every ounce of joy and magic out of the *Batman* franchise, despite boffo box office. But for every letdown, there is a pleasant surprise, and in 2012 those came in the form of *The Avengers*, a tantalizingly tight, fun film and the year’s top grosser, and *Wreck-It Ralph*, arguably the best digital-animation feature that doesn’t begin with a hopping Pixar lamp. It’s also worth mentioning that, despite the criticism of Peter Jackson for turning two films into three (and his questionable use of 48 frames per second), *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* was actually an enormously impressive accomplishment, as was the fiercely original *Beasts of the Southern Wild.* Marooned somewhere between pleasure and pain is the just-opened *Les Miserables*. Though it contains moments of greatness – most notably Anne Hathaway’s jaw-dropping *I Dreamed a Dream* – fans of the stage musical may be disappointed, considering Russell Crowe’s laughable performance and director Tom Hooper’s overabundance of close-ups and frenetic camera. Now let’s get to the really good stuff. At number five is *Argo*, the taut thriller that proves again Ben Affleck is a better director than actor. (And he’s a pretty good actor, too.) Next is Steven Spielberg’s *Lincoln*, featuring Oscar favorite Daniel Day-Lewis in a towering turn that more than makes up for some of the TV-movie predictability. The vastly underrated Tim Burton stop-motion gem, *Frankenweenie*, comes in at number three, with *Life of Pi* washing ashore in the second spot thanks to Ang Lee’s remarkable merging of mysticism and visual magic. Only *Anna Karenina*, a unique marriage of style and substance, can top it. In by far the bravest adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece, Director Joe Wright combines literature and theatre with dance and design to weave a bold and ambitious cinematic tapestry worthy of the title of year’s best. Yet that’s by no means the end of the story, for this article doesn’t include all the late-December releases. Waiting in the wings for possible inclusion in a more complete year-end summary are *The Impossible*, *Zero Dark Thirty* and a slew of foreign-language goodies that are just now beginning to gain attention in this country. (Hint: *Amour* may prove the easiest to, um, fall in love with.) So do your movie homework, book the babysitter, and bring your best cinephile buddy with you to your nearest cineplex. You’ve got a lot of films to get through by Oscar time! *(With the benefit of hindsight, this list would be altered slightly, adding* Holy Motors *in the #3 spot and the documentary* 56 Up *solidly in the top five too.)* *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Jewish culture returns to Enzian for 14th annual festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-1.1409134), November 28, 2012 The most popular of Enzian’s two-day special events, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival celebrates its 14th – and post-Bar Mitzvah year, if you will – with the film and food its patrons have come to expect. With two documentaries and two dramas, the balance seems about right this time, and while not every film is a winner, all four are good fits. We always like to have some diversity, obviously, to the program,” says Matthew Curtis, Enzian’s programming director. “We only do four films. … We’ve never had all docs. One year, three or four years ago, when the original *Debt* was out from Israel, … we had four narrative features, but other than that, we always try to have a balance of narratives and docs. “In this case, the two narratives \[*Foreign Letters* and *Mabul*\] kind of open and close the festival, and they’re both very different coming-of-age films. … One’s the immigration experience, and one is a really dysfunctional family and growing pains.” Curtis says he and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, which co-presents the festival, also try to strike a balance among languages, countries of origin and even cultures. “We’ve never done the whole thing all Israeli films or anything,” he explains. “We look at about 60 to 70 features, docs and shorts to come up with the four films. We will never do, you know, four films from France, or four American films or four Israeli films, \[and\] all of the films might be of particular interest to the Jewish community here, but we try to show films that also appeal to everyone \[and\] have universal themes of heroism, family, love.” The festival runs December 2-3 and offers three payment options. If you have time for just one movie, consider *Mabul* on Monday at 7 p.m., which will, like the other three films, cost you $10. If you’re planning to see all four, the Series Pass ($35) will save you a few bucks and get you second-priority seating. But to experience the festival in style, go for the Mensch Pass for $60 and enjoy first-priority seating. Regardless of your choice, or your religion or ethnicity, the festival offers value to just about every movie-goer, despite the fact that the filmmakers will not be in attendance this year. So check out the accompanying reviews for more details, and don’t forget to stop by Eden Bar for some tasty potato latkes or a Hebrew National hot dog. Instead of opening on the customary Saturday, this festival honors the Sabbath by getting underway on Sunday, and starting things off this year is the Florida premiere of an American film about a 12-year-old girl adjusting to a new school and a new life outside her native Israel. ***Foreign Letters*** (1 ¾ stars), a Hebrew-English-Vietnamese production, tells the tale of Ellie, played lovingly by Noa Rotstein, and her struggles to fit in with her peers, learn a new language and find a new best friend. At first, Ellie’s emotional world revolves around her family, who left Israel so Ellie’s father could avoid fighting in the 1982 Lebanon War. It also centers on her slowly fading relationship with her former best friend back home, whom she keeps in touch with through letters. But Ellie soon finds a kindred spirit in a Vietnamese classmate who feels equally alone, and they both end up learning lessons of loyalty and trust. Written and directed by Ela Thier, who not only bases the story on her own experiences as a little girl, but plays (her own) mother, *Letters* is touching and occasionally funny but drifts too often toward a contrived predictability. Perhaps Thier was just a bit too close to the project to pull it off, as its sweetness can’t overcome the poor pacing and emotional punch that fails to land. Walburga “Wally” Neuzil, the beloved mistress of provocative Austrian painter Egon Schiele, was kidnapped by Nazis during World War II and, 70 years later, was still struggling to find her home. If this sounds like the plot of a political thriller, you’d be right, except that the woman in question is not Wally herself but her portrait, which was never returned to its rightful owner following the war and remained in limbo until just two years ago, when a protracted legal fight finally ended. ***Portrait of Wally*** (2 ¼ stars), written and directed by Andrew Shea, follows the chain of evidence leading to the conclusion that the painting is the property of the heirs of the Jewish art dealer from whom it was taken in 1939. Caught in this chain is big-time collector Rudolf Leopold and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which brought the piece to the United States for exhibition in 1997, thus prompting its eventual seizure by the U.S. government as stolen property. This case was a watershed in the debate over looted art, and this well-produced documentary does introduce some of the larger questions of this debate, such as the role of museums. However, by concentrating primarily on this portrait and keeping its focus frustratingly narrow, it appeals to legal scholars but may become a bit too tedious for the average art lover or historian. Just when you thought you’d discovered all the heroes of the Holocaust, along comes Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, a World War II veteran, now 103 years old, who, prior to joining the Royal Air Force in 1939, hatched a remarkable plan to transport Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to foster homes in England. His efforts saved more than 600 boys and girls destined for Concentration Camps. Slovak writer and director Matej Minac has told Winton’s story twice before, both in documentary and non-doc formats, but never quite like in ***Nicky’s Family*** (2 ¾ stars). This 2011 documentary focuses not just on the lives of the children before, during and after the war, but also on the lives of everyone their lives have since touched, including that of Winton himself. The result is an interesting historical document and a good illustration of the ripples-in-the-pond metaphor. “I have a motto that if something isn’t blatantly impossible, there must be a way of doing it,” Winton proclaimed. Yet despite that attitude, for 50 years he never realized quite what he had done. Even the children he helped knew nothing of the “British Schindler” until his wife uncovered documents in their attic in 1988 and decided to share her husband’s story. Despite its clunky reenactments, awkward voiceovers and heavy-handed scoring, the film works because of its story. It may not always know how to say what it’s trying to, but you’d be a cynical soul indeed if you completely resisted the emotional grip of *Nicky*’s narrative. ***Mabul***, or *The Flood,* (3 ¾ stars) is the only true must-see of this year’s four offerings. Although the subtle, hyper-realistic style and slight overuse of handheld camera make the movie difficult to fully appreciate in the first half, the metaphorical dam of emotions eventually breaks, engulfing not just the characters but the audience. A 2011 Israeli film in Hebrew, written and directed by Guy Nattiv, *Mabul* is, on the surface, a coming-of-age tale of Yoni, a 13-year-old boy who is struggling with Bar Mitzvah preparations while being bullied at school and dealing with dysfunctional parents. But when Yoni’s older and severely autistic brother, Tomer, is forced to stay with the family after the closure of his mental institution, the film becomes something bigger: a heartbreaking and powerful portrait of a family on the brink of collapse. Feeling the stress just as much as everyone else, yet bottling it all up, Yoni, played wonderfully by Yoav Rotman, has nowhere to turn. Even his teachers don’t know what to do with the brilliant but troubled boy. “What do you think we should do?” his adviser asks him. “You are the counselor,” he retorts. “Counsel me.” Combine that biting dialogue with some remarkable scenes of domestic life, and throw in some insightful religious symbolism, and you get one of the sharpest commentaries on Israeli society in recent years. You couldn’t ask for a much better end to the festival. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sci-fi and fantasy flicks come alive at the London Film Museums](https://www.meiermovies.com/sci-fi-and-fantasy-flicks-come-alive-at-the-london-film-museums/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Pegasus and Bubo the Owl from Clash of the Titans](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pegasus-and-Bubo-the-Owl-from-Clash-of-the-Titans-300x250.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pegasus-and-Bubo-the-Owl-from-Clash-of-the-Titans.jpg)Photos, from top to bottom: Pegasus and Bubo the Owl from *Clash of the Titans*, Medusa from *Clash of the Titans*, Pinhead from *Hellraiser* and a costume from *Planet of the Apes*. (photos by Cameron Meier) From *SciFi4Me.com* and *SeshatTravels.com*, June 22, 2012 Medusa lives! Pinhead spotted in England! No, these aren’t the latest bad horror/sci-fi mash-ups. They are real observations from my trip earlier this month to London. I travelled there for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee but was also pleased to find a sort of diamond in the rough – two of the capital’s best-kept secrets: the London Film Museums. Both museums can be viewed together in a single afternoon, and they are relatively close to one another, just a short Tube jaunt or cab ride away. I tackled the Covent Garden one first (). It’s the smaller and newer of the two, so inconspicuous that I had trouble finding it. ``` ``` Housed snugly in the same block as the famed London Transport Museum, the displays are nevertheless impressive and particularly fascinating for fans of the early days of film and photography. From old movie cameras to insight into the technology that birthed the medium, the cinema enthusiast will find many treats. Chief among them are projections of some of George Méliès’s fantastical works and the Lumière Brothers’ short films that launched cinema. No, today’s museum-goers don’t shriek at the locomotive in *Train Arriving in the Station*, as members of the original 1895 Paris audience did, but the film still holds a certain power, evidenced by the popularity of Martin Scorsese’s *Hugo*. The main attraction is “Magnum on Set,” which tells the stories of several great films, including Charlie Chaplin’s *Limelight*, Orson Welles’ *The Trial* and Nicholas Ray’s *Rebel Without a Cause*, through the on-set photographs of the legendary agency Magnum Photos. Interspersed throughout the photographic displays are other artifacts, including a drool-worthy trinket for sci-fi buffs: costumes from the first *Planet of the Apes*. ``` ``` If the Covent Garden branch is the brains of the Film Museums, the [South Bank one](http://www.londonfilmmuseum.com/south-bank/) is its heart – and offers the real treat for lovers of sci-fi, horror and fantasy. Opened in 2008 as the Movieum and located next to the giant London Eye Ferris wheel, inside the County Hall building (across the river from the Houses of Parliament), this museum can, surprisingly, be a tad tough to find as well. But after locating the entrance and paying the admission – yes, this one charges, unfortunately – you’ll be surprised at the exhibits’ size and sprawl. “Charlie Chaplin: The Great Londoner” is well worth your time, but the real treat is “Ray Harryhausen: Myths and Legends,” an exceedingly cool homage to the master of stop-motion animation, including original props and some great insights into the history of the art form, from the groundbreaking days of Edwin S. Porter to Harryhausen’s last film, *Clash of the Titans*, in 1981. Also don’t miss the sci-fi and horror rooms, especially the *Harry Potter* props and costumes, and the disgustingly realistic creations from *Hellraiser* and other assorted gore fests. John Huston once said, “The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world.” The London Film Museums allow you to step briefly into that world. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/DSC01144.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/DSC01144.jpg) ``` ``` --- ### [Orlando Film Festival 2012](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-film-festival/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Seven seems lucky for local movie fest [![Story of Luke](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Story-of-Luke-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Story-of-Luke.jpg)Seth Green has a supporting role in *The Story of Luke*. (image copyright DViant Films/Fluid Film) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/orlando-film-festival-1.1389066), October 17, 2012 Competition is healthy, a famous capitalist once conjectured, and the creators of the Orlando Film Festival (October 17-21) have put that theory to a successful test over the last seven years, building their event into the second biggest in Central Florida. The Florida Film Festival is still tops, but the presence of another major show has helped boost the reputation of Orlando’s film community. “We started \[in 2006\]. We had a film out there … and went around to festivals all over the country,” chairman and co-founder M. Brett Jaffee says. During his travels, people asked Jaffee about the Orlando festival scene. “We have the Florida Film Festival, which is huge and wonderful and awesome,” he told them, “and actually I had a film in the Florida Film Festival, \[but\] we decided to plant our flag, have a film festival \[of our own\]. We knew \[the Cobb Theatres Plaza Cinema Café\] was coming \[and would make a great home for the event\].” Until those theaters were built, however, the festival spent a couple of years at CityArts Factory, with just one-and-a-half screens, as Jaffee describes it, thanks to an obstructed view of one. From those humble beginnings came the current 12-screen, 142-film event. Jaffee and executive director Daniel Springen, whose first role with the festival was participating filmmaker, point to four factors that make their festival unique: the convenient downtown location on Orange Avenue, their treatment of the filmmakers, Q&As after roughly 80 percent of the films and cheap tickets ($10 a day, $30 for the whole festival and $100 for a topnotch VIP pass that includes party access, priority seating and even free Stella Artois). “I felt when I was a filmmaker in the festival that I was well taken care of,” Springen says. “I know that my main focus coming in \[as director\] was, because I’m a filmmaker as well, was just making sure that when the filmmakers come in, that they are treated like royalty, because they created a piece of art that will live on forever and ever and ever, and they just – nobody will ever see their films, except at film festivals. Some of them, yes, will get distribution, but these short-film makers \[won’t\].” And for those who don’t find distribution, Jaffee adds, “This is their Oscar, this is their world premiere. … What we found is we could treat filmmakers, because of our connections, to a style that they weren’t accustomed to. … We also removed all barriers to entry. We made it free to attend, … and we brought in really big films. “We’ve evolved since then,” Jaffee continues. “We can’t be a free festival, … but what we can do is practically give away the seats. … And we have had over 100-percent growth every year we’ve had the festival.” So what can festival-goers expect, other than the rock-bottom ticket prices? “The best part is we know that 99.9 percent of Central Florida has never seen any of these films because they are not mainstream-released,” Jaffee says, theorizing that the number of national and Southeast premieres (though the festival does have some) isn’t as important as the quality. “So it doesn’t matter if they’ve played here or there. If they’re a good film, we’re gonna hold them up. “Also, most of Central Florida hasn’t seen these theaters,” Jaffee says. “When people walk in, they’re blown away with how comfortable it is. \[Everything\] is all right here. You can leave one theater and go into another. … It’s the best location I’ve ever really seen for a festival. The Enzian \[for the Florida Film Festival\] – you can’t beat that, but it’s one screen.” But are the films any good? Critiques of all 40 features and 102 shorts (all digital for the first time) are beyond the scope of this article, so it’s best to peruse [www.orlandofilmfest.com](http://www.orlandofilmfest.com/), read the descriptions and try your luck. But for a brief taste, here are three of the most highly anticipated entries: “It’s a cute comedy,” Springen says of *Bad Parents*, which is making its Southeast debut as this year’s opening-night feature. It stars Janeane Garofalo, Cheri Oteri and Christopher Titus, with Oteri and Titus in attendance. “It’s not family friendly. … It’s soccer moms personified just to the point of absurdity.” All that is true, but the clever, dark conceit is not put to good use in this amateurish, unfunny clunker from director/writer Caytha Jentis. Unlike *Bad Parents, The Story of Luke* has its heart in the right place, though its brain is sometimes absent. It’s an often touching, coming-of-age comedy/drama about an autistic young adult pursuing his dreams, but it’s dragged down by an unpolished script and transparent performances, including a misguided Seth Green, who might be attending. Director/writer Debbie Goodstein’s drama, *Mighty Fine*, stars the always reliable Chazz Palminteri as a father trying to provide for his family while fighting his inner demons. It’s got more to offer than the others, but it, too, is partially derailed by script problems and a single performance: Andie MacDowell with the worst accent this side of Tommy Wiseau. However, festival-goers should take note of the debut of MacDowell’s daughter, Rainey Qualley, who outshines her mom in both beauty and talent. But no festival should be judged by three entries. Most have their share of clunkers and fillers, destined to never see the light of day, or the dark of a cinema, again. Conversely, there will assuredly be a few flicks that, by themselves, justify the admission. And if you’re lucky, you might just find one that reminds you why film festivals are culturally crucial. But if you can’t, don’t despair, as the festival is hosting a special event in honor of Milos Forman’s 80th birthday. *Man on the Moon*, *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest* and *Amadeus* will be shown on Saturday night, with the master director scheduled for an in-person Q&A, health permitting. It promises to be this year’s highlight. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Top 10 movies about art and artists](https://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vincent-and-Theo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Vincent-and-Theo.jpg)Robert Altman’s *Vincent and Theo* (mage copyright Belbo Films / Arena Films) From *Sunshine Artist* Magazine, December, 2006 When compiling a list of the greatest motion pictures about art, one must start with the observation that every movie is itself a work of art. From the askew black-and-white landscapes of Fritz Lang to the animated classics of Walt Disney to the visual masterpieces of Stanley Kubrick, film is the planet’s most pervasive art form, despite the fact that most movie-goers see it as cheap entertainment. But with this list, I’m putting aside the larger discussion of what movies have made the greatest artistic contribution to cinema to instead focus on the non-documentary films that have art and artists as their subject matter. A lot of relatively recent films, such as *The Draughtman’s Contract* (1982), *Vincent* (1987) and *What Dreams May Come* (1998) spring to mind, along with the soon-to-be-released film by Milos Forman, *Goya’s Ghost,* and at least two versions of the life of Rembrandt van Rijn (the 1936 classic with Charles Laughton and the 1999 Charles Matton production)*.* There are also a host of excellent films, such as *Somewhere in Time* (1980), *Titanic* (1997) and *Déjà vu* (1997), that feature art, but unless that’s the movie’s central theme or, at the very least, what sticks with you after you’ve left the cinema, I’ve excluded them from this list. Finally, several interesting films throughout the years have been set in museums, notably *House of Wax (1953), Russian Ark (2002)* and the opening segment from *Three Cases of Murder* (1955). However, there’s only room for 10 at the top. **10. *Surviving Picasso (1996)***. Though the accents are muddy and the film doesn’t address the truly productive part of Picasso’s life, Anthony Hopkins gives another of his inspirational performances in this James Ivory production. Focusing on Picasso during the 1940s and the woman who dominated his life during that time (played by the stunning but ill-suited Natascha McElhone), the film offers great insight into the character of the artist, a brilliant yet selfish and egocentric man who loved but then tossed aside his women as if they were used canvases. **9. *Lust for Life*** **(1956).** Originally hailed as one of Kirk Douglas’s greatest accomplishments, the actor’s portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh seems not as impressive today. And having been shot in the 1950s, the film understandably fails to fully address Vincent’s alleged homosexual attraction to Paul Gaugin, famously played here by Anthony Quinn. However, the movie is still a must-see for any Van Gogh fan and includes nice color footage of many of the artist’s original works. **8. *The Picture of Dorian Gray* (1945).** The most famous movie — or story for that matter — about portraiture contains some haunting images and gripping scenes, even though it fails to capture all the emotion of the Oscar Wilde tale. The dialects are inconsistent and a few of the performances are stilted, but the tale of a man whose portrait ages while he remains forever youthful is just as chilling as the day it was written. Particularly effective are the performance of George Sanders (*All About Eve, The Jungle Book*) as Dorian’s friend and the film’s use of color (in an otherwise black-and-white film) in scenes featuring the portrait. (Also take note of the swinging light in the murder scene — surely an influence on Hitchcock’s *Psycho*.) **7. *Basquiat* (1996).** A star-studded cast (Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro, Parker Posey, Courtney Love, and David Bowie as Andy Warhol) bring to life the fad-driven New York art world of the 1980s, but it’s Jeffrey Wright’s performance as Jean-Michel Basquiat — the graffiti artist with a mostly undeserved fame of quite a bit more than 15 minutes — that sets this film apart. It’s the only movie on the list that makes you question what passes for art in the Neo-expressionist world. And it forces you to answer that question yourself, as no one in the film can do it for you, least of all Warhol, who tells Basquiat, “I can’t even see what’s good any more.” **6. *Frida* (2002).** Surprisingly fresh and even funny at times, the film about the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo seduces you with its beauty, sensitivity and art. Although we rarely see Frida (Salma Hayek) actually painting, director Julie Taymor brings the artist’s work to dazzling life through creative cinematography. Frida suffered a horrible injury, an often-painful marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera and, ultimately, an early death, yet the film is bright and inspiring, oozing with a love of art. **5. *Pollock* (2000).** Why are artists such tortured souls? Does it have something to do with genius? I’m reminded of the line in the film *Arthur*: “Not everyone who drinks is a poet. Some of us drink because we’re not poets.” Well, that’s certainly not the case with Jackson Pollock, an out-and-out drunkard but one of the most influential painters of the 20th century. Ed Harris directs and stars, and he ably captures what almost no other director or actor has: a vivid portrayal of an artist at work. We don’t just hear about Pollock’s style of throwing paint — we see it. **4. *Girl With a Pearl Earring* (2003).** Quite simply, this is the most beautiful film ever made about an artist, and it’s not just because of Scarlett Johansson, who plays Vermeer’s peasant maid and model for one of his most famous paintings. The entire movie is sumptuous, as if each frame were lifted straight from the canvas of the 17th-century Dutch painter. It’s also one of the best tales of an artist’s obsession with his subject matter. **3.** ***The DaVinci Code* (2005).** Ron Howard’s adaptation left many fans of Dan Brown’s book disappointed, but whether you love or hate the film, you have to admit that it has stirred up almost as much interest in and debate of art as of religion. When watching the film, you want to be right there with Tom Hanks in the Louvre, to study *Madonna of the Rocks* and to get lost in the *Mona Lisa*’s smile. You also want to know if Leonardo’s brushstrokes were just that, or whether they contain some hidden message (fictional as it may be) about the origins of Christianity. **2. *As Good as It Gets* (1997).** This is the best film on the list, but it’s also the one that has the least to do with art. However, artistic inspiration can be drawn from small moments. Although most of James L. Brooks’ movie focuses on the lives of the characters played by Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, it is Greg Kinnear’s character that steals the show — and captured a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination — for playing an artist struggling to recover from emotional and physical wounds. In the end, it is his drawing that brings meaning back to his life when, in a fit of passion, he tears the cast off his once-broken hand, lets out a joyous shout and starts to sketch. **1. *Vincent and Theo* (1990).** Not only the definitive picture about VanGogh’s life (and his close relationship with his brother), the Robert Altman film is also the definitive depiction of the inequity between talent and wealth in the art world. Opening his film with the real-life footage of *Sunflowers* being auctioned at Christie’s in London for 39.9 million pounds, Altman then fades to a penniless, scruffy Van Gogh (Tim Roth), thereby focusing on the irony of the artist’s tragic life. Oh, there’s enough tragedy to go around in this film, which is by far the most depressing on the list. But it’s also the best ever made about the life of an artist. *© 2006 Palm House Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* **Note:** Since this article came out in 2006, there have been several notable films about art and artists. Standouts include [*Mr. Turner*](http://www.meiermovies.com/mr-turner/) from 2014, [*Loving Vincent*](http://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) from 2017 and [*Portrait of a Lady on Fire*](http://www.meiermovies.com/portrait-de-la-jeune-fille-en-feu/) from 2019, all of which would easily make this list. --- ### [The Woman in Black](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-woman-in-black/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Woman in Black**, 2012, 3 ½ stars # *Black* is back [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Woman-in-Black.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Woman-in-Black.jpg)Image copyright CBS Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-woman-in-black/Content?oid=2248251), February 3, 2012 Forget Harry Potter. Forget even Daniel Radcliffe. Though he has been the focus of the publicity for the new adaptation of *The Woman in Black*, he is not the star – the film itself is. And that’s how it should be, as director James Watkins allows the images and sounds to dominate this haunted-house horror, the scariest such film since Bayona’s *El Orfanato (The Orphanage)*, five years ago. Based on the 1983 book by Susan Hill, the movie tells of a young lawyer sent to an isolated English village around the turn of the last century to organize the estate of a woman who has recently passed. What the solicitor hasn’t been told is that the house, and the family who lived, and died, there, have seemingly laid a curse on the town. The book inspired not just an excellent 1989 British TV movie but also a successful London play that opened that same year – and is *still* running. (Only Agatha Christie’s *The Mousetrap* has run longer in the West End.) I saw it several years ago, and while it was certainly worthwhile, it didn’t seep into the brain the way a Gothic ghost story should. Cinema, after all, is more suited to horror because the director and cinematographer can tell you where and how to look while the theatre director is powerless in that regard. The latter can direct his actors – but not his audience. Watkins clearly understands this power of manipulation and exercises it well, especially for a director with just one major credit to his name prior to *Woman*. (He helmed the well-received 2008 British horror *Eden Lake,* although that film was far bloodier and more modern.) Despite his inexperience with this genre, or maybe because of it, Watkins feels the need to lean on – superbly but perhaps a tad too heavily – every classic horror-movie trick. He employs creepy siblings out of *The Shining*, jarring suicides inspired by *The Omen*, spooky mediums and self-moving doors from *The Others*, audio terror courtesy of Robert Wise’s *The Haunting* – and even a surreal talking bird thanks to *The Third Man*. And let’s not leave out the creepiest mechanical toys this side of Joseph Mankiewicz’s *Sleuth*. Surprisingly, the failings of *Woman*, which threaten to derail it in the third act, are ones of plot, not style. Departing unnecessarily from the previous versions, Jane Goldman’s screenplay takes a brief, odd turn, stretching believability and lessening the remarkable tension that Watkins has built. It’s not that the film has been realistic until that point – it is, admittedly, a ghost yarn – but it has at least been true to itself. Movies, after all, aren’t about creating realism; they are about making you believe the unrealistic is real. “If we open the door to superstition, where does that lead?” asks the one villager (an excellent Ciaran Hinds) who befriends Radcliffe’s character. In this instance, and despite the failings of the script, it clearly leads to terror. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [American Hustle](https://www.meiermovies.com/american-hustle/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **American Hustle**, 2013, 3 stars ## Russell does *Hustle* with style, sans substance ### Charismatic caper is a hot mess [![American Hustle](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/American-Hustle-295x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/American-Hustle.jpg)Images copyright Columbia Pictures / Sony / Annapurna Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/american-hustle-is-a-hot-mess/Content?oid=2244758), December 18, 2013 and [*Folio Weekly*](http://folioweekly.com/American-Hustle-Does-it-with-Style-Not-Substance,8473), December 18, 2013 “If you have zest and enthusiasm, you attract zest and enthusiasm.” That pearl of wisdom from perennial positive thinker, and possible hustler himself, Norman Vincent Peale perhaps explains why *American Hustle* is so likeable and engaging despite its overly long running time, sloppy screenplay and rambling structure. As a follow-up to arguably his best movie, *Silver Linings Playbook*, writer-director David O. Russell has fashioned a beautiful, cinematic junk heap and apparently conned the New York Film Critics Circle into thinking it’s a masterpiece. It’s not even close, but the film’s selection as the Circle’s best of the year at least reaffirms that life imitates art, as the film itself is one big, delicious con. [![American Hustle 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/American-Hustle-2-300x164.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/American-Hustle-2.jpg)Based loosely on the FBI’s ABSCAM sting operation in the 1970s, which targeted corrupt public officials, *Hustle* is the story of two con artists who are caught committing nickel-and-dime crimes and offered the chance to clear their names if they assist the FBI in some big-time hustles. Christian Bale, sporting a bulbous belly and scintillating ‘70s fashion, plays Irving Rosenfeld, and you simply can’t take your eyes off him or his spectacular combover. Amy Adams is his mistress and pilfering partner, Jennifer Lawrence is his molten-hot mess of a wife, and Bradley Cooper is the embarrassingly enthusiastic FBI agent who manages to bust Bale and Adam’s characters at the beginning of the film but is hopelessly inept when organizing the larger sting. In attention-grabbing minor roles are Louis C.K. as an FBI agent and straight man to Cooper’s lunatic lawman, Jeremy Renner as the well-intentioned but shady mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and Robert De Niro as a powerful crime boss. > ***Adams is instead more suited to an award for best unsupported actress.*** Lawrence may just snag an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, though her character could have been more fully developed – in her back story, definitely not her front – and her New Jersey dialect came and went and came again as quickly as Russell’s active camera. Not quite worthy of a nomination is Adams, who is jaw-droppingly seductive but also patently annoying with her badly botched British accent. Yes, we know the accent is supposed to be fake, but no one should buy for a second that the FBI doesn’t know that Adams’ character isn’t really English, or couldn’t at least have figured out that the dialect was flawed. Adams is instead more suited to an award for best unsupported actress, as her braless breasts dominate almost every scene she’s in, thanks to her cut-to-the-navel dresses. *Hustle*, with its alternating flashes of brilliance and tedium, has all the energy and charisma of *Boogie Nights* but all the intelligence and finesse of *Talladega Nights*. Still, in the end, despite a twist that takes too long to arrive and makes only a small impact, Russell’s crime caper hustles us with its style, humor and musical mementoes, not to mention its cornucopia of twists, turns and tits. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### ['The fairest one of all'](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-fairest-one-of-all/) **Published:** February 1, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Snow-White-remake.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Snow-White-remake.jpg)Rachel Zegler (from *West Side Story*) and the 1937 animated Snow White (image copyright 20th Century/Amblin and the Walt Disney Company) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 1, 2022 Today’s culture wars can find controversy in anything. Case in point: Disney’s latest live-action remake of a classic fairy tale. First published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm, *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* became the first American feature-length animated movie in 1937 when Walt Disney created his modern classic. Fast-forward 85 years, and the classic is apparently not modern enough for some. Indeed, Disney has cast Rachel Zegler, a partially Hispanic actress who wowed audiences in Steven Spielberg’s recent remake of *West Side Story*, as Snow White. Never mind that the Grimm Brothers describe the character as having “skin white as snow.” Disney seems more intent on taking a stand on colorblind casting and equal representation than sticking to the story. Disney does have a point. Why create a tale exactly the same way it’s been created a hundred times? (The story has even been reimagined with an all-Black cast, perhaps most notoriously in the Warner Brothers cartoon *[Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_Black_and_de_Sebben_Dwarfs)*, from 1943, which is, sadly for freedom of speech, now one of the “Censored Eleven.”) And, of course, Zegler’s talent deserves a chance to shine in more than just the typical “actors of color” roles. Nevertheless, if there’s one role in all the Grimm kingdom that demands a White actor, this might be it. Still, looking at Zegler side by side with the 1937 animated character, the resemblance isn’t as far off as one might think. (Zelger is actually half-Polish, which illustrates just how silly these ethnicity conversations are. And if White actors can play Shakespeare’s Othello — and they should — why can’t a slightly less-than-White performer play Snow White?) Zegler is actually not where the recent controversy lies. It’s in the little details, literally. Peter Dinklage has criticized Disney for sticking with the core of the story: the dwarfs. The most acclaimed little-person actor working today, Dinklage has challenged Disney to rethink the tale. And Disney has apparently agreed, promising to reimagine the characters as “magical creatures.” Whether or not you like that decision, let’s address the elephant in the screening room: the title. It’s “… WHITE and … DWARFS”! So is it time for a new one? *Snow Brown and the Seven Creatures*? Or, snarkiness aside, *The Fairest One of All*? Or maybe Disney should stop cannibalizing its canon and come up with new ideas. The most interesting aspect of this debate is that Dinklage is opposed by other actors with dwarfism who support the casting of little people. See [MovieWeb.com](https://movieweb.com/dwarf-actors-peter-dinklage-refute-comments/). So before you rush to agree with Dinklage, assuming the politically correct views on this are one-sided, I’d encourage you to exercise some common sense and speak from your heart, like Snow White did. Most importantly, let’s respect one another’s opinions – especially the opinions of the vast majority of moviegoers, who will forever cherish the original masterpieces: *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* (1937), *Dumbo* (1941), *Peter Pan* (1953), *Lady and the Tramp* (1955) and other films that have come under fire recently from some on the Left. History is complicated, as is art, so let’s not lay guilt trips on people for the things they love. Even more importantly, let’s not censor (or self-censor) art or deprive audiences of the chance to make up their own minds about what they might or might not find offensive. I’m talking about you, *Song of the South*. But, circling back to Shakespeare, maybe this is all much ado about nothing. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Cyrano](https://www.meiermovies.com/cyrano/) **Published:** January 29, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Cyrano**, 2021, 3 stars # A nose for a good story ## Wright rewrites another literary classic [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Cyrano-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Cyrano-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 29, 2022 Any heterosexual man who hasn’t felt ugly before a lovely woman is probably a sociopath. Whether you’re Brad Pitt or Quasimodo, we’re all damaged goods in the face of feminine beauty. And so it is and always will be for Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. He might not be as disadvantaged as the aforementioned Hunchback – indeed, he’s an accomplished poet, musician and swordsman – but he still feels inferior thanks to his proboscis. Fast-forward 95 years to Radiohead, and Roxanne is a feather floating in a beautiful world while Cyrano is a creep. Jump ahead another three decades and movie magician Joe Wright has reimagined another literary masterpiece, as he did with *Anna Karenina* and *Pride & Prejudice*. His wizardry has lost some of its power this time, but his reinterpretation of Rostand’s 1897 classic still deserves a longing gaze – for the art direction, cinematography, costumes and the chance to compare it to other cinematic interpretations, especially Michael Gordon’s 1950 adaptation starting Oscar-winner José Ferrer, Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s 1990 film starring Gérard Depardieu, and Fred Schepisi and Steve Martin’s 1987 modern take. If you know Wright, it’s no surprise his *Cyrano* is the most beautiful, ambitious and creatively filmed. What might surprise you, though – if you’re not familiar with Erica Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical, which is the basis for the film – is the clever reimagining of the title character. “You always see a well-respected actor, usually a very attractive man, put on a big fake nose,” Schmidt told Tyler Coates of *[The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/cyrano-writer-interview-original-play-1235054428/)*. “\[The actor\] spends the majority of the play talking about how hideous his nose is, but at the end of the day he takes the nose off and goes home.” What if her adaptation – with music by Aaron and Bryce Dessner and lyrics by Matt Berninger and Carin Besser – swapped the schnoz for something that couldn’t be removed, while simultaneously bolstering the cinematic representation of little people? It’s an idea that both Schmidt and Wright apparently fell in love with. And that love turned familial once Peter Dinklage (Schmidt’s husband) and Haley Bennett (Wright’s girlfriend) were cast in both the stage production and the subsequent film, for which Schmidt penned the screenplay. So what could go wrong? In short: music and casting (but not the casting you might think). The majority of the tunes are simply forgettable, with the notable exceptions of “Overcome” and “Wherever I Fall.” Those two showstoppers come nearly halfway through the film and toward the end, respectively, which means the movie meanders musically for a while. Predictably, and with help from Wright’s astonishing sense of visual storytelling, the tale eventually comes to life. But considering that 2021 was one of the strongest years for movie musicals since the 1960s, *Cyrano*’s tunes aren’t particularly memorable, especially when competing against *West Side Story*. It’s also worth noting that Rostand’s play has been adapted into stage musicals many times, including in 1973 by Anthony Burgess and Michael Lewis, with Christopher Plummer winning a Tony for best actor. Though those musical versions have, by and large, not made it to the silver screen, their theatrical presence robs Wright’s film of some of its wow factor. The movie’s music and story are buoyed by Bennett, whose countenance and voice are like cotton candy. (I now have a sugar addiction.) Dinklage is simply competent, however, with his best feature being his expressive face, especially his sad eyes. But circling back to that aforementioned casting mistake, Wright has picked Kelvin Harrison Jr. (*It Comes at Night*, *Waves*) as Christian. The selection of Harrison, who is Black, is one of the worst colorblind-casting decisions in recent memory. I’m not opposed to so-called integrated or non-traditional casting in general. Theatre has had success with it for centuries (sometimes for the wrong reasons), and the cinema has used it effectively too, occasionally. (Joel Coen’s *The Tragedy of Macbeth* comes to mind, as do most Shakespeare productions and countless stories for which a character’s race or ethnicity is immaterial.) But because *Cyrano* is a story that specifically asks its audience to pay attention to physical appearances, placing a Black actor in a role written for (and historically influenced by) a White man represents an extraordinary lapse in judgment. “The world will never accept a midget and a tall, beautiful woman,” Cyrano says. Yet, apparently, 17th-century France will accept a tall, beautiful (and rich) woman and a Black man? It is, of course, the Black man and not the little person who would have more difficulty with that situation. So I found myself often rooting for Christian, not just because of the ethnic and social implications of the reimagined character (he is also poor) but because Harrison is just too darn likeable. Because this is a musical fantasy and contains some anachronistic elements, I was able to mostly overlook the ridiculous size disadvantage Dinklage faced during the fight scenes, but I could not get past the fact that I didn’t know whether to root for Christian or Cyrano. If you think my argument too conservative, don’t forget that the casting has upset many liberals too. Christian, who is traditionally White and, frankly, dumb, has been replaced by a Black actor. This sets up an awkward dichotomy in which the inexpressive Black man must rely entirely on the brilliant White man to speak for him. In this respect, Christian is one of the last Caucasian characters in all literature whom a director should cast as Black. So, like Cyrano himself, the film’s surface flaws are obvious but are overwhelmed by panache and inner beauty. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12889404/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_(film)).* --- ### [Who, Me](https://www.meiermovies.com/who-me/) **Published:** May 22, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Who-Me.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Who-Me.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/17/orlando-fringe-2017-review-who-me), May 17, 2017 I start my 2017 Fringe experience with an apology to Rob Lloyd, the writer and star of *Who, Me*: I’m just a casual *Doctor Who* fan. But after experiencing your one-man show, in which you confess your obsession for the British television program, I have a better understanding of the cultural phenomenon and a greater appreciation for you as an actor. “I am not proud of this at all, but you need to see it,” Lloyd tells us at the beginning of *Who, Me*, which is part fan tribute, part stand-up routine and part six-year therapy session for the renowned Australian performer. (Yes, he’s been performing the show around the world that long.) He recalls how *Doctor Who* has affected his life over the last 20 years, informing his sensibilities and even his life decisions. And then he proceeds to put the Doctor on trial for causing his obsession. Not every moment works, and a few sound and lighting glitches slowed down Tuesday’s preview performance. (Others actually added to the charm.) And, admittedly, those who don’t follow *Doctor Who* will miss multiple references, but Lloyd’s charm, confidence and intelligence – three words he uses to describe his favorite Doctor, Jon Pertwee – make this production enjoyable for fan and non-fan alike. (Oh, and Lloyd looks an awful lot like another Doctor, David Tennant. Sorry, it’s an in-joke.) Though *Who, Me* is smartly scripted, Lloyd still finds time to ad-lib and involve the audience. He even asks us to linger after the show and discuss with him our own *Doctor Who* memories. Well, I must admit I never really had one – until now. It’s Lloyd’s show. *Who, Me* Blue Venue Friday, May 19, 7:00 PM Saturday, May 20, 5:15 PM Monday, May 22, 5:45 PM Wednesday, May 24, 8:45 PM Friday, May 26, 7:00 PM Saturday, May 27, 3:45 PM Sunday, May 28, 11:00 AM *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### ["We Burned Down the White House" and other Canadian Folk Songs](https://www.meiermovies.com/we-burned-down-the-white-house-and-other-canadian-folk-songs/) **Published:** May 22, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/We-Burned-Down-the-White-House.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/We-Burned-Down-the-White-House.png)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/18/orlando-fringe-2017-review-we-burned-down-the-white-house-and-other-canadian-folk-songs), May 18, 2017 In the War of 1812, British and Canadians torched the White House. Though some might argue we need a similar charring (or at least a good smoking-out) now, Canadian performer Charles Martin has come to the United States in peace. Instead of armaments, he brings his guitar, electric piano, outsized stage presence and 14 original songs to the Red Venue. Martin’s performance is alternatingly frenzied and laid back, bawdy and introspective, Jack Black and Stompin’ Tom Connors. Speaking of Connors (the poet laureate of 20th-century Canadian folk-pop), Martin could actually use a bit more of him, as the production drifts when he isn’t singing specifically about Canada. After all, as the show’s title implies, we’ve come to hear culturally relevant tunes like “Get Me the Fuck out of Edmonton,” “The Toronto Song,” “The War of 1812” and my personal favorite, “That’s My Wife,” about Martin’s love for his 1976 RV. But when the selection shifts to “My Mom’s Coming to My House,” “She Thinks You’re Ugly” and a musical rant about computer operating systems – all songs that could just as easily be sung by a Floridian – the show loses some of its *raison d’etre*. (That French cliché is intentional. You’ll see.) Despite that lack of focus, there’s no faking talent. And Martin has it, right down to his bare feet and no-frills production design. If he’s a typical Albertan, get me the fuck *into* Edmonton. *“We Burned Down the White House” and Other Canadian Folk Songs* Red Venue Thursday, May 18, 10:15 PM Saturday, May 20, 8:45 PM Sunday, May 21, 8:45 PM Tuesday, May 23, 10:30 PM Thursday, May 25, 8:30 PM Friday, May 26, 10:15 PM Saturday, May 27, 8:45 PM *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Title and Deed](https://www.meiermovies.com/title-and-deed/) **Published:** May 23, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### David Lee’s Eno interpretation stuns with existential intensity **[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/TitleAndDeed_4x4.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/TitleAndDeed_4x4.png)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/05/14/fringe-2018-review-title-and-deed-stuns-with-existential-intensity), May 14, 2018 David Lee is no stranger to Fringe success. He won the Critic’s Choice award for best male performance in 2015, a Fringe Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and a Patrons Pick prize back in 2011 for *Thom Pain (based on nothing)*. So he’s returning to Fringe with perhaps the highest expectations of any performer not named Chase Padgett. Lee does not disappoint. This year Lee is again embracing the existential work of New York playwright Will Eno, who also authored *Thom Pain*, a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Price in drama. *Title and Deed*, which made its Off-Broadway debut in 2012, focuses on an oddly haunted man who describes himself as a foreigner, a newcomer to our country (or perhaps our plane of existence), a “celebrant” and a “homesick orphan fuck.” Not wholly familiar with our language, this stranger strings words together like bedraggled tinsel garlands on Samuel Beckett’s Christmas tree. The result is a prose that’s not easily understood but always appreciated. It’s tough to imagine any Orlando performer more suited to the monologue than Lee, whose nearly unbearable intensity – almost too much to bear for him as well as us – will again make him a contender for a Fringe award. Though the material demands patience, Lee (who also directs) brings it fully alive as if he were inventing the sometimes absurdist, sometimes stream-of-consciousness script on the spot. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Kangagirl-Productions-Title-and-DeedpDavid-Lee_Photo-and-Illustration-by-Doug-McKee.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Kangagirl-Productions-Title-and-DeedpDavid-Lee_Photo-and-Illustration-by-Doug-McKee.jpg)Images copyright and courtesy of Margaret Nolan / Kangagirl Productions. “Don’t walk out on me,” Lee asks the audience in one of the play’s many meta-theatrical moments. “Don’t hate me.” Don’t worry, David. There’s no chance of that. *Title and Deed* Margaret Nolan/Kangagirl Productions, Winter Park, Florida 13 & Up – Mature Themes 60 Minutes Yellow Venue Friday, May 18, 2018, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 20, 2018, 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2018, 8 p.m. Thursday, May 24, 2018, 5:15 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2018, 9 p.m. Saturday, May 26, 2018, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, May 27, 2018, 11:30 a.m. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tiger Tail](https://www.meiermovies.com/tiger-tail/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Tiger* is a tale not worth chasing **Theatre Downtown, Orlando, Florida** [![Tiger Tail](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tiger-Tail-194x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tiger-Tail.jpg)Copyrighted photo by KHPhotographics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/tiger-tail-at-theatre-downtown/Content?oid=2243287), June 12, 2013 It’s always difficult to capture the magic of Tennessee Williams. Overplay his Southern Gothic romanticism and the characters are reduced to cartoonish stereotypes; underplay or rush it, and risk ruining the pitch-perfect prose dripping from each word. Regrettably, the new production of William’s *Tiger Tail* at Theatre Downtown does a bit of both, giving us only occasional glimpses at the play’s power. Further hampering this production is the fact that the play itself is one of Williams’ weakest. Though he wrote it in the 1970s, it didn’t receive its New York premiere until 1999, 16 years after his death. It’s a reworking of his screenplay for the 1956 classic *Baby Doll*, directed and co-written by Elia Kazan, and will forever live in the shadow of that great and controversial film. Archie Lee, played by Theatre Downtown veteran Tim Bass, is a cotton farmer whose business has been ruined by a company new to Tiger Tail, Mississippi. In an act of desperation, Archie gets his revenge by burning down their cotton gin. But the plan backfires when the company’s Sicilian boss, Silva Vaccarro, suspects Archie and proceeds to sexually prey on his wife, 19-year-old temptress Baby Doll. The success of the play – even more so than the film – depends on the performances of and sexual tension between Silva and Baby Doll, and Frank Casado and Brenna Warner aren’t up to the task. Warner certainly looks the part – and her brief nudity turns up the heat – but her Baby Doll seems raw and unrehearsed, while Casado plays Silva as an angry redneck without the necessary subtlety, humor and charm. Bass brings boundless energy, literally throwing himself into the role with drunken abandon, but he can’t capture Archie’s emasculated sadness, and the character becomes simply a racist, violent alcoholic. Even the bits of background music seem misplaced and distracting. Only the moss-draped set by Mike McRee captures the appropriate atmosphere. Director Frank Hilgenberg, founder and artistic director of Theatre Downtown, has done much finer work than this, and will again. Until that time comes, stay home and watch *Baby Doll* on Netflix. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [13 Dead Dreams of "Eugene"](https://www.meiermovies.com/13-dead-dreams-of-eugene/) **Published:** May 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Dead Dreams* is a surreal, scary treat **[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/13DeadDreamsofEugene_4X4.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/13DeadDreamsofEugene_4X4.png)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/05/20/fringe-2018-review-13-dead-dreams-of-eugene-is-a-surreal-scary-treat), May 20, 2018 The Pink Venue is home this year to two – yes, two – musical ghost stories featuring unique visual and audio effects. Between *13 Dead Dreams of “Eugene”* and *The Haunting of Saint River*, the former is the scarier and more complete production. Belying its title, the show is not really about the 13 stories. After all, each isn’t a full narrative but is instead either a musical interlude, an absurdist dream or a surreal nightmare. Sure, a couple of them are quite well developed and truly chilling, such as the tune-filled “Water Under the Bridge” (where secrets are never forgotten) and a frightening tale of a deranged whistle-maker whose final crime is hollowing out human heads so the wind can moan through the skulls. But it’s the linking story that’s the best part: the fact-based account of the “mummy of Sabina, Ohio,” a corpse that went unburied for 35 years and bewitched the sleep of the townspeople. If *13 Dead Dreams* gives you nightmares, blame Erika Kate MacDonald and Paul Strickland. Not only did they create this award-winning show that premiered at Minnesota’s Twin Cities Horror Festival in 2016, but they do just about everything themselves, from singing to narrating to executing the wizard-like shadow and flashlight effects with precision. Their artistry will haunt you. *13 Dead Dreams of “Eugene”* Theatre Mobile, Cincinnati, Ohio 13 & Up – Mature Themes 60 Minutes Pink Venue Sunday, May 20, 2018, 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, 2018, 10:45 p.m. Thursday, May 24, 2018, 7:15 p.m. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Teaching Shakespeare](https://www.meiermovies.com/teaching-shakespeare/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![cutlerjpg](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/cutlerjpg-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/cutlerjpg.jpg)Photo copyright Keir Cutler From *The Orlando Weekly*, May 20, 2013 “All’s well that ends well,” wrote the Bard. And, certainly, Keir Cutler’s one-act dramedy, *Teaching Shakespeare*, not only finishes with a flourish but also starts strongly and does just about everything in between on its way to becoming perhaps the best one-man show at this year’s Fringe. Described in the festival program as a parody of a college Shakespeare class, it could more accurately be viewed as the life of one man – an over-the-top college professor – reduced to the microcosm of an hour-long lecture. While teaching Shakespeare to us – we, the audience, essentially become his students – Cutler’s character jumps from topic to topic with the energy of Puck while laying bare his anxieties over his tenure review, his crumbling marriage and even his bitterness over some less-than-positive teacher evaluations. “My wife left me recently; she read your evaluations,” the professor laments in one of his many sharply comic, yet slightly sad, lines. “The faculty wants me out; Shakespeare is my only friend.” Indeed, by the time this “class” is done, Shakespeare feels like your best friend too, as Cutler manages to not only mock Shakespeare theory in the style of Christopher Guest but also offer some surprisingly insightful takes on the canon, all while descending into a combination of the playful madness of Petruchio and the self-destructive insanity of Hamlet. And that ability to juggle comedy, drama, parody and a real respect for the master playwright is what lands Cutler’s creation in a class by itself. Cutler has performed this piece more than 150 times across Canada since 1999. It’s also had two theatrical runs in New York City, was televised on Bravo and has received numerous awards. The praise is well deserved. In fact, this is one class from which you hope never to be dismissed. *Teaching Shakespeare* Doctor Keir Co. (Montreal, Canada) Rating: G-14 Warnings: Adult Situations Run Time: 50 minutes Yellow Venue $11 Genre: Comedy/Drama Websites: , [www.keircutler.com](http://www.keircutler.com/) **Show Times:** Mon, May 20, 2013, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Wed, May 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m. – 6: 30 p.m. Fri, May 24, 2013, 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Table Manners](https://www.meiermovies.com/table-manners/) **Published:** March 29, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Mad Cow serves a mixed dish of *Table Manners* **Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida** [![Copyrighted photo by Tom Hurst](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Table-manners-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Table-manners.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Tom Hurst From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/arts/visual/mad-cow-serves-a-mixed-dish-of-table-manners-1.1624989), January 29, 2014 Prolific British playwright Alan Ayckbourn gave birth to something unique in 1973 with *The Norman Conquests*, a trilogy of plays about three siblings and their significant others set over one weekend at the family’s ancestral home. Though meant to be performed separately, the plays overlap, with the action of one taking place in a single setting while the events of the other two are occurring simultaneously, in other locations. *Living Together* and *Round and Round the Garden* are set in the sitting room and yard, respectively, leaving the dining room for *Table Manners*, the latest Mad Cow production. Though it is essentially a farce, it never reaches the absurd and actually has some serious stuff to say about sibling relationships and loneliness, all while serving up deliciously funny dysfunction and adultery, most of it courtesy of Norman, a “gigolo trapped in a haystack.” Annie, the lone sibling still living in the house, is a frumpy fixer-upper who dresses in jumpers so often that her sister-in-law Sarah claims they must be “chiseled off her.” Annie is single but has a crush on Tom, the slightly dim next-door neighbor. Annie’s siblings are the snobby Ruth, who is married to Norman, and an insufferable but well-meaning git named Reg, who is married to Sarah. Separately, there’s not much to recommend any of the six; together, they are the familial *Fawlty Towers*. American actors and audiences often find it difficult to embrace British farce without leaving it either undercooked or in flames. Though director Dan Bright, in his Mad Cow debut, never shows us the play’s full power, he does a competent job with pacing (the biggest comedy killer) and blocking, which seems naturalistic and never too stagey, despite the limitations of a proscenium. (The play was meant to be performed in the round.) He’s also helped by William Elliott’s sets and Emily Smith’s costumes, not to mention some brilliantly playful between-scenes prop changes. As one would expect with this difficult material, it’s the performances that sometimes hold the play back. The superb Simon Needham, the lone Brit in the cast, is in a league by himself, single-handedly carrying the production on several occasions. He alone completely grasps the mood and language, infusing it with life and laughs. “I’m making small talk,” he tells Ruth, who answers, “It’s not small enough.” His retort: “If it were any smaller, I’d swallow it.” Jamie Middleton, as Ruth, goes toe to toe nicely with Needham in these scenes, despite her overly upper-class, though well-done, accent, which clashes slightly with the less posh and more inconsistent dialect work of the others. Thom Mesrobian, as Reg, understands the visual comedy but can’t deliver consistent quality. And despite great energy and stage presence, neither can Heather Lea Charles (Sarah) or Ame Livingston (Annie), the latter seeming a tad too young, especially since she has eyes for Tom, played by the seemingly older Tommy Keesling. That age mismatch notwithstanding, Keesling is a strong second to Needham, capturing his character’s quirkiness while rarely losing his dialect. If you’re not familiar with Ayckbourn’s original brand of relationship comedy or haven’t visited the beautiful new Mad Cow home on Church Street, pull up a chair for *Table Manners*. Just don’t expect a five-course meal. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [6 Guitars](https://www.meiermovies.com/6-guitars/) **Published:** May 19, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## From six comes unity **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![6 Guitars](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/6-Guitars-262x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/6-Guitars.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/16/fringe-2015-review-6-guitars)*, May 16, 2015 There are exceedingly rare moments in the life of a reviewer when he or she feels unqualified to critique a performance, unworthy of any explanation of what has transpired, content to bask in the glow of greatness. *6 Guitars* is such a moment. Chase Padgett doesn’t need these accolades thrown at him anymore. After all, he’s performed this one-man show (which is virtually identical to last year’s version) multiple times at multiple Fringes, collecting too many awards to count. But he still deserves them. Padgett – dressed in black and armed with just one black PRS Studio six-string – births before our eyes six distinct personalities during the first 25 minutes of the show. He then spends the rest of the 75-minute performance, which is directed by Jay Hopkins, alternating magically between them, treating us to both musical standards and original compositions. And as if that weren’t enough, he also treats us to spoken musings on life and music, both comedic and dramatic, nailing every characterization, body movement, facial expression and accent. There’s the nerdy, 20-year-old lead guitarist for the heavy-metal band Dragon Toads of Fury, the nauseatingly sweet folk singer, the Mexican classical guitarist, the leader of the “Beer Barrel” country band and the pretentious but ferociously intellectual modern-jazz virtuoso. And topping them all is Tyrone Gibbons, an 87-year-old black blues god from Mississippi who must be seen to be believed. Padgett even spends time riffing with the audience in the Orlando Museum of Art’s gold venue and doing some of the improv that made him a SAK Comedy Lab favorite. Yet this show is about far more than comedy and parody. There’s a great actor hidden here, an astonishing performer who is clearly telling us that, despite the six distinct styles he portrays, music – and, indeed, life – isn’t about the differences. It’s about the similarities. In one of the many dramatically powerful moments, his classical character talks about a man who pours his soul into making guitars. Not content to carve just any piece of wood, the man searches for a tree that sings to him, a tree that begs, “Make me into what I could be.” Padgett is that man, and Orlando Fringe is that tree. *[6 Guitars](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/6-guitars2015/)* Chase Padgett – Portland, Ore. (formerly of Orlando, Florida) Venue: Gold Length: 75 minutes Rating: 13+ (Mild Language) Price: $11 (+svc. charge) *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Simpleton: The Legend of President Trump](https://www.meiermovies.com/simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump/) **Published:** May 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Hamilton* parody one of the best at 2016 Fringe [![Simpleton](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Simpleton-300x157.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Simpleton.jpg) **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/16/fringe-review-simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump), May 16, 2016 Embracing a new musical genre, the “Trumparody,” *Simpleton: The Legend of President Trump* will undoubtedly be YUGE at this year’s Fringe. Using tunes and some plot elements from *Hamilton (*the Broadway phenomenon about the life of Alexander Hamilton), *Simpleton* is a hilarious, poignant and just plain scary look at a near-future America led by the Donald. The dictator-in-waiting is surrounded (and mindlessly worshipped) by former adversaries Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee, and also his “wives” (Melania and Ivana Trump, and Marla Maples). In fact, Trump is in total control of every part of American life except, of course, his hair and Rosie O’Donnell, who has somehow become the last best hope of mankind. Based on an original idea by Orlando theater veteran Thom Mesrobian, who also produces and co-directs with Mark Hartfield, the musical embraces not just the themes of *Hamilton* but the energy of its rap and hip hop, too. And though the music is pre-recorded, the cast’s enthusiasm and vocal talents make up for that. But if you haven’t seen the Broadway musical or aren’t a fan of those aforementioned musical genres, that matters little, as the production’s creativity is infectious. While the most impressive aspects are the lyrics by Samuel Hammersley, Seth Brown and Mesrobian, and the performances by Fredy Ruiz (Trump), Eduardo A. Rivera (Carson) and Cherry Hamlin (O’Donnell), almost every aspect of the show is top-notch. And though, at just 50 minutes, it feels far too brief and underdeveloped, it at least never overstays its welcome, which is more than can be said for Trump himself. “Think less, talk more,” Trump preaches, while claiming, “I’m just like my country: I’m rich, racist and grumpy.” And if you think Mesrobian stops at criticism of Trump, think again, as the musical even parodies his son, Barron. “My daughter is someone I’d date, but you are my vessel of hate,” Trump tells his 10-year-old child, who is given a golden gun with which to assassinate O’Donnell. “Too much for a Fringe show?” the cast asks the audience, in a nice metatheatrical moment. “We’re in a museum – that’s instant credibility!” they answer, referring to the Orlando Museum of Art’s gold venue, which will certainly be packed for every performance. My fellow *Orlando Weekly* reviewer Seth Kubersky just labeled *Thomas* *Jefferson* a possible favorite for best Fringe drama. Let me add my way-too-early prediction of *Simpleton* as best, or at least most topical, musical. *Simpleton: The Legend of President Trump* Acting Passionate Presents – Lakeland, FL 7 DATES THROUGH MAY 29, 2016 Venue: Gold Length: 50 Min Price: $11 *(Disc: FA|FV)* *Rating:* 13 & Up – Strong Language [**Buy Tickets**](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/simpleton-the-legend-of-president-trump/) *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [7 (x1) Samurai](https://www.meiermovies.com/7-x1-samurai/) **Published:** May 19, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Pantomime master **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![7 (x1) Samurai](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/7-x1-Samurai-300x237.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/7-x1-Samurai.jpg)Photo copyright David Gaines From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/14/fringe-2015-review-7-x1-samurai)*, May 14, 2015 Akira Kurosawa’s *Seven Samurai* is the story of brave warriors with limited resources avenging brutal injustices. Armed with nothing but his body, vocal cords, two Japanese masks, a black kimono and white face paint, David Gaines accomplishes a mission no less noble and astonishing, as he single-handedly vanquishes the demons of bad theatre and boring pantomime in just one hour. In *7 (x1) Samurai*, Gaines transforms the cinematic classic (which was later adapted into *The Magnificent Seven*) into a solitary symphony of spoofy silliness and, in well-timed bursts, surprising beauty. Not only does he play all the samurai and the main brigand who has terrorized the villagers, but he plays them simultaneously with a physicality that will leave even the best acrobat in awe. Equally impressive is the almost total lack of dialogue; Gaines opts instead for a hilarious array of spoken sound effects, including fake Japanese words, mumbles, grunts, whistles and sighs. (His hilarious “bompedy-bompedy-bompedy” ranks up there with Monty Python’s “two empty halves of a coconut banging together” among iconic horse-galloping sounds.) It’s little wonder the show was voted “Best of the Fest” in its last appearance at Orlando Fringe, in 2009. Gaines says that to compare his one-man show to the source material is akin to comparing Bugs Bunny waving a baton in front of a cartoon orchestra to a real maestro conducting a Wagner opera. Well, I love Bugs just as much as the next guy (and probably more), but that description might give you the impression that this production (which is directed by the performer’s wife, Susan Thompson-Gaines) is a pop-culture nicety. Make no mistake: This is fine art and a stellar example of a classically trained performer at the top of his craft. Admittedly, some of his characterizations could be a bit crisper, and a bit of the novelty wears thin just before the final battle scenes boost the energy again, but the list of performers who could do a better job with this material is miniscule indeed. Marcel Marceau and Charlie Chaplin perhaps. [*7 (x1) Samurai*](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/7-x1-samurai/) David Gaines – Arlington, Virginia Venue: Orange Length: 60 minutes Rating: 7+ Price: $10 (+svc. charge) *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando Fringe Festival 2014 Preview](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2014-preview/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## It’s never too early to Fringe ### International Festival kicks off with preview event **Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, Orlando, Florida** From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 15, 2014 Orlando has barely recovered from the 23rd annual Florida Film Festival, and it’s already time to dive into the other major arts festival celebrating its 23rd birthday. Yes, it’s almost Fringe time. Technically, the theatre, visual arts and food fest is still a month away, but that didn’t stop hundreds of enthusiasts from cramming into the Orange Venue at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre last night to see two previews – one PG-rated and one R-rated – of the local shows that will be presented during this year’s event, which will run May 14-27 in Loch Haven Park. The funny and charming Eric Pinder hosted the first preview, while the hilariously uncharming – but therein lies their charm – duo of Lionel and Virginia Del Frisco camped it up for the adult-oriented event. Adding to the insanity was the disturbingly half-naked Brandon Roberts as Cupid. Scurrying around the stage with his bow and arrow, he was tasked with chasing the actors off stage if they ran over their allotted two minutes. (With more than 40 shows to preview, that’s all the time the performers were allowed.) It sometimes seemed more Parliament House than Orlando Shakes, but it was all in good fun, and the crowd lapped it up. Passing judgment on an entire play or musical – albeit mostly one-acts – is not possible, and just plain unfair, after seeing a 120-second snippet, but there were few productions that made either impressive or idiotic impressions above and beyond the rest. From the PG-rated group, *Tappin and Yappin*; *The Greatest Musical Never Written by Two Nobodies*; *Bless Me, Father, For I Have Danced!* (with a cast of more than 20); and PB&J Theatre Factory’s *Smooch* were memorable. *Helix* (with some nice improv comedy), *Big in Winter Park* and *The Aqua Saga* might be worth your time too. In the second preview show, *Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson*; *VarieTEASE*; the brilliantly blasphemous *FrankenChrist: The Musical!*; and *Escape from Baldwin Park* showed promise. (Disclaimer: The Weekly’s own Steve Schneider is helming the latter, so take my recommendation with a huge grain of conflict-of-interest salt.) If you’re looking for nudity, *Burlesque: Return of the Skill Focus* would seem to offer the most, while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you will find *Reincarnation Soup*, a sweet breath of maturity in a sea of silliness. Under the category of “see at your own risk,” there’s *Radio Free Fringe* and *Exploring Her Kinkdom*, which moved beyond all the other subpar offerings and into a realm of objectionable garbage, unless you’re into listening to trashy disc jockeys make adult jokes in the presence of children, or, even worse, seeing one guy act out his S&M fantasies for seemingly no worthwhile artistic reason whatsoever. Yes, perhaps the full versions of these plays will turn out OK after all. And perhaps this blog will win a Pulitzer. I wouldn’t put money on either. Fringe is about more than theatre, and Visual Fringe will again be in full swing, this time at the Orlando Museum of Art. In addition, it sounds like the food offerings will be better, healthier and more vegetarian-friendly than ever. (Don’t worry: There will likely still be traditional fare.) Speaking of food, I’d like to end by saying thanks to the family who, two minutes before the second preview, plonked themselves down in front of me, unloaded a full bag of Wendy’s food and started scarfing down burgers. Coupled with a male performer prancing around the theatre in feathers and tights, handing out Jell-O shots, it made me appreciate again that there’s no place like Fringe. To read more about the shows, visit [www.orlandofringe.org](http://www.orlandofringe.org/). And don’t miss the national/international preview event on May 15. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando Fringe Festival 2005](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-fringe-festival-2005/) **Published:** February 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, May, 2005 My Fringe foray was ***Maudlin Dementia Returns to the Stage**,* a one-woman show designed to showcase the range of its author, Chris Caswell, who plays seven distinct characters. Foremost among them is the aptly named Maudlin, an aging theatre legend who bears an uncanny resemblance to an up-and-coming actress named Valerie. Because of this resemblance and Maudlin’s reputation as the second coming of Norma Desmond, Valerie has found it impossible to establish her own identity in the theatre. So she concocts a plot to kidnap Maudlin, take her place in a production of *King Lear* and reestablish her as a legitimate theatrical talent, thereby increasing her own chances of stage success. If that sounds convoluted and absurd, just wait until you actually see the play — which I recommend you do. Although Caswell’s script is a bit underdeveloped, she makes up for it with some of the funniest lines and most engaging performances you’ll find at this year’s festival. She and director Courtney Cunningham accomplish more with an empty stage and a head full of crazy characters than most Fringe shows do with a room full of actors and props. I had an hour or so to kill before my next show, so on the spur of the moment, I decided to take in ***My Dead Friend***. I figured the previous one-woman comedy/drama had been good — why not give another a try? However, I quickly rediscovered a lesson I had learned at past Fringes but seemed to have forgotten: A catchy title and interesting premise rarely translate into a good play — or even one capable of holding an audience’s interest for 35 minutes. In *Friend,* Fringe newcomer Aviva Christie relates the true story of the suicide of her friend, Sam, who died after hiring termite exterminators to fumigate her house and then hiding out in her home while the chemicals did their work. Christie was the executor of the estate and, therefore, spent about two years not only coming to grips with Sam’s death but also sorting out the endless paperwork that accompanies such an event. No one can argue that this unfortunate and bizarre occurrence deeply shaped the actress and may be worthy of, say, a short story. But in its current incarnation, *Friend* is boring, needlessly tedious and not worth the $6. After *My Dead Friend,* I desperately needed something to liven me up. And I got it with ***Welcome to the Family**,* a no-holds-barred, no-body-parts-left-covered comedy. Presented as a live sitcom — complete with an annoying and unfunny Jessica Huckaby as an audience “motivator” — this is the story of a middle-aged couple and their attempts to murder their son’s fiancee, whom they believe will cause emotional damage to this already highly dysfunctional family. The plot makes little sense, but that wouldn’t really matter if the jokes were better. Unfortunately, though, most of the lines sound like rejects from the WB. The “sitcom” even includes commercials, where the actors bring to life ads for everything from impotence prevention to flatulence inhibitors. The best that can be said about *Family* is that it is fast-paced and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Joan Gay, as the mother, does her best to make a bad script amusing, and sexy Liza Gonzalez does more than anyone else to give the production energy — mostly by being entirely out of her clothes on several occasions. Most of all, the actors are having fun, and that fun is contagious. I just hope the erectile dysfunction commercials aren’t. ***Oh My God Don’t Stop*** is everything that *Welcome to the Family* isn’t. While *Family* features nine actors struggling to bring to life nine characters, Amy Steinberg accomplishes a similar task rather effortlessly all by herself, while at the same time being funny and intelligent. And also like *Family*, Steinberg’s work features humorous skits about sex, but it presents them in a way that makes you question society’s judgments about sexuality, morality and religion. Steinberg’s commentaries take the form of a series of short, loosely connected skits. There is the young girl praying to God to let her bat mitzvah go well, while in the next breath asking the Almighty to give her more orgasms. There is the prim and proper sex ed teacher who slowly discovers she is a lesbian. And, best of all, there is God herself, a purple-haired bar singer who belts out — in a surprisingly strong voice — the divine advice for curing overpopulation: “If You’re Not Already Gay, Turn Gay.” The Lord is accompanied on rock and roll guitar by, you guessed it, the Son of God (Justin Beckler) – “hit it, Jesus!” Although Steinberg and director Tommy Wooten could have developed the more bitingly satirical skits a bit more and ditched a couple of the less funny ones, *Don’t Stop* is still one of the most entertaining shows of Fringe 2005. And while Steinberg’s suggestion that all humans are bisexual may be a bit overstated, her religious observations are spot on. ***Working Hard***, the Bay Street Irregulars’ parody of the porn industry, is like an adult film without the sex — pointless, embarrassing and unfunny. Written (badly) and directed by Larry Stallings, this is the story of two lesbians, Roma (Marcie Schwalm) and Dee Ann (Laura Rhodes). Roma, an adult-film writer, and Dee Ann, a former porn star, live a quiet suburban life and keep their occupation secret from the neighbors — secret, that is, until they are confronted by two very different visitors. Nate (Glen Howard) is a porn star wanna-be who threatens to divulge the naughty goings-on to the neighborhood unless he gets a starring role in Roma’s next film, while Reverend Hollis (Michael Scholl) is a conservative preacher who wants to buy the house next door. Throw into the mix an affair between porn director Sammy Swing (John Minbiole) and Dee Ann, and you’d think you’d have enough to make this whole mess interesting, but think again. Working Hard is filled with enough penis puns, euphemisms, potty jokes and double entendres to literally make you cringe in discomfort. While the audience is kind at first and throws out some chuckles, by the time we’re 30 minutes deep into this pile of porn, you can see the pain on their faces. Save your $9 and take a trip to Fairvilla. In many ways, I saved the best for last at this year’s festival. So many productions at the Fringe feature the disclaimer “mature themes.” Yet those plays are usually the least mature and acquire that label simply for their inclusion of sex jokes, four-letters words and brief nudity. But for a truly mature show, you can’t do much better than ***Kama Sutra***. Sue Warhurst and Peter McGarry of England’s Eyewitness Theatre return to the Fringe after a year off. And with McGarry’s smart script and the Orange venue’s great lighting and acoustics, the couple can do little wrong in this comedy/drama about middle-age sex. Although the play loses energy toward the end, it is a funny and even slightly touching portrait of two 50-somethings rediscovering not just their sex lives but their personal “mountain” that they must climb to achieve enlightenment. *© 2005 Orlando Sentinel / Tribune Publishing / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Snack](https://www.meiermovies.com/snack/) **Published:** May 22, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Snack.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Snack.png)Photo courtesy of Orlando Fringe and copyright Gromalot Theatre From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/18/orlando-fringe-2017-review-snack), May 18, 2017 Orlando’s Gromalot Theatre Factory (formerly PB&J) is back with their celebrated brand of family-friendly physical comedy. And though their latest offering isn’t exactly a four-course meal, it’s far more than the snack its title implies. Written and directed by Orlando Fringe favorite Brandon Roberts, *Snack* stars Roberts, Becky Eck, Todd Zimmerman, Terrence Yip and Candace Pappas in the featured role as a weary businesswoman thwarted in her every attempt to nosh. She and the rest of the cast are their reliably funny selves in multiple food-themed roles, but, as usual, Roberts is the stand-out. Add a simple but nifty set design, imaginative props, fruity costumes, instantly likeable scene-bridge music, clever sound effects, touching vignettes and a brilliantly absurd tango featuring a pizza-delivery dude and a life-size slice of pepperoni, and you have another tasty treat in the troupe’s 10-year Fringe repertoire. Admittedly, the slower moments demand patience and might bore those not accustomed to the silent tradition of the Commedia dell’Arte. In addition, not every gag and visual story piece works. But though they are restricted verbally to not much more than grunts and gibberish, all five cast members grasp their aesthetic with both hands and never let go. So, in the immortal words of the Minions, “Banana!” Banana, indeed. *Snack* [Gromalot Theatre Factory](https://www.facebook.com/Gromalot/) Silver Venue Saturday, May 20, 8:45 PM Monday, May 22, 7:00 PM Thursday, May 25, 5:30 PM Friday, May 26, 7:00 PM Saturday, May 27, 11:15 AM Sunday, May 28, 1:00 PM *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [No Tweed Too Tight](https://www.meiermovies.com/no-tweed-too-tight/) **Published:** May 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Another Grant Canyon Mystery* is a comedic gem [![No Tweed Too Tight](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/No-Tweed-Too-Tight-300x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/No-Tweed-Too-Tight.jpg)Ryan Gladstone stars at Grant Canyon. (photo courtesy of Orlando Fringe and copyright Monster Theatre) **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/19/fringe-review-no-tweed-too-tight-another-grant-canyon-mystery), May 19, 2016 If the nonsensical adventure of a “two-bit, washed-up insurance investigator from Des Moines, Iowa” sounds like a bad idea for a one-man Fringe show, you haven’t met Ryan Gladstone. With or without his 1970s tweed pants and jacket, the Canadian actor is a comedic tornado, at least when combined with the riotous script he co-wrote with Bruce Horak, who directs this production. Gladstone flies through the material with unstoppable energy and confidence, doing his own set changes and almost speaking over his own lines, if that’s vocally possible. He masters the mannerisms and dialects of not just his main character (the hard-boiled but clueless Grant Canyon), but a variety of bit players, too. That the plot makes little sense doesn’t matter. Indeed, that’s just the point, as it’s an absurdist parody of both B-movies and detective novels. That doesn’t stop Canyon from trying to explain his exploits to us – exploits that include trying to solve the murder of one Jane Velvet, escape from inside an endangered snake, find the stolen Bombay Sapphire (the jewel, not the drink) and re-enter the Earth’s orbit without burning up. Yes, really. But, somehow, Gladstone makes it all mesmerizing and surprisingly coherent, in a “murky, confusing kind of way.” If you wondered what a Fringe comedy would look like performed by the love child of Jack Black and Leslie Nielsen, you’ve found it in *No Tweed Too Tight: Another Grant Canyon Mystery*. It might just be the tightest, funniest and tweediest offering of this year’s festival. *No Tweed Too Tight: Another Grand Canyon Mystery* [Monster Theatre](http://www.monstertheatre.com/) – Vancouver, BC, Canada 7 DATES THROUGH MAY 29, 2016 Venue: Brown Length: 60 Min Price: $11 *Rating:* 18 & Up – Violence, Adult Language [**Buy Tickets**](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/no-tweed-too-tight-another-grant-canyon-mystery/) *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Nashville Hurricane](https://www.meiermovies.com/nashville-hurricane/) **Published:** May 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Padgett makes triumphant return **[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NashvilleHurricane_4x4.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NashvilleHurricane_4x4.png)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/05/20/fringe-2018-review-nashville-hurricane-makes-triumphant-return), May 20, 2018 After first seeing Chase Padgett perform *6 Guitars* (his first solo show), I said I didn’t feel qualified to critique it and was content to simply bask in the glow of theatrical greatness. That glow has returned with Padgett’s second solo show, *Nashville Hurricane* (which premiered in 2012), and Orlando Fringe is all the brighter for it. Originally from Orlando, the virtuoso guitar player, singer and actor has garnered worldwide Fringe fame. Most of you have probably already seen one of his two aforementioned shows, or perhaps you caught his newest one (*Five Stars*) last year. But if you’re new to the Padgett party, all you need know is that *Nashville Hurricane* should be at the top of your 2018 Fringe schedule. With a more developed story (and a bit less music) than *6 Guitars*, *Hurricane* features Padgett alternating between four characters: a strange musical prodigy who rose to prominence 40 years ago and then suddenly disappeared, plus the performer’s manager, mother and blues-playing friend. (The latter will be familiar to – and beloved by – fans of *6 Guitars*.) And, as always, he nails each dialect, characterization, body movement and facial expression. “I’m not a people person,” the prodigy tells us, explaining that he actually doesn’t enjoy performing. I’m just glad Padgett does, because he’s always the highlight of my Fringe. I hope he’s yours too. *Nashville Hurricane* Chase Padgett, Portland, OR 13 & Up – Strong Language, Mature Themes 75 Minutes Silver Venue Sunday, May 20, 2018, 8:15 p.m. Friday, May 25, 2018, 10:45 p.m. Saturday, May 26, 2018, 8:45 p.m. Sunday, May 27, 2018, 12 p.m. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Murder Sleep](https://www.meiermovies.com/murder-sleep/) **Published:** May 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Play provides jigsaw puzzle of sex, crime and comedy [![Murder Sleep 1 inch](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Murder-Sleep-1-inch.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Murder-Sleep-1-inch.jpg)**Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/22/fringe-review-murder-sleep), May 22, 2016 My final review of this year’s Fringe is of a show that shouldn’t work. It’s an odd jigsaw puzzle of comedy, drama and suspense, with performances that aren’t always on target. But thanks to the red-hot eroticism of Sara Cutlip and Steven Johnson as a mysterious couple who seem equally comfortable with screwing each other and stabbing strangers – and a solid supporting job by Mickey Layman – *Murder Sleep* is just creepy, sexy and twisty enough to recommend. Ryan (Johnson) is a young, virile but jobless druggie who is crashing with his friend, RT (Layman), at a historic and – rumor has it – haunted hotel in Fort Lauderdale for a couple of weeks while RT is on a job assignment. Ryan has little to do except take ecstasy and reflect upon his macho motto that he’ll “do whatever is necessary to win,” which is in total contrast to his directionless existence. Into this personal malaise steps the mysterious, sensual Francesca (Cutlip), who tries to bait him into getting revenge upon a guest in the hotel who physically assaulted her. *Murder Sleep* is written by Michael Freeman and directed by Laurel Clark and Jim Cundiff, and though the pace can seem slow at times and the ending is too drawn out, they mostly get it right. Cutlip and Johnson overact slightly but certainly have charisma and chemistry – and guts, as they are fully naked for a considerable amount of time. But it’s Layman who perhaps deserves the most credit, as he provides comic relief and naturalism that nicely balance the slightly heavy-handed suspense. “I don’t experience guilt,” Francesca tells Ryan, as she, naked, coaxes him toward crime. I wish I could say the same for myself, as I felt a bit naughty in the Purple Venue thanks to *Murder Sleep*’s voyeuristic debauchery. But I suppose my Fringe wouldn’t have been complete without experiencing that emotion at least once. *Murder Sleep* Freeline Productions – Orlando, FL 5 DATES REMAINING THROUGH MAY 30, 2016 Venue: Purple Length: 55 Min Price: $10 *(Disc: FV|MIL)* *Rating:* 18 & Up – Full Nudity, Sexual Content, Adult Language and Situations, Violence **[Buy Tickets](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/murder-sleep/)** *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mark Twain's 'Is Shakespeare Dead?'](https://www.meiermovies.com/mark-twains-is-shakespeare-dead/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Did he, or did he not? That is the question! **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![mark-twain-shakespeare_thumb](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mark-twain-shakespeare_thumb.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mark-twain-shakespeare_thumb.jpg)Photo of Keir Cutler is courtesy of Orlando Fringe and copyright Keir Cutler. From *The Orlando Weekly*, May 17, 2014 For the second consecutive year, Montreal’s Keir Cutler is offering one of the smartest, most thought-provoking shows at Fringe. Adapting the 1909 book *Is Shakespeare Dead?* by Mark Twain, Cutler – using Twain’s trademark intelligence and wit – makes the strongest argument possible that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon did not write the works credited to him. This is no stodgy period performance of Twain. Instead, it’s Cutler himself – attired convincingly in formal lawyer’s garb – painstakingly making the argument to us, the jury, not just that the greatest collection of works in the English language were written by people (yes, more than one) other than Will, but that we’re essentially “surmisers” and “troglodytes” who have been tricked into believing a laughable myth, although it’s worth noting that Twain himself viewed his book as part satire. This reviewer has neither the time nor credentials to fully refute Twain, except to note that facts, even when correct on their face, can be woven together in such a way as to present inaccuracy. In addition, Twain argued that there was no ironclad evidence linking Shakespeare with the authorship of his plays, while, of course, the same can be said of Francis Bacon, Chris Marlowe, Ben Jonson and the other alternates. But, without a Shakespearean scholar to mount the stage upon Cutler’s exit and take to task Twain’s claims, one must admit that his arguments are breathtakingly convincing and will leave you scrambling for your history books to verify what you’ve just heard. That Cutler’s show provokes us and challenges our cherished assumptions is a credit not just to the genius of the works of Shakespeare, regardless of who penned them, but to Cutler’s command of his topic and his audience. The production is not quite as polished or powerful as last year’s [*Teaching Shakespeare*](http://www.meiermovies.com/teaching-shakespeare/ "Teaching Shakespeare"), but it’s still one of the few must-sees of the festival. And though Cutler skewers Shakespeare the man, it’s to his credit that he fully embraces the canon. I conclude with a comparison that has little to do with this production and is not intended to full counter Twain’s points, but is simply food for thought. Take the Beatles. Like the Bard, they didn’t study under the greatest masters in their field, they weren’t well traveled, they weren’t able to draw upon years of life experience, and they didn’t have extensive higher education. Paul McCartney, arguably the most talented of the group, never even learned to read and write music. Yet, in just a few short years, these young men were magically able to acquire the talent and knowledge capable of producing the greatest popular music of the 20th century, and perhaps of all time. Surely more experienced and better educated musicians created that music! Or maybe the Beatles were in the right place at the right time, surrounded themselves with the best and smartest people they could find, worked tirelessly – and were geniuses. And maybe, just maybe, the same is true for a guy named William who hailed from a small town 130 miles southeast of Liverpool. [Mark Twain’s *Is Shakespeare Dead?*](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/mark-twains-is-shakespeare-dead/) [Doctor Keir Co.](http://www.keircutler.com/) – Montreal, Canada Length: 45 (15 minutes shorter than the advertised 60) Venue: Red Price: $11 (+svc. charge) Disc.: FA | SR | STU Rating: 13+ – Sophisticated Humor *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lay, Ms.](https://www.meiermovies.com/lay-ms/) **Published:** May 21, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Lay, Ms. photo](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Lay-Ms.-photo-262x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Lay-Ms.-photo.jpg)**Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/11/fringe-2015-review-lay-ms)*, May 11, 2015 Walking a fine line between campy parody, serious homage, overly ambitious theatricality and spectacular disaster is *Lay Ms.*, a reworking of *Les Miserables*. This odd smorgasbord of rewritten lyrics and transformed plots almost defies explanation, becoming not so much a musical as a spectacle designed to both arouse and annoy the senses. Let’s just say this isn’t your great-great-great-great grandfather’s Parisian Rebellion. The musical is moved from 19th century Paris to New York and San Francisco in the 1950s and ‘60s, and instead of political and class struggles, we get gay rights. Jean Valjean is now Johnny Val Johnson, and his crime is wearing women’s clothing. Javert is JaBear, a closet homosexual torn between hunting down his nemesis and grabbing his cute little ass. Fantine is Francine and Cosette is Charlette, and they are now sisters. And so on and so forth, with the most notable revisions being the gender switching of the Thénardiers and the new sexual preferences of Charlette and the Eponine character, renamed Epoonany. (They now fall in love with each other.) The songs, too, have changed, though the music stays the same. “Look Down” becomes the sexually charged “Face Down,” “Master of the House” turns into the BDSM “Master’s House,” and “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” devolves into “Empty Stalls in Empty Bathrooms” – and those are the good ones! Despite the silliness – which, admittedly, would be greatly helped by a large, boisterous audience in the vast Silver venue – the show tries too hard for drama and seems dead-set on communicating a heavy-handed message about gay rights, going so far as to invoke the spirit of the Stonewall Riots. Writer Brian Rewis has his heart in the right place, but his pen isn’t up to the task. Although I must admit I remained eager to see where Rewis and musical director Paul Tugwell would take the beloved story, the only real suspense during much of the press preview was whether the malfunctioning set pieces would topple or whether the ill-fitting costumes would fall off the rather Rubenesque actresses. Most of the leads are competent but not memorable. Jake Mullen as Johnny and Krystal Gillette as both Francine and Charlette have stage presence but were hampered in the preview production by late (recorded) music queues, poor pacing and the script’s lurching from comedy to drama. Rob DelMedico as the cross-dressing Thénardier is amusing, but Jamaal Solomon, who plays JaBear while pulling double duty as technical director, is just there. Only director Tara Rewis, as Epoonany, is noteworthy. She pours not just her heart but her other ample assets into the show’s most jaw-dropping moment: a topless performance of a reworked “On My Own” while simulating almost every sexual position and not missing a note. Meanwhile, somewhere in a Paris mausoleum, a bewildered Victor Hugo is vomiting in his tomb, while sporting an erection. [*Lay, Ms.*](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/lay-ms/) Charade Theatre – Orlando, Fla. Venue: Silver Length: 90 minutes Rating: 18+ – Nudity/Language/Adult Content/Violence Price: $9 (+svc. charge) *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Killer Joe](https://www.meiermovies.com/killer-joe/) **Published:** April 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Killer performance ### Theatre Downtown’s *Killer Joe* is an energetic orgy of sex, violence [![Killer Joe](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Killer-Joe-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Killer-Joe.jpg)Daniel Cooksley stars as Joe. (photo by Logan Curran and copyright Curran/Theatre Downtown) **Theatre Downtown, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/theatre-downtowns-killer-joe-is-an-energetic-orgy-of-sex-and-violence/Content?oid=2241466), October 21, 2014 Tracy Letts may be best known for writing *August: Osage County*, but back in 1993 before he was famous, he concocted *Killer Joe*, an even higher-octane, fewer-holds-barred dramedy about a Texas trailer-trash family who hire a professional killer to murder one of their own. And in its penultimate production, Theatre Downtown has captured most of that play’s energy and insanity, thus creating, in a city known for thrill rides, the wildest redneck rollercoaster in town. The Smiths are a mess. Chris, the 22-year-old son, has just been kicked out of his mom’s house for throwing her against a fridge after she stole his cocaine, which she sold in order to fix up her broken Yugo. Desperate for the $6,000 he would have made by selling the drugs, Chris turns to his dad, Ansel, but it’s evident from his spectacularly ramshackle double-wide that neither he nor his current wife, Sharla, have ever seen that amount of moola. And Chris’s younger, simple-minded sister, Dottie, seems barely able to comprehend anything. One thing they all do seem to grasp, though, is that their lives would be better if Chris and Dottie’s alcoholic mother – Ansel’s ex-wife – were dead and her insurance money in their pockets. Enter Killer Joe Cooper, a police detective who freelances in offings. “This is not something we can afford to cut corners on,” Chris explains to his dad. But when they discover that Joe won’t take the job unless he gets $25,000 up front, they come up with a comically tragic retainer – and the murder plot is back on, or is it? Directed by Theatre Downtown artistic director and co-founder Frank Hilgenberg, this production of *Killer Joe* is slow to build and doesn’t initially crackle with the right mix of comedy and drama. But thanks to a Lonestar State-sized portion of gunfire, stage blood and full-frontal nudity, not to mention a steamy act-one ending and a firecracker second act, Letts’ lines land with the proper impact. Frank Casado as Chris hits most of the right notes, especially in act two, while Jason Skinner as Ansel is even better, displaying a sort of understated, comical stupidity that eventually gives way to absolute despair in act two. Vera Varlamov as Sharla has strong moments too, but Ashley Wilson, the novice of the group, is a bit out of her depth. Still, she displays the requisite beauty and naiveté, not to mention bravery, for the part. Another star is the set, designed by Mike McRee and dressed to non-cultured perfection by Fran Hilgenberg and Marion Marsh. But this production belongs to stage veteran Daniel Cooksley, as Joe, whose command of character and space drives the show’s intensity, and when the Smiths’ world explodes into an orgy of rape and reprisal, he’s the one who makes it believable. Another reason to attend is that, in a culturally unhealthy move, Adventist Health System, which owns both Florida Hospital and the Theatre Downtown building, has exercised its right to invoke a six-month termination clause, forcing the theatrical company to find another home after *A Christmas Carol* in December. So this is, sadly, one of your last chances to support an Orlando artistic tradition, at least in its current incarnation. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hay Fever](https://www.meiermovies.com/hay-fever/) **Published:** March 29, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Ho-hum *Hay* ### Cast can’t capture Noel Coward’s comedic magic [![Copyrighted photo by Kirk Woods](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hay-Fever-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hay-Fever.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Kirk Woods **Theatre Downtown, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/hay-fever-at-theatre-downtown/Content?oid=2241432), February 26, 2014 Noel Coward, one of England’s most prolific playwrights, first brought *Hay Fever* to the stage in 1925. Though the play seems almost as fresh today, its quintessentially British brand of farce has become problematic, especially for American performers, because of changing tastes and styles. And though the actors in the latest Theatre Downtown production display the necessary freneticism, they simply can’t do justice to Coward’s concoction. This is the story of the ironically named Blisses, who occasionally experience bliss for themselves, if only through their self-absorption, but who suck bliss from everyone else. The matriarch of the family is Judith, a retired actress now resigned to perform her melodrama to her living-room furniture. Only slightly less pathetic is her husband, David, a novelist who spends his time holed up in his study, ignorant of his wife’s philandering. (My husband’s “not dead,” Judith tells her fling. “He’s upstairs.”) Rounding out this familial fracas are daughter Sorel and son Simon, one mental step removed from their perambulators. Unbeknownst to the other family members, each Bliss has invited a guest to the house for the weekend. Judith hopes to score, or at least feed her ego, with Sandy, a young, sporty groupie of hers, while David is expecting a visit from a flighty flapper, Jackie, from whom he hopes to draw literary, and perhaps carnal, inspiration. Simon fancies Myra, a vamp who “uses sex as a sort of shrimping net,” and Sorel hopes to hang with Richard, a respectable and much older, yet clueless, acquaintance. Though each Bliss occasionally feigns desperate love for one of these guests – and usually not the guest that he or she has invited – the four visitors mean nothing to them except passing fancies, producing the perfect opportunity for situational farce, with a dash of social commentary. The play’s description belies its difficulty, and, regrettably, the screwball comedy, pacing and tone of *Hay Fever* lie just beyond the actors’ reach. Vera Varlamov, as Myra, projects a strong, sexy charisma, as does Rachel Comeau, as Sorel. Cira Larkin, as Judith, also has her memorable moments and sometimes seems the most natural fit for her role, while Pamela Stone, as Jackie, is often sweet and funny. But a Coward comedy requires the entire ensemble to gel, and this company, particularly the men, can’t keep it together. Mike McRee’s set and Fran Hilgenberg’s costumes are superb, and, along with some period background music, do a good job of transporting us to the 1920s. But then come the dialects, which, more than any other factor, doom the production. Even the best among the cast are mediocre, with not a single one consistently nailing the famous “ahh” of “can’t” and “dance” that the Standard British sound demands. And then there’s David Lee Bass as David, who doesn’t even seem to be trying, and Ava Tunstall as Clara the housekeeper, who creates an odd blend of General American, Cockney, Yorkshire and Hampshire. Dick Van Dyke would be proud. Despite an experienced director in Tom Larkin, a sporadically competent cast and a wildly energetic second act, *Fever* never quite catches fire. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-goat-or-who-is-sylvia/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Getting your *Goat* ### Edward Albee’s modern masterpiece is a must-see [![The Goat](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Goat-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Goat.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Kristen Wheeler **The Mandell Theatre, Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/do-not-miss-the-goat-or-who-is-sylvia-at-the-shakes/Content?oid=2242093), April 23, 2014 Love hurts. It also bleats, at least if you’re Edward Albee, the great American playwright whose *The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?* won the Tony for best play in 2002. It’s finally getting its Orlando premiere this month at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, and it’s simply one of best local productions you’ll see all year. A long one-act play presented in three scenes, Albee’s play is the tale of Martin, a successful architect, who cheats on his wife of 22 years, Stevie, with a goat, whom he names Sylvia, in a subtle reference to Shakespeare’s *The Two Gentleman of Verona*. Yet, according to Martin, it’s not just about sex – he genuinely feels human love for the animal. And when this love is juxtaposed against their son’s homosexuality and discussions of incest and infidelity, the play, which on the surface seems absurd, turns into a startling realization that though love comes in many forms – including immoral and illegal ones – it is always profound. The first scene, which is centered on Martin’s confession of his affair to his best friend, Ross, is part comedy, and fittingly so, since the topic is so nutty upon first revelation that one can’t help but laugh. It’s the weakest of the three scenes and takes a while to catch fire, perhaps because Stephen Lima as Ross is slightly less impressive than his three acting counterparts. But he strikes all the right notes later in the play, as do his fellow cast members, when the comedy explodes into full-blown tragedy and we witness the almost total destruction of a loving family. (We also witness the partial destruction of the play’s props, which are hurled around the stage with such abandon as to almost put the audience in fear of minor injury.) *The Goat* is directed superbly by Julia Allardice Gagne, with additional direction by Kevin Becker and Seth Kubersky. (Disclosure: Kubersky is a fellow *OW* writer. However, this reviewer has no personal or professional relationship with him.) The light and breezy set by Tommy Mangieri seems a perfect living room for a successful architect’s family, complete with flowing, geometrical shapes, complemented nicely by George Foley’s lighting design. But none of the technical elements really matter much next to the powerhouse performances, and we get those aplenty. John DiDonna – this is a DiDonna Production – is magnificent. In fact, it’s tough to imagine Bill Pullman, the original Broadway star, being better. He turns the implausible plot into one of the most painful events one can witness. On the other sides of that pain, and almost as effective, are Marty Stonerock as Stevie and Steven Fox as their son, Billy. Together, the three handle the difficult material just right and undoubtedly would make Albee himself proud if the 86-year-old author (probably best known for *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*) were able to attend. “I don’t think there are any rules for where we are now,” Martin tells Stevie. Well, this is one amorous anarchy you must not miss. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Glass Menagerie](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-glass-menagerie/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Mad Cow captures energy of Williams’ *Menagerie* **Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida** From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2000 Tiny animal figurines arranged to perfection in their little glass world is Tennessee Williams’ choice of an antithesis to the characters in his 1945 *The Glass Menagerie*. Three members of a poor St. Louis family, like the ornaments, are trapped. But in their world, they don’t fit in and are struggling to justify their existence in a place and time foreign to them. In the new Mad Cow Theatre production, powerful actors bring that struggle to life at the Second Stage of the Civic Theatres in Loch Haven Park. This was Williams’ breakthrough, a semi-autobiographical memory play that won him not only the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award, but also a reputation as one of America’s leading post-war playwrights. Williams used his own feeling of isolation growing up poor in the South to fashion the character of Tom, played powerfully in this production by Tom Stearns. Tom yearns for adventure and an escape from his unfulfilling warehouse job and his stifling home life. Tom’s mother, Amanda, also feels out of place and disappointed by life. But unlike Tom, who is constantly looking forward in time for some way to fulfill his dreams, Amanda is always drawn back, to the more genteel life she knew in Mississippi. She desperately wants her children to live out the dreams she could not. Finally, there is Laura, Tom’s sister, crippled both emotionally and physically, who retreats to her glass toy collection, preferring it to the four plain walls of her room and her mother’s constant obsessing over finding her a suitor, a “gentleman caller” to bring her out of her shell. Directed by Trudy Bruner, this production is well conceived and seems suited to the “black box” space of the Second Stage. Instead of using the proscenium that the script calls for, William Elliott designed the production with a thrust into the audience. The thrust has the effect of pulling the audience into not only the set itself but the minds of the characters, particularly that of Tom, who serves as the narrator. His narrative moments, which serve as asides to the reality of the story, are usually highlighted by a spotlight while the rest of the stage goes black. These lighting choices, many of them called for in the script, are used effectively as is the background music and lighting fade-outs at the end of certain scenes. This play can belong to any of the three main characters or, indeed, even to the gentleman caller himself, whose visit is, at times, the main focus of the story. But this production is Tom’s. He at one point refers to his friend, Jim, the gentleman caller, as a person who is so charismatic that he has the “continual spotlight” in life. Stearns’ strong performance and connection with the other actors puts him in this continual spotlight throughout the play, even when the literal spotlight is on others. He makes some odd choices of inflection, dialect and physical motions, but by the second act, they simply seem part of the character’s nature and are easily forgotten. Robin Olson, as Amanda, the slightly tyrannical mother and eccentric southern belle, captures much of the richness of both the Mississippi dialect and the character herself. Although her performance can’t quite match the power of Stearns’ and she has trouble bringing out some of the humor in her role, she allows the audience several glimpses into Amanda’s heart. Laura is a particularly difficult role because there is so much going on inside the character, and her shy and quiet manner puts restraints on the actress in how she can let that inner emotion show through. Jamie Wilson does a competent job, particularly in the second act, of showing those emotions while still being true to the character’s reserved nature. When she is rebuffed romantically, we feel her heartbreak and realize why life inside her little glass menagerie is muchsafer and more predictable for her than life in the real world. The gentleman caller, played by Stephen Middleton, is a person more comfortable with his life. He does not feel the isolation and despair the others feel. Therefore, his energy on stage contrasts greatly with the energy of the others. Middleton captures most of this, and his scene with Laura is both mesmerizing and effectively staged. The four cast members, under Bruner’s direction, are true to Williams’ intentions for the play while breathing new emotional life into the characters. Stearns makes the part of Tom his own while capturing much of the spirit of the playwright himself. *The Glass Menagerie* continues its run through April 2. *© 2000 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ferdinand](https://www.meiermovies.com/ferdinand/) **Published:** May 21, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## A kinder, gentler Fringe **[![Ferdinand](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ferdinand-261x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ferdinand.jpg)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/13/fringe-2015-review-ferdinand), May 13, 2015 The world can be a harsh, violent place, and because Fringe (and, indeed, all art) reflects that world, it can often be equally brutal. Balancing that brutality is *Ferdinand*, a sweet, simple story of a single father coping with life’s obstacles while guiding his young son on a path of kindness, gentleness and sensitivity. Inspired by the Munro Leaf children’s book (and subsequent Oscar-winning Disney cartoon) about a bull who preferred smelling the flowers to competing in bullfights, this one-man show written by Heather Bagnall and performed by Luke Tudball is a joy. Though the British actor mounted a similar production at Edinburgh Fringe, this marks the world premiere of this show, and though, at just 45 minutes, it feels a tad slight, it’s a great choice for children, and for adults who remain kids at heart. The production still has a few audio kinks to work out, as the background music can be distracting, but its overwhelming sweetness combined with Tudball’s strong stage presence turns its shortcomings into trifles. [*Ferdinand*](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/ferdinand/) Tasty Monster Productions – United Kingdom Venue: Red Length: 45 minutes Rating: 7+ Price: $8 (+svc. charge) *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Doubt, A Parable](https://www.meiermovies.com/doubt-a-parable/) **Published:** February 11, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Undoubtedly effective ### Strong script, competent performances power *Doubt* **Garden Theatre, Winter Garden, Florida** [![Doubt_-_photo_by_Kristen_Wheeler_6](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Doubt_-_photo_by_Kristen_Wheeler_6-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Doubt_-_photo_by_Kristen_Wheeler_6.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Kristen Wheeler From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/strong-script-competent-performances-power-doubt/Content?oid=2357961), February 11, 2015 “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty,” John Patrick Shanley wrote. He should know, as he not only authored the Tony Award-winning play on the subject but wrote and directed the movie, which garnered Oscar nominations for all four principals. It’s fair to say, therefore, that the quality of Shanley’s writing is categorically *not* in doubt. So the only major hurdle that remains for director Beth Marshall and her actors in this Garden Theatre production is to bring to life the paranoia, profundity, ambiguity and even claustrophobia that the play posits. And despite some stilted staging and dramatic flatness in the early-going, that hurdle is ultimately overtopped with dexterity. Set in St. Nicholas, a Catholic church and school in the Bronx in 1964, *Doubt, a Parable* is the tale of disciplinarian Sister Aloysius, who is skeptical of the new, progressive priest, Father Flynn. Using spurious evidence reluctantly provided by young, naive Sister James, the elder nun convinces herself that the priest is engaged in an improper relationship with 12-year-old Donald Muller, the school’s only black student. Yet that is really just the MacGuffin – as Alfred Hitchcock would say – to move the play to greater topics. In this case, it’s a discussion of mental conviction versus facts, doubt against certainty, and the darkness of gossip versus the fair light of justice – all within the context of Christian forgiveness and charity. And the play, perhaps more so than the film, is able to focus intensely on those morally ambiguous questions thanks to its one-act brevity (90 minutes with no intermission) and the power of live theater. Michael Wanzie – practically an Orlando theatrical institution by himself – never fails to engage us as Father Flynn, in his Garden Theatre debut. It’s unfair to compare his performance to that of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the movie, but, nevertheless, Wanzie doesn’t come close enough to matching the believability and nuance of Hoffman. Like Wanzie, Shonda Thurman (as Donald’s mother) isn’t stellar, but she is still able – in her one scene – to display the intensity and tragedy of her character, giving the production a much-needed energy boost that catapults it to an emotionally fulfilling conclusion. Though Wanzie and Thurman are competent, this production belongs to Ginger Lee McDermott as Sister Aloysius and Chelsey Panisch as Sister James. McDermott is in complete command of subject and space, while Panisch comes closest to matching her cinematic counterpart (Amy Adams) by capturing not just the requisite sweetness and innocence, but also the understated passion. The theatre’s space is small, but scenic designer Tom Mangieri nevertheless manages to bring to life three distinct locations. Making the space seem larger and more majestic is lighting designer Amy Hadley, who utilizes visually pleasing rear-backdrop projections. Still, the actors appear able to move naturally only when venturing out of the three-location design or, in the case of Wanzie, roaming around the audience. Shanley called doubt “infinite, a passionate exercise,” and speculated that audiences might leave his play with uncertainty. But uncertainty is rarely this entertaining. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Decades Rewind](https://www.meiermovies.com/decades-rewind/) **Published:** May 24, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Music review is better concert than theatre **[![Decades rewind 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Decades-rewind-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Decades-rewind-2.jpg)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/16/fringe-review-decades-rewind), May 16, 2016 *Decades Rewind* is part concert, part musical, part multi-media presentation and, unfortunately, only partly successful. Musically, the production is fairly solid and features a competent eight-piece live band and six singers performing multiple medleys of songs from the 1980s, ‘70s and ‘60s. But the production also features a muddled attempt at storytelling, a lackluster ending, forced theatrics and bad sound mixing that, at least during the preview performance, sapped the energy and pacing. There’s not much the cast and crew can do now to improve the lame theatricality, but if and when some technical kinks are ironed out – and with a large, participatory audience – the show could come to life. Noteworthy are singers J.K. Miller III, who does a nice imitation of Stevie Wonder with “Superstition,” and Ashley Renee, who dominates the second half of the 1980s segment thanks to her role as Jenny, a fictional up-and-coming rock star whose story plays out, in film form, on a small screen behind the band. Yet that gimmick is the show’s greatest failure, as the short movie is projected in the wrong aspect ratio and is almost impossible to follow while also concentrating on the live music. Also memorable are Frank J. Edmondson III, who is here to “funk you up” with such classics as “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” and guitarist Al Owen, who briefly steals the spotlight during the 1960s segment with his convulsive imitation of Joe Cocker. “Hop on our musical time machine,” we’re instructed. Well, if you’re like me and enjoy the musical destinations, you could certainly do worse at this year’s Fringe. Just don’t expect a shiny DeLorean to take you there. It’s more of a Yugo. *Decades Rewind* [Decades Rewind](http://www.decadesrewind.com/#a-trip-down-melody-lane) – Riverview, FL 7 DATES THROUGH MAY 29, 2016 Venue: Orange Length: 75 Min Price: $11 *(Disc: FA|FV|MIL|STU|SR)* *Rating:* 7 & Up [**Buy Tickets**](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/decades-rewind/) *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Cock](https://www.meiermovies.com/cock/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Perfectly choreographed *Cock* ### Dance meets drama in Mad Cow’s powerful play **Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida** [![Cock](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cock-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cock.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Tom Hurst From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cock-portrays-the-pain-of-love-lust-and-betrayal/Content?oid=2242513), June 25, 2014 *Cock*’s titillating title belies its maturity. From name alone, one might expect crude comedy or sexual shenanigans. Instead, director Aradhana Tiwari and a strong cast deliver on the play’s promise to reveal the pain of love, lust and betrayal inside a bisexual relationship triangle. The play by British author Mike Bartlett won an Olivier Award in 2010, and it’s easy to see why, as his work presents a starkly contemporary examination of sexual identity in modern Britain. We learn what it means to be adrift in a lake of labels – not gay, not straight and not even bisexual, just full of lust and longing and looking for the easiest solution. John is dating a character simply labeled M, for man. Yet something is lacking. “We’re sinking, you and me,” M tells John. “I’m taking a lifeboat.” John, too, seeks solace from drowning, but his choice is a woman – his first heterosexual relationship – in the form of the also-unnamed W, for woman. In four mini-chapters within this 100-minute play (performed sans intermission), M and W bare their frustrations, insecurities and souls in a creatively choreographed contest to win the heart, or at least the cock, of John. Visually and even partially thematically, it’s the three-way duel from *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly*, played out with hearts instead of guns. But when the dust clears, no one has really won. Still, the characters are wiser, for they’ve learned that sexuality may be neither a choice nor genetic, but just a strange “stew” of emotions with different desires bubbling to the surface at any given time. Chris Crawford, as John, powerfully conveys sadness, indecision and fear while always flirting with funny in a way that Bartlett’s biting, and often humorous, lines demand. Peter Travis, as M, is equally impressive and maintains an almost impeccable British dialect. (The other actors’ accents aren’t bad, either, needing just a tad more accuracy and consistency.) Heather Leonardi, as the third member of the triangle, has stunning stage presence and a smoldering sexuality that eventually compensate for a slight energy lull in the second grouping of scenes (between John and W). And by the time Rod Cathey shows up (as M’s father), the tension and angry sexuality are thicker than the traffic you must battle to get to Mad Cow’s downtown venue. The other stars are Rebecca Pancoast and Michael Powers as scenic and lighting designers, respectively. Using the 60-seat black-box Zehngebot-Stonerock Theatre as a kind of fluorescently lit game board, perhaps inspired by Disney’s *TRON*, they have created a worthy companion to Tiwari’s dance-like blocking, by which actors move not just realistically, but emotionally, through both physical and mental space. Even Leslye Menshouse’s understated, even drab, costumes work well, by focusing attention on faces, which are almost always in perfect light. Lazy metaphors can’t capture *Cock*. It’s not cocky, cocksure or even cock of the walk. It’s just good theater: a dance of obscenity, heartache and humor that you won’t soon forget. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Chocolate Cake](https://www.meiermovies.com/chocolate-cake/) **Published:** May 23, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Cake* tasty but half-baked **[![Chocolate Cake](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chocolate-Cake-1024x920.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chocolate-Cake.jpg)Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/20/fringe-review-chocolate-cake), May 20, 2016 Marsha wants to be Martha Stewart, from whom she draws “courage, hope and ambition.” She also draws a healthy dose of comedic creepiness and obsession, as she will seemingly stop at nothing to achieve her dream of becoming an on-screen baking queen as one half of the sister team known as the “Modern Day Marthas.” It’s not a good thing. In *Chocolate Cake*, we’re treated to Marsha and her sister Marty hosting a public-access program that goes badly wrong. Though their sibling spats are rather tedious and clumsy, Lauren Cauchy as Marsha and Amanda Logan as Marty do elicit laughs when they switch to slapstick. More physicality and a much faster, almost screwball-comedy, pace certainly would have helped this production too, although, at just 30 minutes (instead of the advertised 60), *Chocolate Cake* is already more of a cupcake than a full-blown gateau. Despite its brevity and lack of finesse, *Cake* is hard to hate, especially because the performers bring sweetness to their recipe, in addition to sexiness in the form of a joke involving Marty’s own rather ample “cupcakes.” In addition, a brilliant, twisty layer of thematic dark chocolate at the end almost cancels out the show’s shortcomings. Nevertheless, *Cake* still seems a bit half-baked. *Chocolate Cake* Toasted Theatre Company – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 7 DATES THROUGH MAY 29, 2016 Venue: Purple Length: 30 Min Price: $11 *Rating:* 13 & Up – Adult Language [**Buy Tickets**](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/chocolate-cake/) *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Cat on a Hot Tin Roof](https://www.meiermovies.com/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## This *Cat* has claws ### Mad Cow raises the roof on Tennessee Williams classic **Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida** [![Cat](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cat-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cat.jpg)Copyrighted photo by Tom Hurst From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-at-mad-cow-theatre/Content?oid=2241035), April 2, 2014 Almost everything in *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* is big: Big Daddy, Big Mama, the family’s 28,000-acre plantation and the weighty issues of deception, repression, alcoholism, death and homophobia. Yet playwright Tennessee Williams often addresses these big issues in small ways, choosing unconventional and subtle approaches, thereby making the play deceptively difficult to perform. The cast of the new Mad Cow production is mostly up to the challenge, though, bringing the necessary Southern sizzle to Williams’ work. *Cat* is the tale of Brick, a football hero just past his prime and falling into alcoholism. He hasn’t yet conceived a child with his wife, Maggie, because an almost unbearable issue from their recent past is tearing them apart. They’ve come to Brick’s ancestral home for the 65th birthday of Big Daddy, not just to celebrate the occasion but learn whether the family patriarch is dying of cancer. Throw in the histrionics of Big Mama and the overreaching greed of Brick’s brother, Gooper, who is eager to secure the plantation for himself, his shrew of a wife, Mae, and their five “no-neck monster” kids, you have a one-day portrait of a family on the brink of collapse. This was Williams’ favorite play, with the issue of Brick’s ambiguous homosexuality being close to his heart. He liked it so much, in fact, that he revised the 1955 original in 1974, excising some minor characters and changing some language, and that’s the version Mad Cow is presenting. Most people, however, are more familiar with the brilliant film adaptation from 1958, directed and co-written by Richard Brooks and starring Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives, the latter having originated the Broadway role. Williams hated the movie because it presented a greater reconciliation between Big Daddy and Brick, and reduced the homosexual references to mere hints, to conform with the Hollywood Production Code. While it did dull the social and sexual commentary, it heightened the characters’ humanity, and many film buffs, including this reviewer, are partial to it. But any lengthy comparisons are best left to scholars of Williams. What matters now is that Mad Cow presents *this* version successfully. With the small space of Mad Cow’s Harriet Theatre, William Elliott’s set, though well conceived, seems cramped, but clever lighting choices help offset the claustrophobia. The simple set decorations, costumes and musical transitions between acts represent the 1950s well while never being obtrusive or distracting, for it’s the performances, not the ambience, that are the stars, and those are handled with aplomb. Bobbie Bell, celebrating 30 years of artistic work in Orlando, has brought together a competent cast. Though the first act drags, it’s not so much the fault of Summer Dawn Wallace, who plays Maggie with strength and sexuality, but of the tough script, which demands of her an almost uninterrupted monologue. Act two is stronger, with a powerhouse performance by Ron Schneider as Big Daddy and an almost equally solid one from David Jachin Kelley as Brick. Add memorable turns in the third act by Karel Wright as Big Mama, Stephen Middleton as Gooper and Amanda Leakey as Mae, in addition to some nice dialect work, and this turns into one of Orlando’s best recent Tennessee Williams productions. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe](https://www.meiermovies.com/jett-backpack-and-the-battle-at-the-end-of-the-universe/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe **Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** [![Jett](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Jett-278x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Jett.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/index.php/2013/05/fringe-review-jett-backpack-and-the-battle-at-the-end-of-the-universe/), May 17, 2013 Some come to Fringe for weighty provocations, and some come to see a great performance. Others come simply for the guilty pleasure of watching actors make fabulous fools of themselves, while listening to William Shatner destroy David Bowie’s *Space Oddity*. If you’re the latter undiscriminating, deranged individual and have a penchant for bad sci-fi, your mind may just be blown by YES/AND Theatre Company’s *Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe*. After the “Earth Itself” is kidnapped by a gang of over-the-top, out-of-this-world interstellar idiots, only Jett Backpack and his equally bumbling yet enthusiastic do-gooders can save the day, or something like that. After all, writer Josh Geoghagan’s plot, though half-baked, matters little when you’re mashing together *Star Wars*, *Star Trek* and *Flash Gordon*, and giving it the campy, low-budget look of *Santa Claus Conquers the Martians*. John Bateman plays the title role, but it’ll likely be Jennifer Guhl (as Captain Clementine Cardigan), David Almeida in delicious drag (as Jett’s mother, Galaxia Randolph) and especially Kevin Sigman (as the Emperor of the End of the Universe) who will beam you up the best. In fact, Sigman rules his Klingoney kingdom so well that not even busty beauty Dorothy Massey (as the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Positronic) can rekindle the energy that’s lost following his ouster from power by the Sinister Dr. Saurian, a “dinosaur scientist” played with reptilian relish but not enough refinement by Stephen Lima. Amateurish and flat at times – almost in the style of the movies it’s spoofing – *Jett* is helped along by Kevin Becker’s fast-paced direction, C.J. Smith’s appropriately B-movie props, Massey’s kooky costumes, and a lack of pretension. *Jett* is far from a must-see, but it may be the closest you’ll get to blast-off at this year’s Fringe without having to take your protein pills and put your helmet on. *Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe* YES/AND Theatre Company (Winter Park, Florida) Rating: G-14 Warnings: Adult Language, Mild Sexual Subject Matter Run Time: 60 minutes Yellow Venue $10 Genre: Science Fiction/Comedy Website: **Show Times:** Sat, May 18, 2013, 9:45 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. Sun, May 19, 2013, 11:15 p.m. – 12:15 a.m. Tue, May 21, 2013, 7:15 p.m. – 8: 15 p.m. Thu, May 23, 2013, 5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Fri, May 24, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Sat, May 25, 2013, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Bullshot Crummond](https://www.meiermovies.com/bullshot-crummond/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Bullshot* not always on target, but still farcical fun **Vine Theatre, Orlando, Florida** From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, June 13, 2004 Bumbling detective Bullshot Crummond thinks he’s always on target in both sharpshooting and sleuthing, when he is, in fact, hopelessly untalented at both. Although the Vine Theatre’s production of the 1920s crime drama parody is sometimes off target just like its hero, it delivers enough campy comedy and self-deprecating humor to forgive the misfires. Written by Ron House and four other actors who were simply improvising a spoof of fictional British detective Bulldog Drummond and decided to write down their shenanigans, the farce has become a cult favorite. This is mainly because actors seem to have so much fun with the tongue-in-cheek writing and silly stunts, and this production at the Tupperware Theatre in Loch Haven Park is no exception. The story, which scarcely matters amid all the silly stunts and plot twists, involves the evil Otto Von Brunno’s flying to England and kidnapping professor Fenton in order to secure for himself and his equally devilish wife, Lenya, a secret formula for manufacturing diamonds. As is customary in the detective dramas that the play spoofs, a beautiful English maiden, in this case Rosemary Fenton, the professor’s daughter, calls upon the hero Bullshot to save the day. The play’s success depends on the talent of the actor in the title role, and, thankfully, Tim Williams is the funniest and most charismatic of the five-person cast. He consistently captures both the detective’s charm and arrogance while keeping the meandering plot interesting. He also rarely departs from his upper-class British dialect, which, unfortunately, not the case for the rest of the cast. These shortcomings rarely matter, however, as almost all the bad acting and silly staging add to the whole lighthearted feel. As the producers tell the audience before the show, if we’re expecting thought-provoking drama, we’re out of luck with *Bullshot Crummond*, as they selected the play because they wanted to have fun. The rest of the cast assembled by director Rus Blackwell, though not as spot on as Williams, contribute their own style. Stephan Jones, as Bullshot’s nemesis, Otto, admittedly sounds more Scottish than German, but his facial expressions and hilariously obvious yet lightning-fast costume changes are wonderful to watch. As the love interest of Bullshot and the distressed daughter of the kidnapped professor Fenton, Natalie Cordone has an excellent rapport with Williams, and their scenes together, although tedious and pointless, are some of the most fun of the play. The versatile Mark Lainer also draws his share of laughs, as he’s called upon to play every remaining character in the play. And even though his dialects wander and a couple of his characters are a bit invisible, he has an almost ad-libbed and amateurish style that can seem at times, well, professional. Only Kim Stone, as the evil Lenya, is not quite up to the task. Finally, Roger Scott, Tommy Magieri and Erin Miner deserve as much credit as the performers, as their hilarious props, which include wooden ducks flown in on wires and Ed Wood-inspired set pieces, in addition to their lighting and sound effects, greatly enhance the actor’s performances. *Bullshot* is not the best or perhaps even the funniest play currently in Orlando, but it’s the one where the actors have the most fun, and that fun is contagious. Rarely is bad theatre this good. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribute Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Blonde Poison](https://www.meiermovies.com/blonde-poison/) **Published:** May 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## One-woman show emotionally gripping [![Blonde Poison](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Blonde-Poison-300x211.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Blonde-Poison.jpg)**Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/18/fringe-review-blonde-poison)*, May 18, 2016 One-person Fringe shows are often a gamble, especially when you know little about the actor and show beforehand. But *Blonde Poison*, in which charismatic Oregon actress Carol Adams portrays Jewish Nazi-collaborator Stella Goldschlag, is a gamble worth taking. Goldschlag was just 17 when World War II broke out, and though she rejected much of her Jewish heritage and claimed that Orthodox Jews of eastern Germany “were never like us,” she too was eventually forced to hide from the Nazis, and subsequently captured and tortured. But when offered the opportunity to inform on her fellow Jews, she made a horrendous decision that would haunt her for the rest of her life. “It’s not my fault,” she argues. “I’m guilty because I survived?” The play never succinctly answers that question, prodding us to instead ponder how we’d react if the Gestapo offered us a similar deal with the devil. Written by Gail Louw in 2015 for the Verona Studio in Salem, Oregon, and receiving its East Coast debut at Orlando Fringe, the play is dramatically and thematically challenging for both audience and performer. Adams is more than up to the task, though, thanks to her strong stage presence and grasp of the complex material. The well-executed set, lighting and sound designs add credibility to the piece, too. Admittedly, the first half drags slightly, partially because of the setup, which involves Goldschlag reminiscing about her life prior to an interview with a journalist in 1983. (Adams’ German accent could use tweaking as well.) But if you have the patience and emotional strength for the material, add this to your must-see Fringe list. *Blonde Poison* [Play On! Productions](http://www.blondepoison.com/united-states-tour.html) – Silverton, OR 4 DATES THROUGH MAY 27, 2016 Venue: Pink Length: 80 Min Price: $11 *(Disc: FA|FV|MIL|SR)* *Rating:* 13 & Up – Mature Themes (Holocaust), Sexual Themes [**Buy Tickets**](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/blonde-poison/) *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Best Picture](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-picture/) **Published:** May 21, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Well worth your consideration [![Best Picture](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Best-Picture-261x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Best-Picture.jpg)**Orlando Fringe, Orlando, Florida** From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/14/fringe-2015-review-best-picture)*, May 14, 2015 I’m sure you’ve been tempted to attend one of those cinematic smorgasbords that theaters offer around Oscar time, the ones that show all the best-picture nominees from that year in a single block. I never have, though, as I believe great films are like fine wine, meant to be sipped, not guzzled. Following that metaphor to its cliché conclusion, there’s *Best Picture*, which prompts us to “chug, chug, chug” by lampooning not just a year’s worth of films but ALL Oscar winners for best film from 1927 until today. Astonishingly, the cast fits in all 87 in one hour and proves, at least in this one hilariously entertaining instance, that more can indeed be more. Kurt Fitzpatrick, Jon Paterson and Tara Travis tackle everything from 1927’s *Wings* to 2014’s *Birdman* – nice avian bookending – while also working in dozens of other classics such as the *Star Wars* films, the *Indiana Jones* series and even TV shows. Many obscure and non-deserving winners, particularly those from the ‘30s and ‘40s, may be lost on much of the audience, despite the cheat sheet handed out prior to the performance. But for those with an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, this is a delight. Fitzpatrick is the most naturally funny and best impersonator of this Canadian-American ensemble, with his Jack Nicholson (*One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest*) and mumbling Marlon Brando (*The Godfather*) among his stand-outs. But Travis is only a step behind thanks to her boundless energy, appropriately creepy Mrs. Danvers from *Rebecca* and dead-on Diane Keaton from *Annie Hall*. (The latter was so clever, I almost choked on my mashed yeast.) Paterson, too, has some nice moments, but it’s the well-researched script that is most impressive. This celluloid sandwich is so packed with ingredients, in fact, that you almost forgive the shortage of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Disney. What’s not forgivable, though, are the accents and dialects, which are either not attempted or bungled by Fitzpatrick and Paterson. Only Travis is competent in this regard. Still, when you combine the performers’ likability, their clever ad-libbing and their knack at performing with almost no costumes or props – and complement those with the background music, which is used unobtrusively to add impact to certain scenes – this is one production that deserves two thumbs-up. *[Best Picture](http://orlandofringe.ticketleap.com/best-picture/)* RibbitRePublic – Vancouver, Canada Venue: Brown Length: 60 minutes Rating: 13+ Price: $11 (+svc. charge) *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Art](https://www.meiermovies.com/art/) **Published:** January 28, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Mad Cow masters humanity and humor of French play **Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida** [![Art](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Art-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Art.jpg)From left, Jay T. Becker as Marc, Tommy Keesling as Yvan and Thom Mesrobian as Serge. (copyrighted photo by Tom Hurst) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mad-cow-masters-the-humanity-and-humor-of-yasmina-rezas-award-winning-play/Content?oid=2465769), January 27, 2016 Serge and Marc have been friends for 15 years. If anything were to come between them, it should be a politics, or religion, or a woman. Instead, it’s a painting. After Serge splurges on an obscenely overpriced work of art consisting of a plain white canvas (that might contain off-white lines), he seeks Marc’s approval. But Marc angrily rejects it as “white shit.” Stepping in as peacemaker is their friend Yvan. Though he, too, sees little value in the pretentious painting, he timidly feigns interest to appease Serge. So is the setup for Yasmina Reza’s award-winning play about friendship and the painfully personal feelings that artistic differences can conjure. And because of its simple story, spare design and minimalist structure (80 minutes with no intermission), the play becomes a meta-theatrical commentary on the value of ultra-minimalism by itself becoming minimalistic. By doing so, it suggests that simplicity can often harbor complex humanity. In this instance, that humanity is hidden behind an alternatingly hilarious and emotionally powerful dramedy. The play premiered in Paris in 1994, and the English translation by Christopher Hampton opened in London in 1996, with Albert Finney as Marc. A Broadway run followed in 1998 with Alan Alda and Alfred Molina. I had the privilege of seeing it in London in 2001, with George Segal, Paul Freeman and Richard Griffiths. Understandably, Mad Cow’s production suffers in comparison to that version, but it still crackles with comedy and pathos thanks to director Mark Edward Smith, whose only significant mistake is a missed moment of hilarity involving Serge’s amusing offer of olives (sans olive branch) to a hungry Yvan. All three actors are Mad Cow veterans, and though their individual performances aren’t always stellar, their chemistry is convincing. In the role of neurotic Yvan, Tommy Keesling steals scenes with his high-energy, rapid-fire delivery. And he nails the play’s most famous monologue, a brilliant rant about the perils of marriage, delivered at the speed of *His Girl Friday*. Thom Mesrobian, as Serge, might not shine as brightly, but he brings a steadiness and believability. Lastly, returning to Mad Cow for the first time in several years, Jay T. Becker, as Marc, is the most charismatic and dramatically sure of the performers, though his line delivery on opening night was a tad choppy. William Elliott’s simple set complements the story and allows the infamous painting to be the focus of many scenes. And his placement of the furniture in a black circle positions the characters – and their bitter attacks on one another – in a visual and thematic bullseye. In addition, his stark but clean color palette of blacks, whites and grays suit the script almost as successfully as Jerry Klein’s on-point lighting. It’s just a shame that transitions from one apartment to the next couldn’t have been a bit more convincing and less clunky. “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” Oscar Wilde wrote. But – if only at Mad Cow – *Art* imitates both art and life, with hilarious and thought-provoking results. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Best of Filmapalooza 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/best-of-filmapalooza-2019/) **Published:** March 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## My picks for this year’s top movies *[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Awards-screening.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Awards-screening.jpg)*Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 10, 2019 Another exciting Filmapalooza has come and gone, and though the highlights of these annual cinematic smorgasbords are often the parties, networking, new friendships and wonderful travel destinations, we can’t lose sight of the event’s main purpose: to honor the year’s best 48 Hour Film Project movies. I was a judge for last year’s Filmapalooza in Paris ([see my wrap-up article from 2018](http://www.meiermovies.com/ruminations-on-filmapalooza-2018/)), and this year, as a resident of host-city Orlando, I was happy to help in several ways, including organizing some of the discussion panels. But the one part of my job that I treasured most was watching all 115 city-winning films in advance and presenting the 48HFP staff with my feedback to assist in the selection of the films moving on to the Cannes Film Festival. They and this year’s judges made some surprisingly different choices, but I guess that just proves once again that intelligent people can have vastly different opinions about the same piece of art. While I congratulate all of this year’s winning films and thank my 48HFP friends – especially Orlando City Producer Kyle Snavely – for their efforts, I regret that many of the best films never received the credit they deserve. So, as I’ve done for the past five years, I present below my picks for the 25 top films of Filmapalooza. (Links are provided when available. The six films with asterisks are among the 13 picked to go to Cannes.) 1. [Richmond, Virginia, USA; *Decay*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/richmond-va/films/32588); by Shields Shoes Productions. This imaginative, dystopian drama-suspense contemplates a world where art is illegal, yet even more magical than we ever considered possible. Dark and mysterious, but imbued with a childlike sense of wonder, it’s my pick for this year’s best film. Oh, and be careful what you wish for. 2. [Rotterdam, Netherlands; *Out of Office*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/rotterdam-nl/films/33635); by 240 Hour. “High concept” films were plentiful at this year’s Filmapalooza, and I found this brainteaser to be perhaps the most intellectual of the bunch. This surreal drama reeks of Luis Buñuel as it straddles the worlds of presence and absence. (And congratulations to Rotterdam for being selected as host of Filmapalooza 2020.) 3. \* Utrecht, Netherlands; *The Internet*; by Supersolid & Friends. This minimalist period piece is a smartly executed and bitingly humorous commentary on the role the Internet plays in our lives. It’s zeitgeisty, but never to a fault, as it’s also one of the most enjoyable of this year’s films. 4. [Toulouse, France; *Some Things to Tell You*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/toulouse-fr/films/34115); by HappyGrumble 5. [Nantes, France; *Last Floor*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/fr/films/34746); by Super 8 6. [New York, New York, USA; *And Many More …?*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/new-york-ny/films/31983); by ForeSee Film Productions 7. [Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; *Pierre Poulet*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/greensboro-nc/films/32023); by FILM-FLAM 8. \* [Los Angeles, California, USA; *Silence*](https://vimeo.com/289209250); by Transplant Pictures 9. [Tampa, Florida, USA; *Love Hurts*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/tampa-fl/films/32449); by Film Jams 10. [New Haven, Connecticut, USA; *Manifest*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/new-haven-ct/films/32836); by Jester Pictures 11. \* [Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, *Wayless*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/vi/ho-chi-minh-city-vn/films/31711); by Imaginary Friends (HCM) 12. [Warsaw, Poland; *Finis Griseo*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/warsaw-pl/films/34029); by NiePOVazni 13. [Portland, Oregon, USA; *Joan Dark: Folk Singer*](https://48hourfilm.com/en/portland-or/films/32885); by Dandelion 14. [Lyon, France; *L’Archiviste*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/lyon-fr/films/34525); by AcidBox 15. [Lisbon, Portugal; *Refém*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/lisboa-pt/films/30738); by Black.Art 16. \* [Leeuwarden, Netherlands; *Masterclass*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/leeuwarden-nl/films/36216); by Team Tonger 17. [Toronto, Canada; *Sir Ludwig’s DuClaudian Twins are Alive & Well and Living in the Same Building*](https://vimeo.com/305553144); by RABfilms 18. Melbourne, Australia; *Big and Tall and Hairy*; by Woke 19. [Washington, DC, USA; *Wingdog*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/washington-dc/films/30827); by Crash of Rhinos 20. [Tours, France; *Un Heure de Tranquillit*é](https://www.48hourfilm.com/fr/tours-fr/films/34653); by Samba Samba 21. [Montpellier, France; *Orage*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/montpellier-fr/films/34581); by Réalviscéralisme 22. [Cleveland, Ohio, USA; *Two for Twenty*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/cleveland-oh/films/32428); by Conrad Studios 23. \* [Chicago, Illinois, USA; *Knockout*](https://vimeo.com/284372654); by Alley Cake Films 24. [Lima, Peru; *Lulu*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/lima-pe/films/31163); by Estrech y Esquash 25. \* [Bogota, Colombia; *El Águila de Oro*](https://www.48hourfilm.com/en/bogota-co/films/36186); by Roble Films For more on this year’s event, [check out my previous article](http://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-to-welcome-the-world-to-filmapalooza/). And [click here](http://48hourfilm.com/news-articles/154/2018-Global-Award-Winners-Announced-At-Filmapalooza-Orlando) for the full list of winners chosen by the 48HFP staff and judges. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* Oh, and [here’s some (really bad) 16mm footage](http://www.meiermovies.com/experiments-in-16mm/) I shot at Filmapalooza with a 1930s Keystone A-3 camera. My apologies it didn’t turn out better. (Most of the footage is actually of the Florida Film Festival, but you will notice a couple of downtown Orlando landmarks at the beginning of the film.) --- ### [Filmapalooza 2019 coming to Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2019-coming-to-orlando/) **Published:** July 17, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cobb-Plaza.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cobb-Plaza.png)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/07/17/filmapalooza-2019-is-coming-to-orlando), July 17, 2018 Filmapalooza, the international competition for the 48 Hour Film Project, will be held in Orlando for the first time, creator and executive producer Mark Ruppert announced today. The 2019 event is scheduled for March 6-9, with downtown’s *Cobb Plaza Cinema* Café 12 the likely location for most of the screenings. The 48 Hour Film Project is the world’s oldest and largest timed filmmaking competition. It involves nearly 140 cities from around the globe and thousands of filmmakers, who are challenged to write, shoot, edit and submit a short film in just 48 hours. Filmapalooza, which was previously held in Paris, represents the culmination of those filmmakers’ efforts, as it screens the winning films from all participating cities. The event will be open not just to filmmakers but to the public, who will be able to purchase tickets to a single film block or the entire event. In addition to screenings, Filmapalooza will feature parties, workshops and an awards gala. The official event hotel has yet to be announced, but plan on it being in the heart of downtown and within walking distance of the venues. This year’s Orlando 48 Hour Film Project is scheduled for August 10-12, with screenings set for August 17-19 at the Valencia College School of Arts & Entertainment Screening Theater, on east campus. If you’re a filmmaker still looking to join a team or start your own, the next meet-up is tomorrow at Miller’s Alehouse on Lee Road in Winter Park, at 8 p.m. For more information, visit . *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project underway](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-2016-48-hour-film-project-underway/) **Published:** July 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Films to screen this weekend at Valencia From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/07/22/48-hour-films-to-screen-this-weekend-at-valencia), July 22, 2016 [![48_film](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film-947x1024.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film.jpg)The Orlando 48 Hour Film Project will hold its screenings at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Performing Arts Center at Valencia Community College East Campus. Twenty-five films will be shown, and admission is free. The 48 Hour Film Project is the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition, and Orlando is one of about 140 participating cities around the world. Filmmakers have just two days to write, shoot and edit a film between 4 and 7 minutes long. Though they can acquire equipment, assemble a cast and crew, and pick locations beforehand, all creative work must accomplished in the required time. And to prevent cheating, teams are assigned a prop, a line of dialogue and a character name and trait at the start of the 48-hour period. In addition, they are given a choice of two genres. The awards ceremony and “Best-of Screening” will take place at 7 p.m. on August 4 at Touchstar Cinemas – Southchase 7, on South Orange Blossom Trail. Admission is $12. Of the 25 films being shown, 18 are eligible for awards. The other seven were either not completed on time or didn’t properly incorporate all the required elements. The film selected best overall by a panel of judges will compete at next year’s Filmapalooza, the international competition for the 48 Hour Film Project. The top films from that event will screen at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. For more information and to purchase tickets to the Best-of Screening, visit . *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project moves to July](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-moves-to-july/) **Published:** May 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Orlando 48 Hour Film Project moves to July [![48_film](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film-278x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/48_film.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/20/orlando-48-hour-film-project-moves-to-july-first-meetup-on-saturday), May 20, 2016 The Orlando 48 Hour Film Project will be held in July this year instead of its usual August. The competition will be held July 15-17, with all the films being screened the following Friday and Saturday, and the awards screenings taking place July 29. The first filmmaker meetup will be at Buffalo Wild Wings at Waterford Lakes, 504 North Alafaya Trail, in Orlando, on May 21 at 8 p.m. The next meetup is scheduled for May 25, at 8 p.m., at the Brickhouse Tavern + Tap at 8440 International Drive in Orlando. More meetups are planned but haven’t been announced yet. (If you’re interested in participating, the meetups are the best way to form a team, join someone else’s team or just learn more about the process.) The event is part of the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition. Participants have just two days to write, shoot and edit a short film between four and seven minutes long. Although they can form teams, secure locations and get equipment beforehand, everything else must be done in 48 hours. And to prevent cheating, teams are given a genre (choice of two), a prop, a line of dialogue and a character name and trait at the kick-off event, which will be at Valencia College East Campus on July 15. (All the screenings will take place at the school’s Performing Arts Center.) Orlando’s winning film will go on to compete with roughly 140 other city winners at the international contest, Filmapalooza, next year, with the top films from that event screening at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. And if you think Cannes is out of your reach, just ask Joshua Ortiz and his team, Aja on Tour, whose film, [*Wake Up*](http://www.48hourfilm.com/orlando-fl/films/8919/Wake-Up-by-Aja-On-Tour)*,* won Orlando last year, was judged one of the best at Filmapalooza and is now playing Cannes. Hey, sometimes in the world of film, you have to go short (and fast) to dream big. For more information, visit or contact Orlando City Producer Kyle Snavely at . *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Filmapalooza 2016](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016-2/) **Published:** March 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Atlanta extends red carpet to Filmapalooza moviemakers [![DSC01399](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01399-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01399.jpg)All photos are by and copyright Cameron Meier / MeierMovies, LLC. Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 8, 2016 The 48 Hour Film Project’s 2016 Filmapalooza, held in Atlanta on March 2-5, will be remembered for three things: the camaraderie made possible by the proximity of the theatre to the official hotel; the third victory in a row for the Netherlands; and the amazing contribution of the French group Compose it Art, whose three city-winning films all landed in my personal top 10. All films – including the 128 city winners from 2015, 13 special genre winners, two 48 Day feature films, and two Four Points Film Project films – were screened at the SCADshow Performing Arts Theater. And because that venue was right across the street from the official Filmapalooza hotel and main party location (W Hotel Midtown), filmmakers were easily able to mingle, meet fellow participants, watch films and attend seminars. Yes, the screening venues were fairly close to the official hotels at the previous two Filmapaloozas (in New Orleans and Los Angeles), but this year’s festival was especially well run in that regard. (And the only major event that was held at another location – Big Peach Studios – was still easily accessible to filmmakers because of a free bus that ran continuously between that location and the hotel.) [![DSC01403](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01403-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01403.jpg)In addition to films and seminars, there were parties galore. Particularly memorable were the closing-night gala at the W Hotel’s ballroom and the several (rather drunken) after-parties at Joe’s on Juniper (just a few blocks from the hotel). Despite all the revelry and networking, the films were still the focus. And the overall winner for the third consecutive year was from the Netherlands – this time from Amsterdam. *Unforgettable*, by team Take 23, charmed not just the three judges (who gave it best film, best writing and best directing) but many audience members. Though it was my #4 choice, there’s no question that it was, well, unforgettable. Most memorable for me personally was the group Compose It Art, who won three cities in 2015: Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand, in France, and Brussels, Belgium. Indeed, it seems like they are following in the footsteps of another successful 48 Hour Film Project team, Les Parasites, who won four cities the previous year. (Three of those four films by Les Parasites ended up in my top five last year. And the fourth might have too, if I had seen it.) [![DSC01402](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01402-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01402.jpg)Films were presented in two theaters within the SCADshow venue. Because screenings overlapped, just like last year in Los Angeles, it was again impossible for one to see all the films. Though that was disappointing, the continued expansion of the 48 Hour Film Project makes it difficult to show all films in just one theater. To accomplish that, the event would have to expand by one day or perhaps get rid of the feature films or seminars, which focused this year on topics as varied as zombie makeup, film financing and the cinematic art of Alfred Hitchcock. (Based on attendees I spoke with, opinion was divided on the usefulness of this year’s seminars, though all said they were glad they were held.) The larger of the two theaters held 375 people. That’s smaller than the largest venue at last year’s Filmapalooza, which was held at the TCL Chinese Theatres multiplex in Hollywood, adjacent to the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. However, because attendance this year was about 350 – down from roughly 450 in 2015 – all attendees were able to squeeze into the theater (though just barely) for the awards ceremony. That ceremony featured an enjoyable screening of the top films and trophy presentations that ran much more smoothly (and faster) than the 2015 ceremony in Los Angeles, thanks to good organization by 48 Hour Film Project founders Liz Langston and Mark Ruppert, and some witty banter by emcees (and well-known actors) Ric Reitz and Wilbur Fitzgerald. [![DSC01393](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01393-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01393.jpg)The one major complaint came from filmmakers whose movies screened in the smaller theater. Because that one was downstairs, had a capacity of just 185 and featured folding chairs, the filmmakers said they felt relegated to second-class status. Still, the convenient location seemed to make up for that. And the switch from a Thursday-Sunday schedule to a Wednesday-Saturday one was a hit with all I spoke to, as it meant Sunday could become a travel day. “I think we’ve had incredible energy here at this Filmapalooza,” said Langston, adding that Atlanta’s warm hospitality – not to mention the city’s status as a new filmmaking mecca – made it a good choice for the annual event. ### **Judges’ picks** The three judges selected 13 films for the “best of” screening on Saturday night. They also picked the top four overall films and awarded several other prizes, including awards for acting, editing, cinematography, writing and directing. Here are the judges’ picks for best films: 1. Amsterdam, Netherlands: *Unforgettable*, by Take 23 2. Bratislava, Slovakia: *Dakujem za Krasne Sviatky* (Thank You for the Wonderful Christmas), by Na Kolene Production 3. Lyon, France: *Les Temps des Adieux* (Time to Say Goodbye), by Compose It Art 4. Leeuwarden, Netherlands: *Ritus*, by Kokosnoten [![DSC01394](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01394-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01394.jpg)Other films selected by the judges (alphabetical, by city): Cali, Colombia: *Avril*, by Kromaphono Cote d’Azur, France: *Les Témoins (Witnesses),* by RIP Productions Greensboro, North Carolina, United States: *Gotta Go*, by the Magic Shop Nairobi, Kenya: *Bait*, by Kibanda Pictures Nashville, Tennessee, United States: *Everyday Yeti*, by Paper Ghost Pictures Nijmegen, Netherlands: *Glimp*, by Lucas Camps Producties Orlando, Florida, United States: *Wake Up*, by Aja On Tour Osaka, Japan: *Werther; Django*, by Desire Toronto, Canada: *Stephanie’s Room*, by Atom Projections [![awards ceremony](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/awards-ceremony-300x188.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/awards-ceremony.jpg)Left to right: Liz Langston, Mark Ruppert, Ric Reitz and Wilbur Fitzgerald Though the list of films going to the Cannes Film Festival differed slightly last year from the “best of” list, the two lists were virtually identical this time. However, as of press time, the 48 Hour Film Project could not confirm whether the Cannes Film Festival would have room for all 13 of the above films. The one “maybe” remains *Glimp* from Nijmegen, Netherlands. In addition to these 12 (possibly 13) movies, Cannes’ “Short Film Corner” will feature three more films that were automatically guaranteed a spot in advance: *Who Am I* (the winner of the Four Points Film Project); *Gill*, by Super Bathing Attitude from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; and *Falling in Love in a Coffeeshop*, by Wax Idiotical Films from New Haven, Connecticut, United States. ### **My picks** Because at least 15 films are going to Cannes, I thought it appropriate to make a top 15 of my own. But please note that because of the overlapping structure of the screenings, I missed 33 of the 128 city-winning films, including most of blocks C, F and H. (An asterisk refers to the films guaranteed a spot in the Cannes Film Festival, as of press time.) 1. Lyon, France: *Les Temps des Adieux* (Time to Say Goodbye), by Compose It Art \* 2. Clermont-Ferrand, France: *Mon Frere* (My Brother), by Compose It Art 3. Los Angeles, California, United States: *The List*, by Amalgamated Grommets 4. Amsterdam, Netherlands: *Unforgettable*, by Take 23 \* 5. Brussels, Belgium: *La Mort est un Homme Ordinaire* (Death is an Ordinary Man), by Compose It Art 6. Nairobi, Kenya: *Bait*, by Kibanda Pictures \* 7. Jerusalem, Israel: *Mini Mental*, by the Bar Mitzvah Boys 8. Tours, France: *Embryo*, by Couple Eternel (featuring filmmakers from last year’s team Les Parasites) 9. Osaka, Japan: *Werther; Django*, by Desire \* 10. Edinburgh, Scotland: *Bert’s Christmas Surprise*, by Beyond Studios 11. Nijmegen, Netherlands: *Glimp*, by Lucas Camps Producties 12. Orlando, Florida, United States: *Wake Up*, by Aja On Tour \* 13. Portland, Maine, United States: *Phoebe, Tom and Teddy*, by Through the Door Productions 14. Toronto, Canada: *Stephanie’s Room*, by Atom Projections \* 15. Cali, Colombia: *Avril*, by Kromaphono \* [![DSC01430](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01430-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01430.jpg)Liz Langston (second from left) poses with filmmakers in front of a green screen at the Big Peach Studios party on Friday night. My honorable mentions (in alphabetical order, by city): Atlanta, Georgia, United States: *Fawn*, by the Full Lock Media Collective Greensboro, North Carolina, United States: *Gotta Go*, by the Magic Shop \* Mongolia: *Father*, by Absolute Pictures Studios Richmond, Virginia, United States: *Fool Me Twice*, by Pixel Drop San Francisco, California, United States: *FuzzFeed*, by Team Bugbear Singapore: *The Anniversary*, by Team Zissou In addition to these films, I should cite the aforementioned *Who Am I*, by NOBS, which won the Four Points Film Project and will also be going to Cannes. Because it’s not a 48 Hour Film Project film, I didn’t place it in my top 15, but it’s certainly worthy of inclusion. ### **More information on the “48”** The 48 Hour Film Project is the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition, and Filmapalooza is its signature international annual event. To create a 48 Hour Film Project movie, filmmakers must write, shoot and edit a film between 4 and 7 minutes long in just two days. Though teams can be formed in advance, locations scouted and equipment procured, everything else must be done in just 48 hours. And to help prevent cheating, filmmakers draw a genre at the beginning of the process, and they also must incorporate a prop, a character name and trait, and a line of dialogue. [![DSC01445](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01445-1-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DSC01445-1.jpg)Filmapalooza was held just a few blocks from the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, where the author wrote *Gone with the Wind*. For additional information about Filmapalooza and a complete list of this year’s winners, see . For my article on the 2015 Filmapalooza, see . For the 2014 event, which focused on Orlando’s journey to Filmapalooza, see . Ruppert and Langston have yet to announce the location of next year’s Filmapalooza, but they and others have voiced enthusiasm for Paris. If so, jusqu’à ce que nous nous reverrons (until we meet again), in the City of Lights. Bon voyage! *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando movie to screen at Cannes FF](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-movie-to-screen-at-cannes-film-festival/) **Published:** March 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Filmapalooza group 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Filmapalooza-group-2-300x252.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Filmapalooza-group-2.jpg)Joshua Ortiz (top left) is joined by family and fellow filmmakers, including cinematographer Austin Burke (bottom left) and Orlando City Producer Kyle Snavely (bottom right). From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/03/08/orlando-film-to-screen-at-cannes-film-festival-this-may), March 8, 2016 *Wake Up*, the movie that won the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project last August, will screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The short film by local moviemaker Joshua Ortiz was selected as one of the 12 best city winners at Filmapalooza (the international competition for the annual 48 Hour Film Project) in Atlanta on Saturday. “It still feels like a dream,” Ortiz says. “It is such an honor to be on the same list with films like \[overall winner\] *Unforgettable* \[from Amsterdam, Netherlands\] and *Les Temps des Adieux* \[from Lyon, France\]. I look back to that sleepless weekend in August \[when the film was made\], and I get emotional thinking about how well we worked together and enjoyed each other’s company. … Spending the week at Filmapalooza was easily one of the best experiences of my life. I loved the camaraderie among the filmmakers, and it never felt like anyone was in ‘competition.’” “It is such an honor for Orlando to be among the top 12 films representing the best out of over 4,500 entries from around the world,” Kyle Snavely, Orlando’s city producer, says. “This shows that filmmaking in Orlando, and Florida all together, is alive and well. Just think what we could accomplish as a city with the right tax incentives! I am very happy for Team Aja on Tour and their fantastic film, *Wake Up*. It was well received by all at Filmapalooza this year.” So what’s next for Ortiz and his filmmaking team? While he’s hoping to visit Cannes to see his film, he’s also eager to participate in the process again. “We are planning on joining the 48 Hour Film Project again this year in Orlando and possibly in one other Florida city. There really is nothing like the adrenaline rush that we all get from creating a short film in just two days.” For more information on the 48 Hour Film Project and Filmapalooza, see [my previous article](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2016/). *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando 48 Hour Film Project to screen](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-hour-film-project-to-screen/) **Published:** August 25, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![48_hour_film_project](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/48_hour_film_project-298x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/48_hour_film_project.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/08/19/48-hour-film-project-screens-this-weekend-at-valencia-college), August 19, 2015 Screenings for the annual Orlando 48 Hour Film Project will be held Friday and Saturday at Valencia College East Campus’s Performing Arts Center, at 701 North Econlockhatchee Trail. Twenty-eight films will be shown over the two days, beginning at 7 p.m. each night. The event is open to the public, and tickets cost $12. The films are the result of last weekend’s Project, which required teams to write, shoot and edit a movie between four and seven minutes long, and submit it within 48 hours. To prevent teams from creating in advance, they were given a character (Ted or Teresa Bridgeport, real-estate developer), a prop (gift certificate) and a line of dialogue (“That’s not the way I see it.”). Participants were also given a genre, such as comedy, drama, western or holiday film. Because the event includes both professional filmmakers and amateurs out to simply have a fun weekend (and show their friends what they can do with a camera), quality varies widely. For moviemakers, it’s a great opportunity to network, and for the public, it’s a chance to see exactly what can (and can’t) be accomplished cinematically in just two days. The event is part of the larger 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition, which occurs annually in more than 120 cities. Winners from individual cities will play at the annual Filmapalooza event for a chance at $5,000 and inclusion in the Cannes Film Festival. Of the 28 films being shown at Valencia College this weekend, 21 are eligible for awards. (The other seven were created within the last week but either failed to make the 48-hour deadline or were disqualified for not using the required line, prop or character properly.) To purchase tickets or find out more information, including a complete list of films and filmmakers, visit . And to hear me discuss this year’s winning film, visit [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtW6O4zDatY). *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Orlando '48' announces dates](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-48-announces-dates/) **Published:** July 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![48_hour_film_project](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/48_hour_film_project-298x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/48_hour_film_project.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/07/01/48-hour-film-project-announces-dates)*, July 1, 2015 The Orlando 48 Hour Film Project has announced its dates. The kick-off event for filmmakers will be August 14 at 6 p.m., with films due at the drop-off location by 7:30 p.m. on August 16. In addition, three meet-ups are planned, the first coming this Friday at 7 p.m., at Wildside Bar & Grill, 700 East Washington Street, in Orlando. The screenings, which are open to the public, will take place August 21-22. All locations, except the aforementioned meet-up, have yet to be announced. The Orlando Project has a new producer this year. Kyle Snavely has taken over from Rob Ward. Snavely is a local filmmaker, former participant in the 48 Hour Film Project and senior instructional assistant in digital-media technology at Valencia Community College. The 48 Hour Film Project is the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition. Participants have just two days to write, shoot and edit a short film after receiving an assigned genre, line of dialogue, prop and character name/trait. More than 100 cities around the world participate each year, with city-winning films going on to Filmapalooza, the international competition. Winners of that competition play the Cannes Film Festival. For more information check [http://48hourfilm.com/orlando-fl](http://The%20Orlando%2048%20Hour%20Film%20Project%20has%20announced%20its%20dates.%20The%20kick-off%20event%20for%20filmmakers%20will%20be%20August%2014%20at%206%20p.m.,%20with%20films%20due%20at%20the%20drop-off%20location%20by%207:30%20p.m.%20on%20August%2016.%20In%20addition,%20three%20meet-ups%20are%20planned,%20the%20first%20coming%20this%20Friday%20at%207%20p.m.,%20at%20Wildside%20Bar%20&%20Grill,%20700%20East%20Washington%20Street,%20in%20Orlando.%20%20The%20screenings,%20which%20are%20open%20to%20the%20public,%20will%20take%20place%20August%2021-22.%20All%20locations,%20except%20the%20aforementioned%20meet-up,%20have%20yet%20to%20be%20announced.%20The%20Orlando%20Project%20has%20a%20new%20producer%20this%20year.%20Kyle%20Snavely%20has%20taken%20over%20from%20Rob%20Ward.%20Snavely%20is%20a%20local%20filmmaker,%20former%20participant%20in%20the%2048%20Hour%20Film%20Project%20and%20senior%20instructional%20assistant%20in%20digital-media%20technology%20at%20Valencia%20Community%20College.%20%20The%2048%20Hour%20Film%20Project%20is%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20timed%20filmmaking%20competition.%20Participants%20have%20just%20two%20days%20to%20write,%20shoot%20and%20edit%20a%20short%20film%20after%20receiving%20an%20assigned%20genre,%20line%20of%20dialogue,%20prop%20and%20character%20name/trait.%20More%20than%20100%20cities%20around%20the%20world%20participate%20each%20year,%20with%20city-winning%20films%20going%20on%20to%20Filmapalooza,%20the%20international%20competition.%20Winners%20of%20that%20competition%20play%20the%20Cannes%20Film%20Festival.%20For%20more%20information,%20and%20for%20the%20forthcoming%20announcement%20of%20the%20locations,%20check%20http://48hourfilm.com/orlando-fl.). ### Update Since this blog was posted, the 48 Hour Film Project has announced that Valencia Community College will host all the events. Room 152 in East Campus building 1 will be the kick-off and drop-off location, while the Performing Arts Center will host the screenings. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Filmapalooza 2015](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-2015/) **Published:** March 8, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Tinseltown hosts the 48 Hour Film Project’s annual event [![48_Hour_Film_Project-45](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-45-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-45.jpg)Les Parasites pose with 48 Hour Film Project founders Liz Langston (left) and Mark Ruppert (right). (Photos are courtesy of and copyright Filmapalooza. Click on each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version.) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 8, 2015 Parasites invaded Filmapalooza 2015 in Los Angeles last weekend, but no one seemed to mind. Indeed, we were all the richer for it. The invaders in question are actually Les Parasites, a group of French filmmakers who won four of the five cities they entered in 2014. And they might have won the fifth, Paris, had their film not been disqualified on a technicality. That feat had never before been accomplished at the 48 Hour Film Project and might never again. Even more astonishingly, at this year’s Filmapalooza, which was held February 26 – March 1, Les Parasites had the three best films among the 125 shown. (The only reason their fourth film, from Tours, wasn’t high on my list too is that I didn’t have a chance to see it, thanks to the overlapping schedule, which made it impossible for a person to see every film.) The judges might not have quite agreed with me, as they voted Rotterdam’s *These Dirty Words* the best, but Les Parasites’ work did not go unnoticed, and the event’s attendees sent them off to the Cannes Film Festival (where the top films go) with a standing ovation. [![48_Hour_Film_Project-67](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-67-300x221.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-67.jpg)Rotterdam’s Jear Productions celebrate their win for best overall film. As a reminder, Filmapalooza is the yearly culmination of the 48 Hour Film Project, the world’s largest timed filmmaking competition. Started in 2001 by Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, the “48” gives participants just two days to complete a film between four and seven minutes in length, not including end credits. Filmmakers cannot pay anyone, but they can form their team and acquire equipment in advance. And to prevent teams from writing and shooting beforehand, participants are assigned a genre, line of dialogue, prop, and character name and trait when the competition starts. I’ve covered the event two years in a row, accompanying the winning team from my hometown, Orlando, Florida. For more background on the event, see [my article](http://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/) from last year. Ruppert, Langston and all their staff and volunteers again worked tirelessly to pull off this massive competition, and the work of Les Parasites and a few other filmmakers was breathtaking, especially given the time constraints, but the event lacked some of the energy and camaraderie from the previous year’s Filmapalooza in New Orleans. First, we were told the films would be screened at the famous Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. However, the screenings actually took place next door to the historic venue, at the TCL Chinese Theatre multiplex. We were crammed into two theaters with too-little space and bad sightlines. Sure, the location was impossible to beat and the sound and picture quality were topnotch, but when you tell filmmakers they will be seeing their movies on arguably the world’s most famous movie screen, it’s a tad disappointing to end up seeing them in a multiplex instead. [![48_Hour_Film_Project-355](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-355-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/48_Hour_Film_Project-355.jpg)Each of the 125 city winners received a trophy. Second, to apparently free up more time for filmmaking seminars (which were admittedly quite good), a feature presentation on the closing Sunday and an overlong awards ceremony, organizers this year decided to stagger the screening times. This meant attendees could see, at most, only half the films. This might sound like a lot, but when you’re trying to network with your fellow filmmakers, it helps to have seen their films. And for a critic like myself, it makes compiling a true top-10 list impossible. I still managed to compile one from the roughly 60 movies I saw, but it’s admittedly not as comprehensive as last year’s. Third – and this is no fault of the organizers – the 2015 event felt more scattered than the previous year’s thanks to the energy of Los Angeles. While the New Orleans event seemed more tightknit, with more filmmakers getting to know each other, this year’s Filmapalooza seemed spread out, with the social events not as well attended. Perhaps attendees simply had other things to do and other people to see while in Los Angeles. I know I did. And no one should be blamed for that. Nevertheless, some of the great energy of New Orleans was missing this year. Before I reveal my top 10, I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the judging. While there were some expected peculiarities, such as the Nashville, Tennessee, film *Contrary to Likeness* picking up best director and best editing but losing to Rotterdam’s *These Dirty Words* for best overall movie, the real head scratcher was the fact that the 11 films (12 if you count the winner of the New Amsterdam vodka “It’s Your Town” documentary contest) screened at the awards ceremony on Sunday were NOT the ones that are being sent on to the Cannes Film Festival. Yes, the list is similar, but it’s not identical, and we were never told why. (Ruppert and Langston didn’t return my inquisitive e-mails.) This undoubtedly left Les Parasites wondering why their excellent film from Lyon (*Retcon*), which was screened at the awards presentation, was left off the Cannes list. Conversely, the folks from San Antonio must have been elated when their movie, *Thunder & Ash*, was selected after NOT being screened. [![IMG_1734](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1734-224x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1734.jpg)Despite these oddities, most attendees were happy to see their movies on the big screen, have a chance to visit Hollywood and meet their fellow filmmakers from around the world. And for the 115 teams that didn’t make it to Cannes, including my friends from Orlando, the challenge looms invitingly large once again for 2016. So what should we expect from Les Parasites next year at Filmapalooza? Nothing. “We’re retiring from the ‘48,’” they told me. Sounds great, guys. Now go win an Oscar. **My top 10** 1. *Symptomes d’Amour* (Symptoms of Love) by Les Parasites, from Montpellier, France (4 stars on 0-5 scale)\* 2. *Bienvenue Chez Vous* (Welcome Home) by Les Parasites, from Dijon, France (3 stars) 3. *Retcon* by Les Parasites, from Lyon, France (3 stars) 4. *Contrary to Likeness* by Paper Ghost Pictures, from Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. \* (3 stars) 5. *Sixteeen-Twentyseven* by Socially Present, from Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. (3 stars) 6. *These Dirty Words* by Jear Productions, from Rotterdam, Netherlands \* (3 stars) 7. *EVT* by Anonymous Productions, from St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. \* (2 stars) 8. *Saved by the Bell* by Yes, We Cannes, from Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. # (2 stars) 9. *I-Charon* by Challenge Accepted, from Seattle, Washington, U.S. \* (2 stars) 10. *Desnuditos* by Los Perdedores, from Granada (2 stars) \* Films moving on to the Cannes Film Festival \# This film, a joint project of three cities, was the honorable-mention winner from Asheville, thus making it ineligible for Cannes. [![IMG_1774](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1774-300x224.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_1774.jpg)For a complete list of award winners, see [48HourFilm.com](http://www.48hourfilm.com/news-articles). To see all of Les Parasites’ films – though, regrettably, not all contain English subtitles – visit [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqS1gDNHEX3FgJ8dPfSuRoQ). And to connect with them on Facebook, visit . *© 2014 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Filmapalooza: hard to win in Big Easy](https://www.meiermovies.com/filmapalooza-its-hard-to-win-in-the-big-easy/) **Published:** March 21, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Movies compete in New Orleans for chance at Cannes From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 24, 2014 So whatever happened to [*TechSquad*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6GSBywiRTM), the little film that could – and did – at the 48 Hour Film Project last summer in Orlando? (See my original [story](http://www.meiermovies.com/48-hour-film-project/) and follow-up [blog](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013/09/07/final-thoughts-on-the-48/).) Because it won its city, the buddy comedy moved on to the international competition, Filmapalooza, on March 6-9 in New Orleans, competing against 111 other short movies from around the world. But that’s where the journey for TL Westgate’s film ended, as it was not selected as one of the top 10 entries and therefore won’t go on to the Cannes Film Festival in May. But at least we finally have an answer to the question that was on everyone’s mind during this year’s Project: Is it possible to make not just a professional, entertaining film – which *TechSquad* certainly is – but a really good one in just 48 hours? The answer is a resounding yes, as demonstrated by at least a dozen films from big cities such as Los Angeles, Paris and Washington, D.C., but also by offerings from less predictable places such as Breda, Netherlands; Portland, Oregon; and Kansas City, Missouri. “I had an amazing experience at Filmapalooza,” Westgate says. “*TechSquad* is my first film to win the 48 Hour Film Project and go on to ANY festivals. It’s been a wild ride, and Filmapalooza was definitely a highlight. It was great to mingle with all the other filmmakers from across the country and around the world. I didn’t know quite what to expect out of it. I’ve only been to a few fests so far. I really enjoy the panels and parties and networking opportunities, and of course, seeing the films that are winning other cities. “As far as the quality of the films, some were amazing. … The level at which the writing and acting were delivered was definitely at a Hollywood level. In many cases, if you didn’t know these were produced in 48 hours, you would never guess. The entire 48-hour concept seems to have a stigma on the festival circuit. And it can certainly produce some clunkers. But when a team hits it out of the park, they should definitely get bonus points for doing so in such a short time. Frankly, I was humbled by the quality of some of the films I watched and see I definitely need to step up my game for next year. “The number-one winning team from Amsterdam starred one of their country’s biggest actors. So thinking you’re going to Cannes is a bit of a pipe dream. I can’t say I’m disappointed in not going, as I didn’t really think we’d make it. It would have been nice, \[but\] this whole experience has only pushed me to try harder. Maybe someday.” [![TL Westgate and co-star Hans Christianson accept their award for the best film in Orlando, from Mark Ruppert (far left) and Liz Langston.](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TechSquad-award-at-Filmapalooza-2014-by-Rob-Hatch-300x205.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TechSquad-award-at-Filmapalooza-2014-by-Rob-Hatch.jpg)TL Westgate and co-star Hans Christianson accept their award for the best film in Orlando, from Mark Ruppert (far left) and Liz Langston. (photo by Rob Hatch) To refresh, the 48 Hour Film Project, which was founded in 2001 by Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, is a timed filmmaking competition. As the name suggests, participants have just two days to complete a film between four and seven minutes in length, not including end credits. Filmmakers cannot pay anyone, but they can form their team and acquire equipment in advance. And to prevent teams from writing and shooting beforehand, participants are assigned a genre, line of dialogue, prop, and character name and trait when the competition starts. “We all agree that it was our best Filmapalooza yet,” Langston says. “And, honestly, I have to say that what made it that way was just seeing the filmmakers be so friendly to each other and take such an interest in being supportive and learning about each other and watching each other’s films. I think \[the top 10\] films are excellent films, and we’re very proud of them.” The quality of the films screened at Filmapalooza was so high this year, in fact, that it’s difficult to believe they were all made in 48 hours. Well, if you dig a bit deeper, you’ll actually discover that many technically weren’t. “We send an e-mail out to all of the filmmakers \[of the winning city films\], and we tell them that they can make some very particular, small changes to their films, and that includes sweetening the audio and, if they’ve forgotten any title credits, they can add those in. We don’t allow any changes to the stories – insertions, deletions – but we do want the films to be shown at their very best.” Langston cautions that although the Filmapalooza audience, and ultimately the Cannes audience, might see tweaked films, the judges see the films without tweaks, guaranteeing a fair comparison, since many filmmakers choose not to change their movies following the 48-hour creation process. Still, some claim that cheating does take place. “As you know, people have to draw the character, prop and the line of dialogue, and the genre, so those are our best ways to have people stick within the boundaries of our 48 \[Hour Film Project\],” Langston says. “People will come to us occasionally and say that they think somebody cheated and wrote … in advance, and then what we do is we follow some procedures to check it out and see if it’s true. And if we do find that there was some provable cheating like that, then we have been known to take an award away from a winning team.” [![The Joy Theater on Canal Street hosted this year's event.](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG_1089-224x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG_1089.jpg)The Joy Theater on Canal Street hosted this year’s event. In addition to the 112 films from the 48 Hour Film Project, Filmapalooza screened eight additional short movies this year. That extra group was comprised of the overall winner and audience pick from the National Film Challenge and six films from the 48 Hour Music Video Project. For many attendees, the movies themselves aren’t the highlight of Filmapalooza. Some mention the informational seminars, while some cite the parties or the awards ceremony, which was hosted this time by David Costabile of *Breaking Bad*. This year’s social highlight was either the karaoke night or the post-Mardi Gras pub crawl through the French Quarter, complete with an old-fashioned crawfish boil. However, Kara Sowles of Portland, Oregon, cites the same thing Langston does. “The most striking thing about Filmapalooza wasn’t the quality of the films, which were of course very impressive,” Sowles says. “The striking thing was the friendliness of the filmmakers, people all around the world who had found it worthwhile to crush themselves for two days, to burn favors and forget sleep. The filmmakers were, above all, friendly and welcoming to each other, without a sense of competition or pretention. This *defined* the festival for me.” Sowles was the lead animator of *Miasma*, and if you think it’s tough creating a live-action film in 48 hours, try a stop-motion animation one. “The visual feel of the film is crucial when you’re working with timed stop-motion,” she says. “We build the sets first, while we’re still working on the story and the characters, because the setting *is* the biggest character. It dominates the impact of the film for us. For *Miasma*, we quickly knew we wanted to work with a black-and-white palette, somewhere cold and isolated. Because we had to build everything from scratch, we couldn’t start animating and filming until around 8 p.m. Saturday night, halfway into the race \[which ended Sunday evening\]. Afterwards, it feels as much like magic to us as it does to the audience. I’m never quite sure how it happened, but there it is.” Despite that magic, *Miasma* wasn’t selected for Cannes. Neither was the Kansas City winner, *The Donald Gordon Story*, a fascinatingly playful, deconstructionist look at a man who discovers that a magical, ethereal camera is filming his entire life. Think of it as an even more existential version of *The Truman Show*. But that snub didn’t seem to ruin the experience for the film’s director and writer, Joe Carey. “Filmapalooza was one of the most extraordinary experiences of this young Kansas City boy’s life,” Carey says. “At first I was terrified because I was surrounded by filmmakers from across the globe, the best of the best. As the weekend went on, I realized that most of the people there were in the same boat as me. Some films clearly had production companies with money to back them up, but the majority were small teams just working with what they had. [![Left to right: Cameron Meier, TL Westgate, Hans Christianson, co-writer Michelle Bretana and fellow Orlando filmmaker Dale Metz, on the red carpet at Filmapalooza](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG_1106-300x224.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG_1106.jpg)Left to right: Cameron Meier, TL Westgate, Hans Christianson, co-writer Michelle Bretana and fellow Orlando filmmaker Dale Metz, on the red carpet at Filmapalooza “I don’t fully agree with the winners, but that is the nature of the beast. The winning films all had a stunning quality to them. They looked great and definitely made you feel like you were watching a movie. That being said, the stories were not necessarily all there. Some films had an amazing story but didn’t look nearly as polished. They all fell to the wayside, ours included. Then there were a couple that had both amazing quality and a good story, but I guess they rubbed the judges the wrong way. All in all, it was amazing meeting so many like-minded people from all walks of life.” Carey’s suggestions for future filmmaking teams? “The biggest piece of advice when it comes to timed festivals is this: Prepare beforehand \[while still adhering to the rules.\] It’s a double-edged sword, because if you prepare too much, you will lose the originality and creativity that is so great about these things. However, if you do prepare, be sure to rent out a train station,” Carey jokes, referring to the filmmakers from Cape Town, South Africa, who secured the use of a train and a station for their film, *Five Minutes Till Noon* (*)*, while still adhering to the rules that forbid paying anyone. Not surprisingly, they won for best art direction. Concludes Carey: “Seriously? How am I supposed to compare with that?!” With the exceptions of *Miasma,* *The Donald Gordon Story* and a wonderfully surreal film from Breda, Netherlands, my list of favorites is pretty close to the judges’. If you’ll indulge me, below you’ll find my top 10 and a couple of honorable mentions, along with links to the films, if available. Films with asterisks are in the judges’ top 10 and will, therefore, be going to Cannes. (For a complete list of the judges’ other awards, such as best actor, best director and best cinematography, visit .) **My top 10:** 1. Breda, Netherlands (*ESC*) – 4 stars (on 0-5 scale): 2. Los Angeles (*Coverage*) \* – 4 stars 3. Osaka, Japan (*My Sweets*) \* – 4 stars 4. Portland, Oregon (*Miasma*) – 4 stars: 5. Lausanne, Switzerland (*Le Grand Ecart*, or *The Split*) \* – 4 stars: 6. Paris (*Le Métronome*), second runner-up \* – 3 stars: 7. Kansas City, Missouri (*The Donald Gordon Story*) – 3 stars: 8. New York City (*Once a Loser*) – 3 stars 9. Washington, D.C. (*Wishful Thinking*) \* – 3 stars: 10. Amsterdam (*Geen Klote!,* or *No Guts!*) \*, overall winner – 3 stars: **My honorable mentions:** Dublin (*Dear Younger Me*) – 3 stars: Utrecht, Netherlands (*Blokje Om, or Around the Block*) – 3 stars: **Films in the judges’ top 10 but not mine:** Katowice, Poland (*Nikisz Haze*) \* – 3 stars: Rome (*La Bouillabaisse*) \*, first runner-up – 2 stars Johannesburg, South Africa (*Don’t Shoot the Cat*) \* – 2 stars Nijmegen, Netherlands (*Mama’s As*) \* – 2 stars The 48 Hour Film Project for 2014 is already underway. Orlando’s contest will likely take place again in August. For information on how you can enter the competition in your city, visit . Next year’s Filmapalooza will be held in Los Angeles, possibly at Hollywood’s famous Chinese Theatre, on March 5-9. ## Epilogue In an amazing twist ending straight out of a sappy but heartwarming Hollywood movie, Kansas City’s Joe Carey WILL be going to Cannes after all. Apparently there was room for four more films, in addition to the original 10, and *The Donald Gordon Story* is among the four, it was announced on April 3. The other three are New York City’s *Once a Loser* (also among my personal top 10); Melbourne, Australia’s *Flash*; and Glasgow, Scotland’s *The Job*. Sadly, Kara Sowles of Portland, Oregon (*Miasma*) and Orlando’s own TL Westgate (*TechSquad*) didn’t make this new list. Neither did the team from Breda, Netherlands, who made *ESC*, the best movie at Filmapalooza, in my opinion. Oh, well, there’s always next year. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Captain Corelli’s Mandolin](https://www.meiermovies.com/captain-corellis-mandolin/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Captain Corelli’s Mandolin**, 2001, 2 ¾ stars # A conflict of interest From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 21, 2001 The mandolin in John Madden’s new film is both a symbol of romance, as it draws two lovers together, and of war, as its strings are used to literally bind the wounds of battle. But despite a breathtaking Penelope Cruz and almost equally beautiful landscapes, the intrigue in *Captain Corelli’s Mandolin* lies in the Italian occupation of Greece during World War II, not in the love story. A slightly miscast Nicolas Cage, uneasily sporting an accent, is Antonio Corelli, an Italian officer stationed in the isolated country home of Pelagia (Cruz) and her father (John Hurt), the village doctor. Corelli seems more interested in apologizing for the inconvenience his occupation has caused and leading his troops in their amateur musical endeavors than training them for war. But over time, the reality of the war overwhelms both Corelli and his men, especially when the Germans turn from friends to foes following the surrender of Mussolini to the Allies. Corelli is also overwhelmed by his growing love for Pelagia, and he eventually wears down her resistance as she sees his artistry and tenderness, revealed through his mandolin. Madden wisely lets the love develop subtly over time, but despite an intelligently filmed, passionate roll in the hay, the payoff for the slow smoldering affair just isn’t there. Even when Corelli is forced apart from Pelagia and chooses his mandolin instead of the obligatory love note to reestablish contact with his lost love, the romance fails to light up the screen as brightly as the fiery German bombs. The love story fizzles partly because, just as it gets interesting, it is overwhelmed by the far more compelling tale of the German-Italian conflagration. The film’s focus is further blurred by other elements screenwriter Shawn Slovo throws in: a love triangle with Pelagia’s fiance (Christian Bale), massacres at the hands of the Germans and even earthquakes. Slovo simply tries too hard to create a war epic and not hard enough to create a believable romance. The supporting roles also draw attention from the two lovers. Bale’s stoicism in the face of loss of love and country is striking, and Hurt’s portrayal of the nurturing father too has its touching moments. But it is David Morrissey, as the Nazi with a heart, who not only gives the most interesting performance but humanizes the enemy to such an extent that he sheds new light upon the psychology of the Mediterranean conflict. That conflict is the highlight of the film and, when combined with the subtly beautiful, if flawed, love story, allows Madden’s work to clearly outshine the other big summer movie about a famous World War II invasion. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238112/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Corelli%27s_Mandolin_(film)).* --- ### [Parallel Mothers](https://www.meiermovies.com/parallel-mothers/) **Published:** January 10, 2022 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Madres Paralelas (Parallel Mothers)** FL, 2021, 3 ¼ stars # The *mother* of male directors ## Almodóvar embraces his inner feminist again [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Parallel-Mothers-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Parallel-Mothers-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 10, 2022 “How do you write women so well?” a fan asks author Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in James L. Brooks’ *As Good as It Gets*. “I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability,” he answers. In real life, it’s Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodóvar who should be asked. And I’m certain his response would be the antithesis of Udall’s snark. In fact, Almodóvar even has a name for his art: “cinema of women.” Adriana Ugarte, who starred in the director’s 2006 film *Julieta*, perhaps explained it best. “It’s a mystery, but he can feel how we feel and how we are,” she said, as quoted in *The New York Times*. Of course, untold numbers of male directors and writers have created wonderful parts for women, and as have women for men. But what’s extraordinary about Almodóvar is that so many of his films have featured almost exclusively women in the lead roles. His latest, *Madres Paralelas* (*Parallel Mothers* in English), is one of the strongest examples of this female-centric sensibility. The two at the heart of the film are Almodóvar’s muse, Penélope Cruz, as Janis, and Milena Smit as Ana. Though the two are separated by about 20 years, they find themselves in similar predicaments – and identical hospital rooms – giving birth to unplanned babies. But what could have been a ships-passing-in-the-night moment eventually grows into an unlikely friendship when they meet again under extraordinary circumstances. Their new bond involves enough insanity to remind one of another Udall quote from the aforementioned Brooks movie: “Sell crazy someplace else. We’re all stocked up here.” In supporting roles are Aitana Sánchez-Gijón as Ana’s mother and Israel Elejalde as the married man who impregnates Janis. While the former is involved in an only intermittently successful subplot involving her acting career, the latter lends the film a deeper meaning by virtue of his anthropological work. He and Janis are working on locating lost graves of Spain’s White Terror, during which Francisco Franco murdered close to 200,000 people in the 1930s and 1940s. An entire generation of women lost husbands and sons, or knew someone who did. And in keeping with Almodóvar’s feminist leanings, Janis wants to bring peace to the few remaining women of that era, and herself. And in a complement to the Franco metaphor, we’re reminded that Ana’s pregnancy came through rape. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Parallel-Mothers-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Parallel-Mothers-2.jpg)Penélope Cruz, right, and Milena Smit star in *Parallel Mothers*. (image copyright El Deseo / Sony Pictures Classics) The film, therefore, alternates between a soap opera of motherhood and a drama of historical recognition. But regardless of which plot is taking center stage, the film is focused on unearthing hidden truths and examining the closure those truths can bring. “Who am I, where did I come from, and where am I going?” the characters seem to be asking themselves, and us. The movie suffers narrative drift about halfway through, with several scenes landing neither a dramatic nor comedic punch. In this respect, it’s a tiny step below Almodóvar’s previous feature, *Pain and Glory*. That film too featured Cruz, along with a powerhouse turn by Antonio Banderas, but it was better able to sustain its momentum. *Parallel Mothers*, for all its compelling qualities, lacks that consistency. Nevertheless, Cruz and Smit are strong enough to right the cinematic ship in its final act, buoyed by the intriguing directions of the twisty script. The film’s waters become a tad muddied, but they run deep. “We should all be feminists,” reads a shirt worn by Janis. If you, like I, believe Hillary Clinton’s reaffirmation that “women’s rights are human rights,” Janis’s shirt might be moot, or even overbearing. Nevertheless, the shirt seems appropriate for Janis, and for the film. Heck, I can almost picture Almodóvar squeezing all allegedly 185 pounds and five feet, 10 inches into la camisa himself. And, somehow, it’s a damn good fit. Se ve hermoso. *© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the film, see [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12618926/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_Mothers).* --- ### [Disney snubs history and art by altering Magic Kingdom carousel](https://www.meiermovies.com/disney-snubs-history-and-art-by-altering-magic-kingdom-carousel/) **Published:** May 25, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSCN4525.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSCN4525.jpg)The inner, sleigh-style chariot as it appeared in the early 2000s. *Exclusive to MeierMovies, May 25, 2017* One of the most beloved attractions at Walt Disney World will soon celebrate a milestone. Prince Charming Regal Carrousel in the Magic Kingdom (formerly Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel) was built in 1917 and 1918 as “The Liberty” by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and will mark the 100th anniversary of its original opening (in Detroit’s Palace Garden Park) next year. But instead of embracing the ride’s history, Disney has recently removed one of its original hand-carved chariots. Removing that chariot is the wrong decision. And I should know, because I’m the guy who put it there. The carousel is the only Walt Disney World attraction that Walt saw, as he died in 1966, five years before the resort’s groundbreaking. By virtue of it being the nation’s biggest carousel (and arguably the most famous) when it resided at Olympic Park in New Jersey, Walt would have seen photos and might have even visited it. So when his Imagineers bought the merry-go-round and moved it to Florida, it carried with it a special nostalgia. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/chariotNJ.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/chariotNJ.jpg)The inner, sleigh-style chariot as it appeared in New Jersey. Originally featuring 80 horses and four chariots, the ride was altered for its Disney World debut in 1971. Sadly, the chariots were removed, and wooden horses from other historic carousels were added (with some fiberglass reproductions) to bring the number to 90 (plus a few extras to allow for regular refurbishments). In addition, “standers” were turned into “jumpers” by altering the legs. Fast forward to 1996 when I, a wide-eyed, young Disney cast member, devoted myself to the upkeep and history of the attraction. Inspired by Isle Voght, a talented painter who served as the carousel’s champion, I hunted down the original chariots, feeling it was a worthy goal to restore the carousel’s history while allowing elderly guests and those with disabilities a place to sit. It turns out that the two original Roman-style outer chariots had been added to Disneyland Paris’s carousel a few years earlier. But one of the original inner, sleigh-style chariots was sitting in the Disney Imagineering warehouses in Glendale, California. It was in bad shape, with one of its seats busted out and quite a bit of other damage, but it was not only salvageable but still a masterpiece of wooden carousel art. So with the help of Voght and others with a passion for history and art (including my friend Chester Maple and Brian Morgan of the National Carousel Association), I fought to restore not just the chariot but the entire ride in 1999. I even took my fight to the office of Michael Eisner. That fight paid off. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Detroit.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Detroit.jpg)The carousel in 1918, in Detroit. Note the outer, Roman-style chariot on the left and the inner, sleigh-style chariot (the one added back to the carousel in 1999) on the right. The inner chariot has ridden the ride ever since, delighting millions. But now it’s been removed, apparently because Disney prefers a new bench-type structure that is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and also because the chariot apparently is in need of another restoration. While ADA compliancy is a worthy goal, the majority of Disney attractions are not fully compliant, and many never will be for logistical reasons. But even if Disney is adamant about making the carousel compliant, it makes no sense that the historic chariot would be removed. Just as the original 1918 version of the carousel featured four chariots, the modern ride can certainly accommodate at least two: an ADA one and the original, historic piece, with the two sitting on opposite sides of the ride. And perhaps, for the ADA one, they could draw inspiration from the original outer, Roman chariots. Or, better still, they could move those original chariots from Disneyland Paris back to the Disney World carousel where they belong, slightly altered to allow wheelchairs to sit in or near them. And there are still other ways of honoring the carousel’s history, such as restoring two original wooden horses that were removed years ago and now sit sadly in California warehouses, gathering dust. Alas, all of this takes vision and money. And while Disney is loaded with the latter, it takes artistic appreciation and an understanding of history to treat Prince Charming Regal Carrousel the way it deserves to be treated. If, like me, you value that history, stand with me and demand that Disney do the right thing. Do it for master carver John Zalar and the other talented artists who created the carousel 100 years ago. Do it for the guests who demand the highest quality from Disney. Do it for Walt. “Some people do things with integrity,” Disney legend John Hench told me when I was fighting for the continued upkeep of the carousel in 2002, two years before he died. Let’s see how much integrity Disney can muster now. *For more information, see my [Complete Inventory and History of the Disney World Carrousel (PTC #46)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Complete-Inventory-and-History-of-the-Disney-World-Carrousel-PTC-46.pdf). (This history and inventory was done in 2002, so it’s possible some of the information, including horse numbers, could be outdated.)* *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Pulp Fictions](https://www.meiermovies.com/pulp-fictions/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Tortured emotions in portraits of pulp From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, November 2, 2004 Karen Carasik has a lot to say with her art, but what she says is not as memorable as how she says it. Her unique, handmade paper canvasses, on which she literally spreads her humanistic views, are sometimes thought-provoking but more often leave the viewer with only a vague idea of what she is trying to convey. In *Pulp Fictions*, the new exhibit at Logan’s Bistro, Carasik creates expressionist paintings by taking cotton, abaca and kozo fibers and literally beating them to a pulp. Without the use of brushes, she then takes pigments and spreads them on the paper to express what she describes as a combination of Eastern philosophy and Midwestern pragmatism. Despite some eye-grabbing use of color and interesting – sometimes tortured – human forms, the poorly lit art battles for attention with the bar itself. While the paper-and-pigment images certainly enhance the eating establishment, the bistro makes it difficult to appreciate Carasik’s message, which, thanks in part to the vague and formless nature of some of her pieces, doesn’t leave a lasting impression. In addition, six of the 15 works are in the dim, back hallway, with one of the largest pieces often obscured by the kitchen door. The strongest and most emotional work is *He Saw Nothing*, an Edvard Munch-like vision of human distress. The purple, open mouth and blue cheeks communicate not the mad anger of *The Scream* but a more haunting, quiet shock. We don’t know what the figure has seen or experienced, and we are not sure we want to know. The main room’s largest and most dominant piece is *Taking on the World*, a swirling and beautiful vision of the world from outer space. Waves of light blue convey the oceans, while oranges and browns suggest land. In addition, puffy, pulpy whites bring to life the clouds. But despite the soothing quality of the composition, there is something slightly askew and therefore disturbing about this and all of Carasik’s work. Although the artist is at her best when concentrating on human figures, as with the merging of two alien-like, oval forms in *Couple*, she is clearly fascinated with the idea of “home.” In several works, she takes a simple image of a house and throws it into an unfamiliar and chaotic world. In *Red Door*, she uses color, or lack of it, to create a menacing and mysterious environment, while *Bungalow*, though mediocre, attracts attention through its out-of-place and unexplainable streak or purple pigment. Carasik says she wants to encourage visual literacy through her expressionistic narratives, and in two or three works, she does. But she needs to both develop her more simplistic images into more powerful, lasting visions and transform her more abstract pieces into more communicative and powerful stories. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [History and Prophecy](https://www.meiermovies.com/history-and-prophecy/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Merging past and future ### Two locals use distinct styles to cast human nature From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 22, 2001 Opposites attract, at least in *History and Prophec*y, the new art show March 31 at the Gallery at Avalon. Local artists James Kitchens and Michael Finnimore choose different subjects and media but manage to group their work into a presentation that shows human beliefs and emotions in a new light. The “prophecy” belongs to Kitchens, who uses bronze to bring to life spiritual struggles of man in a post-industrial world. He creates shapes and realistic human faces while fusing them with an abstract mood intended to reconcile science with nature. This seems to come naturally to him as he holds a degree in philosophy and also has a background in physics. Through his bronze work, the emotional “merging of quantum physics and metaphysics” comes to life. This is Kitchens’ first Orlando show in about two years, and by his own admission, probably his best. A teacher at the Maitland Arts Center, Kitchens also works with Winter Park artist Jamali, as does Finnimore. Kitchens began his relationship with internationally-renowned Jamali about a year ago when he applied for a position at the artist’s studio. Kitchens assists Jamali primarily with casting clay sculptures in bronze. Jamali runs Art and Peace, Inc., a 25,000-square-foot gallery and self-contained studio, and has been praised for his paintings and sculptures dealing with mysticism and quantum mechanics. Finnimore, who has worked with the artist slightly longer, prepares surfaces and does finishing work for paintings and frescos. It was this working relationship plus a mutual respect for each other’s work that brought Kitchens and Finnimore together. But Kitchens’ work is quite different from Finnimore’s, and that is what makes the exhibit unique. While the sculptures of Kitchens focus on the future of man in a machine-driven, artificial world, Finnimore’s paintings reflect moods inspired by specific moments in the past, such as 1970s culture and the Palm Springs butterfly ballot. The most powerful image in Kitchens’ work and the one element that binds it together is the eye. All of the dozen works that will be displayed contain an eye or a circular figure, such as a person’s aura, as the focal point. One bronze and steel piece, appropriately titled *Eye in Mind*, juxtaposes the natural circular shapes found in nature with the rough, square edges of the computer chip. Another features a prominent human spine, representing the raw and physical, leading up to the head, or crown chakra, in which is carved a meditation symbol. It’s Kitchens’ way of “putting an Eastern view on the Christian sense of separation of man and nature.” The process used to create the pieces is just as insightful as the end product. Kitchens carves most of his work in clay, then pours the wax mold from which the bronze work is produced. But instead of being content with a normal mold, the artist adds organic elements, such as leaves, to the wax. And if accidents happen during the process, that too becomes part of the art. Kitchens says he strives for “the art of the controlled accident. Let everything go crazy but within control.” Finnimore adopts a similar approach to many of his paintings, as many of the dozen that will be shown were produced in a spontaneous manner, such as acrylic paint being thrown on the canvas or panel. But several, most notably *Where Were You When*, which depicts elements of the Kennedy assassination, are detailed and well planned. The viewer sees the Dallas motorcade as a dual image, with the shadowy face of Oswald floating above. A black and white piece depicting a Buddhist monk setting himself on fire suggests the horrors of the Vietnam War, while a little girl looks on amused, not understanding the tragedy of the moment. Others, such as a piece on Patty Hearst, show Finnimore drifting more toward a blending of media. The painting shows a scene from a surveillance camera, and the work itself is mounted in the corner as if it were a true camera image. Not all Finnimore’s work is complex, as some are simple images of rainforests and swirling shapes not necessarily meant to reflect more than just the artist’s frame of mind at the time. (One of these, depicting flowers, was released purchased by tennis star Venus Williams.) The works of the two artists are different in both medium and subject. However, they are bound together by their ability to reflect human nature. Kitchens focuses on the future of man and his battle to preserve a natural spirituality in a computerized age, while Finnimore interprets moods and feelings associated with historical events and times. The future meets the past, all within the mind of man. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Don't be blue: Handmade is here to stay](https://www.meiermovies.com/dont-be-blue-handmade-is-here-to-stay/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Does “handmade” cinema carry the same value as handmade crafts? From *Sunshine Artist Magazine*, March, 2010 As I write this month’s column, *Avatar* is passing *Titanic* to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Its success seems driven not by its writing or acting, which are mediocre, or even its basic story, which has been told in slightly different ways before, but by its technology. People seem more and more driven to embrace new technology not just for its scientific and industrial merit but for its artistry as well. It seems to matter little that *Avatar*, though visually and technologically stunning, falls aesthetically short of many other great blockbuster films that also produced breakthroughs in special effects. This is not to say that the effects found in the film are not worthy of praise. Indeed, digital animation is and always should be regarded as a legitimate art form. And that’s true in the world of art shows as well. But whenever I see people getting all glassy-eyed over the latest computer graphics, whether they be in a movie of a piece of art at a show, I find myself comparing those graphics to more traditional art. In cinema, shouldn’t we admire the matte paintings and exquisitely constructed sets of yesteryear slightly more than the CGI of today? Shouldn’t we respect *Pinocchio* just a bit more than the films of Pixar? And in the visual arts, shouldn’t we give more credit to the painter or sculptor who does everything by hand instead of relying on a computer or mass production? I’m inclined to say yes. Of course, there’s plenty of traditional, handmade junk out there. No one should wax nostalgic for a movie or a piece of art just because it was created without the benefit of technology. Each work has to be judged individually. But all things being equal, shouldn’t handmade carry more weight? These are questions that many of you, as art-show artists, have probably answered, silently to yourselves, long ago. That’s why you chose the career you did. But that’s not the case for most people. Unfortunately, the public has to be repeatedly reminded of the value of handmade work — and the best ones to do the reminding are the artists who create the work. So don’t get discouraged. Keep on doing what you do. And keep on talking about the importance of original, handmade art. If it makes you feel better, I’ll end with some much-needed perspective on this whole *Avatar* thing. The media like to hype the fact that the film is breaking all records and potentially ushering in a new era in movies and, to a certain extent, art itself. But because our culture is money driven, the media seem reluctant to point out that these financial records are possible simply because of inflated ticket prices. When you actually look at the number of tickets sold, *Avatar* and its big blue title characters are currently #21 on the domestic list, right behind Disney’s *Fantasia*. It will be lucky to break the all-time top 10 and will likely never come close to history’s top film, *Gone With the Wind*, and its — brace yourself! — matte paintings. So maybe the public is getting it right after all: Technology is a great tool for helping create some types of art, but it’s still people who do the creating. *© 2010 Sunshine Artist Magazine* / *Palm House Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: This is one of my many monthly editor’s pages from my days as editor in chief of* [Sunshine Artist Magazine](http://www.sunshineartist.com)*, the nation’s leading publication for the artists of the art and craft show circuit. I thought it fitting to include it here because of the comparison between handmade work as it relates to the visual arts and what we perceive as “handmade” in cinema.* --- ### [The bad boys of the show circuit](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-bad-boys-of-the-show-circuit/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Two Florida promoters violate their exhibitors’ trust From *Sunshine Artist Magazine*, February 2006 Eileen Teixeira is a painter and breast-cancer survivor looking to make a living on the show circuit. Having done only seven events before, she applied last year to Andre Daniel Swanepoel’s Miami International Indoor Arts & Crafts Festival, which, according to the promoter, was to be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, December 16-20. However, Swanepoel knew as early as September that there would likely be no show at that location — he never obtained a written agreement with the Center’s management, and he never paid his deposit. Yet for three months he continued taking exhibitors’ money. “He cashed the check on December 5,” Teixeira said, “so we had no worries, but we also had no information on the show. On \[December\] 8 or 9, he said it would be canceled. This man knew before he cashed the check that he didn’t have enough exhibitors. I can’t afford to lose this kind of money. … I’ve been disabled, and \[the cancellation\] has affected me because I can’t apply to another show. Money is tight. … This is no joke.” “We never got a signed contract back from this guy,” said Doug Tober, senior general manager of SMG, which manages the Convention Center. “Deposits are required, … and that was never received. It’s not only unscrupulous, but our contract says he is not to sell booths until he has a signed contract.” All artists have at one time experienced promoters who are less than upfront about their events, but over the last year, Swanepoel and fellow Florida promoter Ken Roth have made names for themselves by repeatedly violating the trust of their exhibitors. ## Ken Roth I first wrote about Roth and his company, Main Street Festivals, in *Sunshine Artist*’s June 2005 issue. (Click [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/festival-fraud/) for the archived article.) The promoter had made false claims regarding several shows he said he was planning, including an event proposed for the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia. However, as with Swanepoel’s Miami event, no agreement between the promoter and the site had ever been reached. In addition, Roth had made several false claims regarding attendance and promotions related to not just that event but also ones in Lake Lure, North Carolina; Winter Park, Florida; and Winter Haven, Florida. Late last year, Roth surfaced again, this time in connection with a show to be held at West Park Village in Tampa, Florida, December 9-10. Although the show did go on, the event contained only about 30 exhibitors, virtually no patrons showed up, and (as with Roth’s Conyers, Georgia, show in May) the police had to be called in to prevent one of Roth’s own exhibitors from physically threatening him. Roth had passed out a flier advertising his show in conjunction with a well-established Kiwanis Club event in Safety Harbor, Florida, to be held the same weekend. However, Roth has no connection with the Kiwanis Club. And according to exhibitor Lois Jenkins, Roth had also claimed that the event was to be promoted on *Good Morning America, the Oprah Winfrey Show* and *The View*. Those promotions never occurred. “There was no one there. … I don’t think we saw 75 people,” said Jenkins. “It was a disaster. … We sold three scarves. And the people who were there were not there for the show. They were out for a walk.” Silver jeweler Angie Neubner added, “I sold to customers who I told I would be there. … A lot of \[exhibitors\] just left the first day.” And jeweler Natalie Williamson had a similarly bad experience. “He cashed \[my check\] in September, but I didn’t hear from him for two months,” she said. “Wednesday night \[before the show\], I got a phone call \[that\] I was accepted. I just drove in and parked, but no one was there. …. I don’t just have money to throw away.” > ***“Another vendor had \[Roth\] there, pinned by the face. I pushed the other vendor aside and confronted him face to face. … I wanted my money.”*** “I thought I was dealing with the Kiwanis Club, and so did everyone else,” said Joe Autuori, the artist whom police escorted from the premises. Regarding the alleged incident with Roth and the police, Autuori said, “Another vendor had \[Roth\] there, pinned by the face. I pushed the other vendor aside and confronted him face to face. … I wanted my money.” Although Autuori said no violence occurred, he said he was ordered off the site by the West Park Village leasing consultant, Misty Wideman, and police issued him a trespass warning. “He was causing a scene at my property,” Wideman said. “He had no right to be there.” She added that Autuori confronted both her and Roth, accused them of lying about the show and used curse words in front of patrons. Wideman is not affiliated with Roth or Main Street Festivals and was simply contacted by the promoter, who told her he was interested in organizing the show, which had previously been produced in-house. Wideman said she almost canceled the show a week before because Roth had not supplied her with the appropriate insurance information. “We decided to go ahead with the show,” she said, “because it’s something we do for our residents, and he did come through with the insurance.” She added that she thought canceling the show would have inconvenienced more people than it would have helped. Regarding Roth’s promotions for the event, Wideman simply said, “I do know there was some advertising.” At least one exhibitor has taken her complaints to the Florida Office of the Attorney General. In her written complaint, Linda Smith, who had planned to exhibit at Roth’s West Park Village show, said that Roth routinely exaggerated the expected attendance and number of vendors at his shows, canceled his shows at the last minute without notifying artists and misled his exhibitors. She also talked about her personal experience at the West Park Village event: “On November 29, 2005, I received a telephone message on my machine at home from Wideman saying she was canceling the show due to Roth not providing proof of insurance. One day later, a message was posted … that the show had not been canceled. I decided not to set up at this show — too many red flags. My husband and I made the trip over to the show site in Tampa on the second day, December 10, 2005, to see what was going on. We encountered a total of 19 exhibitor tents and counted four show-goers, … compared to the advertised 300 exhibitors and 55,000 show-goers.” At the Tampa show, Roth advertised an event scheduled for the next weekend: the 2005 Seaside Holiday Celebration in Sanford, Florida. However, Roth canceled the event two days before it was scheduled to occur, through a correspondence with City of Sanford officials. Roth never showed up at the show site, and several exhibitors did not find out about the cancellation until the morning of the show. The only public cancellation notice, and the only notice of any kind that a few exhibitors saw, was a printed e-mail correspondence between Roth and Eveline Bennette, recreation supervisor for special events, which was taped to the door of the Sanford Chamber of Commerce. “We are in the process of canceling this event due to a new policy modification which went into effect 12/15/05 without our knowledge,” Roth’s message read. “With the new policy changes, it makes the City of Sanford and Main Street \[Festivals\] at risk in the event of a claim. The new policy requires that all vendors participating in the event now purchase a separate policy to cover claims. The insurance company is now stating that their agent should have advised us of the new policy change and is advising that they have to enforce the new insurance regulations. It is impossible for all our artists to complete forms and provide certified payment to the insurance company \[in time\]. We have no other option but to cancel this event.” When asked about the message, Bennette said that the City does require insurance, and Roth was aware of that. And she said she was unaware of any policy modification that would have affected the show, adding that she thought Roth meant there had been a change with his own personal policy. “He said he had problems with his insurance,” she said. “There wasn’t anything to cause us to be suspicious of Roth,” Bennette said. “He paid all his fees on time.” Roth’s posted message continued, “To make things even worse, a group of artists upset … that we did not accept \[them\] in our event … are spreading verbal rumors in the artist community, advising that this event was a scam and not for real. After checking with advertising for newspaper and television today to cancel contracts, we were informed that an individual called last week posing to be from our office to cancel advertising on the event. We currently have our legal council filing a lawsuit for defamation of character and fraud against this group of individuals. Because of these actions, we are unable to recover from such adverse actions and continue with this event. Please be advised that we will be providing a refund to all vendors and artists that have been confirmed for this event by 1/15/06 due to the fact that the holiday season will slow the process for refunds to be received by canceled advertising. Please refer all concerns to our festival offices — 407-992-6994. Currently, I am traveling to Florida today \[December 15\] if my flight does not become canceled due to a large snowstorm hitting the Northeast today.” The number that Roth provided is no longer in service, and there was no snowstorm that would have prevented Roth from being at the show site on Saturday morning if he had left the Northeast on Thursday. And as of January 15, several exhibitors had not received their refunds. “I paid him $275 for Sanford, and we’ve never gotten a refund,” said entertainment vendor Pete Hall, who also was scheduled for the West Park Village show the previous weekend. Although he did exhibit at that show as planned, he said, “\[Roth\] still owes me money on that.” Hall said Roth never contacted him to alert him of the Sanford shows’ cancellation – he had to call Bennette two days prior to the event. Even though he knew the show had been canceled, he went to the show site on Friday to see what was going on. “We went Friday night for check-in, … and, indeed, there were a few crafters,” Hall said, “probably eight to 10, but there are many more I’m sure. … Not only did he take everybody for their money, but he got them for the trip … and other expenses.” Hall, who was interviewed by WFTV, Channel 9, in Orlando, Florida, about the show’s cancellation, has been unable to reach Roth, who he said used several different names, including “Charles” and “Robert.” “He ripped us off for $275 on the Sanford show,” said food vendor Art Wisecup, who learned about the Sanford show’s cancellation from Hall. “I sent \[Roth\] an e-mail but didn’t get a reply.” As did Hall, Wisecup also exhibited at the Tampa show the previous weekend, at which he earned only $4 on the first day. “He clearly lied to us about the West Park Village show,” Wisecup said. Roth did not return *SA*’s phone calls. ## Andre Swanepoel Over the last year and a half, Fort Lauderdale-based Swanepoel has advertised three Miami Convention Center shows, but not one has been held, according to SMG General Manager Doug Tober. Regarding December 2004 and July 2005 events that Swanepoel advertised, Tober said, “We sent him a rental application, and it was never returned.” The latest show to fall through was the aforementioned Miami Indoors Arts & Crafts Festival. However, the promoter’s explanation for the cancellation is different from Tober’s. “\[I canceled\] because the people didn’t pay the rent,” Swanepoel said, adding that only 176 of the planned 380 exhibitors signed up, leaving him unable to pay the Convention Center. While he did confirm that he never paid his deposit, he still said he planned to have a show. “There was going to be a show … if enough people signed up. … I’m trying to get something off the ground.” Swanepoel advertised the December 2005 event and another show scheduled for the Convention Center (in July 2006) in *Sunshine Artist*. However, after we received calls from exhibitors claming that the Convention Center had denied that a show was going to take place, we pulled the ad that the promoter wanted to run in our January issue, which would have, once again, asked exhibitors to send Swanepoel money for the July show, despite a lack of a contract with the show site. No July event will take place at the Convention Center, according to Tober. However, Swanepoel still insists he is trying to organize a July show at the Convention Center. “I’m not stopping with this. I’m carrying on,” he said, adding that, “everybody is getting their money back” for the December show. “This time,” he added, “we will pay the deposit beforehand.” Regarding his non-payment of the deposit for the December show, he said the Convention Center “told me \[about the deposit requirement\] at the last minute” and his exhibitors “paid too slow,” leaving him without enough money to pay the Center. “When you get on a bicycle and fall off, you get back on and ride. So I’m carrying on with the July show,” he said. “This is my first \[show in the United States\]. That is why I am learning. … I have no bad intentions. I’m a regular guy.” The promoter, who said he had organized shows in England and South Africa, added that, “Most of the art shows here are too snobby. I want to give the artists a platform. … I’m not in it for the money.” Although Swanepoel has promised refunds to all his exhibitors, Eileen Teixera said, “We were supposed to get $400 plus $20 by the week before Christmas.” She had received nothing as of press time. And Eric Sauvageau, an aluminum artist who had booked space at the show, has also not received his refund. “We spoke to him twice and asked when we’d get our refund. He said by the end of the week \[December 23\], but we’ve got nothing yet.” On the other hand, Sauvageau said he had received a refund from Swanepoel when the promoter’s December 2004 show was canceled. *© 2006 Sunshine Artist / MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: This and [my previous article on Roth](https://www.meiermovies.com/festival-fraud/) — along with the efforts of artists, legitimate promoters and the FBI — resulted in Roth being found guilty of mail fraud and serving a prison sentence. Although I received no definitive word on the fate of Swanepoel, he stopped promoting shows and reportedly left the country.* --- ### [Festival fraud](https://www.meiermovies.com/festival-fraud/) **Published:** December 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Promoter books exhibitors for show that doesn’t exist From *Sunshine Artist Magazine*, June, 2005 Earlier this year, Main Street Festivals of Orlando, Florida, invited artists to participate in the company’s “annual signature event,” with an alleged paid attendance of more than 51,000. The company asked that artists send a $275 check for a 10×10 space. However, the show, supposedly scheduled for May 20-22 at the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia, never existed. Although Chateau Elan does hold its annual Vineyard Fest in August, Main Street Festivals has never been involved with any type of event at the resort. In addition, no show ever held at Chateau Elan has drawn more than 5,000 show-goers, according to the resort’s public relations director, Larry Mayran. Mayran said that although he was approached by Main Street Festivals’ Ken Roth about the possibility of doing a wine and art show at Chateau Elan, Mayran ultimately rejected the idea because Roth never supplied him with proper documentation concerning his company and the previous events that Roth claimed his company had organized. “Ken told me that \[Main Street Festivals\] had checked out a number of places along the eastern seaboard for a food and wine festival, … \[and\] he did an unannounced inspection of Chateau Elan and found it a perfect location,” Mayran told *SA*. “\[He\] told me he had done the Aspen Food and Wine Festival, … \[so\] we arranged another visit.” However, Roth was never involved with the Aspen show, according to event personnel. “We’ve never heard of the guy,” said Caitie Sullivan of the Heedum Agency, which handles publicity for the Aspen Festival. Mayran said that, starting with his first meeting with Roth, the promoter never supplied Chateau Elan with the necessary documentation to prove that Main Street Festivals was legitimate. “He said he had a PowerPoint presentation, but Delta had lost his luggage,” Mayran said. “He had no business card, \[and\] originally he said he had three people coming with him, but he came by himself.” Regarding the plans Roth had for the show, Mayran said the promoter “maintained \[that he was\] bringing in chefs … and artists. … He said he had contacted Wolfgang Puck, but Wolfgang couldn’t do it” because of a prior commitment to the Academy Awards. “Whenever I asked him for documents, he never had them.” Mayran has been contacted by artists curious about the show, but “I never told anyone we had a contract, \[only that\] we were talking about it. … I injected a note of caution” into the conversations with artists, Mayran said. According to Mayran and several exhibitors, Roth claimed that a $100,000 car had been given away at Chateau Elan last year. “He said we’d given away a Jaguar — that was absolute rubbish,” Mayran said. When Mayran asked Roth about the Jaguar, Roth told him the car had been given away at a different event and that he “must have confused the shows.” After weeks of communication, Roth sent Mayran the contract. In addition to the contract, Mayran also wanted Roth to supply him with photos of his previous shows and more documents. “\[I\] asked him for copies of newspaper clippings from the places you have been,” Mayran said, but “he sent me a dozen pictures … of food shows.” Mayran then told Roth, “If we don’t get documents from you, we can’t proceed any further.” Nine days passed, according to Mayran, he never received the documents, and Chateau Elan rejected the contract. A lack of an agreement with Mayran did not stop Roth from distributing written information to potential exhibitors with Chateau Elan’s logo on it. “I am pleased to extend \[an\] invitation to you to exhibit at our annual signature event,” the announcement read. “The festival has only 300 spaces total for this event. As of today, 280 spaces have been confirmed and paid for by returning artists which had the first option to rebook this festival until the returning artist deadline for space ended. … At this time, we only have 20 spaces left for new artists, crafters and vendors and we anticipate selling out before our set deadline of 02/20/05. Since the festival space is 93 percent committed at this time, we anticipate starting a waiting list very soon.” In a phone interview with *SA*, Roth said he booked only 40 exhibitors for the Chateau Elan show. Regarding the 280 number in the announcement, he said, “That actually was not correct information — 280 spaces were *allocated*. … It should have been stated that way.” Of the 40 artists Roth said were booked, he said, “We’ve had about 20 who asked for refunds; they came \[to us\], and we issued \[the refunds\].” Regarding his claim that the show had drawn 51,000 people in the past or was expected to draw that many in 2005, Roth said, “The figure actually came from other events. That’s based on previous events in the area.” Roth said the number was only an estimate and should have been 15,000. He added, “The figure was a typo. I didn’t catch it.” However, Roth later said, “I think \[the attendance figure\] was the \[Chateau Elan\] marketing person’s mistake.” When asked why he claimed Chateau Elan had given a way a Jaguar in the past, Roth said, “It was a rumor that got started. … There was a Jaguar at Chateau Elan. I don’t know where it came from. … Maybe that was incorrect information.” Although Roth said he still had a high regard for Chateau Elan and did not want to say anything derogatory about the property, he blamed the demise of his proposed art show on “miscommunication” between himself, Mayran and other members of Chateau Elan’s marketing staff. “I felt the marketing department was not as supportive. … I felt that information was so unknown and unfiltered up there \[at Chateau Elan\].” When *SA* asked Roth why his literature claimed that the Chateau Elan show was his “annual signature event,” Roth said, “It was *going* to be our signature event for the entire year.” According to information faxed to artists who were booked for the Chateau Elan show, the event has been rescheduled for the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia. Roth is offering free parking, discounts on lodging and free booths at future Main Street Festivals shows to artists who agree to do the Conyers event. So far, he said about 20 artists who were originally scheduled for the Chateau Elan show had agreed to do the Conyers show. Darlene Partain, sales manager for the Horse Park, and Lisa McNair of McNair Amusements, which is working with Main Street Festivals to host the event, confirmed that there would be an art show in Conyers on May 20-22 as part of a larger 10-day fair. However, McNair said the art show would feature only 60-75 exhibitors, compared to the 280 that Roth originally claimed had been booked for Chateau Elan. Partain and McNair said the admission to the fair, titled “Stars Under the Southern Skies — A Tribute to the Red, White and Blue,” would be $6, with $1 going to Give Kids the World, a charity that supports terminally ill children. The fee would include entry to Roth’s part of the fair — the Conyers Charity Classic Festival of the Arts. While McNair said she had heard there had been “management issues” between Roth and Chateau Elan, she said she “didn’t go into it” with Roth. McNair added that she expected Roth to “come through with a good show.” Debra Emerick, a Florida artist who sent her money to Main Street Festivals to reserve a space at the proposed Chateau Elan show, said on April 2, “I have not gotten my refund yet, though it has been promised. … Main Street sent out \[a\] fax claiming to be relocating the Chateau Elan show to Conyers International Horse Park. … This fax was sent to me from another crafter who is owed over $400 by Main Street.” On April 12, Emerick e-mailed *SA* and said that her refund finally came. “I wanted to let you know I have received a refund from my fees,” she wrote. “It took quite a bit to get them, including an excuse that a temporary worker had dropped the outgoing mail in a mail shoot instead of taking it to a mailbox. I still am dismayed at this promoter’s behavior.” This issue has been the subject of 70 posts on *Sunshine Artist*’s Internet forum. Although all posts are anonymous and, therefore, cannot necessarily be taken as fact, exhibitors are obviously very upset about devoting money and time to a show they thought had an established history. It should be noted that, on April 1, *SA* asked forum users to call or e-mail us if they had requested but not received a refund. As of press time, we had received only one such complaint. Many forum posters were particularly upset with Roth’s assertion that the show had drawn over 50,000 patrons in the past, especially because of Mayran’s claim that “the biggest single crowd we have had at Chateau Elan was a one-day event of 5,000.” In response to the messages on the forum, a person claiming to be Robert Ross, director of communications for Main Street Festivals, said the following on March 2: “This is a legitimate show at Chateau Elan. A few artists that were not accepted to the show became mad and started spreading bad rumors about the show.” In a later post, Ross said, “The Wine Festival is an annual event; the art festival is new and was being added to the event.” However, on March 12, the final forum posting by Ross said, “Please be advised that this event is being rescheduled at this time due to circumstances beyond our control. Per Larry Mayran, he did not advise that this was a scam — he advised that an agreement could not be reached with the resort and the promoter as to event space and planned events in a timely manner in order to meet deadlines for advertising and promotion. This is the reason why the event needs to be rescheduled.” When *SA* asked about Ross’s involvement with Main Street Festivals, Roth said, “He was just a contractor that was helping us. He’s no longer with us.” Chateau Elan responded with a message on its own Web site on March 16: “A food, wine and artists festival proposed by a company or group called Main Street Festivals, Inc., has not and will not be hosted at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort on May 20-22, 2005, or at any other time. There is no signed contract, and there has never been a signed contract between Main Street Festivals and Chateau Elan. After due diligence, Chateau Elan was unable to establish that Main Street Festivals, listing Ken Roth as director of events, … has produced or executed any previous business or festival events despite verbal and e-mail assurances from Mr. Roth that they have been in the festival business more than 10 years.” A flier with Main Street Festivals’ name, address and phone number was distributed earlier this year to potential exhibitors, talking about not just the Chateau Elan event, but 10 other shows Main Street Festivals was planning for 2005. One of those was Celebrate the Arts, at the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville, North Carolina. However, Mayran said, “I called Grove Park, and they had never heard of \[Roth\].” Although Roth said the event was originally planned but had been canceled, Randy Shores, executive environmental health and safety management of Grove Park Inn, told ***SA***, “It was never set up. … We don’t deal with \[Roth\]. We just can’t find this man to be legitimate.” Another site at which Roth claimed to be hosting an event was Winter Park Village in Winter Park, Florida. However, the Village has never held an art show and will never have any involvement with Roth in the future, according to Leslie Wright, general manager of Casto Lifestyle, which manages the Village. “I was extremely upset to find out he was using our name,” Wright said. Roth said, “We didn’t do anything \[with Wright\]. We only talked to her. … We were not using their name.” He said that Main Street Festivals decided not to do the show because the site was too small. Of the 11 shows listed on the flier, Roth said two were going ahead as scheduled: the Lake Lure Festival of the Arts at Memorial Point Park in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Cypress Gardens Autumn Festival at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. Chuck Place, the town manager of Lake Lure, did confirm that Roth had booked space in the park, saying, “\[Roth\] has made a commitment.” But he added, “We’re just providing the space, \[and\] he’s not asked me to sign any papers.” “I don’t pretend to know if \[Main Street Festivals\] is valid or not valid — I’m not taking a position on it,” Place said. “He may very well be misrepresenting himself to the artists.” When asked why Roth would claim an attendance figure of 105,000 for the September show, Place said, “I don’t think Memorial Park would hold a tenth of that.” To get the initial 105,000 figure, Roth said, “We were looking at demographics of shows in the area … such as the Georgia Apple Festival in Hendersonville.” Roth said he now expects about 10,000-15,000 patrons at the Lake Lure event. Jimmy Holmes of Cypress Gardens also confirmed that Roth was hosting a show at his venue, scheduled for October 20-23. “Supposedly, he is putting that together for us. … We’re providing the location, and he’s going out to get the vendors,” Holmes said. When asked why Roth would claim a paid-attendance figure of 180,024, Holmes said he didn’t know, adding, “We have never done anything with Ken Roth before.” Holmes said that in his conversations with Roth, the promoter said Main Street Festivals’ shows usually drew 30-40,000. Holmes supplied *SA* with literature that he said Roth had given him. The literature, which features photos of art shows, contains the following information: “For the past 20 years, we have been working with cities, downtown associations and various civic organizations across the United States to produce award-winning outdoor art festivals. With more than 40 shows to our name, we are America’s largest independent promoter of juried fine art festivals. These popular shows are consistently ranked among the top art festivals in the country. From Florida to California, from Aspen to Colonial Williamsburg, our shows are located along some of the most charming streets in the nation. Our goal is to provide artists with classy and elegant venues to showcase and market their original one-of-a-kind creations.” Roth said the literature he gave Holmes was compiled about 10 years ago by California Event Productions, in Irvine, California, a company Roth said he used to work for before it went back bankrupt. “It was just marketing information that the company put together,” he said. When *SA* asked Roth how many total events Main Street Festivals had organized, Roth said, “We’ve held one event,” a show in Tampa, Florida, in March. “It had 35 local crafters. … Most of them were from Chile and other countries. … I have been in the event business for 10 years. I worked for \[California Event Productions\] in California, … but we haven’t been promoting events for that long.” Roth denied personally distributing the flier that listed the 11 proposed shows and offered a further explanation: “That is an internal, not an external, document. … That is a working, tentative schedule. … This internal schedule got out. I guess we learned our lesson not to use e-mail as liberally as we did.” *© 2005 Sunshine Artist* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: See my follow-up article [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-bad-boys-of-the-show-circuit/).* --- ### [Dicky Stone: returning to his roots](https://www.meiermovies.com/dicky-stone-returning-to-his-roots/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *Sunshine Artist Magazine*, November, 2009 Stone is all about wood. “My paternal grandfather was a furniture builder and introduced me to wood and working with it,” artist Dicky Stone ([www.dickystone.com](http://www.dickystone.com/)) says. “He was from Niagara Falls, New York, and spent winters with us in Savannah \[Georgia\]. From when I was 10 through 14 or so, my father made me help him after school each afternoon. I hated it, as what I really wanted to do was play ball in the park with my friends. However, subconsciously, what he taught me settled in my bones.” Woodworking might have settled in the artist’s bones, but it took a while for it to course through his veins, as it was just one small part of his early life. “What I have done \[before settling on wood sculpture\] is all over the place,” he says. “A partial list, in no particular order of timing or importance, would include carpenter, hippie, school teacher, commercial fisherman, businessman, window washer, solar-energy man, exporter/importer, builder, renovator of houses, consultant \[and\] waterworks engineer.” It’s only in the last few years that Stone has fully returned to the lessons learned from his grandfather, and only in the last few months has he turned his attention to art shows. But the artist hasn’t relied solely on his childhood teachings. Instead, Stone, whose formal education is in English, not art, taught himself the art of woodturning and carpentry by reading, reading, reading. “Because I am a reader and am also inquisitive, I have used books to educate myself in anything I don’t know,” Stone explains. “I literally taught myself carpentry by reading trade-school textbooks. I did the same with drafting, house design, solar energy, furniture building and finally woodturning. Of course, I have made every mistake there is to make and have actually invented a few on my own. So, a mistake is made, hopefully a lesson is learned, new gained knowledge is applied, work is completed, and every once in a while something new evolves.” Although Stone does indeed often come up with new ideas and innovative forms, his work always seems be grounded in the old, or, more precisely, the organic. And he has not just his family to thank for that, but also the era in which he grew up. “I grew up in an urban environment, but both my father and grandfather were gardeners and outdoorsmen,” he says. “Hunting and fishing were a large part of my childhood and teen years. So, although nature was a part of my makeup, later experiences would lead to a more clear appreciation and understanding. I came of age in the ‘60s, witnessing an obscene amount of natural destruction in Vietnam. This, more than anything, reinforced by the environmental movement of that period, shaped my worldview: Everything is connected. It is important to put back more than you take.” Stone tries to adhere to that worldview, not just in the materials he uses but in the actual naming of his finished pieces of art. “The naming process is important to me, but not necessarily in the way one might think,” he says. “Many artists have inspirational names for their work or sometimes will use some other process to title their work. I too do this on occasion, but most of my titles arise from a different concept. I do not use exotic or imported wood, nor do I buy wood. I only use wood that grew here in North America and to which I have some connection. In other words, most of my wood is brought to me by friends or is wood that I have found. … There is always a connection between where the tree grew, what people were associated with the tree, the process of creating the work from the tree, and the end result.” Stone admits that he’s had difficulty embracing the terms “artist” and “sculptor,” instead often choosing to label himself a woodturner, as his pieces start their lives on a lathe. But turning the word is just step one for Stone. “They start on a lathe, and then I will draw on the outside what I want to carve,” he says. “\[I use\] knives and motorized grinding tools and an awful lot of sandpaper. … I will sand all day. I enjoy sanding.” But because woodturners are often associated with functional, not purely decorative, work, Stone admits that what he does “often subconsciously confuses people. … I rarely anymore do anything functional. I will do an occasional salad bowl or bowl that you’ll put on top of a table and put nuts in, \[but more often than not\], I turn \[wood\] into a bowl shape and then deconstruct it.” And thanks to that artistic deconstruction, not to admit all the positive feedback Stone has received from fine art buyers, he admits, “I call myself now a wood sculptor or wood carver.” Still, he is the first to confess that he is still learning, still making mistakes and still in debt to his artistic influences. “This type of carving is an endeavor of risk,” Stone says. “It is a subtractive discipline: Once one takes it away, it can’t be put back. If I never broke anything, I would not be trying to do anything very difficult. … Besides, that’s what super glue is for. … I am humbled by the compliments and try to remember those from whom I learned, … mostly through books and photographs: William Hunter, David Ellsworth, Betty Scarpino, Richard Raffan, George Nakashima, Sam Maloof and Bucky Fuller. I sit at their feet.” Part of that humble nature might stem from the fact that Stone seems grateful to be able to make a career from something he’s always loved but hasn’t always had the chance to do full time. “I am coming late in life to what makes my heart sing,” he says. “My woodwork is what I hope to do until the eyes no longer see, the hands no longer obey and the mind no longer has imagination.” And does Stone ever see himself turning away from wood? “Wood, only wood,” he asserts. “I have a friend, Garland Weeks, one of the premier sculptors in the country, who, when I said I don’t know what to with clay, replied, ‘I can teach you.’ Garland, you are a master of many things, but I am an old dog. Wood, only wood. I love it. I understand it.” *© 2009 Sunshine Artist Magazine* / *Palm House Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Craft shows for dummies](https://www.meiermovies.com/craft-shows-for-dummies/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *Sunshine Artist Magazine*, July, 2007 ***Crafts and Craft Shows: How to Make Money***, by Philip Kadubec, Allworth Press, 225 pages, $19.95. I don’t know about you, but I resent being called a dummy, especially by the authors of those “for dummies” books. Philip Kadubec, the author of *Crafts and Crafts Shows*, would probably never have called anyone a dummy, as he was an advocate of treating everyone in the craft business with respect, especially your customers. But that’s about the best way to describe his book, which is a great tool for crafters who are either new to the show circuit or are simply feeling overwhelmed by all the details. Kadubec’s book is filled with common-sense advice that you probably could have come up with yourself if you had the time. But most of you don’t. “A craft show certainly doesn’t require formal attire, and your customers may look like they walked out of a rummage sale, but you shouldn’t,” he advises. “Looking like a throwback to the sixties or a homeless person begging on a street corner is not going to inspire confidence in your or your product. Nor is it going to help you develop a rapport with your potential customers.” He doesn’t stop there. Kadubec uses his 15 years of experience on the circuit as a seller of handmade baskets to offer almost every kind of suggestion related to the industry, from the aforementioned no-brainer advice on how to dress to a formula for calculating price to the best way to apply to shows. He even has a section devoted to booth design, although, as with the entire book, he’s geared it to craft events, not fine art shows. That means that fine artists, especially those who have been on the circuit a while, should give the book a miss, particularly as he advises exhibitors to “bury your artistic ego” and “appeal primarily to a customer’s wishes, desires and fantasies.” In the end, this is a book about running a crafts business, not expressing your artistic vision, although Kadubec might have argued that the two can go hand in hand. Kadubec passed away in 2002, and this new edition has been updated by veteran jeweler Brauna Rosen. Admittedly, Rosen does provide some useful updates to the first edition of the book, which came out in 2000: She further amplifies Kadubec’s analysis of pricing, addresses digital jurying and discusses the growth of buy/sell and imported items. However, because she chooses to insert her observations in the middle of chapters instead of simply adding a new chapter or two at the end of the book, her contributions interrupt the flow of the first edition. Just as you’re getting used to the style of Kadubec, she interjects with thoughts of her own. It makes for choppy reading, despite the overall value of her comments. If you already own the first edition, give this second one a miss. But if you’re new to the circuit or just need more advice on how to apply to shows, how to deal with promoters or whether to get involved with wholesalers, give *Crafts and Craft Shows* a try. And don’t feel like a dummy. We’ve all been there before. *© 2007 Sunshine Artist Magazine* / Palm House Publishing */* *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Canvassing the movies](https://www.meiermovies.com/canvassing-the-movies/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Oval Gallery opens *Movies! Movies! Movies!* From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, March 1, 2004 Coinciding with the Oscars, the Oval Gallery, 29 S. Orange Ave., has opened *Movies! Movies! Movies!*, a film-themed presentation of two dozen paintings, drawings, photographs and multi-media works by local artists. Although it is satisfying to find a free gallery open late downtown and encouraging local talent, if you come expecting unique uses of media or truly interesting subjects, this is one exhibit clearly not worth its weight in celluloid. Most works focus on one or two images from a specific movie or attempt to capture the feel of a certain genre. Liz Watkins’ *Queen of Film Noir*, an acrylic recreation of a classic 1940s leading lady, appears more as a charcoal work, appropriate to capture the smoldering sultriness of its subject. Winner of the exhibition’s best in show award, this piece, while executed well, is by no means the most imaginative in the gallery. Decent marks should also go to the two winners of honorable mentions, Marilyn Kinsel’s *Ruby Slipper* and Steven Schain’s *Borg*. Kinsel’s *Slipper*, a dichroic glass image of the famous foot from *The Wizard of Oz*, features silver paint behind the slipper with a cranberry red on top. Once the dichroic process is completed by insertion into a spinning machine that deposits the color, Kinsel then fires the piece to about 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, completing a day-long process. Unlike *Slipper*, where the true art is more about the process than the end result, with *Borg*, what you see is what you get, and that happens to be one of the most imaginative and well-executed paintings in the gallery, a *Matrix*-inspired image of eerie luminescence. Despite not garnering one of the top three prizes, Steve Villalobos is the best represented, with the most impressive multi-media work. *Bond Girl*, a painting featuring three-dimensional simulated bullet holes in the canvas and real earrings and a necklace adorning the sexy subject, is the show’s most memorable piece. Villalobos also has a pair of small paintings that brilliantly capture images of refracted light, using as their subjects images from *2001: A Space Odyssey* and *2010*. Predictably, Audrey Hepburn shows up in a couple of works, as do Rhett and Scarlett from *Gone with the Wind*. Al Pacino from *Scarface*, basking in a moody green treatment by German Lemus, is present too, along with the sharp-lined and forceful face of Akira Kurasawa, by Aimee Watters. Abstracts and free-form works can be found also, from Nicole Doria’s swirling image of a Hitchockian world to several paintings and drawings mixing traditional cinematic imagery with explosions of color, nature and the human form. Coming soon will also be four short films by local artists, including a 20-minute work by Carl Knickerbacker, which should give the show a much-needed boost in energy and variety. The Oval should be applauded for picking a theme that is popular, thought-provoking and easy to transfer from the screen to the canvas. But next time it should more actively seek artists, broaden its artistic scope from mostly paintings to sculpture and more multi-media, and encourage works that more deeply delve into the emotions and passion of the topic. Because of its lack of artistic depth and thrown-together feel, this paint flick must regrettably receive a thumbs-down vote. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A brush with bikes](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-brush-with-bikes/) **Published:** July 5, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## The art of speed on display at DeLand Museum of Art From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, March 1, 2004 Matisse, Monet and motorcycles are not three words you often hear in the same sentence. But that doesn’t stop Chris Cruz, “Florida’s airbrush wizard,” according to *Low Rider Magazine*, from elevating Bike Week to a new cultural plateau. [![ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p2-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p2.jpg)“The Art of Chrome and Leather,” Cruz’s exhibition at the Deland Museum of Art, features 11 custom-painted motorcycles, 10 photos of his other bike art and several unique installations featuring gas tanks, fenders, and windshields. For bike lovers, this is a must-see, a stylish, detailed and whimsical presentation of Harley high culture. Non-bikers will appreciate the talent and originality behind the art and may even gain a respect for the elongated elegance of the vehicles. However, they will also be left asking why Cruz chose bikes as his canvas, because his artistic vision rarely rises to the next level, one where the bike’s form truly merges with the paintings. Missing from the exhibit is this marriage of utilitarianism and surrealism, a sort of Dadaist statement that motorcycle art can be about more than just motorcycles. [![ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p4](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p4-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ocb-arts-chromeandleather-p4.jpg)The strongest pieces are the ones that most successfully blend the images airbrushed onto the bikes and the bikes themselves. Animal forms, captured passionately in two adapted Harleys called “White Tiger” and “Leopard,” bring to anthropomorphic life the motorcycles while capturing the sense of speed, freedom and power that fuels the American bike culture. Another exceptional work is “Evolution of the Dinosaur,” featuring an extended rake that complements the subject by giving the whole bike a sleek, yet thin and bony look reminiscent of the lean aquatic dinosaurs pictured on the machine. Cruz also makes excellent use of color and space as the higher parts of the bike are reserved for the land dinosaurs with the lower sections transformed into brilliant blues and greens of prehistoric seas. “The Wild West” has an untamed, free quality, fitting for both the wild Mustangs painted on it and the spirit of the open road. Also capturing some of this rebellious quality but in a much more bad-boy way, is another Harley festooned with flames, skulls and the words “see you in hell” scrawled under the odometer. A softer side of nature and even mythology pop up in Cruz’s work too, most noticeably in the animal-laden “Florida Bike” and the “Leprechaun Bike,” the classiest of the machines. Despite offering Cruz more surface space on which to paint, the two Hondas, with their large boxy shapes, lack the graceful forms of the Harleys and therefore do not capture the energy of the other works. The images Cruz has chosen for these two also seem more suited to a canvas than a bike. James Murphy, visiting professor at Stetson University, frames the exhibit with an essay relating Cruz’s work to Italian Futurism, the primacy of speed and the dynamism of modern technology. For the comparison to be apt, though, Cruz must challenge our notion of what a fuel tank, a fender and a front fork can be. He clearly has the talent and the flair to grow from painting animals and landscapes on a machine to bringing the machine itself into a new artistic realm. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Great Star Shift](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-star-shift/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/iStock-1066363656-scaled.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/iStock-1066363656-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 15, 2019 There’s a fault in our stars. Specifically, there’s something very wrong with those star ratings we use to rate motion pictures. Dozens of systems exist, and few people seem to care about the inconsistencies. Letter-grade scales, 0-5 scales, 0-4 scales, scales with half-stars, scales with quarter-stars, scales with decimal points: Whichever scale you prefer, it’s a mess. And that’s not even taking into account personally different interpretations of what “good,” “very good” and “great” truly mean. I could expound endlessly on this topic, and I plan to in the future. (So, my fellow critics, don’t you dare steal that “fault in our stars” lead, like I stole it from Shakespeare.) But, for now, I realize I have a small problem with my own star-rating scale. It disagrees slightly with the Rotten Tomatoes standard (and most of my fellow critics’ scales) in that I’ve always considered my 2 ½ (out of 5) rating a slight thumbs-up. In contrast, RT considers it a thumbs-down. In fact, they consider anything below 60 percent (3 stars on a 0-5 scale and 2 ½ on a 0-4 scale) negative. So I’ve revised my own scale accordingly. From now on, 2 ½ will be designated as “average” but will officially be a “non-recommend” rating. This is not as simple as it sounds. Though my “great star shift” won’t be quite as impactful as the “great vowel shift” of late Middle English and early Modern English, it’s just as significant for me personally. It means I had to bump all my 2 ½-star films up to 2 ¾ stars, which is now the lowest rating for a thumbs-up. (That 2 ¾-star rating will be rounded up to 3 on normal scales, which don’t use quarter-stars. So, for RT, one should consider those the same as 3 stars.) Then, tediously, most of the 2 ¾-star films were bumped to a full 3, 3-star films got bumped up to 3 ¼, and so on and so on. This means you will see slightly more 4, 4 ¼ and 4 ½-star films, of course. And that’s a good thing, as I’ve probably been too stingy with those ratings in the past. I’ve also grown tired of trying to explain to people why 3 ½ stars (on my old scale) is actually quite good while many consider it just barely above average. Well, now those films will be rated 3 ¾ and often rounded up to 4 for *The Orlando Weekly*, which I think communicates my feelings more accurately. You’ll still see very few 4 ¾ and 5-star ratings, but even those “masterpiece” designations will be a tad more common now (two or three a year perhaps, if the year is strong). Let me add a word about the new 2 ½-star designation. Though I’m calling it “average” and giving it that dreaded “thumbs-down” label, please keep in mind it falls mathematically in the middle of a 0-5 scale. So, depending on your own preferences and life history, you might like it. So my 2 ½ rating now essentially means: Hey, it didn’t quite work for me, but it might for you. Proceed with caution. To access all my lists, go to the Feature Lists and Short Lists tabs on the menu bar. (Because I don’t use half-stars for short films, those lists were not changed.) You might think that this shift would introduce errors into my reviews previously published in *The Orlando Weekly* and other Euclid Media publications, but that’s not necessarily the case. Those publications don’t use quarter-stars, so I was already in the habit of rounding a 3 ¼-star film up to 3 ½ stars and 3 ¾-star movies up to 4, etc. So, ironically, my star shift might actually make some of those old articles a tad more accurate. And for those reviews that are now slightly inaccurate, hey, it’s just a quarter-star. Let’s not overthink the rating but instead concentrate on what I had to say about the film. For a more detailed discussion of the ratings system, please see my new [Rating Scale](http://www.meiermovies.com/RatingScale.pdf). *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* ###### *iStockPhoto image #1066363656 by [themacx](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/themacx?mediatype=photography)* --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'La Cabina' ('The Telephone Box')](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-la-cabina-the-telephone-box/) **Published:** April 10, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 10, 2020** *La Cabina* (*The Phone Box*), by Spanish director Antonio Mercero, debuted in 1972 on Televisión Español to critical acclaim and an International Emmy Award. Co-written by Mercero and José Luis Garci, the film stars José Luis López Vázquez. Clearly inspired by [*The Twilight Zone*](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-twilight-zone-episodes/) and situated firmly in the horror genre, this take on Francisco Franco’s oppressive regime is one of the darkest political commentaries ever filmed. I do not recommend it for claustrophobes or fascists. [Go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/ "Short Film of the Day") for an index of all my Short Films of the Day. --- ### [V](https://www.meiermovies.com/v/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with V:** [Valley of Saints](https://www.meiermovies.com/valley-of-saints/) FL (2012; 2 stars) Varda par Agnès (Varda by Agnès) FL Hybrid (2019; 3 stars), part of [Telluride Film Festival 2019 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/) [The Vast of Night](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-vast-of-night/) (2019; 1 ¾ stars) [Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe](http://www.meiermovies.com/vaxxed/) (2016; 2 stars) [Velvet Buzzsaw](http://www.meiermovies.com/velvet-buzzsaw/) TV/Web/NT (2019; 3 ¼ stars) [Victoria and Abdul](http://www.meiermovies.com/2017/10/01/mixed-doubles/) (2017; 4 stars) Vincent and Theo (1990; 4 ¼ stars), part of the [Top Ten Movies About Art and Artists article](http://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/ "Top 10 movies about art and artists") Le Voyage de Fanny (Fanny’s Journey) FL (2016; 3 ¼ stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival 2016 article](http://www.meiermovies.com/central-florida-jewish-film-festival-2016/) --- ### [The Trip to Greece](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-trip-to-greece/) **Published:** May 21, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Trip to Greece** Hybrid, 2020, 3 stars # *Greece* is the word ## Final *Trip* is a worthwhile sojourn [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-Trip-to-Greece.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-Trip-to-Greece.jpg)Image copyright IFC Films / Elevation Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/ArticleArchives?category=2240471) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/coogan-and-brydons-final-trip-is-a-worthwhile-sojourn/Content?oid=24547603), May 20, 2020 In *The Odyssey*, Odysseus takes 10 years to return home from the Trojan Wars. Though no one would argue that director Michael Winterbottom’s *Trip* series is on the same aesthetic level as Homer’s epic Greek poem, it has also taken his protagonists – slightly fictionalized versions of actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon – a decade to complete their journey. And they end their adventure, fittingly, by attempting to retrace Odysseus’s voyage from Troy to Ithaca, in *The Trip to Greece*. The franchise began on the small screen in 2010 with a British holiday simply titled *The Trip*. It featured Coogan and Brydon, in six BBC episodes, as actors-turned-food-critics, touring restaurants in northern England. Those shows were then edited together into a feature film. That formula continued in 2014 with *The Trip to Italy*, in 2017 with *The Trip to Spain* and now with *The Trip to Greece*, which first aired, in six episodes, on Britain’s Sky One in March. Though the whip-smart banter, self-deprecating humor and celebrity impersonations have occasionally grown tedious, especially in the Spanish sojourn, the series has maintained a good deal of its charm, if not its originality. But, as Coogan says in the latest edition, “Originality is overrated. Everything is derivative.” That doesn’t mean there aren’t new vistas and even fresh storylines to enjoy in the new film, which its creators confirm will be the last. And, as usual, famous sights and scrumptious cuisine abound, though this latest film focuses more on Coogan and Brydon’s characters, and their family, colleagues and romantic interests. Yes, you will hear plenty of dialects, accents and impressions, but you won’t see as much of Athens as you might expect. Still, you will get glimpses of that city’s Ancient Agora, not to mention the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the ancient theater of Epidaurus, the Caves of Diros, the Palace of Nestor and the island of Hydra. If you haven’t been to Greece, it’s a bit difficult to follow the film geographically, but, at the end of the six-day trip, we discover that the film’s raison d’etre lies not in the Greek Isles but in the hearts of its characters. “In a macro sense, we’ve been on the odyssey for 10 years,” Brydon reminds Coogan. Yet Coogan’s collaboration with Winterbottom goes back a further decade and includes last year’s *Greed* (also filmed in Greece) and *A Cock and Bull Story* from 2005. (That metatheatrical, largely improvisational movie also co-starred Brydon and partially inspired *The Trip*.) The oddest thing about *The Trip* movies is that they are food films, travelogues, personal essays, comedies and dramas – sometimes one at a time and sometimes simultaneously. Indeed, Winterbottom’s odd, genre-busting formula really shouldn’t work, at least not in a feature-film format. But it usually does, thanks mostly to the two actors’ chemistry. And by the end of the latest chapter, the film flirts with another, even more appropriate genre: Greek tragedy. I guess not much has changed in 2,880 years. *© 2020 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The King of Staten Island](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-king-of-staten-island/) **Published:** June 10, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The King of Staten Island** TV/Web/NT, 2020, 2 ½ stars ## *The King of Staten Island* is heartfelt but uneven [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/King-of-Staten-Island.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/King-of-Staten-Island.jpeg)Pete Davidson stars as a slightly fictionalized version of himself in *The King of Staten Island*. (image copyright Universal Pictures / Apatow Productions) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/judd-apatow-and-pete-davidsons-king-of-staten-island-is-heartfelt-but-uneven/Content?oid=27436190), June 10, 2020 Judd Apatow is one of the toughest filmmakers to peg. Though the producer-director cut his cinematic teeth on seemingly low-brow, slightly raunchy fare, his best films (*This Is 40* and, to a lesser extent, *The 40-Year-Old Virgin*) surprise you with a richness of characterization and an underlying sweetness, especially in their second halves. *The King of Staten Island* is no different. On first glance, it’s a stoner comedy about a 24-year-old underachiever still living at home with his mom, palling around with fellow deadbeats and doing little to achieve his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. But if you’re already an Apatow fan – and have the patience for a 136-minute movie that hits more than its share of false notes – you might fall in love with this eponymous, loveable loser. The “King” in question is Scott, and he’s portrayed in a surprisingly tender way by *Saturday Night Live*’s Pete Davidson, who co-wrote the script with Apatow and Dave Sirus, and based the story largely on his own life. Like his character, Davidson was born in Staten Island, and he and the entire movie are imbued with a strong sense of place, as if the island is another one of Scott’s troubled pals. The borough’s reputation is bruised, and so is Scott. He is haunted by the loss of his firefighter father, who died when Scott was young, and he’s jealous of his successful sister (portrayed by Maude Apatow, the director’s daughter) and his mother (Marisa Tomei). He’s particularly angry about his mom’s new boyfriend (Bill Burr of *Breaking Bad* fame), who is also a fireman. “There’s, like, something wrong with me, like mentally,” he tells his part-time girlfriend, played affectionately by Bel Powley (*The Diary of a Teenage Girl*). “I’m not OK up there. You know, like, I get all mad, acting like crazy, and I make really insane, impulsive decisions. … I’m scared of myself.” But Apatow is not scared. Indeed, he dives fearlessly into the material, exploring myriad humorous and dramatic avenues in a meandering, chatty fashion. While that almost anarchical sense of structure might be admired on a certain level, it leads to lengthy sections of emotional drift and lack of narrative momentum. And, regrettably, by the time an endearing but underused Steve Buscemi takes center stage toward the end, I was exhausted by the tonal switches, hip-hop musical interludes and a silly subplot involving Scott’s friends that is both contrived and unresolved. When Scott seeks to sabotage his mom’s relationship with Ray by telling her all the bad biographic tidbits he’s discovered, she confronts her son. “It’s like you picked up all these little pieces of information,” she tells him. “They’re fragments.” So too is *The King of Staten Island*. Though many of its fragments are funny and produce an emotional payoff, the hard truth is that Apatow’s film, just like its title character, is unexpectedly lovable but a bit broken. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [My Darling Vivian](https://www.meiermovies.com/my-darling-vivian/) **Published:** June 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **My Darling Vivian** TV/Web/NT, 2020, 3 ¼ stars # Vivian’s story ## Documentary gives a voice to Johnny Cash’s first wife [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/My-Darling-Vivian.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/My-Darling-Vivian.jpg)Image courtesy IMDB and copyright The Film Collaborative Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 17, 2020 “I find it very, very easy to be true. I find myself alone when each day is through. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m a fool for you. Because you’re mine, I walk the line.” Johnny Cash sang those lyrics in 1956, and their simple sentiment – not to mention the infectious voice and guitar that accompanied them – gave the soon-to-be legendary musical artist his first #1 hit on Billboard’s country charts. But in the years that followed, after Cash divorced his first wife and embraced a very public romantic and musical relationship with June Carter, the world forgot the person who inspired those heartfelt words. That person is, of course, Vivian Liberto Cash, Johnny’s first wife. But her true story has been mostly lost to time. The 2005 film *Walk the Line* did little to bring her real life to light. Neither did Vivian’s own 2007 memoir, *I Walked the Line*, as few people read it. I suppose it’s fitting, then, that Vivian and Johnny’s four daughters take up the tale. And that’s just what they do in *My Darling Vivian*, a new documentary by director Matt Riddlehoover. Known mostly for narrative fiction, Riddlehoover previously directed just one doc, *Gaze* (2010). But he handles the subject matter competently, if not particularly stylistically. At its core, the doc is a simple, talking-heads profile of Vivian, with lots of old footage, but it’s important to note who the talking heads are. They are the couple’s aforementioned daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy and Tara. The film might have benefited from a larger scope, and Riddlehoover keeps his interviewees strangely separate. However, the film’s honesty and integrity are palpable because the director has picked the perfect interviewees to tell this long-delayed tale. And they tell it with tenderness and small but surprisingly revelatory details. To its credit, the film doesn’t trash Cash. Neither does it exist to rewrite history with a feminist twist. Though it makes painfully clear what we knew all along – Johnny did not actually walk the line – it never tears down the legend (at least no more than he tore himself down via drugs and infidelity). Instead, it strives to give Vivian an equal say in the couple’s relationship – and in history. The movie was scheduled to premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival back in April, until that event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it still managed to reach audiences through online events held by SXSW and other festivals. Now it’s available, by streaming (and one would presume eventually by disc), to a larger audience. Vivian deserves it. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7432980/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Darling_Vivian).* --- ### [Borat Subsequent Moviefilm](https://www.meiermovies.com/borat-subsequent-moviefilm/) **Published:** October 21, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Borat Subsequent Moviefilm** TV/Web/NT, 2020, 3 ½ stars ## New *Borat* moviefilm make glorious televisual [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Borat-Subsequent-Moviefilm.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Borat-Subsequent-Moviefilm.jpg)Image copyright Four by Two Films / Amazon Studios Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 21, 2020 *Note: The following is a guest review, contributed to MeierMovies by one of Kazakhstan’s top film critics.* This Nurlan Celluloidski, Kazakhstan’s #5 journalist. Much thank to American interwebs for allow to publish review of glorious new *Borat* moviefilm. Fourteen year ago, Borat Margaret Sagdiyev travel to US&A. He explore American culture, introduce West to Kazakh worldview and attempt fondle Yankee pussy. With this endeavors, he try make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan. He fail. But now, in *Borat Subsequent Moviefilm*, he given second chance by Kazakh premier to restore dignity of our country. This achieve by presenting Yankee vice premier Michael Pence, America’s #1 ladies man, with gift of Kazakhstan’s biggest cultural export and acclaim porn star, Jonny the Monkey. But when monkey accidentally eat himself, Borat attempt save mission by offering instead his own daughter. Excite! I acclaim this moviefilm, and you will acclaim too. It funny, touching and patriotic, with just right amount of anti-Semitism. But it also totally outrage, with adult conversings and image of moon-blood vagin. Thus, not recommend for children under age of 3. Further, I told it capture what pretentious American writer call “zeitgeist,” though I wonder why Borat no choose to discuss Kazakhstan top international business partner, Joseph Biden. So tune to Amazon Premier Video for this moviefilm that tackle everything from Premier McDonald Trump to election interfere to the real begin of Wuhan flu. It make glorious mock of everything, and want offend everyone! Expect many defamation lawsuit! Sexy time! *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13143964/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borat_Subsequent_Moviefilm).* --- ### [The Beach House](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beach-house/) **Published:** July 8, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Beach House** TV/Web/NT, 2020, 1 ½ stars # *Beach* is a reach ## Slow-burn horror stretches believability [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/The-Beach-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/The-Beach-House.jpg)Image copyright Shudder From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/slow-burn-body-horror-flick-the-beach-house-stretches-believability/Content?oid=27581850), July 8, 2020 The coronavirus has a silver lining in regards to the silver screen. Though the pandemic has shuttered cinemas and delayed studio releases, it has shone a light on new filmmakers and small movies that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Case in point: First-time writer-director Jeffrey Brown and his slow-burn horror, *The Beach House*. Though the oddly existential flick might charm devotees of “genre filmmaking,” it’s too bad Brown didn’t make more of his moment in the spotlight. Specifically, it’s a shame Brown’s strangely infectious – pun intended – first and second acts give way to a third that is both narratively bare and ridiculous, even for a story that is perhaps meant to be taken metaphorically. Not to be confused with an identically titled TV movie from 2018, this *Beach House* had a tiny festival run last year and will start streaming this week on Shudder, AMC’s horror platform. It’s the tale of college sweethearts Emily and Randall, who are looking to rekindle romance with a stay at the luxurious beach home of Randall’s dad. But after they arrive, they discover that Randall’s father has loaned the house temporarily to another couple. The husband and wife (Mitch and Jane) are apparently old family friends and remember Randall from when he was a child. But Randall has little recollection of them, and both he and Emily are struck by the older couple’s odd behavior. Nevertheless, the four housemates settle in for, well, you’ll see. The script takes pains to describe Emily’s interest in astrobiology. She’s particularly fascinated – as is Brown, apparently – with life at the microbial and primordial levels. Her devotion to the topic allows Brown to explore subjects that are derivative of apocalyptic films but are still somewhat original. Brown’s pace and style verge on David Lynch and David Cronenberg, but there’s also a lot of M. Night Shyamalan, and not the good Shyamalan. Think *The Happening*. *The Beach House* remains intriguing for its first hour because it starts in a place of comfort and familiarity and then methodically morphs into a surreal nightmare. It’s buoyed by strong performances from Liana Liberato (*Light as a Feather* TV series) as Emily and Jake Weber (*Meet Joe Black*, the 2004 *Dawn of the Dead* remake) as Mitch, but Noah Le Gros (*A Score to Settle*) and newcomer MaryAnn Nagel are merely acceptable as Randall and Jane, respectively. *House* isn’t badly crafted, but its limited scope makes it feel even smaller than the story demands. It’s a tale that doesn’t require production extravagance and could have even benefitted from its tiny scale by establishing claustrophobia. But it never gets there. Instead, the most it can produce is unease, thanks to some misdirection, not to mention plot points that peter out entirely. In other words, get ready for a large helping of red herring to go along with all the other slimy sea creatures the film references. The characters in *The Beach House* constantly remind us and each other, “Don’t be scared.” They needn’t. For while the film does a decent job at creating vague dread, it never approaches anything resembling genuine fear. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mary Queen of Scots](https://www.meiermovies.com/mary-queen-of-scots/) **Published:** December 19, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mary Queen of Scots**, 2018, 1 ½ stars # Queen of contrivance ## Historical drama reeks of revisionism [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mary-Queen-of-Scots.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Mary-Queen-of-Scots.jpg)Image copyright Focus Features / Perfect World Pictures / Working Title Films and courtesy of IMDB Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 19, 2018 Mary, Mary, quite contrary, what does your movie show? Historical inaccuracies, an overstuffed story and a director not in the know. Helmed by first-timer Josie Rourke and written by Beau Willimon of *House of Cards* fame, *Mary Queen of Scots* is based on John Guy’s book, *Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart*. But don’t let the “true” trick you, as the movie is a somewhat invented account of the rivalry and supposed friendship between Mary and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Set in the late 16th century in both Scotland and England, the film focuses mostly on Mary and the political and personal intrigues that hastened her downfall. Featuring a fine performance by Saoirse Ronan as Mary and an almost equally memorable one by a practically unrecognizable Margot Robbie as Elizabeth, the movie addresses not just the turbulent history of the time, but also issues of misogyny, betrayal, infidelity and sexuality. But despite Alfred Hitchcock’s assertion that no elephants reside in the Scottish Highlands, there is indeed a giant elephant in *Mary*’s room: historical revisionism. Spoiler alert: Historians agree that Mary and Elizabeth never met and were almost certainly not long-distance friends. While many of the film’s other details are accurate – such as the infamous murder of Italian courtier David Rizzio – Rourke and Willimon introduce elements that stretch believability and detract from the effective set, costume and makeup design. Most striking is the use of black actors. While Moors and other people of color impacted Britain more than history and Hollywood have led us to believe, this film preposterously posits the notion that black men were fully accepted in positions of power alongside royalty. Instead, most were relegated to second-class status or exotic novelties worthy only of passing fascination. Turning a blind eye to these realities affords worthy opportunities to today’s actors of color, but it also promotes misguided revisionism that hinders the equality it intends to foster. But this is obviously not a documentary, and these choices might be appreciated if the film were just plain better or made clear it was exploring alternate realities in the name of art and diversity. After all, Shakespeare took enormous factual liberties with his histories. But despite the movie’s ambitious scope, this is not Shakespeare. Indeed, Rourke seems to have little grasp of visual storytelling and has packed her production with too many characters, an intrusive score, uninspired editing and plots necessitating a class in Elizabethan history to understand. Yes, it’s nice to see Guy Pearce, David Tennant and Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates from *Downton Abbey*), but like the other supporting actors, they become lost in an unexceptional, plodding, confusing and contrived narrative. At the climax, we get a glimpse of how good the movie might have been when we witness a mysterious and beautifully choreographed rendezvous between major characters. It’s a scene that would have worked well on the stage of London’s Donmar Warehouse, where Rourke has served for eight years as artistic director. And that’s exactly where this experiment should have been realized, for it’s an ill fit for the screen. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2328900/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Queen_of_Scots_(2018_film)).* --- ### [2013 Global Peace Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2013-global-peace-film-festival/) **Published:** December 13, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Peace in the City Beautiful ## The Global Peace Film Festival returns for its 11th year From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/news/global-peace-film-festival-returns-for-its-11th-year-1.1554068), September 17, 2013 If you’re surprised that an event like the Global Peace Film Festival is being held in Orlando and not in, say, New York City, you’re not alone. The festival’s executive director is surprised too. “It was not my idea to do it in Orlando,” Nina Streich admits. “The person whose idea it was is … a New Yorker who had business interests down here, and when the \[Iraq\] War started \[in 2003\], he wanted to do something to express his opposition to the war. … I still live in New York, but I’ve really come to enjoy being here and enjoy the community.” Streich says the festival, which she’s been involved with since its inception, is unique here. “I mean, there isn’t anything like it \[in Orlando\]. In fact, if I did this film festival in New York, the programming would be very much different,” she says. “The programming that we put together here, which I really like, does stand out here. And the other thing I like about \[Orlando\] is that we’re not preaching to the choir here. A lot of the people who come to the festival are, you know, they’re not, peace activists, for instance. They’re not activists of any kind. They’re \[simply\] people who like the arts.” Speaking of programming, what can audiences see at this year’s event? “We want to create a kind of arc of a story within the range of films, … not just a festival about war,” Streich says. “\[I want films\] that show a lot of different issues, that show a lot of different things that people are doing to make a difference, personally, community-wide, nationwide, worldwide.” Streich’s arc for the 11th annual festival, which runs Sept. 17-22, includes 40 films: three narrative features, 26 documentary features and 11 shorts, although two of the documentary features are under 40 minutes, technically making them shorts. In addition, the festival Website will show another dozen or so shorts. Films are both handpicked and selected from the roughly 200 submissions, and several screenings will feature Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. If the event sounds documentary-heavy, Streich cautions, “I’d rather see a good doc than a mediocre narrative. … If a narrative isn’t really good, it just doesn’t get responded to the way a good documentary will.” One documentary that readers of *The Orlando Weekly* are already familiar with is *Billy & Alan: In Life, Love & Death, Equality Matters*, a 37-minute film based on Billy Manes’ April 2013 article about his struggles to claim his rights and property following the death of his long-term partner, Alan. “I think *Billy & Alan* was selected this year because it puts a human face on the devastating consequences of anti-gay public policies, which still exist in the majority of states in the United States, including here in Florida,” says director Vicki Nantz. “Those discriminatory policies hurt people; they hurt families; they hurt adults and children alike. And when those policies are celebrated and condoned here in America, it sends a terrible message to the rest of the world.” But if you’ve already read Manes’ article, what more can you learn from the short film? “The nature of documentary production required a slightly different telling of Billy’s written story, but it stays true to it and is no less compelling,” Nantz says. “It adds other voices to his, explores the issues, and it honors the relationship. I think friends and fans of Billy Manes will approve of *Billy & Alan*. … Billy is the face of this issue right now.” So, think you’ve never been to the festival? Think again. Because of the event’s unconventional format, which spreads the films across five locations and 10 venues in Orlando and Winter Park, it’s possible to see a movie without realizing you’ve attended a festival. “I occasionally meet somebody who says, ‘I’ve never heard of the Global Peace Film Festival,’ and then … they’ll describe a film that was in the \[previous year’s\] festival.” Streich says. “I say, ‘Where did you see it?’ And they’ll tell me, ‘I saw it at the Bush Auditorium at Rollins College,’ and it’s the only time it’s ever been shown. Well, actually, \[that means\] you went to the festival.” For a schedule and description of all films, visit [www.peacefilmfest.org](http://www.peacefilmfest.org/). Tickets, which range from $8 for a single film to $199 for a priority-seating pass to all movies, are available both online and at each venue at the time of the screening. **David**, 2011, 2 ¼ stars Are the Quran and the Torah really that different? Can Judaism and Islam be reconciled in, of all places, New York City? Those are the questions posited by *David*, one of three narrative features at this year’s festival. [![David](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/David-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/David.jpg)Daud, an 11-year-old Muslim boy played well by Muatasem Mishal, is the son of the local imam in Brooklyn. After seeing a group of Jewish boys forget their Torah on a park bench, Daud attempts to return it to the neighborhood Jewish school but accidentally leaves his own cherished Quran instead. Returning later to try to reclaim it, he’s mistaken for a Jewish student and ushered into a class. Unable to resist the temptation to learn about Judaism – and also still desperate to find his Quran – he keeps going back, eventually befriending a Jewish boy. Adopting the name David, he blends in, despite the warning of his strict father, effectively portrayed by Maz Jobrani, to “be careful. \[Jews\] don’t like Arabs.” Adding to the anticipatory tension over whether Daud will be discovered as a non-Jew are struggles at home involving his sister, who wants to break tradition by moving away to college. Although the film by first-time director Joel Fendelman should be commended for its subtlety, cultural commentary and religious insight, it would have been better as a short (and actually was based on Fendelman’s 2009 short, *Daud*). Indeed, at only 80 minutes, the feature seems stretched and predictable. Still, for those with an affinity for the subject, the drama of *David* will hold some emotional power. **The Iran Job**, 2012, 2 ¾ stars *The Iran Job*, directed by Till Schauder, brings together two worlds that rarely collide: basketball and politics. And if you happen to be fascinated with both, as I am, the film, though tedious and unpolished at times, is an interesting glimpse into the life of an international athlete struggling with a foreign culture. “I really thought I had a great shot at making it to the NBA, but I didn’t make it,” says Kevin Sheppard, who played college ball at Jacksonville University, in Jacksonville, Fla. “Once I finished college, I received many calls from overseas teams, wanting me to play for them. So now I’m what you call a journeyman.” That journey takes Sheppard to an unlikely destination, Iran, after he signs a lucrative contract with a new team in the Iranian Super League. He is tasked with leading the group of novices to the playoffs, but his greater challenge turns out to be adapting to the misogynistic culture while learning to not get involved in American-Iranian tensions, which are at a fever pitch during the doc’s filming. “I try to stay away from politics,” he says. “Politics is a very dangerous game. I keep my eyes open, and I listen, but I try to focus more on what I do, and that is basketball.” It’s a learning experience for Sheppard, and one for us too, if you can make it through the slow pacing and mediocre editing that often accompany “as they happen” documentaries. **Rafea: Solar Mama** FL, 2012, 2 ¾ stars There are essentially two major types of documentaries: those that tell a story that has already happened and those that tell one as it’s occurring. The latter often yields the most raw power, as in *Harlan County, U.S.A.* But if the camera influences the action, or the director finishes the shoot only to find no real story, the film is reduced to just another episode of *The Real World*. *Rafea: Solar Mama* is stuck somewhere between the two. Clearly, an important story exists, if the filmmakers can figure out how to tell it: Rafea, a 30-year-old Jordanian mother of four, is given the opportunity of a lifetime when she’s chosen to attend India’s Barefoot College. The school gives poor women in third-world countries the chance to learn engineering and then return home to provide their people with solar power. “This is the only training program in the entire world where an illiterate woman can become an engineer,” skeptical villagers are told. Only Rafea, desperate to escape her gender-based subjugation, is sold on the idea. The Arabic-language documentary, directed by Mona Eldaief and Jehane Noujaim, plods along, content to follow Rafea on both the dramatic and mundane parts of her quest, in the style of a visual essay. But then, thanks almost entirely to a couple of astonishing interviews with Rafea’s strict Muslim husband, the film comes alive. “If you don’t come back, I will divorce you and take your daughters away,” the husband tells both Rafea and the Jordanian government minister sponsoring the project. “I don’t want her to walk five meters out of this house. That’s my rule.” Those brutally honest interviews lay bare the injustice and misogyny of Rafea’s culture, and for that reason alone, the doc is worth watching. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Love Your Shorts 2019](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-your-shorts-2019/) **Published:** February 7, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # Short movies equal long-term bonds ## LYSFF brings filmmakers together for ninth year [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LoveYourShorts.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/love-your-shorts-film-festival-brings-filmmakers-together/Content?oid=23805974), February 6, 2019 The movies at Sanford’s Love Your Shorts Film Festival may last less than 30 minutes, but the friendships forged at the event endure long after the projector flickers dark. Case in point: Orlando’s Erin Laine, whose acceptance into the 2019 festival – which is being held at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center on February 7-10 – is partly due to a fortuitous meeting at last year’s event. “This particular festival is where I met my co-star Lukas Hassel and we decided we wanted to work together,” says Laine. “I sent him the script \[for *I Just Want You to Be Happy*, about a singer-songwriter wrestling with her ambitions\], and he really helped me get \[it\] off the ground. So \[it’s a\] very full-circle moment to reunite at Love Your Shorts.” Hassel, a Danish filmmaker now residing in New York City, is best remembered by Sanford audiences as the director and star of *Into the Dark* and *The Son, the Father*, which played past festivals to critical acclaim. “The people involved with *I Just Want You to Be Happy* were essentially connected by LYSFF, having seen each other’s works in the theater and then chatting about filmmaking in the glow of a heat lamp on the sidewalk with a drink in hand afterwards,” says Hassel. “\[Writer-director\] Erin Laine and \[co-director\] Fred Zara mentioned a project to me then, and now a year later, we are screening the product in LYSFF. Wonderful how this came to be.” [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Erin-Laine-and-Lukas-Hassel-in-I-Just-Want-You-to-Be-Happy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Erin-Laine-and-Lukas-Hassel-in-I-Just-Want-You-to-Be-Happy.jpg)Erin Laine and Lukas Hassel in “I Just Want You to Be Happy” Despite its emphasis on global networking and penchant for films from all around the world, the festival is particularly friendly to local filmmakers, one of whom is the first director to screen three films in a single festival. “Love Your Shorts Film Festival is such a wonderful festival for filmmakers and moviegoers alike,” says Orlando’s Dale Metz, whose *Ride*, *Genesis* and *Jenny and Elle* are all playing the 2019 event. “I sometimes submit multiple films, hoping at least one will resonate with the selection committee. This year I submitted three and was honestly floored to find that all three were accepted! These films are made in collaboration with other \[local\] filmmakers like TL Westgate and Ted Souppa, so having multiple films screen at the festival means we get to showcase talent from more folks, and that, too, is rewarding.” Though the format stays almost the same every year – discussion panels, parties and nine blocks of movies (77 total, not counting UCF student films) spread across four days – each festival’s energy is unique. “It’s always fun to see how each year’s festival develops its own distinct personality for the weekend,” says Gene Kruckemyer, festival president and co-founder. “Each year we welcome new and some returning filmmakers to Sanford from around the country and abroad. Many of them stay during the whole festival, meet each other and develop some new projects together. Our board is always so thankful for all our community sponsors, volunteers and friends who have helped create this event and the impromptu community that gathers downtown to experience the films and filmmakers. It’s just a fun weekend for everyone involved.” Hassel agrees, and though he has more than 30 films and TV shows to his credit, including *Law & Order* and *Blue Bloods*, he enjoys returning to Sanford. “Being out on the film-festival circuit has several functions for me: to share my work with a wide audience, to network and meet inspiring filmmakers and potential future collaborators \[and\] to experience people and parts of the United States that I might not otherwise have come across. LYSFF is one of those rare festivals where all of the above applies.” Thursday’s discussion panel and UCF student films are free, but tickets to most film blocks are $10. A festival pass sells for $70. Visit [www.loveyourshorts.com](http://www.loveyourshorts.com/) for more information. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Avengers Analyzed](https://www.meiermovies.com/avengers-analyzed/) **Published:** May 19, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # *Avengers* analyzed ## What does *Endgame*’s money really mean? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Avengers-Endgame.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Avengers-Endgame.jpg)Image copyright Walt Disney Pictures / Marvel Studios Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 19, 2019 *Avengers: Endgame* has topped [$2.6 billion globally](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/) and [$770 million domestically](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm) in less than a month. This means it will probably top *Avatar* as the highest-grossing movie worldwide, though it is projected to fall a bit short of the American record, which belongs to *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*. These totals are impressive, especially considering the speed at which they have been attained. But more important than the numbers are why and how they were reached, and what the money really means when compared with the adjusted-for-inflation totals of history’s other great blockbusters. *Endgame*’s speedy success is due primarily to seven factors: 1. Simultaneous global release. In a rare move, the film was released in almost all international markets at the same time. This rollout strategy, which could become the model for future blockbusters, has allowed *Endgame*’s numbers to accumulate at an unprecedented rate, further fueling our “must see it now” culture and tricking moviegoers into thinking the numbers are better than they really are when compared with past films, which were unable to make money as quickly. 2. The growth of China. The Chinese market has continued to expand and will eventually eclipse the United States, and *Endgame* is arguably the first film to truly demonstrate the power of that growing market. 3. Good reviews. Positive responses from critics help. Ever wonder how much more money *Star Wars: The Phantom Menace* could have made had it actually been a good film? 4. The finale. *Endgame* is uniquely positioned as the climax of a massively popular, 22-movie series. In this respect, and when combined with the other factors on this list, the movie represents a perfect moneymaking storm. 5. The cliffhanger. The old serial technique of ending the previous edition with a cliffhanger should not be underestimated. It has coaxed even the casual fans of the previous film (*Infinity War*) to see *Endgame*. 6. The rise of the comic book superhero. Our culture is addicted to this genre, and our addiction is *Endgame*’s profit. 7. Lastly, *Endgame* was released at a good time to maximize its impact: just before the summer rush. Indeed, it has taken three weeks for another film (the latest *John Wick* action flick) to eclipse it at the American weekend box office. But let’s put *Endgame*’s success in perspective. Even if the movie passes *Avatar* to become the top-grossing film of all time globally, it would still be behind *Avatar* when adjusted for inflation. Because that latter film was released 10 years ago, its gross now stands at[ $3.27 billion when adjusted to 2019 ticket prices, according to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films). And the all-time champ, *Gone with the Wind*, clocks in at $3.73 billion, a number well out of *Endgame*’s reach. *Endgame* is even less likely to become the top domestic film of all time adjusted for inflation thanks to the insurmountable totals of the two most popular movies ever released in the United States: *Gone with the Wind* and the original *Star Wars*. Adjusted for inflation, the former has taken in [$1.82 billion while George Lucas’s 1977 space epic has earned $1.60 billion, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm). To add further perspective to *Endgame*’s numbers, the movie is likely to end up as the 12th-highest-grossing picture domestically when adjusted for inflation, stuck between *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* and *101 Dalmatians*. But I know what you’re saying: *Endgame* has earned its totals in only a month while it took multiple releases over many years for most of those other films to earn theirs. (And *Endgame* will not be able to enjoy those re-releases thanks to streaming content, DVD, Blu-ray and, of course, television, which was rolled out in the United States six years after *GWTW*’s release.) However, other factors somewhat mitigate the box-office advantages of *Gone with the Wind* and the original *Star Wars*. First, the population of the United States in 1940 (the first year of wide release for *Gone with the Wind*) was just 132 million, compared to 220 million in 1977 and 328 million today. So the potential audience for *GWTW* was just 40 percent of *Endgame*’s, while the original *Star Wars*’ potential audience was 67 percent. But people in the 1940s had little to do other than go to the movies, right? Wrong. The idea that audiences in the first half of the 20th century had nothing better to do than fill cinemas is a myth. As society and technology change, so do recreational habits, and the motion picture industry certainly had its fair share of competition from amusements that are practically extinct today: the circus, traveling fairs and carnivals, radio and a whole host of family-based, people-centric, hands-on activities that have faded away thanks to our mobile-phone and web-based world. Nevertheless, the per-capita movie-going audience was much bigger in the 1940s than it is today. According to *[Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/movie-attendance-over-the-years-2015-1)*, an astonishing 46 percent of Americans went out to see a movie each week in 1940. By the mid-1960s, that number had dropped to about 10 percent, and it remained at that level into the 20th century. Though the study’s numbers end at 2002, it seems likely that per-capita attendance has either held steady or declined even more in the last decade and a half. It’s important to remember, though, that 1940s audiences weren’t going to the cinema just to see the A film. With B-movies, shorts, cartoons and trailers to enjoy, many attendees came and went without even seeing the main feature. And before television, a movie theater was the main source of visual news, an all-important part of life during World War II (though the European movie market declined dramatically during the war). And even without all of that content, the air-conditioned movie palace was simply a great place to hang out on hot days. (Interestingly, though, summer was never a big time for movie releases until *Jaws* invented the summer blockbuster in 1975.) Because these types of comparisons between today’s box-office grosses and the profits of yesteryear are so complicated, why not revamp the way we judge the success of a movie? After all, the music industry doesn’t report how much money a song or album has made. If it did, the achievements of the Beatles and Elvis would suddenly seem less impressive when judged against today’s highest-priced offerings. Similarly, *The New York Times* bestseller list doesn’t rank profits. No, both the music and publishing industries rank their most successful titles by UNITS sold. So why can’t Hollywood do the same, substituting ticket sales for money made? Simply put, it’s got a good promotional thing going, and it knows it. And the media have bought into this little bamboozle too, all too eager to promote its clickbait by proclaiming the latest movie the “biggest,” “greatest” and “most successful” of all time. This misleading reporting belies the truth about a movie’s success and further fuels a cinematic peer pressure that practically forces audiences to see a flick immediately or risk discovering spoilers on social media: a phenomenon that, of course, did not exist in 1939 or 1977. Nope, back then the movie industry was designed for slow roll-outs, with “roadshow” versions often preceding a lengthy wide release. But today it’s about speed, gluttony and snake-oil salesmanship. We’re prisoners of our hungry world. More, more, more. Now, now, now. And *Endgame*’s three-hour ADD, CGI spectacular satisfies our cinematic hunger. Until the next big thing comes along … *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The French Dispatch](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-french-dispatch/) **Published:** October 22, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The French Dispatch**, 2021, 2 ¼ stars # ADD club sandwich ## *Dispatch* is Anderson’s most frenetic, multi-layered film [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/French-Dispatch.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/French-Dispatch.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 22, 2021 Wes Anderson, meet Carl Theodor Dreyer. Carl, Wes. You’ll hate each other. Actually, as two of cinema’s master craftsmen, the two directors would likely enjoy wonderful conversations if not for the fact that Dreyer, the legendary Danish director of *The Passion of Joan of Arc* and *Vampyr*, died in 1968, the year preceding Anderson’s birth. My reason for proffering this theoretical encounter is that the directors’ styles couldn’t be farther apart. Though their films are dominated by impeccable lighting, deliberate tracking shots, and OCD art design, Dreyer grew into a minimalist while Anderson is a maximalist – and getting maxier all the time. Case in point: *The French Dispatch*, Anderson’s dialogue-packed, attention-deficit-disorder club sandwich of an anthology comedy. And if you think that last sentence is overwritten, just wait until you get *Dispatch*ed. In a 2019 interview, Anderson, in discussing *Dispatch* (which he wrote with help from Roman Coppola and Hugo Guinness), said, “The story is not easy to explain.” I second that. Actually, I fifth that, considering the film consists of three lengthy segments, one mini-tale (seemingly designed only to give Anderson darling Owen Wilson something to do) and a linking narrative featuring Bill Murray as the editor of the eponymous pamphlet, which, in a bit of a stretch in logic, is an off-shoot of the fictional *Evening Sun* of the non-fictional Liberty, Kansas, U.S.A. (Murray’s character is apparently based on Harold Ross, founder of *The New Yorker*.) The aforementioned mini-tale consists of Wilson (as *Dispatch* travel writer Herbsaint Sazerac) riding around on a bicycle in the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, France, where the film is set. In this respect, Wilson’s character is introducing us to the place we’ll soon by immersed in for 108 minutes. It’s a clever conceit but, like much of the film, gets buried behind an overpainted canvas. And as for the town’s name (translated roughly as “boredom on blasé”), it does show that Anderson is not taking all this too seriously. That’s helpful, but when the characters – most of whom are exhibiting Anderson’s trademark deadpan delivery – can’t work up much emotion about their own lives, why should we? Wilson’s bike ride is followed by the meat of the film: an art story “written” (narrated) by a *Dispatch* reporter played by Tilda Swinton (as usual, with a crazy affectation); a political piece by another *Dispatch* reporter, portrayed by Frances McDormand, and featuring Timothée Chalamet, in a tale inspired by the French student unrest of May 1968; and a food feature served up by yet another reporter, played by Jeffrey Wright (whose character was partially inspired by James Baldwin). The first of the trio, titled “The Concrete Masterpiece,” is the strongest thanks to infectious performances by Benicio del Toro and Adrien Brody. The second and third tales are visually stunning, as is the entire opus, but get a bit lost in rushed and unimpactful storytelling. Indeed, we’re reminded of their r*aison* d’*être* only in the film’s finale, when the reporters come together one last time to reminisce and honor Murray’s character, who has just died of a heart attack. The aforementioned actors are the only ones allowed to fully shine, but Anderson peppers his stew with a slew of other famous faces: Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Winkler, Bob Balaban, Léa Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Anjelica Huston (as part-time narrator) and even 90-year-old Lois Smith. Frankly, it’s one of the most impressive casts ever assembled, if only they had something to do besides scream silently to themselves, “Respect my cameo.” Perhaps it’s not a fair comparison, but contrast this to a Robert Altman film, in which every actor serves the story. If you cock your brain just the right way or are an Anderson devotee, the film’s structure is almost brilliant – and, fittingly, quite French in its sensibility. But looking at it straight on – or from the vantage of either an Anderson detractor or just a casual fan – it’s exhausting and insufferable, with aspect-ratio alterations, doll-house tracking shots, changes from black-and-white to color and from live action to animation, and zoom-ins ad nauseam. It is overdesigned and underfelt. And though it’s impossible to deny its beauty, *Dispatch* is less a love letter to journalism, as Anderson intended, as one to Anderson’s own aesthetic. Circling back to Dreyer: In his final film, *Gertrud*, from 1964, his minimalism had progressed so far that he eschewed even the most basic props of a realistic world, such as extraneous plates or spoons in a kitchen, opting to include only items that directly served his story. That might be taking things too far. Still, I wish that, just once, Anderson would run out of spoons. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8847712/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_French_Dispatch).* --- ### [Spencer](https://www.meiermovies.com/spencer/) **Published:** November 15, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Spencer**, 2021, 3 ½ stars # Castles in the air ## Larraín paints a fantastical Diana [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Spencer.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Spencer.jpg)Kristen Stewart stars as Princess Diana (née Spencer)*.* (image copyright Neon) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 14, 2021 There’s an old adage that says, while a director can certainly make a bad film from a good script, he can’t make a good film from a bad script. At first glance, it would appear that Chilean director Pablo Larraín has defied that theory for his second biopic in a row. A closer examination reveals, however, that the screenplays for both the new *Spencer* (Steven Knight) and 2016’s [*Jackie*](https://www.meiermovies.com/jackie/ "Jackie") (Noah Oppenheim) are perfectly competent. It’s just the basic stories that are seemingly underwhelming. Nevertheless, with *Jackie* (starring Natalie Portman), Larraín showed a remarkable ability to conjure cinematic magic from an overdone and simple story, turning the tale of Jacqueline Kennedy’s reaction to her husband’s assassination into the best film of the year. *Spencer*, “a fable from a true tragedy,” is no *Jackie*, but thanks to nuanced direction, splendid cinematography and production design, and a standout performance from Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, Larraín has again upended the biopic genre, much like Diana did the British royal family. And in doing so, he turns three (imagined) days in the life of Diana – over the 1991 Christmas holiday – into an intriguing and visually sumptuous fantasy. Ironically, Larraín has expressed a disinterest in biopics. In addition, prior to directing *Jackie*, he proclaimed a disinterest in the Kennedys. He hasn’t expressed a similar disinterest in the British royal family, but he did tell *[Cinema Daily](https://cinemadailyus.com/interviews/spencer-an-exclusive-interview-with-director-pablo-larrain/)* that, when young, he didn’t feel a connection with Diana, which lends credence to the theory that artists are at their best when slightly removed from their subject. Despite Larraín’s accomplishments, it’s Stewart who is getting the attention. In a performance that is more channeling than impersonation or acting, she is luminous – in a way she has never been before and might never be again. This is due partly to Larraín’s direction, partly to hair and makeup, partly to subtle mimicry but maybe mostly to the fact that, like Diana, Stewart has often been misjudged, unconventional and oddly aloof. Her performance also seems distant, even cold, befitting the beautiful but poorly heated rooms of central England’s Sandringham House, where most of the action is set. (German’s Nordkirchen Castle doubles as Sandringham.) In fact, the entire production is chilly, almost ghostly, with emotional arcs never fully realized and Stewart relying more on whispers than shouts, more hallucinations than actions, to convey her character’s crescendo into madness. Lending wonderful support are Sally Hawkins as Diana’s dresser and confidante, Sean Harris as head chef Darren McGrady and Timothy Spall as the man running Sandringham. His character is apparently based on real-life royal Master of the Household David Walker, but it’s a fictional character who comes to my mind when watching Spall: Norma Desmond of *Sunset Boulevard*. For the mottled, chiseled Spall has slowly become the physical embodiment of Desmond’s famous proclamation that, in silent films, “we didn’t need dialogue; we had faces.” Turns out, we also need costumes, so expect the eighth Oscar nomination for Jacqueline Durran. Indeed, I can’t remember the last time costumes figured so prominently in a film. For in *Spencer*, Durran’s designs aren’t just dressing, or even art. They are the story. Edith Head would be proud. But it’s impossible to know whether Diana would be proud. Probably not. The same goes for the other royals – some of whom are treated with disregard at best, and disrespect at worst. Still, Larraín’s fable cements the notion that Diana, for good or bad, simply wasn’t meant for the Windsor fish bowl and – like Greta Garbo (who refused the part of the aforementioned Norma Desmond) – simply wanted to be left alone. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12536294/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_(film)).* --- ### [The Wolf of Wall Street](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-wolf-of-wall-street/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Wolf of Wall Street**, 2013, 1 ½ stars ## *The Wolf* in quality’s clothing ### Scorsese’s latest is a timewaster disguised as an epic From *The Orlando Weekly*, December 27, 2013 *The Wolf of Wall Street* is in disguise. Cloaked in the costume of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, and based on the sexually charged, drug-infused, money-mad memoir of conman Jordan Belfort, it wants to be a darkly comic masterpiece. But when *Wolf*’s skin is stripped away, what’s left is a film as bloated and misguided as Belfort himself. DiCaprio, in his fifth collaboration with Scorsese, is Belfort, a scheming and disgusting yet – except for his time in prison for fraud and stock-market manipulation – overwhelmingly successful broker, author and motivational speaker. After his release from jail in the late 1990s, he wrote about his experiences and eventually sold the movie rights to DiCaprio. Following a difficult pre-production, Terence Winter was hired to write the screenplay and Scorsese to direct, after Ridley Scott and Warner Brothers dropped out. Scorsese described the developmental process as a waste of five months of his life, and that’s also a good way to describe how it feels to watch the finished product. Instead of balancing comedy and drama, Scorsese, in a miscalculation, has gone for broad humor with small dashes of drama. He’s asking us to laugh not at Belfort, which the creep deserves, but with him. The result is an embrace of his crass, amoral and misogynistic lifestyle, complete with multiple tutorials – and visuals – on how to do drugs, cheat investors, hire hookers and objectify women. “The way I looked at it, their money was better off in my pocket,” says Belfort, who learned that lesson from his first Wall Street boss, a slimy character played by Matthew McConaughey. It’s been quite a year for McConaughey, but his odd, brief performance here is distracting, mostly because he’s only a few pounds above his scarily skinny *Dallas Buyers Club* weight. The rest of the supporting cast is competent and even amusing at times. Jonah Hill is Belfort’s closest friend, Rob Reiner is his father, Jean Dujardin is a Swiss business partner, Kyle Chandler is the FBI agent pursuing Belfort, Joanna Lumley is his aunt, and the seductive Margot Robbie is his frequently naked wife, whose “pussy was like heroin” to Belfort. Yet they, and even the usually reliable DiCaprio (whose first-person narration often breaks the fourth wall), are such stereotypes that one never sees past their orgies, bare butts, or outrageous antics to find humanity or realism. Some films have good editors. Some films have bad editors. This film appears to have had no editor at all. Never before in a Scorsese movie have there been multiple scenes that could be entirely excised, including one whose sole purpose seems to be to hurl jokes at little people, after we’ve already seen the actual hurling of those little people. Taking away too many of these moments would rob the film of its comical charisma and energy, but there is simply no need for the three-hour runtime, which turns *Wolf* into one of the longest, most tedious movie-going experiences of the year. On the plus side, there are some photographic flourishes and wildly sexy scenes, which almost got the film an NC-17 slam. And you won’t soon forget the ferociously funny episode involving DiCaprio and Hill getting stoned out of their minds on quayludes, but it’s all too excessive and undisciplined, leaving you not titillated but just tired – and, like one of Belfort’s victims, feeling conned out of your money. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Wimbledon](https://www.meiermovies.com/wimbledon/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Wimbledon**, 2004, 1 ¾ stars # Wimbledon loses at love From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, September 17, 2004 Much like a spirited tennis match, *Wimbledon* keeps your attention and sets a lively pace. But despite being one of the best movies ever about tennis’s high society and life behind the scenes of the sport’s top tournament, it never quite makes it over the net thanks to a contrived love story, a weak Kirsten Dunst and a hopeless predictability. Playing aging British tennis star Peter Colt is Paul Bettany, fresh off his brilliant performance in *Master and Commander* and an almost equally memorable turn as the imaginary friend in *A Beautiful Mind.* Colt, as he is fond of pointing out, was once ranked as highly as 11 in the world but has now fallen to 119 and, at almost 32 years of age, is nearing retirement. Playing his last Wimbledon and in desperate need of inspiration, he finds it by falling unexpectedly in love with young American tennis sensation Lizzie Bradbury (Dunst). After the two spend several awkward and not quite believable scenes together, Peter can do no wrong on the court, while Lizzie, who does not share the same passionate feelings, views the romance as a distraction to her game. The other details of the tryst and even the outcome of the tournament matter little as the whole uninspired mess bounces slowly along to a predictably happy, corn-filled ending. Director Richard Lancraine (TV’s *Band of Brothers* and *My House in Umbria*) serves up a few aces, especially in the subtle performances of Bettany and veteran British actor Bernard Hill (*Lord of the Rings, Titanic*) as Colt’s father. But Lancraine also makes a big double fault – using Dunst, who appears out of her depth and empty-eyed, and turning what should be a touching romance by the writer of *French Kiss* into a commonplace comedy/drama about a British man finally winning Wimbledon. Lizzie tells Peter, “Love means nothing in tennis.” Apparently for Lancraine, getting the details of the tournament right means nothing too. Sure, he loads the film up with cameos by John McEnroe and Chris Evert. And when he takes a break from the gimmicky fast-action shots and the moments where we overhear Peter’s thoughts during the match, the quiet grace of the game comes through in some decent cinematography. But those moments are too few, and small mistakes such as leaving out the entire fourth round of the tournament are too glaring for tennis fans not to notice. Despite the director’s unforced errors, lovers of the game will enjoy the cameos, the detailed glimpse of this strawberries-and-cream world and the time spent showing the details of each of Peter’s matches. But the comic relief is mediocre at best, and the subplot of Lizzie’s disapproving father, played by a strangely ineffective Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), stealing her away from Peter is too cliché and draws attention away from the only item of real interest – whether Peter will be victorious. Just as England constantly roots for a Brit to win the tournament, we long for both Peter and this movie to succeed. Sadly, we may see neither, because while *Wimbledon* makes some winning shots, it can never quite finish off the match. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Widows](https://www.meiermovies.com/widows/) **Published:** November 28, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Widows**, 2018, 1 ¾ stars # *Widows* is a waste of talent [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Widows.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Widows.jpg)Michelle Rodriguez, left, and Elizabeth Debicki star as two of the eponymous widows (image copyright Regency Enterprises / Twentieth Century Fox / Film4) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/widows-is-a-waste-of-talent/Content?oid=21091874), November 14, 2018 How do you make an emotionally satisfying, well-structured film out of a plot-packed mini-series? Answer: You don’t, as evidenced by *Widows*, the new heist drama by British director Steve McQueen. Written by McQueen and *Gone Girl* author Gillian Flynn, *Widows* is based on a 12-part show that aired on Britain’s ITV in the 1980s. Though that series slowly unfolded over a total of 600 minutes, McQueen has crammed his into only 129. He’s taken many of the original series’ plot lines, changed the settings and backstories, peppered them with too many actors and stuffed in social issues – from police brutality to racism to political corruption to the Me Too movement. And then, just in time for Thanksgiving, he’s undercooked it, serving up the cinematic equivalent of a half-baked turducken. Admittedly, this type of smorgasbord is pretty common these days, but one expects more from a chef as talented as McQueen (*Shame*, *12 Years a Slave*). *Widows* begins with a theft gone wrong. A group of four men, led by Harry Rawlins (Liam Neeson), steal $2 million from a powerful Chicago crime boss (Brian Tyree Henry) who also happens to be running for alderman of the city’s 18th ward. Though Harry and his gang get away with the money, they are killed by police in the subsequent chase. Once the crime boss discovers it was Harry who pilfered, he comes after his widow, Veronica (Viola Davis), demanding restitution. Not knowing where else to turn, Veronica contacts the other three widows, and together they hatch a heist of their own that will pay back the money and also put a little cash in their own pockets. If this sounds like a lot to digest in the film’s first hour, just wait until McQueen piles on subplots aplenty. We get one involving a rival alderman candidate (Colin Farrell) and his crusty, old, racist dad (Robert Duvall); another involving a local preacher who is pressured to endorse a candidate in the alderman race; and still another about a brutal hitman (Daniel Kaluuya). And each of the four widows has her own tales too, which include graphic sex, white cops shooting an unarmed black man, violence against women and an eccentric performance by Jacki Weaver as, well, a mother of a mother. Oh, and there’s a pretty nifty, if contrived, twist, too. It’s enough to give even the most Altmanesque director pause. The good news is these types of films are often filled with good actors. Though this one is no exception, not every performance is a winner. As the dead gang leader whom we see mostly in tedious, romantic flashbacks, Neeson again earns his reputation as the most overrated actor working today. And the normally reliable Farrell just never catches fire, perhaps because his Chicago dialect occasionally veers toward his native Irish brogue. But the other supporting actors are competent, including Kaluuya (*Get Out*), Cynthia Erivo (*Bad Times at the El Royale*), Michelle Rodriguez (*Fast & Furious* franchise), Elizabeth Debicki (*The Great Gatsby*), Garret Dillahunt (*12 Years a Slave)* and Duvall, who, at 87, lends gravitas despite his too-brief turn. Still, only Davis is truly memorable. Though she almost single-handedly gives the film momentum, one grows tired of the script’s insistence that she display unwavering sorrow and anger. “This is not your world,” Veronica is warned. And that’s true, as she was never involved in her late husband’s career. Still, we’re asked to believe that she and her new friends are able to conquer that world in a matter of days. Not even the acting of Davis is up to that challenge. With a more deliberate pace, better character development, less annoying camera movement and the deletion of some sub-plots, *Widows* might have succeeded. But it’s also hampered by McQueen’s overemphasis on the aforementioned social issues. The director’s heart is in the right place, but the inclusion of these weighty topics is haphazard and lacking in subtlety. He got thematically greedy. Ultimately, *Widows* wilts not because it’s an ordinary heist drama, but because McQueen was trying too hard to make an extraordinary one. And though there is no denying the entertainment value, the overstuffed and overreaching story will leave you hungry for haute cuisine. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Whitney](https://www.meiermovies.com/whitney/) **Published:** July 6, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Whitney**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars ## *Whitney* paints portrait of musical tragedy [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Whitney.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Whitney.jpg)Image copyright Lightbox / Miramax From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/whitney-paints-a-portrait-of-musical-tragedy/Content?oid=15589925), July 4, 2018 They say timing is everything in comedy. Turns out it’s a big deal in tragedy too. *Whitney*, Kevin Macdonald’s new documentary on the life and death of Whitney Houston, is insightful and journalistically credible, but because if follows a string of other “celebrities who died too young” docs and narratives, its impact is diminished. Though emotionally resonant, it’s just a tad too familiar. This is the third movie about Houston in the last three years, following a Lifetime television flick and a Showtime documentary, and both of those came on the heels of Oscar-winning *Amy*, which addressed the untimely demise of Amy Winehouse and was produced by the same team behind *Whitney*. The latter film, directed by Macdonald (who has made many docs but is best known for *The Last King of Scotland*), is better than those other Houston films and is comparable to *Amy*, despite its more straightforward style. But that might not prevent its viewers from coming down with a mild case of biopic fatigue. What sets *Whitney* apart is the extraordinary cooperation of the singer’s family, friends and collaborators, who often stare straight into the camera with an intensity rarely seen in documentary filmmaking. (This is the first film to be authorized by Houston’s estate.) Almost everyone you’d hope to hear from is here, including Bobby Brown (who gives a compellingly belligerent interview), Clive Davis and Houston’s Aunt Bae (who helped raise Houston’s daughter and gives an especially heartfelt account of her niece’s and grandniece’s lives). Casual fans – and even Houston’s devout followers – will learn a lot, and the doc is probably worth a watch even if you don’t like her music. (You just might change your mind.) Most noteworthy is a journalistic coup involving an allegation of child abuse. That bombshell doesn’t drop until the film’s second half, but it’s worth the wait, as it briefly elevates the movie from a talking-heads documentary about past events to one that actually makes news. Macdonald reaches too far when weaving in cultural references, and his inclusion of abundant news and commercial clips is a transparent effort to enhance the appeal and style of a story that is, at its heart, personal and small. Of course, Houston’s tale was inextricably bound up with America’s racial story. (Who can forget how Houston was ridiculed once she veered away from black gospel and toward white pop? Conversely, everyone remembers the positive impact of *The Bodyguard*’s interracial kiss.) But *Whitney* is best when it’s showing us never-before-seen home movies, allowing Houston’s mom to reminisce about her daughter’s talent and painting an intimate portrait of an American musical tragedy. “The devil is trying to get me,” Houston said when describing a recurring dream. “But he never gets me.” That quote is used at both the beginning and end of the film to illuminate the Shakespearean elements of her rise and fall. As with Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Prince and the countless other celebrities that fame and drugs have taken from us recently, we may never truly understand Houston’s downfall. But Macdonald’s doc at least tries to give us answers while simultaneously celebrating her life. Oh, and we get to hear Houston sing. A lot! And sometimes that’s enough. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [White Boy Rick](https://www.meiermovies.com/white-boy-rick/) **Published:** September 14, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **White Boy Rick**, 2018, 3 ½ stars # Detroit flashback ## Crime drama depicts city in the addled ‘80s [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/White-Boy-Rick.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/White-Boy-Rick.jpg)Richie Merritt and Matthew McConaughey (image copyright LBI Productions / Studio 8 / Columbia Pictures) From [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/the-scene/archives/2018/09/14/review-the-story-of-white-boy-rick-is-big-too-big-for-a-teenager-and-too-big-for-its-screenplay) and [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/white-boy-rick-is-a-sharp-eyed-depiction-of-detroit-in-the-addled-80s/Content?oid=18348606), September 14, 2018 Richard Wershe Jr., better known as “White Boy Rick,” had been mostly forgotten until a magazine article in 2014 reacquainted us with the strange tale of the Detroit boy who, in the mid-1980s, became a drug kingpin and FBI informant before reaching the ripe age of 16. But Detroiters never forgot, as Wershe’s story is their story. And *White Boy Rick*, the new crime drama from French director Yann Demange, successfully captures the urban decay, drug scourge and gun violence that epitomized the city in the 1980s. Sharp-eyed residents of the city’s east side might spot that most of the movie was filmed in Cleveland – with only glimpses of Detroit itself – but the production design is otherwise impressive and, when combined with the pitch-perfect performances, overcomes a screenplay that is somewhat uneven, especially in its final act. Wershe lived with his sister and “low-life” but well-intentioned father in a bedraggled house on Hampshire Street. While his dad sold illegally modified weapons, Rick palled around with drug dealers. Because almost all of them were black, Rick acquired the “white boy” moniker. But the FBI was onto his dad’s scheme, threatening to prosecute him if he didn’t inform on his crack-peddling, murderous customers. But it was Rick who instead chose to cooperate, tempted by the payments promised him by the FBI. But instead of being a path out of poverty and violence, it was the first step down a path of tragedy. The story is surprisingly big – too big for a teenager and too big for the screenplay. Perhaps that’s why it took three writers (Andy Weiss, Logan Miller and Noah Miller) to cobble it together. But multiple writers often lead to messy scribbling, and that is occasionally the case here, as the meandering script has a tough time transitioning from an emotionally uplifting second act to an event-packed, heartbreaking finale. Still, some of the dialogue is superb, and Demange – in just his second feature, following *’71* in 2014 – manages to draw drama and a surprising amount of comedy from moments that might have fallen flat in the hands of a less skilled helmer. Sure, it departs from the facts slightly, but that is forgivable because it captures the story’s spirit. *White Boy Rick* is driven by its actors. As Rick, Richie Merritt makes an astonishing debut, capturing the emotional angst and pride of his character in hyper-realism. As his dad, Matthew McConaughey delivers another powerhouse performance that might land him a supporting-actor Oscar nomination. Their chemistry is evident in a scene in which they confront their own expectations: When his dad observes that their lives have turned out OK despite Rick’s sister’s drug abuse and a shooting leaving him seriously injured, Rick remarks, “Your daughter is a junkie, and I’m shitting into a bag.” “I’m a glass-half-full” guy, Richie Sr. responds. As the aforementioned sister, Bel Powley (*The Diary of a Teenage Girl*) exudes wide-eyed hopelessness. (Her depiction of addiction, and McConaughey’s reaction, will stick with you, though her story seems sandwiched between other plots.) As FBI agents, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rory Cochrane are utterly believable, even if their characters are composites. Jonathan Majors (*Hostiles*) is scene-stealing as a gang leader, newcomer Raekwon Haynes is effective as Rick’s gang buddy, and Bruce Dern and Detroit native Piper Laurie are memorable as Rick’s grandparents, though the latter two have little to do. No moment is more illustrative of lost innocence – both Rick’s and Detroit’s – than Rick’s attraction to an enormous, yellow, plush duck. Intended as a gift for his sister, the stuffed animal accompanies Rick along the hardscrabble streets, past the burned-out buildings. And when he finally presents it to his sister, the two are seen, if only briefly, not as gun-toting, cocaine-snorting criminals but as children denied their childhood. “You still are a kid, Rick,” she says, before the two are drawn into yet another orgy of violence that typified the lives of too many Detroiters. *© 2018 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Where'd You Go, Bernadette](https://www.meiermovies.com/whered-you-go-bernadette/) **Published:** August 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Where’d You Go, Bernadette**, 2019, 1 ¼ stars # Where’d you go, Linklater? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Bernadette.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Bernadette.png)Image copyright Annapurna Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 18, 2019 *Where’d You Go, Bernadette*? More like: Where’d you go, Linklater? Because the new dramedy starring Cate Blanchett and Billy Crudup barely resembles the best work by the acclaimed writer-director. Richard Linklater’s latest project is an example of an adaptation that probably never should have happened. Based on the 2012 novel by Maria Semple, it’s the story of a woman (a wife, mother and formerly acclaimed architect) stuck in a semi-permanent life crisis and artistic paralysis. But because the book’s story unfurls in a series of documents (memos, e-mails, etc.), it’s a tough match for the screen. And, frankly, Linklater seems utterly clueless about how to conquer its structural issues, exacerbating them with enormous tonal mistakes, narrative drift, sophomoric scoring and miscalculated performances, including one by the usually brilliant Blanchett that – for the first time ever – left me genuinely embarrassed for her. Kristen Wiig (in some sort of half-ass, comic-relief role), Billy Crudup (Bernadette’s husband), Judy Greer (a psychologist) and an underused Laurence Fishburne (Bernadette’s old friend and colleague) are all similarly at sea, metaphorically, thanks more to Linklater than their own acting choices. And don’t blink or you will miss Megan Mullally, David Paymer and Steve Zahn. (It’s a sign of respect for Linklater that they all would sign on for such tiny parts.) The only bright spark is newcomer Emma Nelson, who plays Bernadette’s daughter. She’ll be traveling to better cinematic destinations soon. But as for her current film, it should just go away. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Where to Invade Next](https://www.meiermovies.com/where-to-invade-next/) **Published:** February 11, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Where to Invade Next**, 2015, 3 ½ stars ## Michael Moore’s new film is provocative, powerful [![_where_to_invade](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/where_to_invade-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/where_to_invade.jpg)Image copyright Dog Eat Dog Films/IMG Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/where-to-invade-next-is-provocative-powerful/Content?oid=2469231), February 10, 2016 What words come to mind when you think of a travelogue? Insightful, infuriating, hilarious, terrifying, provocative, offensive, inspirational? If those weren’t the terms you were contemplating, you’ve never seen a Michael Moore travelogue. *Where to Invade Next*, Moore’s first film since *Capitalism: A Love Story*, in 2009, features the writer-director traveling Europe (with one stop in Africa) to show Americans all the things other countries are doing better. “We have problems no army can solve,” Moore says, before embarking on his foreign “invasion,” during which he plants the American flag and “steals” the best ideas he can find. In Italy, those ideas are paid vacations for every working citizen, two-hour lunches and strong unions. In France, they are delicious (and healthy) school meals and sensible sex education that results in fewer teen pregnancies. In Finland, they are the world’s best education system and a counter-intuitive approach of shorter school days and practically no homework. Next up are Slovenia, Germany, Portugal, Norway, Tunisia and Iceland, until Moore has stolen enough ideas to return with his booty, without a single drop of blood shed. (Won’t the U.S. military be jealous?) In his previous best documentaries – *Bowling for Columbine*, *Roger and Me* and *Fahrenheit 9/11* – Moore focused on a single topic and accompanied his impassioned commentary with (mostly) responsible journalism. *Where to Invade Next* is more of a catch-all analysis of American social and economic problems, seen through the eyes of foreigners. The idea of letting non-Americans show us what they do better than the United States will surely enrage many American conservatives and strong proponents of American exceptionalism. In addition, Moore’s meandering structure, occasionally shabby journalism and factual cherry-picking will make even some liberals cringe. For instance, he implies that the United States middle class is completely dead and that our educational system ranks 29th in the world. The first claim is obviously hyperbole, but the educational rank is slightly misleading. (We’re closer to 20th if you average various studies, and that does not factor in our higher education, which is at or close to the top of rankings.) Despite questionable facts and occasionally outrageous logic, particularly on the issue of race, Moore is still able to shock, entertain, sadden and inspire us while also making a stunning – and surprisingly positive – plea for change. By showing us how others see the United States, he allows us to understand our own faults. And by reminding us of the enormous improvements that other countries have seen, he makes us realize that radical change – free college, guaranteed maternity leave, gender equality and prison reform – isn’t impossible. And, ironically, Moore proves that one doesn’t need to travel the world in search of solutions after all. The change we need is inside us, buried within our own Constitution and our American values. And what if a seemingly immovable object blocks your way, like the Berlin Wall did for Germans? Moore: “You just take a hammer and knock it down.” *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [West Is West](https://www.meiermovies.com/west-is-west/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **West Is West**, 2010, 3 ¾ stars # *West* is best of South Asian Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/screening-at-the-south-asian-film-festival-1.1382534), October 3, 2012 The South Asian Film Festival opens with some familiar faces. *West Is West*, a British comedy/drama set mostly in Pakistan, reintroduces us to the dysfunctional Khan family of England, who we met in 1999’s *East Is East*. The Khans have faced crises before thanks to the Pakistani beliefs of father George (Om Puri), who often clashes with his sons and English wife. This time it’s George’s youngest son, Sajid (Aqib Khan), who is rebelling, and the solution seems to be a trip to Pakistan to show him his roots. What we expect to be the son’s coming-of-age story turns into a tale of life lessons relearned by the father. Indeed, in an unexpectedly rich and touching commentary on Pakistani-English cultural differences, we learn that George – Jahangir in his native Punjabi – is the patriarch of not just his British family but also the one he left behind 30 years before. “I don’t know who I’m supposed to be,” Sajid laments. By the end of director Andy De Emmony’s well-crafted creation, which is the best of this year’s festival, both Sajid and George have completed a life-altering journey to find their answer. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Welcome to Me](https://www.meiermovies.com/welcome-to-me/) **Published:** May 5, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Welcome to Me**, 2015, 1 ½ stars # Welcome to Mediocrity ## Kristin Wiig star vehicle disappoints [![Welcome to Me](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Welcome-to-Me-300x211.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Welcome-to-Me.jpg)Images copyright BRON Studios / Alchemy / Millennium Entertainment From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/05/welcome-to-me-opens-this-week-at-enzian-theater)*, May 6, 2015 Kristen Wiig’s colossal comedic break, *Welcome to Me*, is her chance to show whether she can carry a star-studded film virtually by herself and whether her nice turn in *The Skeleton Twins* was a fluke or a sign of better things to come. Regrettably, she disappoints on both counts. But, in a departure from the film’s title, the failure is not all about her, as she has considerable help from the writer and director and her fellow cast members. Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a bi-polar lottery winner who decides to eschew charity or any practical uses of her $86 million winnings and instead embrace fame full-force by launching a talk show hosted by and about only herself. Even Donald Trump must be offended by the immodesty.[![Welcome to me August 9 2013 028.NEF](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WelcomeToMe-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WelcomeToMe.jpg) Accompanying Alice on her misadventure is the show’s director (Joan Cusack), producer (James Marsden) and production assistant (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The only ones who seem concerned for her well-being are her love interest (Wes Bentley), best friend (Linda Cardellini**)** and therapist (an underused Tim Robbins). But it’s not genuine concern, as little in this films rings true. (Since when do “narrative infomercials” air live and unrehearsed, with virtually no one in the studio audience?) But plot foibles might have been forgiven if humanity managed to shine through this rather joyless meditation on mental illness, or if it had anything useful to say to the mentally ill, other than to never go off your meds. Thanks to underwhelming writing by Eliot Laurence, limp directing by Shira Piven and a mediocre performance by Wiig – who settles too comfortably into her low-key, deadpan, *SNL* delivery – nothing crackles the way it should in this inelegant, inarticulate and often unfunny take on our media-obsessed, selfish society. (*Network* this is not.) And just when you think the movie is about to make a larger, darker statement about redemption and the moral bankruptcy of fame, it pulls its punches, unable to rise above its implausibilities and contrivances. *This review was originally part of [my article on the 2015 Florida Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/).* *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Welcome to Marwen](https://www.meiermovies.com/welcome-to-marwen/) **Published:** December 21, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Welcome to Marwen**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars # *Marwen*’s call ## Zemeckis film speaks to fragility in all of us [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Welcome-to-Marwen.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Welcome-to-Marwen.jpg)Image copyright Universal Pictures / DreamWorks From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/welcome-to-marwen-speaks-to-the-fragility-in-all-of-us/Content?oid=22475200), December 21, 2018 Robert Zemeckis is cinema’s most underrated director. OK, maybe that isn’t entirely true, but now that I have your attention, let me explain. The helmer of *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, *Forrest Gump,* *Back to the Future* and *Contact* is often regarded as a purveyor of pop culture rather than a true artist. He’s also often labeled an innovator whose special effects and technological experimentation overwhelm his stories – a poor man’s Spielberg. (Remember *The Polar Express* and *Beowulf*?) And though his new fantasy-dramedy, *Welcome to Marwen*, does little to counter those mostly undeserved criticisms, it’s still worth experiencing on the big screen for its spectacle and emotion. Inspired by the 2010 documentary *Marwencol*, Zemeckis’s film puts a new spin on the tale of real-life crime victim Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell). After admitting to a gang of five hooligans outside a bar in Kingston, New York, that he enjoyed cross-dressing, Hogancamp was beaten almost to death. A talented illustrator before the attack, Hogancamp was left unable to draw and unable to remember his past. To build a new life mentally, Hogancamp began to build physically. And his creativity took the form of a miniature town, which he named Marwencol. (Zemeckis and his co-writer, Caroline Thompson, shorten it to the more user-friendly Marwen but pay a clever, if invented, homage to the real town’s name toward the end of their film.) As do many victims, Hogancamp had difficulty relating to people following his assault. So he populated his town with Barbie Doll versions of people he knew – even his attackers. He took particular joy in bonding with beautiful women, something he couldn’t do for real. In Zemeckis’s slightly fictionalized version of Hogancamp’s life, those tiny companions include sexy next-door neighbor Nicol (Leslie Mann) and a friend (Merritt Wever) who manages the store at which he buys his dolls. His toy town becomes a rich tableau of both artistry and survival, and it speaks to the fragility and insecurities in all of us. But sometimes it speaks too loudly. Indeed, there are times when the film can’t stop yelling, stylistically. Alternating between the real world and Hogancamp’s fantasies, Zemeckis depicts the latter using performance-capture technology and frenetic action. Though it’s visually brilliant (and a tad creepy thanks to its “uncanny valley” aesthetic), the film occasionally has difficulty with its transitions, which can be jarring and heavy-handed, especially when they follow the sad, sweet scenes between Carell and Mann. It’s almost as if Zemeckis designed the digital set pieces first and structured the story around them, instead of the reverse. And though *Welcome to Marwen* is a more significant artistic and cinematic accomplishment than the doc upon which it’s based, it cries out for a slightly more lighthearted, subtle touch in order to capture the quiet profundity of the real story. But this is Zemeckis in his fantastical element, and he packs in plenty of visual treats, including some delicious, if nonsensical, references to *Back to the Future*. He clearly had fun making this movie, and his joy is infectious. Admittedly, a couple of plot points either go unresolved or fall flat, but the story itself is emotionally powerful. Even the seemingly strange inclusion of mild violence and sexuality gives the film a depth and maturity it otherwise might not have had. And the chemistry between Carell and Mann help maintain narrative momentum as one grows tired of the animated interludes and the unending references to Hogancamp’s assault. “A lot of weird stuff happens in Marwen,” Mark explains. “Stuff that doesn’t make sense.” True that. But at least the good weird outweighs the bad, and is buoyed by unique, imaginative revelations about human suffering. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [We Don't Live Here Anymore](https://www.meiermovies.com/we-dont-live-here-anymore/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **We Don’t Live Here Anymore**, 2004, 3 ½ stars # A celluloid study in adultery From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, September 10, 2004 With each role, Naomi Watts slowly establishes herself as one of the most captivating and honest actresses in Hollywood, and backed by three other strong performances, she brings to life *We Don’t Live Here Anymore*, a meandering and slow-paced yet painfully and effectively real psycho-sexual drama by novice director John Curran. Based on short stories by Andre Dubus, the writer of *In the Bedroom*, this is the story of two married couples who share close friendships, similar careers and adulterous affairs with each others’ spouses – a *Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice* with teeth. And although the movie’s methodical tempo won’t agree with everyone, and the script often fails to build momentum, the film’s style reflects the quiet desperation and confusion of life. Watts (*Mulholland Drive, The Ring*) plays Edith Evans, a young mom married to Hank (Peter Krause, HBO’s *Six Feet Under*), a self-absorbed writer who may or may not know about his wife’s infidelity with his best friend, Jack. Even if he does know, he doesn’t care, as this frees him to cheat with students at the college at which he teases and Edith’s best friend, Terry. “It’s much easier living with a woman who feels loved,” Hank tells Jack. Mark Ruffalo (*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Collateral*) matches Watts’ performance with a subtle and poignant one of his own. Because he doesn’t show the lack of guilt inherent in his friend, we’re able to see in him more of the shame, reluctance and embarrassment that often accompanies an affair. In addition, he projects a quiet sadness as he seems almost numb to the ridicule heaped upon him by his wife, Terry, played almost equally as passionately by Laura Dern (*Jurassic Park*) when one of the affairs is revealed. Rarely are actors so exposed emotionally to both each other and to their audience. And despite a lot of physical exposure and raw sex scenes, Curran makes the intelligent choice to have little or no nudity, which allows us to absorb the energy, lust and pain of the characters without being too distracted by body parts. Some lack of tension and a somewhat predictable plot leaves one wondering briefly where the story is headed, but the smart script and spot-on performances save the movie from drifting too far off course. Seldom does a film take the time to delve beneath the surface of sex to find out what role jealousy, humiliation and self-worth, not to mention children, play in an affair. The long, brooding, silent close-ups and strained scenes of family life are interspersed effectively with the alternatingly depressing and tender sex scenes to create a collage of the breakdowns of marriages and friendships. “Even adultery has a morality to it,” Edith says, and Dubus’ script explores not only that morality or lack of it, but all the sexual feelings and heartache that comes with it. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Way, Way Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-way-way-back/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Way, Way Back**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars ## Get *Back* to a simpler summer movie [![The Way, Way Back](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Way-Way-Back-300x180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Way-Way-Back.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-way-way-back-is-one-of-the-seasons-most-honest-and-funny-flicks/Content?oid=2244013)*, July 6, 2014 Overwhelmed with action blockbusters? Longing to go back to the days of CGI-free dramedies? Well, why not go *Way, Way Back* and enjoy one of this season’s sweetest, most honest and funny flicks, courtesy of first-time directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. The incomparable Toni Collette (Pam) and the unpredictable Steve Carrell (Trent) have been dating for about a year. To take their relationship to the next level and to form greater bonds with each other’s child from previous marriages, they head to an Atlantic Ocean beach town for a summer vacation. In the grand tradition of the coming-of-age film, Pam’s 14-year-old son, Duncan (Liam James), discovers a bit about himself, the opposite sex, friendship and his mom’s flawed relationship with Trent. *The Way, Way Back* is packed with rich and offbeat performances, more than any other film this summer. The slightly uneven script by Faxon and Rash can’t quite keep them all in balance, but there are some real gems here. Collette steals the drama prize, but Sam Rockwell, as Owen, upstages everyone. As the manager of the local Water Wizz water park, where “what happens in the tube stays in the tube,” Owen both befriends Duncan and gives him his first summer job. In fact, it’s Rockwell, not Carrell, who is given the heavy comedic lifting, and he handles it superbly, with Carrell relegated to an effective but not particularly memorable dramatic turn. As if that weren’t enough, we get Allison Janney’s quirky, constantly inebriated next-door neighbor, Maya Rudolph’s endearing would-be girlfriend of Owen, and even Faxon and Rash as scene-stealing employees of Water Wizz. At times, it seems as if the young James, in the lead role, is the only dull element, which is a shame since every other facet – even the scenes that don’t quite work – are brimming with life. But he has enough sweetness and truth about him to pull the part off. After all, haven’t we all been the boring, awkward teenager struggling to fit in? Yet it’s not just Duncan who is struggling – every character seems to be at a crossroads. As Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), Duncan’s crush, says, the beach resort is just as eye-opening for parents as for kids, a sort of “spring break for adults.” With a more heavy-handed script, that could have led to a contrived construction, but there’s just enough chemistry here to make things cook, despite an overblown ending. For all its successes, the film does feel like a directorial debut. Faxon and Rash, at least at this point in their careers, are better writers and actors than directors. They co-wrote the *The Descendants*, which was directed by the more experienced Alexander Payne, and the two films have similarities in tone and plot. However, they got writing help from Payne on that one, so this is the first cinematic journey that the two are taking alone. And though that trip is a bit bumpy – for us as well as Duncan and his mom – it’s a trip worth taking. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Waves](https://www.meiermovies.com/waves/) **Published:** November 27, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Waves**, 2019, 1 ¾ stars # Only coming through in *Waves* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Waves.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Waves.jpg)Image copyright A24 Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 27, 2019 *Waves*, the new drama by writer-director Trey Edward Shults, has more in common with the cinematic movement it shares its name with than is immediately apparent. Like the French New Wave, it experiments with form. Specifically, it adopts radical aspect-ratio changes, circling camera movements and sound innovations. But more significantly, just when we start caring about the main character, the film drops him – along with almost all of the original storyline – in favor of another. In this respect, and thanks to its impressionistic storytelling in general, *Waves* is truly Nouvelle “Vague.” Shults specializes in stories of families in crisis. In his debut feature, *Krisha*, he focused on alcohol and drug addiction, while in *It Comes at Night*, he turned from drama to horror to tell the tale of an apocalyptic pandemic. In *Waves*, he often uses a similar horror style in his unrelenting focus on tragedy. This is the story of a black family in South Florida struggling to overcome trauma involving their son, Tyler, and that’s really all you should know going in. Unfortunately, that’s about all I knew going out, as Shults’s style completely overwhelmed the substance for me. At every turn – literally, as the camera rarely stays still – the film was demanding that I appreciate it, notice the pretentiously ever-changing framing and suffer alongside the characters. By the end, and despite accomplished performances, I was exhausted by this unpleasant, overscored and structurally frustrating film. Its failure is even more disappointing because of the inherent value of the story, which, refreshingly, focuses on a close-knit, suburban, African-American family. Even more noteworthy is the fact that *Waves* is set and filmed in Florida, and uses Florida talent. We need more of this. (I’m speaking to you, Sunshine State legislators.) But I still can’t embrace a production that leaves so many narrative loose ends and resembles a two-hour music video. Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Tyler, Taylor Russell portrays his sister, Alexa Demie is his girlfriend, Renée Elise Goldsberry plays the mother, and Sterling K. Brown is the father. All are superb. Also noteworthy is Lucas Hedges, who steps in about halfway through the film to play the new boyfriend of Tyler’s sister. But by the time he arrives with yet another tragic story (cancer and childhood abuse), I was looking at my watch (the film is 135 minutes) and wondering when and whether the missing Tyler would return to the narrative. I eagerly await Shults’s next project, especially if he chooses to film it in Florida. His movies, which are often infused with a dreamlike quality, are difficult to dismiss. But, for me, *Waves* is a migraine. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Walt Before Mickey](https://www.meiermovies.com/walt-before-mickey/) **Published:** August 25, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Walt Before Mickey**, 2015, 1 star # Unmagical ## Local production can’t capture essence of Walt Disney [![Walt Before Mickey](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Walt-Before-Mickey-300x125.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Walt-Before-Mickey.jpg)Orlando’s own Timothy Neil Williams (left) as animator Fred Harman and Thomas Ian Nicholas as Walt Disney. Photo copyright Conglomerate Media/Lensbern Productions. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/walt-before-mickey-local-production-cant-capture-essence-of-walt-disney/Content?oid=2423143), August 12, 2015 Despite what the wonderful world of Disney teaches us, when you wish upon a star, your dreams don’t always come true. And so it is for the creators of *Walt Before Mickey*, whose hearts were in the right place but whose skills were lacking. The film, which premieres at Downtown Disney AMC on Friday before beginning a limited theatrical release, recounts Walt’s early adult years, from his return from World War I in 1919 to the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in 1928. (His childhood years are sandwiched awkwardly into the opening credits). In those turbulent 10 years, he suffered multiple bankruptcies, moved from Kansas City to Los Angeles and saw his *Alice in Cartoonland* and *Oswald the Lucky Rabbit* franchises taken away. But he also befriended animator Ub Iwerks, formed a fledgling business with his elder brother Roy and married his life partner, Lily. Directed by Khoa Le and based on Timothy Susanin’s book, the movie was filmed in Sanford and DeLand with some Florida talent both in front of and behind the camera. Local filmmakers are always glad when flicks choose Orlando – especially the recent *[Tomorrowland](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland/)* and [*Sharknado 3*](http://www.meiermovies.com/jumping-the-shark-in-orlando/) – but this one was fraught with difficulty. Filmed in just 25 days, the movie took a nearly one-month break to find a “new direction,” according to co-writer/producer Arthur Bernstein, a native of West Palm Beach. And multiple sources describe the production as problematic – ironically, much like Walt’s early years – with a new director being brought in, crew members walking off the set, actors not getting paid on time and damage occurring to historic DeLand buildings used for filming. “Every actor got paid on time,” Bernstein told me. “The actors that you’re referring to are people that we were made aware \[of\] after the fact that never actually showed up on the set. They were, I guess, double-booked, and I guess there are … rules that you have to pay an actor \[who is booked but doesn’t work\], so we paid them. “We did change directors because our first director did not move at a pace that was right \[and\] did some unauthorized filming,” he says, adding that all building damage was paid for. “As you know, we’re ultra-low budget. … We did everything to the best of our ability. … We wanted to do it right. We wanted to make an homage to Walt Disney.” So how’s the finished product? Though the cinematography is pleasing and the editing efficient, other elements fall short. As Walt, Thomas Ian Nicholas, though likeable, has neither the requisite look nor fire. One simply can’t imagine him as the demanding perfectionist, striking fear into his staff with a single raised eyebrow. As Roy, *Napoleon Dynamite*’s Jon Heder is lost, as usual, wandering without dramatic focus, though he at least looks a bit like his character. The supporting players range from competent (co-writer/producer and South Florida native Armando Gutierrez Jr. as Iwerks, plus Orlando natives Timothy Neil Williams as animator Fred Harman and Kate Katzman as Lillian) to prone to overacting (Frank Licari as businessman George Winkler and Donn Lamkin as Walt’s father). The story is solid, but the screenplay is only partially effective, content to mope along with little joy or whimsy. And scenes resemble reenactments more than meaningful human encounters. Despite that docudrama feel (and the fact that the book was approved by Walt’s daughter), the film often misleads us. For instance, when Walt hires Friz Freleng (of later Warner Brothers fame), he’s told that Freleng is great at voices. Freleng even demonstrates a Yosemite Sam sound. However, that would have been little reason for hiring him – six years before sound. And while some say Freleng created Yosemite Sam in his own image, it was, of course, Mel Blanc who voiced the major Warner Brothers characters. Indeed, Freleng has not a single voice credit on IMDB. The budget hinders the production too, as most scenes are indoors, in buildings that were undoubtedly inexpensive to procure. Though there are some nice train shots (both real and CGI), we never get a sense of 1920s Kansas City, Los Angeles or New York City, with the latter represented just once by an unrealistic and dimly lit cityscape. Scenes involving Walt’s pet mouse are admittedly touching, as is the moment when the animators – led by Lillian – pick Mickey as the perfect name for their future star. But I found these moments fleeting and longed to revisit better Disney stories, such as *Saving Mr. Banks* and the documentary *Walt – the Man Behind the Myth.* The worst error is saved for the end-credit mini-biographies, which are accompanied by real photos. Astonishingly, Roy’s image is not Roy at all, but his son, Roy E. Disney. Bernstein says that will be fixed soon, but that still won’t fully expunge the production’s aroma of amateurism. *Walt Before Mickey* features tons of quotable dialogue, most of it in unrelenting voiceover. Some lines are inspirational, but some are corny and cliché-ridden, such as “I had a dream, and I was determined to make my dream come true.” But I was most struck by a famous Walt quote *not* from the movie: “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality.” In this instance, that “place” is a film – conceived nobly but executed poorly by people who fell short of their dream. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Walk](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-walk/) **Published:** October 14, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Walk**, 2015, 3 ¾ stars # Towering tribute ## *The Walk* is a fitting homage to the Twin Towers [![1000w_the-walk](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1000w_the-walk-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1000w_the-walk.jpg)Images copyright ImageMovers / Sony Pictures Entertainment From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-walk-is-a-fitting-homage-to-the-twin-towers/Content?oid=2439341)* and *[The San Antonio Current](http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/the-walk-is-a-fitting-homage-to-the-twin-towers/Content?oid=2475987)*, October 7, 2015 Philippe Petit preaches freedom, independence, even civil disobedience – all in the name of artistic expression. He’s the type of guy who not just talks the talk, but walks the walk, literally. The Frenchman’s greatest walk, of course, came in 1974 when he strung a cable between the towers of the brand-new World Trade Center, making high-wire history and astounding New Yorkers. His illegal feat was chronicled in the 2008 documentary *Man on Wire* and is now the subject, in narrative-fiction form, of *The Walk*. Though *Man on Wire* is good, the new Robert Zemeckis film is slightly better. And to understand why, one can turn to Woody Allen. A character in that director’s masterpiece, *Zelig*, says that when a man changes appearances, you have to see it. You can’t just read or hear about it. Although that film deals with absurdist fiction, the same principle holds true for a real-life marvel: a man walking a wire across a 140-foot span 1,350 feet in the air. And since the actual walk was never captured in moving images, it is perfect fodder for cinematic spectacle. Zemeckis may be no Allen, but he’s no slouch either. The vastly underrated director has helmed such masterpieces as *Who Framed Roger Rabbit* and *Forrest Gump*. He understands the visual power of cinema and realizes that, if he uses all the special-effects tricks in his repertoire, he can bring “the walk” back to life. Although the film was shot in 2-D and converted to 3-D, the conversion is extraordinary and contains even a few gimmicky but fun “made you jump” moments. The lighting and color palette (especially in the early scenes of France) are stunning too, as is the well-researched art direction. It’s just a shame that almost everything else had to be so flat. [![the-walk](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/the-walk-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/the-walk.jpg)Instead of shooting a drama, Zemeckis opted for his usual mix of Spielbergian fantasy mixed with comedy-caper. That adds energy and whimsy, even intermittent magic that’s suitable for the entire family, but the film is disappointingly short on realistic drama and a true sense of danger. Told almost entirely by Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), in both voiceover and stagey addresses to the camera, the story sometimes feels contrived, and the accents are often muddled and distracting. Gordon-Levitt is acceptable, as is Ben Kingsley as Petit’s mentor, but many of Petit’s friends aren’t fully fleshed out. Most disappointing is the only female, Petit’s girlfriend (Charlotte Le Bon), who is an astonishingly beautiful, empty shell. But perhaps Zemeckis was fine with the supporting cast’s one-dimensionality, as this film really belongs to just three characters: Petit and the two towers. As his friends remark, Petit was the one who first gave the towers their humanity and made New Yorkers see them as more than monoliths of mortar and steel. He gave them an aesthetic soul. And with this loving tribute to not just a great piece of performance art but the buildings that made that art possible, Zemeckis has given us a magical, if flawed, tribute to the fallen symbols of Americana. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Youth](https://www.meiermovies.com/youth/) **Published:** December 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Youth**, 2015, 4 stars # Beautiful *Youth* ## Aesthetics mask underlying emotions in Sorrentino film [![Youth](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Youth-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Youth.jpg)Image copyright Indigo Film/Barbary Films/Pathé From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/aesthetics-mask-underlying-emotions-in-sorrentino-youth/Content?oid=2459120)*, December 23, 2015 *Youth* is old. Imbued with an almost overbearing maturity in both pacing and theme, the oddly titled labor of love by Italian writer-director Paolo Sorrentino is a unique – though often inaccessible – examination of what it means to age and what it takes to stay young. Michael Caine is Fred Ballinger, a classical composer vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Retired in every sense of the word, he’s content to while away his final days, taking joy only in his odd friendship with fellow septuagenarian Mick (Harvey Keitel). Though Fred’s daughter (Rachel Weisz) comes to stay at the resort with him and he strikes up a casual friendship with a famous actor (Paul Dano), Fred’s world is a lonely one. With his wife either dead or divorced – in a nice twist, we don’t know her status until the end – the maestro is alone, left to wander the emotional graveyard of his life. Populating the resort is an assortment of interesting but empty characters, people who might have stepped out of a Federico Fellini film, albeit a rather tame one. There’s the aging and overweight soccer star (Roly Serrano), the young masseuse (Luna Zimic Mijovic) whose age and outlook suggest a vastly different time and place, and the sublimely unclothed Miss Universe (Madalina Diana Ghenea). And to add much-needed plot complexity, there’s a brief but memorable appearance by Jane Fonda (as Mick’s muse) and Alex Macqueen as an emissary for Queen Elizabeth II, who wants Fred to conduct one last performance of his famous “Simple Songs.” But Fred is not a simple song, and neither is *Youth*. There’s a depth and complexity lurking beneath its slow tracking shots and careful framing, though most of its raw emotion is kept at a distance, overshadowed at times by Sorrentino’s devotion to aesthetic. Indeed, the film, like Fred, is emotionally stunted on the surface but brimming with life underneath. Structurally, the movie is a lazy river instead of a road. Failing to build much forward narrative motion until its jaw-dropping, yet slightly overlong, conclusion, *Youth* is more a collection of visual poems than an epic ballad. It may not be a “great beauty” like the director’s previous offering, but it’s still one of the prettiest films of the year and proves again that Sorrentino is arguably the most visionary poet in cinema today. Caine is in total command, but it’s Keitel who is most surprising, thanks in part to his great chemistry with his co-star. Playing an aging film director struggling to write his cinematic “testament” (appropriately titled *Life’s Last Day*), Keitel displays a sweetness and sensitivity that is almost as effective as Sorrentino’s surrealist touches and Luca Bigazzi’s cinematography. The latter element may be the real star, as it seems to almost float on air, or be sculpted from glass, as if the slightest touch could bring the entire film shattering to ground. “I’ve grown old without understanding how I got here,” Fred tells his doctor. The film fails in its effort to fully explain that journey. But its attempt is beautiful. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [You're Next](https://www.meiermovies.com/youre-next/) **Published:** October 25, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **You’re Next**, 2011, ¾ star # Hackneyed home-invasion horror ## Despite twists, *Next* is worthless addition to tired genre [![You're Next](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Youre-Next-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Youre-Next.jpg)From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/hackneyed-home-invasion-horror-youre-next-lacks-genuine-scares/Content?oid=2243859), August 22, 2013 Home-invasion horrors have been all the rage, literally, over the last few years, as each new one has tried to outdo the previous with violence, anger, depravity and, in some cases, originality. To its credit, *You’re Next* tries to introduce the latter to the tired genre by tossing in twists, but, regrettably, the film falls flat on its face as many times as its murdered characters and ends up as a barbaric waste of time lacking any genuine scares or unique qualities. I’ll relay as much as the story as I can without ruining the movie more than the filmmakers already have, although I doubt the film’s fans will read this review – or read much of anything. That’s especially true for the gentleman sitting behind me at the preview screening who twice shouted “you dumb bitch” at the screen. After his second outburst, I was convinced he had just stepped out of a Tennessee Williams play and was prepared to tell him so, before realizing the reference might be lost on him and I might be subjecting myself to physical harm, considering he was wearing what appeared to be a blood-stained wifebeater. On the other hand, it was nice of the promoters to invite the movie’s real-life inspiration to the screening. But I digress. *You’re Next*, which premiered at festivals in 2011 and is just now getting a wide release, is the tale of four adults, and their significant others, who visit their wealthy parents at their secluded country mansion to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. It’s the perfect occasion to renew family ties until it becomes clear that everyone is being stalked by intruders bent on killing them with crossbows. If the story ended there, it would be just another demented societal comment, like *The Strangers*, which, despite its lack of a twist, was a slightly better film than this. But *You’re Next* goes for a twist – two actually – and crumbles under the weight of its own contrivance, bad writing and predictability. Sure, maybe those twists haven’t been used in this type of film in the last few years, but any filmgoer or reader of mystery novels with a high school education has seen them countless times before. The actors – particularly Sharni Vinson, as Erin, who becomes the protagonist by being the only one able to fight back – do the best they can, but it’s simply too difficult to overcome lines like “Why would anyone do this?” “I have an arrow in my back,” “Would you just die already?” “We’re all gonna die” and the vastly different “We’re all gonna fucking die,” which turn the film from thriller to puerile comedy. Director Adam Wingard has gained attention as a genre up-and-comer, but with his fifth feature, he’s unable to raise Simon Barrett’s screenplay above the level of trash. He even makes it worse by introducing abysmal handheld camera and problems of focus, creating a fun ride for gore groupies but a film that discriminating viewers will find worthless and repugnant. *Copyright 2013 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Yesterday](https://www.meiermovies.com/yesterday/) **Published:** June 26, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Yesterday**, 2019, 3 ¼ stars # Believe in *Yesterday* ## Beatle fantasy is uneven yet enticing [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Yesterday.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Yesterday.jpg)Image copyright Universal Pictures / Working Title Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/beatle-fantasy-yesterday-is-uneven-yet-enticing/Content?oid=25544796), June 26, 2019 To borrow a phrase, Jack Malik is a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, which happens to be the seaside resort town of Clacton-on-Sea, England. Working as an underappreciated part-timer at a wholesale warehouse and struggling to write and perform music in his free time, Jack makes all his nowhere plans for nobody. Bemoaning his failed music career, Jack tells his childhood friend Ellie, “If it hasn’t happened by now, it’s not going to. It would take a miracle.” That miracle is coming. One evening while Jack is riding home on his bike, the globe experiences a freakish power outage. The electrical interruption goes unnoticed by Jack because he’s struck by an oncoming bus at the exact moment of the glitch. But despite a hospital visit and the loss of his front teeth, it’s not his physical health Jack is concerned about. Instead, it’s his mental and aesthetic well-being, as Jack soon discovers that, astonishingly, the recent power snafu has erased from existence the most cherished artistic entity of modern times: the Beatles. And he’s seemingly the only one who remembers them (along with Coca-Cola and cigarettes, the random disappearance of which inexplicably cheapens and complicates the film’s premise). Directed by Danny Boyle (*Trainspotting*, *Slumdog Millionaire*), from a script by Richard Curtis (*Four Weddings and a Funeral*, *Notting Hill*), *Yesterday* begins as a great *Twilight Zone* episode before lurching into an only somewhat successful combination of comedy, drama, fantasy and romance. Once Jack gets over the shock of his unlikely predicament, he is consumed by the awesome task of presenting to the world for the first time the music of the Fab Four. Predictably, fortune finds him while he simultaneously struggles with the trappings of fame – as did the Beatles themselves – and his own romantic feelings toward Ellie. *Yesterday* is a competent realization of a brilliant concept, but it could have been more. It’s nice to see Boyle embrace whimsy over his usual grittiness, but the production often seems bloated, not to mention tonally challenged thanks to its genre-hopping. Still, it’s intermittently enticing, even endearing, helped along by great music and solid performances by Himesh Patel (*EastEnders*) as Jack, Lily James (*Downton Abbey*, *Darkest Hour*) as Ellie and Ed Sheeran as himself. Providing broad comic relief are Joel Fry (*Game of Thrones*) as Jack’s friend and roadie, and Kate McKinnon (*Saturday Night Live*) as his money-grubbing manager. Fry is a mostly welcome addition, but McKinnon’s character is poorly conceived, badly written and abysmally acted. Shockingly, she does almost everything possible to sink an otherwise decent film, until a single, mind-bending scene near the end rescues the production from narrative drift and finally elevates it, if briefly, to a level of metaphysics and mysticism. *Yesterday*, like the song by Paul McCartney, is about missed opportunities. Still, the movie never entirely wears out its wonderful premise because Boyle understands an essential truth uttered by one of the film’s mysterious supporting characters: “A world without the Beatles is a world that is infinitely worse.” *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Vaxxed](https://www.meiermovies.com/vaxxed/) **Published:** June 3, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe**, 2016, 2 stars # *Vaxxed* vexes ## Controversial vaccination doc is compelling but flawed [![Vaxxed](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Vaxxed.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Vaxxed.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 3, 2016 In journalism, sources are everything. So despite raising legitimate questions about vaccination policies, *Vaxxed* – the controversial documentary that was just booted from the Tribeca Film Festival – fails because its writer, director and principal interviewee, Andrew Wakefield, is the very man whose 1998 landmark research paper on the topic was discredited. Its creator may not pass the smell test, but, surprisingly, much of the film does. This is not the garbage propaganda you might expect. Instead, it’s a well-shot, well-edited and gripping piece that simply should have been made by filmmakers with greater objectivity and credibility. Though no comprehensive scientific studies have proved the connection between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, most of the questions the film raises deserve to be asked, if only so they can be disproved once and for all. Yes, the doc ventures into slightly exploitative and just plain inaccurate territory by conjecturing that autism might affect 80 percent of boys by 2032. And it successfully tugs at your heartstrings by showing families torn apart by the disease. But it also takes the high ground at times, methodically laying out its case for why more research is needed, why the United States “Vaccine Court” needs overhauling, why the MMR shot should be broken into individual vaccines and, most importantly, why Centers for Disease Control (CDC) whistleblower Dr. William Thompson should be subpoenaed by Congress to reveal what he knows about a potentially flawed CDC vaccine study. The film never argues against vaccinations altogether, and that’s a good thing, as a widespread rejection of vaccines would threaten the lives of both children and adults. And, thankfully, it doesn’t get preachy until the end, when it suggests a series of steps we should take. It also isn’t afraid to admit it doesn’t have all the answers, but, in presenting its theories anyway, it risks encouraging parents to reject the MMR vaccine, which is bad advice from someone such as Wakefield. I pause mid-review to remind you I’m not a scientist. So the last thing you should do is take medical suggestions from me, or anyone except a doctor. I’m simply a curious person who, like you, has been told that all vaccinations are safe. So when *Vaxxed* challenges that accepted truth with veracity and intellectual passion, it’s impossible not to take notice. But I AM a journalist. So when a film’s main sources are its filmmakers – one of whom has been stripped of his medical license – and the aforementioned Thompson, whose voice was recorded for the movie without his knowledge, I can’t offer my endorsement. Still, for those of you like Robert DeNiro whose life has been affected by autism, this film will mean something. But, like DeNiro – who first championed the film at Tribeca before rejecting it – I won’t in good conscience embrace it. The people who have tried to quash the film – many of whom have either not seen it or work for companies that manufacture vaccines – deserve criticism too. In a free society, audiences should make their own informed choices about their health by being exposed to all available information. And if the documentary prompts a CDC study that finally uncovers what is really behind the horrendous growth of autism over the last 40 years, then perhaps it won’t be for naught. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Vast of Night](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-vast-of-night/) **Published:** May 28, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Vast of Night**, 2019, 1 ¾ stars # *Vast* too small ## Sci-fi slow-burn is atmospheric but slight [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Vast-of-Night.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Vast-of-Night.jpg)Sierra McCormick stars in *The Vast of Night*. (image copyright Amazon Studios / GED Cinema) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sci-fi-slow-burn-the-vast-of-night-is-atmospheric-but-ultimately-empty/Content?oid=27362385), May 27, 2020 If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, *The Vast of Night* might be this year’s top cinematic sycophant. The debut film from director Andrew Patterson and writers James Montague and Craig Sanger references everything from *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* to *Stranger Things* to *Amazing Stories*. Those stylistic and thematic tributes aren’t completely cloying. In fact, some are rather cool, as this atmospheric science-fiction flick embraces its derivativeness. The movie even uses an endearing but on-the-nose framing device: an episode of “Paradox Theater,” an homage to *The Twilight Zone*. But the story – there’s the rub. In a small town in 1950s New Mexico, teenagers Everett and Fay are working their night jobs as the radio station’s disc jockey and the phone company’s switchboard operator, respectively. This makes them just about the only citizens not at the Cayuga High School basketball game. (Catch that name, Rod Serling fans?) But it also means they are seemingly the only ones to hear a strange sound. Fay is the first to notice it, coming through her phone lines, but Everett notices it too after it interrupts his broadcast. Searching for answers, they ask anyone with information to call into Everett’s radio show. They also do some old-fashioned physical sleuthing. What they discover is not what they expect. Frustratingly, though, it’s what we expect, because we’ve seen this a hundred times before. Admittedly, we’ve rarely seen it presented like this, as Patterson uses everything but a dolly zoom to jazz up an underwritten story on a small budget. This includes stylish art direction, atmospheric tracking shots, abrupt pacing changes, aspect-ratio experimentation and even odd moments in which the screen fades to black and stays that way for more than a minute. But these flourishes, which are alternatingly boss (to adopt the film’s ‘50s lingo) and needlessly distracting, rarely create the requisite tension. Even more disappointingly, they never make up for a story better suited to a 30-minute film or, better yet, a radio drama. As Fay, Sierra McCormick (TV shows *A.N.T. Farm* and *Romantically Challenged*) has a knack for rapid dialogue and an ability to hold our attention for excruciatingly long takes. But relative newcomer Jake Horowitz, as Everett, out-mumbles even Tom Hardy. And when his lack of enunciation is combined with purposely underlit shots, the film occasionally becomes both difficult to hear and see, at least on smaller screens with poor sound. And, regrettably, that’s how most audiences will witness it because of the COVID-19 theater closures. Patterson’s debut, which caught the attention of some critics at Toronto and Slamdance last year, instead deserves to be shown in cinemas, despite its flaws. And that’s where I hope to see his sophomore effort. *The X-Files* told us the truth is out there. In the waning years of that television series, that wasn’t always the case. But at least it proffered something profound. Patterson’s movie, conversely, extends its stylish hand into the vastness of space and comes up empty. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Valley of Saints](https://www.meiermovies.com/valley-of-saints/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Valley of Saints FL, 2012, 2 stars # *Valley* not quite deep enough From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/screening-at-the-south-asian-film-festival-1.1382534), October 3, 2012 *Valley of Saints*, a Kashmiri-language production, quietly washes over you, much like the waters of Dal Lake, where its characters live and work. It conveys both a Yasujirô Ozu-like serenity and a darker edge, but it’s ultimately a simple tale of a young man finding a new direction in a world he realizes he never truly knew. That man is Gulzar, played with quiet confidence by Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, and he desperately yearns to escape his life as poor boatman in war-torn Kashmir. “If \[the saints of the valley\] were real,” he complains, “they forgot about Kashmir.” After an escalation of violence, Gulzar and his friend must wait out a military curfew before fleeing for Delhi. During that delay, Gulzar meets a young woman who gives him a new view of his environment and himself, while also driving a wedge between him and his friend. The ensuing events are not without dramatic power, and when director/writer Musa Syeed, in his non-documentary debut, combines them with stunning cinematography, the result is a cultural document of stark realism. But like the shrinking waters of the once-great lake at the heart of its story, *Valley* seems a bit shallow. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mutant Aliens](https://www.meiermovies.com/mutant-aliens/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mutant Aliens**, 2001, ¾ star # Misguided mutants [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mutant-Aliens.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mutant-Aliens.jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Animator Bill Plympton’s work is a combination of a crude, sketchy Salvador Dali and a biting political cartoon. His exaggerated and expressive if somewhat simple and jerky drawings are well suited to magazines, short films and MTV clips, and that is precisely where he has had success. Unfortunately, this unique artistry doesn’t always translate well into feature-length storytelling, as his new film, *Mutant Aliens*, proves. For a film with such a bold style, it focuses too heavily on its rambling plot. Earl Jensen is an astronaut whose mission is sabotaged by the evil Dr. Frubar, who is more intent on profits than scientific exploration. Jensen floats in space for 20 years plotting his revenge on his nemesis with the help of several cute but deadly alien animals. Apparently Plympton became fascinated with Laike, the real-life cosmonaut dog, and wondered what would happen if animals sent into space mutated and returned to earth for revenge. Waiting on earth for Jensen’s return is his daughter Josie, who, in true Plympton fashion, divides her time between astronomy and graphic sex with her boyfriend. Most of these elements by themselves would make fascinating shorts, especially Jensen’s visit with aliens shaped as human body parts, but when combined, they make a confusing muddle and detract from the political and religious satire. Plympton’s fourth independent feature is a bizarre glimpse into the mind of its creator. Although it is filled with surreal characters, satirical commentary and humorous – if rather gratuitous – sex and violence, it fails because we don’t care about what Plympton is trying to say. We appreciate the artist’s imagination, but because the story and its symbolism and too confusing, *Aliens* becomes the last thing you would expect from a film with that title or indeed any Plymptom film: boring. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277909/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutant_Aliens).* --- ### [Unsane](https://www.meiermovies.com/unsane/) **Published:** March 24, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Unsane**, 2018, 2 stars # Soderbergh phones it in [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Unsane.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Unsane.jpg)Image copyright New Regency Pictures / Bleecker Street Media From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/soderberghs-iphone-shot-thriller-unsane-loses-signal/Content?oid=12010547), March 23, 2018 Director Steven Soderbergh is known for experimentation, and for that he deserves commendation. Nevertheless, his latest exercise has landed with a thud or, more fittingly, with whatever sound an iPhone makes when hitting the ground, as that’s the tool he used to shoot his new movie. Arguably his first true psychological horror/thriller, *Unsane* is the story of Sawyer, a young woman fresh to Philly. She relocated there from Boston to get away from David, a man who was stalking her. Yet she still hallucinates him in impossible places: at her work, on the street, in the faces of strangers. “I’m alone in a strange city, and I never feel safe,” she confesses. So, naturally, she reaches out to a psychologist. But instead of receiving proper treatment, she finds herself mistakenly committed to a mental institution for 24 hours (or longer if she misbehaves). That might sound preposterous, but it’s actually easy to swallow once an explanation is proffered. (Hint: As with most medical issues in this country, it involves insurance abuse.) What is more difficult if not impossible to imbibe is the (real or imagined?) role of her stalker in this tragedy of errors. As Sawyer, Claire Foy (*The Crown*) is excellent and does her best to make us forget the flaws of Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer’s script. Alert ears might notice some lapses in rhoticity (those American “R” sounds) induced by her native English dialect, but she otherwise does exactly what Soderbergh asks of her, and then some. As the stalker, Joshua Leonard (*The Blair Witch Project*) is suitably creepy, as is Juno Temple (*Atonement*, *Wonder Wheel*). Oh, and watch for Matt Damon in a throwaway role. Another supporting performer is the aforementioned phone. Specifically, it’s an iPhone 7 Plus. And though Soderbergh uses 4K resolution (comparable to some of the best professional, digital cameras), there’s no denying that the movie looks odd. Still shots, which he uses extensively, are somewhat attractive, but tracking shots are deplorable, with at least one appearing to glitch, as if the projected frame rate is different from the frame rate he used to shoot the movie. (He at least avoids shaky, handheld visuals, so you can leave your Dramamine at home.) Lighting is also dreadful, except for a strangely attractive, eerie blue that permeates the night scenes. Similarly intriguing – in a love-it-or-hate-it way – are the boxy aspect ratio (1.56:1) and the enormous depth of field. In other words, foreground and background objects are in focus at the same time. Uncommon in today’s cinema, that technique was used, to brilliant effect, in older films, notably *Citizen Kane*. But *Unsane* is no *Kane*, and Soderbergh’s creation comes across as cheap and flat – not just in picture, but in story, pacing and scoring (or lack thereof). For all the visual and story oddities, there are moments when the movie successfully induces dread and claustrophobia. But it never approaches the level of a nightmare and comes partially unhinged toward the end thanks to the absence of a satisfactory, imaginative twist. The best one can say about Soderbergh’s failed experiment is it’s probably the most attractive film ever shot with a phone. So depending upon your take on technology, *Unsane* either marks the beginning of a new, noble democratization of the movie industry or the first sign of the cinematic apocalypse. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Unhinged](https://www.meiermovies.com/unhinged/) **Published:** August 22, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Unhinged**, 2020, 1 ½ stars # Road-rage redux ## *Unhinged* is nothing to Crowe about [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Unhinged.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Unhinged.png)Image copyright Solstice Studios Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 22, 2020 You’d think the first big studio release in months would offer escapism. Instead, *Unhinged* – a brutal thriller about road rage – throws us headlong into a world we’re all too familiar with recently: one filled with violence, uncertainty and anxiety. But that’s not necessarily the fault of director Derrick Borte (*The Joneses*) or writer Carl Ellsworth. It’s simply the circumstances they were dealt. What is their fault is the film’s failure to produce enough intelligent suspense and originality. Instead, the movie mistakes inhumanity, anger and car chases (albeit good ones) for tension, and wastes most of the talents of its two leads, Russell Crowe and Caren Pistorius (*Gloria Bell*). Crowe plays Tom Cooper, a man past the brink of a breakdown. With professional and family failings mounting, he’s one step away from a rampage. “I’ve been chewed up, used up and spat out,” he rants. “I’ll make my contribution this way: through violence and retribution, ‘cause that’s all I’ve got left.” We’ve all got a little Tom in us, and the film taps into that. Though it never references the COVID-19 pandemic or George Floyd protests specifically, *Unhinged* is, unfortunately, very much of its time. “People have so much coming at them,” a newscaster tells us over the opening credits, “their brains just can’t handle it.” Rachel (Pistorius) is having a tough time too. Experiencing a messy divorce and job insecurity while supporting her son (Gabriel Bateman) and younger brother (Austin McKenzie), she is a tamer, more legal, less psychotic version of Tom. But she too is filled with anger. And when the two exchange unpleasantries while driving, escalation seems inevitable. Sometimes a movie is better understood by watching a different movie. In this case, that film is *Duel*. Indeed, it’s almost as if Borte and Ellsworth decided to flip the script on every major element of the 1971 Steven Spielberg road-rage film. Instead of making the antagonist an unknown, faceless predator, *Unhinged* fully reveals its villain and everything he’s capable of in the opening scene, robbing the movie of its mystery. Instead of a menacing 1955 Peterbilt Needle Nose, we get a rather pedestrian Ford pick-up. Instead of a phone-less, rural landscape populated by tumble weeds and isolation, we are given a crowded, urban environment that makes it all too easy to seek help from passersby and the police. (Our protagonist’s repeated failure to do this adds to the film’s contrivance.) And instead of an everyman (or everywoman) character, we get one with an unnecessarily specific set of circumstances. This overwriting drags the film down, especially in the first half, while robbing the characters of relatability. Admittedly, these comparisons might be a bit unfair, as *Unhinged* is a far different film from *Duel*. In fact, it almost completely abandons its traditional road-rage plot halfway through. It’s at that point that things start to get interesting – until Crowe’s snarling performance grows tiresome and Borte makes some ridiculous decisions, such as choosing to insert a Schwarzeneggeresque, darkly comic line at the film’s climax. At least we can be thankful that these characters will never be back. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Uncles](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-uncles/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Uncles**, 2000, 2 ¾ stars # A funky, uncular opus From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Two brothers plot to find a man to impregnate their mentally ill sister so she will have a baby of her own and stop kidnapping other women’s children. Although it sounds like an episode from a daytime talk show, *The Uncles* is actually a touching, slightly askew, if disjointed, story of sibling relationships, marital infidelity and mental illness. Creator Jim Allodi uses a documentary-style camera to create a unique comedy/drama of betrayal and alienation from society. John (Chris Owens) and Marco (Kelly Harms) are the two brothers constantly saving Celia (Tara Rosling) from the police following her kidnapping expeditions. Thirty years old, still living at home and shunned by the world, all Celia knows is that she wants a baby of her own, and nothing will stop her in her quest. Meanwhile, John has complications of his own, as he is sleeping with the wife of his employer’s son. So the impregnation plot is hatched. Sagging in the middle and struggling to find its direction, the twists and turns in the story and the touching performance of Rosling keep the film on its feet. Allodi displays deeply emotional moments in a quiet, contemplative manner, with enough humor to keep the mood light. Though not a must-see at this year’s Florida Film Festival, this independent Canadian project is a quirky, original film with a charm all its own. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Two Popes](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-two-popes/) **Published:** December 15, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Two Popes**, 2019, 4 ¼ stars # Papal panache ## *Popes* brings Benedict, Francis into semi-fictional focus [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-Two-Popes.jpg)Jonathan Pryce, left, plays Pope Francis to Anthony Hopkins’ Pope Benedict in *The Two Popes*. (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-two-popes-brings-benedict-and-francis-into-semi-fictional-focus-at-maitlands-enzian/Content?oid=26461569), December 11, 2019 Despite differing views of Catholic theology, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis are apparently good friends and have enjoyed each other’s company since Francis’s papal ascension in 2013. But no one can be sure of what they have discussed. If only walls could talk. In *The Two Popes*, walls do talk. Chapels chatter. Ceilings sing. And together they speak one of the smartest and intellectually stimulating screenplays of the year. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (*The Constant Gardener*) and written by Anthony McCarten, who based it on his 2017 play, *The Pope*, the film relays a mostly imagined series of conversations between the two popes prior to Benedict stepping down from the throne of Saint Peter. Not satisfied with Benedict’s explanation of advancing age and declining health, McCarten speculates as to the real reason for the exceedingly rare resignation and fantasizes about the role Francis and his comparatively radical philosophy might have played. This isn’t the first time McCarten has inserted fantasy into non-fiction, as he also penned *The Theory of Everything*, *Darkest Hour* and *Bohemian Rhapsody*, but *The Two Popes* plays more loosely with reality than those three films combined. The talks take place both at the pope’s rural residence and in Rome. The Vatican does not accommodate filmmakers, however, so production designers had to re-create the Sistine Chapel and other locales, and the mix of practical sets and CGI is astonishing. But Meirelles isn’t content with a religious version of *My Dinner with Andre*. Instead, he infuses his film with boundlessly energetic, almost frenetic storytelling, relying on anachronistic music, unexpected humor, restless camerawork, quick cuts, changing aspect ratios, documentary footage and dialogue in at least five languages. Meirelles and McCarten even insert a second, more factual narrative into the first. That additional story focuses on Francis’s life as a young man in Argentina, when he was known as Jorge Bergoglio. And though it adds complexity and moral ambiguity to the film, it occasionally feels muddled, even sandwiched-in. One can question that second story’s necessity, especially because it leaves less time for the captivating interplay between Benedict and Francis. But no one should question Meirelles’ command of his craft and passion for his story. “I cannot play this role anymore,” Benedict tells Francis regarding his pending resignation. But Anthony Hopkins can, and then some, as the 81-year-old legend reminds us why he’s arguably the greatest actor of his generation. However, it’s Jonathan Pryce, as Francis, who has the slightly larger part, which he infuses with humanity, comedy and tenderness. Still, it’s Hopkins who is more likely to get the Oscar nomination in a crowded field. And though the film is, at its heart, a two-hander, Argentinian actor Juan Minujín is memorable as the young Bergoglio. In his literary companion to the film, *The Pope: Francis, Benedict, and the Decision That Shook the World*, McCarten quotes Francis: “Sin is more than a stain that can be removed by a trip to the dry cleaner. It is a wound that needs to be treated, healed.” Though cinema more often entertains, it can on rare occasions heal wounds both intellectual and spiritual. *The Two Popes* falls just short of that accomplishment, but it comes tantalizingly close. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: I first reviewed this film in capsule form during the [Telluride Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/).* --- ### [20th Century Women](https://www.meiermovies.com/20th-century-women/) **Published:** January 18, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **20th Century Women**, 2016, 2 stars # Of gender and generation ### *20th Century Women* examines changing roles of men and women From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/20th-century-women-examines-the-changing-roles-of-men-and-women/Content?oid=2555235), January 18, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/20th-Century-Women.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/20th-Century-Women.jpg)Image copyright Annapurna Pictures How often have you left a movie saying to yourself, “The book was better”? Well, as much as I discourage comparing a novel to a film, that’s the reaction I had after screening *20th Century Women*, the new inter-generational dramedy by writer-director Mike Mills. The only problem is the movie isn’t based on a book. Instead, it accomplishes all its compositional and structural screw-ups by itself. The story, or at least the premise, is mildly intriguing and genuine. After all, Mills based it on his own childhood. It’s Southern California in the late 1970s, and 55-year-old Dorothea (Annette Bening), who more closely identifies with the World War II generation, believes in the Depression-era motto that everyone raises everyone. She lives in a large house with her teenage son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). With no husband, Dorothea worries about her son’s lack of a father figure. Sure, there’s the hot handyman, William (Billy Crudup), who befriends them, but that’s simply not enough. For help, she turns to Jamie’s slightly older friend, Julie (Elle Fanning), and 20-something Abbie (Greta Gerwig), who rents a room from them. Meanwhile, Julie is wrestling with her own growing pains while Abbie has more serious adult problems to solve. Even the house is in disrepair, both metaphorically and literally, with old wood being ripped out to make way for new. It reminds one of a slightly grittier Wes Anderson film, just with fewer hypnotic tracking shots, more mundane art direction and less humor. The characters and performances are mildly interesting, and the ideas weighty, but with no cohesive structure and not enough consequential dialogue, the film limps along with little forward momentum. It’s further damaged by pretentious chapter headings that – in addition to its themes of love, sex, generational differences and gender roles – make this project better suited to literature, unless one were to dig up Ingmar Bergman to direct. And in the end – which feels like it will never come, thanks to poor pacing – I just don’t know why I’m supposed to care about these people. Sure, the actors are competent, but most of them have done better work recently (Bening in *Rules Don’t Apply*, Gerwig in *Maggie’s Plan*, Fanning in *The* *Neon Demon* and Crudup in *Jackie)* and will do better work again soon. *20th Century Women* is at its best and most poetic when it examines the non-linear nature of time. Particularly memorable are its *Casablanca* references and suggestions that, in a cultural sense, the past is constantly bumping up against the future, and vice versa. Indeed, the movie briefly manages to become more than the sum of its unimpressive parts when it adopts an almost deconstructionist format and allows Dorothea to gaze psychically into her and her son’s future. But these meta-theatrical, even metaphysical, moments cannot make up for the tedium and boredom of a tale that, when stripped to its core, is a rather poorly directed and edited movie about a mother struggling to raise her son in a world she doesn’t quite understand or embrace. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tully](https://www.meiermovies.com/tully/) **Published:** May 2, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tully**, 2018, 4 stars # The modern Mary Poppins ## *Tully* puts new spin on nannies [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Tully.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Tully.jpg)Image copyright Bron Studios / Right Way Productions / Focus Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/tully-puts-a-new-spin-on-nannies/Content?oid=13283334), May 2, 2018 Jason Reitman, Diablo Cody and Charlize Theron have done it again. In director Reitman and writer Cody’s previous collaboration – the monumentally underrated *Young Adult* – Theron captured the existential angst of the modern, single, American woman. In *Tully*, Theron again tackles profound material with intelligence and wit, but this time with a husband, kids and even more angst. Theron plays Marlo, an overworked, underappreciated mom of three, including a developmentally challenged son and an unplanned newborn. She is stretched to her breaking point while her husband (Ron Livingston), seemingly oblivious to her sleep deprivation, disappears into his video games every night. But help is on the way. After heeding a suggestion from her brother, Craig (Mark Duplass), Marlo hires a night nanny. “They’re like ninjas,” Craig says of these nocturnal babysitters. “They sneak in and out. You barely know they are there.” But Tully (Mackenzie Davis) is a nanny who is impossible to ignore. A chipper, quirky, young woman who wants nothing more than to care for kids and restore maternal sanity – while making you forget your milk-engorged breasts and fading youth – she’s Mary Poppins for the 21st-century American mother. “You can’t fix the parts without treating the whole,” Tully advises Marlo. “No one’s treated my hole in a really long time,” Marlo responds. Fresh off its appearance at the Florida Film Festival, *Tully* is structurally simpler than 2011’s *Young Adult* and more contrived, but it still has a lot to offer, both comedically and dramatically. It’s also more thought-provoking than Reitman and Cody’s first film together, 2007’s *Juno*, though the three movies do form an interesting triptych: youth, mid-life crisis and parenthood. The three stories are told from female perspectives, but it’s a credit to Cody and Reitman that they resonate just as well with smart male audiences. As usual, Cody’s dialogue crackles, but never for the sake of mere amusement. Her insightful subtext stays with you after the laughs fade. Theron has said she gained almost 50 pounds for the film, but it’s not her weight that sells the part. It’s her emotional commitment and, seemingly, her shared sensibility with Reitman and Cody. Indeed, when she pleads with her child to suck a pacifier as if her life depended upon it, we feel her exhaustion. “Please take it. Please just take it,” she begs her baby, to no avail. Regrettably, Duplass doesn’t have much to do, but Livingston is excellent in a challenging role, as he must portray detachment and lack of empathy while conveying an underlying love and concern for his wife. Described as the bench on the carousel of Marlo’s life, he might appear boring, unremarkable and even replaceable. But, like that merry-go-round staple, his value becomes apparent when you realize how much he has to bear. And Davis is memorable too, nicely balancing a cloying creepiness with genuine warmth. “I’m here to take care of you,” Tully assures Marlo. In her own way, she does. And though she’s sans a Poppins parasol, this nanny is nevertheless a magical addition to the pantheon of motherhood movies. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Truffle Hunters](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-truffle-hunters/) **Published:** April 22, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Truffle Hunters** FL, 2020, 3 stars # Fungus film ## *The Truffle Hunters* is more than a trifle [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Truffle-Hunters-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Truffle-Hunters-scaled.jpeg)Image courtesy of Florida Film Festival From *[The Orlando Weekly](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/despite-a-short-running-time-the-truffle-hunters-is-no-mere-trifle/Content?oid=29181859)*, April 21, 2021 Like the mysterious food that inspired it, *The Truffle Hunters* is inscrutable. You can’t quite grasp the Italian documentary’s journalistic backstory, even after attempting to read between its minimalistic lines. Perhaps directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw should have lengthened their movie to provide more historical and culinary context. Or perhaps, at 84 minutes of observational mesmerism, their film is perfect. The truth lies closer to the latter, as the film’s humor and beauty overwhelm its vagueness and tendency toward tedium. You will be particularly overjoyed to spend time with Birba, Nina, Fiona, Charlie, Yara, Vasco and Leo – the truffle hounds – and their elderly masters, as they scour the forests of northern Italy for everyone’s favorite subterranean fungus. Regarding said fungus, if you don’t know much about it before seeing the doc, you are likely to still be somewhat in the dark when the film ends. For instance, Dweck and Kershaw only superficially explore the foodie aspect of this topic. In addition, they never explain why it’s so difficult to cultivate truffles and why the world must instead rely on “hunters.” Instead, their deliberate, painterly camera focuses long and hard on the old men and their hounds, providing fascinatingly intimate glimpses into their lives. The deliberate cinematography and pacing are interrupted only occasionally when Dweck and Kershaw strap cameras to the dogs, giving us a pup’s-eye view of the hunt. This canine-subjective style enhances the film’s emotional impact when we eventually learn that the truffle trade is so competitive that some hunters will go so far as to poison the dogs. That revelation turns the film, if briefly, from a slice-of-lifer to something akin to an animal-rights movie, adding a necessary layer of complexity to the story. But in a year in which docs were even more depressing than normal, you will surely appreciate that *The Truffle Hunters* never loses its whimsy and exuberance. The movie was well received at the Florida Film Festival earlier this month. That screening included a Zoom Q&A with the filmmakers, including Dweck, who attended the 2018 festival. (At that event, his documentary, *The Last Race*, won the Special Jury Award for Artistic Vision.) The doc was even more warmly welcomed at the recent Directors Guild Awards, at which it won the top documentary prize. In a year that produced such outstanding docs as *Boys State*, *Gunda* and *Some Kind of Heaven*, awarding *The Truffle Hunters* the biggest prize seems a stretch. But it is testament to the film’s likeability and originality, and proves that – despite its minimalism and lack of a traditional narrative structure – the film is no trifle. If you’re seeing the film at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, I suggest you complement your experience with an order of truffle fries. And the best part is you don’t need a hound to find them. Just ask your server. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *This review originally appeared, in capsule form, as part of my [2021 Florida Film Festival article](https://www.meiermovies.com/fff-2021-film-reviews/).* --- ### [True History of the Kelly Gang](https://www.meiermovies.com/true-history-of-the-kelly-gang/) **Published:** April 23, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **True History of the Kelly Gang**, 2020, 2 ¼ stars # Kelly Gang returns ## Cinema history revisited in brutal, anachronistic fashion [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Kelly-Gang.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Kelly-Gang.jpg)George MacKay (center) stars as Ned Kelly. (image copyright IFC Films / Film4 / Film Victoria) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/with-a-savage-beauty-true-history-of-the-kelly-gang-recasts-the-infamous-rogue-as-a-gender-bending-insurgent/Content?oid=27195457), April 24, 2020 It all began with the Kelly Gang in 1906. The cinema had been launched 11 years earlier when the Lumière Brothers debuted their Cinématographe in Paris, but it was Australian director Charles Tait who created the first feature-length film, *The Story of the Kelly Gang*. In 1906, there was no distinction between a short and a feature. Films were measured in reels. But Tait’s movie – at around one hour, depending on how fast you cranked it – was the longest ever produced and the oldest to fit the modern Academy definition of a “feature” (more than 40 minutes). Sadly, all but 17 minutes are lost. But the Kelly Gang itself isn’t, thanks to roughly a dozen other movies touting the exploits of Ned Kelly, Australia’s most famous criminal bushranger, in the 1870s and 1880s. While Australian director Justin Dallas Kurzel’s *True History of the Kelly Gang* is just the latest in this cinematic legacy, it’s arguably the most visceral and brutal. Though much of that brutality befits its subject – a polarizing figure seen by some as a folk hero but viewed by others as a savage madman – one can’t shake the feeling that the film’s barbarity exists more to buoy its style than its subject. For instance, you’d be hard-pressed to find a film with a more in-your-face combination of blood and the words “fuck” and “cunt” than this one, especially for a period piece. It’s a ferociously unpleasant experience, despite a sort of savage beauty. And your own appreciation of its odd, anachronistic aesthetic – not to mention gender-bending sexuality – will depend on just how much artistic ferocity you can stand. Despite the strange title, this is not a docudrama of Ned Kelly and his family and friends. Instead, the film is based on the 2000 novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. And, oddly, the film even acknowledges its literary license right off the bat by proclaiming at the opening, “Nothing you’re about to see is true.” Frankly, I’m not sure what Kurzel is attempting with this flourish, especially because most of the core story actually is true. Perhaps he is simply flirting with a playful metatheatricality, in the vein of *Fargo*. Indeed, that theme is revisited repeatedly, such as when Kelly advises that his young son – to whom he narrates much of the film, in letter form – should not “confuse fiction and fact.” This tug between real and make-believe never lets up and could be seen as the film’s central conceit, upstaging the actual story, which often lacks clarity and focus. Little moments get lost in the choppy scenes and overwhelmed by the swirling camera, cacophony of sound and mumbled (dialect-rich) dialogue. Most distractingly, the film features long stretches in which everyone is either yelling or whispering. And through it all, the existential commentary continues. “I don’t right know what I am,” Kelly complains while at the same time proclaiming, “Every man should be the author of his own history.” As Kelly, George MacKay exudes the same screen presence that held us spellbound in *1917*. But his performance is hampered by Shaun Grant’s script, which allows him little character arc. Kelly’s most interesting transformations take place instead during the film’s first third, in which his 12-year-old incarnation is played by the superb Orlando Schwerdt, in his feature debut. That section of the movie is also bolstered by an intriguing turn by Russell Crowe as an early and murderous influence on Kelly. Nicholas Hoult (a British constable pursuing Kelly), Essie Davis (Kelly’s mother) and Thomasin McKenzie (Kelly’s young lover) are also effective, but it’s the latter (who played the young Jewish girl in *Jojo Rabbit*) whom the camera loves most. As Kelly has done for 140 years, this film will polarize people. It even polarized me, which I’m not sure is technically possible in someone sans split-personality disorder. Nevertheless, my dislike for the film’s storytelling and tone is tempered by my respect for its craft. You might not like it either, but you must acknowledge it, as historians do Kelly. *© 2020 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *The film is streaming and playing a handful of drive-in theaters, starting April 24.* --- ### [Trial by Fire](https://www.meiermovies.com/trial-by-fire/) **Published:** May 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Trial by Fire**, 2019, 2 ½ stars # *Fire* burns hot but unevenly [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Trial-by-Fire.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Trial-by-Fire.jpg)Image copyright Flashlight Films / Roadside Attractions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/jack-oconnell-and-laura-dern-cant-get-trial-by-fire-to-catch-fire/Content?oid=25318271), May 15, 2019 In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham was judged guilty of burning his three baby girls to death in a house fire in small-town Texas. But as he sat on death row, a reexamination of evidence and testimony showed that Willingham was probably innocent. Texas killed him anyway. This revelation would normally be a spoiler, but these kinds of controversial decisions are already tragically familiar. This one garnered national attention for more than a decade, culminating in an excellent 2011 documentary, *Incendiary: The Willingham Case*. It also reared its head during the 2012 presidential candidacy of Rick “Oops” Perry, who, as Texas governor, was partially responsible for quashing Willingham’s last chance at life. But there’s another side to the story. Willingham’s final days in prison might have amounted to little except despair if not for Elizabeth Gilbert, a writer who struck up an unlikely friendship with the felon. Her concern for Willingham ensured he would not be forgotten and invigorated the anti-death-penalty movement. First chronicled in a 2009 *New Yorker* article by David Grann, the unique relationship is at the heart of *Trial by Fire*, a new drama written by Geoffrey Fletcher (*Precious*) and directed by Edward Zwick (*Glory*, *The Last Samurai*). “You just wanna do something, help somebody who’s feeling so much,” Gilbert tells her kids when they ask why she’s spending less time with them than with a convicted murderer. “Am I making any sense?” “Not really,” they answer. Well, Zwick’s film certainly makes sense. What it doesn’t make, regrettably, is an aesthetic impact. Though English actor Jack O’Connell (*This is England*, *Money Monster*) is spot on as Willingham, the rest of the film alternates between moments of power and mediocrity. At its best, the movie echoes *Dead Man Walking* and *Conviction* while making our blood boil with political fervor and moral indignation. At its worst, it’s pandering, meandering, overscored, overwritten in exposition and underwritten in character development. It does offer decent (if slightly broad) entertainment, but not much beyond that. As Gilbert, Laura Dern is just competent. Clearly invested in her character, she’s rarely cloying, but she fails to imbue her trope-packed scenes with the requisite gravitas. Emily Meade, who appeared with O’Connell in *Money Monster*, is memorable as Willingham’s wife, but there’s a ton of interesting interpersonal information that Zwick leaves on the cutting-room floor, if it ever made Fletcher’s script. On the plus side, Jeff Perry, perhaps best known as a co-founder of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, delivers a scene-stealing turn as arson investigator Gerald Hurst. (If you like the fake Hurst here, don’t miss the real deal in the doc.) Illustrative of the script’s shortcomings, Willingham is found guilty and sentenced in the same scene. To explain the problems with that, I turn to a writer more qualified than either I or Fletcher: Charles Beaumont. In “Shadow Play,” Beaumont’s 1961 episode of *The Twilight Zone*, Dennis Weaver’s character is stuck in a recurring nightmare in which he’s tried, sentenced and executed repeatedly. “It’s so pat. I got tried and sentenced the same day. It doesn’t work like that! But, you see, that’s the way I saw it in my mind, and so that’s the way it is,” he says. “It’s like a movie.” *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Toy Story 4](https://www.meiermovies.com/toy-story-4/) **Published:** June 20, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Toy Story 4**, 2019, 4 ½ stars # Toyrific ## Pixar crafts a worthy sequel [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Toy-Story-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Toy-Story-4.jpg)Image copyright Disney/Pixar From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/toy-story-4-is-a-worthy-sequel/Content?oid=25503057), June 19, 2019 For adults, childhood toys are as much a state of mind as physical playthings. Some of us relegated ours to the cupboard while others gave them away, but they still occupy a primal place in our minds. Disney and Pixar understand that more completely than one would expect from big-studio moviemakers. In fact, in the first three films of the *Toy Story* series (which began with the groundbreaking original back in 1995) they seemed to toy – pun intended – with us on a psychological, almost spiritual, level. Nevertheless, the big question surrounding *Toy Story 4* was whether the new film, like our own toys from a nearly forgotten time, would still conjure the requisite emotions. It does. Indeed, new director Josh Cooley – working from a script by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom, and a story from a host of Pixar veterans, including company founder and *Toy Story* creator John Lasseter – has delivered the sequel we didn’t realize we needed. Admittedly, it doesn’t feel as instantly necessary as the first and third films, and might fall just below all three previous editions if one had to rank them for quality, but it comes close. And in this era of endless sequels, reboots and remakes, that’s more than we could have hoped for – and good enough to make *Toy Story 4* the best family film of the year. When we left Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the gang at the end of *Toy Story 3* in 2010, Andy had just left for college and given his prize possessions to loveable little Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). But a deeper dive reveals a Woody still haunted by the loss of not just Andy, but his old crush Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who was given away years earlier. To make matters worse, Bonnie now prefers her other toys, relegating Woody to second-tier status and promoting Jessie (Joan Cusack) to sheriff. But loyalty and love matter to Woody, so when a new toy comes along in the form of a spork with pipe-cleaner arms and Popsicle legs, Woody embraces him because he sees just how much “Forky” means to Bonnie. Never mind that Forky (Tony Hale) is having an existential, runcible crisis and views himself as trash, a metaphor that is nicely explored in a new song by Randy Newman, “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away.” To Bonnie, he’s important, and that means the world to Woody, who is forced to play the hero yet again when the family goes on a road trip and Forky bolts. Using startlingly realistic animation and imaginative scenarios, the filmmakers have welcomed us back into one of our favorite cinematic universes, one filled with warmth, humor and melancholy. Even better, we’re treated to an array of new characters (probably too many), including a ghoulish group of ventriloquist dummies, an underconfident stunt-motorcycle racer (Keanu Reeves) and an overbearing (again, pun intended) duo of stuffed carnival animals (Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key). But it’s an emotionally scarred antique doll (Christina Hendricks) who steals the show, thanks to her unwavering quest to repair her broken voice box and finally experience something she’s never known: the love of a child. I don’t know what you’re going to do after you see the movie, but this 46-year-old plans to return home, take his toys out of the closet and treat them to some long-overdue playtime. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tomorrowland boosts Florida filmmaking today](https://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland-boosts-florida-filmmaking-today/) **Published:** May 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Tomorrowland* boosts Florida filmmaking today From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/05/22/according-to-mayor-dyer-tomorrowland-had-a-7-million-economic-impact-on-orlando-area-film-incentives-needed)*, May 22, 2015 [![Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Orlando-Mayor-Buddy-Dyer-237x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Orlando-Mayor-Buddy-Dyer.jpg)Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Florida filmmakers are hoping the legislature in Tallahassee will eventually pass tax incentives to boost the movie industry in the Sunshine State. But for the makers of Disney’s *Tomorrowland*, that future is now, as the film was partially shot in Central Florida, giving a small boost to the local economy. “They filmed here for five days, but that really took 50 days to get to a point where you could do the filming,” Orlando Mayer Buddy Dyer says. “Over 600 local residents worked on this film, and \[this meant\] $7 million of economic impact.” I spoke with Dyer on May 20 at a *Tomorrowland* advance screening for local cast and crew, at Downtown Disney’s AMC Theaters. “We’re a good place to make films, but what it really comes down to is whether you have a state economic-incentive program,” Dyer says. “We had one that lapsed, … and it wasn’t a priority during the last two-year \[period\], but the film industry here has come together and is really fighting hard for it in Tallahassee, \[but\] with the way the session ended, it just didn’t happen.” Dyer says that he is “extremely supportive” of tax incentives for film, adding, “Places like Georgia, Louisiana, even Canada, are taking the lion’s share of the market because they have programs that allow film companies to produce their films more economically.” Disney says the total payroll for Central Florida employees on this film was just over $4.5 million. [![Florida State Representative Mike Miller](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Florida-State-Representative-Mike-Miller-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Florida-State-Representative-Mike-Miller.jpg)Florida State Representative Mike Miller *Tomorrowland* filmed at several nearby locations, including Cape Canaveral, New Smyrna Beach, Altamonte Springs and the Carousel of Progress at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. “In the Orlando region, we permitted mostly in Seminole County in Altamonte Springs,” Orlando Film Commission’s Sheena Fowler says. “We had a really integral driving sequence that we worked with \[State Road\] 436 and Cranes Roost Park to make sure that we got this wonderful sequence where they could go in from like a 50,000-foot view down to the street view. So it was wonderful to work with all of the officers that had to hopscotch all of the side streets down 436 as we got that shot with the camera car and the picture cars. And then we found a home in Altamonte Springs that was very Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired that they just couldn’t walk away from. So they did some filming there for several days. And then thankfully we’re very close to the coast, so we partnered with our Brevard County film commission and made sure they got everything they needed on the Space Coast as well.” Florida State Representative Mike Miller (R) also attended the screening. “There’s a lot of support in Tallahassee for film. Everybody realizes – it’s not just in Central Florida but across the state – that this is a great industry for us,” Miller says. “This is a manufacturing industry. We are manufacturing TV shows, movies, digital media content, so we are manufacturers, and manufacturers need to hire people in order to make those products.” Miller says he’s confident tax incentives can pass the legislature and asks the public to support the movement. “Please reach out to your state senators and your state representatives from wherever you are here in Florida and encourage them to support film,” he says. “Together we can keep this business booming and film more than just five days. I want to take those movies back from Vancouver and bring them here.” *Read my review of the film [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland/).* *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tomorrowland](https://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland/) **Published:** May 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tomorrowland**, 2014, 3 ¾ stars # Days of future past ## Disney uses yesterday to create tomorrow [![Tomorrowland](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tomorrowland-300x188.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tomorrowland.jpg)Image copyright The Walt Disney Company From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/days-of-future-past-disney-uses-yesterday-to-create-tomorrowland/Content?oid=2396673)*, May 21, 2015 The portal to the future lies in the past, at least if you’re Disney. Mining the ghosts of such luminaries as Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla and, yes, Walt Disney, the creators of *Tomorrowland* have created a grandly magical, if scatterbrained, vision of our future that’s neither a time nor a place, but an idea. George Clooney is Frank Walker, an inventor who, simply put, has a stake in saving the world. We first get to know him when he, as a boy, visits the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Given a magic pin by a mysterious little girl, he soon finds his way onto the original “it’s a small world” ride, which is actually a gateway to another dimension. (And coming from someone who worked the attraction at Walt Disney World, I admit I had my suspicions all along.) Fast forward to the present and we meet Frank’s intellectual counterpart, Casey Newton (a bright-eyed Britt Robertson), a sort of Amy Pond to Clooney’s crotchety Doctor Who, with a dash of Spielberg. By virtue of her heart more than her intellect, she may be even better equipped to rescue civilization than Frank. (After all, as Albert Einstein said and this film champions, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”) But to divulge more would be to give away the surprises, which come fast, furious and just a tad illogically in this aesthetic and philosophical explosion, some of which was filmed in Central Florida with local extras and crew. For all its joyful excess, *Tomorrowland* is best when it’s cerebral, as it can coast only so far on its CGI, which, though spectacular, embraces an adventurous freneticism that slightly undermines its intelligence. Yes, the special effects make for a fun roller-coaster ride for kids and teens – and spotting all the cinematic “Easter eggs” is fun – but without strong characters and a raison d’etre, the effects are simply eye candy. (Didn’t we learn that earlier this year with *Avengers: Age of Ultron*?) The cartoon style shouldn’t surprise anyone, though, considering the movie was directed and co-written by Brad Bird of Disney/Pixar fame. He brings an animated sensibility to the project that gives it energy and beauty but compromises much of the pacing, dialogue and acting, which could be smarter. Still, Clooney, Robertson and Hugh Laurie are strong, and the screenplay is a delicious mindbender with some profound things to say about the dark, pro-apocalyptic nature of humanity. And although, much like his characters, Bird’s reach occasionally exceeds his grasp, he’s managed to create something special, a sort of secular *DaVinci Code*, with just a dash of *National Treasure* silliness. Moving to its messy but emotionally satisfying conclusion, *Tomorrowland* has the bravery to become a message picture, which some might find heavy-handed. Nevertheless, I found the Capraesque quality intriguing. I just wish the film had a bit less *Doctor Who* and a lot more Tarkovsky. “Do I have to explain everything?” Frank asks Casey. “Can’t you just be amazed?” Yes, Mr. Clooney, I believe I can. *Read my article on the financial impact of the film [here](http://www.meiermovies.com/tomorrowland-boosts-florida-filmmaking-today/).* *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Theory of Everything](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-theory-of-everything/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Theory of Everything**, 2014, 3 ¾ stars # *Everything* offers enough ## Stephen Hawking biopic is maudlin but moving From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/the-gist/theory-everything-offers-enough/), November 21, 2014 Most biopics about icons require a leap of faith to fully accept an actor as his or her character. *The Theory of Everything* is not most biopics, as Eddie Redmayne is so convincing as famous physicist Stephen Hawking that you will likely be unable to separate the two men in your mind once this genuinely moving, if slightly maudlin, film flickers to a finish. [![Theory of Everything](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Theory-of-Everything-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Theory-of-Everything.jpg)Image courtesy of Working Title Films (www.WorkingTitleFilms.com) Inspired by the memoir of Hawking’s ex-wife, Jane, this is as much a love story as a biopic. Indeed, Jane, played passionately by the instantly likeable Felicity Jones, gets almost as much screen time as Stephen. Starting in 1963 when Hawking was a doctoral student at Cambridge, the film covers roughly 20 years of the couple’s life, from their first date, to marriage, to the birth of their children, to the publication of Hawking’s landmark book, *A Brief History of Time*. And, of course, we see in vivid detail the slow, painful progression of Hawking’s motor neuron disease, or ALS, beginning with the diagnosis that the 21-year-old has just two years left to live and ending with a middle-aged man proudly defying that medical prediction. Almost every frame of *Everything*, which is directed by James Marsh (*Man on Wire*) and written by Anthony McCarten, is imbued with its subject’s seemingly indomitable spirit, while also giving proper respect and just the right amount of discussion time to cosmology, which Hawking describes as “religion for intelligent atheists.” Through his passion for his subject and his love for his family, Hawking is somehow able to soldier through indescribable physical trauma and keep striving for his dream: “one simple, elegant equation to explain everything,” including black holes, the big bang, space-time and life itself. If this review is slipping into saccharine sweetness, that’s probably because Marsh’s movie is sometimes just that, a conventional concoction filled with too many non-revelatory scenes seemingly designed to just jerk tears without giving us a true understanding of Hawking. In fact, if you took away the sexual details, Frank Capra could have directed it. But in keeping with Capra, *Everything*, if a tad too precious, does not disappoint in delivering traditional screen magic. The film deserves credit for a refreshingly honest depiction of Hawking’s marriage and a strong supporting performance by Charlie Cox (*Boardwalk Empire*), but most of the aforementioned magic is courtesy of Redmayne, best known for playing Marius in 2012’s *Les Miserables*. As solid as the actor was in that production, this is a different Redmayne, one who so totally embodies his character that even Hawking, who apparently cried during the screening, admitted, “I thought he was me.” That portrayal, which deserves an Academy Award nomination, outweighs all the film’s weaknesses, including a lack of pacing and energy in the second half. What is most astonishing, and what *The Theory of* *Everything* succeeds in revealing, is that a man who was given so little time of his own has somehow been able to transform how everyone else views time itself. *Copyright 2014 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Le Ballon Rouge' ('The Red Balloon')](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-le-ballon-rouge-the-red-balloon/) **Published:** April 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 12, 2020** This is the final film in my 2020 [Short Film of the Day series](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). I hope this series has inspired you and helped you pass the time during this period of social distancing. And I can think of no better way to end the series, on Easter Sunday, than with arguably the best family-friendly, live-action short film of all time, *Le Ballon Rouge*, or *The Red Balloon*. Written, directed and produced by French filmmaker Albert Lamoriss, this 1956 fantasy stole the hearts of millions around the world, including judges at the Cannes Film Festival, who awarded it best short film, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gave it the Oscar, surprisingly, not for best short film but for best original screenplay. (It is the only short film to ever win that award.) While the film confronts themes of hope, loneliness, individualism, friendship, poverty, persecution, love and, of course, pure fantasy, we must be careful not to overanalyze Lamoriss’s work but instead appreciate it on a purely emotional level. The featurette is also a wonderful historical record of the Belleville area of northeast Paris, which has changed drastically since 1956. For more on the film, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Balloon). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Free as a Bird'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-free-as-a-bird/) **Published:** April 11, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 11, 2020** Music videos are, of course, short films too. And they don’t get any better than the Beatles’ *Free as a Bird* (1995). Directed by Joe Pytka and produced by Vincent Joliet — with creative input from Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — the video premiered on ITV and ABC as part of *The Beatles Anthology*. (The song was subsequently released on the *Anthology 1* album.) The song was the first “new” composition by the Beatles since they broke up in 1970. This version took John Lennon’s original composition and home demo from 1977 and polished and expanded it with vocal and instrumental contributions by the other three Beatles. For more information on the dreamlike video, which reportedly features as many as 100 visual allusions to Beatles songs, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_a_Bird). And [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/ "Short Film of the Day") for an index of all my Short Films of the Day. --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'I Have a Message for You'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-i-have-a-message-for-you/) **Published:** April 9, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 9, 2020** *I Have a Message for You* (2017), which I first saw at the 2018 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, is a partially animated documentary about survival. Directed by Matan Rochlitz, this 13-minute, French-language mini-masterpiece confronts the legacy of the Holocaust, but it does so with astonishing unpredictability. It’s a masterclass in short-doc moviemaking. For an index of all my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'One Week'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-one-week/) **Published:** April 8, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:**  **April 8, 2020** My [Short Film of the Day](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/) series has so far featured silents by Charlie Chaplin and Georges Méliès, so it was only a matter of time before Buster Keaton turned up. And this is one of his very best. Released in 1920, *One Week* is the first film Keaton released on his own. Co-directed by Edward Cline, it demonstrates Keaton’s mastery of stunt design, direction and execution. --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Dissonance'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-dissonance/) **Published:** April 7, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 7, 2020** Till Nowak’s *Dissonance* (2015) is a jaw-dropping blend of animation and live action that is pure cinematic genius. It’s not hyperbole to say it’s the best short film I’ve ever seen. And the only excuse I can think of for why it didn’t win the Oscar is the Academy (and festival judges, who often determine which shorts qualify for the Oscars) didn’t know which category to put it in: animation or live action. I first saw the film in the “Let’s Deutsch” program (named to honor both David Bowie and German filmmaking) at the 2016 Florida Film Festival. It’s the same program that featured another 5-star film, [*Pitter Patter Goes My Heart*](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-pitter-patter-goes-my-heart/ "Short Film of the Day: ‘Pitter Patter Goes My Heart’"), which was my Short Film of the Day on April 4. For more on the film, including a cast list and details of Nowak’s creative process, which took seven years, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissonance_(film)). And for an index of all my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). (If you have OCD, you might notice that this version is about a minute shorter than the theatrical release, which was closer to 17 minutes. Nothing has been cut, though; the film simply appears to have been sped up slightly, with faster end credits.) --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Bear Story'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-bear-story/) **Published:** April 6, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 6, 2020** From Chilean director Gabriel Osorio Vargas, *Bear Story* (2014) is a digitally animated tale of an anthropomorphic bear passing on his story of struggle in a breathtakingly unique way. Mesmerizingly beautiful, it’s one of the most moving and visually arresting animated short films of the last decade. I first saw it as part of the 2015 Manhattan Short Film Festival, when I predicted it would win the Oscar. My prediction came true. For more information on the film, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Story). And for an index of all my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Pitter Patter Goes My Heart'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-pitter-patter-goes-my-heart/) **Published:** April 4, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 4, 2020** A German-language film written and directed by Austria’s Christoph Rainer, *Pitter Patter Goes My Heart* (2015) is a wonderfully quirky but ultimately tragic (or is it?) look at Romantic love. The short movie, which I first saw at the 2016 Florida Film Festival, features Vicky Krieps, who went on to star alongside Daniel Day-Lewis in *Phantom Thread*. I had the pleasure of meeting Krieps at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival, where she was promoting *Lyrebird* with Guy Pearce. (That film has since been renamed *The Last Vermeer*.) Krieps spoke fondly of *Pitter Patter Goes My Heart* and reminded me that it was a student film. I’d give it an A+. For an index of all my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Thru the Mirror'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-thru-the-mirror/) **Published:** April 3, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 3, 2020** Directed by David Hand, with Walt Disney serving as creative producer and the voice of Mickey Mouse, *Thru the Mirror* (1936) is one of the greatest hand-drawn animated shorts of all time. And it hints at even greater things to come from the Disney Studios, specifically 1951’s *Alice in Wonderland*. For an index of my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'I Am Yup'ik'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-i-am-yupik/) **Published:** April 2, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **April 2, 2020** Directed by Daniele Anastasion and Nathan Golon, *I Am Yup’ik* (2016) is a stunningly human look at how basketball unites a tiny Alaskan community. I first saw the film at the 2016 Florida Film Festival and was immediately struck by how well it balanced sports and cultural commentary. It’s the *Hoop Dreams* of short films. And for those of us missing college basketball right now, it’s a reminder of why we love the sport. For an index of my Short Film of the Day selections, [go here](http://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day/). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Edith+Eddie'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-editheddie/) **Published:** March 30, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 30, 2020** Directed by Laura Checkoway, this 2017 documentary was nominated for best short doc at the Oscars. Though a hundred myriad elements must come together to create a masterpiece, in documentary filmmaking, it often comes down to luck. Unfortunately, the filmmaker’s good luck is often a subject’s bad. Such is the case for *Edith+Eddie*, an unexpectedly intimate look at newlyweds (a black woman and a white man, both in their 90s) who are fighting to live out their lives together. Imbued with a *Harlan County U.S.A.* aura of “I can’t believe they filmed that,” this is a doc you won’t soon forget. --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Beanstalk Bunny'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-beanstalk-bunny/) **Published:** March 29, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 29, 2020** This 1955 cartoon classic was directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese and voiced by Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck) and Arthur Bryan (Elmer Fudd). Owing a lot to Walt Disney’s *Mickey and the Beanstalk* (1947), this version puts the classically irreverent Warner Brothers spin on the fairy tale. Apologies for the low-res video, but funny is funny at any resolution. For more suggestions on what to watch, check out my [list of more than 2,000 short films](http://www.meiermovies.com/ShortFilmsByStarRating.pdf). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Emit'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-emit/) **Published:** March 28, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 28, 2020** Written and directed by J.S. Mayank, *Emit* (2013) takes the idea of aging backwards found in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and applies it to not just one person but to the universe — to time itself. It is to David Fincher’s film (and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story) what *The Others* is to *The Sixth Sense*. I first saw *Emit* at the 2013 Orlando Film Festival and immediately fell in love with it. Its concept isn’t new, as countless other sci-fi stories have explored the idea of time running backwards. From one of the earliest stories ever written about time travel, Edward Page Mitchell’s *The Clock That Went Backward* (1881), to Damon Knight’s *This Way to the Regress* (1956), which is remarkably similar to *Emit*, writers have experimented with time. But I can’t recall another short film handling the topic as hauntingly as *Emit*. --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'The Immigrant'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-immigrant/) **Published:** March 27, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 27, 2020** If you’re new to Charlie Chaplin, this short romantic comedy from 1917 isn’t necessarily the best place to start. It might be wiser to start with *The Kid* (1921) and work your way through Chaplin’s other classic feature films. But *The Immigrant* remains one of his most popular early shorts thanks to its humor, staging (especially the physical comedy of the scenes at sea), the touching romance (the final scene’s reluctant bride notwithstanding) and its social commentary. There was no one quite like the Little Tramp. Though the storytelling and structure aren’t as complex as in his later films, let’s remember that Chaplin — who was by this time in charge of almost every aspect of his films’ production — had arrived in Hollywood from England just four years prior, with essentially no knowledge of filmmaking. In three short years, he had gone from an unknown to the greatest star of motion pictures and arguably the most recognizable face in the world. (Also worth noting is the fact that the world’s first feature-length comedy (more than 40 minutes) had been released just three years before this. It was *Tillie’s Punctured Romance*. Its star? Chaplin, of course.) This recent restoration of *The Immigrant* is superb, though I’ve never been a fan of recreated credits and intertitles. And I would have loved to hear what Chaplin himself might have composed for this film. (In addition to writing, directing, producing and starring in almost all his movies, he wrote the music to all his features and many of his shorts — several of them retroactively, following the introduction of synchronized sound). Still, this is a thoroughly pleasing presentation of a classic that is now 103 years old. (Pardon the modernized title cards on this version.) For more on the film, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immigrant_(1917_film)). And for more on the restoration, visit [SilentEra.com](http://www.silentera.com/video/immigrantHV.html). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Neighbours'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-neighbours/) **Published:** March 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 26, 2020** *Neighbours* (or *Voisins*, in French) was created in 1952 by Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren, for the National Film Board of Canada. Combining stop-motion animation, variable-speed photography and traditional live-action cinematography, the film is a darkly powerful indictment of a world that too often resorts to war to solve its problems. The movie is also experimental, and not just in its use of visuals, as the soundtrack was created by scratching or otherwise damaging the edge of the film itself. When projected, that damage produced a unique score. *Neighbours* was nominated for two Oscars: short subject (one reel) and short documentary. It won the latter category, though it is not a doc. (Perhaps the Academy put it in that category because they considered it a sort of PSA.) As the world comes together to battle the coronavirus, *Neighbours* seems particularly important. Perhaps, once this crisis passes, it will encourage all of my Democratic friends to hug a Republican. (Yes, even Trump.) And I hope my Republican friends will hug a Democrat. (Yes, even James Carville.) For more information on this film, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbours_(1952_film)). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'The Ballad of Holland Island House'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-the-ballad-of-holland-island-house/) **Published:** March 25, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 25, 2020** Part documentary, part anthropomorphic allegory, part Irish folk tune, *The Ballad of Holland Island House* (2015) is an emotionally involving, stunningly animated tale of a real Chesapeake Bay building slowly succumbing to erosion and rising seas. Created by Lynn Tomlinson in an Impressionistic, clay-on-glass, stop-motion style – with soulful music by Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle – the four-minute film combines the imagery of Winslow Homer and Vincent Van Gogh with the urgency of historic preservation and climate-change awareness. I first came across the film at Orlando’s Global Peace Film Festival in 2015. Since then, I’ve had the honor of interviewing Tomlinson. [Go here to read that interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-unique-voice-in-animation/). To read more about Holland Island, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Island). --- ### [Short Film of the Day: 'Copy Shop'](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-film-of-the-day-copy-shop/) **Published:** March 24, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **March 24, 2020** *Copy Shop* (2001), written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Virgil Widrich, and starring Johannes Silberschneider, is a Kafkaesque masterpiece exploring identity and conformity. And, in a metatheatrical touch, the film itself was shot with a digital camera, then digitally manipulated and then printed on paper — before those pieces of paper were filmed with a 35mm camera. So the movie itself is a copy. The film garnered worldwide praise and received an Oscar nomination for best live-action short film. And for fans of *The Twilight Zone*, *Copy Shop* might remind you of episode 21 ([*Mirror Image*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_Image_(The_Twilight_Zone))). For more information on *Copy Shop*, see [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182014/). --- ### [Tesla](https://www.meiermovies.com/tesla/) **Published:** August 19, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tesla**, 2020, 2 ¾ stars # Alternating qualities ## *Tesla* is both intriguing and disappointing [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tesla.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tesla.jpg)Ethan Hawke and Eve Hewson star in *Tesla*. (image copyright IFC Films) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/michael-almereydas-bio-pic-of-nikola-tesla-doesnt-catch-lightning-in-a-bottle/Content?oid=27797869), August 19, 2020 Nikola Tesla helped electrify the world with alternating current. And though he was dubbed “the man who invented the 20th century,” success in that century’s defining art form – motion pictures – has eluded him. David Bowie portrayed him memorably in *The Prestige*, but that depiction was almost entirely fictional. Nicholas Hoult played him in *The Current War*, but that 2017 disappointment was more concerned with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Lesser-known documentaries and bio-pics abound, such as the 1980 Yugoslav film, *The Secret of Nikola Tesla*, but those never entirely captured the imagination of Teslaphiles either. So fans have been eagerly awaiting writer-director Michael Almereyda’s movie, hoping it might fill the cinematic void. Regrettably, it only partially does the job. Like Tesla himself, the film is unique, anachronistic and odd but fails to live up to expectations. The experimental bio-pic is partially narrated by Eve Hewson (*Bridge of Spies*), who plays Anne Morgan, daughter of J.P. Morgan, who bankrolled many of Tesla’s projects. She was apparently in love with Tesla, but he loved only his work. So the character is well positioned as an omniscient – and thoroughly modern – commentator. (Just wait for her Google references.) As Tesla, Ethan Hawke never seems to fully grasp the role, turning in a competent but somewhat unengaging performance. In Hawke’s defense, perhaps Almereyda instructed his lead actor to do as little as possible. The good news is simply being Ethan Hawke is often enough. Still, Hawke and almost all the other actors – and the entire story – never completely catch fire. Jim Gaffigan, as Westinghouse, looks particularly lost. Only Kyle MacLachlan (*Twin Peaks*), as Edison, is thoroughly believable, mostly thanks to his uncanny resemblance to the great inventor. (And don’t miss the nice cameo by Almereyda regular Lois Smith, who made film debut alongside James Dean in *East of Eden*, just 12 years after Tesla’s death.) “Is your heightened ability, your brilliance, a blessing or a curse?” Anne Morgan ponders about Tesla. That’s the question of his life, but the film never really answers it. Instead, Almereyda – who explored existentialism far better in 2017’s *Marjorie Prime* – seems more comfortable tackling form instead of subject, and production design rather than biography. But he still has something interesting to say and, more often than not, a refreshingly strange way to say it. And so the cinema is still absent a great Tesla bio-pic. But considering that motion pictures were a co-invention of Edison, perhaps Tesla would be fine with that. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tenet](https://www.meiermovies.com/tenet/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Tenet**, 2020, 2 stars # Time wasted ## *Tenet* disappoints on epic, temporal level [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Tenet.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Tenet.jpg)John David Washington, center, and Robert Pattinson, right, star in *Tenet*. (image copyright Syncopy / Warner Brothers) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/christopher-nolans-hotly-anticipated-tenet-disappoints-on-an-epic-temporal-level/Content?oid=27884690), September 2, 2020 *Webster’s Dictionary* defines “tenet” – in a phrase that takes 10 seconds to read – as “a principle, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true, especially one held in common by members of an organization, movement or profession.” After two and a half hours, I still don’t know how Christopher Nolan defines it. In the first big-budget, studio release of the COVID-19 era, Nolan has delivered his eagerly anticipated follow-up to his 2017 masterpiece, *Dunkirk*. Perhaps haunted by the fact that we are unable to travel back in time to save the thousands of men who died on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in 1940, Nolan has created a film whose characters save the world by communicating with the future to voyage into the past to save the present. If that sounds confusing, just wait until you see the movie. John David Washington plays the main operative, appropriately but pretentiously referred to simply as “the protagonist.” Robert Pattinson, as Neil, is a fellow operative, though we never truly understand their relationship until the film’s climax – and then only vaguely. Adding to the bewildering array of unimpactful characters are a stereotypical Russian arms dealer (Kenneth Branagh), his estranged wife (Elizabeth Debicki), a military commander (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an Indian arms dealer (Dimple Kapadia) and a British intelligence officer (Michael Caine, in a disappointingly brief cameo). And with the possible exception of Washington, everyone is phoning it in. When first introduced to the concept of “inversion” (in which the entropy of people and objects is reversed), the protagonist is told, “Don’t try to understand it.” Later, Debicki’s character begs, “Just tell me what’s going on.” This dialogue hints that Nolan realizes few people will understand his story but simply doesn’t care. Instead, he seems to revel in the confusion, not caring that many lines are difficult to understand (thanks to the heavy score and masked characters) and happy that it allows him to showcase eye-popping stunts, mind-bending special effects, globetrotting location work and Hoyte van Hoytema’s 70mm IMAX cinematography. That type of storytelling sloppiness and disrespect for his audience is unforgiveable, especially considering Nolan’s status as one of the five greatest living filmmakers. Maybe he needs to travel back in time himself, to 1998, when all he had was a handheld 16mm camera, $6,000 and a great story. The most frustrating aspect of *Tenet* is its unrequited flirtation with big ideas: parallel realities, cause and effect, the grandfather paradox and fate. But Nolan, for the first time ever, seems to lack the patience to discuss these ideas. Instead, *Tenet* is all action all the time, sacrificing heart and clarity for spectacle. So rather than offering a worthy companion to memory (*Memento*), transference (*The Prestige*), wormholes (*Interstellar*) and inception, *Tenet* gives us inversion, which is visually arresting but philosophically empty. If you love *Tenet*’s themes, do yourself a favor and watch Nacho Vigalondo’s *Los Cronocrímenes* or the Spierig Brothers’ *Predestination* instead. It’ll be time better spent. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle](https://www.meiermovies.com/harold-kumar-go-to-white-castle/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle**, 2004, ¾ star ## Harold and Kumar should have stayed home From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, July 30, 2004 Directors Stanley Kubrick and Danny Leiner have something in common: Kubrick once had diarrhea, and Leiner likes to make movies about it. His follow-up to *Dude, Where’s My Car?, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle*, is one big, unfunny, unbelievable, hackneyed, disgusting commercial for the burger joint. Speaking of joints, Harold, a hard-working but shy investment banker, and his roommate Kumar, an underachieving medical-school candidate, are sitting around smoking them when they see a TV commercial for White Castle. This fuels their wicked case of the munchies, and they set out on their Castle quest, undeterred by the fact that the closest one is 40 miles away. The two roomies soon learn that they should have ordered in, as their road trip yields one disaster after another. They are almost busted for pot possession, are attacked by a potentially rabid raccoon, have their car stolen by Neil Patrick Harris of TV’s *Doogie Howser* – don’t ask – and are harassed by the same stereotypically bad-ass bunch of bullies over and over again. We are left wondering if the two will ever reach their destination and if this movie will ever end, despite a running time of less than 90 minutes. Leiner’s directorial mistakes come often and in groups, assisted by a script written on a seventh-grade level. Despite surprisingly competent performances by John Cho, as Korean-American Harold, and Kal Penn, as Indian-American Kumar, the film never establishes believability, sympathy for the plight of the roommates or humor beyond an occasional chuckle at how predictable, juvenile and repetitious the gags are. And if you enjoy extra helpings of tired racial jokes, trite toilet humor, pot references and genital-size jabs, dig in. At its heart, *Harold & Kumar* is a gross-out, stoner comedy masquerading as something bigger – a soul-awakening experience for Harold, who, buoyed by his harrowing ordeal, gets up the nerve to tell off his abusive co-workers and ask out the girl of his dreams. Kumar too is supposed to grow following this life-altering fast-food pilgrimage, by not only realizing he is throwing away his potentially bright future as a doctor but by also reconciling with his father. Leiner and his writers were faced with a choice. Do they make an imaginative, surreal, pointless comedy with a few potty jokes thrown in to satisfy their fans or do they make us care about Harold and Kumar and really relate to their escapades? By not making that hard choice, as he clearly does not have the talent to combine both formulas into one film, Leiner serves up this burger undercooked in laughs and overdone in adolescence. After one of their more disturbing adventures, Harold and Kumar agree to “never talk about what just happened.” I couldn’t agree more. Next time, order your burger with a side of fries, but hold the movie. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Suspect Zero](https://www.meiermovies.com/suspect-zero/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Suspect Zero**, 2004, 1 ¼ stars # From suspenseful to zero in 90 minutes From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, August 27, 2004 *Suspect Zero*, the new serial-killer thriller starring Ben Kingsley, is aptly titled, as this formulaic FBI crime caper offers zero tension, zero thrills and zero originality. This *Seven*-wannabe by director E. Elias Merhige (*Shadow of the Vampire*) is the story of two men, their struggle with their own personal demons and their quests to either solve murders or commit them. If that sounds a bit abstract for a creepy crime drama, you’re absolutely right, and to water down the suspense ever more, the film is so filled with trick shots, flashbacks and vague symbolism that the super thin plot stands as little chance of surviving as the serial killer’s victims. Kingsley plays a murderer named O’Ryan, who may or may not be responsible for a much larger string of child abductions and killings. He’s also the inventor of the “Suspect Zero” theory, in which a serial killer could potentially go undetected if he killed at random, had no motive and traveled the country leaving no traces. It’s the old Hitchcock gimmick from *Strangers on a Train* – eliminate the motive. However, it’s clear that O’Ryan’s crimes have a deeper, even supernatural element to them, and we’re kept guessing about the nature of his deeds until about halfway through the film when the somewhat clever twist is revealed – way too early. Kingsley is so charismatic, though poorly cast, that it’s easy to forget that Aaron Eckhart (*Paycheck, The Missing*) is really the star. He plays Thomas Mackelway, the FBI agent assigned to the case, but he also has a mysterious bond with Kingsley’s character, a connection that is supposed to become clearer as the movie progresses. However, like the movie’s message, the bond remains vague and muddled even as the credits role, helped along by Eckhart, who is in way over his head with a script that gives him little to work with. Sapping even more tension from the screen is the pointless romance between Mackelway and his FBI partner, played by the sultry Carrie-Anne Moss from the *Matrix* series. The director goes to great lengths, through painful close-ups and slow, brooding emotional scenes, to try to get us to see the pain they are going through. But no askew camera angle or tearful breakdown can add energy to one of the most poorly conceived and boring thrillers of the year. O’Ryan begs Agent Mackelway repeatedly to help him shut off the personal demons that drive him, but the FBI agent is too busy fighting his own past while trying to solve the murders to do that. Perhaps he could at least shut off the film before the audience becomes the final victim. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Supernova](https://www.meiermovies.com/supernova/) **Published:** January 30, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Supernova**, 2021, 3 ¼ stars # Star power ## Firth, Tucci light the way in *Supernova* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Supernova.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Supernova.jpg)Firth (left) and Tucci star in *Supernova*. (image copyright BBC Films / Bleecker Street Media) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/in-supernova-stanley-tucci-and-colin-firth-stage-a-heartbreaking-fight-against-the-dying-of-the-light/Content?oid=28721696), January 30, 2021 A supernova is an explosion often caused by the spectacular demise of a dying star. Not surprisingly, that death has a profound effect on everything or, in the case of the new film from British writer-director Harry Macqueen (*Hinterland*), everyone it touches. In *Supernova*, Stanley Tucci plays Tusker, a writer struggling with early-onset dementia. To escape the disease, if only briefly, he and his lifelong partner, Sam (Colin Firth), take a road trip through the English countryside, stopping to visit family and old friends in advance of a concert that Sam, an accomplished pianist, intends to perform as a capstone on his career. In this regard, the trip becomes their shared supernova. When I met Stanley Tucci at the Sarasota Film Festival four years ago, he told me he admired Mitchell Garabedian, his character in *Spotlight*, because “all he’s trying to do is sort of fight the good fight.” One might say the same for Tusker. But unlike Garabedian, Tusker is fighting not for social justice, but for his own existence. So, for Tusker, it’s not just a good fight. It’s his only fight. “I’m becoming a passenger, and I’m not a passenger,” Tusker tells Sam. “This thing is taking me to a place where I don’t want to go, and no one is going to be able to bring me back.” *Supernova* isn’t the best film about dementia you’ll ever see. It’s not even the best film about dementia you’ll see in the next couple of months. That honor goes to *The Father*, starring Anthony Hopkins. But *Supernova* has a quiet, simple beauty to it. At a lean 93 minutes, it resembles a one-act play, but it’s powered by two actors with strong chemistry who need only a tiny fraction of that runtime to convince you they are deeply in love. That might be because they have shared a great friendship for 20 years, both on and off screen. Or it might be because of a little thing called acting. Indeed, when questioned about whether straight men like Tucci and Firth should play gay, as both have done in the past, Tucci has said – and this critic agrees – that any actor should be allowed to play any character. Firth is more ambiguous, perhaps in a nod to the philosophy that historically underrepresented or stereotyped groups of people are the better choices to represent themselves in film. But denying these two friends a chance to play these parts would be nothing less than a crime. Perhaps the greatest irony surrounding this issue is the fact that, for decades, LGBTQ actors were forced to play it straight, but now straight actors are called upon to play gay. I don’t know how Tucci and Firth feel about it, but this writer eagerly awaits the day – perhaps not in my lifetime – when we can ditch the alphabet soup and use a single letter, E for equality, both in film casting and in everyday life. Circling back to my talk with Tucci, I recall him explaining how he chooses roles. Unable to come up with a single formula for picking parts, he said, simply, “Every movie is different.” But paramount in his decisions, he explained, were the people with whom he was going to work. For *Supernova*, he made one of the best choices of his career. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sully](https://www.meiermovies.com/sully/) **Published:** September 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Sully**, 2016, 4 stars # Hanks soars in *Sully* ## Eastwood film meets expectations [![sully](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Sully.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Sully.jpg)Image copyright FilmNation Entertainment/Flashlight Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/hanks-soars-in-sully/Content?oid=2522847), September 7, 2016 A pair of captains must be Tom Hanks’ strong suit. After a series of merely average performances in the 2000s and early 2010s, it took one captain (Phillips) to right Hanks’ acting ship. Though he followed that role with great turns in *Saving Mr. Banks* and *Bridge of Spies*, he regrettably found himself wandering in the desert again – both literally and metaphorically – in *A Hologram for the King*. Enter captain number two to steer the legendary actor back on his star-crossed path and into one of the best films of the year. Directed by Clint Eastwood, this is the story of the famous emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009, told mostly from the perspective of the captain, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. The screenplay, by Todd Komarnicki, examines the crash, the events proceeding and following it, and Sully himself. “\[Flying\] has been my life, my whole life,” Sully says. And the movie spends considerable time showing us that dedication. The film’s formula works, though it’s an odd one. At times simple, almost Capraesque in its depiction of Sully and his detractors, it is also surprisingly twisty, jumping back and forth in time and digging deep into the PTSD-addled brain of the captain. And though it makes extensive use of digital IMAX cameras, the film is not really about the spectacle of the crash. Instead, it’s about the event’s fascinating minutia and the ability of one man to cope with both the improbable water landing and its emotional aftermath. Hanks is up to the task, as is Aaron Eckhart as the first officer. Both are convincing and have great chemistry. There’s no magic here – you just simply believe the two are doing what they are supposed to be doing. And sometimes that’s all you need in a film. That’s especially astonishing for Hanks, since his character is a living man upon whose autobiography the script was based, and a stoic man, to boot. So Hanks must capture emotion while often being emotionless, and to do that he must rely on his full bag of tricks from 25 years of playing people we admire. Hey, I guess when you’ve survived *Apollo 13*, landing a plane on the Hudson is a bit easier. The supporting cast is just adequate. Laura Linney, in a surprisingly limited role as Sully’s wife, does a nice job, but the folksy, pre-flight introductions of the passengers feel a bit too *Airport*-like. Nevertheless, their stories matter too, and it was wise to include glimpses into their lives, though the film seems less exceptional when Hanks is off screen. It was also a wise, and rare, choice to keep the movie short. (At just 96 minutes, it’s refreshingly tight, though it does lose thrust in the third act and comes in for an aesthetically bumpy landing.) Despite the smart structure and the revelation of details most of us never knew, some viewers may find the film too predictable and TV-movie-like. Instead, this reviewer found it fascinating, gripping and worthy of the legacy of an American hero. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Stuber](https://www.meiermovies.com/stuber/) **Published:** July 11, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Stuber**, 2019, ¾ star # *Stuber* stumbles ## Action-comedy is an unpleasant ride [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Stuber.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Stuber.jpg)Dave Bautista, left, and Kumail Nanjiani star in *Stuber*. (image copyright Walt Disney Studios / 20th Century Fox) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/action-comedy-stuber-is-well-stubid/Content?oid=25620816), July 10, 2019 *Stuber*’s title is a portmanteau of Uber and the film’s main character, Stu. The movie’s creators apparently thought it a clever combo, so let me also don my Lewis Carroll hat and invent a word for this action-comedy: stubid. Mild-mannered Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) works at a sporting-goods store by day and drives an Uber in the evening. His world revolves around avoiding emotional abuse from his boss (Jimmy Tatro) and getting closer to his crush, Becca (Betty Gilpin), with whom he hopes to open a small business. Those priorities are upended when a policeman, Vic (Dave Bautista), hires his Uber to chase a violent fugitive who killed his former partner (Karen Gillan) six months earlier. The unlikely use of an Uber (instead of a cop car) is explained, weakly, by the fact that Vic’s boss (Mira Sorvino) has taken him off the case and Vic is unable to drive himself because he just underwent LASIK surgery. Confused already? Just wait. Further subplots abound, including Vic pledging to attend the art-show opening of his daughter (Natalie Morales) and Stu promising to console Becca, who has just broken up with her boyfriend and is requesting sexual comfort from Stu (because that happens in real life). But the overstuffing doesn’t stop at the plot, as writer Tripper Clancy (*Hot Dog*) and director Michael Dowse (*Fubar*) also pack in multiple genres: comedy, action and the embarrassingly sandwiched-in drama. And how do we know when the film switches from farce to pathos? The cloying score tells us, of course. It’s all out of Screenwriting 101, or that popular film-writing manual, *Save the Cat!* But this cat has mange. Nanjiani is talented, as he showed in *The Big Sick*, but he deserves better writing and a director with a smarter sensibility and more discipline. And though Bautista has an undeniable screen presence, which he demonstrated as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel movies, his acting belongs not with legitimate filmmaking but with World Wrestling Entertainment, where he performed before transitioning to cinema. Morales (*Parks and Recreation*) does some nice work, but Sorvino and Gillan (Amy Pond in *Doctor Who*) are embarrassingly wasted. Still, no single element is as misused as the Hollies classic “The Air That I Breathe,” which, in a moment of musical sacrilege, is played over a bloody shootout. “If I could make a wish, I think I’d pass” on this film. Will some people enjoy *Stuber*? Certainly. Take the dude sitting next to me at the screening. Take him, please. No, seriously, he loved it. For an hour and a half, he chortled, clapped his hands, shoveled popcorn in his pie hole and even stomped his feet, as if he were at one of Bautista’s wrestling matches. He enjoyed elements I couldn’t: the 1980s buddy-cop vibe, exhausting freneticism, unpleasantly active camerawork, car crashes, stunts, and haphazard juxtaposition of graphic violence and mirth in the vein of *Deadpool*. So I begrudgingly wish him happy feasting on this sloppy smorgasbord of sophomoric cinema. I’d prefer to starve. “I didn’t think you were gonna give me five stars,” Stu tells Vic, referencing his Uber rating. In movie-review terms, Stu, you couldn’t be more correct. How does one star sound? *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Stronger](https://www.meiermovies.com/stronger/) **Published:** September 23, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Stronger**, 2017, 4 stars # Gyllenhaal is *Stronger* ## Boston Marathon bomb victim powerfully portrayed [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Stronger.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Stronger.png)Image copyright Bold Films / Lionsgate From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/gyllenhaal-is-stronger/Content?oid=7030397), September 20, 2017 Heroism in the media age is an odd duck. Those who truly exhibit it on a daily basis – such as teachers, firefighters and soldiers – often go unrecognized while those who stumble upon it are worshipped. Jeff Bauman, by his own admission, lies closer to the undeserving group. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time during the 2013 Boston Marathon. While cheering on his runner girlfriend, a bomb tore through his legs, necessitating their immediate amputation. Despite the horrific injury, he was able to share information with the FBI that led to the discovery of one of the bombers. Thus the 28-year-old Costco chicken-roaster from Chelmsford gained his 15 minutes of fame, and then some. “He never shows up for anything,” his girlfriend, Erin, reflects following the tragedy. “And then he shows up.” What makes Bauman different from many other victims of terror is the path he took following his injury. After the shock wore off, he somewhat embraced his hero status, before rejecting it and ultimately channeling that rejection into a book, which serves as the basis for *Stronger*, the new film by director David Gordon Green (*Our Brand is Crisis*, *Pineapple Express*). Jake Gyllenhaal is superb as Bauman and deserves an Academy Award nomination for best actor. And after a couple of recent rejections, he’ll likely get one, partially because of the film’s subject, which seems tailor-made for Oscar. Yes, the film seems slightly manipulative and predictable, particularly toward the end, but neither Gyllenhaal nor the script by John Pollono is guilty of many false notes. I challenge you to find another performance in cinema that makes you feel – both emotionally and physically – the loss of limbs. Gyllenhaal deserves praise for that, of course, but so do the cinematography and special effects, which completely convince you that the actor has suffered an unspeakable, graphic injury at the hands of terrorists, whom, in the film’s most honest moment, are acknowledged to have won, at least on a purely physical level. Still, the movie posits some profound theories about the origins and importance of patriotism and community. Tatiana Maslaney is excellent as Erin, and it’s the domestic moments between her and Jeff that create the most intensely realistic drama. But Miranda Richardson is even better. (Don’t be surprised if she garners a supporting-actor nod for her portrayal of a clinging mother just a bit too enamored with her son’s newfound fame.) Though last year’s *Patriots Day*, directed by Peter Berg and staring Mark Wahlberg, might have stolen a bit of this film’s thunder, *Stronger* is a far different – and better – film, and that’s mostly because of these interpersonal relationships, which create a moving and insightful portrait of both trauma and heroism. “The whole world is watching you,” Bauman’s family tells him. “You’re like a symbol to a lot of people. You’re Boston Strong.” Though Bauman contributed to that strength, he struggled to find strength himself. But with the critical success of this film, he’s undoubtedly finding it in spades now. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Rise of Skywalker](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-rise-of-skywalker/) **Published:** December 19, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker**, 2019, 4 ¼ stars # The Force comes full circle ## *The Rise of Skywalker* brings *Star Wars* saga to a close [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Rise-of-Skywalker.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Rise-of-Skywalker.jpeg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 19, 2019 *Star Wars* is my first movie memory. As a 5-year-old boy, I huddled with my mom in a London movie palace in December 1977, transfixed by the images flickering on the huge screen. But then came the Sand People, who, along with the movie’s overwhelming auditory experience, scared me enough that we had to leave early. Despite that frightening introduction to the franchise, I soon became a devotee. And though I’ve lost much of my original enthusiasm over the years – mostly thanks to the poor quality of *The Phantom Menace* and the endless parade of non-canon content – I was genuinely curious about the impending conclusion to the saga. Would it take the story in a direction that would satisfy both super fans and casual admirers? And more importantly, would it simply be a good film? While the jury is still out on that first question, the answer to the second is a resounding yes, at least in the mind of this casual fan, who, surprisingly, found himself tearing up once or twice. The effects are superb and the performances endearing, especially the four main actors from the three sequels (Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, John Boyega as Finn and Oscar Isaac as Poe). Yes, the film is derivative, repetitive, overstuffed, frenetic and sometimes just plain ridiculous, but it’s also irresistible. Powerful entertainment on an enormous scale, it’s the most emotionally resonant *Star Wars* movie since *Return of the Jedi* in 1983. Directed by J.J. Abrams, from a script by Chris Terrio (*Argo*, *Batman v Superman*) and Abrams, *The Rise of Skywalker* needs no advance plot discussion. One should go in fresh and uninformed, so I recommend avoiding trailers and blogs that might reveal twists. Strangely, though, a major twist – which negates one of the central plot points of the original trilogy – is revealed essentially before the movie begins, by the famous scrolling text. I won’t divulge that here, suffice to say it is a rather jarring rewrite of *Star Wars* history and one that I was initially uncomfortable with, until I found myself on the same narrative wavelength as Abrams and allowed the spectacle to wash over me. And that’s what I suggest you do too. Take off your critic’s hat, set aside your fanboy phobias and stop projecting your own desires onto the franchise. Just enjoy the nostalgia. And there’s plenty of it, almost as if Abrams wanted to wipe away some of the less *Star Wars*y choices made by writer-director Rian Johnson in *The Last Jedi*. But I don’t embrace this “battle of the writers” theory. On the contrary, I contend that the narrative pivots have served a purpose, despite the new film’s lack of originality. But there I go again, overthinking. Let go, we must. And if we do, we might discover the film’s surprising message of moral duality and ambiguity. Good and evil live in all of us in equal measure, Abrams seems to be saying. Palpatine and Skywalker are two sides of the same Republic Datary. “Confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi,” Luke reminds us. Well, we’ve learned a lot about destiny over the last 42 years: the destinies of the characters, the destiny of cinematic entertainment and our own personal paths. It’s been a memorable journey: fun, emotional, exhilarating, frequently disappointing, but ultimately satisfying. The Force has come full circle. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: Also take a look at [my comparison of all the previous ](http://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-all-star-wars-films/)*Star Wars *films. The article compares the movies’ quality and box-office performances.* --- ### [Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens](https://www.meiermovies.com/star-wars-vii-the-force-awakens/) **Published:** December 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens**, 2015, 3 ½ stars ## New *Star Wars* long on thrills, short on magic [![Star_Wars](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Star_Wars-300x169.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Star_Wars.png)Images copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and Walt Disney Company From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/12/16/review-star-wars-the-force-awakens)* and [*The San Antonio Current*](https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2015/12/18/review-star-wars-the-force-awakens), December 16, 2015 The movie event of the decade is here, and, no, it does not live up to the hype. Though *The Force Awakens* is an enjoyable, thrilling adventure and worlds better than *The Phantom Menace* and *Attack of the Clones*, it exists in a cinematic galaxy far, far away from the original trilogy. If you don’t know the basic story, you’ve obviously been living in a Degobah swamp for the last half-century. But the only things you really need to know going in are that it is roughly 30 years after the events of *The Return of the Jedi,* the Empire (now with a creepy, fascist-sounding new name) has made an unexplained resurgence, and Luke Skywalker has disappeared. Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher return, as do Anthony Daniels as C-3PO and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, and they are complemented by some nice, new additions. Nevertheless, the acting is mediocre. Ford is the real star and handles that responsibility well. However, Fisher is invisible and Hamill gets virtually no screen time, though the latter’s entrance is suitably grand. Oscar Isaac is solid but has disappointingly little to do, Max von Sydow is in just one scene, and John Boyega as a Stormtrooper deserter is just OK. Even worse, Domhnall Gleeson and Adam Driver are badly miscast and their characters poorly conceived. Among the newbies, only Daisy Ridley (as Rey) is stellar, so I guess it’s good that she will likely be the face of the franchise moving forward. [![sw2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sw2-300x201.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sw2.jpg)“I can’t explain, and you wouldn’t believe it,” she replies when asked how she escaped an attack on her home planet. That’s a fitting answer to just about everything else in this film, too. Though the first hour feels paced and plotted perfectly, with the traditional special effects, wipe shots and John Williams’ familiar score reminiscent of the 1970s, the rest is a mess of writing and editing, as if director and co-writer J.J. Abrams were trying to cram in everything but the cantina sink in an effort to re-create the glory of the original films and satisfy his audience’s thirst for thrills. He also makes the odd suggestion that the Force is purely genetic, something that doesn’t need to be learned and understood, and that a lightsaber can be wielded successfully by anyone. Still, some of the effects are impressive, and there are a couple of genuine lump-in-your-throat moments. However, those emotions are due mostly to nostalgia, not anything Abrams has created. We should still thank him for the attempt. Maybe the first trilogy existed in a time and place that can never be truly recaptured. If one can never go home, it follows that one can never go back to a movie theater, at least never back to one that existed three decades ago. But Abrams will obviously keep trying, as he and Disney have a lot riding on this. So my advice to him for the next film (which he will not direct but surely have a huge creative hand in) would be to relax. Let go, and let the Force flow through you. Don’t overwhelm us with action and rehashed plot lines. Instead, focus on what worked for George Lucas: story, human interaction and originality. But let’s be honest: Most fans don’t care what critics say. This film is mostly review-proof. This means that the most interesting debate is not how good it is but how much money it will make at the box office. [![sw3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sw3-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sw3.jpg)It will certainly top *Avatar*’s domestic gross of $760 million and should be the first film to top $1 billion in the United States. However, it will likely not reach *Gone with the Wind*’s adjusted-for-inflation gross of around $1.7 billion or even the original *Star Wars*’ total of $1.49 billion. Though today’s U.S. population is almost three times what it was in 1939 and 100 million more than it was in 1977, non-theatrical viewing (Blu-ray and the Internet) will make it tough for any movie to ever reach *GWTW*’s exalted total. Films simply don’t play in cinemas long enough anymore. (Indeed, *GWTW* earned more money in its re-releases than it did during its original roadshow and general release.) The international scene is another story. The world’s population is more than three times what it was in 1939, and the overseas market now dwarfs anything that 1930s, or even 1970s, moviemakers could have expected. That explains why *Avatar* holds the #2 international adjusted-for-inflation record, at $3 billion, while the original *Star Wars* now sits at either #3 or #4 (depending upon which estimates you believe for *Titanic*). However, *GWTW* still clings to the top spot overseas, too, with an adjusted gross of more than $3.4 billion (as much as $3.7 billion by some estimates). So the real drama will be whether *The Force Awakens* can reach those stratospheric heights. Yes, the Force may be with it, but the *Wind* still blows strong. The money questions will be settled soon enough. For now, keep your expectations low and get ready for a romp. Although it doesn’t possess the originality and seamless magic of the first trilogy, *The Force Awakens* contains enough humor, emotion and visual excitement to satisfy fans. *Also see [my analysis](http://www.meiermovies.com/2016/03/16/how-much-did-the-force-awakens-really-make/) of the film’s box office.* *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A Star Is Born](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-star-is-born/) **Published:** October 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Star Is Born**, 2018, 3 ½ stars # A *Star* is reborn ## Bradley Cooper helms a respectable remake From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/bradley-cooper-helms-a-respectable-remake-in-a-star-is-reborn/Content?oid=19110481) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/review-a-star-is-born-is-reborn/Content?oid=16121865), October 3, 2018 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/A-Star-Is-Born.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/A-Star-Is-Born.jpeg)Image copyright Warner Brothers Pictures / Live Nation Productions Every generation needs its *Star*, and the latest version – starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga – is a worthwhile addition to the series. *Star* was born in 1937 when William Wellman directed the melodramatic Janet Gaynor and the subtle, heartbreaking Fredric March in the eternal story of celebrities at opposite ends of their careers. Inspired by an even older movie (George Cukor’s *What Price Hollywood?* from 1932), the first *Star* follows the rise of a small-town girl and the drunken decline of a movie legend. Though the veteran gives the newbie her big break and subsequently falls in love with her (and she with him), he’s unable to save his own career. The 1954 remake, directed by Cukor, turned the tale into one of the best musicals of the decade, featuring a tender, pitch-perfect performance by James Mason and an absolutely stunning turn by Judy Garland in a mid-career comeback. Failing to replicate the magic of that movie, Frank Pierson directed a musically memorable but cloying Barbra Streisand and a walking-dead Kris Kristofferson in 1976. (A star is bored.) That version moved the plot from movies to rock and roll, though neither Kristofferson nor Streisand were noted for their rock. The latest incarnation, which marks the directorial debut of Cooper, sticks with that musical setting but adds both a slight twang and a Gaga glint. With a screenplay by Cooper, Eric Roth and Will Fetters (based on the 1937 story by Wellman and Robert Carson), this *Star* can boast a few surprises – some good, some mediocre. But it still borrows heavily from all three previous versions. If you haven’t seen those films, count yourself lucky, as this updated tale of waxing and waning stars will seem mostly fresh. If you are familiar with the older movies, however, your attention might wander in the second act, with no big surprises waiting for you at the end. But you should still be impressed by the undeniable chemistry between Cooper and Gaga, plus the welcome addition of the incomparable Sam Elliott as the (much) older brother and mentor to Cooper’s character. As expected, Gaga nails her musical numbers, but she also shows a vulnerability that might catch some fans off guard. (She’s no Garland, but neither was Streisand.) Cooper is even more impressive, especially because he’s pulling triple duty thanks to his behind-the-camera credits. (His performance owes a lot to Kristofferson’s grizzled rocker from the 1976 version, except Cooper is actually good.) And look for accomplished supporting appearances by Andrew Dice Clay and Dave Chappelle. “Is there something else you’re searching for?” Gaga’s character asks herself in song near the film’s beginning, hinting at the fame that will soon be hers. Her character’s answer is, of course, yes, for that’s the answer of all rising stars, whether they be 1930s Hollywood starlets or 21st-century pop princesses. The dream never really changes, but in Cooper’s new film, it’s nevertheless nice to see it reimagined. *© 2018 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Stand Up Guys](https://www.meiermovies.com/stand-up-guys/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Stand Up Guys**, 2012, 1 ½ stars # *Stand Up* and walk out ## Acting legends can’t revive a tired script [![Stand Up Guys](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Stand-Up-Guys-300x153.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Stand-Up-Guys.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/stand-up-guys/Content?oid=2244739), January 30, 2013 Director Fisher Stevens, better known as an actor and producer, apparently saw Clint Eastwood’s *Space Cowboys* and decided that he could waste the talents of great old actors even more spectacularly. The result is *Stand Up Guys*, a clever concept wasted on a mediocre screenplay and an inexperienced director. Al Pacino is Val, just released from prison after 28 years. Waiting to collect him and give him a place to stay is his friend and former partner in crime, Doc (Christopher Walken). But the seemingly loyal gesture of a prison pick-up masks the fact that there is serious, unfinished business left over from the crime that landed Val in jail. But that business can wait, at least for a day, as this is a comedy/drama about old men trying to reclaim their youth and have a blast doing it. There’s drinking, burglary, drugs, dancing with reluctant younger women and, most notably, multiple visits to a whorehouse. (If you think that scenario was tired on the guys’ first trip there, wait for the third visit and its penis-in-a-vacuum reference.) Val and Doc eventually involve Hirsch (Alan Arkin) in their debauchery, and though Arkin’s initial presence gives the film a small energy boost, his is the least interesting, and most underwritten, of the main characters. All three actors, in fact, play less watchable, more contrived versions of their characters from other films. Pacino reprises his moments of joy – and even his dance – from *Scent of a Woman*; Arkin, as in *Little Miss Sunshine*, is near death but still full of horny chutzpah; and Walken is the kind but slightly sad father figure from *Catch Me If You Can*. Throw in Julianna Margulies in an unbelievable turn as Hirsch’s daughter and quirky Lucy Punch as the whorehouse madam, and the plot becomes even more muddled, despite a tender but failed attempt to paint the three men as criminals with a code of honor, leftovers from a generation of honorable hoods. A Tarantino touch helps the film slightly, but, regrettably, the pace is as creaky and the jokes as limp as the old guys themselves, and no amount of Viagra jokes can give things a boost. Levity and seriousness are misplaced and tossed around with little care, as is the music, which adds confusion and schmaltz when it should be reflecting and enhancing what naturalism the film can muster. Even the title itself is wrong – missing its hyphen – a metaphor for a movie that shows glimpses of life but ends up dying a slow death from its poorly punctuated portraits of three lost lives. The main line, heard twice – and stolen from John Carpenter’s *They Live* – is “It’s time to kick ass or chew gum, and I’m all out of gum.” It’s a shame the three acting legends didn’t have the guts to tell Stevens and writer Noah Haidle that their screenplay kicked no ass whatsoever. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Stan & Ollie](https://www.meiermovies.com/stan-ollie/) **Published:** January 25, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Stan & Ollie**, 2018, 4 stars # Touching tribute ## *Stan & Ollie* pays homage to comedy legends [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Stan-and-Ollie.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Stan-and-Ollie.jpg)Image copyright Entertainment One / BBC Films / Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/stan-and-ollie-pays-heartfelt-homage-to-comedy-legends/Content?oid=23422445) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/review-stan-and-ollie-pays-heartfelt-homage-to-comedy-legends/Content?oid=19586379), January 23, 2018 There’s a poignant moment in *Stan & Ollie*, the tribute to comedy icons Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, when a studio receptionist doesn’t recognize Laurel. Forgetting his name and overlooking his aging face, she refuses to let him see her boss. Though her ignorance is depressing, it’s counterbalanced by the knowledge that this film will introduce the entertainment legends to a new generation. And what an introduction. Featuring uncannily transportive performances by Steve Coogan as Laurel and John C. Reilly as Hardy, *Stan & Ollie* is one of the most magical films of the last year. Focusing on the duo’s 1953-1954 theatrical tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film is both an epilogue to two legendary careers and an intimate portrait of friendship. And though it takes a while to find its footing, features a lighthearted score that sometimes belies its serious side and only scratches the surface of a complicated relationship, most of the picture is orchestrated with precision, right down to the “Lonesome Pine” harmony, necktie flips and loveable head scratches. With just two previous films to his credit, Scottish director Jon S. Baird can’t claim the name recognition of his subjects, but he shares their sensibility. Utilizing a script by Jeff Pope (who penned *Philomena* with Coogan), Baird’s film is a tight, funny and charming 97 minutes. In fact, its only stylistic indulgence is a stunning, nearly seven-minute tracking shot that takes us on a tour of a 1937 Hollywood backlot. Depicting the heyday of Laurel and Hardy, it’s a nice contrast with the rest of the movie, which is set 16 years later. Yet even in this scene, we get glimpses of the events and character flaws that will fuel the film’s darker moments. There’s no denying Coogan and Reilly’s chemistry, love for their characters and dedication to their craft, but it’s their hair and makeup that complete the illusion. Still, they never degenerate into mimicry. They simply *are* Laurel and Hardy. Yet the film also has room for three memorable supporting performances: Shirley Henderson as Hardy’s doting wife, Nina Arianda as Laurel’s headstrong spouse and Rufus Jones as a selfish, money-obsessed tour promoter. But even he, upon seeing Laurel and Hardy perform, is obliged to confess what I too was thinking while watching Coogan and Reilly: “It’s moments like this that make me love this industry. Madness. Beautiful madness.” The oddest aspects of *Stan & Ollie* are – spoiler alert! – the exaggeration of a professional feud from the late 1930s and a reimagining of the end of the 1954 tour. Regarding the latter revisionism, if the script had stuck to reality, the duo’s career would have finished abruptly in Plymouth, England, after Hardy’s health declined. But, to paraphrase a passage from Joe Wright’s *Atonement:* What sense of hope or satisfaction could viewers derive from an ending like that? So, instead, the film gives them what they lost out on in life. I’d like to think this isn’t weakness or evasion, but a final act of kindness. Considering the 106 films and infinite joy they brought to their audiences over a 34-year career together, they earned it. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The People vs. Fritz Bauer](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-people-vs-fritz-bauer/) **Published:** September 15, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer *(*The People vs. Fritz Bauer)** FL, 2015, 3 ¼ stars # Explaining justice ## German film examines little-known Nazi hunter [![the_people_vs-_fritz_bauerstill_1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/the_people_vs._fritz_bauerstill_1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/the_people_vs._fritz_bauerstill_1.jpg)Image copyright Zero One Film/Terz Film From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/german-film-the-people-vs-fritz-bauer-examines-the-obstacles-laid-in-the-path-of-a-little-known-1950s-nazi-hunter/Content?oid=2524633), September 14, 2016 To appreciate history, one must not just expose truths but also uncover historical untruths. That’s especially important to remember when studying 1950s West Germany, which is often perceived as being enthusiastically receptive to Nazi hunters such as Simon Wiesenthal and Fritz Bauer, the latter of whom is the subject of a new German-language film by writer-director Lars Kraume. But instead of being vigorously supported in his attempt to bring Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann to justice in the late 1950s, Bauer (the attorney general of the German state of Hesse) was blocked not just by those in his own government but by the likes of the CIA, which saw no Cold War benefit to helping with the Eichmann investigation. *The People vs. Fritz Bauer* (*Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer*, in German*)* tackles some of these topics, often in a slightly jumbled way, but is more intent on profiling Bauer himself, who is powerfully portrayed by Burghart Klaußner (*The White Ribbon*). We witness not just his professional struggles but his personal ones too. “Your righteous anger: That’s good. It keeps you strong,” his boss tells him. “No,” Bauer responds. “I’m angry and powerless, and it makes me old. … After ’45, I really thought we’d conquered evil. I thought we’d be able to build a new society: free, just, fraternal. But people aren’t interested in visions. They just want a nice little house and a nice little car.” Despite his bitterness, Bauer soldiers on and sticks to his principles, which, for a gay Jew in West Germany in the 1950s, was extremely difficult. His only confidante and real friend is a fellow gay state attorney, Karl Angermann. It’s a nice touch to show Angermann’s support for Bauer and his passion for human rights – gay rights included – but there are two major problems with this approach: Ronald Zehrfeld, who portrays Angermann, is, at best, merely competent, and, even worse, his character is invented. Admittedly, this is narrative fiction and not a documentary, but because the film’s strength lies in telling a true story that needed to be told, the introduction of an entirely fictional element reeks of contrivance and saps the movie’s relevance. The film is strongest when it isolates Klaußner, allowing him to bring to life the frustrations, passions and weaknesses of a man whose role in history has been largely ignored. And despite failing to fully attain the emotional power he had almost certainly wanted for his movie, Kraume does partially succeed in explaining the ethical uncertainties Bauer faces. No actual trial takes place in the oddly titled film, but, nevertheless, Bauer must confront the idea that he needs to break German law to help the German people make peace with their past. “If we want to do something for our country,” Bauer tells Angermann, “we’ll have to betray it.” That betrayal is now recognized as the highest form of patriotism, as it led to just punishment for a man whose only remorse lay in his disappointment that he was unable to kill all 10 million European Jews. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Split](https://www.meiermovies.com/split/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Split**, 2017, 3 stars # Shyamalan is back ## Director returns to form with *Split* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Split.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Split.png)Image copyright Blinding Edge Pictures / Blumhouse Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/m-night-shyamalan-returns-to-form-with-split/Content?oid=2556802), January 24, 2017 Though 2015’s *The Visit* was a substantial improvement over the train wreck of *The Happening*, it’s been more than a decade since M. Night Shyamalan has created a decent film. *Split* still doesn’t approach the quality of *The Sixth Sense* and *Unbreakable*, but it is proof that the writer-director finally has something interesting to say again. On the surface, *Split* is an abduction horror involving the kidnapping of three teenage girls by a psychopath with a split personality, or, more accurately, dissociative identity disorder. Kevin (portrayed excellently by James McAvoy) has at least 23 personalities, most of them benign. There’s Hedwig, the 9-year-old boy who wants to be friends with the kidnapped girls; Barry, a seemingly successful fashion designer; and even a woman, Patricia, who claims to have the girls’ best interests in mind. But also lurking within Kevin, just waiting for his turn at “the light,” is Dennis. Dangerously disturbed, he’s the one who snatched the girls and seems to hold sway over the other personalities. The final personality, which is apparently just a fantastical invention sprung from the minds of the other 23, is “the beast.” Exactly what this entity symbolizes is open to interpretation, but the fact that Shyamalan views *Split* as a thematic sequel to *Unbreakable* will give you a clue. All the personalities are being treated by Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), a psychologist intent on redefining Kevin’s illness and thus making a name for herself within the medical community. Departing from realistic psychological interpretations, she posits that patients with split personalities may be capable of both emotional and physical transformations heretofore unappreciated. “Is this where our sense of the supernatural comes from?” she asks. I won’t spoil the film by answering that question, suffice to say Shyamalan departs dramatically from what appears from the trailers to be a standard thriller. And, yes, there is a twist, but it’s more a shift in genre than a traditional plot surprise. Seen through a conservative or even plausible lens, the movie’s latter half is messy and slightly ridiculous – and certainly too long. Another detraction is the performance of Buckley, whom Shyamalan fans might remember as Mrs. Jones in *The Happening*. This is a much more important role, however, and requires her to go toe to toe with McAvoy, who gives perhaps his best performance since *Atonement* 10 years ago. She is not up to the task. Balancing Buckley is Anya Taylor-Joy, who first made a splash in *The Witch*, an underrated horror from two years ago. As Casey, one of the three abductees and the only one who truly challenges her captor, she is remarkable. And it doesn’t hurt that her character has an interesting history of her own, which is told partly through flashbacks. She, like Kevin, is psychologically damaged, and their shared experiences create an unlikely bond between captive and captor, the latter of whom believes, “The broken are the more evolved.” Yes, Shyamalan does give himself a contrived cameo, but that’s forgivable when you consider what he gives us. Included in his directorial gift basket are his trademark long takes, deliberate pacing, close-ups, non-subjective camera that stays disturbingly focused on his characters and a reexamination of a genre you thought you knew. “We are what we believe we are,” one of Kevin’s myriad personas professes. That theory might make little sense when interpreted by our traditional five senses, but when viewed through the prism of Shyamalan’s cinematic sixth sense, it somehow achieves plausibility. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Southern Comfort](https://www.meiermovies.com/southern-comfort/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Southern Comfort**, 2001, 2 ¾ stars # Out of our comfort zone From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 There are few movies that can truly alter one’s understanding of a particular societal issue, and *Southern Comfort* is one of them. This documentary realistically captures on tape and with a fluid camera the world of transsexuals, specifically the final year in the life of Robert, a female-to-male transsexual dying of cancer. Writer/director Kate Davis and Q-Ball Productions focus on Robert and his small group of friends in rural Georgia as they interact not so much with the society that has shunned them, but with each other. We learn about their past from their friends and old photos, but mostly through their everyday activities. Davis is content to simply let the tape roll, eavesdropping on the unique lifestyle of this group. “We lose a lot of things,” Lola, a male-to-female transsexual says. “We lose jobs, we lose friends, we lose family.” Yet they all felt compelled to change their gender to achieve sexual, emotional and even spiritual satisfaction at the risk of hurting those close to them. Southern Comfort refers to the “catillion of the trans community,” as Robert describes it. “It’s the coming-out party” for transsexuals, and much of the film is spent preparing for this annual convention and the emotional speech Robert is to deliver. It’s both the climax of the movie and of a man’s life. This slow-paced, slice-of-life picture works because it is just that: a quiet glimpse into a part of society that one rarely sees. Although the scenes are flat and uninspired at times, and Davis shys away from fully exposing the sexual and psychological trauma associated with this life change, the documentary is worth seeing simply for its educational and social value. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Song of Names](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-song-of-names/) **Published:** January 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Song of Names**, 2019, 1 ¾ stars # Off-key ## *Song* is out of tune [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Song-of-Names.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Song-of-Names.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics / Serendipity Point Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 17, 2020 It’s often overwhelmingly apparent that a particular film is based on a novel, but only when that film is poorly made. If a novel-based movie is well crafted, on the other hand, it seamlessly transitions from its original format to the screen, sans clunkiness, pedestrian exposition and structural problems, making it difficult to guess the source material. Unfortunately, *The Song of Names* is not one of those films. Based on the 2001 book by British author Norman Lebrecht, *The Song of Names* relays the nearly 50-year relationship – or lack thereof – between Martin and Dovidl. They meet as boys in London just prior to the outbreak of World War II when Martin’s parents, upon the urging of Dovidl’s Jewish family, adopt Dovidl, saving him from the pending Holocaust. Initially resentful of the arrangement, the boys soon form a bond, and Martin comes to respect the talents of Dovidl, who is a violin virtuoso. But when Dovidl disappears just before his concert-hall debut, Martin and his family are devastated. And Martin’s quest to discover Dovidl’s fate becomes a lifelong obsession. “Why are you wasting your time on him?” Martin’s wife asks him after an unlikely clue 35 years after Dovidl’s disappearance leads Martin to suspect Dovidl might be in either Poland or New York City. “I might be all he’s got,” Martin replies. Martin is passionate about finding his adopted brother, but that passion never translates to the screen, as the actors have little chemistry and the time-jumping structure robs the story of its emotional punch. Further, the performances range from predictable to stiff to embarrassingly forced to just plain boring. Indeed, much of the movie seems phoned it, as if it’s relying on the premise alone to produce suspense. Penned by Jeffrey Caine (*The Constant Gardener*) and directed by François Girard (*The Red Violin*), *The Song of Names* never establishes a strong enough connection between Martin and Dovidl, and never engages its audience in Martin’s search for Dovidl. It’s all simply happening before our eyes, complete with contrived clues, predictable outcomes and choppy editing. Part of the problem – spoiler alert! – is we know beforehand that the film stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen. So from the first few scenes, when we’re introduced to Roth as Martin, we deduce that Martin will indeed find Dovidl and that he will be played by Owen. The rest of the plot then becomes a paint-by-numbers activity. The lone intriguing element, which is only briefly explored near the end, is the clash between individualism and faith, between devotion to family and devotion to God. But if, like me, you’re a devotee of Jewish film festivals, you’ve seen these issues explored with greater depth, intrigue and maturity many times before. The title is derived from the Jewish practice of memorizing the names of Holocaust victims by committing them to song, and the film should be commended for its respect for music. (Luke Doyle, who plays Dovidl as a young boy, is himself a skilled violin player.) But the scene in which the names of the men, women and children murdered at Treblinka are sung aloud, in prayer, comes and goes without a lasting emotional impact. Still, perhaps the film can enjoy a more permanent legacy by reminding us of this important Jewish musical tradition. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Son of God](https://www.meiermovies.com/son-of-god/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Son of God**, 2014, 1 ¾ stars # Preaching to the choir ### *Son of God* may move devout Christians but bore non-believers From Jacksonville’s *[Folio Weekly](http://folioweekly.com/Preaching-to-the-Choir,9059)*, February 26, 2014; and [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/son-of-god-preaches-to-the-choir/Content?oid=2243194), February 25, 2014 No one tale has dominated cinema more than the story of Jesus. Starting in 1912 with *From the Manger to the Cross*, to the epics of the 1950s, to Mel Gibson’s *Passion of the Christ*, the subject has been covered ad nauseam. So when yet another Biblical adaptation comes along, the question to ask is not so much how it was made, but why – and whether it’s necessary. [![Son of God](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Son-of-God-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Son-of-God.jpg)Because the “why” in this instance seems to be to inspire Christians and spread the teachings of Jesus instead of break new aesthetic, spiritual or historical ground, the answer to that final question is probably no. However, more so than most movies, what you take away from *Son of God* will depend upon what you bring into it. Devout Christians may find it powerful, casual church-goers may find it moving but slightly heavy-handed, and some non-Christians, especially agnostics and atheists, may find it just plain preachy, despite the claims of producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, whom I interviewed, that it can succeed secularly. Still, because this reviewer is no Biblical or historical scholar, an opinion on only the quality of the film seems appropriate. Directed by Christopher Spencer and featuring Downey as Mother Mary, this is a big-screen reworking of the History Channel miniseries *The Bible*, and it feels too much like a TV movie. Indeed, Downey told me that about three-quarters of the film consists of scenes from the miniseries, just re-edited for the theatrical release. Although paced well, transitions between some of those scenes are a bit clunky, resulting in lost momentum, which speaks to the difficulty of cutting 10 hours to 135 minutes while still including the most important parts of the story, such as Jesus’s birth, his meetings with his disciples, his performing of miracles and his crucifixion. Performances range from solid to stale. Sebastian Knapp, as John, who often functions as narrator and whose own story bookends the film, is a stand-out, as is Adrian Schiller as High Priest Caiaphas. (The latter character’s struggles with his fellow Jews and Pontius Pilate over Jesus’s fate are the movie’s most intriguing moments.) Diogo Morgado plays Jesus, and though the Portuguese actor looks and feels right, his British accent and line readings are slightly sloppy. His scenes of suffering are predictably difficult to watch yet pale in comparison with the torture from Gibson’s adaptation, which, though overrated, was a cinematic step above this latest offering. *Son of God* also avoids controversy similar to Martin Scorsese’s *Last Temptation of Christ* by playing the story straight and not including the miniseries’ scenes of Satan, after many said the actor bore a resemblance to President Obama. Pilate predicts that, following his death, Jesus will be forgotten in a week. Though those words proved preposterously untrue, they somehow seem fitting for this film. While it’s not without merit, after the overly emotional swells of Hans Zimmer’s score have died away and a resurrected Jesus says his final goodbye to his disciples, *Son of God* quickly fades from memory. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mackinac Island ('Somewhere in Time')](https://www.meiermovies.com/mackinac-island/) **Published:** February 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Arguably the most underrated movie in history, *Somewhere in Time* holds a special — almost cultish — place in the hearts of Romantics and time-travel enthusiasts. Set and filmed on Mackinac Island, Michigan, the 1980 film was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and written by Richard Matheson. It garnered little respect upon its initial release (because of the studio’s lack of enthusiasm and an actors strike that prevented stars Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer from promoting it) but is today regarded by many, this critic included, as a 5-star masterpiece. These photos were taken on June 27-28, 2012, the 100th anniversary of the date to which Richard Collier (Reeve) time-traveled. Places shown include the 19th-century Grand Hotel (the main setting for the movie), a small museum inside the hotel that houses memorabilia from the movie, Round Island Light, the twin trees where Richard and Elise meet for the first time, and the downtown building used as Baxter’s Coin Shop in the film. (There is no “Hall of History” as depicted in the film; it was a set.) All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may be used only with written permission and copyright credit. (Click each one for a higher-res, larger version.) Thank you to Elizabeth Brulia for photographic assistance, and friendship. For more information on the movie, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somewhere_in_Time_(film)). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-4.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-5.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-5.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-11.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-11.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-10.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-10.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-9.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-9.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-8.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-8.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-7.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-7.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-lobby.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-lobby.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-1.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-6.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-6.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-3.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-12-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Grand-Hotel-12-1.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light-1.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Round-Island-Light.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Place-where-Richard-and-Elise-meet.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Place-where-Richard-and-Elise-meet.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Place-where-Elise-and-Richard-meet-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Place-where-Elise-and-Richard-meet-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-town.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-town.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Baxters.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Baxters.jpg) --- ### [Sleepwalk with Me](https://www.meiermovies.com/sleepwalk-with-me/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Sleepwalk with Me**, 2012, 3 ¼ stars ## Sundance sleeper hit wakes up the nation From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/sleepwalk-with-me-1.1392593), October 24, 2012 The real-life Mike Birbiglia has a big problem: He never knows what to expect when he goes to sleep. Suffering from rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder, he literally acts out his dreams, often subjecting himself to physical harm while still slumbering. Similarly, when the comedian decided to turn his story into a successful book, off-Broadway one-man show and, now, his feature-film debut, he was probably equally unsure about the outcome. Although the cinematic result, *Sleepwalk with Me*, an award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, feels a bit slight and doesn’t rise to the level of a must-see, it’s surprisingly sweet and furiously funny, with a wonderful Woody Allen aura. Birbiglia plays Matt Pandamiglio, and that often-mispronounced name is not all he has in common with his on-screen alter-ego, as the story is essentially auto-biographical. Matt is in denial not just about his sleep issues but also his lackluster eight-year relationship with live-in girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose) and his unsuccessful career as a standup comic. Adding to Matt’s sense of hopeless drift are his caring yet scatterbrained mom, played memorably by Carol Kane, and his stern and pushy father, portrayed by James Rebhorn in a perfect imitation of his irritatingly perfectionist headmaster in *Scent of a Woman*. With all of these external pressures, it’s little wonder that our protagonist acts out his frustrations while sleeping. The poor guy can’t even get respect when kissing a woman: “Why’d you take off your glasses?” he asks his potential make-out partner. “Just ‘cause if we’re really gonna do this, I don’t want to be able to see you,” she responds. Much like Mike, *Sleepwalk* limps along for a while, full of charm but devoid of much direction. Fearing that we’re going to see simply one more movie about a 30-something guy discovering himself, we start to drift a little too. But then Mike gets some stand-up gigs, starts ignoring his parents and spends time away from his girlfriend. In short, he breaks out of his funk, and so does his film, which is also energized halfway through by one of the funniest sight gags in recent years. Though the film is co-written and co-directed by Seth Barrish, it’s all Birbiglia’s, and he owns the screen for the short but effective run time of 80 minutes. One plus is the first-person narration, delivered straight into the camera, a device that has become a bit stale over the years but works here because we’re ultimately rooting for Mike the whole time, even though we may not realize it at first. We truly want him to find romantic happiness, confront his dad and other bullies, and come to terms with his sleep sickness. And that’s because the character does something rare in today’s cinema: He essentially asks us for our support in a melancholy, comedic way that is devoid of pretension, raunchiness and even curse words. For a standup comic, that’s a rare accomplishment indeed. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Skeleton Twins](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-skeleton-twins/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Skeleton Twins**, 2014, 2 ¾ stars # Sibling surprise ## *Twins* a dramatic coming-out for sketch-comedy stars From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-skeleton-twins-is-a-dramatic-coming-out-for-sketch-comedy-stars/Content?oid=2243061), *Jacksonville Folio Weekly* and *[The San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/screens/film/bill-hader-and-kristen-wiig-get-dramatic-in-the-skeleton-twins-1.1758485)*, September 22, 2014 It’s been the year for finding tender drama in unexpected places. *Obvious Child* took chances by mixing broad comedy and the sensitive topic of abortion, *Boyhood* impressed us with its directorial vision, and *Locke* held us in an emotional vice grip for its duration despite its single setting and character. Who says cinematic innovation is passé? *The Skeleton Twins* is not in the same league as those three, but writer-director Craig Johnson, with just his second feature, has managed to cobble together a surprisingly touching, if not particularly original, dramedy from pieces that are more accustomed to forming a purely comic jigsaw. Born from the murky, mirthy soup of *Saturday Night Live*, which belches up more crap than cleverness, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig work well with each other and with Johnson’s script, using chemistry and charm to cover up the film’s failings. [![Skeleton Twins](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Skeleton-Twins-300x180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Skeleton-Twins.jpg)The two *SNL* alumni play twins Maggie and Milo, who were close when growing up, thanks in part to their loving but fatally flawed father. But when he died – and with no real love from their mother (Joanna Gleason) – the siblings drifted as far apart as the places they chose to live: she in their hometown in upstate New York and he in Los Angeles, seeking actorly fame and an escape from his “tragic gay cliché” of a life. After they endure 10 years without speaking, it finally takes a shared moment of trauma to force a reunion. *The Skeleton Twins* perhaps derives its name from the characters’ preoccupation with death and a reoccurring image of a childhood toy, which, though imaginative in a Day of the Dead way, seems a bit too macabre for children. Yet the entire film is darker and more twisted than you might expect, in alternatingly comic and brutally painful ways. There’s the twins’ relationship itself (which often lurches from closeness to repulsion), Maggie’s too-perfect marriage to Lance (Luke Wilson) and Milo’s involvement with his former male high school teacher, played perfectly by Ty Burrell, who almost single-handedly saves the film from drifting toward amateurism in the second half. “Maybe we were doomed from the beginning,” Maggie speculates. “I mean, it’s not like Dad was Mr. Sunshine. Sometimes I think all our problems came directly from him, but a lot of the good stuff did too. … He told us to stick together no matter what. God, what the hell happened to us?” *Twins* works best when it tries to answer Maggie’s question dramatically instead of comically. It helps that Hader is surprisingly up to the task, turning in probably his best performance. He outshines Wiig, who, despite some honest moments and one scene of genuine, seemingly improvisational humor, relies too heavily on her usual deadpan, under-the-breath delivery. Despite that mediocrity, the film works because of its successful pacing, sense of purpose and strong forward motion – in Johnson’s directing, if not the siblings’ lives – which make *Twins* just interesting enough to always keep us wondering what skeleton is in the next closet. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [63 Up](https://www.meiermovies.com/63-up/) **Published:** January 23, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **63 Up** TV, 2019, 4 ¼ stars # *Up*standing ## *63 Up* is ninth installment in cinema’s greatest doc series [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/63-Up.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/63-Up.jpg)Image copyright ITV From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/63-up-brings-the-acclaimed-docu-series-back-to-maitlands-enzian-theater/Content?oid=26691511), January 23, 2020 When Auguste and Louis Lumière invented cinema in 1895, a journalist (arguably the first film critic) wrote that death would no longer be final. And with death delayed, aging, too, can be hidden from view, if only for the duration of a movie. Sixty-nine years later, British filmmakers Michael Apted and Paul Almond had a different idea. Instead of focusing on a single moment in a subject’s life, thus preserving that person’s youth for eternity, they attempted to chronicle the aging process itself and thereby capture a person’s ups and downs, successes and failures, across the decades. The *Up* documentary series was born. The first film, *Seven Up!*, at just 40 minutes, is technically a short. Commissioned by England’s Granada Television and first aired on ITV in 1964, it introduced us to a group of 7-year-olds from different backgrounds and classes. Inspired by the adage “Give me a child at seven and I will show you the man,” the film intended to demonstrate the impact of the British class system while predicting the future of the country. But the series, which continued seven years later with *7 Plus Seven*, soon outgrew its original goal, and by the time *21 Up* aired in 1977, it was apparent that the films’ creators were doing more than shooting documentaries. They were redefining filmmaking. Almond directed the first film, but the series has since been Apted’s baby, almost literally, as it feels like the venerable British director has raised the subjects before our eyes, in seven-year increments. Apted has grown up with the series too. Just 23 years old in 1964, he served as researcher and interviewer for that first film, helping select the 14 children. Those kids are now 63 years old and have become Apted’s cinematic family, cementing the director’s place in history, inspiring similar projects (Richard Linklater’s *Boyhood* and a Japanese *Up* series, for example) and prompting Roger Ebert to label the series one of the 10 greatest movie projects of all time. “To look at these films, as I have every seven years,” Ebert wrote, “is to meditate on the astonishing fact that man is the only animal that knows it lives in time.” I hope you’ve been watching these films as long as Ebert did. Regrettably, I have not, as a friend introduced them to me back in 2012. I was immediately hooked and scrambled to watch them all on DVD before the release of *56 Up* later that year. While that film remains the most impactful of the series for me, there can never be an unimportant chapter in the lives of real human beings. For that reason, the new *63 Up* demands watching just as much as any of the previous eight. And though the films are made for television, they are best seen on big screens like the one at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater or similar arthouses. If you’re a series stranger, you’re at a disadvantage, but you won’t be lost. Like the previous films, this one summarizes past events. But, understandably, those summaries have become more difficult (and longer). So there’s no substitute for watching all the films, in order, not only to experience the weight of time but also get to know the three subjects who did not participate in this latest movie. Apted has been criticized in the past for pigeonholing his participants and even trying to predict the outcomes of their lives. And subjects have been openly skeptical of the project’s value. Indeed, like its subjects, the *Up* series is fallible. But, as a humanistic experiment, how can it be anything but? Now 78 years old, Apted, like his subjects, is slowing down. If this is his last film, no one need complain, as he’s already left a mighty legacy. But, like Apted has hinted, I hope he can somehow endure until his last subject is left standing. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Shape of Water](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-shape-of-water/) **Published:** January 3, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Shape of Water**, 2017, 3 ¼ stars # An odd *Shape* ## *The Shape of Water* is an original but ungainly creation [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Shape-of-Water.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Shape-of-Water.jpg)Image copyright Fox Searchlight From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-shape-of-water-is-an-original-but-ungainly-creation/Content?oid=9803862), January 3, 2018 *The Shape of Water* has the most intriguing title of any film this year. Though poetic, the name makes little sense, of course, as water has no shape. It finds form only when observed in a container. That container, in this case, is writer-director Guillermo del Toro (*Pan’s Labyrinth*, *The Devil’s Backbone*), who has taken a potentially magical subject and forced it into shapes that are beautiful but also occasionally awkward. Though his new adult fairy tale deserves admiration, it never flows as freely or gracefully as it should but is instead – to carry the water metaphor further – dammed up structurally and thematically. It has moments of originality, humor and grace, but the movie also contains heavy-handed scenes that seem to exist only to satisfy del Toro’s fetishes for crude violence and sexuality. This is not your father’s fish film. For all the sumptuous style and lush visuals, *The Shape of Water* is, at its heart, a simple fish-out-of-water story, both figuratively and literally. Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute woman who works as a custodian in a top-secret government laboratory. Her lonely, quiet life consists of little but waking up, boiling an egg, masturbating in the buff, cleaning bathrooms and spending time with her only friends: co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) and next-door neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins). This is America in the early 1960s, so Zelda (poor and black) and Giles (an unemployed, and presumably gay, artist) also lead lives of lowered expectations. Together the three eke out an isolated existence on the edges of society. Their unexceptional world is suddenly shattered when a strange aquatic creature arrives at the lab. Treated by most employees as an animal worthy of the electric cattle prod, the beast actually possesses the ability to reason, feel compassion, grasp basic language and even potentially heal. But Elisa, perhaps owing to her own identity as an outcast, is the only one who realizes this. And, over time, she sees something else in him: a friend worthy of her love. The story is both simple and profound, though the screenplay (co-written with Vanessa Taylor) often strays from that simplicity and occasionally embraces silliness instead of profundity. (*Creature from the Black Lagoon* meets Stanley Kubrick.) The usually brilliant Michael Shannon is not at his best, though he fully embodies the evil of his character, who – in a subplot that is not entirely successful – is determined to destroy the beast instead of letting him fall into the clutches of Soviet spies. (Cold War paranoia is prevalent and allows for some of the film’s lighter moments.) Surprisingly, Michael Stuhlbarg, as a sympathetic scientist, is stronger than Shannon. But it’s Hawkins and Jenkins who power the film and make its absurd moments believable. Don’t be surprised if they receive Oscar nominations for actress and supporting actor, respectively, along with Nigel Churcher and Paul Austerberry for art direction/production design. “The way he looks at me, he doesn’t know what I lack or how I am incomplete,” Elisa tells Giles. “He sees me for what I am, as I am. He’s happy to see me every time, every day.” We should all be so lucky. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Together](https://www.meiermovies.com/moodyssons-together/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Together** FL, 2000, 1 ¾ stars # An uneven togetherness From *The Orlando Weekly*, November 2, 2001 Every character in *Together* seems to be coming apart, coming of age or coming out of the closet. Although the Swedish film’s emotional scenes are starkly real and well acted, there’s just a bit too much going on in the socialist commune the characters share to create a single coherent story. Goran (Gustaf Hammarsten), the head of the commune, is struggling with the complications of an open relationship with his girlfriend while emotionally supporting his sister, Elisabeth (Lisa Lindgren), who has just moved in with her two kids to escape an abusive marriage. Others in the commune are also dealing with shattered relationships and sexual confusion. Surprisingly, the children in the group are more mature than the adults, as they come to grips with the breakdown of their families and their feelings for the opposite gender. It’s quite an ironic predicament for a family with the surname Together. Director Lukas Moodysson creates a topsy-turvy, sexually charged environment but ultimately can’t fuse the separate characters’ lives together into a captivating tale. By trying too hard to create realism and moving from one event to the next with unseemly edits, he lessens the emotional impact the film could have had with a stronger story and more mature direction. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203166/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Together_(2000_film)).* --- ### [A Skin Too Few](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-skin-too-few/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nike Drake**, 2002, 3 ¼ stars # *Too Few* is just enough From *The Orlando Weekly*, May 22, 2002 English singer-songwriter Nick Drake led a melancholy, isolated existence, and his haunting, ethereal ballads reflected that isolation. *A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake* successfully captures his melancholy in a dream-like style by using floating landscapes, waves of music and the simple yet poignant words of those who knew him to create a tapestry of the once-forgotten musician. Instead of telling the story of Drake’s life, this short documentary recreates his moods by making us feel his spirit. Drake made only three albums, was never a big success and died unappreciated and alone from an overdose of anti-depressants at the age of 26. Only recently have audiences discovered his unearthly folk melodies and crisp classical guitar. *Five Leaves Left*, his first album, established his reputation as a romantic songwriter of conscience by fusing contemplative lyrics of lost youth and alienation with a folk-like Pink Floyd sound, a couple of years before Drake’s own producer, Joe Boyd, brought fame to that British band. Director Jeroen Berkvens leaves much of Drake’s story untold, partially because the musician was such a mystery, confiding in few and spending most of his life, apart from his years at Cambridge, living quietly in his parents’ house. His sister and a few of his fellow musicians try their best to shed light on his life, but in the end, it’s his music and the serene scenes of the England he grew up in that do the storytelling. Despite being a bit flat at times and not taking us through all the highs and lows Drake experienced, the film succeeds by bringing us close to its subject, leaving us wanting more and not being afraid to be subtle. *© 2002 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264013/).* --- ### [Shrek](https://www.meiermovies.com/shrek/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Shrek**, 2001, 1 ¾ stars # *Shrek* schlock: Disney digs defeat cartoon ### Katzenberg’s intentions are clever, but the story is not From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Once upon a time in the kingdom of Disney, there was a prince named Jeffrey. After a struggle with King Eisner, um, I mean Farquaad, he was banished. But in the land of Hollywood, banishment apparently means collecting $250 million from your former employers and then lampooning them in bad movies. It’s not that *Shrek*, the new DreamWorks project produced by Katzenberg, is worthless; its computer animation is comparable to the *Toy Story* movies, and there are plenty of laughs, despite many involving flatulence and other bodily functions. But the film spends so much time being cleverly hip and spoofing all things Disney that it struggles to find its own identity. The plot is little more than a simple fable with the cliché message of not judging a book by its cover thrown in, which is ironic since the movie spends most of its time lambasting and turning on its ear conventional animated storytelling. Shrek is an ogre who lives contentedly as a hermit until his woods are overrun by fairy tale creatures. This bizarre assortment of characters has been banished from its own kingdom, apparently by the evil Lord Farquaar, although the reason behind this is vague. This must be the best way writers could find to include characters as diverse as the “possessed toy” Pinocchio and Snow White. And the only way Shrek can gain back his happy isolation is to seek out Farquaar and beg him to send the creatures back from whence they came. Shrek, voiced energetically by Mike Myers, is accompanied by a wisecracking donkey (Eddie Murphy) on a voyage to the evil lord’s kingdom, which is part castle, part theme park. After passing through the turnstile and being sung to by dolls straight out of “it’s a small world,” they are given their task – rescue the beautiful princess Fiona and bring her to Farquaar (John Lithgow) so they can be wed. The stars of *Shrek* are the animation and the references to Disney, not the story. The detailed landscapes are spectacular, and much of the character animation is good too, despite the human’s jerky movements. Some of the musical choices are also clever and touching, such as Leonard Cohen’s *Hallelujah*. But it is the title character who comes closest to providing any heart. We feel sympathetic to the ogre, especially when he falls in unrequited love with Fiona (an uninspired Cameron Diaz). We also feel his pain at having to endure his annoying traveling companion, Donkey, who deteriorates into an annoying rip-off of Murphy’s dragon from *Mulan*. No one should resent a playful ribbing of the Mouse. But *Shrek* spends so much time being cute and generating one-liners that the characters become shallow. Most jokes are lifted from other films, including *Babe*, *Robin Hood*, *Peter Pan*, *Dumbo* and even the *Matrix*. The laundry list of references is so long that it seems as if the writers were more intent on inside jokes geared toward adults and making themselves and other ex-Disney employees laugh than creating a fantasy world that the whole family could enjoy. Some of the gags work, but just when some of the flavor of *Princess Bride* is creeping in, *Dumb and Dumber* takes over. For example, when Fiona asks Shrek why he won’t fight the dragon, he responds, speaking of his donkey friend, “I have to save my ass.” Will adults really think the double meaning is funny, and will parents really appreciate the teenage humor? There’s little doubt that *Shrek* will be a hit because of its fast-paced jokes and high-quality animation. But we ultimately learn more about Katzenberg’s feelings toward his former employer than about the frailties and love that Shrek and Fiona share. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126029/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrek).* --- ### [Scary Movie 2](https://www.meiermovies.com/scary-movie-2/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Scary Movie 2**, 2001, ½ star # Scary-bad taste From *The Orlando Weekly*, July 6, 2001 In *Scary Movie 2*, the Wayan Brothers once again do what they do best: push the boundaries of good taste to the breaking point. In fact, if there is an antithesis of the old Hayes production code for Hollywood films, which sought to rein in what the industry of the time considered vulgar or explicit, it would be this amateurish sequel. The movie poster bills the film as “more merciless, more shameless.” It doesn’t disappoint. Director Keenen Ivory Wayans returns many of the actors from the first film and also brings Tim Curry and Tori Spelling along for the ride. And parodying Max Van Sydow’s character from the *Exorcist*, we find James Woods replacing Marlon Brando, who apparently fell too ill to do the part once reading the script. Despite the loss of the millions Brando was offered for the five-minute role, one should be glad he bowed out as it would have been tragic to see the great actor in a truly offensive and repulsive parody of the 1973 classic that had even the agnostics in the audience shouting blasphemy. The story, though hardly worth mentioning, is a combination of several horror films but gets most of its plot by combining *The Haunting* with *House on Haunted Hill*. Because of their brush with the ghoul from the first film, Anna Faris, screenwriters Shawn and Marlon Wayans and the others are viewed by Curry as the perfect subjects for his experiment with the supernatural. Put them all in a possessed house, add some special effects and a few more unfunny movie spoofs, throw in a deformed and dramatically confused Chris Elliot, and you have a leading contender for this year’s worst flick. It’s too easy to dismiss this film as adolescent fun, as it truly can be blamed, along with other recent adolescent comedies, for desensitizing audiences to disgusting sexual visuals, drug references and obscenities. Ten years ago it might have been slapped with an NC-17, but today we seem fine with allowing preteens to see scenes of women getting pinned to the wall by flying male ejaculation, a joke that the filmmakers liked so much they regurgitated it from the original. Some would applaud the Wayans for showing the imagination to take these crude jokes to their visual extremes, but it doesn’t take much inspiration to have your cast vomit on each other or repeat a joke enough times to make your audience yawn and cringe with disbelief at the same time. To get any enjoyment out of the original, you had to leave your brains at home. With the sequel, remember to leave your stomachs too. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257106/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_Movie_2).* --- ### [Saving Mr. Banks](https://www.meiermovies.com/saving-mr-banks/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Saving Mr. Banks**, 2013, 4 ½ stars # **More magical than *Mary*** ### Disney’s *Saving Mr. Banks* is even better than the film that inspired it [![Saving Mr. Banks](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Saving-Mr.-Banks-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Saving-Mr.-Banks.jpg)Tom Hanks, as Walt Disney, rides King Arthur Carrousel at Disneyland. (Photo copyright the Walt Disney Company) From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/saving-mr-banks-is-even-better-than-the-film-that-inspired-it/Content?oid=2245777)*, December 17, 2013 “This world is just an illusion,” alcoholic Travers Goff told his daughter Helen. That little girl never forgot those kind but strangely melancholy words, and she never forgot her father either. Indeed, she took his first name as her own last, becoming *Mary Poppins* author P.L. Travers. Yet it took the actions of another, more famous, man for her to reap the joy from those words – or at least that’s the story we’re spoon fed in *Saving Mr. Banks*, the sweetest and most magical film of the year. [![DL 28](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL-28-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL-28.jpg)Your humble reviewer riding Mr. Jingles, the carousel’s lead horse, which was featured prominently in the film. Alternating brilliantly between scenes of the author’s difficult childhood in Australia and the 1961 pre-production of *Mary Poppins* in Los Angeles, the film tells the story of two powerful personalities and their struggle to form an artistic partnership. No one can play Walt Disney, but Tom Hanks comes as close as humanly possible, one icon playing another. Emma Thompson, as Travers, has a slightly easier task but nevertheless masters the careful balance between bitchiness and vulnerability. She’s fiercely protective of her work, as it’s in many ways her own life, with Mr. Banks based loosely on her father – and Thompson successfully captures Travers’ emotional tribulations. No one could have expected such a success from director John Lee Hancock after a string of mediocre projects like *The Blind Side*. But thanks to strong performances – including supporting gems from Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell and Ruth Wilson – great writing, and the ability to shoot on the Disney lot and at Disneyland, it feels as if the cinematic “sun came out to say hello just for you,” as Giamatti’s character tells Travers. [![Cameron On Carrousel 1999](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Cameron-On-Carrousel-1999-300x197.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Cameron-On-Carrousel-1999.jpg)On a sidenote, this film had a very personal meaning to me, as I worked for the Walt Disney Company for many years and was the chief historian and show-quality coordinator for the carousel at Walt Disney World, spearheading the effort to locate and restore the historic chariot to the ride, which was built in 1918 and is the nation’s largest merry-go-round. Whether all details are historically accurate – most of them are – is almost a moot point since the message of the film, and perhaps Walt’s message to us, is that we can reshape our past into the reality we want. Instead of remembering your father for his drunkenness (Travers Goff) or his violent outbursts (Elias Disney), you can feed the birds, go fly a kite and let the troubles of the world whirl away on a carousel horse. Psychologists may not agree with that approach, but it succeeds in the magical world of Disney, and it works overwhelmingly well in Hancock’s film too. The most touching historical revisionism in *Saving Mr. Banks* is Walt’s lack of smoking, which tragically left him dead at the age of 65, just two years after the release of *Mary Poppins*. The Walt Disney Company has pledged to not show smoking in its Disney-branded films, but it does let you hear Walt’s famous cough and, in a painfully sad moment, shows him snuffing out a cigarette and telling Travers that he doesn’t want to encourage bad habits. It’s as if Walt’s company let him speak to us from beyond the grave. “Don’t look at me doing this,” he’s saying. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. I’m sorry I left you so early.” But we have him back now, if only for two hours on celluloid. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Rules Don't Apply](https://www.meiermovies.com/rules-dont-apply/) **Published:** November 21, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Rules Don’t Apply**, 2016, 4 stars # *Rules Don’t Apply* to Warren Beatty ## Screen legend embraces originality again [![Image copyright Regency Enterprises/RatPac Entertainment](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Rules.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Rules.jpg)Image copyright Regency Enterprises/RatPac Entertainment From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/warren-beattys-rules-dont-apply-is-one-of-the-funniest-films-of-the-year/Content?oid=2543559), November 22, 2016 It’s been 18 years since Warren Beatty made a movie. The wait was worth it. In *Rules Don’t Apply*, the legendary actor-producer-director has given us his first feature since 1998’s *Bulworth*, and like all his previous films, this one is tough to categorize. Part Howard Hughes biopic, part romance, part drama and several parts farce, this odd yet emotionally moving concoction is one of the most memorable and funniest films of the year – and a not-so-subtle commentary on sexual mores and religious hypocrisy. It’s the late 1950s and young beauty queen Marla Mabrey (the uniquely cute Lily Collins) is new to Hollywood. Hailing from Innocence, U.S.A., she’s both a Virginian and a virgin. Chaperoned by her mother (Annette Bening), she has come to California with hopes of starring in the next Hughes picture. What she doesn’t know is dozens of other potential starlets are under contract to the reclusive billionaire and none has a real shot at fame because Hughes is too unbalanced to attempt another production. So she whiles away her time, dreaming of ways to impressive Hughes and falling for the billionaire’s chauffeur, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich, the dude who stole the show earlier this year in the Coen Brothers’ *Hail, Caesar!*). As Marla becomes increasingly distraught at her predicament, Frank comforts her. She’s unlike all other Tinseltown talent, he says, claiming it doesn’t matter that she’s not tall, blonde or buxom and isn’t a great singer, actor or dancer. “Rules don’t apply to you,” he says. Though his words are pat, they ring true for Marla, who even turns them into a song, which will surely be nominated for an Oscar. Rules don’t apply to this film, either. “If what you are is crazy,” Marla tells Hughes, “then give me more crazy.” And that’s just what Beatty does, turning what could have been a conventional love-triangle period piece into a 10-ring circus of absurdity befitting its subject. Elements that shouldn’t work somehow do. For instance, the movie is too long, Beatty is 20 years too old for his part, and the focus shifts midway through the film from Marla and Frank, to Hughes. So, though the two young characters are fictional and events in Hughes’ life are either condensed (from about 20 years down to five) or fabricated, *Rules Don’t Apply* is essentially a biopic, albeit the strangest one since *I’m Not There*. It apparently wasn’t just me that was impressed with the project, as Beatty got a smorgasbord of stars to sign on for tiny parts. Matthew Broderick gets some substantial screen time as Hughes’ assistant, but Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin (the latter two playing real people) have little to do, and Ed Harris and Paul Sorvino have blink-and-you’ll-miss-them roles. But thanks to a riveting and slightly melancholy performance by Beatty, a clever framing device, tour-de-force editing and some stunning old Technicolor footage of Los Angeles and other locales, the jigsaw puzzle pieces fall into place. Let’s hope this isn’t the last project for the 79-year-old Beatty. Perhaps he’ll continue into his 80s, like Clint Eastwood. But if this is Beatty’s finale, as some suggest, he’s going out on a high note – higher than the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock. Still, he’ll be best remembered for helming *Heaven Can Wait*, *Reds* and *Dick Tracy*, producing *Bonnie and Clyde* and countless other films, and starring in dozens more, beginning in 1961 with Elia Kazan’s *Splendor in the Grass*. OK, so maybe some rules *do* apply to Beatty after all. But that’s only because he helped write them. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Roma](https://www.meiermovies.com/roma/) **Published:** December 16, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Roma** FL, 2018, 4 ½ stars # Eternal cinema ## *Roma* is one of the year’s best films [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Roma.jpg)Image copyright Netflix / Participant Media From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cuarons-roma-is-one-of-the-years-best-films/Content?oid=22196840), December 12, 2018 Alfonso Cuarón has named his new film *Roma*, either to reference the Mexico City district in which the period drama is set or to equate the metropolis with Rome. If the latter is the reason, it’s strangely appropriate, as, like the Italian city, the Mexican writer-director’s movie also seems eternal. That might be because Cuarón (*Gravity*, *Children of Men*) shot his deeply personal, autobiographical film in many of the places the events took place. Or it might be because the movie is set in the ‘70s and features richly detailed art direction and dialogue in both Spanish and Mixtec. Or perhaps it’s because of Cuarón’s black-and-white cinematography, which, along with the minimal camera movement, strips the film of superfluousness. But regardless of the reason for the eternal quality, *Roma* is one of the year’s five best movies. The film focuses on Cleo, a live-in nanny and housekeeper for a moderately wealthy family. She does a little of everything, including helping raise the four children while the parents sort out their dysfunctional marriage. And though she’s from a different social and economic class, Cleo is mostly embraced by her employers. “I was born poor, and you’ll never love me,” she sings to herself while doing laundry. Despite that lyrical longing, the family does love her, but only on a certain level. And perhaps that’s the largest social takeaway from a film packed with them: Cleo and everyone like her are members of families to which they will never truly belong. Above all else, the film is observational, and often extremely quiet. Indeed, it has virtually no score, except for the music of a tinny marching band, or the family’s phonograph, or a solitary singer. But that doesn’t mean its story is weak. Though it lacks a traditional narrative structure at first, it’s just biding its time, introducing you slowly and hyper-realistically to its characters until it eventually drops an emotional anvil on your head. And hovering in the background, just out of sight for most of the film, is El Halconazo, the student massacre of 1971. As Cleo, Yalitza Aparicio is a pleasure to watch, as are the other actors. But the film isn’t focused on performance. Instead, Cuarón is obsessed with visual, historical and metaphorical composition, peppering his canvas with beautiful, almost Felliniesque details. For instance, a simple shot of people descending stairs is embellished by two ducks furiously mating in the foreground. A Christmas trip to a relative’s hacienda is illustrated with multiple, mounted, taxidermied heads of the family’s dogs. No audience member will soon forget Cleo’s boyfriend’s all-nude, martial-arts demonstration featuring a curtain rod as a makeshift staff. And in a scene that fully embraces magical realism, we learn just how difficult it is to close your eyes and balance perfectly still on one leg. (You’re doing it yourself now, aren’t you?) In 2014, I chastised the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for confining Paolo Sorrentino’s *The Great Beauty* to the foreign-language category instead of nominating it for best picture. For the sake of international cinema, cultural diversity and just plain good quality, I implore them to not make the same mistake with *Roma*. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Rogue One](https://www.meiermovies.com/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/) **Published:** December 16, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2–D and 3–D versions)**, 2016, 4 ¼ stars # The Force has truly awoken ## *Rogue One* best *Star Wars* film since *Jedi* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/rogue-one-is-one-of-the-two-best-science-fiction-films-of-the-decade/Content?oid=2547725), December 14, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Rogue-One.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Rogue-One.jpg)Felicity Jones in “Rogue One.” (Image copyright Lucasfilm/Disney.) Merging nostalgia with fresh faces, and old-fashioned adventure with next-generation computer animation, *Rogue One* is not just the best *Star Wars* movie since 1983’s *Return of the Jedi*, but, with Christopher Nolan’s *Interstellar*, one of the two best science-fiction films of the decade. Though it’s embarrassingly superior to George Lucas’s three prequels, and even noticeably better than last year’s *The Force Awakens*, *Rogue One* is, ironically, not considered part of the “canon,” but is instead an “anthology” film. (There are no scrolling opening credits, but John Williams’ original score is used sporadically.) It’s set just before the events of the 1977 *Star Wars* and has few overlapping characters, but its heart beats with almost more Force than one screen can hold. The story is quite simple, but, wasn’t the same true for the original trilogy? Jyn (the excellent and – forgive me – stunningly beautiful Felicity Jones) hasn’t seen her imprisoned father (Mads Mikkelsen) in 15 years, since she was a young girl. But, having grown up tough and proud, she doesn’t seem to care. “I like to think he’s dead,” she says. But, when confronted with the fact that he is both alive and the one person who can lead the Rebel Alliance to the plans of the new Death Star (which he was forced to design), she jumps at the chance to reunite with him and deal a blow to the Empire. Unbeknownst to the Emperor and Darth Vader (James Earl Jones again), Jyn’s father designed the Death Star with a flaw. Of course, that’s the flaw that Luke Skywalker exploited. But we never knew exactly how the rebels got the plans, until now. Director Gareth Edwards exhibits a solid understanding of tone, pacing and performance. Though the action is too frenetic at times, not allowing for cinematic peaks and valleys, it’s rarely overwhelming and always imaginative – though, if you see it in 3-D, it might be a bit too much. (I recommend seeing it in its native 2-D.) Places and people could be better explained, as locations are confusing upon first watch and many of the supporting characters are vapid MacGuffins, at least for the *Star Wars* layperson. But competent performances by Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, the underused Forest Whitaker and the pitch-perfect Alan Tudyk (as the voice of the newest robot, K-2SO) allow one to forget the flaws and revel in this fun and immersive extravaganza. Perhaps Edwards and the writing team felt less pressure than their *Force Awakens* predecessors, or maybe they just grasped what made the original trilogy work so well. Admittedly, this can be viewed as simply another rehash of old stories and themes, but hash is rarely this tasty. The film’s most amazing technical and creative achievement must be seen to be believed. If you’re a *Star Wars* junkie, you may already have read that a character from the original film is resurrected, almost literally, via CGI. But for you casual fans, I won’t reveal too many details. I will simply caution you to fasten your mental and spiritual seatbelts because the sight might just shake you to your core and cause you to question the future of animation – and acting itself. The filmmakers’ decision to include this character is fraught with moral and professional peril, despite the permission of the actor’s estate. Actors have been digitally manipulated before, both by motion capture and “youthenizing,” as in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*. *Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow* even tweaked old footage of Laurence Olivier to have him “play” a supporting role in 2004. But we’ve never seen anything like the brave new world of *Rogue One*. As for me, I’m both amazed and disturbed, but I’m also sort of looking forward to Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart’s new film in a couple of years. I guess we all knew where technology was leading us. I just didn’t know it would be here so soon. So, thanks to a film set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, our future is now – and it is, in every sense of the word, terrific. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Robot & Frank](https://www.meiermovies.com/robot-frank/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Robot & Frank**, 2012, 3 ½ stars ## Intelligence anything but artificial in director’s debut [![Robot & Frank](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Robot-Frank-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Robot-Frank.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/robot-amp-frank-1.1380226), September 28, 2012 It’s been quite the year for first-time directors, with Benh Zeitlin getting most of the attention for *Beasts of the Southern Wild.* But although Jake Schreier’s *Robot & Frank* is not quite the unique attention-grabber on the scale of *Beasts*, it deserves praise for a touching and subtle commentary on aging, family and friendship in a world dominated by technology. In an extremely convincing but not overdone “near future,” Frank (Frank Langella) is a retired, long-divorced jewel thief living alone in upstate New York, fiercely guarding his privacy and independence. He’s also doing his best to hide early-onset Alzheimer’s from his two kids. But when the weekly drive to visit his cantankerous father becomes too much, the son does what any loving offspring in mid-21st-century America would do: He buys his dad a robot to serve as companion, cook and housekeeper. But Robot soon becomes a different type of helper. In a clever commentary on morality and the limitations of artificial intelligence, Frank soon realizes that his fiberglass friend (thankfully not computer-generated) is perfectly suited to burglary, and it isn’t long before the two are attempting a major grab. It seems Robot, while being programmed with the definitions of “steal” and other crimes, can’t quite grasp their practicality and is concerned only with tasks that bring mental health and joy to Frank. Schreier and writer Christopher Ford, also in his feature-film debut, create a compelling tale not because we’re fascinated by the technology that allows Robot to exist – a technology still just slightly beyond our reach in 2012 – but because their story of growing old is one we already know, just told in a fascinatingly new way. The film does show a lot of the muddle and drift typical of a new director, but thanks to a couple of touching little twists in its third act, we’re left mostly satisfied. The supporting cast is competent, with James Marsden and Liv Tyler as the children, and Susan Sarandon as a friend, but this film belongs to Langella. Few actors portray the endearing curmudgeon in quite the same touching and comical way. His performances in *Dave*, *Frost/Nixon* (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and even *The Box*, a subpar film he nevertheless made much better, all are noteworthy, but this may be his finest screen work. Peter Sarsgaard’s voiceover as Robot is pitch perfect, too, as he adds his name to the pantheon of great but slightly creepy computer concoctions, alongside Douglas Rain’s Hal in *2001: A Space Odyssey* and Kevin Spacey’s GERTY in *Moon*. Even more intellectually challenging than the story itself is the film’s contention that a machine is able to adapt to new tasks in order to help its patient while a human is frozen in a single behavior pattern, unable to reprogram himself and wipe clean his brain’s criminal tendencies. And in a still greater display of irony, a movie about a robot ends up showing more humanity than most films you’ll see all year. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Road Home](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-road-home/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Road Home** FL, 1999, 4 stars # The universal language of *Home* From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2000 There may be better films at this year’s festival, but none as beautiful as *The Road Home*. The beauty of this Chinese love story lies not so much in its landscapes or the beauty of Zhang Ziyi – the star of *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, in her film debut – but in its poetic narrative and emotional maturity. Businessman Yusheng returns to his village upon the death of his father to find his mother, Dj (Ziyi) distraught and insisting upon a traditional burial. She was fiercely devoted to her husband, the village teacher for 40 years, and wants his casket to be carried on foot for miles to the burial site. The mayor and the villagers at first believe this request to be both outlandish and impractical. But through a narrative flashback of his mother’s early life, he convinces them of the deep, almost destructive love and devotion she has for her husband. Dj makes more sacrifices for her husband and loves more deeply than one would think possible. Her time apart from her husband during her early years was spent standing by the road, waiting for the school teacher’s return. To her it was his road home, both physically and emotionally. So when her dream of a traditional burial procession for him is realized, her life journey is complete. Director Zhang Yimou (*Raise the Red Lantern*) and writer Bao Shi paint the screen with the colors of love, joy and suffering. And of course it doesn’t hurt that they have the stunning Ziyi as part of their palette too. The narrative showing Dj’s young life is done in color and succeeds so well partially because of the contrast with the modern sequences, which are in somber black and white. The subtitles are difficult to read at times, but Ziyi’s face, the landscapes and the music speak more loudly than any language could. *© 2000 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Rider](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-rider/) **Published:** May 31, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Rider**, 2017, 3 stars # *The Rider* redefines docudrama [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Rider.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Rider.jpg)Image copyright Caviar / Highwayman Films / Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-rider-redefines-docudrama/Content?oid=14274469), May 31, 2018 How often have you heard someone say, “It’s a genre film”? For some, that phrase is code for horror, science fiction or extreme action, or a movie that allows directors to prove they have mastered the tropes of those genres. For others, it’s a justification for excessive violence, lazy writing or narrative silliness. Intellectually, the phrase makes little sense, as most films can be sorted into a category. Further, it’s often insulting to well-made thrillers and sci-fi flicks that deserve a place alongside mainstream dramas and comedies rather than being relegated to secondary cinematic status. *The Rider*, a new indie by Chinese writer-director-producer Chloé Zhao, challenges our assumption that all films can be labeled. Though her second feature (after 2015’s *Songs My Brother Taught Me*) has the pace and theme of a Western, it could more accurately be called a drama thanks to its story. But because it eschews experienced actors and instead uses the real people who inspired the plot, it becomes more documentary than narrative fiction. Welcome to the deconstruction of genre cinema. This may seem like something new thanks to Clint Eastwood’s *The 15:17 to Paris*, Bart Layton’s *American Animals* and other recent films that blur the line between doc and fiction. But the cross-breeding of truth and make-believe can be traced back to the dawn of cinema in 1895 when Auguste and Louis Lumière filmed non-actors playing themselves but gave them what we would today consider direction. The same was true for *Nanook of the North*, which, in 1922, was labeled the first documentary feature but actually has more in common with *The Rider*, as both films feature people playing slightly altered versions of themselves. Zhao’s film concerns Brady, a horse trainer and bronco rider recovering from a severe head trauma. Living in the badlands of South Dakota, he has known little except the rodeo. Faced with the prospect of permanent paralysis or worse if he is injured again, he must either risk his health or find a new direction. “There’s nothing like strapping yourself onto a 2,000-pound animal and just going with it,” his friend Lane says. “That’s what I wanted to do, and I knew I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” Trouble is, Lane’s bull-riding days are over after an accident left him paralyzed and unable to speak. Lane’s tragedy is not lost on Brady, who knows he could easily face the same fate. And the story carries immense emotional weight for us too, as Zhao cast the real Lane Scott. Through the accident that left him paralyzed actually happened in a car, not on a bull as the film suggests, the authenticity adds to the emotion, especially once you realize that everyone else – including Brady, his father and sister – are essentially themselves too, just with different last names. Though Brady Jandreau is memorable as the adaptation of himself, other performances seem clunky, which isn’t a surprise considering the lack of acting experience. To achieve almost absolute authenticity, Zhao has sacrificed some performance and pacing. Still, that slow, meandering structure does complement the story, allowing us to mostly overlook the movie’s misplaced minimalism, narrative simplicity and overuse of handheld camera. The film avoids editorializing, never once wading into a discussion of animal rights or questioning whether this lifestyle is worthy of reverence. But there’s little doubt that Brady views his horses as extensions of his family and cares for them like he cares for his sister, Lilly, who has Asperger’s and delivers a performance (as herself) that is simultaneously awkward, uncomfortable and astonishing. Indeed, instead of lecturing us or passing judgment, *The Rider* is content to amble, focusing its lens on the people, dialects and culture of an American West that is both changing and changeless. And though the film’s first half might bore you, the second might just hit you in the gut. In one of the movie’s most emotional moments, Brady must decide the fate of a beloved, badly injured horse. Not able to dispatch the animal himself, Brady trusts his dad with the kill. Turning the gun on the animal but realizing that the deed will be easier if the horse is distracted, his dad tells his son, stoically, “Whistle for him when you walk away.” For both horse and cowboy, may the end come that nobly. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Revenant](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-revenant/) **Published:** January 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Revenant**, 2015, 4 stars # Relentless *Revenant* ## Brutal, beautiful Western grabs hold and never lets go [![1000w_revenant](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/1000w_revenant-300x161.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/1000w_revenant.jpg)Image copyright New Regency Pictures/Anonymous Content From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/revenant-is-a-brutal-beautiful-western-that-grabs-hold-and-never-lets-go/Content?oid=2460801), January 6, 2015 You never know what you’re gonna get with Alejandro González Iñárritu*.* From the gritty, gut-wrenching *21 Grams* to the anthological *Babel* to the tenderly tragic *Biutiful*, the Spanish director’s cinematic box of chocolates offers a wide variety. So if his masterpiece, *Birdman*, was a tasty dark-chocolate concoction, *The Revenant* is a caramel-coated macadamia nut, beautiful but difficult to chew. Be prepared, or you’ll likely lose a tooth. This is the fictionalized story of real-life fur trapper Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is left for dead in the northwestern American wilderness in the 1820s following a bear attack. Clinging to the adage that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – and more intent on revenge against those who abandoned you – Glass soldiers on, fighting nearly impossible odds. Iñárritu and co-writer Mark L. Smith, who based the screenplay on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel, keep the story remarkably simple. There are no elaborate subplots or attempts to truly understand the supporting characters. (Indeed, even Glass is rather one-dimensional.) Instead, they rely on arguably the most stunning visual storytelling of the year to convey their classic Western messages of perseverance, stamina, isolation and revenge. As with *Birdman*, one of the stars of this film is Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography. Having won the last two Oscars in that category, he has a chance for a third in a row, an unprecedented feat. Though his beautifully fluid camerawork may not suit this subject quite as well as it did in *Birdman*, it’s still stunning and is complemented nicely by some beautiful still shots and well-choreographed long takes. Lubezki’s work is made even more magical by Iñárritu’s insistence on natural light and real locations, with minimal use of CGI. Computer imagery is used almost exclusively to create animals, particularly the bear that pummels DiCaprio so badly that you wonder how the actor escaped injury. (Yes, he really was thrown around, apparently by wires or another apparatus, with the bear being added later. And, no, the animated animal does not rape him, as some irresponsible websites have reported.) For all its beauty, *The Revenant* is a brutal film that demands much of its viewers throughout its grueling, methodical 156 minutes. The emotional grit is often soothed by mysticism and an embrace of Native American values, but one should still be prepared for a healthy heaping of guts and glory. DiCaprio gives a bit of a one-note performance, but, after all, this is essentially a one-note film. Still, his total commitment to the role and almost unbearable intensity (plus his rumored on-set suffering) will likely garner him a sixth Oscar nomination. Tom Hardy, as Glass’s nemesis, mumbles his way through another captivating rendering and is balanced by Domhnall Gleeson (as the two men’s superior), who is slightly miscast but, as usual, adds a nice sensitivity. “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight,” Glass tell his son. As an audience member, you don’t have to fight, but you still must remember to breathe, which you might find difficult during this relentless roller coaster of cinematic survival. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Report](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-report/) **Published:** November 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Report**, 2019, 3 stars # *The Report* reveals CIA torture [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Report.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Report.jpeg)Adam Driver stars in *The Report*. (image courtesy of Telluride Film Festival) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-report-reveals-cia-torture/Content?oid=26308824), November 15, 2019 Senate investigator Daniel Jones and film director Scott Z. Burns are both known for exposing dirty secrets. So it’s fitting that Jones, who revealed the CIA’s post-9/11 torture practices, is the subject of Burns’ political docudrama, *The Report*. Burns tackled agricultural-industry price fixing in *The Informant!* and climate change in *An Inconvenient Truth*. His roles on those movies were writer and producer, respectively, but this time he adds director to his resume for just the second time. And while the result often lacks a naturalistic ebb and flow (perhaps because of Burns’ relative inexperience at the helm of a feature), it succeeds thanks to a disturbingly powerful story and yet another wonderful lead performance by Adam Driver. The film tells the true tale of Jones’ aforementioned investigation, which culminated in *The* *Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Report of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program*. If you think that’s a mouthful, just wait until you see the movie, which attempts to cram in as many of the report’s 6,700 pages and roughly 38,000 footnotes as it can. Burns, who also penned the screenplay, deserves credit for thoroughness, but the film – which features multiple time changes, myriad minor characters and editing that keeps its foot to the pedal for the duration – can be exhausting. There’s simply no room left to take a breath and savor the human moments that such a mammoth undertaking surely afforded Jones and his team. There’s just no time for Carl Bernstein to toss Bob Woodward a cookie. But Burns packs his film with other types of treats: poisonous ones. You’ll be reminded how the CIA illegally imprisoned and tortured suspects, and then lied about it. You’ll be reacquainted with the fact that these brutal practices of “enhanced interrogation,” whether or not they were illegal, simply didn’t work. And you might even be surprised at who comes off looking the worst. President George W. Bush gets off a bit easier than you might expect, for example. But if you’ve either forgotten your recent American history or never knew the truth to begin with, your faith in our governmental institutions will take a further hit. As Jones, Driver conjures moments of relatability and emotional power, and adds another stellar credit to his 2019 resume. (I’m referencing the forthcoming *Marriage Story*, not *The Dead Don’t Die*.) In the most important supporting role, Annette Bening plays Senator Diane Feinstein initially with an unrelenting sternness. But as the film progress and the CIA’s lack of humanity is revealed, Bening slowly unveils her character’s humanity. And in lesser roles, Tim Blake Nelson, Jon Hamm and Ted Levine are memorable. (The latter actor, perhaps still best known as Buffalo Bill in *The Silence of the Lambs*, is convincing as CIA Director John Brennan. Regrettably, Bill’s fictional atrocities pale against the CIA’s real horrors.) “It’s only legal if it works,” a CIA agent tells her co-workers. That type of savage cynicism pervades Burns’ production, making it a tough watch. But it’s a necessary one for the civic-minded cinephile. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ready Player One](https://www.meiermovies.com/ready-player-one/) **Published:** April 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ready Player One**, 2018, 4 ½ stars # Otherworldly adventure ## Spielberg stuns with *Ready Player One* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Ready-Player-One.jpg)Image copyright Amblin Entertainment / Warner Brothers From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/spielberg-stuns-with-ready-player-one/Content?oid=12208846), March 28, 2018 More than any other director ever, Steven Spielberg speaks to the child in all of us, exploring our collective unconscious and exposing hidden dreams, buried memories and secret fantasies. *Ready Player One* is the latest in this long line of Spielberg explorations, and it’s fantastic. Based on the bestselling 2011 novel by Ernest Cline, this otherworldly adventure centers on Wade Watts, a teenager living in the poverty-stricken “stacks” of dystopian Columbus, Ohio, in the year 2045. Like almost everyone else in this economically depressed, aesthetically depraved society, he seeks emotional refuge in the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation), a virtual-reality game in which one can do anything and be anyone. But the OASIS is more than a game. It’s an entire existence that, for most gamers, has supplanted the real world and usurped its financial and social structure. So when it’s revealed that James Halliday (the recently deceased creator of the OASIS) agreed to give away his entire fortune and control of the OASIS to the person who could find the “Easter eggs” in his virtual world, Wade seizes his opportunity for immortality. Worried less about immortality than about unimaginable profits is Innovative Online Industries (IOI), a monopolistic corporation that will stop at nothing to obtain the eggs, which are, more precisely, keys to the soul of the OASIS and its eccentric inventor. This is arguably Spielberg’s fastest-paced and most action-packed film. It’s also his first science-fiction fantasy since *The Adventures of Tintin* in 2011. As with that film, Spielberg relies heavily on motion-capture technology for the performances in the OASIS, where characters exist not as themselves but as exotic avatars. The results are astonishing and, combined with pure CGI, raise the bar on special effects. (The effects were so time-consuming that Spielberg was able to shoot, edit and release another Oscar-worthy film, *The Post*, while *Ready Player One* was in post-production.) Fans of the book, unless they are nitpickers, should be ecstatic, though the film differs considerably. One departure is easily the movie’s highlight. A mind-bending tribute to one of Spielberg’s mentors, it must be seen to be believed. But that cinematic homage is just one of the countless pop-culture references crammed into a film that demands two or three viewings, and Spielberg’s team deserves accolades for securing the rights to them. They are mostly 1980s characters and songs – because Halliday was an ‘80s geek – but don’t blink or you might miss shout-outs to the 1970s and even a line from the 1949 gem *It’s a Wonderful Life*. (Ironically, Spielberg limits references to his own canon, which was featured extensively in the book.) *Ready Player One* might be the best film of 2018 so far. At the very least, it’s the most fun you’ll have at the movies anytime soon. Yet it’s not without flaws. Spielberg and Cline (who co-wrote the script with Zak Penn) could have given us more real-world exposition at the beginning – as the book did – so we could better understand Wade and the circumstances in which he lives. It’s also not as narratively crisp as the typical Spielberg film, especially on first viewing, when the frenetic pace and sensory overload are palpable. But Spielberg is a master editor, and expanding or slowing the story might have added unnecessary minutes to the already hefty 140-minute runtime. As Wade, Tye Sheridan (*X-Men: Apocalypse*) captures both the hard-edged confidence and emotional vulnerability of his character. He’s complemented by an endearing turn from Olivia Cooke (*Bates Motel* and *Me and Earl and the Dying Girl*) as Wade’s potential love interest both in the OASIS and the real world. Though many of the younger, supporting performers are just tolerable, they do project a loveable *Goonies* vibe, which is understandable considering Spielberg’s ties to that 1985 film. And Ben Mendelsohn, as he did in *Rogue One*: *A Star Wars Story*, plays a suitable villain. But the movie needs an actor with undeniable gravitas, and, as in *Bridge of Spies* and *The BFG*, that is the incomparable Mark Rylance, who brings magic to Halliday. Toward the end of *Ready Player One* – once we’ve learned that the race to find the keys has a deeper meaning and this is more than just a fantasy-action flick – Halliday’s message is simple yet strangely profound: “Thanks for playing my game.” Now it’s your turn to play, and you’re gonna have a blast. Get ready. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Raising Helen](https://www.meiermovies.com/raising-helen/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Raising Helen**, 2004, 1 ¼ stars # *Raising Helen* falls flat From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, May 27, 2004 Twenty-something New York fashion-model mogul Helen Harris (Kate Hudson) needs three kids about as much as we need a schmaltzy, formulaic flick about her raising them. Unfortunately, that is exactly what director Garry Marshall gives us in his new film, and Helen gets the better deal. In *Raising Helen*, Hudson plays a career-minded, free-spirited executive at a Manhattan model agency whose single life is transformed when her sister and brother-in-law die in a car crash. In a contrived and wholly unbelievable turn of events, Helen, instead of her older and more motherly sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), is awarded custody of her sister’s three children. The death of the kids’ parents requires the movie to jump from light family comedy to drama and back again. And despite an honest moment of Cusack’s character agonizing over funeral details, it’s a genre roller coaster that Marshall can’t handle. Helen is fired by her boss (Helen Mirren), moves into a middle-class apartment and is forced to change her outlook on life. She begins this journey reluctantly but slowly gains not just an appreciation for the world she has been thrown into, but a love for the kids. As the title suggests, the film is not so much about the three children as it is about Helen’s maturation. Predictably, we also get a romance thrown in for good measure, when Helen meets and slowly falls for the principal of her kids’ school (John Corbett). Cusack is the one thing that keeps the overly long movie tolerable, and she does this only by using all her quirky charm as the overbearing older sister. Other token comic relief also pops up to distract from the script’s failings, most notably comedian Larry Miller as a gullible car buyer, Hector Elizondo, as the film’s one unconventional character (an honest used-car salesman), and even Paris Hilton as herself. Marshall creates tension through Cusack’s characters’ feeling of betrayal over her dead sister’s choice of Helen to raise the kids, but this is simply one of the many subplots that go nowhere. And when the content of the custody letters is finally revealed, we found out that the lyrics to Devo’s “Whip It,” the sisters’ favorite song, were the main justification for awarding Helen the kids. This is deep stuff. Maybe Marshall thought he was making another *Mrs. Doubtfire*, with death instead of divorce as the calamity of choice. But Hudson is no Robin Williams, and, despite some past flirtations with directorial maturity in *Frankie and Johnny* and *Pretty Woman*, Marshall is no Chris Columbus. Would anyone really want to be anyway? The best part of *Raising Helen* is not the movie itself, but *Lorenzo*, a Disney animated short accompanying the film. This stylistic, surreal and refreshingly dark tale of a pompous kitty driven to distraction by a demon possessing its tail was created by Mike Gabriel, the director of *Pocahontas*, and produced by Roy Disney. Inspired by 96-year-old Joe Grant (the brains behind the Queen and the Wicked Witch in Walt Disney’s 1937 *Snow White)*, the cartoon may not justify the admission, but it makes the overall experience more enjoyable. “Not all women are made to be mothers,” Mirren’s character tells Helen, quoting Ibsen. Regrettably, not all directors are made to make movies about it, either. *© 2004 Orlando Sentinel* / *Tribune Publishing* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0350028/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_Helen).* --- ### [Rat Race](https://www.meiermovies.com/rat-race/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Rat Race**, 2001, 1 ¾ stars # *World* of difference From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 21, 2001 Sometimes comedic talent and hilarious slapstick just aren’t enough to make a great film, and *Rat Race* proves that more than any other movie this year. Despite its cavalcade of stars and great visual gags, the Jerry Zucker remake of the 1963 classic *It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* can neither compete with the original not sustain believability. A devilishly witty John Cleese, in his juiciest role since *A Fish Called Wanda*, plays Donald Sinclair, an eccentric billionaire out to create the perfect bet for his Las Vegas casino clients. He picks six complete strangers and challenges them to race hundreds of miles through the desert, by car, by plane or by any bizarre means necessary to be the first to reach a locker filled with $2 million. The winner keeps the cash, and the casino guests get to bet on the “rat” of their choice. And it is quite a collection of rats. The slightly askew Jon Lovitz and the wickedly funny Rowan Atkinson, as a narcoleptic Italian, upstage the rest of the cast, not a small accomplishment considering the likes of Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Seth Green and Wayne Knight. Only Cuba Gooding Jr. holds his own, particularly when, with no other means of transport at his disposal, he hijacks a bus filled with Lucille Ball look-alikes on their way to an “I Love Lucy” convention. Despite the laughs and a script that moves briskly from one joke to the next, the actors, all talented in their own right, don’t work together as a team to create a compelling story. We tolerate all the lunacy and bizarre situations that an old-fashioned chase movie demands, but above all, this is a contest, and we must believe the characters. Director Zucker and writer Andy Breckman depart considerably from the Stanley Kramer classic, and that is to their credit, as this cast could not hope to compete with the likes of Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle and Sid Caesar. There are similarities though, but only those thoroughly familiar with the 1963 version will realize that Seth Green and Vince Vieluf play the Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney roles or that Rowan Atkinson fills the shoes of Terry Thomas. Yet the blame for the movie’s failings should fall on the director and writer, not the actors, who, apart from a boring Goldberg, give the film all they have. It’s what you get when you ask a writer most famous for *Saturday Night Live* skits to duplicate the work of William Rose (*Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner*). This one’s a renter, if only for Lovitz’ hilarious Nazi parody. But while you’re waiting for it to come out on video – it’ll be a short wait – pick up a copy of the Kramer original for a look at the real kings of comedy. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250687/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Race_(film)).* --- ### [West Side Story](https://www.meiermovies.com/west-side-story/) **Published:** December 10, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **West Side Story**, 2021, 3 stars # Recasting a classic ## Spielberg invites a new generation to *West Side* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/West-Side-Story-2021.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/West-Side-Story-2021.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 10, 2021 Walt Disney said a song isn’t worth playing unless the audience leaves singing it. Thanks to iconic compositions from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, *West Side Story* obviously doesn’t have to worry about that. Instead, the new version of the classic musical about star-crossed young lovers has the opposite issue: The audience will go *in* singing. That’s both good and bad. Advance affection can be helpful, but love for a previous version, coupled with a feeling that the new edition might not be needed, can alienate an audience before the remake has a chance to prove itself. That was especially true for this critic while attending a public advance screening of Steven Spielberg’s remake on Wednesday, because I had just revisited the 1961 Oscar-winning original on Monday. That getting-to-reknow-each-other had occurred, regrettably, in my living room via Blu-ray instead of at the recent Fathom Events theatrical re-release. That screening ended in disappointment just seconds into the film thanks to a faulty projector – a problem the managers of Regal Cinemas knew about well in advance yet chose to ignore, proving how little respect cinemas have for quality and how little interest the public has in experiencing classic films the way they were meant to be shown. Indeed, I was one of only three people in that crummy theater and the only one who seemed bothered enough to walk out. But I suppose that if more people cared about the classics, the market for remakes such as Spielberg’s would dry up. Speaking of dry, I shed no tears at this reworking of the *Romeo and Juliet*-inspired tale, and that shocked me, considering my living-room ugly cry two days prior. I initially couldn’t explain my coldness but then realized that because the original was set and filmed almost contemporaneously (late 1950s and early 1960s), it was undeniably of its era. That version (directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins) didn’t have to fake it. The spectacular helicopter shot over Manhattan that opened the film was real. And no amount of slick production design and CGI can reproduce that authenticity, that freshness, that magic – all in a primary-color 70mm palette. It matters little that much of what followed that helicopter shot was Hollywoodized. The film still reeks of its time. Spielberg might be a genius, but he’s no time-traveler. Newcomer Rachel Zegler, whom Spielberg found in a casting call, is wonderful as Maria, but Ansel Elgort is just acceptable as Tony. He has moments of relatability but, like Richard Beymer in the 1961 original, is often wooden. His singing is superb, though, as is Zegler’s. (That’s one improvement over the original, which looped most of its actors with better singers.) Zegler might not have the screen presence of Natalie Wood, who played Maria in the original, but who does? Mike Faist, however, is just as effective as Russ Tamblyn, his Riff counterpart in the original film. ### Ethnicity and inclusion? Concerning Wood, it’s time to address the elephant in Lincoln Square: ethnicity. Spielberg has insisted on racially realistic casting, telling BBC Radio’s *Talking Movies*, “We wanted every single person who plays a Puerto Rican to be from the Latinx community, and that was a mandate from the get-go.” Setting aside the term “Latinx,” – which Bill Maher famously said is used chiefly by “White pandering politicians” and not by the majority of Latino and Latina Americans – Spielberg has a point. But his point would be more valid if his film were hyper-realistic. Instead, it’s a musical. And his modern, in-your-face emphasis on Puerto Rican nationalism and immigrant rights – present in a more subtle degree in the original film – can occasionally make Spielberg’s version more like a social drama with songs than a musical, and a political statement than big-screen entertainment. Of course, *West Side Story* should be all that. That’s one of the things that made it groundbreaking. But Spielberg overreaches, even going so far as to pack in another social issue: gentrification. Circling back to Wood, she was a daughter of immigrants. They were Russian, not Puerto Rican, but Zegler isn’t Puerto Rican either, having grown up in New Jersey, with Colombian and Polish blood. The irony of that latter ethnicity is startling considering the Sharks call Tony a “big, dumb Pollock.” Rita Moreno (who won the Oscar for supporting actress for her wonderful performance as Maria’s best friend, Anita, in the original) *is* Puerto Rican, and it’s great to see her in the new version, in the expanded and rewritten role of Valentina, the drugstore owner and confidante of Tony. But Spielberg and writer and frequent collaborator Tony Kushner stumble twice with this character. First, during the attempted rape of Anita (Ariana DeBose, in a memorable performance), Valentina chases the Jets away. Thus, Spielberg pits female against male, Latina against White. In the original movie, Jewish drugstore owner Doc prevented the attack, thus proving that good men could stop bad men and fair-minded Caucasians could stop racist ones. By switching characters, Spielberg ruins the moment’s profundity. The second error surrounding Anita is her singing the musical’s greatest song, “Somewhere.” In the 1961 film, Maria and Tony sang that tune together after the fatal rumble. It was, therefore, a wish that the world would someday set aside its prejudices and make room for two people who loved each other despite their differences. But when Moreno sings it in the remake, it becomes a longing for Puerto Rican acceptance. In this respect, the song is no longer a romantic, unifying moment but a potentially divisive one, at least in the eyes of the Jets and their supporters. Interestingly, in the original Broadway production, an off-stage soprano sang the song, which was later reprised by the entire cast and also by Maria as Tony is dying. So perhaps Spielberg, who said he wanted to make his film truer to the stage version, reworked the song for that reason. Yet his film still omits the stage production’s “Somewhere Ballet,” as did the original film, and even denies Maria the chance to sing a few lines of the tune to Tony before he dies, a moment the 1961 film preserved from the Broadway show. Even if you don’t buy the argument that the meaning of “Somewhere” is changed in Spielberg’s film, it’s difficult to deny that the song’s staging is contrived to give Moreno a solo. And that’s unfortunate considering Spielberg improves upon the original film’s staging on at least two songs, most notably the hilarious “Gee, Officer Krupke.” However, the new film’s pacing seems slower, which is astonishing considering Janusz Kamiński’s overwhelmingly dynamic cinematography. I suppose that when you feel as if you’ve seen most of it before, a certain amount of boredom is inevitable. Returning to issues of inclusion, Kushner has rewritten the character of Anybodys, which is inspired by Romeo’s manservant, Balthasar. Instead of an old-fashioned tomboy, she is now a transgender male. I doubt many will have an issue with the representation, especially considering the character is played by Iris Menas, a non-binary actor. But doesn’t this alteration show a lack of respect to real-life girls like the original character, who was presumably proud to identify as a female and just wanted to be part of the Jets? (Welcome to *Woke Side Story*.) Compliments, however, are due Spielberg and Kushner for the way they handle language. Though the original featured Spanish in snippets, this version includes a lot, and none is subtitled. Sometimes frustrating for this non-Spanish-speaker, it seemed well received by the largely Spanish-speaking crowd with whom I saw the film. I was reminded of the 1930s grifter jargon in *The Sting*. Though audiences didn’t understand a lot of that slang, we got the gist, and its presence buoyed the film’s integrity and realism. I don’t necessarily agree with Spielberg’s overbearing assertion that subtitling the Spanish would have shown disrespect to the language, but I still respect his intentions. Taking these issues of ethnicity and culture to their illogical conclusion (and proving just how ridiculous they can often get when one lacks common sense), why is a 74-year-old White Jewish man helming this film? The answer, of course, is Spielberg is arguably cinema’s greatest living director, loves the musical (as did his father, apparently, judging by the “for Dad” dedication) and has the right to tell whatever story he wants, however he wants it. Sing it with me: “Freedom of speech in UH-MEH-REE-CUH!” So visit *West Side* for the wonderful music sung and danced beautifully, Spielberg’s mastery of craft and the timeless story – thanks, Shakespeare! – while trying to ignore the bad decision-making and the fact that the film is less than the sum of its pretty parts. It’s quite simply the best unnecessary movie ever. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3581652/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story_(2021_film)).* --- ### [A Rainy Day in New York](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-rainy-day-in-new-york/) **Published:** March 11, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Rainy Day in New York**, 2019, 2 ¾ stars # Allen’s *Rainy Day* ## Bad weather can’t keep *New York* down [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/A-Rainy-Day-in-New-York.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/A-Rainy-Day-in-New-York.jpg)Image copyright Gravier Productions / Perdido Productions / MPI Media Group Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 11, 2021 *A Rainy Day in New York*, Woody Allen’s final film before the woke world decided to Hester Prynne him, is not the writer-director’s finest work. But the infectious if clunky comedy is worth watching regardless of what you think of Allen. Indeed, I have discovered, to my astonishment, that the personal behavior – or even the criminal reprehensibility – of a filmmaker does not necessarily cause a camera to lose focus, a continuity error to appear or a crisp cut to morph into a lazy fade. Just ask Roman Polanski, or Kevin Spacey, or Harvey Weinstein. But maybe we should instead ask Fatty Arbuckle, who, in 1921, stood trial for the rape and accidental killing of actress Virginia Rappe. Arbuckle was innocent, and the jury even wrote him an apology letter. But the scandal irreparably damaged his career, and he died at age 46, never again a full man. As Irving Howe said in Allen’s *Zelig,* “That was what the twenties were like. When you think about it, has America changed so much? I don’t think so.” We still crave the correct side of public opinion – free speech and facts be damned. Never mind Allen’s astonishing cultural contributions over the last 50 years. And never mind that Allen might actually be innocent of the 29-year-old claim of child abuse for which he has never been formally charged. If he is innocent, we owe him an apology of the highest magnitude, and it should come soon. If he’s guilty, he deserves all he’s getting now, and more. But even if he is guilty, he will likely never be legally condemned, because of lack of evidence. And while I fully understand not wishing to financially support a filmmaker whom you believe has committed crimes, let’s remember that most sacred of legal precepts: “innocent until proven guilty.” Above all else — and regardless of what you think Allen did or did not do — it’s clear that Dylan Farrow is a victim and we should keep her in our thoughts. What gets lost in all this noise, tragically, are the films. The wonderful films. And though that adjective might not quite fit *A Rainy Day in New York*, the movie might just be Allen’s last bite of the Big Apple, a city shaped permanently, and for the better, by his teeth marks. The romantic comedy, which borders on farce until flirting with drama near the end, stars Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning as a young couple on an overnight trip to Manhattan. He is eager to show her his old haunts and introduce her to the town’s cultural highlights, while she is anxious to interview a big-wig movie director for her college newspaper, which is their reason for visiting in the first place. But, predictably, one outlandish interruption after another scatters their plans to the winds, and rain. The script is pure Allen, with Chalamet a reasonable stand-in for Woody, down to the neurotically and erudite, if outdated, musings about life, love and society. Some dialogue feels forced, and, admittedly, I haven’t heard a millennial speak like this since, well, ever. But even Allen, in a tongue-in-cheek moment, hints that Chalamet’s character, instead of embracing 1970s high-society conversation, might simply have Asperger’s. Yes, it’s all contrived, ridiculous and old-fashioned, but it’s also irresistible. It’s the New York that never was and always will be. It’s the New York in which I want to live. And, sadly, it’s the New York that will likely die with Allen. If Chalamet falls short of a complete grasp of his character, Fanning makes up for it with an utterly charming turn. And the two are buoyed by fine supporting performances by Liev Schreiber, Selena Gomez, Jude Law and Diego Luna. One supporting performance you won’t see credited is that of Amazon Studios, the original distributor, which halted the release of the film after its completion in 2018, forcing Allen to look elsewhere for distribution. So instead I commend MPI Media Group for having the courage to release the movie in the United States. Though I can’t wholeheartedly endorse *Rainy Day*, I *can* express my full-throated support for Allen the filmmaker. As for Allen the person, I’m not a psychologist, a moralist, a lawyer or a jury. I’m a film critic. And I love Allen’s. And I’m not ashamed to say so. If you feel the same, say it, and say it loudly. Don’t be muzzled by fear of the pseudo-liberal mob’s wrath, or by the sermons of those who preach wokeness but will end up perishing of intellectual somnambulism. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7139936/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rainy_Day_in_New_York).* --- ### [The Railway Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-railway-man/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Railway Man**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars # War and remembrance ## *The Railway Man* is uneven but moving melodrama [![the Railway Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/the-Railway-Man-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/the-Railway-Man.jpg)Image copyright Lionsgate / Anchor Bay Entertainment / Archer Street Productions From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-railway-man-is-an-uneven-but-moving-melodrama/Content?oid=2243126)*, April 22, 2014 Railroads reek of romance, of mystery, of an uncertain future and a vague past. When watching a train trundle by, one is never quite sure where it’s been or where it’s going, but, somehow, its existence seems permanent and meaningful. It has stories to tell. Railway enthusiast Eric Lomax had stories to tell too, though it took him almost 40 years to tell them. The British officer was taken prisoner during World War 2 and forced into brutal labor on, ironically, a railroad – specifically the Burma Railway in Thailand, also the setting of David Lean’s *The* *Bridge on the River Kwai*. Lomax kept the horrors mostly secret until the early 1980s when his wife and a fellow ex-soldier encouraged him to confront his past. The resulting autobiography is the basis for *The Railway Man*, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, with a screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Patterson. Though it takes liberties with the facts, including removing Lomax’s first wife and children, it captures the story’s essence, which is that of a man consumed by his past and still waging a war within himself. “I don’t think I can be put back together,” Lomax (Firth) tells his wife, Patti (Kidman), shortly after their wedding. Yet she knows that for their young marriage to have a future, her husband must mend. Her response: “Why don’t we try, together?” The film fits easily into three acts, the first being the couple’s opportune meeting on a train. During this serendipitous scene, Lomax references the classic movie *Brief Encounter* (also directed by Lean), in which strangers meet under similar circumstances, and, indeed, for a time, *The Railway Man* has that same feel. However, this encounter seems *too* brief, robbing us of the chance to really understand either character. Yes, we eventually get to know Lomax, but Patti remains a shadow. The second and third acts are darker and involve flashbacks to a younger Lomax, played nicely by Jeremy Irvine, whom we accept as the 20-something Firth. We slowly get to see not just the state of Lomax’s psyche, but the agony millions of soldiers experienced in the jungles of the Pacific Theatre. So when Lomax attempts to heal himself and even perhaps forgive his torturers, his efforts represent not just one man’s struggles but those of all prisoners of war. *The Railway Man* is uneven, choppy and unimpactful at times, but the slow pacing and melodrama work fairly well and build to an interesting, competent climax. Firth, as a haunted man, is himself haunting, but Kidman and Stellan Skarsgård (as Lomax’s soldier friend), though both good, don’t have much to do. The juicier jobs go to Hiroyuki Sanada and Tanroh Ishida, as the older and younger versions of the main Japanese soldier, and they make the most of them. “You should be ashamed to be alive,” Lomax’s captor tells him, referencing the Japanese code of honor that prefers suicide to imprisonment. But Lomax wasn’t ashamed, and his survival – both physical and emotional – became his badge of honor. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### ['The Promise' opens Global Peace FF](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-promise-opens-global-peace-ff/) **Published:** September 26, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Nina-at-Global-Peace-Film-Festival-opening.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Nina-at-Global-Peace-Film-Festival-opening.jpg)Festival Founder and Executive Director Nina Streich opens the festival on Tuesday night. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/09/20/the-promise-screens-at-global-peace-film-festival-opening-night), September 20, 2017 The 15th annual Global Peace Film Festival began last night at the Enzian Theater in Maitland with a presentation of *The Promise*, a romantic/historical drama about the Armenian Genocide in what is now the nation of Turkey, during World War I. Festival Founder and Executive Director Nina Streich welcomed the audience and invited the director of *The Promise*, Terry George, to speak. Though George was unable to attend in person, he thanked the crowd by phone and spoke about his efforts to educate people about the aforementioned atrocities, which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and is considered by many the first modern genocide, though the Turkish government still does not recognize it as such. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Global-Peace-Film-Festival-2017.jpg)The film (3 stars on 0-5 scale) was somewhat ignored by critics and audiences upon its release earlier this year, possibly because of some narrative and structural clunkiness, but the solid performances by Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon, plus the subject matter, made it an appropriate – if emotionally draining – opening to the festival. (The film won’t play the festival again, but you can find it on Netflix discs.) The festival offers a total of 34 films (both features and shorts) and continues through Sunday at various venues throughout Winter Park and Orlando. For more information, see [Steve Schneider’s *OW* article](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/in-its-15th-year-the-global-peace-film-festival-is-all-about-the-mission/Content?oid=7029884) or visit [PeaceFilmFest.org](http://peacefilmfest.org/). *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Post](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-post/) **Published:** January 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Post**, 2017, 4 ½ stars # Journalistic jewel ## *The Post* is another Spielberg classic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Post.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Post.png)Image copyright Amblin Entertainment / Twentieth Century Fox From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-post-is-another-spielberg-classic/Content?oid=9962813) and [*The* *San Antonio Current*](https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/steven-spielberg-delivers-another-classic-with-the-post/Content?oid=8556774), January 10, 2017 Most Steven Spielberg films begin not be introducing the main characters or diving into the plot but by instead offering a cinematic jolt. Mostly unrelated to the central story, this opening scene teases you into the narrative while establishing tone. Think of the unknown swimmer getting chomped to begin *Jaws* (and actress Susan Backlinie reprising that intro in *1941*), the discovery of the World War II airplanes in *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* and the opening chase in *E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial.* *The Post* is no different. It starts not in the newsroom of *The Washington Post*, or by introducing Tom Hanks as Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and Meryl Street as Publisher Katharine Graham. Instead, it opens in the jungles of Vietnam. But, fittingly, that’s where the heart of the movie actually lies. After all, this is the story of the 1971 publication of the Pentagon Papers: classified documents that reveal how every president from Truman to Nixon lied about Vietnam and, by doing so, unnecessarily precipitated the slaughter of 58,220 Americans. The film, adhering to its title, focuses on *The Washington Post* and not *The New York Times*, which might seem disrespectful considering the latter paper’s larger role in the Pentagon Papers’ publication. But Spielberg’s cinematic decision is the right one thanks to the unique circumstances of the *Post*, which was often regarded at the time as a local family newspaper. Still, the *Times* is not ignored, and the competition between the two papers makes for some delicious “inside baseball” moments, just as it did in Alan Pakula’s *All the President’s Men*. (Kudos to writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer for juggling many characters, as Singer did in *Spotlight*.) Speaking of *All the President’s Men, The Post* is the perfect prequel. In many ways, though, it’s the antithesis of that earlier film, which concentrated on newbie reporters and the excruciatingly tedious grunt work of investigate journalism. *The Post*, conversely, is more about big decisions by big bosses. The intriguing interaction of Bradlee and Graham (the first woman to head a Fortune 500 company) is front and center, while the latter character wasn’t even featured in *All the President’s Men*. If she had been, Patricia Neal and Lauren Bacall were the rumored frontrunners for the role, probably because Streep was then just 27 years old. Now that Streep is the right age, she’s wonderful – and better than Hanks, who, though effective, is simply too much like himself (with a sporadic Boston brogue) to make you forget Jason Robards’ Oscar-winning turn. Bob Odenkirk (reporter Ben Bagdikian) and Tracy Letts (*Post* chairman Fritz Beebe) are also noteworthy, and it’s fun to watch David Cross tackle Managing Editor Howard Simons, whom Martin Balsam portrayed back in ’76. *The Post* differs from Pakula’s film stylistically too. While the older movie was grittier, with arguably smarter dialogue and sharper performances, Spielberg’s creation is just what you would expect: brilliantly shot, tightly edited, entertaining and insightful, but perhaps a bit too slick. (John Williams’ score is good but maybe too prominent.) The National Board of Review named *The Post* the best film of 2017, which it isn’t. But it is the greatest newspaper movie since *All the President’s Men*, the best film about journalism since 1987’s *Broadcast News* and Spielberg’s finest since *Saving Private Ryan* two decades ago. Graham tells Bradlee that her husband called newspapers “the first rough draft of history.” But *The Post* is not a rough draft. It is thoughtful, polished craftsmanship by a filmmaker still near the top of his game, and it’s more necessary than ever. *© 2018 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Portrait of a Lady on Fire](https://www.meiermovies.com/portrait-de-la-jeune-fille-en-feu/) **Published:** February 19, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu** (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) FL, 2019, 4 stars # The fire inside ## *Portrait* makes you feel the burn [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Portrait-of-a-Lady-on-Fire.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Portrait-of-a-Lady-on-Fire.jpg)Noémie Merlant, left, and Adèle Haenel star in *Portrait of a Lady on Fire*. (image copyright Neon / Criterion / Lilies Films) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-opening-at-maitlands-enzian-theater-fans-the-flames-of-desire/Content?oid=26834460), February 19, 2020 We’ve heard a lot about *Little Women* recently, but it’s the female filmmakers behind and in front of the camera of the French romance *Portrait of a Lady on Fire* who really deserve the attention. Though the original title refers to a “jeune fille” (literally “young girl”), there is nothing little about these women. Writer-director Céline Sciamma (*Girlhood*), cinematographer Claire Mathon and actresses Noémie Merlant (*Paper Flags*) and Adèle Haenel (*Love at First Sight*) make mature decisions almost every step of the way in this deliberately paced and evocative examination of star-crossed lovers in 18th-century France. Marianne (Merlant) is an artist commissioned to paint a portrait of Héloise (Haenel), a young woman soon to be reluctantly married to a wealthy stranger. To meet her subject, Marianne must travel to a remote island off the coast of Brittany, where Héloise lives with her mother (Valeria Golino) and maid (Luàna Bajrami). A previous portraitist failed to capture Héloise, and at first Marianne doesn’t understand why. But she slowly discovers the truth, and in doing so, stirs a forbidden fire in her and Héloise’s hearts. Ghosts haunt this story. The first is a spirit from the past: Héloise’s recently deceased sister. The second is a ghost of the future: Héloise’s new life as an emotionally empty bride. And the third involves the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, who, like Marianne and Héloise, are denied eternal love and must instead steal fleeting looks and musical moments. The film’s slow pace and metaphorical meanderings might make it a slog for viewers with less patience or little passion for period dramas. And a historically and culturally nuanced subplot involving the maid isn’t entirely successful. In addition, some audience members might not relate to the LGBT themes, but I sincerely hope not, as the content is handled with taste and sincerity. (The film won the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.) If the story sometimes stays at arm’s length, the visuals do not. Indeed, every second is a treat for the eyes thanks to Mathon’s painterly use of camera, which should have received an Oscar nomination over *The Lighthouse*. Also lacking Academy recognition, sadly, is Haenel, who gives, at least in this critic’s mind, the best supporting performance of 2019. Exposing the Academy Awards’ often misguided emphasis on politics over quality, France nominated *Les Misérables* instead of *Portrait* for best international feature of 2019, meaning the latter never had a chance to win. Though *Les Misérables* is a tough-as-nails, anarchical look at the multi-ethnic poor of today’s Paris suburbs, *Portrait* represents superior filmmaking in almost every regard. Sciamma’s film is even better than *Parasite*, which recently won that aforementioned prize and, in an upset of *1917*, became the first non-English-language movie to be awarded best overall film. While the latter leans on an absurdist depiction of Tarantino-style orgiastic violence to achieve its climax, *Portrait* needs but a few deep breaths, a smile and a tear. Borrowing a line from *Somewhere in Time* (another love story for the ages), this is emotional excess within control. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Planes](https://www.meiermovies.com/planes/) **Published:** October 25, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Planes**, 2013, 1 ½ stars # Crash and boring From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/movies-opening-in-orlando-this-week/Content?oid=2245801), August 7, 2013 “From above the world of *Cars*,” reads the pitch for *Planes*. “And below the quality of Pixar,” would be a fitting finish to that slogan, as Disney has released essentially the same film it did in 2006 and 2011, this time with less driving, more flying, worse music, bad voiceovers and an embarrassingly juvenile script. Kids will get some enjoyment from this upbeat, fast-paced, well-animated 3-D adventure about an underdog achieving his dreams. Adults, however, will quickly tire of this derivative, unnecessary film – one that was originally planned for DVD only and should have stayed that way. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *This capsule review was originally part of a larger “Opening in Orlando” column.* --- ### [Peterloo](https://www.meiermovies.com/peterloo/) **Published:** April 30, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Peterloo**, 2018, 3 ¾ stars # Massacre remembered ## *Peterloo* was 200 years in the making [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Peterloo.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Peterloo.jpg)Rory Kinnear (center, with hat raised) stars as orator Henry Hunt. (image copyright Film4 / BFI Film Fund / Thin Man Films) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 30, 2019 Apparently audiences would rather see comic-book superheroes die and be reborn than learn about real people’s deaths. Never mind that the Peterloo Massacre – in which 18 people were killed and hundreds injured in Manchester, England – is marking its 200th anniversary this year. And never mind that it’s being brought to the screen by British cinematic legend Mike Leigh. Maybe if Tony Stark or Thanos had been involved, the film would have made more than just $7,343 compared to the *Avengers: Endgame* domestic gross of more than $357,000,000 this weekend. (No, those figures aren’t typos.) *Peterloo* deserves better, and so does Leigh. His thoughtful, well-crafted depiction of the 1819 massacre at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester, England, will eventually find its audience, though it will likely have to wait for hardcore Leigh fans to discover it on DVD or Blu-ray. Leigh’s films are almost always bathed in British culture, and *Peterloo* is no different. From the thick dialects of northern England, to the period garb, to the poverty-strewn faces of the old women barking half a dozen eggs for a “penny farthing” in the market, *Peterloo* weaves a rich tapestry. While some of the performances are uncharacteristically broad for a Leigh film and the history lesson sometimes feels a bit too much like, well, a history lesson, *Peterloo* is another worthwhile addition to a canon that includes *Secrets & Lies*, *Vera Drake* and *Mr. Turner*. Quality-wise, it’s a step below those films and more in line with *Happy-Go-Lucky*, but it still packs a punch emotionally and aesthetically. For the details of the massacre, you will just have to see the movie (or brush up via [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre)). Suffice to say, the event was a turning point in the history of the British labor movement. Still, I was struck by the political parallels with today. “Look at her, little angel,” one of the characters says about her young granddaughter, as she bemoans her family’s precarious economic situation. “I was just thinking: In 1900, she’ll be 85. … I hope it’s a better world for her.” “Sommat get better,” her husband responds in a broad Manchester brogue befitting his social station. “Some thing’ll never change.” *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *Monetary statistics courtesy of [BoxOfficeMojo.com.](http://www.boxofficemojo.com)* --- ### [The Personal History of David Copperfield](https://www.meiermovies.com/david-copperfield/) **Published:** August 26, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Personal History of David Copperfield**, 2020, 1 ¾ stars # Far afield from Dickens ## Iannucci’s *Copperfield* feels like a stranger [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/David-Copperfield.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/David-Copperfield.jpeg)Image courtesy of Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 27, 2020 Charles Dickens and Armando Iannucci have train wrecks in common. Dickens survived one in 1865, and Iannucci just turned Dickens’ *David Copperfield* into one. While the real wreck was terrible – killing 10, injuring 40 and leaving a physically and emotionally weakened Dickens – the new cinematic one, on a certain level, is a thing of originality and beauty. And, like a true locomotive crash, the film demands your attention. But Dickens’ novel – imbued with light comedy, heavy melodrama and a serial-like structure – is so ill-suited to writer-director Iannucci’s farcical leanings, rushed pacing, CliffsNotes structure and nontraditional casting that its heart is lost. Dickens’ novel – first published in installments in 1849 and 1850 – paints a rich portrait of its title character from birth to young adulthood. Born to a widowed mother, David experiences various ups and downs along his journey. Typical of Dickens, David’s path is peppered with rich characters, including an evil stepfather (Edward Murdstone), a curmudgeonly aunt (Betsey Trotwood), a reckless school chum (James Steerforth), a cockeyed optimist (Wilkins Macawber), and a slimy antagonist (Uriah Heep). This tapestry is better suited to the page than the screen. Indeed, unlike *Great Expectations* and *Oliver Twist*, no great *David Copperfield* film exists. Hollywood made a valiant attempt in 1935 with a version directed by George Cukor and produced by David Selznick. Though somewhat dated, it still holds charm today and is buoyed by memorable performances by W.C. Fields as Macawber, Basil Rathbone as Murdstone, Edna May Oliver as Trotwood and Maureen O’Sullivan as Dora (David’s wife). Elsa Lanchester and Lionel Barrymore show up in smaller roles. But, regrettably, the film completely excises David’s school years. So when Steerforth pops up late in the film, his context is lost. The 1974 BBC mini-series is arguably the truest screen adaptation of the novel. Trouble is, it looks and sounds like, well, a 1970s television show. Perhaps owing to the failures of previous versions – or maybe just because of his unique sensibility – Iannucci has gone in a different direction. Though he attempts to sandwich in as much of the story as will fit, he mostly embraces farce and eschews sentimentality. Even more noticeably, Iannucci has adopted a color-blind, or integrated, casting, employing Dev Patel as David and an array of non-White actors in traditionally White roles. Some critics are applauding this decision, but before joining the chorus, please indulge my different take. Nontraditional casting often works well in the theater, where realism is more easily set aside. And Iannucci himself has made some wonderfully unique casting decisions in previous films, such as *The Death of Stalin*. But his overbearing choices strain believability here, causing one to often focus on race rather than story. Further, what’s the point of realism in production design, costumes, dialects and narrative if realistic casting is disregarded? Realism is less important than racial equality, one would say. But isn’t it a disservice to both ethnic justice and history to suggest that Black (and Indian and Chinese) citizens enjoyed parity with Whites in 19th-century England when, in fact, slavery had only just been abolished throughout the British Empire? (For information on historical African presence in England, visit [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_African_presence_in_London).) And don’t we reach equality not necessarily by casting actors of color in historically White stories but by instead honoring Black, or at least color-neutral, stories? When color-blind casting is used well, we should applaud it. (If it’s implemented with subtlety, sensitivity and maturity, you might not even notice it.) But when it doesn’t work, we shouldn’t be afraid to say so. Criticism of this type of casting is no more a rejection of inclusion and equality than is criticism of tokenism and quotas. Most importantly, engaging in this discussion shouldn’t result in one being labeled intolerant or closed-minded, and, unfortunately, in our currently polarized world, it often does. And if one indulges that polarization, the art of film criticism is doomed. That’s not to say that the actors themselves aren’t admirable. Patel is heartfelt, but because the soul of the story belongs to young David, we’re left impatiently waiting for Patel to show up. (Few remember who played the adult David in the 1935 version. Instead, it’s Freddie Bartholomew as young David who has stuck in our minds.) Tilda Swinton as Trotwood is her usual weird self but can’t top Oliver from the old film. The same goes for Peter Capaldi as Micawber, who has the unenviable task of following Fields. (At least he swaps Fields’ Transatlantic sound for a real British dialect.) And as David’s friend and eventual love interest, Agnes, Rosalind Eleazar is competent, as is Ben Whishaw as Heep. But Benedict Wong as Wickfield (Agnes’s father and David’s employer) seems a bit lost. It’s Hugh Laurie as Mr. Dick (the mentally unsound but endearing companion of David’s aunt) and Welsh actress Morfydd Clark as Dora who stand out, offering irresistible warmth and humor. In fact, Iannucci’s brilliantly metatheatrical treatment of Dora is almost the film’s saving grace. That achievement and some lovely art direction notwithstanding, Iannucci’s adaptation is a tiresome exercise in style over substance, experimental casting over narrative maturity, and farcical indulgences over genuine emotion. (By comparison, if you want to see a masterful reimagining of a literary classic, watch Joe Wright’s [*Anna Karenina*](http://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/).) “Like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favorite child,” Dickens wrote. “And his name is *David Copperfield*.” I’m just glad Dickens isn’t around to see – paraphrasing Vito Corleone – how they massacred his boy. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Peanut Butter Falcon](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-peanut-butter-falcon/) **Published:** August 21, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Peanut Butter Falcon**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Flightless *Falcon* ## *Peanut Butter Falcon* is stuck in mediocrity [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Peanut-Butter-Falcon.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Peanut-Butter-Falcon.jpg)Zack Gottsagen, left, and Shia LaBeouf star in this Mark Twain-inspired modern folk tale. (image copyright Armory Films / Roadside Attractions) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-peanut-butter-falcon-gets-stuck-in-mediocrity/Content?oid=25864088), August 21, 2019 A folksy tale about two misfit friends floating downriver on a raft, *The Peanut Butter Falcon* tastes a lot like *Huckleberry Finn*. But its odyssey-like plot – in which characters are seeking a new home while also searching for something they lack – also resembles *The Wizard of Oz*. Following that metaphor to its logical conclusion, the new dramedy by Tyler Nilson and Mike Schwartz has heart and courage – thanks to its casting of an actor with Down syndrome – but not much brains. Zak (Zack Gottsagen) is a young man confined to a nursing home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But unlike most of the employees at the facility, he sees his Down syndrome as no more than a slight inconvenience. And he has a dream. A big, weird dream. He wants to be a professional wrestler. So with the help of his only friend, Carl (Bruce Dern in an oddly brief turn), he breaks out. As he starts his strange journey toward what he believes is a wrestling school run by a local legend nicknamed the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), he meets another runaway, Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), who has fled town after torching the property of a fellow fisherman (John Hawkes, in a mostly wasted role). Zak and Tyler form an unlikely bond, lending the simple story a refreshing sweetness and a few comedic moments. But then the script stumbles badly. Enter Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), who was the only employee of Zak’s nursing home to show him genuine affection. Though she also realizes the home isn’t the best place for him (or herself), she has been tasked with finding him before her boss is forced to call the police. But her involvement with Zak and Tyler, not to mention her romantic attraction to the latter, stretches believability past the breakwaters. I guess nothing kindles romance like a stinky fugitive. Though Johnson is surprisingly watchable, her character’s lack of lack of motivation is palpable. And after 93 minutes of LaBeouf’s mumbling and a performance by Gottsagen that misses the dramatic mark too often, *Falcon* morphs from a charming, funny parable about overcoming one’s disabilities to a large helping of southern-fried ridiculousness. This is the first theatrically released feature by Nilson and Schwartz, and they have at least shown they have something interesting to say. But *Peanut Butter* is just too hard to swallow. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Paterson](https://www.meiermovies.com/paterson/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Paterson**, 2016, 1 ½ stars # Meet monotony ## *Paterson* mistakes vacuity for subtlety [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Paterson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Paterson.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / Animal Kingdom From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/is-jim-jarmuschs-latest-film-paterson-minimalist-or-just-empty/Content?oid=2556093), January 20, 2017 Minimalism is Jim Jarmusch’s bread and butter. Actually, it might be just his bread, as the writer-director probably considers butter ostentatious. He even concocted a quiet, subtle vampire film (*Only Lovers Left Alive*), a rarity for that genre. But with *Paterson*, his latest dramedy starring Adam Driver, his attempt at minimalist ultra-realism collapses into nothingness thanks to an empty screenplay and dialed-in performances. Driver plays a driver (of a bus). Adding to that verbal repetition is the fact that his name is Paterson and he and his wife (Golshifteh Farahani) live in Paterson, New Jersey. He’s also a poet, though he keeps his writing to himself, content to scribble in his secret journal. His inspiration is William Carlos Williams (another double name), a modernist writer (also from New Jersey), whose most epic work is titled – you guessed it – *Paterson*. Driver’s character sees twins everywhere he goes, thus further emphasizing the *doppelgänger* theory, or life’s duality or some other metaphor that doesn’t quite work except in an amusing, absurdist way. If Jarmusch had focused more on the absurdity of human existence or embraced the style of Charlie Kaufman, the film would have been more successful, both thematically and aesthetically. Instead, it is simply a week in the tedious life of its title character. Paterson gets up every day around 6:15 a.m., eats Cheerios, goes to work, observes mundane human interactions on his bus, comes home, gets the mail, kisses his wife, has dinner and takes his nightly stroll to the neighborhood bar (with his dog, Marvin), where he drinks a beer and chats with the bartender (Barry Shabaka Henley) and fellow patrons. Nothing much happens until the end, but I imagine that is precisely Jarmusch’s intention. This is a slice of life, an examination of one man’s existence, framed by the one thing that makes him unique: his poetry. But Jarmusch’s observational realism is doomed by a screenplay that isn’t as honest as it thinks and, therefore, collapses into emptiness and pretention. The film is also hampered by stiff performances, including, surprisingly, that of Driver, who can usually be relied on for quiet charisma. Instead, the only player with the requisite naturalism and humanity is not even human. It’s Marvin, who won the Palm Dog Award at Cannes. (Yes, that’s a real prize given to the best animal actor and inspired by the festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or.) “Sometimes an empty page presents more possibilities,” a mysterious fellow poet tells Paterson in a scene that momentarily rescues the film from vacuity. That’s a nice motto for life, but a film must be more than an empty page. As I was finishing this review, I peaked at Rotten Tomatoes, an admittedly dangerous thing for a critic to do. This film sits at 94 percent, so perhaps I’m missing something. Or maybe some reviewers are simply too bashful to admit that *Paterson* is just plain boring (lest they be judged a plebeian) and have convinced themselves there’s more here than meets the eye. There isn’t. The emperor – or, in this case, the bus driver – has no clothes. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Passengers](https://www.meiermovies.com/passengers/) **Published:** December 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Passengers**, 2016, 2 stars # Space absurdity ## *Passengers* lacks clarity, intelligence From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/space-absurdity-passengers-lacks-clarity-intelligence/Content?oid=2549171), December 21, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/passengers.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/passengers.jpg)Image copyright Columbia Pictures / LStar Capital The ideas buried beneath the surface of *Passengers* are big: loneliness, companionship, technological morality and the nature of humanity’s role in the universe. It’s too bad the film’s screenplay, director and actors are unqualified to cinematically discuss those ideas. The time is the indeterminate future, and Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) are passengers on the Starship Avalon, a space cruise ship ferrying them on a 120-year journey from Earth to the “colony world” of Homestead II, a for-profit planet designed for Earthlings who are looking for a new start. Like the other 5,256 people aboard the ship, they are in hibernation – that is, until they wake up too early, 90 years too early. The cause of their premature awakening is one of the film’s central plot points, so I won’t ruin it except to say that the dilemma forces them to face physical and psychological issues akin to being stuck on a Carnival boat by yourself for your entire life. Jim is an engineer and was enticed by the cruise company’s promise of “a new world, a fresh start, room to grow,” while Aurora is a journalist. She hopes to document her journey and her time on the new planet before returning to Earth to tell her story. Of course, when she gets back to Earth, it’ll be 240 years later, but she will have aged little thanks to hibernation. The movie never discusses how time on the ship, which is traveling at half the speed of light, is running 15 percent more slowly than Earth time. But, then again, the movie never intelligently discusses anything of depth. It does occasionally try, and Michael Sheen (as a robot bartender straight out of a *Twilight Zone* episode) does offer interesting commentary on the nature of existence and consciousness. But director Morten Tyldum and editor Maryann Brandon only compound the problems inherent in Jon Spaihts’ screenplay by failing to add coherence or plausibility, especially toward the end, when the production turns from a rather boring and dumbed-down space romance to a ridiculously over-the-top and muddled action film populated with dialogue better suited to *Lethal Weapon* than *Solaris* or *Moon* (two films Tyldum should have studied more closely). How Tyldum could have directed both this and *The Imitation Game* is perplexing. Even Thomas Newman’s music is bad. Intrusive and lacking any sort of smart, other-worldly quality, the score seems lifted from two separate films from the 1980s: a bad rom-com and a silly action flick. Silence would have been better. Yes, Jennifer Lawrence brings her usual energy, and Laurence Fishburne is an interesting, though underused, addition. Lawrence’s strong chemistry with Pratt, not to mention the film’s interesting premise, will likely mean box-office success, but Pratt is hopelessly out of his depth and never fully displays a true sense of isolation and terror that the part demands. (See Tom Hanks in *Cast Away*.) That leaves the CGI and cinematography as the only elements lifting *Passengers* above the level of a 1960s sci-fi B-movie. But even the competent special effects grow tiresome. It’s all just lipstick on a pig. And, as Jim Henson taught us, the only pigs that belong in space are Muppets. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Paris Can Wait](https://www.meiermovies.com/paris-can-wait/) **Published:** June 3, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Paris Can Wait**, 2017, 1 ½ stars # Forget *Paris* ## Eleanor Coppola romantic travelogue goes nowhere [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Paris-Can-Wait.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Paris-Can-Wait.jpg)Image copyright A+E Studios / American Zoetrope From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/eleanor-coppolas-romantic-travelogue-paris-can-wait-goes-nowhere/Content?oid=4707479), May 31, 2017 If you can’t land a lady, try the *Paris Can Wait* formula: Kidnap a married woman and take her on a scenic and culinary tour of France. She’ll go gaga – just like some fans of food films and travelogues will embrace this unconventional comedy-romance from Eleanor Coppola. But even if you swallow the odd but intriguing premise, you just might gag on the clunky dialogue, awkward pacing and uncomfortably subpar performance of Diane Lane. Lane plays Anne, the wife of a successful but selfish American film producer, Michael. On a trip with him to Cannes, Anne experiences a minor health issue that makes flying to Paris with her hubby inadvisable. Enter Michael’s charismatic business associate, Jacques, who offers to drive Anne. A trip that should take just nine hours turns into a multi-day excursion stuffed with sightseeing and enough food to feed the entire film crew – not to mention the aforementioned kidnapping. Admittedly, it’s not a proper abduction but instead a series of lies and sneaky attempts to elongate the journey. Resistant at first, Anne slowly resigns herself to her predicament and, predictably, starts to fall for Jacques, all while learning to stop and smell *les fleurs*. Though Coppola (wife of Francis) directed 1991’s *Hearts of* *Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse* and a 2007 TV documentary, this is her narrative debut, and it shows. Her writing is uninspired and forced, as if she predicted the premise, scenery and food alone could carry the movie. Or maybe she thought the charms of Lane and well-known French actor Arnaud Viard (as Jacques) would be enough. She certainly couldn’t have thought Alec Baldwin (Michael) would add appeal, as his presence is tiny and mostly wasted. So, by the end, Anne and Jacques have traveled 500 miles but gone almost nowhere dramatically or comedically. “I aspire to live up to what I heard George Roy Hill say at an interview he gave when we were both promoting a film a million years ago, and he said he makes films about innocence,” Lane told me at the recent [Sarasota Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/). “The character is losing some of their innocence inevitably by the \[end of the\] story. And we do inevitably from our lives. And so I think that valuing that and feeling the preciousness of that and being able to keep it \[is important\] despite what appearances may say: ‘Gee, you’ve been around the block a few times.’ Oh, no, I feel like a virgin!” Though Lane was speaking about her method for choosing roles in general, her comment seems appropriate for this film. We’re never too old to lose our innocence again, or, in a roundabout way, gain some of it back. And that is likely what Lane and Coppola were hoping audiences would take away from this movie. It was an honest effort but, ultimately, a bridge too far. If you’re a lonely empty nester longing for romance, like Anne, take a trip, find a fancy restaurant or have an affair with a Frenchman. As for the film, well, *Paris Can Wait* – for Netflix. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Paddington 2](https://www.meiermovies.com/paddington-2/) **Published:** January 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Paddington 2**, 2017, 3 ¼ stars # *Paddington 2* is overstuffed but magical [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Paddington_2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Paddington_2.jpg)Image copyright StudioCanal / Warner Brothers Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 12, 2018 Everyone’s favorite British bear is back, and though he’s a little worn around the edges when compared with his previous cinematic outing three years ago, he’s still welcome on my front stoop any day. After the critical and commercial success of *Paddington* (2014), writer-director Paul King has returned with a fresh tale packed with slapstick comedy, silly hijinks, heart and even a bit of genuine drama (based on Michael Bond’s beloved books from the 1950s and ‘60s). In fact, this bear story is overstuffed, as it sandwiches in almost more than a 103-minute film can hold, including a rushed ending that stretches believability. Still, Paddington is his loveable, charming self, even if some of the franchise’s originality has worn off. *Paddington 2* reunites most of the cast of the first film, including Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Brown, Sally Hawkins (what a year she’s had!) as Mrs. Brown, Jim Broadbent as Paddington’s shopkeeper friend, Julie Waters as Mrs. Bird and Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington. If you keep your ears pricked up – and have a working knowledge of British actors – you’re in for some cameo treats, and none is yummier than Brendan Gleeson as Paddington’s new friend. One of his generation’s most underrated actors, he’s simply superb and keeps the film chugging along when it starts to sag. The most prominent new addition is Hugh Grant, who bombastically relishes his chance to be, well, Hugh Grant. Hamming his way through multiple vignettes and into a variety of costumes, Grant is clearly in his element, even as his shtick grows tiresome and the plot convoluted. Taking over the villain role from the first film’s Nicole Kidman, Grant’s character hatches a plot to steal a valuable pop-up book and pin the crime on Paddington, who longed to send the book to his aunt Lucy back in the wilds of Peru. But when the police indeed suspect Paddington, our furry hero finds himself in a jam stickier than his favorite marmalade. One of the underlying themes of the film is multiculturalism, as it preaches that Paddington’s neighborhood is all the richer for the inclusion of a South American bear. In reality, the only bears in the city reside in the London Zoo, but the film does hint that modern London is better for the presence of immigrants. That post-Brexit message might be appropriate, but it’s also a bit heavy-handed. Still, it serves to balance the flick’s physically funny moments, which include a priceless tribute to London’s own Charlie Chaplin. (That scene’s comedic timing works like clockwork.) Praise should be heaped on the CGI animators for again creating a wholly believable bear, in addition to some charming set pieces – the highlight being a stunning re-creation of the aforementioned English pop-up book. (*Coco* has nothing on that breathtaking sequence.) Though you might find yourself longing for a little less computer animation, it’s tough to fault the artists. Oh, and in case you think the humor is all visual, be on the lookout for the screenplay’s clever meta-theatricality, such as when the always painfully honest Mrs. Bird opines, “Actors are some of the most evil, devious people on the planet. They lie for a living.” Being fiction, *Paddington 2* also tells a lie. But it’s a lie that children will love and parents will enjoy, even if many childless adults find it just bearable. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4468740/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington_2).* --- ### [Cats](https://www.meiermovies.com/cats/) **Published:** December 19, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Cats**, 2019, 3 stars # Let the memory live again ## *Cats* rekindles love for the stage musical [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cats.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cats.jpg)Judi Dench plays Old Deuteronomy, a role traditionally undertaken by a male actor. (image copyright Working Title Films / Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures) From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/cats-rekindles-love-for-the-stage-musical/Content?oid=26500914), December 20, 2019 *Cats* is an odd duck. One of the longest-running musicals in West End and Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s revolutionary creation is based on a collection of poems (T.S. Eliot’s *Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats*) and lacks a traditional story structure. So it relies instead on its infectious charm and arguably the best music of Webber’s career. The musical is a series of vignettes designed to introduce the audience to a colorful group of London felines, known as Jellicle cats. The animals are essentially auditioning for Old Deuteronomy, their leader, who will select a cat to be “reborn” and journey to the Heaviside Layer. It’s all wonderfully weird, and more than just a little mystical. But it’s an admittedly tough fit for the screen, which probably explains why it’s taken 38 years to reach the cinema. Enter Tom Hooper. The director already has the screen version of *Les Miserables* under his belt and did even better with *The Danish Girl* and *The King’s Speech*. So he seems a logical choice. But early reactions to the *Cats* trailer was negative, and let’s remember that *Les Mes* was not without missteps. (Who can forget the incessantly moveable camera and the vocally immoveable Russell Crowe?) Well, Webber fans will be glad to know *Cats* avoids catastrophe and, despite a slow start, is actually quite appealing. Relying on Webber’s memorable music and a heavy dose of nostalgia for the stage version, the film is passable entertainment for not just the uninitiated but also fans of the musical. Even the digital alterations, designed to make the actors more cat-like, are reasonably effective. Still, Hooper does cough up a few hairballs. For instance, his shaky camera, which is most noticeable in the first 30 minutes, is ill-suited to the subject. (Thankfully, cinematographer Christopher Ross’s technique becomes more patient and less frenetic as the film progresses, even allowing extended and mercifully calm close-ups.) And then there’s Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots. Though her song contains irresistibly cute art direction, Wilson can’t sing, can’t make us laugh and is needlessly distracting in badly conceived, spoken interjections. Musically the movie is adequate. As with *Les Miserables*, performers sing their parts live but are occasionally upstaged by the swirling camera, the imaginative visuals and their own vocal inadequacies. And “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer” is mostly spoken, thus ruining its melody, which was rather limited to begin with. However, few would question the performance bona fides of Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella (singing “Memory”), Taylor Swift as Bombalurina (performing “Macavity: the Mystery Cat”) and relative newcomer Laurie Davidson as Mr. Mistoffelees. The rest of the cast includes big names such as James Corden as Bustopher Jones, Ray Winstone as Growltiger and Idris Elba as Macavity. But it’s Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy and Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat who save the musical from mediocrity. Their voices aren’t particularly strong, but their acting is the cat’s pajamas. The most surprising element is Victoria. On stage, the character is the lead dancer but stays mostly silent. But Hooper, who write the screenplay with Lee Hall, apparently thought the idea of having the cats explain themselves directly to the audience needed to be tweaked. So Victoria is changed into the lone non-Jellicle cat, and the cats introduce themselves to her. She even gets a brand-new song, “Beautiful Ghosts,” written by Webber and Swift. But Victoria is also still the lead dancer, and with the Royal Ballet’s Francesca Hayward in the role, quality is assured. Perhaps the film’s greatest accomplishment is that it might inspire those who have never seen the stage musical to do so, or to at least buy the West End or Broadway cast recording. For, to paraphrase Gus the Theatre Cat: These modern productions are all very well, but there’s nothing to equal, from what I hear tell, that moment of mystery when Webber made history. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Oz the Great and Powerful](https://www.meiermovies.com/oz-the-great-and-powerful/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Oz the Great and Powerful**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars # Don’t return to Oz ## Disney’s prequel is neither great nor powerful [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Oz-the-Great-and-Powerful.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Oz-the-Great-and-Powerful.jpg)Image copyright Walt Disney Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/oz-the-great-and-powerful/Content?oid=2245023), March 6, 2013 It’s almost impossible to follow, or in this case precede, a classic. It takes courage, but apparently no brains or heart, as Disney’s prequel to 1939’s *The Wizard of Oz* has some of the look of a great fantasy but none of the magic, thanks to a director out of his depth and a star out of talent. *Oz the Great and Powerful*, inspired by the books by L. Frank Baum – and not the more recent *Wicked* – takes us back to Kansas in 1905, to when Oscar Diggs, a.k.a. the Wizard (James Franco), first journeys to that land beyond the tornado. There he meets three witches: Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams), and sisters Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who are vying for control of their kingdom, and control of our hearts, as we’re somehow supposed to not know whether they are evil. However, any knowledge of the original film, or even compass directions, gives you a strong hint. To direct, Disney chose Sam Raimi of *Evil Dead* and *Spider-Man* fame. But Raimi’s is the cinema of blunt instruments, a sort of “like this film or else” mentality. Instead, *Oz* needed the delicacy of a scalpel, which is not in the director’s toolkit. (A script re-write would have helped too, unless you like lines such as Franco’s “Good thing green is my favorite color,” when he sees the Emerald City.) On the plus side, it’s an admittedly pretty picture, though surprisingly fake and “green screeny” at times, despite the competent production design and use of 3-D. And while its scarier moments may be too intense for very young children, most teenagers will love it. The highlight is the Emerald City finale, which is visually and thematically stunning, and ties in nicely with the 1939 original. Raimi does manage to eke out a moment or two of tenderness, too, such as when the Wizard repairs the broken little China Girl we’ve all fallen in love with from the trailer. (Sadly, after hearing her speak for a few minutes, not even David Bowie would want her.) But *Oz* is undone by Franco, who seems to have stumbled out of a high school play with only three facial expressions: forced joy, fake surprise and misdirected bewilderment. Robert Downey Jr. would have been the smarter choice, but almost anyone could have topped Franco: Keanu Reeves, Yahoo Serious or even James Franco the Duck, from *Ted*. The actor is not without talent. In Danny Boyle’s *127 Hours*, for instance, I was actually rooting for him to saw his arm off to survive. This time, I would have preferred Franco saw MY arm off, as that would have at least stopped my cinematic suffering. Dorothy was right: There’s no place like home. And that’s exactly where you should see this film: on TV, for free, instead of paying for it in a theater. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Our Little Sister](https://www.meiermovies.com/our-little-sister/) **Published:** August 26, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Our Little Sister** FL, 2015, 3 stars # Sister act ## Japanese drama ponders family, sisterhood [![Our Little Sister](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Our-Little-Sister-1024x724.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Our-Little-Sister.jpg)Image copyright Toho Company Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 26, 2016 Japanese cinema is as diverse as any on Earth. From the calm, almost Noh-like work of *Yasujirō Ozu*, to the epic sweep of Akira Kurosawa, to the revered animation of Hayao Miyazaki, to the extremism of Takashi Miike, Japan offers something for everyone. Amazingly, even within the work of Miike alone, multiple styles and genres are found. Like those aforementioned examples, *Our Little Sister* can be an acquired taste. Lacking the action and intensity that mainstream American audiences often associate with 21st-century Japanese filmmaking, the movie, which competed for (but did not win) the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2015, is content to meander over two-plus hours, providing glimpses at the meaning of family and sisterhood instead of pouring its energy into big, revelatory moments. Like a Japanese landscape painting, it washes over you aesthetically and takes time to emotionally sink in. The story’s core is rather straightforward. Sachi, Yoshino and Chika are sisters living in a large house in Kamakura, about 30 miles south of Tokyo. Sachi, who has a promising medical career, is the oldest and sometimes plays mother to the younger women, who haven’t seen their real mother in 14 years, following a messy divorce. But the chemistry between the three is more sisterly and, indeed, Yoshino and Chika are both fiercely independent, pursuing relationships and careers of their own. They haven’t seen their father since the divorce either, so they barely muster any emotion when informed of his death. Still, they resign themselves to attending his funeral. “I’m not looking forward to this,” Yoshino tells Chika. “He was our dad, but I hadn’t seen him in 15 years.” “He used to take us to the zoo,” Chika recalls. “I hardly remember him at all.” If their father left them little love or nostalgia, he did leave them a half-sister, 14-year-old Asano, and the rest of the film focuses on the three sisters’ relationship with their newfound relative. Along the way, we get insight into the concept of family and friendship, and an examination of how one’s mere existence can affect others, for good and bad. “Someone is always hurt just because I exist,” Asano confesses to a friend. That might be true, but the greater lesson of *Our Little Sister* is that lives are also enriched. Based on the manga series *Unimachi Diary*, by Akimi Yoshida, the film feels like a diary, with an admittedly large amount of seemingly unimpactful scenes and minutia of daily life. But under the careful direction of Hirokazu Koreeda (*Like Father, Like Son*), who also wrote the screenplay – and with a beautiful score by Yoko Kanno that fills the silences but never overwhelms them – the film is greater than the sum of its parts. Include solid performances by all four sisters (particularly Haruka Ayase as Sachi) and a satisfying subplot involving an endearing couple who run the sisters’ favorite restaurant, and *Our Little Sister* is a sweet and well-intentioned, if not particularly memorable, respite from the in-your-face freneticism of summer cinema. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3756788/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Little_Sister).* --- ### [Osmosis Jones](https://www.meiermovies.com/osmosis-jones/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **O****smosis Jones**, 2001, 2 ¾ stars # A Farrelly inventive flick [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Osmosis-Jones.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Osmosis-Jones.jpg)Image copyright Warner Brothers From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 *Osmosis Jones* succeeds not because it blends animation and live action in a revolutionary way or because it dazzles with computer-generated realism. It works because it takes a great idea and combines it with inventive imagery and the oddball charm of Bill Murray. Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly (*There’s Something About Mary* and *Me, Myself and Irene*), their latest project has both the irreverent charm and the low-brow humor of its predecessors. But somehow the brothers hold the story together, despite the unfunny Chris Elliott, the slightly out-of-place Chris Rock and some crude, if cleverly stylish, animation. The live action portions feature Murray as Frank, an intolerably lazy and slovenly single father to his daughter Shane (Elena Franklin). The health-conscious Shane is always trying to convince her father to eat right, but Frank is content to sit around with his buddy, played by Elliott, shoveling anything and everything into his own mouth as we can all too plainly see during the animated sequences depicting Frank’s insides. Chris Rock voices Jones, a cool cop in the form of a white blood cell. Out to prove that he is qualified to fight the germs invading Frank, he teams with Drix (David Hyde Pierce), a Drixenol cold pill designed to fight a sore throat. However, they end up tangling not just with flu germs but with Thrax (Laurence Fishburne), a deadly virus out to bring down the whole “city of Frank,” while the mayor (William Shatner) is content to sit around planning his reelection against his rival, Tom Colonic (Ron Howard). Just as osmosis is the passing of fluid through a membrane until there is an equal concentration on either side, so too does *Osmosis Jones* keep the story flowing while creating a balance between its live action and animated sequences, which are completely different in style and mood but somehow compliment each other. The live action seems anything but that at times, as Murray stumbles around stuffing his face. But just as those segments are wearing thin, the film turns back into a buddy cop picture, with the hip Rock and the professional, yet embarrassingly square Pierce bantering around one-liners, some of them surprisingly witty, thanks to writer Marc Hyman. No one element dominates the film, and that is what both saves it and makes Rock, a performer who demands the full attention of the audience, seem upstaged. Pierce is funnier, Murray is more engaging, and the fascinating visual journey through the human body is more imaginative. Rock’s character gets the title role, but we become involved in the battle to save Frank because of Frank himself and the crudely drawn yet wildly inventive organism that animation directors Piet Kroon and Tom Sito have created. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181739/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis_Jones).* --- ### [Short takes on three recent films](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-three-recent-films/) **Published:** October 4, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 4, 2020 If the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t shuttered cinemas earlier this year, we’d probably have heard more about *Onward*, *The Hunt* and *Waiting for the Barbarians*. And the movie’s creators certainly would have made more money. Though only the latter is worthy of a thumbs-up in my book, all three deserved better than they got. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Onward-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Onward-1.jpg)Image copyright Disney/Pixar Disney/Pixar’s ***Onward*** (2 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) is a weird one, and not in a good way. Though Pixar has embraced odd storytelling countless times before, this tale of two brothers trying to reconnect with their dead father is a drawbridge too far. More specifically, it’s the tale of the brothers’ quest to literally reconnect their father. (Explaining those references would ruin the surprises.) Though the father’s physical predicament leads to some absurdist humor – something Pixar has, thankfully, never shied away from – that gag is not enough to support a film that, in its current state, never should have been greenlighted. When compared with Disney’s 80-year tradition of buddy comedies, this one (with Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) is just plain annoying. And despite some superbly rendered (but not particularly imaginative), ultra-realistic animation, *Onward* is arguably the weakest Pixar release since the *Cars* sequels (and the *Planes* spin-off). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Hunt.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Hunt.jpg)Betty Gilpin stars in *The Hunt*. (Image copyright Blumhouse Productions) ***The Hunt*** (1 ¾ stars), directed by Craig Zobel, is on the other side of the cinematic spectrum from Disney. Though the action-satire is unnecessarily brutal, it’s a clever take on the political divide facing our country. The film has been skewered, ironically, by both the right and the left, who seem to misunderstand its message and leanings. Proving again his idiocy, President Trump criticized the film when, in fact, it is more complimentary to conservatives, particularly when it repeatedly and hilariously mocks the radical left. The right receives its fair share of zingers too, but the filmmakers seem slightly more intent on targeting liberals. And in Hollywood, that takes guts. Unfortunately, we also get guts in the form of human intestines, blown apart by bombs, bullets and booby-traps. And that’s where the cleverness of *The Hunt* gets wasted: in over-the-top, brainless, cartoonishly graphic (though well executed) violence. It makes me feel sad for Betty Gilpin, who gives it her all as a sexy action hero. Hey, I’m all for sexy action heroes when the story calls for one. But in this case, we need nuance. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Waiting-for-the-Barbarians.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Waiting-for-the-Barbarians.jpg)Image copyright Iervolino Entertainment / Ithaca Pictures / Samuel Goldwyn Films Of these three films, I feel saddest for ***Waiting for the Barbarians*** (4 stars). After the movie’s premiere last year at the Venice Film Festival, director Ciro Guerra’s English-language debut (written by J.M. Coetzee, from his own novel) screened a few more European festivals before being relegated to a mostly online release. This visual stunner – set in a remote outpost of a fictional empire – offers a profound commentary on government overreach and the absurdities of war. It’s *Wag the Dog* in the desert. The film offers some interesting supporting performances by Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Gana Bayarsaikhan and Greta Scacchi. (Depp – in a love-it-or-hate-it performance – offers yet another visual eccentricity to his character, though it’s not of his own invention and rather tame compared to his usual embellishments.) But this film belongs consumingly to Mark Rylance, arguably the world’s greatest actor of stage and screen. As the morally upright yet hopelessly outnumbered magistrate of the outpost, Rylance is haunting. And though this probably isn’t the type of role to garner him another Oscar nomination, he deserves it, particularly for the way he brings unexpected tenderness and emotional impact to the tiniest lines and moments. Even if you have issues with the film’s pacing and story – as do some critics – you must see this film for Rylance. And until a better movie comes along, I’m placing this one atop my 2020 list. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Only Lovers Left Alive](https://www.meiermovies.com/only-lovers-left-alive/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Only Lovers Left Alive**, 2013, 2 ¼ stars # Longevity sucks ### Mesmerizing movie about long-lived vampires is itself too long From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/only-lovers-left-alive-is-alluring-but-draining/Content?oid=2243136), May 13, 2014 To live forever: Ah, the things one would see. The premise just reeks of cinematic potential, yet few vampire films successfully capture both the magic and melancholy that must accompany the blessing – and curse – of immortality. Director-writer Jim Jarmusch’s *Only Lovers Left Alive* does just that, offering up a haunting, unique addition to the genre before collapsing in the second half under its own slow pacing, two-hour runtime and almost total lack of energy and plot. [![Only Lovers Left Alive](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Only-Lovers-Left-Alive-300x153.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Only-Lovers-Left-Alive.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures / RPC / Pandora / Snow Wolf Adam is not your typical vampire. He doesn’t bite people or long to seduce his next victim. That’s all so medieval to him. Instead, he stays secluded in a derelict Detroit mansion, composing music, bemoaning what “zombies” (humans) have done to civilization and longing for the good old days of the Renaissance – or even the comparatively enlightened 1960s. He has but three regular acquaintances: a doctor he bribes for blood, a devoted gopher whom he trusts to run errands, and the love of his life. The latter (Eve to his Adam, literally), a vampire herself, lives in Tangier, Morocco, and is a close friend of another eternal dweller, Christopher Marlowe – yes, *that* Marlowe. Adam and Eve, who comes to visit him, don’t flaunt their supernatural abilities. Instead, they almost wallow in them, helped along visually by the film’s slow fades and swirling overhead shots. By night, they roam the real ruins of a formerly great American city, making us also fear for the fate of the world and giving the film a delicious time-travel tone. By day, they sleep, listen to vinyl and embrace the lifestyle of a “suicidally romantic scoundrel.” The first 60 minutes are among the best the genre has ever seen outside of *Vampyr*, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1932 masterpiece, and actually make you forget you’re watching a vampire flick. But then two unfortunate things happen: Eve’s sister, Ava, visits the two lovers and completely alters the film’s chemistry, and Jarmusch, in an apparent display of screenwriting overconfidence, give us virtually nothing in the overly long second half. Sure, there are subplots involving Ava and Marlowe, but by the time the credits roll, the eerie mood and originality have faded away. The stellar cast cannot be blamed for the failings. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are perfect as Adam and Eve, and John Hurt is memorable as Marlowe. Even Jeffrey Wright, in a tiny but well-written part as the doctor, is superbly comic in a deliciously dark way. Mia Wasikowski, as Ava, is not as effective but nevertheless does what the script demands. *Only Lovers* is on par with Jarmusch’s *Down by Law*, which also failed to capitalize on its considerable strengths. But if you liked that one, or are a lover of all things vampire, this may just be your cup of hemoglobin. Even for this reviewer, who is only half-heartedly drawn to the genre, the film’s allure was difficult to resist. Yet after the tedium of the second 60 minutes, I was drained dry. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Farewell to Hollywood](https://www.meiermovies.com/farewell-to-hollywood/) **Published:** July 28, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** # *Farewell* to *Hollywood* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Farewell.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Farewell.jpg)*The Farewell* (image copyright Big Beach Films / Depth of Field) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 28, 2019 As we approach the end of summer, two movies are turning the heads of arthouse moviegoers, but for different reasons. The first is *The Farewell* (3 ¾ stars on 0-5 scale), a tender dramedy, shot mostly in Mandarin, about a Chinese-American woman’s reconnection with her family and the traditions of her native land. Directed by Lulu Wang, the film is fairly successful at balancing laughter and pathos, and particularly effective when contemplating cultural differences between East and West. Living in New York City, Billi (Awkwafina) travels with her parents to China to visit her terminally ill grandmother (Shuzhen Zhao). Joined by her extended family, Billi realizes this will probably be the last time she will ever see her “Nai Nai” – except her grandmother doesn’t know it. That’s because her relatives follow the Chinese tradition of keeping bad health news from kin until the end is nigh. It’s a moral decision that Billi struggles to comprehend, and that struggle elevates *The Farewell* above many other, similar cultural mashups. The critical success of *The Farewell* was easy to predict. Apart from some narrative drift and comedic mediocrity in the second half, it’s a solid piece of storytelling with tons of heart. Not so for the second subject of this mini-review. Indeed, by most measures, *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* (3 stars) should not succeed. It’s too long, self-indulgent, lacking a sensible narrative structure and at times even boring, which might be a first for a Quentin Tarantino flick. But as a time-travel trip – and I do mean trip – and an homage to 1960s Los Angeles, it’s mesmerizing. And as a buddy film, it’s irresistible. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures / Bona Film Group Leonardo DiCaprio is Rick Dalton, an aging, alcoholic, action-TV star in an aging Hollywood. Also long in the tooth is Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), who works as Rick’s stunt double, gofer and best friend. The film is packed with other eclectic performances – including Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, Al Pacino as a movie exec, and some other surprises – but it’s DiCaprio and Pitt who deliver the film’s chemistry and help offset its pacing and storytelling issues. Oh, and yes, this is a Tarantino film with a Charles Manson subplot, so you know there is going to be graphic violence. But there’s less of it than in the writer-director’s other recent films, and it kind of fits, instead of being thrown in orgiastically to satisfy Tarantino’s fetish. And the criticism by some – including this reviewer, before I actually saw the film (oops!) – that Tarantino is exploiting Manson’s victims for his own comedic exploits is misplaced. If anything, the film pays a nice *Sliding Doors* tribute to them. See *Hollywood* precisely because you can no longer see the Hollywood it portrays. Thanks to Oscar-worthy production design, great music and some cleverly conceived alternative history, it’s the best time warp of 2019. But because the movie clocks in at two hours and 41 minutes, just don’t ask me to do the time warp again. I’d rather say another hello to *Farewell*. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [On the Basis of Sex](https://www.meiermovies.com/on-the-basis-of-sex/) **Published:** January 2, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **On the Basis of Sex**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars # Citizen Ruth ## Biopic celebrates RBG’s early accomplishments [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/On-the-Basis-of-Sex.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/On-the-Basis-of-Sex.jpg)Image copyright Amblin Partners / Focus Features / Participant Media From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/on-the-basis-of-sex-celebrates-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-early-accomplishments/Content?oid=22891090) and [*Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/review-biopic-celebrates-justice-ginsburgs-early-accomplishments/Content?oid=19290975), January 2, 2019 If you’ve led a full existence, you might receive a lifetime achievement award before you die. If you’ve gained fame or wielded influence, you might also be immortalized with a movie. But if you’re Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you get two movies, both in the same year. *On the Basis of Sex*, directed by Mimi Leder and starring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer, comes after *RBG*, the documentary that received critical acclaim last spring. Though this new version of Ginsburg’s early life isn’t quite as good as the doc, the two films form a nice, if brief, cinematic compendium covering an extraordinary woman. Leder (*The Peacemake*r, *Pay it Forward*), using a script by Daniel Stiepleman, focuses on Ginsburg’s early life, specifically her years at Harvard in the late 1950s through her first gender-discrimination court case (Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue) in the early 1970s. This narrow focus creates a tight film, but it’s also an odd choice, as the case was not argued in front of the Supreme Court and didn’t focus on a woman. Instead, Ginsburg argued tax law in front of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a male client. But, ultimately, these scenes allow us to appreciate Ginsburg’s judicial and moral philosophies while exposing us to legal details that lend the production authenticity, especially because Ginsburg herself worked with the filmmakers to get the details right. The movie is certainly a liberal crowd pleaser, but would it stand up to scrutiny if the subject were not Ginsburg but, say, Antonin Scalia or Brett Kavanaugh? (OK, maybe not Kavanaugh, but you get where I’m going.) In other words, is the craft worthy of the content? Somewhat. As Ruth and her husband, Jones and Hammer again prove their acting chops, cultivating nuanced, sensitive portrayals from occasionally heavy-handed dialogue and clichéd situations. Jones gives a particularly sympathetic performance and even bears a striking resemblance to the young Ruth. She also enjoys good chemistry with both Hammer and Justin Theroux (*Mulholland Drive*), who plays an ACLU organizer. Sam Waterston is also somewhat effective as the closest thing the film has to an antagonist, but Kathy Bates (as a civil-liberties lawyer) and Stephen Root (as a crusty law professor) are miscast and distracting. *On the Basis of Sex* is at its best when it dispassionately weaves its story of an iconic American who was once told, “Women are too emotional to be lawyers.” But it’s at its worst when it cloyingly encourages us to cheer – silently, of course – for Ginsburg. Thankfully, the best moments outshine the worst. And though the film, unlike its subject, is neither exceptional nor surprising, this juror is returning a thumbs-up verdict. With *Aquaman* still swallowing the box office and a host of other holiday films competing for your dollar, it’s unlikely *On the Basis of Sex* will be in cinemas long. But if it is, justice will have been served. *© 2019 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Old Man & the Gun](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-old-man-the-gun/) **Published:** October 17, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Old Man & the Gun**, 2018, 3 ½ stars # Sundance at sunset ## Redford retires with *The Old Man & the Gun* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/The-Old-Man-and-the-Gun.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/The-Old-Man-and-the-Gun.jpg)Image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures / Wildwood Enterprises From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/robert-redford-retires-with-the-old-man-and-the-gun/Content?oid=19750701), October 16, 2018 Throughout his 58-year career, Robert Redford has relished playing the good guy, even when that guy wasn’t really good. He made an outlaw loveable in *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, a counterfeiting grifter noble in *The Sting* and Death comforting in a 1962 episode of *The Twilight Zone*. And in his latest and apparently last role, he’s turned a bank robber into one of the nicest men of the cinematic year. Written and directed by David Lowery, *Old Man & the Gun* is loosely based on real-life robber Forrest Tucker, whose story was detailed in a 2003 *New Yorker* article by David Grann. Though Tucker’s entire criminal career could be film fodder – starting with a bicycle theft at age 13 and continuing through dozens of incarcerations and improbable prison breaks – it’s his septuagenarian years that Lowery focuses on, specifically a spree of Texas bank hold-ups in 1981. And that’s the right choice, as it makes the story manageable and allows reflection upon a life most would view as ill-advised at best and totally wasted at worst. But Tucker didn’t view his life that way. Described by his victims as “sort of a gentleman,” he gained inner strength and freedom from his crimes. Fittingly, Lowery’s script isn’t as concerned with the crimes as with Tucker’s mindset, and his heists are filmed with little urgency or suspense, as if he’s strolling in the park. Heightened by Daniel Hart’s wonderful score, which mixes cool jazz and soft pop, the robberies are strangely serene, as is the entire film. Even a detective hot on Tucker’s trail can’t muster much passion or outward emotion for the pursuit, as if he too has fallen under the spell of his prey – or perhaps under the spell of Redford himself, who, despite a muted performance, is eminently enjoyable, infusing his character with relatability and humor. It’s enough to forgive Lowery’s last collaboration with Redford (the misguided *Pete’s Dragon*) and proves Lowery’s versatility. In a recent interview for Turner Classic Movies, Lowery admitted his fascination with character motivation, which explains his script’s almost complete deconstruction of the crime drama from a genre of suspense to one of introspection. Eschewing violence, Lowery instead emphasizes Tucker’s tender relationship with a woman (Sissy Spacek) to whom he partially confesses his crimes (though she doesn’t believe him at first). Lowery also features genuine moments of friendly banter between Tucker and the other members of his “Over the Hill Gang,” which, along with Butch Cassidy’s “Hole in the Wall Gang,” serves as a clever career bookend for Redford. Those fellow gang members are played by Tom Waits and Danny Glover, whose charmingly unassuming performances leave you wanting more. The same could be said for the wonderful but underused Elisabeth Moss, as Tucker’s estranged daughter, and Spacek, who enjoys perfect chemistry with Redford in what is, surprisingly, their first film together. As the detective, Casey Affleck is only slightly more emotive than he was in Lowery’s *A* *Ghost Story*, in which he was covered by a sheet for over an hour. (Still, there is no denying his screen charisma.) There’s also no denying the aesthetic oddness of *Old Man*. Shot, paced, designed and performed as if it’s straight out of the late 1970s or early ‘80s, it’s much closer to time travel than those big-budget films with digital animations of bygone urban landscapes. But like Lowery’s *Ain’t Them Bodies Saints* (also featuring Affleck), this movie is an enigma, professing profundity but lacking consequences for its characters and almost lulling you to sleep with its existentialism. And despite being based on real events, its plot sometimes stretches believability and even contains at least one editing error (unless Lowery temporarily suspended his traditional chronological structure). But what’s most surprising, considering Lowery’s preoccupation with character motivation, is that Tucker turns out to not be a terribly complicated or haunted guy. “He just loves robbing banks,” the detective concludes. If Redford doesn’t change his mind about retirement, the old man will likely take his last bow sans an Academy Award for acting. But as Sundance strolls into the sunset, he leaves a legacy more golden than Oscar. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Official Secrets](https://www.meiermovies.com/official-secrets/) **Published:** September 10, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Official Secrets**, 2019, 3 ½ stars # *Secrets* worth telling [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Official-Secrets.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Official-Secrets.jpg)Image copyright IFC Films / Classified Films / Clear Pictures Entertainment From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/official-secrets-is-a-timely-retelling-of-whistleblowing-in-a-post-9-11-world/Content?oid=25981982), September 11, 2019 In 1989, under Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom amended its Official Secrets Act to make it easier for the government to convict people who leak security information. This revision left many subsequent whistleblowers twisting in the wind. Fourteen years later, during the buildup to the Iraq War, an employee of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) put the revised act to the test. When asked to assist the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in its illegal effort to gather information on United Nations members in an attempt to blackmail them into voting for the war, Katharine Gun refused. Instead, she shared the top-secret plan with anti-war advocates, who gave it to a journalist at London’s *Observer* newspaper. What happened next was widely reported in 2003, but, sadly, it’s been largely forgotten thanks in part to the drumbeat of history and the endless parade of new international nightmares. This begs the question: Why release a movie about this now? Well, it’s not like the producers didn’t try to make *Official Secrets* earlier. More than three years ago, the project began with everyone from Harrison Ford to Anthony Hopkins to Gillian Anderson attached. In 2018, the production was reorganized under writer-director Gavin Hood (*Ender’s Game*, *Eye in the Sky*) and actors Keira Knightley as Gun, Matt Smith (*Doctor Who*) as *Observer* journalist Martin Bright and Ralph Fiennes as Gun’s lawyer. The wait was worth it, and, ironically, the film works better now because the events are less fresh. Indeed, if you know the outcome, Hood’s political drama-thriller might seem predictable. And in the first half, before things kicks into high gear, one is struck by the conventional bio-pic feel, which is fueled by real footage of George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Colin Powell. But then the script – co-written by Gregory and Sara Bernstein, and based on a book by Thomas and Marcia Mitchell – moves away from anti-war tropes and *All the President’s Men* mimicry into tightly paced, personal interactions and compelling humanism. It again proves that breaking the law is often the most moral choice. And that lesson is timeless. “I work for the British people. I gather intelligence so that the government can protect the British people,” Gun tells her interrogators. “I don’t object to being asked to collect information that could help prevent a terror attack. What I object to is being asked to gather intelligence to help fix a vote at the UN and deceive the world into going to war.” Smith, Fiennes and the rest of the supporting cast contribute nicely to the carefully balanced ensemble. Shaun Dooley (*Misfts*), as Gun’s interrogator, is particularly memorable for his laser-focused intensity. But it’s Knightley who lights her usual fire under everything. From *Pride & Prejudice* to *Atonement* to *Anna Karenina* to *The Imitation Game*, Knightley has shown not just that she’s one of the greatest actors of her generation, but that she is one of the best at picking projects. And even if you’re one of the few stalwarts who still thinks the Iraq War was worth the agonizingly high toll in lives, treasure and geo-political brouhaha, you will root for Gun because of Knightley’s astonishing ability to connect to her audience and her fellow actors. Ten years after the story broke, Bright reflected on his journalistic coup by interviewing Gun. Fearing her heroic act had been forgotten, she lamented, “It’s not even a footnote in the history of Iraq.” Thanks to this film, it’s now a chapter. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC --- ### [Ode to Joy](https://www.meiermovies.com/ode-to-joy/) **Published:** August 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ode to Joy**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Joyless ## Romantic comedy disappoints its intriguing premise [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ode-to-Joy.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ode-to-Joy.png)Morena Baccarin and Martin Freeman star in *Ode to Joy*. (image copyright IFC Films / Mosaic) Exclusive to *MeierMovies,* August 14, 2019 *Ode to Joy*, the second theatrically released feature by director Jason Winer (2011’s *Arthur*), has four things going for it. First, it has a great premise: A man (Charlie: based on a real person) is seemingly unable to experience joy because he suffers from cataplexy, a neurological disorder that causes him to collapse each time he feels strong emotions. Second, it stars Martin Freeman, who makes every film more enjoyable. Third, it’s got some lovely things to say about New York City, particularly the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn and its beautiful carousel. And fourth, it’s named after one of the most powerful pieces of music ever written. But not even Beethoven could save a bungled and surprisingly sophomoric script by Max Werner, which isn’t done any favors by some miscasting, obtrusive music and inappropriately active camerawork. Winer simply seems to lack the sensibility to pull the film’s loose ends together or grasp the story’s existential, even metaphysical, potential. This romantic comedy is not without charm, but, like the main character, it falls flat too many times. Charlie (Freeman), a librarian, meets Francesca, a younger and ridiculously “out of his league” woman who has just broken up with her boyfriend. We’re meant to believe she wants to go on a date with him, which is entirely ridiculous, as is much of the movie. And when they do, predictably, Charlie can’t handle the passion and, after tumbling down some stairs, lands in the hospital. But Charlie’s brother, Cooper, has the hots for Francesca, so Charlie proposes they start dating. Though Charlie might not realize it at first, this allows him to occasionally enjoy Francesca’s company while keeping his emotions – and his fainting – in check. Trouble is, Jake Lucy (*The Office*), as Cooper, is so badly miscast that we never buy him as Charlie’s brother. The actor is 13 years younger than Freeman (and seems even younger) and doesn’t resemble the older actor in any way. Morena Baccarin (*Firefly*), as Francesca, is also a younger and physically inappropriate match for Freeman, and the two enjoy no chemistry. Only the scene-stealing Melissa Rauch (*The Big Bang Theory*), as Bethany (a woman Cooper sets Charlie up with), seems to belong in this film at all. Indeed, the most interesting, and funny, plot line concerns Charlie and Bethany, but it’s used mostly as filler. And a weirdly raunchy cameo by Jane Curtin as Francesca’s dying aunt just reconfirms Winer’s mismanagement of the material. “There’s nothing saying I can’t feel mild, tepid emotions,” Charlie tells Bethany. “I can go to town on those.” And so goes *Ode to Joy*, content to provide a few moments of mirth and tenderness, but nothing that would aggravate Charlie’s cataplexy. It’s mostly joyless. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3009772/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy_(film)).* --- ### [The Third Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-third-man/) **Published:** August 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Third Man**, 1949, 5 stars # *The Third Man* is second to none [![The-Third-Man2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-Third-Man2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-Third-Man2.jpg)Image copyright London Film Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/08/11/the-enzian-presents-one-of-the-greatest-films-ever-made-at-a-screening-of-the-third-man), August 11, 2016 “There was a third man. … I didn’t see his face. He didn’t look up. He was quite ordinary. He might have been just anybody.” That intriguing premise, which is just one of the fascinating plot elements of 1949’s *The Third Man*, involves Holly Martins’ (Joseph Cotten) quest to find out exactly what happened to his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Holly has journeyed to bombed-out Vienna to work for Harry’s medical charity but upon his arrival learns that Harry has met an untimely demise after apparently being involved in black-market dealings common during the post-war years. That plot would be enough for almost any movie. But *The Third Man* isn’t just any movie. It’s often described as the best British-produced film ever made, and that’s actually an understatement, as it’s an easy addition to any critic’s list of the top 10 movies of all time. So it’s little wonder that, in addition to the aforementioned plot, the film noir incorporates romance, social and political commentary, comedy and perhaps the most memorable and brave final scene ever – accompanied by the most unforgettable score you’ll ever hear. (If you’re not familiar with the zither, you will be after watching this movie.) Shot on glorious black-and-white nitrate film on the real streets and sewers of Vienna, the movie glows and glistens like no other, providing viewers with not just a unique cinematic experience but an astonishing Viennese time capsule. Adding to its beauty are its askew angles, otherworldly lighting, Graham Greene screenplay and Welles sensibility. (Though directed by Carol Reed, who is perhaps best known for his 1968 *Oliver!*, it was clearly inspired by *Citizen Kane,* *The Stranger* and *The Lady from Shanghai*, and it’s better than all of them!) But Welles certainly makes an actorly impact, as his entrance is second probably only to Norman Bates’s mother in the annals of cinema. The film recently underwent a 4K restoration and is being shown at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater on August 13 at 12 p.m. Though the Enzian doesn’t have a 4K projector – that’s one improvement that will apparently arrive with the proposed expansion – it should still look spectacular, even if projected digitally instead of on film. If you’re an Enzian member, reserve your table now. If you’re not, buy your ticket online right away and arrive early. And prepare yourself for a religious experience. *(If you’re not in the Orlando area, look for the film this fall at your own local art theater.)* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Novocaine](https://www.meiermovies.com/novocaine/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Novocaine**, 2001, 2 stars # Nifty but numb From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Dark comedy might be the most difficult genre to perfect, as Steve Martin’s *Novocaine* proves. Despite solid performances, a clever plot and a quirky style, first-time director David Atkins can’t get the mix of light and dark right, and the whole macabre piece comes across as uneven. Martin is convincing as reputable, mild-mannered dentist Frank Sangster, whose successful world is turned upside down following a tryst with sexy patient Susan Ivy (Helena Bonham-Carter). He cheats on his dental hygienist girlfriend, Jean (Laura Dern), with Susan but soon finds that the temptress’s motives are deeper than the root canal she came in for. Susan steals drugs from the dentist’s office, and Frank dodges the authorities to both protect Susan and keep his affair secret from Jean. Reluctant to blame Susan, whom he still has a crush on despite her betrayal, Frank confronts instead Susan’s brother, Duane (Scott Caan), the mastermind of the drug theft. In a clever twist, Duane, who wanted the drugs to then sell himself, later turns up dead, and the police turn up at the dentist’s door looking for answers. With Frank on the run and suspecting his wayward brother Harlan (Elias Koteas) of trying to frame him, the film turns more serious than expected, with the comedic elements hidden behind the police chases and murders. Atkins does manage to elicit a few laughs, thanks to Martin’s offbeat style. And his bizarre inclusion of Kevin Bacon as an actor shadowing the police to get background material for his next movie is one of the film’s best elements. Atkins’ debut is flawed, though, because it doesn’t know what it wants to be. Its plot is darkly dramatic, yet its dialogue and performances, though clever, often don’t gel with the action. This is a work in progress being pulled in several directions, if not by different people, then by Atkins’ own direction and writing. Martin is convincing as the do-gooder who slowly sees his life unraveling, and despite the script flaws, he makes his unlikely predicament believable. Carter and Dern too capture every mood that Atkins has created for them, being appropriately sexy, creepy and pathetic at the right times. But it’s the mood swings not of the characters but of the whole film that leave one unaffected, despite the neatly packaged ending. The tooth is Atkins’ metaphor of choice, with decay of enamel compared to the decay of Frank’s perfect little life. Only by numbing himself to his predicament (hence the novocaine), pulling out the bad teeth and filling in the holes in his life is Frank able to find himself again. It’s an intelligent idea with its share of bright moments, but the film’s smart style gets lost inside an overly serious crime drama. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234354/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novocaine_(film)).* --- ### [Nomadland](https://www.meiermovies.com/nomadland/) **Published:** February 12, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nomadland**, 2020, 3 ¾ stars # *Land* of ultra-realism ## Zhao turns realistic eye on modern American gypsies [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Nomadland.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Nomadland.jpg)Image copyright Searchlight Pictures / Highwayman Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/nomadland-turns-an-ultra-realistic-eye-on-the-modern-american-unhoused/Content?oid=28818895), February 17, 2021 “There’s no place like home,” Dorothy Gale said. Eighty-one years later, *Nomadland* has turned that adage on its ear. In the third feature by Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand plays Fern, a nomad living in her van in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Having lost almost everything after the United States Gypsum Corporation shuttered its factory in Empire, Nevada, in 2011, Fern has become resigned to a gypsy life, taking short-term jobs while drifting her way through the American West. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through: the loss of your husband and the loss of your whole town and friends and village,” real-life nomad and inspirational speaker Bob Wells tells her. “That kind of loss is never easy.” But Fern soldiers on, just not in the manner of most Americans. Resisting the “homeless” label, she instead describes herself as “houseless” and at times embraces what another nomad calls “a lifestyle of freedom and beauty and connection to the earth.” Nevertheless – and despite a sort of Woody Guthrie poetry – the film doesn’t completely shy away from the darker side of this existence. And McDormand, in one of the best performances of the year, is more than capable of embodying both the joy and shame of her life. By doing so, she again shows (as she did in *North Country*, *Promised Land* and *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri*) that she is to film what John Mellencamp is to music: gritty Americana. Zhao explored ultra-realism in *Songs My Brothers Taught Me* and *The Rider*, but *Nomadland* lives almost entirely in the cinematic space between narrative fiction and documentary. Indeed, most of the participants – with the notable exceptions of McDormand and David Strathairn, as a close friend of Fern – are the actual people they portray, or close to it. Some have called this type of genre mash-up gimmicky or pretentious, but *Nomadland* is neither. Some of the performances are a bit clunky, and the film’s pacing and anecdotal structure are an acquired taste, but Zhao’s screenplay (based on a book by Jessica Bruder) doesn’t strike a single insincere note. Though I must admit I admire *Nomadland* more than I like it, I’m grateful for the opportunity to follow Fern and her friends on their journey. The film has inspired a debate over which filmmaking style is most effective in capturing emotion and authenticity. Some critics – this one included – will always be partial to great roles performed by the best possible actor, without regard to that actor’s background. Others applaud absolute authenticity in casting, going so far as to describe traditional casting as elitist. Speaking to that latter group, I’m reminded of what Laurence Olivier said to Dustin Hoffman when he discovered that Hoffman, in a deep dive into method acting in *Marathon Man*, had been depriving himself of sleep: “My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?” But the cinema is a big place, with room for all styles. Like Fern’s world, its horizons are breathtakingly broad. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Nocturnal Animals](https://www.meiermovies.com/nocturnal-animals/) **Published:** November 30, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nocturnal Animals**, 2016, 4 stars # Written revenge ## Literature is weapon of choice in *Nocturnal Animals* From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/literature-is-the-weapon-of-choice-in-nocturnal-animals/Content?oid=2543648), November 23, 2016 [![Image copyright Fade to Black Productions/Focus Features](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/nocturnal-animals-amy-adams-image.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/nocturnal-animals-amy-adams-image.jpg)Image copyright Fade to Black Productions/Focus Features We all regret something, but those regrets are often ethereal and rarely require an emotional reckoning or physical confrontation. Not so for Susan, whose past returns to haunt her – in book form, no less – in *Nocturnal Animals*, the mesmerizing psychological thriller by writer-director Tom Ford. Susan (Amy Adams) is a 40-something art-gallery owner stuck in a loveless marriage and an empty life. Not even her successful career can bring her happiness or allow her to “enjoy the absurdity of our world,” as a friend advises. Into this state of vulnerability comes a novel, and not just any novel. Written by her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) – whom she hasn’t seen in almost two decades – dedicated to her and titled *Nocturnal Animals* (Edward’s nickname for her), the book is a brutal account of a family torn apart by violence and revenge. Though she’s troubled by the novel, she can’t put it down – just as we, seeing it through her eyes, can’t look away. We watch it play out on screen as she reads it, through a story-within-a-story allegorical structure, with flashbacks of her real life heightening the maze-like composition. Because the book’s story is intercut and personally linked with Susan’s life, we’re often left in the dark as to the true nature of the characters, and of the film itself. Is it a gritty crime drama with a unique framing device? Is it story of lost love and missed chances, with a story stuck in the middle? Or is it a mind-bending commentary on interpersonal relationships within a world of pretention and betrayal? The answer, of course, is that it’s whatever you want it to be, which is what you’d expect from this sort of stylistic, deconstructionist device. Just the second feature from writer-director Tom Ford, after *A Single Man* in 2009, *Nocturnal Animals* is based on *Tony and Susan*, a novel by Austin Wright. Though the twisty writing, cerebral editing and stylish cinematography give the film a cinematic punch, the performances give it lasting power. Adams is engaging as always, but she infuses her character with a bleakness we rarely see from her. Gyllenhaal is even better in the dual roles of Edward and Tony, the main character in Edward’s novel. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Laura Linney deserve mention too, but Michael Shannon bests them all, practically demanding another supporting-actor Oscar nomination with his razor-sharp portrayal of a hard-nosed Texas cop. Ford sacrifices some substance for style, and Edward’s novel is given more screen time than it probably deserves. Indeed, that part of the film can seem a tad tedious, especially since we’re longing to get back to Susan’s life, if only so we can figure out how the two stories fit together. Still, thanks to perfect pacing, our attention never wanders as the film builds to a haunting and unexpected, if not wholly satisfying, ending. One characteristic common to real nocturnal animals is a heightened appreciation of sound. Some nighttime creatures can even hear ultrasonic frequencies. Ford may not have that ability, but his *Nocturnal Animals* clearly proves he’s operating on a cinematic frequency incomprehensible to most of his fellow directors. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [No](https://www.meiermovies.com/no/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **No FL, 2012, 3 ½ stars # The power of *No* ## Chilean political drama stylishly recounts Pinochet era Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, 2012 With movies about the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis, the hunt for Osama bin Laden, our 16th president’s fight against slavery and even Sarah Palin’s rise to prominence, 2012 was the year of politics in film. And although most American audiences are just now being exposed to Oscar-nominated *No*, a fascinating fictionalization of the ad campaign that sought to oust Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, it too deserves a spot alongside *Argo*, *Zero Dark Thirty*, *Lincoln* and *Game Change*. *No* is an ugly film about an ugly time in Chile. Murderous dictators are rarely attractive, and Pinochet was no exception. So what’s amazing – and somewhat forgotten – is that this thug, pressured by the United States and other nations, proposed a yes-or-no referendum on the future of his presidency in 1988, confident the opposition wouldn’t have the guts or expertise to challenge him. But when a savvy advertiser utilized American-style marketing to bring to prominence the “no” campaign’s message, Pinochet got more than he bargained for. It’s not just *No*’s subject that’s ugly. The film itself is, too, as director Pablo Larraín shot on Sony U-matic magnetic tape, the same low-definition videotape used in 1980s TV broadcasts. While it’s difficult to get used to that grainy look and occasionally shaky camera, in addition to the boxy aspect ratio of old TV and pre-1953 movies, the cinematography is more than a gimmick. Indeed, it allows the vintage footage to blend with the rest of the film, breaking down the division between history and fiction. Even those who hate the movie’s look will appreciate its commentary on political cynicism and the manner in which a repressed people rose up against their dictator not necessarily because of his crimes, but because slick commercials convinced them to. Many of the people had simply grown comfortable with oppression because, like the imprisoned couple in Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara’s *The Woman in the Dunes*, they felt safe. It’s no wonder, then, that René (Gael Garcia Bernal), the fictional head ad salesman for the “no” campaign, isn’t particularly astonished to learn that his own housekeeper is planning to vote “yes.” When asked why, she says simply, “I’m fine.” And she remains that way until she and her fellow citizens are finally awakened by soda-commercial jingles such as “The time for free is now” and “Chile: Happiness is coming!” Is there a line between intellectualism and consumerism? If so, it’s disturbingly thin, posits *No*. Slightly thin, too, is some of the film’s character development, especially when Larraín shifts from the political to the personal. But the film’s methodical pacing and Bernal’s strong performance pay off with an emotional impact – and a history lesson to boot. When René sees the first ad of the “no” campaign, which truthfully addresses the horrors of Pinochet, he dismisses it. “This doesn’t sell,” he explains dispassionately. Even if Americans have forgotten the famous campaign against the Chilean dictator, we can certainly see the similarities in our own body politic. *© 2012 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2059255/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_(2012_film)).* --- ### [1917](https://www.meiermovies.com/1917movie/) **Published:** January 10, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **1917**, 2019, 4 ¾ stars # Singular vision ## *1917* is the year’s best film [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1917.jpg)George MacKay stars in Sam Mendes’ *1917*, the best film of 2019. (image copyright Universal Pictures / Amblin Partners / DreamWorks) From [*The Orlando Weekly* ](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sam-mendes-one-shot-wonder-1917-is-last-years-best-film/Content?oid=26600366)and[ *The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/1917-is-last-years-best-film/Content?oid=23542629), January 8, 2020 During the World War I centennial remembrance in 2018, I wore my poppy proudly. I awoke at 6 a.m. Eastern time here in the United States to mark the “11/11/11” moment of silence. And I tried to imagine what it was like in the trenches for my great-grandfather and the millions of other men who served. My only regret was that the war was not being honored with a cinematic masterpiece like Christopher Nolan’s recent World War II epic, *Dunkirk*. With Sam Mendes’ *1917*, the Great War has now been so honored. Inspired by the true tales of his grandfather, Mendes (*American Beauty*, *Road to Perdition*) has achieved a singular accomplishment, literally: a one-shot, real-time look at life on the front lines. Though the two-hour film is actually comprised of several long takes seamlessly sewn together to create the impression of continuous filming, the finished product is arguably the greatest single-take illusion in cinema history. And it’s also the best movie about the Great War since *Lawrence of Arabia* in 1962. As with *Dunkirk*, the story is remarkable but, at its core, rather simple. Mendes’ film, which he penned with Scottish writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns, focuses on two young British soldiers tasked with the impossible. In broad daylight, they must enter no man’s land, navigate muddy bomb craters, slip through barbed-wire barricades, climb corpses of both horses and humans, and locate another infantry division – all while avoiding German attack. They must then relay an improbable message to cancel an attack that could cost more than a thousand lives. This unenviable circumstance is due to Operation Alberich, a tactical German retreat meant to entice an Allied advance that will facilitate a well-calculated and savagely effective ambush. And to add even more human drama, plus some shades of *Saving Private Ryan*, the brother of one of the two soldiers is serving in the potentially ill-fated division. But the two infantrymen, Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield, are far from green. This is year three of the war, and the men have seen it all, or so they thought. Schofield was even awarded a medal for bravery at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. But instead of wearing the prize proudly, he swapped it for a bottle of wine. “I was thirsty,” he tells his comrade. As Blake, Dean-Charles Chapman (*Blinded by the Light*) gives a relatable and heartbreaking performance. But it’s George MacKay (*Ophelia*), as Schofield, who exhibits extraordinary acting resolve and plain old physical endurance, as he’s required to run, jump, tumble and emote in exquisitely choreographed and undoubtedly grueling long takes. Some more well-known actors – I won’t ruin the surprise – turn up in tiny but impactful parts, but it’s Dennis Gassner’s revelatory production design, Thomas Newman’s score and, most of all, Roger Deakins’ otherworldly cinematography that are the true stars. Over the last several months, the movie industry has brought us the dark intensity of *Joker*, the joy of *Toy Story 4*, the existentialism of *Ad Astra*, the spiritual tête-à-tête of *The Two Popes* and the humanity of *Marriage Story*. But *1917*, like the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the war to end all wars, stands head and shoulders above them all. *© 2019 Euclid Media / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Nebraska](https://www.meiermovies.com/nebraska/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Nebraska**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars # Don’t go to *Nebraska* ## Alexander Payne’s new film is a journey not worth taking From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/nebraska-dont-make-the-trip/Content?oid=2243581), December 10, 2013 Alexander Payne has had a spotless record. He may not get the press of other topnotch directors, perhaps because he’s made just five features, but he should, because every one was a winner – with an aura of originality. From *Citizen Ruth* and *Election* in the 1990s, to *About Schmidt* and *Sideways* a decade ago, to his Oscar-winning *The Descendants* with George Clooney, Payne just doesn’t make bad movies. Until now. [![NEBRASKA](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NEBRASKA-300x230.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NEBRASKA.jpg)Image copyright Paramount Vantage/FilmNation Entertainment/Blue Lake Media Fund *Nebraska* is a simple story of truth, trust and family. Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), an aging Midwesterner trying to suppress both alcoholism and dementia, is clinging to the one thing that gives him hope: the belief that he’s won a million dollars. Though we – and everyone else except Woody – strongly suspect that the prize is just another sweepstakes scam from a money-grubbing conglomerate, the old man believes that people should be taken at their word, and, as Mitt Romney told us, corporations are people too. (After all, Romney did win the Cornhusker State.) So, without a car and with no one to drive him, Woody sets off on foot from Montana to Nebraska to claim his winnings. That misadventure doesn’t quite yield the same success as that of Alvin Straight, from David Lynch’s *The Straight Story*, who journeyed on a lawnmower from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his dying brother. Nope, Woody’s quest gets him only a mile at the most until his son David (Will Forte) plucks him off the road. But after another failed hike and the family’s inability to talk sense into Woody, David agrees to drive him. Along the way, the two re-establish a bond that time had weakened, meet up with friends and family they hadn’t seen in years – including the pitch-perfect Rance Howard as Uncle Ray – and discover something about not just themselves but a simpler America that has slowly faded away. Call it the Midwest version of *No Country for Old Men*. While it sounds like a recipe for melancholy magic, *Nebraska* wilts faster than cornstalks in a drought. Though Payne captures the small-town feel of his native Nebraska nicely, helped by Phedon Papamichael’s black-and-white cinematography, his film falls apart bit by bit thanks to forgettable writing, paltry performances and editing that saps humor, momentum and a sense of urgency. It’s the first Payne project he didn’t write, and that might explain the director’s unease with the material and the pacing, but Dern and Forte should take some of the blame too. Despite winning best actor at Cannes for this performance, the normally rambunctious, scene-stealing Dern can’t quite get a handle on Woody and struggles with Payne’s minimalist challenge to “give us nothing.” Forte, though surprisingly subtle here when compared to his sophomoric SNL persona, is also miscast, as is the unfunny, unbelievable June Squibb as Woody’s wife. *Nebraska* wants to be a quirky, offbeat, deliberately paced dramedy with equally digestible portions of sweetness and wisdom, in the vein of the Coen Brothers. Instead, it ends up as the only blemish on Payne’s heretofore remarkable résumé. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* Note: I seem to have embraced my inner Pauline Kael on this one, as I got hammered pretty hard for my take on this film, which most of my fellow critics, to my amazement, seemed to like. [Here’s one](http://existimatum.com/review/388X/nebraska/cameron-meier-whines-and-references-coen-bros-in-make-the-trip) critique of my review that amused me. I suppose this person has a point to make if I were writing a 2,000-word article for *Film Comment*. Regrettably, I was limited to 500 words, and I must admit I find referencing other artists and films one of the greatest tools in discussing a movie. OK, my reactionary whining is now over. I now return you to your regularly scheduled website. --- ### [Velvet Buzzsaw](https://www.meiermovies.com/velvet-buzzsaw/) **Published:** February 5, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Velvet Buzzsaw** TV/Web only, 2019, 3 ¼ stars # Creating a *Buzz* ## Satire’s off-beat charm is irresistible [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Velvet-Buzzsaw.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Velvet-Buzzsaw.jpg)Image copyright Netflix From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/velvet-buzzsaws-offbeat-charm-is-irresistible/Content?oid=23773225) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/review-the-offbeat-charm-of-velvet-buzzsaw-is-irresistible/Content?oid=19924437), February 4, 2019 In writer-director Dan Gilroy’s new satire on the money-motivated world of fine art, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Morf Vandewalt, a powerful but occasionally cruel critic who shows no remorse after the latest victim of his pitiless pen takes Morf’s review particularly hard. “Ricky got drunk and crashed his car last night. He’s in a coma,” Morf is told. “I heard he was crushed.” “By the car?” Morf deadpans. “Your review.” Unlike Morf, this critic takes little pleasure in vitriol. So I’m glad Gilroy and his accomplished actors won’t be wrecked by my writing, as *Velvet Buzzsaw* is a refreshingly offbeat and irresistibly quirky comedy, with a dash of drama and a heap of horror. A straight-to-Netflix release, by way of the Sundance Film Festival, *Buzzsaw* is, above all else, an allegory. But unlike its pretentious characters – critics, artists, agents, gallery owners and art advisors – the film is blissfully carefree, never taking itself too seriously. And therein lies its charm, which is buoyed by another charismatically manic performance by Gyllenhaal, not dissimilar to his last collaboration with Gilroy (*Nightcrawler*). The story, which plays second fiddle to the themes, focuses on Morf’s friend and part-time lover, Josephina (the infinitely watchable and sympathetic Zawe Ashton), who discovers a trove of masterpieces in the apartment of a recently deceased neighbor. Absconding with them, she teams with gallery owner Rhodora (Rene Russo, still in fine form), and together they introduce the world to the dead dude’s paintings, which are dark enough to make Hieronymous Bosch blush. But what no sees – except the audience, as the twists aren’t meant to be subtly disguised – is the evil embedded in these canvasses, evil unleashed by the financial exploitation of aestheticism. Some viewers might take exception to the film’s one-dimensionality and seemingly blithe disregard for the art cultures of Los Angeles and Miami. Some might also be bothered by Gilroy’s depiction of Morf’s casual bisexuality or, if you prefer, pansexuality. To those viewers, I say: Lighten up, and don’t let the film’s genre-busting format flummox you, for this is predominantly a satire, and an intelligent one at that. It’s also blisteringly funny at times, benefiting from effective, though brief, supporting performances by Toni Collette and John Malkovich, and a particularly charming turn from Natalia Dyer (*Stranger Things*). What you should instead be bothered by are the movie’s slightness, unevenness, throwaway subplots and lack of a fully satisfactory finale beyond the foregone conclusion that “art is dangerous” – both intellectually and physically. Nevertheless, I can’t remember another recent time when one-dimensional characters were so much fun. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Sharknado 5](https://www.meiermovies.com/sharknado-5-global-swarming/) **Published:** August 7, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### Shitnado --- ### [Jumping the shark in Orlando](https://www.meiermovies.com/jumping-the-shark-in-orlando/) **Published:** July 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *Sharknado 3* brings production jobs to Central Florida From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sharknado-3-brings-production-jobs-to-central-florida/Content?oid=2415362), July 22, 2015 [![2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2.jpg)Director Anthony C. Ferrante (left) and cinematographer Ben Demaree watch the director’s monitor during filming. All photos by Cameron Meier. Click to enlarge. For those craving classic cinema, the title of the latest *Sharknado* movie – *Oh Hell No!* – seems appropriate. But for economically minded advocates of Florida film production, the new television movie is more a case of “yes, please!” *Sharknado 3*, airing Wednesday on the SyFy Channel, was shot partially in Orlando, over eight days in February. It filmed entirely at Universal Studios and, therefore, didn’t have quite the economic impact of Disney’s *Tomorrowland*, which filmed in many local spots. But it was still warmly welcomed, particularly in light of the Florida legislature’s failure to pass tax incentives for film production. The first *Sharknado* aired in 2013, and despite its similarity to other “Z-movies” that Asylum Pictures made for SyFy, it managed to rise above the rest, thanks to its campy appeal. And when the second installment, in 2014, partially abandoned the laughably bad dramatic formula and turned toward spoof, it smashed the channel’s viewership record, drawing an audience of 3.9 million. It was only a matter of time before a third one was planned, and, according to director Anthony C. Ferrante, Orlando was the logical choice for both the setting and shooting location. [![5](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/5-230x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/5.jpg)Ian Ziering suits up to save mankind. “The first two movies, we exploited New York and L.A.,” Ferrante says. “We wanted to do a Washington, D.C., thing for \[this film’s\] opening, then we wanted to get them, like, over the whole East Coast to give them a longer journey, and we thought Orlando would be a great place because it offered a lot of great things. And we also had the synergy of the \[Universal Studios\] park because SyFy is owned by NBC/Universal. “We were told we’d be able to shoot at the parks and utilize all the stuff, with sets pieces galore,” Ferrante says, adding that the backlot doubled for the nation’s capital in at least one scene. “There’s so much that this place offers, and it’s also different \[from the other films\]. We went from sunny California to cold New York to tropical Orlando. “\[Orlando has been\] so production-friendly, \[which is important\] because these *Sharknado* movies are shot very quickly. We have 18 days to \[shoot\]. We’re shooting half of it here and half of it in L.A., with some in Washington, … and by June \[four months later\], we \[had\] to deliver” the completed film. In *Sharknado 3*, Tara Reid (April), Ian Ziering (Fin) and Florida’s own Cassie Scerbo (Nova) are again battling storms of sharks but are joined by a host of newcomers who threaten to raise the camp value to heretofore unimagined levels. There’s David Hasselhoff as Fin’s dad, Bo Derek as April’s mom, Mark Cuban and Ann Coulter as U.S. president and vice president, Penn and Teller, Jerry Springer, Cindy Margolis, Michele Bachmann, Anthony Weiner, Kathie Lee Gifford and even locals such as Michael Winslow and NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick. And then there’s the plot – penned again by Thunder Levin – which involves a shark storm so powerful that only a trip into space will stop it. [![1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1-200x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1.jpg)The cameraman readies his Panavision Red. So does all this ridiculousness happen by accident or is it carefully calculated? Though the answer is probably a bit of both, Asylum’s recent success seems more a product of dumb luck. I was granted exclusive access to the set during filming, and though the entire crew was more than accommodating – with guest actor Chad Ochocinco jokingly offering to smoke weed with me – the process was not exactly the height of professionalism thanks to the rushed schedule, limited budget and last-minute planning. For instance, when I spoke with Ferrante during shooting, he still wasn’t sure of his locations. And the directions shouted to Ziering – in a production-facilities room doubling as a NASA control center – seemed to sum up the silliness: “\[You’re\] getting prepped for a last-minute space flight! The world is about to end!” Despite those eccentricities – and a crew strike during filming in Los Angeles – one must admit that Asylum has stumbled upon a business formula that works. In the process, they’ve created the most profitable original series in SyFy’s history. And that’s perfectly fine with the local crew and catering staff, who were thankful for jobs. Orlando’s own Steven Shea was among the grateful. Although the main production crew was from Los Angeles, Asylum used about a dozen locals like Shea for minor production jobs. [![3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/3-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/3.jpg)Effects artist Eric Fox puts the finishing touches on his fishy creations. “When the rumor popped up that they were going to be shooting in town, I was excited,” Shea says. “I basically had a couple of people I knew that ended up getting my name in front of the right people. And I got hired on to manage and produce the EPK – electronic press kit – which is basically like the behind-the-scenes of the shooting here in Florida. … It was one of the best productions I’ve worked on in the state.” Jen Vargas, who serves on Film Florida’s marketing committee and on the Florida board of Women in Film and Television, shares Shea’s enthusiasm for this production but is disheartened by the legislature’s inaction. “This is the third consecutive year where Florida’s legislature has not included funding for our film, TV, commercial and digital-media industries,” she says. “It’s disappointing and disheartening for all of us. With other states such as Georgia and Louisiana consistently thriving with business \[because of tax incentives\], it’s quite difficult for me personally to understand why Florida can’t do the same. [![4](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/4-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/4.jpg)“According to Film Florida, for every dollar the state invests in our tax-credit program, upwards of $5 is spent here at home. A production could spend, on average, $125,000 per day, \[but without the tax incentives\] there’s no financial advantage to shoot here,” Vargas says. “Local filmmakers and production personnel have been actively taking work out of state, even relocating, for the last couple of years.” Shea is among the departing, despite winning top local filmmaker in last year’s Best of Orlando poll. “\[My family and I\] are planning on leaving, planning on taking off to Los Angeles,” he says, adding that more than 20 of his filmmaking friends have left in the last six months, most bound for Georgia. “It’s not conducive to \[a filmmaking career\] to stay here. There’s just not enough work to go around.” But it’s not all bad news. At least we get to see the City Beautiful partially destroyed this week by a torrential downpour of enormous, toothy fish. Hey, maybe the sharks can target the Tallahassee legislature in *Sharknado 4*. [![DSC00012](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC00012-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC00012.jpg) ### Review In my above article, I mostly avoided criticizing The Asylum for their poor quality, choosing to concentrate on the local jobs the film created (and the larger issue of tax incentives for film production). But now that *Sharknado 3* (1/2 star on my 0-5 scale) has aired, I feel it’s time to point out how offensive, unfunny, stupid, amateurish and just plain cynical the latest installment in this crap fest is. While the first film was just really bad in a fun sort of way and the second actually brought some B-movie charm to the franchise (in the form of self-awareness and parody), the latest was nothing more than a disgusting exercise in moneymaking. Falling below the level of a real film, it really was more of a marketing and self-promotional ploy not just for Universal Orlando and the products it flaunted on screen, but for itself — in the form of commercial tie-ins and inane Tweets during the commercial breaks. I feel like I’m living in *Idiocracy*, and I don’t give a flying fin about *Sharknado 4*. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Modern Times](https://www.meiermovies.com/modern-times/) **Published:** July 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Modern Times** SlWS, 1936, 5 stars # Chaplin’s final masterpiece [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Modern-Times.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Modern-Times.jpg)The Little Tramp gets caught up in the gears of a modern society, literally. (Images copyright Charles Chaplin / United Artists) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 14, 2017 *Modern Times*, from 1936, is Charlie Chaplin’s final masterpiece. Yes, his *Great Dictator*, four years later, is a work of a greatness as well, but *Modern Times* represents so much in the history of cinema that it boggles the mind. As Chaplin had difficulty bringing the audible word to his work, I too have trouble putting into text exactly what this classic means to filmmaking. First, it’s the last appearance of Chaplin’s Little Tramp, arguably the most influential and noteworthy character in live-action movie history. (Sorry, James Bond and Michael Corleone.) That the Tramp, in his final outing, should confront the political, social and economic realities of a sort of dystopian, *Metropolis*-like, hyper-modern landscape seems appropriate. And that the Tramp, like millions of others during the Great Depression, saw his dignity discarded in this tale of “industry, of individual enterprise, \[of\] humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness” seems tragically inevitable. Second, it is the final curtain for the silent-film era. Silents had all but died in the United States by 1929, but European films and Chaplin’s *City Lights* (1931) kept them going for a few more years. By 1936, the era was essentially over, but no one could quite bring themselves to say an official goodbye until they were given permission from Chaplin, the king of the silents. And *Modern Times* allowed audiences to do just that: watch the Little Tramp walk into the sunset (or, more specifically and appropriately, the sunrise) one last time – but this time, fittingly, arm in arm with his best girl (Paulette Goddard, as “the gamin, a child of the waterfront, who refuses to go hungry”). *Modern Times* is not really a silent film, however, but a hybrid: a link between the silent and sound eras. (Even the frame rate was a hybrid, with some scenes appearing to be shot in the sound format of 24 frames per second but others shot with fewer frames, resulting in an old-fashioned, sped-up look when projected at 24fps.) *City Lights*, five years before, had included a synchronized score (by Chaplin) and some limited sound effects, but *Modern Times* took sound to the next level. We hear a vast array of sound effects and masterful music (including Chaplin’s “Smile”), and we even hear one character speak. (Of course, that speaker is the Tramp’s boss, a sort of Big Brother figure who appears on a kind of closed-circuit television throughout his factory, even in the bathrooms.) And most astonishing for audiences of the time, we finally hear Chaplin’s voice – though, in a stroke of genius, he’s singing gibberish. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Billows-Feeding-Machine.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Billows-Feeding-Machine.jpg)The Billows Feeding Machine My final praise for the film is purely subjective: It’s the greatest comedy – and funniest movie – of all time. (I challenge anyone to find a more uproarious moment than “The Feeding Machine.”) But, as with most of Chaplin’s other films, it’ll also make you cry your eyes out. If all this sounds too good to be true, come see for yourself. The Enzian Theater, in Maitland, Florida, is showing the movie, for free, as part of its KidFest series, on July 16 at 1 p.m. and July 25 at 3 p.m. Admittedly, that’s a bit odd considering it’s not a children’s film; so much of the film will be lost on a young audience, including the cocaine joke and the anti-capitalist message. It would have been better suited for a Saturday Matinee Classic. Still, introducing kids to Chaplin is a noble endeavor, and, of course, the audience will probably be primarily adults. Eighteen years after the release of *Modern Times*, songwriters John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added words to Chaplin’s “Smile.” It wasn’t difficult. Just watch *Modern Times* and the lyrics will probably come to you too: “Smile, though your heart is aching, Smile, even though it’s breaking. When there are clouds in the sky you’ll get by. If you smile through your fear and sorrow Smile and maybe tomorrow You’ll see the sun come shining through for you. Light up your face with gladness, Hide every trace of sadness. Although a tear may be ever so near, That’s the time you must keep on trying. Smile: what’s the use of crying? You’ll find that life is still worthwhile If you’ll just Smile.” And I might add: laugh. Laugh like you’ve never laughed before! *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more about information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027977/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film)).* --- ### [The Neighbors](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-neighbors/) **Published:** April 10, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Neighbors** Web series, 2015, 0 stars # *The Neighbors* sets new standard for crap [![The Neighbors](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-Neighbors-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-Neighbors.jpg)Image copyright Wiseau-Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 10, 2015 I feel as if a retarded, racist, misogynistic drug addict just took a shit on my brain. Yes, I just survived binge-watching all four episodes of *The Neighbors*, the web series created by Tommy Wiseau and now available for free at Hulu.com. Actually, the more appropriate term is binge-and-purge watching, as this vile pile of vomit is in a league by itself, a league heretofore unimagined. If you’re unfamiliar with Wiseau, I really don’t have the strength to bring you up to date. You’ll just have to Google the guy and learn for yourself how he birthed an odd cult sensation called *The Room*, one of the 10 worst theatrically released films of all time. Since he gained fame for that dung pile, he’s been attending screenings of his movie – where people come to laugh at him – and hinting at his next project. Well, that project is finally here, and it’s worse than we imagined. Wiseau plays the manager of an apartment complex crammed with dysfunctional tenants. There’s the hot handyman, the bikini-glad Barbie doll, the stoner, the unflattering stereotype of a black woman, a pet chicken and a member of the British royal family. Seriously. And over four barely watchable episodes, we’re treated to scene upon meaningless scene of bad dialogue and pointless, seemingly ad-libbed plots, separated by the same repetitive music and the same fucking establishing shot. Again and again. Oh, and the yelling. Everyone is yelling. To top all that off, Wiseau plays a second character who inexplicably takes over the running of the complex while Wiseau’s manager character is in Hawaii. But the only real difference between the two is the color of their ridiculous wigs. They have the same mannerisms, same Eastern European accent, same pants style and even – in what is clearly a mistake that should have been edited out – the same catchphrase: “What a day!” This is actually worse than *The Room*. Yes, it’s possible to be worse than *The Room*. Among films, *Manos: the Hands of Fate*, *Birdemic* and a couple of Ed Wood films are inferior. But even Wood is looking down from his eternal haunted house in the sky and asking Wiseau, “What the hell have you done?” *The Neighbors* fails in all areas, but what’s most astonishing is its technical glitches. While *The Room* was badly written, directed and acted, it at least had a professional cinematographer and sound technicians. And Wiseau surrounded himself with people who had editing and production experience. Perhaps Wiseau simply ran out of money for his latest project or wanted to do everything himself, or maybe he just didn’t care. I don’t know his motivations. But what I do know is I’ve never seen audio, costumes, editing or continuity this bad outside of student-film competitions, timed filmmaking contests, pornography or my nightmares. At this point, you might be thinking that this is a joke. Surely he made this intentionally bad or, at the very least, as a playful romp with friends, never intending it to air, right? Well, that is indeed one remotely plausible theory. But if you’ve spent any time studying or watching Wiseau, you’ll strongly suspect this is not in jest. But let’s get serious for a second. Wiseau doesn’t really deserve all these insults. What he deserves is help, both mentally and physically. Frankly, he looks sick, can’t seem to fully open his eyes, appears addled and has clearly lost weight since *The Room*. (His buttocks are no longer sublime, but at least he keeps them in his pants this time.) And, even worse, he obviously still believes, falsely, that he’s capable of creating legitimate entertainment. If you’ve read *The Disaster Artist* by Greg Sistero, you don’t need me to tell you how badly Wiseau needs to get his priorities straight. He clearly craves fame and attention, but the path to that fame is not healthy for him, or us. I hope he can put aside his misguided filmmaking desire and focus instead on something he might be good at, something that will bring him a bit of class, respect and happiness. But whatever you do, Tommy, please don’t use a camera again. *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Muscle Shoals](https://www.meiermovies.com/muscle-shoals/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Muscle Shoals**, 2013, 3 stars # Muscle music ### Rambling but rousing doc sheds light on legendary Alabama town From *[The Orlando Weekly](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/muscle-shoals-is-a-rambling-rousing-doc/Content?oid=2243692)*, December 3, 2013 “Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers, and they’ve been known to pick a song or two. Lord, they get me off so much. They pick me up when I’m feeling blue – now how ‘bout you?” If those lyrics from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” ever confused you, the documentary *Muscle Shoals* will explain them and so much more about the little Alabama town that launched an unforgettable musical sound in the 1960s and ‘70s. [![Muscle Shoals](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Muscle-Shoals-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Muscle-Shoals.jpg)“People now still ask me, what is it about Muscle Shoals? It’s just a little village \[in\] Alabama. … Why does that music come out of there? It’s an enigma.” So says Steve Winwood, echoing comments from dozens of other iconic artists interviewed for this musical film feast. There’s Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Alicia Keys and too many others to mention. But perhaps the greatest contributions come from the very guys who made the town the South’s answer to Abbey Road: Rick Hall (the legendary producer, engineer and founder of FAME Studios) and the aforementioned Swampers (the innovative, funky back-up band that Hall brought together, before they left to form a rival studio just a stone’s throw away, with the help of Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler.) “Rick Hall was actually the first white man that I’d seen that had that kind of soul that was an engineer,” says Etta James. A protégé of the great Sam Phillips, Hall was the original driving force of Muscle Shoals, and is the heart of the documentary too, his odd and moving tales interspersed with countless classic songs, not to mention stories of recording sessions that produced masterpieces such as “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “Respect.” And Muscle Shoals didn’t just produce “Respect,” it gained it too, drawing revered musicians from around the world to the shores of the Tennessee River. “We started to hear this sound coming out,” says Keith Richards. “Then after a while, this word ‘Muscle Shoals’ comes into the picture. And that was when I said \[the Rolling Stones have\] got to go down there.” Directed by Greg “Freddy” Camalier, *Muscle Shoals* also address racial tensions and the town’s ability to bring people together. As U2’s Bono recounts, “Here are vinyl records that prove that not only can \[blacks and whites\] live together, you might not know who’s black and who’s white.” Yet trying to juggle so much history often reduces the film to a jumbled, unfocused string of stories. Emotionally moving but messy, it survives thanks to its superb songs, great cinematography and insightful anecdotes – and in spite of its lack of a satisfactory conclusion. Both a spiritual contemplation of the true meaning of music and a powerful, personal examination of Hall’s demons, *Muscle Shoals* is simultaneously the most entertaining and frustrating music documentary of the year. So to totally get its groove, try to forget its flaws and simply revel in its rhythm. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Murder on the Orient Express](https://www.meiermovies.com/murder-on-the-orient-express/) **Published:** November 12, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Murder on the Orient Express**, 2017, 2 ¼ stars # Branagh murders *Murder* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Murder-On-The-Orient-Express.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Murder-On-The-Orient-Express.jpg)Image copyright 20th Century Fox / Genre Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 12, 2017 Congratulations, Sir Kenneth Branagh, for figuring out exactly what the claustrophobic, intimate, nail-bitingly suspenseful *Murder on the Orient Express* needed: 65mm film, a widescreen aspect ratio, dozens of green screens and endless CGI helicopter shots. Hey, nothing says “trapped on a train with a murderer” like the feeling of hang gliding over the train. What’s most astonishing is that Branagh, an actor’s director, has concentrated almost entirely on production design when the film’s focus should have been on what he’s good at: performance and pacing. And while you’re at it, let’s add some heavy-handed, politically correct changes to Agatha Christie’s novel. After all, we know just how common black doctors were in Britain in the 1930s and how badly we needed a Hispanic character. At least now the film can qualify for the forced-diversity BAFTAs. (I’m all for diversity in art. Diversity of all types: race, gender, subject matter, cultural perspective, etc. But cramming it down our throats in his fashion is disrespectful of the diversity we’re trying to honor.) Oh, and let’s throw in some action sequences while we’re at it, to mask the fact that there’s surprisingly little suspense in this new version, which is vastly inferior to the 1974 Sidney Lumet classic (4 stars on 0-5 scale). (That was apparently the only movie adaptation of an Agatha Christie movie that Christie herself approved of.) If you’ve forgotten the plot or never read the book, you’ll get some enjoyment out of this new version, which was written by Michael Green. And, admittedly, thanks to a delicious cast (Derek Jacobi, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Leslie Odom, the underused Judi Dench and the overly hammy Branagh as Hercule Poirot) and some excellent (though, as mentioned before, misplaced production design), this is not a bad film at all. It’s just ill fitting and unnecessary. Let me break from tradition and clue you in on the murderer. It’ll save you the wasted time and money. It’s Branagh, on a train, with a movie camera. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402236/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_on_the_Orient_Express_(2017_film)).* --- ### [A chat with Barbara Kopple](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-barbara-kopple/) **Published:** May 27, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## *A Murder in Mansfield* is her latest doc [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg)Photo by Cameron Meier Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, May 27, 2018 When discussing the greatest and most influential American documentary filmmakers of all time, Errol Morris, Michael Moore, Ken Burns, D.A. Pennebaker and the Maysles Brothers come to mind. But there’s another who is equally worthy: Barbara Kopple. Director of arguably the greatest doc of all time, *Harlan County U.S.A.*, Kopple won the Academy Award for best documentary feature for not just that 1976 masterpiece but also for 1991’s *American Dream.* Both chronicle the struggles of striking workers, the former in the coal mines of Kentucky and the latter in Minnesota’s meatpacking industry. But the rest of her resume is extraordinarily varied, covering celebrities from Woody Allen to Gregory Peck to Sharon Jones, music, the environment and women’s rights for both television and theatrical release. Kopple’s latest film, *A Murder in Mansfield*, is a bit of a departure but still has something in common with all her previous work: an astonishing intimacy with its subject. More than twenty years after the conviction of his father for the murder of his mother, Collier Landry is coming to terms with the tragedy and his own testimony – which helped put his own dad in prison. With Landry’s full cooperation, Kopple’s camera follows him as he explores the impacts of the crime not just on himself but on the town of Mansfield, Ohio, and the people he knew as a child. The doc is a unique examination of the psychological legacy of crime. I caught up with Kopple at the recent Sarasota Film Festival and asked her what drew her to this project. “A friend of mine who’s a producer in L.A., who produced *American History X*: He called me up, and he just said, ‘I have this great friend \[Landry\], and he has a beautiful story. Would you be interested?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know.’ And he said, ‘OK, talk to him.’ So I talked to him, and he just blew me away because he was such an amazing human being. And I just felt really honored to be able to tell his story. He was so transparent and so, you know – would just tell you anything you wanted to know. And it’s all about the process of trauma and how you find healing for that trauma.” While most media focus solely on a crime and not the long-term impacts of that crime, Kopple flips the script by concentrating mostly on the repercussions of the 1989 murder and how they shaped Landry into the person he is today. “I think that’s what makes this unique,” Kopple told me. “He’s just really funny and wonderful and sad and just goes through so much, and people love him so much. We just showed the film in Cleveland, and Mansfield’s just an hour from Cleveland. And so many people came to see him.” Because Kopple’s films often contain moments that illuminate her stories in unexpected ways, I asked her whether *A Murder in Mansfield* contained any surprises. While first trying to avoid the question for fear of giving too much away, Kopple then teased me – and those of you who haven’t yet seen the film – by saying, simply, “I got to film him and his father in prison, confronting \[each other\].” If that doesn’t pique your interest, you just might not be a fan of documentary filmmaking. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7561086/).* --- ### [A Fantastic Woman](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-fantastic-woman/) **Published:** March 1, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Una Mujer Fantástica (A Fantastic Woman) FL**, 2017, 3 ¾ stars # Chilean drama tackles transgender rights [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/A-Fantastic-Woman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/A-Fantastic-Woman.jpg)Image copyright Participant Media / Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/chilean-drama-a-fantastic-woman-addresses-transgender-rights/Content?oid=11248831), March 1, 2018 Fantastic, like awesome, has lost most of the power of its original meaning and is now a sullied synonym for great. But in naming his film *A Fantastic Woman*, Chilean writer-director Sebastián Lelio has embraced all interpretations of the word – political correctness be both damned and respected – to create a film that honors gender identity while challenging our notion of what it means to be transgender. Marina, a transgender woman and aspiring singer, is in love with Orlando, a wealthy man 30 years her senior. Though their love is unconventional, they have high hopes for their future together – until Orlando dies unexpectedly. Instead of being allowed to grieve, Marina is ostracized by Orlando’s family. “Sorry if it’s crude and blunt of me to say this, but I really think that this is just perversion,” Orlando’s ex-wife tells Marina. “When I look at you, I don’t know what I’m seeing.” Instead of anger, this insult produces sad, quiet resignation in Marina. “You’re normal,” she responds. Shot and scored beautifully and fashioned with a fittingly deliberate pace – the pace of grief – the film features intriguing supporting performances but is powered by newcomer Daniela Vega as Marin. Chile’s first openly transgender model, actress and singer, Vega never strays far from her stoic, mesmerizing, almost one-note performance, but one always gets the sense that she herself has lived a life not dissimilar to her character’s. Those of you who have grown weary of films themed to a particular social or human-rights topic will be glad to know that Lelio’s movie is not just an “issues picture.” After all, we’ve too often in recent years seen audiences and critics swoon over films with well-intentioned messages but poor production values and heavy-handed direction. *A* *Fantastic Woman* is not that type of film. Admittedly, it’s hampered slightly by some structural mediocrity and second-act predictability. But just like “Time,” the haunting Alan Parsons Project song that Lelio weaves into his cinematic fabric, the film asks: “Who knows when we shall meet again, if ever?” Of course, it’s unable to answer life’s most unanswerable question, but the fact that it’s brave enough to ask it – especially in the context of transgender rights – has earned it a place among the Oscar nominees for best foreign-language film. If it feels like you’ve seen the story before, you have (sort of). Orlando’s own Billy Manes bravely spoke and wrote about the discrimination he faced as a gay man following the death of his long-time partner in 2012. Manes told his story both in the pages of *The Orlando Weekly* and in an award-winning short documentary, *Billy & Alan*. Though the details of his story are different from those in *A Fantastic Woman*, local audiences and LGBT activists will be reminded of the issues Manes fought his entire life for. “Saying goodbye to a loved one when he dies is a basic human right, isn’t it?” Marina asks. But it’s really the movie posing the question. It’s up to the audience to ponder the repercussions when and if the answer comes back “no.” *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: After the original publication of this review,* A Fantastic Woman *won the Oscar for best foreign-language film.* --- ### [Mud](https://www.meiermovies.com/mud/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mud**, 2013, 4 ¼ stars # Clear as *Mud* ## Southern drama is one of this year’s best [![Mud](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mud-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mud.jpg)Image copyright Lionsgate / Everest Entertainment / Brace Cove Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mud/Content?oid=2243933), April 24, 2013 If *Mud* isn’t the best movie of this young year, it’s certainly the most instantly satisfying. Described by some as the best American movie at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, *Mud* is fresh off its showing at the Florida Film Festival. Now the drama by director-writer Jeff Nichols is getting a well-deserved regular showing at the Enzian. Nichols follows up his captivatingly moody *Take Shelter* with this little gem about love, loyalty, revenge and redemption. It’s both a clinging-to-the-past story and a coming-of-age one, filled with societal nuances and a cultural honesty on par with such Southern films as *Sling Blade* and *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. Matthew McConaughey, in the performance of his career, plays the title character, a drifter looking to simultaneously escape his criminal past and reunite with the love of his life (Reese Witherspoon), all while hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River. Helping him are two young boys in the tradition of Huck Finn and Tim Sawyer, played brilliantly by future superstars Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. Eschewing stereotypes and predictability, *Mud* instead digs deep into the emotional mine of family life and childhood. Particularly powerful is Sheridan’s character’s relationship with his father, played effectively by Ray McKinnon. Nichols clearly wants to portray love between father and son while also capturing the painful honesty and regret that can sometimes accompany the breakdown of a family going through a divorce. For instance, feeling totally helpless as a father and husband, McKinnon’s character tells his son, heartbreakingly, “I don’t care what you do.” But we don’t hate him for that. We just know life is wearing him down. The depth of characterization doesn’t stop with the principals. Sarah Paulson, as the mother, is effective, as is Witherspoon and the always intriguing, though underused, Michael Shannon, who has now appeared in all three of Nichols’ feature films. Most memorable among the lesser players is Sam Shepard, whom young Sheridan’s character calls a “worn-out old man” in one of the film’s many bits of beautiful but brutal dialogue. Though the screenplay and cast are pitch perfect, the movie itself isn’t. It’s a bit too long, and the finale seems a bit forced, but Nichols gets so many things dead right, including the mature and steady cinematography, that any complaints fade to minor quibbles. Heck, even a subplot involving a group of ruthless men out for vengeance against Mud seems to fit. I end with a confession: I’ve never cared much for McConaughey. Yes, he’s a talented guy and has had some strong performances. I even thought he was decent in *Magic Mike*, which can be difficult for some straight guys to admit. But sometimes a role comes along that makes you reevaluate an actor you’ve seen for years – as with Brad Pitt in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and Charlize Theron in *Monster*. Well, after seeing McConaughey’s humor, tenderness and vulnerability in *Mud*, count me a fan. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Much Ado About Nothing](https://www.meiermovies.com/much-ado-about-nothing/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Much Ado About Nothing**, 2013, 2 ¼ stars # Boring Bard ## Shakespeare update is clever but lacks life [![Much Ado](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Much-Ado-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Much-Ado.jpg)Image copyright Bellwether Pictures / Lionsgate From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/much-ado-about-nothing-is-clever-but-lacking-in-life/Content?oid=2244299), June 19, 2013 Ah, to have the luxury of making a film while making another film. Such is the life of Joss Whedon, who directed and wrote the screenplay for this modern adaptation of *Much Ado About Nothing* while working on *The Avengers*. Though the results make for an interesting experiment and prove that Shakespeare is mesmerizing in almost any form, Whedon’s work is a bagatelle not quite worthy of the Bard. Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Beatrice (Amy Acker) are sharp-tongued potential lovers desperate to deny their mutual attraction. “I’d rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me,” Beatrice claims. Their opposites are Claudio (Fran Kranz) and Hero (Jillian Morgese), gushing with love and awaiting their wedding, which is cruelly sabotaged by Don John (Sean Maher). These alternatingly humorous and dramatic shenanigans take place at the home of Leonato (Clark Gregg), Hero’s father, during a visit by the revered Don Pedro (Reed Diamond), brother of Don John. The play is well suited to a modern take because of its heavy use of prose instead of verse. While this allows it to sound contemporary in form, it is still married to the 17th century in content and grammar. This makes Whedon’s version fascinating at times but also awkward (unlike Ralph Fienne’s *Coriolanus*, which worked better in an updated setting). Events seem rushed, though this version is just four minutes shorter than the superior Kenneth Branagh one from 1993. More striking is the fact that we never really grasp why Don John is sabotaging the wedding. Admittedly, Shakespeare’s text provides little motivation except for a bastard-brother rivalry and an innate evil lurking in John, who is a sort of Iago-light. “I cannot hide what I am,” he proclaims. “I am a plain-dealing villain.” In the Branagh version, that explanation seemed adequate, maybe because we were just happy to see Keanu Reaves get the hell off screen. Yet in a modern context, it feels forced – far from the sort of vaudeville villainy one might have seen in the 1600s. The saving grace of Whedon’s work is Nathan Fillion as Dogberry, portrayed here as buffoon of a policeman investigating the trickery of Don John. Whereas Michael Keaton’s Dogberry almost derailed the Branagh version with unintelligible, misguided farce, Fillion comes close to rescuing this one with smart – and very funny – subtlety. Gregg, as Leonato, is also strong, but everyone else just seems present, without enough life, joy or humor, especially Denisof, who is a pathetic substitute for Branagh’s Benedick. He’s too dour, his wordplay lacks life, and he sucks at slapstick. He also has no chemistry with Acker, who, as Beatrice, at least tries to project some of the charm that Emma Thompson brought to the role. Whedon shot *Much Ado* in 12 days, at his home, in black and white, perhaps to strip the production to its core and focus solely on the story. It’s a noble notion and worthy of watching in a college course, but there’s too little vim and vigor for the big screen. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mr. Turner](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-turner/) **Published:** January 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mr. Turner**, 2014, 4 ¼ stars # A master stroke ## *Mr. Turner* captures spirit of famous painter From [*The San Antonio Current*](http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/mike-leighs-mr-turner-captures-spirit-of-famous-painter/Content?oid=2382269), January 28, 2015, and [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mr-turner-captures-spirit-of-famous-painter/Content?oid=2358126), February 11, 2015 The auteur theory suggests that a film reflects the personality and artistic vision of its director. That may be true for most great movies, but directors such as Mike Leigh understand when to surrender their own aesthetic to their subjects’. [![YE-Film-Top 10](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Mr.-Turner-300x165.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Mr.-Turner.jpg)Timothy Spall, as Turner, is shown with a faithful reproduction of the painter’s “The Harbor of Dieppe.” (image copyright Film4/Focus Features) *Mr. Turner*, a sublime journey through the life and work of renowned English landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, is such a surrender. Not only is it paced and shot like a contemplative stroll through a gallery, but it’s structured to allow the artist’s life to wash over you slowly, enveloping you in the simpler, horse-drawn, oil-lit era of early 19th-century England. Taking us through the last 25 years of Turner’s life, Leigh has created a memorable work of art in his own right, carefully balancing quiet, everyday moments with personal events of revelatory power – much like Turner did in his oils and watercolors. Timothy Spall, as Turner, has never been better, gruffly yet endearingly grunting and mumbling his way (in thick Cockney) through a transformation that earned him best actor at Cannes. It’s not the year’s best performance, but Spall’s exclusion from the list of Oscar nominees is a major oversight. Turner was a haunted man – haunted by the death of his father (the endearing Paul Jesson) and unable to show affection for the mother of his children or for his loyal housekeeper (the heartbreaking Dorothy Atkinson). His stunted emotional development was evident in his treatment of them and in his relationship to the rest of the world, which he seemed to embrace only through his trips to whorehouses, his secret 20-year affair with a widowed acquaintance (Marion Bailey) and, of course, his painting. As with Turner the man, Turner the film will not be everyone’s cup of mead. It too requires patience and is comprised of scenes lacking great meaning and power, content to amble along creating an impression of a life. In that respect, it has much in common with the painter’s later works, which eschewed form for emotion, years before Impressionism. But like those works, the film affects you gradually, and before you know it, you’ve become almost as haunted as the subject. Helping rend that reaction is the year’s best art direction. Rejecting CGI when possible, Leigh’s team painted and reworked countless buildings and even used an authentic steam train to re-create Turner’s famous *Rain, Steam and Speed* sans green screen and with a true sunset, according to London’s *Daily Mail*. Leigh even hired a painter to faithfully reproduce Turner’s works (using cheaper reproductions only in long shots) and taught Spall to paint in Turner’s mad style, proving his staggering devotion to detail. “You are a man of great vision, Mr. Turner,” the artist is told. “The universe is chaotic, and you make us see it.” To allow an audience to see the chaos that was Turner himself also takes great vision, and Leigh, that most authentically English of directors, was clearly up to the task. *© 2015 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mr. Holmes](https://www.meiermovies.com/mr-holmes/) **Published:** July 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mr. Holmes**, 2015, 3 ¾ stars # The climactic case ## *Mr. Holmes* imagines Sherlock’s final mystery [![Mr. Holmes](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Mr.-Holmes-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Mr.-Holmes.jpg)Image copyright AI-Film and See-Saw Films. (Click to enlarge.) From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mr-holmes-imagines-sherlocks-final-mystery/Content?oid=2412883)*, July 15, 2015 Few fictional characters have captivated us as much as Sherlock Holmes. Few feel as real, as evidenced by the disturbingly large number of people who actually believe he *is* real. Perhaps that helps explain the instant affection one feels for director Bill Condon’s *Mr. Holmes*, a touching, dramatic imagining of the final, feeble days of the super sleuth. The year is 1947, and the 93-year-old Holmes – played to perfection by Ian McKellen – has been retired in southern England for 30 years. Watson is either estranged or dead, and Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, has just passed away. The great detective is all alone, save his housekeeper and her young son. As if the isolation and physical decay weren’t enough for this once-grand man, he’s suffering a loss that for the average man would be a tragedy but for him is the worst of indignations. He’s losing his memory. In this reimagined post-war England – created by novelist Mitch Cullin and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher – John Watson, not Arthur Conan Doyle, created the Holmes we know from the stories. He based these “penny dreadfuls with an elevated prose style” on the real-life cases, but he embellished them, providing added theatricality. Holmes was initially fine with that, but as he grows more and more frail, he longs to put down on paper the true story of his final case, the one that prompted him to retire. Yet, tragically, he can’t remember it. *Mr. Holmes* is a moving and delightful look at a character we mistakenly though we already knew. Through the use of flashbacks and a stellar portrayal by McKellen – look for an Oscar nomination – we discover a more human Holmes, one full of both pride and regret, one struggling to balance his longing for logic with the realization that happiness may actually lie in an illogical sense of compassion. Laura Linney, as the housekeeper, has to do some heavy lifting. Almost always up to that task in prior films, she’s an odd choice for this one, partially because she can never quite perfect the Sussex sound. Much is also asked of young Milo Parker, who plays the housekeeper’s son, and while he, like Linney, has some moments of real emotion, he too slips in and out of dialect. Nevertheless, it’s fascinating to watch the relationship among the three characters slowly evolve. That evolution ultimately reveals new insights into Holmes’ personality, crime-solving skills and – most intriguingly – his past, which is kept shrouded from both his view and ours until the final act, in keeping with the best of the original Doyle stories. The only questionable addition involves a trip to Japan in search of a natural memory enhancer. It adds little meaning to the narrative and creates a lot of structural baggage. Still, it does deepen the meta-theatrical discussion over how people perceive the “real” Holmes. “One shouldn’t leave this life without a sense of completion,” says Sherlock. Thanks to this film, the character of Sherlock Holmes does indeed feel just a tad more complete. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mother!](https://www.meiermovies.com/mother/) **Published:** September 19, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mother!**, 2017, 4 stars # Mother-f\*#!er ## Aronofsky films a nightmare [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mother.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mother.png)Image copyright Protozoa Pictures / Paramount Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 19, 2017 Darren Aronofsky’s *Mother!* is a fever nightmare, a horrible, powerful amalgamation and reinterpretation of the films of Roman Polanski, Luis Buñuel and John Cassavetes, not to mention Aronofksy’s own *Black Swan*. Metaphorically addressing such topics as creationism, objectification of women, claustrophobia, lack of control, death and rebirth, motherhood and the parasitic nature of humanity, the film almost defies explanation and flirts repeatedly with “art film” excess. As with most movies, what you get out of it depends on what you bring into it, just more so with *Mother!* This intensely emotional, handheld-camera extravaganza practically feeds off your own fears right up until its tornado-like (though slightly too long) conclusion. Like it or hate, you will be affected by both the film itself and the performances of Jennifer Lawrence as “mother” and Javier Bardem as “him,” not to mention supporting turns by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, and Domhnall and Brian Gleeson as both real-life and cinematic (Cain and Abel) brothers. The baggage I brought to the film is labeled “introversion,” and I experienced an almost unbearable suffocation when confronted with the dinner guests from hell who would not leave and would not stop vandalizing Lawrence and Bardem’s house, which becomes a living, breathing, bleeding character. Like Lawrence’s character, I felt violated, intensely disrespected and devalued. And then that violation turned to anger, and finally to horror. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother!).* --- ### [A Most Wanted Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-most-wanted-man/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Most Wanted Man**, 2014, 4 stars # A most talented man’s final bow ## Espionage thriller is fitting farewell for Philip S. Hoffman From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/a-most-wanted-man-is-a-fitting-farewell-for-philip-seymour-hoffman-1.1723180)* and *Jacksonville Folio Weekly,* July 22, 2014 *The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2* will be the final films of Philip Seymour Hoffman. But because the actor had not yet completed all his scenes when he died in February, filmmakers will likely employ small re-writes or digital trickery, or both, to finish the series. That leaves *God’s Pocket* and *A Most Wanted Man* as his last completed movies – and his final starring roles. And because the latter got the later premiere (by just two days, at the Sundance Film Festival), it gets the distinction of being Hoffman’s curtain call. [![A Most Wanted Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/A-Most-Wanted-Man-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/A-Most-Wanted-Man.jpg)On screen, you can control your exits. Although that’s horribly untrue in life, Hoffman should be proud of his unexpected last bow. Directed by Anton Corbijn, who successfully helmed *The American* with George Clooney, and adapted from the novel by John le Carré, *A Most Wanted Man* is a smart, gripping thriller that carefully navigates its way through subtle twists and delicious ambiguity. Hoffman plays Günther Bachmann, a German espionage agent at odds with his superiors and American counterpart (Robin Wright) over how to track down a high-profile Muslim terrorist. In a post-9/11 environment, they want to hammer every threat into the ground while Günther prefers to watch, wait and seek the cooperation of lesser offenders. His decidedly anti-Bush philosophy is to seek out a “minnow to catch a barracuda to catch a shark,” but that proves difficult, especially in Hamburg, where Mohammad Atta planned his evil. Wright, channeling the charm and ruthlessness of her *House of Cards* character, is a fine foil to Hoffman. Willem Dafoe, as a bank manager unwittingly caught in the middle of terrorist activities, also shines. Only Rachel McAdams, as a human-rights lawyer, seems slightly miscast, a lightweight in place of the required rock. (Jessica Chastain must have been busy.) Her shortcomings seem even more obvious when up against Hoffman, who, though not always given much to do dramatically, is riveting, even with a German accent, which the actors employ instead of the German language itself. Though the slightly uneven screenplay by Andrew Bovell gets bogged down in minor plot details, its intelligence and political savvy soar thanks to the source material, Hoffman and a shatteringly brilliant ending. In a world intent on winning the war on terror at all costs, *A Most Wanted Man* moves away from crime and punishment and toward the simple but seldom-asked question: “Why do we do what we do?” On a deeper, unintended level, the film is a tribute to – and even a mirror for – Hoffman, who plays a character not unlike himself. As the story progresses, we’re never quite sure what kind of a guy his character is, but, ultimately, he’s just like Hoffman: badly flawed yet excellent at what he does and resistant to the mediocrity around him. And when everything unravels unexpectedly, suddenly and tragically, the parallels with Hoffman’s death become difficult to ignore, turning the movie into both a reminder of the actor’s immense talent and a haunting commentary that even great people can be undone by the world they surround themselves with. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A Most Violent Year](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-most-violent-year/) **Published:** January 21, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Most Violent Year**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars # A most engaging yarn ### Chandor spins strong story in *A Most Violent Year* [![A Most Violent Year](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/A-Most-Violent-Year-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/A-Most-Violent-Year.jpg)Image copyright Before the Door Pictures / Washington Square Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/jc-chandor-spins-strong-story-in-a-most-violent-year/Content?oid=2347404), January 20, 2015, and [*Jacksonville Folio Weekly*](http://folioweekly.com/movies/), January 28, 2015 J.C. Chandor’s films exude a quiet confidence, and that self-assuredness is reflected in their characters. Though they deal in financial corruption, the men portrayed by Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons in *Margin Call* always maintain impeccable professionalism. And despite his almost certain doom, Robert Redford’s mariner in *All is Lost* never loses his cool or forgets his pride. For his third feature, Chandor offers us Oscar Isaac, as Abel Morales, a hard-working immigrant battling the odds, and his social station, in New York City. Through persistence and discipline, he’s become the head of the city’s fastest-growing heating-oil business. But now he’s facing his biggest challenge: the theft of his delivery trucks at gun-point by thugs who don’t even want the vehicles, just the heating oil. It seems fuel has become that valuable amid the economic cruelty of the Big Apple in 1981. Adding even more fuel to his personal fire, he’s struggling to close a real-estate deal that would give him an enormous competitive edge, he’s at odds with a union boss (the thoroughly engaging Peter Gerety), and he’s under 14 counts of indictment for financial fraud, though the charges are likely trumped up by a politically motivated assistant district attorney (David Oyelowo). Fighting by Abel’s side are his tough-as-nails wife, Anna, played by Jessica Chastain, in another in her seemingly endless string of successes; and his friend and lawyer, Andrew, portrayed by Albert Brooks, channeling a more sympathetic side of the darkness he embraced in *Drive*. Belying its title, *A Most Violent Year* is surprisingly non-violent. This is a story not of bloodshed, but of emotional brutality and the rat race in a world of urban and moral decay. To tell that tale, Chandor employs a subtle, slow-building tension, helped by atmospheric production design and cinematography. As with all of the writer-director’s work, we believe what we see. Despite these positives – and the best-film award from the National Board of Review – the film is not as impactful as one would expect. While Isaac is again a revelation (in a 180-degree turn from the loveable loser of *Inside Llewyn Davis*), the characters seem a tad underdeveloped and kept at arm’s length by a script that doesn’t delve deeply into familial relationships and past events. And though the story is made richer by a subplot involving one of Abel’s drivers (Elyes Gabel, in a tragic and nuanced turn), the methodical pacing, plot twists and aforementioned subtlety compromise the quality. “We set the standard,” Abel tells his employees. “Have some pride in what you do.” And when asked why he doesn’t just rent the property he’s struggling to purchase, he coolly retorts, “I like to own the things I use.” Like his lead character, Chandor, too, is a man in control, a director who values accuracy, passion and intelligence. And though *A Most Violent Year* is not as consistently strong as his two previous films, it neither diminishes his art nor quells our enthusiasm for his next project, *Deepwater Horizon*. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Moonlight](https://www.meiermovies.com/moonlight/) **Published:** November 4, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Moonlight**, 2016, 4 stars ## *Moonlight* illuminates unique racial, sexual struggle [![Image copyright A24/Plan B Entertainment](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Moonlight.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Moonlight.jpg)Image copyright A24/Plan B Entertainment From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/barry-jenkins-gut-wrenching-drama-moonlight-illuminates-a-unique-racial-and-sexual-struggle/Content?oid=2538346), November 2, 2016 The sun shines brightly on people of privilege. But if you’re meek, poor, black or gay, you might have to settle for moonlight. Chiron is all four. And in *Moonlight*, which offers three glimpses of his life – childhood, adolescence and adulthood – he must come to terms with not just his tough Miami environment, but also himself as a gay black man. Regrettably, he’s not often up to the task, but writer-director Barry Jenkins is. And with his second feature, Jenkins has created required viewing for anyone seeking to understand the African-American experience. With his father absent and his mother too drug-addled to cope, Chiron befriends Juan, who, despite his own poor life choices, becomes a father figure to Chiron. The character is thoroughly believable thanks to Mahershala Ali, who channels the same kindness, vulnerability and humanity he showed as Tizzy in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and as Remy in *House of Cards.* “We’se the first on this planet,” Juan tells Chiron, bolstering his sense of racial pride. But, sensing that, even at a young age, Chiron might be struggling with his sexuality, he advises him, “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself what you wanna be.” Those words, though not particularly well written, are meant to inspire. But *Moonlight* is not an overtly inspirational film. It’s more a movie of hopelessness, of lost moments, of resignation to one’s station in life. And when, in the movie’s final section, Chiron is reunited with a dear childhood friend, Kevin, the encounter becomes reminiscent of (though, admittedly, not as bleak as) the final meeting of Wilma and Bud in Elia Kazan’s *Splendor in the Grass.* John Greenleaf Whittier, in *Maud Muller*, tackled a similar theme. “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been,” he wrote. We can only hope Chiron is able to write a happy epilogue to Jenkins’ gut-wrenching tale. Chiron is played well by three actors of varying ages, and the resemblance between the child (Alex Hibbert) and the teenager (Ashton Sanders) is striking. Trevante Rhodes is also competent as the eldest Chiron, but it’s André Holland, as Kevin, who powers the film to its climax after it loses steam two-thirds of the way in. Besting them all, however, is Naomie Harris as Chiron’s mother, whose powerhouse performance could earn her a supporting-actress Oscar nomination. *Moonlight* is shot well with a mix of handheld, Steadicam and traditional camera, and scored with a refreshingly original mix of classical, Motown and hip-hop, but the film’s technical achievements are secondary to its interesting characterizations and unique story. Some viewers might be bored by the slow pace or frustrated with the three-part structure, which omits enormous chunks of Chiron’s life. But if you’re patient enough to stick with it, the emotional payoffs are profound. The aforementioned Whittier also wrote that “sweet hope lies deeply buried from human eyes.” But for Chiron and all those who share a similar story, hope might instead be hiding in plain sight. It just might take a little moonlight to find it. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Monsters University](https://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-university/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Monsters University**, 2013, 4 stars # Monstrously magical ## Pixar prequel is almost as good as the superb original [![Monsters U](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Monsters-U-300x163.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Monsters-U.jpg)Image copyright Disney/Pixar From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/monsters-university-almost-as-good-as-the-superb-original/Content?oid=2245520), June 19, 2013 Second in the pantheon of Pixar pals to only Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Mike and Sulley have been absent from our lives since 2001. And though the new prequel to [*Monsters, Inc.* ](https://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-inc/ "Monsters, Inc.")lacks some of that film’s freshness and originality, the 12-year wait was worth it, as *Monsters University* is the leading contender for best movie of the summer and top animated film of the year. Focusing on the characters’ college years, the film actually starts much earlier, when tiny Mike is on a school field trip. Seeing the scare floor at Monsters, Inc. for the first time, he realizes his life’s ambition: to be a scarer. Fast forward several years and we find Mike, brilliantly voiced again by Billy Crystal, trying to fit in at university, where he’s enrolled in the School of Scaring with his lizard roommate Randall (Steve Buscemi) and a seemingly overconfident oaf, Sulley (John Goodman), with whom he immediately clashes. Much of the film’s first half is predictable, with all the college experiences one might expect: getting in trouble with the dean, joining a fraternity, kidnapping the “Scare Pig” mascot of rival Fear Tech and competing in “Scare Games” to prove your macho metal. It’s *Monsters, Inc.* meets *Animal House*. But there’s still enough smart comedy and brilliantly detailed 3-D animation – some of the best ever – to keep everyone entertained. And, most importantly, writer-director Dan Scanlon stays true to the characters. After getting the requisite hijinks out of the way, the movie turns into something more mature, something deeper. We glimpse the natures of the characters and what forged their relationships. For instance, Sulley, in a rare moment of vulnerability, tells Mike, “I act scary, but most of the time I’m terrified.” We also come to love a new slew of memorable monsters, including the intimidating Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren). In the end, *Monsters University* is not quite as good as *Monsters, Inc.*, but that’s no crime, as the original was truly great. It’s also a step below the *Toy Story* films and *WALL-E*. However, discounting those movies, it’s still the best Pixar project since, well, *Monsters, Inc.* Departing from the typical movie review, it’s important to reflect on Pixar’s accomplishments since its first feature in 1995. While some suggest that the company has lost its edge, citing the mediocrity of *Cars 2* or the predictability of *Brave*, it’s human nature to try to find flaws in greatness. Admittedly, not every Pixar film can be *Toy Story*, just as not every Walt Disney film from 1937 to 1955 – a comparable period – was on par with *Pinocchio.* But Pixar has done something few other studios or filmmakers have: They’ve produced an uninterrupted string of aesthetic successes for 18 years. I end with a reminder to arrive early and stay late. If you don’t, you’ll miss both *The Blue Umbrella*, the most stunningly photorealistic animated short ever, and the little laugh that lies buried at the end of the credits. They’re just two more reasons Pixar remains a monster step above the competition. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Monsters, Inc.](https://www.meiermovies.com/monsters-inc/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Monsters, Inc.**, 2001, 4 ½ stars # A scintillating, scary spectacular [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Monsters-Inc..jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Monsters-Inc..jpg)From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Pixar Animation has a knack for bringing to life unexplored regions of children’s imaginations. Just as they did with the insect world and the life of toys, John Lasseter’s team, with *Monsters, Inc*., has created a fascinating and funny land centered on a child’s fascination with the make-believe monsters lurking in the bedroom closet. The new computer-animated extravaganza relies on the premise that on the other side of that closet door are monsters whose only reason for scaring us is to gather our screams, which are their energy source. In fact, screams are so important to the monsters’ existence that a special company, Monsters, Inc., employs an elite force of Kid Scarers. The top scarer is James P. Sullivan (John Goodman), a lumbering furry blue monster with purple spots. A ruthless competitor by day, racking up all the scare points he can, “Sulley” is actually a loveable and sentimental fellow. Working alongside his friend is scare assistant Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). This green, one-eyed, wise-cracking sidekick is equally endearing, and together the two form the monster version of Woody and Buzz. Rounding out the cast are company CEO Henry Waternoose (James Coburn), a crab-like beast fond of Sulley because of all the scares he generates, and Randall (Steve Buscemi), a shifty chameleon who is Sulley’s chief competitor. Executive producer Lasseter has handed over the directing and writing reigns this time to Pixar veteran Pete Docter, who is clearly up to the task. The film’s premise is intriguing and the story well-developed. Especially ingenious is the fact that monsters are actually afraid of children and venture into their world simply because it’s their job. The monsters are seen as heroes on par with astronauts because they brave the frightening world beyond the closet door and risk toxic contamination if contact is made with so much as a child’s sock. So when a little girl is accidentally transported into the monster’s world, it is the equivalent of a nuclear meltdown and could mean the end of Sulley’s and Mike’s career. Crystal is at his comedic best, and though not as instantly endearing as Tom Hank’s Woody, his pairing with Goodman nevertheless produces one of the year’s best buddy films. While other voices are memorable, Steve Buscemi, as Sulley’s nemesis, is rather bland. His forgettable work contributes to a sense that once the plot details have been established, the film drifts and becomes more convoluted than its Pixar predecessors. Though not as groundbreaking or well conceived as *Toy Story,* *Monsters, Inc*., dazzles with its humor and spectacular visuals. It is worlds apart from *Shrek* and *Atlantis* and therefore the favorite to garner the new Oscar for animated feature. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198781/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters,_Inc.).* --- ### [A Monster Calls](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-monster-calls/) **Published:** December 29, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Monster Calls**, 2016, 3 ¾ stars # An adult fairy tale ## *A Monster Calls* is year’s darkest fable From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/a-monster-calls-is-a-dark-fable-leavened-with-modern-truths/Content?oid=2550357), December 28, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/A-Monster-Calls.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/A-Monster-Calls.png)Image copyright Focus Features This year has seen two memorable movie monsters. The first, the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), lives up to his name. If you can look past his grotesque features and uncouth fellow fee-fi-fo-fumers, he’s a big sweety. The same can’t be said for the eponymous star of *A Monster Calls.* No, this is a giant straight out of a child’s nightmares, carrying an adult-oriented message. Voiced by Liam Neeson, this CGI monster has come to visit 13-year-old Conor O’Malley not to comfort or provide escapist amusement, but to both challenge him and help him overcome the perceived monster inside himself. He’s also come to heal, which is appropriate considering he’s birthed from the branches of a sacred yew tree. Conor – “too old to be a kid \[and\] too young to be a man” – is struggling to cope with the serious illness of his mother (Felicity Jones). He doesn’t get much emotional support from his largely absent father (Toby Kebbell), and he detests his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). So it’s not surprising that this emotionally frustrated yet visually creative English lad concocts a fantastical character. Or perhaps it’s not so much concoction as mystical intervention. Director J.A. Bayona has dealt with loss and grief in mother-son relationships before, in *The Orphanage* and *The Impossible*. *A Monster Calls* is not quite as strong as those, but it’s close – and just as deep. Particularly memorable is the way Bayona and writer Patrick Ness (who based the screenplay on his 2011 novel) balance fantasy and reality while blending traditional fables with modern truths. The merger of animation styles is even more impressive, with CGI working alongside traditional 2-D watercolors, the latter being used to bring alive two of the three fables that the giant imparts to Conor. (Those fables tackle topics ranging from adhering to one’s principles to the ambiguity of good and evil.) The film’s weaknesses lie in its performances, pacing and the sense that Bayona, who is Spanish, can’t quite capture the story’s peculiarly English sensibility. Still, Bayona shows immense talent, especially in his use of imagery and art direction, compared to Weaver, who is miscast. Lacking the requisite English air and vocal pattern (thought her basic sounds are OK), she is also physically wrong for the grandmotherly part. (Replace her with Judi Dench or Fionnula Flanagan, and you’d really have a film!) Kebbell is also unimpressive, but, thankfully, Neeson, Jones and Lewis MacDougall (Conor) are asked to do most of the heavy lifting, and they are all up to the task, especially Jones, who is becoming an acting powerhouse. (And watch carefully for a brief appearance by Geraldine Chaplin.) The film has some scary moments befitting its mature themes. One would expect no less from the director of *The Orphanage*. But if Guillermo del Toro’s *Pan’s Labyrinth* was a fairy tale strictly for adults, *A Monster Calls* is one that both adults and brave children over, say, 10 years of age should see, despite the PG-13 rating. Most movie creatures are better left alone. But this is one monster call you should answer. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Money Monster](https://www.meiermovies.com/money-monster/) **Published:** May 13, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Money Monster**, 2016, 2 ¼ stars # A bad investment ## *Money Monster* is a losing bet [![moneymonster](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/moneymonster-300x182.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/moneymonster.jpg)Image copyright TriStar Pictures/Smokehouse Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/george-clooney-and-julia-roberts-make-a-bad-investment-in-money-monster/Content?oid=2491519), May 12, 2016 Some films are ruined by an accumulation of minor mistakes. Others make one or two major errors that doom an otherwise competent effort. *Money Monster* is the latter type. The financial thriller directed by Jodie Foster and starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’Connell actually makes three of them. First, its misplaced (and mostly failed) attempts at humor turn what might have otherwise been an edge-of-your-seat suspense film into a tonally challenged shrug fest. Second, a third-act decision (which reveals something to the audience that should have been kept secret until the final scene) sucks out even more tension. Third, and most destructive, is the decision – spoiler alert! – by the writers to make the villain not the system itself, but a single person we don’t really know and don’t care about. But let’s back up. Clooney is Lee Gates, the host of an ostentatious and just plain inaccurate financial-advice show. Think Jim Cramer (of *Mad Money*) meets Rush Limbaugh, with dancing showgirls. Even the show’s co-producer (Roberts) admits, “Hell, we don’t do journalism. Period.” Into this odd mash-up of spectacle and pretend-news steps Kyle Budwell (O’Connell, in the film’s best performance), a regular working stiff who saw his entire inheritance wiped out when a supposed computer glitch erased $800 million from the value of the company in which he invested (IBIS Clear Capital). He wants answers, and he’s willing to storm the show’s studio – with a loaded gun and bomb vests – to get those answers on live television. Specifically, he wants them from both the CEO of IBIS (who was scheduled to appear on the show that day) and Gates, who had promised viewers that IBIS was the investment equivalent of the Rock of Gibraltar. It’s an intriguing, if slightly tired, premise. After all, we’ve seen similar (and more effective) examinations of financial corruption in *The Big Short* and *Margin Call*, not to mention sharper indictments of systemic greed in intellectual thrillers such as *Network* and *The China Syndrome*. However, the film that *Money Monster* most wants to mimic is *Dog Day Afternoon*. But while the latter classic stripped its story bare (with no music or frenetic visuals) to produce almost total authenticity, *Money Monster* takes the opposite path: optical bombardment, an overbearing score, plot twists that stretch credibility, and actors and filmmakers who seem at times to be phoning it in. (There’s even a snarky, wisecracking cop thrown in for B-movie measure.) Foster can’t resist inserting moments of parody and ridiculousness. One assumes she is using these to comment on the immaturity and short attention span of society. And I enjoyed her homage to *The Truman Show*, when we see viewers casually returning to their foosball game seconds after watching real-life tragedy unfold on their televisions. But because these moments lack finesse, we laugh at the movie, not with it. Despite the film’s flaws, it’s almost rescued by its brisk pace, its relatable subject matter and the charm of its lead actor. It’s not bad enough to prompt a downgrade of Clooney and Foster, but I still recommend you sell. *Copyright 2016 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Mistress America](https://www.meiermovies.com/mistress-america/) **Published:** September 8, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mistress America**, 2015, 1 ½ stars # Baumbach back with bombast ## *Mistress America* talks furiously but conveys little [![Mistress America](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Mistress-America-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Mistress-America.jpg)Image copyright RT Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mistress-america-talks-furiously-but-conveys-little/Content?oid=2429921), September 2, 2015 Noah Baumbach doesn’t strike me as a screwball. He’s more of a cross between the French New Wave and Wes Anderson (with whom he’s worked). Yet in his new film, *Mistress America*, he mixes his usual dramedy with unhealthy heaps of Howard Hawks to concoct a tasteless cream puff. Unfortunately, he can’t have his cake and screw it too. Working again with writer-actor Greta Gerwig (his collaborator on 2013’s *Frances Ha*), Baumbach has created a story that might lend itself well to a treatment similar to that of *The Squid and the Whale*, arguably his best directorial effort. It’s the tale of Tracy (Lola Kirke), a college freshman whose life has become a party at which she knows no one. Her loneliness is shattered when she befriends Brooke (Gerwig), a 30-year-old bombastic ball of energy who is about to become her stepsister. The two start hanging out, and though Tracy suspects Brooke of poor judgment and self-destructive behavior, she soaks up their relationship. “It was too much fun to agree with her,” she tells herself. Tracy even follows Brooke on an illogical adventure from New York City to Connecticut to reconcile with an old friend who apparently stole Brooke’s fiancé, her business idea and even her pets. It’s little wonder Tracy turns Brooke into the main character for her short story, “Mistress America,” a reference to Brooke’s own idea for a TV show about the “essence of America.” If this sounds like a tonally challenged mess, it is. The film lurches frenetically from stagey, theatrical farce to quirky tenderness in a failed attempt to charm. Worst of all, the dialogue – which comes fast and furious – is forced and unfunny, never packing the comedic punch of *Bringing Up Baby* or *His Girl Friday*. This is more like Monday: a seemingly endless, annoying and unenjoyable – even depressing – reflection of the fragility of friendship, the fleeting nature of motivation and the zeitgeist of the ADD era. “Your generation \[is\] so pastiche,” an acquaintance tells Brooke and Tracy. The same could be said for *Mistress America*, which lacks a cinematic soul of its own and instead relies on bad imitations of various styles of film and theatre that should not be combined. Kirke (*Gone Girl*, *Free the Nipple*), in arguably her biggest role to date, is somewhat likeable but doesn’t bring enough energy or relatability to the role. She’s also upstaged by the movie’s inconsistencies in pacing, mood and structure, and by Gerwig’s performance, which isn’t so much a performance as a series of line readings, alternating between clever and cloying, and delivered in brief bursts instead of meaningful exchanges. Perhaps she was too busy with her producing and writing jobs to give proper thought to her acting. “Everyone is an asshole in high school,” Brooke tells a girl who accuses her of bullying when she was younger. Yes, and some people stay assholes. Though that might make good material for drama, it’s not fodder for farce, at least not in the hands of Baumbach and Gerwig. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Miss Sloane](https://www.meiermovies.com/miss-sloane/) **Published:** December 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Miss Sloane**, 2016, 3 ½ stars # Let’s all go to the lobbyist ### *Miss Sloane* exposes power, brutality of political lobbying From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/as-dc-lobbyist-miss-sloane-jessica-chastain-takes-on-the-gun-lobby/Content?oid=2546332), December 7, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jessica-chastain.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jessica-chastain.jpg)Image copyright Transfilm / Archery Pictures Jessica Chastain’s acting career may still be red-hot, but her heart is as cold as ice in *Miss Sloane*, the new political thriller by director John Madden. Chastain plays the fictional Elizabeth Sloane, one of our nation’s most powerful political lobbyists. Accustomed to consistent victories, Sloane nevertheless always has tricks up her sleeve to guarantee a win when the going gets rough – and it usually does. This is Washington, D.C., after all. But when she agrees to fight the odds and battle the gun lobby, she might have taken on more than she can handle. Madden, though not usually regarded as a top director, nevertheless has a quietly impressive *resumé*. He’s given us *Shakespeare in Love*, which won the Oscar for best film of 1997, along with *Mrs. Brown*, *Proof* and *The Debt*. But he’s also responsible for a couple of *Marigold Hotel*s that aren’t worth checking into. In *Miss Sloane*, he seems back near the top of his game, at least in the thriller genre. But it’s also important that this film succeed as a drama, and in that regard, it seems forced, too frenetically paced and too artificially energized by its intrusive score and tracking shots – as if Madden were filming a television show instead of trying to assemble an impactful two-hour film. Admittedly, that’s not much of a complaint, given how good television has become, but a film such as this needs an emotional center, and this one doesn’t find its heart until about halfway in, when we realize to what depths Sloane will stoop to win. Credit Gugu Mbatha-Raw, as one of Sloane’s assistants, for that, but thanks should also go to an accomplished supporting cast that includes Mark Strong, Alison Pill, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, Jake Lacy and, best of all, Michael Stuhlbarg, who provides much-needed humor and vulnerability in contrast to the immoveable steel façade of Chastain, who gives a remarkably strong, if somewhat one-note, performance. Despite the aforementioned dramatic warming in the second half, it’s ultimately the film’s embrace of that most overused tool of the thriller genre, the twist, that makes it most memorable. And this one has a dandy, if you can overlook its stretched credibility. But *Miss Sloane*, which is written by Jonathan Perera*,* is also noteworthy for its unique look at lobbyists and their relationship with Congress, not to mention the nauseatingly powerful gun lobby. “When I take the stand, you’ll see nothing but a granite wall,” Sloane tells her lawyer as she prepares to appear in front of Congress on charges of violating ethical standards. Indeed, a granite wall is just about all we see from Chastain throughout the film. But I still couldn’t look away for fear I might miss the moment she cracks. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Minari](https://www.meiermovies.com/minari/) **Published:** February 12, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Minari** FL*,* 2020*,* 4 ¼ stars # An immigrant tale ## American Dream alive and well in *Minari* [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Minari.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Minari.jpg)Image copyright/courtesy A24 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/lyrical-korean-immigrant-drama-minari-stirs-the-american-melting-pot-with-wild-greens-and-factory-eggs/Content?oid=28794634), February 10, 2021 Recent conventional wisdom – perhaps in an attempt to preach diversity – proffers that the American Dream is different for each of us, but I’m not buying it. In my mind, native-born Americans and immigrants alike still strive for the classic goals of free expression, respect, home ownership, a successful livelihood and the right to raise a family in the manner of their choosing. Those are the key ingredients in our national melting pot. Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung would seem to agree. In *Minari*, he spins the emotional tale of a husband, wife, daughter and sickly son who move from Korea to Arkansas in the 1980s to gain a sense of self-fulfillment and prosperity. Before settling in the appropriately nicknamed Land of Opportunity, Jacob and Monica Yi drudged out their existence in a California chicken-sexing hatchery. The factory required them to sift through thousands of newborn birds, dumping females in one bin and males in another. Jacob had bigger goals for his family, but, sadly, he and his wife ended up doing identical work after moving to Arkansas. “What’s that?” Jacob’s son, David, quizzes his father upon noticing the factory’s smokestack billowing death into the air like an ornithological Auschwitz. “Male chicks are discarded there,” Jacob reluctantly yet introspectively responds. “Male chicks don’t taste good. They can’t lay eggs and have no use. So you and I should try to be useful.” And thus Chung posits the film’s central metaphor: a man in a foreign place, struggling to stay relevant in his own eyes and those of his wife, who is bitterly skeptical of his ambitious plans to farm the land they have purchased. The plot might seem a bit on the nose, but with Chung’s pitch-perfect screenplay, Emile Mosseri’s gentle score and the best acting ensemble of the year, *Minari* is unforgettable. *Minari* is also arguably the best movie of 2020 – it got a limited release last year – filmed primarily in a language other than English. And although the Golden Globes honored it with a nomination for foreign-language film last week, it will not be eligible for an Oscar for best International Feature, thanks to the Academy’s weird rules. (Entries in that category must be produced outside the United States.) Let’s hope it will instead be nominated for best overall film, in addition to lead actor (Steven Yeun as Jacob), lead actress (Yeri Han as Monica), supporting actor (Will Patton as a fascinatingly odd but loyal friend) and supporting actress (Youn Yuh-jung, as Monica’s mother, in the movie’s most memorable role). The film’s title, another of Chung’s metaphors, is a nod to an edible Korean plant. “Minari is truly the best,” Monica’s mother tells her grandson. “It grows anywhere, like weeds. So anyone can pick and eat it. Rich or poor, anyone can enjoy it and be healthy.” Regardless of your own diet, you’ll be healthier for watching this film. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates](https://www.meiermovies.com/mike-and-dave-need-wedding-dates/) **Published:** July 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates**, 2016, ¾ star # Mike and Dave need a better movie [![Mike and Dave](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Mike-and-Dave.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Mike-and-Dave.jpg)Image copyright Twentieth Century Fox From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mike-and-dave-need-a-better-movie/Content?oid=2505736), July 6, 2016 Start with a tired premise, throw in a sophomoric script, add a novice director, simmer in juvenile juices for 98 minutes, and you have the half-baked recipe for *Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates*, one of the worst films of the year. Brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) ruin every family gathering. So when it’s time to plan their sister’s Hawaiian wedding, their parents insist they bring smart, responsible dates who will keep them from mischief. “When are the two of you going to grow up?” their mom asks. “We are not party ruiners; we’re party creators,” the boys reply. Still, they want to please their parents, so they place an ad online to find the perfect girls. After the ad goes viral, they appear on *The* *Wendy Williams Show* – yes, really – to discuss their dateless predicament. But they still can’t find the right matches until Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) randomly arrive. What they don’t know until it’s too late is that the girls staged the meeting and they aren’t the smart, wholesome ladies they appear. Instead, they are the female equivalent of Mike and Dave. And there you have the lone intriguing aspect of the film – an aspect that’s never fully explored amid the embarrassingly unfunny and infantile humor, nonsensical plot and haphazard structure. More a collection of overly long *SNL* skits than a movie, *Mike and Dave* seems to be missing scenes. Characters appear as paper cut-outs, and motivations make no sense. Why do the women even want to go to Hawaii? They don’t like their dates and have little interest in anything except drinking and doing drugs. If this were clever farce, it would be forgivable. But newbie director Jake Szymanski and writers Andrew Cohen and Brendan O’Brien don’t seem to grasp the essence of farce. This is more fart: curse words and sex jokes thrown at the screen to see what will stick, all in an effort to pump up a lame PG flick into an R-rated romp. And when it tries to turn sweet and serious, it sinks into cringe-worthiness. I feel saddest for Kendrick. Though she’s the best of the leads, her career has gone from *Up in the Air* to up in smoke. (The Cheech and Chong reference is intentional, considering Kendrick’s character’s stoner sensibility.) Also worse off for their involvement with this film are Plaza, Efron and Stephen Root (who plays the father but is better known for his scene-stealing roles in Coen Brothers films). Devine, however, doesn’t take a cinematic step down as much as a sideways shuffle along his road to eventual obscurity. Only Sugar Lyn Beard, as the bride, rises from this muck smelling sweet. She’s the best and funniest thanks to her effervescence and sight gags, but even she is mostly lost in a film that has not one genuine or sincere moment. “You’re better than this,” Tatiana tells Alice. Indeed, we are all better than this – not just the actors who portray vapid, horrible people, but also we, the audience, who are stupider for having watched them. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Megan Leavey](https://www.meiermovies.com/megan-leavey/) **Published:** June 12, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Megan Leavey**, 2017, 3 stars # Doggone patriotic ## *Megan Leavey* showcases canine heroism [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Megan-Leavey.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Megan-Leavey.jpg)Image copyright LD Entertainment / Bleecker Street Media From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/megan-leavey-showcases-canine-heroism/Content?oid=4844956), June 7, 2017 “In the film world, we can all be heroes,” acclaimed Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies told film writer David Sztypuljak in a 2011 interview. “In the real world, where heroism can cost you your life or the life of the ones you love, people aren’t so willing to make those sacrifices. When they do, they are set apart from the rest of us.” Following Rhys-Davies’ thought, most films about heroism strive to balance a stereotypical portrayal of valor with a realistic depiction of human behavior. But what if one of your film’s heroes isn’t human? Such is the case with *Megan Leavey*, the mostly true story about the bond between a disillusioned young Marine corporal and her military dog, Rex, during and after the Iraq War. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (*Blackfish*), in her narrative-feature debut, and starring Kate Mara (*House of Cards*), the film is too shallow in its focus to shed much light on the nature of heroism in either humans or dogs. *Megan Leavey* is instead a paint-by-numbers, though competently designed, production. And though the screenplay, direction and performances never reach a level of intelligence one would hope for, the film hits enough right notes to recommend a viewing, especially for those with a soft spot for animals and an interest in military stories. Perhaps befitting its canine subject, who is presumably incapable of comprehending either death or politics, the movie avoids any discussion of the morality of war or the placement of non-consenting animals in harm’s way. Rex is simply doing his job because that’s what he’s trained to do, and writers Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo and Tim Lovestedt presents an objective, non-opinionated view of that job. However, the script does enter the realm of editorial – and rightfully so – in the second half when Leavey fights to adopt her dog following their final deployment. “I’m trying to give a war hero a home for the last few years of his life,” Leavey says. Even her superior officer (the rapper Common, in a charismatic but over-the-top turn) agrees, admitting, “\[Dogs\] come back with all the same issues we do.” Her self-centered mother (Edie Falco) and stepfather (Will Patton) might not fully understand Leavey’s love for her canine partner, but she does get support from her boyfriend and fellow Marine (Ramón Rodríguez) and her father (Bradley Whitford). The film doesn’t get much support from the latter two, though, as Rodríguez is underwhelming and Whitford underused. It’s best to know nothing more about Leavey going in, but even if you do, you should still appreciate this fairly effective emotional tribute to two war heroes. Unfortunately, you might find it difficult to forgive some of the predictability, mediocrity, over-scoring and handheld camera. And you’ll probably be able to tell that the dog playing Rex is reacting more to the animal handler than to Mara, who mostly carries the film by herself. But it’s difficult to deny the basic story’s feel-good, patriotic patina, which hits you in the gut more often than you might care to admit. Leavey is told toward the beginning of the film that she doesn’t “connect with people very well.” It’s both fitting and ironic then that a war begun by humans, into which she entered reluctantly, led her to become a champion for animals. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Meddler](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-meddler/) **Published:** May 17, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Meddler**, 2016, 3 stars # Test your meddle ## *The Meddler* is an unexpectedly sweet surprise [![The Meddler](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Meddler-300x171.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Meddler.jpg)Image copyright Anonymous Content/Stage 6 Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/05/17/in-the-meddler-susan-sarandon-gives-her-best-performance-since-dead-man-walking-yes-really), May 17, 2016 With a trite title and an overused premise, writer-director Lorene Scafaria’s second film could have been both literally and figuratively sophomoric. But thanks to some unexpected maturity and sweetness, and three good performances, *The Meddler* is the filmmaker’s sophomore project in number only. Susan Sarandon (in perhaps her best performance since 1995’s *Dead Man Walking*) is Marnie, an overbearing mother whose husband has recently died. Lonely and longing to be closer to her only daughter, Lori (Rose Byrne), who is an up-and-coming screenwriter in Los Angeles, Marnie packs all her belongings (New York dialect included) and moves from the Big Apple to Tinseltown. Not content at the occasional pop-in, Marnie meddles with Lori’s life in almost every way. She encourages Lori and her ex-boyfriend to get back together, quizzes Lori’s psychologist about the details of her daughter’s therapy, befriends Lori’s casual acquaintances and even goes so far as to plan and pay for the elaborate wedding of one of her daughter’s friends. When Lori encourages her mom to get a hobby, she responds, “Maybe you could be my hobby.” “I need to get a life of my own,” Lori retorts, “and so do you.” But smothering her daughter isn’t enough for Marnie, as her need to be needed extends to virtually adopting a 20-something Apple store salesman (who may or may not be in need of life advice) and comforting sick patients at a hospital, even if the patients don’t need comforting. Yet few of these episodes depict Marnie as a monster, or a vehicle for cheap comedy. Instead, Scafaria and Sarandon paint her with a realistic brush, allowing us to get inside her head and understand her motivations. One aspect of *The Meddler* that is both annoying and rewarding is its lack of traditional structure. Rejecting a three-act format, the film meanders, content to leave some events partially unresolved. For instance, Marnie crashes her car, has her car stolen, gets embarrassingly high, receives a part as a movie extra and even gets arrested, but none of those episodes is fully wrapped up. Yet, surprisingly, what at first glance seems like either sloppy writing or editing also appears, on second glance, somewhat consistent with the rest of the movie, and with Marnie’s life. In short, the structure is both messy (in a traditional narrative sense) and nicely subtle (in a French New Wave way). The film’s third good performance belongs to J.K. Simmons, who enters in much the same way as Sam Elliott did in *Grandma*, providing a burst of energy and warmth. Heck, Simmons even looks and sounds like Elliott. And though there are no scenes with all three lead actors, they still comprise quite an ensemble and allow one to overlook the script’s contrivances. (It’s just too bad that Scafaria didn’t use Lucy Punch and Michael McKean more effectively.) If you’re looking for a dramedy that captures the highs and lows of a mother-daughter relationship, skip Garry Marshall’s *Mother’s Day* and instead soak in the honesty, awkwardness, love, vulnerability and, yes, even the meddling of Sarandon’s Marnie. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Me and Earl and the Dying Girl](https://www.meiermovies.com/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl/) **Published:** July 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Me and Earl and the Dying Girl**, 2015, 3 ¾ stars # The art of dying ## Dramedy is a quirky mix of life, death and friendship [![me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-300x141.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl.jpg)Image copyright Indian Paintbrush Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-is-a-quirky-mix-of-life-death-and-friendship/Content?oid=2406427), June 24, 2015 “Nothing in this life that I’ve been trying could equal or surpass the art of dying,” George Harrison wrote. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and writer Jesse Andrews might have taken inspiration from those lines when concocting *Me and Earl and the Dying Girl*, a quirky yet moving meditation on the life we discover during death. Belying its title, the film, which was the darling of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, plays with our plot expectations, making us constantly question whether we’ll actually witness death. You’ll get no spoilers here, except to say that you might be surprised by what you do and don’t see. This is no *The Fault in Our Stars* or *Love Story*. Instead, it’s the feel-good, terminal-illness film of the year, a cross between Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson, with a dash of Werner Herzog. Greg, an awkward but intellectually witty teenager, thinks he has the politics of high school figured out. Treating all the cliques equally and showing no allegiance to a single one, he’s able to remain independent and unburdened by peer pressure or teenage entanglements. He even avoids contact with the stereotypical hot chicks and refuses to call his best buddy Earl a “friend.” He’s a “co-worker” instead, by virtue of the two making short film parodies together. (Just wait until you see the films!) This easygoing world is turned upside down when his overbearing mother (the “LeBron James of nagging”) suggests he befriend a fellow student, Rachel, who has been diagnosed with leukemia. A reluctant friendship blossoms, but the predictably sweet emotional bonding doesn’t, thanks to Gomez-Rejon, who, in just his second directorial effort, leads us down the cinematic path less traveled. Structurally, the film is oddly flawed. There is virtually no second act, Rachel is absent from the story for too long, the drug humor falls flat, and the production wreaks of likeability (if that’s a bad thing). The script is also peppered with eclectic additions – such as Greg and Earl’s favorite teacher (Jon Bernthal) – who never reach their full cinematic potential. But the movie manages to coast on its charm and honesty, its beautifully composed shots and its wonderfully endearing homages to classic cinema long enough to deliver one of the best endings of 2015. Thomas Mann (*Project X*) is effective as Greg, but Olivia Cooke (*Bates Motel*) as Rachel and virtual newcomer RJ Cyler as Earl are even better. She conveys a world of suffering and joy in a single expression, while he, playing what could be just another comical African-American cliché, exhibits refreshing realism. Even Molly Shannon as Rachel’s mom and Nick Offerman and Connie Britton as Greg’s parents add depth and texture to an otherwise straightforward narrative. “I have no idea how to tell this story,” Greg confesses to us at the start of his voiceover narration, which lasts the entire film but is rarely overbearing. Although Greg’s admission makes for a nice meta-beginning, it’s profoundly ironic considering Gomez-Rejon and Andrews knew exactly what they were doing when they fashioned this coming-of-age tale of life, loss and rebirth. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu](https://www.meiermovies.com/marco-polo-return-to-xanadu/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu**, 2001, ½ star # Animated annoyance From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 The creators of *Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu* apparently believe, as do many animators, that a children’s film must be patronizingly childish. Ironically, this childlike simplicity is the only positive quality of this rambling, laughable cartoon catastrophe. Created by a diverse team of international artists and making its U.S. debut at this year’s festival, this mythical musical tells a disturbingly distorted version of the Marco Polo story. After visiting the mythical Xanadu and befriending Kubla Khan, the famed traveler is given one half of a golden medallion. The other half falls into the hands of the evil Foo-ling, whose quest to take over the kingdom is eventually thwarted by Polo’s grandson, who inherits his grandfather’s half of the powerful ornament. Assisting him in reuniting the medallion’s two halves and saving Xanadu is the beautiful princess Ming-Yu, the rightful ruler. Also add to the mix a few talking animals, an assortment of bad accents from Cockney to Italian to Chinese and travels through time, and you have a real mess on your hands. The dialogue, musical numbers and second-rate animation are painful to watch, and adults will have a hard time sitting through them. But even today’s sophisticated children, more accustomed to Disney and recent computer-generated films such as *Toy Story 2* and *Shrek,* will find the characters shallow and the plot difficult to follow. The project is not lacking in imagination though, with everything from medieval dragons to spaceships thrown in to brighten up the boring backgrounds. But the project is so ill-conceived and amateurish, one should heed the words of Marco’s seagull friend, Reginald, after one too many plot twists: “This is all very confusing and annoying.” *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296074/).* --- ### [The Twilight Zone](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-twilight-zone-episodes/) **Published:** March 16, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Twilight Zone** TV series, 1959-1964, 5 stars # The top *Twilight Zone* episodes [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TheTwilightZoneLogo.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TheTwilightZoneLogo.png)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 16, 2017 *The Twilight Zone* is my pick for the top narrative-fiction television series of all time. So, of course, selecting the best episodes is a tough task. The show aired on CBS in five seasons (1959-1964) and included 156 episodes, a vast amount when compared to shows of today. Seasons 1-3 and 5 consisted of 30-minute episodes while season 4 aired hour-long ones. (That extra time allowed creator Rod Serling and the other writers to focus more on character development, but several episodes lacked the tight, succinct quality of earlier seasons.) When compiling this list, I anticipated picking 25, but as my list of alternates grew, I settled on 38. Yet that’s not a random number. It’s a number associated with perhaps the creepiest *Twilight Zone* story of all time – and it’s true! [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Rod-Serling.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Rod-Serling.jpg)Images copyright *Twilight Zone*/Cayuga Productions/CBS The top two *Twilight Zone* writers – other than Serling, of course, who wrote most of them – were arguably Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. I love the former for not just his *TZ* episodes but also *Somewhere in Time* and *Duel*. But Beaumont has a more interesting personal history. Seemingly fascinated with aging, Beaumont is credited with many *TZ* episodes, among them *Long Live Walter Jameson* and *Queen of the Nile*, which both dealt with people who never grew older. Yet Beaumont himself, while a writer for the show, contracted a strange illness that, astonishingly, caused him to age rapidly beyond his years. He died in 1967 at the age of 38, just four years after falling ill and three years after *The TZ* ended its run. With that macabre tale in mind (and to honor Beaumont), I present my list of the 38 best episodes, organized chronologically and linked to their Wikipedia pages. (The 10 best are in ALL CAPS, and my pick for best single episode is in ALL CAPS AND RED.) They encompass many topics and styles, from straight suspense to morality tale to science fiction to romance. I’ve left off a few classics that usually turn up on these types of lists, such as *It’s a Good Life*, *Living Doll*, *Time Enough at Last, The Invaders* and *To Serve Man* (which doesn’t mean much if you already know the ending of the famous book), eschewing notoriety for quality of story, direction, cinematography, acting, etc. Yes, legacy and influence are important qualities – and the episodes I mentioned are still worth watching – but I think you’ll find that the ones listed below represent the very best *The TZ* had to offer. It’s a show that’s been imitated, remade and relied upon for inspiration, but never equaled. **Season 1 (1959-1960)** [Where is Everybody?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Is_Everybody%3F) [WALKING DISTANCE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Distance) [PERCHANCE TO DREAM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchance_to_Dream_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [JUDGMENT NIGHT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_Night_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [And When the Sky Was Opened](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_When_the_Sky_Was_Opened) [THE HITCH-HIKER](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitch-Hiker_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [The Last Flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Flight_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [MIRROR IMAGE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_Image_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street) [Long Live Walter Jameson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Live_Walter_Jameson) [A Nice Place to Visit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nice_Place_to_Visit) [THE AFTER HOURS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_After_Hours) **Season 2 (1960-1961)** [EYE OF THE BEHOLDER](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder) [Nick of Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_of_Time_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [A Hundred Yards Over the Rim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hundred_Yards_Over_the_Rim) [The Silence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [SHADOW PLAY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Play_(1961_The_Twilight_Zone_episode)) **Season 3 (1961-1962)** [The Passersby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passersby) [The Grave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grave_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [Deaths-Head Revisited](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths-Head_Revisited) [Five Characters in Search of an Exit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Characters_in_Search_of_an_Exit) [Nothing in the Dark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_in_the_Dark) [One More Pallbearer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_More_Pallbearer) [Person or Persons Unknown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_or_Persons_Unknown) [Four ‘O Clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_O%27Clock) **Season 4 (1962-1963)** [In His Image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_His_Image) [He’s Alive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He%27s_Alive) [The New Exhibit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Exhibit) [Passage on the Lady Anne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passage_on_the_Lady_Anne) **Season 5 (1963-1964)** [Nightmare at 20,000 Feet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_at_20,000_Feet) [You Drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Drive) [The Long Morrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Morrow) [Number 12 Looks Just Like You](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_12_Looks_Just_Like_You) [NIGHT CALL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Call) [Queen of the Nile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_Nile_(The_Twilight_Zone)) [THE MASKS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masks) [I Am the Night – Color Me Black](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Night%E2%80%94Color_Me_Black) [Stopover in a Quiet Town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopover_in_a_Quiet_Town) **Top 5 performances by an actor in a leading role** Dennis Hopper in *He’s Alive* Nehemiah Persoff in *Judgment Night* William Shatner in *Nightmare at 20,000 Feet* Rod Taylor in *And When the Sky Was Opened* Dennis Weaver in *Shadow Play* **Top 5 performances by an actress in a leading role** Gladys Cooper in *Night Call* Anne Francis in *The After Hours* Vera Miles in *Mirror Image* Inger Stevens in *The Hitch-hiker* Collin Wilcox in *Number 12 Looks Just Like You* *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Prisoner](https://www.meiermovies.com/ranking-the-prisoner/) **Published:** June 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Prisoner** TV series, 1967-1968, 4 ½ stars # Ranking *The Prisoner* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Prisoner.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Prisoner.jpg)Photos copyright ITC/Everyman Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 16, 2015 Patrick McGoohan’s *[The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner)* is to television science fiction what Stanley Kubrick’s *2001: A Space Odyssey* is to cinematic sci-fi. It broke new ground. Heck, it dug ground we didn’t even know was there. (Cordless phones, anyone?) And even taking into account the disappointment of the last three episodes, the show remains a stylish and clever concoction of fantasy, science fiction, politics, paranoia and social commentary. Countless articles on the overall show have been written since the last episode aired in 1968, so I won’t attempt – and likely fail – to add anything new to that discussion. But one thing I haven’t seen is a ranking of all the episodes in order of quality, so that’s what I present here. If you’re not familiar with *The Prisoner* and would like to watch just the best episodes, let this list be a guide. It is possible, after all, to view a small handful of episodes and still understand most of the series. So if you’re looking for a Cliff’s Notes, so to speak, of the show, I’d suggest starting with episode 1 (*Arrival*) and following that with four or five others. (Keep in mind this article uses the ITC/American numbering of episodes, which is the order in which the episodes aired in the United States and were originally intended to air in England. For more on the correct order, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Prisoner_episodes#ITC).) [![the-prisoner](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/the-prisoner-300x235.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/the-prisoner.jpg)Regrettably, there is no need to watch the final episode. You will get no real answers. Yes, you will get an admittedly brave attempt at pure absurdism, but you will also likely experience the same level of frustration that the original British audience did. Instead, you might treat episode 7 (*Many Happy Returns*) as the finale. After all, isn’t that the real message of the show: that we can never escape our own prisons, and that we’re all being watched? Sadly, that theme is even clearer today than it was then. Click on each episode below to access the individual Wikipedia articles. 1. [Episode 7: Many Happy Returns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many_Happy_Returns_%28The_Prisoner%29) 2. [Episode 5: The Schizoid Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Schizoid_Man_%28The_Prisoner%29) 3. [Episode 2: The Chimes of Big Ben](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chimes_of_Big_Ben) 4. [Episode 1: Arrival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_%28The_Prisoner%29) 5. [Episode 10: Hammer into Anvil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_into_Anvil) 6. [Episode 14: Living in Harmony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_in_Harmony) 7. [Episode 12: A Change of Mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Change_of_Mind) 8. [Episode 3: A. B. and C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._B._and_C.) 9. [Episode 9: Checkmate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate_%28The_Prisoner%29) 10. [Episode 6: The General](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_%28The_Prisoner%29) 11. [Episode 4: Free for All](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_for_All_%28The_Prisoner%29) 12. [Episode 11: It’s Your Funeral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Your_Funeral) 13. [Episode 13: Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Forsake_Me_Oh_My_Darling) 14. [Episode 8: Dance of the Dead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_of_the_Dead_%28The_Prisoner%29) 15. [Episode 17: Fall Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Out_%28The_Prisoner%29) 16. [Episode 16: Once Upon a Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_%28The_Prisoner%29) 17. [Episode 15: The Girl Who Was Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Who_Was_Death) *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Beatles: Get Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-get-back/) **Published:** November 25, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Beatles: Get Back** Web mini-series, 2021, 3 ½ stars # All those years ago ### *Get Back* in time with Beatles doc mini-series [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Beatles-Get-Back-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Beatles-Get-Back-scaled.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 25, 2021 How big of a cultural phenomenon must you be to have six hours of cutting-room-floor scraps from a documentary you half-heartedly made in 1969 become arguably the most anticipated streaming event of 2021? The answer can be found in *The Beatles: Get Back*, an ambitious reimagining of the original 81-minute, Oscar-winning *Let it Be.* This new version features tons of previously unseen footage – digitally remastered and edited into a three-episode series totaling seven hours and 48 minutes. Peter Jackson gets the director credit, but the title “editing wizard” seems more appropriate. After all, despite the series’ expansive feel, he still had to whittle it down from over 60 hours of video and almost three times as much audio, recorded over three weeks in January 1969. (He also had to add historical context – which he mostly succeeds at, save a rushed and not entirely accurate “Beatles for dummies” intro and a complete lack of contextual wrap-up.) Let’s not completely ignore the director of the original *Let it Be*, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. His movie was originally going to be a TV special and mega-concert before it collapsed into just a casual gig (the famous rooftop concert, most of which is included in both the original doc and this new one). It was then shelved for a year, until Phil Spector came in to salvage the album portion, after the Beatles had broken up. The film was then released in conjunction with the album. Think of that original doc as sort of a “greatest hits” of the new Jackson project, which is more exhaustive and rambling than its predecessor. But the new series is also filled with greater love than *Let it Be*, which focused more on the group’s angst and arguments. In *Get Back*, we still see the anger, but it’s overwhelmed by the joy that held the Beatles together for more than a decade and fueled their chemistry and friendship. The real joy for Beatle fans can be found in tiny, revelatory moments – some present in the *Let it Be* doc, some not and some merely hinted at. These include such gems as budding musical genius Alan Parsons, just 20 years old, working the audio booth; John Lennon confessing to Paul McCartney that, unlike him, he “can’t play bass and sing”; the contrast between Linda McCartney’s limited (and purposeful) presence and Yoko Ono’s lugubrious ubiquity; organist Billy Preston’s creative spark; an insightful Northern Songs business meeting; adorable 6-year-old Heather (Linda’s daughter) imitating Yoko’s primal screeching; the painful parturition of *The Long and Winding Road*; and the seemingly instantaneous births of countless classics that never made it onto the 1970 *Let it Be* album but instead saw either an earlier release on *Abbey Road*, in September 1969, or later exposure on solo albums. (Those tunes include John’s *Jealous Guy* and *Gimme Some Truth*, Paul’s *The* *Back Seat of My Car* and George Harrison’s *All Things Must Pass*.) And don’t leave the room for a jam buttie without hitting pause or you’ll miss a clever riff on, of all things, Anton Karas’s zither theme from *The Third Man*. Perhaps most intriguing is seeing the transformation of Paul into a sometimes forceful but reluctant leader, embraced by Ringo, occasionally tolerated by John but resented by George. “I’m scared of me being the boss,” Paul tells them. “And I have been for like a couple of years,” repeatedly referencing the 1967 death of “Mr. Epstein.” That we’re discussing this at all is astonishing – astonishing that the 16mm footage looks so good, astonishing that Jackson had the patience to put it together and astonishing that, after all these years, we still care about what could be seen by Beatle non-fans as tedious minutiae. I hate to admit it, but they might have a point, as *Get Back* is occasionally guilty of self-indulgence. But that begs the question: Who are these Beatle non-fans, and what can we do to help these people? Were they dropped on their heads as children? Have they misplaced their aesthetic compass? Or are they merely fools on, well, you know. I can think of no one other than the Beatles whose rehearsal crumbs and Apple peels are considered still delicious five decades after everyone else’s leftovers have long passed their expiration dates. It borders on religious zealotry. Maybe John was right after all: The Beatles really are bigger than Jesus. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* The Beatles: Get Back *is currently streaming on Disney+. Let’s hope a Blu-ray comes soon, followed by the long-promised re-release of the original* Let it Be *doc, the delay of which certainly isn’t hurting Disney’s* Get Back *marketing juggernaut. (Mice and (four) Men rule the world.)* *(Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia Harrison were co-producers on this project.)* *For more information on the mini-series, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9735318/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles:_Get_Back).* --- ### [Ghostbusters: Afterlife](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghostbusters-afterlife/) **Published:** November 22, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ghostbusters: Afterlife**, 2021, 4 stars # *Ghosts* (of our childhood) return ## Jason Reitman does fans (and his dad) proud [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Ghostbusters-Afterlife.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Ghostbusters-Afterlife.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 22, 2021 After a terrible 1989 sequel, a dreadful 2016 remake and countless non-theatrical offshoots that never captured the magic of the landmark 1984 film, *Ghostbusters* is finally back. And original director Ivan Reitman didn’t have to look far for someone to helm it. Like the wonderful new movie, his decision was all about family. *Ghostbusters: Afterlife* is the answer to the question: What did moviegoers not realize they had been waiting 37 years for? Reitman’s son, Jason (*Up in the Air*, *Young Adult*), has given us the answer, along with co-writer Gil Kenan and a great ensemble cast featuring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon (who plays the daughter of Egon Spengler) and the next generation of busters: Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim and Celeste O’Connor. And in one of the worst-kept secret of 2021, yes, the cast also includes Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson – plus some minor surprises and one thunderbolt. (And watch closely for interesting turns from J.K. Simmons and Tracy Letts, plus dozens of Easter eggs.) I’ll let you discover the story on your own, suffice to say it rehashes a lot of the original script without seeming too repetitive and relies heavily on nostalgia without feeling cloying. It never reaches the comedic heights of the 1984 classic. Indeed, despite clever dialogue and many chuckles, this is more Speilbergian science-fiction adventure than comedy. And though it leans too heavily on a *Goonies* vibe in its second act, the end product is quite simply the most fun you’ll have at the movies this year. As I left the cinema on what should have been a busy Sunday afternoon, I lamented the lack of crowds. I had been one of only about 10 people inside a theater meant for a hundred, and I saw roughly that same amount mingling in the lobby – and that included the four employees tasked with holding down the entire fort. Two were at the concession stand, one was at the bar, and another was sweeping the floor and scanning tickets. The box office, which, pre-pandemic, would have housed several employees busily selling tickets, was empty save a sign telling customers to pay inside, presumably from one of the two guys selling snacks or from a self-serve kiosk. We must return to some semblance of normal. We need to get past the COVID fear that is now just as great a threat as the virus itself. And we need to restore healthy theatrical windows and cut back on simultaneous streaming openings. If we don’t, the movie industry we once loved will never fully recover. Forget Gozer. That would be the true apocalypse. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4513678/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Afterlife).* --- ### [Last Night in Soho](https://www.meiermovies.com/last-night-in-soho/) **Published:** November 19, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Last Night in Soho***,* 2021*,* 3 stars # Film projection ### *Last Night* is a sexy trip despite *Soho*-hum script [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Last-Night-in-Soho.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Last-Night-in-Soho.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 19, 2021 A few nights ago, around 4 a.m., I awoke with a start. Sitting up in bed, I observed my surroundings: bedside table, television, desk. They were all familiar. And why shouldn’t they be? They were the objects I had awoken to for more than a decade. Leaving my bedroom and walking down the hall to the living room, I felt a sense of comfort, as if I were floating above the slightly worn carpet I’d trodden on innumerable times. I was home. Only trouble is: I’d moved from this apartment 15 years ago – and I was still asleep, in my current home. I was astral-projecting. In real life, of course, astral projection is probably just a fancier term for lucid dreaming, unless you are inclined to mysticism or a follower of Theosophy (which I once was). But in movies, astral projection can be real. And I’ve rarely been affected by it more viscerally than I was when watching *Last Night in Soho*, the new psychological thriller by writer-director Edgar Wright (*Shaun of the Dead*, *Baby Driver*), especially when said projection is accompanied by time travel – to 1960s London, no less. Thomasin McKenzie (*Jojo Rabbit*, *Leave No Trace*) plays the wide-eyed Ellie, a student headed from country Cornwall to lively London to fulfill her dream of becoming a fashion designer. But she veers off her career path when she moves from her noisy dorm to a quiet “bedsit” owned by a seemingly understanding, if strict, landlady (the legendary Diana Rigg, in her final role). Initially feeling at home in her new digs, Ellie’s life is upended by lucid dreams of the 1960s (the decade she loves). It’s in these dreams (or aforementioned projections) that Ellie meets (or becomes) Sandie, played by the luminous Anya Taylor-Joy (*The Witch*, *Split*). And in her waking hours, in a subplot that is only partially successful, she befriends a fellow student (Michael Ajao) who eventually becomes her chief confidante. Adding depth to the story is Ellie’s own past, which hints at mental instability and harks back to Roman Polanski’s *Repulsion*, about similar madness overwhelming a similarly beautiful blonde (Catherine Deneuve) in a similarly claustrophobic 1960s London. Throw in a dash of prostitution, sprinkles of murder and irresistible (and very British) appearances from Terence Stamp, Matt Smith and Margaret Nolan (also in her last role), and you have a film that’s almost script-proof. (Turns out the movie will need that proofing, but more on that later.) McKenzie and Taylor-Joy might be the sexiest female pairing since Naomi Watts and Laura Harring in *Mulholland Drive* or, delving even deeper, Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot in *Les Pétroleuses* (The Petroleum Girls). Unlike those other couples, there’s no physical sexuality between McKenzie and Taylor-Joy, yet the two have an undeniable chemistry and, despite facial differences, end up resembling each other, at least in this critic’s mind’s eye. It doesn’t matter that it all makes little sense. (The other two films didn’t either.) For this is a fever dream, and a fun one at that. Sadly, Wright and co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns do almost everything they can to spoil that dream toward the end, leaping from one climax (a nice twist) to an action ending, to an even more over-the-top horror finale, to, finally, a sappy wrap-up. Speaking of over the top, Wilson-Cairns wrote the script for Sam Mendes’ *1917*. But she also wrote for the TV show *Penny Dreadful*. Combine the pulpy sensibility of the latter with the otherworldliness of the former, throw in a bit of Wright’s sophomoric playfulness, and you arrive at *Last Night*. As for me, maybe I’ll astral-project again this night. And maybe it’ll be to someplace sexier than my old apartment. If I do, I hope McKenzie and Taylor-Joy are there, along with *Last Night*’s art direction, cinematography and wonderful music. But if my dream, like the film, trends ridiculous, I’ll force myself awake. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9639470/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Night_in_Soho).* --- ### [Who Framed Roger Rabbit](https://www.meiermovies.com/who-framed-roger-rabbit/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **W****ho Framed Roger Rabbit**, 1988 (and 2013 Blu-ray release), 5 stars ## *Roger* bounces to Blu-ray for 25th birthday ### Charles Fleischer and Cameron Meier discuss film [![Who_Framed_Roger_Rabbit=New_to_Blu-ray_2013_25th_Anniversary=Media=Static_Billboard===WDSHE_Worldwide=Blu-ray=No_Name](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Who_Framed_Roger_RabbitNew_to_Blu-ray_2013_25th_AnniversaryMediaStatic_BillboardWDSHE_WorldwideBlu-rayNo_Name-300x274.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Who_Framed_Roger_RabbitNew_to_Blu-ray_2013_25th_AnniversaryMediaStatic_BillboardWDSHE_WorldwideBlu-rayNo_Name.jpg) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/who-framed-roger-rabbit-is-back/Content?oid=2244226), March 13, 2013 Where were you in the summer of ‘88? If you were watching *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, you weren’t alone, as the blend of animation and live action played to packed houses and earned a permanent place in our hearts. Twenty-five years later, on the eve of its Blu-ray release, it’s still a masterpiece, an homage to the golden age of animation and classically crafted special effects. I recently had the honor of discussing the film’s legacy with Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger Rabbit. “It was groundbreaking because of its combination of animation and live action,” Fleischer says. “It was directed by Bob Zemeckis, who is a genius and an amazing storyteller. … And it introduced a new cartoon character, but did it in the ‘40s, so it seemed like it was real. It seemed like \[Roger\] had always been there. And like *The Wizard of Oz* or other classic films, it just had passion and heart and something that’s perhaps even undefinable, like the Beatles.” So how did Fleischer develop his famous rabbit voice? “My first pass at it, before I saw what the character looked like, was sort of a cross between John Huston and Ruth Gordon,” says Fleischer, who also voiced Benny the Cab and two of the weasels. “And then as I read the script and saw what \[Roger\] looked like, it evolved into what it was. And they told me they needed a speech impediment, and then the cheek flutter came in – pluh-pluh-pluh \[in Roger’s voice\]. And like the development of anything, it’s part magic, part science, part work, part play.” Joining Fleischer on the film was “the man of a thousand voices,” Mel Blanc, who performed Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Porky Pig and Tweety Bird for the final time on film. “We never had any scenes together, but certainly to be in a film with Mel \[was an honor\],” Fleischer says. “He certainly was a master.” What about the decades-long rumors of a sequel? “Oh, I think it would definitely be a good thing,” Fleischer says. “And, you know, it could conceivably happen. It’s a matter of getting all the elements in the proper configuration \[including Zemeckis\]. He just has the vision. He has the passion. He has the ability to utilize technology to tell a story as opposed to just be a whistle and a bell. And I think his involvement would certainly assure that it would be on the same level \[as the original\], if not higher.” Fleischer praises not just Zemeckis but the film’s animation director, Richard Williams, to whom he presented a special Oscar, one of four that the film received. “He was an extraordinary artist,” Fleischer says. “He was an actor with a pencil. I mean, you could see which scenes that he was specifically in charge of. There was a certain fluidity and a certain grace to the movements of Roger that \[are\] unique to his skill and style.” The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, out this week, contains the digitally remastered movie and many special features, including the three short films, a making-of documentary hosted by Fleischer, deleted scenes and commentaries. Although most of these features are also available on the deluxe DVD released a few years ago, it will be tough for fans to pass up the chance to see these goodies on Blu-ray. The lasting irony of the film is that it presents a happier version of Hollywood than the one reality has left us with. Although it’s painful to admit, the golden age of animation really did fade, the Red Car was dismantled, the freeways were built, and Los Angeles morphed into modernity. Yet *Roger Rabbit* preserves a different ending, one in which animation lives on and Hollywood retains its innocence. “That’s a very beautiful reflection, and I think it speaks to a certain Romantic concept that lives within everybody,” Fleischer says. “But even though \[animation’s golden age\] did end, right now we’re reliving it essentially with the 25th anniversary and the Blu-ray release. So, classic things will go forever, kind of like starlight. You know, even after the stars are no longer there, the light continues to move.” *© 2013 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Manos: The Hands of Fate](https://www.meiermovies.com/manos-the-hands-of-fate/) **Published:** July 15, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Manos: The Hands of Fate**, 1966 (and 2016 Blu-ray restoration), 0 stars # Still the worst of all time? [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-comparison.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-comparison.jpg)Compare the restored version on the left with the unrestored on the right, the latter of which has clearly failed as Torgo. (images copyright Synapse Films) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 15, 2017 I just watched Synapse Films’ 2K digital restoration of *Manos: The Hands of Fate* on Blu-ray. (A 4K restoration wouldn’t have made much sense because the film was shot on 16mm.) I’ve long ranked the film as the worst theatrically released movie ever, so, naturally, I thought I knew it. But, frankly, I’m stunned by what I’ve just seen. The difference between the old, familiar (deteriorated) version and this new one is amazing. Although it still looks like it was shot badly on 16mm (grain and all), it’s infinitely brighter, crisper and more colorful. Technical mistakes aside – and there are a ton of them – *Manos* now almost resembles a real movie. To see what I mean, take a look at this side-by-side comparison on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uae58589aec). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-comparison-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-comparison-2.jpg)The restored version appears on the right. This is presumably how the movie would have looked in 1966. However, because the restoration is based on a work print, one can assume it had to be re-edited to match the final version. In other words, milliseconds at the beginnings and ends of scenes could have been added or deleted, either intentionally or unintentionally. But because project coordinator Benjamin Solovey and the rest of the crew showed such care and dedication (and because the length of the restored film and the older version, which they are now calling the “grindhouse version,” are the same within a few seconds), we can assume the edits are virtually identical. However, Solovey and his team made one interesting deletion: the infamous clapperboard. Yes, director Hal Warren actually left the clapperboard in. You can see if for about half a second at the 7:02 minute mark of the “grindhouse version,” or at the 6:07 mark of the old Alpha Video DVD. I realize Solovey was trying to give us the best version possible of the worst film – oxymoron? – but he should have preserved everything, even one of the most jaw-dropping mistakes ever. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-clapperboard.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Manos-clapperboard.jpg)The infamous clapperboard (visible here in the original cut of the film from this “grindhouse” print) was not included in the restored version. Those of you who have seen only that aforementioned Alpha Video DVD will notice other changes too. Almost a minute’s worth of establishing shots at the beginning of the film are restored, as are about 10 seconds of that godawful singing during the drive to Valley Lodge. (Those pieces of film were part of the original cut but somehow got chopped out of the Alpha Video DVD version.) The new Blu-ray also offers some great extras, including a new 30-minute documentary featuring a great interview with the Master himself, Tom Neyman, before he passed away. (He has left this world, but he is with us always.) And we finally are given an explanation for the incompetent editing: It was done in four hours while drunk. (That is likely hyperbole, but it kind of makes sense.) The restoration is such an improvement, actually, that I’m tempted to revisit the film’s ranking as worst of all time. Perhaps *Birdemic: Shock and Terror* is more deserving of the #1 position? … Nah, I think I’ll still hold onto *Hands*. After all, the restoration just makes all the unintentional jump cuts, buzzing flies, bad acting, horrendous dubbing, out-of-focus shots and other screw-ups even more visible. *Manos*, you’re still the worst in my book, with or without your clapperboard. And though you’re now more beautiful, deep down you’re still the same pile of shit that fertilizer salesman Warren peddled back in ’66. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* ### Epilogue In 2020, after repeat viewings of both *Manos* and *Birdemic*, I changed my mind. Say what you want about *Manos* — it at least offers viewers a weird fever dream. *Birdemic*, on the other hand, offers nothing but embarrassment. But don’t weep for *Manos*. After all, “worst film of all time” is no badge of honor. It’s one of shame. And it’s *Birdemic*‘s turn to cloak that shame — until I perhaps change my mind again. --- ### [The Man Who Invented Christmas](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-man-who-invented-christmas/) **Published:** November 25, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Man Who Invented Christmas**, 2017, 3 ½ stars # A Dickens of a Christmas tale [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Man-Who-Invented-Christmas.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Man-Who-Invented-Christmas.jpg)Images copyright Mazur/Kaplan Company / Mob Film Company From *[The Detroit Metro Times](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/fact-meets-fiction-in-unconventional-holiday-flick/Content?oid=7297829)* and [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-man-who-invented-christmas-provides-a-fresh-perspective-on-a-holiday-favorite/Content?oid=8697052), November 22, 2017 God made the heavens and the earth in six days, but he didn’t create Christmas. That was left to Charles Dickens, who accomplished the task in just six weeks by writing the most beloved holiday classic of all time, *A Christmas Carol*. Of course, neither tale is true. But just as biblical stories make great yuletide tales, so too does *The Man Who Invented Christmas*, the partly fictional tale of how Dickens turned December 25 from just another holiday into the tradition we know today and, in the process, got his own literary mojo back by embracing his ho-ho-ho. Directed by Bharat Nalluri (*Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day*, *MI-5*), with a screenplay by Susan Coyne (based on the 2008 book by Les Standiford), the movie introduces us to Dickens at a downturn in his young career. Though he was already known as “the Shakespeare of the novel,” *Barnaby Rudge* and *Martin Chuzzlewit* had not lived up to his fans’ (great) expectations. Even worse, Dickens was deeply in debt and expecting his fifth child. He desperately needed a hit, and this film mixes fact with fantasy to concoct a charming, family-friendly tale of how Dickens produced that hit. The movie works largely because of the performance of Dan Stevens, who is just plain likeable as Dickens, unless you haven’t forgiven him for leaving *Downton Abbey*. It takes him some time to find his footing, though, at least in the early-going, when he does more mugging than the Artful Dodger and serves up a healthy heaping of holiday ham that would leave Oliver Twist asking for less. That early mediocrity is due in part to the script’s tonal failings, but after about 30 minutes, both Stevens and Nalluri have righted the ship. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Man-Who-Invented-Christmas-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Man-Who-Invented-Christmas-2.jpg)What really sets the film apart from the recent slate of abysmal holiday fare is its sweetness, good intentions and solid supporting performances. Everyone’s favorite Kevin Spacey stand-in, Christopher Plummer, is endearing as always, even when tasked with portraying Scrooge (or, more precisely, Dickens’ imaginary inspiration). Even better is Jonathan Pryce as Dickens’ father. The relationship between the elder and younger Dickens was a complicated one, and it provides the film’s dramatic highlight. And Justin Edwards (as Dickens’ business manager and the Ghost of Christmas Present) and Donna Marie Sludds (as Dickens’ housemaid and the Ghost of Christmas Past) are solid additions. If you expect to learn a lot about Christmas, you might be disappointed. We do get references to how ignored the holiday was pre-Dickens, but we never get a factual explanation of just how much *A Christmas Carol* enhanced the traditions. The screenplay instead delves into Dickens and posits (sometimes heavy-handedly) that he had a hidden Scrooge inside himself, one who was often neglectful of his family, haunted by his workhouse youth and insecure about his talent. “I’m the stain upon your soul,” Scrooge tells his creator, “and I will never, ever leave you.” It’s this retelling of the original novella – with Dickens as the central character – that imbues the film with both darkness and light, and a moral to boot. And though the real Dickens is often left in the shadows, enough magic emerges to boost the spirits of even the humbuggiest among us. *© 2017 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Maggie's Plan](https://www.meiermovies.com/maggies-plan/) **Published:** June 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Maggie’s Plan**, 2016, 3 ½ stars # A well-laid *Plan* ## *Maggie’s Plan* produces smart laughs [![maggie_s_plan_](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/maggie_s_plan_.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/maggie_s_plan_.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/maggies-plan-may-be-the-film-to-finally-bring-writer-director-rebecca-miller-and-actor-greta-gerwig-into-the-spotlight/Content?oid=2498664), June 8, 2016 In *Maggie’s Plan*, writer-director Rebecca Miller has shown a remarkable resemblance in both tone and subject to Woody Allen. But perhaps it’s not that surprising considering she comes from writing stock even more regal than Allen: her dad, Arthur Miller. But to praise the 53-year-old filmmaker just for her familial ties is insulting, as she’s led a more multi-faceted career than even her father. A fierce advocate for female filmmakers, Miller has embraced writing (both novels and screenplays), directing, producing and even acting, having worked with Alan Pakula and Mike Nichols. Despite that impressive resume, she’s not a household name. Though her directorial debut, *Angela*, in 1995, was well received at Sundance, she’s made just four films since. *The Private Lives of Pippa Lee* was a mild success in 2009, but her latest offering might finally be the one to grab the attention of mainstream audiences. Though it, too, feels small compared to what Miller might be capable of, it strikes a nice comedic tone and, in doing so, may be the vehicle to finally drag Greta Gerwig from quirky, yet underwhelming, independent-film darling to legitimate comedic actress. Gerwig plays the titular Maggie, whose plan (at least in the first third of the film) is to have a baby by artificial insemination. She picks Guy (Travis Fimmel), a “pickle entrepreneur,” as the donor, and comedy ensues. But after promising to be “back in a jiff with the jizz,” Guy turns out to not be the right guy. Enter Ethan Hawke, as John, who is stuck in a dismal marriage to a woman (Julianne Moore) described as a glacial, terrifying narcissist. He falls immediately for the younger Maggie while we fall for them both, as Hawke’s acting chops prove a perfect balance for Gerwig’s looser but no less loveable charm. But even Moore (with an odd but engaging German accent) garners our sympathy, especially toward the end when character motivations are turned on their heads. Throw in Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph as friends of Maggie, and even Wallace Shawn in a cameo, and you have an ensemble reminiscent of some of the more charming 1990s comedies, with a pleasing, unobtrusive score by Michael Rohatyn to boot. “There’s no plan, is there?” John’s daughter asks Maggie. Well, maybe Maggie doesn’t have a clear plan for her own narrative, but Miller does. Revealing more plot, though, would ruin the surprises of the clever, though slight, three-act script that Miller has concocted (based on a story by Karen Rinaldi). But if you’re that reader who demands details, simply think again of Allen: New York academics engaging in spirited, intellectual and often hilarious conversations about love and life. “Love is messy,” Hader’s character tells Maggie. “It’s illogical, \[and\] it’s wasteful.” Those aren’t exactly profound observations, but *Maggie’s Plan* does a competent job of depicting a world in which those ideas are both painfully and comedically true. And though the film feels a bit like a stepping stone to something greater for Miller, the stone is surprisingly polished. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Seaside, Florida ('The Truman Show')](https://www.meiermovies.com/seaside-florida-the-truman-show/) **Published:** January 1, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’re a fan of Peter Weir’s masterpiece from 1998, *The Truman Show*, you owe yourself a visit to the little town of [Seaside, Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaside,_Florida). Located in the Panhandle, between Panama City Beach and Pensacola, this unincorporated community was the filming location for the movie. Interestingly, Seaside is much smaller and sleepier than it seems in the film, which used digital enhancement to enlarge some of the buildings in the community center. (Click each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version. All images are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) And if you’d like a crash course in the cinema and television that influenced *The Truman Show*‘s theme of someone being trapped inside a filmed story, I’d suggest the following: Buster Keaton’s [*Sherlock Jr.*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Jr.) (1924), [*A World of Difference*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_World_of_Difference) (a 1960 episode of *The Twilight Zone*), Paul Bartel’s [*Secret Cinema*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Cinema) (a short film from 1966, which he remade as a 1986 episode of *Amazing Stories*), Woody Allen’s [*The Purple Rose of Cairo*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purple_Rose_of_Cairo) (1985) and [*Special Service* ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Service)(a 1989 episode of the reboot of *The Twilight Zone*.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00730.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00730.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00724.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00724.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00725.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00725.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00726.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00726.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00734.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00734.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00731.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00731.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00732.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00732.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00733.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC00733.jpg) --- ### [The Lunchbox](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lunchbox/) **Published:** December 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Lunchbox**, 2013, 3 ½ stars # Thinking out of the box ## *Lunchbox* is a touching tale of love, longing From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-lunchbox-is-a-touching-tale-of-love-and-longing/Content?oid=2243112)*, April 15, 2014 Mumbai’s lunchbox-delivery system is a well-oiled machine, with bicycles, rickshaws, trains and runners guaranteeing absolute accuracy. It’s been inspected by British royalty and studied by Harvard scientists. The system allows a worker to receive a hot lunch at his office on time every day, only an hour or two after his wife has prepared it. But what if there’s a glitch? [![The Lunchbox](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Lunchbox-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Lunchbox.jpg)Saajan (Irrfan Khan) is a cog in the wheel of another efficient system, a claims department of a soulless corporation. He’s been there for 35 years and is just one month from retirement. “Your golden years are about to start,” his replacement tells him. “How does it feel?” It feels melancholy, unfortunately, since Saajan is alone in the world, without much of a purpose. His lunches are delivered not by his wife but by a pre-paid restaurant. His isolation changes on the day the supposedly foolproof lunchbox system delivers him the wrong meal. The inaccurate deliveries continue, but instead of correcting the mistake, Saajan and Ila, the unhappy housewife on the other end of the snafu, embrace the mix-up and start corresponding through letters left in the lunchbox. A bond ensues, and despite their age difference, they both enjoy a little more meaning in their lives. Directed and co-written by first-timer Ritesh Batra, this Hindi-English film is both an unlikely romance and a commentary on the numb existence of many Indians who cram into offices and onto packed trains, throwing themselves against the throngs of humanity, only to never know another soul. Filmed in Mumbai with real-life dabbawalas (the workers who deliver the lunches), *The Lunchbox* is honest and touching, and features a pitch-perfect performance by Khan, whom American audiences might remember from *Life of Pi* and *Slumdog Millionaire*. His large, expressive eyes capture the realization that his golden years will be anything but gleaming and that if he doesn’t reach out for something emotionally meaningful now, it may be too late. Batra’s story is helped by a strong subplot involving Saajan’s co-worker, Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui)**,** a sweet soul who slowly brings the crusty older worker out of his shell, and a similarly strong turn by Nimrat Kaur as Ila. Only some plot drift and ambiguity toward the end mar the otherwise stellar script, which successfully captures the “ships passing in the night” metaphor – or, more specifically, the idea that the wrong train can take you to the right place. Speaking of ambiguity, it’s been an occasionally overused device since Italian Neorealism and French New Wave made it popular in the 1950s and ‘60s. While it can add a layer of honesty, it also can reek of laziness and pretension, especially when it’s applied to a story that would be better served with a clean ending. But that version of *The Lunchbox*, one with a clear-cut conclusion, doesn’t exist, so it’s impossible to say whether ambiguity was the best choice here. So, with apologies, I end with my own slight ambiguity, except to say that this is one cinematic meal you should savor. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Loving Vincent](https://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/) **Published:** October 4, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Loving Vincent**, 2017, 4 ¾ stars # Moving pictures ## *Loving Vincent* is this century’s best animated film [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Loving-Vincent.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Loving-Vincent.jpg)Image copyright BreakThru Productions / Trademark Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/loving-vincent-is-this-centurys-best-animated-film/Content?oid=7401607), October 4, 2017 Oil painting was arguably the dominant visual art form for nearly 500 years before being supplanted in the early 20th century by film. But no one has had the courage to fully combine the two mediums until now. *Loving Vincent*, an astonishingly beautiful new movie about the life and death of Vincent van Gogh, is the brainchild of Polish filmmaker Dorota Kobiela, who directed it with English moviemaker Hugh Welchman and wrote it with Welchman and fellow Pole Jacek Dehnel. It took them and a team of more than 100 artists over six years to hand-paint the film’s 65,000 frames. The wait was worth it, as their creation is the best animated film of this century and the most nobly conceived of all time. Though each painting is an original composition, the artists had help. For the characters (almost all of which are based on the real people in Van Gogh’s paintings), the filmmakers started with old-fashioned rotoscoping, the process of filming live action and painting over it. Purists might call it cheating, but it’s been used by the likes of Walt Disney (for the dance sequences in *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs*) to produce breathtakingly realistic movement. But even with rotoscoping, the artists still had to paint everything, including the landscapes, which were inspired by Vincent’s paintings. Seeing his masterpieces come to life is almost a religious experience for Van Gogh fans. The story, though a tad straightforward, is almost as entertaining as the art. Set in 1891 (one year after Vincent’s death), the screenplay examines the mysterious circumstances of Vincent’s supposed suicide by introducing us to the people the artist knew in Paris, Arles and Auvers, France. These are the men, women and children who inhabited his paintings and letters, and the plot – though fictional – feels like a true-life detective story. The detective is not a detective at all but a cantankerous drunkard named Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth). Though Armand knew Vincent, he shows little interest in solving the mystery of the artist’s death when first approached by his father, Joseph (Chris O’Dowd). Joseph was Vincent’s mailman and close friend, and when he discovers that one of the final letters Vincent wrote to his brother Theo has gone undelivered, he convinces his son to deliver it in person. But after Armand discovers that Theo too has died and everyone he meets has a different take on Vincent’s death, he is transformed, and his quest to deliver the letter (a classic Hitchcock MacGuffin) turns into a journey of self-discovery. If this all sounds a bit like *The Third Man*, it is, complete with numerous noir-style flashbacks painted in gorgeous black and white. You shouldn’t expect Vincent to turn up alive like Harry Lime, but you can look forward to a rebirth of his spirit. The movie is well scored by Clint Mansell (known for his Darren Aronofsky compositions), surprisingly fast paced and affectionately acted. (Saoirse Ronan, Jerome Flynn, Helen McCrory, John Sessions, Eleanor Tomlinson and Robert Gulaczyk – as Vincent – are all pitch perfect.) Indeed, this was obviously a passion project for everyone involved, including the co-directors, who fell in love during the production. After watching their film, you might just fall in love too. “We cannot speak other than by our paintings,” Van Gogh wrote. This movie practically bellows, and its message about love, life and art is heard loud and clear, even if you have but one ear. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For other art-themed films, see [this 2006 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/top-10-movies-about-art-and-artists/).* --- ### [The Little Stranger](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-little-stranger/) **Published:** August 31, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Little Stranger**, 2018, 4 stars # Haunted by class ## Supernatural drama deconstructs collapse of gentry [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Little-Stranger.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Little-Stranger.jpg)Images copyright Canal+ / Film4 / Pathé! / Focus Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/04/supernatural-drama-the-little-stranger-deconstructs-the-collapse-of-english-gentry), September 4, 2018 When it was announced earlier this year that *Downton Abbey* would be getting a cinematic reboot, some fans of the British television show hoped the new movie would pick up not in the 1920s (when the show left off), but 20 years on. That would allow for an even more profound commentary on the collapse of British country estates and the class structure that fed them. That is unlikely, however, as the film will probably begin where the series ended. But if you’re still longing for a glimpse of English manor houses in the late 1940s, you can now view them in all their faded glory through the lens of Irish director Lenny Abrahamson (*Room*) and his new film, *The Little Stranger.* Lovingly adapted from the 2009 novel by Sarah Walters, Abrahamson’s movie concerns a doctor named Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson), who appears resigned to his middle-class station and middle-aged bachelorhood in the rural English county of Warwickshire. Though he’s aware that he could be leading a more exciting and professionally fulfilling life in London, this seemingly mild-mannered, unassuming gentleman nevertheless has a strange sense that his destiny lies in his native village. He knows which side his milquetoast is buttered. But having grown up in the shadow of Hundreds Hall, the village’s grandest manor, Faraday has always been acutely aware of his place, or lack thereof, in society. Indeed, his strong feelings for the house – which range from love to resentment – are deep-rooted thanks to his late mother, who briefly worked there. So when Faraday is called to the manor to treat a servant (Liv Hill) who has fallen ill, he is more than pleased to strike up a friendship with the family, particularly with Caroline (Ruth Wilson), who is close to his age and also single. Faraday learns, however, that time has not been kind to Hundreds when he asks Caroline’s brother, Roderick (Will Poulter), whether it’s “one of the maids” who is sick. Rendered incredulous at Faraday’s remark, Roderick implies that the manor struggles to keep just one maid. But Faraday is still right chuffed to be a part of the tiny household and seems to take pride in caring for Roderick – who was badly injured in World War II – and the siblings’ aging mother (Charlotte Rampling). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Little-Stranger-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Little-Stranger-2.jpg)“This house works on people,” the mother tells Faraday, foreshadowing events of the film’s final act. It’s a treat to watch those events play out in deliberate, mysterious fashion, and it’s even more fascinating to see how Lucinda Coxon’s screenplay suffuses supernatural elements in what is otherwise a profound and unique commentary on post-war English society. For this is indeed a haunted house filled with haunted characters, though perhaps not in the way you expect. Eschewing jump scares and cheap thrills, *The Little Stranger* slowly reveals itself. But just when you think you might have things figured out, it leaves you guessing. More importantly, this unexpectedly deep film leaves you thinking – not just about the destiny of its characters but the destiny of England. For just as Faraday believes that “a man cannot outrun himself,” so too does Hundreds Hall and its occupants believe they are doomed to an existence that has become not just unsustainable but malevolent. The movie asks a lot of its audience in the second half, when its momentum sags slightly. But the atmospheric cinematography and strong performances more than make up for structural flaws. In fact, this is arguably Gleeson’s most sensitive, accomplished performance since 2012’s *Anna Karenina*. Wilson (Gleeson’s co-star in *Anna Karenina*) and Rampling (*45 Years*) are even better, while Poulter (*We’re the Millers*) and Hill (*Three Girls*) are both engrossing. *Hereditary* – another excellent but far more shocking, graphic thriller from this year – establishes its mood early with disturbing violence involving a child, and *The Little Stranger* does the same when the family dog unexpectedly mauls a girl. Following the attack, Caroline realizes she must surrender her beloved pet, and Abrahamson uses that moment of grief to color the world of not just his characters but all wealthy, land-owning Britons of that era. “Everything else is gone,” Caroline laments. “Why not take him too?” *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Little Women](https://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/) **Published:** December 15, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Little Wome**n, 2019, 2 ¼ stars # *Little Women* reworked ## Greta Gerwig gambles with story’s timeline, structure [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Little-Women.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Little-Women.png)Image copyright Sony Pictures / Columbia Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 14, 2019 The first film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s *Little Women* hit the big screen (the *only* screen at the time) in 1917, less than 50 years after the novel was written. Now, 102 years later, the book is getting its eighth cinematic adaptation. Is eight enough? That depends on your familiarity with the older movies and your own storytelling preferences. For me, it’s too much. Despite a never-aging story, it’s difficult to make every movie version seem unique and necessary, especially because the sixth (and best) version, from 1994, is still relatively fresh in our minds. That’s the one with Susan Sarandon as the mother, and Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado and Kirsten Dunst (and Samantha Mathis as the elder version) as the daughters. Noteworthy for Ryder’s endearing but surprisingly non-tomboyish interpretation of Jo and a stunning turn by Danes as the doomed Beth, that version is the most narratively satisfying rendition of the domestic and romantic escapades of the March family, in Massachusetts, in the years during and immediately following the Civil War. Directed by Gillian Armstrong, it’s also memorable for solid performances by Christian Bale (as next-door neighbor and love interest, Laurie) and Gabriel Byrne (as Jo’s German beau, Friedrich Bhaer). Gerwig apparently thought she had to do something revolutionary to top that version. Perhaps taking inspiration from Joe Wright and his brilliant reworking of *Anna Karenina* in 2012, she took an enormous gamble by completely altering the story’s structure. Instead of following a traditional timeline, she incessantly cuts back and forth between part one (set during the Civil War) and part two (three or four years later). Eschewing linear storytelling and character continuity, she instead organizes the narrative by theme, mood and other unpredictable elements, an increasingly prevalent crutch of 21st-century filmmakers. It’s a noble but misguided effort, as the muddled story never congeals. Further, thanks to the frenetic and odd juxtaposition of vignettes, we’re robbed of our chance to truly understand the lives of the March sisters and experience the natural progression of their triumphs and tragedies. The character of Beth gets particularly lost, as do the otherwise effective performances of Saorise Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg and Florence Pugh as Amy. Further, the characters of Laurie and Frederick are poorly conceived and forgettably portrayed, which is surprising considering the former is played by Timothée Chalamet. And Laura Dern, as the mother, is far more memorable in this year’s *Marriage Story*, while Meryl Streep, as aunt March, is mostly wasted. (Edna May Oliver, from the 1933 version directed by George Cukor and starring Katherine Hepburn, is still the best in that part.) Gerwig arguably lends her film more style and panache than previous adaptations, not to mention an interesting feminist, metatheatrical ending. But the film contains less heart and significantly less clarity than the 1994 film (3 ½ stars), the classic but flawed 1933 version (2 ¼ stars), and the sweet and impeccably crafted 1949 retelling (3 ¼ stars) directed by Mervin LeRoy and starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh and Peter Lawford. The good news is Gerwig’s version has been far better received than the one from last year that transplanted the Marches to the modern world. It proves that time has been kind to Alcott’s story, even if Gerwig’s script hasn’t. I direct my final comment not to Gerwig or those involved with the production — as their intentions and efforts are genuine — but to the media and the movie’s marketing division. By labeling the film as a long-overdue feminist interpretation, they are insulting all the women — and men — involved in previous productions while cynically taking advantage of our current social climate. Truth is, *Little Women* was a feminist piece of art in 1994 (when it was also directed by a woman), in 1949, in 1933 and way back in the 1860s. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the new movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3281548/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women_(2019_film)).* --- ### [The Lion King](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lion-king/) **Published:** July 20, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Lion King**, 2019, 3 ¾ stars # *The Lion King* reigns again [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Lion-King.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Lion-King.jpeg)Image copyright Walt Disney Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/disneys-new-lion-king-is-an-enormous-aesthetic-accomplishment/Content?oid=25659737), July 17, 2019 *The Lion* is a cow. More precisely, it’s Disney’s cash cow and has been since the original became the third-highest-grossing animated film ever (after *Snow White* and *101 Dalmatians*), adjusted for inflation, and inspired sequels, TV shows and a stage musical. The question, therefore, isn’t whether the Mouse will continue milking it, but how and when. So, how now? Excellent. That’s how. Director Jon Favreau, who helmed the wonderfully reimagined *Jungle Book* in 2016, has again shown why he is the go-to guy for Disney remakes. As with *Jungle*, he understands nostalgia and is just as concerned with honoring the Disney canon as with sticking his own stamp on it. In fact, with *The* *Lion King*, he is too careful, mostly content to recreate the original, sometimes line by line and shot for shot. This means his film – which is penned by Jeff Nathanson but relies on the 1994 screenplay, plus the original music by Elton John and Tim Rice – sometimes lacks excitement and freshness. But just when it starts to feel too familiar, the eye-popping animation saves the day. Yes, this is an animated film, not a live-action reboot or a “movie” compared to the 1994 “cartoon.” If you’re struggling to describe the difference between the two, try using “hand-drawn” and “computer-generated.” But even those terms are messy, as the new film’s animators certainly used their hands and the original film’s artists also had assistance from (comparatively primitive) technology. So let’s say the ’94 crew – many of whom worked at the Disney-MGM Studios here in Orlando – relied mostly on ink and paper while today’s group focused on showcasing the latest photorealistic, computer-generated art. If you don’t already know the story, I envy you. You will notice echoes of Shakespeare’s *Hamlet*, as King Mufasa and his son Simba are overthrown by evil Uncle Scar. You’ll relate to Simba’s long journey of self-discovery, helped along by two of the most memorable sidekicks in the Disney repertoire, a meerkat named Timon and a warthog named Pumbaa. And you will appreciate the film’s surprisingly peaceful, even quiet vibe (reminiscent of Disneynature movies), in addition to its mystical African influences, which are even more prominent than in the original. Too much attention has been paid to Disney’s efforts to involve mostly African-American actors this time when, of course, animated talking animals have no human ethnicity. Still, the cast is impressive and is only occasionally upstaged by the “uncanny valley” of the CGI. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a suitable Scar (though he’s robbed of most of his “Be Prepared” musical extravaganza), Donald Glover plays adult Simba, Alfre Woodard portrays Sarabi, John Kani is magical as Rafiki, Beyoncé brings to life Nala (and a new song), John Oliver is spot-on as Zazu, and James Earl Jones reprises his role as Mufasa. The unenviable task of replacing Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as Timon and Pumbaa falls to Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan, and they are up to the task only intermittently. That’s more than one can say for the three chief hyenas, voiced by Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre, who capture none of the humor and energy of the original characters. *The Lion King* is an enormous aesthetic accomplishment, a huge improvement over the recent *Aladdin* and *Dumbo* remakes, and one of the best films of the year. Nevertheless, as the sun was setting on Pride Rock once again, I was struck by an essential truth that these CGI-laden remakes often ignore: The best stylistic, hand-drawn animation is often more exciting, expressive and interesting than reality. Walt taught us that. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *Cameron Meier* --- ### [Like a Boss](https://www.meiermovies.com/like-a-boss/) **Published:** January 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Like a Boss**, 2020, ½ star # Horrible *Boss* ## *Like a Boss* early contender for year’s worst film [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Like-a-Boss.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Like-a-Boss.jpg)Tiffany Haddish (left), Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek star in *Like a Boss*. (image copyright Paramount Pictures) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 12, 2020 “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” That adage is given new life by the actors in the female buddy comedy *Like a Boss*, who, sans a single laugh, need just 83 minutes to die on screen. Directed by Miguel Arteta (*The Good Girl*) and written by Sam Pitman and Adam Cole-Kelly, the raunchy, R-rated *Like a Boss* tells the story of Mia (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel (Rose Bryne). Best pals since childhood, the two women run a small makeup and beauty business together, along with friends Sydney (Jennifer Coolidge) and Barrett (Billy Porter). But because their company is hopelessly in debt, they embrace an offer from a cosmetics mogul, Claire Luna (Salma Hayek), to bail them out and provide irresistible opportunities to improve and market their products, in exchange for 49-percent ownership in their company. But, predictably, Claire’s offer is as fake as her greasepaint, and Mia and Mel are soon forced to reevaluate not just their business decisions but their friendship. During one of their inane conversations – which resemble bad stand-up routines more than believable dialogue – Mia tells Mel she prefers “dumb dick” to an intelligent boyfriend. “I don’t care if they can read,” she says. Apparently neither do the creators of *Like a Boss*, whose disrespect for their audience’s intelligence is palpable and their disregard for smart filmmaking inexcusable. But regardless of your own personal taste, the undeniable fact is the script just doesn’t make much sense. Why would a failing small business that apparently consists of just four employees, a single store and a website attract the almost undivided attention of a multi-billion-dollar corporation? Further, how could such a modest business go into debt to the tune of almost half a million dollars while simultaneously raking in $21,000 in web sales each month? And why does Claire’s office building look more like a hotel or mall than a corporate headquarters? (Maybe because it’s really AmericasMart Atlanta.) The setup simply doesn’t pass the smell test. The stink would be somewhat tolerable if this were pure farce or absurdism, or in the least bit funny. It’s none of the above, and the attempted pivot to heartfelt friendship film in its third act is arguably the movie’s most embarrassing failure. And how do we recognize said pivot? Why, cue the maudlin music, of course. *Like a Boss* even has the guts to tout an ill-conceived message about female empowerment, though the villain (Claire) is also a woman. This is the moment in a rotten review when a critic usually finds it in his or her heart to compliment the premise, recognize the inherent talent of the cast or mention at least one well-crafted moment. But not this time. *Like a Boss* is the worst thing to happen to the cosmetics industry since skin rashes. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7545266/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Boss_(film)).* --- ### [The Lighthouse](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lighthouse/) **Published:** October 24, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Lighthouse**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Dim *Light* ## *The Lighthouse* gets lost in its own shadows [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Lighthouse.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Lighthouse.jpg)Image by Eric Chakeen; film copyright A24 / New Regency Pictures / RT Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-lighthouse-gets-lost-in-its-own-shadow/Content?oid=26187622), October 23, 2019 Adrift on a cinematic sea? I pray Robert Eggers’ *Lighthouse* doesn’t become your beacon. You’ll be dashed to death on the rocks of pretension. After a promising directorial debut in 2015 with *The Witch*, Eggers returns to New England – or, more precisely, an island off the coast of the northeastern United States – with his latest suspense movie. While the former film tackled 17th-century witchcraft, his new one (set two centuries later) focuses instead on demons of a personal, psychological nature. This is the tale of two “wickies” trapped in their remote lighthouse for more than twain fortnights, forced to confront bad tempers, diminishing rations, manual labor, stormy weather and surprisingly ill-mannered seagulls. Eventually, as one might expect, they go slightly mad. Or were they mad to begin with? Or are they the same person, metaphorically? These might all be weighty, existential questions worth pondering had they been presented in a smarter script by actors more in command of their performances. As Thomas Wake, Willem Dafoe is satisfyingly unhinged, his mad eyes captured by the 35mm black-and-white film. But he also employs too much *Boondock Saints* overacting, as if Eggers’ only instructions were to go full salty sea dog. And to paraphrase *Tropic Thunder*, you should never go full salty sea dog. Couple the lack of discipline with a dialect that seems to belong more to (old) Hampshire than New England, and Dafoe leaves the film teetering on the brink of farce. “You sound like a goddamn parody,” his assistant, Ephraim Winslow, tells him. A truer line isn’t spoken in the entire movie. As Ephraim, Robert Pattinson is equally lost but still enjoying the hell out of this two-hander, which affords him the chance to bash a bird to smithereens, masturbate, mumble incoherently, hallucinate and get shit blown in his face. And, like Dafoe’s, Pattinson’s dialect is odd, starting out as a mix of General American and his own British, morphing into New York or New Jersey, and eventually ending as South Boston or Downeast New England, which is what both he and Dafoe’s accent probably should have been from the start. The good news is the film is atmospheric and luminous, like something out of the 1920s, complete with an old-fashioned, boxy aspect ratio. Perhaps Eggers was striving for claustrophobia with the ratio (or mimicking the lighthouse’s verticality), but the disappointing story predominates. Still, Eggers – who co-wrote the script with his brother, Max – scrapes the surface of some interesting metaphors. For instance, Thomas never allows Ephraim to see the lamp. “The light is mine,” he tells his young assistant. Predictably, that leads Ephraim to both fear and seek it. Enter moth, stage right. If Pattinson is scared of the light, Eggers seems afraid of the silence, for he punctuates almost every scene with yelling, overscoring and obtrusive sound effects. It makes for a noisy and downright unpleasant experience. So my suggestion would be to skip it and revisit two recent films that more maturely feature lighthouses: Alex Garland’s *Annihilation* and Erica Fae’s *To Keep the Light*. Perhaps *The Lighthouse*’s more egregious transgression is that, despite its starkly beautiful cinematography, it wrings the magic and romanticism out of the noble, extinct profession of lightkeeping. I’m just glad Augustin-Jean Fresnel isn’t alive to see it. (Google him. Perhaps your research will fill you with wonder the way this film should have.) *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lean on Pete](https://www.meiermovies.com/lean-on-pete/) **Published:** April 23, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Lean on Pete**, 2017, 3 ½ stars # Uncommon coming-of-age ## *Lean on Pete* breaks narrative rules [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lean-on-Pete.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lean-on-Pete.jpg)Image copyright BFI Film Fund / Film4 / A24 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/lean-on-pete-breaks-narrative-rules/Content?oid=12864243), April 18, 2018 *Lean on Pete* is a hardscrabble coming-of-age odyssey of a boy and his eponymous pony. But while the equine is an unremarkable brown, the movie is a horse of a different color. A deceptively simple tale of 15-year-old Charley (Charlie Plummer), whose life goes from comfortable to chaotic when family tragedy strikes, the drama was one of the highlights of the recent Florida Film Festival. If you’ve got your cinematic blinders on, you might label this just another boy-meets-world-meets-animal story. And you might be forgiven for that, as the film’s first third focuses on Charlie’s unlikely friendship with a horse owner named Del (Steve Buscemi), a jockey called Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny) and the horse itself, which is ultimately bound for a Mexican slaughterhouse. But the rest of the film veers surprisingly off course, mostly in a good way. Technically a British production because of the English writer-director-producer team of Andrew Haigh (*45 Years*) and Tristan Goligher, *Lean on Pete* is quintessentially American. Set and filmed mostly in Oregon, and based on the novel by Willy Vlautin, it reeks of the West. Depicting the emotional and geographical wanderings of Charley, Haigh’s film isn’t afraid to wander as well – into territory that’s both bleak and unexpectedly complex in its depictions of despair, perseverance and, ultimately, survival. Structured more like three movies than a single, cohesive narrative, it does lose its way occasionally. Those detours are sometimes welcome and sometimes tedious, and, admittedly, one entire sub-story and set of characters could be excised. But at its core, this is a story of a soul going it alone and searching blindly for answers that may never come. Fittingly, those types of searches are never neat and tidy. Though it carries a strong animal-rights message, *Lean on Pete* is one of the most human films you’ll see this year. That’s thanks mostly to the writing and performances, which demonstrate a patient and tender realism. Plummer, who was superb as the kidnapping victim in *All the Money in the World*, is again stellar. As always, Buscemi brings heart to an otherwise abhorrent character, and he’s balanced nicely by a warm and intriguing turn by Sevigny (*Boys Don’t Cry*, *Zodiac*). Also memorable despite a small part is Travis Fimmel (*Vikings*, *Maggie’s Plan*), who imbues Charley’s dad with a sensitivity that belies his gruff, immature exterior. And rounding out the strong supporting cast is Steve Zahn (*Reality Bites*, *War for the Planet of the Apes*), whose unforgettable encounter with Charley challenges our perception of the protagonist. “You can’t get attached to the horse,” Bonnie tells Charley. But Charley does, and by doing so, finds himself. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Liberal Arts](https://www.meiermovies.com/liberal-arts/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Liberal Arts**, 2012, 3 ¾ stars # Old school is young again [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Liberal-Arts.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Liberal-Arts.jpg)Image copyright IFC Films / BCDF Pictures / Strategic Moon Ventures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/liberal-arts-1.1399539), November 7, 2012 It’s exceedingly difficult to capture the emotions and angst of multiple generations in the same movie, Robert Altman notwithstanding. Yet Josh Radnor, in his sophomore directorial outing, defies the odds by presenting us with *Liberal Arts*, an insightful, touching and amusing three-generational study that is anything but sophomoric. Radnor, who also wrote the piece, stars as Jesse Fisher, a directionless 35-year-old college-admissions employee living in New York City. In a twisted commentary on aging, Jesse longs to return to the meaning and maturity of his youthful days at a small liberal-arts college in rural Ohio. He’s sort of like *The Graduate*’s Benjamin Braddock, except Jesse never got his Elaine and he’s not 21 anymore. So it’s no surprise that, when his favorite former professor (a pitch-perfect Richard Jenkins) asks him to return to his alma mater to deliver a speech at his retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. He immediately feels right at home again. “Why do you love it here so much?” a current student asks him. “You get to sit around and read books all day, have really great conversations about ideas,” Jesse answers. “People out in the real world – they’re not really doing that. Think about it: You can go up to everyone here and say, ‘I’m a poet,’ and no one will punch you in the face.” Helping to facilitate Jesse’s *Benjamin Button*-like transformation is Zibby, a radiant and precocious 19-year-old played by Elizabeth Olsen, who gives the film truth and beauty but also some sadness. She, too, is a bit lost among her age group, and the two form a strong bond. But it’s really the emotional struggles of Jesse’s former professor that lends depth. Not happy with his own stage of life, regretful of his retirement and disconcerted by Jesse’s attraction to a girl 16 years his junior, he bemoans, “Nobody feels like an adult. It’s the world’s dirty secret.” If you weren’t depressed enough already, Radnor throws you, briefly but brilliantly, into the world of another of Jesse’s former professors (Allison Janney), who has all but given up on romance, despite teaching Romanticism. Office politics and the “disappointment of people” have simply weighed her down too much. “Sit through a faculty meeting at a liberal-arts college, Mr. Young Person,” she tells Jesse. “I assure you you will lose all faith in humanity. … I \[still\] *like* to teach. I used to *love* it.” To Radnor’s credit, he injects humor, quirkiness and a wonderfully scathing intellectual indictment of the *Twilight* series into what could have been the biggest slit-your-wrists flick of the year. Admittedly, he muddles the third act slightly by interjecting too many characters. And Zac Efron, as a hippie college dude, seems out of place. But like the character he plays – a former English/history major – Radnor is well versed in both subjects and manages to school us on the disappointments, ironies and alienations of the human experience, regardless of our age. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Last Word](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-word/) **Published:** March 14, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Last Word**, 2017, 1 ¾ stars # Uninspired *Word* ## Shirley MacLaine dramedy is unremarkable [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Last-Word.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Last-Word.jpg)Image copyright Franklin Street / Myriad Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/shirley-maclaine-and-amanda-seyfried-cant-save-the-uninspired-script-of-the-last-word/Content?oid=3177550), March 14, 2027 Since the first movie version of Charles Dickens’ *A Christmas Carol* in 1901, filmmakers have been relaying the tale of an elderly person contemplating his or her existence and attempting self-improvement before death. Add to that list of redemption stories *The Last Word*, starring Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried. Though the movie is likeable and contains a unique premise, the dramedy falls flat thanks to its contrived, unremarkable script and performances that often fail to connect on an honest, emotional level. MacLaine, admittedly a good fit for the role, plays Harriet Lauler, an aging and – as the British would say – obsolete ad executive who has been discarded from her own agency. All that’s left for her is death, but Harriet is such a control freak that she longs to engineer even her own demise. “The thought of leaving my obituary to chance is completely unreasonable to me,” Harriet bemoans. So she turns to her local paper’s obituary writer, Anne Sherman (Seyfried), whom – thanks to Harriet’s generous financial donations to the struggling paper – is forced to follow Harriet for days, studying her and concocting the perfect obit. It’s an unenviable task. “She puts the bitch in obituary,” Anne complains. But after Anne initially gives up after no one has a single compliment for Harriet, the subject persists: “You’re going to help shape a legacy.” And so the obituary composition turns into something greater: a reinvention of Harriet. And therein lies the problem, as director Mark Pellington and writer Stuart Ross Fink can’t make the transformation believable or interesting enough to warrant a run time of 108 minutes. That might not seem long, but after enduring Harriet’s nonsensical and tonally challenged mentoring of an underprivileged child, Harriet’s quest to become a disc jockey and Harriet’s attempt at reconciliation with her estranged daughter (Anne Heche in the film’s briefest and best performance), we’ve had our fill of Harriet, and then some. (I was just as interested in the transformation of Anne, but that subplot is never fully developed. And the talented Thomas Sadoski, as Anne’s romantic interest, is mostly wasted.) It’s not that MacLaine is bad. (Indeed, the legend has earned the right to return to the screen in whatever role she chooses.) Playing a sort of irresistible curmudgeon, she has her moments of dramatic and comedic success, as does Seyfried, but the writing and acting simply aren’t crisp or revelatory enough to recommend a viewing. It’s as if the movie is searching for what obit writers call the “wild card,” something to define a subject and grab the reader’s attention. It gropes madly for that card but comes up empty-handed. And that’s *my* last word. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Last Vermeer](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-vermeer/) **Published:** November 25, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Last Vermeer**, 2020, 3 stars # Vermeer catfish ## *The Last Vermeer* paints picture of ambiguity [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Last-Vermeer.png)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Last-Vermeer.png)Claes Bang and Vicky Krieps (photos courtesy of Telluride Film Festival and copyright Imperative Entertainment / NL Film / TriStar Pictures) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/wwii-art-mystery-the-last-vermeer-paints-a-picture-of-wartimes-ambiguities/Content?oid=28337336), November 23, 2020 “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary,” Pablo Picasso said. If that’s true, the paintings of Han van Meegeren should top *The New York Times* all-time bestseller list. Van Meegeren, a talented but underachieving artist from Amsterdam, stumbled from obscurity to national fame in post-war Netherlands when he was arrested for selling priceless Vermeer paintings to the Nazis. That accusation alone would have been enough to guarantee his celebrity, but it was his explanation of his apparent misdeeds that caught the world’s attention. If you’re familiar with van Meegeren, *The Last Vermeer* won’t spring many surprises. And unlike the exquisite creations of Vermeer, the film is a bit rough around the edges. But the fascinating story and the script’s unusual decision to focus more on the people who defended van Meegeren, rather than van Meegeren himself, make it worth a watch. Directed by first-time helmer Dan Friedkin (American billionaire and no relation to William Friedkin) and penned by John Orloff, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, the drama is based on the biography *The Man Who Made Vermeers* by Jonathan Lopez. Orloff wrote the screenplay under the pen name James McGee, and the film premiered at last year’s Telluride Film Festival under a different title, *Lyrebird*, which refers to an Australian fowl famous for its mimicry. If those facts don’t give you a hint of the plot, this movie is probably not your bag. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Last-Vermeer-with-Guy-Pearce.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Last-Vermeer-with-Guy-Pearce.jpg)Guy Pearce As van Meegeren, Guy Pearce is memorable but a bit on the nose. He’s clearly having a blast, but his flamboyance wears thin at times. As Joseph Piller (van Meegeren’s principal defender), Danish actor Claes Bang (*The Square*, which Friedkin produced) is more palatable and relatable. His performance is further buoyed by a tender and understated turn by Luxembourgian actress Vicky Krieps (*The Phantom Thread*), one of the best performers you might not yet know. (She’s worth your time.) And it’s enhanced even further by fellow Dane Roland Moller, who plays Piller’s right-hand man. (Their relationship will conjure memories of Major Calloway and Sergeant Paine from *The Third Man*, which was filmed, of course, in the real ruins of World War II.) Speaking of *The Third Man*, another star of *The Last Vermeer* is the cinematography, particularly the lighting, by Remi Adefarasin, assisted nicely by Arthur Max’s production design, though Amsterdam seems unrealistically tidy considering the war ended just days before the events of the film. (Not so for Rotterdam, though, which is naturalistically portrayed as having been bombed almost to oblivion.) Yet the mood of Amsterdam is appropriately manic, with the mob demanding speedy revenge on anyone suspected of collaborating with Germans. The way the crowd is shown despising and then immediately embracing van Meegeren is particularly heavy-handed. (Then again, we’ve all been reminded of the mob’s bipolarity in recent months, so perhaps the characterization isn’t too far off.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg)From left, Guy Pearce, director Dan Friedkin, Vicky Krieps and Claes Bang discuss the film at its world premiere at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival. (photo by Cameron Meier) Also somewhat maladroit is Friedkin’s handling of those who oppose the coddling defense of van Meegeren. Indeed, with no actual Nazis to portray, the film uses these Dutchman as their stand-ins, seemingly plucked from a B-movie. This broad characterization is probably intended to highlight the thin line between good and evil, Allies and Axis. Nevertheless, the acting does sometimes rob the film of believability and subtlety. The film’s triumph is not its reintroduction of van Meegeren to the world, though that is commendable. Instead, it’s the conversation it fosters about art itself. Why is a 17th-century painting superior to a modern one of similar quality? Why are certain artists celebrated and others ignored just because a small group of critics decreed it? And why should you care about what I’m writing now? Maybe you shouldn’t. I guess I’m giving *The Last Vermeer* the last word. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Last Flag Flying](https://www.meiermovies.com/last-flag-flying/) **Published:** November 24, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Last Flag Flying**, 2017, 2 stars # Half-mast ## *Last Flag* flies too low [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Last-Flag-Flying.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Last-Flag-Flying.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / Big Indie Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/last-flag-flying-flies-too-low/Content?oid=8756739), November 22, 2017 Richard Linklater’s *Last Flag Flying* is a double follow-up. It’s the director’s first drama (or dramedy, to be precise) since his Oscar-winning *Boyhood*, and it’s an unofficial sequel to Hal Ashby’s 1973 anti-war classic, *The Last Detail.* It’s a disappointment on both levels. Though it hasn’t aged particularly well, *The Last Detail* remains a film-school favorite for its irreverent, social commentary. Shorter on plot than *Last Flag Flying*, it’s the simple story of a signalman (Jack Nicholson) and gunner’s mate (Otis Young) who escort a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to military prison for committing petty theft. They soon realize that the 18-year-old isn’t a bad guy and will end up spending the best years of his life behind bars, so they resolve to show him a good time before handing him over to authorities. *Last Flag Flying* revisits the men 30 years later. They are now strangers but become reacquainted when the youngest (the former Quaid character) tracks down the other two using that coolest of new inventions, the internet. Having just lost his son to the Iraq War, he wants his two old friends to attend the funeral. The resulting trip is reminiscent of their original odyssey and both reopens and heals old wounds, while reminding us that war always comes with the highest price. The script gives the characters different names and backstories, despite the fact that it’s based on the 2012 novel by Darryl Ponicsan, who also wrote *The Last Detail* and co-write this screenplay with Linklater. Instead of the three meeting on the aforementioned assignment, it’s suggested that they met and served together in the Marines in Vietnam. In this respect, it’s more of a philosophical sequel. In fact, the new film might be better appreciated if you haven’t seen *The Last Detail*, especially because you then might not realize that hopelessly hammy Bryan Cranston is doing a bad impersonation of Nicholson. “You were a hazard when you were a younger man,” Cranston’s character is told. “Now you’re just an old fool.” That’s a valid criticism of the Nicholson/Cranston character, and it’s also a worthwhile comparison of the two actors, as the former brought an edginess while the latter is just annoying. An effectively subtle Steve Carell plays the Quaid role, Laurence Fishburne takes on Young’s character, and Cicely Tyson gives the film its most profound moment. Though they are all better than Cranston, they can’t compensate for the latter’s flaws, not to mention the clunky dialogue, heavy-handed score, long runtime and general tedium, all of which betray the wasted weightiness of the subject. Most frustrating is that the premise and basic story are wonderful and forever timely, especially if your life has been scarred by war. *The Last Detail* has been begging for a sequel, and though it would have been fascinating to see Nicholson and Quaid reprise their roles, it wouldn’t have been practical. Young died in 2001, and because this film take place in 2003, Nicholson and Quaid are now too old. But Cranston is no Nicholson, and the tonally challenged film lands awkwardly somewhere between comedy and drama, and nowhere near the poignancy toward which it was striving. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Last Black Man in San Francisco](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco/) **Published:** October 5, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Last Black Man in San Francisco**, 2019, 4 stars # *Last* is first-rate [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Last-Black-Man-in-San-Francisoc.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/The-Last-Black-Man-in-San-Francisoc.jpg)Jonathan Majors, left, and Jimmie Fails star in *The Last Black Man In San Francisco.* (image courtesy of Sundance Institute) Exclusive to *MeierMovies,* October 5, 2019 *The Last Black Man in San Francisco* is the best first film of 2019. In his directorial debut, Joe Talbot has successfully blended drama, comedy and social commentary into a uniquely satisfying and insightful examination of spatial and material attachment, framed by the social phenomenon known as gentrification. And through his partnership with star Jimmie Fails, upon whose life the film is based, Talbot has also concocted an original depiction of friendship that is equally sad and joyful. For a more in-depth discussion of the film, let me do something that is rare for me: refer you to another critic’s analysis. I had the pleasure of meeting *Entertainment Weekly* writer Leah Greenblatt at the Telluride Film Festival a few weeks ago, and she told me *Last Man* was her top film of the year so far. While my reaction to it wasn’t quite as overwhelming, it’s still solidly in my top 10 (and I am rooting for an Oscar nomination for co-star Jonathan Majors). So I encourage you to read her review [here](https://ew.com/movie-reviews/2019/06/07/last-black-man-in-san-francisco-review/). Perhaps her enthusiasm for the movie will become infectious. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4353250/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Black_Man_in_San_Francisco#:~:text=The%20Last%20Black%20Man%20in%20San%20Francisco%20is%20a%202019,director%20and%20producer%20Joe%20Talbot.).* --- ### [The Lady in the Van](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lady-in-the-van/) **Published:** February 12, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Lady in the Van**, 2015, 3 stars ## *Lady* conveys metatheatrical charm [![_the-lady-in-the-van-review](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/the-lady-in-the-van-review-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/the-lady-in-the-van-review.jpg)Image copyright BBC Films/TriStar Productions From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-lady-in-the-van-conveys-metatheatrical-charm/Content?oid=2469239)*, February 10, 2016 British playwright Alan Bennett met Mary Shepherd when the elderly, homeless woman parked her dilapidated van outside his suburban London home in 1970. Almost 20 years later, the mysterious curmudgeon was still there and the two had formed an unlikely friendship, fostered by Bennett’s kindness and Shepherd’s stubborn refusal to seek shelter elsewhere. But, as many good writers do, Bennett used the unusual relationship as inspiration for his 1989 book, *The Lady in the Van*, which he turned into a play 10 years later. And, like the new movie version, the theatrical production starred Maggie Smith and was directed by Nicholas Hytner, the former artistic director of London’s National Theatre (whom movie audiences will know as the helmer of *The Madness of King George*). “I’m not a beggar. I’m self-employed,” Mary (Maggie Smith) tells the residents of the neighborhood in which she parks her van. “I’m a sick woman, dying possibly. I’m just looking for a last resting place.” Surprisingly, she lives nearly two more decades, becoming increasingly reliant on Bennett for a cool friendship and use of his lavatory. Yet, in a way only Smith can convey, Shepherd maintains not just a stubborn pride but a “vagabond nobility.” She also clings to her privacy, and, indeed, Bennett discovers her true story and identity only at the end of the film. Like its title character, *The* *Lady in the Van* is an odd duck, disguising itself as an inconsequential and quirky comedy for the first hour. Annoyingly overscored and chronologically confusing – with little suggestion of the passage of time – it lacks impact and relies too much on forgettable, though charming, moments of subtle humor. Characters come and go with little purpose except to provide cameos for Frances de la Tour and other cast members of Bennett’s play, *The History Boys*, which also became a film directed by Hytner. Jim Broadbent, as a mysterious acquaintance of Shepherd, is a nice addition, as always, but he’s mostly wasted, as is Roger Allam as Bennett’s neighbor. The film belongs almost entirely to Smith, who, though superb, never steps too far out of her comfort zone. Nevertheless, she portrays the increasingly frail and bewildered Shepherd effectively, illustrating that “in life, going downhill is an uphill job,” as the film tells us. So charismatic is Smith that Alex Jennings, as Bennett, is relegated to the background even though the story is mostly about him. He provides the narration and the structure, in addition to some memorable, if slightly contrived, metatheatricality that suggests – both metaphorically and literally – that there are two Bennetts. “The writer is double,” he says. “There is the self who does the writing. And there is the self who does the living. And they talk. They argue.” The gimmick doesn’t always work, but it does give the film an air of intellectualism while keeping things stylistically interesting, until the superb conclusion finally brings everything into an emotionally satisfying and aesthetically pleasing focus. Yes, *Van* does experiences bumps in the road, but it finds its way in the end. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Lady Bird](https://www.meiermovies.com/lady-bird/) **Published:** November 24, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Lady Bird**, 2017, 4 ¼ stars # *Bird* soars ## *Lady Bird* is best coming-of-age film in years [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Lady-Bird.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Lady-Bird.png)Image copyright Scott Rudin Productions / IAC Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/lady-bird-is-the-best-coming-of-age-film-in-years/Content?oid=8536289), November 15, 2017 Just when we thought the stale “coming-of-age” film was on a precipitous slide, along comes the most unlikely of lifelines. Greta Gerwig, often dubbed the queen of low-budget cinema, has temporarily rescued the genre and shown she too has come of age, from mumblecore darling to quirky character actress to mature writer-director. One of the best-received movies at the recent Telluride Film Festival, *Lady Bird* is a charming, poignant and occasionally very funny look at a high school senior slowly becoming a woman. It stars Saoirse Ronan, who also seems to reach adulthood in this film after a spectacular string of adolescent roles. One could argue that she finally was allowed to grow up in *Brooklyn*, but being a period piece, that film didn’t exactly present her as a contemporary woman. Welcome to modern adulthood, Ms. Ronan! Of course, because *Lady Bird* is a coming-of-age tale, Ronan’s eponymous character doesn’t begin the film mature. It takes some painfully real (almost Elia Kazan-like) mother-daughter struggles, poor relationship selections, self-esteem issues, awkward sexual moments and difficult college choices to get her there. But thanks to Gerwig’s smart sensibility, some refreshingly brisk pacing and Ronan’s own likeability, her character grows before our eyes. *Lady Bird* can, at its worst, feel a little ordinary, as if we’ve seen this all before in countless other tales about growing up. But at its best, it leaves most of those other films in the dust and becomes, if only for an instant, a female version of *The Graduate*. Instead of mimicking other classics or becoming a collection of coming-of-age stereotypes, it successfully addresses themes often overlooked or mishandled in similar films, such as the yearning to break free of your parents juxtaposed against the comfort of one’s home. (The film is practically a love letter to Sacramento.) One of the most important, yet subtle, sub-plots is the clash between Lady Bird’s father and mother, played well by Tracy Letts (perhaps better known as the author of *Killer Joe* and *August: Osage County*) and Laurie Metcalf, who is likely to generate some supporting-actress Oscar buzz. But the film is packed with countless other supporting gems, from Lucas Hedges as Lady Bird’s boyfriend to Odeya Rush as the “hot friend” to Beanie Feldstein as the uncool, ugly duckling to Stephen Henderson as the high school drama teacher. (The latter’s muddled underdevelopment is one of the film’s few flaws.) Most memorable perhaps, as the Catholic school’s principal, is 87-year-old Lois Smith, who cut her acting teeth with James Dean in 1955’s *East of Eden*. (And the Kazan connection is complete.) “I wish I could live through something,” Lady Bird remarks to her mom at the beginning of the movie. As the next 90 minutes flicker by, she does live through something. It’s called life, and it’s a great thing to sit back and observe. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [La La Land](https://www.meiermovies.com/la-la-land/) **Published:** December 16, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **La La Land**, 2016, 4 ¼ stars # Modern musical meets the past ## *La La Land* blends innovation with Hollywood nostalgia From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/modern-musical-la-la-land-blends-innovation-with-hollywood-nostalgia/Content?oid=2547576), December 14, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/La-La-Land.jpg)Image copyright Black Label Media / Gilbert Films “Everything old is new again,” Peter Allen wrote (and sang). But if he had seen *La La Land*, he might have omitted the word “again,” for never have the glory days of Hollywood been re-imagined quite like they are in the new film by writer-director Damien Chazelle. *La La Land* is part musical-fantasy, part romantic dramedy and part homage to such classics as *Singin’ in the Rain*, *Rebel without a Cause* and *An American in Paris*, but it’s also the tale of two very real people with very real, 21st-century L.A. problems. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz pianist stuck banging out Christmas ditties to unappreciative gourmands while longing to open his own club and revive an art form that’s more endangered than Southern Californian modesty. In short, he longs for real. Into his life meanders Mia (Emma Stone), another frustrated California dreamer who works as a Warner Brothers Studio backlot barista by day and receives rejections from casting directors by twilight. That they meet and fall in love is not so much real-life serendipity as beautiful contrivance. And, at least for the first act, it’s all bee’s knees – with tunes! But then the music fades, figuratively and literally, and our love birds fly straight into the face of reality – and modernity – as they must choose between their relationship and their careers. In his last film, *Whiplash*, Chazelle used music as punctuation, but in this one, he promotes it to conjugation. *La La Land* opens with “Another Day of Sun,” in which hundreds of drivers stuck in a real (little if any CGI) traffic jam celebrate, in song, arguably the two most iconic Los Angeles attributes: ever-present sunshine and never-ending freeway gridlock. Other musical numbers follow, some as memorable (“City of Stars” and “The Fools Who Dream”), some not (the slightly too cute “A Lovely Night”), until the second half when, frankly, the film turns a bit dull, has trouble juggling genres and is burdened with poor pacing and a subplot involving Sebastian’s musical partnership with his friend Keith (an out-of-place John Legend). But by that time, the film has built up enough charm to coast its way toward one of the best endings of the decade: a jaw-dropping, metatheatrical collage of music, art, dance and emotional longing that would have made even Gene Kelly jealous. Gosling and Stone have predictably wonderful chemistry. This is, after all, their third film together. They also have decent-enough voices to make one forget that Justin Hurwitz’s music is substantially inferior to the classic musicals the film references. But when dazzled by the film’s originality and happily blinded by its hues of blues, reds and yellows, my primary color was not disappointment, but delight. Explaining the fractured psyche of their city, Sebastian tells Mia, “That’s L.A.: They worship everything, and they value nothing.” That’s not true for *La La Land*, though, which worships and values – and even loves – Hollywood, flaws and all. And despite the movie’s shortcomings, that love is infectious enough to land *La La* on the list of top 10 movies of the year. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Kong: Skull Island](https://www.meiermovies.com/kong-skull-island/) **Published:** March 9, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Kong: Skull Island (2–D version)**, 2017, 1 ¾ stars ## Brawn trumps brains in new *Kong* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Kong.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Kong.jpg)Kong images copyright Warner Brothers From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/brawn-trumps-brains-in-new-kong/Content?oid=3087519), March 9, 2017 King Kong is back – bigger, bloodier, louder and dumber – in *Kong: Skull Island*. Lacking the novelty of the 1933 original and the style and wonder of the 2005 Peter Jackson remake, this *Kong* is just plain unnecessary. And the Regal Pointe Orlando 4DX release (which turns your seat into a motion simulator) simply serves to further dumb down the experience while inducing annoyance and nausea. It’s 1973 and the world has no knowledge of the 1930s Kong. This is an origin story, likely designed to set up a confrontation between Kong and Godzilla in future films (with the monster-hunting organization Monarch linking the two stories). A Monarch investigator (John Goodman) believes newly discovered Skull Island, in the Pacific, offers hidden plant and animal treasures, so he sets off to explore, accompanied by a photographer (Brie Larson), a tracker (Tom Hiddleston), an overzealous military officer (Samuel L. Jackson) and a crew of other, barely fleshed-out characters. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Kong-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Kong-2.jpg) Once on Skull Island, they realize, of course, that they have bitten off more than they can chew. That’s not true for the latest CGI Kong, however, as he enjoys violently munching just about everything, including men, helicopters and the odd assortment of other creatures designed by the film’s talented animators. Jackson meanwhile – acting like he just stepped off a snake-ridden plane – chews the scenery and vows with wild-eyed intensity to “kill this son of a bitch” immediately upon his arrival. (An appropriate subtitle would have been *Fantastic Beasts and How to Butcher Them*.) Compensating for the silly heavy-handedness and freneticism are realistic CGI, sumptuous locations and John C. Reilly, as a hilarious, half-crazed castaway who has been stranded on the island since his World War II plane crashed in 1944. Yet even his character, as well conceived as it is, is denied a chance at honesty and tenderness when his best scene is relegated to the closing credits by a director (Jordan Vogt-Roberts) who apparently lacks the requisite vision and sensibility for such a monster (pun intended) project and instead delivers a brainless action spectacle (which, admittedly, some audiences will love for its energy). Vogt-Roberts is not helped by a script (by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly) that, among its many other faults, is hopelessly derivative, fails to build enough dramatic tension and – spoiler alert – kills off one of the two most interesting characters mid-movie. The film does attempt intellectualism through its cultural references and anti-war message (not to mention its cinematographic and thematic homages to *Platoon* and *Apocalypse Now*), but it’s all lipstick on a monkey. It wasn’t beauty killed this beast. It was stupidity. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4DX-Regal-Pointe-Orlando.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4DX-Regal-Pointe-Orlando.jpg)I had the opportunity to screen the film in a new 4DX cinema at Regal Pointe Orlando. It’s the only one in the southeast and one of fewer than a dozen in the entire nation, though there are more than 300 in Asia and Latin America (and more planned for the United States soon). Though the theater looks fairly normal, each cluster of four seats is actually a ride vehicle capable of whipping you forward, backwards, left, right, up and down, while vibrating the hell out of your back and butt. The cinema even has wind, fog, bubbles, water (which can be turned on and off from your seat) and smells, which frankly stink. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4DX-seats.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4DX-seats.png)These features might be fun for a 10-minute theme-park ride, but they don’t seem practical for a two-hour film. (Plus, a 4DX ticket costs $8 more than a regular one.) Instead of heightening the aesthetic experience, the effects detract from the film, partially because I saw the 2-D version (its native format) and the motion often didn’t match the action on the screen (though the 4DX spokesperson said each film was “coded” into the seats). It’s not the “absolute cinema experience” advertised. On the contrary, it’s frighteningly damaging to serious cinema. The 4DX theater even includes a device called the tickler. William Castle would be proud. Ingmar Bergman would weep. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Knives Out](https://www.meiermovies.com/knives-out/) **Published:** November 29, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Knives Out**, 2019, 3 ¾ stars # A cut above ## *Knives Out* is a smart, twisty treat [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Knives-Out.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Knives-Out.jpg)Image copyright Lionsgate From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/knives-out-opening-in-orlando-is-a-smart-twisty-treat/Content?oid=26367901), November 27, 2019 In 2012, baseball was dropped from the Olympics. Thankfully, it’s been added back for the 2020 games. But let me propose another addition: genre-juggling, with writer-director Rian Johnson one of the favorites to win gold. Admittedly, my sports metaphor might be a bridge too far, but balancing genres is one of the toughest challenges for any filmmaker. It takes a backseat to no other aesthetic accomplishment. That is why Johnson’s juxtaposition of comedy, drama and mystery in his latest film, *Knives Out*, deserves praise. And it’s all the more noteworthy considering his previous two productions (*Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi* and *Looper*) dabbled in genres vastly different from his new movie. *Knives Out* is the story of a dysfunctional family assembled to celebrate the 85th birthday of their patriarch, crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), at his extravagant Massachusetts mansion. But when Harlan turns up dead, everyone is a suspect. Most family members initially assume suicide, but if Harlan slit his own throat, why did an anonymous person hire famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to question each member of the Thrombey clan? In many ways, *Knives Out* is a classic suspense in the vein of *Murder on the Orient Express*, with a stellar ensemble and at least one red herring. But the film is fishy in other ways too, as it both honors and subverts classic mystery conventions, turning the plot into just as much of a “howdunit” as a “whodunit.” Cinematically located between *Sleuth* and *Clue*, it owes a great deal to both, though it’s substantially less impressive than the former and noticeably better than the latter. (Look closely and you might spot props similar to those in the former film, which starred Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine and remains a masterpiece of the genre.) But even *Sleuth* didn’t dare insert as much cheeky, irreverent comedy as Johnson does. *Clue* did, but its drama and suspense suffered. Not so for *Knives Out*, which doesn’t sacrifice tension and even manages to work in timely social commentary without appearing heavy-handed or preachy. Though each actor’s time is limited, all the characters are distinct, which is no small task considering the story involves more than a dozen important players. Craig – having a blast with an infectious Southern drawl – is uncharacteristically hilarious and a joy to behold. Michael Shannon and Chris Evans are also effective, as is Plummer, who seemingly either dies or is close to death in almost all his recent films. Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson have their moments too, despite brief screen time, though Johnson seems a bit lost. And it’s a pleasure to see Frank Oz and M. Emmet Walsh in cameos. But the breakout star is Cuban actress Ana de Armas, who, as Harlan’s caregiver, outshines everyone by doing most of the film’s narrative and dramatic heavy-lifting. “The guy practically lives in a Clue board,” someone says about Harlan. And for just over two hours, you’ll love living in a game board too, surrounded by charming production design, smart writing, tight editing and not a single computer-generated spectacle. In an industry that often dumbs you down, *Knives Out* raises your IQ. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Killing of a Sacred Deer](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/) **Published:** November 11, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Killing of a Sacred Deer**, 2017, 2 ¾ stars # Absurdist horror ## *Sacred Deer* is year’s oddest allegory From [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/sacred-deer-is-the-years-oddest-allegory/Content?oid=6546027) and [*The San Antonio Current*](https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/absurdist-horror-sacred-deer-is-the-years-oddest-allegory/Content?oid=7097864), October 25, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Killing-of-a-Sacred-Deer.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Killing-of-a-Sacred-Deer.jpg)Images copyright A24 Films Samuel Beckett, meet Sophie. This unlikely introduction of the Absurdist playwright to the woman who had to choose which of her two children would die is courtesy of Greek writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos. The union is not entirely fruitful in Lanthimos’s new psychological horror, *The Killing of a Sacred Deer*, but if you can overlook the pretention, tedium and in-your-face classical score, you’ll discover one of the most hypnotically creepy and Kubrickian films of the year. Colin Farrell – a favorite of Lanthimos – plays Steven, a cardiologist who befriends an odd 16-year-old boy named Martin, played extraordinarily by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who is perhaps best known as the boy who was accidentally killed on Mark Rylance’s “little boat” in Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk*. The nature of their friendship is kept hidden from both the audience and Steven’s friends and family, including his wife, Anna (Nicole Kidman). Even when Steven introduces Martin to his children, Kim and Bob (portrayed excellently by Raffey Cassidy and Sunny Suljic), we sense something is not quite right. And subsequently, when Bob is struck with an odd form of paralysis, that feeling of dread is justified. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Killing-of-a-Sacred-Deer-2.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Killing-of-a-Sacred-Deer-2.png)As with most metaphorical Absurdism, the plot is secondary to the symbolism. Martin, in an on-the-nose moment, even says so: “Do you understand?” he asks Steven. “It’s a metaphor – it’s symbolic.” Indeed, the story makes annoyingly little sense in the second half, which, like Lanthimos’s last movie, *The Lobster*, is too long. But by the time you realize the film has fallen almost blissfully into the realm of ridiculousness – such as when Steven tells Bob that, if he doesn’t recover soon, he’ll shave his son’s head and make him eat his hair – you’re too involved to look away. Strangely, this involvement does not concern the plot. Indeed, it’s difficult to get worked up when the characters themselves show little emotion and deliver their lines in a strikingly deadpan, monotone manner, even when confronted with inappropriate sexual moments that Lanthimos seems to include just to make his audience uncomfortable. For example, Steven barely shows outrage when Martin’s mother (Alicia Silverstone) practically throws herself upon him romantically. Instead, one is consumed with cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis’s mesmerizing tracking, panning and zooming, rather than the odd plot twists or the script’s lack of linguistic logic. But even the cinematography seems eerily calm, especially when compared to the nightmarish events that dominate the film’s final minutes. Anna, in describing her husband’s “clean” hands (which, we discover, are anything but clean), says, “So what if they’re beautiful? They’re lifeless.” The same could be said of the film, which many filmgoers will find tiresome, especially if they forget it’s an allegory. Unfortunately, *Sacred Deer* is no *Lobster*. It’s more like surimi, that tasty fish paste that imitates crab. You feel satisfied and erudite eating it, especially if you dip it in melted butter and play classical music while munching. But it’s fake. Gorgeously fake. *© 2017 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Just Mercy](https://www.meiermovies.com/just-mercy/) **Published:** January 13, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Just Mercy**, 2019, 2 ¾ stars # Advocacy cinema ## *Just Mercy* tackles justice system’s inequities [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Just-Mercy.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Just-Mercy.jpeg)Michael B. Jordan (left) and Jamie Foxx star in *Just Mercy*. (image copyright Warner Bros. / Endeavor Content) Exclusive to *MeierMovies.com*, January 14, 2020 “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it: Whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” That’s what Atticus Finch told his children in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in Harper Lee’s *To Kill a Mockingbird*. One would hope that lesson had been learned by 1988, when Walter McMillian, a poor black man, was wrongfully convicted of murdering a white woman in Lee’s real hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Some lessons bear repeating. Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton (*Short Term 12*) certainly thinks so, and his third narrative feature spends a patient 136 minutes reacquainting us with both McMillian and Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer who fought to prove McMillian’s innocence and free him from death row. Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative and wrote the nonfiction book upon which this film is based, also worked to free countless other falsely accused individuals, and *Just Mercy* focuses on two other men in addition to McMillian. But McMillian is the core of the movie, and Jamie Foxx’s touching, powerful portrayal is the main reason the film rises above its predictable structure and occasionally heavy-handed, preachy writing. As Stevenson, the usually reliable Michael B. Jordan (*Fruitvale Station*, *Black Panther*) is sympathetic but delivers a mostly paint-by-numbers performance, as if he’s reciting legalize instead of truly comprehending it. The same goes for Brie Larson (*Room*, *Avengers: Endgame*), who is given surprisingly little to do as Stevenson’s assistant. (This is Cretton and Larson’s third collaboration.) But Tim Blake Nelson (of Coen Brothers fame) is mesmerizing – complete with facial tics and thick Southern dialect – as Ralph Myers, the man whose false testimony was originally used to convict McMillian. His performance is so quirky, in fact, that it upstages everyone else’s, but it nevertheless injects a much-needed stylistic flourish into an otherwise unremarkable film. And, together with Foxx, Nelson provides the emotional punch that McMillian’s heartbreaking story deserves. Despite that aforementioned emotional high and some genuine tension during the film’s finale, *Just Mercy* sometimes seems too pat, too familiar. Unfortunately, we’ve seen all this before. But that’s not so much a fault of the film as a fault of the American justice system, which keeps killing mockingbirds. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4916630/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Mercy).* --- ### [Jurassic World](https://www.meiermovies.com/jurassic-world/) **Published:** June 14, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jurassic World (3-D version)**, 2015, 3 ½ stars # Dino-sized thrills ## *Jurassic World* high on adventure, low on logic [![jurassicworld-production-stills-17](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/jurassicworld-production-stills-17-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/jurassicworld-production-stills-17.jpg)Images copyright Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/06/10/jurassic-world-high-on-adventure-low-on-logic)* and *[The San Antonio Current](http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2015/06/10/jurassic-world-high-on-adventure-low-on-logic)*, June 11, 2015 The fourth installment in the *Jurassic* series is spectacular summer entertainment, a sort of Cecil B. DeMille on speed. But if you long for intelligence, scientific credibility and a plot that actually makes sense, rent Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic. *Jurassic World*, directed and co-written by Colin Trevorrow (*Safety Not Guaranteed*), with Spielberg as executive producer, is set two decades after the events of *Jurassic Park* and includes none of the original lead actors. Although it does cleverly reference to the plot of the original, it ignores the two previous sequels. That’s wise considering *The Lost World* is arguably Spielberg’s worst directorial effort and *Jurassic Park 3* – well, we won’t talk about that. In this edition, John Hammond’s vision has been breathtakingly brought to life as a combination of Sea World and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with a dash of Universal CityWalk. Hey, there’s even a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in case you want tequila with your T-Rex. Guests can cuddle baby dinos in the petting zoo, take in an aquatic show that makes Shamu Stadium look like Marineland and come face to face with carnivores, through protective glass, of course. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jurassic-World-cast.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jurassic-World-cast.jpg)Trevorrow and cinematographer John Schwartzman deserve credit for bringing this world to life in grand fashion with both traditional and digital methods. The attention to detail is remarkable and the CGI superb, with dynamic editing and pacing. The movie will even satisfy purists, as it was shot on both 35mm and 65mm. And although this means it had to be converted to 3-D instead of being shot in that format, the depth, color and richness is astonishing. But then there’s the plot. No longer satisfied with watching the current crop of realistic reptiles, “consumers want them bigger, louder, more teeth,” we’re told. So geneticists create Indominus Rex, a carnivorous concoction of T-Rex and who knows what else. And yet somehow everyone is surprised when this new and unpredictable beast – spoiler alert (well, not really) – threatens to go berserk. That alone might make for a nice story, especially with the children-in-peril subplot used to great effect. But the writers just had to have their brontosaurus burger and eat it too, as the final act drains most of the maturity and believability from what had previously been fine filmmaking. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard play park employees with a brief romantic past. He is one of the few workers who truly cares about the animals, while she is a self-centered manager focused on the bottom line. While both actors do what’s required of them and have moments of genuine emotion, methinks I taste eye candy. Complementing them is the visionary but out-of-touch park owner, Simon Masrani, played with much-needed subtlety by the brilliant Irrfan Khan (*The Lunchbox*, *Life of Pi*). And Jake Johnson (*Safety Not Guaranteed*, Fox’s *New Girl*), as the funny but unexpectedly wise tech nerd, is a nice extra. [![jurassic2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/jurassic2-300x206.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/jurassic2.jpg)It’s the mishandled addition of Vincent D’Onofrio as a greedy, exploitative military contractor that sets up the aforementioned plot meltdown. Yes, we need a human villain, but his character’s fantastical designs on dinosaur manipulation have more in common with the SyFy Network than Spielberg. Cynicism aside, this is one of the best action-adventures of the year and will resonate well with theme-park-saturated Floridians, though it’s too violent for young children. It also makes for a clever but likely unintentional meta-commentary on today’s movie-goers, who, like the tourists in the film, are no longer content with the simple majesty of the original creatures but demand more, bigger, teethier! If that’s what you want, bon appetit! Just don’t be surprised when logic ends up on the endangered-species list. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Juliet, Naked](https://www.meiermovies.com/juliet-naked/) **Published:** August 31, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Juliet, Naked**, 2018, 2 ¾ stars ## *Juliet* joins contrived comedy and poignant drama [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Juliet-Naked.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Juliet-Naked.jpg)Image copyright Apatow Productions / Lionsgate From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/juliet-naked-mixes-contrived-comedy-with-poignant-drama/Content?oid=17750041), August 29, 2018 How would you feel if your girlfriend said she hated your favorite singer? Further, what would you do if she started dating him? Those are just two of the questions posed by the new romantic dramedy *Juliet, Naked*. Annie (Rose Byrne) and Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) are a couple living an unfulfilled existence in a small seaside village in England. Though they both dabble in history – she as the curator of a museum and he as a teacher of television and media studies – they are ill matched, as evidenced by the opposite ways they approach their shared cultural interests. While Annie takes joy in the intimate, undiscovered stories of the past, Duncan obsesses over a single musician: American alternative rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke). Duncan’s fixation is even less logical considering Tucker vanished in 1993 after releasing his final album, *Juliet*. So Duncan and his online, fanboy friends have had little to do for the past two decades but worship their idol’s limited music library and posit preposterous theories regarding his whereabouts and what-up-tos. A clue to those W’s arrives unexpectedly one day by mail. Knowing Duncan’s love for Tucker, someone has shipped Duncan a heretofore unreleased version of *Juliet* titled – you guessed it – *Juliet, Naked*. So just like Beatles fans fawned over *Let it Be Naked* back in 2003, Duncan is taken to new heights of hero adulation upon hearing Tucker’s first “new” music in a generation. “All along, he’s been in love with another man,” Annie realizes about Duncan. The two break up, but not before Annie posts a comment critical of the album on the web forum that Duncan hosts. To add contrived insult to believable injury, it’s not Duncan who responds to the message – it’s Tucker. Turns out the singer is alive after all, eking out an existence in upstate New York, where he ignores his dead career and barely keeps in touch with his far-flung children from various relationships. Oddly, and despite an ocean separating them literally and metaphorically, Tucker and Annie strike up an online friendship. “There’s good naked and bad naked,” Jerry Seinfeld once reminded us. *Juliet, Naked* is both. The film by director Jesse Peretz (*Our Idiot Brother*, *Nurse Jackie*) is good when it turns to drama, offering up poignant commentary on celebrity reverence courtesy of a strong performance by O’Dowd. It’s similarly good when it lets Hawke examine a life loaded with selfish decisions and wasted opportunities. But it’s bad when it surrounds loveable but overloaded Byrne with an uneven plot and the tropes of romantic comedy. Based on the 2009 novel by Nick Hornby, *Juliet, Naked* is often thoughtful, sweet and complicated. But – illustrating the difficulties of adapting a book to the screen – its second act is logically and structurally unsound, unfunny, poorly paced and packed with characters we care little about. Nevertheless, the lead actors enjoy good chemistry, and the third act turns enjoyably existential when it addresses both the safety and danger of living a life free of risk. (And a wonderfully funny turn by English actor-director Phil Davis, as the town’s mayor, helps right the comedic ship.) Despite its title, the movie rarely strips its characters bare. Its most revealing moment is when Duncan learns what Tucker thinks of his obsession. That awkward revelation is akin to William Shatner telling *Star Trek* fans on *Saturday Night Live* to “get a life” – except this moment is played rather seriously. It briefly allows the film, which never hits its stride as a comedy, to find its groove as a drama. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Judy & Punch](https://www.meiermovies.com/judy-punch/) **Published:** June 4, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Judy & Punch**, 2019, 3 stars # Dark comedy with a *Punch* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Judy-Punch.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Judy-Punch.jpg)Mia Wasikowski stars as Judy in *Judy & Punch*. (image copyright Samuel Goldwyn Films / Film Victoria / Screen Australia) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/dark-comedy-judy-and-punch-packs-a-wallop/Content?oid=27400120) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/dark-comedy-with-a-punch/Content?oid=24654309), June 3, 2020 Punch and Judy puppet shows have been a staple of British entertainment for nearly four centuries. Imported from Italy in the 17th century and inspired by the commedia dell’arte, they have amused and shocked generations of English children with their slapstick comedy and marionette mischief. Now, in her feature debut, Australian writer-director Mirrah Foulkes has cleverly reimagined the show’s origins. Heretofore better known as a television actress, Foulkes, with *Judy & Punch*, posits a real-life Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy, as accomplished puppeteers. But while Punch pulls the strings in the two-person act, he pulls no punches in their relationship, resorting to domestic violence fueled by alcoholism. And consistent with the Punch and Judy tradition, he even harasses his dog and hates his baby. As Punch, Damon Herriman brilliantly balances comedy and tragedy. (Quirky, evil guys must come easy for him, as he recently played Charles Manson in both *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* and the Netflix series *Mindhunter.*) And as Judy, Mia Wasikowski is wonderful except during a sandwiched stretch in the second act when she is adopted by a group of outcasts. But that subplot’s failings have more to do with a slightly unfocused script than Wasikowski. (Oh, and watch for nice supporting turns from Lucy Velik as Punch’s assistant and Benedict Hardie as the town constable.) Despite its brutality, *Judy & Punch* is, at times, a riotous comedy, which is remarkable considering the dark subjects and graphic violence. Indeed, I can’t remember the last time I laughed at infanticide since, well, a Punch and Judy show. If that provokes offense, Foulkes’ film might not be your bag. But if you’re intrigued so far, read on. The couple reside in a strange community seemingly born of a Grimm fairy tale, with little sense of place or time. Named Seaside, the village is described as “somewhere in the countryside, nowhere near the sea.” And though it’s probably in 17th century England, to match the real Punch and Judy origins, the accents range from modern British to Cockney to Irish. Even the music is anachronistic, featuring everything from Leonard Cohen to Johann Sebastian Bach. Yet this is one Baroque film that doesn’t need fixing. The villagers need fixing, though, as their attitudes are as landlocked as their town. Titillated by stoning to death suspected witches, they are understatedly described as “prone to superstition more and more by the day.” And therein lies the movie’s social commentary, which is noticeable yet rarely overbearing. Still, some critics, perhaps overeager to emphasize the zeitgeist – a term that is becoming increasingly tiring – are suggesting the film exists almost exclusively to reflect the Me Too movement. While there is no denying the female-centric focus and title, *Judy & Punch* succeeds more because of its Terry Gilliamesque weirdness than any message Foulkes might be sending. There are even some who might see the film as an all-out attack on the Punch and Judy tradition itself. Though that interpretation is understandable, I would advise you to not be a puppet of the politically correct. Instead, watch the film and make up your own mind. I’ll be interested in your opinion – no strings attached. *© 2020 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Judge](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-judge/) **Published:** October 9, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Judge**, 2014, 3 stars ## Duvall, Downey overcome unskilled director Exclusive to *MeierMovies.com*, October 9, 2014 [![The Judge](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/The-Judge-300x154.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/The-Judge.jpeg)One doesn’t need much of an excuse to watch a movie starring Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. A workable script, a mediocre director and some half-competent editing is about all that’s required, and, well, that’s about all you’re going to get from *The Judge*. Downey is Hank Palmer, a cocky – big surprise there – Chicago lawyer returning home to small-town Indiana for his mother’s funeral. He’s reluctant to make the trip, though, because of his overbearing father (Duvall), who, thanks to his 42 years as the town’s judge, feels he partially owns the town. “People in the community trust me,” he tells his son. “They trust the law.” Adding to the tension are Hank’s elder brother (Vincent D’Onofrio), with whom he shares a familial, life-changing tragedy, and a younger, mentally challenged brother (Jeremy Strong). “This family’s a fucking Picasso painting,” Hank laments. If that weren’t enough, days after his wife’s funeral, the judge is accused of a murder he may or may not have committed. After some wrangling, it’s determined that Hank is the reluctant, yet perfect candidate to represent him, opening the door to even more family therapy via an intermittently entertaining courtroom dramedy. The story and casting are superb, but the screenplay and director are suspect. Though *The Judge* is likely his best offering to date, David Dobkin seems better suited to *Wedding Crashers* and *Shanghai Knights*, arguably his two most famous previous productions. And his attempt to repeatedly shove comedy and an overbearing soundtrack down our throats when the movie demands straight drama threatens to undermine the film’s moving moments, of which there are several in the second half. Vera Farmiga, as Downey’s former girlfriend, and Billy Bob Thornton, as the prosecuting attorney, add depth and help justify the 141-minute runtime, but it’s really screen legend Duvall and, to a lesser extent, Downey who make the film watchable and even elevate it to more than the sum of its parts. My verdict is a slight thumbs-up, but I would have preferred a retrial. *© 2014 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1872194/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Judge_(2014_film)).* --- ### [Jojo Rabbit](https://www.meiermovies.com/jojo-rabbit/) **Published:** November 6, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jojo Rabbit**, 2019, 4 stars # Rare *Rabbit* ## Nazi parody is an original mix of comedy and drama [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/JoJo-Rabbit.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/JoJo-Rabbit.jpg)Image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/taika-waititis-nazi-parody-jojo-rabbit-is-an-original-mix-of-comedy-and-drama/Content?oid=26255967), November 6, 2019 Is it ever acceptable to laugh at Adolf Hitler? Charlie Chaplin was the first to answer that question (in the affirmative), though Hitler’s greatest crime had not yet been committed when Chaplin released *The Great Dictator* in 1940. Other filmmakers would later agree with Chaplin, most notably Mel Brooks in 1967, with *The Producers* (“Springtime for Hitler”). But we’ve never seen Nazism parodied quite like it is in *Jojo Rabbit*, writer-director Taika Waititi’s surprisingly eclectic genre mash-up. The film, which is based on Christine Leunen’s 2004 book *Caging Skies,* recounts the final years of World War II though the eyes and imagination of a 10-year-old German boy affectionately nicknamed Jojo. But when Jojo goes to Hitler Youth camp and ignores orders to kill a bunny, his moniker gets an unaffectionate addition: “Rabbit.” To cope with the bullying, he turns to his best companion, an imaginary version of his hero, Hitler. It’s through this fictional friend that Jojo can process the events of the war, which include his father’s absence, his sister’s death and his nation’s impending annihilation. Viewing Nazi Germany from a child’s perspective is not new. Most notably, *The Boy in the Striped Pajamas*, from 2008, painted a heartbreaking portrait of a youth uncovering the evil of the Third Reich. *Jojo Rabbit* eventually reaches a similar destination, but being a Waititi film, its journey is different. Known for his broad and, frankly, overrated comedies (*What We Do in the Shadows*, *Hunt for the Wilderpeople*), the New Zealand writer-director keeps his movie on a comedic path for the first half, with Waititi himself playing the aforementioned, cartoonish characterization of Hitler. But after he unexpectedly befriends a Jewish girl his mother has hidden in their attic, Jojo starts to comprehend the lunacy of the Nazi’s racist ideology. This discovery, coupled with the accelerating societal breakdown, turns the film from a typical Waititi romp into something much deeper. Still, the film almost never loses its humor. In fact, you might find yourself uncomfortable with your own laughter, considering the subject. This odd mix of mirth and madness won’t be everyone’s taste, and the climax could use a touch more intellectualism. But the movie is made palatable by a relevant message of tolerance wrapped in quasi-farcical satire and delivered by a filmmaker with Jewish heritage. Though Waititi’s performance is mostly enjoyable, the other actors are more impressive in their balancing act of laughter and tears. Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo, Thomasin McKenzie as the Jewish girl, Archie Yates as Jojo’s best (non-imaginary) friend, Sam Rockwell as the director of the Hitler Youth camp and, most notably, Scarlett Johansson as Jojo’s mother comprise one of the strongest ensembles of any film this year. (This is Johansson’s second triumph of 2019 if you include the forthcoming *Marriage Story*.) And even the normally over-the-top Rebel Wilson has her moments. “None of this should be weird,” Hitler tells Jojo, attempting to explain his imaginary presence in a house that’s harboring a Jew. But, on the contrary, the film is wonderfully weird and irresistibly askew, punctuated by hilarity, tragedy and even anachronistic music. Yes, that’s really the Beatles singing in German. And by the film’s end – to paraphrase the Fab Four – you might want to hold Waititi’s hand and declare “danke schoen.” *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *A capsule review of this film also appeared in my [opening blog for the 2019 Orlando Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/2019/10/17/orlando-film-festival-begins-today/), at which the movie received its Florida premiere.* --- ### [John Lewis: Good Trouble](https://www.meiermovies.com/john-lewis-good-trouble/) **Published:** July 12, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **John Lewis: Good Trouble**, 2020, 3 ¼ stars # Necessary trouble ## *John Lewis: Good Trouble* paints a hero’s portrait [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/John-Lewis-Good-Trouble.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/John-Lewis-Good-Trouble.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 12, 2020 Difficult times demand leaders with courage and wisdom. They also demand documentaries on those leaders. John Lewis is such a leader, and director Dawn Porter’s new film showcases his career, personal life and disposition fittingly, if a tad conventionally. John Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama, in 1940, the third of 10 children from a sharecropping family. But by age 21, he had become one of the original 13 Freedom Riders. Two years later, Lewis, as the new leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was addressing – alongside his mentor, Martin Luther King, Jr. – hundreds of thousands of Americans during the March on Washington. And since 1987, he has represented Georgia’s fifth Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. “The reason why he’s effective as a leader,” the recently deceased Rep. Elijah Cummings reminds us in the documentary, “is because he’s lived it.” Porter’s doc doesn’t exactly redefine the genre, but it does a decent job of reintroducing us to Lewis, who, at 80 years of age and ill from pancreatic cancer, is approaching the end of a long and mighty life. By offering a nice blend of formats – talking heads, historical footage and cinema vérité – Porter lets Lewis’s life speak for itself. And though it paints an overwhelmingly favorable view of Lewis, it is rarely preachy or overtly political. In that regard, it resembles Lewis himself. Lewis, in the doc, is seen encouraging his supporters to get into “good trouble, necessary trouble” for important causes. But the doc is most necessary for those who don’t necessarily support Lewis. That includes those who might believe the work of the Civil Rights Movement is over or societal injustice is no longer a threat. But the film is also necessary for those who seek to corrupt Lewis’s message of equality and non-violence by resorting to vandalism, riots and looting. It seems we all still have something to learn from Lewis. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10310096/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis:_Good_Trouble).* --- ### [Ghosts of Mars](https://www.meiermovies.com/ghosts-of-mars/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ghosts of Mars**, 2001, ½ star # Dread planet From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 24, 2001 In *Ghosts of Mars*, John Carpenter fuses the genres of sci-fi, action and horror into a laughable gorefest and a leading contender for worst film of the year. Natasha Henstridge and Jason Statham star as cops on Mars in 2176. They are part of a mismatched crew, including Pam Grier, assigned to travel to a rural outpost and transport back to the big city a dangerous criminal, Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). But after arriving, they find the citizens of the outpost have been possessed by an evil presence apparently descended from an ancient race of Martians that look more like satan-worshippers than ghosts. After joining forces with Desolation and his fellow criminals in a bid to escape the settlement, Melanie (Henstridge) and the other cops spend the rest of the movie shooting or stabbing as many bad guys as they can. So if you’re looking for a movie with a high body count, you’ve found it. Speaking of high, in a bizarre plot twist, Melanie must get stoned on 22nd century Martian drugs to stand any chance against the evil power. She inexplicably vomits up the invading force after taking the drugs. But wait, it gets worse. The film wouldn’t be complete without a shot of Henstridge in her underwear, and we also get the obligatory kiss, even though, until the romantic moment, Melanie had been rebuffing the ridiculous advances of Jericho (Statham) for most of the movie. Marilyn Manson look-alikes banging down her door must put her in the mood. Particularly embarrassing is the lead ghoul’s reaction to being set on fire by Melanie. In a scene designed to elicit fright on the scale of *Halloween II*, we see “Big Daddy Mars” burning to death, or so we think. But then he reemerges a moment later, slightly charred. With a not-so-scary snarl thrown in for good measure, he shrugs off his fiery setback and continues his bloody rampage. He’s apparently a master of the drop and roll. The script, too, is a source of amusement, mostly because it takes itself so seriously. Inconsistencies also abound, mistakes Carpenter either did not notice or thought the audience wouldn’t. For example, when Melanie returns to the city to explain her gruesome ordeal, she refers to a moment just seen in flashback. But her explanation is totally different from what we have just seen. And after witnessing hundreds of murderous freaks dancing around a fire next to decapitated heads on spikes, Jericho’s reaction is simply, “We have a situation here.” It’s difficult to get excited about a story when the characters themselves are so blasé. Carpenter is not known for his consistent high-quality work, especially recently, but in *Halloween, The Thing* and *In the Mouth of Madness*, he at least showed that he understood suspense. In *Ghosts*, he uses one ill-conceived flashback after another, and the few frights he throws in are so poorly timed that you laugh out loud at their absurdity. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228333/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_of_Mars).* --- ### [Jeepers Creepers](https://www.meiermovies.com/jeepers-creepers/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jeepers Creepers**, 2001, 1 ¼ stars # Trite night From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 31, 2001 To experience suspense, one must imagine something more terrifying than the screen can create. But instead of allowing its creepy, well-filmed first half to fuel these psychological fears, *Jeepers Creepers* turns a realistic and frightening story into silly supernatural shenanigans. Best known for 1995’s only slightly appealing *Powder*, Victor Salva doesn’t have much writing or directing experience, and it shows in this low-budget teen horror. Relative newcomers Gina Philips and Justin Long play students driving home from college on a deserted country highway. After being run off the road by a lunatic driver, they allow him to pass. In the film’s most intelligent and subtly scary scene, they then observe him dumping something that look like bodies next to an old, abandoned church. Instead of being content to drive on and report their observances to the police, in true horror-movie fashion, they return to investigate, and thus their frightening adventure with this unknown evil begins. The rest of the film is spent finding out more about this menace, but as more is revealed, the suspense lessons. Instead of using the realistic performances, simple subject and spare direction to build terror, Salva allows his story to fall apart thanks to his stereotypical characters and unbelievable plot twists. Philips, best known for her recurring role as Sandy Hingle on *Ally McBeal*, and Long, Brandon in 1999’s *Galaxy Quest*, work well together. In fact, the first few scenes, with their crude style and methodical pace, are mesmerizing and comparable to *Night of the Living Dead*. But even more than in *Night,* the realistic frights give way to B-movie tripe. The most favorable comparison, though, is not with the 1968 classic, but with Spielberg’s *Duel*, as the car chase scene in *Jeepers* was clearly inspired by that movie’s brilliantly filmed highway sequences. The best that can be said for Salva is that he is not afraid to have a bit of fun with the genre, as his use of the 1938 classic title song adds macabre humor. Its inclusion would seem almost clever if it weren’t for the laughable switch of the human villain to a mythical beast and the bad acting of Patricia Belcher as a psychic warning the kids of their impending doom. Salva obviously studied 1971’s *Duel* before shooting the opening scenes of *Jeepers*. Before his next thriller, he needs to revisit Spielberg’s work to learn how to build suspense by keeping the villain shrouded in mystery and letting the audience’s imagination do some of the work of the camera. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263488/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepers_Creepers_(2001_film)).* --- ### [Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/jay-and-silent-bob-strike-back/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back**, 2001, ½ star # Chronic problem From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 24, 2001 “A Jay and Silent Bob movie… Who’d pay to see that?” Ben Affleck asks in the new Kevin Smith comedy. The answer: fans obsessed with the “little stoner with bad pronunciation,” as the movie describes Jay, and those wanting to see Smith devolve as an artist. Billed as the duo’s final film, *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* takes two degenerates featured only briefly in Smith’s previous films and makes the mistake of devoting a full 90 minutes to them. Jason Mewes, following proudly in the acting tradition of Yahoo Serious and Pauly Shore, reprises his role as pot-smoking, four-letter-word spouting Jay. Joining him once again is Smith himself as Bob. Picking up where 1997’s far superior *Chasing Amy* left off, the story centers on the comic book characters of Bluntman and Chronic, which are based on Jay and Bob. Their friends, played as usual by Ben Affleck and Jason Lee, sold the movie rights to Hollywood without first consulting the real-life inspiration for the comic. Upset over the inconveniences of fame and bad publicity the film would generate, Jay and Bob set out for Hollwood to stop the movie from being made. Along the way, one unfunny, sophomoric adventure after another befalls them while they meet a variety of tired, predictable characters. Some, such as George Carlin, Chris Rock and Matt Damon, have been dredged up from previous Smith comedies, but a slew of other actors are new, either desperate for work – Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher – or working desperately to save Smith’s dismal script. The biggest surprise is that Jay manages to find a woman (Shannon Elizabeth) stupid enough to fall in love with him. We know that love is blind, but apparently it is deaf too, as Jay can’t come up with any pet names for his new love other than bitch and assorted vulgarities. Those familiar with Smith’s other work will walk away with a few chuckles, as there are plenty of in-jokes and references to past Jay and Bob moments. But if you are fortunate enough to have avoided Jay and Bob up to now, this film holds nothing for you. Not even the self-deprecating humor and the fun that Miramax pokes at itself are enough to make the film bearable. Jay and Bob are described in *Chasing Amy* as “Bill and Ted meets Cheech and Chong.” But at least those characters had some charm, and in the case of the pot-smoking L.A. buddies, an ability to make us laugh at their stupidity. The only positive aspect of Jay and Bob’s stupidity is this is apparently their last hurrah. After the clever but overrated *Amy* and *Dogma*, Smith was mentioned in the same conversation as Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. Now he’s only one step from the Wayans brothers. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information about this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261392/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_and_Silent_Bob_Strike_Back).* --- ### [Sarasota Film Festival Photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-photos/) **Published:** October 23, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I present here a sampling of my photos from the 2017 and 2018 Sarasota Film Festival in Sarasota, Florida. (For more coverage of those events plus more photos, go [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-concludes/) and [here](https://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-ends/).) The photos below are Stanley Tucci, Steve Guttenberg, Virginia Madsen, Barbara Kopple and Diane Lane. (Click photos for larger, high-res versions. All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stanley-Tucci-at-SFF-2017-4.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stanley-Tucci-at-SFF-2017-4.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Steve-Guttenberg.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Steve-Guttenberg.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Virginia-Madsen-3.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Virginia-Madsen-3.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Barbara-Kopple.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Diane-Lane-at-SFF-2017.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Diane-Lane-at-SFF-2017.jpg) --- ### [Telluride Film Festival Photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-photos/) **Published:** October 23, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Below is a small selection of my photos from the 2019 Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado. (For my full coverage, [go here](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/).) The first photo shows Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and Tom Harper discussing *The Aeronauts*. The second is *Lyrebird*‘s Guy Pearce (left), director Dan Friedkin, Vicky Krieps and Claes Bang. (Lyrebird was renamed *The Last Vermeer* upon its wide release.) The final photo shows Dayton Duncan (left), Julie Dunfey and Ken Burns discussing their *Country Music* with the festival moderator (right). (Click each photo for a larger, high-res version. All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Lyrebird-QA.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ken-Burns-QA.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ken-Burns-QA.jpg) --- ### [Jackie](https://www.meiermovies.com/jackie/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Jackie**, 2016, 4 ½ stars # Kennedys come to life in *Jackie* ## Natalie Portman wows in Larraín’s biopic Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 10, 2016 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Jackie.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Jackie.jpg)Natalie Portman in *Jackie* (image copyright Jackie Productions / Wild Bunch / Fabula) Biopics about the Kennedys have been done ad nauseam, so perhaps it’s only fitting that a foreign director with little interest in either the Kennedys or biopics would be the best choice to reinvent the sub-genre. Chilean director Pablo Larraín has a reputation for offering fascinatingly unique perspectives on political and social topics, as in *No* and *The Club*. And in *Jackie*, he successfully creates a Camelot that never was but always will be by focusing on Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following President Kennedy’s assassination. Astonishingly, he also produces both a hyper-realistic experience and a dreamlike one. As with all directors, he had help. His most important collaborator is Natalie Portman, who gives the best female performance of the year, one on par with her Oscar-winning turn in *Black Swan*, which was directed by Darren Aronofsky, a co-producer on *Jackie*. Though she adopts her character’s dialect and mannerisms, Portman goes beyond mere imitation and captures Mrs. Kennedy’s essence. The second is cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine, whose mix of close-ups, beautifully framed medium shots and super 16mm film stock blend perfectly with the real footage of the Kennedys. He and Larraín even used an old tube video camera, like those used in *No*, to mimic footage of a real-life TV tour of the White House from the early 1960s. And, of course, the art direction and sound design are essential in completing the trick. The mix of real and fictional is both seamless and haunting. Third is writer Noah Oppenheim, who based (and framed) his story on Theodore H. White’s *Life* interview with the former first lady a week following the assassination. Fourth is composer Mica Levi, whose heavily featured score lends a magical, wistful quality to the film. And fifth is Sebastián Sepúlveda’s editing, which is rambling, non-linear and even jumbled: a perfect complement to the shock, confusion and bewilderment that Mrs. Kennedy and others must have felt at the time. All of these elements combine to produce a movie that is both brutal and gentle: a rare feat. Three members of the supporting cast also deserve praise. Billy Crudup (as White) is instantly believable, John Hurt is effective as a priest whom the former first lady turns to for spiritual advice, and Peter Sarsgaard is astonishing as Bobby Kennedy. But perhaps the film’s greatest achievement relates to what I call the “world theory,” which suggests that if a movie thoroughly convinces you that the world it’s presenting is authentic, then it can fully manipulate your emotions whether its cinematic style is realism, romanticism, surrealism or even absurdism. That world simply has to be true to itself and its aesthetic principles. Perhaps not every element of the movie is perfect, but once you buy into the world on the screen, you’re hooked. And *Jackie* is the biggest Kennedy hook since Oliver Stone’s *JFK.* And if it’s not the best film of 2016, which it might be, it’s certainly the most mythic, as it taps into the consciousness of America. “People need their history. It gives them strength,” we’re told in *Jackie*. Yet Jackie herself is heard to remark, “I never wanted fame. I just became a Kennedy.” Still, the Jackie presented here grasps the importance of her and her husband’s role in history, and Larraín gives us a fresh view of how she overcame her profound shock and grief in November 1963 to help forge the Kennedy legacy we’ve come to know today. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [It](https://www.meiermovies.com/it/) **Published:** September 16, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **It**, 2017, 1 ¼ stars # *It* remake swaps smarts for cheap scares [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/It.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/It.jpg)Images copyright New Line Cinema / KatzSmith Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/it-remake-swaps-smarts-for-cheap-scares/Content?oid=6703957) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/it-remake-swaps-smarts-for-cheap-scares/Content?oid=5421326), September 6, 2017 Director Andy Muschietti (*Mama*) sets the tone for his *It* remake in the first 10 minutes by brutally and unnecessarily depicting a child’s arm being ripped off and a sheep being shot in the head. If you enjoy that type of crap, hold onto your balloons, because *It* is one wild ride of silly scares. But if you prefer genuine fright and a commentary on lost – and suppressed – childhood, you’re in for a long, stupid, repetitive and unpleasant experience. *It* is, of course, based on the Stephen King 1986 bestseller, which was famously adapted into a 1990 two-part ABC miniseries. The story focuses on seven children in Derry, Maine, who are all visited by a demonic presence they call simply “It.” Though It often takes the form of the thing each child most fears, its standard incarnation is a creepy clown called Pennywise. The seven children, nicknamed “The Losers,” are able to battle Pennywise because they stick together and believe in each other. The novel is 1,138 pages and features two interwoven stories. The first, set in 1957-1958, depicts the kids’ initial battle with Pennywise, while the second, set 27 years later, revisits the children as adults after Pennywise resurfaces to terrorize the town’s youngsters yet again. As adults, the seven friends must confront a childhood nightmare that had faded into memory and, by doing so, discover the meaning of their lives. Both the miniseries and new film (written by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman) take huge liberties with the novel, and that’s acceptable considering the length of the book and the fact that cinema should not be a prisoner of literature. However, both versions fail to capture the emotional power King was attempting in the book. Interestingly, the new film succeeds where the miniseries failed, and vice versa. For instance, Muschietti’s movie is technically more proficient and cinematic than the 1990 version. It’s shot better, contains better art direction and is packed with more jump-scares and slick special effects than the old TV version, which suffered from amateur production values. But by interweaving the two stories (childhood and adulthood) as the novel did, the miniseries more successfully captured the themes of lost childhood. The new film, in contrast, focuses on just the story of the kids (this time in 1988-1989), presumably leaving the adults’ tale for the sequel. It’s a strategy designed to boost box office, not present a meaningful, nuanced tale. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/It-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/It-2.jpg)As Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård is just OK and on par with Tim Curry’s performance in the miniseries. If you fear clowns, you’ll probably fear him, although, thanks to his poor enunciation, your main emotion might be confusion instead of fear. While the actors portraying the three bullies who terrorize the “Losers” are ridiculously over the top (probably thanks to poor direction), all seven principal child actors are competent, as they were in the miniseries. Yet the new film isn’t as sharp in its characterizations. Indeed, the miniseries, for all its flaws, was better at methodically presenting each child (and their seven adult counterparts) so you were able to grasp their personalities. The film instead throws multiple characters at you at once and fails to establish the uniqueness of each. Still, Jaeden Lieberher as Billy (the stuttering boy whose younger brother is dragged into the sewer by Pennywise) and Sophia Lillis as Beverly (the only girl in the group) are excellent. Look for big things from her in the future. The film’s greatest failing is one of tone. *It* wants to be horror, comedy, comedy-horror and coming-of-age dramedy in the vein of *Stand by Me*, but it never successfully becomes any of those. Instead of trying to juggle genres, *It* should have striven for smarts on the scale of *Something Wicked This Way Comes*. But to do that, it would have had to drop the endless, inane musical interjections and overscoring, and its obsession with punctuating almost every moment of potential drama with spoken ejaculations such as “What the fuck is that?” (The character uttering the most obscenities is rightfully nicknamed “Trashmouth,” but the endless parade of fucks and snarky remarks is numbingly dumb. Ah, out of the mouths of babes.) “We all float down here,” Pennywise tells the children to coax them into his watery underworld. That might be true, but the movie itself is mostly bereft of buoyancy. It sinks. *© 2017 Euclid Media* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Isle of Dogs](https://www.meiermovies.com/isle-of-dogs/) **Published:** April 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Isle of Dogs**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars ## Wes Anderson fashions odd, animated allegory [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Isle-of-Dogs.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Isle-of-Dogs.jpg)Image copyright American Empirical Pictures / Indian Paintbrush/ 20th Century Fox From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/wes-anderson-fashions-another-odd-animated-allegory-with-isle-of-dogs/Content?oid=12373536), April 4, 2018 Marrying eye-popping stop-motion animation with themes of political hysteria and scapegoating – and a dash of Akira Kurosawa – Wes Anderson has created a film that, for all its narrative clutter, will thrill his hard-core fans and even please a few casual admirers. It’s called *Isle of Dogs*, but it might as well be “Isle of Anderson,” as the unique writer-director is all alone stylistically. It’s year 2038, and the canine population of dystopian Japan is ravaged by dog flu and snout fever. To protect humans, Kobayashi, the dictatorial mayor of Megasaki, banishes all dogs to Trash Island. He doesn’t care that a cure is nigh and even decrees that the first evicted hound will be Spots, the beloved pet of his nephew, Atari. But Atari – along with a small group of scientists and students – see through Kobayashi’s propaganda and is determined to find his dog, expose the mayor’s lies, cure the canines and restore inter-species harmony. On his quest, he’s joined by a gang of misfit mutts, notably Chief, a former stray who first eschews affection but eventually develops a reluctant respect for Atari’s fight against the doggie version of ethnic cleansing. Anderson visited stop-motion animation nine years ago with *Fantastic Mr. Fox*. Based on the book by Roald Dahl, that film had more charm, wit and coherency than *Isle of Dogs*. Though the latter’s animation is breathtakingly detailed and a joy to behold, its screenplay is muddled, overwritten and not impactful enough, either emotionally or comedically. Arresting and imaginative, *Dogs* comes across as a bit cold until the final 30 minutes when Chief (Bryan Cranston) is given a great story to chew on and emerges as the only character with powerful, dramatic appeal – though Oracle (Tilda Swinton) will melt the hearts of pug-lovers. The film is filled with structural devices (prologue, chapter headings and meta-theatrical flashbacks) and dialogue delivery (deadpan, monotone and speed-reading) that Anderson aficionados expect. And for actors, we get Anderson’s usual suspects (Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham and Frances McDormand) plus some surprises (Greta Gerwig, Scarlett Johansson, Liev Schreiber and an interesting array of Japanese actors, including Yoko Ono), though Anderson throws them all too few narrative bones. Add the director’s trademark, hipster irreverence and a pinch of classic Japanese filmmaking – with its cold exterior belying a deep warmth – and you have one of the year’s oddest cinematic smorgasbords. Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer embraced minimalism. He boiled his stories down to their essential truths by eliminating superfluous writing and production design. Anderson is the antithesis of Dreyer, as the American director’s sumptuous films trend toward structural and visual gluttony. For some, they are feasts for the eyes and soul. To others, they are tedious and annoying, and speak to the fact that Anderson might have been a better production designer than director. But there’s no denying he’s perfectly suited to stop-motion, which allows him to play (literally) with myriad characters and sets. *Isle of Dogs* is his own personal toy chest. And though the pieces are a bit too plastic, it’s fun to watch him play. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Irishman](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-irishman/) **Published:** November 22, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Irishman, a.k.a. I Heard You Paint Houses**, 2019, 2 ½ stars # Unbalanced epic ## Hit-or-miss *Irishman* demands patience [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Irishman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Irishman.jpg)A “youth-anized” Joe Pesci, left, and Robert De Niro star in *The Irishman*. (image copyright Netflix) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/hit-or-miss-irishman-demands-patience/Content?oid=26343683), November 21, 2019 When Roger Ebert first saw *The Brown Bunny*, a 2003 semi-experimental drama, he called it the worst movie to ever play the Cannes Film Festival. But after director Vincent Gallo cut 26 minutes, Ebert revised his opinion, giving the film three out of four stars. “It is said that editing is the soul of the cinema,” Ebert wrote. “In the case of *The Brown Bunny*, it is its salvation.” Buried beneath the surface of *The Irishman* is a good, maybe great, film. But as with the original *Bunny*, director Martin Scorsese’s crime epic is often undisciplined, unpleasant, rambling and narratively flawed, which is a cinematic tragedy considering what could have been accomplished with a tighter edit and a minor rewrite to flesh out the characters, particularly the women. Alternately titled *I Heard You Paint Houses* (a metaphor for bloody murder), the film doesn’t need a new paint job as much as a remodel. Based on Charles Brandt’s 2004 nonfiction book, which purports to solve the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, the film focuses on Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (Robert De Niro). Though he began as a truck driver, Sheeran became a powerful union boss thanks to his ties to the Bufalino crime family, specifically Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). It was his friendship with Russell that led Sheeran to Hoffa (Al Pacino), for whom he served as confidante, bodyguard and hitman, according to Brandt. The details of that relationship have been disputed, but the truth matters little in the context of Scorsese’s film. This isn’t a documentary, and the book is great source material regardless of the facts. Because the film takes place from the early 1950s to around 2000, the actors must age. So Scorsese and his effects team apply astonishing “youth-anizing” technology to De Niro, Pesci and Pacino. The effect is initially off-putting, mostly because we are expecting re-creations of the actors as young men. Instead, we see what they might have looked like in a different genetic incarnation. Sure, Scorsese could have hired younger actors and aged them with makeup, but he wanted these guys, and the latest computer wizardry has made it possible. Regrettably, Steven Zaillian’s screenplay doesn’t show equal care for their insides. Indeed, one never gets to truly know the three men, and minor characters portrayed by Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin are even more underdeveloped. Though De Niro’s voiceover grows tiresome and Pacino sometimes seems to be caricaturing himself (with lots of yelling and inconsistent dialect work), it’s admittedly difficult to look away. Yet it’s Pesci, out of retirement, who gives the most nuanced performance. *The Irishman* demands patience, as it’s packed with Scorsese’s obsessions and quirks, many of which involve overused violence, misplaced humor and the interminable use of the term “cocksucker.” But in the second half, the legendary director surprisingly exchanges the *Goodfellas* vibe for a style more akin to *Silence*, his masterful epic from 2016. The change of pace is refreshing but also jarring, making one wonder if this movie, which runs three and a half hours, might have worked better as a Netflix miniseries. In its current form, one is stuck by the stylistic inconsistency and, frankly, lack of humanity. There’s a reason I’m awarding it two-and-a-half stars, which represents the mathematical middle on a five-star scale. You should make up your own mind. If you’re a Scorsese devotee, this will be your 2019 Thanksgiving feast. But if you’re a detractor or just casual fan, you’ll likely side with Rotten Tomatoes, which says the star rating is rotten. But *The Irishman* is far from rotten. At its heart, it’s a unique account of friendship, trust and betrayal between three men. But Scorsese, chasing his mob mania, can’t resist involving more characters and vignettes than he can handle. He wants to have his cake and kill it too. *© Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Irrational Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/irrational-man/) **Published:** August 10, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Irrational Man**, 2015, 2 stars # Irrelevant man ## Woody Allen’s *Irrational Man* wastes a good premise [![Irrational Man](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Irrational-Man-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Irrational-Man.jpg)Image copyright Gravier Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/woody-allens-irrational-man-wastes-a-good-premise/Content?oid=2421158), August 5, 2015 Professor Abe Lucas’s dad died when he was 12. His mother killed herself by drinking bleach. His best friend died in Iraq. His wife left him for a friend. And he gets drunk every afternoon. In the wonderful world of Woody Allen, this means that Abe is a college philosophy teacher, specializing in “verbal masturbation” while pondering the meaning of existence and engaging in inappropriate relationships with women half his age. (And those are the things I *liked* about Allen’s latest dramedy, *Irrational Man*.) Yes, Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a poster child for academic burn-out. Though he’s landed a promising new job at a small college in Rhode Island, he can no longer find joy in teaching, or in life. “I couldn’t remember the reason for living,” he complains. “And when I did, it wasn’t convincing.” Despite his disengagement, students seem drawn to him, perhaps because of his painful honesty and ability to translate philosophical concepts into real-life situations, a gift shared by the film’s director. Indeed, just like Allen, Abe seems to come alive after meeting a much younger woman – this time in the form of one of his brightest students, Jill (Emma Stone). Yet even after becoming close to both Jill and a fellow teacher (Parker Posey), Abe still has “no zest for life, no joy.” Fittingly, it’s not until a potentially traumatic moral dilemma presents itself that Abe finally finds a purpose – something that will allow him to make a difference in people’s lives, something to challenge his sense of right and wrong. The plot, for better or worse, is pure Allen. As he often does (most recently in *Magic in the Moonlight*), he presents to us a reasonable, rational world, only to later embrace emotion. “Go with your gut feeling. Do rather than observe,” Abe says. “If it feels right, it often is.” Allen seems to have followed his protagonist’s advice, as *Irrational Man* must have felt right to him, at least on paper. Unfortunately, the end product is clunky, contrived and embarrassingly overwritten – a philosophical exercise rather than an engaging motion picture. The explanatory narration by Abe and Jill is endless and mostly unnecessary, eventually turning tedious. Even the music is annoying, thanks to the nightmarish repetitions of a jazzy piano rendition of Billy Page’s “The In Crowd.” Stone is her usual charming self, but Phoenix phones it in. Posey is admittedly a nice addition, but her character comes apart slightly toward the end of the film, when she inexplicably turns chummy with Jill (her rival for Abe’s attention). Add in an ending that almost completely destroys Allen’s heretofore subtle examination of situational ethics, and we’re left with one of the director’s worst films and a title character that is more irrelevant than irrational. Let’s hope that Allen, 79, can produce one more masterpiece. Until then, skip his latest flick and instead reacquaint yourself with *Annie Hall*, or *Bullets over Broadway*, or *Zelig*. Now there’s an irrational man you could learn to love. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Invisible Woman](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-invisible-woman/) **Published:** December 7, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Invisible Woman**, 2013, 2 ½ stars # Invisible passion ## *The Invisible Woman* charms but never excites From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/invisible-woman-charms-but-never-excites/Content?oid=2243100), January 21, 2014 For his sophomore directorial effort, Ralph Fiennes has brought to the screen the scandalous but mostly secret relationship between literary legend Charles Dickens, whom he plays, and his young mistress, Ellen “Nelly” Ternan. It’s a beautiful and melancholy tale told in a deliberate, intelligent style but, regrettably, lacking in urgency and passion thanks to writing and performances that often keep us at arm’s length. [![Invisible Woman](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Invisible-Woman-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Invisible-Woman.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics / BBC Films *The Invisible Woman*, with a screenplay by Abi Morgan, is based on the book of the same name by Claire Tomalin. It’s largely speculative, as no letters between Dickens and Ternan survived, but whether all details are accurate matters little, as the ambience, historical tidbits and performances are realistic enough to hold your attention. But that’s as strong a compliment as the movie deserves, as the revelation of the hearts and minds of Dickens and Ternan seems just out of reach of Fiennes’ film. Set both during the height of the alleged affair (around 1860) and in 1883 as Ternan is pondering her past (13 years after Dickens’ death), the film avoids the trappings of a traditional biopic. Indeed, it focuses more on Ternan than Dickens, which is refreshing at times. Yet by avoiding a more predictable story arc, it too often leaves us in the dark on details, exposition and motivations. The result is a movie that lives in the shadows, more haunted than haunting, and never fully present. Fiennes is somewhat believable as the legendary author, though his performance is, well, nothing to write home about. Felicity Jones, as Ternan, is also sporadically effective and even visually mesmerizing in close-up. Both actors are held back, however, by a screenplay absent in energy and on-screen chemistry sans spark. Too often they simply go through the motions, content to let the sumptuous cinematography and art direction tell the tale for them. Only Joanna Scanlan, as Dickens’ tragically rejected wife, completely connects. “This is a tale of woe. This is a tale of sorrow.” Those lines are spoken by Ternan in a play directed by Dickens, but they are also used to sum up the film. An even more effective literary reference is the comparison of Dickens and Ternan’s relationship to the strangely uplifting yet ambiguous ending of *Great Expectations*, in which Pip “saw no shadow of another parting from” Estella. *The Invisible Woman* tries to capture the magic of that 1860 masterpiece, but it just can’t, perhaps because it’s written not by the master himself but by a writer known for the only slightly above-average screenplays for *Shame* and *The Iron Lady*. Fiennes is a competent helmer, and though this film is not as powerful as his first foray into directing, *Coriolanus*, it will intrigue not just Dickens fans but most period-piece enthusiasts. It may even touch you with its dreamlike style – except that this is someone else’s dream, and we never feel fully part of it, which ironically means that Ternan, who stayed largely invisible for 150 years until the publication of Tomalin’s book, is destined to remain so. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Invisible Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-invisible-man/) **Published:** March 3, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Invisible Man**, 2020, 3 ¼ stars # See no evil ### *Invisible Man* stirs suspense from thin air [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Invisible-Man-300x125.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Invisible-Man-scaled.jpg)Elisabeth Moss stars in *The Invisible Man*. (image copyright Universal Pictures / Blumhouse Productions) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 3, 2020 Sue me for political incorrectness, but I’ve grown weary of movie promotors who brag that their film exposes injustice, is socially relevant or captures the zeitgeist. I like politically powerful art just as much as the next guy, but the industry’s focus on Me Too, Time’s Up and similar movements has taken a cynical, pandering turn. So I was concerned that *The Invisible Man* would be another opportunistic update of a classic tale. It isn’t. Instead, it’s an entirely new combination of science fiction, drama, suspense and horror – a rather violent one at that. And though it is a tad overlong and occasionally resorts to the tropes of that latter genre, it rises above most of the other, disappointing cinematic offerings of early 2020. Perhaps my initial skepticism could have been avoided had the title been different, for this film has almost nothing in common with the H.G. Wells novel from 1897. *Sleeping with the (Unseen) Enemy* perhaps? Or, at the risk of embracing the in-your-face messaging I just excoriated, wouldn’t a title with “woman” have been more appropriate? After all, the main character, Cecilia, is played by the almost unbearably intense Elisabeth Moss, who possesses an uncanny ability to leap from ravishing to ravished in a single reel. She is the heart of this story, which combines themes of paranoia, mental illness, female empowerment and domestic abuse into a tale that – unlike Cecilia’s abusive boyfriend – never overstays its welcome. Like the eponymous man, my plot summary will be invisible, suffice to say the story draws only inspiration (and the name “Griffin”) from Wells and nothing (sans a creepy, bandage-wrapped hospital patient) from the disappointingly campy 1933 film. (Sorry, James Whale. Hey, at least those old practical effects are still the cat’s (invisible) pajamas.) This means that the best and most faithful interpretation of Wells’ creation remains the six-part BBC miniseries from 1984. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell (*Insidious: Chapter 3*, and writer of a couple of *Saw* films), this latest *Invisible Man* relies principally on its original story, not to mention Moss and some well-executed, wholly believable special effects. Solid support from Aldis Hodge (*Straight Outta Compton*, *Hidden Figures*) as Cecilia’s friend, Harriet Dyer (*Love Child* TV series) as Cecilia’s sister and Michael Dorman as the invisible man’s brother lend credibility to what could have otherwise become a rather pedestrian – though still scary – production. In the title role, Oliver Jackson-Cohen (*The Raven*) has a couple of chilling moments but is generally rather, well, invisible. (If only Benjamin Wallfisch’s score could have faded into the background a bit more.) How you see Whannell’s *Invisible Man* is up to you. What I see is mostly a clever, twisty horror flick, not something that “transcended magic,” as Wells’ invisible man claimed to do. Perhaps you’ll see a film that captures the zeitgeist without bragging about its conquest. Or a film that exposes a brutality that, though ever present in our society, seems too often cloaked in invisibility. Or a character who, despite her literal opaqueness, is far less metaphorically visible than her invisible (rich and powerful) boyfriend. For me, that is a bridge slightly too far. I hope you can forgive me. If you can’t, remember this other quote from Wells’ tale: “I never blame anyone. It’s quite out of fashion.” *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051906/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Man_(2020_film)).* --- ### [Into the Woods](https://www.meiermovies.com/into-the-woods/) **Published:** January 1, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Into the Woods**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars # Sondheim satisfier ### *Into the Woods* should please most of the composer’s fans [![Into the Woods](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Into-the-Woods-300x187.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Into-the-Woods.jpg)Image copyright Walt Disney Company From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/into-the-woods-should-satisfy-most-of-sondheims-fans/Content?oid=2340199), December 31, 2014 “Be careful what you wish for” is not only the tagline for the screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s *Into the Woods* – it’s solid advice for viewers, too, because if you’re wishing for a masterpiece on par with director Rob Marshall’s *Chicago* or an experience that rivals a Broadway show, you’ll be disappointed. But if you enter with reasonable expectations, you should be satisfied with this delightful, if slightly uneven, visual feast and its ability to capture most of the magic and originality of the stage musical. Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics (with the book and subsequent screenplay by James Lapine) in 1986 as both a witty combination of classic Grimm fairytales and a clever commentary on what really happens after “happily ever after.” The stories of *Little Red Riding Hood*, *Cinderella*, *Rapunzel* and *Jack and the Beanstalk* – with some twists – are included, linked by a fifth tale of a poor baker and his wife who must perform a series of tasks involving those aforementioned characters in order to convince an unfriendly neighborhood witch to lift a curse that has left the couple childless. As expected, the movie makes changes to the original musical. Events are condensed, the transition between acts is altered, songs are axed, and characters are cut. (Goodbye to the narrator, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.) The plot is also a bit less grim and adult-oriented, with no sexual tension between the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red, and a much happier ending for one character. But none of these changes dishonors Sondheim, and some actually improve the film’s flow. The cast is strong, in both acting and singing, led by Meryl Streep as the Witch, Emily Blunt as the Baker’s Wife, James Corden as the Baker, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Chris Pine as the deliciously campy Prince and Tracey Ullman as Jack’s mother. Even the supporting players are memorable, with a wonderful-as-always Lucy Punch as one of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters and an especially weird – even by his standards – Johnny Depp as the Wolf. They are all aided by a splendid production design that transports us to a fairytale world more successfully than the Broadway show can. The first half is a joy and whizzes by more quickly than Rapunzel can let down her hair. But the unevenness and slower, stranger plot of the second half reveal both the difficulties of the stage-to-screen process and the musical’s inherent weaknesses. While Sondheim is a brilliant lyricist, his music here – though innovative – often smacks of notes thrown at the page, lacking in melodic sensibility or emotional impact. Those flaws are masked in the early-going by the show’s sheer wonder, but by the two-hour mark, the bloom is slightly off the rose – to throw yet another fairytale metaphor into the mix. When trying to buy Jack’s cow with beans, the Baker says they have a “magic that defies description.” *Into the Woods* – both musical and movie – is clearly less wondrous than those beanstalk-growing legumes, but Marshall’s movie deserves credit for capturing almost all of the musical’s magic while presenting a visual spectacle that a proscenium is unable to unveil. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Interview](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-interview/) **Published:** December 25, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Interview**, 2014, 2 stars # Wasted opportunity ## *The Interview* says “fuck you” to greatness, but we should still celebrate its screenings [![The Interview](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Interview-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Interview.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 24, 2014 “For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” Starting a review of a Seth Rogen comedy with the closing line of John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Maud Muller,” one of the 19th century’s greatest poems, might seem a tad over the top. But it’s fitting considering that everything about *The Interview* is outlandishly bigger than life – from the incessant, infantile banter, to James Franco’s endless mugging and hamming, to the controversy surrounding the release of the film, which has elevated this otherwise forgettable farce into one of the most memorable cinematic events of the decade. Before we examine how appropriate those immortal lines are, let’s first set the hoopla aside and look at the film itself. Directed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, *The Interview* is mostly a buddy comedy between two characters with little intelligence and even less believability. Franco is Dave Skylark, the host of a popular talk show that focuses not on real news but on celebrity gossip. Rogen is Aaron Rapaport, Franco’s friend and producer, and though he graduated from Columbia University School of Journalism and apparently longs for a career in hard news, he’s been mostly content to pal around with Dave because that’s where the money and his own adolescent sensibilities lie. When Aaron finds out that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, he sees not just dollar signs but respectability. He realizes that if he can arrange an interview, however controlled it might be, he and Dave could rise to the level of media gods. But before the two can sneak off to the hermit kingdom, they are approached by an unnecessarily sexy CIA agent (Lizzy Caplan), who involves them in a preposterous plot to assassinate Kim. Written by Dan Sterling from an admittedly clever story by Rogen, the film is really two movies, one buried inside the other. On the surface (and for the first hour), it’s just plain dumb, with endless vulgarities, bad jokes and a painfully incompetent Franco marring any chance of success. Seriously, why do people like this guy? It’s Christmas, so I won’t denigrate him as a human being, but it’s as if Henry Higgins stumbled into a frat kegger, found a reasonably handsome and charismatic douchebag, and attempted to pass him off as a real actor. Well, Henry, you should have stuck with Eliza Doolittle, because this lump of acting crap has bitten the bowl off the spoon one too many times. Astonishingly, a smarter side to the film (the aforementioned movie within the movie) starts to surface once we meet Kim, about 50 minutes in. Yes, Randall Park has his moments as the dictator, but the about-face in quality occurs thanks to a script that finally shows some satirical wit. And once the actual interview begins and the screenplay reveals both its more serious and maturely funny frames, it’s enough to make you wonder whether all the brainless shenanigans of the first hour were simply a MacGuffin. “How do you prove to 24 million people that their god is a murderer and a liar?” one of Kim’s propaganda minsters (Diane Bang) asks, while suggesting that the nation’s starving masses are longing for someone to rise up and reveal that their revered leader is nothing but an insecure, incompetent fool battling not just the United States but his own childhood demons. Ah, so THAT is why North Korea isn’t a fan of the film. We even get some counterpoints to the traditional Western arguments, like when Dave theorizes, “Kim is not evil. He was just born into a hard situation.” Sadly, despite those clever moments and some truly funny slapstick, the film ultimately struggles to rise above lines like “let’s barbecue this motherfucker” and “his head looks like somebody’s taint.” And so we return to Whittier. Perhaps if Rogen had known the whole world would be watching and longing for another *The Great Dictator* or *Dr. Strangelove*, he, like his character, would have tried harder to create something profound, something that actually deserved all the press it’s getting. Instead, he lost a precious opportunity to show the world why great art deserves to be seen. Though I can’t recommend *The Interview* for traditional reasons, I applaud the fact that Sony reversed its original decision to pull the picture and not cave to terrorists, and so should you. Whether you agree with this review is not important. What is important is no one should tell Americans, or North Koreans for that matter, what they CAN see. I began with great poetry, and I end with great words of political prose, words that we should always revisit when facing an enemy, whether that enemy be military might or censorship. “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,” Winston Churchill said when confronting something far more horrific than this current bunch of terror-bent hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace. “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. … Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” *© 2014 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview).* --- ### [Inherent Vice](https://www.meiermovies.com/inherent-vice/) **Published:** January 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Inherent Vice**, 2014, 1 ½ stars # Intolerable *Vice* ## Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is his worst [![Inherent Vice](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Inherent-Vice-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Inherent-Vice.jpg)Image copyright IAC Films/Warner Brothers Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 6, 2015 The failures of great artists hurt far worse than the shortcomings of schmucks. And Paul Thomas Anderson is a great artist, wowing us with works such as *There Will be Blood* and *Boogie Nights*. Even his lesser films like *The Master*, *Punch-Drunk Love* and *Magnolia* left an aesthetic mark. That’s why his latest crime-comedy amounts to not just a thumbs-down, but a thumbs-down-my-throat in an attempt to barf it from my brain. *Inherent Vice* is set in 1970 Los Angeles and strives for a Raymond Chandler vibe, by way of Cheech and Chong. Anderson, who wrote the screenplay from the Thomas Pynchon novel, actually admitted so, adding that he was even hoping for some Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker lunacy too. With so many influences, it’s no surprise that there are enormous problems with tone, such as when the director launches from subtle comedy, to slapstick, to mystery, to awkward love scene bordering on rape. But the real disasters are the runtime of almost two-and-a-half hours and the nonsensical plot, which defy explanation on first viewing – as if you’d want to suffer through it twice. Joaquin Phoenix is somewhat engaging in the lead role of Doc Sportello, a private investigator hoping to solve the mysterious disappearances of his ex-girlfriend, her current boyfriend (a real-estate tycoon) and other people who may be dead, or involved in a cult, or smuggling drugs. Or something like that. It’s really more about Doc’s daily quests to figure out what the hell is going on with his friends and acquaintances while smoking as much weed as he can in the process. Spoiler: He never truly finds out, and neither do we. Even a bad Anderson film is never dull or unoriginal, and this is no exception. Its quirkiness keeps it interesting for a while, but soon the endless introductions of pointless characters and the unimpactful, confusing plot twists make the viewing experience almost intolerable. Josh Brolin (as Detective Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen) and Benicio del Toro (as Doc’s friend and lawyer) are both memorable, but that doesn’t make up for the project’s muddle and misplaced, half-hearted ambitions of comedic greatness. Its dialogue is both over- and under-written (if that’s possible), the music is intrusive, and the annoying voiceover narration has more vocal fry that KFC. So by the time an unfunny Owen Wilson, an underused Reese Witherspoon and an admittedly amusing, scene-stealing Martin Short show up, the movie has devolved into intolerable tedium and pointless exercises in style over substance. “Inherent vice” in a marine insurance policy means anything that can’t be avoided. Thankfully, this film *can* be avoided, and I strongly suggest you do so. For when Bigfoot requests that Doc “remind me why I give a shit,” I longed to leap from my seat, accost Anderson and speak that same line to him. *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1791528/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherent_Vice_(film)).* --- ### [The Imitation Game](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-imitation-game/) **Published:** December 24, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Imitation Game**, 2014, 4 ½ stars # A worthy tribute ## Alan Turing finally gets cinematic respect [![Imitation Game](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Imitation-Game-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Imitation-Game.jpg)Image copyright Black Bear Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/alan-turing-finally-gets-cinematic-respect-in-the-imitation-game/Content?oid=2338094), December 24, 2014 Adolf Hitler hated homosexuals almost as much as he hated Jews, sending tens of thousands to prison or concentration camps. It’s ironic justice, therefore, that a gay man (mathematician Alan Turing) – more than any other person except the “big three” leaders of World War 2 – brought about his demise, by cracking the Nazi’s Enigma code. *The Imitation Game,* directed by Norwegian Morten Tyldum, tells Turing’s tale of both triumph and tragedy with flair, passion and a clever, almost meta-theatrical, framing device. It does employ dashes of heavy-handedness and historical revisionism, but only to tidy up the storytelling, not to magnify or distort Turing’s accomplishments, which need no embellishment. And for those who aren’t entirely familiar with either Turing’s life or the moral dilemma the Allies faced once they had solved Enigma, the film delivers some fascinating surprises. As Turing, Benedict Cumberbatch is thoroughly engaging. His performance may not have the immediate allure of fellow Brit Eddie Redmayne’s recent turn as Stephen Hawking in *The Theory of Everything*, but this is a better film. I gave that movie high marks too, but *The Imitation Game* is sharper, smarter and more impactful, almost rising to the level of a five. Expect an Oscar nomination for Cumberbatch. (I can hear the Cumberbitches swooning now.) Speaking of swooning, allow this reviewer to fawn again over Keira Knightley, who, perhaps more than any other current actress except Jessica Chastain, has got part-picking down to a science. From *Atonement* to *Anna Karenina* to her latest offering, which features her as Joan Clarke, Turing’s friend and fellow code cracker, she’s proved her brilliance. Even more importantly, Cumberbatch and Knightly have chemistry. Though Graham Moore’s screenplay – from a book by Andrew Hodges – slightly exaggerates their closeness, it never feels forced. And when Turing turns to Joan and proclaims with striking stoicism, “We’re going to break an unbreakable Nazi code and win the war,” you absolutely believe they’ll do it. *Downton Abbey* fans will recognize Allen Leech – Tom Branson in that TV series – as one of Turing’s colleagues, but he’s just one in the array of competent supporting performers, including a memorable Mark Strong as Turing’s MI6 boss and a superb Alex Lawther as young Turing. And all the actors blend well with the stellar cinematography and production design, which set the right mood while also masking the fact that the story is slightly rushed. The movie draws its name from a Turing research paper that discussed how to tell the difference between a man and a computer, the latter able to merely imitate human characteristics. Although that title serves as an interesting comment on Turing’s need to disguise his homosexuality, a better one might have been “The Originality Game,” as there’s never been another man quite like Turing, who practically invented the modern computer. And though *Codebreaker*, a 2011 TV movie, tackled the same subject, *The Imitation Game* has finally given Turing’s remarkable legacy the broad cinematic respect it merits by showcasing it proudly in one of the five best films of the year. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [I, Robot](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-robot/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **I, Robot**, 2004, 1 ¾ stars # *I, Robot* eye-catching but unintelligent From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, July 16, 2004 Isaac Asimov’s *I, Robot* is as suitable for a hip action thriller as Will Smith is for a thoughtful, mature science-fiction protagonist. And if novice director Alex Proya’s laughingly loose adaptation of Asimov’s book does anything other than depict an extremely cool Chicago in the year 2035, it proves that both Smith and Asimov’s paths should never have crossed. Smith plays Del Spooner, a cop trying to solve the mysterious murder of the top scientist at United States Robots (USR), the world’s leading producer of intelligent cyborgs. Not only does Spooner believe a robot is guilty, but during his research into the crime, he discovers a deeper plot that could eventually lead to a robot rebellion. Asimov’s work is essentially a series of discussions on the three laws of robotics. First, robots can never harm humans or, through inaction, allow harm to come to them. Second, robots must always obey human commands unless the command conflicts with rule one. And third, robots must preserve their own existence as long as that does not conflict with the first two rules. Not only does the film abandon the plot of all nine short stories in the novel, using only similar names and ideas from the book, but it fails Asimov’s work in principle as well. Yes, the movie’s art direction, chase sequences and fascinatingly creepy humanoid robots make the intellectual faults a bit less painful. But it ultimately fails, until the ending’s twist, to engage us in a debate on the laws of robotics and when and how they can be altered for what the robots perceive as the betterment of the human race. The novel has proven difficult in the past to bring to the screen because the stories themselves are interviews with the retiring matriarch of USR, Susan Calvin, a sometimes cold, calculating and boring character who is often compared to a robot herself. The excitement must then come not from her or from the stories’ plots, but from the theory that all robots must adhere to the three rules of robotics and can never harm humans. Therefore, when a robot seemingly malfunctions, the reader is forced to debate, along with the scientists, the robot’s behavior and decide if it is indeed a violation of the three rules or simply a human failure to comprehend the creature it has created. Because the movie sacrifices conversation for car chases and philosophy for fistfights, we are asked these questions only on the most superficial of levels. Proya and screenplay writer Jeff Vintar solve the novel’s structural problems by making up a new plot that is simply “suggested” by Asimov and by turning Calvin (*The Recruit*’s Bridget Moynahan) into a sexy, if somewhat frosty, romantic lead. She never hooks up with Smith’s character, but we are given just enough smoldering sexuality and partial nudity to satisfy the summer blockbuster crowd. Throw in Smith’s usual adolescent but occasionally endearing sassiness, and you have an exciting and well-paced sci-fi thriller that many moviegoers will like and Mr. Asimov would detest. *© 2004 OrlandoCityBeat.com* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film)).* --- ### [I Do Until I Don't](https://www.meiermovies.com/i-do-until-i-dont/) **Published:** August 31, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **I Do … Until I Don’t**, 2017, 1 ½ stars # Wedding-bell blues ## Marriage-themed comedy should be annulled [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/I-Do-Until.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/I-Do-Until.jpg)Image copyright Ways & Means From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/marriage-themed-comedy-i-do-until-i-dont-should-be-annulled/Content?oid=6480870) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/the-walk-is-a-fitting-homage-to-the-twin-towers/Content?oid=2475987), August 30, 2017 Actress Lake Bell burst onto the directorial scene at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with *In a World …*, a charming but overrated comedy about a father and daughter competing in the voiceover industry. But instead of building on that success, her disappointing sophomore effort, *I Do … Until I Don’t*, does little except prove Bell’s love for ellipses. In addition to punctuation, Bell also has marriage on her mind or, more specifically, whether the institution makes much sense in today’s society. Her film, which she also wrote and stars in, focuses on three couples – why just three? – participating in a “toxic horror show of a documentary” designed to prove that couples aren’t meant to stay together for life. In fact, Vivian (Dolly Wells), the pretentious hack directing the doc – whom we’re meant to believe works for BBC Films – suggests that marriage should be a seven-year contract, with the option to renew. Vivian has journeyed to – you guessed it – Florida, which she claims is the divorce capital of America (it isn’t) to shoot her project. In Vero Beach, she finds Alice (Bell) and Noah (Ed Helms), Cybil (Mary Steenburgen) and Harvey (Paul Reiser), and Fanny (Amber Heard) and Zander (Wyatt Cenac), who, unbelievably, all seem to know each other. Alice and Fanny are actually sisters whom Valerie hired separately, apparently without knowing they were related. (Vero Beach is small, but not that small.) If these contrivances had been surrounded by clever slapstick or screwball, they might have been amusing. But instead they are joined by other faults, such as an overly long runtime, unmanageable side stories, derivative themes and Bell’s failure to take full advantage of some admittedly funny situations (such as when Alice – who takes a job as a sexual masseuse – believes cupping a man’s balls is best accomplished with a pair of tongs and an actual cup). Yet the film’s most noticeable failure is its inability to say anything interesting or original about marriage, or even explore the documentary’s idea of placing a time limit on matrimony. The concept of the seven-year itch goes philosophically unscratched. Though it falls short of *In a World …*, Bell’s new movie is somewhat sweet and does occasionally set aside its tedium long enough to display funny moments made tolerable by a strong cast. Reiser, returning to his *Mad About You* form, is particularly good and enjoys nice chemistry with Steenburgen. Bell herself is decent, but her rapid-fire dialogue and Kristen Wiig delivery grow tiresome. On a positive note, her description of a minor character as a “sculptor/performance artist \[who\] makes life-size copulating nudes with reclaimed appliances” shows her flair for social satire. But her overwritten and rambling script might be best summarized by an attack Reiser lobs at his wife: “Why does everything gotta be a quip … a little dig? It’s unpleasant.” If you want sporadic chuckles and don’t hold your comedies to a very high standard, you might dig *I Do … Until I Don’t.* I didn’t. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hyde Park on Hudson](https://www.meiermovies.com/hyde-park-on-hudson/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hyde Park on Hudson**, 2012, 3 ¼ stars # A re-imagined Roosevelt [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Hyde-Park-on-Hudson.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Hyde-Park-on-Hudson.jpg)Bill Murray stars at Franklin Roosevelt. (image copyright Focus Features) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/hyde-park-on-hudson-1.1418392), December 19, 2012 When one thinks of our nation’s most powerful president, chances are Bill Murray doesn’t come to mind. Yet *Hyde Park on Hudson* succeeds not in spite of, but largely because of, Murray’s endearing, if slightly unbelievable, performance as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Director Roger Michell (*Notting Hill*, *Venus*) helms the British-made project, which has a decidedly English feel to it, despite its setting at Hyde Park, Roosevelt’s rural New York home. But perhaps that’s fitting, as the movie’s focal point is the historic 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, played wonderfully by revered English actors Samuel West and Olivia Colman. The royal visit may the film’s main event, but the emphasis is rightly placed on the relationship between F.D.R. and his sixth cousin, Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, who also provides the movie’s intermittent voiceover narrative. Played with honesty and a certain quiet sadness by Laura Linney, Daisy illuminates the personal side of the president, who cherished Hyde Park as a place that helped him “forget the weight of the world.” Also helping relieve that weight was Daisy herself, who is portrayed as more than a friend. Indeed, the screenplay by Richard Nelson, based on the private journals of Suckley, pulls few punches in depicting the affairs of Roosevelt. Admittedly, history is murky regarding the actual nature of the president’s relationships with his close female friends, but, remarkably, the film manages to speculate on this seedy side of Franklin in a way that seems both consistent with history and reverential to the man himself. Much of that is due to Murray’s charisma and his ability to show a side of Roosevelt that we’ve never seen on film before, even if his dialect is a tad inconsistent. The president’s father-like encouragement of the new, insecure king is particularly touching and sheds welcome light on a moment in history that seems almost forgotten today. Those scenes of the old president and young king turn an otherwise simple, easily forgettable film into a sweet and slightly charming anecdote. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Hurricane](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-hurricane/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Hurricane**, 1999, 4 stars ## Washington’s heart brings “hurricane” to life Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, written in 2000 *The Hurricane* is an intensely directed, intensely acted look into the heart of a man none of us would wish to be but most of us would strive to be like. Director Norman Jewison and actor Denzel Washington work brilliantly together to take us into the heart of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the 1960s prize fighter falsely accused of murder and sent to prison, who fought a 20-year struggle for his release. Carter battled both on the outside, against the authorities, and within himself. And it is that inner struggle that is captured best in this new film, which should claim several Oscar nominations, most deservedly for Washington’s deeply sincere portrayal. The movie is overly simplistic in its characterizations and sometimes sentimental, striving to pull the audience’s heart strings to elicit a response. But it manages to pull mostly the right strings, and these flaws seem to matter little as you watch Rubin Carter sitting in the courtroom in the movie’s finale waiting to hear the verdict that will decide the rest of his life. You can even feel your heart beating slightly in anticipation even though the outcome is fairly obvious at this point. “Hurricane” Carter was a rising star in the boxing world in the mid 1960s when he was wrongly imprisoned. He was the victim not so much of a racist system but of the racism and hatred of one man, Detective Vincent Della Pesca, played passsionately by Dan Hedaya. This man has seemingly followed Carter his entire life, always being there to thwart him if he rises too high from his station in poor urban New Jersey. The hatred of this man comes across in the film, but the screenplay never gives us an insight into his mind or heart. What drives him to hate Carter and go to such great lengths to send him to prison that he falsifies documents and commits perjury? We never find out, and this is only one of the shallow characterizations that hold this film back from greatness. It never quite reaches the power of Jewison’s classics, such as *In the Heat of the Night*. Admittedly, it does not aim to provide commentary on the racial ills of American, like *Heat* did. It instead seems content to focus on one man’s struggle, instead of the racial struggle overall. But it does lack the subtle power of *Heat* and pales in comparison *to To Kill a Mockingbird*. It’s more in line with Joel Schumacher’s 1996 *A Time to Kill*. We never fully understand Dan Hedaya’s character, or the sympathetic prison guard, played with subtle compassion by Clancy Brown. So much emphasis is placed on Rubin that the people who both hold him down and lift him up during his struggle are left behind slightly in the Sam Chaiton screenplay. We want to know more about what drives Lesra, the young Black from Brooklyn who identifies with Rubin so much after reading the book he wrote while in prison that he works tirelessly to get the verdict overturned. Lesra is played well by Vicellous Reon Shannon, although the three adults that pulled Lesra from the ghettos of Brooklyn and tutor him seem a bit out of place in the film. Not only do we never fully grasp what drove them to pluck Lesra out of the slums and take him with them to Toronto, but we also have a hard time believing they would, later in the film, help Lesra with the months of work it took to get Rubin’s conviction overturned. That takes drive and conviction, and more than anything else, staying power. It’s something that celebrities from Muhammad Ali to Bob Dylan never had, even though they both briefly championed the cause of Carter, the latter writing a moving anthem for him, which is used powerfully in the film. How do these three young, white adults from Toronto who had never seen the inside of a prison come by it so easily? Unanswered questions, shallow characterizations and often less than moving flashbacks and narration would drag the film down if it weren’t for Washington’s performance. His emotional control and maturity as an actor holds the film together and makes us believe in his character, which is really all a director can ask an actor to do. The teary-eyed struggle and the desperation within himself comes through most successfully during his first trip to solitary confinement after being locked up. The camera cuts back and forth between Rubin’s different inner struggles. The audience literally sees the inner battle between the scared child and the fighter in Rubin, as we are treated to more than one Washington performance at a time. It’s almost more than an audience deserves, and it’s the high point of the film. The other high point is the culmination of the struggle in 1985, the stereotypical courtroom finale, where we learn the outcome of Rubin’s federal appeal. This is something we have seen countless times, but the poweful words, which were taken directly from the judge’s verdict, and Rod Steiger’s small, yet immensely dignified and powerful, turn as the judge, make it a fitting end to a somewhat formulaic, but nonetheless gripping picture. We manage to get swept up in *The Hurricane* because of Washington and Lewison’s teamwork and the uplifting nature of the story itself. “The hurricane is beautiful,” Rubin says to reporters when leaving the courtroom. And despite its flaws, that goes for the film too. *© 2000 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174856/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hurricane_(1999_film)).* --- ### [The Homesman](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-homesman/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Homesman**, 2014, 3 stars # Haunting *Homesman* ## Tommy Lee Jones offers odd anti-Western From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/12/04/tommy-lee-jones-offers-odd-anti-western-with-haunting-the-homesman), December 4, 2014 Capturing an exaggerated sense of 19th-century frontier adventure comes easy to many filmmakers. Everyone from John Ford to Clint Eastwood has done it. Re-creating a more realistic loneliness, serenity, and emotional and physical desolation can prove more difficult. [![homesman1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/homesman1-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/homesman1.jpg)Image copyright Roadside Attractions / EuropaCorp / Ithaca / Javelina Film Company George Stevens accomplished it in 1953 with *Shane*, Sergio Leone had success in the 1960s, and, more recently, Kevin Costner captured those elements in multiple Westerns – or, if you prefer, anti-Westerns. And though *The Homesman*, like its characters, stumbles along its stark path, it’s a worthy and deliciously odd addition to the genre, from an unlikely source. Long considered one of the most mesmerizing actors of his generation, Tommy Lee Jones is not known for his direction. Indeed, this is just his second theatrically released project, following the little-known *The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada* nine years ago. And considering that he also co-stars with Hilary Swank and co-wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout, it’s clear Jones put his heart into this project. It’s the story of a homesman – or, in this case, a homeswoman (a person entrusted with taking immigrants home) – who volunteers to transport three women by horse-drawn wagon across the Nebraska territory, back east to Iowa, in the 1850s. It’s a journey of at least five weeks, in the chilly late winter and early spring – a journey so perilous that no man in town seems up to it. But Mary Bee Cuddy (Swank), a tough and resourceful frontierswoman with no family ties, takes on the responsibility and, through a bizarre set of circumstances, recruits a cantankerous and seemingly selfish coot named George Briggs (Jones) to help her. The two are tasked not just with conquering the land, the weather and their initial dislike for each other, but also with caring for the women, all of whom have been driven insane by tragedies such as the death of a loved one, a difficult childbirth or the isolation of the prairie. It’s a job their confused and grieving husbands are more than happy to relinquish. “People like to talk about death and taxes, but when it comes to crazy, they stay hushed up,” Mary is told by the local pastor, portrayed by John Lithgow, in his second strong supporting role in as many months, following *Interstellar*. Swank brings both resolve and humanity to her part, but it’s Jones who shines, displaying muted compassion and welcome comic relief. His direction is less sure, though, and requires a good deal of patience from its audience, as his film is filled with a lack of action and an overabundance of short, disjointed, non-impactful scenes, separated too often by the same slow fades. Even more problematic is a stunning twist late in the second of the story’s three acts that threatens to derail the characters’ journey and the film itself. But the unusual tale ultimately, though just barely, stays on track by embracing its oddness, on the way to a hauntingly empty ending that somehow seems consistent with the bleakness that blankets its entirety. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Hollars](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-hollars/) **Published:** September 22, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Hollars**, 2016, 1 ¾ stars # Overcooked dramedy ## *The Hollars* sinks under its own weight [![the_hollars_16_sonyclassic](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/the_hollars_16_sonyclassic-743x1024.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/the_hollars_16_sonyclassic.jpg)Image copyright Sycamore Pictures/Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-hollars-sinks-under-its-own-weight/Content?oid=2526751) and [*The San Antonio Current*](https://www.sacurrent.com/ArtSlut/archives/2016/09/21/the-hollars-started-with-a-good-recipe-but-the-finished-concoction-is-badly-overcooked), September 21, 2016 *The Hollars* wants to have its cake and decorate it too. The second directorial effort of John Krasinski, best known for playing Jim Halpert In *The Office*, has the makings of a tasty dramedy about two brothers and their parents, but after adding no less than a dozen, often unfunny, subplots featuring a wife, an ex-wife, an ex-fiancée, children, a doctor, a nurse and even a youth minister, the film collapses like a poorly prepared soufflé. The recipe – particularly the acting ingredients of Richard Jenkins and Margo Martindale – might have looked good on paper, but the finished concoction is badly overcooked and sacchariney. Krasinski plays John Hollar, a 30-something graphic novelist who returns to his small hometown after his mother is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Facing an uncertain career and the imminent arrival of a baby (with his girlfriend, played by Anna Kendrick), his life is made even more complicated by his mom’s health scare, his dad’s pending bankruptcy, his brother’s stalking of his ex-wife and his own ex-fiancée’s inappropriate advancements. It’s all a bit too much for an 88-minute film to handle. “Where have you been our whole lives?” asks older brother Ron (portrayed with over-exuberance by Sharlto Copley) of their dad (Jenkins). “I’ve been working to send you guys to college,” he replies before slapping his son while the gravely ill mother (Martindale) watches from her hospital bed. Their dysfunction is crystal clear. What’s not clear is whether these moments are being played for drama or comedy, because neither quite works. Yes, there are touching moments between Jenkins and the impeccable Martindale, and Krasinski himself has great chemistry with both. In fact, these and other serious moments almost succeed in turning the film into the indie drama it should have been, but, particularly at the end, the movie always returns to unbelievability and misplaced comedy. The film’s low point is its ridiculous subplot involving the grossly unfunny and unnecessary Charlie Day, who plays Jason, a nurse caring for Mrs. Hollar. By coincidence, the dude is married to John’s ex-fiancée. While Jason first bristles at the mere presence of John, he then seems open to having him over for dinner, during which Gwen kisses John and confesses that she wants to be with him and not Jason, before disappearing from the film, never to be heard from again. I don’t know whether the writer (Jim Strouse) or the editor (Heather Persons) is to blame, but that scene – and two or three others that stretch credibility and disrupt the film’s tone – should have been removed along with the mom’s brain tumor. The film is also annoyingly peppered with pop songs, as if the filmmakers were unaware that scene transitions could be structured sans music. (Oh, *Graduate* and *Easy Rider*, what hath thou wrought?) Krasinski’s heart was in the right place with his sophomore endeavor, but, like his character’s hospitalized mother, his cranium just wasn’t up to the task. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hitchcock](https://www.meiermovies.com/hitchcock/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hitchcock**, 2012, 3 stars # A Hitch with a glitch ## Factual and focal errors almost sink biopic [![Hitchcock](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hitchcock-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hitchcock.jpg)Anthony Hopkins stars as Alfred Hitchcock. (image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/hitchcock-1.1411905), December 5, 2012 In 1960, *Psycho* made audiences scream at its unprecedented style and horror. Fifty-two years later, audiences may be screaming again, but this time at the exaggerations and distortions in the new biopic about Alfred Hitchcock. Director Sacha Gervasi apparently read Stephen Rebello’s great nonfiction work, *Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho*, and decided his audience wasn’t smart enough to appreciate its real story of the making of the original film, complete with fascinating details of casting, screenplay revisions and shooting that gave insight into the creative mind of the great director. Instead, he asked writer John McLaughlin to fashion something different: a partially imagined glimpse into the troubled marriage and psyche of Sir Alfred. This glimpse may have some basis in fact, as, surprisingly, Rebello himself was called in to help write *Hitchcock*’s screenplay. However, it clearly was not drawn from Rebello’s original book, as, astonishingly, the book makes no mention of Hitch’s marital or psychological issues at all. Even more amazing is that the book makes only three or four passing references to his wife, Alma, who is such a central character in the new film that a better title would have been *Alma and Alfred*. Further distorting the legacy of Hitch, the film claims that Alma essentially took charge of the editing process for *Psycho* because, following principal photography, the movie was mediocre at best. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Rebello himself, who wrote that only script supervisor Marshal Schlom, editor George Tomasini and perhaps artist Saul Bass joined Hitch to cut the film. Yes, Alma was Hitch’s life partner and a talented editor in her own right, worthy of respect. (In fact, when viewing footage of the shower scene, she was the only one to notice that Janet Leigh exhaled when she was lying dead on the floor.) However, the focus placed on Alma – not to mention the speculation of her inappropriate involvement with a male friend – is misguided. But what if you aren’t a devout fan of *Psycho* and just want to be entertained by a well-produced, if slightly inaccurate, story? Is *Hitchcock* worth the investment? The answer is a clear yes, but that’s not surprising, considering the fascinating subject and the unusual combination of Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johansson. Hopkins, as Hitch, is at the top of his game, while Mirren is mesmerizing as Alma, despite not looking a thing like her. Even the hopelessly dull Johansson shines in the juicy role of Janet Leigh. And despite the aforementioned faults, we do get occasional glimpses into the filming process, though not a single line of correct dialogue from *Psycho* is used – probably because producers couldn’t get permission from Universal, Paramount or the Screen Writers Guild. In the end, we’re left with an enjoyable and stylish trifle – one that most audiences will enjoy but that Hitch himself would have abhorred. It’s a shame that instead of focusing on a cerebral affair – one man’s love of film – Gervasi instead focused on tawdry affairs of the heart. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [High Life](https://www.meiermovies.com/high-life/) **Published:** October 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **High Life**, 2018, 1 star # Space odious ## Denis’s *High* is low point in her career [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/High-Life-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/High-Life-1.jpg)Image courtesy IMDB; copyright A24 / Alcatraz Films / BFI Film Fund Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 14, 2019 Upon my recent announcement that *Ad Astra* was my top film of 2019 so far, I encountered a small but vocal group of cinephiles who insisted that *High Life*, a similarly existential space movie, was actually better. So I just had to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, it’s all fuss and no finesse. The first English-language production by acclaimed French director Claire Denis, *High Life* is a non-linear, nonsensical, unpleasantly violent, ridiculously pretentious and just plain gross look at long-term space travel. *Pigs in Space* might have been a better title, as the characters – led by a guy named Monte (Robert Pattinson) – are mostly badly behaved convicts thrust into deep space to research black holes (and never to return). It’s an interesting premise, but the structural flaws and unlikable screenplay put to waste the attractive production design. And speaking of waste, the story’s obsession with bodily fluids would make even General Jack Ripper ralph. Frankly, among visually appealing films by talented directors, this might be the worst science-fiction movie of all time. (I liked the idea of prisoners in space better when I saw it used to twisty effect in *Into the Dark,* a 2014 short film by Danish actor-director Lukas Hassel.) Among the plot elements that either make no sense or get lost in the batshit-crazy editing is the expedition itself. Why is this futuristic society interested in sending an untrained and undisciplined crew across the galaxy to harness the energy of a black hole? They are already traveling at close to the speed of light in an enormous ship, which means Earthlings have probably mastered cold fusion. Therefore, no more energy problems. But, hey, canceling the mission would rob you of your chance to witness astronauts fighting, getting raped, being inseminated, flashing back to a dog’s death (don’t ask), and experiencing a bunch of other difficult-to-follow vignettes. If you prefer *High Life* to *Ad Astra*, you probably prefer *Cool World* to *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, and Jonathan Teplitzky’s *Churchill* to Joe Wright’s *Darkest Hour*. In short, your aesthetic compass might need to be remagnetized. The most ostentatious element of *High Life* is the “fuckbox,” an R-rated version of Woody Allen’s orgasmatron that seems to exist mostly to relieve our boredom, but also to allow Juliette Binoche to get naked and pleasure herself. I suppose that in space, no one can hear you cream. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4827558/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Life_(2018_film)). --- ### [The Hero](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-hero/) **Published:** July 5, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Hero**, 2017, 3 ¾ stars # Holding out for a *Hero* ## Sam Elliott’s career-defining role has arrived [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/the-hero-sam-elliott.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/the-hero-sam-elliott.png)Image copyright Houston King Productions / Northern Lights Films From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/with-the-hero-sam-elliotts-career-defining-role-has-arrived/Content?oid=5429433), July 5, 2017 From a mysterious stranger in *The Big Lebowski* to an airplane pilot in *Up in the Air* to Virgil Earp in *Tombstone*, Sam Elliott almost always leaves us wanting more. More has arrived. And it’s just enough. Directed by Brett Haley and starring Elliott, *The Hero* opened the Florida Film Festival in April and is now returning to Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater for a regular run. (It’s in limited release elsewhere around the country.) Elliott plays Lee Hayden, an aging actor whose best film work is mostly forgotten. He spends his days contemplating past glory, smoking pot and begging his agent for work that doesn’t involve barking barbecue sauce. “I did one film that I’m proud of,” Lee tells a friend. “That was 40 years ago.” Yet he’s still remembered by a small but loyal legion of Western enthusiasts who worship that iconic cowboy role from a 1970s film appropriately titled *The Hero*. (The movie-within-a-movie theme is prominent, though the Lee is not based on Elliott.) So when those fans honor him with a lifetime-achievement award at the same time as he receives dire health news, Lee arrives at his final crossroads. Haley wrote the part for Elliott after working with the actor in *I’ll See You in My Dreams.* Having not seen all of Elliott’s performances over his 50-year career, I can’t say definitively that this is his best. But it sure feels like it. Known mostly for supporting roles, he has, of course, played the lead previously, but perhaps not in such a resonant way and not a film of this caliber. I would encourage the Academy to remember the 72-year-old veteran with a nomination come Oscar time. We’ve seen this premise countless times: a character confronting his own mortality while struggling to put his life into perspective. And that’s likely why the movie received some lukewarm responses from festival audiences. But while the premise may be tired, everything else seems fresh. Even a May-December romance is handled well, as is the ambiguous ending. And the surprisingly surreal elements – such as dream-like interludes and metaphorical insertions – counterbalance the story’s predictability. There’s nothing particularly revelatory here, but if you relax and let the film wash over you, you’ll learn a little about life. The supporting cast is solid. Laura Prepon, as the May half of the aforementioned romance, is effective, though almost recognizable from her young, redheaded days on *That ‘70s Show*. Krysten Ritter as Lee’s daughter and Katharine Ross (Elliott’s real-life wife) as Lee’s ex-wife are also nice additions. But Nick Offerman is most impressive as Jeremy, Lee’s best friend, marijuana supplier and former co-star. We’ve heard a lot recently about the dearth of strong female and minority roles in film, but equally rare are honest, meaningful depictions of intergenerational friendships, and the one between Lee and Jeremy is the film’s nicest surprise. “Give me a chance to write another chapter,” Lee asks of his daughter, but the request might as well be coming from Elliott. Request granted. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer](https://www.meiermovies.com/henry/) **Published:** October 19, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ***Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer***, 1986, 2 ¾ stars # Regarding *Henry* ## *Portrait of a Serial Killer* turns 30 [![henry1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/henry1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/henry1.jpg)Image copyright Maljack Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/10/19/blood-spattered-x-rated-henry-portrait-of-a-serial-killer-turns-30), October 19, 2016 Henry, one of cinema’s most memorable serial killers, is turning 30 years old. That means, of course, that he can finally run for U.S. Senate. Considering our real-life political alternatives in 2016, that might actually be less of a horror show, comparatively, than one might think. But, nevertheless, it’s probably a good thing that instead of being on Capitol Hill, Henry will be back in cinemas, where he belongs. *Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer*, directed and co-written by John McNaughton and starring Michael Rooker in his screen debut, is getting a limited re-release, and many movie-goers under the age of 45 will be seeing it for the first time, considering it was rated X and received only a limited release four years after it debuted at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1986. Loosely based on real serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the film is a frank and unpretentiously brutal look at a few days in Henry’s life, during which he hangs out with a fellow sociopath, Otis, and Otis’s sister, the unsuspecting Becky, while committing unspeaking atrocities. Though Henry does seem to have some sort of perverted ethical code – at least in his own mind – he exists only to survive. And he survives solely on his principle of “it’s either you or them.” With a budget of just $100,000 and no shooting permits, the production is amateurish, dated, slightly overscored and grittily shot on 16mm, but that’s actually part of its charm, especially when combined with Rooker’s straightforward but mesmerizing turn and the sympathetic and slightly sad performance of Tracy Arnold as Becky. The late Tom Towels, as Otis, however, is just plain bad, despite some appropriately creepy teeth and tense chemistry with Rooker. *Henry* was partly meant to send a message, to teach a lesson about violence. But though statistics don’t necessarily prove we’re a more violent society now than we were 30 years ago, we’re undoubtedly a more brutal and less social one, despite the rise of “social” media. We’ve essentially become more like the title character, disconnected from our fellow humans. Film and, indeed, all art doesn’t deserve all the blame – or even much of it – but because the cinema is a more graphically violent environment now than it was three decades ago, it begs the question: Do we, the movie-going public, demand more violent content, or are today’s filmmakers simply less hesitant to give it to us? Either way, it’s clear that violence bothers us less than it used to. And perhaps *Henry* unwittingly played a small part in getting us where we are today. Of course, the 1970s and ‘80s were, in general, fairly violent cinematic decades, at least when compared with the Production Code era. But, for many, *Henry* projected a heightened brutality because of its bleakness and lack of commentary. It wasn’t saying anything about the horror – it was just letting it be. In that respect, it was more disturbing – yet also more mature – than the cartoonish, gratuitous bloodbaths of ‘80s action films. Regarding the shockingly abrupt and dispassionate ending, which is almost as emotionally jarring as the finale of *Five Easy Pieces*, Rooker says, in the documentary *Portrait: The Making of Henry*, “It’s the only resolution that could be. Otherwise it would be just like any of the other, you know, bullshit Hollywood slasher movies.” Co-producer Steven Jones, in the aforementioned doc, recalls a conversation he had with one viewer: “I had sort of an argument with a fellow who stood up and said, ‘I felt terrible at the end of that movie.’ And I said, ‘That’s sort of the point. You’re not supposed to feel good about this. … What did you think of the Schwarzenegger movie where they machine-gunned these 360 people?’ … He said, ‘Well, that’s entertainment.’ And I said, ‘Well, there’s something wrong with you.’” So go ahead and watch the re-release of *Henry*. You might be moved by it, you might be disgusted by it, and you might even consider it great art. But if you’re entertained or amused by it, there is probably something wrong with you. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hearts Beat Loud](https://www.meiermovies.com/hearts-beat-loud/) **Published:** June 22, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hearts Beat Loud**, 2018, 2 stars # *Hearts Beat Loud* but not loud enough [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hearts-Beat-Loud.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hearts-Beat-Loud.jpg)Image copyright Burn Later Productions / Houston King Productions / Gunpowder & Sky From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/hearts-beat-loud-but-not-loud-enough/Content?oid=15098685), June 21, 2018 Writer-director Brett Haley’s previous movie, *The Hero*, featured Sam Elliott as an actor in an end-of-life crisis. In his follow-up, *Hearts Beat Loud*, Haley ups his ambitions by tackling two crises: coming-of-age romance and mid-life angst. But despite the film’s sweetness and comfortable familiarity, Haley’s ambition has overwhelmed his ability. With no Elliott to anchor the production, Haley has turned to Nick Offerman, who delivered a wonderful supporting performance in *The Hero*. Offerman’s infinite likeability is again on display here, and one can’t help admiring the actor’s choices, which have included TV shows *Parks and Recreation* and *Fargo* in addition to well-received indie cinema such as *Me and Earl and the Dying Girl*. But in *Hearts Beat Loud*, he’s tasked with playing Frank, a single dad clinging to his love for music, managing his financially strapped record store and struggling with an unconventional romance – all while sending his daughter to college and coming to terms with his mother’s dementia. It’s too much for him and Haley’s script to juggle. Actor and musician Kiersey Clemons (*The Only Living Boy in New York*) plays Frank’s daughter, Sam, and she, too, is at a turning point. Getting ready to say goodbye to her dad, her musical upbringing and her New York neighborhood, she’s headed to UCLA as a pre-med student. She’s also fallen hard for her friend Rose (Sasha Lane). Had Haley’s screenplay (which he again co-wrote with Marc Basch) focused just on Sam, it might have produced better results. But relegated to a subplot, the romance between Sam and Rose feels sandwiched and contrived – as do portions of the rest of the film, especially the abundant musical numbers, which are meant to inspire awe but are forgettable at best and interminable at worst, despite Clemons’ strong voice. The usually great Toni Collette – as Frank’s landlady and casual romance – is not great here. Instead, she’s just like everything else: pleasantly tolerable. (She was far better earlier this year in *Hereditary*, for which she might earn an Oscar nomination.) And Blythe Danner (with whom Haley worked in *I’ll See You in My Dreams*) is miscast as Frank’s mom. The 75-year-old beauty neither looks nor acts her age and is, therefore, unbelievable as the doddering matriarch. (It doesn’t help that Haley gives her virtually nothing to do.) In contrast, Ted Danson is a good choice as Dave, Frank’s friend and bartender. But, unfortunately, Dave is both underdeveloped and poorly written, as he, like Frank’s mom, has little to contribute – except clichés and tired advice. “It’s like life,” Dave says about fine wine. “You gotta slow down and enjoy it.” That actually could be good guidance for this film. After all, the movie might hold enjoyment for those partial to its tunes and laid-back, friendly vibe. And there’s no denying that *Hearts* does occasionally beat loud, particularly during its ending, which feels genuine, if a tad abrupt. But there’s nothing unique or particularly noteworthy in its beat. Perhaps a little arrhythmia would have helped. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Hateful Eight](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-hateful-eight/) **Published:** December 30, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Hateful Eight**, 2015, 2 stars # *Eight* is not enough ## Tarantino film is a waste of beautiful 65mm [![The Hateful Eight](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The-Hateful-Eight-300x214.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The-Hateful-Eight.jpg)Image copyright the Weinstein Company From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/tarantinos-hateful-eight-is-a-waste-of-beautiful-65mm/Content?oid=2459837)*, December 30, 2015 Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to take a solid score by legendary Ennio Morricone, intriguing performances by competent actors, sharp dialogue and a cool premise, and squander them in another ridiculous barrage of blood and bullets. Some say that’s Tarantino’s charm. I say it’s further proof of his drift toward immature and derivative filmmaking. *The Hateful Eight* isn’t awful. In fact, the first half contains riveting cinema, complete with the writer-director’s crackling dialogue and odd homages to cinema’s past. Even better, all eight characters (nine if you count the stagecoach driver) are unique, with distinct personalities, humor and back stories. But it’s precisely these positives that make the second half’s descent into absurdity and lazy pastiche so disappointing. Structured almost like an old-fashioned caper (think *A* *Big Hand for the Little Lady*), this is the story of a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell), who is transporting a condemned criminal (the excellent Jennifer Jason Leigh) across snowy Wyoming, circa late 19th century. Before he can reach his destination, he meets an old acquaintance (Samuel L. Jackson) and a colorful character (Walton Goggins, in the film’s best performance) who claims he’s the new sheriff in these parts. The foursome eventually find themselves holed up in a snowbound outpost with another foursome (Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and the very funny Demián Bichir). “One of these fellows is not what he says he is,” Russell’s character conjectures about their quartet of cabin companions. The same could be said for the film, which wants to be all things to all people but ends up being not much more than another of Tarantino’s lost opportunities for greatness. Trying to juggle mystery, drama, Western and comedy, the writer-director lurches from one tone to the other and seems to run out of ideas in the second half, when he resorts to a flashback. Not only is the flashback mostly unnecessary, but it breaks the tension between the core characters that Tarantino had nurtured for two hours and introduces eight new people (and eight lesser actors) we don’t care about. And the subsequent resolution is unnecessarily outlandish and cartoonishly violent. Tarantino deserves credit for his use and promotion of 65mm cinematography. And, predictably, the film looks good, though it squanders its chance for visual panache by being set almost entirely in a single room and a stagecoach. Frankly, Tarantino could have shot the film digitally or in 35mm with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 instead of in 65mm and an Ultra Panavision ratio of 2.75:1, which is wasted, except for establishing shots and a beautiful snowy sequence prior to intermission. Even Morricone’s music is partially ruined, as it’s both underused and compromised by ill-fitting songs, not to mention Tarantino himself in a silly voiceover narration and more n-word utterances than a KKK rally. Yes, I mentioned an intermission, because if you see the roadshow version (projected in 70mm), you get not just a break but an overture and six extra minutes not included in the digital wide release, which opens January 1. If you want to catch the roadshow, it’s scheduled to screen at AMC Disney Springs and Regal Waterford Lakes, starting December 25. Despite the allure of that roadshow, I recommend you NOT have yourself a *Hateful* little Christmas. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Hail, Caesar!](https://www.meiermovies.com/hail-caesar/) **Published:** February 5, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hail, Caesar!**, 2016, 2 stars # Oh, hail no! ## *Hail, Caesar!* a rare misfire for Coen Brothers [![Hail, Caesar](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Hail-Caesar-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Hail-Caesar.jpg)Image copyright Mike Zoss Productions/Working Title Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, February 5, 2016 Joel and Ethan Coen have given so much to cinema that it’s nice to see the movies give something back. In the brothers’ latest comedy, *Hail, Caesar!*, cinema itself offers up its history, culture, craft, historic soundstages and iconic Hollywood studio lots as inspiration. It’s just too bad the Coens couldn’t make a better meal from all these delicious dishes. Josh Brolin stars as Eddie Mannix, the creative head of Capital Pictures in the early 1950s. He not only must supervise multiple films at once – he also must juggle myriad personalities and mini-scandals, including the quirky kidnapping of the studio’s biggest star, Baird Whitlock, played with campy panache, but not much else, by George Clooney. A parade of other famous actors follow, with little to do and not much time in which to do it. Indeed, Jonah Hall and Frances McDormand’s parts are so brief that you’ll miss them entirely during a long blink. In slightly larger but only a tad more developed roles are Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Wayne Knight, Alden Ehrenreich (in perhaps the film’s best performance) and, well, the list continues ad nauseam. It’s not so much a group of connected characters as a fleeting glimpse of strangers passing in and out of Mannix’s life during a crazy day-and-a-half in Hollywood. Still, the film is not without charm and admittedly contains several cleverly comedic moments. There’s a posh director (Fiennes) laboriously lecturing his country hick of an actor (Ehrenreich) on the subtleties of an upper-crust British dialect. There’s an on-set caterer asking an actor crucified on a Roman cross whether he’s a principal or an extra, in an effort to determine whether he gets a hot or cold lunch. There’s a spoofy commentary on the Dalton Trumbo generation of Hollywood writers. And maybe most amusingly, there’s a trademark Coen Brothers gag involving Frances McDormand wearing a dangerously placed scarf while operating a film projector. To top that all off, there are homages to just about every genre, including Western, Busby Berkeley musical, period piece and film noir, the latter thanks to a misplaced voiceover by Michael Gambon. Despite the cleverness of these scenes and the capabilities of the actors, these funny moments are too few, too random and, most surprisingly, just not funny enough. They make a nice collection of short films, but, as Robert Altman would tell you, myriad vignettes and characters must be joined together in a meaningful way if there’s any hope of creating a compelling feature film. Yes, the lovingly crafted design, well-choreographed production numbers and solid cinematography from the still-Oscar-less Roger Deakins make the film visually pleasing, but they don’t make up for the undeveloped story and disconnected mini-narratives. “Sure, they are kooks,” one character says of film actors and craftsmen. “It’s all make-believe.” While the Coens capture that kookiness in the film’s style, they uncharacteristically display a kookiness – and laziness – of structure and coherency, too. And by doing so, they have created that rarest of cinematic creatures: a subpar Coen Brothers pic. *© 2016 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475290/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail,_Caesar!).* --- ### [The Eyes of Tammy Faye](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-eyes-of-tammy-faye/) **Published:** September 26, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Eyes of Tammy Faye**, 2021, 4 stars # *The Eyes* have it ## Chastain is Oscar-worthy as Tammy Faye [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Eyes-of-Tammy-Faye.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Eyes-of-Tammy-Faye.jpg)Image copyright Searchlight Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 26, 2021 One of the most difficult tasks a filmmaker can undertake is to bring humanity and understanding to a real-life character whom the audience dislikes. Case in point: Tammy Faye Bakker, the clown-like yet strikingly heartfelt former wife of preacher-turned-prisoner-turned-doomsday-proselytizer Jim Bakker. But thanks to surprisingly assured direction by Michael Showalter (*The Big Sick*), brilliantly realized makeup and prosthetics by Justin Raleigh and Brian Wade (just two among a talented crew of craftspeople), a wonderful turn by Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker and the performance of the year (and her career) by Jessica Chastain in the title role, we’re left with a Tammy that is both a physical replica and a complete reimagining, at least in the eyes of this agnostic-atheist. Part biopic, part dramedy and (small) part documentary – it is, after all, based on an identically titled doc from 2000 by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato – *Eyes* isn’t so much an eye-opener as an eye-refocuser, allowing us to set aside the tabloids, which chewed up and spat out the Bakkers (somewhat deservedly) back in the late 1980s, and instead focus on the real people, or at least a slightly Hollywoodized version. And to its credit, and our satisfaction, it does so with panache and humor while never sinking to a Bakker burlesque. The film even brings new understanding, if not respect, to Pat Robertson (Gabriel Emerson Olds). But as for Jerry Falwell (Vincent D’Onofrio) – well, let’s just say it takes a real piece of work to come off looking this much worse than his fellow farcical players in the shit show that was late 20th-century American televangelism. Except for one gut-wrenching, Elia Kazan-like scene between Tammy and Jim, the film never reaches quite deeply enough into the minds of its characters. In addition, the relationships between Tammy and her stepfather (Fredric Lehne), siblings and children are never fully explored. Instead, the movie focuses almost exclusively on her connections with Jim and her mother (Cherry Jones). But the shortcomings of Abe Sylvia’s screenplay are overwhelmed by Chastain, who is an absolute force of nature and, come March, destined to take home a golden statuette to match her character’s greasepaint. I’ve said it often recently and I’ll say it again: The movie industry’s obsession with making us suffer through “important issues” has reached an all-time high, just when what we need most is escapism. Even superhero films have turned unrelentingly serious, violent and apocalyptic. To quote Bill Maher for the umpteenth time, “In 2021, if you’re at the movies and wondering which one is the bad guy, it’s you.” That’s what is ultimately so refreshing about *Eyes*. Though it still manages to be “about something,” it is less concerned with changing our mind about fundamentalist Christianity, or LGBT rights or even Tammy Faye herself. Instead, above all else, it seeks to entertain. And it does a good enough job to land itself on the list of best films of the year. Praise the Lord. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9115530/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyes_of_Tammy_Faye_(2021_film)).* --- ### [Greta](https://www.meiermovies.com/greta/) **Published:** February 28, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Greta**, 2019, 1 star # Stalker stinker ## *Greta* is derivative, unimaginative and unbelievable [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Greta.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Greta.jpg)Image copyright Focus Features / Sidney Kimmel Entertainment From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/greta-is-derivative-unimaginative-and-unbelievable/Content?oid=24398967), February 27, 2019 In the new stalker thriller by writer-director Neil Jordan (*The Crying Game*, *Michael Collins*), a woman tells her young, naive roommate that New York City is going to eat her alive. Predictably, it does. Too bad it didn’t eat the movie too. In a trendy Tribeca apartment, Frances and Erica are living the 20-something Big Apple dream, or at least trying to. While the assured Erica preoccupies herself with parties, Frances struggles with a waitress job and tries to digest the recent death of her mother. Meanwhile, her father, back in their native Boston, leaves consoling voice messages. It’s little surprise, therefore, when Frances strikes up a surrogate-mom friendship with a French woman named Greta, whom Frances meets after finding her purse on a subway train. With the lost-and-found department closed, Frances feels compelled to return the property to Greta’s house, which is easy to find thanks to the driver’s license being conveniently left in the bag. In one of the most shockingly unsurprising, unimaginative and derivative plot turns in recent cinema, not all is what it seems with Greta. In fact, the film takes only about 15 minutes to turn into a combination of *Fatal Attraction*, *Ingrid Goes West*, *The* *Silence of the Lambs* and, oh, just pick your own stalker flick. We’re made aware of this change, of course, by the embarrassingly heavy-handed musical ejaculations. Thanks, composer Javier Navarrete. But, hey, it’s actually not his fault. Instead, the blame for mishandling almost everything in *Greta* must fall on Jordan. In the title role, Isabelle Huppert is miscast, mediocre and never in the least bit scary. In addition, her thick French accent, which has served her well in other productions, further detracts from the intended mood. Chloe Grace Moretz, as Frances, is better suited to her part, and, as usual, her beauty and ability to project purity make her infinitely watchable. But I never fully accepted her predicament, or any other aspect of the film. Admittedly, some viewers might be lulled into a “genre haze” by the miniscule amount of B-movie charm, or they might enjoy the competent cinematography and cleverly surreal (though too brief) misdirection at the halfway point. But, ultimately, I was disturbed not by Frances’s suffering at the hands of Greta, but by the machinations of Jordan that the performers and audience were forced to endure. That is the real torture. In throwaway roles are Colm Feore (*Chicago*, *House of Cards*) as Frances’s father and Maika Monroe (*It Follows*) as Erica. While Feore is appropriately sympathetic, Monroe gives a performance that’s far too broad, as if she stepped out of a trashy teen comedy. That’s unfortunate considering her character’s importance to the film’s finale, which, in Jordan and co-writer Ray Wright’s screenplay, probably reads rather intelligently. It just never makes that smart leap from page to screen. “We were meant for love, not this terrible isolation,” Greta tells Frances. If only she had adopted the outlook of another Greta, who famously proclaimed, “I want to be alone.” Then all this nonsense might have been avoided. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2014 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/) **Published:** December 10, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Festival expands for second consecutive year ### Enzian’s most-popular mini-festival will screen 5 features and 1 short From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/movies-for-the-mensches-enzian-s-jewish-film-festival-1.1786512)*, November 12, 2014 Three years past its bar mitzvah age, the Enzian’s Central Florida Jewish Film Festival is all grown up and turning sweet 16. And in keeping with that maturity, the event, which runs November 15-17, is offering more movies than ever: five features and one short, all of which are worthy of a watch. “This is the most films (six) we’ve ever featured in the festival,” says Enzian programming director Matthew Curtis. “We also have a ‘hot’ film currently in theatrical release nationally (*The Green Prince*) and the East Coast premiere of Uruguay’s official submission for this year’s best foreign-language film Academy Award (*Mr. Kaplan*). With so many of the titles from 2014, this is probably the newest group of films we’ve ever shown.” In addition to cinematic selections that reflect Jewish life and culture across the globe, the festival will again offer Jewish food, including spinach-and-cheese knishes; latkes with applesauce and sour cream; beef-and-cabbage holishkes; tzimmes filled with beef, carrots and sweet potatoes; and Hebrew national hot dogs. Beginning at the Orlando Science Center just after sundown on Saturday (to honor the Sabbath), the festival, which is co-presented by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, continues on Sunday and Monday at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, with the food offerings available only inside the Enzian. A single film costs $11 while the Mensch pass (all films plus early-entrance privileges) costs $70. For more information, visit [http://enzian.org/festivals/jewish\_film\_festival](http://enzian.org/festivals/jewish_film_festival). **Kidon** FL, 2013, 2 ¾ stars “A good sting is based on distraction, like the magician who cuts his wife in half,” we’re told in *Kidon* (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Orlando Science Center). “The smoke, the half-naked girl, the music, the big gestures – it’s all designed to keep you from asking the real questions.” [![Kidon](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kidon-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Kidon.jpg)Those words apply in spades to this suspenseful dramedy, as nothing is what it seems. Based on the real 2010 assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai by what is assumed to be an elite, secretive Israeli killing unit named the Kidon, director Emmanuel Naccache’s Hebrew-French film reimagines the murder as an act perpetrated not by professionals but by amusing amateurs who may have had an ulterior motive. If you’re a fan of the caper genre or follow Israeli politics, you will get a kick out of *Kidon*. If you’re not, you may lose patience with the endless and seemingly mundane details, not to mention the contrived, pretentious score and scene transitions. But this is a slow-burner worth sticking around for, as the stunning, if almost too clever, twist ending mostly justifies the buildup. **Mr. Kaplan** FL, 2014, 3 ¾ stars Anyone with a trace of Jewish blood – including this reviewer – has probably imagined him or herself as Simon Wiesenthal, that most daring of Nazi hunters, helping to dole out long-delayed punishment to the monsters of World War 2. But if you’re Jacob Kaplan, a 76-year-old Polish Jew who fled Europe during the war and has lived an unremarkable life in Uruguay ever since, that imagining has become an obsession. In *Mr. Kaplan* (Sunday, 11 a.m., Enzian), the title character (the wonderful Hector Noguera) hatches a plan to kidnap a local German he suspects is a Nazi, and he enlists a family friend and former policeman (Nestor Guzzini, in a surprisingly touching role) to help. Yet the scheme ultimately illuminates not the crimes of the supposed Nazi but the sadly unfulfilled lives of the two friends. “Did I accomplish anything memorable?” Kaplan ponders. “Is the world a better place because of me?” Writer-director Alvaro Brechner, in this Spanish-language movie set in 1997, masterfully balances drama, comedy and suspense to offer an emotional examination of both the better side of human nature and the “exceptional destiny” of Kaplan’s generation of European Jews. It’s the festival’s best film. **24 Jours (24 Days)** FL, 2014, 3 stars Anti-Semitism is sometimes characterized as a disease that can be permanently cured, but judging by the 2006 abduction and torture of Ilan Halimi in Paris and similar hate crimes, it’s more like a poisonous weed that must be continually uprooted and trampled. That weed is the subject of the French-language *24 Days* (Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Enzian), which fictionalizes in painful detail the horrors that Halimi and his family suffered at the hands of bigoted kidnappers who ignorantly assumed that Jews make good targets “because they have money.” Based on the book by Halimi’s mother, Ruth (Zabou Breitman, in a strong performance), the film also exposes the ineptitude of the French police, who failed to treat the kidnapping as an anti-Semitic act. Director Alexandre Arcady’s pacing is meant to heighten suspense, but the choppy structure, short scenes and hokey scene transitions sometimes build more frustration than tension. However, when Arcady stops rushing the plot and switches from crime drama to personal tragedy, *24 Days* becomes emotionally moving and impactful – and especially relevant in light of the recent ISIS kidnappings. **The Sturgeon Queens**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars “Russ & Daughters was *the* place. It had no equal,” says Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a frequent customer of the smoked-fish store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “When I eat the food, it makes me think of the best in the Jewish tradition.” [![Sturgeon Queens](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Sturgeon-Queens-300x167.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Sturgeon-Queens.jpg)At just 54 minutes, director Julie Cohen’s documentary about the 100-year-old business, just like the mouth-watering lox and herring that the store serves, leaves you wanting more, in a good way. Told through unique interviews with celebrities, ordinary customers and two of the “daughters” themselves (now in their 90s), *The Sturgeon Queens* (Monday, 4:30 p.m., Enzian), is funny, touching and instantly loveable – if more of an appetizer than a full meal. Accompanying the feature is *70 Hester Street*, a 10-minute documentary about Casimir Nozkowski’s relationship with an iconic, 140-year-old building in the same neighborhood as Russ & Daughters. Nozkowski, who grew up in the building, directs and provides the amateurish narration but nevertheless instills in us the same love he felt for his home, which, owing to its previous status as a synagogue, is spectacularly steeped in the New York Jewish experience. **The Green Prince** FL, 2014, 3 ½ stars Being asked to violate your religious beliefs is tough enough. What if you are also asked to betray your family? That’s the dilemma Mosab Hassan Yousef faced when Israel’s intelligence agency, Shin Bet, recruited him to inform on his own father, Sheikh Hassan, the top Hamas leader in the West Bank. “Hamas was not just a movement to us,” Yousef says. “It was the family’s business. It was our identity. It was everything.” Yet he did cooperate with Israel for more than 10 years, and *The Green Prince* (Monday, 6:45 p.m., Enzian) is Nadav Schirman’s documentary film adaptation of Yousef’s memoir about that cooperation and his friendship with Israeli agent Gonen Ben Yitzhak, with whom he formed a rare “bond of truth.” As astonishing as the story is, at its core it’s essentially just interviews with Yousef and Yitzhak, with some archival footage. So to add flashy intrigue, it relies too heavily on reenactments that, though shot well and scored suspensefully, smell contrived. Flawed though it is, the film is a remarkable reminder that, according to Yitzhak, “if you want a good source, he needs to be with you, not against you.” *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Green Book](https://www.meiermovies.com/green-book/) **Published:** December 1, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Green Book**, 2018, 4 stars # Farrelly entertaining ## *Green Book* brimming with humanity [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Green-Book.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Green-Book.jpg)Image copyright Universal Pictures / Participant Media / DreamWorks From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/green-book-brimming-with-humanity/Content?oid=21334571), November 21, 2018 Racism is arguably the toughest topic for filmmakers. Eager to expose its evil, they occasionally overreach, distort or become downright preachy. That’s why the humor, honesty, humanity and subtlety of *Green Book* is such an unexpected treat, and it’s all the more surprising considering it comes from one of cinema’s least subtle directors: Peter Farrelly. Avoiding the tired tropes of many recent social dramas, which have painted all people of the same ethnicity with the same brush, Farrelly carefully constructs a unique story of the friendship between a gruff, white Italian New Yorker and a sophisticated, well-educated African American. Inspired by the real relationship between bar bouncer Anthony “Tony Lip” Vallelonga and classical pianist Don Shirley, *Green Book* focuses on the latter’s 1962 concert tour of the American South, for which he hired Tony as his driver and bodyguard. Shirley knew well what he might be in for. So to help navigate the cultural waters of the Deep South, he turned to *The Negro Motorist Green Book*. This publication, written by Victor Hugo Green, advised black travelers on friendly places to stay and eat in the era of Jim Crow. But Shirley also knew it would take Vallelonga’s muscle and common sense to make the trip go smoothly. What he could not have expected, however, was that they both would grow wiser and more culturally aware thanks to their unlikely 10-week union. As Vallelonga, Viggo Mortensen is simply wonderful, bringing accessibility and humor to a role that, in another actor’s hands, might have been relegated to a meathead, racist stereotype. After all, his character begins the film by referring to black men as “eggplants.” But because of the well-crafted script and Mortensen’s skills, Vallelonga becomes a complete person. It’s on par with his Oscar-nominated role as Ben Cash in *Captain Fantastic* for pure enjoyability. Mahershala Ali, as Shirley, also grasps his character’s complexities. Never reducing his erudite, slightly snobby character to one-dimensionality, Ali gives us perhaps his best performance ever. (That’s saying something after *Moonlight* and *House of Cards*.) And in the supporting role of Vallelonga’s wife, Linda Cardellini (*Freaks and Geeks*, *Bloodline*) adds even more tenderness and relatability. Written by Farrelly, Brian Hayes Currie and Nick Vallelonga (Anthony Vallelonga’s son), the film treads somewhat familiar waters in its second act. But just when you think you’ve sussed its direction, it comes up with another surprise. And with a pleasant score by Kris Bowers – along with one of the year’s catchiest soundtracks – you’ll marvel at how fast the 130 minutes fly. In the movie’s most surprising and raw moment, Shirley confronts Vallelonga after the latter – in one of his few moments of cultural insight – suggests that, socially and economically, he might actually be more “black” than Shirley. “So if I’m not black enough and if I’m not white enough, then tell me, Tony, what am I?” Shirley laments. Though that question might be too complicated for a two-hour dramedy, it still deserves to be asked, even by the co-director of *Dumb and Dumber* and *There’s Something about Mary*. Good on you, Farrelly. That’ll teach us to judge *Book* by its cover. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Greed](https://www.meiermovies.com/greed/) **Published:** February 29, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Greed**, 2020, 1 ½ stars # *Greed* is an unpleasant misfire [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Greed.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Greed.jpg)*Greed* stars Steve Coogan (center), with Isla Fisher (left) and Asa Butterfield (right). (image copyright Sony Pictures / Film4 / Revolution Films) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, March 7, 2020 Writer-director Michael Winterbottom and actor Steve Coogan have collaborated several times, most famously in the enjoyable *Trip* films and TV series. But there is little joy in their other projects, either 2013’s *The Look of Love* or their latest misfire, *Greed*. They should stick to tripping. In *The Look of Love*, Coogan played Paul Raymond, a real-life property developer and porn peddler. In *Greed*, Coogan again plays a billionaire (Sir Richard McCreadie), this time only inspired by a real person (retail-fashion mogul Philip Green). And though Sir Richard’s (and Green’s) profession isn’t as inherently sleazy as Raymond’s, Richard is even more unlikeable – to the point of annoyance. Labeled “Sir Greedy,” “Sir Shifty” and “the unacceptable face of capitalism,” Richard “wasn’t a businessman; he was a parasite,” a former employee says. And Coogan – one of the industry’s most underrated actors – does mostly what’s asked of him in bringing this sleazebag to life. The problem is Winterbottom asks the wrong things. To lampoon vulgar, selfish billionaires by simply showing us 104 minutes of vulgar, selfish billionaires is unimaginative, misguided and needlessly unpleasant. We get it: Richard is a sociopathic narcissist responsible for all sorts of Third World worst practices, specifically the mistreatment of female sweatshop workers. He’s a nasty fellow. But, in this case, the film becomes nasty too. That’s mostly because it tries, at least for its first hour, to be a dark comedy – an unfunny and obscenity-riddled one, at that – before pivoting awkwardly to social drama. Or maybe it was a drama all along and its odiousness was intentional. Frankly – and despite competent performances by David Mitchell as Richard’s reluctant biographer and Isla Fisher as his ex-wife – I don’t care. Saying so might make me sound the sociopath, considering the film has something important to say about economic inequality and unbridled capitalism. It even has a clever setup in the form of Richard preparing for his 60th birthday extravaganza on the Greek island of Mykonos with family, friends and special guests. (Keep your eyes open for some interesting cameos.) That premise should have allowed for an interesting perspective on the character’s life, but, thanks to Winterbottom’s scattershot script and newbie Liam Heath’s frenzied editing, we’re instead subjected to flashbacks ad nauseam, with a style and pacing reminiscent of Adam McKay on crack. There’s even a subplot involving a reality-television show, thrown in among the split screens, wipe shots and one particularly off-putting use of CGI. It all adds up to far less than the sum of its parts, which is all the more disappointing considering the level of talent. Buried deep within *Greed* is a hint of an Aesop fable, a whisper of satirical whimsy. But the director – eager to add drama, social and political lessons, an overabundance of expository details, documentary flourishes and even elements of Greek tragedy – gets badly lost on the way to the message. He gets greedy. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A temporary goodbye](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-temporary-goodbye/) **Published:** April 21, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Thanks for the movie memories [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)I’ve decided to step away from film reviewing, at least temporarily. It’s been a tough year for everyone, especially the film industry, and it’s my hope that an extended hiatus will allow me to reflect on where I’ve been and where I’m going. Though I hate overly dramatic, pretentious farewells — especially when the person saying goodbye might return in just a few months — I don’t want to disappear without at least saying something. By the time the [Telluride Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/) rolls around in September, perhaps I will be fully rejuvenated. Or maybe I will have decided on a longer recess, or even a permanent one. In the coming months, I plan to rest, travel, address some minor health issues (I’ll be OK) and continue my work as vice president of [Paul Meier Dialect Services](http://www.paulmeier.com) and executive editor of the [International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)](http://www.dialectsarchive.com). I’d like to thank those of you who have supported my writing, particularly my parents, friends and those at *[The Orlando Weekly](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/)*. I’ve written for the *Weekly* (and other Euclid Media publications, such as the Detroit *Metro-Times*) on and off for the last 21 years, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Jessica Young, Justin Strout, Erin Sullivan, Thaddeus McCollum and Steve Schneider. Let me also thank everyone at the [Florida Film Critics Circle](http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2017/09/17/cameron-meier/), of which I’m still a proud member, and at Rotten Tomatoes, which archives my reviews. It’s fitting that my last big article was about the [Florida Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2021/04/09/30th-annual-florida-film-festival-underway/), as that’s the event that has provided me with the greatest enjoyment as a film critic. From my [interviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/) with Sam Rockwell, Sissy Spacek, Bob Balaban and others, to my hundreds of festival reviews over the years, the FFF has been a highlight of my career over the last decade. Everyone at the Sarasota Film Festival, the Love Your Shorts Film Festival and the [48 Hour Film Project](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-48-hour-film-project/) also deserve a shout-out for supporting my work and valuing my opinion. If — and more likely when — I return to reviewing, I will continue to write for MeierMovies while possibly exploring other opportunities. I might write a book. I might make a film. Who knows what the future will bring. In the meantime, I hope the film industry (and film critics) can fully bounce back from the pandemic and continue to support variety and diversity: not just of culture and ethnicity, but of subject, style, and political and social viewpoint. Most importantly, let’s continue to embrace not just equality in filmmaking – but quality. As Ernest Hemingway said, “There is no Left and Right in writing. There is only good and bad writing.” And while the world certainly needs more kindness, it needs something else even more: honesty. Let us also not forget that, while filmmaking is meant to enlighten, inspire, provoke and inform, its equally important objective is entertainment. It’s my wish that, in difficult times, filmmakers can set aside virtue signaling to provide old-fashioned enjoyment and escapism – for adults (fewer giant lizards and monkeys, please.) Though I’ll be taking a break, this website won’t. You can still access [my old reviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/reviews/), [feature lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/feature-lists/) and [short lists](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-lists/) (which I will continue to update), [photographs](https://www.meiermovies.com/movie-related-photography/), [blogs](https://www.meiermovies.com/category/uncategorized/), [interviews](https://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/) and historical musings. And you can also find my reviews in their original form at [OrlandoWeekly.com](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/movies/Section?oid=2240411). And I can’t think of a better sign-off than revisiting 10 of my favorite reviews, below. These are the ones that are the most personal for me, the most memorable, the most original, the funniest or the just plain weirdest. Enjoy! [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Signature-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Signature-scaled.jpg) April 2021 [Alice Through the Looking Glass](https://www.meiermovies.com/alice-through-the-looking-glass/), 2016 [Borat Subsequent Moviefilm](https://www.meiermovies.com/borat-subsequent-moviefilm/), 2020 [Carol](https://www.meiermovies.com/carol/), 2015 [Dunkirk](https://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/), 2017 [Finders Keepers](https://www.meiermovies.com/finders-keepers/), 2015 [First Reformed](https://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/), 2018 [The Great Gatsby](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-gatsby/), 2013 [Inside Llewyn Davis](https://www.meiermovies.com/inside-llewyn-davis/), 2013 [Love & Friendship](https://www.meiermovies.com/love-friendship/), 2016 [The Only Living Boy in New York](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-only-living-boy-in-new-york/), 2017 ###### *Image courtesy iStockPhoto (#173573801, by [KLH49](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/klh49?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best))* --- ### [The Great Beauty](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-great-beauty/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty)** FL, 2013, 4 ½ stars # *The Great Beauty* lives up to its name ## Stunning take on life’s mysteries is one of year’s best From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-great-beauty-one-of-the-best-movies-of-the-year/Content?oid=2243142), March 5, 2014; and [*Jacksonville Folio Weekly*](http://folioweekly.com/A-Mysterious-Sensual-Prism,9165), March 12, 2014 The word “Felliniesque” is tossed around too liberally. The films given that label often contain some of the fantastical elements of Italian director Federico Fellini’s works but little of the quality. *The Great Beauty* (*La Grande Bellezza* in its native Italian) is imbued with both, boldly planting itself among the top five movies of 2013 and taking home the Oscar for best foreign-language film. [![32_Toni_Servillo_foto_di_Gianni_Fiorito_05313.JPG](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Great-Beauty-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Great-Beauty.jpg)Image copyright Indigo Film / Janus Films Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, who is sometimes compared to Fellini, *The Great Beauty* stars the brilliant Toni Servillo as Jep, a journalist and socialite. After celebrating his 65th birthday in a style befitting a hedonistic prince, Jep begins to question not just his life but his entire world, and whether he’ll ever discover real beauty and, therefore, truth. “To this question, as kids, my friends always gave the same answer: pussy,” Jep says. “Whereas I answered: ‘the smell of old people’s houses.’ The question was: ‘What do you like most, really, in life?’ I was destined for sensibility. I was destined to become a writer. I was destined to become Jep Gambardella.” Despite this sensibility, Jep finds a perverse pleasure in his social status. “I wanted to be the king of high life,” he says. “I didn’t just want to go to parties. I wanted to have the power to make them a failure.” Yet, as the film progresses, Jep increasingly recognizes that he is lost, as are all the characters, including a Vatican cardinal who, though a favorite to succeed to the Papacy, is unable to offer a single word of wisdom. Surrounded by decadence, extravagance and pretention, Jep is looking for something greater. He’s essentially an aged version of Marcello Mastroianni’s character from *La Dolce Vita*, also a playboy and journalist. Indeed, Sorentino’s entire film is an update of the 1960 Fellini classic and a commentary on Rome. Even Jep’s closest companions, a stripper and a failed actor, are interpretations of the Eternal City, right down to their names, Ramona and Romano. In stark contrast is the long-lost love of Jep’s life, the aptly named Elisa, whom we learn, in an Elysian Fields visual metaphor, may be the only beauty Jep has ever known. All these life lessons are told through the swirling, masterful mosaic of Luca Bigazzi’s cinematography, the intellectual editing of Cristiano Travaglioli and the surreal storytelling of Sorentino. Using non-traditional narrative, comedy, heartbreak, juxtaposition of the vulgar and sacred, and symbolism that can’t be appreciated in a single viewing, the director/writer has given us a mysterious, sensual prism through which to view our own shortcomings and longings. I end with an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Confining this great beauty of a movie to the foreign-language category instead of nominating it for best overall offering is a travesty. Add the snubs for *The Act of Killing* – yes, documentaries can be nominated for best film – and *Inside Llewyn Davis*, and this year’s statuettes aren’t even worth the cost of the gold it took to make them. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Goodbye Christopher Robin](https://www.meiermovies.com/goodbye-christopher-robin/) **Published:** October 26, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Goodbye Christopher Robin**, 2017, 3 ½ stars # Bearly magical ## Milne biopic has enough charm to overcome flaws [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Goodbye-Christopher-Robin.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Goodbye-Christopher-Robin.png)Image copyright D.J. Films / Fox Searchlight Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 26, 2017 Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie was a contemporary of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne, so a comparison of Marc Foster’s *Finding Neverland*, from 2004, and the new *Goodbye Christopher Robin* is inevitable thanks to similar themes and subjects. Unfortunately, the first film is vastly superior, but the latter is still one of the sweetest movies you’ll see in 2017. Set mostly in England in the late 1920s, when Milne was creating his tales of the Hundred Acre Wood – filled with the immortal Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore – this is a tale not just of childhood celebrated but childhood denied, even violated. For the real Christopher Robin, Milne’s son, wasn’t able to enjoy the characters like everyone else. (The characters were based on his real toys, in addition to a real bear at the London Zoo.) Indeed, as he grew up, his fame made it difficult to lead a normal life, and his relationship with his parents grew strained. “Who would have guessed that bear would swallow us up?” the elder Milne laments. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Winnie-the-Bear.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Winnie-the-Bear.jpg)The Winnie the Bear statue at London Zoo. (Photo by Cameron Meier.) But *Goodbye Christopher Robin* is not a tale of remorse. At its heart – and it has tons of it (some earned, some forced) – it’s a story of innocence and family. Surprisingly, it’s also an anti-war film, as Milne suffered severe shell shock from his service in World War I and wanted nothing more than to see his son’s generation spared from the next great conflict. The juxtaposition of the Milne family story with the tale of England’s history between the wars is sometimes ungainly, and director Simon Curtis’s film is never quite sharp enough in several areas, most notably tone, pacing and writing. It’s also disappointingly devoid of the wise, wonderful words of the original books and poems. (Perhaps the filmmakers couldn’t get the rights.) But you’d have to be stuffed with fluff not to be moved emotionally, if only a wee bit. (It’s just too bad Disney couldn’t have made this film, instead of Fox Searchlight.) As Milne, Domhnall Gleeson is competent, but he has yet to prove he can carry a period film in the same manner as Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. Still, the solid production design and good performances by Will Tilston (as 8-year-old Christopher) and Kelly Macdonald (as his nanny) help mask the narrative flaws. Margot Robbie as Mrs. Milne is less effective, though she captures the requisite bitchiness of her character who, in real life, virtually rejected her son for the majority of his adult life. “Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred,” the fictional Christopher Robin asked his furry friend. Though Curtis’s film has an abundance of charm, regrettably, it will be long forgotten in 100 years. Oh, bother. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1653665/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_Christopher_Robin).* --- ### [The Grand Budapest Hotel](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Grand Budapest Hotel**, 2014, 3 ¼ stars # *Budapest Hotel* not grand, but still stylish From*[ The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/grand-budapest-hotel-not-grand-but-still-stylish/Content?oid=2243188),* March 19, 2014 Your stay at *The Grand Budapest Hotel* might not be emotionally fulfilling. You might even find some of the rooms uninviting. Yet, in typical Wes Anderson fashion, its impeccable design and “je ne sais quoi” will win you over. In fact, you may even recommend that your friends book a stay too, though you will likely decline a return visit for yourself. [![The Grand Budapest Hotel](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/the-Grand-Budapest-Hotel-300x180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/the-Grand-Budapest-Hotel.jpg)Image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures Unless you’ve been living in an underground tunnel – like the ones in the writer-director’s *Fantastic Mr. Fox*, arguably his best work – Anderson needs little introduction. But it is worth mentioning that he’s an artist whom people either get or don’t. Fans embrace almost everything Anderson, from the offbeat humor, to the understated and often deadpan performances, to the deliberate tracking shots and fast pans, to the unique worlds he creates with almost every film. If you’re not a fan, you may appreciate those elements, but you do not enjoy them, and are driven slightly mad by the contrivances. Absent a real point or true emotion, they are sometimes far less than the sum of their beautiful parts, you might argue. If you take the latter view, *Grand Budapest* will not change your mind about Anderson. But if you’re a groupie, dig in, as the director’s latest is a delicious feast of color and eccentricity, though the plot does drag it down during the third act. Set mostly in the 1930s in the imaginary European country of Zubrowka on the eve of a fictional war, this is a story within a story within a story, with that extra layer added seemingly just to amuse Anderson. Tom Wilkinson opens as the 1980s narrator, only to pass off that job to Jude Law, who again passes it off to F. Murray Abraham, who, as the 1960s version of Zero Moustafa, the hotel’s former lobby boy, offers special insight into the legendary and peculiar character of Monsieur Gustave H., played impeccably by Ralph Fiennes. Gustave was the hotel concierge – and its heart and soul – during its heyday but ran into trouble when he unexpectedly became a main beneficiary of the estate of a wealthy hotel patron (Tilda Swinton). It seems that Gustave, in addition to taking great care of his elderly female guests, had also befriended and serviced them in order to worm his way into their wills. This obviously didn’t sit well with the relatives, who accused Gustave of murder. A mad, cross-country caper ensued, complete with a smorgasbord of cameos – not all of them necessary – from the likes of Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and, of course, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson. Though, on one level, the film is an interesting meditation on faded glory, it’s mostly just a rambunctious rococo romp infused with chapter titles, changing aspect ratios, inspired art direction, funicular railways, downhill ski races, prison breaks and multiple other amusements, but little coherence. It’s style over substance, but as usual with Anderson, the style is enough. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Good Ol' Freda](https://www.meiermovies.com/good-ol-freda/) **Published:** July 27, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Good Ol’ Freda**, 2013, 3 ½ stars # The last great Beatle story ## *Freda* is the long-awaited tale of the Fab Four’s secretary From *[The Orlando Weekly](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/good-ol-freda-the-last-great-beatle-story/Content?oid=2244333)*, November 27, 2013 John Lennon and George Harrison are gone. So are manager Brian Epstein, road manager and Apple head Neil Aspinall, press manager Derek Taylor, Maureen Starkey, Linda McCartney and countless other witnesses to history. And Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have spun their stories dozens of times in print, on celluloid and on vinyl. But then there’s Freda Kelly, the group’s secretary and fan-club manager, who, after 40 years, has finally chosen to tell her tale, perhaps the last great firsthand account of the Fab Four. [![Good Ol' Freda](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Good-Ol-Freda-224x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Good-Ol-Freda.jpg)Freda Kelly and Paul McCartney Kelly worked for the group in Liverpool from late 1961 – before “Richie” replaced Pete Best – through 1964, and though she didn’t make the move with them to London, she continued to serve as their Liverpool secretary and fan-club manager until 1972, almost two years after the group disbanded. It was quite a ride for a girl who had been a 17-year-old groupie when Epstein (“Eppy,” as she calls him) plucked her from the Scouse secretarial ranks. The world is full of Beatle movies, and *Good Ol’ Freda*, directed by Ryan White, certainly isn’t the best. It regrettably contains no insightful interviews with McCartney, Starr or George Martin; it confuses some chronology; and it contains far too few Beatle songs, using mostly original versions of songs the group covered, because of limited licensing privileges. However, the doc is unique in two ways: It is a study of someone who never sought to capitalize on fame, and it’s a careful analysis of the business and personal, not the musical, sides of the group. Not everyone will view it as an informational feast, but Beatle fans will eat it up like jam butties. Instead of giving us glimpses into the group’s creativity, Kelly shares minor but insightful observations about Epstein, the Beatles’ parents, the management of the fan club and even Lennon’s first marriage. In that regard, this is a film about process and personalities – including Kelly herself, who remained loyal, modest and discreet when other confidantes and business associates were getting rich off gossip and memorabilia. “I could have been a very, very wealthy woman. I’d have been a millionairess if I’d have kept everything,” she says. “Over a period of time, I gave it all away. I don’t regret that, you know, because … I actually handed it to Beatles fans. … I think fame and money doesn’t mean anything. All the wealth, you know, doesn’t cure cancer, does it? I worked with a lot of good people. I did. I loved them.” And she made it easier for us to love them too. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Glass](https://www.meiermovies.com/glass/) **Published:** January 16, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Glass**, 2019, 2 ¾ stars # *Glass* half full ## Shyamalan ends trilogy with preposterous panache [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Glass.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Glass.jpg)Image copyright Universal Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures / Blinding Edge Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/shyamalan-ends-trilogy-with-preposterous-panache/Content?oid=23265426), January 16, 2019 M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film was 19 years in the making, he claims. That makes sense, as *Glass* is overflowing with what seems like two decades of ideas. And though almost as many of those concepts are ludicrous as profound, *Glass* glints just enough for a drink. The new mashup of drama and science fiction is being billed as the final film in a trilogy that began in 2000 with the masterpiece *Unbreakable*. The series continued, surprisingly, with *Split* in 2017. Now *Glass* has combined the characters and plots of the previous two films into an enjoyable but ridiculous romp that both pays respect to comic-book films and satirizes them. Returning from *Unbreakable* is Bruce Willis as David Dunn (a.k.a. the Overseer), a former security guard who has turned his uncanny, almost supernatural ability to track down criminals into a personal, vigilante crusade. Also reprising their roles from the original are Spencer Treat Clark as David’s son, Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price (a.k.a. Mr. Glass) and Charlayne Woodard as Elijah’s mother. (David’s wife, played by Robin Wright, has been written out.) Back from *Split* are James McAvoy as the 24 personalities of the Horde and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey. And new to the series is Sarah Paulson as a psychiatrist intent on proving that the Overseer, the Horde and Mr. Glass are nothing more than normal humans caught in a delusion fueled by circumstance and our culture’s preoccupation with superheroes. “Comic books are an obsession,” she says. “There just can’t be gods among us.” Despite a lofty premise and Shyamalan’s hypnotic camera work, *Glass* lacks the quiet intelligence of *Unbreakable* and the creepy intrigue of *Split*. And although it’s set mostly in a mental hospital, it eschews the small scale of the previous films for a larger canvas. To mix warfare and entertainment metaphors, it goes over the top to jump its shark. And, yes, there are multiple twists in traditional Shyamalan fashion, so get ready for an endless parade of “gotcha” climaxes. The good news is that if you liked the earlier movies and are fond of the four main actors, you will be entertained. The interaction of the Horde and Mr. Glass are especially rewarding, with McAvoy and Jackson living up to performance expectations. Willis, on the other hand, is denied the juicier moments, while Paulson steals the narrative light toward the end. Simply put, these characters are almost too well-conceived to fail, though Shyamalan certainly tests that theory. In one of the film’s many meta-theatrical moments, Paulson’s character, referring to the plot, admits, “This all sounds very familiar.” Thanks to the glut of comic-book flicks, yes, it does. But just as *Unbreakable* redefined that genre, *Glass* takes it in directions heretofore unexplored, counterbalancing the movie’s glaring imperfections. *Copyright 2019 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [A Ghost Story](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-ghost-story/) **Published:** July 28, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Ghost Story**, 2017, 3 ¼ stars # Anti-horror ## *A Ghost Story* is more metaphysical than macabre [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/A-Ghost-Story.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/A-Ghost-Story.jpg)Images copyright Sailor Bear / Zero Trans Fat Productions From [*The Detroit Metro-Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/a-ghost-story-is-more-metaphysical-than-macabre/Content?oid=4708013) and [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/a-ghost-story-more-metaphysical-than-macabre/Content?oid=5777379), July 26, 2017 “Unique” is an overused and misunderstood word. Being an absolute, it doesn’t play well with comparatives and superlatives. Frankly, it’s best to avoid it completely. But though *A Ghost Story* is at times exasperating, boring and just plain odd, it is, admittedly, unique. It’s also, despite the spooky trailers, not a horror film. It could be labeled a mystery or a supernatural drama, but it would be more accurate to call it an anti-horror movie or a metaphysical examination of where – and when – the human spirit goes after death. Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara play a young married couple. While he’s eking out a living as a musician, she’s busy planning their move from their small, suburban home. But Affleck’s character is strangely drawn to the house, as if they have history there. Reluctantly, he agrees to go, but bad luck interrupts their plans. It’s impossible to discuss writer-director David Lowery’s film without addressing the elephant in the room. And – spoiler alert – that elephant is Affleck covered from head to toe in a bed sheet for most of the movie. How he got into the bed sheet I’ll let you discover, but because he’s representing his own ghost, or soul, you probably already have a good idea. The movie isn’t really about one person’s death, though, or even the odd, emotionless grieving process that his wife endures. Indeed, we see little signs of her grief, other than a five-minute-plus continuous shot of her eating almost an entire pie and then barfing it up. As with most of the film, that scene demands patience, and mine started to run thin about 30 minutes in. I was bored sheetless. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/A-Ghost-Story-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/A-Ghost-Story-2.jpg)But then the movie started to challenge not just my perception of time and space but also the very nature of ghosts. And with the exception of a pretentious, nihilistic monologue by a character I didn’t know or care about (Will Oldham), *A Ghost Story* started to hypnotize me with its deliberate pacing. It doesn’t necessarily embrace spirituality, but it does address a spiritual topic in a way that few films have before. Aesthetically the movie is even more unusual. Shot in the old, classic aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with rounded edges, it looks boxy. And because of its long and medium shots, little dialogue and little camera movement, I thought I might be reminded of a film from the early silent era. But the framing and color palette are more reminiscent of Kodak photographs from the 1960s, and, indeed, I felt like Lowery and his cinematographers were inviting me to thumb through old, strangely intimate snapshots rather than watch a conventional movie. And though Lowery has hinted he wanted the aspect ratio to make his audience claustrophobic, the film creates instead a sense of sad nostalgia, helped along by a prominent, melancholy score. Above all else, *A Ghost Story* longs to be a commentary on human legacy, loss and existence. It never fully achieves that goal, but it is nevertheless worth enduring aesthetically to reach what it’s positing philosophically. It’s a haunting cinematic experiment, literally. *© 2017 Euclid Media / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Genius](https://www.meiermovies.com/genius/) **Published:** June 15, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Genius**, 2016, 2 ¾ stars ## *Genius* examines famous editor-writer relationship [![Genius](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Genius.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Genius.jpg)Image copyright Desert Wolf Productions / Michael Grandage Company From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/genius-examines-the-relationship-between-a-famous-writer-and-his-not-quite-invisible-editor/Content?oid=2500521), June 15, 2016 Thomas Edison claimed genius was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Well, after watching the new drama about the relationship between author Thomas Wolfe and his editor, one might say that genius, at least in the literary world, is equal parts writing and editing. Directed by Michael Grandage, who is better known as a theater director and actor, *Genius* examines the professional and personal bond between Wolfe (writer of *Look Homeward, Angel* and *Of Time and the River*) and Scribner’s editor Maxwell Perkins in the late 1920s and 1930s. Perkins, who also edited the works of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, discovered and nurtured Wolfe while dealing with the novelist’s psychological instability, alcoholism and extraordinarily profuse, belletristic output. “I know I seem like a freak: too loud, too grandiose. That’s who I am,” Wolfe tells Perkins. “But I feel things like a real person.” *Genius* is enjoyable because of its fascinating story, the type one rarely sees on screen. In fact, I can’t recall another film that delves into the minutiae of editing quite like this. Regrettably, though, much of it execution is poor, as the film can’t seem to decide whether to make Perkins or Wolfe the main character and isn’t good at making them co-leads. Colin Firth, as Perkins, give the best performance but has little chemistry with Jude Law (Wolfe), who exhibits enormous energy but not enough believability. “Human beings aren’t fiction,” Wolfe is told. Yet, in *Genius*, he seems just that: a fictional entity drifting toward caricature. (And Law’s attention-grabbing and slightly inconsistent North Carolina dialect doesn’t help.) But when combined with Firth’s steady hand and the fact that the script is remarkably faithful to reality, Law’s performance is tolerable. As Wolfe’s older mentor and lover, Nicole Kidman is about as effective as she can be considering her underwritten character, while Laura Linney (as Perkins’ wife) also does a nice job handling a role that gives her little to do. I was actually more fascinated with Guy Pearce as Fitzgerald and Dominic West as Hemingway. Though the two literary giants don’t get much screen time, they make the most of it, particularly Pearce, who lends credibility to a script that is sometimes detached from reality, overly theatrical and poorly structured. Ironically, it would have benefitted from Perkins’ editing. Without it, it is merely acceptable and not quite worthy of its subjects. The screenplay by John Logan is based on the 1978 book *Max Perkins: Editor of Genius* by A. Scott Berg, but who’s to say what defines genius? Perhaps the strength of the film – and the chief reason I’m recommending it – is that it challenges us to define genius ourselves. There’s the genius of originality that springs from creation, exhibited by Wolfe. But there’s also the genius of patience, collaboration, judgement, refinement and friendship. That’s editing – and its praises are long overdue. Perkins would argue, however, that “editors should be anonymous.” We’re just lucky that relative anonymity has been cinematically stripped from this particular editor. He deserves it. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Gemma Bovery](https://www.meiermovies.com/gemma-bovery/) **Published:** June 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Gemma Bovery** FL, 2014, 2 ¾ stars # Literary license ## Romantic dramedy a charming homage to Flaubert [![GEMMA BOVERYRŽalisŽ par Anne Fontaine](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/gemmabovery-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/gemmabovery.jpg)Image courtesy of Florida Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/04/09/florida-film-festival-review-gemma-bovery), April 9, 2015 “Desire and death are intertwined,” we’re told in *Gemma Bovery*, a clever and occasionally funny satire on Gustave Flaubert’s masterpiece. Though director Anne Fontaine’s French-language production is essentially a one-note conceit, it’s able to coast on its charm and sensuality, overcoming its almost total lack of a second act and other story deficiencies. With just two letters separating her name from that of the doomed heroine in *Madame Bovary*, Gemma (the painfully gorgeous Gemma Arterton) is a married Englishwoman fresh to France, with a life that eerily resembles that of her literary shadow. Or at least that’s what her elderly male neighbor (the excellent Fabrice Luchini) imagines thanks to his obsession with the 19th-century novel. “Gemma, there’s a moment when life imitates art,” he tells her. Though she doesn’t see the connection, she is at least compelled to read the Flaubert book and, amusingly, comment, “Nothing happens, but at the same time it’s interesting.” The same could be said of the film, which gets bogged down in affairs between a woman we barely know and suitors we care nothing about. It also becomes needlessly preoccupied with a time-consuming subplot involving a cracked porcelain figure, perhaps a metaphor for Gemma’s damaged marriage to her husband (Jason Flemyng, well known for playing Thomas Button in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*). But like that statue, the movie feels a bit broken until it rights itself with a solid ending that balances drama, comedy and literary homage. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *This review was also featured as part of my [2015 Florida Film Festival article](http://www.meiermovies.com/rockwell-balaban-to-headline-florida-film-festival/).* --- ### [Gemini Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/gemini-man/) **Published:** October 9, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Gemini Man** (2–D 24fps version), 2019, 2 ¼ stars # Clone war ### Ang Lee delivers an interesting but contrived experiment [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Gemini-Man.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Gemini-Man.jpg)Will Smith and Mary Elizabeth Winstead star in *Gemini Man*. (image copyright Paramount Pictures / Skydance Media / Jerry Bruckheimer Films) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/gemini-man-is-an-interesting-but-contrived-experiment/Content?oid=26139467), October 9, 2019 From 19th-century music-on-disc experiments, to synchronized soundtracks, to three-strip Technicolor, to 3-D cinematography, to CGI, filmmakers have always embraced technological advances. And though director Ang Lee is part of that proud tradition, his newest undertaking, *Gemini Man*, falls just short of expectations not because of a failure of science, but thanks to mediocre use of old-fashioned elements: writing, acting and directorial sensibility. Regrettably – as is the norm today – the great gimmick of this action sci-fi flick is revealed in the trailers: Will Smith and his character have been cloned. The hitman he portrays has been scientifically replicated (think Dolly the Sheep) while the actor’s younger self has been re-created in much the same manner as Peter Cushing in *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story*, though that film didn’t have access to the real Cushing, who died in 1994. This isn’t the “euthanizing” method of *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, which remains the most emotionally impactful use of this type of technology, though the science was in its infancy in 2008. Instead, this spectacle, which raises important social and artistic questions, is courtesy of a combination of CGI, motion-capture tech and use of Smith’s previous performances. And though the end product still sometimes sinks into the “uncanny valley,” the film contains moments of astonishing realism, as did *Alita: Battle Angel* earlier this year. But as most sound films from the late 1920s and early 1930s prove, tech isn’t enough. It’s still about the basics. And in that regard, *Gemini* is a tad disappointing. Smith plays Henry Brogan, an operative with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). (Filmmakers peppered the set with Coca-Cola, Stella Artois and other brands, but they couldn’t reference the CIA?) Haunted by his 72 career hits and worried that his age is compromising his marksmanship, the 51-year-old wants to retire. “My soul is hurt,” he confesses. “I just want some peace.” Enter Henry’s younger self, who was cloned more than two decades earlier by a secret project called Gemini (named for the astrological sign pictorially represented by twins). The 20-something doppelganger apparently has all of Henry’s skills but none of the emotional baggage. And, well, he’s not as old. So when Henry’s most recent kill goes pear-shaped, the agency agrees it’s time for him to step down, except they desire a more permanent retirement. And “Junior” is the perfect one to deliver the gold watch – in a coffin. As Henry, Will Smith isn‘t at his best, but he (the real actor, not the digital double) is still the movie’s most watchable element. As his unlikely partner, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (*Fargo* TV series, *The Hollars*) does all that’s asked of her, but, as with much of the film, her character isn’t entirely believable or relatable. The same could be said of Benedict Wong as Henry’s friend and Clive Owen as the head of Gemini, though Wong’s comic relief and Owen’s dour villainy are intermittently interesting. However, *Gemini Man* never quite lives up to its intriguing premise. Smart, existential themes are lurking just below the surface and are partially uncovered in the climax, but they remain mostly buried by overscoring, overemphasis on (admittedly spectacular) action sequences and a contrived screenplay (by David Benioff, Darren Lemke and Billy Ray) that seems to exist mostly to showcase the special effects. (*The Prisoner* TV series explored these issues more maturely in its “Schizoid Man” episode.) Speaking of tech, the film is groundbreaking in another way: Lee and cinematographer Dion Beebe shot it in 3-D and a combination of 60 and 120 frames per second (fps), similar to Lee’s *Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk*. Unfortunately, most theaters are screening the film in 2-D and a standard 24fps. But even in that conventional format, the film looks curiously different: crisp, colorful and bright, if a little flat. Projected in 60 or 120fps, it apparently appears either spectacularly hyperrealistic or cheaply uncinematic, depending upon your own sensibility and cinematic expectations. The new “cloning” magic might make one forget that there’s a different invention capable of even greater realism and more profound cultural change. That technology was principally created in the 1830s by a guy named Louis Daguerre. It’s called photography. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / Cameron Meier* --- ### [Fruitvale Station](https://www.meiermovies.com/fruitvale-station/) **Published:** July 25, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Fruitvale Station**, 2013, 4 stars # Socially conscious *Station* packs a punch From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/fruitvale-station-is-a-heartbreaking-tale-of-a-young-black-man-gunned-down-in-his-prime/Content?oid=2245148), July 24, 2013 In the early hours of New Year’s Day, 2009, an unarmed, unassuming 22-year-old black man was shot dead by a white police officer on the platform of a train station in Oakland, California, setting off a firestorm of protest and debate over gun violence, police brutality and racial profiling. For his feature-film debut, writer-director Ryan Coogler has turned that tragedy and the events leading up to it into one of the most powerful and socially relevant movies of the year. [![Fruitvale](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fruitvale-300x166.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fruitvale.jpg)Michael B. Jordan stars in *Fruitvale Station*. (image copyright Weinstein Company / OG Project) To get us to relate to the victim, Oscar Grant, played to perfection by Michael B. Jordan, and to appreciate him as a real man, with real hopes, real dreams and real flaws, Coogler opens *Fruitvale Station* with actual cell-phone footage of the incident before spending the next hour depicting a slightly fictionalized version of the previous day. We see Grant doing the mundane – fighting with his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz) and picking up his little girl from daycare – but we also get glimpses into his heart. He throws away hundreds of dollars’ worth of weed instead of selling it, he cares for a dying dog hit by a car, and he shows familial compassion. We also see a troubled, angry man who fights with his mother (the excellent Octavia Spencer), loses his job and has spent time in prison for dealing drugs. But he’s a man just like you, regardless of your race or social background. He’s a man with a lot to live for, one who didn’t deserve to be arrested – let alone killed – while taking the train home on the first morning of his 23rd year of life. *Fruitvale* is far from perfect. Some early scenes are forgettable, and Coogler uses too much handheld camera in a misguided attempt to be real and gritty. Admittedly, when accompanied by a slightly grainy look, the camerawork does produce the feel of a documentary, but Coogler should have opted for more Steadicam or traditional setups. He also fudges the facts slightly, most notably by not emphasizing a small piece of information that made the shooting slightly more understandable, but by no means forgivable. Still, *Fruitvale* is an even stronger directorial debut than Benh Zeitlin’s *Beasts of the Southern Wild* last year. The socially significant timing of the movie is inescapable. Regardless of your feelings toward the George Zimmerman murder trial, and whether or not you think race played a role in Trayvon Martin’s death, there’s a good chance you’ll be brought to tears at the tragedy of nonsensical racial profiling that Coogler presents. Though at its core *Fruitvale Station* is simply the story of one man, it is also something greater. It’s the heartbreaking tale of all young black men – or young men of any race – who are cut down in their prime for the wrong reasons, be them gun-related, race-related, drug-related, or all three. And if those young men happen to have even younger children, like Oscar Grant did, then we’re presented with the simplest yet saddest question of all: “Where’s Daddy?” *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Frozen](https://www.meiermovies.com/frozen/) **Published:** July 25, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Frozen (3-D version)**, 2013, 3 stars ## *Frozen* will warm kids’ hearts but leave adults cold ### See new Disney musical, if only for companion cartoon [![Frozen](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Frozen-300x187.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Frozen.jpg)Images copyright Walt Disney Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/frozen-is-just-room-temperature/Content?oid=2245983), November 27, 2013 If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. At least that’s what Disney thinks, as it’s finally brought an adaption of Hans Christian Andersen’s *The Snow Queen* to the screen after three failed attempts – the first by Walt himself back in 1943, when he decided it was too problematic. Perhaps directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee felt the same, as their version (written by Lee) has little in common with the fairy tale. Gone are many of the story’s complexities and its spiritual overtones, replaced by an odd mix of drama, music and comedy designed to entertain the kids and distract the adults from the mediocrity. The film focuses on Snow Queen Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) and her loving but naive sister Anna (Kristen Bell). After their parents discover the dangers of Elsa’s magic – she turns everything she touches to ice – they lock her away. “Conceal it; don’t feel it,” they beg her, not realizing that the repression of her powers will result in the unhealthy abandonment of all emotion, including love. Only years later, once Elsa has ascended to the thrown and accidentally unleashed an eternal winter, do the sisters confront their feelings. [![Mickey+Mouse+Get+a+Horse](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mickey+Mouse+Get+a+Horse-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Mickey+Mouse+Get+a+Horse.jpg)The Mickey Mouse short *Get a Horse* is better than the feature it precedes. In true Disney fashion, there’s romance and an adorable sidekick in the mold of Jiminy Cricket or Timothy Mouse. (Are we still trying to copy *Pinocchio* and *Dumbo*?) This one is called Olaf the Snowman, and he is admittedly cuter than most and voiced (and sung) nicely by Josh Gad. Yet he, and virtually everything else in *Frozen*, seems to be trying too hard to bring back the musical magic of Disney films from the early 1990s. There are a couple of good tunes (*Do You Want to Build a Snowman?* and *In Summer*), but the level of contrivance, not to mention the overly poppy, modern song style, is off-putting and diminishes what could have been an impressive film if not for the lack of maturity in writing, directing and voiceovers. While creating a work of naturalistic, 3-D digital beauty, they forgot to add a spoonful of sincerity and visual innovation in the style of, say, Hayao Miyazaki. Kids will love *Frozen* – and it’s admittedly better than the recent *Planes*, if not as good as *Tangled* – but the treat for adults will be the accompanying cartoon *Get a Horse!* Directed by Lauren MacMullan, the 7-minute short is a masterful mix of hand-drawn black-and-white and 3-D digital color, bringing back to life the Mickey Mouse adventure-comedy from the late 1920s and then, in a brilliant and surreal twist, breaking the fourth wall and throwing that old world wildly into the present. Featuring the original gang of Mickey, Minnie, Peg-Leg Pete, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow and even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the film is a unique work of cinema deconstructionism and an animation lover’s dream. If *Frozen* leaves you frosty, come for the warmth of *Get a Horse!* And if you don’t get goosebumps during the credits when it’s revealed that Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney (by using old voiceovers), then your heart truly is ice. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [From Hell](https://www.meiermovies.com/from-hell/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **From Hell**, 2001, 2 ¾ stars # Knowing Jack [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/From-Hell.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/From-Hell.jpg)Image copyright Twentieth Century Fox From *The Orlando Weekly*, October 22, 2001 A person taking credit for the Jack the Ripper murders signed his letter to the police, “From Hell.” In the film of the same name, the Hughes Brothers (*Menace II Society, Dead Presidents*) reach into that hell of 1888 London and pull out an eerily horrific, if preposterously inaccurate, tale of prostitution, opium addiction and serial murder. Based on the 1999 graphic novel by Alan Moore, *From Hell* takes the real-life characters and facts of the Ripper case and combines them with both legitimate theories of the killer’s identity and blatant falsehoods. The yarns spun by Moore could be forgiven if the movie labeled itself fiction. Instead, it adds fictional details to the actual crimes, therefore giving the impression that the wild accusations of cover-up, leveled at members of the British royal family, among others, are true. Despite the off-base history lesson, the film is visually and dramatically gripping, thanks to well photographed drug-induced dream sequences and a solid performance by Johnny Depp as the chief inspector on the case, Fred Abberline. Going through a private hell of his own because of his opium addiction and personal demons, Abberline throws himself into both the Ripper case and the arms of prostitute and victim-to-be Mary Kelly (a mediocre Heather Graham). A stronger performance is turned in by Robbie Coltrane, as Abberline’s companion on the case. He’s also his closest mate, literally picking up his friend on several occasions following an episode of “chasing the dragon” with an opium pipe. Moore’s story addresses only a few key theories of the case, such as the possible involvement of Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert, and the queen’s personal physician, William Gull, masterfully portrayed by veteran actor Ian Holm (*The Madness of King George, Chariots of Fire*). The Freemasons are also fingered, and their pentagonal star symbol used as a geographic guide to the five murders. For fans of the famous case, there are plenty of facts thrown in to make it interesting, and the wild conclusion, though parts of it clearly invented for dramatic effect, is fascinating. For those not interested in the “Whitechapel murderer,” the film does hold some interest, though much of it lies buried beneath Allen and Albert Hughes’ overly stylistic and grotesque depictions of Victorian London. Dramatically slow to begin because of shallow character development, the tale picks up pace as the murders mount. In addition, the terror that not just London but the prostitutes who were being ritualistically slaughtered had to live with is palpable. The visuals, which detract from the film in the first half because the directors don’t allow enough time for the mood to wash over us, begin to give the story energy as it builds to the surprising climax. They imbue the movie with a true sense of evil that previous Ripper films, such as *The Lodger* and *The Man in the Attic,* didn’t have. The Hughes have created from Moore’s novel a sense of surreal horror, and the film should be appreciated on that level. For all its dramatic and historical mistakes, *From Hell* rarely fails to entertain and also manages to add to the neverending debate over and fascination with the Ripper. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120681/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_(film)).* --- ### [Frances Ha](https://www.meiermovies.com/frances-ha/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Frances Ha**, 2012, 1 ½ stars # Ha! The joke’s on us ### Baumbach’s dramedy is a waste of both Frances’s life and ours [![Frances Ha](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Frances-Ha-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Frances-Ha.jpg)Image copyright IFC Films / Pine District Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/frances-ha/Content?oid=2245540), May 29, 2013 A film called *Frances Ha* obviously doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is often a good thing for a slight, slice-of-life “dramedy.” But when the credits role on this meandering, low-key affair, the joke’s really on the audience, as there’s just not much there. Frances (Greta Gerwig) is a 27-year-old dancer living in New York City. Actually, she doesn’t live as much as she lets life come to her, at its own pace. She is dating Dan (Michael Esper) but spending most of her time with best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner), with whom she shares an apartment. “We are like a lesbian couple that doesn’t have sex anymore,” she says of her BFF relationship. But suddenly everything falls apart. Sophie moves out, and when Dan pushes Frances to move in with him, she ends the relationship. So in a matter of days, Frances’s aimless existence – and it was pretty aimless already – becomes even more directionless. Trying to recapture some of that lost roommate magic, she moves in with two guys. “The three of us are hilarious together,” Frances tells them. “We’re like a sitcom.” But just like a sitcom, that doesn‘t last long either, and Frances is soon off on other non-adventures, such as visiting her parents in California, taking a misguided trip to Paris, teaching dance and even returning to her old college town of Poughkeepsie for a summer job, presumably to rekindle some of the vitality of her early 20s. “I’m trying to be proactive with my life,” Frances tells herself. Yet she doesn’t really do anything, as she awkwardly admits to a dinner party of casual acquaintances. And the same can be said for the film, which also just sits there, offering no real reason to exist, other than to pass 90 minutes of your life. Months of Frances’s life pass in minutes, yet those minutes feel like an eternity, thanks to non-action and uninspired editing. Gerwig is not without charm. She cut her teeth on the films of Joe Swanberg and the mumblecore movement, which embraces an ultra-realistic, low-budget, spare-story style. In that context, Gerwig and this film, which she co-wrote with director Noah Baumbach (*The Squid and the Whale* and *Margot at the Wedding*), might be judged a small success. But if you’re not a fan of that stumbling-through-life aesthetic, you’ll soon realize that, despite astute observations about 20-something existence, Baumbach’s latest project doesn’t offer enough delight to negate its narrative nothingness. It desperately wants to capture the magic of Woody Allen’s *Manhattan* – with its black-and-white cinematography and New York cool – or perhaps the quirkiness of Wes Anderson, with whom Baumbach has worked. But just like Frances herself, it falls short. Maybe the best test of a do-nothing comedy is simply whether it makes you laugh. After all, the beloved *Seinfeld* was often labeled “the show about nothing.” But *Seinfeld* was consistently funny, and the same just can’t be said for *Frances Ha*, no matter how refreshingly realistic you find the title character. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ford v Ferrari](https://www.meiermovies.com/ford-v-ferrari/) **Published:** November 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ford v Ferrari**, 2019, 4 ¼ stars # Winning formula ## *Ford v Ferrari* is high-octane entertainment [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Ford-v-Ferrari.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Ford-v-Ferrari.jpeg)Matt Damon, left, and Christian Bale star in *Ford v. Ferrari*. (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/ford-v-ferrari-opening-in-orlando-is-high-octane-entertainment/Content?oid=26296503), November 13, 2019 *Ford v Ferrari*, director James Mangold’s tale of the Ford Motor Company’s attempt to build a faster race car than Ferrari in the 1960s, is a rare, high-octane blend of art and entertainment. Excluding Steven Spielberg, they just don’t make movies like this anymore. Probably the most visually impressive film ever made about auto-racing, *Ford v Ferrari* is the type of picture you would have expected real-life racecar enthusiasts Paul Newman and Steve McQueen to have made together. Newman starred in 1969’s *Winning* (about the Indianapolis 500), and McQueen did 1971’s *Le Mans* (about the famous 24-hour French race). But when the legendary actors finally got together, in 1974, they made *The Towering Inferno*. (I’m still burning up about that lost opportunity.) Fast-forward 45 years, and two equally accomplished performers (Matt Damon and Christian Bale) are picking up where Newman and McQueen should have left off: on the track at Le Mans. In Mangold’s new action-dramedy, Damon stars as Carroll Shelby, an automotive designer and engineer forced to hang up his racing helmet after being diagnosed with a heart condition. Realizing Shelby’s talent, Ford executives ask him to lead their new racing division, which they hope will unseat Ferrari as the champions of Le Mans. But Shelby needs a driver, and though his friend Ken “bull dog” Miles (Bale) is a loose cannon, the two understand each other. And no one is better behind the wheel. It’s an unlikely partnership, but defeating Ferrari has become a vendetta for Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), after his bid to buy Ferrari was rudely snubbed by the company’s founder. It’s a fun, riveting story of revenge, ambition, pride and friendship – made more remarkable because it’s mostly true. Mangold has been helming films since 1995 but is often forgotten in discussions of today’s most versatile directors. With *Kate & Leopold*, *Walk the Line*, *3:10 to Yuma*, *Logan* and now *Ford v Ferrari*, let’s hope that oversight is corrected. But filmmaking, like racing, is a group effort, and Mangold’s pit crew is finely tuned, from the writing team of Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller, to cinematographer Phedon Papamichaelr, to editors Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, to production designer François Audouy, to the countless special-effects creators, who blend traditional effects with CGI. Listing names might not make for a sexy film review, but *Ford v Ferrari* represents the height of cinematic sexiness, and time should be taken to thank everyone. The performers are due commendations too. Damon is superb, and if the 2019 acting field weren’t already bursting with potential Oscar nominees, one would declare Damon a lock for a nod. Though Bale’s performance is a tad broad, it’s impossible to look away, as usual. But it’s the hilarious and heartfelt Letts, better known as a playwright, who is my early favorite for best supporting actor. And in the spirit of universal congratulations, praise should also go to Caitriona Balfe as Miles’ wife, Noah Jupe as his son, Ray McKinnon as Shelby’s friend and co-worker, Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca and Josh Lucas as the closest thing to a (humorous) villain. Like Le Mans, this film is loud and long, so pick a theater with great sound and projection. And though the story doesn’t quite stick its ending – to mix sports metaphors – I predict it will finish in your top 10 of 2019. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Force Majeure](https://www.meiermovies.com/force-majeure/) **Published:** December 17, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Force Majeure**, 2014, 2 stars # Inferior force ## *Force Majeure*’s tedium outweighs its profundity [![Force Majeure](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Force-Majeure-300x124.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Force-Majeure.jpg)Image copyright Magnolia Pictures From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/force-majeures-tedium-outweighs-its-profundity/Content?oid=2321664)*, December 17, 2014 Despite our culture’s move toward gender equality over the last 100 years, there remain hard-wired differences between the sexes that are difficult to ignore. Husbands still long to protect their wives from danger, while women gain comfort by knowing they have a loyal partner to help keep the family safe. Take away those roles, and relationships are often turned upside down. Though an analysis of gender psychology is slightly above the pay grade of this critic, it’s nevertheless a good starting point for discussion of *Force Majeure*, writer-director Ruben Östlund’s insightful yet ponderous study of a family’s slow disintegration at the hands of sudden disappointment and broken trust. Because it spends almost two hours dwelling on a single, brief event, the film has a lot in common with other obsession films, such as *The Conversation* and even the lesser-known *Nancy, Please*, all of which urge its audience to yell at the screen, “Move on with your life!” But because the events of *Force Majeure* speak to the very nature of human bonding, it’s not quite that easy. While on a ski vacation in the French Alps, a Swedish couple and their two young children witness a controlled avalanche that gets slightly out of hand. Though they were never in any true peril, their reactions to and subsequent discussions of the perceived danger threaten to set their marriage adrift in a snowbank, both literally and figuratively. It’s safe to say that if you ever considered a romantic alpine getaway with your partner, you might want to skip this film. “You ran away from me and the kids,” Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli), the wife, accuses her husband, Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke), both privately and to friends who join them on the vacation. Struggling with an explanation for Tomas’s behavior, all that their friend can come up with to soothe the situation is, “It’s a primitive force to just escape.” That’s little solace for Ebba, or for Tomas, who is both confused and ashamed by his wife’s accusations. Plot is left to a minimum in this Swedish-French-English production. Heck, it’s almost totally abandoned in favor of an overwhelming subtlety and emptiness that, when combined with the majestic vistas (captured spectacularly by cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel), are meant to elicit wonder, both at the scenery and the humanity so nakedly on display. Yet Östlund spends so much time milking a solitary moment and burying everything else under a mountain of tedium, pretention and, frankly, boredom that the emotional impact and humor that some of my fellow critics have apparently found is dulled to a fine powder. “I’m a bloody victim of my own instincts,” Tomas laments. That astute observation does add to the movie’s profundity, but because everything could have been captured more successfully in a short film of, say, 30 minutes, *Force Majeure* fails to live up to its title. Regrettably, it is no superior force, but is instead relegated to its alternate meaning: an unavoidable accident. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [First Reformed](https://www.meiermovies.com/first-reformed/) **Published:** June 9, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **First Reformed**, 2017, 4 ¼ stars # *Taxi Driver* revisited ## *First Reformed* is spiritual sequel to Scorsese classic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/First-Reformed.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/First-Reformed.png)Image copyright Killer Films / A24 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/first-reformed-is-spiritual-sequel-to-the-scorsese-classic/Content?oid=14466094), June 6, 2018 Travis Bickle and Ernst Toller are cinematically simpatico. Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a reverend of a small church in rural New York, and Bickle (Robert De Niro) is the titular taxi driver in urban New York in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic, so, admittedly, they are surface opposites. But both are haunted, ex-military men, increasingly isolated and searching for meaning. And both are born of Paul Schrader. Raised by a strict Calvinist family, Schrader wasn’t allowed to watch movies as a child. He certainly made up for lost time, as he wrote *Taxi Driver* before he was 30. Though *First Reformed* could be viewed as a sort of spiritual sequel to that earlier work, religion informs most of Schrader’s material, including, of course, *The Last Temptation of Christ* (also directed by Scorsese). But even *Taxi Driver* is a spiritual movie and, like *First Reformed* (and even *Raging Bull*, another Schrader-Scorsese collaboration), focuses like a laser on the evolution of a man’s soul. Toller (Ethan Hawke), a former military chaplain who lost both his son and marriage to the Iraq War, heads the First Reformed Church of Snowbridge, New York. Though he’s passionate about his parish and its upcoming 250th anniversary, he has little control of it, as it’s managed by a much larger church. Led by small-minded Reverend Jeffers (Cedric the Entertainer), that mega-ministry is beholden to big business and has seemingly lost sight of its godly mission. Though Jeffers tells Toller that he’s just a “minister at a tourist church that no one attends,” Toller is determined to do right, and that determination grows even more intense after a life-changing encounter with an emotionally troubled environmentalist who exposes Toller’s inner Bickle. Schrader’s writing is as sharp as ever. Directorially, he’s no Scorsese, but he makes some intriguing choices, such as shooting in the old aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and eschewing camera movement. This lends the film a still, meditative air and removes stylistic distractions, except for a couple of moments of whimsy. (One is reminiscent of *Taxi Driver*.) For Schrader, ideas are paramount, and he packs in plenty, none less profound than the proposition that, to survive, we must hold hope and despair in our minds simultaneously. Hawke gives a quiet yet assured performance as both protagonist and part-time narrator, and is already generating Oscar buzz. (One is reminded of Montgomery Clift in Alfred Hitchcock’s *I Confess*.) As the wife of the aforementioned environmentalist, Amanda Seyfried exudes sweet sympathy but lacks Hawke’s dramatic gravitas. As said environmental activist, Philip Ettinger is memorable, but the most interesting casting choice is Cedric the Entertainer as Jeffers. If Toller is spiritually “always in the garden,” Jeffers is eternally in the temple, hanging with the money-changers and merchants. And his insinuation that environmental cataclysm wouldn’t necessarily be bad – because God allowed Earth’s destruction during the Great Flood – is staggeringly frightening. Distraught over our reprehensible stewardship of our planet and repulsed that big religion is culpable, Toller poses the film’s central question: “Will God forgive us?” That seems unlikely. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [First Man](https://www.meiermovies.com/first-man/) **Published:** October 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **First Man**, 2018, 4 ½ stars # Fly me to the moon ## *First Man* puts audience in pilot’s seat [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/First-Man.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/First-Man.png)Image copyright Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/first-man-puts-the-audience-in-the-pilots-seat/Content?oid=19461191) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/first-man-puts-the-audience-in-the-pilots-seat/Content?oid=16389843), October 10, 2018 We choose to go to the moon, President Kennedy told us, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Director Damien Chazelle wasn’t born when Kennedy spoke those words. Nevertheless, he must have taken them to heart, as he’s fashioned in *First Man* a film that reverentially demonstrates the difficulty and personal sacrifice of space travel. This is the story of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), from his days as a daredevil test pilot in the early 1960s to his “one small step” onto the lunar surface in 1969. Written by Josh Singer and based on the only official biography of Armstrong, by James Hansen, *First Man* is intimate, unflinching and mostly true. We may never know the exact words Armstrong and his wife, Janet (Claire Foy), spoke in the hours before he boarded Apollo 11, but the film depicts the two quarrelling over how to tell their kids that daddy might not return home. And like almost every other moment in the movie, it feels genuine. But authenticity doesn’t always make great entertainment, and, admittedly, *First Man* is a challenging aesthetic experiment, as it adopts Impressionistic storytelling. Unlike many other space films, it’s not always fun, but it is great art. Eschewing joyful entertainment, *First Man* is often depressing, dour and deafeningly quiet, but so was Armstrong. And therein lies the challenge for Chazelle and Gosling: to showcase a man who shunned the spotlight, spoke little and was misunderstood by most. The death of Armstrong’s 2-year-old daughter, Karen, in 1962, is central to the film. The tragedy never left the astronaut, and, at least figuratively, Karen became the third moon visitor on that July day in 1969, along with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll, *House of Cards*). The emphasis on Karen, plus the depiction of Armstrong staring intently, almost worshipfully, at the moon from the Earth over the course of the film, creates a sense of longing. *First Man* may not have the “right stuff” audiences are expecting, but if you look closely, you will splashes of *2001: A Space Odyssey* and even Duncan Jones’s *Moon.* Despite Armstrong’s inscrutability, he was all business when it came to NASA. And Linus Sandgren’s cinematography captures his brutally difficult, potentially deadly and nauseatingly claustrophobic work. (Sit at the back of the theater to avoid motion sickness, as even the domestic scenes are packed with handheld shakiness and swish pans mimicking 1960s home movies.) Gosling, channeling Mark Rylance, speaks volumes with silence. Foy is also excellent as the only audibly passionate character, though she’s often reduced to a familiar “astronaut’s wife” archetype. And Kyle Chandler, Ciarán Hinds and Jason Clarke realistically illuminate the background. The film represents a giant leap – metaphor intended – for Chazelle. A thematic and visual departure from *Whiplash* and *La La Land*, this is also his first feature to not focus on an artist, and his first without music as the subject, though his stylistic sound design is masterful. Thanks to the abundance of space movies, Chazelle isn’t left with many new things to say, but he does find new ways to say them. Despite the best efforts of Faye Dunaway, Chazelle was denied his *La La Land* Academy Award by *Moonlight*. So he’s done his movie nemesis one better: He’s given us the moon itself. And in return, the moon might just give Chazelle his Oscar. *2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Finders Keepers](https://www.meiermovies.com/finders-keepers/) **Published:** September 30, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Finders Keepers**, 2015, 3 ¼ stars # Trying to get a leg up [![Finders Keepers](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Finders-Keepers-203x300.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Finders-Keepers.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/09/30/finders-keepers-to-open-at-enzian-on-friday)*, September 30, 2015 John Wood has a bone to pick with fellow North Carolinian Shannon Whisnant: his tibia. Through a bizarre set of circumstances, Whisnant came into possession of Wood’s amputated left lower leg and, in a moment that would embarrass even Jerry Springer, is seeking to profit from the display of said appendage. But Wood won’t stand for that. Although he lost the extremity fair and square (sort of) after he forgot to pay the rent for a storage unit housing the lower leg, his reasons for wanting it back are legitimate. First, it’s his own body part, which was amputated following a plane crash. Second, he wants to include it in a memorial to his father, who died in the crash. “If he can hang onto this leg and keep it in this world with him,” Wood’s sister says, “then that’s his dad.” Although Wood has a moral right to reclaim his limb, only a judge can decide whether he has a leg to stand on legally. The story sounds like a “15 minutes of fame” anecdote better suited to a short film, but in the hands of directors J. Clay Tweel (*King of Kong*) and Bryan Carberry, *Finders Keepers* is more than just a silly struggle between rival hillbillies. Though the documentary is outrageously funny and has all the odd charm of both Errol Morris’s *Tabloid* and Julien Nitzberg’s *The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia*, it’s also a surprisingly human tale of misguided priorities and redemption. “It’s a funny story,” Wood’s mom tells us, “but it’s born of tragedy.” *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *If, like me, you’re in Central Florida, you can catch the movie at the Enzian Theater in Maitland starting on Friday, Oct. 2. To make it even more interesting, Wood himself will participate in a Q&A following the 9 p.m. showing on that day.* *(This review was slightly revised from its original version.)* --- ### [Films Stars Don't Die in Liverpool](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-stars-dont-die-in-liverpool/) **Published:** February 15, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool**, 2017, 3 stars # *Star* turn ## Annette Bening shines in unconventional biopic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/filmstarsdontdieinliverpool.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/filmstarsdontdieinliverpool.jpg)Image copyright Eon Productions / Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/annette-bening-shines-in-film-stars-dont-die-in-liverpool/Content?oid=10778551), February 14, 2018 Gloria Grahame might be the most famous actress you’ve never heard of. In fact, she might have been lost forever to most modern audiences if not for *Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool*, the new biographical romantic drama that illuminates her later life. Grahame had a memorable supporting role in Frank Capra’s *It’s a Wonderful Life*, but her own life was far from wonderful. Though she saw success in the late 1940s and ‘50s – winning an Oscar for 1952’s *The Bad and the Beautiful* – she soon faded from the screen as the film industry switched from Romantic Naturalism to realism and Grahame morphed from spunky starlet to aging actress. To compensate, Grahame turned to young lovers and misplaced vanity while ignoring serious health issues. Fast forward to 1980s Liverpool. Having become too ill to continue a revival of her English theatrical career, she turns to her friend Peter Turner, a 28-year-old aspiring Liverpudlian actor. Though their relationship is shrouded in mystery in the film’s early-going, it soon becomes clear what the two mean to each other. Turner may not yet be in the second act of his own life, but he’s clearly got a huge part to play in the final scenes of Grahame’s. The film is directed by Paul McGuigan (*Victor Frankenstein*) and written by Matt Greenhalgh, and is based on Turner’s memoir. Though the story is intriguing, it’s also surprisingly straightforward and reliant on flashbacks to flesh out its characters, create context and provide a level of structural complexity. That structure is only partially successful, and we’re sometimes left wondering exactly what Turner initially saw in Grahame and why Turner’s parents are so supportive of both him and Grahame. Yes, Grahame exudes sexiness, making us (and presumably Turner) forget the almost 30-year age difference. (Marilyn Monroe meets Mrs. Robinson.) In addition, Turner’s parents’ generation would have remembered and admired Grahame’s screen career, but that sometimes doesn’t seem enough to explain the improbable relationships between the characters. The job of selling an undercooked screenplay falls – as it often does in films such as this – to performance, pacing and overall directorial sensibility. And the job is well done, if not with flourish then with competence. As Turner, Jamie Bell (*Billy Elliot*) is infinitely watchable, if not wholly relatable. And in supporting roles, Kenneth Cranham (Turner’s dad) and Vanessa Redgrave (Grahame’s mom) bring subtlety and compassion to their odd roles, though the latter’s appearance is disappointingly brief considering she might be the greatest living actress not named Meryl Streep. But it’s Annette Bening who powers the film, holds our interest and makes us care about a woman heretofore mostly unknown to us. Grahame calls the London play in which she’s performing a mix of “sex, sin \[and\] salvation,” and Bening’s characterization of Grahame is also just that: a bit dangerous and a bit desperate, but, in the end, more meaningful than we had anticipated. If Bening’s performance in *20th Century Women* was overrated and her turn in *Rules Don’t Apply* underrated, let’s hope this one gets the respect it deserves. *Copyright 2018 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [The Fifth Estate](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-fifth-estate/) **Published:** July 22, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Fifth Estate**, 2013, 2 stars # Messy media ## Biopic is an intriguing but unorganized look at WikiLeaks From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/the-fifth-estate-takes-an-intriguing-but-unorganized-look-at-wikileaks-1.1572781ttp://), October 23, 2013 Much like WikiLeaks – the organization whose story it’s telling – *The Fifth Estate* is an interesting and often revelatory suspense-drama that almost collapses under its own weight, thanks to its unorganized, unfocused and jumbled structure. WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, are worthy subjects: this generation’s *Washington Post* and Woodward and Bernstein, with a dash of unreliability and flame-throwing. The film, based on the tell-all book by Assange’s second-in-command, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, relays as much of the news organization’s story as it can in 128 minutes, from the early days of reporting on corruption in a Swiss bank to the earthshaking revelations about the Afghanistan War. Along the way, we learn about the Website’s news-gathering process and the battle between traditional media – the Fourth Estate – and this new brand of journalistic anarchy. [![The Fifth Estate](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Fifth-Estate-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Fifth-Estate.jpg)Image copyright Dreamworks / Walt Disney Pictures Despite the intriguing history lessons, *The Fifth Estate* is essentially a biopic of Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl). Don’t worry, Cumberbitches, your hero Benedict does a pretty good job. Brühl, on the other hand, is effective but not so memorable. The two actors provide insight not just into their characters’ jobs but into their lives and personalities too, such as why Assange’s hair is white. However, it should be noted that Assange himself has called the film everything from unfair to downright inaccurate, so you might want to take that hairy revelation with the same amount of skepticism you would for some WikiLeaks stories. What should be crystal clear, however, is that director Bill Condon’s production is a hot-off-the-press mess. Condon, whose career has lurched wildly from the highs of writing the Oscar-awarded *Chicago* to the lows of directing the Razzie-grabbing *Twilight* series, seems so intent on recreating the frenzied feel of the events that he adopts an equally busy style of filmmaking. In the process, characters we don’t understand or sympathize with – such as the normally excellent Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci, as U.S. State Department officials – become yesterday’s news the second they exit. Even more disappointing is Tobias Schliessler’s frenetic cinematography, which is a lesson in ADD, despite some memorably surreal visuals and the stunning opening credits. Yes, there’s something interesting to see here, if we could focus for five seconds. The last piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fall into place is Josh Singer’s screenplay. Like any overly ambitious piece of journalism, it tries to pack in as much as possible, which leads to some genuine, and intelligent, suspense. Unfortunately, like the film’s other elements, the script also lacks cohesiveness and clarity. But perhaps that was Condon’s plan all along: to throw everything onto the screen in an uncensored and seemingly haphazard hodgepodge. Like Assange, he wasn’t about to redact any of his ideas or bother with that pesky process called editing that traditional news outlets, and films, use. Viewed in that light, Condon succeeded in creating a style worthy of its subject while failing at traditional, coherent filmmaking. Maybe Assange should be happy with the movie after all. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Favourite](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-favourite/) **Published:** December 6, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Favourite**, 2018, 3 ½ stars # *The Favourite* is a cheeky treat [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/the-favourite.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/the-favourite.jpg)Emma Stone stars in *The Favourite*. (image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures / Film4) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-favourite-is-a-cunning-cheeky-treat/Content?oid=21974815), December 5, 2018 There’s a moment in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s new period dramedy that perfectly encapsulates its sumptuous, irresistibly cheeky charm. Wig-wearing, rouge-splattered Parliamentary leaders are racing ribbon-adorned ducks around a tiny racetrack inside a royal palace, cheering them on with wild, honking abandon. It matters little that the “prime minister” isn’t really prime minister – that title was first used officially after the events of the film – or that the actor playing the opposition leader is too young (and bad) for the part. For *The Favourite* is a triumph of aesthetics, not narrative. Filmed mostly at Hatfield House, a 17-century country estate north of London, *The Favourite* depicts the courtly world of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), the gout-suffering, childless monarch who reigned from 1702 to 1714. Americans might know her only by her lace, but her years on the throne were actually quite remarkable, remembered for the creation of Great Britain by uniting England and Scotland, the rise of two-party politics and a resolution to the War of Spanish Succession. But Lanthimos instead presents the other side of Anne: an insecure, ill woman easily swayed by the opinions of her best friend, Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). (Sarah’s husband led English troops to victory in the aforementioned war, earning him and his wife Blenheim Palace, which still stands as a UNESCO World Heritage site.) Into this romantic friendship – history neither proves nor disproves the sexual involvement – steps Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), a cousin of Sarah who has fallen on hard times. Reduced to servant’s status, she slowly connives her way into the royal bedroom, becoming the monarch’s “favourite” or closest companion. The ensuing jockeying for privilege, influence and queenly affection between Sarah and Abigail becomes the film’s meat and potatoes, and mead. But this is a Lanthimos movie, and *The Favourite* isn’t content to be a straightforward historical re-creation. Instead, it’s filled with humor, sensuality, stylistic and verbal anachronisms, and askew observations about the nature of feminism and power. It never embraces surreality or absurdism on the scale of *The Lobster* of *The Killing of a Sacred Deer*, but it uses other devices to hold your attention: eye-popping cinematography (complete with fisheye lenses), old-fashioned dissolve shots, sets pretty enough to eat and a score that often eschews melody for percussive bursts of sound. But the film is also peppered with pretentious chapter titles that fail to disguise the fact that the story just isn’t that emotionally involving, despite good performances by Stone and Weisz, and a superbly manic one by Colman. Indeed, if you were to snuff out the candles and strip off the costumes, the movie would become plodding, even tedious – an oddly unfulfilling amalgamation of Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson and Luis Buñuel. Yet despite those faults and the decision by writers Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara to excise Anne’s husband and instead focus on the female character triangle, Lanthimos’s production is one of the most beautiful and intriguing of the year – though it’s unlikely to be *your* favorite. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Father](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-father/) **Published:** March 18, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Father**, 2020, 4 ½ stars # The year’s best brainteaser ## *The Father* takes unique look at dementia [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Father.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Father.jpg)Images copyright Trademark Films / Film4 / Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/anthony-hopkins-performance-in-twisty-alzheimers-drama-the-father-feels-like-a-career-capstone/Content?oid=28977537), March 17, 2021 “Have you ever walked along a shoreline, only to have your footprints washed away?” legendary basketball coach Pat Summit said of her struggle with Alzheimer’s. “The waves erase the marks we leave behind, all the sand castles.” In *The Father*, it’s an octogenarian named Anthony whose sandcastles are getting washed away. The character shares the name and birthdate of the actor portraying him (Anthony Hopkins), but the film is not biographical. Instead, writer-director Florian Zeller based the drama on his 2012 Molière Award-winning play, *Le Père*, which tells the simple story of an elderly man whose mental faculties are deteriorating and who must face difficult decisions related to his long-term care. Nevertheless, in the hands of Hopkins, the protagonist feels starkly real, as if you’re witnessing one of the cinema’s greatest actors careen into dementia. The cinema is full of studies on dementia, including recent standouts *Still Alice, The Savages* and *Away From Her*. But few films take a subjective look at the topic, putting the audience dizzyingly inside the mind of the character. *The Father* isn’t necessarily the first to do it, but it might be the best. Indeed, Zeller’s film dives so deeply into Anthony that it’s often the other characters (performed wonderfully by Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots, Mark Gatiss and Olivia Williams) who seem crazy. Surely Anthony is lucid and it’s the world around him that is collapsing into lunacy, we posit. And yet just as we think we’ve solved Zeller’s brainteaser, another twist arises, throwing us – along with Anthony – into an Escher-like existence of confusion and implausibility. It amounts to a jigsaw puzzle that, when solved, reveals the best film of 2020. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Father.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Father.jpg)Olivia Colman leads a brilliant supporting cast. Credit must be shared with co-writer Christopher Hampton, composer Ludovico Einaudi, cinematographer Ben Smithard, editor Yorgos Lamprinos and especially production designer Peter Francis, who – along with art directors Amanda Dazely and Astrid Sieben – creates an environment just as surreal as any found in *Inception* and *Doctor Strange*. Anthony’s world might not have the visual punch of the aforementioned films, but it ranks right up there with *The Tenant* and *Rosemary’s Baby* on the creepy-apartment scale. This won’t be Hopkins’ last film. The 83-year-old isn’t slowing down. But *The Father*, even more so than 2019’s *The Two Popes*, feels like a career capstone. I just hope he can collect another Oscar to go with his award for *The Silence of the Lambs*. But, just as his superior performance in *The Remains of the Day* lost to Tom Hanks’ zeitgeist-capturing turn in *Philadelphia* in 1994, the Academy might pass over his role in *The Father* to instead posthumously honor Chadwick Boseman for *Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom*, as did the Hollywood Foreign Press. Award shows are, after all, more focused on sending political and cultural messages than recognizing artistic achievement. And that’s not always bad, as Hanks’ and Boseman’s performances were – and still are – socially compulsory. But a performance of the stature of Hopkins’ in *The Father* doesn’t come along often. Let’s cherish it while we can. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: I originally reviewed this film, in capsule form, for [my best of 2020 article](https://www.meiermovies.com/film-in-the-time-of-corona/).* --- ### [Far from the Madding Crowd](https://www.meiermovies.com/far-from-the-madding-crowd/) **Published:** May 14, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Far from the Madding Crowd**, 2015, 3 stars # Far from the madding blockbuster ### Hardy romance is welcome, though slight, respite from CGI action From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/far-from-the-madding-crowd-is-far-from-a-blockbuster/Content?oid=2393459)*, May 13, 2015 [![Far from the Madding Crowd](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Far-from-the-Madding-Crowd-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Far-from-the-Madding-Crowd.jpg)Image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures / BBC Films Thomas Hardy wrote *Far from the Madding Crowd* in 1874, 14 years before Louis Le Prince shot the world’s first motion picture. So he would certainly be perplexed by the current debate surrounding his first great novel, which has little to do with his writing and all to do with which film is better: the 1967 John Schlensinger (*Midnight Cowboy*, *Marathon Man*) version starring Julie Christie or the new one with Carey Mulligan. But for those who have no knowledge of book or film, let’s recap. In rural southern England, the young Bathsheba Everdene has just transitioned from farm hand to a woman of wealth and power thanks to the inheritance of her uncle’s estate. But, belying its title, this is a story not of peaceful country living, but of Bathsheba’s frenzied struggles to keep her farm afloat amid fires and storms of both literal and romantic kinds. For she is pursued by three vastly different suitors: William Boldwood, the wealthy and mature landowner; Frank Troy, the dashing but selfish military sergeant; and Gabriel Oak, the kind and loyal, but poor, shepherd. And equally prominent are two additional struggles, those of class and gender inequalities in the late 19th century. Obsessing over plot differences between novel and films is a trivial exercise. Only slightly more absurd would be a comparison of Hardy’s novel to the 1751 Thomas Gray poem that inspired it. If you want the novel, read the novel, but if you want a visual representation of the mood, themes and spirit of the book, pick a flick. The new version, directed by Thomas Vinterberg (co-founder of Dogme95 and the director of *The Hunt*), is a competent production that hits many right notes, particularly in the first half, thanks to its sweeping vistas and nice pacing. It stars Carey Mulligan, who can’t match Christie’s beauty or screen presence but does bring a new self-assured, liberated quality to the role. Backing her up are Michael Sheen as William, Matthias Schoenaerts as Gabriel and Tom Sturridge as Frank. Yet only Sheen (*The Queen*, *Frost/Nixon*) captures the requisite passion and heartbreak. In contrast, Schoenaerts carries a coldness and muddled dialect that keep his character at a distance, while Sturridge rarely connects, perhaps partially because of faults in editing or David Nicholls’ screenplay. Alan Bates’ performance as Gabriel in the older version wasn’t necessarily stronger than Schoenaerts’, but he did have help from Frederic Raphael’s script and the superb Terence Stamp as Frank. Though both films stray from the novel and offer fascinatingly different interpretations of characters’ relationships, it’s the three-hour 1967 adaptation, complete with overture and intermission, that stays truer to Hardy while delivering a grander, more sensual, more heartrending experience. Though the two-hour Vinterberg film manages a subtler, more effective ending, it rushes its second half to fits its two-hour runtime, thereby keeping us on the emotional periphery, content to watch rather than becoming immersed. Still, the current *Crowd*, which is a nice diversion from the summer’s CGI extravaganza, should be a crowd pleaser. I even heard audience members at the screening I attended proclaim, in disgustingly non-19th-century speak, “It’s awesome!” Ah, the madding crowd. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Extra Ordinary](https://www.meiermovies.com/extra-ordinary/) **Published:** March 13, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Extra Ordinary**, 2019, 1 ¾ stars # Ghost of a good film ### *Extra Ordinary* spirits away a unique premise [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Extra-Ordinary.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Extra-Ordinary.jpg)Image copyright Blinder Films / Cranked Up Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/extra-ordinary-opening-at-enzian-theater-friday-spirits-away-a-unique-premise/Content?oid=26963036), March 10, 2020 “Anything different is good,” Bill Murray mused in *Groundhog Day*. With respect to Phil Connors, *Extra Ordinary* casts doubt on that theory. Remarkably quirky yet only sporadically funny, this mix of horror and romantic comedy certainly lives up to its name. (Note the two-word misspelling, which the film explains). Indeed, the off-kilter Irish flick is substantially original, though it owes a lot to Edgar Wright’s *Shaun of the Dead*, Taika Waititi’s *What We Do in the Shadows* and, of course, the king of paranormal comedies, *Ghostbusters.* If you loved all those films, *Extra Ordinary* might be your groove. But, regrettably, said groove is sanded smooth by low-brow vibes, gross-out shenanigans, poor plot choices and a single actor’s Razzie-worthy ruination of the movie’s small-scale charm and farcical heart. (More on that later.) Written and directed by first-timers Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, *Extra Ordinary* is a mismatch of two stories. The better one involves Rose (Maeve Higgins), who lives alone in a small Irish town, seemingly content to eke out a living as a driving instructor. But her real talent is communicating with the dead and ushering them into the afterlife, a gift she shared with her father, a prominent paranormal expert. But after an accident left her dad dead, Rose abandoned the ghost busting. Busting didn’t abandon her, though, as villagers still seek her help with either explaining or exorcising a variety of phenomena. Martin (Barry Ward), a single dad, is one such villager. He’s haunted by the well-intentioned but overbearing ghost of his dead wife, who discourages his doughnut noshing and scrawls creepy but helpful messages in burnt toast, such as “the dog has worms.” Martin and his daughter appreciate the veterinary advice, but they prefer their toast blank and their doughnuts freely consumable. So Martin reaches out to Rose, and they soon form an unlikely bond. If only the film had confined its story to their blossoming friendship and potential romance, with the paranormal activity presented as charmingly odd subtext. Instead, a second story is interwoven, powered by that aforementioned performance from the depths of hell, literally. Christian Winter (Will Forte), a formerly famous American singer, is now living in Ireland for no apparent reason other than to avoid U.S. taxes and perform satanic rituals that will reinvigorate his musical career. If that doesn’t make much sense, it doesn’t matter, for this is farce. But comic timing and acting ability do matter, and Forte exhibits neither. Admittedly, the overstuffed script is just as much to blame, as it shows little faith in its unique premise or the pleasant chemistry between Ward (*Blood Cells*) and Higgins, in her first lead role. If it had sacrificed Forte, it still would have been largely a one-note, single-joke film. But the story’s soul would have been saved. When Rose and Martin aren’t busy battling Christian’s demonic spells, they share a couple of tender and funny scenes, one of which involves Rose overhearing Martin calling her “weird. Nice weird.” That might not sound like a compliment, but Rose is glad to take it. Like Rose, the film is also sporadically “nice weird.” Unfortunately, it’s not good weird. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Exorcist: The Beginning](https://www.meiermovies.com/exorcist-the-beginning/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Exorcist: The Beginning**, 2004, 1 ¾ stars # Exercise the option to stay at home From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, August 20, 2004 When making a prequel to the scariest movie ever, you cannot simply copy the style that made it terrifying – you must understand it. And although *Exorcist: The Beginning* effectively recreates the dynamic Father Merrin from the original masterpiece and contains a good level of creepiness, it fails at the one thing the William Friedkin classic did best, making the unbelievable believable. This latest installment in the paranormal series, the fourth if you don’t count the recent promotional gimmick of *The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen*, takes us back to 1947. It is roughly 25 years before the original, and Lankester Merrin is a young, disillusioned archeologist and ex-priest in Egypt. He’s summoned to Kenya where a dig has uncovered a mysterious 1500-year-old Christian church, mysterious because of the rumors of evil spirits and the fact that the religion had not spread that far by that time. Merrin slowly discovers the outlandish truth behind the disappearances and demonic possessions of not only some archeologists working on the project but the villagers too. The plot does have some twists to keep it interesting, and director Renny Harlin (*Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight*), is competent at horror film gimmicks. However, the movie is just too long, drawn out and over the top to be taken seriously, even though Stellan Skarsgard (*Good Will Hunting, King Arthur*) does quite well with the seemingly impossible task of following Max Von Sydow as Merrin. The supporting cast, led by Izabella Scorupco (*Vertical Limit*) as Merrin’s friend and the doctor of a supposedly possessed child, is compelling and keeps the film moving, despite slow pacing. But when the story is developed by an action movie writer and the screenplay composed by someone with no major credits, a clever suspense film will not be the end product. Some of the feeling and symbolism of the original is captured, but you never identify with the characters or feel their fright the way William Peter Blatty made you. Great thrillers know when to use humor and in what doses to add a touch of playfulness without diluting the terror. *Psycho* did it with lines like “my mother isn’t quite herself today,” and the original *Exorcist* even got away with it briefly in the scenes of a possessed Linda Blair. However, when you repeatedly chuckle at the image that should be the film’s most terrifying, the humor has crossed the line and ruined the suspense. The prequel also misuses its sexual moments, not necessarily in the subtle romantic tension between Merrin and Scorupco’s character, but in its portrayal of sex as a tool of the devil. When Friedkin’s film used sexual words and images, it was always decadent and repulsive, of course helped by the fact that the victim of possession was a young girl. Harlin also tries to include a sexual element in the demon’s personality, but the scenes come across not as demonic or disgusting, but, well, sexy. Harlin may have come closer than many recent filmmakers in capturing the ambience of the *Exorcist*, but, ultimately, he only shows that it’s time for directors to stop trying to top the original. Not even the power of Christ should compel you to see this film. *© 2004 OrlandoCityBeat.com / MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204313/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcist:_The_Beginning).* --- ### [Every Act of Life](https://www.meiermovies.com/every-act-of-life/) **Published:** September 18, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Every Act of Life**, 2018, 2 ¾ stars # A theatrical *Life* ## Global Peace Film Festival to open with bio-doc [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Every-Act-of-Life.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Every-Act-of-Life.jpg)Terrence McNally, left, reflects on his life in *Every Act of Life*. (image copyright Floating World Pictures) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/global-peace-film-festival-opens-with-bio-doc-every-act-of-life/Content?oid=18521649), September 17, 2018 The Global Peace Film Festival will kick off its 16th annual event at Maitland’s Enzian Theater on September 18 with a screening of *Every Act of Life*, a documentary about renowned playwright Terrence McNally. Unlike its subject, this rather conventional portrait doesn’t create waves, but it is still an understandable choice for the festival – which emphasizes inclusivity and human rights – because of the film’s focus on artistic courage and LGBT issues. “Nobody loves the theater as much as Terrence,” Nathan Lane says. And he’s just one of the famous actors who practically chew through the proscenium to praise McNally in this doc, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. We also hear from F. Murray Abraham, Christine Baranski, Edie Falco, Rita Moreno, Doris Roberts and Patrick Wilson. Even Meryl Streep and Bryan Cranston offer voiceovers. But the film is better when it doesn’t heap praise but instead offers a glimpse into McNally’s Texas upbringing and pioneering attitude toward his sexuality and that of his characters. And it’s particularly memorable when it departs briefly from a traditional, talking-heads tribute and allows Angela Lansbury, in the movie’s best interview, to discuss McNally’s alcoholism. It’s not that McNally doesn’t deserve praise. After all, his nearly 60-year body of work includes plays such as *Master Class*, *Love! Valour! Compassion!* and *Frankie and Johnnie in the Clair de Lune* (and the film’s screenplay), and musicals such as *Ragtime*, *Kiss of the Spider Woman* and *The Full Monty*. But director Jeff Kaufman, who has considerable experience directing and producing documentaries, sometimes struggles to capture his subject. He often rushes through play after play and interview after interview in an all-consuming effort to recite a resume instead of unfolding a life. There is certainly a huge amount to pack in, and *Every Act of Life* doesn’t skimp on McNally’s career accomplishments. But it’s the little details that prove the most insightful: McNally’s anxiety, procrastination, tragic personal relationships and passion for punctuation. And those details are best conveyed when Kaufman lets the 79-year-old playwright speak for himself. Admittedly, McNally isn’t the most exciting interviewee, but the doc is more sincere – and less cloying – when we see only McNally and the camera. “I love the theater,” McNally says. “It reinvents itself every night. I still get very excited when the curtain goes up. What great adventure!” *Every Act of Life* is filled with these inspirational quotes, reminding us why we love the theater. (If you don’t love it, you probably won’t like this film.) But I was equally struck by what McNally has to say about personal identify and his decision to create wonderful, complex characters – many of whom just happen to be openly gay: “When people aren’t willing to look at the truth about who they are, I think it’s gonna corrode their souls, their hearts.” Early in his career, John Steinbeck advised McNally to stick with novels and short stories. “Don’t write for the theater,” he told him. “It’ll break your heart.” Instead, McNally’s writing broke ours. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *The Global Peace Film Festival continues through Sunday, September 23. For more information, visit .* --- ### [Everest](https://www.meiermovies.com/everest/) **Published:** September 23, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Everest**, 2015, 4 ¼ stars # The cinematic summit ## *Everest* rises above similar films [![Everest](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Everest-300x125.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Everest.jpg)Image copyright Working Title Films / RVK Studios From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/everest-rises-above/Content?oid=2435966)*, September 23, 2015 *Everest*, the ambitious new IMAX action-adventure by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, is everything you hoped for. An amazing union of spectacle and story, it’s the year’s first true cinematic experience. Written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, this is the true story of the tourism industry that sprouted on Mount Everest in the 1990s, when hundreds of ordinary people were first able to experience the world’s tallest mountain. Specifically, *Everest* recounts the deadly blizzard that struck in May 1996, threatening the lives of employees and guests of two rival tour companies – one led by New Zealander Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and the other by American Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal). To tell this gripping tale, the film’s crew – led by cinematographer Salvatore Totino (*Cinderella Man*, *The DaVinci Code*) – dragged IMAX cameras onto Everest, capturing breathtaking images from both ground and air. Though the actors themselves never made the summit, they did film at several lower locations, including the 17,000-foot base camp, and also in the Italian Alps, where they were subjected to brutal weather. And though the film uses CGI, it’s balanced well with traditional effects, leading to several “how did they do that?” moments. The film is dramatically competent too, eschewing the sappy, contrived characterizations of *Airport* and *The Poseidon Adventure*. Still, in many ways, *Everest* harkens back to 1970s disaster films, just with smarter editing, more believable performances and better visuals. It admittedly wouldn’t be as impressive on the small screen, but, yes, it could survive on story alone, and that sets it apart from similar action flicks. It evokes emotion while never dwelling too long on tragedy, preferring to push the pace, as the climbers themselves had to if they wanted to survive. The ending seems a tad rushed, and not all the characters are fully fleshed out, but it would have taken a three-hour movie to accomplish that. Instead, we get brief but illuminating glimpses into their lives and personalities. There’s the overconfident, slightly brash party dude (Gyllenhaal); the stoic Russian (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson); the journalist (Michael Kelly, of *House of Cards* fame); the sympathetic everyman attempting one last try at the mountain (John Hawkes); and the heroic, loyal leader (Clarke, in a strong turn). Adding quieter, subtler moments are the magnificent Keira Knightley as Rob’s pregnant wife, Emily Watson as base-camp manager and Robin Wright as a spunky wife. For a dose of Texan toughness, there’s my favorite: Beck Weathers, played well by Josh Brolin, although his “Dole/Kemp 1996” t-shirt is four months early. And then there’s the real star, the mountain itself, which dominates almost every frame in a way that another inanimate object (a boat) did in a similarly grand disaster film from James Cameron. These characters may sound like stereotypes, but they aren’t. They feel genuine, helped along by the 3-D IMAX experience, which makes you feel like you’re there. One got a similar feeling watching the 1998 IMAX documentary, also titled *Everest*, but Kormákur’s movie places you not just on the mountain but inside a story, inside characters’ heads and inside human bodies as oxygen levels drop and extremities freeze. And that’s a heretofore unaccomplished feat for this type of IMAX film. “I just felt like we should do everything that we could possibly do with the elements,” Kormákur told *Variety*. “The more that we make the Marvel studio films – fantastic for what they are – the more we need to contradict that and make films that feel real.” For that thrilling dose of realism, see this film now, and see it in 3-D IMAX. It’s the next-best thing to actually climbing a mountain. *2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Elvis & Nixon](https://www.meiermovies.com/elvis-nixon/) **Published:** April 30, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Elvis & Nixon**, 2016, 2 ¾ stars # White House Rock ## *Elvis & Nixon* is a slight but tasty treat [![nixon-elvis](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/nixon-elvis.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/nixon-elvis.jpg)Seen here are the real Elvis & Nixon. (image copyright Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street Media) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/04/21/white-house-rock-elvis-and-nixon-is-a-slight-but-tasty-treat), April 21, 2016 Ever tried a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich? Elvis Presley did. He loved them. And despite the odd-sounding name and lack of substantial nutrition, they’re really not that bad. *Elvis & Nixon* is the peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich of 2016 cinema. It’s slight and a bit undercooked (if you want the sandwich fried, like Elvis did), but it’s nevertheless an interesting and enjoyable snack while we wait for something more delicious to come along. The film, directed by relative newcomer Liza Johnson, tells a semi-fictionalized story of the real meeting between the most powerful man in the world and the most powerful man in American rock and roll. It’s December 1970, the hippie drug culture is in full swing, and Presley is not pleased. In fact, he’s so upset with the direction America is taking that he longs to go undercover as a “federal agent at large” in an attempt to battle drugs, alcohol and the counterculture that supplanted his reign with that of the Beatles. Oh, and he also wants a badge. To get said badge, he shows up at the gate of the White House with a letter for President Nixon. After some behind-the-scenes wrangling, the meeting is arranged, and the rest, as they say, is history, albeit undocumented history, as no one really knows what went down in that meeting. But that’s where writers Joey and Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes step in, creating a captivating and probably fairly accurate account of that surreal encounter. The film might have focused just on the meeting, à la *My Dinner with Andre*, but instead it pads its still-brief runtime of 86 minutes with West Wing minutia and a subplot involving Presley confidante Jerry Schilling (Alex Pettyfer). While some of that works, most of it takes attention away from what we’ve all come to see: Michael Shannon as Presley and Kevin Spacey as Nixon. And they both are up to the task. Eschewing comedic impersonations, the two accomplished actors balance imitation with mature re-creation while still producing some very funny moments. By understanding that they had to bring the two icons to life without making fun of them, they allow *Elvis & Nixon* to rise above its TV-movie feel and become an enjoyable if pedestrian dramedy. Spacey is better suited to Nixon than Shannon is to Presley, but this is nevertheless Shannon’s movie. The script focuses more heavily on his character, and thanks to a surprisingly delicate performance, the actor is able to expose a rather sad, delusional and realistic King instead of a caricature. There’s not a single Presley song in the film, perhaps due to the producers’ failure to secure the rights. But there’s still plenty of Presley’s spirit, and watching that spirit interact with the crusty Nixon is an odd and amusing pleasure, albeit a slight one. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2093991/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_%26_Nixon).* --- ### [Eating Animals](https://www.meiermovies.com/eating-animals/) **Published:** September 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Eating Animals**, 2018, 3 ¾ stars # Chew on this ## *Animals* illuminates horror of meat consumption [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Eating-Animals.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Eating-Animals.jpg)Image copyright Big Star Pictures / IFC Films Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 25, 2018 Movies usually try to avoid leaving a bad taste in your mouth. But that’s precisely the goal of *Eating Animals*, as the documentary is a crash course in the global nightmare of meat. Directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn and inspired by Jonathan Foer’s book, the film shines a badly needed light on the environmental, economic, nutritional, drug and animal-rights problems caused by the world’s 50-year creep from small family farms toward “confinement agriculture.” “The meat industry has done a good job of disconnecting eating meat from killing animals,” one interviewee says. “And it’s really made it possible for people not to fully appreciate that actually an animal had to be murdered for them to eat this. … If the consuming public saw what it really looks like, they would stop eating it.” The film is slickly produced, complete with a Natalie Portman narration and perfectly executed drone shots. Frankly, I would have been more emotionally moved by gritty 16mm reminiscent of *Harlan County U.S.A.*, as the Portman voiceover and background music are a bit heavy-handed, even distracting. But the film never feels like propaganda. Instead, it carries the weight of Shakespearean tragedy. And judged as a horror film, it’s scarier than *Hereditary*. Journalistically, it could be more thorough, but it still rings disgustingly true. “Suffering and disregard for the environment \[have\] been built into the equation of cost and efficiency,” Portman says. “They’ve calculated how close to death we can keep an animal without killing it, how close to destruction we can keep the environment without losing it all together.” That’s a powerful quote, but the film isn’t about speech-making. It’s about horrible hidden footage of unspeakable animal abuse. And it’s about facts, such as the more than 400,000 pigs killed in the United States each day so you can eat bacon. Surprisingly, the doc never mentions meat by-products (leather, gelatin, etc.) or fully analyzes animal intelligence, but at just 94 minutes, it just doesn’t have time to tackle every aspect of this enormous topic. The interviewees – farmers, scientists, consumers and activists – are the highlights of *Eating Animals*. Their stories are fascinating, heart-breaking and courageous. Yet only two admit to giving up meat, and most still embrace the dignity of traditional farming. In fact, the film neither makes a strong pitch for vegetarianism nor truly tackles the central question of meat consumption: Do humans have the right to kill and eat other intelligent creatures? (The failure to address that query is the movie’s biggest disappointment.) But the interviewees still made profound life choices that have affected both themselves and the meat industry. For instance, Craig Watts, a former contract farmer for Perdue Farms, exposed his own hen-house horrors and now grows legumes for meat-substitute products. Subjugated to little more than a serf in a feudal system, Watts finally realized he had a choice – or, more accurately, three choices. “You vote at least three times a day with your fork,” he says. How will you vote? *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180351/).* --- ### [Dunkirk](https://www.meiermovies.com/dunkirk/) **Published:** July 21, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dunkirk**, 2017, 5 stars # Film of the decade ## *Dunkirk* is Nolan’s masterpiece [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk.jpg)Images copyright Syncopy / Warner Brothers Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/dunkirk-among-greatest-war-films-ever/Content?oid=5651131), July 19, 2017 After seeing the first feature-length American war movie, *Birth of a Nation*, in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson said, “It’s like writing history with lightning.” Lightning can strike twice in the same place, it seems. That place is the movies, and the latest lightning-thrower is writer-director Christopher Nolan, who has channeled the likes of Steven Spielberg, David Lean and Elem Klimov (*Come and See*) to create his own war-movie masterpiece. *Dunkirk*, of course, is the story of the evacuation of more than 300,000 Allied troops (mostly British and French) from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in the spring of 1940, following the Germans’ victories in the Battle of France. The events have been depicted on film before, perhaps most notably in the identically titled *Dunkirk* (1958) starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough, but it was vastly different from Nolan’s version, with the military aspect only part of its story. It also cannot compare visually or emotionally to the new version. Nolan’s film is in many senses a triptych, divided into the land (the evacuation on the beach), the sea (the role played by the civilian “little ships”) and the air (the planes). And just as Nolan played with the structure of time in *Memento* (2000), he does so here, as each of the three elements observes time differently. For instance, the land (more specifically the “mole,” or pier) story lasts a week, the sea tale takes a day, and the air characters experience just one hour. Yet Nolan manages to weave them together. It’s a device that mimics what the men must surely have been feeling while keeping us on our toes mentally in a film that would have otherwise been rather straightforward and predictable, at least structurally. Performance and pacing are excellent. With a runtime of just 106 minutes, the film is tight, with an almost unbearable intensity from start to finish. However, its brevity means screen time is limited for every actor. Mark Rylance (the main actor in the sea section) is wonderfully subtle as always, Kenneth Branagh (land) captures a wide range of emotion while seemingly doing almost nothing, Tom Hardy (air) is effective (acting almost entirely with his eyes, as his face is covered by a mask for most of the film), Cillian Murphy (sea) is the epitome of shell-shocked, and relative newcomer Fionn Whitehead (land) is competent in what might be described as the lead role. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Dunkirk-2.jpg)But because the script is light on dialogue and backstories, the star of the film is the visual design (helped along by a powerful Hans Zimmer score). Nolan looked to silent films for inspiration, and more than once during the dogfights I thought of *Hell’s Angels*. Like that 1930 movie, *Dunkirk* eschews CGI almost entirely, even going so far as to employ 6,000 extras, the real evacuation locations, and vintage ships and planes, including several of the same small boats involved in the real evacuation. This gives the film a documentary feel. Still, Hoyte Van Hoytema’s beautiful cinematography is occasionally stylistic, such as when he shoots the sinking of a ship askew, allowing the water to enter the vessel horizontally, like an old-fashioned wipe transition shot. And his use of 65mm film cameras – both regular and IMAX – is astonishing. Speaking of IMAX, make sure you select your theater carefully, as your choice may affect which aspect ratio you view the film in. True IMAX screens, of course, offer a differently shaped picture than traditional movie screens. To complicate matters, the footage shot in non-IMAX 65mm cameras features a different ratio than the footage shot with IMAX cameras. Editing the two formats together while keeping continuity and preserving his experiment with the three time structures was surely an unenviable task. Nolan likened it to a game of chess. Figuring out which theater is offering the movie on celluloid will be a chess game as well. To start, check out this [FilmStage](https://thefilmstage.com/news/where-to-see-christopher-nolans-dunkirk-in-70mm/) article, which offers a discussion of aspect ratios and a list of cinemas showing the movie in 70mm, which is the projection format for films shot in 65mm. Then I’d suggest doing your homework by calling the theater of your choice to verify that they have indeed rented a 70mm projector. If you choose 70mm, you’re in for a real treat, as the vibrant print looks good enough to eat, with light and color almost reminiscent of nitrate film stock. Despite the film’s wonder, some audience members might long for more dialogue and greater character development. *Atonement* (2008), for instance, captured the emotion of World War II and, specifically, the evacuation at Dunkirk in one monumental, continuous shot, while also embedding its audience in a heartbreaking love story. For that reason, among others, it’s slightly better than Nolan’s *Dunkirk*. However, for sheer emotional, visual and visceral impact, this film is difficult to beat and, at least for me, bests Spielberg’s *Saving Private Ryan* among great war movies. The only flaw I could find is that two or three of the minor characters, particularly those in the land segment, tend to blend together, at least if you’re unfamiliar with Harry Styles, the lead singer of One Dimension. The confusion might be due to the fact that several soldiers look alike and some lines are lost in the cacophony of score and sound effects. But those are forgivable considering the “fog of war” feel that Nolan was attempting. (The characters become much more distinct upon a second viewing, and also when your eyes are not clouded with tears, as this reviewer’s were at times.) This is Nolan’s most emotionally wrenching film, and his best. While *The Prestige* (2006) is also deserving of masterpiece status, that was an entirely different experience, as were *Interstellar* (2014) and *Inception* (2010). All four films reek of greatness, much more so than Nolan’s Batman movies, but *Dunkirk* is his most deeply felt and most human. Go ahead and engrave the Oscar now, for this is the best film of the year and one of the five greatest of the century. It’s a film that the thousands of men who died on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 earned the right to expect. *Note: This review was revised slightly from the original* Orlando Weekly *version, after a second viewing, in glorious 70mm.* *Copyright 2017 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Dumbo Remake](https://www.meiermovies.com/dumbo-remake/) **Published:** April 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dumbo**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Casey Junior (2019 version) By Cameron “Ringmaster” Meier Casey Junior’s comin’ down the track because Dumbo’s back, written by some hack. Nothin’ ‘bout this remake really fits the bill, Burton, Keaton, Farrell all amount to nil. Every time Casey’s little whistle sounds viewers get nostalgic for his first time ‘round. This new Disney project is a pile of dreck, should have been crosschecked, it’s a real train wreck. (Toot! Toot!) *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* *Apologies to the original song from the 1941* Dumbo *(the only version we need). Original lyrics: [https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Casey,\_Jr.\_(song)](https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Casey,_Jr._(song)).* --- ### [Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot](https://www.meiermovies.com/dont-worry-he-wont-get-far-on-foot/) **Published:** July 27, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Don‘t Worry, He Won‘t Get Far on Foot**, 2018, 2 ½ stars # *Foot* stays put ## Gus Van Sant dramedy stalls [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dont-Worry.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dont-Worry.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / Anonymous Content From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/structural-eccentricities-stall-gus-van-sant-dramedy-dont-worry-he-wont-get-far-on-foot/Content?oid=16402452), July 25, 2018 Perhaps it’s fitting that a flick about a paraplegic is mostly immobile, at least in its storytelling and structure. If you find my metaphor offensive, hey, I’m just trying to keep up with the movie’s legless subject and political incorrectness. After all, the title of the new Gus Van Sant film is *Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot*. Joaquin Phoenix plays John Callahan, a cartoonist from Portland, Oregon, whose own book is the basis for the film. Callahan’s drawings were known for their macabre, oddball humor and primitive style, which both amused and offended his readers. Fittingly, his own alcohol-addled life was just as troubled as his illustrations, as a car crash at the age of 21 left him mostly paralyzed. But he managed to persevere by expressing himself artistically, finding a loyal girlfriend (Rooney Mara) and conquering his addiction thanks to help from an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor (Jonah Hill). “Maybe life’s actually not supposed to be as meaningful as we think it is,” says a member of Callahan’s AA group. And perhaps the Van Sant version of Callahan’s life is also not meant to be overanalyzed. But there’s no denying that, despite its odd charm, the film fails to live up to its subject’s potential. And that’s not because of Phoenix, who is memorable and passionate. Instead, the fault lies with Van Sant’s screenplay and David Marks’ editing. “There’s a very fine line between creating chaos because of the adventure and creating chaos because of the dependency on it,” Hill’s character tells the AA group. He’s referring to alcoholism, but he might as well be referring to the filmmakers, who create storytelling chaos not because structural adventure suits the movie but because Van Sant seems to employ disjointed editing as a stylistic crutch. That style might come across as challenging or charming to some viewers, but it lessens the emotional impact and breeds unnecessary narrative confusion. If the film were just a bit funnier or more insightful, these structural eccentricities could be partially forgiven. And, admittedly, this movie will find its audience, much like Callahan’s cartoons did. But a film is not a cartoon. The latter can succeed by amusing or inspiring in small bursts, one panel at a time. But *He Won’t Get Far on Foot* doesn’t get far on screen because it should have been the equivalent of a graphic novel, not a newspaper scribble. Most disappointing is Mara – not for her performance, but for her character’s almost total vapidity. We don’t understand her motivations, we know almost nothing about her, and she’s given little to do. She’s reduced to wheelchair candy. She deserves better, as does Jack Black, who, as a comedic throw-away, is exploited for his overacting, at least until he makes a poignant reappearance near the end. Among the supporting cast, only Hill is intriguing. Yet even his oddly subdued performance doesn’t fully catch fire. Once Callahan embraced his artistic prowess and dropped his dipsomania, he really went places, despite his injury. Van Sant’s film is also disabled, but unlike Callahan, it can’t conquer its disability. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Pain and Glory](https://www.meiermovies.com/pain-and-glory/) **Published:** October 28, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory)** FL, 2019, 3 ½ stars # No *Pain*, no gain [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pain-and-Glory.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pain-and-Glory.jpeg)Image courtesy Telluride Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 28, 2019 Pedro Almodóvar has an uncanny knack for creating movies that are thoughtful yet rarely overbearing or oppressive. Instead, his films almost always have a lightness to them, which he accomplishes through a combination of humor, unexpectedly breezy music and a vibrant color palette. His latest achievement, *Pain and Glory* (*Dolor y Gloria* in Spanish), is no different, though the humor is a bit more difficult to find in this introspective and structurally twisty drama. Antonio Banderas plays Salvador Mallo, a film director beset by ill health, haunted by his past and fearing for his future. In both flashbacks and real time, we’re introduced to Salvador’s demons, friends, lovers and family – including his mother, played memorably by Almodóvar regular Penélope Cruz. But the film belongs to Banderas, who picked up the award for best actor at the Cannes Film Festival. He is consistently good at conveying vulnerability, but he takes it to another level here, delivering a performance that captures the exhaustion and frustration of a full life. “On the nights when various pains coincide,” he tells us through voiceover narration, “that’s when I believe in God and I pray to him. The days when I only suffer one kind of pain, I’m an atheist.” And it also belongs to Almodóvar, as the legendary Spanish writer-director seems to be swimming in auto-biographical waters. The result is occasionally frustrating thanks to the screenplay’s rambling structure. In addition, one could argue that the final film is less impactful, narratively, than the sum of its parts. But its clever ending fixes some of those gripes and casts the entire production, correctly, in a more metaphorical, rather than literal, light. One of the film’s most memorable moments is when Salvador, after helping to organize a special screening of one of his old films, fails to show up – because of anxiety and his heroin habit. Coincidentally, I missed a screening of *Pain and Glory* at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. (I can’t blame anxiety or drugs.) However, I did arrive just in time for the Q&A, at which Banderas said – not unlike his character in the film – that a recent health scare had changed him for the better because it placed his life in better focus. For Banderas, it was a heart attack. For Salvador, well, you’ll just have to see the film. But both the real and fictional health scares beg the question: What would the men do if they couldn’t make movies? It’s a quandary that the film addresses head-on: “If you don’t write or film, what will you do?” a friend asks Salvador. “Live, I guess.” Let’s hope Banderas and Almodóvar can continue to do both for a long time. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Doctor Strange](https://www.meiermovies.com/doctor-strange/) **Published:** November 4, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Doctor Strange**, 2016, 4 stars # *Doctor Strange*, ### or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Comic-Book Films [![Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. Image copyright the Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios.](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Doctor-Strange.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Doctor-Strange.jpg)Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Doctor Strange. (image copyright Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/11/02/doctor-strange-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-comic-book-films), November 2, 2016 It’s no accident that the modern comic-book movie was born shortly after the birth of CGI. They need each other to distract the audience from their subjects’ lack of profundity, just like 1920s sound and 1930s Technicolor made viewers forget the more mature black-and-white silent medium. Before I entirely lose every single fanboy, let me acknowledge that the best comic-book films do indeed contain compelling, if often simplistic, storytelling. Still, the special effects, art direction and cinematography rarely rise above the level of an adolescent action film. They are flashy but rarely fulfilling. They advance the story but seldom inspire. But then there’s *Doctor Strange*. The big-screen adaptation of the comic-book hero introduced by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in 1963 is a different species. It’s Marvel meets mysticism meets M.C. Escher, and, like *Inception*, from which it clearly draws artistic inspiration, it’s a trip – visually, emotionally and even spiritually, if you can tune out the sporadic silliness, misplaced humor and the occasional over-the-top moment. This is an origin story, so you don’t need to know anything about Dr. Stephen Strange in advance. A brilliant neurosurgeon, Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has his life upended when a car wreck leaves his hands shattered. Eschewing affection from his girlfriend, Christine (Rachel McAdams), and focused solely on his physical recovery, Strange journeys to Nepal. There he’s exposed not to the science-based, physical cures that he expected, but to spiritual ones. He meets the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), her star pupil, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and a host of other disciples who reveal to him the astral plane and other dimensions heretofore unimagined. (It’s the job of this band of spiritualist warriors to protect the Earth from mystical threats, as the Avengers protect it from physical ones.) Strange also learns of the evils that lurk in those other dimensions and just how dangerous – and mind-bending – time itself can be. And so we finally have a Marvel movie *about something*. Cumberbatch is, surprisingly, just adequate as the good doctor. OK, so the character is not exactly good. In fact, he’s described as both an “arrogant ass” and “disrespectful,” and his snarky banter lowers the film’s I.Q. level a tad. But only by first portraying Strange as immature can the filmmakers show his maturation. [![Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. Image copyright Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios.](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Doctor-Strange-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Doctor-Strange-2.jpg)Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. Image copyright Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios. Ejiofor is splendid, as is Swinton, and their presence elevates the film substantially. Her Ancient One may even remind viewers of Obi-Wan Kenobi, particularly since Strange is a bit of a cocky, know-it-all, just like young Luke Skywalker. Swinton is no Alec Guinness, but she dominates every scene she’s in and proves that changing the character from male to female was wise. The film’s version of Kaecilius is actually a composite of several villains from the comic. Played adequately by Mads Mikkelsen, he’s arguably the most interesting character, as he makes a pretty strong case for turning toward the “dark dimension, a place beyond time.” Time, he argues, is our real enemy, and that’s difficult to deny. The film is co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, who is perhaps best known for helming one of the scariest films of the last 20 years, *The Exorcism of Emily Rose*, in addition to another creeper, *Sinister*. He’s aided tremendously by cinematographer Ben Davis and a brilliant special-effects crew who use all the tools at their disposal to create landscapes that captivate while rarely overwhelming the story. As is the case with all other Marvel movies, *Doctor Strange* was shot in 2-D and converted to 3-D in post-production. In some scenes, the 3-D is too dark and distracting, and it doesn’t work well in the non-CGI scenes and with handheld camera. But when the film morphs into its digitally animated dreamscapes, the three dimensions come alive and suck you into one of the best adventure films of 2016. (I can’t wait to see whether *Doctor Strange* or *The Jungle Book* wins the Oscar for special effects.) “You lack imagination,” Strange tells Mordo. The same cannot be said for this film, which is a triumph of technological imagination and, along with the original *Avengers*, one of the two best Marvel movies ever. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Enraged Tarantino Assaults Local Film Critic](https://www.meiermovies.com/2719-2/) **Published:** April 4, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## **[![the-onion-logo](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/the-onion-logo-300x117.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/the-onion-logo.jpg)Enraged Tarantino Assaults Local Film Critic** ### **Beating Receives One Out Of Five Stars** NEWS IN BRIEF • Entertainment • Film • Film Festivals • Critics and Reviews • ISSUE 51•13 • Mar 30, 2015 [![Cameron at Paramount Studios cropped](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-at-Paramount-Studios-cropped-300x194.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cameron-at-Paramount-Studios-cropped.jpg)[![1390411173-tarantino_yelling](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1390411173-tarantino_yelling-300x194.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1390411173-tarantino_yelling.jpg)ORLANDO, FL – “Honestly, I think he could have done better,” claims local film critic Cameron Meier, in reference to the vicious brawl that took place Tuesday night, between Meier and Director/Actor/Screenwriter/Producer/Craft Service Advisor Quentin Tarantino. Meier took some heat in 2012 for his less-than-complimentary review of Tarantino’s Oscar-winning [*Django Unchained*](https://www.meiermovies.com/django-unchained/). “I received death threats,” Meier claimed, his words garbled by a split lip and swollen jaw. The acclaimed director arrived in Orlando earlier in the week to promote his latest film, *More Django Unchained*, when he caught wind of the comments made by Meier, and sought him out at a local café where Meier was drinking his daily pre-cruel-review Sazerac. “He grabbed me, threw me across the table, and started to hit me. The whole time, I’m thinking ‘here’s a man who brought us some of the most violent scenes in modern cinema, and THIS is what he’s giving me? Where is the razor to cut off my ear? Where is the Mexican stand-off?!’ The beating left much to be desired. I mean, after three or four punches, I was still conscious.” Tarantino could not be reached for comment, and when Meier was asked if he was going to press charges, he had this to say: “I just hope he takes a lesson away from this, honestly, one-star-out-of-five beat-down. The next time he commits something to celluloid, I hope he will pull no punches. No pun intended.” — jlc *Reprinted by permission of* The Onion *(OK, not really. This is a creation of my brilliant comedy-writer friend Jessica Childs.)* --- ### [Django Unchained](https://www.meiermovies.com/django-unchained/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Django Unchained**, 2012, 1 ¾ stars # Tarantino unchained and undisciplined [![Django](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Django-300x202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Django.jpg)Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx star in *Django Unchained*. (image copyright the Weinstein Company / Columbia Pictures) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/django-unchained-1.1418390), December 19, 2012 In Quentin Tarantino’s Old South, white men are evil; black men are either submissive, simpering Uncle Toms or savagely beaten on a regular basis; and nearly everyone utters the n-word and f-word more frequently than a 19th-century Charleston slave auctioneer. In short, subtlety is, well, gone with the wind. *Django Unchained* is the story of Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave in the pre-Civil War Deep South. He’s on a mission to find and free his wife, from whom he was separated when the two were sold to different owners. Fortune smiles on him when he meets Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a German working in pre-Civil War United States as a bounty hunter. Schultz buys Django, hoping the slave can help him in his brutal business. If Django does what he’s told, Schultz, an anti-slavery advocate and seemingly the only decent Caucasian in the entire South, promises to not only grant Django his freedom but help rescue his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Along the way, the two meet a colorful assortment of characters, including Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), Candie’s head “house slave” (Samuel L. Jackson) and, in a delicious cameo, a character played by Franco Nero, the star of the original *Django*, the 1966 spaghetti Western that inspired Tarantino. The entire cast, in typical Tarantino fashion, is mesmerizing and moves the stylistic, gripping narrative along quite well until, in the final act, it unravels faster than Scarlett O’Hara’s petticoat on her wedding night. Tarantino’s love of violence clearly goes beyond a stylistic admiration and into the realm of fetish. In his earlier works such as *Reservoir Dogs* and *Pulp Fiction*, violence, though sometimes gratuitous, usually served a purpose, but in *Django Unchained*, it’s just stupidly over the top, as it was at times in the *Kill Bill* films. And with the use of unrealistic special effects, the brutality becomes even more laughable. Only Tarantino could make Martin Scorsese resemble Frank Capra. Admittedly, calling Tarantino unrealistic is not a valid criticism. He rightfully subscribes to the notion that a film is not a photo, but rather a painting, with a variety of styles to choose from. The director obviously prefers expressionism to naturalism, and few do it with more critical and popular acclaim. It’s just a shame that his brushstrokes had to be so broad this time. Tarantino’s most ardent admirers would expect no less, however, and will likely love the director’s latest Western-style epic and its bloated, nearly three-hour runtime. But more discriminating viewers will be upset that the film falls far short of his previous project, *Inglourious Basterds.* Even more disappointing is that someone with such a mastery of the craft of filmmaking can make such unfathomably bad artistic choices. I’ve always wondered whether Tarantino would finally grow up. But after seeing his latest spectacular, bloody mess of a movie, frankly, I don’t give a damn. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Writer’s note: This review generated controversy when originally published, as it was, for a time, the only negative review of the film on Rotten Tomatoes. So, essentially, it busted the movie’s 100-percent rating. I was called everything from a racist to a worthless, ignorant human being. If everyone who ever criticized Tarantino and mentioned* Gone With the Wind *were branded a racist, I’m not sure we’d have any non-racists left. (On a topic best left discussed in detail elsewhere, I’ll always defend the assertion that* Gone With the Wind *is NOT racist and is, in many ways, actually a subtle commentary on a certain side of the South, i.e., soft racism. However, there is no question it is a Romanticized portrait of only one particular version of the Old South and never attempts to depict a realistic version of the entire South and the horrors of slavery. Critics of* GWTW *should also note that Selznick was so disturbed by racism and the plight of his fellow Jews in Germany at the time that he went to great lengths to be as sensitive as possible and even sought the input of the NAACP. It was, in fact, the NAACP that insisted on deletion of the n-word and Ku Klux Klan references.)* *The most interesting debate regarding my* Django Unchained *review centered on my assertion in the original version of the article that Tarantino had resorted to unrealistic computer-generated effects. Although Tarantino is known for rejecting CGI, and I applaud him for that, he DID make use of digital manipulation in post production in at least one scene. After an interesting e-mail conversation with the special-effects editor of the film,* The Orlando Weekly *ran a correction of my original review to simply criticize the “special effects,” not the digital effects. So while my original assertion concerning digital manipulation was not entirely inaccurate, depending upon your own definition of “digital manipulation,” it might have led readers to the false conclusion that some effects were digitally generated, which is not true. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, you crazy, passionate Tarantino fan basterds!* *And for a laugh, see [this](http://www.meiermovies.com/2719-2/).* --- ### [The Disaster Artist](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-disaster-artist/) **Published:** November 27, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Disaster Artist**, 2017, 3 stars # Oh hi, movie! ## *The Disaster Artist* is a love letter to bad cinema [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Disaster-Artist.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/The-Disaster-Artist.jpg)Image copyright Good Universe / New Line Cinema / A24 Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, November 27, 2017 Why do we love bad movies? It’s not logical. We know they are unworthy of our attention, especially when thousands of talented, conscientious filmmakers are struggling every day to get their art seen and appreciated. One could even say that this shallow fascination with crap is harming our culture and ourselves while … oh, hi, Tommy Wiseau movie!! Yes, James Franco has directed and produced a film about Z-movie king Wiseau and his creation of *The Room* (2003), one of the five worst theatrically released (sort of) films of the century. (If you’re trying to guess a couple of the others, here’s a hint: Think of the same San Francisco Bay setting and swap “oiseau” for Wiseau.) But, like Wiseau’s filmmaking, I digress. *The Disaster Artist* is the much-anticipated biopic of Wiseau, focusing on the four years leading up to the making of *The Room*, the actual making of the film and Wiseau’s friendship with fellow actor Greg Sestero, who wrote the book upon which the film is based. Franco plays Wiseau while his brother, Dave, plays Sestero. In supporting roles are Seth Rogan, Megan Mullally, Sharon Stone, Bryan Cranston, Zac Efron, Kristen Bell, J.J. Abrams and a smorgasbord of other stars, many of whom are playing themselves in funny, though misguided, mini-tributes to *The Room*. Also misguided is the handheld camera, which was a poor choice considering the subject and the fact that Wiseau never used it in *The Room*. (It would have been nice to mimic Wiseau’s filmmaking style, as Tim Burton did in his far superior *Ed Wood*. Franco’s odd use of music might actually be seen as a stylistic nod to Wiseau, or it could just be bad in its own right.) The film has more than its share of moments that aficionados of *The Room* will appreciate. Most memorable perhaps are Judd Apatow (as himself) giving Wiseau some brutal career advice and Wiseau discovering James Dean’s famous “you’re tearing me apart” line from *Rebel Without a Cause*. (Wiseau, fittingly, remembered the line wrong, thinking it’s “you’re taking me apart.”) And there’s a brilliant end-credits montage of clips from *The Disaster Artist* side by side with those of *The Room*. Only then do you realize how seriously Franco took this project. But will these moments mean much to those who either haven’t seen *The Room* or find it unworthy of all this attention? Perhaps not. No review of *The Disaster Artist* would be complete without a discussion of Franco. Love him or hate him, you can’t argue that he threw himself tirelessly into this labor of love, delivering a performance that is odd both because he’s mimicking someone who is odd and because the acting itself is just plain weird. He gets Wiseau’s accent sort of right, but it’s mixed with so much mumbling (even more than Wiseau himself) that it’s often difficult to decipher. Sometimes the performance seems spot on (even uncanny in the actor’s physical transformation), and sometimes Franco seems to just be goofing off. Either way, you won’t soon forget it. Surprisingly, the film doesn’t reveal the true mysteries of Wiseau, which are partially exposed in the Sestero book. For instance, Sestero strongly suggests that Wiseau grew up in Eastern Europe before moving to France and then to the United States. (We now know he’s probably from Poland.) He had a troubled youth and chose to forget his past by reinventing himself. And Sestero even claims that Wiseau probably made his money selling discount clothes and other merchandise in San Francisco’s warehouse district. Those are fascinating (though unproven) stories that should have been a central part of *The Disaster Artist*, but because Franco and writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber chose to lampoon Wiseau more than fully explain him, the mysteries stay buried. Despite that overemphasis on comedy, the film has some surprisingly effective, though brief, moments of drama, particularly toward the end, when we finally see into Wiseau’s heart and realize that this badly flawed individual simply wants what the rest of us want: to be appreciated. *The Disaster Artist* won’t emotionally tear you apart (Lisa), but it will make you laugh while reminding you that every filmmaker has a unique voice – even if that filmmaker believes “backlighting” is the amount of illumination intended for his gluteus maximus and thinks “color correction” is what Al Jolson did to his face in *The Jazz Singer*. *© 2017 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more on Wiseau, see my review of* [The Neighbors](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-neighbors/)*.* --- ### [The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-disappearance-of-eleanor-rigby-them/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them**, 2014, 2 stars # A dour duality ## *Eleanor* examines two sides of tragic marital malaise From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-disappearance-of-eleanor-rigby-examines-tragic-marital-malaise/Content?oid=2243035)*, September 16, 2014; and *[The San Antonio Current](http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/jessica-chastain-and-james-mcavoy-disappear-into-eleanor-rigby/Content?oid=2324697)*, September 16, 2014 “Go big or go home,” reads that annoying promo at Regal Cinemas. Ned Benson must have been paying attention, because, for his first feature project, the writer/director has gone huge, releasing three versions of the same story. Though he should be applauded for his effort, he’s bitten off more than he can chew, or more specifically, edit – at least judging by the version of the film in theaters this week. [![The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Disappearance-of-Eleanor-Rigby-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Disappearance-of-Eleanor-Rigby.jpg)*The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him* and *Her* premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and will get art-house releases next month. They tell separate stories of the same marital breakup. For general release, Benson has created *Them*, which tries to combine the other movies into a single moving meditation on loss but ultimately feels like an overlong teaser for *Him* and *Her*. Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) – yes, her parents named her for the Beatles song – and Connor (James McAvoy) have recently undergone shared trauma but have dealt with it in vastly different ways. Connor plods along at his unsuccessful restaurant career while Eleanor has a breakdown, retreats to her parents’ house and starts taking classes at a local college. “I really don’t know who you are,” Eleanor’s teacher tells her. “That’s OK. Neither do I,” she responds. And despite a runtime of more than two hours, we really never know either – except by gleaning bits of information from tantalizing but frustratingly vague glimpses into her thoughts. The characters’ relationships with their parents are perfectly naturalistic. As Connor’s dad, Ciarán Hinds is solid, but it’s William Hurt, as Eleanor’s father, who shines. That sense of honesty and purpose doesn’t extend to the other supporting characters, though, as Eleanor’s sister (*Jess Weixler) and teacher (Viola Davis) seem thrown in to pad the plot. Similarly, Bill Hader, as Connor’s friend and co-worker, also is partially wasted, especially considering that, after The Skeleton Twins, we know what he’s capable of when not trapped in underwritten comedy.* Though the story is heartbreaking and the lead performances eminently watchable, we still don’t feel the full emotional weight because the film fails to transfer it to us. Instead, we get a sporadically insightful mix of tedium and tragedy, hindered by a structure with little style, forward motion and sense of purpose. The slow pace and overwhelming feeling of gloom and loneliness are somewhat appropriate considering both the Beatles song and the experiences of Eleanor and Connor. “No one was saved” in both the song and movie, it appears. Additionally, viewers who have undergone similar sorrow may bond with the characters and ultimately take away profundity. Despite my enormous, unshaken appreciation for Chastain and McAvoy, this writer, regrettably, has taken away little but frustration and even boredom. Having not seen *Him* and *Her*, I can’t say whether the dual-film format more successfully captures an admittedly intriguing story. All I’m left with from *Them* are the memories of a great, but squandered, premise and a film so uninspired in its editing and rambling in its presentation that it, like its title character, almost disappears. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Dinner](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-dinner/) **Published:** May 3, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Dinner**, 2017, 3 ½ stars # Morality: It’s what’s for *Dinner* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Dinner.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Dinner.jpg)Image copyright ChubbCo Film / Blackbird / Code Red From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/though-its-the-third-adaptation-of-the-same-novel-in-five-years-the-dinner-keeps-us-coming-back-for-more/Content?oid=4180908), May 3, 2017 Humanity is still the most satisfying film ingredient, and *The Dinner* serves up plenty, plus a side of morality and a palate cleanser of social commentary. Written and directed by Oren Moverman (*The Messenger*, *Time Out of Mind*), this is the third film adaptation of Herman Koch’s 2009 Dutch novel, and the first in English. Yet despite the title and some clunky “chapter headings” that artificially divide the film into “aperitif,” “appetizer,” “main course,” etc., the film is not really about the meal. Instead, it concerns a moral dilemma that two estranged brothers and their wives face following an unspeakable crime committed by their children. Do they confess to the crime, which was captured on video, or “leave the wound alone,” as one character argues? It’s a choice between condemnation and damnation, Jean Valjean might say. Steve Coogan (*Philomena*, *Alan Partridge*) plays Paul, a history teacher who feels the weight of both current and past worlds on his shoulders. Though that weight is mostly imagined thanks to his own psychological struggles, he feels emasculated by his wife (Laura Linney), threatened by his successful brother (Richard Gere) and just plain annoyed by his brother’s young wife (Rebecca Hall). So when the four gather in a posh restaurant to discuss how to extricate their teenage boys and themselves from the life-changing crime, their fancy meal becomes a combination of *My Dinner with Andre*, *Dinner for Schmucks* and the Last Supper. The four excellent performances drive the film and make up for some oddities in editing and tone. Coogan is especially effective and deserves consideration for a supporting-actor Oscar nomination. His nuanced depiction of mental illness is simultaneously sad, real and even humorous, and overshadows every other element except for sound design, which combines background noise, Coogan’s “unreliable narrator” voiceover and what seems at first blush to be intrusive music. But throw in multiple flashbacks and revelatory back stories, and it all eventually congeals into a cacophony complementing the mental anguish of the four diners. This Jackson Pollack-like structure (similar to last year’s *Jackie*) might annoy some, but you can’t deny its disturbing beauty. The film departs drastically from the 2014 Italian version, which was only loosely inspired by the book, and it is by no means a carbon copy of the 2013 Dutch original. For instance, it dives more deeply into mental illness, as Gere’s character is a U.S. congressman attempting to pass a health bill that addresses that very topic. “Mental health for all!” he exclaims while punching his mentally challenged brother. That ironic juxtaposition lends another dimension to the story while bringing the rift between the two siblings into an absurdly tragic focus. After two versions of this story in the last five years, some moviegoers might be done with *Dinner*. But because of Moverman’s script innovations, unique sound design and eclectic editing – and Coogan’s tour de force – I recommend a third helping. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Desert One](https://www.meiermovies.com/desert-one/) **Published:** August 15, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Desert One,** 2020, 3 ¾ stars # Singular *One* ## Kopple crafts a valuable history lesson [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Desert-One.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Desert-One.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 15, 2020 It’s hard to be patriotic about a tragically bungled military operation. It’s even harder to make an emotionally satisfying film about it. But, as usual, master documentarian Barbara Kopple is up to the task. In April 1980, as the Iran hostage crisis was entering its fifth month, President Jimmy Carter and his advisers decided to launch Operation Eagle Claw. Designed to free the 52 Americans held inside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the mission went badly wrong, damaging our national psyche and helping put Ronald Reagan in the White House. But the degree to which it failed is mostly forgotten today. That’s why Kopple’s film – which relies mostly on intimate interviews and partially on animated reenactments – will shock most viewers. Kopple deserves a place on the modern Mount Rushmore of documentary directors alongside Ken Burns, Errol Morris and Michael Moore, with perhaps a separate monument for the Maysles Brothers and D.A. Pennebaker. But she’s best known not for these types of talking-heads, historical films but instead for “as they happen” docs, notably *Harlan County U.S.A.* (1976) and *American Dream* (1991), both of which won the Oscar for best documentary. (The former is arguably the top doc of all time.) She’s also famous for her profiles of entertainers, ranging from Woody Allen to Gregory Peck to Sharon Jones to the Dixie Chicks. But one thing that links all her films, regardless of subject and style, is the remarkable trust her subjects seem to place in her and the extraordinary access she is granted. She is to film interviews what Bob Woodward is to print: Everyone will talk to her. And in *Desert One*, almost everyone does. Kopple converses – in her unseen and unheard unobtrusiveness – with dozens of major players in the hostage crisis, including national leaders, prominent journalists, hostages, hostage takers, men who participated in the rescue attempt and families of the men who died. We also get archival footage, previously unheard phone conversations, a thoughtful analysis of what led to the crisis and emotional – if slightly over-produced and over-scored – re-creations of events. But it’s the interviews you will remember. Particularly moving are the talks with former President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale, and the special-ops forces who felt they had let their country down. For them, this film undoubtedly represents a richly deserved “Thank you for trying.” *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *I’ve twice had the pleasure of interviewing Kopple, first for the [2016 Sarasota Film Festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/sarasota-film-festival-2016-2/), when we discussed her career, and then again [at the 2018 festival](http://www.meiermovies.com/a-chat-with-barbara-kopple/), when we discussed* A Murder in Mansfield*.* --- ### [Denial](https://www.meiermovies.com/denial/) **Published:** October 15, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Denial**, 2016, 4 ¼ stars # Litigating the Holocaust ## *Denial* brilliantly illuminates the darkest of history [![denial-rachel-weisz](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-rachel-weisz.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-rachel-weisz.jpg)Rachel Weisz as Deborah Lipstadt. Image copyright BBC Films/Foster Entertainment. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/denial-brilliantly-illuminates-the-darkest-of-history/Content?oid=2532725), October 12, 2016 “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works,” wrote Saint Augustine. Holocaust denier and pseudo-historian David Irving wrote evil works, but with no saints around to confront him, it was up to American author Deborah Lipstadt to call him out. Though she never got an actual confession, she emphatically called him out, writing in 1993 that Irving wasn’t just wrong, but an anti-Semitic liar. But because her book, *Denying the Holocaust*, was published in England as well as in the United States, Irving took advantage of British libel laws – which put the burden upon the defendant – and sued Lipstadt. This put her in the uniquely absurd, but nevertheless legally binding, position of having to prove the Holocaust. Directed by Mick Jackson, who is better known for his British television work, *Denial* is based on Lipstadt’s book, *History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier*. But that “day in court” actually takes more than a month, with the entire story spanning roughly seven years. Remarkably, Jackson and screenwriter David Hare are patient enough to allow events to unfold realistically, without much condensing and with great insight into both the British legal system and the surprising reluctance of England’s Jewish community to help Lipstadt. It means the film is slow to gain dramatic steam, but once it does, the emotional payoffs are huge. Rachel Weisz has never looked or acted quite like this before, and she’s thoroughly convincing, as is Anthony Scott, who plays Lipstadt’s solicitor (the lawyer who prepares her case). Even more effective are Timothy Spall as Irving and Tom Wilkinson as Lipstadt’s barrister (the lawyer who argues the case), the latter worthy of his third Oscar nomination. [![denial-tom-wilkinson](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-tom-wilkinson.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/denial-tom-wilkinson.jpg)Tom Wilkinson as Richard Rampton (Lipstadt’s barrister). Image copyright BBC Films/Foster Entertainment. “This isn’t about memorializing,” Lipstadt’s lawyers tell her. “It’s about forensics.” And, indeed, the film successfully focuses our attention on the fascinating details of the case. Still, not even Wilkinson’s stoic character is immune to the larger, moral issues, and he is forced to ask himself, “How could Auschwitz be just a brief?” Because the film offers few surprises, doesn’t fully flesh out some supporting characters and contains little cinematic flourish, I was surprised to find myself so moved. But then I realized I was overlooking the film’s true star. For it’s not really Irving who is on trial. It’s the act of denial. It’s the embrace of evil. It’s the Holocaust itself. Jackson and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos filmed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and though the remarkable courtroom scenes between Wilkinson and Spall give the film its energy, it’s the scenes of the death camp that are the most emotionally wrenching. In those moments, the movie is no longer fiction, but a documentary worthy of *Shoah* director Claude Lanzmann. Though *Denial* doesn’t rise to the level of Lanzmann’s nine-hour cathartic opus, it might be the best film of the year so far, or at least the most consequential. Edmund Burke wrote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke was right except for the gender. To beat evil this time, it took a good woman. *Copyright 2016 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [A big pile of poo(h)](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-big-pile-of-pooh/) **Published:** August 4, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Death-of-a-Nation.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Death-of-a-Nation.jpg)Image copyright D’Souza Media Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 4, 2018 I did something today I hadn’t done in years: I snuck into a movie. In my defense, I actually purchased two tickets (just for me) for a second film. After all, I didn’t want to steal from Regal Cinemas. Instead, I wanted to steal from the writer-director of the film I snuck into. His name is Dinesh D’Souza, and his film is *Death of a Nation* (½ star on my 0-5 scale). I really didn’t want to see his ultra-Right Wing “documentary,” as I knew going in that it was sitting at 0 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. I also knew I wouldn’t agree with D’Souza’s politics, at least judging by his previous films, *Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party* and 2*016: Obama’s America*, which I admit I never saw. But the film critic in me wanted to see whether all the negative hype regarding his latest pic was deserved. It is. Billed as a tribute to President Trump (who pardoned D’Souza earlier this year after he was convicted of a campaign-related felony), *Death of a Nation* is so much more. It’s a shockingly inept piece of journalism combined with a jarringly amateurish exercise in filmmaking. It’s an attempt to redefine fascism and link Trump with Abraham Lincoln. And it’s a comparison of the Democratic Party and all Progressives (from the 1820s to today) to Hitler and Nazi Germany. D’Souza even goes so far as to call Hitler a Progressive. Let that sink in for a second. He does this not to defend Hitler but to brand every Democrat from Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama with the same swastika. I’m quarter-Jewish, but I was more than quarter-offended. Interestingly, D’Souza does actually slip some truths into his hate-filled diatribe. This means that those with early-onset dementia and those recently suffering a brain concussion might be tricked into thinking that the entire documentary deserves consideration. It doesn’t. That’s because it’s packed with falsehoods, or, at the very least, gross misinterpretations of 200 years of American history – all in an effort not to educate or bring people together, but, seemingly, to monger fear. The end product is the delusional raving of an angry, ignorant clown. The only reason I’m not angrier is that the movie doesn’t deserve my anger, just like it didn’t deserve my money – because it fails as craft. Laughably so. From the never-ending voiceover narration (by D’Souza himself), to the poorly executed interviews, to the cheesy music, to the heavy-handed historical reenactments, this film fails. In fact, it might be the worst theatrically released documentary I’ve ever seen, and I have full confidence that all my friends and colleagues would agree with me, regardless of their political leanings. (Hey, I guess D’Souza has managed to unite most of us after all.) Perhaps Owen Gleiberman, writing for *Variety*, said it best: “In *Death of a Nation*, Dinesh D’Souza is no longer preaching to the choir; he’s preaching to the mentally unsound.” So what was that film I paid double for? *Christopher Robin* (3 ¼ stars). Though it has some structural and narrative flaws, the new existential fantasy from Disney (directed by Marc Forster and starring Ewan McGregor) is sweet, kind, quiet and thoughtful: everything the film by D’Souza – the documentarian of very little brain – isn’t. Oh, bother. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Dear White People](https://www.meiermovies.com/dear-white-people/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Dear White People**, 2014, 1 ¼ stars # Racial regression ## Amateurism dooms dramedy about race relations From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/dear-white-people/Content?oid=2243150), October 21, 2014 Alfred Hitchcock once said that a filmmaker who stresses about story is like a painter who worries whether the apple he’s painting is sweet or sour. In other words, style is everything. Although the master of suspense was obviously taking his argument to its logical, yet absurd, conclusion, writer-director Justin Simien should pay heed, as his feature debut, *Dear White People*, is doomed not so much by what he’s saying as by his inability to say it. Fictional, seemingly idyllic Winchester University is primed for a racial meltdown. Samantha White, an outspoken half-black student and host of a popular radio show titled – you guessed it – “Dear White People” has just been elected head of the largest traditionally black house on campus. The white college president has just instituted a plan that would restructure living assignments, thus turning the house into a mixed-race residence, and White vows to fight it. “Blackface is alive and well in our culture,” Sam (a fairly effective Tessa Thompson) tells her white boyfriend. “Who primarily buys hip-hop, watches *Housewives of Atlanta* \[and embraces\] the same homogenized images of black people over and over again? White people!” Though her boyfriend, played well by newcomer Justin Dobies, reminds her that blacks are the ones who watch Tyler Perry movies, she’s not swayed and believes that blacks are incapable of racism. “Black people can’t be racist,” she argues. “Prejudiced, yes, but not racist. Racism describes a system of disadvantage based on race. Black people can’t be racist since we don’t stand to benefit from such a system.” Countering that argument is the college president’s son, a stereotypical white frat dude (Kyle Gallner). “Your biggest athletes, … movies stars and president \[are\] black,” he argues. “Sometimes I think the hardest thing to be in the American workforce right now is an educated white guy. You \[black\] guys have still got affirmative action.” Though Simien’s script contains mildly interesting and provocative ideas such as this, it reads more like a term paper on race than an actual film. Yes, various subplots add depth, all leading to the climax, which involves campus outrage over a racially offensive party designed to allow white students to “liberate their inner Negro.” But the uneven concoction lurches from comedy to drama to satire so often that it becomes difficult to either take seriously or laugh at. The problems with tone are exacerbated by poor pacing, chapter titles that give the film an unnecessarily choppy feel and a score with all the subtlety of Tommy Wiseau’s *The Room*. While some of the performances – particularly that of Brandon Bell as Sam’s fellow student leader – grow you on, the slightly smart twist ending doesn’t correct the mistakes of a first-time director. Let me conclude with my own greeting: Dear white people (and members of all other races), avoid this movie, as it doesn’t do much more for race relations than Lars von Trier’s *Nymphomaniac* did for the issue of sexual addiction. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Darkest Hour](https://www.meiermovies.com/darkest-hour/) **Published:** December 21, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Darkest Hour**, 2017, 4 ¾ stars # Illuminating the darkness ## *Darkest Hour* shines cinematic spotlight on Churchill [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Darkest-Hour.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Darkest-Hour.jpg)Image copyright Perfect World Pictures / Working Title Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/darkest-hour-shines-a-cinematic-spotlight-on-churchill/Content?oid=9416767), December 20, 2017 In June 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill reflected upon the ongoing Battle of Britain: “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say this was their finest hour.” But before Britain could get to that finest hour, there had to be a darkest one. That “hour” was actually spread over several weeks in May of that year, and Churchill was its timekeeper. Wind the clock forward 77 years, and the task has fallen upon Joe Wright to recreate those events. The English director has been helming films for just 12 years but has already managed two masterpieces: *Atonement* (2007) and *Anna Karenina* (2012). He made his first major misstep two years ago with the poorly conceived *Pan*, but he’s now back in top form with *Darkest Hour* – assisted by Gary Oldman’s career performance as Churchill. By concentrating on just one month, Wright’s film (written smartly by Anthony McCarten) focuses like a laser on some of the most important events of World War II, including the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, the appointment of Churchill, Churchill’s relationship with King George VI and the fierce debate between those who urged war against Hitler and those in favor of peace negotiations (led by Chamberlain and Viscount Halifax). The evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) is also featured prominently, just as it is in Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk*, the only 2017 drama better than *Darkest Hour*. But perhaps most significantly, this film also shines a light on Churchill himself and those close to him, including his wife, Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas), and his personal secretary, Elizabeth Layton (Lily James). Both actresses are excellent – as are Ben Mendelsohn as the King, Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain and Stephen Dillane as Halifax – but it’s Oldman (helped by great makeup) who will finally be carrying home the Oscar for best actor. Historians will quibble with the slight mischaracterization of the Siege of Calais. (Its impact on the evacuation of Dunkirk was likely not as significant as the film suggests, and its death count was not as high.) In addition, Layton did not join Churchill’s staff – or even meet him – until 1941, though their close relationship is accurately portrayed. And some have even mistakenly labeled the film a conventional biopic that treads little new ground. But those criticisms matter little when you’re emotionally hypnotized by a visual symphony of performance, pacing, editing, cinematography and music that only Wright and perhaps three or four other directors are capable of conducting. Three months after the events of *Darkest Hour*, Churchill again “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle” – as Halifax described the prime minister’s rhetorical skills – by uttering the most famous thank-you in political history. Referring to Royal Air Force pilots who had faced down the German Luftwaffe, he said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” But he should have also thanked himself, as it was primarily his own iron will, stubbornness and judgment that saved Western Civilization from fascism. At the risk of metaphorical overreach, perhaps we now owe both Wright and Oldman an enormous debt of gratitude for creating history’s greatest movie about history’s greatest British leader. *Copyright 2017 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [The Dalai Lama: Scientist](https://www.meiermovies.com/dalai-lama-scientist/) **Published:** April 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Dalai Lama: Scientist**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Dalai Lama lecture ## *Scientist* doc is informative but uncinematic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Dalai-Lama.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Dalai-Lama.jpg)Image copyright PeaceJam Productions / Gravitas Ventures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, April 17, 2020 Allow me to wax theoretical: Documentaries – indeed, all films – can be divided into four categories. The first two are easily noticeable: those that have something important to say and know how to say it, and those that have nothing important to say and still don’t know how to say it. The former category is comprised of masterpieces while the latter is packed with what I call Super Turkeys. But it’s the films in the other two categories that are tougher to figure. The third category consists of films that don’t have much to say but still find a way to say it in an interesting or stylish way. They overcome their subjects. Docs in that category include Errol Morris’s *Tabloid* and Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel’s *Finders Keepers:* two bizarre, Jerry Springer-worthy tales with little journalistic merit but great entertainment value. *The Dalai Lama: Scientist* is not that type of doc. Instead, it fits into the final category: films that have something to say but no clue how to say it. And that’s especially sad because the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader-in-exile of the most recognizable school of Tibetan Buddhism, has lots to say, and he usually does it in an eloquent and inspirational way. Even more important, his heart is usually in the right place. The same can be said for Dawn Gifford Engle, the writer and director of this new documentary that explores the Dalai Lama’s love of science and decades-long effort to bridge the gap between Western science and Buddhist philosophy: a gap that is surprisingly small. But despite her best intentions and the profound subject, Engle struggles to make her film, well, a film. Instead, it plays like an overblown PowerPoint presentation, a series of lectures or a corporate video. Laden with informational charts that don’t stay on screen long enough to comprehend, encumbered by overscoring, dominated by decades-old grainy videos and burdened by a voiceover narration straight from the Siri school of acting, the doc never rises to the level of Lama. The movie has value for philosophers and scientists, specifically those interested in quantum physics and neuroscience. And it inspired this reviewer to look more into the life of the Dalai Lama, a man described as “half Buddhist monk, half scientist.” But the film is dry as cosmic dust. *The film has screened at several festivals around the world and will be available for streaming and DVD/Blu-ray on May 19, 2020.* *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Curse of the Jade Scorpion](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-curse-of-the-jade-scorpion/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Curse of the Jade Scorpion**, 2001, 2 stars # No big sting From *The Orlando Weekly*, August 24, 2001 Woody Allen’s latest film does involve a curse, but it’s less a curse of a scorpion than one of awkward acting and heavy-handed one-liners. *The Curse of the Jade Scorpion* features Allen doing his typical schtick, this time as C.W. Briggs, an investigator for a New York City insurance company. Most of that schtick involves verbal sparring matches with newly hired Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), who arrives at the company to look into ways to modernize and improve the efficiency of the operation, much to the disapproval of C.W. Into this rather predictable setting of 1940s crime investigation enters Voltan (David Ogden Stiers), a hypnotist who casts a spell on C.W. and Betty Ann at a party by uttering magic words that put them into a trance. By later repeating these words to the two unsuspecting accomplices, he forces them to steal jewels for him, a clever plot twist considering C.W. becomes the chief investigator on the case. Simmering just beneath the surface of most scenes is sexual tension, although it’s difficult to get aroused over about a sultry Charlize Theron bedding down with an aging Allen. The romantic games between C.W. and Betty Ann are more real, but it’s not realism Allen is going for after all – it’s humor. But it just comes across as trite. The script both spoofs and embraces the smooth-talking, cigarette-smoking world of *Double Indemnity*, but it has little of that genre’s charm and all its corniness. Allen seems especially uneasy in his role, as if he knows that his intellectual but slightly askew humor isn’t working as well as it normally does. And Helen Hunt, despite giving the film’s best performance, is out of place because she’s too realistic and doesn’t blend with Allen’s stand-up or Dan Aykroyd’s dry caricature of a 1940s businessman. Increasingly Allen’s best films are the ones in which he is not the star, such as *Bullets Over Broadway* and *Sweet and Lowdown*. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad actor, but often his performance upstages his own directing style, which is still one of the most intelligent in Hollywood, despite *Scorpion*’s failings. Allen is still often the best at delivering his own lines – “Never bet on a horse that has Parkinson’s” and “Germs can’t live in your bloodstream – it’s too cold.” It’s these witty retorts and the plot twists that give the film its little energy, but for a movie with such an exotic title and interesting premise, this *Scorpion* is disappointingly lifeless. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A Cure for Wellness](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-cure-for-wellness/) **Published:** February 16, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Cure for Wellness**, 2017, 1 ¾ stars # All is not well ### Clarity is verboten in Verbinski’s *Cure* [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/A-Cure-for-Wellness.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/A-Cure-for-Wellness.png)Image copyright Regency Enterprises / New Regency Productions From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/clarity-is-verboten-in-gore-verbinskis-cure-for-wellness/Content?oid=2563355), February 15, 2017 The trailer for the new Gothic thriller *A Cure for Wellness* refers to director Gore Verbinski as “visionary.” The film’s promotional team must have mistaken having visions for being visionary. That’s not all bad. Sure, Verbinski’s creation is a storytelling train wreck, but this is the Orient Express that is crashing, and you can’t look away from its crumpled beauty, especially because Verbinski (*Rango*, *The Ring*, *The Lone Ranger*, *Pirates of the Caribbean* movies) so boldly mimics the cinematography of Stanley Kubrick and the themes of *The Third Man*. Throw in an embrace of Thomas Mann’s *Death in Venice* and *Magic Mountain*, and you have the makings of something special – if it didn‘t all collapse in a tedious, bloated cacophony of silliness. Dane DeHaan, perhaps best known for playing the Green Goblin in *The Amazing Spider-Man 2* in 2014, plays Lockhart, a young American executive. After his boss visits a secluded spa in the Swiss Alps and refuses to return, the company assumes he’s had a nervous breakdown and sends Lockhart to retrieve him. But, once there, he realizes the sanatorium has both a haunted history and a bizarre attraction. People simply can’t find the will to leave, and Lockhart – helped by a mysterious patient, Hannah (Mia Goth) – is determined to find out why. Much like Jack Nicholson in *The Shining*, DeHaan is expected to do the film’s heavy lifting while depicting his own slide into insanity and undergoing torture on par with Malcolm McDowell’s in *A Clockwork Orange* – and he’s not up to the task*.* At least he has company, as other patients are also forced to undergo “the treatment.” Even a couple of CGI animals are harmed unnecessarily, seemingly to support Verbinski and writer Justin Haythe’s misguided, muddled metaphors about the life essence and, um, precious bodily fluids. Admittedly, the symbolism would be arresting, if we only understood it. Similarly, the film’s commentaries on commercial greed and mental health would have been more impactful if they hadn’t been devoid of context. As Volmer, the sanatorium’s director, Jason Isaacs is well cast, but, like DeHaan, he too is a prisoner of a nonsensical script and an unrelateable character. Though Goth’s character is also ridiculous, she gives the best performance. Indeed, when the film goes bat-shit crazy in its third act, she becomes infinitely watchable, harnessing an eroticism that is both mesmerizing and disturbing considering the character’s age and family ties. The film premiered at the 2016 Butt-Numb-A-Thon Film Festival, which is appropriate considering its 146-minute runtime. If 20 minutes had been excised, it would have at least had a chance at clarity. But at its current length, the film would be better suited to the Brain-Numb-A-Thon Festival, as the smart, surreal premise slowly, slowly unravels into schlock. Spoiler alert: One interpretation is that Lockhart – who is injured in a car crash – is dead for most of the movie. That would explain some of Verbinski’s wild plot explorations and his drift toward pure “art film.” Another explanation is that Lockhart is delusional, or a patient from the outset, in the vein of *I Am the Cheese*, an underrated mindbender from 1983. Personally, I was rooting for the latter, but, frankly, I would have settled for anything other than the actual conclusion. Meat Loaf taught us that we’ll never find a Coupe de Ville at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box. Conversely, Verbinski has reminded us that we might one day crack open a *Fabergé* egg and find a Yugo. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Crimson Peak](https://www.meiermovies.com/crimson-peak/) **Published:** October 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Crimson Peak**, 2015, 1 ½ stars # Crimson puke ### Guillermo del Toro’s romantic horror is an embarrassment [![CrimsonPeak_1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CrimsonPeak_1-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CrimsonPeak_1.jpg)Images copyright Legendary Pictures Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, October 16, 2015 Guillermo del Toro has coasted on his reputation as “the visionary director of *Pan’s Labyrinth*” for nine years. The ride is over. Sophomoric headline of this review aside, del Toro’s *Crimson Peak* is not a complete disaster and is certainly not as bad as his last effort, *Pacific Rim.* As one would expect from this director, it looks superb. But when you include a minor element called the screenplay, it turns into an embarrassment that has more in common with a higher-budget, better-shot Hammer horror (with a dash of Roger Corman) than anything del Toro’s fans have the right to expect after his well-received, though overrated, previous work. The film, which was written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins, is a Gothic romance – the story of a young woman named Edith (Mia Wisakowska) who is wooed away from her native New York, into the wilderness of rural England by a British gentleman, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), who seems charming enough but has little to his name save his crumbling estate, his odd inventions and his overbearing sister (Jessica Chastain). Only after her arrival at the mansion – named “Crimson Peak” for the blood-red clay it’s built on – does Edith suspect something is amiss spiritually, ethically and familially. This is not a straightforward ghost story, though it might have been better if it were. Strangely, del Toro makes his heroine a haunted woman – literally – from the film’s start. Both she and we see the ghost of her dead mother early in the film, reducing the fear factor to near zero, despite the CGI scares he piles on later in the pic, which, along with the overlong run time of two hours, make this one of the most overproduced haunted-house tales in cinematic history. To fully discuss the plot shortcomings and the ridiculously predictable twist – if you can really call it that – would be to spoil the film more than del Toro himself did. Instead, let me just note that when the director completely runs out of ideas in the final act, he turns to a tool he’s used before: graphic violence. Though limited in scope and created with finesse and a certain bloody beauty, the violence is not consistent with the nature of the characters’ relationships and completely upstages what little story there is. Surprisingly, del Toro never uses the one device that would produce an imaginative death scene: a steam-punkish digging machine that Sir Thomas has invented to extract clay from the ground underneath the mansion and thereby stabilize its foundation – or something like that. The machine’s significance is never fully explained, leading us to believe its real raison d’etre will be to off its creator – just as the clock did to Orson Welles in *The Stranger*. No such luck. [![CrimsonPeakChastain](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CrimsonPeakChastain-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CrimsonPeakChastain.jpg)Another wasted element is a friendly dog who comes calling when Edith first arrives. However, it soon becomes clear that Thomas and his sister previously discarded the dog and were disappointed and surprised when it returned. But we never really know why. Was the dog digging up some hidden secret like the canine in the aforementioned Welles classic? Does it give solace to lonely Edith? Does it symbolize something greater than itself? No. Its only memorable moment comes when it gets inexplicably smooshed – we assume – toward the end of the film. Though the death happens off screen, thankfully, it’s a startling example of sloppy storytelling and bad taste. The three main performances aren’t bad, with Chastain coming as close to rescuing the film as she can. However, Charlie Hunnam, of *Sons of Anarchy* fame, is totally wasted as a doctor with a mad crush on Edith, and his and Jim Beaver’s performance as Edith’s father are stiff and oddly ineffective. And the lack of chemistry between the performers, combined with the almost tongue-in-cheek lines, reminds one more of *Dark Shadows* (without the intended comedy) than Gothic horror. The film contains historical oddities as well. Though it was set in 1901 – as we see when Edith’s father signs a check – everyone is obsessed with candlelight. I suppose investigating spooky sounds in the middle of the night by candelabra is creepier than simply flipping a switch. (Yes, it’s clear that the building has electricity.) Similarly, the plot relies heavily on wax-cylinder sound recordings, one made as early as 1887, though that technology was not perfected for commercial use until 1888. Perhaps the Ghost of Technology’s Future paid them a visit? Del Toro has said he wanted to challenge our expectations of the genre and even subvert its rules, but that can’t explain his lazy script. Yes, he does play with the typical gender roles to nice effect, but the rest of his experimentations reduce the plot to predictability and preposterousness while turning the ghosts into mere MacGuffins (and unscary ones, at that) or “metaphors for the past,” as we’re spoon fed. Instead of the audience stumbling around in the dark, frightened and anxiously searching for meaning, it’s del Toro who seems blind, like an excited fanboy who wanted to make an homage to *The Innocents* or *The Others* – or even to *The Orphanage*, which he executive-produced – but got lost along the way, further proving that his strengths are art direction, cinematography and producing, not directing or writing. The movie’s most unintended meta-theatrical moment comes early, when the ghost of Edith’s mother – in a heavy-handed hint of foreshadowing straight out of *Scooby-Doo* – says, “Beware of Crimson Peak.” It’s too late for the pic’s green-lighters to heed the warning, but it’s not too late for you, dear reader. In fact, the spirit is so spot on in its recommendation that I’d be more than happy to give her a job as my, um, ghostwriter on my next del Toro review so I don’t have to watch the film myself. *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Courier](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-courier/) **Published:** March 18, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Courier**, 2021, 3 ¼ stars # Cold War *Courier* ## Cumberbatch stars as unlikeliest of spies [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Courier.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Courier.jpg)Benedict Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne. (image copyright Lionsgate) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/benedict-cumberbatch-stars-as-the-unlikeliest-of-spies-in-the-courier/Content?oid=28982831), March 17, 2021 The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is perceived chiefly as a conflict between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, specifically John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. But in *The Courier*, the new historical suspense-drama from director Dominic Cooke (*On Chesil Beach*), we’re reminded of the role of the little guy. That guy, specifically, is Greville Wynne, a British businessman recruited by MI6. The British spy organization, working with the CIA, wanted Wynne to travel to the USSR and contact Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking Russian official looking to smuggle valuable information to the West. Though Wynne was a civilian, his company’s contacts with Eastern Europe and his anonymity allowed him to maneuver within Russia freely and without suspicion, at least initially. “I’m just a salesman,” Wynne tells the CIA, in the film’s fictionalized first encounter with the agency. “Exactly. An ordinary salesman with no connection to the government,” the agent responds. And when things turn dicey, Penkovsky encourages his new American confidante: “Every moment you’re in Moscow, you will be selling one thing, the idea that you are an ordinary businessman and nothing more.” Portraying Wynne is a sympathetic and relatable Benedict Cumberbatch. In his and Cooke’s hands, the script – by Tom O’Connor – becomes a slightly darker and more true-to-life version of *The Man Who Knew Too Much*, by Alfred Hitchcock, who understood the effectiveness of throwing an everyman into peril. This version might instead be called *The Man Who Was Asked to Do Too Much and Never Got Credit* because, as is the norm with classified tales like this, the full details are rarely divulged. At least Wynne is now receiving thanks from a new generation in a very public – if Hollywoodized – way. Among the talented supporting cast are Jessie Buckley (*Wild Rose*, *I’m Thinking of Ending Things*) as Wynne’s wife, Angus Wright (*Official Secrets*) as an MI6 agent, Merab Ninidze (*Homeland*) as Penkovsky and Rachel Brosnahan (*House of Cards*, *The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel*) as Emily Donovan, Wynne’s CIA contact. Though Brosnahan is as compelling as always, her part doesn’t quite fit, which is unsurprising considering it’s fictional. Speaking about the decision to add the character, which is a composite of the men working on the case, O’Connor said (in the production notes released to the press), “Emily is fictional, in the sense that at the time, the officers who worked on this operation were all men. We felt casting another male wasn’t the most compelling version of the story to tell these days. We decided it would be more interesting to have the American, the CIA officer, be a woman.” *The Courier*, of course, isn’t a documentary. At least that would be the response of those who don’t mind fictional dalliances or argue for gender-balanced casting. As for me, these departures sometimes smell of contrivance and make me yearn for a documentary version, or perhaps either the 1985 BBC television series or the 2007 BBC television docudrama on the same subject. O’Connor’s version even goes so far as to juice up the Wynne marriage with the backstory of a marital affair, though, admittedly, an affair is a good metaphor for top-secret espionage. And, ironically, Wynne himself, in two books, apparently embellished his own story by claiming that his undercover work dated back to World War II. These nitpicks aside, *The Courier* is eminently watchable, even occasionally compelling. It never fully captures the scope of its unlikely narrative and also feels truncated. Indeed, the most dramatic part of Wynne’s predicament is confined to a small handful of scenes toward the end. But Cumberbatch is a good match for the story, and the story a good match for the big screen. It might have benefitted from a lighter touch – something akin to Steven Soderbergh’s *The Informant!* – and it does initially flirt with humor. But turning to dramedy would have further mangled the truth and inexcusably compromised Wynne’s legacy. Announcing the quarantine of Cuba on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy said, “The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are, but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage.” Turns out a lowly English salesman named Greville possessed similar character and courage. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Company You Keep](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-company-you-keep/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Company You Keep**, 2013, 3 stars ## Smarts trump suspense in Redford’s political thriller [![The Company You Keep](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Company-You-Keep-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Company-You-Keep.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-company-you-keep/Content?oid=2244649), April 24, 2013 Robert Redford’s *The Company You Keep* benefits from an intriguing premise and intelligent twists and turns. It also is notable for the company Redford himself keeps, in the form of a superb cast. But when the dust finally settles in this political-journalistic crime thriller, we’re left with not much more than the characters’ memories from years past and our own nostalgia for *All the President’s Men*. But perhaps it’s not fair to compare this film with the 1976 masterpiece about Watergate, which starred Redford but was helmed by Alan Pakula. Redford may be no Pakula, but he’s certainly no slouch. He hasn’t directed a masterpiece since *Quiz Show* in 1994, though, and it shows with his latest project, which is more of a slow-burn drama than a tight thriller. Nevertheless, from Lem Dobbs’ adaption of Neil Gordon’s historical novel, Redford has crafted something smart that’s worth seeing, if not particularly worth remembering. Redford plays an aging – the blond hair can’t disguise his 76 years anymore –lawyer raising his 11-year-old daughter by himself following his wife’s death. An old friend (the solid but underused Susan Sarandon) has just been arrested for her involvement 30 years ago with the Weather Underground, a militant anti-Vietnam protest group. Seeing the arrest as an opportunity to finally track down the rest of the group, both the FBI and newspaper reporter Shia LaBeouf (in a surprisingly good turn as the second lead) are hot on the trail of Redford and anyone else with knowledge of the members’ whereabouts. Redford’s character’s involvement and even his true identity are not revealed right away – and you’ll get no spoilers here – but don’t expect a huge surprise. Expect, instead, in Redford style, interesting characters, insightful (though a tad heavy-handed) political discussions and a great supporting cast – too great, actually, as the parade of stars is a bit distracting. There’s Anna Kendrick as a novice FBI agent, Stanley Tucci as a newspaper editor and Chris Cooper as the brother of Redford’s character. Throw in Brit Marling, Richard Jenkins, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliot, the incomparable Julie Christie, and Nick Nolte in the film’s juiciest, and craggiest, supporting role, and you’ve got the best entourage this side of a Robert Altman flick. None of them has much to do, but it’s still fun having them along for the ride. *The Company You Keep* is best when it presents the moral questions Redford is known for: What is the meaning of right and wrong in political activism and journalism? And was the Weather Underground justified in committing murder – and still justified for not necessarily feeling guilt for the crimes? The film doesn’t attempt to definitively answer these questions, which is wise, but it does provide a unique perspective on a generation that is too often portrayed simply as hippies, with little thought as to motivation. As Sarandon’s character says, “It was revolution. I wanted to be part of it.” “Groovy,” responds LaBeouf. “It was anything but groovy,” answers Sarandon. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Comedian](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-comedian/) **Published:** February 3, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Comedian**, 2016, 1 ¼ stars # Get the hook ## Robert De Niro’s *The Comedian* stinks [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Comedian.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Comedian.jpg)Image copyright Cinelou Films From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/robert-de-niros-the-comedian-stinks/Content?oid=2558775), February 1, 2017 If you’re seeking a flick designed to heavy-handedly showcase legends like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Cloris Leachman, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone and Charles Grodin while simultaneously celebrating and eviscerating stand-up comedy, take this film. Take this film, please. De Niro is Jackie Burke, a washed-up comic best remembered as the star of a 1980s sitcom, *Eddie’s Home*, an even crappier incarnation of *Married with Children*. Though he’s stuck with the stigma of Eddie, Jackie longs to spew his own obscenity-laden, mean, bitter material instead of the more polite, trite fare of his TV alter ego. Booked by his agent (Edie Falco) into a “nostalgia night” alongside Brett Butler and Jimmie Walker (as themselves), he’s heckled by a fan who, disappointed he’s not doing his Eddie shtick, reminds Jackie he’s there to work for the audience. “OK, boss,” Jackie responds angrily, “how about you give me an early Christmas present and tongue my balls?” He follows up this endearing comment by assaulting the audience member with a microphone, a crime that delivers him 30 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. While fulfilling the terms of his sentence in a soup kitchen, Jackie meets Harmony (Leslie Mann), who has also been given community service for a crime that – like most of the other plot points – is never fully fleshed out or given a *raison d’etre*. That Jackie and Harmony attend the wedding of Jackie’s niece (whom we don’t really know or care about) and end up having a weird romantic connection despite their age difference is typical of *The Comedian*. The same goes for DeVito being the brother of Jackie, despite the preposterous differences in look, personality and height. Perhaps if those differences – or the other aspects of the film that stretch credibility – had been played for farce, *The Comedian* would have been more watchable. Instead, the poor pacing, stale writing and pretentious parade of cameos (wait for the one in the elevator) produce a film and a main character that aren’t interesting, relatable or humorous. De Niro does bring some energy, but that energy is dampened by the annoying jazz score and lackluster editing. The latter is particularly bad thanks to its lazy fades and dissolves, and inclusion of at least three scenes that could have been excised to reduce the two-hour runtime. Surprisingly, it’s the always underrated Mann who is the funniest and most charismatic, despite her character’s odd motivations and her lack of chemistry with both De Niro and Keitel, who plays her scumbag father and dials in his performance, as does DeVito. De Niro has portrayed a stand-up comic before, in *The* *King of Comedy*, a vastly superior Martin Scorsese film. Scorsese was picked to direct *The Comedian* too, until the task fell to Sean Penn, then Mike Newell, then finally Taylor Hackford (*An Officer and a Gentleman*, *Ray*), who now has the distinction – along with writer Art Linson and his three screenplay collaborators – of creating a character not even Rupert Pupkin would want to kidnap. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Columbus](https://www.meiermovies.com/columbus/) **Published:** September 29, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Columbus**, 2017, 3 ¼ stars # *Columbus* is a worthy destination [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Columbus.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Columbus.jpg)Image copyright Depth of Field / Nonetheless Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/columbus-is-a-worthy-destination/Content?oid=7299739), September 29, 2017 To succeed in architecture, one must master space – both positive and negative – and learn to assemble small, stationary parts into a large, stable construction. The same is true for filmmakers, although we often forget it thanks to most movie’s frenetic, haphazard camerawork. But writer-director Kogonada hasn’t forgotten the connection between architecture and film. He understands it so well, in fact, that he has chosen it as the theme for his first feature, *Columbus*. Set in Columbus, Indiana, a small city known for its influential modern architecture, the film is minimalist in style but not in content. Indeed, if you can sink into the movie’s calming pace and meditative music, you will discover meaning. And much like the city’s architectural transparency and openness, the importance of its subjects is plain to see. Casey is fresh from high school and trying to decide whether to leave her hometown to study architecture or stay with her mother, whom she is fiercely protective of thanks to her mom’s recent drug addiction. (The town is mostly known for “meth and modernism,” Casey says.) But despite her mental conflict, Casey seems strangely content to work at the library and take daily pilgrimages to her favorite modern buildings, which, like her, have little to hide. Mirroring those serene glass structures, Casey has a sweetness, simplicity and openness that is instantly attractive. And relative newcomer Haley Lu Richardson (*Split*, *The* *Edge of Seventeen*) perfectly embodies those characteristics. Into this world comes Jin, a Korean-American who finds himself in Columbus after his father, a well-known architectural scholar, is taken ill while on a lecturing tour. After the illness progresses to a permanent coma that necessitates his confinement to his hospital bed, Jin is stuck in Columbus, awaiting the inevitable. But against all odds, he meets and strikes up a friendship with the much younger Casey. Casey is initially excited about meeting someone who, like her, appreciates architecture, a topic she says is wasted on most of the townspeople. But though his father is famous in the field, Jin is seemingly as uninterested as the average Columbus citizen, preferring to discuss what motivates Casey emotionally rather than intellectually or artistically. “I’m just like everyone here,” Jin tells Casey. “I grow up around something and it feels like nothing.” But instead of reflecting Jin’s true feelings, that statement is a glimpse into his personality. While Casey is an airy, open, modern building, Jin is a Victorian stone structure. It will take some effort to get inside. And, fittingly, it takes some time to warm to John Cho, the actor playing Jin. Not nearly as compelling as Richardson, Cho is nevertheless intermittently interesting in an understated way – and worlds away from his performances in the abysmal *Harold & Kumar* movies. Parker Posey, as the publicist of Jin’s father, is a minor but effective addition, as is Rory Culkin (Macaulay Culkin’s brother) as Casey’s co-worker. Though the latter’s part is also small, it’s his speech about the “crisis of attention vs. crisis of interest” that sets the film’s tone. “Are we losing interest in things that matter?” he asks Casey. “Are we losing interest in everyday life?” Those questions are worth contemplating when action movies that resemble video games gain larger audiences than mature movies like *Columbus*. Admittedly, Kogonada paces his film almost too methodically and makes some odd, even frustrating, choices concerning what not to show. Some might even label the film “slight” or accuse the screenplay of being occasionally adrift. It will, therefore, disappoint some viewers, but *Columbus* is still an impressive and sometimes mesmerizing directorial debut. It’s also a film that is self-aware, as when Casey wonders aloud whether Jin’s father will recover. “This isn’t a movie,” Jin responds. “Nothing’s gonna happen.” He might as well be nodding toward the camera, a camera that, in a style reminiscent of Japanese master filmmaker Yasujirō *Ozu*, barely budges for 100 minutes. The only noticeable tracking shot, in fact, comes when Jin meets Casey. The camera follows them as they walk on opposite sides of a fence, sharing a cigarette, reminiscent of scenes in Richard Linklater’s *Before* Trilogy. Then the fence opens up, allowing them to observe each other unencumbered, just as the film is challenging us to stop, relax and contemplate the quiet yet unexpectedly beautiful lives of its characters. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Colette](https://www.meiermovies.com/colette/) **Published:** October 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Colette**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars ## Socially relevant *Colette* sumptuous but formulaic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Colette.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Colette.jpg)Image copyright 30West / Bleecker Street Media / Number 9 Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/socially-relevant-colette-sumptuous-but-formulaic/Content?oid=19567979), October 10, 2018 Duality dominated the life of famed French writer Colette. Born a 19th-century country girl with old-world mores, she became the libertine – and liberated – toast of 20th-century Paris. And initially content to stay in her husband’s shadow as she ghost-wrote his novels, she eventually divorced him, claimed authorship for herself and received a Nobel Prize nomination for a body of work that included *Gigi* and the four *Claudine* books. *Colette*, the new biographical drama from British-American director Wash Westmoreland (*Still Alice*), shares that duality, as it showcases a cultural and sexual whirlwind in a surprisingly straightforward fashion. It is, therefore, stuck in two universes: one of subject and one of form. That dichotomy is interesting to observe, though the movie is not as successful as its namesake at juggling its two worlds. Colette the woman was groundbreaking and talented, but *Colette* the movie, while gorgeous, isn’t particularly original or poetic. While Keira Knightley, in the title role, again proves why she’s one of the greatest actors of her generation, she lacks chemistry with Dominic West (Willy, her husband), and their quarreling grows tiresome. Admittedly, it’s fascinating to see the modern world come into its own, with the newly invented lightbulbs providing a nice metaphor for a cultural and sexual illumination. But the film never shines with the same intensity as the new incandescence. It’s gaslight in electric ladyland. “The hand that holds the pen writes history,” Colette and her husband agreed when she started secretly writing his books. But when the dust settled on their marriage, it was Colette clutching the quill, reducing her husband to the dust bin of history. Yet the screenplay – by Westmoreland, Ricard Glatzer and Rebecca Lenkiewicz – never paints Willy as a villain intent on subjugating his wife, and that’s a mature decision. Rather, he’s just a man: complicated, flawed, proud and ultimately unable to manage his jealousy and financial affairs. Still, when he’s described late in the film as broken, one is left wondering exactly where and when he broke, because the choppy script never fully depicts that break. Instead, the film is more concerned with presenting chronological glimpses of Colette’s psychological and cultural transformation. “Look at that,” it’s saying. “Here, let me show you this,” and “Ah, isn’t this socially relevant to today’s gender-equality and transgender-rights battles?” The answer to that question is yes, but the lesson lacks both the profundity and subtlety of a more accomplished writer and director. *Colette* is the second major release this year to focus on a woman who ghost-wrote her husband’s books. The other – spoiler alert! – is *The Wife*, starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce. But in that film, we must wait to find out the true author, and therein lies the suspense. Because *Colette* plays its narrative cards face up, the suspense lies not in the audience reveal but in the reveal to the French public. But that reveal is reduced to explanatory text in the end credits, robbing us of what must have been not just a revelation to the literary world but a moment of catharsis for Colette. Still, it’s engrossing to watch Knightley guard that secret while simultaneously exploring her intellectuality and sexuality with her sultry American lover (Eleanor Tomlinson), her “lady-man friend” (Denise Gough) and the famous singer-actress-tightlacer Polaire (Aiysha Hart). *Colette* succeeds, despite its flaws, because of Knightley’s powerhouse performance, Michael Carlin’s sumptuous production design and Giles Nuttgen’s sensual cinematography. (The latter births arguably the most erotic cinematic experience of 2018.) Without those three factors, *Colette* would have sunk into mediocrity, unworthy of its unique subject. As it stands, it’s a worthwhile flirtation with an alluring and influential historical period. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Cold War](https://www.meiermovies.com/cold-war/) **Published:** January 30, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Cold War** FL, 2018, 1 ¾ stars # *Cold* fish ## Period romance lacks love, depth [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cold-War.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cold-War.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / Opus Films / Film4 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/period-romance-cold-war-lacks-love-depth/Content?oid=23504222) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/review-preiod-romance-cold-war-lacks-love-depth/Content?oid=19746639), January 25, 2019 “After so many years, even the fire of passion dies, and with it what was believed the light of the truth,” wrote Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco in *The Name of the Rose*. Eco’s writing contemplates the relationship between time, emotion and personal certainty, as does Polish writer-director Paweł Pawlikowski’s *Cold War*. Loosely based on the lives of his parents, the film takes place during the height of tensions between the Soviet bloc and the West, and tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers separated by politics and their own missteps. And though Pawlikowski surely intended for his characters’ passion to burn red hot on the screen – in stark contrast to the black-and-white cinematography – we’re instead left with little but a cold, passionless, underwritten tale of a relationship wrecked by circumstance. Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and Zula (Joanna Kulig) meet in post-World War II Poland. He is an accomplished musical scholar with a devotion to folk tunes, and she is an aspiring singer. Though he is older and essentially her supervisor in a Communist-run traveling troupe, he is unable to resist her unpredictability, honesty and smoldering sensuality, while she is drawn to his, well, it’s not clear. Perhaps it’s their passion for music that brings them together, or their shared resistance to the propagandizing of what they hoped would be a noble cultural endeavor. Ultimately, they seem to become permanently bonded not so much by love but by their exile from one another – after Zula fails to join Wiktor when he defects to France. *Cold War* has received praise – and Oscar nominations for foreign-language film, director and cinematography – but its champions are either ignoring or, astonishingly, not bothered by the film’s episodic structure, which sucks relatability, character development and narrative satisfaction from what could have been a haunting tale of found-and-lost-and-found romance. More a series of vignettes set over two decades, *Cold War* might have held intrigue and heartbreak if Pawlikowki’s script (co-written by Janusz Głowacki and Piotr Borkowski) contained more tenderness. Rather, it portrays Wiktor and Zula as angry, frustrated, non-communicative and even abusive. And though the film has an old-fashioned, quiet beauty, which is bolstered by its color palette – or lack thereof – and its 1.37:1 aspect ratio, its bare-bones, oddly structured story smells of arthouse pretention. Jacqueline Susann wrote, in *Valley of the Dolls*, “People parted, years passed, they met again – and the meeting proved no reunion, offered no warm memories, only the acid knowledge that time had passed and things weren’t as bright or attractive as they had been.” And thus Wiktor and Zula keep on keeping on, clinging to an inexplicable, impractical and often ugly love that is so understated and undernourished as to be practically non-existent. *Cold War*’s critical success is all the more frustrating considering the plethora of better foreign films from 2018. So stay out of the *Cold* and instead warm to *Burning*, get caught with *Shoplifters*, embrace *The Guilty* and visit *Roma*, which could become the first non-English-language movie to ever win the Academy Award for best film. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Climate of the Hunter](https://www.meiermovies.com/climate-of-the-hunter/) **Published:** August 17, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Climate of the Hunter**, 2020, ½ star # *Climate* change [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Climate-of-the-Hunter.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Climate-of-the-Hunter.png)Image courtesy Florida Film Festival Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, August 17, 2020 Mickey Reece is out there, both aesthetically and geographically. The writer-director is known for his combination of unusual themes and minimalist, low-budget style often characterized as “people talking in rooms.” And he makes his films in a place not many associate with the movie industry: Oklahoma. While all this makes Reece unique, with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, this doesn’t necessarily make him OK. His latest offering, *Climate of the Hunter*, probably won’t be a huge surprise to Reece’s fans, but it might be a tough pill for mainstream audiences. Of course, that’s assuming those audiences see it, which is unlikely. Instead, *Climate*, hampered by COVID-19, as are all current films, has played just a few events, including last year’s Fantastic Fest and the recent Florida Film Festival. At the latter, the movie was met with a mix of enthusiasm, curiosity, agape jaws and abject boredom. That’s likely because the film lacks a strong story. And that’s no accident, according to Reece, who told the festival audience (via a virtual Q&A) that his script, which was co-written by John Selvidge, flowed from the set and the actors. Though he had almost no budget, Reece did have access to some atmospheric, rustic cabins and an actor (Ben Hall) who is a good fit for a 1970s-style, campy horror. So, as it is for many unfunded, independent filmmakers, circumstance was apparently the mother of invention. Hall plays Wesley, a man who might be a vampire. Life is tough for the potentially undead, especially when you’ve just committed your wife to a mental institution. So to get away from it all, he decides to revisit his family’s cabin in the woods, where he becomes reacquainted with two sisters (Ginger Gilmartin and Mary Buss) who reside next door. Then Wesley’s son (Sheridan McMichael) and one of the sister’s daughter (Danielle Evon Ploegeragainst) show up. Then the group eats dinner. And they talk. And we meet another dude (Jacob Ryan Snovel, who played Elvis in *Mickey Reece’s Alien*) who lives nearby and likes to smoke pot. This is where a film critic is supposed to offer insightful commentary exposing the soul of a film. Honestly, I’ve got nothing. Sorry, Mickey. But, hey, if the filmmaker admits he didn’t exactly have a burning desire to tell this particular story, I guess I shouldn’t try too hard either. I’ll simply quote Frank Barone from *Everybody Loves Raymond*: “Have an idea out there.” Perhaps the film is hindered by the fact that Reece didn’t make it weird enough. Indeed, one audience member at the Q&A asked him why he didn’t go full crazy. (That – and more naturalistic pacing – would have at least boosted the entertainment factor.) Reece implied that he wanted to balance the strangeness with some degree of conventionality. But by doing so, he ruins his chance to cleverly subvert the genre and instead delivers a tonal train wreck. Put more crudely, *Climate* resembles a community-theatre production of *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* Or a cross between the original *Dark Shadows* and a Neil Breen film. Cinematographer Samuel Calvin, who also participated in the festival Q&A, is somewhat successful at capturing the period vibe with a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, stylistic zooms and retro camera lenses. And, admittedly, a small part of me would like to see what Reece could do with a bigger budget and better actors. But a bigger part of me is simply glad I survived the screening. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Children Act](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-children-act/) **Published:** September 25, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Children Act**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars # An uncomfortable *Act* ## Drama challenges notions of legal morality [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Children-Act.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Children-Act.jpg)Image copyright BBC Films / A 24 Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 25, 2018 Britain’s “Children Act” – the law that inspired and lent its name to Ian McEwan’s 2014 novel and director Richard Eyre’s cinematic adaptation – states that a court can disregard the wishes of parents, and even children themselves, to protect the health of a minor. The law makes sense from a societal standpoint, but its enforcement sometimes places a heavy psychological and spiritual burden on not just the child but also the enforcer. Emma Thompson plays said enforcer in Eyre’s new drama, while Fionn Whitehead (*Dunkirk*) portrays the boy, Adam. Just months shy of his 18th birthday, Adam has leukemia and needs a blood transfusion. But, as a Jehovah’s Witness, this “very devout and awfully precocious” boy believes that blood is a gift from God. Replacing any of it would alter his soul and alienate him from his parents and his faith, he claims. Legally, it’s almost an open-and-shut case for Judge Fiona Maye (Thompson), as Adam faces death without the transfusion. But she’s intrigued by the ethical questions surrounding her decision and decides to visit Adam in hospital, opening the door for both a greater understanding of legal moralism and a potentially awkward personal connection between the two. After all, it’s not every day that you get to meet the person who will decide your fate. Adam and his parents might view that entity as God, but it’s really Fiona. As one would expect from an Eyre film, these events are set against the backdrop of another moral conundrum. In this instance, it’s the pronouncement by Fiona’s husband (Stanley Tucci) that, though he still loves Fiona and wants their marriage to remain strong, he intends to sleep with another woman. “Couples in marriage often end up like siblings,” he tells her, forcing Fiona to confront not just her husband’s seemingly selfish decision but her own failings as a wife. As with her decision involving Adam, this marital dilemma is not as black and white as it seems. As with Eyre’s *Notes on a Scandal* (with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench), *The Children Act* is powered by two strong and intriguing performances, by Thompson and Whitehead. Though the film clearly belongs to Thompson, who exhibits both confidence and vulnerability, Whitehead is a scene stealer, even if the film’s final act gives him little to do. He still gets more meaningful screen time than Tucci, however, whose character probably worked better in the novel. In the screenplay, which McEwan adapted himself, Tucci – playing an American among Brits – exhibits his usual, quiet assuredness but seems slightly miscast, relegated to an allegorical device rather than a fully developed character. A similar criticism could be leveled at the entire film, which is successful at posing moral questions but not as adept at creating an emotionally satisfying narrative. It’s also tediously paced at times and slow to get going, at least before it transitions unexpectedly and cleverly from courtroom drama to something else entirely. It’s this change in tone and plot that should be commended, as the film has the courage to ask us to embrace an uncomfortable, disquieting examination of morality and the personal choices we all make along the path to that perceived morality. Not as engaging as the aforementioned *Notes on a Scandal*, this film is on par with the director’s *Stage Beauty*, with Billy Crudup and Claire Danes. (Interestingly, all three movies address awkward, semi-professional relationships between a man and a woman.) In *The Children Act*, though, that relationship rises almost to the level of religious parable, with the legal equivalent of God passing judgment on an “only child … dying for faith.” *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: As of September 25, 2018, this film was available on DirecTV, with only a very limited theatrical release planned.* --- ### [Cellular](https://www.meiermovies.com/cellular/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Cellular**, 2004, 2 ¾ stars ## Colonel Mustard in the billiard room with a cell phone From *OrlandoCityBeat.com*, September 10, 2004 The cell phone has invaded almost every part of our lives, so it’s only fitting that it should finally get a starring role in a motion picture. It gets the title role in *Cellular*, the new kidnap caper starring Kim Basinger, which is neither a great thriller nor a great comedy, but just competent enough at both genres to stay interesting. Basinger plays Jessica Martin, a mild-mannered and boringly one-dimensional mother who is kidnapped in an attempt to steal something of value from her home. Both she and the audience have to wait a while to find out whether it’s a case of mistaken identity or whether Jessica, her husband or young son really have anything the kidnappers want. Enter Chris Evans (*Not Another Teen Movie*) as Ryan, a 20-something surfer dude with almost anything on his mind except trying to free Jessica from the clutches of murdering thugs. But that’s exactly the task that is thrown upon him when Jessica repairs a busted phone in the attic in which she’s imprisoned and manages to reach just one number at random: Ryan’s cell phone. After debating briefly whether the call is genuine, Ryan first approaches the police but then with little explanation or motivation chooses to try to save Jessica himself. Although we never really understand why, we’re led to believe that if Ryan loses his connection with Jessica, she will die. More importantly, if the connection is lost, the cell phone may get less screen time, and that would be a shame as it gives a more realistic performance than Basinger. The film’s first half lurches between comedy, complete with scenes of bikini babes on the Santa Monica peer, and what is supposed to be a suspense. Because of the wild stylistic changes, the bad performance by Basinger and the preposterous assumption that Ryan would risk his own life to save a woman he has never seen, the film does little right in the early going. But then something happens: You start to inexplicably enjoy yourself. This enjoyment occurs not just because Evans gives an animated and sympathetic performance but because director David Ellis, whose previous experience is limited to directing bad sequels and coordinating movie stunts, gets the balance between light and dark correct. Although it’s more on par with *The Whole Nine Yards* than *Pulp Fiction,* *Cellular* has a surprising originality and a fair number of remotely clever twists. Add to this off-beat mix the magic of William H. Macy as a cop who stumbles upon the crime, the stern creepiness of Jason Statham (*Snatch*) as the head kidnapper and the quiet competence of Noah Emmerich (*The Truman Show*) as Macy’s boss, and things start to click. Sure, it’s light and meaningless at times, but Evans and Macy successfully battle their way through some awkward lines and badly scored chase scenes, adding humor and even some dramatic tension along the way. *Cellular*, with its mix of quirkiness and eclectic intrigue, is much like its title character: It can be annoying, juvenile and unfulfilling, but somehow you just can’t put it down. *© 2004 OrlandoCityBeat.com* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Carol](https://www.meiermovies.com/carol/) **Published:** January 10, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Carol**, 2015, 3 ¼ stars ## *Carol* is haunting despite its emotional distance [![carol-image-rooney-mara-cate-blanchett](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/carol-image-rooney-mara-cate-blanchett-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/carol-image-rooney-mara-cate-blanchett.jpg)Image copyright Number 9 Films/Film4 From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/carol-is-haunting-despite-its-emotional-distance/Content?oid=2462478), January 13, 2016 “You don’t try to photograph the reality,” Stanley Kubrick once said. “You try and photograph the photograph of reality.” If that’s true, then *Carol*, the romantic drama from director Todd Haynes (*Far From Heaven*), goes one step further by photographing the photo of the photo, and thereby creating a hazy, distant depiction of forbidden love. His Impressionistic approach may seem pretentious, detached and even unemotional. Yet the film’s sensitivity, nuanced performances and social relevance ultimately combine to deliver a haunting, if slightly ponderous, product. Written by Phyllis Nagy – from the 1952 novel by Patricia Highsmith – and shot in a sumptuous and stylistic manner, the film tackles Eisenhower-era lesbianism. Therese, a timid, 20-something shop girl at a Manhattan department store, meets middle-aged Carol while the latter is searching for an extravagant Christmas gift for her daughter to both reflect her budget and fill the parental void that her pending divorce has created. She chooses a train set, but the “little engine that could” simply can’t work marital magic, and before long it’s Carol who is hitting the rails to find love outside her broken home. She turns to Therese, who is immediately infatuated with Carol – more than Carol is with her. Indeed, the novel was written almost entirely from Therese’s point of view, perhaps to give the story a sense of longing or to shroud Carol in mystery. Though the film gives the characters equal emphasis, Carol remains a bit of a cipher, and the lack of chemistry between Cate Blanchett (Carol) and Rooney Mara (Therese) doesn’t help us understand the characters or feel their passion. > ### *She chooses a train set, but the “little engine that could” simply can’t work marital magic, and before long it’s Carol who is hitting the rails to find love outside her broken home.* Despite the distance between the leads, their individual performances are stellar. Mara conveys confused beauty while capturing the deer-in-the-headlights look of young love. But, except for one scene, her smoldering desire doesn’t fully catch fire. The same might be said for Blanchett, who, ironically, seems to shine most brightly not when in the embrace of her young companion but instead in scenes with her neglectful but nevertheless passionate husband, Harge, played well by Kyle Chandler. Blanchett is particularly effective when she’s fighting for both her daughter and her dignity, and if she garners her seventh Oscar nomination, it will be because of those moments. Not so successful are Sarah Paulson (Carol’s closest friend) and Jack Lacy (Therese’s boyfriend). While Paulson’s performance is fine, she has disappointingly little to do. If only the same could be said for Lacy, who doesn’t grasp the finer points of his role. While the story is thin and contains a small surprise late in the film that stretches believability, the art direction and ambience are effective. Indeed, except for one odd reference to the Interstate Highway System, which wasn’t begun until after the film’s events, the movie successfully conjures up 1950s glamour, style and anti-gay bigotry. “What a strange girl you are, flung out of space,” Carol tells Therese. Strange, too, is the film, which, despite its emotional inaccessibility and overreliance on aesthetics, is still worth a watch for those with maturity and patience. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Captain Phillips](https://www.meiermovies.com/captain-phillips/) **Published:** July 21, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Captain Phillips**, 2013, 4 ¼ stars # High stakes on the high seas ## *Captain Phillips* is a personal, powerful thriller From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/captain-phillips-is-a-personal-powerful-thriller/Content?oid=2244072), October 9, 2013 If you’re unfamiliar with the events of April 2009, when an American cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Africa, do yourself a favor and do not Google the incident before seeing the film adaptation starring Tom Hanks. You’ll certainly get no spoilers here, as not knowing the details and outcome in advance dramatically enhances this smart, tense thriller. [![Captain Phillips](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Captain-Phillips-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Captain-Phillips.jpg)Image copyright Columbia Pictures The story is simple, *Dog Day Afternoon* simple. It’s no masterpiece on the scale of that 1975 bank-robbery classic, but both films powerfully capture high-stakes games of cat-and-mouse, allow you to understand and relate to their characters, and end with emotional wallops. Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama, which was transporting commercial cargo and, ironically, food aid for Somalia when it was overtaken by four gun-toting pirates. Phillips and his crew of about 20 men were unarmed and had only the boat itself for protection when the outlaws launched their brazen attack, making international headlines. *Captain Phillips*, directed by Paul Greengrass (*United 93* and *The Bourne Supremacy*), is a penetrating, realistic glimpse into that attack, yet it doesn’t stereotype either the heroes or the villains. While we do see the evil of the hijackers’ crimes and are rooting strongly against them, we also see their desperation, as this is simply the only life choice available to them if they want to prosper. “I come too far,” the lead pirate tells Phillips in a rare moment of openness. “I can’t give up.” Needing no fictional embellishment, the screenplay by Billy Ray, based on the book by Phillips himself, nevertheless changes a few minor details of the actual event, but that matters little. What does matter is an overuse of handheld camera, which is a favorite of Greengrass*.* That often annoying style is mostly warranted here, though, considering the high-seas setting, the cramped spaces and the frenzied feel. Still, if you’re bothered by a jerky camera, you might want to sit toward the back of the theatre and take your Dramamine lest you feel as seasick as the characters. Despite some unexpectedly great performances by the novice actors playing the Somali pirates, especially group leader Muse (Somali-native Barkhad Abdi), the film belongs to Hanks. He may not quite be the Hanks of *Forrest Gump* or *Philadelphia*, but he’s certainly the Hanks of *Apollo 13* and *Cast Away*, in total command of his performance and his audience, and a pleasure to watch. It’s good to have him back at the top of his craft, and doing a decent job with his dialect, after his embarrassingly bad accent work in *Cloud Atlas*. Look for his sixth Oscar nomination, and his first in 13 years. Though a little choppy and overly long in its third act, *Captain Phillips* does much more than simply stay afloat – it holds your attention in a vice grip for more than two hours and firmly positions itself as one of the top 10 films of the year so far. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Z](https://www.meiermovies.com/z/) **Published:** December 12, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ### **Read Cameron Meier’s reviews of films starting with Z:** Zaytoun FL (2013; 3 stars), part of the [Central Florida Jewish Film Festival article 2013](http://www.meiermovies.com/2013-central-florida-jewish-film-festival/ "2013 Central Florida Jewish Film Festival") --- ### [Hereditary](https://www.meiermovies.com/hereditary/) **Published:** June 11, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Hereditary**, 2018, 4 ¼ stars # *Hereditary* horror [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hereditary.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hereditary.jpg)Image copyright PalmStar Media / A24 Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, June 11, 2018 I missed the advance screening of *Hereditary*, as I was vacationing in Maine at the time. During my trip, I briefly immersed myself in the waters off Bar Harbor. At just 52 degrees, those waters were a shock to my system. Initially intriguing, the frigidity soon left me stunned, almost numb. If I had remained for just a few seconds longer, the feeling would have likely turned to nausea. Upon my return home, I watched *Hereditary*. And though it was 90 degrees outside and a comfortable 74 in the cinema in Orlando, that same chill returned to me. That same feeling of dread. The film stars Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd, Milly Shapiro and Toni Collette in the performance of her career – one that should earn her an Oscar nomination for best actress. (Wolff might also be in the conversation for a supporting-actor nod.) Though it has become a critical darling, it has sharply divided audiences. Even my own friends are bitterly split over the aesthetic merits of this supernatural, psychological horror. Some are bothered by the slow pacing and unpleasant nature of the story, which avoids jump scares and instead delves into nightmarish unpleasantness that is rarely explored in “genre pictures.” But others have found themselves surprisingly moved, disgusted, intrigued and impressed by this debut feature from director Ari Aster. I count myself in the latter group. And though I was mildly bothered by Byrne’s performance and the slightly over-the-top nature of the third act, the film successfully invokes true terror that lingers long after the projector flickers dark. Go see this film. Or, better yet, treat yourself to a double feature of *Hereditary* and *Rosemary’s Baby*. The latter masterpiece from 1968 certainly represents superior filmmaking, but it’s still the closest comparison I can conjure to Aster’s achievement. Looking back again on my Maine vacation, I suddenly recall where I was at the time of that aforementioned advance screening: I was driving by Stephen King’s house in Bangor. I guess everything happens for a reason. *© 2018 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7784604/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_(film)).* --- ### [Café Society](https://www.meiermovies.com/cafe-society/) **Published:** August 5, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Café Society**, 2016, 1 ½ stars # Woody at his worst ## *Café Society* a rare Allen misfire [![Cafe Society](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Cafe-Society.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Cafe-Society.jpg)Image copyright Gravier Productions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/period-piece-cafe-society-is-a-rare-woody-allen-misfire/Content?oid=2511492), July 27, 2016 There will soon be no more new Woody Allen movies. The familiar Windsor credit font will no longer flicker. We won’t hear that wonderful period jazz anymore. And the deliciously intellectual one-liners will be just a memory. It will be painful. But watching the aging genius struggle with his latest project, *Café Society*, is painful too. Many of the legendary director’s familiar comedic constructs are there, accompanied by a nihilism that has permeated some of his recent work, but it’s as if everyone involved is suffering from cinematic amnesia or dementia, unable to remember what made Allen’s previous films great. From the stiff performances, to the odd narrative structure, to the clunky editing, to Allen’s almost unbearable voiceover, this film fails. Jesse Eisenberg, fresh off a horrible turn as Lex Luthor in *Batman v Superman*, isn’t much better here as Bobby, a sweet, naïve New Yorker fresh to 1930s Hollywood. He’s there to seek a change of scenery and career assistance from his uncle (the miscast Steve Carell, who replaced Bruce Willis because of a “scheduling conflict”), a bigwig movie agent. But before he knows it, he’s falling head over heels for his uncle’s secretary (Kristen Stewart, bland as ever), though she’s seriously involved with a married man. It’s a pickle, I tell ya. Elaborating on the complexities of said pickle would spoil the twists more than Allen’s script already spoils them, so I’ll simply say that the Shakespearean comedic coincidences are never mined successfully and instead appear contrived, clumsy and both dramatically and comically uninteresting thanks to the dear-in-the-headlights performances of the three leads and the pointless inclusion of Parker Posey and Blake Lively in supporting roles. And when Bobby returns to New York to help his gangster brother open a nightclub, we are asked to suddenly show interest in a story element that had heretofore been a throwaway subplot. We tolerated that subplot early in the film because it seemed to exist just to flesh out the familial back story of the protagonist. But when it suddenly becomes the movie’s heart and prompts a 180-degree change in Bobby, it stretches credibility. The switch is so abrupt, in fact, that it conjures memories of Eisenberg’s dual performances in a much better film, *The Double*, and splits *Café Society* into essentially two movies, both of which could be contenders for Allen’s worst ever. You’d think the steady hand – or voice – of Allen might right this sinking ship. But it actually hastens its demise, as his narration is hopelessly stiff and sounds like a recitation of stage directions or spoken excerpts from his own film treatment. Shot by Vittorio Storaro (*Apocalypse Now*, *Reds*), *Café Society* is Allen’s first digital movie, and it looks wonderful. The set direction and costumes are superb too. But all this wonderful *mise*-en-scène reaffirms the feeling that the film exists only for Allen to show off the old Hollywood he loves and to keep alive his one-film-a-year streak. “Life is a comedy, written by a sadistic comedy writer,” Bobby says. That’s an admittedly amusing line and proves that Allen hasn’t completely lost his touch. But his latest script is more indicative of incompetence than sadism. *Copyright 2016 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [Brian Banks](https://www.meiermovies.com/brian-banks/) **Published:** August 8, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Brian Banks**, 2019, 2 ¾ stars # Bankable ## *Brian Banks* is a crowd-pleaser [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Brian-Banks.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Brian-Banks.jpg)Image copyright Bleecker Street Media / ShivHans Pictures / Gidden Media From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/brian-banks-is-a-crowd-pleaser/Content?oid=25781002), August 7, 2019 An old filmmaking adage teaches us that different movies succeed for different reasons. While one film might win you with its visual style and directorial sensibility, another might lack technical pizzazz but succeed thanks to a compelling story and a couple of solid performances. Such is the case for *Brian Banks*, which has little cinematic flair, a heavy-handed score, a saccharine under-taste and even some cringeworthy dialogue, but is effective for the simplest reason: You care about the main character. Based on the real story of Brian Banks, the new drama by director Tom Shadyac tells the tale of a talented high school football player imprisoned for a rape he did not commit. Banks’ incarceration, probation and sex-offender status ruined his chance at a college athletic scholarship and lucrative NFL career – until Banks decided to do something about his seemingly hopeless situation. This jail-to-justice story is fodder for a feel-good TV flick, and Doug Atchison’s screenplay often lives down to that boob-tube expectation. But an emotionally powerful performance by Aldis Hodge (*Leverage*, *Straight Outta Compton*) as Banks and a film-stealing one by relative newcomer Xosha Roquemore as Banks’ accuser elevate the film beyond both a typical sports flick and a cable-channel “movie of the week.” In fact, Roquemore’s character’s reemergence, halfway through the film, saves the production from narrative drift and, shockingly, is true. (It’s refreshing to see a bio pic not reinvent its subject’s life.) In a well-cast supporting role is Greg Kinnear as the head of the California Innocence Project, a non-profit organization devoted to helping wrongly convicted individuals. The CIP is featured so heavily that the film can seem like a message movie. It also teeters on the brink of a religious picture, thanks to references to God and one scene’s conveniently placed cross. Kinnear seems to enjoy such films, but it’s still nice to see him back from the cinematic wilderness, if only briefly. The same goes for Morgan Freeman, who, in a tiny and uncredited part as Banks’ prison mentor, adds gravitas. Sherri Shepherd (*Everybody Loves Raymond*), as Banks’ mother, also enjoys some successful screen time, but a subplot involving a potentially romantic interest is a tad contrived, despite a competent performance by Melanie Liburd (*This Is Us*). Almost as fascinating as the film are the parallels between subject and director. Shadyac, famous for such middle-brow fare as *Bruce Almighty*, *Patch Adams*, *Liar Liar* and *Ace Ventura: Pet Detective*, experienced a life-altering bicycle accident in 2007. The crash, which gave him post-concussion syndrome and left him suicidal, also offered him a fresh outlook on life. He gave up directing, eschewed materialism, opened a homeless shelter and eventually became a teacher. In fact, except for a documentary about his existential transformation, *Brian Banks* is Shadyac’s first directorial project since *Even Almighty* in 2007. Clearly, he was moved by Banks’ story. I predict you will be too. “All you can control in life is how you respond to life,” Freeman’s character preaches. It’s advice that both Banks and Shadyac obviously took to heart. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Boys State](https://www.meiermovies.com/boys-state/) **Published:** August 11, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Boys State**, 2020, 4 stars # *State* of the art ## *Boys State* is one of the year’s best docs [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Boys-State.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Boys-State.jpeg)Image courtesy Florida Film Festival From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/boys-state-screening-in-this-years-florida-film-festival-is-one-of-2020s-best-documentaries/Content?oid=27775746), August 12, 2020 If you cringed at the “one time at band camp” stories from *American Pie*, just wait until you see what happens at government camp. Texas Boys State is an educational camp for exceptional high school students who crave an immersive introduction to state government. Managed by the American Legion and lasting one week, the program gives participants a chance to network with fellow students, forge a party platform, debate policy, pass “bills,” elect officials and ultimately vote for a “governor.” In previous years, it and similar programs in other states have attracted the likes of Bill Clinton, Samuel Alito, Cory Booker, Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. It all sounds rather lofty – and it can be – but boys will be boys. And once their testosterone is mixed with a heavy dose of competitiveness and two-party politics (Nationalists vs. Federalists), the proceedings often mimic the bickering and pettiness of real government. In *Boys State,* directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss capture much of the 2018 camp, crafting not just one of the best recent documentaries but one of this year’s most revelatory and relevant films of any genre. It premiered at Sundance and will stream on the Florida Film Festival’s virtual platform on August 13, one day before its Apple TV+ release. The film focuses primarily on five individuals: two Nationalist candidates for governor, one Federalist candidate and two trying to hold the proceedings together as chairmen of their respective parties. Never mind that no one understands what each party stands for. (The Nationalists seem to correspond more to Democrats and Federalists to Republicans, but the lines are blurred, and that’s mostly by design.) The boys are loyal to their parties not so much out of principle but, well, just because. That doesn’t mean ideals are absent. Indeed, the most emotional moments of the doc are when friendships are forged, cultural and ethnic differences are put aside and the boys learn something about themselves. Case in point: One gubernatorial candidate underestimates the integrity of both his opponent and his fellow students, and, in doing so, runs a jokey, charisma-driven campaign. But after he loses, he understands that the camp has a higher purpose. “On the inside, they wanted to be serious,” he confesses. Nevertheless, *Boys State*, through fly-on-the-wall moments and intimate interviews (some of which are, admittedly, a bit stagey), also highlights the worst instincts of our future politicians. It’s *Mr. Smith Goes to Washington* meets *Lord of the Flies*. “A message of unity, as good as it sounds and as good at it ultimately is for our country, is not winning anyone any elections,” one teenager tells us. “You have to use personal attacks, and you have to find divisive issues in order to differentiate yourself at all.” Ladies and gentleman, as the Who said, meet the new boss: same as the old boss. As for me, I’m both excited and terrified for our future. Hmm, I wonder if they’re having better luck over at Girls State. *© 2020 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Boyhood](https://www.meiermovies.com/boyhood/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Boyhood,** 2014, 4 stars # *Boyhood* is breathtakingly unique ## Richard Linklater filmed actors over 12 years From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/richard-linklaters-boyhood-is-refreshingly-unique/Content?oid=2243082)*, July 31, 2014; and [*Jacksonville Folio Weekly*](http://folioweekly.com/GROWING-UP-IN-REAL-TIME,10621), August 13, 2014 Since the dawn of cinema, directors have tried to capture the passage of time and the aging of actors. First choosing to borrow theatre make-up or cast actors of various ages in the same role, early filmmakers soon learned that the right light and lenses could achieve a realism unobtainable on stage. Advancement in prosthetics, traditional special effects and, ultimately, digital trickery – displayed most memorably in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* – have now made on-screen aging almost real. Almost. [![BOYHOOD - 2014 FILM STILL - Ellar Coltrane](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Boyhood-image-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Boyhood-image.jpg) Despite the brilliance of all those art forms, director Richard Linklater, in a single film, has upstaged all the makeup, CGI and wigs ever thrown at the screen by simply watching and waiting – and filming – over 12 years, in a fashion not entirely dissimilar from the *Up* documentaries. In 2002, he selected Ethan Hawke, with whom he’s worked on three other movies involving the expanse of time (the “Before” films), to play his story’s father, Mason Sr., while he chose Patricia Arquette for the mother. In the crucial role of Mason Jr., he cast Ellar Coltrane, and to portray Mason Jr.’s slightly older sister, Samantha, he picked his own daughter, Lorelei. Then he filmed, and filmed, and filmed, capturing not just the maturation of his screenplay’s characters, but the aging of real people, thereby creating a fascinating film and, at the same time, conducting a unique and noble experiment – and even crossing the line from fiction into unintended documentary. John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Linklater must agree, because to capture childhood from ages 6 to 18, he’s chosen not to portray many of life’s predictable moments. Instead, he’s selected seemingly random snapshots. By doing so, we don’t always get high drama, but we do get a patchwork quilt of existence. It has some misshapen squares, but when we examine the completed piece, we see truth. These cinematic squares depict sibling squabbles, stolen peaks at Victoria’s Secret catalogs, a first kiss, a first job and President Obama’s first presidential campaign. Other threads weave deeper, personal visions, such as when Mason Jr. discovers his dad’s flaws and realizes that his mom is stuck in a cycle of doomed marriages. And most fittingly, we see kids attending a Harry Potter film, because those movies, like this one, successfully capture fleeting youth and the aging of children – and the actors who portray them. *Boyhood*’s concept may be great, but the finished film falls just short of greatness. Speaking to the difficulty of predicting whether a child will become an effective adult actor, Coltrane and the young Linklater are just passable. Add in some clunky scenes and other average performances, and the film, especially early on, lacks energy and momentum. And by starting the story after Mason Jr.’s parents are already divorced, Linklater robs us of a crucial episode in the boy’s life. Still, when the movie’s 2 hours and 46 minutes are up, we can’t help but look back on Mason Jr.’s youth and examine our own while wondering, as he does, “What’s the point?” Despite the wrinkles in Linklater’s time tapestry, he has given us one of the most memorable movies of the year, and probably his own masterpiece. Time was clearly on his side, and now it’s on ours, too. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Boy Erased](https://www.meiermovies.com/boy-erased/) **Published:** December 1, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Boy Erased**, 2018, 3 ½ stars ## *Boy Erased* tackles ‘gay-conversion therapy’ [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Boy-Erased.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Boy-Erased.jpg)Image copyright Anonymous Content / Focus Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/boy-erased-tackles-gay-conversion-therapy/Content?oid=21145426), November 16, 2018 “I wish none of this had ever happened, but sometimes I thank God it did,” the main character tells us in the opening minutes of *Boy Erased*, the partially biographical drama about “gay-conversion therapy.” And with that oxymoronic comment setting the tone, writer-director-actor Joel Edgerton paints his slightly predictable but nevertheless meaningful portrait of a depraved belief system. *Boy Erased* is the second major movie of 2018 to tackle this topic, after *The Miseducation of Cameron Post*, but it’s significantly different, and better. While the former focused on the friendships formed at a “camp” designed to turn gay people straight, *Boy Erased* wisely places its emphasis on the trauma these institutions cause while offering an intimate look at the subject’s relationship with his family. Cinematic wunderkind Lucas Hedges (*Manchester by the Sea*, *Lady Bird*) plays Jared, a preacher’s son from Arkansas, the “land of opportunity.” That state motto goes painfully unrealized, however, after a traumatic incident at college forces Jared to reveal his homosexuality to his parents and, by doing so, prompts his fundamentalist father to send Jared to the preposterously named Love in Action center, at which counselors warn participants, “Nobody is to discuss the therapy outside these walls.” Though Jared is 18 and can vamoose anytime, there are repercussions for bailing, most notably alienation from his family. In this respect, the film is just as much about free will as the moral crimes of the counselors. Yet the distress they cause is front and center, such as when the center’s director (Edgerton) tells the young men and women in his care, “God will not love you the way that you are.” Ultimately, though, Jared uses his experience to help others. *Boy Erased* is slow to build and often confusing, as it alternates between Jared’s college environment and his time in “therapy.” Until one acclimates to this ill-advised use of flashbacks, it can be tough to follow. It also is overscored, never completely trusting its own quiet power. But the mature, subtle performances slowly burn into your conscience. Never reduced to caricatures, Jared, his mom (Nicole Kidman) and his father (Russell Crowe) are well rounded, relatable and profoundly human. Though Kidman offers another in her seemingly endless series of revelatory supporting turns (featuring an accurate yet never distracting dialect), Crowe is most memorable. Giving perhaps his best performance since 2005’s *Cinderella Man*, he is the epitome of a conflicted soul. Edgerton is excellent too, though his character never moves completely past the bad-guy stereotype and, therefore, remains at arm’s length emotionally. Good films about this topic are overdue, and those who suffered similar abuse will likely react to this movie in much the same way as Catholic priest’s victims did to *Spotlight*. *Boy Erased,* which is based on the 2016 memoir by Garrard Conley (the real-life Jared), isn’t nearly as good as the 2015 best-picture winner, but I did shed a tear. That emotional reaction was likely due to the performances of Hedges and Crowe, but it could have also been caused by the vicarious nature of cinema. Outside of the multiplex, I’m neither gay nor religious. But for a moment, in the dark, I was. And I’m wiser for it. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Bohemian Rhapsody](https://www.meiermovies.com/bohemian-rhapsody/) **Published:** November 3, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Bohemian Rhapsody**, 2018, 3 stars # *Rhapsody* entertaining but pedestrian [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bohemian-Rhapsody.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bohemian-Rhapsody.jpg)Image copyright 20th Century Fox / Regency Pictures / GK Films From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/bohemian-rhapsody-is-entertaining-but-pedestrian/Content?oid=20407345), October 31, 2018 The debate over what constitutes entertainment and what comprises art is often pointless. After all, great entertainment requires artistry on at least some level. Still, *Bohemian Rhapsody*, more than most movies this year, has revived that debate thanks to its status as solid entertainment but pedestrian drama. The Freddie Mercury biopic begins in 1970 when the superstar singer-songwriter meets bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor in London. (That’s not quite how it happened, but more on the film’s fudges later.) Events proceed quickly and predictably from bassist John Deacon’s joining the band, to mild chart success, to concert tours, to world stardom, to the inevitable in-fighting. And it’s all bookended by an astonishing re-creation of the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, which alone might be worth the admission price. But remove the music (which is mostly the real Queen, with contributions from Mercury mimic Marc Martel), and you have a paint-(or sing)-by-the numbers production with surprisingly uninspired writing by Anthony McCarten. (He was probably due a dip after *The Theory of Everything* and *Darkest Hour*.) The film has one of the most complicated production histories this side of *The Man Who Killed Don Quixote*. Announced eight years ago with the blessing of the surviving band members, the movie went through developmental thunderbolts and lightning, with Sacha Baron Cohen first attached as Mercury. Rami Malek (*Night at the Museum*, *Mr. Robot*) was eventually chosen, and though Cohen would have been an interesting watch, Malek successfully captures Mercury’s look and charisma. He gives one of the most fun performances of the year while also exposing Mercury’s demons. Though it sometimes resembles an impersonation more than a fully realized characterization, it should be enough to win him the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical over Bradley Cooper (*A Star is Born*). *Rhapsody* is peppered with other interesting actors, though the film’s structure never allows anyone but Malek to shine. Noteworthy are Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin (Mercury’s girlfriend), Tom Hollander as Jim Beach (a Queen manager) and Mike Myers as a fictional record executive – though the latter is a tad distracting. But the supporting standouts are Gwilym Lee as May (talk about a doppelganger!) and Allen Leech (Tom Branson in *Downton Abbey*) as Paul Prenter (Mercury’s manipulative personal manager), with whom he also shared a romance. That romance is diminished in the film, and Prenter is transformed into a scapegoat for Mercury’s drug problems and career mistakes. And there lies part of *Rhapsody*’s problem: revisionism. Sure, this isn’t a documentary, and, admittedly, some of the changes are designed to tighten the narrative and provide thematic direction. But many of the distortions simply don’t ring true, most notably Myer’s metatheatricality (his character hates “Bohemian Rhapsody” – get it?) and the insinuation that Mercury was already extremely ill with AIDs when he performed at Live Aid and viewed the performance as a temporary “screw you” to the disease that would take his life six years later. (The latter claim is dubious at best.) And while his bi-sexuality is front and center for the second half of the film, one can’t shake the feeling that Mercury’s personal and familial relationships are mishandled and de-emphasized. Still, under the direction of Bryan Singer (*The Usual Suspects*, *Superman Returns*) – or perhaps in spite of it, as he was replaced by Dexter Fletcher two-thirds of the way into shooting – the film succeeds thanks to an eye-catching lead performance, wonderful music, and the right mix of pathos and comedy. And if it sounds like I just endorsed a movie I spent most of this review criticizing, well, call me mercurial. Stripped of its powerhouse musical numbers, the film is the cinematic equivalent of a rudimentarily assembled greatest-hits compilation when we instead needed a collection of deep album cuts. Nevertheless, *Rhapsody* will rock you. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Blade Runner 2049](https://www.meiermovies.com/blade-runner-2049/) **Published:** October 4, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Blade Runner 2049 (2-D version)**, 2017, 4 ¼ stars # Smart, stunning sci-fi ## *Blade Runner 2049* is better than the original [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Blade-Runner.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Blade-Runner.jpg)Image copyright Alcon Entertainment / Columbia Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/blade-runner-2049-is-smart-stunning-sci-fi/Content?oid=7424194), October 4, 2017 In the original Ridley Scott film, a “blade runner” used a complicated, question-based test to determine whether someone was a human or a lifelike imitation (a replicant). With the arrival of the movie sequel, I propose an easier test: If you don’t value the artistry of *Blade Runner 2049*, you might not be human. Whether you fully appreciate the new film’s story is another matter, however, and might depend on your familiarity with the iconic 1982 film. In that movie, Harrison Ford was a police officer charged with hunting down escaped replicants and “retiring” them, until a confrontation with four particularly advanced cyborgs made him question the meaning of his job and even his own identity. (For the last 35 years, moviegoers have fiercely debated whether Ford’s character himself is a replicant.) Ford reprises his role as Deckard in the new film, which, like its predecessor, is set in a dark, dystopian, rain-drenched Los Angeles. But Ryan Gosling is the star this time. It’s 30 years later, and “K” (Gosling) finds himself in a position even more challenging than Deckard did back in that quaint year of 2019. He is tasked by his boss (Robin Wright) with solving a problem that could lead to the complete breakdown of the societal boundaries between humans and replicants. If he fails, the future of humanity could be at stake. That might sound like an over-the-top scenario, but it isn’t. In fact, it’s just the type of plot that critics of the original film longed for. Though that original posited profound ideas and offered visual style out the wazoo, some saw it as short on story. Conversely, mostly thanks to its runtime of 163 minutes, today’s critics might contend that this sequel has *too much* story. But under the careful direction of Denis Villeneuve and inspired storytelling of screenwriters Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, the new film is smart and stunning visually, thematically and emotionally. And though diehard fans of the Scott original might view the following statement as blasphemous, it’s almost as if the 1982 film now exists primarily to set up its sequel. In a rare move, Villeneuve has asked critics to not discuss the plot or the characters of *Blade Runner 2049* in detail. Studio reps at press screenings even read a statement straight from the director, asking reviewers to respect moviegoers’ rights to explore the twists and turns for themselves, without knowing any of the secrets (or cameo performances) in advance. That kind of request usually reeks of pretentious overconfidence, but after *Incendies*, *Prisoners*, *Sicario* and, most significantly, *Arrival*, Villeneuve has earned the right to make such a request. And with *Blade Runner 2049*, which easily ranks among the top five films of the year so far and the best sci-fi film since Christopher Nolan’s *Interstellar* in 2014, Villeneuve has also earned a galaxy of cinematic respect. Gosling delivers an assured and pitch-perfect performance while Ford is, well, Ford. Supporting performances range from competent to stunning, though Jared Leto’s brief turn (as the Godlike head of the company that took over the manufacture of replicants when the Tyrell Corporation folded) isn’t altogether successful. (The biblical themes are even more evident here than in the original film.) But the real stars are the eye-popping special effects (which, though reliant on CGI, resemble the practical effects of the original) and the cinematography from veteran Roger Deakins. After being a bridesmaid through 13 Oscar nominations, perhaps this is finally Deakins’ time to take the trophy, although he’ll have to beat out Hoyte Van Hoytema, who shot this year’s best film, *Dunkirk*. Though the new film retains much of the original’s chiaroscuro and slow pacing, it’s a tad brighter – if not in theme, then in visual design. Referencing the literal darkness of the original in a metatheatrical moment, one character in the new film exclaims, “Too dark in here,” before flipping a switch to illuminate a room shrouded in shadow. That’s something that never would have happened in the 1982 film, and it does mean that the new film lacks some of the original’s claustrophobia. But Villeneuve’s film is easier to understand, both visually and metaphorically. Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel, *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*, inspired *Blade Runner* and, like fellow ‘60s fare *2001: A Space Odyssey* and *The* *Twilight Zone* episode “In His Image,” explored the ideas of artificial intelligence and implanted memories. This sequel actually does a better job of mining those rich ideas than the original, as it puts you inside the mind of a man, who, like Pinocchio, ponders what it means to be real. “To be born is to have a soul, I guess,” a replicant conjectures. “You’ve been getting on fine without one,” a human assures him. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Black Sea](https://www.meiermovies.com/black-sea/) **Published:** January 28, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Black Sea**, 2015, 2 ¾ stars # High stakes on the low sea ## Contrivances almost sink underwater drama From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/contrivances-almost-sink-underwater-drama-black-sea/Content?oid=2351706), January 28, 2015 Jude Law in a submarine with some gold. If that sounds like a guess in the game of Clue, you’re not far off, as the drama-thriller *Black Sea*, like the whodunit board game, is imbued with claustrophobia and two-dimensional characters, and seems disappointingly predictable for most of its duration. But thanks to some competent direction and smart surprises in its third act, it stays afloat and provides a fair amount of entertainment in the process. [![Black Sea](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Black-Sea-300x199.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Black-Sea.jpg)Newly fired from his 11-year job as a submarine captain for a marine-salvage company, and estranged from his wife and young son, Robinson (Law) is a man without dignity. “Daddy lives on a boat,” his wife tells their boy before leaving him for a richer man. To compensate for these marital and professional injustices, he seeks not just a steady paycheck, but the respect that men of higher social status and wealth have stripped from him. But above all, he wants revenge on his former employee, and the chance at that revenge surfaces when another fired employee reveals a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for adventure and extraordinary riches. His former co-worker explains that, before he was fired, he learned about a recently discovered Nazi sub at the bottom of the Black Sea that may contain millions of dollars of gold. The bullion was being shipped from Russia to Germany in the early days of World War 2 but sank before it reached its destination. Because virtually no one knows the location of the U-boat and few possess the skills necessary to retrieve it, Robinson is uniquely positioned to get the job done and split most of the money between him and his crew, whom he handpicks from among British and Russian submariners. And thus begin the contrived conflicts. Predictably, things don’t go as planned. The political and language barriers spark conflict almost immediately, producing less-than-believable events and such inspired lines as “We live together or we die together.” Still, director Kevin Macdonald (*The Last King of Scotland*) and writer Dennis Kelly layer on enough intrigue to prevent their simple, though admittedly slick-looking, production from running aground. Law leads a cast of lesser-knowns, and except for an effective Bobby Schofield (as a reluctant, wet-behind-the-ears participant in the voyage) and a memorable but unsubtle Scoot McNairy (as one of the mission’s financiers), he’s the only one who stands out. And though he’s engaging as always, this is not his finest work, and his Scottish dialect is distracting. Like a far better and more famous film about a misguided hunt for gold, *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*, Macdonald’s movie is not so much an adventure-heist flick as a dramatic commentary on greed and paranoia. But, ironically, it’s at its best when it rejects the tired old clichés about human betrayal and instead embraces some old-fashioned twists that had been kept cleverly shrouded in the murky waters of its somewhat shallow screenplay. *© 2015 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [BlacKkKlansman](https://www.meiermovies.com/blackkklansman/) **Published:** August 13, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **BlacKkKlansman**, 2018, 1 ¾ stars # Incendiary ## Lee’s *BlacKkKlansman* is provocative but flawed [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/blackkklansman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/blackkklansman.jpg)Image copyright 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks / Focus Features From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/spike-lees-blackkklansman-is-provocative-but-flawed/Content?oid=16923184), August 8, 2018 Spike Lee practically wrote the book on cinematic sizzle and provocation, or at least the chapters that address the issue of race in modern America. And though the latest addition to his canon, *BlacKkKlansman*, is undeniably powerful, it’s also one big mess of a movie: structurally flawed, conceptually challenged and tonally troubled. Based on the subject’s autobiography, *BlacKkKlansman* is the unique story of Ron Stallworth, a black policeman from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Well, sort of. Not being able to go fully undercover because of his color, of course, he partnered with a white officer, who did the physical infiltration. Amazingly, Stallworth handled all the phone conversations while his partner met the Klan members – including Grand Wizard David Duke – in person. And the KKK clowns could never tell the difference in voices. (That detail is actually true, although its inclusion in the film stretches believability. But I guess Lee correctly assumed we wouldn’t credit the KKK imbeciles with much intelligence.) In real life, the undercover operation led to the discovery that federal employees were KKK members. That revelation is included in the movie along with other details of the investigation and Stallworth’s life, included a sandwiched romance and an explosive ending. Some details are true, some are embellished, and some are invented, for above all else, this is a Spike Lee joint. It’s an example of Lee – along with co-writers Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott – using an event to teach us a lesson about race, both then and now. Lee has earned the right to help lead that national discussion on race. I haven’t. But I respectfully disagree with his filmmaking choices as they relate to that discussion. For instance, instead of creating a drama that thoughtfully juxtaposes the 1970s with 2018, or diffuses the horrors of bigotry and racism with comedy (think Mel Brooks’ “Springtime for Hitler”), Lee combines the two genres. The result is a tonally challenged mishmash of subplots, messages and moods. Though the film offers sporadic laughs, I found it impossible to muster even a grin amid the onslaught of nauseating racial, ethnic, homophobic and misogynist slurs that the actors utter, many of which are played for comedy. The two leads (John David Washington as Stallworth and Adam Driver as his partner) are effective, as is Topher Grace as Duke, but most of the supporting cast badly overacts. The film does offer moments of dramatic power, but they are too often sullied by misplaced stylistic flourishes, over-scoring and awkward split screens. So by the time the 135-minute film finally ends – with chilling, real footage from the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy – I was exhausted by the film’s intensity and addled by its unfocused narrative. A myriad of cultural icons and political figures are ripe for attack. *Birth of a Nation* gets it the worst, as it should, but Donald Trump doesn’t fare much better. Richard Nixon and even Woodrow Wilson are skewered, as is *Gone with the Wind*, though, strangely, the film’s soundtrack is changed, presumably because Lee didn’t have the rights. This in-your-face attitude should not surprise anyone, as Lee is an artistic flamethrower, which is often a noble endeavor. But this time his fire scorches almost everything in sight equally. Art is meant to anger, to provoke, to wake people up to injustice. And *BlacKkKlansman* does that unrelentingly. But judged as a serious piece of filmmaking – as it should be, considering Lee’s past work – his latest film is an unorganized, misguided provocation with a cinematic sledgehammer. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Black Mass](https://www.meiermovies.com/black-mass/) **Published:** September 16, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Black Mass**, 2015, 3 ½ stars # *Mass* appeal ### Though conventional, *Black Mass* should be a crowd-pleaser [![black-mass-johnny-depp](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/black-mass-johnny-depp-300x211.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/black-mass-johnny-depp.jpg)Image copyright Cross Creek Pictures/Grisbi Productions Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 16, 2015 Johnny Depp and Salvador Dali have something in common. No, it’s not their shared penchant for the surreal. It’s their typecasting. To casual art lovers, Dali represents only the bizarre, the abstract. Few realize that for every *Persistence of Memory* and *The Great Masturbator*, there was *The Discovery of America* *by Christopher Columbus* and *Leda Atomica*, the latter two proving the painter could conquer slightly more classical subjects and styles. Depp, too, has been misjudged in recent years. Though that’s partly his own fault thanks to his offbeat roles and love of crazy costumes and characterizations, that makes him no less a dramatic actor. So if you’ve forgotten his turns in *Chocolat* and *Finding Neverland*, there’s now *Black Mass*, the new film by director Scott Cooper (*Crazy Heart*, *Austin Power: The Spy Who Shagged Me*), which proves again that Depp is one of the most consistently interesting actors of his generation. With that affirmation of Depp out of the way, let me say that *Black Mass* is not just about James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious South Boston gang leader. In fact, we learn little about Bulger’s motivations or early life. And Depp’s portrayal, though mesmerizing and a tad creepy thanks to the blue contacts – hey, you have to allow him some physical quirk, right? – never gets to the heart of the man, if he has a heart. Instead, *Black Mass* is content to be a sort of “film by numbers,”reciting the details of Bulger’s collaboration with the FBI during the 1970s and ‘80s, leading to the corrupt cooperation being exposed in the mid-1990s (the facts of which get slightly muddled and condensed in the film). The movie belongs to Joel Edgerton (as John Connolly, the main FBI collaborator) just as much as Depp, and he handles the responsibility well. As with some of the other actors, his South Boston dialect isn’t entirely consistent and drifts toward Brooklyn on occasion. But all the principals pass the true test of an accent or dialect, by never letting it get in the way. (Interestingly enough, true Southie speakers often show inconsistencies too, especially in their rhoticity, or lack thereof.) As Bulger’s brother (Massachusetts State Senator Billy Bulger), Benedict Cumberbatch is solid, as are several members of Bulger’s Winter Hill gang, who look like they just strolled in off a Southie street. Kevin Bacon as an FBI guy is a decent addition, and Peter Sarsgaard, as a low-life associate of Bulger, steals every scene he’s in. They all project the requisite coarseness and brutality, and the film’s violence, though graphic, rarely seems gratuitous. This is the culture of “if no one sees it, it didn’t happen.” It’s the culture that allows you to whack someone in the late afternoon, take a peaceful nap and still make family dinner on time. The storytelling is mostly clear and concise, and even occasionally gripping, despite the slow pace. In addition, the main story is framed nicely by the post-arrest confessions of several gang members. But the film offers few surprises. It’s also a tad cold, reaching emotional depth only when Bulger’s young son falls ill from a freakish and sudden diagnosis of Reye Syndrome. But the screenplay (written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth and based on a book by Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill) is fascinating enough and the film structurally sound enough to succeed. And even if Depp doesn’t deliver the Oscar performance some had hoped for, he still captures much of the ruthlessness and depravity of a man the FBI ironically described as a “smart, stable motherfucker.” *© 2015 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Bitter Harvest](https://www.meiermovies.com/bitter-harvest/) **Published:** February 23, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Bitter Harvest**, 2017, 1 ¼ stars # Fruitless *Harvest* ## Historical drama unworthy of its subject From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/something-went-very-wrong-in-the-filming-of-the-ambitious-historical-drama-bitter-harvest/Content?oid=2694295), February 22, 2017 [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Bitter-Harvest.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Bitter-Harvest.jpg)Image copyright Devil’s Harvest Production The Ukrainian Holodomor, or “death by hunger,” was one of history’s most horrible genocides, rivaling the Holocaust in numbers. Yet you’ll gain more appreciation of it by reading a few paragraphs of the Wikipedia article than by watching *Bitter Harvest.* The romantic drama attempts to relay the struggles of Ukrainians during Stalin’s brutal enforcement of agricultural collectivization. As their storytelling vehicles, director George Mendeluk and writer Richard Bachynsky Hoover have chosen two fictional characters: young peasants Yuri (Max Irons) and Natalka (Samantha Barks). “My Ukraine was a world where legends lived and anything was possible,” Yuri, an aspiring painter, tells us in voiceover. But as oppression sets in, it’s not the endless possibilities that occupy their minds – it’s survival. At least they have their love, which is unwavering from childhood, through marriage, through Yuri’s journey to Kiev to find work. It sounds like a noble, necessary tale, and it is in theory, but the ambitious production went wrong somewhere. It started with a script from Hoover, a Canadian Ukrainian who passionately championed it for years. Fellow Ukrainian Ian Ihnatowycz ultimately agreed to produce and fully finance the film, which shot extensively in Kiev. Though the staid screenplay is filled with pat lines like “no one can ever take away your freedom,” the blame seems to fall more on Mendeluk, whose 72 directorial credits on IMDB read more like a recipe for B-level entertainment than a requisite for a period epic. Editors Stuart Baird and Lenka Svab should also be faulted, as the story is somehow whittled down to just one hour and 43 minutes, forcing scenes to flow confusingly into one another, lacking clarity and emotion. Not lacking are stiff performances, overbearing music and unpredictable dialects ranging from Russian to a mix of British sounds that include modern Estuary and Cockney. These flaws turn people into caricatures and cloud our comprehension of character motivations and the tragedy itself. They also muddy the film’s timeline, as the Holodomor seems to begin with the death of Lenin in 1924 but actually happened in 1932-33, a fact we learn only at the film’s end. Irons (*Red Riding Hood*, *The Host* and, yes, son of Jeremy) and Barks (Eponine from *Les Miserables*) are competent – and young Jack Hollington is superb as an orphan – but they get little help from the supporting cast. Playing Yuri’s grandfather is veteran Terence Stamp, who is almost entirely wasted, as is Barry Pepper as Yuri’s father. Also unimpressive are Tamer Hassan as a cardboard cutout of a Russian villain and Aneurin Barnard as Yuri’s best friend and leader of the pro-Ukrainian political movement. The latter’s love for Natalka would have made an interesting sub-plot but, thanks to poor writing or editing, is barely noticeable. The same is true for other potentially intriguing elements, such as Yuri being forced to subvert his artistic creativity to create propaganda paintings. The worst scenes feature Stalin. Played without a hint of believability by Gary Oliver, he reminds one of *Seinfeld*’s Saddam Hussein, who double parks and blocks in Kramer’s car in *The Dinner Party* episode. (Oliver’s “Damn those Ukrainians!” is the film’s comedic highlight.) *Bitter* *Harvest* does offer pretty cinematography and respectable battle scenes, and it gains credibility with its book-end finale, but the victims of the Holodomor deserve an infinitely better cinematic epitaph. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Birth of a Nation](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-birth-of-a-nation/) **Published:** October 8, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Birth of a Nation**, 2016, 3 ¾ stars # A just re-*Birth* ## Nate Parker’s film addresses famous slave rebellion [![birth_of_a_nation1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/birth_of_a_nation1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/birth_of_a_nation1.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-birth-of-a-nation-addresses-a-famous-slave-rebellion-building-to-an-emotionally-and-visually-powerful-conclusion/Content?oid=2531013), October 5, 2016 Greatness comes in many forms. By virtue of its innovation and influence, D.W. Griffith’s *Birth of a Nation*, from 1915, is indeed great. It made brilliant use of techniques we now take for granted, such as close-ups and tracking shots (though it invented neither), and it was both the longest and highest-grossing American film until *Gone With the Wind* eclipsed it a quarter-century later. But great doesn’t always mean good, and, in Griffith’s case, it certainly didn’t mean fair. Judged offensive by many upon its initial release, the film is now viewed as racist, a label Griffith tried to escape, with only partial success, by releasing the more sensitive, nuanced *Intolerance* a year later. Fast-forward 100 years to Nate Parker and a movie with (by design) virtually the same title. The multi-faceted actor, director, writer and producer has combined all those talents to create the antithesis of Griffith’s film: the story of Nat Turner, an enslaved African-American who led perhaps the most notorious slave uprising in American history, in Virginia in 1831, which led to vicious reprisals against hundreds of slaves, most of whom played no part in the rebellion. A devoutly religious man who publicly preached the gospel (with his owner’s permission, of course), Turner eventually felt compelled to abandon his “wait on the Lord” philosophy and take matters into his own hands, righting the terrible wrongs done to him, his family and his fellow slaves. But Parker’s script isn’t about just the rebellion. In a patient and mature fashion, the film spends most of its two hours telling Turner’s life story and helping us understand the man’s heart and mind. And that patience pays off, as the tale builds to an emotionally and visually powerful conclusion worthy of its subject. It’s not as polished as *12 Years a Slave*, a film it’s being compared to, but it’s just as important. It doesn’t get everything right, however. Parker’s directorial debut is often clunky, muddled and conventional, even heavy-handed, with writing that lacks crispness and a score that intrudes. Though Parker (Turner), Aja Naomi King (Turner’s wife), Colman Domingo (a fellow slave) and Penelope Ann Miller (a supporter of black rights) are stellar, some of the supporting actors range from merely competent (Armie Hammer, as the plantation owner) to unskilled. In addition, the movie plays loosely with the facts. For instance, the real Turner confessed to killing just one person (a woman whom he struck with a fence post). Much of his life is condensed or simply invented, and the movie misses an opportunity for much-needed moral ambiguity by ignoring the real rebellion’s slaughter of women and children. Still, can those who are passively complicit with slavery bear no blame? That question is too complex for this review, but it would have been nice to see the film tackle it. Controversy surrounds this *Birth* as well: Both Parker and co-writer Jean McGianni Celestin were accused of rape in 1999. Parker was acquitted, but Celestin was convicted, though the conviction was later overturned in part because the alleged victim (who, tragically, late committed suicide) didn’t want to dredge up the past. Art should be judged for itself, not for its creators’ personal lives – how else can we appreciate a Roman Polanski film? – but the past controversy has returned to haunt Parker because the film prominently features a completely fictional rape scene. The movie is making a political impression as well, thanks to the voter-registration drive releasing studio Fox Searchlight is sponsoring at theaters around the country. That and Parker’s statement that the film must “promote healing and systemic change in our country” have occasionally overshadowed his cinematic achievement. But what’s truly important is that Parker has mostly succeeded in capturing the spirit of Turner, and, indeed, the spirit of all enslaved people who refuse to suffer indignity and torture. Turner strove to reach the city of Jerusalem, Virginia, to steal guns from an armory. He never succeeded. But, spiritually, Turner has finally reached Jerusalem with this film. In the annals of cinema, Griffith’s *Birth of a Nation* is great, but *The Birth of a Nation* is just. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Birdman](https://www.meiermovies.com/birdman/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)**, 2014, 4 ¾ stars # *Birdman* soars ## Michael Keaton reaches great heights in comeback film [![Birdman](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Birdman-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Birdman.jpg)From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2014/11/07/birdman-soars-michael-keaton-reaches-great-heights-in-comeback-film)*, November 7, 2014; and [*The San Antonio Current*](http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/michael-keaton-reaches-great-heights-in-birdman/Content?oid=2339527), October 29, 2014 We all need cinematic heroes, and *Birdman*, both character and film, fits the role with aplomb. Designed to aesthetically challenge, frustrate, inspire, amuse and amaze, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie – and I do mean new – is the best I’ve seen so far this year. Michael Keaton, as Riggan, is an aging has-been of an actor, clinging to a belief that he’s still important years after his iconic Birdman movie character was put out to pasture. In an attempt to recapture his artistic integrity, he brings to the Broadway stage an ambitious adaptation of Raymond Carver’s *What We Talk About When We Talk About Love*. In doing so, he also longs to prove to his ex-wife (Amy Ryan), his lover (Andrea Riseborough) and his daughter (Emma Stone) that he is still relevant. Starring in the Carver production are Mike (Edward Norton), Lesley (Naomi Watts) and Riggan himself, and the endless disasters leading up to the production’s opening make the shenanigans of Woody Allen’s *Bullets Over Broadway* (from which *Birdman* borrows a hilarious gag) look like children’s theatre. Holding it all together is Riggan’s friend and manager (the superb Zach Galifianakis). But despite the gifted cast, this is all about Keaton, and in a metatheatrical, even deconstructionist way, he embraces the role, which is not surprising considering the similarities between his career and Riggan’s. “I’ve got a chance to do something right. I gotta take it,” Riggan says, only to be reminded by Mike that “popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.” > ### “Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.” The other star is the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, who won an Oscar for *Gravity*. With his floating Steadicam, and with help from nifty special effects and clever editing, he has made *Birdman* appear as one continuous take. We’ve all seen one-shot experiments before, but this may be the best – and most original, as the action is not in real time but over many days, necessitating surreal scenes transitions while maintaining the single-shot construct. In a delicious sub-plot, Riggan’s play is reviewed by a hardened theatre critic with the power to destroy dreams in a single sentence. Yet even she must admit that the play – like the movie it’s part of – is infused with “super realism,” something Iñárritu (*21 Grams*, *Babel*) calls “inescapable reality.” So even if you don’t like *Birdman*, you will be unable to forget its unique ability to disguise meticulous, well-rehearsed craftsmanship as irresistible improvisation. Despite its originality, *Birdman* doesn’t fly quite as high as it could. At two hours, it seems just a tad too long, and we yearn to get better acquainted with Galifianakis’s character and Riggan’s lover instead of dwelling on a flirtation between Stone and Norton’s characters. The style – reminiscent of a jazz riff – may not be everyone’s scene, either. Such free-form jazz can, after all, hit sour notes occasionally. But I’ve simply never seen anything like this blend of brilliant hidden jokes, Charlie Kaufman ambience, fantasy-based realism and dreamlike yet intensely personal camerawork, and I doubt you have either. One shot may be all we need in *Birdman*, but we often need a second shot in life. Thanks to Iñárritu, Keaton has gotten that extra shot, and the cinema is a slightly more wonderful place because of it. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Biggest Little Farm](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-biggest-little-farm/) **Published:** May 17, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Biggest Little Farm**, 2019, 2 ¾ stars # Homegrown ## *Farm* is organically endearing [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Biggest-Little-Farm.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Biggest-Little-Farm.jpg)Image copyright FarmLore Films / Neon From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/biggest-little-farm-is-organically-endearing/Content?oid=25326882), May 15, 2019 Some cinephiles divide documentaries into two categories: those that discuss history (*The Sorrow and the Pity*, Ken Burns’ films) and those that reveal events as they unfold (*Harlan County U.S.A.*, *Among the Believers*). If *The Biggest Little Farm*, the new nature doc by John Chester, had to be pigeonholed, it would get stuffed into the latter category. But it really belongs in a third group: the essay. We’ve all seen essay docs before but perhaps didn’t know how to categorize them. These genre-bending movies often defy explanation and appear just as close to narrative fiction as to traditional documentary filmmaking. Some of Michael Moore’s projects, especially *Roger & Me*, fall into this realm, along with Orson Welles’ cult classic *F for Fake* and unique profiles such as *Crumb* and *Grey Gardens*. But what makes *The Biggest Little Farm* unusual is it has one hand, or paw, in essay filmmaking, another (unfortunately) in self-promotion and still another in a category akin to Disneynature films. The mix isn’t entirely successful, but its joy is infectious. The film relates the nearly decade-long odyssey of John and his wife, Molly, as they turn 200 acres of barren California land into Apricot Lane Farms. The endeavor ultimately becomes a home for organically grown food while teaching us that nature should be trusted and even the so-called pests serve a purpose. “Everyone told us this idea was crazy, that attempts to farm in harmony with nature would be reckless if not impossible,” John tells us by voiceover, which is equal parts endearing and cloyingly tedious. But the story at the film’s heart, not to mention the breathtaking cinematography, is anything but tedious. It’s inspiring, and will undoubtedly lead to a sales boon for Apricot Lane, meaning the movie is a win-win for the Chesters. The doc is best when it dials back its narration and overscoring and focuses on its animals. Tackling the question of whether humans have the right to raise and slaughter other living creatures is probably too much to ask of a family film such as this, so the movie avoids that difficult topic almost completely. But it does give a voice to dogs, pigs, sheep and chickens, all of whom have an important role. Even ducks play a part. When their pond is ruined by a toxic algae bloom, they become homeless. Meanwhile, the farm’s trees are being eaten alive by snails. Turns out, ducks love snails! So the Chesters release them into the orchard, where they munch mollusks to their feathery hearts’ content. It’s the circle of life, courtesy of quackers. Take that, *Lion King*! *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Big in Bollywood](https://www.meiermovies.com/big-in-bollywood/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Big in Bollywood**, 2011, 1 ¾ stars # Not quite *Big* enough From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/screening-at-the-south-asian-film-festival/Content?oid=2246489), October 3, 2012 It wouldn’t be the South Asian Film Festival without a glimpse into the world of the splashy musical/comedies that Bollywood is known for. But *Big in Bollywood* is not the typical choice to fill that niche, as it’s a documentary about the fantastical world of Indian cinema told from an outsider’s perspective. Indian-American Omi Vaidya is a struggling Hollywood actor when he stumbles into a supporting role in *3 Idiots*, a mediocre movie that, astonishingly, grows into India’s highest-grossing film. The actor is branded the “fourth idiot” and elevated to icon virtually overnight, despite his subpar abilities. And we, the audience, get to experience this crazy transformation right along with Vaidya and his friends, as it happens. Created by Bill Bowles and Kenny Meehan, *Big in Bollywood* is shot and paced poorly, and dodges profound questions involving hero worship, but it’s still an interesting examination of pop-culture insanity and the lives of people who are famous for simply being famous. The documentary is preceded by *Audacity*, a 13-minute Hindi-language film about a rebellious Indian girl and her strict father. Not much more than a trifle, it nevertheless sheds light on generational conflict in modern Calcutta. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* --- ### [The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel**, 2012, 2 ¼ stars # *Hotel* in need of repairs From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel-1.1312731)*, May 10, 2012 “We have a saying in India: Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end.” If you’ve seen the trailer for *The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel*, you’ve already heard that line and perhaps chuckled, especially if you’ve vacationed in India. Even so, director John Madden doesn’t want you to forget it, repeating the line twice in his new film. Perhaps he did so unwittingly, as it’s actually the best critique of his movie, one which is often muddled, unfunny and contrived yet manages to pull itself together just enough to warrant an “all right” label. Based on a 2004 novel by Deborah Moggach, this multiple-character study cobbles together the tales of five elderly British singles and one married couple who have all, somewhat unbelievably, found their way to India, lured by the false advertisements of a supposedly magnificent extended-stay hotel “for the elderly and beautiful.” In reality, the hotel is dilapidated and barely functioning, despite the loving intentions of the manager. Madden has proved himself a worthy weaver of cinematic tapestries featuring some of the most experienced actors in British cinema, including Judi Dench in *Mrs. Brown*, Anthony Hopkins in *Proof*, Tom Wilkinson and Helen Mirren in *The Debt*, and Dench and Wilkinson again, along with Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth, in Madden’s masterpiece, *Shakespeare in Love*. Sadly, and despite predictably strong performances by Wilkinson and Dench in their third movie for Madden, this project has more in common with the director’s 2001 failure, *Captain Corelli’s Mandolin*, which, like *Marigold Hotel*, had moments of emotional power but almost collapsed under the strain of its own ambitions. *Mandolin*’s chief mistake was its casting. (No one really wanted to see Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz in a World War II love story.) At least *Marigold Hotel* gets that mostly right. Wilkinson steals the spotlight as the only character who comes to India with a real purpose. (We’re kept in the dark about that purpose for half the film, and for good reason, as it’s the best suspense the film can muster.) Most of the rest of the cast, including Maggie Smith, as a sour old racist who predictably sees the error of her ways, and Bill Nighy, as an unhappily married yet touchingly loyal husband, are solid. It’s the script by Ol Parker and direction by Madden that struggle to bring the ensemble piece together in successful Robert Altmanesque fashion. And although a romantic subplot involving the hotel’s manager (Dev Patel, *Slumdog Millionaire*) adds an interesting cultural subtext, it ultimately muddies the water. Dench’s character summarizes the personal journeys each character has made with the cliché that “the only real failure is the failure to try.” By that definition, *Hotel Marigold* certainly succeeds, as it tries to be everything to everybody: a comedy, a drama, a touching twilight-of-life tale and even a lesson on the absurdity of racism. It just tries a bit too hard. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Ben Is Back](https://www.meiermovies.com/ben-is-back/) **Published:** December 19, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ben Is Back**, 2018, 4 stars # Holiday with the Hedges ## Father-son team tackles drug addiction [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Ben-is-Back.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Ben-is-Back.jpg)Image copyright Black Bear Pictures / Roadside Attractions From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/father-son-team-tackles-drug-addiction-in-ben-is-back/Content?oid=22410748), December 19, 2018 Thank goodness for wunderkind Lucas Hedges. Without him, we’d be stuck with mediocre tales of “gay-conversion” therapy and drug addiction. But just as he, in *Boy Erased*, rescued the former topic from the clutches of *The Miseducation of Cameron Post*, he has now saved the latter by topping *Beautiful Boy* with the superior *Ben Is Back*. But filmmaking, like addiction recovery, takes the efforts of many, and Hedges certainly had help with *Ben is Back.* In fact, he didn’t have to look far to find it. Written and directed by his dad, Peter, and co-starring Julia Roberts in one of the five best female performances of the year, this familial collaboration is a powerful, personal tale of a young man in the throes of addiction, with only his mom to help him. If *Die Hard* can be labeled a holiday film along with more traditional choices such as *Miracle on 34th Street* and *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation*, so can this movie, as Ben (the younger Hedges) shows up unexpectedly at his family’s doorstep on Christmas Eve. But there’s no Clark Griswold here. Instead, we get a tale as gut-wrenching as Phoebe Cates’s in *Gremlins*, in which she describes how her father, dressed as Santa, died in their family’s chimney. And though there is a slightly better chance of a happy ending in *Ben is Back*, the only one who seems to think that is his mother (Roberts) – not his stepdad (Courtney B. Vance) and not his sister (Kathryn Newton). Indeed, Ben is almost on an island, existentially. And by depicting him as an isolated, pathological liar torn between recovery and relapse, the elder Hedges has created a portrait of addiction more resonant than any other recent film. “He’s clearly doing better,” Ben’s mom tells his stepdad upon his surprise return. And she desperately wants to believe he is healthy, especially after Ben reassures her that the rehab center at which he’s been living has approved his holiday visit. Still, it’s a tough sell for the family, and even for Ben, who is forced to admit, “You’re all still scared of me.” Structurally simple yet thematically profound, *Ben* sneaks up on you emotionally thanks in part to its suspense-filled second half. Not content with table conversations or addiction clichés, the film takes us on a strange odyssey that forces Ben to confront his past. A Bizzaro World version of Jimmy Stewart’s reflections near the end of *It’s a Wonderful Life*, Ben’s journey slowly becomes a winter wonderland of shit. It’s the type of trip one prays to take only in a movie. When the Oscars began in 1929, acting awards were presented for a body of work over an entire year, not a single performance. That practice quickly ended, but with the Academy making all sorts of weird decisions lately, hey, maybe they will reconsider their original format. And if they do, look for Lucas, as his roles in *Mid90s*, *Boy Erased* and *Ben is Back* have put him at the top of the 2018 pile. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Beauty and the Beast](https://www.meiermovies.com/beauty-and-the-beast/) **Published:** March 17, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Beauty and the Beast (3–D version)**, 2017, 4 stars # Classic *Beauty* ## Disney remake is a magical ride [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Beauty-and-the-Beast.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Beauty-and-the-Beast.jpg)Image copyright Walt Disney Company From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/disneys-beauty-and-the-beast-remake-is-a-magical-ride/Content?oid=3219583), March 16, 2017 The Disney remake of *Beauty and the Beast*, which mixes live action with computer animation, may not have the elegant simplicity and originality of the 1991 hand-drawn classic, but it’s got enough magic and emotion to easily make it the best movie of 2017 so far. And, together with Kenneth Branagh’s *Cinderella* and Jon Favreau’s *The Jungle Book*, it proves that Disney’s recent reimagining of their classic animated tales is not just a marketing ploy, but a welcome addition to the company’s canon. The film, of course, is based on the centuries-old tale of a beautiful maiden who is first imprisoned by but then comes to love a misunderstood monster, who, deep beneath his cursed appearance, is really a handsome prince. This latest version is directed by Bill Condon, who certainly understands the genre, as he penned the script for an even better musical, *Chicago*. This screenplay was instead written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. While it’s similar to the 1991 version, it includes some interesting departures. Not all of those changes work (particularly one at the end), but they are always interesting, especially a darker moment that allows Belle to peer into her childhood and discover the truth about her mother. Speaking of character alterations, you’re probably already aware that LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick, is gay in this version. But instead of detracting from the story or expressing an overtly political message, the revision enhances the tale while adding another level of humor. (Josh Gad is hilarious at times, while on other occasions he seems to have stepped in from another movie, as he’s the only major character who doesn’t have a British accent. But, hey, the 1991 film didn’t even attempt consistent dialects. After all, this is a romantic fantasy set in 18th century France, so accents – and complete historical accuracy – aren’t essential.) Another change is the addition of several minority characters, two of whom are in interracial relationships. The alteration is head-turning because of the nature of the story and because the film’s final shot is not of Belle and the Beast (now transformed back into a prince), as one would expect, but of a lesser character, Madame Gardrobe, played well by Audra McDonald (arguably the film’s top voice and theatrical talent). She’s married to Maestro Cadenza (Stanley Tucci), a character created just for this film. The two are nice additions and reflect the historical fact that white men were sometimes involved romantically with black women in the 18th century, although, predictably – and misogynistically – almost never the other way around. Whether or not you like the alterations, you cannot deny that Disney has challenged our cultural and racial expectations by interjecting into the film the issues of inclusion and diversity. Emma Watson plays Belle and, on the surface, seems like a good choice. But because the Beast (*Downton Abbey*’s Dan Stevens) is a CGI creation (with a body made from motion-capture technology and the face designed separately), human chemistry is hard to come by. I also wasn’t able to shake the feeling I’ve had since the *Harry Potter* films that Watson is a lightweight. Admittedly, she’s a beautiful lightweight, but, as the old enchantress who curses the Beast reminds us, “Beauty is found within.” Kevin Kline, as Belle’s father, seems alternatingly sweet and miscast – and very non-English compared to the other actors. Emma Thompson, as Mrs. Potts, is just as good as Angela Lansbury, while Ewan McGregor as Lumiere and Ian McKellen as Cogsworth are pitch-perfect too. Also excellent is Luke Evans as Gaston, though he doesn’t seem bulky or hirsute enough. (The “every last inch of me’s covered with hair” line is dropped, but the rest of that song is choreographed and enunciated well enough to elicit laughs.) The real stars are the spectacular production design and special effects, which remind us that this isn’t really a live-action film. It’s largely animated, and the craftspeople (and their technology) should be applauded. “Be Our Guest,” as it was in the 1991 film, is particularly mind-blowing. (Eat your heart out, Busby Berkeley.) At times, I was hoping for a break in the frenetic, swirling camera and more of the quiet dignity of the 1946 French version, which was the first to feature a Gaston-like character (Avenant). This film does pay homage to *La Belle et la Bête* with its set design and end credits, but more similarities (and more traditional, non-computer effects) would have been nice. The 129-minute runtime also might have allowed the writers to dust off some elements of the original 1740 fairy tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, but, sadly, that avenue was not taken. Still, I give the filmmakers credit for infusing this version with more dramatic bite and adult themes, and attempting further character development. That attempt does rob the film of its tightness and beautiful simplicity – and it had the young child next to me squirming and yawning – but the shifts in tone and plot kept me interested in a story I thought I already knew. The film includes all six songs from the 1991 version, but it also introduces four new ones by Alan Menken (the original film’s composer) and Tim Rice: “Aria,” “Days in the Sun,” “Evermore” and “How Does a Moment Last Forever.” Three of those are not just pleasant additions but add depth. (“Aria” is mostly a throw-away.) Unfortunately, the film doesn’t include songs written for the wonderful stage musical, but “Evermore*”* essentially replaces “If I Can’t Love Her,” which ends the first act of the musical in grand fashion. Both songs give the Beast a stronger voice – literally – than he had in the 1991 film. And, for me, “Evermore” is the dramatic highlight of this latest incarnation, almost enticing me to arise and applaud. The vocal performances (especially Watson) aren’t quite up to the level of the 1991 film or, obviously, the best Broadway and West End stage productions, but they are pleasing. The movie was shot in 2-D and converted to 3-D. I saw it in the latter format and was bothered by the darkness and motion blur on live-action panning shots, but I was also drawn in by the animation. So pick the format you usually prefer. Aforementioned imperfections notwithstanding, Condon and his team have breathed new life into a “tale as old as time.” It was a beast of a task, but they handled it with aplomb and, in doing so, have created a crowd-pleasing spectacle and another instant Disney classic. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood](https://www.meiermovies.com/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/) **Published:** November 21, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood**, 2019, 4 ¼ stars # Mr. Rogers to the rescue ## It’s a *Beautiful Day* at the cinema [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/A-Beautiful-Day.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/A-Beautiful-Day.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/mr-rogers-to-the-rescue-its-a-beautiful-day-opens-in-orlando/Content?oid=26332454), November 20, 2019 In 1998, *Esquire* asked journalist Tom Junod to write a profile of Fred Rogers. But instead of the article changing the subject’s life, as magazine articles often do, it changed Junod’s. “Once upon a time, a little boy loved a stuffed animal whose name was Old Rabbit,” the article began. “The little boy didn’t know why he loved Old Rabbit; he just did.” That little boy was Junod himself, but before meeting Mr. Rogers (who introduced him to his Daniel Tiger puppet), the serious investigative journalist had mostly forgotten about his old toy. “You were once a child too,” Rogers reminded him, and Junod’s early memories came flooding back, inspiring him to focus the article just as much on himself as his subject. That article serves as inspiration for *A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood*, the new film by director Marielle Heller (*Can You Ever Forgive Me?*). But because writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster wanted to take Junod and Rogers’ relationship in a fictional direction, the journalist is renamed Lloyd Vogel. And the story is better served by that choice, partially because it allows Heller to adopt a dreamlike, occasionally surreal style, complete with lovely artistic flourishes, charmingly kitschy production design and aspect-ratio experimentation. Tom Hanks plays Mr. Rogers. Though the legendary actor has previously pulled off impersonations of Walt Disney, Ben Bradlee, Chesley Sullenberger and Jim Lovell, I was genuinely concerned about this one. Was a re-creation of Rogers really doable, or even necessary so close on the heels of one of the most impactful documentaries of last year, *Won’t You Be My Neighbor*? The quick answers are yes and yes, and preview audiences apparently agree, as everyone at the screening I attended sat in quiet, contemplative attention for almost all of Hanks’ equally quiet, contemplative performance. If it’s Hanks’ goal, as *The Onion* recently joked, to play every American, it’s Matthew Rhys’s job, at least in this film, to play the everyman. Though his character is a successful writer, he’s also like a lot of us: broken, stressed, struggling to make sense of life and needing solace from someone like Mr. Rogers. And the Welsh actor, known for playing Philip Jennings in *The Americans* and Daniel Ellsberg in *The Post,* is up to the task, holding his own with Hanks. The same goes for Chris Cooper, who brings authenticity and emotional power to the role of the writer’s alcoholic father. Though this film bookends nicely with the aforementioned documentary, I was struck by a more interesting companion from earlier this year: *Joker*. To compare the two films and the vastly different yet equally powerful societal and personal visions they offer, one might turn to arguably the greatest American political speech: Robert Kennedy’s announcement of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in 1968: “You can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization … filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort … to understand and to comprehend and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, with compassion and love.” The latter was Mr. Rogers’ message. And this film encapsulates it extraordinarily. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Beautiful Boy](https://www.meiermovies.com/beautiful-boy/) **Published:** November 3, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Beautiful Boy**, 2018, 2 ¼ stars # *Boy* cloy ## Drug-abuse drama sunk by sweetness, structure [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Beautiful-Boy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Beautiful-Boy.jpg)Image copyright Amazon Studios / Big Indie Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/drug-abuse-drama-beautiful-boy-sunk-by-sweetness-structure/Content?oid=20441122), November 1, 2018 In his song “Beautiful Boy,” John Lennon sang, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Speaking of other plans, I recommend you make some, instead of watching the new biographical drama that shares its name with Lennon’s song. *Beautiful Boy* is the English-language directorial debut of Felix van Groeningen (*The Broken Circle Breakdown*). It features Steve Carell as a loving father of a drug-addicted son and Timothée Chalamet as the eponymous 18-year-old. The film’s dour tone is established early when we glimpse a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s second novel, *The Beautiful and Damned*, the title of which perfectly describes not just Chalamet’s character but the awful pit into which m*ethamphetamine* casts its victims. The rest of the movie, predictably, depicts that deepening hole and the father’s attempt to shovel his son out and then learn when to stop digging. The screenplay by van Groeningen and Luke Davies is based on memoirs by David and Nic Sheff, the real father and son, so it’s undoubtedly sincere. Indeed, the painfully realistic – and all too common – story is lacking in both pretention and contrivance. The performances are also heartfelt, with Chalamet (*Call Me by Your Name*, *Lady Bird*) proving again why he’s one of the most exciting young American actors. Carell is also engaging in spurts, though we might have finally seen the limits of his dramatic acting. Maura Tierney (as the stepmom) and Amy Ryan (as the partially estranged mother who reconnects with her son) are also believable, fleshing out an extended family that slowly and agonizingly accepts that substance abuse forces us to “mourn the living.” The aforementioned successes of the film make the directorial, organizational, stylistic and musical choices all the more frustrating, as those are the areas in which *Boy* becomes ugly. Leaning too heavily on its soundtrack and quirky, flashback-laden editing, the film quickly turns into a clinic on how poor structure can doom a narrative. Like its title character, it struggles to find direction, unable to build much momentum and emotion thanks to its odd, repetitive and jumbled juxtaposition of scenes. Instead, it tries to establish empathy by tossing around tunes, but that cloying strategy stinks of narrative laziness. (Not all films can be *The Graduate*.) And by the end, what should have been one of the year’s strongest dramas is reduced to something closer to a television flick or a glorified PSA. At one point during his painful journey of discovery, Carell’s character conjectures, “I don’t think you can save people.” That might be true, but you can save films, and *Beautiful Boy* could and should have been saved by better directorial choices. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Beatriz at Dinner](https://www.meiermovies.com/beatriz-at-dinner/) **Published:** July 6, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Beatriz at Dinner**, 2017, 3 ½ stars # Chew on this ## *Beatriz at Dinner* examines society, politics [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Beatriz.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Beatriz.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/beatriz-at-dinner-examines-society-politics/Content?oid=5112046), June 21, 2017 In 1967, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were asked to *Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.* Now, 50 years later, Beatriz (a middle-class, Mexican-American, holistic health therapist) has been invited to eat with wealthy, white land developers. Welcome to *Dinner* for a new generation. Directed by Miguel Arteta, who is better known for his television work, *Beatriz at Dinner* features Salma Hayek in a title performance that is sometimes subtle, sometimes manic, but almost always spot-on. Admittedly, she gets a lot of help establishing her character from writer Mike White. In the film’s first 15 minutes, for instance, we see her consoling her pet goat, helping cancer patients and staring with a heavy heart at smokestacks belching pollution into the Southern California sky. She’s a holistic healer not just by trade, but in spirit. Cathy (Connie Britton) and her husband Grant (David Warshofsky) are two of her wealthy clients. Though he treats Beatriz more like the help than the healer she is, Cathy respects Beatriz thanks to her nursing their cancer-stricken daughter several years earlier. So when Beatriz’s car breaks down at their house following a massage session, Cathy asks her to stay for dinner. Underdressed and underprepared for what awaits her, Beatriz is stunned to learn that the dinner party is comprised of rich property owners and developers who are celebrating their latest triumph: a commercial development that will destroy bird habitats. Adding insult to injury is the attitude of Doug (John Lithgow), a misogynistic, racially insensitive, big-game hunter who quizzes Beatriz on exactly how she managed to enter the United States legally. Hold the hot sauce because this dinner is spicy enough. Despite the obvious comparisons to Donald Trump, *Dinner* is devoted more to social and spiritual commentary than to political shots. It’s more about the heart than the head. And it’s less about our current government than the divide between wealthy industrialists and the agricultural poor that has existed since the Industrial Revolution. In this respect, it’s a modern fable filled with greed, inequality and enlightenment, all enhancing what, at first glance, is a rather slight, even heavy-handed production. Lithgow is effective in his second slime-ball role of the last six months, following *Miss Sloane*. The other supporting actors, particularly Jay Duplass and Chloë Sevigny, are also good at portraying the shallowness that Beatriz despises while adding humor to what is mostly a drama. Britton is memorable, too, in the film’s toughest turn, which requires her to show sympathy for both Beatriz and her other guests. Introducing intrigue to the film’s structural simplicity are the dreamy visual flourishes of cinematographer Wyatt Garfield. Thanks also goes to editor Jay Deuby for keeping *Dinner*’s courses to a minimum. At 83 minutes, it’s refreshingly tight, though the endings – yes, we actually get two – might be too metaphorical for fans of realism. “I know you,” Beatriz tells Doug, and she means it, though they never met in person before the party – because, regrettably, we all know a Doug. His species is eternal and destined to keep showing up at the dinner table of life. *© 2017 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- The Touring Years](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-beatles-eight-days-a-week-the-touring-years/) **Published:** September 15, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years**, 2016, 3 ¼ stars # Roll up for the mystery *Tour* ### Ron Howard’s Beatles doc entertains but offers little new information [![eight-days-a-week](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Eight-Days-a-Week.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Eight-Days-a-Week.jpg)From[ *The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/09/15/ron-howards-beatles-doc-entertains-fans-but-offers-little-new-information), September 16, 2016 Director Ron Howard’s new Beatles documentary is playing the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, for just three days (Thursday – Saturday), all of which are already on stand-by status, before hitting Hulu. Though it will bring a smile to fans’ faces and serve as a nice Beatle introduction for those who have been living under a rock, culturally, for 50 years (or haven’t been alive that long), it doesn’t add anything substantial to the already enormous body of Beatle literature, music and cinema. For his second foray into documentary filmmaking (following 2013’s *Made in America*), the legendary director has chosen an even more legendary subject. And with a little luck – in the form of some newly discovered and newly remastered concert footage – Howard has fashioned an enjoyable if not particularly focused or revelatory film. With the title *The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years*, you’d expect the doc to focus just on the group’s live performances. Indeed, most of the hype surrounding the film led us to believe this would be the definitive look at Beatle concerts. It is not. Though the performance of *I Saw Her Standing There* in Washington, D.C., in 1964 will give you goosebumps and the inclusion of a digitally remastered film of virtually the entire Shea Stadium concert from 1965 (NOT included in the Hulu version) is probably worth the price of admission by itself, the Howard film is lacking in focus and new insight. (The Shea Stadium footage, which is a remastered and heavily edited 30-minute version of the original, 50-minute *The Beatles at Shea Stadium* TV movie, is presented at the end of the Howard film and does not factor into that film’s star rating.) Too often Howard’s doc meanders away from the Beatles’ concert life and into areas it has neither the time nor, seemingly, the expertise to fully address, such as songwriting and album releases. This means essential touring information is left out. For instance, there is almost no discussion of Hamburg, though, admittedly, most of the Hamburg shows took place before 1962, which the doc seems to pick as its start date. Perhaps that might explain why we never hear the names Pete Best or Stuart Sutcliffe, but it doesn’t explain why we never learn what a typical Beatles set list looked like or why we never get a geographical description of each tour. (That latter detail could have been easily shown with, oh, perhaps – a map!?) The doc instead prefers to interview celebrities such as Eddie Izzard and Sigourney Weaver. Yes, we do get new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and old interviews with John Lennon and George Harrison. But why am I supposed to care what Whoopi Goldberg was doing in 1964? For all its shortcomings, the doc is still difficult to resist. Highlights include a great chat with journalist Larry Kane, who traveled with the Beatles during their 1964 and 1965 American tours, and an explanation of how the group fought segregation at their Jacksonville show. Even more memorable is the discussion of the final, nightmarish 1966 excursion, right down to the revelation that one guy’s main job at the rain-drenched St. Louis gig was to unplug the electrical equipment if one of the Beatles slipped on the wet stage. (If he failed, electrocution was imminent.) Filmmakers who create Beatle docs have it both easy and hard. All they have to do is throw musical footage at the screen and their film is immediately entertaining. Yet to make a truly important film, they must present something new. And with endless Beatles media saturating the market, that’s virtually impossible. Other recent docs haven’t always succeeded either, but *Good Ol’ Freda* felt more original (thought it suffered from too little Beatle music) and Martin Scorsese’s *George Harrison: Living in the Material World* was more substantial. Still, Howard’s doc is occasionally mature and patient enough to simply sit back and let the Beatles themselves prove to modern audiences why they were the best live band of their era and perhaps all time. If you want to experience the full Shea Stadium concert footage, forget Hulu and instead get on the Enzian standy-by list now or, if you’re not in Central Florida, seek out a theater closer to you. In Scouse slang, the film might not be truly fab, but it’s still plenty gear. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Ballad of Buster Scruggs](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs/) **Published:** November 28, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Ballad of Buster Scruggs**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars # Coen combo ## Brothers spin six Western yarns [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/The-Ballad-of-Buster-Scruggs.jpeg)Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs. Image copyright Netflix. From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-coen-brothers-spin-six-western-yarns-in-the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs/Content?oid=21008906), November 14, 2018 The first feature film was a Western. Shot in Australia in 1906, *The Story of the Kelly Gang*, now largely lost, was the first car in an endless genre train. And more than a century later, there’s no sign of the caboose. Reaffirming their genius, Joel and Ethan Coen have fashioned something fairly new for the old genre: an anthology featuring six iconic types of characters from the late 19th-century frontier. Of course, *The Ballad of Buster Scruggs* isn’t truly new at all, and even the Coens themselves have experimented with shorts before (just not in their own theatrically released feature). But, as usual, they make it seem fresh. Admittedly, their 132-minute ride is quite bumpy, but the scenery is irresistible. (I’m now quit of locomotive metaphors, I promise, but beware a forthcoming stagecoach analogy.) Written over the course of the Coens’ careers and originally conceived as a Netflix mini-series, the film begins rousingly with the best short of the bunch. Sharing its name with the title of the overall movie, it features a wonderful performance by Tim Blake Nelson as a singing gunslinger who is the best shot in the territory and a gentleman to boot. Uproariously funny – with the best sight gag of the year – this comedy-musical gives way to other shorts of varying quality and mood. For instance, we get a dramedy with James Franco (disappointing as usual) and Stephen Root (pleasing as always); a lonely, gothic drama with Liam Neeson and Harry Melling (*Harry Potter* films); a tall tale with Tom Waits; an irony-laden mini-feature with Zoe Kazan, Bill Heck and Grainger Hines; and even a dramedy-musical-suspense with Tyne Daly, Brendan Gleeson and Saul Rubinek (*Frasier, Unforgiven*). And along the way, we meet bank robbers, traveling entertainers, gold prospectors, covered-wagon settlers and an odd assortment of coach travelers. If you look for a joining narrative, you’ll come up empty. Nevertheless, all six stories are surprisingly linked by loss, death and, in many cases, violence. While the presence of the Grim Reaper in all the shorts (even the farcical first offering) shouldn’t surprise anyone considering the Coens’ dark brand of humor, the amount of blood is occasionally off-putting. But the Coens obviously wanted to use every color on their palette to paint the Old West, and the result is vivid, vibrant and stylistic. (Hats off to master cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, who previously shot the brothers’ *Inside Llewyn Davis*. He just might be the best visual, cinematic artist you haven’t heard of.) As with most anthologies, *Buster Scruggs* is less than the sum of its parts. Indeed, when the final story comes to a somewhat unfulfilling end, one is left a bit empty. Perhaps that speaks to the film’s shortcomings, or perhaps it represents our own disappointment that another little Coen nugget – mediocre though a couple of them are – is not waiting around the next bend in the trail. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Austenland](https://www.meiermovies.com/austenland/) **Published:** July 21, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Austenland**, 2013, 1 ½ stars # Tally-ho hum ## Romantic comedy *Austenland* not a worthy destination [![Austenland](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Austenland-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Austenland.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics / Fickle Fish Films / Moxie Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/austenland-is-not-a-worthy-destination/Content?oid=2243530), September 11, 2013 If you’re a single, 30-something fan of Jane Austen, there’s seemingly no better vacation spot than Austenland, a British manor that promises to make your fantasy a reality by immersing you in the Regency era of the famed novelist. Yet despite an interesting premise, this excursion quickly grows tedious in the hands of first-time director Jerusha Hess, who exhibits misplaced pride in her own mediocre screenplay and too little sense and sensibility. The charming but lightweight Keri Russell plays Jane Hayes, who has been a worshipper of everything Austen since her high school literature classes. Not able to find a man who lives up to *Pride and Prejudice*’s Mr. Darcy, she’s remained single, hoping for romance in the style of the 19th century. So, naturally, when she hears of a luxurious English estate offering the world’s “only immersive Austen experience,” she jumps at the chance for a vacation of a lifetime. Upon her arrival, things don’t go quite as planned. Not able to afford the more extravagant accommodations, she’s relegated to something akin to servants’ quarters and assigned a guest name – as all visitors are, to help them disappear into their characters – that leaves a bit to be desired: Jane Erstwhile. She’s also not sure what to make of the male employees, who have been hired to play parts straight out of an Austen novel, right down to taking the guests hunting, teaching croquet, serving authentic period dishes such as sheep’s eyeballs and even wooing them. Ironically, all this acting leaves Jane longing for attention from the seemingly down-to-earth stable boy (Bret McKenzie) and eschewing the fake charms of the manor house. “I’ll go crazy if I have to sit up in that house all afternoon,” she says, disillusioned and questioning not just her vacation choice but her own obsession with a love that might exist only in books. It all sounds intriguing and might have ended up as a clever commentary on fantasy and obsession – and almost does, thanks to a nice little twist. But just as Jane’s own experience isn’t exactly what she expected, we too are led astray by a clunky script and a director who makes one bad choice after another. The pacing is poor, and odd musical selections abound, from a cover version of *Bette Davis Eyes*, to a disastrous end-credits montage, to Jane’s singing of the hip-hop *Hot in Herre.* (Yes, really.) Jennifer Coolidge of Christopher Guest fame, as one of the guests, does most of the heavy comedic lifting, and despite some slick slapstick and a few funny lines, she wears thin thanks to her repeated bungling of “tally-ho” and other British clichés, and her contrived Cockney dialect. Even Jane Seymour, as the property manager, can’t muster much believability. Only Georgia King, as the third guest – why are there just three? – and J.J. Feild, as the resident Mr. Darcy, bring much freshness to a film in which the only polished element is the silver. The Lady Catherine de Bourgh would not approve. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [August: Osage County](https://www.meiermovies.com/august-osage-county/) **Published:** July 12, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **August: Osage County**, 2013, 4 stars # Family feud ## Accomplished cast shines in juicy, generational drama From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/august-osage-county-is-a-juicy-generational-drama/Content?oid=2243226), January 8, 2014 There’s no cat, and the roof may not be made of tin, but it’s plenty hot thanks to Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. In fact, the entire cast and crew of director John Wells’ adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pultizer Prize-winning *August: Osage County* seem to be channeling Tennessee Williams, although not with quite the flair or originality that Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives did back in 1958. Streep is Violet Weston, the vindictive, cancer-ridden, pill-popping matriarch of an extended family in Oklahoma. When her husband, Beverly (Sam Shepard), mysteriously vanishes – or so we are led to believe – the family reluctantly rallies around Violet. Julia Roberts is Barbara, the most stubborn and honest of Violet’s three daughters, and although the film is packed with interesting and intricate subplots, it’s the relationship between Violet and Barbara that drives it. [![August Osage County](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/August-Osage-County-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/August-Osage-County.jpg)The turning point in that relationship is a formal dinner that is the film’s centerpiece and takes up virtually the entire second act of the play. The meal starts with coat-and-tie formalities, then progresses to Violet’s proclamation that she is “just truth-telling,” and finally degenerates into physicality. After that, all pretenses of decorum between mother and daughter vanish, illustrated both tragically and comically with Barbara’s rant to Violet: “Eat your fish, bitch. Eat the fucking fish.” Streep is her usual brilliant self, though less subtle than usual, and Roberts has never been better. To top that off, the supporting cast is a playwright’s dream: Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Misty Upham and Abigail Breslin. But it’s Margo Martindale as Violet’s sister and Chris Cooper as her brother-in-law who stand out. When Cooper, whose character is a calm and steady influence in the film’s first half, finally breaks down and tells his wife he’ll “throw \[her\] Irish ass out into the street” if she doesn’t treat their son (Cumberbatch) with more respect, it works because everything he’s done until that point has worked. It’s “excess within control,” as Christopher Plummer so memorably coached Jane Seymour in *Somewhere in Time*. And it’s advice that Martin Scorsese, to a small degree, and Paul Schrader, to an extraordinary extent, should have taken before tackling the overrated *The Wolf of Wall Street* and the abysmal *The Canyons*, respectively, last year. Not all of *August*’s familial confrontations are entirely effective. Some feel forced and undoubtedly worked better in a three-act structure on stage, in a medium that is often more forgiving toward romanticism and melodrama. On film, the endless fights and revelations sometimes smack of contrivance, and at the end of the dinner scene – though you enjoyed the acting smorgasbord – you’re just a tad too full. But those faults are forgiven, if only because the digestive process is so deliciously rewarding. “I can’t perpetuate these myths of family,” Ivy, Violet’s middle daughter (Nicholson), proclaims. And neither can the film, as it lays bare a lifetime of pain and repression during just a single summer month in Osage County. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [At Any Price](https://www.meiermovies.com/at-any-price/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **At Any Price**, 2012, 2 ¾ stars # Not quite the right *Price* ### Quaid’s quirky turn breathes life into undercooked drama From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/at-any-price/Content?oid=2245451), May 22, 2013 Director Ramin Bahrani is adept at presenting naturalistic glimpses into seldom-depicted cultures and places. For his latest drama, he showcases the surprisingly cutthroat world of competitive farming in Iowa. Yet despite that unique subject and a mesmerizingly odd performance by Dennis Quaid, *At Any Price* does little more than present family drama in an unfamiliar setting. Quaid is Henry Whipple, a farmer and salesman trying to keep both his family and business together. He farms 3,700 acres, but the real money lies in the genetically modified corn seed he sells to his fellow Hawkeyes. To achieve those sales, Henry schmoozes his clients in such a nauseatingly fake way that even William H. Macy’s character from *Fargo would feel creepy. It’s no wonder that profits begin to slip and Henry turns to alternative money-making methods. Exacerbating those problems are the near breakup of his marriage and alienation of his sons. An affair with the town floozy (Heather Graham) predictably draws the ire of his wife (Kim Dickens), while his eldest son Grant has left home and his youngest, Dean (Zac Efron), has his eyes on a career in Nascar or anything that will get him off the farm. As Henry sinks deeper into a personal and financial quagmire from which it may be impossible to extricate himself, he contemplates the meaning of life. “Isn’t there something more?” he wonders aloud. Well, I can’t answer for life, but as far as this film goes, there really isn’t. What you see is what you get – and there’s not much on view here. But that’s also been said about Bahrani’s previous projects, in which he embraced an understated, spare style, so understated as to be almost non-existent. The overrated *Chop Shop*, for instance, is bursting with honesty and grittiness but it so devoid of plot and pace that it’s just one step above a “mumblecore” film. The director’s *Goodbye Solo* also possessed a less-is-more quality, but that style worked there because of a gripping story and on-the-nail performances. Bahrani abandons that hyperrealism somewhat in *At Any Price*, which proves his remarkable flexibility, but the results will likely disappoint many of his fans. Quaid gives a downright quirky performance that is fascinating to watch but isn’t quite pitch-perfect. That’s more than can be said for Efron and Graham, though, who are beautiful to look at but are miscast and ineffectual. With Graham, that’s not a big deal, since she’s in a throw-away role, but Efron’s inability to reach our hearts almost dooms the picture – and may soon doom his career. If not for the unexpectedly strong job of Clancy Brown, as a rival salesman, and Bahrani’s honest creation of rural life, this cinematic tapestry would be pulled apart by the unspectacular screenplay, erratic editing and poor pacing. Considering its equal amount of positives and negatives, would I recommend *At Any Price*? Yes, but not at ANY price. For $10 in a theater? Probably not. For free on Netflix? Definitely. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Assistant](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-assistant/) **Published:** January 30, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Assistant**, 2020, 2 stars # *Assistant* stretched thin ## Workplace-abuse story is threadbare [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Assistant.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-Assistant.jpg)Julia Garner stars in *The Assistant*. (image copyright Bleecker Street Media / Cinereach / Forensic Films) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, January 30, 2020 In Steven Spielberg’s 1971 feature debut, *Duel*, David (every) Mann is stalked on a highway by an unseen killer, a nameless driver of a Needlenose truck. Fast-forward to today, and another filmmaker, Kitty Green, is showcasing an anonymous menace in her narrative feature debut. But instead of using a steel 18-wheeler, this peril is positioned at the helm of a powerful New York film company, using his perch to harass and intimidate all his employees, and sexually abuse women. Sound familiar? It should, as the company chairman is a thinly veiled Harvey Weinstein. But because he – and most of the other characters – are never called by name, the story takes on an everywoman quality. (Cue the *Duel* connection again.) Even the central figure, a junior assistant to the chairman, is listed in the credits as just “Jane.” (Last name Doe?) And by focusing like a laser – a really slow laser – on Jane (Julia Garner, *The Perks of Being a Wallflower*) over the course of one workday, writer-director Green (who has addressed female exploitation in her documentaries) allows us to experience the sadness, frustration, fatigue and, ultimately, resignation that all mistreated employees feel, whether they are victims of Weinstein or simply stuck in debasing jobs that mentally grind them into dust over time. Witnessing what she perceives as the chairman’s sexual misconduct, Jane seeks out a human-relations employee (David Matthew Macfadyen, *Anna Karenina*). But the harassment is shoved back in her face. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” he tells her. “You’re not his type.” If you desire drama, you’ll get it in that scene. But the rest of the movie is emotionally muted and stretched thin, the product of a socially relevant but disappointingly underdeveloped script. At just 87 minutes, it still feels too long, too focused on the tedium of Jane’s day. There’s even a 20-second take of Jane mixing a drink in a blender. (Perhaps Rooney Mara could have used it to wash down that pie she binged in a similarly paced scene from *A Ghost Story*.) Like *A Ghost Story*, *The Assistant* demands patience. If you stick with them, both films have something important to say, though on vastly different subjects. But Green’s film fails because the story it presents and the truths it offers are not developed enough for a full-length film. Quiet and contemplative to a fault, the movie is often, frankly, boring, and its illusion of realism is compromised by its spare production design, despite Garner’s sympathetic, if slightly undercooked, performance. Weinstein and his ilk deserve what Roger Ailes got in *Bombshell*, and then some. Regrettably, you won’t find that in this film. But *The Assistant* does give us a glimpse of heartbreak when Jane’s dad, in a phone conversation, expresses excitement over his daughter’s new job, which she had hoped would make her film-producer dreams come true. Proud of her “great opportunity,” he asks her, “Are you having fun?” “Um, it’s OK,” she responds awkwardly, hiding the abuse from her father and herself. “It’s just stressful.” *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on this movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9000224/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Assistant_(2019_film)).* --- ### [Ash Is Purest White](https://www.meiermovies.com/ash-is-purest-white/) **Published:** April 3, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ash Is Purest White** FL, 2018, 1 ½ stars # *Purest* reductivism ## Chinese saga more commentary than narrative [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ash-Is-Purest-White.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ash-Is-Purest-White.jpg)Fan Liao (left) and Tao Zhao (image copyright Cohen Media Group) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/chinese-saga-ash-is-purest-white-more-commentary-than-narrative/Content?oid=24984873), April 5, 2019 In *Ash Is Purest White*, writer-director Zhangke Jia (*A Touch of Sin*) is less concerned with narrative clarity than with painting an impressionistic portrait of modern China. The result is slightly abstract and mostly minimalistic – so minimalistic it reaches reductivism. Qiao is a young woman eager to escape her rural, coal-mining village, which is being slowly ruined by a changing economy. She prefers palling around with gangsters and hosting mahjong tournaments in dance halls. It’s there she meets Bin, an up-and-coming businessman whose future blossoms unexpectedly when his boss meets an untimely end. As Bin and Qiao’s power and stress grow, they visit a beautiful spot in the countryside, presumably to look for a place to build a house or maybe just relax. (Details like this are often left ambiguous or, even more frustratingly, explained several minutes after we’ve lost interest.) Wondering whether a nearby volcano is still active, Qiao remarks, “Volcano ash is very pure, isn’t it? … Anything that burns at high temperature is made pure.” Referencing the location’s remoteness, Bin responds, “No one would know if you burned to a crisp.” This conversation is one of the film’s few elements that work on both a literal and metaphorical level, as the couple might as well be discussing their own future careers, which will incinerate their dreams. And Zhangke’s script follows that fire, randomly and episodically, through a 17-year odyssey of crime, punishment, abandonment, drift and eventual – though bittersweet – reconciliation. Those five descriptors could actually be the chapter headings in this odd, haunting, but ultimately tedious attempt to reinterpret mafia movies in a style more akin to David Lynch than Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese. The film’s failings are not uncommon to the cinema of reductivism, in which central moments of the narrative are removed, along with character development. The filmmaker assumes you can fill in the blanks and instead concentrates on the smaller moments that you aren’t able to intuit. It’s the pretentious cinema of adjectives and adverbs, with the nouns and verbs nowhere to be seen. In this instance, the result is a unique but misplaced commentary on modernism and cultural identity. As Qiao, Tao Zhao is often mesmerizing in her stoic resolve. Fan Liao, as Bin, also possesses a quiet magnetism. But the supporting performers add little to the haphazard story, which feels both too long and underdeveloped. At best, these secondary performers leave us wanting more, and not in a good way. At worst, they are as wooden as the mahjong pieces pedaled by Qiao and further damage this Chinese-language production, which is plagued by questionable decisions and inconsistent aesthetic choices. “You’ve watched too many gangster movies,” Qiao tells Bin when the latter flashes an illegal gun. Zhangke probably has seen too many as well, which might partially explain his radical rewriting of the genre. He deserves points for originality, not to mention the stunning shooting locations, but this is an offer you can and should refuse. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Anomalisa](https://www.meiermovies.com/anomalisa/) **Published:** January 28, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Anomalisa**, 2015, 4 stars # Anomagical ## Kaufman’s stop-motion drama is one of the year’s best From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/kaufmans-stop-motion-drama-anomalisa-is-one-of-the-years-best/Content?oid=2464149)*, January 20, 2016 “Anything different is good,” Bill Murray’s character postulates in *Groundhog Day*. The same might be said for today’s movie animation, which is drowning in cookie-cutter, computer-generated, action-based films designed to please every age group. Though 2015 saw Pixar (*Inside Out,* *The Good Dinosaur*) and Aardman (*Shaun the Sheep Movie*) rise above the homogeneity and show real heart, no animated film has broken the mold so spectacularly in the last few years as *Anomalisa*. [![Anomalisa](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Anomalisa-300x150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Anomalisa.jpg)Image copyright Paramount Animation/Starburns Industries The mold breaker is Charlie Kaufman. The writer (*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation*) and director (*Synecdoche, New York*) is known for his innovation but has never delved into stop-motion animation before. Not surprisingly, he and co-director Duke Johnson turn the medium on its head by digitally creating realistic faces and figures, printing them with 3-D printers and then shooting them in the frame-by-frame manual-positioning method of conventional stop-motion. The result is mesmerizing but also slightly disturbing in the “uncanny valley” tradition of “almost reality.” Still, as with most great art, the style serves the subject, even if you find that style a tad creepy. Speaking of subjects, Kaufman has created an askew everyman in Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis of the *Harry Potter* films), a person overwhelmed by the monotony of his existence and disappointed in his lack of passion for both marriage and life. His status as a self-help guru with expertise in customer service requires him to travel the country, lecturing on the value of the individual. Yet, ironically, every person in his world seems exactly the same and – in one of the most brilliant cinematic uses of sound ever – has the same voice, Tom Noonan (*Manhunter*, *Last Action Hero)*. “It’s boring. Everything’s boring. I think I might have psychological problems,” Michael admits to an old flame while sitting at the bar at the resort in which he’s staying, the Fregoli Hotel. (Fregoli delusion is the belief that everyone is the same person.) But then he meets Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), an anomaly in a cold, course, impersonal world. “Your voice – it’s like magic,” Michael tells her. And Lisa reciprocates, confessing, in song, that she wants to “be the one who walks in the sun,” *à la* Cindi Lauper. *Anomalisa* addresses painful adult issues and presents uncomfortably honest situations in a way few animated movies have before. Sexually graphic and peppered with curse words, this is the film Ralph Bakshi might have made if he had twice the skill and three times the intelligence. Its only major drawback is that, at 90 minutes, it feels stretched thin. If it were just under 40, as originally conceived (based on Kaufman’s play), it could have walked away with the Oscar for animated short. It also can feel disjointed at times – much like its pieced-together puppets – but that is part of its charm. Though the concept of sexual stop-motion might turn off some audiences, Kaufman’s fascinatingly original creation should be mentioned in the same breath as his best previous work and the top animated films of the last several years. *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Annihilation](https://www.meiermovies.com/annihilation/) **Published:** February 23, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Annihilation**, 2018, 3 ¼ stars # To the lighthouse ### *Annihilation* challenges our notions of identity and perception [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Annihilation.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Annihilation.jpg)Image copyright DNA Films / Paramount Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/annihilation-challenges-our-ideas-of-identity-and-perception/Content?oid=11066311) and [*The Detroit Metro Times*](https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/annihilation-challenges-notions-of-identity-and-perception/Content?oid=9603821), February 23, 2018 Virginia Woolf had something to say about lighthouses. In her 1927 novel, *To the Lighthouse*, she addressed the object’s status as a beacon and guiding force. And just as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor proved that there might be something to fear from Woolf, writer-director Alex Garland has shown, with his new sci-fi brainteaser *Annihilation*, that audiences should approach his creation with trepidation too, at least intellectually. Natalie Portman stars as Lena, an ex-military biologist devastated by the presumed death of her soldier husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac). But when Kane stumbles home dazed and dehydrated, she realizes something is wrong with both him and the secret mission he has returned from, noting, “The silence around it is louder than normal.” Lena soon seeks medical treatment for Kane but instead finds herself transported to Area X (where her husband escaped from) and interrogated by a strangely aloof psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Despite its *X-Files* vibe and obvious comparison to Area 51, it’s really just a science lab on the edge of an environmental disruption labeled the “shimmer,” somewhere on the U.S. Gulf Coast. A colorful CGI combination of the Northern Lights and a Steve McQueen horror film from 1958, it might just as easily be called the aurora blobealis. But despite this silly outer appearance, its inside holds vast mysteries, as Kane discovered after becoming the lone survivor of a previous expedition. That failed mission was designed to reach the heart of the shimmer: a lighthouse, which is regarded as ground zero for a presumed alien intrusion. And though it stretches credibility, Lena becomes convinced that the only way to save her husband and discover the truth behind his illness is to reach that lighthouse, both literally and figuratively. And so, in a fashion not unlike a lesser film such as *Predator* – with which it shares some familiar genre tropes – Lena ventures forth with four other female scientific explorers, where no woman has gone before. “And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves,” Woolf wrote. Revealing the connection between that quote and Lena’s discoveries would be inappropriate, suffice to say that the film challenges our notions of identity, perception and even life. (It’s not a coincidence that Lena specializes in genetics.) But Garland’s movie, though refreshingly perplexing and strange – especially in its final act – is never quite as smart as it thinks it is. If his last movie, *Ex-Machina*, fell just short of its brilliant potential, *Annihilation* could be accused of overshooting its mark by trying to please fans of sci-fi action/horror while channeling *2001: A Space Odyssey* and *Solaris*. In this respect, *Annihilation*, which Garland loosely adapted from the 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer, is not so much a step up or down from his last project as a step sideways. Portman and Isaac are effective despite their awkward chemistry. But maybe it’s that odd connection that helps drive the film’s quirky sensibility. After all, who are these two random individuals given the seemingly impossible and cinematically contrived task of exploring a potentially extra-terrestrial environment? While the characters and their backstories – which come in sandwiched flashbacks – are not wholly relatable, there is a certain profundity to their voyages of discovery. The supporting actresses – all of whom are adequate but not especially memorable – portray uniquely flawed characters too, each one on her own personal journey. And it’s no accident that all five explorers are female. When interpreted realistically, it might seem ridiculous that five psychologically damaged individuals (of either gender) would be sent alone into a dangerous swamp with little support or means of escape. But, hey, the military guys had their chance, so why not send in the brainy women? And, admittedly, on a thematic level, their predicament is compelling. Garland’s canvas is bigger than the one he used in *Ex-Machina*. Still, for the film’s first two-thirds, we see nothing particularly astonishing. Instead, Garland bides his time, employing deliberate pacing and interspersing some memorable and disturbing set pieces. It’s all a teaser for a finale that, despite some ridiculousness, rewards us with big ideas to ponder long after the projector flickers dark. “There it was before her: life,” Woolf wrote. “Life: She thought, but she did not finish her thought.” Garland is also loath to finish our thoughts. Instead, he lets us draw our own conclusions, guided by our own personal lighthouse. *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Anna Karenina](https://www.meiermovies.com/anna-karenina/) **Published:** July 1, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Anna Karenina**, 2012, 5 stars # For Anna, all the world’s a stage [![Anna Karenina](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/anna-karenina-movie-image-keira-knightley-2-300x200.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/anna-karenina-movie-image-keira-knightley-2.jpg)Photo copyright Universal Pictures/Focus Features/Working Title Films From*[ The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/anna-karenina-1.1409141),* November 28, 2012 Leo Tolstoy’s *Anna Karenina* has now been brought to the screen eight times. Yet no other version – indeed, no other film of any subject – has ever looked quite like this, as director Joe Wright’s stunning marriage of style and substance is the best film of the year so far. Fans of the famous story about a doomed woman and the 19th-century Russian society that overwhelms her will nevertheless seek to compare Wright’s take with previous ones, most notably the iconic but overrated 1935 version starring Greta Garbo and the somewhat stiff 1948 revamp with Vivien Leigh. Comparing them as films is fine, but debating which version is most faithful to Tolstoy’s masterpiece is as pointless as comparing a painting to the poem or song that inspired it. If you want a faithful rendering of the plot, simply read the book, or hunt down the 1997 10-part BBC miniseries. Most astonishing about this new version is that, despite being what many would call an art film, it doesn’t sacrifice content. The device that Wright chooses – setting almost everything, horse race included, inside a theater – actually illuminates the theatricality of Imperial Russia better than anyone, including Tolstoy himself, could have probably imagined. Keira Knightley is superb as Anna, completely grasping Wright’s aesthetic concept. This is her third project with the director, after *Pride and Prejudice* and *Atonement*. The latter is considered by many, this reviewer included, to be the best film of 2007. *Anna Karenina* may not quite rise to that level, but it’s awfully close and adds another masterpiece to the British director’s resume. Jude Law is equally effective as Anna’s regal husband, Alexei Karenin. Something in the actor’s nature conveys a sort of cold power, something to be feared, and he uses that to his advantage here, while also capturing a sadness similar to that shown by Ralph Richardson in the 1948 version. It’s impossible to capture the entire novel in just two hours, but Tom Stoppard’s screenplay shows great respect for Tolstoy’s characters and themes, contrasting the failed marriage and urban prison of Anna’s brother Stiva Oblonsky and his wife Dolly with that of the uncorrupted love and simple agricultural existence of their friend, Konstantin Levin, perfectly played by Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson. Konstantin’s love for Kitty brings him purity, and Wright shows this by allowing him to visually reside in the real world, a gift he denies all his other characters, who remain trapped in and on stages, prosceniums, catwalks, wings, auditoriums and all other parts of a theatre for most of the film, prisoners of their world and Wright’s groundbreaking concept. The one slightly weak link is English actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Count Vronsky, the object of Anna’s ruinous affair. But it matters little, as the style is the real star, a style that will be praised, criticized, imitated, misunderstood and discussed for years. Wright has combined literature and theatre with dance and design to weave a bold and ambitious cinematic tapestry. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Amour](https://www.meiermovies.com/amour/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Amour FL, 2012, 3 stars # Love hurts ## **Michael Haneke’s *Amour* is painful, yet necessary** [![Amour](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Amour-300x209.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Amour.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/amour/Content?oid=2244884), February 12, 2013 You will hate *Love* – that is, *Amour* – but you may nevertheless walk away from it with an odd respect for Austrian writer/director Michael Haneke. After all, he has managed to create an exasperating, boring, inspiring, perplexing, honest film from just two great performances, no musical score and an almost total lack of action and camera movement. The minimalist story focuses on an elderly Parisian woman (the brilliant Emmanuelle Riva) who is slipping into paralysis and dementia. Her husband, played tenderly by Jean-Louis Trintignant, is left to care for her, struggle with wrenching life-and-death decisions, and address the concerns of their daughter and son-in-law. “Nothing in this life that I’ve been trying can equal or surpass the art of dying,” George Harrison wrote. Haneke undoubtedly would concur, and he has tried desperately to create something that mimics the art of human existence. But is his creation a masterpiece on the scale of Mother Nature’s, or even a great film? The answer is no, despite the praise of critics and Academy members, who have made it the first foreign-language movie nominated for best film since *Letters from Iwo Jima* in 2006, and only the ninth ever. *Amour* is also not great entertainment, which Haneke himself might agree with. It’s strikingly serene at times, mimicking the visual style of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu and the emotional style of Sweden’s Ingmar Bergman, and the slow pace and long running time might even be called pretentious. In addition, it’s neither as shocking as the director’s *Funny Games* nor as beautiful as *The White Ribbon*. Equally surprising is our lack of personal connection to the characters. Replacing that deep connection and emotional bond are numbness and nothingness. (But perhaps that’s what Haneke wanted for his audience, as those feelings often accompany tragedy.) The film is also devoid of suspense, as the framing device used by Haneke leaves little doubt about the outcome. Addressing that latter point in an interview with Karin Schiefer of the Austrian Film Commission, Haneke said, “\[The framing device\] is an efficient way to begin a narrative arc, and it was an obvious choice in this case. … Why should I play with the uncertainty of the conclusion? When \[the outcome\] is a certainty from the very beginning, this false narrative arc is unnecessary.” It’s difficult to argue that point. Indeed, it’s hard to heap criticism at all on a film that bares its soul in such a real way. So perhaps one is left to ponder simply whether it’s worth watching, or whether it illuminates the human condition? Probably so, but what you get out of it depends on what you bring into it – your experiences, your psyche, your aesthetic preferences – thus making *Amour* as much a comment on film as on aging. This type of moviemaking is best summed up by Haneke himself, in the aforementioned interview: “Journalists want answers to the questions I pose with my films, but the members of the audience should be posing the questions.” *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [American Animals](https://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals/) **Published:** August 15, 2018 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **American Animals**, 2018, 3 ½ stars # Real-life *Animals* ## Caper blends fiction and documentary [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/American-Animals.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/American-Animals.jpg)Image copyright Film4 / The Orchard From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/american-animals-blends-fiction-and-documentary/Content?oid=16941216), August 8, 2018 One of this year’s Sundance darlings, *American Animals* opened the Florida Film Festival in April. The second feature from writer-director Bart Layton, *Animals* bombastically announces that it’s not based on a true story – it IS a true story. And thanks to its half-documentary, half-narrative-fiction format, that announcement is spot-on. Although its unique structure – think Warren Beatty’s *Reds* – might seem gimmicky at first, it grows on you, despite some inconsistent pacing. And by the film’s end, you have a clear understanding of 10 people: the five leads in the fictional part of the film and their five real-life (non-actor) counterparts. You might also come to embrace the movie’s playful, meta-theatrical, deconstructionist sensibility. *Animals* focuses on a heist gone wrong in Lexington, Kentucky, but it’s less about the robbery and more about how the events affected the lives of the four young men who planned the job (and the victim). The film stars Barry Keoghan (who was brilliant in *Dunkirk* and *The Killing of a Sacred Deer*), Evan Peters, Jared Abrahamson and Blake Jenner. The latter, a Florida native, plays Chas Allen, one of the four thieves. Jenner represented the film at the Florida Film Festival, and I spoke to him recently about the movie and the future of Florida filmmaking. “I’m a big fan of documentaries, and also I love \[movies\] like this where you see the lead characters kind of go from one to 10 in different forms of emotion, so it kind of checked all those boxes for me and excited me as an actor. And I just wanted it so bad, and I was excited to sink my teeth into it,” Jenner says. Jenner might be best known for winning *The Glee Project* in 2012, which earned him a role in *Glee*. He also starred in *The Edge of Seventeen,* Richard Linklater’s *Everybody Wants Some!!!* and Florida Film Festival favorite Shawn Christensen’s *The Vanishing of Sidney Hall.* But because of its unique structure, *American Animals* was a new experience for Jenner, who says his excitement began upon reading the script. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Opening-night-1.jpg)Blake Jenner (left) with Enzian Executive Director David Schillhammer, at the opening of the 2018 Florida Film Festival. (photo by Cameron Meier) “I just found it fascinating,” he says. “It was no less of a wild ride and a rollercoaster reading it than it is watching it. And it’s the kind of project that you’re kind of on the edge of your seat, in disbelief at times. And you could be about to write this off, saying there’s no way, no way in hell \[that the events happened\]. But then you have the real counterparts … validating the story. … So it seemed like such an entertaining and such an unconventional way of telling this type of story.” Raised in Miami, Jenner left the Sunshine State for Los Angeles after graduating high school. He admits that a stronger Florida film industry probably wouldn’t have prevented his move to California, as he says he always longed to “flee the nest \[and\] spread my wings.” But he says more movie production – buoyed by tax incentives – would be a boon for Florida. “Absolutely! I’d love to see more things made in Florida, for sure, especially seeing movies like *Moonlight* come out of Florida. Let’s make more heartfelt things like this,” Jenner says, adding that he would like to write a movie about Miami and shoot it there. “I would love to write a script that kind of came from my being a kid in Miami … and having like a diverse group of friends and kind of seeing how you make it through childhood to adulthood. That would be awesome. I’d love to see that happen.” *© 2018 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: This review first appeared in capsule form after the film opened the 2018 Florida Film Festival. For that review (and photos of the premiere), [click here](http://www.meiermovies.com/american-animals-opens-festival/).* --- ### [I'm So Excited](https://www.meiermovies.com/im-so-excited/) **Published:** July 12, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Los Amantes Pasajeros (I’m So Excited)** FL, 2013, 2 stars # Farce at 40,000 feet ## Almodóvar’s social comedy can’t quite take off [![I'm So Excited](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Im-So-Excited-300x125.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Im-So-Excited.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/pedro-almodovars-im-so-excited-doesnt-quite-take-off/Content?oid=2245577), July 17, 2013 Luis Buñuel, the king of Spanish surrealist cinema, once made a movie about people trapped in an unlocked room from which, mysteriously, they could not escape. Fast forward 50 years, and Buñuel’s countryman, Pedro Almodóvar, has delivered his own odd take on social imprisonment, and although it’s a welcome return to the type of clever farce that brought him worldwide fame with *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* in 1988, *I’m So Excited!* is, well, no cause for excitement. This latest project, which Almodóvar also wrote, is his first to rely heavily on comedy since *All About My Mother* in 1999. Though he begins the film, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, by professing that it “bears no relation to reality,” the director seems concerned with plot only if it posits social and political pith – and some laughs. The plot he chooses is a plane in danger of crashing, filled with frightened passengers contemplating their lives. We’re introduced to a unique assortment of the famous and ordinary, the undersexed and oversexed, the rational and hysterical, and the straight and the gay – and the *very* gay. We meet a psychic (Lola Dueñas), a hitman (José María Yazpik) and a famous madam (Cecilia Roth), who apparently holds the whoring secrets of the entire nation. We even get a hysterical trio of male flight attendants who would make Liberace seem macho, plus clever but too-brief cameos by Almodóvar regulars Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz. In fact, there are so many crazy characters aboard Almodóvar’s airplane that we wonder whether the landing gear has been sabotaged on purpose to rid the world of these wackos. Taken at face value, *I’m So Excited!* is just what Almodóvar has said it is: a light comedy, with some drama added to build interest. But because many moments – especially an off-the-plane plot featuring the wife and mistress of one of the passengers – don’t work, we strive to find metaphorical meaning. For that, we turn to the original, Spanish title, *Los Amantes Pasajeros,* which translates to “the passenger lovers” or, better still, “the fleeting lovers,” a vastly better name than the English one, which is taken from an odd, campy musical interlude in which the gay stewards sing the Pointer Sisters. It’s the original title that allows us to see the film not as just a titillating trifle or a raunchy comedy, but as a witty take on the incompetence of government and a metaphor for Spain’s stock-market crash. Viewed in that light, it’s no accident that all the passengers in economy class are given sleeping pills and are unaware of impending doom, or that the pilots can’t find a proper place to stage their emergency landing because the country’s airports are in shambles. Regardless of interpretation, Almodóvar’s movie is a strange mix of mediums that, much like Spain’s economy, can’t quite hold itself together. Considering the director’s legendary status, *I’m So Excited!*, with its uninspired storytelling, is a missed opportunity for memorable absurdity. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [All Is Lost](https://www.meiermovies.com/all-is-lost/) **Published:** July 11, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **All Is Lost**, 2013, 3 ½ stars # *All Is Lost* charts true course ## Robert Redford finds his way into our hearts yet again [![Robert Redford](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Robert-Redford-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Robert-Redford.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/all-is-lost-is-simple-but-moving/Content?oid=2245179), November 6, 2013 As empathetic creatures, we’re moved when we see an unknown man suffering. Nevertheless, as self-centered beings, we’re moved even more when we know the man, as *All Is Lost* proves, because the man is Robert Redford, an icon we’ve lived with for more than 50 years. It’s that sense of familiarity and kinship that elevates writer-director J.C. Chandor’s new film above a level one might expect. After all, it’s really just 106 minutes of a man stranded at sea, with almost no dialogue or exposition. Yes, it’s shot, edited and scored well – with minimal embellishments, limited CGI and hyper-realistic handheld camera befitting its subject – but this is no breathtaking depiction of the open sea like we saw in *Life of Pi* or *Kon-Tiki*, or a dramatic spectacle on the scale of *Gravity*. It’s just humanity at its most basic. Redford plays “our man,” a nameless, story-less character sailing his small yacht, the Virginia Jean, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. (When’s the last time the only named character in a film was an inanimate object?) After a freak collision with an adrift shipping container punctures and partially floods his boat, rendering it and most of its equipment essentially useless, the man must summon all his ingenuity and resolve, plus a lot of luck, if he is to live. Because the only detail we know of the man is that he has a family, Redford’s character becomes not a fictional character, but Redford himself. Except for the fact that the real Redford admits he’s not adept at sailing, this really could be the 77-year-old actor out there. And although his performance is solid, it’s not so much his acting that sells the tale – it’s Redford’s simple existence in the world of a well-crafted, though somewhat slight, film. The emotional impact is undoubtedly akin to what French audiences felt while watching screen legend Jean-Louis Trintignant cope with tragedy in *Amour*. Redford’s character shows great courage and calm during his ordeal, but the real medal for bravery should go to Chandor, who, in just his second directorial outing, has fashioned a quiet, contemplative and shockingly unconventional adventure-drama, complete with intriguing ambiguity. Most surprising is the 180-degree turn the director has made from his first film, *Margin Call*. While that tense drama about the 2008 financial collapse contained clusters of characters, *All is Lost* contains just one. And the abundant dialogue of Chandor’s debut has also disappeared, replaced with Redford’s brief opening monologue before setting sail into virtual silence. Though the plot details are quite different, *All Is Lost* begs comparison to Robert Zemeckis’s *Cast Away.* That earlier film was more gripping and Tom Hanks’ performance stronger, but, nevertheless, the two films feel aesthetically and psychologically joined. They are both simple but moving stories of the struggle to survive against odds that most of us will never face. *© 2013 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Alita: Battle Angel](https://www.meiermovies.com/alita-battle-angel/) **Published:** February 15, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Alita: Battle Angel (3–D version)**, 2019, 1 ½ stars # Fallen *Angel* ## Sci-fi, 3-D action flick is beautiful but dumb [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Alita.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Alita.jpg)Image copyright Twentieth Century Fox From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/sci-fi-action-flick-alita-battle-angel-is-beautiful-but-dumb/Content?oid=24012774), February 13, 2019 In 1844, Samuel Morse transmitted his famous telegraph: “What hath God wrought?” Quoting from the *Book of Numbers*, he predicted the profound influence of his accomplishment. Similar technological revelations are depicted in cinema, perhaps none as memorable as Colin Clive’s manic cry from the 1931 *Frankenstein*: “It’s alive!” Fast-forward 88 years to writer-producer James Cameron and writer-director Robert Rodriguez, who have taken the creepy but irresistible art of human creation – via performance-capture technology – to a different level in *Alita: Battle Angel*. Yet Cameron and Rodriguez’s achievement is more akin to Marty Feldman’s “Abby Normal” brain from *Young Frankenstein* than anything Morse or Mary Shelley attained. The new sci-fi action film introduces movie audiences to a world and a character that fans of Yukito Kishiro’s graphic novels have long cherished: post-apocalyptic Iron City and the eponymous Alita. It’s the year 2563, three centuries after “the fall,” and Alita (a “total replacement cyborg”) is brought back to life by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz), who is still reeling from the death of his own, human daughter. In this violent world, everyone is obsessed either with playing a roller-derby rip-off called “motorball” or – in a blatantly spiritual reference – ascending to the “great sky city.” Amid this chaos, Alita, Dyson, Dyson’s ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly) and Alita’s requisite love interest (Keean Johnson) must discover their true selves while, predictably, battling a villain (Mahershala Ali) who isn’t really the villain. One of the many elements this cyberpunk adventure hurls at the screen with little explanation or import is a bar called Kansas. Popular among the “hunter-warriors,” the hang-out holds meaning for fans of Kishiro’s mangas but will be lost on everyone else. To add context, I almost expected Cameron to regurgitate “You’re not in Kansas anymore” from *The* *Wizard of Oz*, as he did to cringe-worthy effect in *Avatar*. Well, guys, I’m actually from Kansas, and while your film has a lot of courage and some heart, it’s sans a brain. Ironically, the most human character is the one who is not: Alita. And that’s thanks to both the eye-popping science and the endearing performance of Rosa Salazar, whose every facial movement is magically, photographically ensnared. (Still, I was more impressed with the resurrection of Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher in *Rogue One*, which has far greater cinematic and societal implications.) The other performances are mediocre, even wooden. It’s not that Waltz, Ali and Connelly are particularly miscast, but they have all done finer work more suited to their talents and sensibilities. And speaking of sensibility, that’s the film’s downfall, as Rodriguez lacks artistic discernment. (His string of entertaining but low-brow films, from *Sin City* to *Planet Terror*, illustrates that.) He does deserve credit, though, for what he admits is a stylistic and thematic departure for him, but, frankly, Cameron should have helmed this himself. Nevertheless, *Alita* will find its audience. But it’s too early to tell whether crowds will be enthusiastic enough to support multiple sequels, which are clearly what Cameron has in mind. But standing alone, this first installment is too underdeveloped, derivative and poorly scripted for adults, and too violent and adult-oriented for children. It’s a waste of technology. “Does it bother you that I’m not completely human?” Alita asks. No, what bothers me is the rest of the film. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Alice Through the Looking Glass](https://www.meiermovies.com/alice-through-the-looking-glass/) **Published:** May 26, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Alice Through the Looking Glass**, 2016, 2 stars # Moviecrappy [![Alice Through](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Alice-Through.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Alice-Through.jpg)Image copyright The Walt Disney Company By Cameron “Frabjous” Meier ‘Twas Disney in its slithy realm Who thought a sequel they’d create. So Tim Burton they asked to helm, And mouse and man did bloviate. Beware the Moviecrap, my son! The script that stinks, the actors who suck. Beware Johnny Depp and shun Sacha Baron Cohen’s murky muck. Burton took his producer’s sword in hand – Longtime a new director he sought. So rested he by the soundstage tree And pondered who could be bought. And as if an amateurish dolt he sought: James Bobin, with brain so lame, Came crapping through the turgid plot, Lewis Carroll imitation but a game. Action, cut! Action, cut! And through and through His subpar direction went snicker-snack. He left quality dead, and with it threw The whole CGI mess on the editor’s back. “And has thou done thy very best, Shown wonder and magic and the Cheshire Cat?” Burton begged Bobin to confess. “Nay,” brayed Bobin. “This flick fell flat.” And though the film be pretty in contortions Proceed, oh audience, with utmost dread, For cinematic logic and proportion Have fallen sloppy dead. *From* [The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/review-poem-alice-through-the-looking-glass/Content?oid=2496598)*, June 1, 2016* *© 2016 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* *For the original* Jabberwocky*, see* [*Wikipedia*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky)*. And thank you, Grace Slick.* --- ### [Aladdin](https://www.meiermovies.com/aladdin/) **Published:** May 23, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Aladdin**, 2019, 2 stars # A ‘whole new’ remake ## *Aladdin* redo is simply unnecessary [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Aladdin.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Aladdin.jpg)Image copyright Walt Disney Pictures From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/aladdin-remake-is-simply-unnecessary/Content?oid=25357710), May 22, 2019 “I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid,” Aladdin sang in Disney’s 1992 hand-animated classic. Well, I guess that world wasn’t quite splendid enough, because here we go again with another unnecessary remake. This one comes courtesy of writer-director Guy Ritchie, who is better known for – and better suited to – action and comedy. Admittedly, *Aladdin* has a lot of both, but at its heart it’s a musical adventure, with just the right balance of chuckles and pathos. And though Ritchie might have two smoking barrels in his toolkit, he apparently lacks tenderness. As a result, this remake is ill conceived, tonally challenged and heavy-handed, despite impressive production numbers. As with all previous versions of the boy-meets-genie tale, this one is based on *Aladdin and the Magic Lamp*, a folk tale set roughly 1,000 years ago during the Islamic Golden Age. The story was first published in English in the early 18th century as part of a larger collection titled *One Thousand and One Nights* (or *The Arabian Nights*) and has seen countless film adaptations, starting with *Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp* in 1917. But the Disney version from 27 years ago is now the most famous, thanks to its wonderful animation and memorable music by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Why Disney chose to redo the film is not a mystery. CEO Bob Iger and his team, like Aladdin himself, know treasure when they see it, and their strategy of redoing the company’s gems has brought them great riches. It’s also delivered some surprisingly good films, from Kenneth Branagh’s *Cinderella* to Jon Favreau’s *Jungle Book* to Bill Condon’s *Beauty and the Beast* to Rob Marshall’s *Mary Poppins Returns* (a sequel, not a remake). But those movies had a purpose and unique vision that separated them from their originals, and each was helmed by a director in tune with that vision. With *Aladdin* and the even worse *Dumbo* redo, though, Disney has become greedy. And Iger, like Abu the monkey, doesn’t know when to leave the treasure alone. It didn’t have to be this way. A (mostly) live-action remake with ethnically authentic casting and culturally realistic design had the potential to take the story in new, dramatic directions. Replacing Gilbert Gottfried’s wisecracking Iago the parrot with the darker, more subtle performance of Disney veteran Alan Tudyk was a good move. So was giving Jasmine a new song, “Speechless.” But one good bird can’t give flight to an otherwise awkward, stiff and mostly unfunny film. And the poor quality and sandwiched-in feel of the new ditty means the movie, instead of giving greater voice to its female characters, appears to pander to feminism. It’s finally time to mention the elephant in the room. He’s black, but he’s blue. He’s straight, but he plays his part embarrassingly, stereotypically gay. You know him. You love him (just not in this movie). Yes, it’s Will Smith as the genie. It’s impossible to top the snarky, frenzied charm of Robin Williams in the 1992 version, so why try? Instead, Disney should have re-imagined the genie, substituting whimsy for freneticism. As for Smith’s version, all I can say is please, Allah, make him go away. With a genie rewrite and recasting, and sans Ritchie, the film might have succeeded. To its credit, it offers colorful CGI landscapes, cool practical stunts and electricity between Mena Massoud (Aladdin) and Naomi Scott (Jasmine). And with the spectacularly staged “One Jump Ahead” and “Prince Ali,” the film takes some stabs at quality. But its cinematic sword is blunt. So, it would behoove you, Mr. Iger, to stop compromising the Disney legacy with unnecessary remakes. And on behalf of kids of all ages everywhere, I beg you: Stop fucking with our collective childhood. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Aeronauts](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-aeronauts/) **Published:** December 5, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Aeronauts**, 2019, 3 ¼ stars # High-flying adventure ## *Aeronauts* is ridiculous but irresistible [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Aeronauts-scaled.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Aeronauts-scaled.jpeg)Felicity Jones scales the exterior of a balloon in *The Aeronauts*. Though she and co-star Eddie Redmayne really took to the skies, this particular scene, of course, involved CGI. (image courtesy Telluride Film Festival) From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/the-aeronauts-is-a-high-flying-adventure/Content?oid=26415533), December 5, 2019 “Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?” the 5th Dimension sang. With all due respect to the ‘60s pop group, no, I don’t wish to go anywhere near a balloon after witnessing the death-defying escapades of *The Aeronauts*. I’m content to stay on the ground, in the cinema, living vicariously through the imagination of director Tom Harper (*Wild Rose*), the pen of Jack Thorne and the performances of Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. Set in London in 1862, *The Aeronauts* chronicles an attempt to break the altitude record (in a coal-gas balloon) while making important discoveries about atmospheric conditions and weather prediction. It combines and conflates the mostly true stories of pioneering scientist James Glaisher (Redmayne) with those of famed balloonists Henry Coxwell, Sophie Blanchard and Margaret Graham. The amalgamation recounts a real voyage of Glaisher and Coxwell, which was detailed in Richard Holmes’ 2013 book *Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air.* But the film replaces Coxwell with a female composite. That fictional character is Amelia Wren (note the naming nod to Amelia Earhart), and Jones portrays her wonderfully, thanks in part to her undeniable chemistry with Redmayne (her co-star in *The Theory of Everything*), who is just as impressive. And legendary British actor Tom Courtenay adds narrative depth as Glaisher’s father. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Aeronauts-QA.jpg)From left, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and Tom Harper discuss their film at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival. (photo by Cameron Meier) Some would quibble with the script’s creative license, and, indeed, Coxwell’s absence is historically troubling. But the reimagined version allows the filmmakers to somewhat honor the scientific achievements of the men of the 1860s while referencing the contribution of equally brave women from the first half of the 19th century and concocting a family-friendly mix of fantasy and non-fiction. One of the most exhilarating and emotionally rewarding adventure films of the year, *The Aeronauts* is to 19th-century ballooning what *Ford v Ferrari* is to 1960s auto racing (though the latter film is substantially better). And while *The Aeronauts* often embraces spectacle and ridiculousness over nuanced storytelling, it should be commended for its production design, cinematography and stunt work, which required Jones and Redmayne to crash-land in a real balloon, barely avoiding serious injury. (Take that, green screen!) “Together we’ve brought the stars closer,” James tells Amelia. And he’s not blowing hot air, as this film is a gas. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly / MeierMovies, LLC* *Note: I first reviewed this film in capsule form at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival. See that [original review here](http://www.meiermovies.com/telluride-film-festival-2019/).* --- ### [Ad Astra](https://www.meiermovies.com/ad-astra/) **Published:** September 19, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Ad Astra**, 2019, 4 ½ stars # Star turn ## *Ad Astra* is profound, hypnotic [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ad-Astra.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Ad-Astra.jpg)Image copyright 20th Century Fox / Walt Disney Company From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/ad-astra-is-a-profound-hypnotic-experience/Content?oid=26020619), September 18, 2019 In *Ad Astra*, writer-director James Gray (*The Lost City of Z*) uses the largest canvas to paint the most intimate story. In doing so, he successfully interweaves a tale of space exploration with a much smaller and deeply introspective story of personal destiny and father-son relationships. The result is arguably the best film of 2019 so far. This is a story set in the “near future: a time of both hope and conflict.” Brad Pitt plays Major Roy McBride, an astronaut and scientist working on the international space antenna. After a series of unexplained electrical surges nearly takes his life, top government officials confide in him that similar surges in the future may threaten all life on Earth. The surges seem to be caused by an uncontrolled release of antimatter originating from the remains of a mission to Neptune. That expedition, which was tasked with searching for signs of intelligent life, was presumed lost more than a decade ago. And it was piloted by Roy’s father, Clifford. Roy is told he’s the perfect candidate to help secure or destroy what’s left of the old spacecraft. That’s partly because he’s a true professional, a man whose heart rate during space exploration has never risen above 80 beats per minute. Indeed, his steadiness is so perfect that it worries him. “I should feel something,” he laments. But he is chosen for another, obvious reason. As Clifford’s son, Roy is seemingly the best choice to contact the long-lost astronaut, if his father is actually still alive. Yet Roy hasn’t seen his dad since he was 16 years old. He’s both haunted by his presence, or lack thereof, and scared at the version of his father he might found out there at the edge of the solar system. Will it be a version of himself? Existential themes are the stars of this film, but the actors are worthy of praise too. Pitt gives his best performance since *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* 11 years ago, capturing – in both voiceover narration and live performance – a dramatic stillness that few actors achieve. He’s hypnotic, as is the entire production. Though his role is much smaller, the same can be said for Tommy Lee Jones, as the elder McBride. And Donald Sutherland and Ruth Negga, in intriguing supporting roles, add complexity, subtlety and gravitas. The other co-star is Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography. The visual genius behind Christopher Nolan’s *Dunkirk* and *Interstellar* (which feels much like *Ad Astra*) is again at the top of his game, assisted admirably by Max Richter’s inspirational score, not to mention an impeccable sound design and impressive but never obtrusive special effects. The film’s only drawback might be the vagueness of its science, as it never fully explains the details of, or personal motivations behind, the dangerous antimatter reaction. But Gray, who co-penned the script with television writer Ethan Gross, is not focused on answering every question. He prefers to ask them. Must the son suffer the sins of the father? And is our destiny genetic, or can we break free of a predetermined path to chart our own life course? The movie also turns smart science fiction on its head in regard to the bigger questions, by wondering out loud whether we are alone in the vastness of space. Though it owes much to *2001: A Space Odyssey* – and even contains a shocking homage to the “dawn of man” – *Ad Astra* asks us to contemplate a universe without the Monolith. What if “we’re all we’ve got”? Are we enough for ourselves? When told that his dad might still be alive, Roy asks himself, “What did he find out there? Did it break him, or was he already broken?” Gray withholds a tidy answer. Instead, he turns the question on his audience, challenging us to look not toward the stars for explanations – as the movie’s title implies – but inside ourselves. *© 2019 Orlando Weekly* /*MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Abu, Son of Adam](https://www.meiermovies.com/abu-son-of-adam/) **Published:** June 22, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Abu, Son of Adam** FL, 2011, 3 ¼ stars # Painful pilgrimage From [*The Orlando Weekly*](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/screening-at-the-south-asian-film-festival-1.1382534?pgno=1), October 3, 2012 Film is such a youth-centric art that we often forget the power and perspective of older generations’ stories. In the Malayalam-language *Abu, Son of Adam*, first-time writer/director Salim Ahamed harnesses that power by weaving the tale of a poor, elderly Indian couple’s quest to visit Mecca in the annual Hajj pilgrimage. It’s the life dream of so many Muslims, yet it’s virtually absent from Western cinema. To make the journey, Abu (Salim Kumar) and his wife Aisu (Zarina Wahab) must raise money not by accepting charity, which is religiously forbidden, but by selling their cherished possessions, including their prized jackfruit tree, for timber. But when the tree is discovered to be hollow, not only do their Hajj hopes suffer a setback, but their entire life, including their estrangement from their son, is condensed into one heartbreaking, metaphorical truth: “There are some children – we nurture them,” Abu explains, “\[but\] only when they are grown up, we realize their inside is hollow.” Some bad audio post dubbing and poor subtitles make *Abu* a tough watch, but a heartbreaking performance by Kumar and a sweet, if overly sentimental, style make this a strong choice for any Asian film festival. *© 2012 Orlando Weekly* /*MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [The Lost Leonardo](https://www.meiermovies.com/the-lost-leonardo/) **Published:** September 6, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **The Lost Leonardo**, 2021, 3 ½ stars # Chiaro-obscuro ## A lost Leonardo emerges from the shadows [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Lost-Leonardo.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Lost-Leonardo.jpg)Image copyright Sony Pictures Classics Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, September 6, 2021 Oil painting was arguably the dominant visual art form from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, when it was supplanted by film. Photography gave it a run for its Monet in the 19th century, but nothing carried the prestige of paint until the full blossoming of cinema. This discussion was central to [my 2017 movie review of *Loving Vincent*](https://www.meiermovies.com/loving-vincent/), a wonderful marriage of oil painting and cinema. If that film represented formal nuptials between the two mediums, complete with a hundreds of guests, a choir and elaborately festooned cathedral pews, *The Lost Leonardo* is more of a shot-gun Vegas wedding on the heels of an out-the-window elopement. Still, a marriage is a marriage, and both forms – and films – are memorable. Part talking-heads documentary, part reenactment, part thriller, *The Lost Leonardo* is the tale of how a painting of Jesus titled “Salvator Mundi” was found at a 2005 New Orleans art auction, stunningly authenticated as an original Leonard Da Vinci painting, exhibited as such at London’s National Gallery in 2011 and subsequently sold, and sold again, and again – all with the artwork’s provenance and even its authenticity still in doubt. “There are only, by most people’s count, about 15 Leonardos known,” says Alexander Parrish, the “sleeper hunter” who found the painting. “And to say I have found a picture like this is … akin to saying, you know, I had a spaceship on my lawn last night, and I saw some unicorns.” Director Andreas Koefoed’s film is riveting, even when it gets slightly bogged down in the political and business ends of the art world. (Admittedly, that deep dive into politics does broaden the doc’s scope.) And perhaps conscious that a lot of its details have already been revealed by the news media, the film sometimes tries too hard to invent the suspense, as did the Oscar-winning *Searching for Sugar Man* (when most people already knew the doc’s subject was still alive). Nevertheless, *The Lost Leonardo*, like the master’s paintings, carries an irresistible air of mystery, balanced by the perfect blend of darkness and light, and aided by impeccably filmed and edited interviews. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the film itself is sort of a copy, as it is actually the second documentary released this year on this subject. Director Antoine Vitkine’s *Savior for Sale* premiered on French television in April, two months before *The Lost Leonardo* debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. Or maybe it’s actually the original, as *The Savior for Sale* won’t get its American debut for another week. Further, Koefoed started shooting *The Lost Leonardo* in 2018, which means both docs were likely filming at the same time, competing to be the first. Talk about life imitating art. But, like Orson Welles’ *F for Fake*, aren’t all films, even documentaries, trying to trick you to a certain degree? “How can you completely trust anything you see?” both Welles and Koefoed seem to be asking. Similarly, why are you reading this review? Perhaps I pilfered parts from other articles, or perhaps I’m on the payroll of one of the doc’s interviewees, all of whom seem to have something to prove. Clearly, when it comes to absolute honesty, society is still waiting for its savior. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11225756/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Leonardo).* --- ### [Old](https://www.meiermovies.com/old/) **Published:** July 26, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Old**, 2021, 1 ½ stars # *Old* hat ## Shyamalan thriller doesn’t age gracefully [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Old.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Old.jpg)From left, Vicky Krieps, Thomasin McKenzie, Gael García Bernal and Luca Faustino star in *Old*. (image copyright Phobymo / Universal Pictures / Blinding Edge Pictures / Perfect World Pictures) Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 26, 2021 When I go on holiday, I worry I won’t have time to see and do everything. The characters in M. Night Shyamalan’s new sci-fi thriller, *Old*, have that problem ad infinitum. Vacationing at a remote tropical resort, three families are offered the chance to get even more remote when the hotel’s manager mysteriously offers them a day on a private beach. If this sounds like a setup for a bad horror film, it is. But apparently these characters never saw those flicks. With most Shyamalan movies, it helps to know little in advance. That goes double for *Old*, as the premise is everything. And though it’s wonderful, that premise isn’t even his, as he bases his screenplay on *Sandcastle*, a 2013 graphic novel by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. That book, in turn, was inspired by countless other stories involving time travel and the speeding up or slowing down of time. Washington Irving’s *Rip Van Winkle*, from 1819, comes to mind. But in *Old*, no one falls asleep. Instead, for the dozen confused beachgoers, tempus fugit. If only the film could have fugited. Sadly, under Shyamalan’s tone-deaf direction and embarrassingly stiff writing, the film drags, which is ironic considering its subject. And along the way, we learn little of the existential and spiritual nature of time. Instead, Shyamalan concentrates mostly on the physical – and sometimes mental – metamorphoses of his characters. Those physical transformations are, admittedly, difficult to resist (if a bit inconsistent). But that’s about all the film has to offer, except for a rather on-the-nose cameo by the director. Predictably for a Shyamalan picture, it’s only at the climax that he explains things. But the twist treads too late and too weakly into a film that has already missed its chance at either intellectualism or suspense. Even Shyamalan’s best work (*The Sixth Sense*, *Unbreakable*, *The Village* and *Lady in the Water* – yes, this reviewer liked the latter) didn’t rely principally on naturalistic dialogue. Instead, the stories, pacing, performances and mood carried them. *Old*, regrettably, is subpar in the last three categories. That’s shocking considering the inclusion of the accomplished Vicky Krieps (*Phantom Thread*), Alex Wolff (*Hereditary*), Rufus Sewell (*The Father*) and Thomasin McKenzie (*Jojo Rabbit*). I had the pleasure of meeting Krieps at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival and was eagerly awaiting this performance, but neither she nor her co-stars seem entirely comfortable with the screenplay. And the gimmicky cinematography only heightens the presumably unintended campiness. “There’s so many moments we didn’t have,” one character tells another as their fate becomes clear. “It’s not fair.” There’s a COVID message in there somewhere, or perhaps a Bergmanesque message about human existence. But *Old* repeatedly misses the chance to say much of anything and, in doing so, becomes another misfire for Shyamalan, the once golden boy of smart American horror. That title now belongs to Ari Aster, whose next project, *Disappointment Blvd.*, is rumored to have a runtime of about four hours. It will likely still seem shorter than Shyamalan’s film. With age comes wisdom, unless you’re *Old*. *© 2021 MeierMovies, LLC* *For more information on the movie, visit [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10954652/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_(film)).* --- ### [About Time](https://www.meiermovies.com/about-time/) **Published:** November 13, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **About Time**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars # Wasted *Time* ## Chronological confusion reigns in *About Time* Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, 2013 A film can be many things to many people, but if it tries too hard to be all things to everybody, it rings untrue. Such is the fate of *About Time*, director/writer Richard Curtis’s latest creation, which wants to be a time-travel adventure, a romantic comedy and a tender drama but instead ends up as a sweet but contrived muddle with more holes than a doughnut shop. Domhnall Gleeson, who was superb as Levin in Joe Wright’s *Anna Karenina,* plays Tim, who, on New Year’s Day of his 21st year, learns that the men in his family can travel in time. Breaking this incredible news is his endearing father, played lovingly by Bill Nighy – the British actor, not the Science Guy, although the latter could have at least offered a better explanation of the illogical time theories. Tim is skeptical, of course, but soon learns that his dad is telling the truth. He also learns the rules of travel. For instance, he can travel only backwards, not forwards, and only to places he’s already been. There’s no way to travel back to kill Hitler, although that would have made a better movie. Tim instead devotes his travels to correcting his own past stumbles, erasing his haunting regrets and creating a perfect existence with the love of his life, Mary, played prettily but predictably by Rachel McAdams. Curtis is best known for writing *Notting Hill* and *Bridget Jones’s Diary*, in addition to writing and directing *Love Actually*. But his latest film has more in common with his botched directorial effort from 2009, *Pirate Radio*. At more than two hours, *About Time* is too long, apparently wanting to be a mini-epic instead of the simple story more appropriate to the interesting premise. (Do we really need a five-minute scene of McAdams trying on dresses?) And, ironically, it devotes too little time to its most interesting characters: a crotchety playwright portrayed memorably by Tom Hollander and Tim’s sister, played wonderfully by Lydia Wilson. Though parts of the film are shot poorly, with unnecessary handheld camera, the biggest problems are the editing – or lack thereof – and the script, which wants to be both lighthearted and serious, both a story of love and of familial struggles, with time travel an afterthought. How else can one explain the time-travel theories’ insanity? Or the fact that, once the rules are explained, the movie breaks them repeatedly by showing Tim traveling back in time and then forwards, and to places he was never originally in – with no thought to cause and effect, the space-time continuum or how “original” Tim merges with time-traveling Tim. Tim eventually realizes that “time travel seems almost unnecessary.” Well, it’s certainly unnecessary in this film, which makes a total mockery of it. And since you will be unable to travel back in time to unwatch this flick, I suggest skipping it and opting instead for the movie that obviously inspired it, *Groundhog Day*, or, even better, the brilliant time-travel romance *Somewhere in Time*. It’ll be time well spent. *© 2013 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Evolution](https://www.meiermovies.com/evolution/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Evolution**, 2001, ¾ star # Multiply the embarrassment ## Duchovny takes a nosedive with alien-invasion dud From *The Orlando Weekly*, 2001 Ivan Reitman’s new science-fiction adventure speaks more to the devolution of David Duchovny’s career than to the genetic advancement of the movie’s aliens. Perhaps Reitman was so desperate to create his next *Ghostbusters* and to take advantage of Duchovny’s *X-Files* appeal that he forgot to read *Evolution*’s embarrassingly awful script. Duchovny and Orlando Jones (*The Replacements*, 7-Up commercials) play professors who stumble upon single-celled extraterrestrial life in an asteroid that recently crashed to earth. After examining the alien substance, they realize it’s not only multiplying at an exponential rate but also evolving. In a matter of weeks, the primitive organisms transform into a variety of scary creatures just perfect for a summer action blockbuster. In true *Ghostbusters* fashion, Duchovny and Jones are appropriately unprofessional and immature, while seemingly being the only ones who can save the earth from the aliens. They are also joined by Seann William Scott (*American Pie*) and Oscar-winner Julianne Moore, in a role far beneath her talents. Dan Aykroyd even shows up, this time as the enemy – the state’s governor, determined to thwart the efforts of Duchovny’s gang and go ahead with the military’s plan to napalm the creatures out of existence. Although this is clearly one of Reitman’s worst efforts and a far cry from his off-the-wall *Stripes* and his brilliant *Dave,* he doesn’t deserve most of the criticism. That has to be hurled upon Don Jakoby, David Diamond and David Weissman for their writing. Jokes fall flat at an alarming rate despite Jones’ best comedic efforts – he does about as much as humanly possible to get laughs from anal alien humor – and Duchovny seems out of place in a role that requires him to moon an army general. The only time the actor seems at home is during tongue-in-cheek references to the *X-Files*, such as when Jones asks whether the government should be notified of the discovery. “No government. I know those people.” The performances are competent, and Jones clearly has a future with this type of role, but not even Bill Murray, the quintessential purveyor of this type of art, could make this script crackle. The digital effects are exciting, the pace is fast and even the story’s premise is intriguing. But no amount of talent, be it a great director or actor, could save a screenplay this low on the evolutionary ladder. *© 2001 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [2014 South Asian Film Festival](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-south-asian-film-festival/) **Published:** December 15, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## Enzian event expands to three days ### For its 20th year, the festival will screen five features and one short From *[The Orlando Weekly](http://orlandoweekly.com/film/south-asian-film-festival-2014-1.1767082)*, October 7, 2014 For its 20th year, the South Asian Film Festival is expanding from two to three days and from four to five features. To be held at the Enzian Theater in Maitland on October 11-13, the event, which showcases Indian and Pakistani culture through films both from and about those nations, will screen films at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with an additional film at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. “This year’s lineup was selected from about 50 films,” says Programming Director Matthew Curtis. “The five features – three narrative and two documentary – and one short include four Southeast premieres and a number of award winners from … formidable South Asian film festivals, \[and\] for our 20th anniversary, we … have brought back the closing-night screening on Monday, with the filmmaker in attendance.” Food and drink specials, served during screenings but not at Eden Bar, are tentatively scheduled to include vegetable samosas, chicken tikka with coconut rice, tempura vegetables, mango lassi and Kingfisher beer. Individual tickets are $10, with a series pass costing $45. For more information on the festival, which is co-presented by the Asian Cultural Association, visit [http://enzian.org/festivals/south\_asian](http://enzian.org/festivals/south_asian). **Hank and Asha**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars The festival begins with a sweet, minimalist, hyper-realistic tale of two lonely 20-somethings, one American and one Indian, who strike up an online-video friendship after she sees a documentary of his at a film festival in Prague. She’s living there temporarily, while he, an aspiring filmmaker working as a PA on a TV show, has just moved to New York City. [![South Asian 2 2014](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/South-Asian-2-2014-300x214.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/South-Asian-2-2014.jpg)After this odd, uniquely modern relationship blossoms, Hank proposes the next logical step: meeting in person. What he doesn’t know, however, is that a peculiarly Indian tradition may doom their chance for a deeper connection. *Hank and Asha* (Saturday, 11 a.m.), told entirely in brief films that the two make for each other, is, regrettably, one part mesmerizing to two parts tedious. And though the two characters and the actors (Andrew Pastides and Mahira Kakkar) who play them are instantly likeable, this first project by writer-director James Duff seems stretched to the breaking point to reach its 73-minute runtime and is, therefore, better suited to a short. The film is preceded by *Blouse* (2 stars), a 20-minute Hindi-language romantic comedy that fits well with the feature but is not much more than a slightly amusing trifle. **Beyond All Boundaries**, 2013, 3 ¾ stars In India, the biggest sport is cricket and the biggest sporting event is the Cricket World Cup. Yet despite the nation’s devotion to its pastime and the fact that India produces 70 percent of worldwide cricket revenue, the Indian team entered the 2011 contest having not won the Cup in 28 years. It was against that backdrop of crushing expectation that director Sushrut Jain filmed *Beyond All Boundaries* (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.), a look at not just the 2011 tournament, which India hosted, but an intimate examination of the passion that two young amateur cricketers and one obsessively devoted, poverty-stricken fan share for their game. [![South Asian 2014](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/South-Asian-2014-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/South-Asian-2014.jpg)“In a country divided by language, religion, region, caste and class, cricket is the one unifying force,” a slightly heavy-handed but nevertheless effective narration tells us. “For us, Indians, cricket is not a sport – cricket is a religion.” It’s not the intent of this English-Hindi award-winning documentary to teach the rules of cricket. Instead, it tenderly offers up a lesson in the rules of life, by way of a glimpses at three ordinary people who have given up almost everything for a chance to embrace the game they love. It’s the one must-see of the festival. **Siddharth**, 2013, 3 ¼ stars The tragedies of Indian child labor and abduction are the subjects of director and co-writer Richie Mehta’s Hindi-language drama about a father’s heartbreaking search for his missing 12-year-old boy. Having been sent to work in factory for a month because his family needed the money, Siddharth never returns, so his father, a poor street worker, sets out across the country to find him. “There are so many missing children this year,” he’s told during his exhausting quest. “It’s a big business. It feeds the organ trade, sex trade, child labor.” *Siddharth* (Sunday, 11 a.m.) is slow to build, and Rajesh Tailang’s muted performance as the father is a bit ineffective at first, particularly because he’s called upon to do almost all the heavy lifting, as the mother (Tannishtha Chatterjee) is relegated to a minor role similar to the positon most real Indian women play. But this is one film that’s worth sticking around for, as the bitterly realistic and courageous ending suits the story splendidly. **The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers**, 2014, 3 stars The family-owned Russell Exchange is Calcutta’s oldest remaining auction house, but its prestige and profitability is diminishing. Arshad has been running the business for decades while his elder brother Anwer has been living in England. But after 42 years, Anwer has returned in triumphant fashion – or so he’d like to believe – to restore the house’s faded glory. “My brother was in England, and he was well settled there,” Arshad says with a certain sadness. “I have done this because I had to do it, but this business will not last for very, very long.” Though Anwer tends to ham it up, and the camera creates a slight reality-TV feel, *The Auction House* (Sunday, 1:30 p.m.) is nevertheless an enlightening glimpse into both the changing and the constant elements of Indian culture. But perhaps even more significantly, director Edward Owles’s film is an intimate portrait of two very different siblings who must respect tradition while also adapting to a new world and struggling with their own complex familial relationship. **Brahmin Bulls**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars In the festival’s final film, Sid (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is a struggling architect separated from his wife and searching for direction. That search is made both more meaningful and complicated by the unexpected arrival of his widowed father, Ashok (Roshan Seth), who is in town seemingly to attend an academic conference but is really hoping to reconnect with an old, secret flame (Mary Steenburgen). The fact that the visit will allow father and son to bond seems inconsequential to them at first but ends up altering both their lives. “You’re still angry with me because I encouraged you to be the best,” Ashok tells his son, who retorts, “I’m still angry because it was always about you, … what you wanted.” Though the two characters are Indian, *Brahmin Bulls* (Monday, 6:30 p.m., followed by a director Q&A) is a fundamentally American story, set in America with American generational issues. It has little to do with Asian culture, and though it is a nice change of pace from the other offerings, it feels out of place. And despite some tenderness, director Mahesh Pailoor’s debut is doomed to amateurism by contrived conflicts, its characters’ unlikability and a stiff, forced performance by Seth. *© 2014 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Short takes on December cinema](https://www.meiermovies.com/short-takes-on-december-cinema/) **Published:** December 20, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, December 20, 2019 If you’re searching for something to watch at the cinema in late December, check out these brief reviews (and links to longer reviews) of recent movies. (And for ratings and rankings of ALL the 2019 films I’ve seen, [visit my Yearly list](http://www.meiermovies.com/Years.pdf), which also contains ratings and rankings of feature films for each year going back to 1911.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Rise-of-Skywalker.jpeg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Rise-of-Skywalker.jpeg)Image copyright the Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm Ltd. **Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker** (4 ¼ stars: great) Though it’s derivative and overstuffed, J.J. Abrams’ film is a spectacular and emotionally resonant conclusion to the saga. [Read my review here](http://www.meiermovies.com/the-rise-of-skywalker/). **Cats** (3 stars: above average) Despite what we’re hearing from millennials, who seem to have no knowledge of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and can’t wait to tear it apart on social media, *Cats* is actually decent. I recommend it for fans of the stage production and for those who appreciate a little weirdness and whimsy. [Read my review here](http://www.meiermovies.com/cats/). **Bombshell** (3 ¼ stars: good) This is the mostly true story of the sexual-harassment charges levied against Fox News chief Roger Ailes by Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly and several other female staff members. Directed by Jay Roach and buoyed by the strong performances of Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, John Lithgow and especially Margot Robbie (as the lone composite character in the otherwise all-real lineup), the film is an occasionally powerful, occasionally predictable look at one of the defining chapters of the recent Me Too movement. It’s also the only time in human history that liberals and objective journalists will sympathize with Fox News anchors, and rightfully so. **Richard Jewell** (3 stars: above average) At 89 years old, Clint Eastwood still knows how to tell a good story. And, like *Bombshell*, this is a mostly true tale. The film explores the life of accused Olympic Park bomber Richard Jewell, who was actually a hero and helped save lives, despite the FBI floating a false story of potential guilt back in 1996. With sympathetic acting by Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell, Sam Rockwell as his attorney and Kathy Bates as his mom, Eastwood’s movie lays out a mostly satisfying narrative, despite some clunkiness at the start. But the film deserves just 3 stars instead of 3 ½ because of some poor and apparently political choices, one of which casts aspersions on not just the *Atlanta Journal-Constitution* reporter who broke the story but on print journalism in general. With that false accusation – plus an odd visual emphasis on the Confederate battle flag, which was part of the Georgia state flag at the time – Eastwood seems to be sending an ill-suited political message that detracts from an otherwise well-crafted film. **Uncut Gems** (2 ¼ stars: slightly below average) If you know the Safdie brothers, you know going in that their new film will be a wild, anxiety-inducing ride. In that regard, it does not disappoint. However, it’s one thing to make the audience suffer along with the main character (Adam Sandler, in an unexpectedly strong performance); it’s another to make us suffer because of the film itself. Loud, grating and lacking a character arc, *Uncut Gems* simply wore me down. There’s no denying its emotional power, and, admittedly, a movie does not require a character arc, but it would have been nice to have a reason to root for or against the characters, or be given a reason to truly care about anything happening on screen. [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Little-Women.png)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Little-Women.png)Image copyright Sony Pictures / Columbia Pictures **Little Women** (2 ¼ stars: slightly below average) Skip Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of Louis May Alcott’s classic story and instead read the book, or watch the 1994 and 1949 film versions. [Read my review and analysis of the previous movie versions here](http://www.meiermovies.com/little-women/). **A Hidden Life** (1 ¾ stars: below average) Legendary writer-director Terrence Malick is one of the cinema’s kings of color and light. And *A Hidden Life* is the latest addition to his cinematographic canon. But like many of his recent films, this World War II narrative – or lack thereof – is a tedious exercise in impressionistic storytelling, complete with cloying voiceovers, minimal dialogue, an unconventional structure, pretentious framing (heads chopped off) and ridiculous repetition. (Is he really showing us another scene of the Austrian Alps?) Though the story – based on truth – is a noble one, the nearly three-hour runtime and rapid-fire editing make *Life* hard to live through. *© 2019 MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [Tampa Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/tampa-theatre/) **Published:** July 9, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Tampa Theatre, designed by John Eberson and opened in 1926, is the gem of Florida’s “atmospheric” movie palaces. The first public building in Tampa to offer what we today call air-conditioning, the theatre, with a capacity of more than 1,200, still enthralls guests with first-run films, classic movies and live entertainment. And, on special occasions, audiences are treated to mini-concerts on the mighty Wurlitzer organ. For more information on this non-profit theatre, visit [TampaTheatre.org](https://tampatheatre.org/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa_Theatre). Also see [Polk Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/polk-theatre/). (Click each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version. All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Outside-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Interior.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Interior.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Decorations-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Decorations-3.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Entryway-Ceiling.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Entryway-Ceiling.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby-3.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lobby.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Tapestry.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Tapestry.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lounge.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Lounge.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Decorations-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Decorations-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Interior-Decorations.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tampa-Theatre-Interior-Decorations.jpg) --- ### [Seattle Cinerama](https://www.meiermovies.com/seattle-cinerama/) **Published:** March 12, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Cinerama in downtown Seattle is one of just three cinemas in the world still capable of showing three-panel Cinerama films on a curved screen. Though the theatre has been extensively renovated throughout the years, it still contains the original three projection booths. The photos below (of the central booth) show, in order, the Cinerama projector, the digital projector (which the theatre uses for most of its regular shows) and the 35mm/70mm projector. One picture shows the Cinerama screen, backstage. To project Cinerama films, the theatre must destroy its regular screen (and purchase and install a new one) and spend more than a day installing the Cinerama screen, which consists of thousands of individual vertical strips. The theatre opened in 1963. The other two remaining Cinerama screens are the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles and the Pictureville Cinema at the National Media Museum in Bradford, England. For more information on Seattle Cinerama, visit their [site](https://www.cinerama.com/). (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0600.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0600.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0614.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0614.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0618.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0618.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0615.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0615.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0616.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0616.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0617.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0617.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0619.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0619.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0620.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0620.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0612.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0612.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0613.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0613.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0621.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0621.jpg) --- ### [Polk Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/polk-theatre/) **Published:** June 30, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Polk Theatre opened in 1928 in Lakeland, Florida. One of west-central Florida’s two remaining grand movie palaces designed in the “Mediterranean atmospheric” style — the other being the [Tampa Theatre](http://www.meiermovies.com/tampa-theatre/) — the Polk Theatre still entertains Floridians with movies, live theatre, live organ accompaniment and its groundbreaking “chilled air” system. For more information, visit [PolkTheatre.org](https://www.polktheatre.org/). (Click each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version. All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-1.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-3.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-4.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-5.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-5.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-6.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-6.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-7.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-7.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-8.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-8.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-9.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-9.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-10.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Polk-Theatre-10.jpg) --- ### [Museum of Pop Culture](https://www.meiermovies.com/museum-of-pop-culture/) **Published:** March 10, 2017 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPop) contains extensive exhibits devoted to movies, music and sports. When I attended, in February 2017, it also offered a special *Star Trek* exhibit. Items pictured here include original props and costumes from *The Wizard of Oz*, *Star Wars* (Greedo and an original lightsaber), *Creature from the Black Lagoon* and the *Friday the 13th* films, and a replica of the spaceship from *2001: A Space Odyssey*. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0552.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0552.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0570.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0570.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0563.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0563.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0564.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0564.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0565.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0565.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0558.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0558.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0567.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0567.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0569.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0569.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0559.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0559.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0568.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0568.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0562.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0562.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0560.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0560.jpg) --- ### ['Jaws' sights on Martha's Vineyard](https://www.meiermovies.com/jaws-sights-on-marthas-vineyard/) **Published:** June 13, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** If you’re a fan of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece, *Jaws*, you know that the shooting location for Amity Island was Martha’s Vineyard, just off the coast of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. On a 2019 trip to the “Vineyard,” as locals calls it, I hunted down a few of the places Spielberg and his crew used to stage the story of the shark-gone-bad. The first 11 photos, below, are of the little fishing village of Menemsha, on the southwest end of the island. This was the location of Quint’s shop, and the town just reeks of authenticity. You will find more *Jaws* locations elsewhere, but I chose to concentrate my photographic adventures here because, to me, the town captures the feel of the movie more than any other place. The 12th photo shows the cliffs of Aquinnah and Gay Head Lighthouse, which is close to where Spielberg filmed the famous scene of the defaced “Amity Island Welcomes You” billboard. The penultimate photo is of Edgartown harbor and the “Chappy” ferry (to Chappaquiddick Island), which was used in the movie, while the final photo shows Edgartown Town Hall, which was a stand-in for Amity Town Hall. Click each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version. All images are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit. And for more information about the film’s shooting locations, visit [Curbed.com](https://www.curbed.com/maps/the-ultimate-jaws-filming-location-map-of-marthas-vineyard). [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-1.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-2.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-3.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-3.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-4.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-4.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-5.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-5.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-6.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-6.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-7.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-7.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-8.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-8.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-9.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-9.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-10.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-10.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-11.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-11.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-12.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-12.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-13.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-13.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-14.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Jaws-14.jpg) --- ### [Edison & Ford Winter Estates](https://www.meiermovies.com/edison-ford-winter-estates/) **Published:** May 2, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Edison & Ford Winter Estates and Museums in Fort Myers, Florida, offer quite a few goodies for those interested in the early history of cinema. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier. Click to enlarge.) [![DSC01536](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01536.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01536.jpg) [![DSC01531](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01531.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01531.jpg) [![DSC01530](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01530.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01530.jpg) [![DSC01533](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01533.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01533.jpg) [![DSC01534](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01534.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01534.jpg) [![DSC01535](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01535.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01535.jpg) [![DSC01537](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01537.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01537.jpg) [![DSC01526](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01526.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01526.jpg) [![DSC01524cropped](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01524cropped.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC01524cropped.jpg) --- ### ['Benjamin Button' houses in New Orleans](https://www.meiermovies.com/benjamin-button-houses-in-new-orleans/) **Published:** January 1, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** New Orleans is home to many locations in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, David Fincher’s 2008 masterpiece. Arguably the two most important are the small house on Esplanade where Benjamin was born and the elegant mansion in the Garden District (an old folks’ home in the film), where Benjamin spent most of his life. Both locations are shown below. (Click each photo for a larger, higher-resolution version. Images are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without credit and written permission.) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Esplanade-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Esplanade-House.jpg) [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House-2.jpg)[![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Benjamin-Button-House.jpg) --- ### [Warner Brothers Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/warner-brothers-studios/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This 110-acre lot in Burbank includes the tallest sound stage in the United States, the only “jungle” backlot in Los Angeles, the lagoon used to film the opening of *The Muppet Movie*, the set of *Friends*, a traditional town square that’s been used in many TV shows and movies including *The Music Man* and *East of Eden*, and props and costumes from the *Harry Potter* films, the *Batman* films and *Casablanca*. Click photos to enlarge. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) I’m thankful for the opportunity I received to tour the lot, and I was especially honored by the chance to meet and have lunch with actress and author Cass Warner, granddaughter of studio co-founder Harry Warner. [![WB water tower](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-water-tower.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-water-tower.jpg)[![DSC00037](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00037.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00037.jpg)[![DSC00042](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00042.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00042.jpg) [![DSC00043](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00043.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00043.jpg)[![DSC00055](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00055.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00055.jpg) [![DSC00058](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00058.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00058.jpg) [![DSC00059](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00059.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00059.jpg)[![DSC00066](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00066.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00066.jpg) [![DSC00067](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00067.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00067.jpg) [![DSC00068](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00068.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00068.jpg)[![DSC00072](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00072.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00072.jpg)[![DSC00078](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00078.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00078.jpg)[![WB Batman](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Batman.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Batman.jpg)[![DSC00085](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00085.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00085.jpg) [![Harry Potter 1](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Harry-Potter-1.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Harry-Potter-1.jpg)[![The Sorting Hat](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/The-Sorting-Hat.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/The-Sorting-Hat.jpg)[![WB Stage 6](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-6.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-6.jpg) [![WB Stage 15](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-15.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-15.jpg) [![WB Stage 19](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-19.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WB-Stage-19.jpg) --- ### [Sony Pictures Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/sony-pictures-studios/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This 40-acre lot in Culver City is the former home of MGM Studios. During its height in the 1930s and 1940s, this lot was 400 acres, but hard times in the 1970s and 1980s forced the studio to sell off its entire backlot and some of its sound stages. Still, a lot of the historic lot remains, including the largest stage in North America (#15), where *The Wizard of Oz* and many other classics were shot. The lot is now the home of Sony Pictures, which owns Columbia Pictures. (The old Columbia lot is now Sunset Gower Studios.) Click photos to enlarge. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![DSC00246](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00246.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00246.jpg) [![DSC00247](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00247.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00247.jpg) [![DSC00248](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00248.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00248.jpg) [![DSC00249](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00249.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00249.jpg) [![DSC00250](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00250.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00250.jpg) [![DSC00251](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00251.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00251.jpg) [![DSC00253](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00253.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00253.jpg) [![DSC00254](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00254.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00254.jpg) [![DSC00255](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00255.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00255.jpg)[![DSC00262](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00262.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00262.jpg)[![DSC00261](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00261.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00261.jpg)[![DSC00260](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00260.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00260.jpg)[![DSC00259](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00259.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00259.jpg)[![DSC00264](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00264.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00264.jpg)[![Jeopardy](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Jeopardy.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Jeopardy.jpg)[![DSC00271](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00271.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00271.jpg) [![DSC00272](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00272.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00272.jpg)[![DSC00265](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00265.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00265.jpg) [![DSC00267](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00267.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00267.jpg)[![DSC00276](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00276.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00276.jpg)[![MGM sound studio](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MGM-sound-studio.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MGM-sound-studio.jpg)[![Wheel of Fortune](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Wheel-of-Fortune.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Wheel-of-Fortune.jpg)[![DSC00274](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00274.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00274.jpg) --- ### [Paramount Studios](https://www.meiermovies.com/paramount-studios/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This 65-acre lot is the only major studio still located in Hollywood. It also encompasses the old RKO lot, which at one time was the home of Desilu Productions. When Desilu vacated the property, Paramount took it over. Note that each soundstage has a plaque listing what movies and TV shows were shot there but the old RKO soundstages are mostly blank because RKO didn’t keep detailed records. (The only RKO production noted is *Citizen Kane*.) Noteworthy photos below include the bench from *Forrest Gump*, various costumes and props from famous films, and the water tank (currently a parking lot) used in, among other films, *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, *The Truman Show* and *The Ten Commandments* (the parting of the Red Sea). Click each photo for a larger, high-resolution version. (All photos are copyright Cameron Meier and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Paramount Gate](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paramount-Gate.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paramount-Gate.jpg)[![Paramount Gate 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paramount-Gate-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paramount-Gate-2.jpg)[![DSC00107](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00107.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00107.jpg)[![DSC00109](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00109.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00109.jpg)[![DSC00111](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00111.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00111.jpg) [![DSC00112](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00112.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00112.jpg) [![DSC00113](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00113.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00113.jpg)[![DSC00118](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00118.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00118.jpg)[![DSC00124](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00124.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00124.jpg) [![DSC00126](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00126.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00126.jpg) [![DSC00127](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00127.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00127.jpg) [![DSC00128](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00128.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00128.jpg) [![DSC00129](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00129.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00129.jpg) [![DSC00130](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00130.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00130.jpg) [![DSC00132](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00132.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00132.jpg) [![DSC00134](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00134.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00134.jpg) [![DSC00136](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00136.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00136.jpg) [![DSC00137](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00137.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00137.jpg)[![DSC00142](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00142.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00142.jpg) [![DSC00143](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00143.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00143.jpg) [![DSC00144](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00144.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00144.jpg) [![DSC00145](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00145.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00145.jpg) [![DSC00147](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00147.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00147.jpg) [![DSC00149](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00149.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00149.jpg) [![DSC00150](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00150.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00150.jpg) [![DSC00151](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00151.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00151.jpg) [![DSC00152](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00152.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00152.jpg) --- ### [Hollywood Museum](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-museum/) **Published:** March 6, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The Hollywood Museum is located in the old Max Factor building at Hollywood and Highland boulevards. It bills itself as having the largest collection of Hollywood memorabilia in the world. The building also contains Mel’s Drive-in, which is an homage to the original Mel’s from *American Graffiti*, which was regrettably demolished shortly after filming of that movie in the early 1970s. Among the items in these photos are the original jail cells from *The Silence of the Lambs*, along with miniatures from *The Grand Budapest Hotel* and *It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*. Click each photo for a larger, high-resolution version. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Hollywood Museum](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Hollywood-Museum.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Hollywood-Museum.jpg)[![DSC00172](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00172.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00172.jpg) [![DSC00173](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00173.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00173.jpg) [![DSC00174](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00174.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00174.jpg)[![DSC00180](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00180.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00180.jpg) [![DSC00181](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00181.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00181.jpg) [![DSC00182](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00182.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00182.jpg) [![DSC00183](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00183.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00183.jpg) [![DSC00184](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00184.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00184.jpg) [![DSC00185](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00185.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00185.jpg) [![DSC00186](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00186.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00186.jpg) [![DSC00187](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00187.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00187.jpg) [![DSC00193](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00193.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00193.jpg)[![Mad Men costume](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Men-costume.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Men-costume.jpg) [![Mad, Mad World building 2](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Mad-World-building-2.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Mad-World-building-2.jpg) [![Mad, Mad World building](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Mad-World-building.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mad-Mad-World-building.jpg) [![Mutoscope](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mutoscope.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mutoscope.jpg) [![Psycho](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Psycho.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Psycho.jpg) [![Ruby slippers](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ruby-slippers.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ruby-slippers.jpg) --- ### [Hollywood Miscellaneous Photos](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-miscellaneous-photos/) **Published:** August 21, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Below you will find miscellaneous photos from in and around Hollywood. Taken in 2015, these images include the Capitol Records building, the old Hollywood and Highland complex (with its tribute to D.W. Griffith’s *Intolerance*), Mel’s Drive-In (a replica of the original *American Graffiti* set), Musso and Frank Grill, Pantages Theatre (opened in 1930), the Hotel Roosevelt (opened in 1927), the Crossroads of the World open-air mall (opened in 1936) and the (closed) Pacific Theatre (built in 1928). All images are copyrighted, but if you want to use them for your website or publication, I’d be happy to oblige, provided you include proper credit. For permission, please write me at [MeierMovies@aol.com.](mailto:MeierMovies@aol.com) And for the best display (with correct orientation and aspect ratio), I suggest viewing the photos on a larger screen.(Click to enlarge photos.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Capitol-Records-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Capitol-Records-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-and-Highland-Complex-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mels-Drive-In-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mels-Drive-In-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mels-Drive-In-2.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mels-Drive-In-2.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Musso-and-Franks-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Musso-and-Franks-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pantages-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pantages-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Roosevelt-Hotel-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Roosevelt-Hotel-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Crossroads-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Crossroads-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pacific-Theatre-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pacific-Theatre-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Street-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Street-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Grauman's Chinese Theatre](https://www.meiermovies.com/graumans-chinese-theatre/) **Published:** March 5, 2015 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** The theatre was opened in 1927 by Sid Grauman. Originally named Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, it’s also been called Mann’s Chinese Theatre. Today its official name is TCL Chinese Theatre. Its original capacity was about 2,000, but it now seats roughly half that number because of its reconfiguration into IMAX format, the addition of an indoor concessions area and more comfortable, modern seats. The auditorium itself is the same size and still includes the original decorations. The handprint ceremony started when Norma Talmadage accidentally stepped in wet cement in 1927. (See the picture below.) The first movie to be shown here was Cecil B. DeMille’s *The King of Kings*. Click each photo for a larger version. (All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.) [![Chinese Theatre lion](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Chinese-Theatre-lion.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Chinese-Theatre-lion.jpg)[![DSC00202](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00202.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00202.jpg)[![DSC00210](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00210.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00210.jpg)[![DSC00211](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00211.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00211.jpg) [![DSC00212](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00212.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00212.jpg)[![DSC00213](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00213.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00213.jpg) [![DSC00214](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00214.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00214.jpg) [![DSC00216](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00216.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00216.jpg) [![DSC00220](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00220.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00220.jpg)[![DSC00203](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00203.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00203.jpg) [![DSC00204](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00204.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00204.jpg) [![DSC00205](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00205.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00205.jpg) [![DSC00207](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00207.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00207.jpg) [![DSC00208](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00208.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00208.jpg)[![DSC00219](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00219.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC00219.jpg)[![Dorothy dress](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dorothy-dress.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dorothy-dress.jpg)[![GWTW curtain dress](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GWTW-curtain-dress.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GWTW-curtain-dress.jpg) --- ### [Hollywood Forever Cemetery](https://www.meiermovies.com/hollywood-forever-cemetery/) **Published:** August 26, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** Founded in 1899 as simply “Hollywood Cemetery,” Hollywood Forever is one of Los Angeles’s oldest cemeteries. Famous for its celebrity interments, it is adjacent to Paramount Studios. For more information on the cemetery, see [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Forever_Cemetery). These photos are from 2015. They are copyrighted, but if you want to use them for your website or publication, I’d be happy to oblige, provided you include proper credit. For permission, please write me at [MeierMovies@aol.com.](mailto:MeierMovies@aol.com) And for the best display (with correct orientation and aspect ratio), I suggest viewing the photos on a larger screen.(Click to enlarge photos.) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-1-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-2-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-2-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-3-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-3-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-4-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-4-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-5-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-5-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-6-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-6-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-7-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hollywood-Forever-Cemetery-7-scaled.jpg) [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Toto-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Toto-scaled.jpg) --- ### [Enzian Theater to host 30th annual Florida Film Festival in April](https://www.meiermovies.com/enzian-to-host-30th-annual-florida-film-festival-in-april/) **Published:** March 18, 2021 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Florida-Film-Festival-2021-scaled.jpg)From [*The Orlando Weekly*](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/03/17/enzian-theater-to-host-30th-annual-florida-film-festival-in-april?utm_source=featurefollow&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=hpfeatures&utm_content=HomeTopFeature), March 17, 2021 Just eight months after the Florida Film Festival became the first major movie fest to be held in the Southeast United States during the COVID pandemic, the event is returning to its traditional April timeslot. The festival will again be held at just one location, Maitland’s Enzian Theater, because its pre-COVID partner, Regal Winter Park Village, is still closed. This means that, like last year’s event, movies will be shown on just one screen. So to accommodate the 164 films, the 30th annual fest will again last 14 days (April 9-22), instead of its pre-COVID format of 10. The festival will again be a hybrid event, with all films screening in-person and most also being offered online for Florida residents. And to guard against coronavirus, Enzian will institute the same safety protocols it has been using for the last 10 months: mask requirements (when not eating and drinking), spaced-out seating, reduced capacity and temperature checks. As one might expect, parties and social gatherings will be scaled back, as they were last year, but Enzian still plans three parties and two Sunday brunches, in addition to live music at Eden Bar. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Because-of-Charley-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Because-of-Charley-scaled.jpeg)Ashley Jones and John Amos star in *Because of Charley*, this year’s opening film. (image courtesy of Florida Film Festival) Though no in-person celebrity events are planned, because of the pandemic, Karen Allen will participate in a Zoom Q&A session following a screening of John Carpenter’s *Starman*, and Isabella Rossellini will do the same following a showing of David Lynch’s *Blue Velvet*. The opening-night offering will be *Because of Charley*, a movie produced, filmed and set in Central Florida. Directed by local filmmaker Jon Binkowski and starring a cast of locally well-known actors, the movie tells the tale of two stepfamilies holed up together during Hurricane Charley in 2004. The film also features veteran actor John Amos (*Good Times*, *Roots*, *Die Hard 2*), who plans to attend the screening. The festival lineup comprises 36 features and 128 shorts representing 31 countries, with 151 films having premiere status (world, United States, Southeast or Florida). [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Karen-Allen.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Karen-Allen.jpg)Karen Allen (image copyright IMDB) “We are incredibly proud to have the opportunity to present these artists’ extraordinary work on both the big screen at Enzian and virtually,” said Matthew Curtis, programming director, in a pre-prepared statement. “The highest percentage of films ever (over 92 percent) will be making their Florida debut at the festival, and we could not be more thrilled about introducing these talented filmmakers and presenting such an entertaining and diverse group of films to our audience. This year’s lineup includes 90 women or non-binary filmmakers – the most in our 30-year history and 55 percent of our total programming – and their voices will be represented throughout every part of the festival. In addition, we have added a third live-action shorts program to the International Showcase for the first time ever.” Spotlight films are always a highlight. These high-profile movies – which usually already have distribution and screen out of competition – give attendees a chance to see high-profile films before they receive a wider release. This year’s offerings are *Mandibles*, directed by Quentin Dupieux; *Mogul Mowgli*, directed by Bassam Tariq; *Squish* (a short), directed by Xavier Seron; *Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street*, directed by Marilyn Agrelo; and *Together Together*, directed by Nikole Beckwit. [![](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Isabella-Rossellini.jpg)](https://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Isabella-Rossellini.jpg)Isabella Rossellini (image copyright IMDB; by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Other highlights, according to Curtis, are Sundance Film Festival award winners *Cryptozoo* (a feature directed by Dash Shaw) and *Wiggle Room* (a short directed by Sam Guest and Julia Baylis), in addition to international features *Summer of 85* and *Riders of Justice*. As usual, films themed to food, music and Florida will play a large part. In addition, midnight films (three features and 15 shorts) and “Sunspots: New Visions of the Avant-Garde” (11 shorts) will satiate the more adventurous – or transgressive – cinephile. For the complete schedule and prices for in-person and online viewing, visit [FloridaFilmFestival.com](https://www.floridafilmfestival.com/). And don’t miss our full coverage, including film reviews, on April 7. *© 2021 Orlando Weekly* / *MeierMovies, LLC* --- ### [What's on, what's not](https://www.meiermovies.com/whats-on-whats-not/) **Published:** July 25, 2020 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** ## COVID-19 still playing havoc with schedules [![](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/iStock-173573801.jpg)Exclusive to *MeierMovies*, July 25, 2020 Listening to news about coronavirus cancellations and reschedulings is the surest way to get dizzy. Just when you think your favorite cinema is about to reopen or your local film festival is ready to proceed, you find out otherwise. Here’s a brief recap of what’s on and what’s not, as of July 25 at 11:08 a.m. and 12 seconds, Eastern time. AMC Cinemas and Regal, the two largest chains in the United States, have chosen to delay their opening dates again, likely to late August. See [SyFy.com](https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/amc-theatres-delays-opening-summer-movie-season-limbo) for more information. These decisions are fueled partially by the indefinite delay of Christopher Nolan’s *Tenet*, which was supposed to be the summer season’s tent pole. Though Disney’s *Mulan* is still slated for August 21 – as is *Tesla*, directed by Michael Almereyda and starring Ethan Hawke – there’s just not much for big chains to hang their financial hats on right now. Still, some estimates claim that about one-fifth of cinemas in the nation are currently open. However, almost all are in rural areas and operating at limited capacity. Overseas markets are a bit luckier, with about a third of AMC locations open in Europe and the Middle East. Back here in America, Cinemark, the nation’s #3 chain, is taking a slightly bolder path than AMC and Regal. Some locations are open, including the one at Universal CityWalk in my home city of Orlando, Florida, but it’s showing classic films, not new releases. (Almost all of the theaters currently operating in the Sunshine State are non-traditional venues, such as small art houses, dine-in auditoriums or drive-ins.) One such venue is the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, and next month the cinema plans the first major in-person festival in the Southeast United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ll be covering that festival here, and also at OrlandoWeekly.com. It runs August 7-20. For a list of all film festivals still occurring in 2020, check out this [Yahoo.com article](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/every-film-festival-market-still-170745149.html) from July 22, which, if recent trends are any guide, is already out of date. Oh, well, stream on. *© 2020 MeierMovies, LLC* *Image courtesy iStockPhoto (#173573801, by [KLH49](https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/klh49?assettype=image&mediatype=photography&sort=best))* --- ### [Experiments in 16mm](https://www.meiermovies.com/experiments-in-16mm/) **Published:** August 14, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** I shot this 16mm footage using a 1930s Keystone A-3 camera, at both Filmapalooza and the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Florida, in 2019. It goes without saying that the experiment didn’t turn out too well. My apologies to those of you at Filmapalooza who were expecting better. (Almost all of this footage is from the Florida Film Festival at the Enzian Theater, not at Filmapalooza.) But it was still fun to play around with an old camera, and I will do so again soon — hoping for better results. (I’m still trying to discover whether the fault lies in the film, the developer, the camera or the cinematographer (me).) --- ### [Orlando to host Filmapalooza, March 6-9](https://www.meiermovies.com/orlando-to-host-filmapalooza-march-6-9/) **Published:** February 18, 2019 **Author:** Cameron Meier --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/welcome2/) **Published:** July 20, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** [![Cameron 2010-3](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Cameron-2010-3-300x294.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Cameron-2010-3.jpg)**Film is the greatest art form.** That’s an admittedly bold statement, but when you consider all the other arts that motion pictures encapsulate, the claim makes sense. Literature, photography, theatre, music, dance, painting, sculpture, fabric art – the list goes on and on. If you accept that argument, you must agree that film criticism – or at least the analysis and appreciation of film – is one of life’s noblest pursuits. I’m not trying to elevate the film reviewer above anything he or she is. After all, critics don’t exactly save lives, broker peace accords or do the tireless, selfless work of teachers and doctors. And we don’t risk our lives for our country (although I do wear the death wishes I received for my review of *Django Unchained* as a badge of honor). But if you accept the premise of Frank Woods, arguably the world’s first movie critic, that film is poetry in motion, then it’s easy to contextualize the words of Robin Williams’ Mr. Keating in *Dead Poets Society*: “Medicine, law, business, engineering – these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love – these are what we stay alive for.” [![Sam_Rockwell_8](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sam_Rockwell_8-300x169.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sam_Rockwell_8.jpg)Cameron Meier with Sam Rockwell at the 2015 Florida Film Festival. Photo by Liam Malone. **With that in mind, let me welcome you to MeierMovies**, the site for people who like to watch movies and LOVE to rate them. It’s the most detailed, list-loving film site you will ever see! Here you will find rankings and ratings of more than 3,000 theatrically released feature films from 1911 to today, more than 1,200 shorts dating back to the dawn of cinema in 1888 and various listings of TV and Web programs. You will also find something that no other site offers: [ALL those feature films in order of quality](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Star-Ratings.pdf), starting with the top 200 movies ranked in order and ending with the worst two dozen or so of all time, all rated in quarter-star increments. In addition, don’t miss the [unique chronological list](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Years.pdf), which ranks the REAL best films of each year, not what the Academy told us were the best. But before you do anything, please visit the [Introduction](http://www.meiermovies.com/introduction/ "Introduction"), which will give you insight into the process, how films are judged and which films are eligible. [![DSC01142](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/DSC01142-300x225.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/DSC01142.jpg)Cameron at the London Film Museum in 2012 Of course, all of this is the opinion of just one guy: Me, Cameron Meier. So before you get too deep into this site, you should probably find out why the heck you should be listening to me in the first place. For that, click [Who is Cameron Meier?](http://www.meiermovies.com/who-is-cameron-meier/ "Who is Cameron Meier?") In brief, I’ve been a film critic for more than a decade and am currently reviewing movies exclusively for *[The Orlando Weekly](http://www.orlandoweekly.com)*, *[Folio Weekly](http://www.folioweekly.com)* and *[The San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/)*. (This site offers most of my old film reviews, plus some art and theatre critiques, too.) Also please note that most of the movie lists are in **PDF form**. If you can’t view them, you can download Adobe PDF reader for free [here](http://get.adobe.com/reader/). Before wishing you well on your journey through this site, I offer you an introduction to myself and my take on cinema: [my interviews](http://www.meiermovies.com/interviews/) with Sam Rockwell, Charles Fleischer and Paul Sorvino. Enjoy! --- ### [Glossary](https://www.meiermovies.com/glossary-pdf/) **Published:** June 16, 2016 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** This is a test page. --- ### [2014 FFF animated shorts](https://www.meiermovies.com/2014-fff-animated-shorts/) **Published:** December 16, 2014 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 1, 2014 Because they are rarely seen outside festivals, short films are often fest-goers’ favorites, and the English-language animated program is often a top draw. Though this year’s block is entertaining and even moving at times, and features a variety of styles and tones, the quality is down from years past, with only four of the 17 films deserving a thumbs-up. [![Yearbook](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yearbook-300x168.jpg)](http://www.meiermovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Yearbook.jpg)This copyrighted photo of “Yearbook,” which is arguably the best animated short at this year’s event, is courtesy of the Florida Film Festival. Though *Yearbook* (4 stars), a meditation on the fleeting nature of human civilization, is crudely animated in a hand-drawn style, and the voiceover could be crisper, it’s viciously intelligent and thought-provoking, and might elicit a tear. It’s too bad you have to sit through some mediocrity to get there, as the film by Bernardo Britto is the ninth of the block. Yes, you’ll encounter Steven Vander Meer’s meticulously crafted *Salmon Deadly Sins* (3 stars), an imaginative take on greed, envy and the rest of the traditional no-no’s, but you’ll also have to sit through *Raw Data* (0 star) and *The Last Orange Grove of Middle Florida* (0 star), in addition to a couple of flicks better suited to the Midnight Shorts program. Depending upon your taste for the abstract, you may appreciate the surreal and nicely animated *Shelter* (3 stars), which precedes *Yearbook*, but if you stay for the duration, you’ll cringe through the hopelessly unnecessary *Drifters* (0 star), *Twiller Parkour* (1 star) and *Twiller Parkour #2* (0 star). Seriously, there are TWO films by Morgan Miller, the creator of last year’s *Prometheus Shrugged*, and that’s two too many. Missing the mark, though still enjoyable, are *Roadkill Redemption* (1 star), *Sidewalk* (1 star), *Spy Fox* (1 star), and *Tome of the Unknown* (1 star), which all lead to the longest and most serious piece, *Crime: The Animated Series* (3 stars), an illustrated documentary featuring six voice-over interviews with real people affected by crime. Its disjointed feel is offset by its originality and strong subject matter, and, regrettably, that’s more than can be said for many other shorts in this program, which, by the way, are intended for adults only. Judged as a whole, the program isn’t bad, and the order of the films seems to make sense (though we could have done with fewer, but slightly longer, selections). But evaluated individually, there’s just not quite enough magic. *Copyright 2014 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/604-2/) **Published:** June 27, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Valley of Saints FL, 2012, 2 stars # *Valley* not quite deep enough From *The Orlando Weekly*, October 3, 2012 () *Valley of Saints*, a Kashmiri-language production, quietly washes over you, much like the waters of Dal Lake, where its characters live and work. It conveys both a Yasujirô Ozu-like serenity and a darker edge, but it’s ultimately a simple tale of a young man finding a new direction in a world he realizes he never truly knew. That man is Gulzar, played with quiet confidence by Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, and he desperately yearns to escape his life as poor boatman in war-torn Kashmir. “If \[the saints of the valley\] were real,” he complains, “they forgot about Kashmir.” After an escalation of violence, Gulzar and his friend must wait out a military curfew before fleeing for Delhi. During that delay, Gulzar meets a young woman who gives him a new view of his environment and himself, while also driving a wedge between him and his friend. The ensuing events are not without dramatic power, and when director/writer Musa Syeed, in his non-documentary debut, combines them with stunning cinematography, the result is a cultural document of stark realism. But like the shrinking waters of the once-great lake at the heart of its story, *Valley* seems a bit shallow. *Copyright 2012 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/420-2/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Oz the Great and Powerful**, 2013, 1 ¾ stars # Don’t return to Oz ## Disney’s prequel is neither great nor powerful From *The Orlando Weekly*, March 6, 2013 () It’s almost impossible to follow, or in this case precede, a classic. It takes courage, but apparently no brains or heart, as Disney’s prequel to 1939’s *The Wizard of Oz* has some of the look of a great fantasy but none of the magic, thanks to a director out of his depth and a star out of talent. *Oz the Great and Powerful*, inspired by the books by L. Frank Baum – and not the more recent *Wicked* – takes us back to Kansas in 1905, to when Oscar Diggs, a.k.a. the Wizard (James Franco), first journeys to that land beyond the tornado. There he meets three witches: Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams), and sisters Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who are vying for control of their kingdom, and control of our hearts, as we’re somehow supposed to not know whether they are evil. However, any knowledge of the original film, or even compass directions, gives you a strong hint. To direct, Disney chose Sam Raimi of *Evil Dead* and *Spider-Man* fame. But Raimi’s is the cinema of blunt instruments, a sort of “like this film or else” mentality. Instead, *Oz* needed the delicacy of a scalpel, which is not in the director’s toolkit. (A script re-write would have helped too, unless you like lines such as Franco’s “Good thing green is my favorite color,” when he sees the Emerald City.) On the plus side, it’s an admittedly pretty picture, though surprisingly fake and “green screeny” at times, despite the competent production design and use of 3-D. And while its scarier moments may be too intense for very young children, most teenagers will love it. The highlight is the Emerald City finale, which is visually and thematically stunning, and ties in nicely with the 1939 original. Raimi does manage to eek out a moment or two of tenderness, too, such as when the Wizard repairs the broken little China Girl we’ve all fallen in love with from the trailer. (Sadly, after hearing her speak for a few minutes, not even David Bowie would want her.) But *Oz* is undone by Franco, who seems to have stumbled out of a high school play with only three facial expressions: forced joy, fake surprise and misdirected bewilderment. Robert Downey Jr. would have been the smarter choice, but almost anyone could have topped Franco: Keanu Reeves, Yahoo Serious or even James Franco the Duck, from *Ted*. The actor is not without talent. In Danny Boyle’s *127 Hours*, for instance, I was actually rooting for him to saw his arm off to survive. This time, I would have preferred Franco saw MY arm off, as that would have at least stopped my cinematic suffering. Dorothy was right: There’s no place like home. And that’s exactly where you should see this film: on TV, for free, instead of paying for it in a theater. *Copyright 2013 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/407-2/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **Mud**, 2013, 4 ¼ stars # Clear as *Mud* ## Southern drama is one of this year’s best From *The Orlando Weekly*, April 24, 2013 () If *Mud* isn’t the best movie of this young year, it’s certainly the most instantly satisfying. Described by some as the best American movie at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, *Mud* is fresh off its showing at the Florida Film Festival. Now the drama by director-writer Jeff Nichols is getting a well-deserved regular showing at the Enzian. Nichols follows up his captivatingly moody *Take Shelter* with this little gem about love, loyalty, revenge and redemption. It’s both a clinging-to-the-past story and a coming-of-age one, filled with societal nuances and a cultural honesty on par with such Southern films as *Sling Blade* and *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. Matthew McConaughey, in the performance of his career, plays the title character, a drifter looking to simultaneously escape his criminal past and reunite with the love of his life (Reese Witherspoon), all while hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River. Helping him are two young boys in the tradition of Huck Finn and Tim Sawyer, played brilliantly by future superstars Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. Eschewing stereotypes and predictability, *Mud* instead digs deep into the emotional mine of family life and childhood. Particularly powerful is Sheridan’s character’s relationship with his father, played effectively by Ray McKinnon. Nichols clearly wants to portray love between father and son while also capturing the painful honesty and regret that can sometimes accompany the breakdown of a family going through a divorce. For instance, feeling totally helpless as a father and husband, McKinnon’s character tells his son, heartbreakingly, “I don’t care what you do.” But we don’t hate him for that. We just know life is wearing him down. The depth of characterization doesn’t stop with the principals. Sarah Paulson, as the mother, is effective, as is Witherspoon and the always intriguing, though underused, Michael Shannon, who has now appeared in all three of Nichols’ feature films. Most memorable among the lesser players is Sam Shepard, whom young Sheridan’s character calls a “worn-out old man” in one of the film’s many bits of beautiful but brutal dialogue. Though the screenplay and cast are pitch perfect, the movie itself isn’t. It’s a bit too long, and the finale seems a bit forced, but Nichols gets so many things dead right, including the mature and steady cinematography, that any complaints fade to minor quibbles. Heck, even a subplot involving a group of ruthless men out for vengeance against Mud seems to fit. I end with a confession: I’ve never cared much for McConaughey. Yes, he’s a talented guy and has had some strong performances. I even thought he was decent in *Magic Mike*, which can be difficult for some straight guys to admit. But sometimes a role comes along that makes you reevaluate an actor you’ve seen for years – as with Brad Pitt in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* and Charlize Theron in *Monster*. Well, after seeing McConaughey’s humor, tenderness and vulnerability in *Mud*, count me a fan. *Copyright 2013 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/322-2/) **Published:** June 24, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **From Hell**, 2001, 2 ½ stars # Knowing Jack From *The Orlando Weekly*, October 22, 2001 A person taking credit for the Jack the Ripper murders signed his letter to the police, “From Hell.” In the film of the same name, the Hughes Brothers (*Menace II Society, Dead Presidents*) reach into that hell of 1888 London and pull out an eerily horrific, if preposterously inaccurate, tale of prostitution, opium addiction and serial murder. Based on the 1999 graphic novel by Alan Moore, *From Hell* takes the real-life characters and facts of the Ripper case and combines them with both legitimate theories of the killer’s identity and blatant falsehoods. The yarns spun by Moore could be forgiven if the movie labeled itself fiction. Instead, it adds fictional details to the actual crimes, therefore giving the impression that the wild accusations of cover-up, leveled at members of the British royal family, among others, are true. Despite the off-base history lesson, the film is visually and dramatically gripping, thanks to well photographed drug-induced dream sequences and a solid performance by Johnny Depp as the chief inspector on the case, Fred Abberline. Going through a private hell of his own because of his opium addiction and personal demons, Abberline throws himself into both the Ripper case and the arms of prostitute and victim-to-be Mary Kelly (a mediocre Heather Graham). A stronger performance is turned in by Robbie Coltrane, as Abberline’s companion on the case. He’s also his closest mate, literally picking up his friend on several occasions following an episode of “chasing the dragon” with an opium pipe. Moore’s story addresses only a few key theories of the case, such as the possible involvement of Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert, and the queen’s personal physician, William Gull, masterfully portrayed by veteran actor Ian Holm (*The Madness of King George, Chariots of Fire*). The Freemasons are also fingered, and their pentagonal star symbol used as a geographic guide to the five murders. For fans of the famous case, there are plenty of facts thrown in to make it interesting, and the wild conclusion, though parts of it clearly invented for dramatic effect, is fascinating. For those not interested in the “Whitechapel murderer,” the film does hold some interest, though much of it lies buried beneath Allen and Albert Hughes’ overly stylistic and grotesque depictions of Victorian London. Dramatically slow to begin because of shallow character development, the tale picks up pace as the murders mount. In addition, the terror that not just London but the prostitutes who were being ritualistically slaughtered had to live with is palpable. The visuals, which detract from the film in the first half because the directors don’t allow enough time for the mood to wash over us, begin to give the story energy as it builds to the surprising climax. They imbue the movie with a true sense of evil that previous Ripper films, such as *The Lodger* and *The Man in the Attic,* didn’t have. The Hughes have created from Moore’s novel a sense of surreal horror, and the film should be appreciated on that level. For all its dramatic and historical mistakes, *From Hell* rarely fails to entertain and also manages to add to the neverending debate over and fascination with the Ripper. *Copyright 2001 © Orlando Weekly* --- ### [](https://www.meiermovies.com/171-2/) **Published:** June 23, 2013 **Author:** Cameron Meier **Content:** **At Any Price**, 2012, 2 ½ stars # Not quite the right *Price* ## Dennis Quaid’s quirky turn breathes life into undercooked drama From *The Orlando Weekly*, May 22, 2013 () Director Ramin Bahrani is adept at presenting naturalistic glimpses into seldom-depicted cultures and places. For his latest drama, he showcases the surprisingly cutthroat world of competitive farming in Iowa. Yet despite that unique subject and a mesmerizingly odd performance by Dennis Quaid, *At Any Price* does little more than present family drama in an unfamiliar setting. Quaid is Henry Whipple, a farmer and salesman trying to keep both his family and business together. He farms 3,700 acres, but the real money lies in the genetically modified corn seed he sells to his fellow Hawkeyes. To achieve those sales, Henry schmoozes his clients in such a nauseatingly fake way that even William H. Macy’s character from *Fargo would feel creepy. It’s no wonder that profits begin to slip and Henry turns to alternative money-making methods. Exacerbating those problems are the near breakup of his marriage and alienation of his sons. An affair with the town floozy (Heather Graham) predictably draws the ire of his wife (Kim Dickens), while his eldest son Grant has left home and his youngest, Dean (Zac Efron), has his eyes on a career in Nascar or anything that will get him off the farm. As Henry sinks deeper into a personal and financial quagmire from which it may be impossible to extricate himself, he contemplates the meaning of life. “Isn’t there something more?” he wonders aloud. Well, I can’t answer for life, but as far as this film goes, there really isn’t. What you see is what you get – and there’s not much on view here. But that’s also been said about Bahrani’s previous projects, in which he embraced an understated, spare style, so understated as to be almost non-existent. The overrated *Chop Shop*, for instance, is bursting with honesty and grittiness but it so devoid of plot and pace that it’s just one step above a “mumblecore” film. The director’s *Goodbye Solo* also possessed a less-is-more quality, but that style worked there because of a gripping story and on-the-nail performances. Bahrani abandons that hyperrealism somewhat in *At Any Price*, which proves his remarkable flexibility, but the results will likely disappoint many of his fans. Quaid gives a downright quirky performance that is fascinating to watch but isn’t quite pitch-perfect. That’s more than can be said for Efron and Graham, though, who are beautiful to look at but are miscast and ineffectual. With Graham, that’s not a big deal, since she’s in a throw-away role, but Efron’s inability to reach our hearts almost dooms the picture – and may soon doom his career. If not for the unexpectedly strong job of Clancy Brown, as a rival salesman, and Bahrani’s honest creation of rural life, this cinematic tapestry would be pulled apart by the unspectacular screenplay, erratic editing and poor pacing. Considering its equal amount of positives and negatives, would I recommend *At Any Price*? Yes, but not at ANY price. For $10 in a theater? Probably not. For free on Netflix? 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