Tangerine (2015): It’s been a while since I last saw Sean Baker’s wondrous Tangerine and I didn’t even watch it knowing he had won the big prize at Cannes not so many days ago. At its core, it stood out more obviously to me than on previous watches that this is a movie about solitude and belonging and the sacrifices we make to have a modicum of the latter – all wrapped in bubble gum paper. The naturalistic and bombastic performances that Baker manifests from the wonderful cast are a joy to experience every time and together with the vibrant score they transform the banal into the extraordinary. 9
Umberto D. (1952): I had only seen Vittorio de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief (1948), but was ready to inflict some emotional pain upon myself with Umberto D. – the story of a solitary aging man, whose sense of purpose dangles by a thread. Hope springs eternal in the bond he has with his dog, an endlessly nurturing relationship with one’s animal friend that I have only recently grown to become familiar with. It’s a humbling portrait that avoids melodrama, in the spirit of the neorealist style, but still manages to leave you reeling at the end of its compact runtime. Walking this line, that finds empathy above sympathy or pity is always a daunting task, but Umberto D. does it very well and stands the test of time. 8
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009): This little sci-fi (science fiction) piece about three friends working dead-end jobs and fantasizing about nerdy things is pretty much a feel-good story that misses a bunch of beats, but ultimately does things well enough to leave a warm glow in its wake. Chris O’Dowd and Anna Farris are the familiar faces in Gareth Carrivick’s movie, which was released a year before his tragic passing due to leukemia. FAQ has passion project written all over it and benefits from a great retro soundtrack, so I guess that’s why I could overlook its shortcomings. 6
Bad Boys (1995): With the new BB around the corner, a local cable company thought it appropriate to broadcast the original Michael Bay piece of mastery. I had skipped the movie because of bad reviews and am saddened to report, I found they were spot on. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith have their charms, but their characters are less than endearing, and a convoluted plot flatters them…for the worst. This is really a fundamental early-Bay movie, with big kabooms and not much else, an uninspired story structure undermining the whole picture further. It’s difficult for me to find something I liked about it, though I didn’t find the sequels without some charm. A generous 5
Boy Kills World (2024): First time director-writer Moritz Mohr conjures up a lot of violence in Boy Kills World, but the movie is mostly an uninteresting ride that with Deadpool antics that overstays its welcome. It relies on a twist to shake things up in the last third, but, really, the bet moments of the movie come when our mute and deaf protagonist encounters a character whose lips read like gibberish – and the visuals do the gibberish justice. It’s also nice to have H. Jon Benjamin of Archer fame voice a lead in a movie. Beyond that, Boy Kills World is a competent, yet lackluster time-passer. 5
tributary stu 