Category: Film Reviews

Let Them All Talk (R)

Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen.

Also starring Dianne Wiest, Gemma Chan and Lucas Hedges. Famous serious novelist Alice (Streep) heads to the U.K. to accept an important literary prize. Because she won’t fly, her eager-to-please new agent Karen (Chan) books her transatlantic passage on the Queen Mary 2, which this Steven Soderbergh-directed movie sometimes seems like a giant ad for. Alice brings along guests, including her nephew Tyler (Hedges) and two friends from college, Susan (Wiest) and Roberta (Bergen). Susan seems to have had a full life and matured into a normal adult who takes the trip as a fun getaway and a chance to see two people she hasn’t seen in three decades. Roberta is there to settle some old scores. Roberta is bitter about Alice’s most famous book, which she claims was taken from her life and led to the disastrous end to her marriage (and financial ruin). Roberta’s plan seems to be to either snag a wealthy man while on the ship or get Alice to pay up (or both).

By the end of the movie, I found myself mostly thinking about the ship — the nightly formal-wear requirements seem hellish but I do like the idea of fancy afternoon tea. It seems like it would be fun, for a little while at least, to wander around the Queen Mary 2, which was perhaps the thought that inspired this movie. At times it feels more like you’re wandering through a collection of scenes that are individually interesting and somewhat related but not entirely pulled together. Some of the scenes are funny, some feature nice acting moments from one of the performers and some just feel like a bit of filler. In the moment, though, the performances kind of carry you through this voyage. B Available on HBOMax.

The Prom (PG-13)

Meryl Streep, James Corden.

Other stars in this Ryan Murphy adaptation of a 2018 Broadway musical include Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Mary Kay Place and Tracy Ullman.

When Dee Dee Allen (Streep) and Barry Glickman (Corden) see their newest play close on opening night after terrible reviews, they search for a good cause to align themselves with to improve their public images. They pick Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), a high schooler whose school has canceled prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. Dee Dee and Barry travel to her Indiana town with fellow actors Angie (Kidman), who longs to step out of the chorus and play the lead, and Trent (Rannells), whose career is currently in a holding pattern. The school’s patient principal Hawkins (Key) is trying to convince the PTA, headed by Mrs. Greene (Washington), to be more inclusive but the sudden appearance of the Broadway people throws the situation into disarray. Though their goals are well-intentioned (if very self-serving), the actors’ big publicity-generating plans often overshadow Emma and her desire to just go to a dance with her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose), the not-out daughter of Mrs. Greene.

This movie, which started out feeling flat to me, improves as it moves through its two-hour-and-10-minute runtime time — or maybe it just sorta grew on me. Murphy is also the creator of Glee and this movie feels kind of Glee-ish in its staging. With a few exceptions, the musical numbers feel boxed in in a way that keeps them from dazzling you the way it seems like they might in a theater.

That said, Meryl Streep seems to be having a blast and is maybe even making a little fun of her own actorly self. Overall The Prom is a good time, with a delightfully hammy sensibility and occasional scenes (and songs) with sudden and genuine big, deep feelings. B Available on Netflix.

* Once Upon a Snowman (TV-G)

Voice of Josh Gad, Chris Williams.

Sure, this is a short, but I’m still counting this eight-minute movie about Olaf of the Frozen universe as fair movie game. Here, we see the little journey Olaf (voice of Gad) went on between the time that Elsa, mid- “Let It Go,” conjured him and when he met up with Anna and Kristoff. Maybe you remember, back a million years ago in 2013, how some complained that early trailers had set Frozen up as a slapsticky adventure with a snowman but then the movie wasn’t really that (ha, to have such concerns; were we ever so young?). Well, here’s your slapsticky snowman movie, which gives us Olaf’s proto-nose and explains where the wolves in Frozen came from. It also cracked my slapstick-loving kid up with a “where’s my butt” joke. This is a sweet, probably all-ages-friendly new bit of Frozen-ness. B+ Available on Disney+.

*Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe (TV-G)

Voices of Ashley Tisdale, Ali Wong.

While I was aware of the existence of Phineas and Ferb, neither I nor my children had seen an episode of the Disney series before we watched the movie, which I think all of us enjoyed. Maybe me the most. This visual- and verbal-joke-dense world features young teen Candace (voice of Tisdale) and her younger brothers Phineas (voice of Vincent Martella) and Ferb (voice of David Errigo Jr.) in that age-old sibling battle between the kids always doing crazy stuff (Phineas and Ferb) and the kid (Candace) who can’t convince anybody that they are really the ones causing trouble and mess. There’s also a secret agent platypus and a mad scientist and his too-cool daughter (Vanessa, voiced by Olivia Olsen, Candace’s chill friend) and a bunch of Phineas and Ferb’s friends, all with their own weird quirks. But in this adventure, Candace is central to the action; she is kidnapped by a spaceship and taken to a planet where she is told by leader Super Super Big Doctor (voice of Wong) that she is the Chosen One, and what put-upon older sister doesn’t like that? Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb and their friends try to save her — and convince her that she needs saving. There are also songs, all of which are great.

My younger kids loved the pratfall humor, my older kid liked some of the “little brothers, ugh” bits and I liked the classic The Simpsons mix of pop culture references, smart use of cartoonery and general smart alecky-ness. And, the message is ultimately that families love each other and should stick together, but said with way less sappiness and plenty of kid appeal. A Available on Disney+.

Secret Society of Second Born Royals (TV-PG)

Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Elodie Yung.

And Skylar Austin, of Pitch Perfect fame, who is 33 and playing, essentially, the professorial Giles-from-Buffy-like mentor to the kids in this movie, which is one of many things about this cute adventure movie that will make parents feel old. Lee plays Sam, a second-born royal whose older sister Eleanor (Ashley Liao) is about to become queen of Illyria, their tiny European country. Sam is all about her band with her best friend Mike (Noah Lomax) and being all “the monarchy and rules are lame,” behavior that she thinks is the reason she’s sent to summer school. Really it’s because she, like fellow royals Tuma (Niles Fitch), January (Isabella Blake-Thomas), Matteo (Faly Rakotohavana) and Roxana (Olivia Deeble) (and, it’s suggested, the late Princess Margaret and Prince Harry — ooo, does America have a new superhero?), are second-borns gifted with special abilities that will help them protect and serve their countries. If they pass rigorous training, they will join a secret society of second-borns — and their skills may be even more important now that a dangerous prisoner (Greg Bryk) has escaped an Illyrian prison. Who is this baddie and what does he want? Will the second-borns figure out how to use their powers? Will Sam’s mom (Yung) get off her back about being perfect? This teen superhero movie makes up for what it lacks in story innovation and special effects (there is one special effect in particular that is pretty “yikes”) with likeable characters and pacing that mostly moves the action along (even if my eight-year-old did get bored by some of the emotional drama stuff). B Available on Disney+.

Operation Christmas Drop (TV-G)

Kat Graham, Alexander Ludwig.

A congressional aide eager to impress and an Air Force captain laser focused (like, possibly to a degree that should warrant some personal examination on his part) on spreading Christmas cheer clash, but flirtily (at least I think that’s what they’re doing) in this Netflix Christmas romance. I think it is also technically a comedy but I don’t specifically recall anything funny happening or being said.

Erica (Graham) is sent to Guam to observe the annual Operation Christmas Drop (a real thing that would probably make for a fun holiday documentary), wherein supplies are brought by air drop by the U.S. Air Force (and allies) to the people living on islands around Micronesia. Her boss, Congresswoman Sourface (Virginia Madsen, who looked like she was given a shot of lemon juice before every scene; also, no, that’s not really her character name), wants Erica to go and write a report that says the whole thing is wasteful and the military base should be closed — which would allow Sourface to keep the base in her district. Pilot Andrew (Ludwig) is picked by his boss to show Erica around, answer questions and make a good argument for the base’s continued existence Because It’s Christmas (there’s also some talk about Guam’s strategic importance but honestly it’s very secondary to the Christmas thing). Because it is required by law, there is immediate friction between the two — he’s surfing, she’s in a suit! — but slowly they bond over the fact that they are both attractive and that It’s Christmas.

This is the kind of movie where the main female character starts off with hair neatly up and ends up with wavy hair even in circumstances where down, wavy hair doesn’t seem like a great idea, like while pushing stuff out of a plane. I feel like even for that kind of movie, though, Operation Christmas Drop could be better. Ludwig and Graham are both attractive people but they have no chemistry with each other nor does the bland “banter” generate any. They also have no general chemistry with the movie; I suspect they’re not given enough to do to really commit and create emotional weight of any kind. C-Available on Netflix.

Holidate (TV-MA)

Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey.

It feels shallow to be all “this one had swearing, sex and sarcasm and I liked it better” but, well, this holiday movie from Netflix had swearing, sex and sarcasm and I liked it a lot better than Operation Christmas Drop. Sloane (Roberts) is knocking on the door of 30 (ha!) and feels like the most pitied member of her family because she doesn’t have a date to bring home with her to family celebrations. Jackson (Bracey) regularly finds himself on holiday dates where the importance of the day has outpaced the seriousness of the relationship. They meet cute at the mall while trying to return underwhelming Christmas gifts and discuss the idea, introduced by Sloane’s aunt (a “having big fun” Kristin Chenoweth), of a standing “holidate” — someone who can attend Easter outings and St. Patrick’s pub crawls but won’t expect any long-term commitment. Naturally, Sloane and Jackson decide to become each other’s holidates and run through the year’s holidays — New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, Cinco de Mayo — while having what they claim is no-strings-attached fun together.

Does this movie write itself? Kinda. But that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable in a satisfying “fun thing on in the background” way, particularly if it is the entertainment to accompany pairing up a pile of winter gloves or cleaning out your purse or some other task. Roberts and Bracey have decent chemistry and seem like a good fit for the mildly zany material. B- Available on Netflix.

A New York Christmas Wedding (TV-MA)

Nia Fairweather, Adriana DeMeo.

In the tradition of It’s a Wonderful Life-type holiday movies, this one finds Jennifer (Fairweather) planning a wedding with David (Otoja Abit, the movie’s writer and director) — or rather, listening to his mother’s over-the-top plans for their wedding to take place on Christmas Eve. Jennifer has a tough relationship with Christmas — years ago she had a big fight with her best friend near Christmas, and both of her parents passed away when she was relatively young. Out on a jog to get away from David and his overbearing mother, she meets Azrael (Cooper Koch), who —if the name didn’t give it away the white outfit and the imperviousness to being hit by a car should — is an angel. Thus, when she wakes up the next morning, Jennifer finds herself in bed not with David but with Gabby (DeMeo), her best friend all grown up and now her fiancee.

I feel like I should say something like “Jennifer has to decide if this is the true path her life should have taken” but there really isn’t much to decide; Jennifer and Gabby are clearly deeply in love and meant to be together.

Much like one of those cakes with wonky fondant and oozy jam on Great British Baking Show, this movie isn’t quite patisserie-window-ready; you can see the lumpy bits and rough patches in the basics of this movie’s construction and in some of the writing. Chris Noth shows up as a priest wrestling with the church’s position on same-sex marriage and his whole plot is both very heartfelt and not quite as well folded into the overall story as it could have been with a few tweaks. There is genuine emotion and sweetness all over this movie even if there are also flaws that a slicker production could have fixed. I’m not sure if the heart totally makes up for all the rough moments, but I feel like if the heart is your focus, this could work for you. B-

Available on Netflix.

The Opening Act (NR)

Jimmy O. Yang, Cedric the Entertainer.

Stand-up novice Will Chu (Yang, a comedian with a special on Amazon Prime) gets his big break as the emcee for a show headlined by his childhood comedy hero Billy G. (Cedric the Entertainer) in this sweet if occasionally uneven movie about starting out in comedy. These aren’t comedians taking big stages in New York or L.A.; Chu and his fellow comics are fighting for time at the local open mic night. Though Chu can regularly get a few minutes (assuming he brings in at least two paying customers), he can’t seem to break in at other clubs. Then his buddy, Quinn (Ken Jeong), a more successful comedian, recommends him for a long weekend gig as the emcee for a show that features Chris (Alex Moffat) and Billy G, a longtime comedy hero of Will’s.

This movie also features a slew of comedian cameos — Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Kathleen Madigan and more — and just a general love of the craft of stand-up comedy (along with a bemused look at the lifestyle). The movie isn’t really a definitive study of all stand-up comedy; it’s more a narrowly focused story about this point in one comedian’s professional development when comedy goes from a side gig to a possible career. There is such a “love of the game” quality to this movie that I found it easy to look past some of its indie scruffiness. B Available for rent.

Save Yourselves! (R)

Sunita Mani, John Reynolds.

Su (Mani) and Jack (Reynolds) head to a friend’s cabin to take a week off from everything — even their phones, even the internet, even social media. Thusly cut off from the world, they try to “work on we,” reconnect as a couple and discuss the future and reset their brain chemistry and a bunch of other vague “authentic”-sounding things. Unbeknownst to them, at pretty much the exact moment they were recording an outgoing message letting people know they were unreachable, aliens were landing on the planet — furry aliens that Su initially mistakes for an ottoman.

This short but fun comedy blends bougie-couple-stuff (they realize too late that all the microgreens in the world are no good when you need non-perishables) and end of the world panic. The fuzziness of the aliens helps to cut down the actual scariness of the situation and the likability of the leads helps to sell the jokes, or really the one joke, which is that modern urban online life does not prepare you for woodsy survival. B Available for purchase or rent.

The Binge (TV-MA)

Vince Vaughn, Skyler Gisondo.

In some respects this endearingly stupid comedy from Hulu isn’t so unlike the standard tale of teenagers trying to get to a party so one of their number can tell somebody they like them (see also Superbad or Booksmart). In this case, BFFs Griffin (Gisondo) and Hags (Dexter Darden), joined by onetime bud Andrew (Eduardo Franco), are trying to get to a wild party so Griffin can ask Lena (Grace Van Dien) to prom. The catch is that this party is happening on Binge night; similar to Purge night of The Purge movies, on Binge night Americans can load up on as much alcohol and drugs as their bodies can handle, but only once a year. On all other days, mind-altering substances, even beer, are illegal. For newly minted 18-year-olds Griffin and Hags (18 being the age when you can start participating in The Binge), this is their first chance to get totally wasted and make bad choices. For their school principal Mr. Carlsen (Vaughn), who is also Lena’s dad, it’s an opportunity to spread his “say no to everything” message. Like Bueller vs. principal fights for decades, it becomes an evening of crazy adventures and adult overreach.

The concept is dumb but the theme is classic and, as with most of this kind of movie, what carries it through is the sweetness of the friendship between Griffin and Hags. Also, the movie benefits from Vaughn leaning in to the Vaughnily off-kilter quality of his not-so-responsible adult. Come for the many many names for drugs, stay for the musical number. I’d still rather watch this than another The Purge movie (and this one-night-a-year setup might actually make more sense). B- Available on Hulu.

Wild Nights with Emily (PG-13, 2018)

Molly Shannon, Susan Ziegler.

Emily Dickinson (played by Shannon as an adult, Dana Melanie as a teenager/young adult) is in this sweet and funny biopic a woman in a long-term, though somewhat hidden, relationship with Susan (Ziegler as an adult, Sasha Frolova as a teen), her sweetheart from school days who marries Emily’s brother so that they can stay close. Emily is an ambitious writer in a world where ambition and innovation from a woman don’t necessarily work out. It takes her death and some repackaging by her brother’s mistress (Amy Seimetz doing solid wide-eyed comic work) to get Dickinson into the public eye and then Susan’s daughter/Emily’s niece to attempt a more accurate portrait. At times the movie has a bit of a Drunk History feel but it makes Dickinson more of a recognizable human and Shannon brings a liveliness to her reading of Dickinson’s poems and letters. B+ Available on Hulu.

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Connery, Sean Connery

Remember the recently departed Sir Sean Connery, the standard-setter for the James Bond character, in 1964’s Goldfinger (PG technically; Common Sense Media rates it as 13+) which will screen starting Friday, Nov. 6, at Chunky’s Cinema Pub in Manchester (707 Huse Road) and Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.). The movie will screen Friday through Monday, Nov. 9, and Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m. in Manchester and Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 8, and Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6:45 p.m., according to chunkys.com on Nov. 2. Tickets cost $4.99.

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Film
Movie screenings, movie-themed happenings & filmed events

Venues

Bank of NH Stage
16 S. Main St., Concord
225-1111, banknhstage.com

Capitol Center for the Arts
44 S. Main St., Concord
225-1111, ccanh.com

Chunky’s Cinema Pub
707 Huse Road, Manchester; 151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua; 150 Bridge St., Pelham, chunkys.com

Cinemagic
with IMAX at 38 Cinemagic Way in Hooksett; 11 Executive Park Drive in Merrimack; 2454 Lafayette Road in Portsmouth; cinemagicmovies.com

The Music Hall
28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth
436-2400, themusichall.org

Red River Theatres
11 S. Main St., Concord
224-4600, redrivertheatres.org

Wilton Town Hall Theatre
40 Main St. in Wilton
wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456

Shows

• Red River Virtual Cinema Red River Theatres is currently offering indie, foreign language and documentary films via a virtual cinema experience. See the ever changing line-up on the website.

• Live Trivia Back to the Future Trilogy (21+) at Chunky’s Manchester on Thursday, Nov. 5, and Sunday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. and at Chunky’s Nashua on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7:30 p.m. Teams of up to six players; reserve a team spot with $5 food vouchers.

• Warren Miller’s Future Retrovirtual screening via the Music Hall Portsmouth Saturday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m. Access costs $30.

• Live Trivia Hamilton (21+) at Chunky’s Manchester on Thursday, Nov. 12, and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. and at Chunky’s Nashua on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. Teams of up to six; reserve a team spot with $5 food vouchers.

• Lucinda Williams in studio concert series livestreamed event offered by the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Tickets start at $20 per event (with add-on options). Remaining shows include “Southern Soul: From Memphis to Muscle Shoals & More” on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m.; “Bobs Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs” on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m.; “Funny How Time Slips Away: A Night of ‘60s Country Classics” on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m.; and “Have Yourself a Rockin’ Little Christmas with Lucinda” on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m.

• Dr. Mabuse The Gambler, Part 1(1922) This silent film directed by Fritz Lang will screen at Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 2 p.m. with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free but a $10 donation is encouraged. The movie, the first of two parts, is a crime thriller set in Weimar-era Germany, according to Rapsis’ website.

• Dr. Mabuse The Gambler, Part 2 (1922) Catch the second half of the film on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. at Wilton Town hall Theater. Admission is free but a $10 donation is encouraged.

• Flash Gordon (PG, 1980) Cinemagic will screen the Fathom Events 40th Anniversary screening of Flash Gordon on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 4 p.m. at its locations including Hooksett, Merrimack and Portsmouth. Tickets cost $13.25.

She Dies Tomorrow (R)

Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams.

Also Chris Messina and around the edges Josh Lucas and Michelle Rodriguez. This, what, horror movie?, comedy-horror, I think I saw it called in the trailer?, is, as writer Joe Reid said in a tweet a few months back, either the best or worst possible movie for right now. A woman is convinced, for no apparent reason, that she is going to die tomorrow. She believes it, completely, to the befuddlement of the friend she tells until that friend also believes, wholly, that she is going to die tomorrow. Is it some kind of fast-acting neurological illness? A sudden realization of the destruction coming from some outside force? A highly contagious kind of mass hysteria (with all the weight that comes with the word “hysteria”)? Does it matter? The movie works however you see the thing that has everybody feeling doom. I’m sure even if 2020 hadn’t gone the way it’s currently going this movie would still feel relevant — the idea of sudden, life-ending disaster applies even when you aren’t in the middle of a pandemic. (At one point, three characters introduce themselves saying their names followed by “I’m dying,” which is true even if it isn’t true.) As different people get hit with “I’m going to die tomorrow,” the movie perfectly captures the “oh heck, why not have the whole box of cookies; gah, obesity is a comorbidity! No more cookies!” of this particular moment in the real world. It is at times funny, at times poignant, at times just weird — not unlike 2020. B Available for rent.

Relic (R)

Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote.

Kay (Mortimer) and her daughter Sam (Heathcote) arrive at Kay’s mother’s Edna (Robin Nevin) rural-ish house in Australia after neighbors report the woman missing. Post-It note reminders to do basic things and general disarray (plus a recent history of forgetting things) have Kay believing her mother is slipping into dementia. But Kay and Sam can’t completely deny that Edna’s house is also quite creepy. So when Edna suddenly reappears, with a strange dark bruise and no memory of what’s happened, Kay in particular seems to think it’s time her mother live somewhere else. But they, and we, also catch glimpses of strange shadows and sudden blooms of mold that suggest something more malignant is at work in the house.

There are, I think, a few different ways to read this movie, which to me plays out as kind of a nightmare of fears and anxieties more than as a straightforward spooky tale. I felt like, as the movie goes on, it’s making a physical reality of the way disorientation and fear feel and that the movie is more metaphoric by the end than it is introducing us to the next, like, Annabelle or some specific demonic thing. And that, the terror that awaits in your own mind (coupled with some deeply sad stuff about caring for an aging loved one), is way scarier, to me anyway. But I think this movie also allows you to figure out what flavor of horror movie it is for yourself. Either way, it does a solid job of presenting actually scary situations and settings and of ramping up a feeling of dread with all three of the movie’s actresses doing good work. BAvailable for rent.

Good Boy (TV-MA)

Judy Greer, McKinley Freeman.

Greer is Maggie, a down on her luck newspaper reporter who adopts a murderously loyal dog in this movie that is actually maybe an episode of a TV show called Into the Dark. It’s a Hulu thing and it’s an hour and 29 and I’m counting it as a movie, a comedy horror to be exact. This movie is entertaining largely because of Greer, who is fun to watch even if she’s cleaning up entrails after her dog, Reuben, has, say, murdered the landlady, who keeps trying to raise the rent. Reuben is supposed to be an emotional support animal, adopted just as Maggie’s reporter job went from full-time and in print to contract and online (which was not only a professional setback but a financial one and it meant she didn’t have the money to cover the fertility treatments she was hoping would give her just a little more time to find Mr. Right). The movie isn’t particularly deep but it’s off-kilter and just entertaining enough to brighten up your laundry-folding, bill-paying 90 minutes.B-

*Totally Under Control

There are no explosive revelations but plenty of infuriating details in this documentary about the U.S. response to the coronavirus. The movie gives most of its attention to the early days of the pandemic, January through March, arguing that a series of missteps and bad choices made a bad situation so much worse (specifically, so much worse than in places like South Korea, which the movie often uses as an example of different roads taken and the better outcomes). This isn’t some both-sides-y tale; this is solidly an indictment of the Trump administration’s handling of the spread of the illness in the U.S. and the ways in which the administration undermined the federal government’s own pandemic-fighting abilities. Listening to interviews with public health experts discuss early successes and failures in understanding the illness and trying to figure out how to approach it (and a discussion of Obama-era epidemics, how they were handled and what was learned from those successes and failures) is a nice reminder of the abilities of a large, resource-filled organization. The movie is at its most pointed when it shows how that basic competence was undercut for some perceived political gain and the dire consequences of those decisions. A Available to rent and on Hulu.

Kajillionaire (R)

Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez.

Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) are grifters, people who, as Robert explains, pride themselves on being outside a system that wants them following the rules and striving to be “kajillionaires” and instead they skim. Their daughter, named Old Dolio (Wood) as part of a previous, unsuccessful con, helps them in their scams. She’s the one, for example, who uses her keys to a post office box to steal from surrounding boxes, thanks to good timing and long arms. But she clearly longs for more traditional parenting, at least in the emotional sense, and is jealous of the niceness (fake though it is) in her parents dealings with Melanie (Rodriguez), a woman they meet on an airplane during a scam involving travelers insurance. Melanie seems fascinated by this oddball family and their small heists. What Robert and Theresa’s plans are for her are unclear but from the beginning there is something more between Old Dolio and Melanie than just predator and mark.

This movie is written and directed by Miranda July, best known to me from her 2005 movie Me and You and Everyone We Know. The tone of this movie matches my memory of that one — people who feel anxious in their own skin and in need of connection. There is sweetness here and even some elements that almost border on fantasy — there is no actual magic but at times the people and circumstances push the limits of what is believable. I think asking too many questions about characters’ motivations or even their levels of mental wellness is probably not particularly useful for enjoyment of this movie (think too hard about Kajillionaire and it is disturbing and sad). But, taken at face value, Kajillionaire is a light-touch bit of strangeness and quirky romance. B Available for rent.

* All In: The Fight for Democracy(PG-13)

This documentary is a nice primer on the Voting Rights Act (its purpose and history) and the Shelby County v. Holder U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of that law. It is also a nice bio of Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who served in the state legislature for 10 years and then ran for governor in 2018. She’s one of those people who I feel like I’ve read a lot about but haven’t heard from directly as much as I did here. Sure, every person and their uncle (and the cover of the paper you’re holding) is talking to you about voting, but if you can take just one more… B+ Available on Amazon Prime.

*The Social Dilemma (PG-13)

Get ready to be scared and bummed out by this documentary, the gist of which seems to be that social media (Facebook in particular) is making it hard to have privacy, good government and a civil society. The documentary’s talking heads are primarily former employees of Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and they explain how some of the most problematic aspects of these platforms are intentional parts of getting consumers to stay on sites longer and monetize that presence. The documentary also looks at the effect these sites have on kids and teens; one person mentions that it would be best to keep kids off social media until at least 16. Less successful are dramatic enactments (featuring multiple Vincent “Pete Campbell” Kartheisers playing, basically, social media algorithms) with teenagers facing all sorts of teen drama online and a teen boy succumbing to the conspiracy theories of the “radical centrists.” The documentary builds to an interesting case for government regulation of these platforms. B Available on Netflix.

* The Fight (PG-13)

This documentary about the lawyers of the ACLU follows four legal tussles with the Trump administration: the battle over making citizenship a census question; the request for abortion services by a young woman held in detention while seeking refugee status; a pushback of Trump’s attempts to ban transgender people from serving in the military and cases related to the Muslim travel ban and family separation policies. I found myself fascinated not just by the discussion of these cases themselves but also by the procedures — how the lawyers go about their appeals for relief for their clients, many of whom are in some kind of race against time, and how they build class action cases. The documentary also offers a look at ACLU’s broader history. B+ Available on Hulu.

* We Are Freestyle Love Supreme (TV-MA)

Watch extremely talented young theater nerds work together to make something in this documentary about Freestyle Love Supreme, a freestyle rap improv group started in the early aughts by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail (probably best known as the director of Hamilton), Chris Jackson (Hamilton’s best-known George Washington), Utkarsh Ambudkar (who you know from lots of things, including The Mindy Project; also, awesomely, he’s a voice on Disney Junior’s Mira, Royal Detective) and other longtime friends and theater people. And I say “nerds” with great affection and in the absolute best sense. This documentary features footage from a 2019 reunion run of Freestyle Love Supreme as well as the group in the mid-2000s (just before and as Miranda’s In the Heights production was ramping up) and some looks back to their start in the early 2000s. This isn’t a super tight, dramatic tale but I tiredly flipped it on one evening and it was a charming boost of happiness. B+ Available on Hulu.

* Disclosure(TV-MA)

This documentary about transgender representation (and the long lack thereof) in Hollywood beautifully answers the “why is it important to see someone like you on screen” question. Actors, filmmakers, writers and other creative types discuss the limited (and often problematic) examples of transgender characters in the TV and movies of their youth and how transgender stories have found at least some entrance into mainstream TV and movies in, basically, the last decade or so. The documentary makes a strong argument for the richer, smarter, more interesting art that comes from giving a more diverse pool of writers and directors the means to tell their stories. B+ Available on Netflix.

The Speed Cubers (TV-PG)

Weighing in at a brisk 40 minutes, this documentary looks at the international Rubik’s Cube competition community (with competitors ranging in age from tween to early twenties) focusing in particular on Australian Feliks Zemdegs and American Max Park. Zemdegs, the older of the two boys, started winning competitions and breaking world records as a young teen. Park, who is a little younger and was diagnosed with autism as a preschool-aged child, started playing with a Rubik’s Cube as a kid as part of his mother’s strategy to help him with finger dexterity. As Park gets good and gets into competition, the basic social skills that requires — like listening to rules and interacting with others — are as much a win as the results of the competition, as his parents explain. As Park gets more into competition, he meets and eventually becomes friends with Zemdegs, who is his cubing hero. The documentary is as much about the boys’ relationship as it is about competitive cubing and the story is a sweet one that also offers a nice slice of this competitive world I’d never heard about before.B Available on Netflix.

Love, Guaranteed (TV-PG)

Rachel Leigh Cook, Damon Wayans Jr.

Sometimes you just need some dumb happy romantic comedies. All the better if it has some genuine talent like Wayans in the mix. Love, Guaranteed features a broke but ethical lawyer (Cook) who decides to represent a man (Wayans) suing a dating website. At first she thinks his lawsuit — over the company’s promise to help him find love in 1,000 dates — is sort of a scam but she takes it anyway because she needs the case and he gives her a check. But, naturally, she starts to Feel, especially when she learns that he’s a physical therapist who likes helping people and is still nursing a heartbreak. Heather Graham is sort of a hoot playing the Gwyneth Paltrow-esque owner of the dating site. This movie is cute but rather simplistic but some evenings, “simple, romantic and with a happily-ever-after ending” is just what the doctor ordered. C+ Available on Netflix.