Day 873, Quasi-Quarantine: Movie Night Takes A Turn

 

"Sounds good, kids -- 'Scarface' it is!"

Day 480, Quasi-Quarantine: "Val" Is Coming

I'll just say that I'm unreasonably excited for the arrival of this Val Kilmer documentary on August 6.

Limerick Friday #505: Needless Panic At The Pumps -- Day 426

Every stupid ass

Drove around looking for gas

Creating a worse situation

Welcome to our nation

Displaying ignorance en masse

Bad hires cause wrath

Suck up for a jolly path

Consult on what you don't know

Ask an existential question, then go

And call yourself a polymath

Fell in love with a wild creature

With humanity as an endearing feature

Lived in another world

The emotions certainly swirled

Watching "My Octopus Teacher"

New guidance from the CDC

A recipe for disaster, if you ask me

Here come the vaccinated lies

From racists and ignorant guys

Unnecessary risk, just wait and see

Kin more like strangers

With ideological ranges

A family fractured

Caring manufactured

Wake me when something changes

Last time ...

Day 106, Quasi-Quarantine: Disappointing Finish Mars Promising "Vast Of Night"

After reading an article about it, "Vast of Night" became one of my most anticipated movies of quasi-quarantine. When it was delayed a couple of times on Amazon Prime, my excitement to finally view it only grew.

The movie used a "Goonies" quality early on to build excitement and pacing. Director Andrew Patterson did a strong job of world building, bringing in a racial element and creating a viable setting for late-1950s America. Reportedly (and not surprisingly), the script also contains homages to "War of the Worlds" and H.G. Wells.

The two main characters -- a telephone operator and a DJ -- quickly move from an excited interest in quirky events to a frantic curiosity. Overall, the movie progresses methodically from Norman Rockwell and apple pie to alien invasions and eerie terror.

While I liked the movie, I couldn't help shaking the feeling that a lot of meat was left on the bone. I would have liked to have known a little more about the relationship between Fay and Everett and their respective back stories. The flick also ended rather abruptly, and while I'm not averse to climaxes that don't answer all the questions, I felt this one was a bit too jarring. 

All told, I felt a bit more time in the incubator could have turned this one from an almost-was into a legitimate sci-fi groundbreaker.

Day 32, Quasi-Quarantine: "Ex Machina" An Apt Choice During A Captive World Order

"Ex Machina" has been on my list for quite a while (though even I was shocked to see it was released in 2014), so I was excited to finally sit down and watch this multigenre work.

At first blush, the story is about the lengths a reclusive tech mogul will go to pursue his holy grail, but at some point the movie pivoted to focus on Caleb -- the unwitting participant in an extravagant, complex trial to test the limits of artificial intelligence -- and his response to moral boundary-pushing.

There is obvious staying power in the depiction of the slightly mad tech genius who is driven by a personal quest (see "Devs"), and Oscar Isaac mixes charisma, intimidation, and mania in his role. As solitary savant Nathan, Isaac explores his character's unwitting creation of a sliding ethical scale.

Nathan's interactions with Caleb are fraught with double meanings and a pervasive air of secrecy. Domhnall Gleeson is a brilliant casting choice as the awkward coder who realizes his winning lottery ticket came as part of a rigged game to help Nathan make the next leap in AI development.

Caleb is tasked with interacting with and monitoring Ava, a stunningly advanced AI humanoid. Alicia Vikander is haunting in this role, powered by an unexpected sensuality that repeatedly catches Caleb off guard. Eventually, we are forced to ask the difficult -- yet inevitable -- questions: Is Caleb probing Ava or is Ava probing Caleb? Is Nathan testing Ava or Caleb?

The entire flick is essentially a modified bottle episode on steroids, filmed in a claustrophobic style. Writer and director Alex Garland has created a sterile environment filled with hard edges meant to convey the importance of borders between moral and immoral, desire and obsession, human and robot. The staggering scenery and tech representation makes it easy to see why "Ex Machina" won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

The movie turns during a tension-filled scene when Caleb discovers the security footage that depicts the extent of Nathan's experimentation and the self-destructive limits he pushes his creations toward.

Let's just say I'll be giving Disney's animatronic Hondo Ohnaka a wide berth the next time I'm at at Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.

Limerick Friday LXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXVXXXII: Summer Reruns Lead To Cinematic Revelations, Plus Pack9 Chases Rings

Portrayed on the silver screen

The Village folk scene

“Inside Llewyn Davis” for the win

The Coen Brothers did it again

Oscar Isaac, poignant and serene

Cleveland vs. Golden State

That’s the rumor, at any rate

LeBron vs. Steph Curry

But still, I’m in no hurry

To watch these games on so late

Here comes springtime cleaning

Of possessions, I’ll be weaning

But you stumble across

Things you just can’t toss

Boxes full of memories and meaning

Spying that can’t be quantified

On Snowden, “Citizenfour” testified

A whistleblower’s plight televised

Had me completely mesmerized

But also, more than a little terrified

 

With a title they were flirting

Missing out had them hurting

The Pack Nine like a shooting star

So close, yet so far

Is State’s perpetual burden

Last time …

Adrenalin-Fueled “The Bourne Legacy” Delivers More Than Expected

I wasn’t sure what to expect out of “The Bourne Legacy,” but I did enjoy the previous movies in the franchise. I’m not a huge fan of Matt Damon, so his absence didn’t trouble me much, though I did wonder where they might take the story. So I’ll go ahead and admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this flick.

Jeremy Renner was a revelation in “The Hurt Locker,” and I thought he was strong in this role—as Aaron Cross—as well. He was among the reasons that “The Bourne Legacy” was driven by really good acting, bolstered by Rachel Weisz, who is always very compelling and magnetic.

This franchise has been based largely on high intensity, plot twists and paranoia, and this edition certainly didn’t stray too far from those core values. “The Bourne Legacy” felt like “Alias” on steroids, and since “Alias” seemed to go onandonandonandonandon, it’s fitting that a somewhat ambiguous ending of this film set up the possibility for another “Bourne” movie.

From a branding and marketing standpoint, Renner had enormous shoes to fill in (essentially) replacing Damon, and the fact he was able to more than pull it off was the main reason why “The Bourne Legacy” overdelivered.

“Trouble With the Curve” Carves Out A Role As Anti-“Moneyball”

I used to love baseball. I really did. I used to lay awake at night listening to Mets games (*fill in your own joke here*) on WFAN, following guys like Hojo and David Cone and Strawberry and Gregg Jeffries Mackey Sasser and Kevin McReynolds and Mookie Wilson.

Under that premise as a one-time fan (jaded by years of steroid abuse, player strikes and juiced balls), I was pitched on “Trouble With the Curve.” The presence of a rambling Clint Eastwood was offset by the presence of an adorable Amy Adams, so with a sigh and a beer, I settled in.

Immediately—well, after a highly disturbing opening involving Eastwood having a conversation with his penis that reminded of his speech to an empty chair at the RNC—this flick was billed as an anti-“Moneyball” vehicle. Eastwood is depicted as the stereotypical Luddite, past-his-prime scout, fending off a New Age of analytics, metrics and evaluation by computer.

John Goodman was (as always) a tremendous add, but the rest of the cast was interesting, though mixing in Justin Timberlake was a poor choice (as always). Set in Asheville, N.C., the film relied on a cliché, though arguably accurate, version of North Carolina.

“Trouble With the Curve” was certainly a bit cliché and trite, but it also had a heart, neatly tied up in a cute bow with a predictable ending. Not exactly thought-provoking or groundbreaking territory, but a guilty pleasure on a late-summer evening with memories of what the former national pastime once meant to so many ... one could do worse.

Limerick Friday LXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXIX: Cinema Loses An Icon, Plus Don Draper Critiqued Season Debut With Vomit

R.I.P. Roger Ebert, sad days

Had a fortitude that did amaze

Much more than a movie critic

Wasting time on “G.I. Joe” and “Riddick”

Became a social conscience in some ways

Has-beens and fired coaches, you know

Broadcasting has reached a new low

Tools like Dan Dakich

Equivalent of verbal jockitch

Either add value, call the game or go

Storylines, the title game didn’t lack

Refs didn’t know a carry from a hack

At the end of a so-so NCAA tourney

Louisville stood alone on the journey

Then Pitino celebrated in a booth in the back

All the way from Scotland they came

Frightened Rabbit, what’s in a name

Rocked like a college kid

Sang and drank beer, I did

For one night at least, unlame

Don finally made a friend

Then bedded his wife in the end

Roger seeing a shrink

Peggy too driven to think

Puking at a funeral is so Mad Men-ed

Last time …

Surreal “Beasts of the Southern Wild” Tackled Huge Issues Through Small Eyes

“Sometimes you can break something so bad it can’t get put back together.”

“Everybody loses the thing that made them. It’s even how it’s supposed to be in nature. The brave men stay and watch it happen; they don’t run.”

When Katrina hits, an already upside-down society is turned inside-out to boot, paving the way toward the movie’s central questions: What can truly grow amidst the debris? What is possible against the backdrop of nothingness? And does the primitive, idyllic lifestyle yield more happiness than our fast-paced, sophisticated culture?

Set against the backdrop of these questions and more, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” packs an emotional punch, following a community called the “Bathtub,” the fictional Isle of Charles Doucet, which is modeled on the very real Isle de Jean Charles. Outcast from society and technology, the Bathtub is a living, breathing community, one giant family intent on partying its way through all ordeals (much like New Orleans itself).

We view the trials and tribulations of the Bathtub through the lens provided by Hushpuppy, a small girl making her way without much parental authority, breaks or guidance. It was a monumental role for a wee girl, but the mesmerizing Quvenzhane (and no, I didn’t just fall asleep and bang my head on the keyboard) Wallis’s eyes captivate you and reel you in, not only offering her unique perspective, but imprinting the themes of resolve and girl power along the way.

Just 6 years old at the time of filming, Wallis pulled it off, lending stark understatement to the gut-wrenching tale of her life. Her father, played by regular New Orleans dude Dwight Henry as Wink in an underrated role, is sickly. Interestingly, there is no physical affection between the father and Hushpuppy until the former is faced with his own mortality.

It’s also not always easy to discern what is occurring in the mind of a 6-year-old child and what is actually taking place in reality. In a sense, it’s all seen through the perspective of Hushpuppy, as pointed out in a sublime New Yorker review. Indeed, it’s “a piece of realism from the point of view of a six-year-old,” director Benh Zeitlin told The Atlantic.

“Beast of the Southern Wild” was the pet baby of the 26-year-old Zeitlin—his first feature film—and became the darling of Sundance, winning the Grand Jury Prize. Powered by Court 13, a collective of artists and filmmakers, it garnered an astonishing four Oscar nominations.

In a bit of foreshadowing of some of the ecological issues detailed in the film, on the first day of shooting, the Deepwater Horizon blew. And in his research, the director kept coming back to a singular question: Why would anyone choose to live in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina?

Zeitlin immersed himself in the culture and community, using Isle de Jean Charles as inspiration for his vision. He would go on to spend two years just editing the film, making a conscious decision to tap into bayou/Cajun myth and folklore extensively. And he elected to breathe the story to life by leaning on Louisiana natives—his decision to cast “real” people in lieu of actors added to the film’s feeling of authenticity. Zeitlin also had the cast and crew live and shoot in the bayou for nearly half a year.

The result is a well-rendered depiction of the lives of a community living on the edge of catastrophe and existing at Mother Nature’s behest—and the impact that atmosphere means to a sense of community. Bolstered by the tremendous music and unique cinematography, there is a sense of being flung directly into the Bathtub yourself, to scratch and claw your own way into being.

Admittedly, I found the description and introduction of the auruchs a bit hard to follow initially. The story also wanders a little bit, especially as Hushpuppy’s search for her mother brings her to a floating crab shack/whorehouse (are they the same thing?) in what resembled a sort of dream sequence, in which it’s never made clear whether the cook is actually her mother or not. Hushpuppy wants her to be her Mom, which I believe is kind of the point (as evidenced in the heartbreaking scene where Hushpuppy dances with her, holding her close and whispering, “This is my favorite thing”). And within this mother/not mother role, the cook dispenses life lessons, telling Hushpuppy, “One day it’s gonna all be on you. Everything on your plate gonna fall on the floor.”

I know that some have decried the film as glorifying poverty and a lack of sophistication, but I think that is reading way too much into the story. Criticism in some quarters has also centered on the movie’s depiction of government as oppressive and intrusive, but beyond the obvious acknowledgment that the government ignored an entire region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I didn’t glean an anti-government vibe or any political bent at all.

Instead, the Bathtub survivors come to see their “rescue” as simply another way of institutionalizing them and indoctrinating them into the ways of the rest of the world—leading to a revolt and escape.

Zeitlin himself waved away criticisms of his depiction of poverty, arguing instead that these people aren’t poor, but instead experience the “ultimate freedom” in their everyday lives.

“The whole idea of the bathtub is that it’s a society where all the things that divide people have been removed,” he told The Atlantic. “So there’s no religion, no politics, no money, no one sees race, there’s no rich and poor because there is no currency.”

However, I do agree that “Beasts of the Southern Wild” can be experienced as a rejection of the norms and pace of a too-modern world. This relatively short film (93 minutes) depicted a Bathtub family that has, in essence, chosen isolation, then set about creating and defining its own distinct world.

In the sense that everything that dies simply becomes part of something new, the Bathtub embraces the ideas of rebirth, recycling, reuse and repurposing as a quasi-litmus test for a globe succumbing to technological and environmental failures. Even young Hushpuppy seems to grasp this, as she quietly tells the auruch when they finally meet, “You’re my friend, kind of.”

All in all, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” was some type of bouillabaisse of “Mad Max,” “Waterworld” and “The Champ.” And like all good Cajun food, it includes a spirit, a vibrancy that allows it to go far beyond something just to be digested—this flick screams out for your immersion.

Demonic Possession Meets Abduction Theory in Ultimately Fraudulent “The Fourth Kind”

In a unique presentation, “The Fourth Kind” starts out with a documentary-style opening, with actress Milla Jovovich introducing herself and addressing the audience directly. She shares that the film is a “dramatization” that centers on the story of Dr. Abigail Emily “Abby” Tyler (the hauntingly beautiful Jovovich plays the worn, beat-down Abby in a stark contrast), a psychologist who experiences “extremely disturbing events” in the course of her work in Nome, Alaska. The idea behind the movie was to mirror actual footage with dramatic re-enactments in some areas to heighten the realism needed to lend credence to the story.

Abby and her husband and fellow psychologist, Will, were partnering to research the coincidences and similarities shared by some 300 people in Nome, who were experiencing sleep deprivation caused by the appearance of a white owl waking them up at 3 in the morning, just like staring at them and hovering over them sometimes. [SPOILER ALERT: Hey, what if the owl is actually dozens of shadowy aliens doing abductions and then erasing the memories? J/k, wtf, lol, AYFKM]

One night, Will’s post-coital naptime is interrupted by the small matter of being stabbed and murdered by an intruder. And despite her being right next to her husband, Abby is unable to recollect the man’s face, even under hypnosis.

Speaking of hypnosis, the eerie factor kicks into overdrive when two of Abby’s patients endure full-body freakouts when placed in a hypnotic state, to the point of sustaining severe bodily injury and nausea. When one of Abby’s patients, Tommy, takes his family hostage, begins spouting a strange language and then murders all of them before offing them himself, the local sheriff (played by the underrated Will Patton) says, “Hey, maybe it’s time I have a spot of tea with this creep-show doctor whose husband just died under, shall we say, unusual circumstances.”

The tea party ends amiably enough, with the sheriff saying, “Hey, you know, the next time it looks like someone is going to start channeling defunct languages and pot-shotting his family, give me a bell, eh?” But the sheriff gets super-pissed (“You’re not gonna use the people of Nome for a goddam rat study”) when another hypnotic session that begins with some relatively harmless levitation and demonic possession ends with a few crushed vertebrae and a paralyzed patient—all while Abby supervised.

Late on evening, as Abby tries to piece together the day’s events, she falls asleep while dictating some notes about how dangerous the research is getting and how caution is the key. The next day, her psychologist colleague, Abel Campos (played by Elias Koteas) is waiting for her at her office, having flown up from Anchorage to check on her, you know, platonically and all. Well, her secretary found some rather disturbing audio on the tape, complete with distortion and sounds of a struggle and an undeterminable language. That’s when Abby suspects she has been abducted as well, and a suspicious scratch on her arm and nail marks found on her floor backed up this theory.

Along the way, the sheriff pays Abby another visit, and he’s on the verge of locking her up when Campos intervenes, asking for more time to determine what is actually happening here. A cop is posted outside of the Tyler house, and in the wee hours, the police car video seems to indicate that a flying saucer had a stopover, and when Abby’s daughter Ashley (who, by the way, has gone blind after her father’s murder) is missing, Abby tells the livid sheriff that a “beam of light” stole her daughter. Both the sheriff and Abby’s son, Ronnie, are, well, unconvinced, and Ronnie is happy to enter protective police custody, as even he is creeped the fuck out by his mom at this point.

Reaching the point of no return, Abby find the number to a mysterious doctor in one of Will’s books, and she rings him up. It turns out that he is Dr. Odusami, a language specialist who eventually identifies the language on the recordings as Sumerian. He then launches into a quick Rosetta Stone seminar on how the Sumerians date back to 4^th century B.C.E. and talked a lot about spaceships and suits and oxygen masks and other freak-ass stuff.

What to do now? Well, hell, let’s throw Abby under hypnosis as Campos supervises and Odusami films. That can’t go wrong, right? Well, if by wrong you mean that Abby is attacked by an unidentified Sumerian quasi-god and reduced to the subject of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” and that they then all are abducted by once, then, yes. Things can go wrong.

Abby awakes in the hospital, apparently paralyzed now. The sheriff is there, and he welcomes her to the conscious state by showing her pictures that indicate that Will committed suicide. Right next to her. With a gun. Which, in some people’s view, may severely call into question Abby’s credibility. When Campos refuses to back up her assertions of the abduction, Abby is visibly crushed, and she is unable to offer any insights into where Ashley is when the sheriff presses her.

The flick ends with a continuation of Abby’s interview at Chapman University, where she is now reduced to a wheelchair. She reiterates her theory that millions of people are abducted, but that the aliens are able to erase their memories so that they are completely unaware of these abductions. Then the credits roll, with numerous 911 calls to report UFOs serving as the soundtrack to the fade to black, plus text that says that Ashley has never been found and no one besides Abby was willing to participate in the film’s making.

Curiously, at least to me, the DVD contained no “bonus” area with newspaper articles or background of the story, just a few lame extended scenes. But hell, we’d just experienced a thoroughly gripping, jarring, frightening movie, one that leaves you with a tinge of “what if” and a minor case of the willies. Not bad for a sci-fi flick, right?

Well, only if you’re willing to also suspend disbelief over some minor problems. Such as the fact that all assertions that this flick is based on real evidence or case studies is, well, not real. Such as the fact that even the nominal originator of these studies, Dr. Tyler, is played by an actress, Charlotte Milchard (to her credit, Milchard achieves maximum creepiness, making her a tremendous fit for the role). Such as the fact that it was filmed in Bulgaria and Canada, robbing realism from even the beautiful scenery of Alaska. Such as all of the questions and confusion dissipates quickly when the entire movie falls apart under even the slightest, most cursory examination.

So at the end of the day, writer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi has created a mockumentary, complete with fabricated newspaper archives (which led to the film being sued successfully by the Alaska Press Club). His film continuously took the lazy way out, asking the viewer to believe what they want, but then leaving out key facts needed to make such a determination. Pretending to have one foot in the documentary world and another in the feature-film world is problematic even if that was honest; the documentary aspect demands further explanation, more concrete evidence, but the feature film aspect makes that unnecessary and extraneous.

So was there any basis at all for the premise of this film? Well, yes … sort of. The FBI did investigate a string of disappearances in Nome, but they eventually chalked it up to a combination of “alcohol and frigid temperatures,” according to CNN (*insert conspiracy theories here*). Hell, at least the sublime “Blair Witch Project” had a sound backstory to fall back on; even the realm of hoaxes has a level of self-respect that “The Fourth Kind” is missing.

Disappointingly, Osunsanmi seemed to ignore the fact that the Internet era does not allow for the hiding of the truth for very long, and he elected not to try very hard to drum up a backstory in the DVD or elsewhere. There are some intriguing stats shared in the context of the film, such as 11 million UFOs have been reported since the 1930s, and many fall in the camp represented by the famous “X-Files” poster that declares, “I Want to Believe.”

Unfortunately, “The Fourth Kind” left the audience not only still wanting—but feeling lied to and even more skeptical.

Deep Thoughts By No-Look McFadden: Episode 60

#1

There is not a finer journalist in the land than Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. Unquestionably one of my writing heroes.

#2

Another week, another scandal over at UNC, this one involving TylerWill “The Mouthbreather” Hansbrough’s mother and fraud and infidelity and embezzling and whatever else you can pretty much think of. At this rate, the Tar Heels are encroaching on dirtiest athletic program in the history of the NCAA. The Carolina Way, indeed.

#3

Brilliance from J.R. Moehringer of ESPN the Magazine, breaking down the push and pull of football. I would say No.s 85-87 pretty accurately describe my life philosophy to fandom.

#4

Thanks to “Song of Mitt’s Self,” we finally get a chance to see what Romney stands for. Inspiring stuff.

#5

Did you know they made a horrific sequel to the epic “Christmas Story”? Yeah, me neither.

#6

So Triangle sports media thought Duke would not only cover, but win, at Stanford this past weekend. The final? Stanford 50. Duke 13. Reason #814 why sports media in this area is a sad, running joke.

#7

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. But how can you not like a President who brews beer in the White House?

#8

So Ed Hochuli’s son, Shawn, is also a football official. It was good to see him not draw attention to his arms while also not blowing several calls and telling 75,000 of his closest friends about them for 3-4 minutes in the Utah-Utah State game the other night.

#9

This LSU R2D2 keg is unquestionably the greatest thing of ever.

#10

This Bud commercial, called “Clydesdale Respect,” aired once, right after 9/11. It was powerful to view it again on an emotional anniversary.

Moving “Swell Season” Shows Just How Far Music Can Take Love Before It Burns Out

"Fair play to those who dare to dream ..."

The Swell Season has played a large role in my personal musical journey in recent years, from their appearance in the mind-bogglingly amazing movie “Once” to their Scooties-worthy album to appearances at the NorthCarolina Museum of Art and Meymandi Music Hall here in Raleigh, and even to their cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy.” So when the documentary “Swell Season” was released, it was obviously must-see TV for me.

Using a slow, laconic pace and a melancholy feel, which fit quite nicely with the stark black-and-white footage, “Swell Season” documented the burgeoning love affair between hyper-talented musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. The movie opened with the intimacy of Marketa giving Glen a haircut, before launching into the following of the tour and the duo’s budding relationship.

While Glen is a veteran of the road, Marketa is so young and painfully shy, to the point where she refuses to even take pictures with fans. As the film progresses, it becomes obvious that they are experiencing different stages of life (after all, he’s 18 years older). Both Glen and Marketa quickly become homesick and a bit depressed, and it becomes clear that Glen can’t prop them both up when he’s also dealing with his own issues.

What quickly becomes apparent as well is that Glen is afflicted with the self-doubt that comes with someone who is finally NOT the underdog. It is easy to tell how much this unexpected fame weighed on him, as he becomes increasingly anxious. At heart, he’ll always be a busker, and it appears he’ll never quite get used to the fame. Where he once battled to gain attention, now he struggles to handle everything that comes along with finally having “made” it—proving that the struggle only changes ... it’s never really over. Glen is forced to face the questions that come about when you chase fame forever: What happens when you finally get it? How do you handle it?

What doesn’t help is Marketa’s admonitions for Glen to relax and stop fighting it. Marketa thinks Glen is taking himself too seriously, and the lingering shots and silences that accompany this opinion display the amount of damage—potentially irreparable—this statement this could do to their relationship.

Musically, Marketa’s sensitive playing and delicate voice take off Glen’s hard edge. But while he’s the life of the party, she’s introverted. Both struggle immensely in wearing the crown of fame, an uneasy and confusing fit for both of their personalities. As a result, they are only able to balance each other out musically—not emotionally.

The behind-the-scenes insight into songwriting is where the film truly shines, and the film gets profound when Glen explores his father’s dark, disturbed past. The breakup songs they sing to each other are prophetic, becoming true as the movie progresses, and we finally realize that it is easier for them to communicate through their music.

The film draws to a close with some post-breakup, late-tour footage, showing Glen playing an acoustic solo in the middle of Radio City Music Hall, with Marketa leaning in from the edge of the stage. I felt the shot of her listening intently, a faint smile lingering on her lips, would have been the ideal fade-to-black moment, but the directors chose to go in a different direction.

What “Swell Season” is, in the end, is not a concert movie or a band documentary, but a love story lived out on screen. Though we know what’s going to happen, it is still sad and beautiful, and we still applaud how brave these two are and were to bare their souls (and, unexpectedly, at one point their bodies) so transparently in this manner. Glen and Marketa were unable to overcome their disparities in age and life experiences, nor their personality gaps, but the musical connection and moment in time that they created together will always stand ... though the love that encircled it may have to wait for another life.

Solid “50/50” Can’t Quite Blossom Into What Its Potential Pointed To

Occasionally, you come across a movie that earns accolades based mostly on its willingness to take on a difficult subject. I thought “50/50” sort of fit into that category, though it was worthy of some of its acclaim and certainly was a brave glimpse into cancer (I would say it was a more accurate depiction than, say, “The Big C,” for instance).

In the lead role as Adam, a drifting 20-something dealing with the lightning strike of cancer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows just how much he’s matured since his days on “Third Rock from the Sun.” Seth Rogan has his moments as Adam’s best friend Kyle, but he falls short of the oh-so-difficult cross-over from comedy to drama of which he appears to be striving.

The stunning Bryce Dallas Howard is effective as Adam’s off-and-on girlfriend, who realistically behaves erratically as she attempts to come to terms with what Adam’s diagnosis truly means. I also thought Anjelica Houston did a nice job portraying a mother in a really tough spot, trying to deal both physically and emotionally with a husband suffering from Alzheimer’s and an uncommunicative son with cancer.

But the true scene-stealing moments come from Philip Baker Hall, who shines as Alan, who is Adam’s quasi-mentor and co-chemotherapy mate. The gruff Hall has had a rough year, having kicked it on both “Modern Family” and “50/50,” but his performance here emanates with the emotions and challenges that you wish the movie itself shared.

This flick wasn’t without a really good cast and a strong soundtrack, and it even displayed some effective metaphors (the volcano, the radio). However, I couldn’t help but take issue with Adam finding the book about cancer in Kyle’s bathroom. I just found it too predictable and felt it gave Adam too easy of an out after he spent most of the movie being self-absorbed and borderline manipulative toward Adam’s condition.

I also felt that Adam’s fear of driving was completely glossed over; whether it was symptomatic of his neuroticism or a symbol of his overall fear of life, it just wasn’t explained or handled well enough.

So while I think “50/50” was good, I also thought it was missing an indefinable something that may have elevated its resonance. It did a fine job of embracing a hard topic, but I found myself feeling as if it narrowly missed what it might have truly been.