***

Sea of Shadows-sp

This is an interesting documentary film which is at times quite exciting and dramatic although some of the fine points were difficult to understand. It appears that in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, the vaquita, a small whale-like mammal, is on the verge of extinction. The reason being that a Mexican cartel encourages rogue fishermen to set up fishing nets to capture another species, the totoaba, since the Chinese mafia will pay very large sums of money for the bladder of the totoaba because of supposed medicinal powers. The vaquita which die in these fishing nets are now near extinction with only 15 or 20 of them still alive. A group of environmental activists attempt to rescue the few remaining vaquita. Things get exciting as the Mexican navy gets involved, responding when the environmentalists identify the rogue fishermen. There are some very dramatic scenes shot by a drone as the criminal fishermen are confronted. But things become more complicated and quite scary as there is a sinister crime boss involved. The director and filmmaker, Richard Ladkani, risks his life along with the environmentalists as they, at times, arrange undercover meetings which are secretly recorded with the various participants and criminal elements.

This film project which was mostly supported by one of the executive producers, Leonardo DiCaprio, at times becomes an expose of the Mexican navy and the Mexican government itself. This film may make a difference in exposing corruption in Mexico as well as in saving a species on the verge of extinction. (2019)

****

Late Night-sp

The premise here is that there was no Johnny Carson but rather the star of late-night television has been Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson). She is the first female host of a major late-night television show which she has hosted for 10 years. Her ratings however are now falling and the network is planning to replace her with a male comedian. Ms. Newbury has an all-white male writing staff, some of whom she has never met in person. She gets it into her head that she needs another point of view and hires Molly (Mindy Kaling) who works in a chemical planat, is a stand-up comedian and a self-proclaimed writer. She also happens to be an Indian woman of color. Although not having much experience, she speaks her mind and is able to confront, not only her new boss, but her nine male white co-writers, many of whom are played by very familiar faces and include Hugh Dancy, Reed Scott, Denis O’Hare, Max Casella, and Paul Hauser.

In this fast-moving comedic drama, many issues are confronted such as gender discrimination, ageism, and of course elitism. The co-star and screenwriter, Mindy Kaling may be drawing upon her own observations and experiences as she had been an actor in the hit tv show, “The Office” for many years, as well as producing and starring in her own show, “The Mindy Project.”

It is easy to get caught up with the story line. You are rooting for all to end well. The jokes are clever and the acting is excellent and we should add that Ms. Newbury’s husband is played a well-known actor who brings sensitivity to all his roles and that is John Lithgow.

We judged this film to be a clever, timely, funny, very well acted and directed . It was done on a low budget with only 25 days of shooting. Obviously, the movie was made for the love of the story and not for love of money but it is well worth seeing. (2019)

*****

The Reports On Sarah And Saleem

This film is an exciting drama with romance and intrigue. It is set in Israel. It is built around an affair between Palestinian man (Adeeb Safadi) and a Jewish Israeli woman (Sivane Kretchner) who happens to be married to a high up member of the Israeli security force. The movie is produced by two Palestinian filmmakers who are brothers, Muayad Alayan, the director and Rami Alayan, the screen writer.

The plot is layered and unpredictable. The acting is excellent. You soon forget that you are reading subtitle. We met the filmmakers via Skype in a post-screening discussion. They related how it was somewhat tricky to film this picture on location in Jerusalem and on the West Bank as they had to work in small groups to remain inconspicuous. The net result is a top notch film, well worth seeing (2019).

*****

Rocketman

The recent movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, is turning out to be one of the most popular films of last year and we expect that this film will achieve equal acclaim. Although the current movie is a different kind of musical, the director, Dexter Fletcher, also worked on last year’s great hit. In Rocketman, the story of Elton John is told in a fashion of great film musicals with a wonderful ensemble dancing and singing. Elton John is inhabited by Taron Egerton who does all of Elton John’s singing in great voice, which captures the energy and beauty of Rocketman himself.

The story of course is true to life as it traces the great singer’s life from his talent appearing in early childhood, his painful interaction with his parents and his emergence on the musical scene. The story pulls back the curtain and helps the viewer understand how John struggled with his sexuality and with alcohol and drugs, which nearly destroyed him. Particularly poignant is the meaningful relationship he had with his friend and lyricist, Bernie Taupin, magnificently played by Jaimie Bell. Through it all, the main character emerges and can say and gloriously sing, “I’m still standing.” The movie and story feels real and authentic. It is not surprising that the real Elton John is the film’s executive producer. This movie has to be added to your Do Not Miss List. (2019)

**

The Souvenir-sp

This movie is about a young woman filmmaker (Honor Swinton Byrne) who establishes a relationship with a somewhat older man. She appears to fall in love with him and he turns out to be a liar, drug addict, and to be promiscuous in the age of HIV/AIDS.

The storyline keeps returning to the main character’s attempt to make her film. Perhaps the writer/director, Joanne Hogg, is drawing upon her own experiences or observations. The film certainly conveys a negative view of men especially in the treatment and demeaning of women.

It is interesting that the mother of the main character is actually played by the actress’s real-life mother, the esteemed actress, Tilda Swinton, but there are no real dramatic interactions between them. The main male lead is well done by Tom Burke.

Despite the beautiful photography (by David Raedeker) and excellent acting, we felt that the story line was drawn out and pretentious. We understood the characters and we were looking for a storyline with more depth, more surprises, and even more emotion in our two-hour visit with them, but alas, we didn’t find it. (2019).