Dogs Bark

Adieu Au Langage [Goodbye To Language](2014, Swiss/French) - - 22 June 2015

Recommended. First, I didn’t see the 3D version of this film or in a theater. So I missed many of the effects intended by the director. And in the case of legendary French New Wave auteur Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless), this might be a problem . . . this because Godard packs his films with a dense mélange of symbolism, some of which may have been invisible in 2D. One of his stated intentions was to use 3D to explore the uneasy relationship of images and reality and before you yawn that this has been done, he’s the one who started the conversation, probably before you were born. If you don’t know much about him - - even if you do - - I recommend listening to his interview on the DVD. Godard is delightfully unpretentious, revealing he doesn’t need more than 70 minutes, a man, a woman and a dog to make his point. Lissen up, Hollywood!

Hey, It’s Just A Movie - - Aloha (2015, USA) - - 7 June 2015

Recommended. What’s the technical term for when you saw a different movie than everybody else?  Cameron Crowe’s new movie, Aloha, was hated by most of the critics but I liked it. It is clearly nothing much more than a goofy rom-com so what’s the problem? I don’t really expect a reversal of Native Hawaiian injustice in the multiplex.  I just don’t want to be insulted.  Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) is the current king of this genre and he does a just fine job here.  His last scene with John Krasinski (The Office) is extremely funny. The romance is with Emma Stone (Birdman), who admittedly has no Asian, Hawaiian or Swedish blood but the part requires a comedic pedigree that Ms. Stone does possess. Bill Murray (St. Vincent) is used perfectly as a loopy bad guy and Alec Baldwin (Still Alice) is also perfect for his part as a blowhard general.

It’s Even Worse for Old Women - - The Homesman (2014, USA) - - 6 June 2015

Recommended. It seems like Westerns nowadays have to be quirky to get made . . .  even by Tommy Lee Jones (No Country For Old Men). Here Tommy Lee plays George Briggs, a man of insubstantial means and corruptible nature.  He falls under the influence of Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby) a woman of quite fine ethics who is transporting three mentally deranged women from their Nebraska homestead marriages back to the East for treatment. Swank is called “plain as an old tin pail,” which is absurd, of course, even in severe make-up.  She does, however, build a strong and interesting character despite a third act plot twist that I found baffling. Jones writes his own character much better and helps himself out with several choice walk-ons. Don’t read the credits before you watch The Homesman if you want some fun surprises. Rodrigo Prieto’s (Brokeback Mountain) powerful photography is eloquent.