Dogs Bark

After Inflation - - All The Money In The World (2017, USA, 132 min) - - 15 April 2018

Not recommended. If you like movies that attempt to demonstrate, as All The Money In The World’s narrator boasts, that the rich are different than the rest of us, this is your film. In particular, if you believe that they are far worse than the rest of us, David Scarpa (The Last Castle) is your screenwriter. The real story is probably more complex, although nothing in J. Paul Getty’s real story suggests any human warmth. Christopher Plummer (Inside Man) did a journeyman’s duty filling in at the last moment but he’s played wonderfully more complex bad guys. Ridley Scott’s (Blade Runner) direction is fine in the tense bits but drags elsewhere. I guess we are supposed to identify with Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) or Mark Wahlburg (The Departed), but they never reached out to me. All The Money In The World isn’t a bad movie . . . it’s just not worth much.

We Will Bury You . . . With Laffs! - - The Death Of Stalin (2017, UK/France/Belgium, 107 min) - - 13 April 2018

Recommended. The lethal struggle for power following the departure of the 20^th century’s second-most ruthless dictator isn't the most obvious choice of material for a farce. But I suppose Scottish show-runner, Armando Iannucci (Veep) isn't your average writer/director. The Death Of Stalin almost worked for me. The rapid-fire comedic pace is very much like Veep, as is the total contempt for self-importance, but it’s a long way down the ballot from Nikita (Niki?) Khrushchev to Selina Meyer. Casting Steve Buscemi (Fargo) as the First Secretary of the Communist Party was just too weird. Jeffery Tambour (Transparent) excelled as the bumbling Georgy Malenkov. Regardless, Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale, My Cousin Rachel), the monstrous head of the NKVD, was not the source of any amusement while alive. Although - - at best - - I found the movie amusing, the rest of the audience howled with laughter throughout. I must have missed the funny parts.

In A Yellow Wood - - Leaning Into The Wind: Andy Goldsworthy (2017, USA, 93 min) - - 9 April 2018

Recommended - - It’s odd to think of a sequel to a documentary. But that’s exactly what this is . . . a sequel to Rivers and Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time, also directed and shot by Thomas Riedelsheimer. Previously, we watched as Goldsworthy’s intricate constructions of twigs, rocks and leaves emerged from nature and then returned, manifesting their ephemeral beauty. He still paints the rocks with autumn colored leaves but is now also a performance artist, using his body to disorient and delight the viewer. In one sequence, he impossibly poses in the upper branches of an elm whilst trucks and cars heedlessly drive below. When it rains, he drops to the ground - - even the city pavement - -  to outline his body with waterdrops, a sketch that quickly fades. Goldsworthy has whittled his work down to the colors, shapes and areas buried in plain sight . . . then enchanting us with the reveal.

Tragic Kingdom - - The Florida Project (2017, USA, 111 min) - - 5 April 2018

Strongly recommended. Sean Baker’s (Tangerine) The Florida Project is the sort of movie I would make; however, be forewarned: It will break your heart. The story concerns a six-year-old girl, Moonee, played by talented newcomer, Brooklynn Prince. Moonie lives the definition of ‘at-risk’ with her mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite, another newbie) in a seedy motel outside of Orlando’s Walt Disney World. Mom has no visible means of support outside of her sex work and con games; you know she’s headed further down. Halley’s only redemption is dysfunctional love for her daughter and it’s the precocious - - but flawed - - Moonie who will entangle your heartstrings. This set-up defines most of the American underbelly. Contrary to Ann Coulter, America is already a third-world country without the assistance of immigration. Compassion comes from Willam Defoe’s (Platoon) Oscar-nominated character, Bobby, who bravely manages the motel and his tenants. The film's unsparing reality shows . . . he can’t.