“A Married Woman”: Jean-Luc Godard’s study of a marriage in pieces comes to Blu-ray

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The subtitle for Jean-Luc Godard’s “A Married Woman” is “Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964, in Black and White,” which is true in more ways than one. In the early scenes, and repeatedly throughout the film, all we see on the screen is pieces of two lovers’ bodies – hands reaching for each other, lips whispering into an ear, a naked torso.

The effect is erotic — Godard skirts the edge of censor-worrying nudity without slipping over — but unsettling, as we never get a clear full-length shot of these two people together. After the free-wheeling camerawork of “Breathless” and “Band of Outsiders,” the rigorous formality of these shots feels constrained. The people seem pinned inside the frame like specimens, with Godard (and us) watching their lovemaking from an almost clinic distance.

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“Song of Lahore”: Forgotten Pakistani musicians find a new groove with Brubeck

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The musician’s violin is broken, and will likely stay that way. He lives in Lahore, once the cultural center of Pakistan, and decades ago was a vibrant place where a classical musician could make a living performing concerts and recording movie soundtracks.

But when fundamentalist Muslims swept into power in a coup and installed Shariah law, music was considered to be a sin. Musicians were harassed, concerts were banned, instruments were smashed. While life is better now in Pakistan, the generational link was smashed, and those old musicians have trouble getting audiences or younger musicians interested in their traditional classical sounds. They can’t even get those old instruments repaired.

“Song of Lahore” is a documentary that meanders around for a little while and then will suddenly connect with a powerful moment, musical or emotional. Then it frustratingly wanders off point again. Maybe there wasn’t quite enough here for a feature-length documentary, but sprinkled in here and there are some memorable moments of tragedy and triumph, and the music is terrific.

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“Captain America: Civil War”: What do the saviors owe to the saved?

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Some may find it a little silly to ascribe deeper meanings to a movie like “Captain America: Civil War,” which after is meant primarily to be a source of entertainment and profit, a summer blockbuster to maintain ongoing Marvel franchises and jumpstart new ones.

On the other hand, his name is Captain America . . .

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Instant Gratification: “Goosebumps” and four other good movies to watch on streaming

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Pick of the week: “Goosebumps” (Netflix) — I was pretty skeptical of a big-budget version of R.L. Stine’s quickie kiddie horror novels, but this adaptation starring Jack Black is fast-moving, funny and just the right amount of scary. It’s the best Joe Dante movie Joe Dante didn’t make.

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Instant Gratification: “A.C.O.D.” and four other good movies new to Netflix

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“A.C.O.D.” — My full review is here. UW-Madison grad Ben Karlin wrote the screenplay for this sharp comedy, in which Adam Scott plays an Adult Child of Divorce still dealing with feuding parents Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara. Some might describe the movie as a little sitcommy, although that’s probably a testament to how good sitcoms are these days.

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“Rams”: Don’t be sheepish about going to see this Icelandic family feud

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Rams has its Madison premiere at 6 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Union South Marquee Theatre, 1208 W. Dayton St. FREE! R, 1:30, three stars out of four.

Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams was a movie I wanted to pet while I was watching it. Everything in the movie looks soft — the wool of the sheep that fill the remote Icelandic valley where the movie takes place, the long unkempt beards of the sheep farmers, even the sweaters. I wanted to gentle stroke all of it.

But all that padding is a bit misleading. Because once it gets taken away, Rams is a film about hard, intractable forces butting heads with each other, over and over.

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Instant Gratification: “Begin Again” and four other good movies to watch on Netflix

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Pick of the week: “Begin Again” — It’s not “Once.” It’s not “Sing Street.” But I would argue that John Carney’s second feature, starring Mark Ruffalo as a down-on-his-luck music producer who thinks he’s found a star in singer-songwriter Keira Knightley, does capture the joyful spirit of music and creation. The Cee Lo cameo is ill-advised in retrospect, of course.

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“Louder than Bombs”: There is a light that never goes out in Joachim Trier’s empathetic drama

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“Louder than Bombs” opens Friday at Sundance Cinemas. R, 1:46, three and a half stars out of four.

What could be a more tired cliche for an indie drama than a family struggling to grieve the loss of a parent? And yet you’d think Joachim Trier’s “Louder than Bombs” was the first film to ever explore this emotional territory. Trier’s English-language debut (after the Norwegian “Reprise” and “Oslo August 31st,” both also excellent) is empathetic and graceful, and comes up with a bracingly different visual language to illustrate grief and memory.

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“Phoenix”: An act of invention rising from the ashes

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In the three featurettes that accompany the new Criterion Collection edition of Christian Petzold’s “Vertigo” is mentioned exactly once. Director of photography Hans Fromm brings up the Alfred Hitchcock classic in comparing the lurid reds he wanted for one nightclub scene to the bright color palette of “Vertigo.”

That seems odd, given that most movie fans would make the obvious connection between “Vertigo” and “Phoenix.” Both films are about women who remake themselves for men, recreating the haunting spectre of a flame thought lost forever. Maybe the connection is so obvious that it’s not worth mentioning. Or maybe “Phoenix” goes so deeply into its own distinct themes — of betrayal and identity, of the futility of trying to change back into the person you were — that the cinematic homage becomes the least interesting part of the film to those who made it.

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Gone in an Instant: “Election” and four other good movies leaving Netflix in May

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Netflix giveth, and Netflix taketh away. The streaming service quietly drops a few titles at the beginning of every month, and the “Gone in an Instant” column lets you know so you can get that last-minute binge in.

Lately, Netflix has started getting rid of a few titles at the first of the month and then sneakily deep-sixing a few more throughout the month. Perhaps they think if they spread the pain out a little bit it won’t sting so bad? Either way, make sure to catch them before they’re gone.

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