“Promised Land” (Netflix) — I expected a drama centered around a small town deciding whether to allow fracking to be pretty didactic and one-sided. But Gus Van Sant has something slyer and more nuanced under his sleeve, casting Matt Damon as a likable fracking rep who really thinks he has the town’s best interests at heart, and John Krasinski as a rather jerkface environmental activist fighting for the hearts and minds of the townspeople.
Pick of the week: “Dope” — My full review is here. This high-energy comedy-drama is like an African-American twist on “Risky Business,” in which three so-called “nerdy” high schoolers in inner-city Los Angeles have to contend with a backpack full of drugs, hackers, and dangerous criminals. Along the way, the film boldly challenges some lazy assumptions about race and class in America — though you might be having too much fun to notice.
“Digging for Fire” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Writer-director Joe Swanberg assembled an all-star cast (Jake Johnson, Rosemary DeWitt, Sam Rockwell, and new Oscar winner Brie Larson) for this comedy about an L.A. couple who start digging into their marriage a little more deeply than they should, after the husband finds an antique gun buried on the property of the mansion they’re housesitting. The film has Swanberg’s loose, improv-heavy style, ending up becoming a generous and witty film about middle-aged ennui.
The start of a new month means new movies for streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime. While both are offering recent releases in March, it’s gratifying to see both are also bolstering their supply of classic movies, which seemed to be thinning out over the last few months.
“The End of the Tour” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. While Jason Segel does a bang-up job portraying the brilliant and troubled novelist David Foster Wallace, it would be a mistake to assume James Ponsoldt’s wonderful film is some sort of biopic. Instead, it’s something of a conversation-fueled road movie, in which Wallace and a younger, hungrier writer (Jesse Eisenberg) spend a couple of days together for a Rolling Stone interview, sparring and connecting as they talk about writing, ambition, and the limitations of success.
Pick of the week: “Meru” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. And you think YOU’RE COLD. Blanket up and watch this thrilling documentary about three climbers who attempt to scale the 21,000-foot Himalayan peak nicknamed the “Shark’s Fin,” fall 100 feet short, and then overcome personal tragedies to try again. Co-directed by one of the climbers, Jimmy Chin, the film gives you a terrifyingly authentic sense of what it’s like to undertake one of these expeditions, as well as insight into what sorts of people would spend their lives doing so.
Pick of the week: “Amy” (Amazon Prime) — The Oscar-nominated documentary looks at the short, tragic life of singer Amy Winehouse, and the people around her (including the public) who helped enable her downfall.
Pick of the week: “The Overnight” (Netflix) — My full review is here. New couple on the block (Taylor Schilling and Adam Scott) have a dinner party with some cool new friends (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godreche) that turns into something much, much more in Patrick Brice’s raunchy and brisk comedy that’s sweeter and wiser than you’d expect from a movie with this many prosthetic penises.
Pick of the week: “Goodnight Mommy“ (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Creepy twin boys. A mysteriously bandaged mother. A remote country house. These are the elements for a terrifically creepy Austrian horror film, which deliberately plays against genre conventions by working without creepy music, in broad daylight. Along with the descent into a nasty third act, the film never loses sight of its emotional underpinnings, its exploration into how family bonds can warp under stress.
Pick of the week: “Uncle John“ — My full review is here. This 2015 Wisconsin Film Festival hit, filmed in Lodi and Chicago, is part rural noir, as a farmer (John Ashton) wrestles with the consequences of a deadly deed. But it’s also an urban romance, as the farmer’s nephew deals with love and career issues in the Chicago advertising. How director Steven Piet and co-writer Erik Crary bring the two genres in an effective way helps make for an assured debut.
Pick of the week: “Selma” (Amazon Prime) — My full review is here. Instead of a tidy history-class lesson on the civil rights movement, Ava Duvernay presents the messiness of history in all its forms, focusing in on the three-month period where Martin Luther King, Jr. (a masterful David Oyelowo) leads a savvy protest movement to sway public opinion behind his cause. The images of violence against the protesters are immediate and horrible, and one comes away with a profound sense that history does not just have to happen, but has to be worked for, step by step.
Madison Movie 