Tag: suburban

New Life

Post author By Jeremy Clarke
Post date 17 June 2024
No Comments on New Life
Sticky post

Director – John Rosman – 2023 – US – 85m

***1/2

Neither the widow nor the assassin pursuing her towards the Canadian border are quite what they seem – genre-bending thriller is out on digital in the UK

The sound of a distressed woman. Now we see her (Hayley Erin) – her head is bleeding as she walks. Away from – what? She makes it down the street in a very normal-looking, small town somewhere in Middle America, into her very ordinary, well-kept, no frills, suburban house. She washes the blood off her head, switches a hoodie for a sweater. Constantly checking around her, she sees the armed men in the hallway and exits through a window.

Another woman (Sonya Walger) puts down her handgun on the edge of a bathroom sink. She looks tired. The yellow post-it notes on her mirror read “I have unlimited opportunities to succeed” and “I am in the process of becoming the best version of myself”. She takes a pill from the ‘M’ compartment of a little circular dispenser marked in letters for days of the week. On her mobile, she hits Play on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, specifically the song Like a Rolling Stone.… Read the rest

Tags a facility somewhere, a place to stay, accommodation, ALS, armed men, Ayanna Berkshire, bar, bathroom sink, been in contact, Betty Moyer, Blaine Palmer, bleeding, blood, Bob Dylan, border crossing, bottle of wine, breakfast, campfire, Canada, care professional, cat and mouse, change appearance, change clothes, chaos, chase, client, computer nerd, contract, dependent, dispenser, distress, escape, genre bender, glove compartment, guns, handgun, Hayley Erin, hayloft, Highway 61 Revisited, hit-man, hit-woman, incarcerated, incurable, Jeb Berrier, John Rosman, Kevin-Michael Moore, last known position, lift, Like a Rolling Stone, Lisa Cross, medical condition, medication, medicine, Middle America, mirror, mortality, Nick George, normal-looking, normality, on the run, out of control, outrun, patient, personal freedom, personal hell, personal nightmare, pickup truck, pill, pity, post-it notes, prey, prisoner in your own body, pursuer, pursuit, rely on others, rucksack, small town, Sonya Walger, stowaway, stray dog, street, suburban, supplies, survival, target, temporary work, theft, tired, Tony Amendola), tracking, US, videolink, walking stick, washes, woman, woods

Features Live Action Movies

Are You
There God?
It’s Me,
Margaret.

Post author By Jeremy Clarke
Post date 15 May 2023
No Comments on Are You
There God?
It’s Me,
Margaret.
Sticky post

All stills: Dana Hawley / courtesy of Lionsgate UK

Director – Kelly Fremon Craig – 2023 – US – Cert. PG – 105m

****

An 11-year-old girl navigates the difficult waters of religion and womanhood, talking privately to God as she does so – bestselling novel adaptation is out on digital Tuesday, July 18th and on Blu-ray & DVD Monday, August 7th

Is God there, can you talk to God, and does doing so make any difference? 11-year-old Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) talks to God, beginning with the “Are You There?” question and then continuing to talk to God as if God’s presence were real. Whether God is real or not, the practice of talking with God has a history in certain Christian traditions, and probably in other religious traditions with which I’m less familiar too. It does not, of itself, prove the existence or non-existence of God one way or the other.

In terms of organised religion, Margaret finds herself in a confusing place. She is the sole child of Jewish father Herb (Benny Safdie) and Christian mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) Simon. It’s a good marriage and the Simons are a very happy family, living in a cramped New York apartment with his Jewish mother Sylvia Simon (an hilariously dour yet joyous Kathy Bates).… Read the rest

Tags 11-year-old, 1960s, Abby Ryder Fortson, adaptation, agnosticism, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong, Amari Price, art teacher, atheism, beehive hairdo, Benny Safdie, bestseller, black church, boy books, boys, bra, bust size, bust-enlarging exercise, Catholic, Christian, Christian traditions, church, class heartthrob, club, club rules, committee, confessional, convert, Dennis Delamar, early developer, Echo Kellum, faith, family, feminine, first period, Florida, Gary Houston, Gazelle Fleming, God, good marriage, Gospel, grandmother, happy family, identity, Isol Young, Jersey, Jew, Jewish, Judy Blume, Karen Aruj, Katherine Kupferer, Kathy Bates, Kelly Fremon Craig, kissing, lying, marriage, menstruation, Mia Dillon, mothers and daughters, moving house, mows the lawn, New York, not wearing socks, novel, organised religion, ostracised, parents and children, period, priest, proselytise, Protestant, PTA, pulpit, Rachel McAdams, religion, school year, sermon, sexuality, singing, suburban, synagogue, their religious heritage, truth telling, urban, urban and suburban, US

Features Live Action Movies

Babyteeth

Director – Shannon Murphy – 2019 – Australia – Cert. 15 – 118m

*****

In cinemas from Friday, August 14th and on BFI Player from Monday, December 7th

Uniformed schoolgirl Milla (Eliza Scanlen) stands on a platform ill at ease with her classmates. The train comes in. Before she can move to get on it, someone has knocked into her rushing past to stand close to the passing train. It’s Moses (Toby Wallace), unkempt in shorts and tee shirt. He asks her for money. He points out she has a nosebleed, cradles her on the ground, puts his tee over her mouth and jaw… to catch the blood.

Milla’s psychiatrist father Henry (Ben Mendelson) has a home session with a patient that turns into sex on a desk. This is his wife Anna (Essie Davis) who is on medication and has mental problems. They have another problem as a family: their daughter has cancer.

When Milla brings Moses into her parents’ comfortable suburban family home, they take an immediate dislike to him. This reaction is compounded by his habit of stealing medications from their home to sell later on the street. Nevertheless, he will be around the home more and more and by the end will be to all intents and purposes living there with Henry and Anna’s consent.… Read the rest

Tags assisted suicide, Australia, cancer, drugs, family, medication, meds, musician, orchestra, parents and children, pianist, psychiatrist, relationships, school, sex, suburban, trust, wig