The French Dispatch

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The French Dispatch
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director Wes Anderson‘s latest is a quirky ensemble piece set around the final issue of the fictional French Dispatch circular from the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun in which each of the magazine’s stories, all taking place in and around the equally fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, are acted out for the audience. The reason for the final issue is the unexpected death of its editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray, who appears in flashbacks).

The film starts out strong with Owen Wilson‘s short piece on the town as a bicycling reporter followed by J.K.L. Berensen’s (Tilda Swinton) more lengthy article about a murderer (Benicio Del Toro) finding artistic talent in prison with the help of one of the prison guards (an often nude Léa Seydoux) who becomes his muse. Both Del Toro and Sydoux are terrific here, and Adrien Brody adds some fun as a white-collar criminal who works to try and make money of the talented, but moody, artist.

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Flee

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Flee
  • IMDb: link

Flee offers a deeply personal take on the refugee experience in a mostly-animated documentary of a man struggling even decades later to express his emotions and memories from harrowing experiences fleeing Afghanistan to Moscow and eventually to Denmark. Our guide, referred to only as Amin, offers his story which is fleshed-out and explored further in animation by director Jonas Poher Rasmussen and his animation team. 

Given that non-animated segments are also used, such as stock footage of the times, I don’t know that the documentary will get the exposure it deserves for an animated film as well as for a documentary. In a year without a breakout animated film, Flee is a mesmerizing and unique film experience that reminds us how the past can continue to haunt someone long after they have reached the relative safety of a new land.

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Benedetta

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Benedetta
  • IMDb: link

Inspired by the life of 17th Century nun Benedetta Carlini, Virginie Efira stars in the title role as a nun with visions and dreams of Jesus (Jonathan Couzinié). After the arrival of a young woman named Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), to whom she has an obvious attraction, Benedetta begins having fevered dreams and one day appears with stigmata allowing for her advancement over the current abbess (Charlotte Rampling). This immediately causes turmoil within the covenant which is only furthered by charges against both Benedetta and Bartolomea for the carnal nature of their relationship.

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NCIS: Hawai’i – Legacy

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: NCIS: Hawai’i – Legacy
  • wiki: link

“Legacy” offers one night of romance for Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) and the departing Joe (Enver Gjokaj) while offering a case of the week involving the death of a protestor on an uncooperative tech billionaire’s (Rob Benedict) land. Stonewalled by the tycoon and his lawyers, the team investigates the protestor and uncovers an unexpected connection between him and both their suspect and his wife (Jenna Leigh Green). The murder of the week is solid with various B-stories offering peeks into core characters such as Kai (Alex Tarrant) siding with the protestors and a revelation of Lucy‘s (Yasmine Al-Bustami) family wealth. I’d expect to see each of these threads to be developed further, and I’m not so certain we’ve seen the final departure of Captain Joe.

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