Stu Brynien

A charming update on an old trope--older self meets and dispenses advice to younger self; confusion and hilarity follow--that I didn't expect to like at all, and ended up liking a lot. When Elliot, a gay eighteen-year- old longing to leave her family's cranberry farm, trips on mushrooms one night and comes face-to-face with her future, thirty-nine-year-old self, she hardly knows what to make of it. Is she seeing things? Is the easy- going woman in front of her really herself twenty years later? And what about all those details regarding her college career and future relationships? Most importantly, what about the guy Future Elliot is telling her to avoid at all costs? Equal parts silly and sad, funny and touching, "My Old Ass" follows young Elliot (the wonderful Maisy Stella) as she hangs out with her friends, shares intimate (but remarkably chaste) moments with her lover, engages with her family, and meets The New Boy in Town (Percy Hynes White, also excellent), who throws her last carefree weeks on the farm (she's heading off to college) completely out of whack. Some moments will make you smile, others may make you cry; a scene between Elliot and her mom, who misses her already, is particularly poignant. It starts off as a light-hearted comedy, turns into a sensitive portrayal of a confused young lady at a crossroads in her life, and becomes--by the end--one of the winningest, most thought-provoking films I've seen this year. Aubrey Plaza is her usual subtly expressive self as the older Elliot, and the lovely Canadian scenery is practically a character in its own right. Well worth seeing.

Brendan Fraser stars as Charlie, a morbidly obese recluse who teaches an online writing class to a handful of college kids. He doesn't walk very much--he can barely even stand--and spends his waking hours away from his computer screen reading his students' essays, devouring entire pizzas, and dealing with his attentive, no-nonsense nurse (with whom he has a tragic history quite apart from his deteriorating condition, which is revealed about halfway through) who wants him to go to the hospital, something he refuses to do. (Hardly anyone ever sees him at all, in fact, including his students, for whom he is just a disembodied voice on their laptops, and the pizza guy, who leaves his deliveries outside the door, retrieves the money that's been left for him, and leaves.) His two-bedroom flat is dimly lit (Aronofsky creates a nice sense of gloom about the place, befitting its occupant's doomed lifestyle), and throws in Charlie's way all kinds of obstacles; when he is gifted a wheelchair, for example, he quickly discovers that he can't even maneuver the thing through the doorway into his bedroom. "The Whale" is a very stagey film--understandable, given its origins as a theatrical piece by playwright Samuel D. Hunter, who also penned the screenplay)--and a claustrophobic one too, which only adds to its effectiveness. Love, self-hate, regret, father-daughter relationships, husband-wife conflicts, religion, the nature of writing and how to teach it: Hunter packs a lot in here, and all of it is broached and discussed with heart and soul and sensitivity. Fraser--barely recognizable with his prosthetic chins and enormous fat suit--will make you weep (the ending, especially, is a heartbreaker), and the rest of the small, expertly-cast company of actors deliver the pitch-perfect script with pitch-perfect skill. No wonder "The Whale"--a story in which "Moby Dick" is constantly referenced, and the title character is little more than a beached and dying whale himself--has been nominated for so many awards, and won a few already. See it, and bring the Kleenex.

Hardly for everyone--not by a longshot--but if you have the stomach for some truly horrifying imagery (bodies sawed in half, dangling entrails, blood- and other sinister-looking stains, corpses arranged in a grotesque recreation of the Last Supper) this may be the Ryan Murphy shockfest for you. Niecy Nash-Betts stars as Lois, a world-weary homicide detective investigating a string of murders with no leads, no clues, and no hope. Nash-Betts is fine (if a bit too low-key), as is Micaela Diamond as a young nun who writes for a local Church paper and believes there's more going on than anyone suspects. But the pace is slow, there's been little to look forward to in the first three episodes besides the killer's grisly calling-card set pieces, and the family subplots (added, no doubt, to deepen our appreciation for Lois' lot in life)--involving her overweight daughter and unfaithful, comatose husband--seem largely unnecessary. Nevertheless, the whole thing looks rather stylish in its way, and Lois' adversarial relationship with her husband's hard-nosed nurse (Lesley Manville) provides a few (dark) laughs. Once you've tuned in, you'll probably want to stick around to find out whodunit. My advice: check it out.

a streamlined version of the 1963 seaborne thriller by suspense novelist charles williams. you needed a doctorate in nautical terminology--or a whole lot of patience to survive the occasionally endless psycho-babble--but, wisely, the filmmakers have dispensed with all that, and what's left is the very simple plot: a husband and wife are yachting across the pacific when a stranger comes rowing frantically in their direction, they take him aboard, allow him to stay (despite the misgivings of the husband, the suspicious type)...and eventually, all hell breaks loose. dead calm tells two tales in one: rae's efforts to outwit and outlast the handsome--and not altogether sane--newcomer, even as john, her husband, explores the rapidly sinking ship the fellow was fleeing. in her first major movie role, twenty-two-year-old nicole kidman is a ravishing redhead with the face of a teenager and (even then) a courage and expressiveness beyond her years; and, also in an early role, billy zane as the interloper, hughie, is nearly as pretty, just as powerful, and altogether scary. (two more attractive faces in late '80s cinema would have been hard to find.) sam neill as john underplays his role to perfection. dead calm isn't a great film, but it's certainly a good one, and despite its lack of much of an explanation for hughie's behavior--which the book provided via all that layman's psycho-babble--it's still a whole lot better. see it, but pop a dramamine first. you may need it.

Ted Danson, who seems to star in a new hit sitcom every few years, may have hit the jackpot again. This time he's playing Charles, a lonely widower who answers a newspaper ad (after his worried daughter tells him to Get Out and Do Things) and ends up working undercover for a private detective hired to solve a jewel robbery in a retirement home. Danson is as good as ever, the very definition of a comic pro, but just as much fun in this charming (and occasionally heartbreaking) new show are all the reliable old pros surrounding him, including TV vets Sally Struthers and Veronica Cartwright and stage and screen actor Stephen McKinley Henderson. The dialogue is sharp, the relationships--among the residents, between the residents and staff, and between Charles and his adult daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids--are completely believable, and the series' message about aging gracefully and productively with your sense of humor and zest for life still intact is a worthy one. From the producers of "The Good Place," Danson's last big hit. Kick your feet up, sit back, and enjoy.

Thanks to its stylish black-and-white cinematography, noirish use of sunlight and shadow--and, of course, its hard-boiled dialogue, terrific performances, and fast-moving plot--"Double Indemnity" has become a classic, and one of the finest suspense films ever made. The first time I saw it I was a bit distracted by Barbara Stanwyck's unbecoming (and almost comical-looking) wig, as were, I think, a lot of people; this time, however, it didn't bother me at all, and I was able to appreciate her femme fatale performance for what it was--one of the most unforgettable of her career. Every bit as riveting is Fred MacMurray as the insurance agent who--having fallen hard for her--cooks up a supposedly foolproof plan to help her murder her husband for the insurance payout that will follow; watching MacMurray sweat it out in scene after scene as the net closes in around him is a treat in itself. There are plenty of plot twists involving other characters, too, just as you'd expect in a thriller like this. If you haven't seen "Double Indemnity" yet--what are you waiting for?

Nicole and Christina are teachers at a private boys' school in Paris who conspire to kill the school's headmaster, Michel, a cruel man married to one of them and maintaining the other as his mistress. The story gets started immediately--in an early scene, we see how much he dislikes them (particularly his wife, the younger Christina, who suffers from a heart condition) and how much they, in turn, despise him--and it isn't too long before they're already plotting the brute's demise and, in equally short order, have carried out their plan. But things aren't entirely as they seem; no sooner have they done the deed than the twists start piling up, and right through to the shock ending (one of the most famous in movie thriller history, although--given the seventy years since the film's release--the finale's big reveal isn't nearly as eye-popping today as it must have been back then) the story's narrative drive keeps it moving right along. The performances are terrific, the black-and-white cinematography adds to its allure (at least for me), and oh, those twists! This was the second time I've seen it, and thanks to the vagaries of memory, I didn't even recall all of them--including the final one. Call it the Hitchcock thriller that Hitchcock DIDN'T direct. (He tried to secure the rights, but failed.) In French, with English subtitles. Not to be missed.