Annie Mayo – Google

It is best to go into this film knowing little as possible, and alone so you don’t feel awkward during the long silences and can fully immerse yourself into the film. Discovering along the way what is happening and who “she” is. The score, the improvisation, cinematography, all aid the story and experience perfectly. This is the film that made me a fan of Scarlett Johansson’s. She does an incredible job expressing a complex experience almost silently. Under the Skin is in my top five and while I can understand why it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I do believe more people could enjoy it under the right circumstances.

I don’t believe for a second that this young woman is a master hacker/sleuth/writer and, therefore, can’t get into it. I don’t want to hate on a type of woman, not the point, but I am hating on the extreme over use of Tiny, Skinny, Young, White women being the heroine of almost every series that isn’t a western or whatever right now. As I grow older I am So tired of teenagers as main characters. This used to be hard to find (my so called life days) now it’s All I find. On Hulu anyway. Two stars for the other actors and Iceland.

Spoilers and more of a response than a review: I found Le Weekend very entertaining, but this couple needs therapy! A lot of moments that I think were supposed to be cute were disturbing. Like when the wife pushed the husband away from her for being fresh and he fell, grasping his knee in agony? She tells him to “be a man for once in your life” walks away, and then turns back to him and laughs!? I don’t care if he cheated on her fifteen years ago, he deserves better. She’s mean and unstable. Jeff Goldblum pops by as, well, Jeff Goldblum and is a delight. I appreciated the moment with him confessing to leaving his family only to move to Paris and do it all over again. Along with the admittance that he does this because he is vain. And it was also nice to see a couple splurge! Coming from a very frugal family, this was fun to watch. I did not however, appreciate the dine and ditch moment or walking away from the concierge as he tries to address their unsettled hotel bill. Having fun and letting go did not need to result in becoming a$$h*le$. Again the wife being self centered and dragging her poor sweet husband along. Not that he protested much. In the end, I just had to remember it’s all make believe. To end on a favorite moment, watching the husband rock out to Dylan while making a collage on the hotel wall was a blissful moment of letting go I could truly enjoy. It was like being a fly on the wall watching my dad having a great time.

The Wall seems like a dramatic version of Slow TV. While I loved the beautiful setting and the main actor has a soothing voice which narrates throughout I often wished she would stop talking for a while and would have settled for a little more happening visually You are left with more questions than you start off with once she discovered the wall enclosing her within several miles of the Alps with a dog, cow, two cats and a wild crow buddy. The climax is intriguing, but only gets her and, the viewer, more lost than ever. While I love a challenging film, I think The Wall would be more enjoyable if it were a bit more generous to the viewer.

This is one of my favorite films and each time I see it, I have a new experience with it. It’s slow, yet requires an attentive audience so it’s not for everyone. You have to be a patient film watcher, in a patient mood. Extreme suspense is built until the very end. It’s all about privacy, trust, and boundaries. The Conversation follows a PI hired by a powerful husband who suspects his wife of having an affair. The distrust spreads throughout the film and it seems everyone has their own agenda, but what is that? If you are someone who likes to be well watched, don’t skip this one. It really is an well crafted and timeless film.