Devs (2020)

There are some really beautiful things happening in Alex Garland's miniseries Devs. What it has to say about humanity is kind of profound. How it gets there though is a rather heady theoretical physics sci-fi lesson. And I didn't really follow it all the way through. I barely understood enough to get the ending. The show overall is extremely slow. I don't think they really needed 8 episodes. Kenton is really absolutely necessary to the core plot; he's more of a distraction. The acting is also really robotic, probably intentionally so. Nick Offerman is certainly cast against type in a dramatic role; it's didn't quite work for me just because we know Ron Swanson and I can't dissociate him from that character.  It's all really unsettling--the sound design, the set, the giant statue of Amaya that never really plays a part but to show how weird this place is.

Lady Bird (2017)

What a beautiful little film about growing up. Saoirse Ronan is delightfully quirky as are all her friends and family. The writing is brilliantly hilarious. The relationships are authentic. The movie overall is just so refreshingly honest about adolescence. The ending maybe needed a little bit more closure for Lady Bird. Lady Bird's story is done but Christine's continues. I'm not really sure what specifics I want to say about this movie, but I loved everything about it. I think maybe it's the movies for which words escape you that are the most affecting--to literally be speechless.