The Intern (2015)

This is actually a very cute feel-good movie. Robert DeNiro plays a senior citizen who is doing an internship at an Internet company. DeNiro's character is the type of likable grandfather/mentor figure you want in your life. The company is run by Anne Hathaway, a strong woman used to doing everything herself being pressured to find a CEO for her company. It is refreshing to see Hollywood depicting a woman in charge at a tech company. Though reluctant at first, they become close co-workers. And as expected, they teach each other along the way. It's no revelation, but two solid performances and an unexpectedly good chemistry make for an easy light-hearted comedy. 

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

My biggest criticism of this film is also its greatest asset. That is Andy Samberg. I can handle an SNL Digital Short for five minutes. I like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is basically the Andy Samberg show. I can handle twenty minutes of him, but a full-length feature is just too much. His stupid jokes are funny for a little bit, but you get tired of them. He just lingers on them for too long and turns the dial up too high. He plays his usual man boy character. There are a plethora of celebrity cameos from singers and other music industry heavyweights. How did they get all of them? And did they know the movie would be so bad? They each only have a few seconds, a single line. And their appearance is actually so ridiculous in this movie that it makes you laugh. The movie is in a mockumentary format. Taking a page out of 7 Days from Hell, Andy Samberg really likes making fake documentaries. The Lonely Island isn't meant for long form comedy.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2016)

Exodus (2015) choreographed by Rennie Harris
Awakening (2015) by Robert Battle
Cry (1971) by Alvin Ailey soloist Jacqueline Green
Revelations (1960) by Alvin Ailey

I really enjoyed watching Alvin Ailey. I don't know too much about dance, but I do appreciate it. I've always seen the posters all over the subway of the very fit dancers contorting their bodies in impossible positions. Finally, I got an opportunity to see them in Baltimore at the historic Lyric Opera House, thanks to Hopart. I didn't realize they took so many intermissions for dance performances, but they understandably have to catch their breath. We were there for about two and a half hours, but almost an hour of that time was spent in intermission. But I loved every minute of dance.

The first dance, Exodus was modern African-inspired. The style reminded me of the performance by Ronald K. Brown I saw last year at the Kennedy Center. The second dance was more contemporary. There was a story to it that made use of bright background lights reminiscent of the lights that shine down from UFOs.

Cry gave me chills. A gorgeous solo number, Jacqueline Green danced with grace and elegance and strength. And then there's Revelations, the signature suite by Alvin Ailey. The music is set to spirituals and blues music and goes through a history of the African American experience through slavery and freedom. It is extraordinarily powerful and moving to watch. There were a few non-black dancers in this one. I guess you can't discriminate, but it is kind of weird for a non-African American dancer to convey the African American experience. 

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

This movie is notable for an extended heist scene that contains no dialogue. It is pure silence and intense caution for almost 30 minutes. It is highly choreographed and well executed. The movie opens with an epigraph, a quote by Buddha. Except the quote is made up. Perhaps it is to lead the audience to believe in the fate of the characters. Though I don't know it really worked. It might have just confused me as to why it was done. There are tons of symbolic red circles throughout the movie, like the red traffic lights. The most obvious one is the red circle at the top of the billiards cue. There is a great aerial shot of a billiards table. We watch player one take a shot and then another, which we believe to be the same player, but it is actually a new character. It is done in such a fluid movement. They play a version of billiards that I'd never seen before. It is really difficult. You hit the cue ball and try to knock it into two other balls. In some versions, you have to hit a certain number of walls before hitting the second ball. Playing off the walls is hard. The billiards table is symbolic for the director, (in an interview) who claims that all children learn at a young age not to climb on billiards tables. They are symbolic of adulthood, forbidden to young children. No one ever told me that, but sure.

An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no aji) (1962)

Yasujiro Ozu's final film is about an aging man realizing his parental duty to his daughter to find her a husband. It is a portrait of traditional Japanese society, with all its biases and strengths, reinforcing gender roles. Japanese acting is restrained and straightforward. It is rarely overly emotional. They give each other small grunts of acknowledgement. They almost whisper "hai" to the knock at the door. And these old people sit cross-legged on the floor and get up with no problem. They drink copious amounts of sake. The camera is set up in tatami position very low. The actor is centered and the camera is completely still, with no pans. The music is only present in between scenes as we see exteriors to set the scene. The music is peppier than expected considering the theme of loneliness. Why it's called An Autumn Afternoon, I don't really know. The Japanese title refers to a scene that has nothing to do with autumn or the afternoon. All of the English titles of Ozu's film allude to seasons, major it's just in keeping with the theme. But it seems kind of arbitrary on an individual level.

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) & At Land (1944)

Maya Deren is an important figure in experimental film making. She creates an experience for the viewer, bending time and playing with our sense of reality. The houses is like something out of an MC Escher painting. She dances around her house in Meshes of the Afternoon in a carefully choreographed short film to the twangs of dissonant strings. She depicts things on screen that can only be done on film, and then shes pushes the limits of the medium. It is surreal and as I've learned from watching Bunuel, when it comes to surrealism you just have to accept it and enjoy the ride. 

Mauvais Sang/The Night is Young (1986)

Denis Lavant is a brooding teenager torn between two women in future Paris. It's a sci-fi gangster movie that actually revolves around romance. It is hard to explain, but the tone of the movie is sci-fi even if the elements of science fiction remain unseen. Somehow it feels futuristic without looking it. Lavant's ringtone is Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, alluding to tragic love though I'm not sure the ending is so tragic. Perhaps it is actually freeing. There is a famous scene in which Lavant dances to Modern Love by David Bowie. Maybe dance isn't the right word. He contorts his body and drags and beats himself as if he is trapped.  Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha does an homage to this scene. Leos Carax is a stylish director. And I love his clever pseudonym. Put the spaces in the right plae and it spells Le Oscar a X, like The Oscar goes to X.