This documentary short tells the story of Winfred Rembert, an elderly African American artist and PTSD sufferer who picked cotton as a child, barely survived being lynched at age 19, served years in a chain gang, and is a walking tribute to the indomitable spirit of the human race. His incredibly complex art, involving embossing and coloring leather, depicts his past travails that still give him nightmares to this day. It has been collected by his friend, Dr. Shirley Jackson Whitaker, in an exhibition of artistic works memorializing the 4,000 African-American victims of lynchings in America's past. The film uses live action interviews, occasionally shocking old photographs, and a moving sequence showing a symbolic funeral for the past victims, to teach an important lesson in American history that needs to be told.

I haven't been reviewing much lately since the pandemic has forced me to postpone cataract surgery...probably until the vaccine appears. So far, I can still see fine with one clear eye; but it is tiring. Still, I am starting to fulfill my Academy documentary film watching requirement. I have until the end of January to watch and judge the assigned submitted film for Oscar nomination.

Too bad I had to start with this fairly interesting, if totally mediocre, film. Using a series of rapidly inter-cut interviews of adults and children and several child psychologists, the film explores how rapidly evolving technology (internet, cell phones, social media etc.) is fundamentally changing the childhood experience in the United States. Parents (and grandparents) talk of their growing up years as being free to play with their friends outdoors until dark, with the only parental caution being "beware of strangers, never enter a car, etc." However, when it comes to raising their children today they seem to have a blind spot when it comes to tech: no qualms about letting their kids roam social media and porn sites unsupervised with their phones and iPads. The many children interviewed discuss cyber-bullying, sharing nude photos around school, sexting, rapidly rising child suicides and other recent tech influenced phenomena that they never share with their parents...starting as early as age 8.

It's quite a cautionary tale told by the film makers. Unfortunately, the unimaginative interview structure becomes tiresome and repetitive after a while. Still, the message is worthy of reaching its target audience of parents of school-age children.

This short film by young Christian Coppola (probably no relation), tells the story of an 80-year old dying man (Ron Rifkin), and the male hustler with a good heart that he picks up in Times Square and dresses as a woman for one last romantic, but chaste, fling. Dylan Sprouse is both beautiful and empathetic in this role. For me, a man of just about the same age as Rifkin's character, the film hit pretty close to home. Every nuance of dialog and action seemed convincing and real to me. Nice job all around.

Director Luca Guadagnino's sexually fluid mini-series takes the viewer to a U.S. army base in Italy in 2016. It centers on the lesbian camp commander (Chloë Sivigny), her wife (Alice Braga) and her rebellious 14-year old son Fraser (a superbly convincing, gawky performance by Jack Dylan Glazer.) But central to the plot are a number of interesting actors new to me, especially sloe-eyed Jordan Kristine Seamón as a young girl with gender issues who befriends Glazer's teenage misfit, and settles into a chaste relationship that benefits both to deal with their adolescent identity crises. The narrative rambles on for eight episodes, mostly centered on the army-brat kids set loose in the permissive Italian society at large, while being somewhat constrained by their American military parents. It's a fascinating paradox that propels the story through comic and tragic events. What really works is Guadagnino's unconventional camera work, in constant motion with off center framing that offers surprises at every turn. And kudos to whoever provided some of the wildest costumes ever for Fraser, the teen-age eccentric run riot. Bottom line, this is one TV mini-series that dares to be different and succeeds magnificently. I'm hoping for a sequel, since the story left much to be explored with these characters.

From my sketchy experience as a chess player when I was a child, I realize that the chess and the chess world depicted in this film was simplistically portrayed. But it doesn't matter. This was a beautifully played drama, with a perfect cast, superb production design and an important message teleported from its 1960s Cold War setting to our world today: genius is transcendent, not dependent on y-chromosomes, nationality or personality quirks. Also, Anya Taylor-Joy has hypnotic eyes.

Pete Souza is a photo-journalist who served as a staff photographer in both the Reagan and Obama White Houses. This documentary tells his story as he evolved from neutral observer to committed activist, through his lectures and especially through the inventive use of the highlights of his thousands of photographs. Souza was especially good at capturing moment during the Obama term: moments of reflection, of family, of empathy, of leadership. The film is especially deft at making (without overly emphasizing) the contrast between Obama's conduct of the Presidency and his successor's less dignified approach. Director Porter organizes the film chronologically through Souza's career, mostly letting the photographs along with Souza's narration and occasional live action videos, make a potent political statement without being preachy. And, boy, does the entirety of the film make Barak and Michelle Obama look like the epitome of a fine first family!

Anna is a matronly Ukrainian woman who works in a meat packing facility. She is kind, has a troubled grown daughter, and is lonely. She signs up to a dating service which introduces American men who are looking for women who aren't over-privileged Americans to take them back to the U.S. (I've heard of Russian baby factories; but importing servile wives is a new one on me.) That is the background for an intimate, character driven 15-minute short film that is both sad and strangely touching, mostly due to the subtle performance of the archetype babushka actress. But the film is slow paced and has a disturbingly enigmatic ending.

Fernando grew up in the Buenos Aires suburbs, from a wealthy family. His parents' house is a compound complete with venues for soccer, volleyball, tennis, and a swimming pool. On summer vacation he invites about eight of his childhood buds to spend a mostly men-only week-long sleepover, clothes optional. He brings along a new friend, Germán, whom he indicates with his eyes a repressed longing for (or does he? The group is ostensibly straight; but Germán is covertly gay in this crowd...and the sexual tension within the group is palpable as they talk girls and enjoy sporting games.) That is the set-up for a leisurely drama of straight (!?) male bonding...gorgeous shirtless guys, plenty of attractive butt shots and uncut penises.

Nobody in international cinema depicts repressed male homosexual desire quite as realistically as Argentinian director Marco Berger does. Here he offers eye candy galore for this gay viewer; but also a lot of coy innuendo that goes nowhere and is more frustrating than in the usual Berger films. However, he is also exploring today's young male psyche in a way that few film makers achieve. Maybe it is a little too subtle and unfocused as drama here; but the experience is vital in its artistry and well worth experiencing.

Lately all I've been doing is watching streamed series on my TV since feature films not seen in a movie theater on the big screen are somehow inadequate in this time of sequester. With that in mind, this Irish romantic drama had just the right amount of quality and gravitas to fascinate and enthrall over the 12 episodes. Much of the credit goes to the casting of the two main characters, Connell and Marianne (Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones). Their chemistry as a pair, both in sexual and casual relating, was manifest in every gesture and every halting phrase of realistic dialog (and let's not overlook Connell's silver necklace, a modern cultural touchstone). I'm not sure I've ever seen a better depiction in drama of true passion realistically thwarted by depression, masochism, and circumstances of class and ambition. It must have been a fine novel (unread by me). But it has also been well adapted to the visual medium, and immaculately brought to the screen by the two directors who split the series episodes in half (a brilliant stroke because the masculine first half is beautifully balanced by the feminine second half.) It's remarkable that the characters got through it all with their futures indeterminate, but somehow hopeful.

I come to this production a virgin...never having seen it in the theater, never having listened to the score. I can only judge it as a television musical spectacle. I suspect it would have been better on the big screen. And for certain it would have resonated differently in person on the stage. So I'm incapable of writing a review of the actual show as musical theater. I understand its breakthrough technical accomplishments of recreating living history, without personally having felt the emotional stirring that other musicals have engendered in me. The huge ensemble set pieces which roused the invisible audience to stirring applause didn't have that effect on me. But the quieter, melodic, personalized arias, shot mostly in close-ups, did have the desired emotional effect. I wish I had loved this show more. Maybe it's simply that the revolutionary rap style of singing just isn't to my taste. It's disturbing that the only song that sticks in my memory is from Jonathan Groff's wonderful, comic relief turn as King George. Maybe I'm just hopelessly old-fashioned.

This animated film tells the story of the origin of Santa Claus as a fractured fairy tale. Jasper (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), a young man spoiled by an easy life of wealth, is sent by his powerful father to become the postman serving a depressed and strife-ridden far-northern island. There he finds a lonely woodsman named Klaus (voiced by J.K. Simmons, perfectly cast) who is a magical toy maker. Desperate to leave the island, Jasper plots to involve the island's illiterate kids to write and send letters in exchange for toys that Klaus would supply. Many adventures follow. The animation is standard 2D, beautifully rendered but with limited inventiveness. The script might appeal to some, especially kids; but its very obviousness left me cold.

A stalwart English explorer type from the early 20th century (a familiar stiff-upper-lip vocal performance by Hugh Jackman) sets off to the U.S. northwest to find Sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis). That is the introduction to a zany road trip adventure that takes the duo across the world by train, ship and elephant to search for the Yetis in Shangra La, despite impediments thrown in their way.

What distinguishes this film is that the characters are all puppets, astoundingly animated by the use of literally thousands of 3D-printed plastic variations, and shot frame by frame in detailed miniature sets. That is the stop-motion filmic technique used by Laika (based in Oregon); and the meticulous film makers have finally achieved a realism that defies gravity with its convincing simulation of reality. That the story is fairly predictable and occasionally silly is made somewhat irrelevant by the mastery of the animation technique and the use of such a splendid vocal cast, at least for this admiring viewer.

A severed hand escapes the lab and sets off to find the original body. The beautifully rendered 2-D animation then flashes back to the past when hand and body were one...a young orphaned boy named Naoufel who grows into an incompetent pizza delivery boy. Hand and young man encounter separate adventures until fate and a girl named Gabrielle seem to bring them together. The plot, based on a 2006 French novel, "Happy Hand," was filled with metaphors that somehow escaped me; but the animation was interesting enough to keep me amused. There was a moral to the ambiguous ending. I only wish I understood the obvious allegory better.

At my age, few films are worth watching more than once (life is too short). This beautiful film belongs in that company. Having never read the book, I can't judge how good an adaptation Ms. Gerwig made; but I can say with assurance that this was a magnificent script on its own...two time lines, seven years apart, meshed together with total control over their parallel developments. As a director, her decision to shoot the past in warm, red tones, and the present in cool blues was inspired. I could go on about the ideal casting, the splendid production design which recreated the sprawling mid-19th century social fabric, the authentic costumes. But it all boils down to a filmed experience of rare emotional and intellectual involvement. I only wish that my second time with the March family hadn't ended.

An intimate epic about long-standing marital, and property rights stresses in a traditional farming community during the last quarter of the 19th Century. It takes place in Estonia; but it might just as well have been transported frame by frame to the American old West. Fine production values...especially superb cinematography, aging makeup and an exceptional cast. The film is slow paced; but the characters are so true to life and the story so involving that the 2 1/2 hours pass very quickly.