The Upside of Anger

A woman’s husband has just walked out on her and her four daughters. She’s pissed at him and drinks a lot. A washed-up ballplayer neighbor who also drinks a lot comforts her, and they become lovers. There are domestic squabbles with the kids. There is a big surprise at the end, which a lot of critics didn’t like, but I did.

I experienced my usual trouble feeling sorry for these ... Read more »

Uptown Girls

A 22-year-old who has never grown up meets an 8-year-old who has never been a child. The adult is in love with an empty-headed geek who plays insipid “rock” music. The kid’s dad is in a coma. Then … oh, screw it. You know the drill. We rented this because we like Dakota Fanning a lot, and figured that even if the movie sucked she’d be okay. Well, she was … but I’d forgotten she ... Read more »

Us

Jordan Peele followed up his great and wildly successful Get Out with this muddled and eventually ridiculous mess. It concerns duplicates of living people who are trying to muscle in on the lives of the real ones. The explanation, when it comes, is totally unbelievable. And the critics loved it. This is another one like A Quiet Place, a ... Read more »

Ushpizin

Every once in a while a movie comes along that I am entirely incapable of evaluating, simply because I can’t set aside my prejudice. I try my best, but I just can’t. In this case it is not anti-Semitism, it is my revulsion for religious fanaticism in any form, practiced by any people. In this case, it’s Jews. And my feeling is that these people—ultra-orthodox Hasidics in Jerusalem—are ... Read more »

The Usual Suspects

Every once in a while a movie comes along that immediately forces its way onto my list of Greats. Memento comes to mind, and Sleuth, (the original, of course, not the horrible remake), and Blood Simple. This is one of them. It is a story of a small gang of criminals and several heists they pull off, as related ... Read more »

Utopia

This is the very last Laurel and Hardy movie, and a lot of it is pretty sad. Stan is looking tired, and in fact he was so sick he could only work about a half hour every day. He was diabetic, and developed colitis, dysentery, and a prostate ulcer. Ollie looks even worse. He has ballooned to a frightening weight, 330 pounds. There are some good gags, as always, particularly a scene where ... Read more »