Short Term 12

Posted on August 23, 2013 at 9:37 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating: Rated R for language and brief sexuality
Profanity: Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking, drug references
Violence/ Scariness: Tense confrontations, references to abuse, suicide attempt
Diversity Issues: Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters: August 23, 2013
Date Released to DVD: January 17, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN: B00EOAHDT8

There is a look in the eyes of those who have seen the very worst that can happen.  Those who no longer have the blessing of living in denial.  Those who know, not just in their heads but in their souls, that the innocent can be hurt by those they trust, that their bodies, their hearts, and even their minds can be damaged in ways that leave them shattered, convinced that they will always be alone and outside the magic circle everyone else seems to know how to stay inside.  Then there are those rare souls who have traveled all the way to the end of the road of no expectations but hold on to their sense of humanity by using what they have experienced to help others.  The look in their eyes is tired, but not entirely closed off from the world.  As T.S. Eliot said in “Ash Wednesday,” the goal must be “to care and not to care.”  short term 12

The gifted actor Brie Larson captures that look in “Short Term 12,” a wise and heartfelt new film about the staff at a facility for abused, neglected, and damaged teenagers.  It has the intimacy of a documentary so that the solid, assured narrative structure sneaks up on you.  This assured feature from writer/director Destin Cretton shows that kind of understanding behind the camera as well.

Larson plays the aptly named Grace.  She is not a therapist or a doctor.  She has a more important credential, as we will learn.  Her job is to help create a space that makes the kids who have no reason to trust anyone can feel safe, despite the drab institutional setting, the almost non-existent budget, the overworked professionals, and the rules that restrict them.  How can you make someone feel safe when the state will throw them out with no support after 12 months or when they turn 18?  How do you not give up when you see this kind of damage every day?  Can you find yourself in helping others?  Can you hide from yourself there?

Grace lives with her co-worker, Mason (“Newsroom’s” John Gallagher Jr., authentically disheveled), who loves her deeply but is troubled that she cannot truly open up to him.  Remi Malek has the thankless role of the newbie who gives the other characters the chance to provide some exposition and show us that good intentions are not enough.  But Cretton handles even this character with sympathy and humanity.  Then there are the residents, including Marcus (Keith Stanfield), who is about to turn 18 and leave the only home he knows, and a new arrival, Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), who is furious and hostile.

Beautifully observed scenes open these characters up to us, with moments of small-g grace that are more heart-wrenching than the traumatic revelations.  They seem to bloom on screen thanks to sensitive writing and gorgeously heartfelt performances.  Birthday cards.  An anniversary tribute.  A look of resignation, recognition, and exhilaration as an emergency, but a relatively and reassuringly solvable one, comes up.  A broken teenager begins to heal.  And a broken adult begins to acknowledge that helping others cannot be enough unless she does what she asks from them, and what Cretton does before our eyes: to tell the truth.

Parents should know that this film includes very strong language, sexual references and situations, discussion of very severe parental abuse including sexual molestation, and frank discussion of family dysfunction and abuse

Family discussion: What do you learn about Mason from his family party?  Why is the character named Grace?

If you like this, try: “Manic” and “The United States of Leland”

Related Tags:

 

Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Pick of the Week Stories about Teens

A New — and Free — Resource for Streaming Indie Films

Posted on August 23, 2013 at 3:59 pm

Check with your local library to see whether your library card gives you access to IndieFlix, a free service with a wide selection of indie films you can stream online or through Roku or XBox, everything from Fred Astaire in “Royal Wedding” (with that astounding dancing on the ceiling number) to experimental shorts, animation, and classic cult films.  Any place that has separate categories on the menu for “comedy,” “dark comedy,” and “dramedy” has my respect.  Highly recommended.

Related Tags:

 

Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

Ben Affleck is the New Batman

Posted on August 23, 2013 at 8:46 am

Adam West.  Michael Keaton.  Val Kilmer.  George Clooney.  Christian Bale.  And now the cape and cowl go to Ben Affleck, who has been announced as the next actor to play Batman, in the follow-up to this year’s “Man of Steel.”

It’s something of a surprise.  Affleck has been most successful as a director, recently with “Argo,” where his direction won more acclaim than his acting.  His last superhero effort was the disappointing “Daredevil.”  But I am very intrigued that at this point in his career he would take on a role like Batman, and I look forward to seeing the film in the summer of 2015.

Related Tags:

 

Actors

Shrek the Musical — Now on DVD/Blu-Ray

Posted on August 23, 2013 at 8:00 am

Can’t make it to the theater to see “Shrek the Musical?” On October 15,  you will be able to get front-row tickets to a spectacular Broadway musical based on the beloved movie from DreamWorks Animation, which is itself based on the book by William Steig.  The BluRay includes the Blu-Ray and DVD versions of the musical, plus:

From Swamp To Stage: The Making of Shrek the Musical—Follow the cast and crew of Shrek the Musical as they take you behind the scenes and show you what it really takes to make

a Broadway show come to life!

Shrek The Musical Songbook with Sing-Along—Kids and adults alike can pick their favorite song and sing along, as seven songs from the musical will have their lyrics appear on

the bottom of the screen as you watch the actual musical performance on screen. You can play all of the tunes uninterrupted or choose to randomize the musical experience with the “shuffle

mode.”

Shrek The Musical Songbook with Sing-Along

Stay tuned.

 

Related Tags:

 

Based on a book Based on a play Live Theater Musical

Austenland

Posted on August 22, 2013 at 6:00 pm

austenland2Edward Arlington Robinson wrote a poem about a man named Miniver Cheevy who wished so much that he could have lived in the days of knights and ladies that he refused to participate in the life before him.  Author Shannon Hale wrote Austenland about a young woman named Jane who is so in love with the romance and elegance of Jane Austen’s Regency-era romances that no real-life modern relationship can ever measure up.  She has a lifesize cardboard photo of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice” and her bedroom is like a deranged bed and breakfast version explosion of 19th century fantasy.

So she spends all of her money going to an immersive theme park called Austenland, where fans of Austen’s classic novels like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and the swooningly romantic movie versions can pretend to thaw the hearts of proud men in wearing breeches who would never think of addressing them by their first name or presuming to try a kiss.

“Napoleon Dynamite” co-author Jerusha Hess wrote and directed the film adaptation, with “Twilight’s” Stephenie Meyer as producer.  A radiant Keri Russell (“Waitress”) plays Jane, who is taken aback when she arrives at the 18th Century Italianate mansion (played by the historic Wycombe estate, also seen in “Downton Abbey”).  It is presided over by the redoubtable Mrs. Wattlesbrook (Jane Seymour), who crisply informs Jane that as the purchaser of the “Copper Package,” she will be known as the fortuneless “Jane Erstwhile” and live in a small room near the servants’ quarters.  (Janeites, think Fanny Price.)  Also visiting Austenland are the wealthy “Miss Elizabeth Charming” (Jennifer Coolidge, hilarious as always), who has no idea who Jane Austen is but thinks she will look good in Regency dresses, and Lady Amelia Heartwright (Georgina King) (Janites: think Jane Fairfax with a touch of Crawford).  Having paid for the premium package, Charming and Heartwright have luxurious rooms and clothes.  And, apparently, first choice of the very handsome men who are there to provide the full Austen experience, or at least the simulation/stimulation thereof.

As a full-on Janeite who has read all of the books several times, I laughed out loud at some of the references and variations on Austen’s themes and at the silliness of the juxtaposition between the 18th century period details and the intrusion of the present day.  At one point, Jane is left out in the rain and romantically rescued by the severe Mr. Nobley (J.J. Feild, whose Austen credentials include playing Mr. Tilney in a “Northanger Abbey” television movie).  (Janeites, think “Emma.”)

At first, Jane plays along as though she was really in the Regency era.  But then, around the time that her soaking wet dress splits up to the hip, she cannot help reacting like the 21st century young woman she is.  And how very un-Fanny Price for her to decide that it is time to depart from Mrs. Wattlesbrook’s directions and write her own story, starting with getting rid of the dowdy hairstyle and clothes she has been assigned and moving on to spending quality time with the groundskeeper.  This is less Lady Susan than Lady Chatterly.

Like all Austen heroines, Jane has some lessons to learn.  And a very happy ending, including a hilarious final credit sequence.  Hess manages to both send up and pay tribute to the core conventions of romantic comedy, and for fans of the genre that has been all but absent from theaters in 2013, that is a very happy ending indeed.

Parents should know that this film includes sexual references and situations, some bawdy and crude, some strong language, and drinking.

Family discussion:  What was it about Austen’s books that was so important to Jane?  If you could visit any fictional place, what would it be?

If you like this, try: Any of the many movie and television versions of Jane Austen’s novels, especially “Sense and Sensibility” with Emma Thompson and “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth

Related Tags:

 

Based on a book Comedy Romance
THE MOVIE MOM® is a registered trademark of Nell Minow. Use of the mark without express consent from Nell Minow constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws. All material © Nell Minow 1995-2024, all rights reserved, and no use or republication is permitted without explicit permission. This site hosts Nell Minow’s Movie Mom® archive, with material that originally appeared on Yahoo! Movies, Beliefnet, and other sources. Much of her new material can be found at Rogerebert.com, Huffington Post, and WheretoWatch. Her books include The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies and 101 Must-See Movie Moments, and she can be heard each week on radio stations across the country.

Website Designed by Max LaZebnik