Between the Temples

Posted on August 22, 2024 at 6:31 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated Rated R for language and some sexual references
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness, reference to alcoholism
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	August 23, 2024

We like to pretend otherwise, but humans are very messy. Indeed, that is the reason we love stories; they give us reassurance that in the midst of all the uncertainty, all the mistakes, all the fear, there is some kind of pattern and some kind of meaning. I often quote writer/director Joseph Mankiewicz (“All About Ever”), who famously said that the difference between movies and life is that movies have to make sense. Well, most of the time. Some movies, instead of creating the illusion that life is less messy, reflect and even relish the mess.

“Between the Temples,” directed and co-written (with C. Mason Wells) by Nathan Silver, is not going to pretend that life or its characters know what they’re doing and we are not going to get the satisfying resolution you might expect. Instead you will see an excellent cast play characters who try to find their way.

Jason Schwartzman plays Ben Gottlieb, a cantor at what appears to be a Conservative synagogue in upstate New York called Temple Sinai. A cantor is the member of the clergy who sings or chants liturgical music, leads the congregation in prayer, and, usually, teaches classes in Jewish practice and theology, often including coaching middle schoolers preparing for bar and bat mitzvahs. He prepares them for the ceremony at age 13, when they are called to read from the Torah for the first time and accept their identity and obligations as Jews.

Singing is central to the job of a cantor, and most of them are thoroughly trained in music. But Ben has been unable to sing since a terrible tragedy over a year before this movie begins. His wife died, and he is now living with his moms, Meira (Caroline Aaron of “Mrs. Maizel”) and Judith (Dolly De Leon of “Triangle of Sadness”). As the film begins, Sinai’s genial rabbi, who likes be called, familiarly, “Rabbi Pete,” (“SNL’s” Robert Smigel) is warmly encouraging, welcoming Ben back to the pulpit. But only a few strangled sounds come out of his mouth and he races out of the sanctuary consumed with shame and fear.

After a brief failed suicide attempt (the truck driver he wanted to run him over ends up giving him a ride), Ben goes to a bar, where he has no idea what to order. The sympathetic bartender offers him a chocolate-y drink called a mudslide. And it is there Ben is befriended by a widowed music teacher named Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane, utterly wonderful).

At first they are too tipsy to realize they know each other, or did know each other. She was Ben’s elementary school music teacher. Her support for his love of singing played a part in his choice of career. When she shows up at Sinai, asking to take bat mitzvah lessons, he is at first reluctant, but her warmth and sincerity lead him to agree and they begin a friendship.

The cinematography has a retro feel, with some oddly chosen and edited near-grotesque close-ups. This adds to a chilliness at the center of the movie that keeps us from engaging fully with the characters, in part because for people who say they take religion seriously, including two members of the clergy, a convert, and a woman who wants to make the commitment to learning to read the Torah for a bat mitzvah, no one seems to pay much attention to the teachings of Judaism. Rabbi Bruce is kind and supportive of Ben but completely swayed by the size of monetary contributions to the temple. We never get a sense that Ben cares about what he is teaching his students or that his commitment to keeping kosher is anything but habit. Most perplexingly, while he makes clear to Carol that a heartfelt speech showing what she has learned is as much a part of a bat mitzvah as reading from the Torah, somehow that completely disappears along with some of the other details of the ceremony and celebration. As far as we can see, Carol only learns the phonetics and melody of the Hebrew and does not even know what she is saying.

In most movies, each detail and character propel the story forward and reinforce the point. But movies like this one amble along in a shaggy fashion, each detail and each excellent performance give us hints of the lives that happen outside the borders of the screen. Some may find that disconcerting but others will appreciate it as a glimpse into relatably zig-zagy lives.

Parents should know that this film has a brief attempted suicide, drinking, drunkenness, and references to alcoholism and a sad offscreen death, and very strong language.

Family discussion: Why couldn’t Ben sing? What do you hope happens to him next?

If you like this, try: “I Heart Huckabee’s,” “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” and “Hey Hey, It’s Esther Blueberger”

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat

Posted on August 22, 2024 at 6:01 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for adult themes, as well as strong language including racial slurs
Profanity:	Strong and bigoted language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and acoholism
Violence/ Scariness:	Peril and violence, characters murdered including a child, very sad deaths, domestic abuse
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	August 23, 2024

Melodrama gets a bad rap. It is often associated with exaggerated characters and situations. But life has a tendency to be melodramatic, and a story like “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat” told in an unabashedly heartfelt fashion with a screenplay by (under a pseudonym) Gina Prince-Bythewood and director Tina Mabry, putting the melodrama in the context of enduring, unconditional friendship over the decades. When the character are played by superb performers, seeing how they respond to the direst challenges life can present makes us feel that we are a part of that friendship, at least until the movie ends.

Based on the book by Edward Kelsey Moore, the story goes back and forth in time between the late 1960s and the present. Odette ( Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor of “King Richard” and “The Clark Sisters”) tells us that one connection with her two friends is their unusual origins. Odette was literally born in a sycamore tree. Her mother, past her due date, was told by a woman said to have mystical powers to sit on the branch of a sycamore tree and sing a hymn, and Odette arrived too fast for her to climb back down. She says she was “born off the ground and cursed with a life of fearlessness.” She grew up to be a caretaker who put others’ needs before her own.

Clarice (Uzo Aduba of “Orange is the New Black”) rebelled against her mother, who cared only what other people thought and wanted her to “put on a face and play perfect. She grew up to be a talented pianist with a fierce sense of justice. Barbara Jean (Sanaa Lathan of “Love and Basketball’ and “The Family that Preys”) was born into chaos and abuse, her mother a careless party girl, her father one of many possibles. When teenage Clarice (Abigail Achiri) and Odette (Kyanna Simone) rescue Barbara Jean (Tati Gabrielle) from her abusive stepfather, the three girls form an unbreakable bond. Big Earl (Tony Winters), the wise and generous owner of the diner where the whole community hangs out, says they are as sparkly as The Supremes, and the nickname sticks.

As in films like “Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” and “Now and Then,” and “Steel Magnolias,” it is the enduring friendship (with a few bumps along the way) that is the focus. The three women have to deal with some of the most devastating setbacks and losses imaginable. Through it all, they rely on the endless, unquestioning support of their friendship (with a few hard truths). Gorgeous performances from the three stars, strong support from Winters, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Russell Hornsby, and Mekhi Phifer as the men in their lives, and thoughtful, sincere work from Mabry and Prince-Bythewood never let the movie get soapy or overdone.

Parents should know that this film includes sad deaths, including murder of a child and an adult, serious illness, alcoholism, adultery, domestic abuse, and violent racism. Characters use some strong language and there are sexual references and situations.

Family discussion: Which friend is most like you and why? Which is your favorite? How was each one’s childhood reflected in their adult lives?

If you like this, try: the 2012 remake of “Steel Magnolias” and “The Color Purple”

Jackpot!

Posted on August 15, 2024 at 9:56 am

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
Profanity:	Extensive very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Constant action-style peril and violence, characters injured and killed, some disturbing and graphic images
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	August 15, 2024

My biggest complaint about “Jackpot!” is that there is no possible reason this crazy, don’t- think-just-laugh, essence of summer silliness, action comedy should be straight to streaming. We should be coming from the hot air into the air-conditioned theater, grabbing a bucket of popcorn, and joining an audience that is all there to laugh together. “Jackpot!” is a joyously goofy hoot of a movie with a killer cast. And that works very well, even if you’re watching it at home on your laptop.

The premise is simple. Okay, deranged, but simple. A few years in the future, everything is terrible. Los Angeles has established a gigantic lottery. The twist is that when a winner is picked, everyone in the city has 24 hours to kill the winner (no guns, though, only what can be thrown) and take the money. Winners’ options are to evade a city full of murders, despite drone cameras reporting their location to everyone every 14 minutes, to escape across the city border, thus staying alive but foregoing the prize, or hiring a high-end security firm that specializes in protecting winners.

If the person with the lucky winning ticket manages to survive for 24 hours, the prize is delivered on camera, one of those cheesy giant cardboard checks. presented by a ghoulishly grinning game show host played by the delightful Murray Hill (Fred Rococo in “Somebody Somewhere”).

Think “The Purge” meets “Hunger Games.” But funny. Really.

Awkwafina plays Katie Kim, a former child actress (her best-known work was a commercial for square pasta. She has just returned to Los Angeles after caring for her dying mother and does not know anything about the lottery. She somehow finds herself in possession of a winning ticket, and the rest is pretty much jokes (often pretty funny, especially the understated throw-aways), chases, and fight scenes. See what I mean about summer silliness?

Katie still has no idea why everyone is trying to kill her when a car drives up and Noel (John Cena) opens the door and tells her to get in. When he explains what is happening, she naturally wonders why she should trust him. So mixed with the wild action (you will not believe how many lethal objects people can throw when billions of dollars are at stake) there is the development of the Katie/Noel connection to make the stakes more meaningful.

I know what you’ve been waiting to ask. Yes, the action scenes are off the hook. Did I mention John Cena? How about if I raise you a Simu Liu, as Noel’s former colleague-turned-competitor and possibly enemy? And there are some wild interactions along the way with some improbable co-stars including Dolly De Leon (“Triangle of Sadness” and also featured in this month’s “Between the Temples”), Becky Ann Baker (quite a twist as a character named Sweet Irene), Ayden Mayeri and Donald Elise Watkins as Katie’s crazy Airbnb roomies (“He’s a DJ and his name is DJ!”) and, I’m not kidding, Machine Gun Kelly as himself. Keep an eye out for the fight scene in the celebrity wax museum (nice Kardashian joke), and be sure to stay tuned for the outtakes over the credits to see that they had as much fun making it as it is to watch it.

Parents should know that this film is constant action- and comedy-style violence with many characters injured and killed and graphic and disturbing images. Characters use very strong and crude language.

Family discussion: If you were Katie, what would it take to get you to trust Noel or Louis? If you won $3.8 billion, what would you spend it on?

If you like this, try: Jackie Chan movies

It Ends With Us

Posted on August 8, 2024 at 5:30 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for domestic violence, sexual content and some strong language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Domestic violence is frankly but discreetly portrayed, some serious injuries
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	August 9, 2024

For the handful of people who do not know this, It Ends With Us is a wildly popular book by Colleen Hoover, a social worker who began her career as an author by self-publishing. She was one of the early BookTok success stories, and has now published more than 20 books (plus a jewelry collection, press-on nails, and a non-profit that has donated over $1 million to promote love of reading). In 2022 her books held six of the top ten spots on the New York Times paperback fiction best seller list. She has called It Ends With Us, published in 2016, the most difficult because of its themes of domestic abuse, and it is her most popular, with a sequel called It Starts With Us.

Hoover and star Blake Lively produced the film version of the book, and it was directed by Lively’s co-star, Justin Baldoni. And so, with one exception, this is as close as a filmed version of a novel can be to a book, scene by scene, line by line. The fans of the novel who were in the audience at the screening I saw thought this was just fine, and they sighed happily along. Those unfamiliar with the story or less committed to admittedly soapy melodrama may enjoy the Hollywood gloss but come away less satisfied.

We first see Lily Blossom Bloom (Lively) on her way to her father’s funeral, greeting her mother, who is dressed in black, at the door of an imposing suburban house in Maine. Even though it is very clear where she is and why, this movie does not leave anything unsaid that can be said, and so Lily’s mother (Amy Morton) has to tell her daughter that she is glad she has arrived for her father’s funeral but sorry she was not there in time to say goodbye. Lily is supposed to give a eulogy, and her mother tells her just to say the five things she loved most about her dad. At the pulpit, she looks down at a napkin with 1 though 5 listed but without any words next to them. She leaves the church without speaking and returns to Boston.

Lily is about to make her lifelong dream come true, and open up a flower shop called, yes, Lily’s Blooms. As she clears out the store to get ready, she meets Allysa (Jenny Slate, by far the most appealing character in the story), a wealthy young married woman who impulsively agrees to go to work in the shop and instantly becomes Lily’s best friend.

Allysa’s husband (Hasan Mainhaj in his second perfect husband role in a row, following “Babes”) and brother (director/star Baldoni) come to the shop and Lily realizes that her new friend’s brother, Ryle ( Hoover gets character names straight from Bodice Ripper Central) is the handsome neurosurgeon she had a very meaningful encounter with on a rooftop, where she went to think about her father. The anonymity and their mutual hotness allowed them to share some intimate secrets (“naked truths”) and it was about to get steamy when he was called to the hospital for an emergency.

This re-meeting gets things back in gear, even though there are more red flags than in a year of NASCAR races. For example: the first seconds of Ryle’s appearance on screen he is furiously kicking a chair. Then he tells Lily he is only interested in sex, not relationships. Then Alyssa warns her. But a gal loves a challenge, so Lily slows his roll and he is almost instantly besotted.

We go back and forth to Lily’s past (played by Isabela Ferrer), where we see her devastated by her father’s abuse of her mother and her kindness in reaching out to a homeless classmate named, wait for it, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar in the present, Alex Neustaedter in the past). They fall in love but are separated by a violent attack.

Lily loves Ryle, but his insecurity and volatile temper keep her on eggshells. The film’s best insight is how easy it is for Lily to slide into feeling she is responsible for managing Ryle’s moods and accommodating his demands. Will the pattern of domestic violence stop with them? How?

The production values, like the storyline, hark back to the lush “for the ladies” films of the 50s, with expensive settings and some….choices by costume designer Eric Daman (Lily’s boots! Alyssa’s sequins!). There are many shots of the sun rising or setting over water. There are many lines of dialogue explaining what we have already gleaned from seeing.. A reader can fill in the blanks in a book as though it’s a Roarshach ink blot. If it is not carefully done (“The Bridges of Madison County” is a good example), an on screen depiction can reveal the thinness of the characterizations and revelations.

Lively brings radiance to the role, but she is stronger when she really lets loose in devilish mode (looking forward to “A Simple Favor 2.” Lily is relegated to nervous laughs, low-level quips, nervously reassuring Ryle, and growing understanding of her situation. Her co-stars are handsome in the way 40’s and 50’s divas played opposite actors who had just enough chemistry to be believable without detracting from their luster. This makes it watchable but not especially memorable.

Parents should know that this film includes strong language, sexual references and situations, and domestic violence with sexual assault and serious injury. Characters drink and smoke.

Family discussion: How was Lily different from her mother? Why did she visit her father’s grave? What will happen next?

If you like this, try: Colleen Hoover’s books and classic older films like “My Reputation” and “Now Voyager”

Deadpool & Wolverine

Posted on July 23, 2024 at 6:15 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references
Profanity:	Extended very strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and alcohol abuse, references to cocaine
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and sometimes very graphic comic book violence with many characters injured and killed and many disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	July 26, 2024

This one is for the fans. I say that with love because this movie loves the fans. I’m sure there are newcomers out there who are not deeply enmeshed in the comic book history of Marvel characters Deadpool and Wolverine, or even the canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There may even be a ticket-buyer or two who have not seen the wildly popular earlier Deadpool and Wolverine movies, even the critically acclaimed “Logan,” and may not know how Deadpool likes to trash Wolverine in his movies in only the way that someone does (usually in middle school) when they really like someone and want that someone to like them back. Those people will enjoy “Deadpool & Wolverine” because it is smart, funny, exciting, often filthy, and even has some heart. Ryan Reynolds (who not only stars as Deadpool but co-produced and co-wrote and has been the force behind the entire Deadpool oeuvre) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) are having so much fun on screen it is impossible not to have fun with them. There’s also a little dog that would be very cute if it didn’t have such a weirdly long tongue, and yes, he is Dogpool.

If you have not seen the movie yet, just know that unlike other Disney/Marvel movies this one is rated R, and Ryan Reynolds has said that it is not for kids. I’ll avoid spoilers here, which is hard because there are so many of them and they are choice, but still, you do not need a review to know if you want to see it or not; if you’re a fan, just go and have a great time, then come back here and read the rest of the as non-spoilery as possible review.

It’s not a spoiler to talk about the opening credits, is it? I’ll just say that they involve some adamantium-enhanced bones used as weapons AND as informative material for listing the filmmakers. We then go back in time to see Deadpool turned down by Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) when he applies to be an Avenger. Disheartened, he gives up being a superhero and goes to work as a used car salesman, which he does poorly. In the present, his birthday party is interrupted by some scary-looking storm trooper types, who take him to the TVA.

For those of you who have not been watching “Loki,” the TVA is the Time Variance Authority. This outpost is run by Mr. Paradox, played by “Succession’s” and “Pride & Prejudice’s” Matthew Macfadyen. Basically, this is just an excuse to (1) both have fun with and (2) make fun of the concept of multi-verses and get around the fact that Wolverine DIED HEROICALLY in a previous film.

Soon, Deadpool and a version of Wolverine (so we don’t have to worry about, like, consistency or logic) are in a massive void that they acknowledge looks like it’s from the “Mad Max” cinematic universe, where they meet up with some interesting characters, good guys and bad. All I can say about that is that there are some truly wonderful surprises from the MCU, not just in who show up but how they behave. Deadpool, going back to his comic book days, has broken the fourth wall, and in this movie it is smashed into smithereens, with more self-referential in-jokes and asides than even an infinite number of multiverses can contain.

Deadpool & Wolverine Copyright 2024 Disney

I always say that superhero movies depend on the villain. That is less true in this case because Deadpool and Wolverine are anti-heroes, careless, damaged, and often mean-spirited. But the requisite British-accented bad guys are here, one with a rather preposterous link to one of the MCU’s most central characters. Most fans will be more interested in the two well-choreographed fights between the title characters than in their fights with the bad guys (also well-choreographed and very gory). To avoid spoilers I will just say that, as with Thanos (who is not in this movie), it can be difficult to come up with a bad guy (or girl) who is powerful enough to make the stakes meaningful but not so powerful that there is no understandable path (e.g. Kryptonite, Achilles’ heel) to vanquishing them.

The movie expertly balances the exciting, the silly, the references for the fans (look for Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld’s name on a shop the characters go crashing through and digs at the previous and current movie studios for the franchise, plus, for some reason, the Honda Odyssey), and the straightforward superhero stuff, even a few glimpses of actual sincerity. Reynolds and Jackman have tremendous chemistry and should make many movies together. The banter is A+ and so are the needle-drops, including Madonna, N’sync, Green Day, Grease, Aretha Franklin, and Huey Lewis and the News.

It is wonderful to see some of our old favorites from the MCU though I missed spending more time with some of the DCU (Deadpool Cinematic Universe). I want more Negasonic Teenage Warhead! Great nod to Stan Lee. Great nod to the fans from people who love these characters but do not take them too seriously, just like us.

Parents should know that this is a “hard-R” movie with constant strong and crude language, drinking and alcoholism, and extremely graphic violence with many characters injured and killed and many disturbing images.

Family discussion: How do you decide what “matters?” How do Deadpool and Wolverine and Mr. Paradox decide what matters to them? How do the villains in this movie compare to other Marvel villains?

If you like this, try: the other “Deadpool” and “Wolverine” movies and the Loki series.