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Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975)
Excellent 70s flick
A really good movie. Much better "young woman finding herself in the big city" than was "Frances Ha," or even "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (thought that obviously has other qualities). Patient, intelligent, warm, and funny, with enough conflict and growth to make it interesting and rewarding. I have an advantage in that I haven't read the book, so I can take the movie at face value. And from that vantage it works. Jeannie Berlin is wonderful, with the same ability to own the camera whenever she's on screen that she displayed last year in "Café Society". When she wants to look like a fish out of water, escaping an overbearing mother by moving to NYC, that's what you see. Awkward, unsure of herself, without any real outward appeal. But when she's supposed to be beautiful, indeed she is - you can't take your eyes off of her.
I happened to live in NYC at the time that this movie takes place, and the feel is just right.
My wife has been looking for a copy of this for years, and finally our daughter hunted one down on the "Loving The Clasics" label, whatever that might be. And it's in its original aspect ratio!
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
Movie aimed at grown-ups
This is a GREAT movie. But it's not for kids. Typical line: Daffy, in the Louvre, running through a Dali landscape of melted watches, saying "This is surreal."
This movie was written for those of us who grew up loving the Looney Tunes gang, but who have since matured and now have a little more, call it perspective. Life's tough. People have problems. People get fired. Heck, even Daffy Duck gets fired.
Wait a second...
This isn't a Looney Tunes movie in the way that Space Jam was. It's a movies about the Looney Tunes characters after hours, in real life. About what happens when they argue with their bosses. When they are the victims of a harsh bureaucracy. When they have to ask the security guard for help. But, of course, if his dad turns out to be a super spy playing an actor playing a super spy, and the Acme corporation really is trying to take over the world... well, there's only one duck for the job.
So this isn't a movie for all kids, just the ones inside of grown-ups.
Coco avant Chanel (2009)
Beautiful and Moving
There's not a lot of action or dramatic tension in this movie, but there is a story to tell, though subtle, and it is intelligent and utterly convincing of time and place. It is very good.
The direction, the cinematography, the score, the acting are all excellent. But the star of the movie is Audrey Tatou, as a woman born with a sense of self and style, almost against her will, who uses those traits to climb through fin-de-siecle French society to, ultimately, become an icon of what most would consider the beginning of modern times. She shifts effortlessly from the angry, self-absorbed youth with an attitude, to a mature women liberated by her lover, through heartbreak to triumph. As another reviewer has noted, the last 15 minutes or so are a master class in emotional range. Never a false note. She's so good that it's easy to forget that she's acting. In the final scene, the cinematography, the score, and Ms. Tatou combine into an unforgettable moment. She is convincing and compelling.