Review: Grandma

There's nothing better than a fiesty, sharp-tongued grandmother; and that's exactly what you get in Paul Weitz's newest film, GRANDMA, the story of mean-spirited Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin). When Elle's granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner) shows up on her doorstep, looking for money to get an abortion, Elle promises to help her get it - something that suspiciously seems like a way to distract herself from her recent breakup with her girlfriend of four months, Olivia (Judy Greer).



Grandma and granddaughter go on a bizarre little financial scavenger hunt, tracking down various acquaintances in an effort to borrow money from them. This gimmicky premise eventually morphs into a touching exploration of Elle's past and current life. There are serious issues to be addressed within the film's brief 79 minute runtime -- like broken parenting and LGBT issues, to name a few. But they're all viewed through Elle's slightly unorthodox filter, culminating in a truly refreshing character sketch.

And let's be honest: the film relies on Elle for its substance, the other characters simply being there to support her. Marcia Gay Harden makes a short (but unsurprisingly strong) appearance as Sage's mother, fleshing out Sage's character a bit in their relationship; but the development scale is still heavily weighted toward Elle (which is the intention, so that's fine).

Tomlin, who never gives a dull performance, follows through in this instance, naturally owning her title role. The film does get off to a rocky start, throwing the audience into a scenario without any connection to the characters; but once those characters get their proper introduction, this fault works itself out. This is definitely one you want to catch -- GRANDMA is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Testament of Youth

There are plenty of wartime stories, describing the terrible loss that battle brings. Director James Kent's TESTAMENT OF YOUTH is one of these stories: it strives to tug at your heartstrings, and its true-to-life detail makes it all the more enthralling. But there is one outstanding detail that sets it apart: the story follows a woman.



Vera Brittain (Alicia Vikander) wants nothing more than to go to Oxford University, be a writer, and not get married. She is infuriated when her parents buy her a piano, knowing that the money could have gone toward tuition, but her father says they "can't afford to waste money" on such a thing as her education. Her brother, Edward (Taron Egerton), disagrees, knowing that of all people, Vera deserves to go to Oxford. When Edward's friends from school, Roland (Kit Harington) and Viktor (Colin Morgan), visit, she falls in love with Roland, who also has a passion for writing. But when Roland, Edward, and Viktor decide to enlist in the war, Vera's world changes.

Feeling that she can be of more help to the cause than just sitting at Oxford, Vera decides to become a war nurse, all the while writing her brother and her beau. The better part of the film follows Vera's journey as she cares for wounded soldiers, and adamantly works to hold onto the people she cares about...

It's a touching film, loaded with introspective detail. The cinematography is emotionally spot on, connecting you with Vera's life in such a personal way. The film romanticizes its characters - based off of Vera Brittain's memoirs, this only makes sense, as she looks back on such memories, skimming over the faults and shortcomings of people lost long ago -- but at its core, the story is still deadly realist, skipping over any moments of heroicism in favor of the cold, hard truth of body-littered battlefields. What a refreshing concept compared to other war films, which strive to show soldiers as anything other than what they are: mortal, and scared.

The film also boasts a cast worthy of acclaim. Vikander continues to churn out memorable performances, and Harington, Egerton, and Morgan artfully round out the world of our protagonist, with minor supporting roles from Dominic West and Emily Watson.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH is now playing at the Midtown Cinema! Definitely check this one out.

Review: Mistress America

It looks like Noah Baumbach has managed to churn out two comedic ventures in one year. Whereas WHILE WE WERE YOUNG was a vivacious look at identity and the contrast between the young and the old, MISTRESS AMERICA is all about connection, digging into a different avenue of youth and the need for acceptance.



Tracy (Lola Kirke) has just started her freshman year of college. She aspires to be a writer, though the short story she submitted to an elitist campus writer's group is almost immediately rejected. Tracy's mother is about to get married, which would give Tracy a new older sister: Brooke (Greta Gerwig). But Brooke is "old" (read: 30), and it is only when Tracy's only college friend (and consequently, crush), Tony (Michael Shear) -- another writing rejectee -- gets a girlfriend, that she decides to actually meet her soon-to-be-sister.

Instantly, the two become best friends, and Tracy inadvertently starts to shadow Brooke; in her, she finds the inspiration for a better story to submit, which she writes after the first night they hang out. Brooke informs Tracy that she is going to start a restaurant with her boyfriend, but disaster leaves Brooke without backers or her boyfriend, and she, Tracy, Tony, and Tony's girlfriend, Nicolette (Jasmine Cephas Jones) take a trip to Brooke's ex-fiance's house to ask for money.

The plot careens around sharp corners with quick wit and chaotic finesse. Each character is a brilliant mess -- Tracy leads a vicarious life, attaching herself to those she is inspired by in order to write her stories, and Brooke strives to captivate people's attention -- both girls feed off of their selfish notions, creating the perfect symbiotic relationship. In fact, most of the people in MISTRESS AMERICA are selfish -- a characteristic that Noah Baumbach habitually comes back to in his films.

Gerwig and Kirke dazzle in this performance, effortlessly playing off of each other's energy. The over-the-top characters coupled with the sheer absurdity of the situations make this film a delightful comedy, one you should be sure to catch. Now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: A Walk in the Woods

There's something really satisfactory about the sound of a tent zipper opening in the wilderness. It's a blatant, beautiful reminder of nature around us, and it immediately thrusts at least this reviewer into outdoorsy reminiscence. If only A WALK IN THE WOODS, Ken Kwapis's film adaptation about two middle-aged men walking the Appalachian Trail, had more of these moments. As is, the film is less about nature than it is about meeting all sorts of characters in all sorts of walks of life, and embracing your mortality.



Bill Bryson (Robert Redford), a writer who has published several books documenting his world travels, is not a people person. That much is clear in the first few minutes of the film. In fact, this briefly-noted and never-again mentioned plot point is what pushes Bill to the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail: he sees an advertisement of a man standing at the edge of a cliff, serenely surveying the world around him, and thinks that is just the ticket to get him away from all that annoying human interaction. His wife, Catherine (Emma Thompson) doesn't want him to go, but finally concedes that as long as he goes with someone instead of making a possibly dangerous trek alone, she can't stop him. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that he'll end up with Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), the alcoholic, out-of-shape man who used to provide spiteful companionship in Bill's European travels.

The thing is, neither Bill nor Stephen know what they're getting into -- despite the fact that people actually train for the 2,200 mile trek, the two decide to just go for it, and consequently hit multiple obstacles along the way. Most of the obstacles are very comedic -- run-ins with bears, meeting other hikers along the trail who try the men's nerves, etc. -- but these strung-together stints feel almost like an eclectic compilation of comic strips, disjointed and contrived (even based on a true story, it feels contrived) and cutting straight to the punchline in every scenario.

Despite this, there are some pretty solid scenes peppered throughout the second half of the film. Through a combination of their natural surroundings knocking them off their squabbling pedestals and of the trail teaching them a lesson about mortality, the two old friends learn a lot about themselves. And with two middle-aged characters, it certainly prompts the audience to look back on life with a fresh perspective. Could that perspective be a little bit more concrete, rather than assumed? The amount of times that our protagonists' struggles are internalized without any tangible, onscreen process gives us a resounding "yes". But you will still be able to pick up on the effect that the journey has on these two old friends.

The film boasts a lot of big names in its cast, with a fairly strong performance from Nolte and a stiff performance from Redford. Other supporting performances, such as the one by Thompson, and even brief roles by Nick Offerman, Mary Steenburgen, and Kristen Schaal, add life to the journey. Overall, it's a decent adaptation, though nowhere near perfect... now playing at the Midtown Cinema!