In A Dream

In A Dream (Jeremiah Zagar, 2008)

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Rating: DOCQ=8, DOCP=8 / It's All Scribbly To Me

Scale K=3, Scale L=2, Scale M=1, Scale N=1

Documentary, Biopic, Art, Complex Relationships

This is the story of Isaiah Zagar, the renowned mosaic artist. The film is focused on identity and love and the complexity that relationships entail when an artist has a family. Strangely enough, the story didn't engage me as I had hoped. Perhaps the non-linear and artistic editing that makes the film interesting and beautiful didn't work as a narrative. I found myself being drawn away.

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Get On Up

Get On Up (Tate Taylor, 2014)

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Rating: Q=7, P=5 / Can't Get Enough

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=2

Biopic, James Brown, Music, Drama

A fantastic journey through the life and career of the legendary James Brown. I enjoyed the interweaving narratives of Brown's childhood and pivotal moments in his career, the imaginative camerawork, and playful use of "asides" to the audience. You get a real sense of who James Brown was, how his upbringing and society during the 1930s and 1940s defined him, and why the many defense mechanisms he needed overpowered him in his later life. Great music, fun watch.

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Broadchurch Seasons 1 & 2

Broadchurch Seasons 1 & 2 (Chris Chibnall, 2013-2015)

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Season 1 Rating: DSQ=10, SP=4 / Sweet Treat

Scale A=3, Scale B=4, Scale C=3, Scale D=2, Scale E=2

Season 2 Rating: DSQ=9, SP=4 / Average Snack
Scale A=3, Scale B=3, Scale C=3, Scale D=2, Scale E=2

Television Series, Drama, Crime, Investigation, Complex Relationships, Mystery, Thriller

A great detective series from the BBC. Interesting and well-developed characters, inventive artistry, and excellent narrative. While I enjoyed the story line of season 1 more, I was intrigued by the way the writers wove together plots and backstories in season 2. Many of the episodes are brutal and emotionally heavy, but that's to be expected in a crime show. Marvelous performances by David Tennant and Olivia Colman.

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Fed Up

Fed Up (Stephanie Soechtig, 2014)

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Rating: DOCQ=8, DOCP=8 / Genius

Scale K=3, Scale L=4, Scale M=4, Scale N=3

Documentary, Food, Obesity, Politics, Health

It's frustrating and deeply disheartening to live in a society where industry is better looked after than people, where money for a few always seems to be valued more highly than health and happiness. My views about this serious food and health crisis in our culture haven't changed after watching Fed Up but they certainly have been enhanced. I, of course, have gotten more upset and angrier.

You owe it to yourself to watch this film if you have kids. You should watch this if you intend to buy groceries from a store. Seriously, folks, education is the only way to any meaningful change.

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Inside Out

Inside Out (Pete Docter & Ronnie Del Carmen, 2015)

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Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=3

Animation, Coming of Age, Psychology, Tearjerker

My sister sent me more than a few messages to see this movie from the time it came out in theaters. "Have you seen it yet???" she'd text on a random evening. "Go see it!!" the next morning. Well, I finally did and was so thoroughly pleased. I usually have mixed feelings about Pixar movies. Sometimes the animators try to hard to make their characters look like the voice actors (which irritates me, somehow). Sometimes the narratives get cliche or the jokes are totally unfunny. But in this case everything worked. It was a perfectly imagined inside view of the human mind, the emotional workings of the brain.

We can't have just a few emotions and succeed in the world. Our strongest memories aren't just happy ones. New environments, new people and challenges will breakdown the old you and pave the way to a new one, with much more complex feelings and thoughts. Inside Out really makes the "growing up" concept understandable. And so importantly it shows the sadness is integral to life. I cried many tears at the end of this one.

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