"Flipped"

Not sure how I missed this Rob Reiner film which is already eleven years old.  I make it a point to see everything the man has directed and have never disliked a single film he's made.  This one is quiet and sweet.  Perhaps it was so niche that it was overlooked?  1957.  Bryce moves into a new home and is immediately repulsed by Juli, who forms an immediate crush on the boy.  Then, the movie flips.  And we see the first encounter from Juli's point of view.  It continues.  Into tales of school and trials and tribulations and growing up.  The story continues to flip from one point of view to the other.  It's fascinating and a little adorable.  I felt I couldn't look away.  Will Bryce and Juli ever see things the same way?  (Vision is an element of the tale).  Based on the Wendelin Van Draanen book this one is a keeper.  I just wish more people knew about it.

"Let Them All Talk"

This film has one of the most amazing casts we've seen in a good long while and the fact that it was shot, during Covid, mostly on a ship in about a month is equally impressive.  Typical Soderbergh, there are a lot of people sitting around talking.  Given that it is Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen and Gemma Chan doing most of the talking, I'm fine listening.  It's a good way to explore the deep-seated issues between old friends and the problematic relationships of new ones.  The sticking point is that this kind of thing can only go so deep.  When we get to the "real stuff" in the film the emotion is muted.  Soderbergh literally pulls the camera back and distances the viewer from the emotional fallout.  In the end Wiest's character seems to have little relevance, Bergen's character doesn't get any resolution and even the sweet nephew, played by Christopher Fitzgerald, comes off as petty and a bit shallow.  It's interesting to watch for a time but I found myself asking, when it was over, what was the point?  In good literature a character makes a journey, physically, psychologically.  In Soderbergh's films people remain basically flawed, sitting at a table drinking and talking, musing about life but not really living it.

"Cruella"

As far as prequels go this one is top-notch.  It might not satisfy the action film crowd who crave explosions and violent action but it does create a complicated, nuanced explanation of why Cruella is just so darn bad.  Filled with twists and turns you may not see coming there are few places where Estella has a choice on the difficult path of her life.  When she does choose for herself it isn't the person society wants her to be.  And that's the reason I enjoyed the film, because it allows the character to be real even if it isn't pleasant.  An outstanding cast rounds out this very watchable movie.  Beyond Emma Stone's lovely perfomance in the titular role, be prepared to relish Emma Thompson as a really, really, awful human being.  She manages to do it with zest and avoids the tendency in these things to be a two-dimensional cartoon character (bad memories of Angelica Huston in "Ever After").  Enjoy!