Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) and George Briggs, The Homesman (Tommy Lee Jones)

We all have heard of people who lived on the prairie during the nineteenth century committing suicide because the land and its lethal isolation had etched itself onto their psyches. Settlers pitched their tents in an environment where there was nothing between them but land and sky–somewhere out there. Men, women, and children built with their bare hands four walls out of sod, hoisted grass or hay for a roof, and called it a homestead … somewhere out there.

These elements on the plains … we all know them: the obnoxious prairie winds and the bitter winters in a nineteenth century world — all could drive a man to drink or catapult a woman onto crazy’s doorstep. And onto crazy’s doorstep is just where three women living on the plains land: Arabella Sours played by Grace Gummer; Theoline Belknap played by Miranda Otto, and Gro Svendsen played by Sonja Richter–three women who found themselves in another state of mind in the middle of nowhere in The Homesman, Tommy Lee Jones’s 2d directorial project. A western, New Mexico fills in for the great plains of Nebraska and Iowa of the 1850s. Hilary Swank co-stars as Mary Bee Cuddy, a self-determined unmarried woman of 31 who single-handedly has worked her acres of land to a profit. Jones stars as George Briggs, a curmudgeon of a drifter whom Mary Bee saves from the hangman’s noose. Briggs, the Homesman, and Mary Bee agree to transport Arabella, Gro, and Theoline across the great plains from Nebraska to be taken in by Altha Carter, the minister’s wife in Iowa, played by Meryl Streep. The plains no longer could tolerate them.

Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank)

Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto photographs the stark beauty of the prairie landscape but he admirably portrays its dangers as well. There is nowhere to hide from any threat of attack but George Briggs assures the audience of his resourcefulness in varying scenes. He makes us trust him. Swank’s portrayal of Mary Bee brings a prairie woman with good intentions but her piety can find no home on the flat desolate prairie horizon.

The Homesman dances with the many faces of insanity, and this detail is what will endear the film to you.

The Homesman plays through January 22 at the Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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Edward Snowden, Citizenfour

My dad cautioned me to always watch what I say; my mom warned me, “anything you don’t want told, don’t tell it, and never ever put anything in writing! That piece of paper could be used against you.” Dad never owned a cell phone; mom had one but never used it – not once. The landline–a green Trimline model with a rotary dial–still hangs in the kitchen. You’ll get a busy signal if you call when anyone is on the phone; there is no call waiting. Dad used to say, “If I’m on the phone, I can’t talk to anybody else!” There is no voice message system. Mom would say, “If you call and I don’t answer I’m not at home! Call back!” Neither parent worked on a computer.

After screening Citizenfour, the newest documentary by Laura Poitras, it took every fiber of my being to keep me from tossing out both my computer and smartphone and begin a retreat to the bygone technological era my parents enjoyed! The film charts the discovery of post-911 surveillance by the NSA and other entities of intelligence. ‘Citizenfour’ sends covert e-mails to Poitras and, later, Poitras along with Glenn Greenwald, an attorney and columnist from The Guardian, fly to Hong Kong to meet with Citizenfour at the Mira Hotel who turns out to be Edward Snowden, the whistleblower.

With camera in hand, Poitras unfolds the story in the intimacy of his hotel room, as Snowden, from his hotel bed dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, narrates how he came to his discoveries. We’re in that hotel room for a long time, and the camera creates a claustrophobic feeling to such an extent, that after it was over, I couldn’t wait to get outside and breathe in the fresh cold Nebraska air! Snowden’s revelation of the web of networks that are involved to accommodate the cross-currents of information is mindboggling. The general premise is this: We are being watched. Period. Privacy is fast beginning non-existent as our conversations, text, voice, and e-mail messages are being monitored. If we know that our every movement is being monitored, then we would be hard-pressed to say what we really feel! We’ll have to start communicating in codes. Snowden believes, “We are building the biggest weapon for oppression in the history of mankind.”

So take heed! Watch what you say! Anything you don’t want told, don’t tell it!

CitizenFour plays through December 18 at the Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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Andrew (Miles Teller) in practice

Some of you reading this review right now have a regret over not learning that instrument–be it the trumpet, flute, guitar, or the piano. I regret not learning the piano, and I blame myself for not having applied myself through practice nor, I resolve, having the talent nor skill to learn it. If we were to dig deep into our memories, I’ll bet most of us would find our abandonment of our music lessons settled on one teacher who whacked our knuckles with a ruler or called us stupid for missing a note on a scale. These approaches to learning crushed our spirits; after all, we practiced and practiced until our fingers cramped from the discipline.

Jim Neimann (Paul Reiser) comforts son Andrew

If you resonate with this anecdote, then Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle, is a film you will appreciate. Whiplash stars Miles Teller, who plays Andrew Neimann, a talented drummer who aspires to become a great artist like legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich. He is accepted into Schaffer, a most prestigious east coast conservatory of music. There, Neimann gives himself over to his drums and to every minute required to develop his skill as a drummer. He wants to become a member of the school’s esteemed Jazz band and, with discipline and dedication, he believes he can make it. He does, and falls under the tutelage of the sadistic conductor, Terence Fletcher, played with estimable skill by J. K. Simmons. Once Neimann is selected as a core drummer for the band, Fletcher inflicts cruel and unusual punishment on his nineteen-year-old progeny. It’s not that Fletcher hates Neimann. No. It’s that Fletcher wants Neimann to be all that he can be; to realize the artistic genius that is lying dormant inside of him; and, to pull from his feet through the pelvic through the rib cage and branch off into the hands that hold the sticks that beat the drums in Fletcher’s jazz band. But … Neimann must endure Fletcher’s verbal and physical abuse to get into those places.

Fletcher (JK Simmons) the ‘Angel’ of Jazz

Miles Teller is genius as Andrew Neimann. He takes the audience into the vein of a psycho yearning to not only belong, but to master both his instrument and his emotions in the presence of a vicious taskmaster. The anticipation of that final jazz concert, however, keeps the adrenalin flowing, and we push with Neimann through his personal challenges to make it to the stage. Paul Reiser plays Neimann’s devoted father, Jim, who keeps the confidence for his son as he faces humiliation. Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash is a riveting film that will leave you emotionally spent but feeling victorious!

We may have put away our instruments, but Andrew Neimann’s victory will direct us to the dark recesses of our closet and pull out the flute or trumpet or clarinet; or, to raise the piano’s cover and play those keys!

Whiplash plays through December 4 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) heckled by his past, Birdman

What happens, then, when that yearning for artistic accomplishment has manifested beyond your wildest dreams but begins its nadir once the fickle public considers it passe and overdone? I will tell you what happens: that previous success will haunt you to such an extent, that plain old living will begin to ache all through your being. It will cause you to act in all kinds of uncomplimentary ways; it even will kill you. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue explores this evil that stalks every celebrity has been: the chase of the will ‘o’ the wisp called the comeback! The film stars Michael Keaton, who plays Riggan Thomson, an actor who became famous for portraying the superhero Birdman three times two decades earlier. Riggan is going for the comeback not in film but on New York’s Broadway stage in a play he adapts for theater from a collection of short stories by American short story writer and poet Raymond Carver. The play is called, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Here, Riggan anticipates revitalizing his career and receiving respectability among his fellow colleagues.

Riggan and Mike (Ed Norton) disagree backstage

Much of Birdman is shot in the bowels of the St. James Theater on West 44th Street, where we experience the director’s angst over the audience reception of the play, an egomaniac co-star, the make or break review from the theater critic, masterfully handled by Lindsay Duncan, and … of course … rehearsals. Iñárritu flawlessly folds within the narrative a critique of society’s preoccupation with the superhero in film and how this obsession eclipses if not beats to death the realities of the actor’s human experience; eventually, it undermines an actor’s ability to breathe life into new creative endeavors. Birdman verbally taunts Riggan for turning down Birdman 4, as did Michael Keaton who turned down Batman 3, and the gibes eventually get the best of Riggan, the actor.

Riggan and Lesley (Naomi Watts) discuss family issues

Birdman is a good film, but Iñárritu fails to explore fully the unexpected virtue; ending the film instead with an expected moment when the present achievement won by Riggan Thomson beats back his Birdman past.

Birdman plays through December 18 at The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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Samantha “Sam” White (Tessa Thompson)

I just have one word for independent film director Justin Simien: Why don’t you tell us how you really feel? Well, they’re nine words that form a question, but that’s neither here nor there. My point is that Simien’s film debut Dear White People is a cinematic letter to … well … white people, and this director has produced a very provocative analysis of race-relations in the United States. Dear White People is in-your-face, and its delivery is as strong as a punch from legendary pugilist Muhammad Ali, and you take it as would a champ because you know the truth will set you free even though it hurts.

Sam confronts Kurt (Kyle Gallner) about his decision to eat in her residence hall cafeteria

Tessa Thompson, plays Samantha “Sam” White, a bi-racial media arts major and radio personality who hosts a show called “Dear White People” at an Ivy League institution called Winchester University. On that show, Sam broadcasts the absurdity of the many thoughts, words, and deeds white people embrace about black people in this so-called post-racial society; and, she is sure to put the spotlight on white privilege in the United States. Her wit is acerbic but it is ok because you know the truth will set you free even though it hurts.

She opens every show with “Dear White People,” and then begins with an observation. Here’s one: “Dear White People, the amount of black friends required not to seem racist has just been raised to two; sorry, but your weed man, Tyrone, does not count,” and another, “Dear white people, don’t touch my hair; what is this a petting zoo?”

Ivy Style @ Winchester University

Some letters come with a Post Script, and Dear White People has one for African Americans as the film ponders the intra-racial dynamics at play in the community; and, there is a P.S.S. for institutions of higher learning that turn a blind eye towards parties of white students dressed in blackface, among other costumes in this … uhm … post-racial society.

Dear White People plays through November 6 at The Ross Media Arts Center.

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Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud)

Sometimes I think plans and schedules, among other organizing tools, are gremlins that seduce us into thinking that we really can order our world. We know them all too well, but as the Scottish poet Robert Burns warns us, “best laid plans of mice and men often go awry!” Indeed, plans, calendars, reminders, etc. are folly to the gods, and I’d bet my last dollar that the gods dispense these mischievous gremlins to taunt us with the notion that we can control every minute of our day!

The late French Director and French New Wave devotee Eric Rohmer explores this reality in his emotionally intelligent film A Summer’s Tale. Set in the North of France, A Summer’s Tale is … well … a tale about a usual summer’s vacation taken by an ordinary young man named Gaspard (Melvil Poupaud), who, in a few weeks will enter the adult world via employment at a boring job.

He strolls the beach and plays his guitar all in anticipation of a call from his girlfriend, Lena (Aurelia Nolin), whom he hopes will join him for the excursion. In the meantime, Margot, a waitress (Amanda Langlet) becomes his companion; they take day trips filled with conversations about what is important in life and relationships. When he tells her that Lena is the source of his angst, Margot morphs into his confidant. Discouraged by the hit-or-miss situation caused by Lena’s non-committal attitude, he considers Margot’s suggestion to romance her friend Solene (Gwenaelle Simon), which is an easy transition since Solene is attracted to Gaspard.

A Summer’s Tale is finely-tuned story that forces us to think about how we resolve issues of intimacy when we change in the absence of our partners-in-romance. Rohmer, who died in 2010, left the film world this intimate tear sheet of a story that dispenses a sliver of light to ward off those nasty gremlins that taunt us over our best laid plans. In the midst of clearing them out of our space, we can turn the other cheek and smile in the knowledge that THIS is life. Margot and Gaspard and Solene do just that.

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Frank (MIchael Fessbender)

It all started with a father’s good intentions in Bluff City, Kansas. Mr. Burroughs (played by Paul Butterworth) knew there was no costume party, but he humored his fourteen-year-old son Frank by making for him a paper mache head to wear to this imagined event. Mr. Burroughs laments, “The worse thing to do with something like that is to pander to it,” — The “it” being what Frank thinks is real in his head.

Filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson directs an oddity of a film entitled Frank, a story about a musician wannabe named Jon Burroughs (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who lives in a small English village. Frank, played by Michael Fessbender, chooses Jon to join his looney-tunes band called Soronpfrbs that he leads with all of his idiosyncrasies in that paper mache head. He sleeps in it. Showers in it. Sings through it. Drinks food supplements through a straw; solid foods are discouraged. The head itself is a remarkable work of art, and Frank takes care to preserve it.

The Soronfrbs

The band isolates themselves in a cabin in the woods; there, they begin work on their album. Songs are arranged according to Franks’s own musical coding system; the band design instruments from string, glass, and wood; all band members participate in daily exercise required by Frank. Jon looks on Frank with awe, and his hero worship taps into Jon’s own obsession with stardom. The whole scenario is kind of weird; but Abrahamson succeeds in staging a play between mental illness and mental health masked by the sturm and drang that usually swirls within the world of celebrity pop rock. In the middle of Frank is a frail thread of a love story between Frank and his interest, Clara (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Throw Jon into the equation, and stories of The Beatles, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono come to memory.

Clara (Maggie Gyllenhall)

Fiona Weir, casting director, has gathered together a fine ensemble cast of band members who are: Scott McNairy as Don, Francois Civil as Baroque, Carla Azar as Nana, Shane O’Brien as Lucas. We have all heard their kind of music before, and it’s that familiarity that throws us off track with seeing, really seeing the dysfunction between members. Fessbender marvels as he merges the fake head with flesh and bone into a believable “dude with the big head” such that we forget something is a little off with Frank, or is there really?

Poppa Burroughs should not lament too much; a choo-choo train set or a game of Monopoly would not have brought Frank to his place at the close of the film. Lenny Abrahamson suggests in Frank that at the end of the crazy manic in our life, where we really want to be is with the family that we love and to love them all.

Frank plays through October 2 at The Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

Listen to the review recorded for Friday Live at the Mill! @ 28:12.

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Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss)

Have you signed up for counselling or therapy to discuss the complicated issues you are experiencing in your intimate relationship? Then cancel that appointment post haste and put your money on The One I Love, the new romantic comedy and film debut from director Charlie McDowell. You will see that this story will quiet those marital gremlins that show up at the oddest of times and wreak havoc on your happy home.

Wrapped within the jacket of science fiction, The One I Love is a smart and finely crafted curious film, starring Mark Duplass and Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss who play Ethan and Sophie. This couple is teeter-tottering on the cliff of separation, until they sit on the couch of the therapist, played by Ted Danson. The Therapist suggests to the couple a break from their familiar settings and retreat to a charming abode with a guest house full of magic. There Ethan and Sophie slowly but surely come to terms with their relationship but in the most mysterious of ways and in the company of people they do not expect.

Duplass and Moss amuse the audience, moving back and forth between the archives of the relationship to retrieve unattended matters such as jealousy and infidelity; distraction when a situation called for paying attention; and the most common of issue: the growth of your partner into someone your partner does not recognize.

Yes, McDowell’s The One I Love could be just the therapy you need to rekindle that spark of enchantment that showed up at your first encounter with each other. Plus, it’ll save you some money! Oh, a note of trivia: Charlie McDowell is the son of Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenbergen.

The One I Love plays thru Thursday, September 25th at The Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

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Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take a break

Bring out your best bottle of wine, and sip and relax with The Trip to Italy, Michael Higgenbottom’s feature film composed from the six-episode BBC television series and his second installment after his film The Trip (2010). British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon team up once again for a restaurant tour, this time in Italy, and they intend to follow the route of the English romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Bryon.

Take a sip of wine.

The Trip to Italy will amaze you with its enchanting sea adventures off the Italian coast drenched in soundtracks of opera, classical music, and the sound of the waves; the petit dejeuners taken as evening pulls in the night; the poetry recited on the sea shore; poetry recited; the road trip itself opens up the grandeur of Italy’s natural surroundings and magnificent hotels. You’ll be taken inside the Greta Garbo suite at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo; the Terrace of Infinity where John Huston filmed a scene for his movie Beat The Devil in 1953 starring Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollabrigida or the Bella Palazzo.

Take another sip of wine … You’re going to need it to watch the rest of this film. James Clarke’s cinematography is breathtaking; his high angle shots flaunt the splendor of Italy, and the tight framing showcases all of its warmth, its passion for life, its cordiality. Well, he has to because hanging out with Coogan and Brydon demands a respect for every rule your mother taught you on being polite no matter how uncomfortable you may feel.

Go ahead, finish off that bottle of wine. It will ease the pain.

The Trip to Italy plays thru Thursday, September 25th at The Ross.

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