We don’t attend the L.A. Film Festival every year, but did manage to find time to
see four movies this year. All of them were excellent—which is not always the
case—so it was worth the schlep downtown during the week, when we’d normally be
vegging out in front of the TV. Here are my quick reviews:
Tim served in the Navy
during the war. My family and I watched daily coverage on the nightly news. I
doubt either one of us will ever get over Vietnam. Directed by Rory Kennedy, the
film effectively uses archival footage to chronicle the fall of Saigon in April 1975, while also honoring the unsung military as well as non-military heroes who stayed in-country till the bitter end. This is a very moving and
edge-of-seat story, even though we already knew the ending. Rory, who was the
creative force behind the outstanding documentary Ethel, about her
mother Ethel Kennedy, introduced the film and took questions afterward. Watch
for Last Days in Vietnam later this
year as an American Experience
episode on PBS.
I’ve loved Kurt Russell since he appeared in the Disney film The
Computer Wore Tennis Shoes in 1969, but I never knew his father was famous,
too. Not only did Bing Russell play the deputy on the long-running TV show Bonanza,
he also owned an independent baseball team, which ended up making sports
history in the mid-1970s. Directed by his grandsons Chapman and Maclain Way, this
wonderful documentary captures the incredible story of Bing Russell’s unconventional
Portland Mavericks. Seems like the entire Russell clan was in the audience,
including Kurt’s mother, but unfortunately no Kurt. The movie was bought by
Netflix and will be shown in July. Highly entertaining!
Unless you are completely
plugged into the movie scene, which we are not, sometimes it’s risky buying
tickets for films listed only by title, actors, director, and a brief
description in the festival program. We’ve been burned before. But this movie
was great. Made very much in the quirky flavor of A Simple Plan and
everything by the Coen Brothers,
Cut Bank is a terrific example of a
small town caper gone horribly wrong. It is, of course, also very violent and
darkly funny and has an incredible cast that includes John Malkovich, as the
sheriff who suddenly has to investigate his town’s first murder, and an
hilarious Bruce Dern as the victim. A Q&A with the filmmaker and cast
members Teresa Palmer and Oliver Platt followed the screening.
Based on the Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name, the story is set in 1962 Greece, where a rich American
couple (Viggo Mortensen and a luminous Kirsten Dunst) meet a young ex-pat con
man, named Rydel Keener (Oscar Isaac). As in The Talented Mr. Ripley, also based on an Highsmith novel, it quickly becomes apparent that things are
not as they seem, making for a good old-fashioned yet exciting thriller. Plus
the scenery is gorgeous. Due to be released in theaters later this year.
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