DANCING AT LUGHNASA

 

Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) is the tale of six adult unmarried Mundy siblings who reside together in a small Irish town in the fall of 1936. The eldest, Father Jack Mundy (Michael Gambon), is a priest who has returned after 25 years of being a missionary in Africa. Kate (Streep) is the eldest of the five Mundy sisters. She is a schoolteacher and has assumed a “head of the household” role. Agnes (Brid Brennan) makes income by knitting gloves along with Rose (Sophie Thompson) who is developmentally challenged. They refer to her as “simple”. Maggie (Kathy Burke) is the smart aleck cut-up who helps keep tensions to a minimum. And the youngest is Christina (Catherine McCormack), the unwed mother of Michael. During the time of the film, Michael is 7 years old. The story is narrated through his adult eyes as he reminisces about this special moment in time, one spent with all these adults who each showered him with love and education. It would be the last summer all of them would share together.

MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN

 Originally posted July 1, 2022

Fromage. Queso. Formaggio. Cheese. No matter what language or culture, cheese is a comfort food that is immensely enjoyable, but too much of it can become difficult to digest. Cheese is best served in small portions. Mama Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) is simply a cheese-tastic morsel!

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

 The Bridges of Madison County is a lovely romantic drama that gently unveils the four-day relationship between a lonely Iowa housewife and a world-traveling photographer that occurred in 1965.

THE HOMESMAN

 During my Oscar-winning Best Picture journey in 2020, I gained an appreciation for good westerns. This was a genre I had previously steered clear of because I felt they tended to be extremely formulaic in their storytelling. Films like Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven opened my eyes to how wonderful a well-developed Western could actually be. Now I’m going to add The Homesman to that list of highly entertaining westerns.

RENDITION

Rendition is a 2007 political suspense thriller that attempts to expose the CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, the kidnapping of people and sending them to countries where they can be tortured and abused in interrogations. The film is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri.

LET THEM ALL TALK

There is no question that Meryl Streep is one of the most prolific performers of our generation in front of the camera. I would posit that Steven Soderbergh is equally as innovative and stimulating behind the camera. His 30+ year catalog of films is groundbreaking and filled with keen emotional insight and bold cinematic experimentation. These two entertainment juggernauts teamed up in 2019 to bring the highly entertaining The Laundromat to the screen (I reviewed that film back in January). In 2020, they would team up again to create Let Them All Talk.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

Spit spot! Mary Poppins is back, and she has just as much to impart to us this time as she did her previous visit. Yes, times have changed since we saw her last, but life’s quandaries are still solved the same way. Mary makes sure we know that remaining positive will always give us the best outcome, that every task can have an element of fun if we choose to find/see it, and that one need never apologize for who they are.