#Middlebury
Blythe Danner, Hillary Swank in “What They Had” (Bleecker Street photo)
“What They Had” (NR) – “What They Had” captures the sweet heartbreak of loving someone who is slipping away, and the impossible decisions that we must make in the twilight years of our lives. Bridget (Hillary Swank) is called home to Chicago when her mother (Blythe Danner) takes off down a snow-covered lane. Her father (Robert Forster) is in denial about his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease, and her brother (Michael Shannon) plays caregiver to Mom and Dad, yearning for more out of life. Meanwhile, Bridget can’t help but compare the unshakeable love of her parents to her own cold marriage. It’s moving and never strays into sappy.
“Mid90s” (R) – Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with this homage to the Los Angeles skate rat scene in 1996. It’s accurate and evocative, rich with a certain offhand nostalgia – youth is youth and struggle is struggle, no matter your background or pursuits. Here, we follow Stevie (Sunny Suljic), who is 13 (as was Hill in 1996), but who looks much younger. He’s left much to his own devices by his hardworking single mom (Katherine Waterston) and older brother Ian (Lucas Hedges), so he befriends a group of slightly older, cooler – whatever that means – street skaters at a local skate shop. Their adventures are dramatic and mundane, recalling the crass antics of early teenhood and the bonds created under its mesmerizing spell.
“Monsters and Men” (R) – Writer/director Reinaldo Marcus Green offers a study in consequences, where no action is exempt. A tense situation on a street corner of Brooklyn ends with one black man dead at the hands of white police officers, and another man who filmed the event facing the terrible choice between speaking out about the injustice and staying silent to protect his family. The impact of the decision is seen from the different perspectives – a black cop struggling with the actions of his colleagues, a young athlete who is called to action, and others. Well done and poignant performances by John David Washington, Anthony Ramos and Chante Adams.
“Hell Fest” (R) – College cutie Natalie (Amy Forsyth) is home for a visit and, conveniently, a traveling horror-themed amusement park is in town. And it’s Halloween! So of course, Natalie and her friends, and their charming boyfriends, are going. Also conveniently, a masked serial killer decides rightfully that this Hell Fest would be a great time to just openly start killing people – and Natalie’s group is at the top of the list. It’s a great and terrifying idea, especially since these types of amusements (sans live killers) exist. But it’s a terribly executed film, and you’d have to really love “scary” movies to find it enjoyable.
New TV Releases
“The Purge” Season 1
“Castle Rock” The Complete First Season
“Longmire” The Sixth and Final Season
“Frankie Drake Mysteries” Season 1
“Peanuts by Schultz” The Complete Series
(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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