Baby Girl

2024 A24

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 54min

Drama ~ Romance ~ Erotic Thriller

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde and Antonio Banderas.

This Christmas Get Exactly What You Want………..

Nicole Kidman stars as Romy Mathis, The High powered CEO of a Robotic Process Automation Company in New York City. Antonio Banderas plays her husband of 19 years Jacob Mathis who is a theater director in the city. In the opening scene we see Jacob and Romy having sex, and then Romy leaves the bedroom and goes into another room. She grabs a laptop, lays on the floor and pleasure’s herself while watching porn. This sets the stage for the movie. Romy and Jacob have been married for nineteen years and as we hear later in the movie, Romy has never experienced an orgasm with Jacob.

Enter Samuel…..

As Romy is headed into work walking down a busy New York Sidewalk, an angry dog runs towards her. Frightened she stops in her tracks as she sees a stranger take something out of his pocket and calm the dog. Romy heads into work and a little while later her assistant Esme (Sophie Wilde) brings in a group of Interns and Romy sees the stranger who calmed the dog outside in the group. During a break Romy sees the stranger, who’s name is Samuel (Harris Dickinson) in the breakroom and approaches him, wanting to know what he had in his pocket to calm the dog. He replies, “A cookie”. Soon Romy seems to see Samuel everywhere and he tells her he wants Romy to be his mentor in the Intern program.

What follows is a confusing game of attraction, sexual fantasies and fetishes between Romy and Samuel. It is an awkward relationship and is never really clear who started it. It leaves you wondering what is really going on the whole time. They seem to be playing a game exploring certain roles, but it isn’t clear who initiated it. It could be Romy, not being satisfied at home and seeing an opportunity to explore her deep sexual desires and fantasies with a young intern, pays Samuel to help her explore those fantasies. Or it could be Samuel, seeing an opportunity to take advantage of Romy’s interest in him and move himself up the company ladder.

Or is it Jacob? I find it hard to believe that for nineteen years, Jacob didn’t realize that his wife and sexual partner was not really fulfilled and living a lie sexually. It seemed odd that Samuel would show up unexpectedly at the house twice and Jacob just didn’t appear that surprised. And the fight that Jacob and Samuel have just didn’t seem that intense to me, it seemed staged. Jacob is a Theater Director and stages plays and works with actors. It is possible that Jacob staged the whole scenario to give his wife a controlled affair to explore her fantasies with someone Jacob trusted to keep their marriage together.

Or was the whole affair staged by Esme who knew Romy and concocted a scheme using Samuel to move herself up the corporate ladder? You could go in any direction with those theories, but it did seem as though Esme approaching Romy to, in essence, blackmail her for a better position at the company was only after Samuel told her about their affair. That kind of rules out Esme having orchestrated the affair.

Whichever way the plot was intended, it does come across as very awkward. I didn’t really feel any great chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, either because there wasn’t any or the whole affair was staged to begin with. I have seen Nicole in better sensual erotic movies with more chemistry and feeling. Dead Calm, Birthday Girl and Eyes Wide Shut come to mind. Babygirl also reminds me of Unfaithful with Diane Lane and Richard Gere, although I think Unfaithful is a way better movie.

So to wrap it up, for me it was just ok. The sensuality and fetishes were a bit over the top, I get they were exploring the power and submission thing but it just didn’t feel that real to me. Like a badly staged play. I didn’t think much of Harris’ Dickinson’s acting but then I haven’t seen him in anything else so perhaps it was just the awkwardness of the role in this movie. So yeah, meh……..

Love & Mercy

2015 Lionsgate

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr

Biography ~ Drama ~ Music ~ Romance ~ True Story

Directed by: Bill Pohlad

Starring: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks, Melinda Ledbetter and Paul Giamatti.

The Life, Love and Genius of Brian Wilson.

SYNOPSIS(From the Official Website):

Love & Mercy presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era-defining catalog of Wilson’s music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.

INTERESTING FACTS:

Brian Wilson thought the movie was very factual and that each character was cast so well that he “actually believed those characters were really who they were, like Paul Giamatti as Doctor Landry was so right on that it actually scared me.“
Paul Giamatti extensively researched Doctor Landy for his role:

“I played Dr. Landy, the crazy psychotherapist. It’s a great character. Brian Wilson had a severe freak-out and his family got in touch with a psychotherapist out in L.A. named Eugene Landy who took over. That’s where most of the story comes from, because the doctor was basically insane. He made Brian play in a sandbox, I mean crazy stuff.” Giamatti prepared for the role by engrossing himself in contemporary articles, meeting the real life Landy’s early career acquaintances, and listening to hours of tapes wherein Giamatti says “he’d just keep talking and talking, in these completely huge paragraphs. They were brilliant-sounding, but if you dug into them they didn’t make much sense.

John Cusack spent time with Brian and Melinda in their home in Beverly Hills, and dived into The Beach boy’s catalogue of music in prepping for his role. From The LA Times Article by Randy Lewis – April 4, 2015:

Cusack’s performance as latter-day Wilson has been drawing praise from those closest to the musician, not only for the way he’s picked up on Wilson’s tics and speech patterns but for the underlying sweetness of his personality. His portrayal of Brian has drawn praise from Melinda who said of Cusack’s performance: “He’s amazing,” said Melinda Wilson. “I don’t know how he did it — he just morphed himself into Brian.”

Paul Dano completely immersed himself into Brian’s life, career and music learning as much as he could. He learned to play the piano and learned to sing Brian’s Beach Boy parts for the film. His voice was mixed with Brian’s in scenes of the movie. Paul gained 35 pounds by consuming 4200 calories a day to portray Brian at the time he had gained so much weight.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have seen this movie countless times and watched it again last night. It is one of my favorite movies. I added the ROMANCE category because I feel like it is a great Romance and Love story between Brian Wilson and Melinda Ledbetter. I think that is one of my favorite parts of the movie, how they met and fell in love amidst the chaos of Brian’s relationship and treatment with Dr. Landy. I love the scene in the dealership when they first met, in the Cadillac and Brian locks the doors and leaves her a note. I just love that. I really like Elizabeth Banks as Melinda Ledbetter, I am a huge fan of hers but there is something special about her portrayal of Melinda in this movie.

John Cusack and Paul Dano were both excellent as the differently aged Brian’s. I love both of their performances in this. The studio musicians portrayed in the movie were actual musicians hired to play the parts in the studio scenes. I thought they did a great job of portraying The Wrecking Crew. They were the actual group of studio musicians that Brian, The Beach Boys and so many artists of the 60’s and 70’s used on their recordings. The Wrecking Crew is a great Documentary about them currently streaming on Amazon. I love how they recreated the studio scenes down to the instruments and the equipment.

I grew up on The Beach Boys’ music and am a fan but watching this movie always gives me a deeper respect for their music and lives. Seeing Brian Wilson’s genius behind the scenes of the band is an incredible insight. I am always amazed and horrified by their relationship with their father. The audacity of Brian’s father informing him that “he sold the rights to ALL THEIR MUSIC for $750,000 because in five years time it wasn’t going to be worth anything.” is mind blowing and numbing at the same time. How is it that a father has nothing but disdain and animosity instead of unconditional love for his children? Watching the scenes between Brian and his Father is heartbreaking to say the least.

If you haven’t seen it you should watch it, If you have seen it….watch it again. It is worth it, it is a great story, a true story, a love story and a very insightful look into one of the most influential bands, Musician(s) and songwriters of modern American Music.

STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME

The Life List

2025 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 5min

Drama ~ Romance

Directed by: Adam Brooks

Starring: Sofia Carson, Kyle Allen and Connie Britton.

“Do something everyday that scares you.”

The Book:

The Life List: A Novel by Lori Nelson Spielman – July 2, 2013

Synopsis:

Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible.

Inspiration for The Life List, by Lori Nelson Spielman:

Like any author, I’m often asked how I came up with the idea for my novel. My answer comes easily. The seed for The Life List was found in an old cedar box.

It had been years since I’d last opened my miniature hope chest, a high school graduation gift. The scent of cedar greeted me, along with my first bankbook, my grandmother’s rosary, a couple of silver dollars, and a single sheet of notebook paper, folded into a neat little square.

Curious, I unfolded the yellowed paper. In flowery cursive, Lori’s List was penciled across the top. My abandoned life list.

I was wise enough to include the day and month, March 13th, but foolishly I’d omitted the year. Maybe I hadn’t planned to keep it. Maybe I didn’t realize how quickly memories fade, how years later, I’d barely remember the day that young girl sat on her blue flowered bedspread, contemplating her future. But judging from the goals, what had and hadn’t been accomplished, I was somewhere between 12 and 14 years old.

The crumpled piece of paper revealed a list of 29 things my adolescent mind imagined would make for a good life. I’d also added a sidebar called Ways to Be, which included such pearls as, Don’t talk about ANYONE. Laugh. Say “hi” to everyone.

As I read the list, I thought about how different my life would be if I’d fulfilled every goal my youthful heart longed for. In no time, my mind was racing. A story was taking shape. What if someone were forced to finish their life list—a list they thought they’d outgrown?

In the course of several days, my story evolved. First, I came up with riddles from a dying mother, offering her daughter cryptic clues to find her true self. But that was silly. Why the riddles? Why wouldn’t her mother just tell her daughter what she wanted her to accomplish? And it was crucial that the mother didn’t appear heavy-handed or controlling. The story could only work if it was clear that the mother’s intentions came from a loving heart. I also knew the story risked being predictable. I imagined readers rolling their eyes, sure that in the end, Brett would be married to the love of her life and have a baby and a dog and a horse. Her dreams couldn’t be accomplished easily, or in conventional ways the reader might expect. I wanted some goals to lead to others, in circuitous, serendipitous ways. Soon, pages for Another Sky were piling up, becoming the manuscript that would later be re-titled, The Life List.

So there you have it: the kernel for The Life List was my old life list—Lori’s List. Though I fell short of some goals, I believe my list served me well. It’s true, I won’t be waving my children off to college. But I will get to watch my novel set off for parts of the world I may never visit. My book will be introduced to new people, and hopefully entertain, and possibly provoke discussion. And maybe, just maybe, my story will inspire some other little girl, in some other small town, to set her own goals, to aspire to something that’s hers alone. And whether her ambitions are humble or grandiose, silly or pensive, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is, she dreams.

The Movie Review:

I didn’t know the movie was based on a book until I started to write this review. I have not read the book but I included the information on the book because I thought it was a great story. And I thought the Author’s vision that writing the story might inspire young girls to dream about their future was a really admirable wish and intention behind the story she wrote. Awesome!

I say the same thing about the movie. Awesome! Great story and a great movie. It is a romantic drama that pulls at the heart. You feel for Alex as she stumbles along trying to find her way and make sense of her mother’s wish. And as Alex heads out on her journey, it quickly becomes about Alex finding herself and not about the money. Personally I thought she could have been a great stand up comic, quick on her feet and funny as heck.

Sofia Carson threw herself into this role and movie with all her heart and it shows. Excellent job. She had me rooting for her the whole way. Connie Britton as her Mom was great, you could feel the love she had for Alex and the desire for her to live her best life. Alex’s brothers, Brad, Garrett and both her Dad’s I liked. I liked everything about this movie, the scenery and videography, the characters, the list itself. It was heartwarming, sad yet happy and fulfilling, funny and lighthearted yet serious all at the same time, just like life.

I really liked it and I highly recommend it.

Two Thumbs Up!

Poor Things

2024 Searchlight Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 2 hr 21min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ Romance ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael.

“I am a changeable feast. As are all of we.”

THE BOOK:

A 1992 Novel by Alasdair Gray originally titled Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer.

In the 1880s in Glasgow, Scotland, medical student Archibald McCandless finds himself enchanted with the intriguing creature known as Bella Baxter. Supposedly the product of the fiendish scientist Godwin Baxter, Bella was resurrected for the sole purpose of fulfilling the whims of her benefactor. As his desire turns to obsession, Archibald’s motives to free Bella are revealed to be as selfish as Godwin’s, who claims her body and soul.

But Bella has her own passions to pursue. Passions that take her to aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria, and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church. Exploring her station as a woman in the shadow of the patriarchy, Bella knows it is up to her to free herself—and to decide what meaning, if any, true love has in her life.

THE MOVIE:

From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

THE REVIEW:

WOW! How Bizarre! How Beautiful! Pure Ecstasy! Frankensteinian Erotica! It drew me in from the very beginning with wonder, amazement and revulsion all at the same time. Like a train wreck I could not look away, as the sights, the eerie sounds and the bizarre story and twists laid out before me. Each one more bizarre than the last, more incredible than the one before. Watching Emma Stone grow into Bella Baxter was a transfixing journey of wonderment and discovery. An Absolutely Stunning Performance!

The horror of Willem Dafoe’s face outmatched by the horror of the reason why. The man who should be a monster instead creates beautiful life. Mark Ruffalo comes off as a dastardly conniving lecherous swine but instead shows a heart and love towards Bella, until he feels betrayed and goes back to being the swine that he is. The Architecture, the ceilings of whimsy, the cityscapes, and the steam boat were magnificent! The scenery was beautifully whimsical and surreal! I don’t even consciously remember the movie going from black and white to the magnificent colors in the end. It was a seamless journey from black and white to color as Bella matured and grew.

Shades of Young Frankenstein and Frankenstein with a heavy dash of whimsical Victorian. It is not going to be for everyone. Know there are grotesques scenes of Frankensteinian animals and bodies, completely naked scenes of gratuitous sex and vulgarity. It can be vulgar and repulsive as well as whimsical and inviting. I absolutely loved this experience. I loved the movie and Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef and Willem Dafoe’s performance. But Emma Stone outdid herself in this one. An absolutely wonderful and incredible performance as Bella. Well done!

The Idea Of You

2024 Amazon Prime Video

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 55min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ Romance

Directed by: Michael Showalter

Starring: Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine.

“I was just making sure it was you…….and not the idea of you.”

Here is the synopsis from Amazon MGM Studios Website:

Based on the acclaimed, contemporary love story of the same name, The Idea Of You centers on Solène (Anne Hathaway), a 40 year old single Mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24 year old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. When Solène must step in to chaperone her daughter’s trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex bails at the last minute, she has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant undeniable spark. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.

Here are some things I didn’t know about the movie before I watched:

The Movie is based on the the First Novel written by Robinne Lee The Idea Of You. According to Michelle Ruiz in Vogue Magazine, the book has achieved an almost cult like following by readers who refer to themselves as HAYSOLNUTS.

Michelle writes:

“The Idea of You isn’t just a book, but a novelistic manifesto for middle-aged female readers. Though released in 2017, it became “the sleeper hit of the pandemic,” as I wrote for Vogue in 2020, powered by a passionate, dominantly female word-of-mouth campaign. People who love The Idea of You do so with borderline unhealthy obsessiveness. We lose sleep reading it on weeknights. We join Facebook groups about it. We re-read it and binge the audiobook narrated by Lee, a veteran actress who nails all the accents in her velvety voice. There’s even a name for us: Haysolnuts.”

Here’s what I thought about the movie:

I passed on watching this a couple of times in favor of something I thought would be better, thinking, “Oh, I’ll watch it eventually, I’m probably not really gonna like it being it looks like a Love Story.” But I am an Anne Hathaway fan, probably the biggest reason I chose to watch it. She did not disappoint. The movie did not disappoint. I got caught up in the story immediately. I felt the characters and the story right away. I became fully invested emotionally, feeling everything they were feeling. It made me want what they found, that indescribable thing, that instant connection.

If you’ve ever felt it, you know it’s rare and overwhelming. I loved every minute of this movie. I loved Anne Hathaway, I loved Solène, I loved Hayes Campbell and I loved how they met. I could feel the drama of the consequences of their relationship and the struggle to stay with what felt right to the heart. I loved Solène’s Subaru Outback, Her Craftsman Style “Starter Home” and August Moon, the whole story. I realize now that the book ends differently than the movie, even though I have yet to read the book, but I loved how it ended. I just loved this movie and everything about it. Yes I would watch it again.

I just can’t say enough about it, yes you should watch it…

In fact I highly recommend it, wholeheartedly…..

What are you waiting for?