Burrow (2020)
A film about a homeless rabbit that
becomes a socialist. I jest, but seriously, if you're going to watch one SparkShort, watch
Kitbull over this.
Three films for Mother's Day that form a sort of "bad moms" trilogy:
Lady Bird (2017)
I knew this would have to work hard to win me over, because I generally don't share the sentiments of The Academy, or indie darling films, or Baumbach & Anderson's overwritten twee, and Saoirse Ronan has yet to win me over. Well, this film was exactly all that, but there are just so many talented performers that you can't outright hate it. More thoughts
here.
I, Tonya (2017)
Pretty ballsy to reference one of the greatest autobiographical accounts in history ("I, Claudius"), but I suppose that matches with Tonya Harding's inflated sense of martyrdom. As a relation of the real story, this film could be infuriating, but as pure pop confectionary, it's better than it has any right to be.
More here.
Postcards From the Edge (1990)
I remember when this first came out HBO ran it on a loop and it seemed like a wildly-acclaimed tearjerker akin to
Terms of Endearment or
Steel Magnolias. I wanted nothing to do with it, but I'm glad I finally came around because it's so much better than those. This is rarely sappy, much more engaging, and terribly clever. I've never been the hugest fan of director Mike Nichols, but he got some great performances here.
Full review.
Of the three moms, it was hard for me to not just outright hate the first two. Shirley Maclaine's "Doris Mann" is far less toxic and has a lot more redeeming qualities in
Postcards. I'm still happy I had my mom instead of her, but she's a character I wouldn't mind spending another 2 hours with, unlike the other two films. Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day...tell your moms how much you love them!