1997 - Adaptation

I was in film school when this came out, and at the height of my screenwriting neediness - so the meta-ness of this film was always it’s strong point for me.  I’m curious how it’s viewed outside of industry circles.  This might be the first time that I really took to heart the additional layer of us being in constant adaptation - our inner change.  It’s beautiful.  This film is packed with amazing actors in roles large and small and Nicholas Cage gives one of his career best performances.  This was part of an amazing run from Charlie Kaufman that has come to a, kind of, depressing halt.  I shouldn’t say that he hasn’t lived up to his promise - because if he never made another film he’d still be responsible for some of the most interesting and innovative films of my lifetime - but I guess I was just hoping for more by now… 

If you’ve never seen this film and you’re a film nerd in any way, it’s a must see.  

1898 - August: Osage County

When you've got an all access pass to TIFF, it's difficult to not just use it to see all the big films that are being released for Oscar season, and while I don't avoid them entirely, I try to see a good mix-bag to keep me honest.  This is, clearly, not one of those - this is oscar bait through and through.
It's a powerful ensemble that comes to give powerhouse performances - there's a, roughly 25 minute living room scene, which that allows every single performer to have a moment all of their own including several reversals.  It's delightful.
For years I've been dancing around a dysfunctional family film of my own - but now I'm not sure I've got anything to say that this film hasn't.  So good on them for that.  It's not an easy film to make - none of the characters are super likable, but that isn't the point - the point is that they're interesting.  We want to know what makes them tick - we want to see what they'll do, how they'll end up.  Making a character do unlikeable things isn't enough to make them someone interesting and this filmmaking team nows that.
Expect to hear a lot about this film in the upcoming months.  For those who love character dramas - it's a muse-see.

1809 - Postcards From the Edge

I'd forgotten that I'd seen this film years ago when a friend brought it up the other day.  I suppose it don't make all that much of an impression, but it's a really lovely film.  Meryl Streep is fantastic in it, and it's really a who's who of Hollywood talent at the time, with even people like Richard Dreyfus, Oliver Platt, and Annette Benning doing these great little one scene bits.  And Gene Hackman comes in for two scenes and makes a goddamn meal out of them.  Between Fisher's screenplay and Nichols direction this must have been a dream come true for the cast.  I just looked back on my previous review of this film where I gave it a 'meh' - my opinion has certainly changed.  Sadly this film isn't on Netflix, but you can get it digitally otherwise.  It's one of those classic stories that you really need to check out.  I'm kind of curious to read the book now, actually.  Glad I revisited it, even though I thought I was watching it for the first time :)