Movies: Mother!, Polina, Rebel in the Rye

Mother!

Unbelievable!  We cannot believe the studio actually promoted this film as a comedy!  Be warned!  Think one part Rosemary’s Baby meets Carrie, and then invites The Exorcist.  That is actually being kind, if not generous!

The genre is listed as a Mystery/Drama.  It should have been listed as a Psycho/Horror film.  It runs a painful 2 hours and 1 minute.

The only highlight was the acting.  Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem were excellent in their messed up character’s roles.  Michelle Pheiffer and Ed Harris were particularly creepy as their characters, too.

Critics and audiences are all over the board.  Some liked this film, seems most hated it and not much in between.  Parents be aware as well.  It is rated R for strong disturbing violent content, some sexuality, nudity and language.  We’ll end by simply saying: bizarre.

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Polina

A young Russian girl struggles to become a Bolshoi ballerina and decides to move to Western Europe and become a contemporary dancer.  Again she struggles as her classical training interferes with the free form of modern dance.

Suddenly, there is no work, no home and mounting troubles .  Then a love affair, a job at a bar, and lots of angst about choreographing a new dance.  All-in-all a story that can be sometimes confusing.

The acting was pretty impressive. Juliette Binoche was superb as the Contemporary Dance instructor.  Anastasia Shevtsova plays the Russian dancer and Neils Schneider is her love interest and dance partner.

All that said, the ending dance sequence is arguably some of the more exquisite dance we have ever seen on the screen and reason enough to see this film.

It is listed as a Drama running 1 hour, 52 minutes.  It is not yet rated.  Russian and French with English subtitles.

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Rebel in the Rye

Maybe because this movie is about J D Salinger’s classic book Catcher in the Rye, explains why the script was so good.  Salinger is played by the talented Nicholas Hoult along with Kevin Spacey as his professor who becomes a lifelong advocate. Other key actors include Zoey Deutch, Victor Garber and Sarah Paulson.

The film is rated PG-13 for language including sexual references, some violence and smoking throughout.  The genre is a Drama/Biography.  It runs 1 hour 46 minutes.

Overall it is an impressive biopic about an extraordinary writer and his fascinating life.  It is well worth a watch.

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