Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

It's not funny. That's not a negative criticism; I suspect this movie isn't supposed to be funny. Hence, the way it was sold--every blurb on the box mentions laughing--did this film a disservice. If viewers went in expecting to be rolling in the aisles while watching this one, they were sure to be disappointed; if that was the filmmakers' intention, then this effort failed and the Bad Cat's PURR should be a MEOW, at best. But, in this viewer's mind, this movie is much more complex than that. It's filled with droll humor, sure; sometimes it's even gallows humor, if you're into that sort of thing. (I am.) But it also contains a serious, almost contemplative look at the occupation of Afghanistan, at the role of media and the people who work in that world, and even the big question, just what are you doing with your life? As such, it's pretty interesting stuff--a good watch that is smart, absorbing from the start, and ultimately a rewarding viewing experience. Oh, yeah, and Tina Fey demonstrates that she can carry a movie mostly by herself; she's in almost every scene here, it's very much her movie, and she scores big time in the role. Not bad work if you can get it--and a good way to spend a couple hours of your time.

Spotlight

A lot of "important" movies move at a measured pace, as in the sort of slow, subtle, and deliberate pace that often comes across as ponderous and perhaps even boring. There's a lot of danger of that with this movie. However, as the film unfolds, it becomes clear that the movie's measured pace--its careful unfolding of its plot and narrative components--is actually good storytelling, in that it helps the impact of the story's revelations hit the viewers in the audience with the magnitude of the subject matter with the same ever-expanding and developing horror that the characters in the story experience themselves. The ultimate impact is an emotional gut-punch that only the most stoic viewer can shrug off without feeling a sense of tragedy, anger, and grief. I don't know if this film truly merited a Best Picture award--the presentation is professional but never achieves transcendent art--but it merits a lot of respect and admiration, and it certainly deserves your time and attention.

Where To Invade Next

A somewhat kinder, gentler Michael Moore. Not that Moore was kicking people in the dick as he built his career as filmdom’s foremost political muckrake--but there was always an angry edge to the geniality in his previous cinematic indictments (as he would probably admit himself). Here, though, Moore seems to have softened a bit; perhaps it’s because he’s looking for solutions rather than just exposing problems. It also probably helps that he’s talking to Europeans about their solutions; Moore usually reserves his harshest scolds for his fellow--but wrongheaded--Americans. There are the usual caveats here: Moore doesn’t ask enough questions, frames some ideas a bit too sunnily, assumes too much in the transferability of solutions from one situation to another; and, as always, be suspicious if he quotes statistics (Moore doesn’t seem to understand numbers very well). But it’s certainly worth everyone’s time to check out the ideas presented herein and contemplate how they might, just might, make a good nation even better.