bukumi

Actor Brad Sullivan's turn in Prince of Tides as the despicable father Henry Wingo (seen only in flashbacks) may have been brief but it is superb and ... critical. Nick Nolte's and Melinda Dillon's brother and sister characters Tom and Savannah Wingo were traumatized by their abusive dad, both are also superb as is Barbra Streisand's therapist character Susan Lowenstein. The late Brad Sullivan was their equal in playing a role that needed to generate believable disgust. Perhaps that's why he is seldom mentioned in reviews here and elsewhere. The cinema photography, editing and James Newton Howard's score emotionally amplifies the emotions, montages and quiet moments of this finely directed Hollywood movie.

The final episode of Portlandia is also one of its best as it courses along with municipal government, Oregon's flavor of "Minnesota Nice," self-involved emotional control freaks, marathon runners, fads, condo-based urban renewal and the digital gadget phase of American civilization. Writers Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Karey Dornetto, Megan Neuringer, Phoebe Robinson, Graham Wagner and the post-production editors have shaped this last one with love, vinegar and fresh, unexpected surprises. It is clear they know Portland. But we also know that Portland represents a brunch buffet of coast-to-coast, communities populated by folks with a lot of free time. Kyle MacLachlan, Cherry Jones, Tessa Thompson and Dolly Wells are superb in their featured supporting roles among a very strong cast directed by top shelf director Bill Benz. Armisen and Brownstein have delivered the most creative "sitcom"(?) series since, oh say, "I Married Joan."

I recently sceened Five Flights Up last night on HBO Now. Direcot Richard Loncraine and screen writer Charlie Peters have crafted a humorous, occasionally satirical, sly and fun procedural of an older married couple's attempt to sell their apartment home in this decade's over-heated real estate New York market. It is based on a book by Jill Ciment. Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman are damn believable ... their acting chops are perfect; we see a loving, smart, mixed race couple who have been around the block some, know people in their neighborhood by their first names and been up and down their building's stairs thousands of times. Korey Jackson and Claire van der Boom, in nicely placed and crafted flashbacks, are the younger versions of Freemon's Alex and Keaton's Ruth. Cynthia Nixon plays their Realtor. As a former New Yorker, I know these crazed open house directors, orchestraters and self-appointed counselors. When the bidding for an average flat with "wonderful light" begins around $800 K, real life gets absurd. Nixon is great. So to are all extras. Watching Five Flights Up was like being at home with good friends as well as the human carnival of upward bound New Yorkers (from the City and other parts of our sorry world) who have enough green to play the expensive game of claiming a space. Its not easy for the very grounded Alex (an artist) and the very grounded Ruth to play in the real estate madness. I like this film a lot.