Four Snouts up for The Way Way Back--Prediction: sleeper of the year

(:)(:)(:)(:) snouts up for The Way Way Back which I predict will be the sleeper hit of the year.  This film is so good it brought me out of unplanned blogging retirement.  Inexplicably,given its provenance, this film seems to have had zero promotion budget and bad distribution.  So if you can find this film (now playing at Tower Theater in Sacramento), you should see it soon and help make my prediction come true.

By the creative team that brought us The Descendants (Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) comes this touching comedy set now (but really in the 80's) on Cape Cod but summer anywhere.  Steve Carell plays a jerk--not one we love, just a jerk--with a great girlfriend, Toni Collete, and a gregarious drunk summer neighbor, Alison Janney.  The focal point of the movie is his girlfriend's son, 14 year year old adorable silent awkward Duncan, played by Liam James, alienated by the constant adult assaholics at the beach, runs off to bond with a hilarious character Owen played by Sam Rockwell.

BTW, I'm still baffled by the film's title unless it refers to the fact that we walked to the way way back of Tower Theater and all the way up the stairs to the way way back of the biggest screening room to see it.  The one advantage to that: there is a secret exit out onto very high stairs going directly down to the parking lot--a bit much for this acrophobic.

This one is good for adults and teens.  Very very funny and very very touching.   See it.

4 snouts up for Everlasting Moments

(:)(:)(:)(:) snouts up for Everlasting Moments now playing at the Tower Theater in Sacramento.

We really only went to this film tonight because it was the only non Hollywood hell film with decent review playing at a normal time. (10:15pm for the only evening showing of The Class? C'mon Tower!)

It defied my nonexistent expectations. Billed as an "epic Swedish melodrama" one could really be in for it. What a reviewer might say is that this is a truly unique story clearly told from the perspective of the girl growing up in this turn of the (previous) century family with a philandering alcoholic tempermental father and a beautiful long suffering, artistic and industrious mother. The film is as much about the mother's limited choices as a mother of 4, no 5, no 6, no 7 children in that time as it is anything else.

Nonetheless, it held both our attention for the 2 plus hours with its closely observed story, beautiful cinematography and strong performances (beautiful yet credible actors too--very 3 dimensional characters and well-written, although admittedly my Swedish is not strong--the father while drunk and boorish is also charming and handsome and passionate, one can see how the mother might stay with him despite all; the mother while exploring her secret passion for photography and a particular photographer is also sensible and focussed)

See it while it lasts.