Home of the Brave, Call Me By Your Name & More

HOME OF THE BRAVE (2006)  Spokane never looked more inviting than it does in this excellent film that explores Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome affecting soldiers of the Iraq war, with a commanding Samuel L. Jackson performance.  From a vantage point, the downtown skyline is shown and there is a driving scene where I saw the Fox Theater and the Spokesman-Review tower lit up at night.  Spokane — an excellent choice for Americans coming home with scars that never heal. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763840/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1

K-PAX (2001).  A very understated film about a psychiatrist (Jeff Bridges) in a sanitarium who treats a mysterious vagrant Kevin Spacey) who makes a big difference in the lives of other patients in this facility.  It’s pure serendipity that I found this tape in the Blue Box exchange recently.  What a find! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272152/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER.  An award-winning film featuring Maggie Gylenhaal as a teacher obsessing over a student to a dangerous conclusion.  Smartly paced filmTo say more would spoil the ending. (Netflix).https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6952960/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

WONDER BOYS.  Prof. Tripp (Michael Douglas) perseveres in the face of tremendous odds and an entangled love life amidst a dreary Pittsburg winter.  Aside from his personal problems, he encourages a promising but confused student (Tobey Maguire) who is a brilliant writer living in the bus station and surviving on donuts.  Enter the mix and important in his writing career is a whimsical gay book editor (Robert Downey Jr.) who is yet another house guest.  Yet this is a diverting and amusing film and one that never gets old. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185014/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

THE ENDLESS SUMMER. (1965). It could be the cure for cabin fever.  It’s 11 degrees in Minneapolis but the surfers in this award-winning documentary are riding Nigerian waves in 100 degree heat with 91 degree water temperature.  You could boil an egg in that water.  On a day like today, the search for the ideal wave makes sense to me. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060371/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

BRIDGERTON. (UK).  I am watching this bit of nonsense for the second time wherein the mating game repulses Lady Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings so they “pretend” to be engaged.  One can only guess where this will lead but the regal splendor appeals to me as I look at snow piled high outside my window.  (Netflix).  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8740790/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME.  Prof. Perlman (Michael Stulberg), admiring the statue found at the bottom of the ocean, states that it’s the work of Paxilites, the greatest sculpture artist of antiquity.  Oliver (Armie Hammer), looking at the photo, is struck by its resemblance to Elio (Timothee Chalamet).  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5726616/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0