Saoirse Ronan

The Outrun

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Outrun
  • IMDb: link

Saoirse Ronan stars in director Nora Fingscheidt‘s stylish memoir based on Amy Liptrot’s true story. Jumping around her timeline to showcase various moments of Rona’s (Ronan) life from childhood to present provides context to how she ended up one one of the most remote Orkney Islands fighting her addiction with alcoholism and building a new life. While following her inner journey, the film also examines life on the island and nature beyond as her relative isolation brings her a peace she hasn’t seen in years.

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See How They Run

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: See How They Run
  • IMDb: link

See How They Run isn’t a perfect film, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in the period murder mystery where all the suspects are actors, producers, and theater owners tied to a live performance of the genre where the victim is killed backstage. The semi-aware whodunit, set in London just after the 100th performance of Agatha Christie‘s (Shirley Henderson) The Mousetrap, involves the murder of the dickish director (Adrien Brody) planning on adapting the beloved stage play to film. 

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The French Dispatch

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The French Dispatch
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director Wes Anderson‘s latest is a quirky ensemble piece set around the final issue of the fictional French Dispatch circular from the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun in which each of the magazine’s stories, all taking place in and around the equally fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, are acted out for the audience. The reason for the final issue is the unexpected death of its editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray, who appears in flashbacks).

The film starts out strong with Owen Wilson‘s short piece on the town as a bicycling reporter followed by J.K.L. Berensen’s (Tilda Swinton) more lengthy article about a murderer (Benicio Del Toro) finding artistic talent in prison with the help of one of the prison guards (an often nude Léa Seydoux) who becomes his muse. Both Del Toro and Sydoux are terrific here, and Adrien Brody adds some fun as a white-collar criminal who works to try and make money of the talented, but moody, artist.

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Little Women

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Little Women (2019)
  • IMDb: link

Little Women movie reviewGreta Gerwig becomes the latest to adapt Louisa May Alcott’s popular novel (over the years it has been adapted more than a dozen times to film and television as well as both a musical and opera). The semi-autobiographical tale follows the lives of the four March sisters (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen) following the Civil War.

Saoirse Ronan gets the most screentime as the rebellious Jo, a writer with dreams and desires that don’t always fit the conventions of her time. Watson is perhaps underused as the elder and more conventional Meg, while Pugh sinks her teeth into the more complex Amy. Scanlen is put to good use as the tragic and talented Beth. And Timothée Chalamet smolders as the boy next door.

The film is divided into later years with Jo in New York and Amy in Paris with flashbacks to the family all living under the same roof. The structure allows Gerwig to highlight themes that repeat and keep coming back to the tight family unit even after tragedy and time have taken their toll on the March family.

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KCFCC’s 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards

/ / Announcements

Mad Max: Fury Road

Yesterday afternoon the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the second oldest film critic organization in the country, gathered together to award the best in film of this year. It turned out to be a good year for sci-fi/fantasy as Mad Max: Fury Road and Ex Machina took home a combined five awards. You can find the full list of nominees and winners inside.

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