Babyteeth (On disc/IFC Films)
The sum may be less than the parts but the parts are often interesting in this ironic 2019 Australian indie by director Shannon Murphy. Based on the stage play by Rita Kalnejais (who adapted it for the film), Babyteeth involves mousy teenage cancer victim Milla (Eliza Scanlan) who falls for Moses (Toby Wallace), a brash, tattooed 20something drug dealer. It’s all much to the horror of her parents, but then, her parents are a pill-pushing psychiatrist and a pill-popping mom. The relationship between Milla and Moses has a ripple effect on family, friends and neighbors and becomes (here is the film’s strength) an exploration of the varieties of affection and need. (David Luhrssen)
The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova (on disc/Film Movement)
Sarah (Katherine Fogler) and Aaron (Douglas Nyback) are bickering siblings in search of a piece of their family’s past—specifically, the bones of their beloved grandmother’s dog, buried long ago at what had been the Cotler family home. Their (more or less) good-natured squabbling continues as they pursue their fool’s errand across a wintry Polish landscape in a small town whose residents vary greatly in their friendliness and willingness to help. The 2018 film by Canadian director Zack Bernbaum is an ironic comedy with quirks the size of boulders but also an undercurrent of the melancholy of absence: the past had not been kind to Sarah and Aaron’s ancestors and few Jews remain in the town of their bubbe. (David Luhrssen)
Enola Holmes (Streaming Sep 23, 2020 on Netflix)
Author Nancy Springer added her bit to Sherlock Holmes mythology, introducing the detective's teenage sister, Enola. Book one in a series of six for tweens, is adapted for this Netflix film. The breezy result chronicles an independent-minded, 16-year-old Enola (Millie Bobby Brown), running away from her stodgy elder brothers, to find their missing mum (Helena Bonham Carter). Raised by Mother to be her own person, Enola disguises herself as a boy, in order to explore places nice young ladies mustn't go. She routinely outsmarts Mycroft and Sherlock (Sam Claflin and Henry Cavill) now in hot pursuit. Springer casts Enola as a quick learner, using this case to launch her own detective career locating missing persons. The story inhabits a world of Ivory Merchant-light, with its perfectly-period look complimenting the inherent humor of Holmes’family dynamics. (Lisa Miller)
Pilgrimage (On disc/IndiePix)
Fernao Mendes Pento was a 16th century Portuguese lad who shipped out to the Indies, trading rural poverty and lack of opportunity for adventure and the prospect of wealth. Portuguese director Joao Botelho imaginatively retells Pento’s 1614 autobiographical adventure of strange cultures, battles with pirates and all-around derring-do. Pilgrimage shifts between times and places in scenes of painterly beauty. The sailors on Pento’s voyage act as a Greek chorus, commenting on the action through song. The ironic notes suggest that the adventurer may have been an unreliable narrator but, as the censors from the Inquisition declare at the film’s onset, the tales he told are a “good story.” (David Luhrssen)
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story (Streaming Sep 20 on AppleTV, Amazon, VUDU, GooglePlay, Hoopla, FandangoNow, Comcast Xfinity & Spectrum)
The story of Hollywood's stuntwomen focuses on the feminist struggle to be hired for jobs routinely executed by men. Women finally got their chance because impressing the public with ever-increasingly difficult action required increased realism. Narrated by Michelle Rodriguez, who appears in several scenes, the film marks her character's daring-do in "The Fast and the Furious" as creating a new benchmark for female action. This Rotten Tomatoes favorite garnered a 100% fresh score. Many stuntwomen show off their chops and complain of ongoing industry chauvinism. Sadly, we've little time to get to know the women behind these danger-hugging heroines. (Lisa Miller)
To read more film reviews, click here.
