■ Wish You Were Here
“Beware of strangers in strange places” might be the motto of this Australian film about a tourist who vanishes while on vacation in Cambodia. Nicely shot and edited, the non-linear story builds toward its climax in back-and-forth movement between the ill-fated trip and its aftermath. A quietly intriguing drama, Wish You Were Here is constructed around the unraveling of disturbing secrets in a tight-knit family circle.
■ The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Riz Ahmed plays Changez, a charismatic young Pakistani living his version of the American Dream: Princeton followed by Wall Street, where “the fundamentals” means maximizing profit regardless of the human cost. Liev Schreiber plays an American journalist (and CIA agent) in Pakistan investigating Changez, who became a firebrand with possible ties to Islamist militants after his homecoming. Director Mira Nair’s film tells a twisting, surprising story unfolding in dialogue between two men on opposite sides.
■ “Mama’s Family: The Complete Second Season”
A protégé of Carol Burnett in the ’70s, Vicki Lawrence starred in her own show in the early ’80s. “Mama’s Family” was an old-fashioned living room sitcom with a new twist: Lawrence played the reluctant matriarch of a crowded, multi-generational household with sister, dim bulb son, two grandchildren from the son’s first marriage and an often-uncooperative new daughter-in-law. The lower-middle-class setting provided opportunity for funny dialogue.
