Copyright type note: I often look at IMDB to make sure I have names and events spelled correctly and I got events for this movie specifically from IMDB.

Loving Vincent (2017) Cinema 21 Portland 11/1 (Five Stars!)

This is a stunning work visually and emotionally. The complexity and dismay of human life is portrayed with stark reality. Vincent Van Gogh created 800 paintings and sold one in his lifetime. His brother Theo financed him. Conversely, at one time one of his paintings had the record for being the most expensive.

Loving Vincent also presents mental illness and some causes for Van Gogh's. His name was recycled from an older child who died.

The mother is shown as being hostile to him in front of the older child's grave.

These stated words cannot express the emotions portrayed in this

film. Postman Roulin wants a letter delivered to Vincent's brother Theo. Son Armand goes to the area where Vincent died (Auvers-

sure-Oise) and interviews townspeople. Not surprisingly, the stories vary.

Saoirse Ronan has been in three things I have seen lately (she is listed in the credits for this), and all have been fabulous.

Sleight (2016) 11/30 Netflix

A young guy is responsible for his younger sister. He goes out to busk as a magician. (A word game I was playing annoyed me enormously by not recognizing the word "busk." I was thrilled to be

in Vancouver and see the word everywhere! It means to perform for coins as in guitar players/unicycle riders/fire eaters.) He irritates the drug dealer who demands a lot of money, problems ensue. His magic methods were unexpected.

Alligator (1980) 11/28 Hollywood Theater

yes, well, this is one of those! It came out in 1980 and people smoke all the time; a woman's (apparently drunk) father flushes down a teensy alligator into the sewer system. Dean Jagger represents the moneyed. His company buys stray dogs and feeds them growth hormones. Like some (all right...a few) politicians, Jagger's influence wins over the common good. Mayhem ensues and Jagger is repaid by an admirably enormous reptile.

Possession (1981) 11/27 Netflix

This is a strange film, to say the least. Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani are screaming and shouting and there are more dramas and deaths that I would wish while the streets seem deserted. Kirk approached it philosophically and had more justifications. Still...

Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) November 26 Netflix

From 1982 comes this work that needed some more plot continuity meetings. The good king has ruled peaceably until the bad guys overthrow him and dark times descend. There are bawdy wenches and armies are slain, but in a low budget fashion

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) 11/25 Hollywood (Five Stars!)

This tense work is just a fabulous showcase for Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson. Kirk stated he didn't remember Harrelson having a bad performance. He is a police officer in a small town. Alas, he also has pancreatic cancer, is trying to hide it, but everyone knows.

Against this backdrop he is dismayed to find McDormand has paid to have three billboards erected asking why the murder/rape of her daughter has not been solved. Meanwhile McDormand's righteous indignation is a force to be reckoned with. We had a good discussion about where compassion for a person suffering from a ghastly loss crosses with her acts such as arson.

Lady Bird (2017) 11/22 Hollywood (Five Stars!)

Deserves all the praise it's been getting. Saoirse Ronan is fabulous as the senior in a Catholic high school who wants to go to a college in the Northeast, but grades and finances are not favorable. The problems she has with her mother provide tension, along with

boyfriends and trying to impress rich classmates.

Television:

Watched

the first two seasons of Brooklyn 99 and am 2 of 3 DVD's from the third season. Acquired from the Portland Public Library.

Broad City, Lady Dynamite

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