July Odds and Ends

I finally finished “Younger” ! (Netflix)Seven seasons and like many of those long running series it ran out of steam somewhere in the middle of Season 5. Nevertheless I persisted. A talented cast, intelligent dialogue, interesting characters, and cameo literary appearances kept it attractive enough, though. If you are among the addicted of this series, I won’t provide any spoiler alerts. The suspense is essentially which man will Liza choose: handsome, upper class , well read, good lover, age appropriate publisher boss OR handsome, also good lover, not so well read and fifteen years younger tattoo artist? The episodes are only 20 minutes long, so it’s a nice in between kinda watch.

“The Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty” (PBS 2025) I loved this three part series. Sorry about the lazy choice, but PBS’ promo blurb pretty much sums it up:

“The greatest artworks in western civilization emerged from one of the bloodiest periods in history. This series explores the lives of three of the greatest artists in history – Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael – as they craft beauty from chaos.”

Watch it–you won’t regret it. I was sorry when it ended. (the series, not the Renaissance)

“Tokyo Cowboy” (Apple, Prime 2024) Thank you daughter Lauren for recommending this gentle small film. A repressed and emotionally distant young Japanese business man goes to Montana with the idea of turning a struggling cattle ranch into a profit making company. Although the plot is not entirely unpredictable, it takes enough turns to keep you wondering how it will all play out. Lovely scenery, likable characters and strong acting.

“The Penguin Lessons” (Fandango 2025) Set in Buenos Aires in an elite prep school for the children of mostly military or government officials, this is a seductive film that bundles inspirational teacher cliches, an adorable and equally inspirational penguin, and the atrocities of the military dictatorship that seized control in 1973. The film is based on a memoir of the same name and there are clips of a home movie of the penguin swimming in the school pool.
Enjoying the film requires a suspension, not of disbelief, but a suspension of the knowledge of the tortured and murdered 30,000 or more disappeared young people in those seven years. The plot does allude to some of that, but the focus is on the capacity for the individual emotional growth the penguin inspires and the ray of light it provides.The film is well-made and very watchable (with the fore mentioned caveats). And while I would not in any way compare the horrible stuff going on now with the genocide of the Argentine military regime (although it could certainly evolve to that) it is a reminder of what small acts can keep us human and sane in spite of the cruelties that surround us.

“A Photographic Memory” (Fandango 2024) The film was screened at Pacific Film Archives last week. Filmmaker Rachel Seed introduced her powerful and poignant documentary about her photographer journalist mother Sheila Turner Seed who died when Rachel was eighteen months old. Sheila Seed was an unusual and talented artist who interviewed many photography greats, including (among may others) Cartier Bresson, Gordon Parks, and Lisette Model. The film took ten years of researching hundreds of photographs, films, journals and taped interviews. The end result is a unique and brilliant portrait in the form of a “conversation” between mother and daughter.

On a final note: I know some of my faithful readers have been attending The Jewish Film Festival screenings. Don’t forget to send in recommendations or don’t bothers in the comments. The films often are available for streaming after a while.