Movie Diary 9/22/2014

Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996). This movie holds up real good. Nice choice for the Port Townsend Film Festival tribute to Sayles.

Tracks (John Curran, 2013). I happen to be a sucker for the traveler-crossing-vast-distance subgenre, but even with my predilection in play, this is a pretty compelling movie. Mia Wasikowska is aces once again. (review 10/3?)

A Walk Among the Tombstones (Scott Frank, 2014). Liam Neeson in an adaptation of a Lawrence Block novel. A solid go, but the film’s relatively tame box-office opening suggests audience uncertainty with the private-eye picture. Is that actually even a movie draw anymore?

The Invisible Collection (Bernard Attal, 2013). The jury winner for best narrative at the Port Townsend fest is a thoughtful take on a Stefan Zweig story – set here in Brazil cocoa county. The set-up is strong and the locations lived-in.

Finding Hillywood (Leah Warshawski, Chris Towey, 2013). The Rwandan film industry, colorfully chronicled. A marvelous idea for a movie, and we meet a clutch of distinctive characters, all of whom we root hard for.

Grace (Heath Jones, 2014). Teenage-alcoholic picture, with offbeat Florida backdrops, given guts by Annika Marks’s central performance.