Here’s some of the stuff I watched in the last couple of months, in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

…And Justice for All (1979)

written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson

directed by Norman Jewison

When I was younger, my family would often joke that I would grow up to be a lawyer – I guess I was good at defending my arguments. And at one point I remember thinking it could be an interesting career path until I probably watched …And Justice for All. It’s a legal dramedy about Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino, back when he could still act), an honest Baltimore attorney who’s asked to represent a judge (John Forsythe) accused of sexual assault. Did he do it? You bet your ass he did. Can Arthur separate his own moral code from the law, which gives every citizen due process and the right to counsel? I know I couldn’t. …And Justice for All is a bit plot-heavy and somewhat uneven in tone, but Pacino holds it all together with his impassioned performance. The final scene in which Arthur tells the whole court that “The whole trial is out of order!” is one for the books.

Rating: ***

The Circle (2017)

written by James Ponsoldt and Dave Eggers

based on the novel The Circle by Dave Eggers

directed by James Ponsoldt

The Circle is a lame techno-thriller about social media and loss of privacy in which a young employee, Mae Holland (Emma Watson), discovers the company she works for has fascist plans for the whole world. Interestingly, in the final moments of this lackluster exercise Mae comes to accept this is the way democracy should actually work… and in theory, I’d be all over that cynical turn of events. But with no discerning tone with which to express their ideas, writer Dave Eggers (adapting his own novel) and director James Ponsoldt just made me want to watch The Social Network (2010) again. The Circle has plenty to say but ends up saying nothing.

Rating: **

Disobedience

written by Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz

based on the novel by Naomi Alderman

directed by Sebastián Lelio

In the opening moments of Disobedience, the rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish community in London dies while giving a sermon. His daughter Ronit (Rachel Weisz), who lives and works in New York, is notified, and she travels back to England. But it’s clear from the start that something is off; Ronit is greeted coldly and given odd looks – she may have once been part of this congregation, but now she’s an outsider. And soon we learn why: Many years ago, Ronit had a forbidden romance with her childhood friend, Esti (Rachel McAdams). Big no-no.

Ronit and Esti rekindle their passion, much to the dismay of Esti’s husband, Dovid (Alessandro Nivola). Complicating matters even further is the fact that Dovid has been chosen as the next rabbi. All of this could’ve easily been the stuff of soapy melodrama, but co-writer/director Sebastián Lelio goes for a subtle approach that’s more observant than critical, buoyed by great performances from his three leads. The heartbreaking but fairly optimistic ending also caught me by surprise. Disobedience is a movie about coming to terms with who you are and what you’ve been taught to believe. It casts a spell.

Rating: ***

Lake Mungo (2008)

written and directed by Joel Anderson

I was watching The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time (2022) and this Australian horror flick popped up. Needless to say, I was curious. so I immediately streamed it. Done in an eerily effective mockumentary style, Lake Mungo is the story of a teenager who drowns while on vacation with her family and then comes back to haunt them. Or does she? While there are probably too many twists and turns, there’s no denying that first-time director Joel Anderson achieves something truly unique with his naturalistic approach to grief; the acting is impeccable, the atmosphere palpable, and the touted “scariest horror moment” well worth its reputation. Lake Mungo feels like a real doc. Sadly, Anderson hasn’t directed anything since. Netflix, please give this guy a development deal right now!

Rating: ***

Lights Out (2016)

written by Eric Heisserer

based on the short film Lights Out by David F. Sandberg

directed by David F. Sandberg

Lights Out is another one of those supernatural horror pics in which people run around trying to fight an entity that hides in the dark and loves to lunge suddenly at the camera. It’s fine for a quick watch, but quickly forgettable. You can tell that director David F. Sandberg, reworking his own short of the same name, wants to make it fun (he’d fare better three years later with 2019’s Shazam!), but in the end, it’s just more of the same old song and dance. Lights out for me.

Rating: **

The Menu (2022)

written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy

from a story by Will Tracy

directed by Mark Mylod

Despite a fine ensemble cast that includes Ralph Fiennes as a psychotic chef trying to kill his wealthy guests and Anya Taylor-Joy as the nonconformist who just might foil his plans, The Menu struggles to combine satire and horror effectively. There’s a lot to explore here regarding celebrities, oversize egos, and sycophant culture, but it’s all rather bland. I kept wondering why this stuff wasn’t just darker. I mean, how about pulling a Hannibal Lecter and serving these entitled assholes some of their own body parts? I’m all for making fun of the rich, but The Me(h)nu thinks it’s smarter than it really is… and that’s a bad recipe.

Rating: **

Carlos I. Cuevas