Winter's Bone and Georgia O'Keefe

Winter’s Bone is a little movie about a group of impoverished people living in the Ozarks whose life is corrupted by a community of scary kin who cook meth. In the center of this mess is a girl whose father is missing and his failure to show up for court will lead to the family losing their land. Ree (played by previously unknown to me, Jennifer Lawrence) is responsible for her younger brother and sister and her mute and sketchy mother. This amazing girl, Ree, stomps through the treeless winter hills with a stubborn purpose while encountering some seriously freaky people, one of whom is her own uncle, her father’s brother. At first it is hard to tell whose side her uncle(played by John Hawkes from Deadwood), strangely named teardrop, is on. But Ree unflinchingly carries on – trying to figure out what has become of her father. I liked this movie for a couple of reasons: Ree is interesting to watch and it not obvious where this movie is heading– happily no Hollywood blueprint to follow.

I also recently saw the Lifetime TV movie, Georgia O’Keefe. You’d think a movie starring two heavy hitters like Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen would be impressive, but it was actually kind of bland. Still, I enjoyed learning about the artist and her older lover, the photographer, Aurthur Stieglitz, who according to this movie was kind of a jerk. Despite interesting fodder for a movie, Georgia O’Keefe fell flat.

The Kids Are All Right

I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. I had read that The Kids Are All Right was trying to be too hip for its own good, and, yes, there is some of that. But, it is also funny, thought-provoking, and at times sweet about how hard it is to be married and raise a family. The family stability begins to unravel when the lesbian couple's (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) two teenage children go searching for their mothers’ sperm donor, and, Voila, they find none other than the super sexy Mark Ruffalo. Paul, Ruffalo’s character, causes all kinds of disruption, some good and some bad, but most interesting is that his impact on the family is complicated and the director leaves room for ambiguity. The kids, Joni and Laser, (Mia Wosikowska and Josh Hutcherson) seem like real kids with real teen age insecurities and interests unlike so many TV shows and movies these days where the kids are over sexualized and behave like adults. With great actors like Bening and Moore, you know you are going to get some great performances, and they do not disappoint. The Kids Are All Right is more than just allright.