Judy

         Renee Zellweger is Judy Garland in this biographical drama of Ms. Garland towards the end of her career. The film focuses on the five weeks of live shows at the "Talk of The Town" club in London 1969. There are flashbacks to her childhood on the set while filming "The Wizard of Oz" but the majority of the film finds Ms. Garland near the end of her tragic showbiz life.

         Ms. Zellweger owns the film. She is in almost every frame (except for the flashbacks) and her performance is quite simply astonishing. She captures Mr.s Garland's vocal style and mannerisms perfectly. You can't keep your eyes off her, even while her performance breaks your heart. Without a doubt, this film puts her at the head of the Oscar class for this year's best actress.

         The film co-stars Finn Wittrock, as Mickey Deans (Judy's last husband), Rufus Sewell as Sidney Luft, (her third husband and father of Lorna and Joey),  Gemma Leigh-Devereux as Liza Minnelli, Michael Gambon as Bernard Delfont, Jessie Buckley as Rosealyn Wilder and Richard Cordery as Louis B. Mayer. Dari Shaw plays the young Judy in the flashbacks.

         Despite what may really be known about Ms. Garland, the film certainly paints her as a sympathetic character, used and abused by the Hollywood system from which she never recovered.  Despite the concerts, Oscar nominations, TV show and years of accolades, Ms. Garland's life was a terrible tragedy and the film pulls no punches in it's depiction of her alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression, even while she gathers the strength to still wow an audience. And Ms. Zellweger's performance will wow you just the same. 

Ad Astra

            Co-written and directed by James Gray, this new space drama is technically and visually fantastic but the pace and score may actually put you to sleep. The title is Latin for "to the stars". Titled in a dead language is actually appropriate as Brad Pitt stars and his performance is so controlled and nuanced to the point of numbing blandness, you wish for Leonardo DiCaprio to show up in a cameo and bring him back to life.

             Alas, that doesn't happen but credit Mr. Pitt who actually performs perfectly suited to his character, Roy McBride.  Roy is an astronaut on a mission to find out what happened to his astronaut father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who may be responsible for powerful surges from space threatening Earth. 

             The film also co-stars Donald Sutherland as a fellow astronaut, Ruth Negga, as a Mars station director and Liv Tyler as Roy's wife, back on earth. Natasha Lyonne also makes a quick cameo in an odd bit of casting. It's a strange film when all of the co-stars have relatively very small parts compared to Mr. Pitt, who commands the screen in almost every scene.

              The film is visually stunning. You actually believe these people are in space. Mr. Gray and his team should be congratulated for the technical aspects of the film. However, while the visuals hold your attention, the story moves so slowly (not helped by Mr. Pitt's monotonous voice-over) that you can find yourself drifting off into space too. There are a few action sequences that are exciting but they are too short and far between.

               Mr. Gray and writing partner Ethan Gross have a lot to say about family (fathers and sons, in particular), loss, and self sacrifice. The film is a moving but dour experience  filled with such promise, especially after a great opening sequence, but ultimately drags itself to a disappointing end.

It: Chapter Two

                Just as the book was divided in two parts, the inevitable sequel has arrived to cover the second half of the story.  The kids only thought they had killed "It" but now its 27 years later and as adults, they reunite to return to Derry and face "It" once again.

                It is the rare sequel that outdoes the original but that is definitely the case here. While Pennywise the Clown may not seem as frightening as he did in the first film, only because we are familiar with him now, there are still plenty of thrills and chills in this new chapter.  The actual terror may be the same but the psychological terror has been escalated as the adults now have to face their greatest fears to destroy the one thing that threatens them all. The characters are well defined and there is a full bodied richness to the story that didn't exist in the first film. 

                The film balances the many flashback sequences well. The adults are all interesting but it's fun to see them as the kids from the first film again too. The adults are very well cast to match their younger selves. They are played by James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean

                Standouts among the adults are Mr. Hader, Mr. Ransone and Ms. Chastain. Playing a comedian, it is easy for Mr. Hader's "Richie" to act as the comic relief and he has great chemistry with Mr Ransone as "Eddie". As the only woman in the group, Ms. Chastain does an excellent job balancing both strength and vulnerability.  Bill Skarsgard returns as "Pennywise the Clown" and as I mentioned, while not quite as terrifying in the first film, he's still got some creepy good scares left in him.

                Directed by Andy Muschietti, the film is almost three hours long but moves at a brisk pace. It allows for each actor to have a pivotal sequence in the story. The special effects are well done but turn silly in the final climax of the film, which ultimately is a bit of a bore. It relies on many similar horror ending cliches (steals one scene right out of "Poltergeist").

                Everything up until that moment is extreme fun and exciting to watch. As one character in the film is told repeatedly, "your books are great but your endings stink".  While the climax was a bit disappointing, I will say it is still a satisfying ending.  Of course, the film will probably make gazillions of dollars and we have most likely not seen the last of "It".

                I give it four out of five red balloons.

Aquarela

         Not quite a documentary but rather more like a long form music video, this new film is all about the power and beauty of water. Directed by Viktor Kossakovsky, the film contains no narration and no context but is rather just a visual spectacle of water in nature.

          From cleaving glaciers in Greenland to the magnificent Angel Falls in Venezuela, the film spans the globe to show us water in it's purest form. The accompanying soundtrack is by Apocalyptica. The music blends beautifully for most of the film but can be overwhelming at times. There are just a few scenes including people or animals and how they are affected by water in it's various destructive power, and literally life and death in one particular scene. 

        It's a hypnotic ninety minutes that moves randomly from place to place with water, not the subject, but literally the protagonist. It's probably not for everyone but it is visually breathtaking.