Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of January 24, 2022
Parallel Mothers
Rated R for some sexuality
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
In Theaters
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Writer/director Pedro Almodovar and actress Penelope Cruz have teamed up for many high profile dramas through the years including All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces and Pain and Glory, all of which are extremely artistic but not always easily accessible. In this newest journey together, though, they tackle a much more universal twisted drama about motherhood, regret and redemption, with a narrative that is convoluted yet riveting in a story you won’t be able to take your eyes off of. In this tale, Cruz plays a middle-aged single woman who gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby. In the hospital she makes friends with a young single soon-to-be mother who gives birth on the same day as herself. After leaving the hospital, everything seems to be going on along fine as she is madly in love with her new baby and she even manages to keep some of her pre-existing career alive. That is until she starts to imagine that the baby she brought home might not actually be hers. I have liked some of Almodovar’s films over the years, but they’ve never been my favorites. I expected this one to be much of the same and was shocked at the turns his story takes, keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout. The plot is a knockout and the superb acting by the talented cast gives the outlandish the authenticity needed to push the story forward. Easily my favorite film by both Almodovar and Cruz, the film is gripping from start to finish and truly one of the best from 2021. A
Ozark: Season 4, Part 1
Rated TV-MA
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Streaming on Netflix
I don’t binge on a lot of shows, but since the first day Ozark hit Netflix, I have been completely hooked. If you haven’t been watching, you have some catching up to do. The story follows the Byrde family, headed up by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, who are forced to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel in exchange for their lives. Choosing the Ozarks for their base of operations, they have managed over three seasons to do quite well for themselves, although they are constantly under the threat of being murdered by their boss. In this new season, the cartel leader decides he wants out and he wants the FBI to give him a mulligan in exchange for a bit of cooperation. But his wildcard nephew, who wants to take over the cartel, begins to create chaos as he begins his climb, leaving our heroes to deal with dangers on all ends of their lives. There is a lot to like here in this first part of the final season of the show. I can’t say the car crash at the beginning of the first episode does anything for the narrative, unless it is purely metaphoric, but the drama doesn’t let up and the twists are largely unpredictable. The FBI is the weak link in this latest part of their journey, as they don’t make a lick of sense in their actions or motives, and end up on the frustrating side of the spectrum. The good news is that this is looking to be a bang up series finale when this thing finishes up, hopefully sometime later this year. B+