The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

In a year filled with writer biopics, The Man Who Invented Christmas takes a refreshingly simple, lighthearted approach and comes out as something lively that could easily be enjoyed annually at holiday time. This is not surprising, given that director Bharat Nalluri also made the equally delightful and old-fashioned Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008). Dan Stevens has ranged from serviceable to bad in many films this year, but here he practically tingles with energy as Charles Dickens. His last three books (Barnaby Rudge, American Notes, and Martin Chuzzlewit) have flopped, his debts are increasing, and he's stuck for what to do next. As if by divine province, he meets several folks, including a lone miser (Christopher Plummer) in a graveyard, and gets the bare-bones idea for what would become A Christmas Carol (published in 1843). As he feverishly works, his deadbeat father (Jonathan Pryce) comes to stay and interrupts him, a helpful housemaid (Anna Murphy) gives him some pulp literature, and imaginary versions of the characters hang around his study, alternately helping and bickering. The movie isn't the slightest bit concerned with being "based on a true story." It keeps up a whirl of color and cheerful spirit and ends with a brief but believable argument full of good cheer and goodwill toward men. read more...

Search for streaming:

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Meryl Streep stars in this based-on-a-true-story drama, with a fairly tough job to do. As the title character, she has to sound like someone who has opera training, but is still unable to sing a lick; she has to make big sounds and have them come out comically wrong. She, of course, nails it, but the real heavy lifting in this movie is done by Hugh Grant as her husband St. Clair, and Simon Helberg as Cosmé McMoon, the nervously smiling pianist she has hired to accompany her. Florence Foster Jenkins takes place in the 1940s, and the joke is that, because the world is at war, people need whatever laughs they can get and Florence's records and concerts become very popular as comedy, even though Florence herself is unaware of this. Writer Nicholas Martin and director Stephen Frears bring a certain amount of class to the story; it doesn't resort to lazy or stupid slapstick or farce, and the weight of the relationships with the male characters come through, even if Florence's own single-minded delusion makes her the least interesting of the trio. (She eats lots of potato salad, carries a mysterious briefcase, etc.) It received an Oscar nomination for Costume Design, and Streep received her 20th nomination for acting, although she could just as easily have been nominated for her Golden Globes speech a few weeks earlier. read more...

Search for streaming:

Little Voice (1998)

Back in 1979, when Diana Ross played Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, there was much speculation as to whether or not Ross actually sounded like Holiday. The consensus was that it was Ross interpreting Holiday's songs so that, in the end, it was okay. It's too bad that Jane Horrocks wasn't around then. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters

The House of Tomorrow (2018)

As a coming-of-age story, this is a little too cute and neat, especially given that it's about shabby, edgy punk rock, but its flawless casting and chemistry lend it a goodwill that's hard to resist. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters

Welcome to Happiness (2016)

In certain spots, it's hard to hate Oliver Thompson's debut feature. It's a truly heartfelt effort. However, it's not very good; it's an arhythmic mess of ideas and scenes, sabotaged by a bad ending. The movie has an overwhelmingly positive attitude, and it can make us feel good about how "everything happens for a reason." But it's also the kind of positive attitude that can quickly grow annoying, like an over-eager puppy. read more...

Search for streaming:

• Optimistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Escapable or can be transformed