I post film reviews to Letterboxd, but not everyone is on that platform. Here are my brief (slighted edited) reviews of the four films we saw:
Thursday: Holy Cow (2024) (French)
This is a story about a young man known for his drinking and fighting who is forced to grow up when misfortune strikes his family. He begins a romance and learns an artisanal craft. It's worth a watch.
Friday: Aontas (2025) (Irish)
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It's a crime thriller that provides commentary about the importance of community, especially given the contemporary political economy. The story is told almost exclusively backwards, beginning with a scene from nearly the end of the movie and working back bit by bit. It manages to provide plenty of suspense despite this method.
Saturday: Eephus (2024) (US)
I've seen a *lot* of baseball movies and this fun flick is in the upper third (approximately). There are some nods to prior films even as this movie focuses on a seemingly meaningless adult game featuring Dads, very pudgy catchers, old outfielders, and others with modest talent. They love the game and want to finish their late October matchup even though the sunshine disappears, the umpires leave (but baseball has no clock!), and the supply of balls runs short. Bill "Spaceman" Lee has a cameo inning pitching in the game. The conceit is that the field is being destroyed to make way for construction of a new school.
Sunday: Souleymane's Story (2024) (French)
This is an exceptional film. The novice lead is terrific playing a version of himself -- a recent immigrant from Guinea seeking asylum. His hard life in Paris reflected on the screen is sometimes tough to watch and it reminds the viewer of the horror of the nationalist anti-immigrant fervor infecting the US and other nations in the current political moment.
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For 280 character IR and foreign policy talk, follow me on Bluesky.
