11Mar
The Substance
The Substance joins a provocative history of films that have tackled the fate of women as they age in (and out of) the entertainment industry.
Ageism
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30Nov
80 for Brady
“It’s better than I expected it to be.” That’s what I said to my wife after we finished watching 80 for Brady. From the preview clips (which one should never trust), I expected some ditzy rendition of four older women friends taking a trip to see their hero, Tom Brady, play in the Super Bowl.
13Jul
Old
Old can be interpreted as a parable of the inevitable trajectory of human life on this earth. The film obviously plays on humanity’s nearly universal fear of aging and dying.
16Sep
Last Vegas
In the film, Last Vegas (Turteltaub, 2013), four older men romp like frat boys in Vegas while a paper thin plot resurrects a past grievance between two of them.
16Sep
This is 40
In the recently released, This Is 40, we are shown a week in the lives of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) who are both turning 40. Debbie’s method of dealing with this is flat-out denial, whereas Pete is fine with a party for himself.
16Sep
Trouble With the Curve
The recent feature film, Trouble with the Curve, portrays a different concern with the effects of aging. An alternative title for this film could have been Trouble with Aging. Clint Eastwood plays a crusty ill-tempered oldster (just as he did a few years ago in Gran Torino).
11Jul
Ageless
At last. From 2012 to the present, we have reviewed more than four dozen documentary films dealing with several major topics in gerontology and adult development, and aging. Though not excluded by intention, nowhere among those films was one devoted specifically to ageism.
11Feb
The Kominsky Method
Humor can sometimes be a helpful diversion in dealing with uncomfortable emotions—but humor that is flippant and tin-eared is not. If I were confined to one adjective that best defines the new Netflix comedy, The Kominsky Method, it would be “flippant.”
04Jun
The Intern
Not often does a film as entertainingly watchable as The Intern carry within it a positive regard for the multigenerational nature of human life in the 21st century. Generational chasms may still exist in big sectors of our culture, but films like The Intern may help reduce their size. Not that The Intern is a didactic “message” film; far from it. It is light on its feet and simply fun to watch as it unfolds the story of a successful but harried young executive learning to accept, and then trust, the help of an older worker.
02Oct
Josef’s Daughter
There is much that is novel about Josef’s Daughter. However, the viewer must be willing to move beyond its now-familiar message that middle aged adults are often confronted with a fresh awareness that aging and death are inexorably linked, that this linkage has undeniable personal relevance for them, and that some of them may have a difficult time coping with the fearsome implications of these facts.
08Apr
About Face: Then and Now
About Face: Then and Now is a revealing and realistic film about supermodels. With perfect beauty and smiling countenance, their faces capture would-be readers of the world’s most popular fashion magazines. They stride and slide confidently down fashion runways, expressing haute couture confidence befitting the expensive clothing they model.