19Sep
Juniper
New Zealand feature film Juniper (Saville, 2021) represents an intriguing variation on the form.
Attitudes about Aging
Click on any title or image to read full review
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.
15Jun
Being 97
This thought-filled, evocative video focuses on Herbert Fingarette, 97-year-old grandfather of videographer Andrew Hasse.
15Jun
Inga
Inga opens and ends with two major entries (Kapitels or “chapters”) she writes in her journal. The first and briefer is “Love.” In her poetic vocal narrative, she offers her views of love’s evolving meanings and changing phases across the life span.
18Apr
306 Hollywood
I am in awe of this film.
Every so often a film comes along that is highly entertaining to watch and is also a wonderful vehicle for exploring and presenting several elderhood and aging-related issues.
30Sep
Ask Dr. Ruth
By speaking publicly and frankly about sexuality, Dr. Ruth Westheimer helped untold numbers of individuals overcome impediments to healthy sexual pleasure. The new film, Ask Dr Ruth, chronicles her long life, from her early childhood in Germany, to her current very active professional life.
20Sep
Go Gentle
In Go Gentle, the scope through which we view time is entirely different from that presented in Recorder. Ninety-year-old Shirley Rosenthal talks openly and calmly about accepting the end of her life.
17Sep
Something’s Gotta Give
An older wealthy tycoon (played by Jack Nicholson) dates only younger women until he meets the mother of one of them (yes, played by Diane Keaton) and eventually realizes what he’s been missing in a relationship.
16Sep
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Saving the worst for last, the sequel film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel should only be seen if you have exhausted every other diversion available to you.
16Sep
Friend Request Pending
Friend Request Pending is a refreshingly unique short-sketch film that features a few hours in the life of an older woman making an online connection with a desirable man.
16Sep
Five Flights Up
In Five Flights Up, a long-married couple faces the decision to sell their five-story walkup in New York City. Alex (Morgan Freeman) and Ruth (Diane Keaton) have lived their entire married life together in this apartment walkup and are now finding it more difficult to deal with the stairs.
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
All Together
The premise of the film has potential; five older longtime friends move into one house in order to support each other in the face of a variety of health issues.
16Sep
Unfinished Song
Unfinished Song (Williams, 2012) presents us with another story of transformation—this time, that of a grumpy old man.
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).