‘The Boys in the Boat’: This real-life sports story is an inspirational cinematic cruise

“The Boys in the Boat” (2023) – “The boys, that boat, it’s all I got.” – Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) It’s the height of The Great Depression.  Joe, a capable young man, cannot find work and frequently feels a bit useless, like the bottom of a shoe, and one of his soles suffers from a quarter-size hole.  If only he had two nickels to rub together. Joe is a University of Washington student, but the billing department informs him that the latest tuition installment due date will arrive faster than…

‘Poor Things’, Lanthimos’ most ambitious creation, bursts with bizarre opulence

“Poor Things” (2023) – “Who are you?  Who, who, who, who?” – “Who Are You” (1978) by “The Who” “What’s going on?  What’s going on?  What’s going on?  What’s going on?” – “What’s Going On” (1971) by Marvin Gaye Meet Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), an attractive 30-something.  She lives in a posh abode, about the size of a city block – in 19th-century London.  Bella is unmarried but lives with Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), presumably her father, but our heroine refers to him as “God,” an ironic moniker because…

Pledging to watch ‘The Oath’ may cause severe regrets

“The Oath” (2023) – “You are so boring, all your thinking.” – Bathsheba (Nora Dale) After a brief opening chase scene through a crowded forest in director/co-writer Darin Scott’s “The Oath”, the camera focuses on the lead, Moroni (also played by Scott), a muscular 40-something donning a warrior’s garb, complete with, perhaps, a cowhide vest.   He’s thinking. Moroni stands, sits, and lies down in a vast patch of lush emerald pasture near an ocean coast, and the thoughts in his head – for some reason – are spoken aloud…