Film-Forward

About Caroline Ely

Caroline Ely is a TV, movie, and art lover who worked for years in the television industry. Until a few years ago, she would have described herself as well traveled, and she hopes to live up to that description again very soon. She lives in New York and often heads to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Misunderstood

If you take the word sweet, whisk away the S and move a few letters around, you end up with twee. Asia Argento’s Misunderstood veers between the two states while chronicling the travails of a preteen girl and her eccentric family in 1980s Rome. Along the way the film flirts with peril and incendiary themes, […]

By |September 25th, 2015|Family drama, Italian|0 Comments

Breathe

She’s your best friend. Your cruelest enemy. Sexier than you. Cooler. No one makes you feel as alive as she does. And no one knows better how to make you feel so small. She stole your boyfriend. Turned your girlfriends against you. But you’ll do anything to be around her. You love her. You […]

By |September 20th, 2015|French, Teen, Top Picks|1 Comment

The Second Mother

Written and Directed by Anna Muylaert
Produced by Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane, Debora Ivanov, and Muylaert
Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Portuguese with English subtitles
Brazil. 112 min. Rated R
With Regina Casé, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Michel Joelsas, Lourenço Mutarelli, and Helena Albergaria
It’s hard to get good help, right? If so, a posh São Paulo household has a real gem […]

By |August 27th, 2015|Family drama, Foreign|0 Comments

Grandma

Written and Directed by Paul Weitz
Produced by Weitz, Andrew Miano, Terry Dougas, and Paris Latsis
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
USA. 80 min. Rated R
With Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Sam Elliott, Nat Wolff, and John Cho
Isn’t that sweet old Lily Tomlin starring as a senior citizen in Grandma? Damn right, […]

By |August 20th, 2015|Indie, Road Trip, Top Picks|0 Comments

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Written and directed by Marielle Heller, based on the novel by Phoebe Gloeckner
Produced by Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit, Miranda Bailey
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
USA. 102 min. Rated R
With Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Christopher Meloni, and Kristen Wiig
According to Autism Daily Newscast, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is an “awkward movie to sit […]

By |August 7th, 2015|Book adaptation, sex|0 Comments

Samba

Written and Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, based on the novel Samba pour la France by Delphine Coulin
Produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun
Released by Broad Green Pictures
French with Arabic and Serbian dialogue with English subtitles
France. 119 min. Rated R
With Omar Sy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Tahar Rahim, Izia Higelin, and Youngar Fall
Fleeing war, […]

By |July 28th, 2015|French, Romantic Comedy|0 Comments

Listen to Me Marlon

Edited, Written, and Directed by Stevan Riley
Produced by John Battsek, R.J. Cutler, and George Chignell
Released by Showtime Films
UK. 100 min. Not rated
“Inferiority. I’ve been close to it all my life.” The voice is unmistakable: sussurant, slurred, sensual, and exhausted. Its meandering cadences emerge from the once beautiful and now bloated Marlon Brando, telling the story […]

By |July 28th, 2015|Documentary, Film History, Top Picks|0 Comments

Trainwreck

Directed by Judd Apatow
Produced by Apatow and Barry Mendel
Written by Amy Schumer
Released by Universal Pictures
USA. 123 min. Rated R
With Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, John Cena, Vanessa Bayer, Mike Birbiglia, Dave Attell, Tilda Swinton  and LeBron James
Mwah mwah Amy Schumer. Bring this woman a cocktail! You’re the new It Girl, America’s dirty-mouthed, […]

By |July 19th, 2015|Comedy, sex|0 Comments

Infinitely Polar Bear

Written and Directed by Maya Forbes
Produced by Wally Wolodarsky, Benji Kohn, Bingo Gubelmann, Sam Bisbee and Galt Niederhoffer
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
USA. 90 min. Rated R
With Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide, Beth Dixon, and Keir Dullea
Bostonian blueblood Cam Stuart is charming, manly, and easy on the eyes. He cooks great meals, builds […]

By |July 2nd, 2015|Family drama, Indie|0 Comments