NETFLIX - 'Frances Ha' and 'Blackfish'

'Frances Ha' (R) **
I keep seeing this movie listed on various 'Best of the Year' Top 10 lists so after noticing that it was on Netflix, I decided to give it a watch.  'Frances Ha' is about the titular character (Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote) who lives in New York but doesn't really have an apartment, apprentices for a dance company though she's not really a dancer, and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles.  Shot in black and white this is essentially a movie about someone trying to find their way in life, something anybody can relate to...you know, if you live in a big city, are poor yet can still afford to fly to California and to Paris, go from apartment to apartment, at one point pay $900 in rent and still complain that you're poor.  Overall 'Frances Ha' has it's moments but for the most part it's a little dull, not that funny and a bit pretentious.

   

'Blackfish' (PG-13) **1/2
Another movie I kept hearing about, but not necessarily on Top 10 lists.  'Blackfish' is a documentary that talks about the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity.  It also goes into detail about notorious killer whale Tilikum, who is responsible for the deaths of three individuals including a top killer whale trainer.  Interviews include former SeaWorld employees and killer whale trainers, a fisherman who helped capture Tilikum in the 1980s, former workers of the Canadian 'Sealand of the Pacific' (where Tilikum first lived and first killed), and the family of another victim of a killer whale attack from Loro Parque, a zoo in the Canary Islands.  Also includes sequences of trainers actually being attacked by killer whales.
The first 10 minutes I started to really hate this movie.  The 'CNN Films' logo showing up on screen followed by the introductions to the various former employees of SeaWorld left me with the feeling that this is extremely biased and that these are all disgruntled, bitter former employees.  As the movie went on...sure it's still more or less one sided but it is a compelling story and one that could be a bit better told without beating us over the head with it's message.  I don't necessarily disagree with it's message that animals in captivity should be treated better and that regardless of training these are still wild animals that are being dealt with, but it is very very very heavy handed.  I also would have liked to have seen SeaWorld's opinion on these matters, but as the end credits states SeaWorld declined to be interviewed for this movie.  I personally like to hear different sides to a story so that I can extract the real truth from what both sides are saying.  Does it change my viewpoint and perspective of SeaWorld?  Not really.  I learned a little bit more about killer whales, so I guess that's a plus. 





Okay...still one last movie to go see before I'll call it a year.  Still have to type up 'Hobbit' review (liked it a lot) and 'Wolf of Wall Street' review (also liked...to an extent).