Bama Rush

What was supposed to be a documentary about young women rushing sororities at the University of Alabama turns into a documentary about hair, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s incredible how important the hair color and the hair style matters to the pledges. Hair is so important to these women being accepted that the filmmaker herself, Rachel Fleit, can’t help but fold herself into the story. As a woman with alopecia, the importance of the hair catches her off-guard in a very personal way. The doc also touches on the special treatment and privilege that the Greeks seem to have during and after college, and the secretive nickname for that – “the machine”, which the interviewees aren’t allowed to talk about. Those of us who went to college and know a thing or two know that, yes there are people who get special treatment in this world, and it’s no coincidence that they care very much about their hair.

Renfield

Goddamn I wish I had made this movie! Framing Dracula & Renfield in this co-dependent, self-help world is the perfect blend of horror and satire that I’ve tried all my life to achieve. After the set-up, the story itself doesn’t unfold in a masterfully original way. It’s really bloody, which is great, but there’s a cops vs gangsters subplot that only partially kept my attention. Playing with and re-calibrating the “rules” of vampires is really clever, and there’s some outstanding, unexpected solutions found at the climax using the old legends and tropes. It’s a fun night, even though it never dares to go for anything beyond silly.

BlackBerry

A strong rags-to-riches, tech-tragedy biopic. It reminded me of the Halt and Catch Fire/Silicon Valley bullpen of goof-offs and nerds, only competent when they absolutely need to be. The main characters’ goals are clear: Pay off their debt and design a cool product that won’t be made in China. To achieve this, they have to hire an explosive mean guy, expertly embodied by Glenn Howerton. And the moral of the story is: avoid hiring mean guys, and apparently, avoid having things made in China. Jay Baruchel’s hero still became very rich even though his company was murdered by iPhone, QC went down the drain because his thing got made in China, and he lost all his friends. But from the filmmakers’ point of view, it’s hard to know what he could have done differently.

Air

This very small, very personal, scaled-back story reminded me of the old, straight-to-video HBO biopics. It’s not hugely ambitious, and the conflict is somewhat benign. But it’s a fascinating true story and all of the low-key filmmaking is truly expert. It’s Matt Damon’s movie and he nails the middle-aged schlub perfectly. It’s hard to imagine him beating anyone’s ass in the “Bournes” as he shoves down snack foods and argues on the phone. But he takes full ownership of this passionate American square, and he might get an Oscar nomination for its easy authenticity.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

“Christ” Pratt is the worst part of this movie. It’s Rocket the Racoon’s story, and James Gunn et al dip into an animal experimentation backstory that’s impossibly poignant. How’d they do it? I’m not sure. Excellent planning, excellent voice-over acting, sympathetic but grotesque creatures straight out of the Island of Misfit Toys, and arresting music. They really achieved something special, somehow in a comic book extravaganza, lighting a little fuse underneath the concept of the ethical treatment of animals. As for the rest, there’s a bunch of space fighting and Pew! Pew! Pew! and you know the drill. It’s easy to look forward to non-Pratt sequels. They might have a new leading man in Rocket.