Josephine Decker's SHIRLEY (2020)

The great achievement of this dreary work

Is making of Ms. Moss's elfin face

A doppelganger for Ms. Jackson, smirk

And rank untidiness and all, but pace

The famous savages who wore her down.

Instead we get some newlyweds to share

Their home, two cute young things who quickly drown

In melodrama, but I couldn't care

About them and their sexy, sexy scenes. 

I'd rather a straight biopic, though, than this --

And Moss and Stuhlberg sure would be the means

To make this happen! But this here's a miss.

The look of things was right; I'll give it that. 

But otherwise? It's just not where it's at.

Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER (2012)

Joaquin looks like an album cover now 

(Specifically King Crimson's if you must

Know which) and I just can't account for how

I'm not to be distracted by this. Trust

Me, though, that he performs quite well, here, too!

Ol' PSH and Amy Adams hold

Their own with him, but have to hold on through

A hurricane e'en on dry land. I'm told

This film is based on something that attracts

Some lawsuits, but it's really not about

That church so much as how are formed those pacts

Of co-dependency. I do not doubt

They got mad anyway. This film is fine;

It's got the look right. Kudos on design!

Oliver Parker's SWIMMING WITH MEN (2018)

Who knew that toxic masculinity

Could be so simply cured? Though I'll admit
The cases in this film were actua'lly
Quite mild to start with. Still, I'd say that it
Is heartening to think that just chlorine,
Some goggles and some sweet dance moves could make
A difference like this on any scene.
I love the "sad old bastards slowly shake
Their blues away" take on a story, and
I'll always watch Rob Brydon and, too, the
World Treasure that's Jim Carter, on the land
Or in a swimming pool. There's lots to see
And like, including the best training cuts,
Like when Ms. Riley says "let loose those guts!"

Ari Aster's MIDSOMMAR (2019)

The folk art that foreshadows from behind
Each scene almost distracts th'unwary eye
From double-you-tee-eff that blows the mind
As Wicker Man gets blown away sky-high.
How Florence Pugh expressed emotions which
Should not exist, I marvel! But look out --
Some graphic horrors wait. My brain doth itch
From what I saw, but yes, I think about
Another viewing soon. Just how much art
Foretold just how much plot? I saw a bear
On Dani's wall in act one, and a chart
Cartoon of how her beau was going to fare...
And yes, the camera tricks worked well, as did
The scenery. A re-watch I am bid!

Craig Gillespie's LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

A fantasy of kindness and support,
Of just the type that anyone would crave;
So fun to watch a quirky heartthrob court
A paracoita doll, a thing, a slave.
But nat'urally that's not what it's about.
Strange wounds sometimes, or always, do require
Strange medicines and gestures that would flout
Convention. Ev'ryone's sometimes a liar
To spare another's grief, fragility
Or naked need. Here, Ryan Gosling and
A cast of less-known colleages let this be
That simple. Moments breathe and tableaux stand.
Impossible! But movies partly let
Us dream of better. Best we don't forget.

Thomas Russell's MR. DUNGBEETLE (2005)

No geese fly over any cuckoos' nests;
Disciples of a strange and kindly god,
The Khepri, who persuades them it is best
To heal themselves in wilderness. Applaud,
As each is given space and time to tilt
At his own windmills. Ev'ry line they say
Has meaning strange and lovely as they build
A world that looks like ours, but better. They
Are fun to watch e'en as they make one cry
At kindness and at courage. This unknown
But perfect cast will have you asking why
Divergence bears such stigma. We're alone
Each in our heads, but Thomas Russell sees
Us all. Let's sit together 'neath the trees.

Sidney Lumet's DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)

Prince Humperdinck near steals the whole freak show,
A feat, that, for the ages, next to Al
Pacino and his sweat-hair and, you know,
The hostage thing. And then let's talk of Sal,
Few words but each one counts. Amazingly,
This film feels timeless, from its true crime plot,
To how its crowd scenes scarce contain the glee
The extras felt, to how the cops get hot.
A cell phone wouldn't change much, the conceit
That one could turn to crime to bring about
The changes one most needs... Today would greet
This tale with bullets sooner, though. The shout
For Sonny still feels timely, anyway.
But Hollywood, please don't remake this Day.

George Clooney's SUBURBICON (2017)

The ticky-tacky's thick, the satire's dark,
Production values through the roof. It's all
So on the nose, unsubtle; ev'ry mark
Of '50s archetypes is made. I'd call
Director Clooney out for too much try,
But it all kind of works. Against a real
And ugly integration fable, why,
A standard Cohen Brothers caper reel
Is just the thing, I guess? Not all the crime
Is collared white, but all the bad guys are,
While lily-perfect neighbors spend their time
Harassing black newcomers who have marred
Their fantasy. A movie for our age
Pretends to history, our dumbest stage.