Cinematically, Yours
This Week’s Movie Reviews
The Whale

My name is George Marie. I'm one of the new owners of the Rose Theatre and Starlight Room, along with my spouse Michael D'Alessandro, and I will be directing the programming for both the Rose and the Starlight Room. This week I'm honored to bring to the Rose my first film from A24, one of my favorite studios. Rocky created at the Rose a tradition of bringing films that take risks and push the limits of our empathy.

Coming to the theatre Friday 2/10 is THE WHALE, a film carried by the much lauded performance of Brendan Fraser as the critically depressed and self-destructive Charlie. What this film offers is the chance to witness a genuine and profoundly human struggle marked by Charlie's exceptional hope and faith in the best of us.

Director Darren Aronofsky (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, BLACK SWAN) waited nearly a decade to create the film, searching for the right person to play the film's lead [Charlie], when he stumbled, at random, on a trailer of a little-known Brazilian film:

"There's Brendan Fraser. A bit older now, a little grey around the edges. But his eyes are the same. Impossibly blue, and imbued with a warmth so deep it feels tactile... He embodied everything I saw in Charlie: deep empathy, gentle humor, and a searing emotional intelligence."

Carried over from last week are two academy nominated films: LIVING  to and WOMEN TALKING. Both films offer beautiful, nuanced and life-changing storylines. A NOTE ABOUT WOMEN TALKING: there are no on-screen depictions of sexual violence. Instead of exploiting the violence these women endured, the film carefully and thoughtfully offers us a chance to watch their empowered response. See Rocky's review from last week HERE