Plenty of people will be tuning in to a certain "big game" on Sunday but, for those looking for something off the beaten path, these recommendations from Up To Date's indie, foreign and documentary film critics could be just the ticket. There may be fewer cheerleaders and a lot less Lady Gaga, but on the bright side, there are fewer cheerleaders and a lot less Lady Gaga. And don't worry: You can watch the commercials on YouTube after the fact.
Cynthia Haines
Julieta, R
- Director Pedro Almodóvar's 20th feature film is about fate, guilt, and uncertainty. After her daughter abandons her to search for a "spiritual dimension" in life, Julieta moves on and settles down but, thirty years later, her life is derailed by a chance encounter.
Elle, R
- Isabelle Huppert deftly portrays an alpha businesswoman who, using the same ruthlessness she does in the board room, tracks down the man who raped her and engages him in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse.
Jackie, R
- A stirring portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in the moments before and after her husband's assassination, detailing the first lady's struggle to console her scared children and preserve her husband's legacy.
Steve Walker
Julieta, R
- Pedro Almodóvar’s beautiful new film casts Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte in the title role, captured twenty-five years apart, of a free-thinking woman whose daughter severs their relationship out of spiritual conviction.
Elle, R
- Isabelle Huppert cements her reputation as the most fearless actress working today by playing the CEO of a company specializing in violent video games who exhibits complicated reactions to the man who rapes her and the act itself.
Manchester by the Sea, R
- Kenneth Lonergan's keenly felt script and sensitive direction are bolstered by Casey Affleck's devastating performance as a man whose sealed-off grief finds pockets of air after he becomes his teenage nephew's guardian.
