90 Movies in 90 Days: The Elephant Whisperers (2022)

I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: The Elephant Whisperers
Release Date: 8 December 2022
Director:Kartiki Gonsalves
Production Company: Sikhya Entertainment
Summary/Review:

Filmed over several years at Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the Mudumalai National Park in southern India, this short documentary follows the life and work of a couple named Bomman and Belli, The couple, who are married during the course of the filming, help rehabilitate lost and abandoned elephants.  The stars of the movie are Raghu, a young elephant who bonds with Bomman and Belli, and Baby Ammu, and even younger elephant abandoned and brought to the camp.

The love Bomman and Belli have for the elephants is strong and the movie is full of sweet moments.  According to the text on the screen they are also the first people to successfully raise an orphaned elephant to adulthood, so they’re doing good work.  Elephants are amazing, seemingly improbably creatures, and it’s such a joy to watch them in this film.

Rating: ***

50 Years, 50 Movies (2021): Petite Maman

I will turn 50 in November of this year, so my project for 2023 will be to watch and review one movie from each year of my life.  The only qualification is that it has to be a movie I’ve not reviewed previously.

Note: Each week I’m choosing a year randomly and then deciding what movie to watch from that year.  You can help by voting in the poll below!  Next week’s year is 1985.

2021

Top Grossing Movies of 2021:

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
2. The Battle at Lake Changjin
3. Hi, Mom
4. No Time to Die
5. F9

Best Picture Oscar Nominees and Winners of 2021:

• CODA
• Belfast
• Don’t Look Up
• Drive My Car
• Dune
• King Richard
• Licorice Pizza
• Nightmare Alley
• The Power of the Dog
• West Side Story

Other Movies I’ve Reviewed from 2021:

• I included a list in Favorite Movies of 2021 post, plus these movies I’ve watched more recently:
  • Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche
  • Attica
  • My Name is Pauli Murray
  • Cousins

Title: Petite Maman
Release Date: 2 June 2021
Director: Céline Sciamma
Production Company: Lilies Films | Canal+ | Cine+ | France 3 Cinéma
Summary/Review:

It’s easy to say this is a simple and quiet film, but that would deny it’s underlying metaphysics or the fact that it involves time travel! The essential sweetness of this movie is evident as it deals with deeper issues of grief, depression, and the relationships of mothers and daughters.

Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) is an 8-year-old French girl whose beloved grandmother (Margo Abascal) just died.  She stays at her grandmother’s house for a few days with her mother, Marion (Nina Meurisse), and father (Stéphane Varupenne) to clean the house out. Nelly’s mother disappears without explanation and that same day she meets a girl in the woods building a tree fort.

The girl is also named Marion (Gabrielle Sanz) and she lives in a house identical to her grandmother’s and Marion’s mother has the same physical disability as her grandmother.  Nelly and Marion look similar.  You can probably guess where this is going.  The sisters Joséphine and Gabrielle do a great job at playing their respective roles and showing the bond that forms between the two girls.  The film is gorgeously shot, and deeply human, and ultimately hopeful.

Rating: ****1/2