Nebraska (2013 Alexander Payne)

A film that gets under the skin, in its gradual story-telling (I love that the son, beautifully played by Will Forte, doesn't reveal to father Bruce Dern what he's learned about him).

It's very good. Written by Bob Nelson whose latest film is The Confirmation with Clive Owen.

June Squibb as the mother is fabulous: strong but also blunt and a little coarse, but a lover of life. She's mainly had a TV career. Also have to mention Angela McEwan as her old love rival, who you'd think was a non-actor.

It would be nice to think that Dern was in the best of health, nimbly hopping around between takes.

Almost any moment of Phedon Papamichael's photography, with its interesting geometries and a widescreen vast America (Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska) could be frozen as art. And noticed again the Paper Moon connection, though this is a deeper concern.

Will Forte also had a role in Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way but has mainly been on TV since early SNTV days.

Payne's Downsizing is due for release in 2017, with Damon, Wiig and Waltz.