20s – Page 2 – Out & About

Judas and the Black Messiah: FBI and the Black Panthers

Judas and the Black Messiah

?Directed by Shaka King?
?Written by Will Berson & Shaka King?

The review:

I first learned about Fred Hampton in Ava DuVerney’s 13th and so I knew how this film was going to end.* But it was interesting to watch Daniel Kaluuya’s evolution of Hampton as he gained skills as well as the dance between LaKeith Stanfield and Jessie Plemons as FBI informant and agent.** I would have liked Dominique Fishback to have a bigger role, but she was great with what she was given in this movie that’s gonna kick you in the stomach right before the credits roll.***

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: I paid Matt $6.00. He’s the one paying the HBOMax fee ($12.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Not well for Fred Hampton.
**It’s interesting how we forgive the FBI for their many sins, but so often the Black Panthers are portrayed as the lawless party.
***If there’s an award for best after-movie text on screen, this film will sweep that category.

Questions:

Should they have bothered with the makeup for Martin Sheen?
Fred Hampton was 21 and William O’Neal was 17 during this film. Should they have cast younger actors?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

With both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya receiving Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Judas and the Black Messiah becomes the first film to have multiple black performers nominated in this category for the same film.

Other reviews of Judas and the Black Messiah:

Selome Hailu, The Austin Chronicle
Karne Han, Slate

American Utopia Will Get You in the End

David Byrne and cast members of American Utopia.

David Byrne’s American Utopia

?Directed by Spike Lee?
?Written by David Byrne?

The review:

It’s not yet been a year since I watched Jonathan Demme’s movie of the Talking Heads’ concert Stop Making Sense* and I was looking forward to this David Byrne/Spike Lee collaboration for which there was much gushing about among the critics. For three-quarters of the film I found it very striking visually and musically, and I wondered what all the gushing was about, but then there was his cover of “Hell You Talmbout” and I, too, could be counted among the converted.** I found that Spike Lee and I sometimes disagreed about what I wanted to be looking at on stage*** but since I couldn’t be there in person, I thank him for letting me see his vision.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: Monthly HBOMax charge ($12.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*And was more than dazzled.
**It was one of this, “Oh, holy crap, this is incredible” movie moments.
***Demme knew better what I wanted to see.
****At times, this felt a little like watching a very talented marching band, in all the best ways.

Questions:

Who was your favorite performer?
What was your favorite song?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

If you look carefully, you will notice small spheres on the shoulders of all of the suits. These are tiny BlackTrax infrared transmitters which enable the lights to automatically track performers as they move around the stage. When they leave the stage to march through the theater, you will notice some of these trackers glowing slightly.

Other reviews of American Utopia:

Beth Webb, Empire
Karen Han, Polygon

Locked Down: Observing a Pandemic from within a Pandemic

Locked Down

★Directed by Doug Liman★
★Written by Steven Knight★

The review:

This is a light affair* that might be handy to have on tap in ten to fifteen years when kids who were very young or were born after 2021 start asking questions.** It’s all there for you to point to*** and covered with a veneer of a story about a couple on their last legs as a couple. Ejiofor and Hathaway are fun to watch and there are a bunch of cameos.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: HBOMax monthly fee ($8.99) (Still living off the WW84 month)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Contagion
127 Hours
Cast Away
Gravity
Into the Wild
Room

Further sentences:

*So light that despite the fact that I’m still living in quarantine-type restrictions I could watch this without feeling traumatized and did not have feelings of “too soon!”
**This, of course, assumes that there won’t be any global pandemics in the next ten to fifteen years. Which is not an assumption I’m willing to bet on at this point and time.
***The general end-of-the-world feelings, the day drinking, the odd sense of time, the awkward Zoom calls, the abrupt job changes, the sliding into familiar bad habits, kids being stuck at home with their parents, the reevaluating of life choices.
****However, if you’ve seen this, I wish to chat about the ending. Do look me up.

Questions:

What will you remember most about this time?
Was this the exact right temperature for a movie about a quarantine released during that same quarantine?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The movie was shot in only 18 days in London during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the hectic pace of filming, stars didn’t have the time to properly prepare and for some scenes Hathaway’s and Ejiofor’s lines had to be taped to their eyeline.

Other reviews of Locked Down:

Dana Stevens, Slate
Alonso Duralde, the Wrap

Orange background with a white frame. Being locked up is making it worse.—Locked Down. Read the three sentence movie review: 3SMReviews.com

Never Rarely Sometimes Always: Dangers Abound

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Directed by Eliza Hittman
Written by Eliza Hittman

The review:

Eliza Hittman takes us on a journey worthy of an epic poem* so a young woman can get a procedure that should be available to her in her own small town. On the way, we see how rules to “protect”** women actually end up putting them in more danger, the things women sacrifice for other women, and a quiet, perfect performance by Sidney Flanigan. By the time you get to the scene where the phrase “never, rarely, sometimes, always” is used, you will never forget the order of the words in this very wordy title.

The verdict: Recommended.

Cost: HBOMax monthly fee of ($12.99) (Still living off the WW84 purchase)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It’s interesting to see how little of Flanigan’s life we learn about before the journey begins in earnest and how the sparse details we do find paint a vivid picture.
**But we know why those rules are passed and it has nothing to do with protection and everything to do with control.

Questions:

What moment of this film will be seared on your heart forever?
How many ways (big and small) were Autumn & Skyler violated in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Prior to this film, Sidney Flanigan worked as a janitor.

Other reviews of Never Rarely Sometimes Always:

Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
Mary Sollosi, Entertainment Weekly

Orange background with a white frame. Text: Don't you ever just wish you were a dude?—Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Radha Blank is a Star in the Forty-Year-Old Version

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Directed by Radha Blank
Written by Radha Blank

The review:

Despite decades of “girl power” and versions of “leaning in” there are still a lot of spaces that aren’t available to women.* Radha Blank explores a couple of them** in this film that is both humorous*** and can really kick you in the solar plexus. Having Radha Blank on screen would probably be enough of a win,**** but she delivers a story that a lot of people would be better off having taken the time to watch.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*There are the obvious ones, like pro baseball and pro football, and the less obvious ones like film criticism and, hey, the music industry, where talented women have to trade on something other than just their talent to achieve fame (and even then the gatekeeping is fierce.) I’m thinking of 20 Feet From Stardom, where there already was an Aretha, so there was no need to promote other talented Black female singers. I’m thinking of all the women singers who had the voice, but their looks were deemed to be not good enough by the men who control the recording companies. How many Taylor Swifts do we not hear from because they aren’t as attractive as she is?
**Hip hop music, where she reinvents herself as RadhaMUSPRime, and theater, where her play is finally being produced by a major (read: white) theater.
***Some of her rhymes are giggle inducing.
****She does not fall into gatekeepers’ standards of beauty.

Questions:

What do you make of Radha and D’s relationship?
Do you think the film’s title (so similar to a famous Judd Apatow film) helps or hurts?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Cinematographer Eric Branco explained that he actually showed up to the interview with a bag full of street photography books (Bruce Davidson, Matt Weber, Saul Leiter, Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson) for the director. From the beginning, Radha wanted the footage to be shot on black and white 35mm film.

Other reviews of The Forty-Year-Old Version:

Aparita Bhandari, The Globe and Mail
Shannon Miller, AV Club

Orange background with a white frame. Text: The good news is, I still need a writer for my Harriet Tubman musical. —The Forty-Year-Old Version. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Soul: Meditations on the Zone

Soul

Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers
Written by Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers

The review:

Not so much a movie that people in middle age should watch if they feel like they are trudging through their life never having found their thing,* but otherwise this movie is an interesting look at personality, passion and the zone. It’s got usual excellent details expected from a Pixar movie.** I also appreciated that the story centered on a middle-aged Black man and his New York City life.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Disney+/Hulu bundle ($12.99) (We have this because Matt wanted to watch the Mandalorian)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*For them, I worry it will cause a level of anguished tears equal to mine at the conclusion of L’Illusionniste.
**I loved the look of the counselors in the Great Before, plus the fact they were all named Jerry.
***The middle school band scenes felt very familiar.

Questions:

What personality badges would you have been assigned in the Great Before?
Who was your favorite voice?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Animators used footage of several music performers, including jazz composer Jon Batiste, performing as reference for the film’s musical sequences. By capturing MIDI data from the sessions, animators were able to retrace the exact key being played on the piano with each note and create the performances authentically.

(I appreciate this as it bugs me when I can tell the actor isn’t playing the instrument.)

Other reviews of Soul:

Wendy Ide, ScreenDaily
Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter

Tenet: Fresh Blood, Usual Confusion

Tenet

★Directed by Christopher Nolan
★Written by Christopher Nolan

The review:

I managed to see Tenet in the year 2020, even though for many months that wasn’t a sure thing,* and I can say it’s a quality Christopher Nolan film.** Both John David Washington and Elizabeth Debicki were great additions to the usually-white-and-male Nolan players, and I had fun with swarmy and evil Kenneth Branagh. While I couldn’t tell you precisely what happened, it was a fun ride while I was in it.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 (we were all ready to pay $19.99 for VOD, but I had a look at Redbox while buying New Year’s Eve supplies and lo, it was there.)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Things we contemplated: driving to Salem to watch in a theater there; driving to Washington to watch in a theater there (which turned out not to be feasible because Washington switched their level of open); paying the big bucks to rent out an entire theater (which AMC was doing in the fall).
**I mean, he’s a known quantity by now, so you are either in (I love barely holding on to what the heck is happening!) or out (Jesus, man, just make things a bit more clear!) and I’m in.
***And my head did hurt from concentrating.

Questions:

Can you sum up the plot for an interested party?
What do you think of films that don’t have a name for their main character?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The production team purchased and then crashed a real 747 airplane into a hangar. The stunt was all practical effects, with no visual effects or CGI. Director Christopher Nolan had originally planned to use miniatures and set-piece builds; however, while scouting for locations in Victorville, California, the team discovered a massive array of old planes and it became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size and perform the sequence for real on camera.

Other reviews of Tenet:

Hanna B, Film Threat
Emily Zemler, Observer

Let Them All Talk: Three Great Actors and a Luxury Liner

Let Them All Talk

Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Deborah Eisenberg

The review:

A Soderbergh movie written by a woman, starring three women I love to watch* that’s a bunch of talking while on a luxury liner? Yes, please.** Overall, this is an amusing frippery that I won’t remember much of in a few years’ time, but man was it good going down.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: HBO Max monthly cost (12.99)****
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*Plus Lucas Hedges
**You have no idea how much all of those things thrilled me.
***Though I adore Dianne Wiest (she who imprinted on me in Footloose) it was Candice Bergen who was the most fun to watch.
****We have it for a month due to treating ourselves so we could watch Wonder Woman 84.

Questions:

Which of the three women would you have liked to be?
If your friend from long ago offered to take you on a cruise, would you go?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

For the most part paying Queen Mary 2 passengers were unaware of the film being shot. Signs were placed around live shooting locations. They were met with mostly indifference.

Other reviews of Let Them All Talk:

Karen Gordon, Original CIN
Karen Han, Slate

Orange background with a white frame. Text: When I read this novel, it's impossible for me not to think what a miracle it is That the universe emerged, what a miracle it is that consciousness emerged. And what a miracle it is that Blodwyn Pugh, her thoughts and experiences, that they could reach across time and reach into my consciousness. That's a miracle. —Let Them All Talk. Read the three sentence movie reivew. 3SMReviews.com

Wonder Woman 1984: A Fun Outing

Wonder Woman 1984

Directed by Patty Jenkins
Written by Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callaham

The review:

The great moments in Wonder Woman 1984 are the bits that come along with being female in the world that are highlighted in passing* as the story unfolds.** Overall, there are two stories here, one with a pyramid scheme guy and one with a antiquities specialist and I enjoyed the latter more than the former.*** But that is not to say that I didn’t enjoy this movie, it was a fun outing.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: HBOMax monthly fee ($14.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*From the joy of young Diana trying to beat the course to the catcalls and unrelenting attention of the grown Diana (and Barbara Minerva) it’s a low and high thing.
**Also joyful? Chris Pine’s clothes modeling scene which mimicked Diana’s exasperation with WWI-era clothes in the previous movie.
***Also, I didn’t recognize Pedro Pascal and spent the film wondering if that was Nathan Fillion with a prosthetic nose, which was a little distracting.
****It’s also the longest Matt and I have gone without watching a new superhero film in more than a decade. Our last one together was Spider-Man: Far From Home in July of 2019! (Though Matt did see Birds of Prey earlier this year)

Questions:

Lotta flight in this film. Necessary?
What was your favorite Wonder Woman moment?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

As first reported by Variety, actress Gal Gadot was paid $10 million for this film (which she also produces)—33 times more than what she made on the first film, Wonder Woman (2017) ($300,000).

(To which both Matt and I said, “$300,000? She was the star of that film!”)

Other reviews of Wonder Woman 1984:

Molly Freeman, ScreenRant
Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Orange background with a white frame. Text: Nothing good is born from lies. And greatness is not what you think. —Wonder Woman 1984. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

The Prom: A Bunch of Movie People Doing Theater in a Movie

The Prom

Directed by Ryan Murphy
Written by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin

The review:

The Prom is a not-terrible adaption of what was probably a not-terrible Broadway production and includes at least one song that earwormed its way into my brain for an extended period of time.* The story of washed up Broadway stars who decide to step in and “help” when a gay teen from Indiana** is excluded from bringing her girlfriend to prom, this is a of-the-moment story that will hopefully look quaint in about ten years. Jo Ellen Pellman is fresh faced as Emma Nolan, the gay teen in question and the four leads (Meryl Streep, James Corden,*** Nicole Kidman,**** and Keegan-Michael Key) give their best razzle dazzle performances.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I cannot remember which song it is, but I’m not going to go and re-expose myself to the earworm.
**If Hoosiers is the apex of Indiana-positive films, this is the opposite.
***A straight man playing a gay man, which has been criticized.
****She seems to be having fun in this stage of her career.

Questions:

What is that magical pixie dust that makes a movie musical feel like something more than a placeholder for those of us who don’t make it to Broadway?
What was your favorite number?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Although the original actors from Broadway auditioned for the role, Ryan Murphy decided to go with the “star-filled” cast. This is sadly ironic, as the stage version was designed to give leads to actors who had spent their entire career in supporting roles, such as Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Angie Schworer and Christopher Sieber, whose roles in the film are played by Streep, Corden, Kidman and Rannells, respectively.

Other reviews of The Prom:

Jude Dry, Indiewire
Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily