Tag: Drama

Queen & Slim Should be on Your To-watch List

Queen & Slim

The review:

Melina Matsoukas’s debut feature* Queen & Slim gives us a zeitgeist film that has (unfortunately) flown under most people’s radar. Daniel Kaluuya (Slim) and Jodie Turner-Smith** (Queen) begin as a couple on an awkward date, though their fates change when they are pulled over.*** What follows is a lot of different films: road trip, political story, heist, escape, love story and by the final scene the movie will have taken you on a rough and fulfilling journey.****

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*If this is any indication of what’s to come, we have a very exciting filmmaker to watch.
**In this very American story, it was interesting to hear the two leads’ British accents during the making-of bonus features.
***Even people who don’t follow the news will recognize that a plot point involving Black people and a traffic stop doesn’t bode well.
****I went in mostly blind to this film. I heard “really good!” and “women director” and didn’t look further. It’s the kind of film where people might dismiss as too sad, but there’s so much life among the sadness, I would suggest you don’t pass it by.

Questions:

  • What are your feelings about Queen and Slim being viewed as heros?
  • What was your favorite encounter the couple had on their journey?

Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:

According to the writer, the divergent world views of the two protagonists were based on the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

Other reviews:

Queen & Slim

The Greatest Showman is Perfect Pandemic Viewing

The Greatest Showman

The review:

The overlap of the Venn Diagram of Michael Gracey’s The Greatest Showman and the actual facts of P.T. Barnum’s life is probably a slim sliver, but that does not take away from the fact that this is a very good movie musical.* Casting the living greatest showman (Hugh Jackman) helps, but so do the dance numbers** and the songs, many of which have a meter that is designed to pep the most lugubrious of people. The visual styling*** is also great and everyone turns in excellent performances.****

The verdict: Good

The verdict during a pandemic: Recommended

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library (one of two DVDs I checked out before the library closed for pandemic purposes*****)
Where watched: at home.

Consider also watching:

  • The Music Man
  • Sound of Music
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  • Singing in the Rain
  • Mary Poppins
  • Mary Poppins Returns

Further sentences:

*Particularly when quarantined due to a pandemic. The hopeful and stalwart songs are just right for our times.
**”Rewrite the stars” has catapulted to my top-ten list of musical numbers.
***My copy had a making-of feature which explained why there were paintings of the film shown during the credits. This was a feature that made me like the film even more. The story behind the story is also inspiring.
****If I were an actor, I would aspire to Michele Williams interesting and varied career, and I also am interested in the turns Zac Efron takes. Long after I’ve forgotten the details of the film, Keala Settle will remain the thing I love about this movie.
*****I stayed away from this due to tepid reviews, and I’m kind of glad. It was the movie I needed right now.

Questions:

  • What’s a movie that came to you at just the right time?
  • What’s the most important element in a musical?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

According to Hugh Jackman, the film’s nine-year development process from conception to completion was, in part, due to studios’ unwillingness to take a risk on an original musical. What finally sold the deal at 20th Century Fox was the future Oscar-nominated song “This is Me”, which had literally been written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul during the two-hour flight to the studio meeting where the film was greenlit.

The Greatest Showman

The Lobster Wasn’t a Good Dinner For Me

The Lobster

The review:

Yorgos Lanthimos created an interesting world in The Lobster,* but it’s a world I didn’t want to spend much time in, which made this movie a long slog. That said, there are a great many amusing scenes in this film** and it’s quite funny. I especially liked the deadpan nature of all the characters, especially Olivia Colman as the Hotel Manager and Ariane Labed as the Maid.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: Free from Kanopy, the library’s streaming service
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Fun fact: when I googled “movies like the Lobster” one of the recommendations was Definitely, Maybe #algorithmfail

Further sentences:

*It’s kind of like a dark Wes Anderson world.
**And a more than a few disturbing ones.

Questions:

  • What do you think happened after the final scene?
  • How do you think this particular society evolved?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The production worked almost entirely with natural light and without makeup. Lighting was only used for some night scenes.

Other reviews:

The Lobster

All the Bright Places: Stick With the Book

All the Bright Places

The Review:

Brett Haley’s All the Bright Places is a romance with a bit of bipolar and hints of suicide.* Elle Fanning is great: she captures the emotions her character Violet travels through, from depressed despair to love and back again. The film does a disservice by not confronting the darkness; it’s content to bask in the love story.**

The verdict: Skip

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

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*This is one of those reviews where I’ve read the book and liked the book and even though it’s been a few years since reading, the plot is still very clear in my mind and does a much better job of getting across the point which is: mental illness is tough and even when you love someone it’s not the thing that’s going to fix their illness.
**It is good at capturing that early love stage, though perhaps too much dependent on montage.

Questions:

  • Do you think a film can accurately capture the complexities of bipolar disorder and falling in love? It seems a tall order.
  • Justice Smith. What did you think of his performance?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Elle Fanning’s first credit as producer on a feature film.

Other reviews:

All the Bright Places

Emma. is Period Perfect

Emma.

The review:

Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. is a dressed up in confectionery shop color, which shows off the transformation of Emma as she takes on a friend in order to add another match to her successes. Anya Taylor-Joy’s deft performance shows the evolution of Emma, ably aided by perfect supporting performances especially Mia Goth as Harriet and Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley.* This is not a period film where we get to know the servants as the focus is singularly on Emma’s circle, but it’s a funny film** and it has a lot of feeling in places,*** not to mention a gorgeous soundtrack.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater (last movie in the theater prior to coronovirus shutdowns.)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Wondering who Johnny Flynn was, I found he starred in the Netflix comedy Love Sick, which I am currently enjoying quite a lot.
**Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse is always good for a laugh.
***Including one point where the audience gasped aloud.

Questions:

  • What do you think is the key element of success when adapting Emma?
  • How badly do you want to visit that hat shop?

Favorite IMDB item:

The film’s title unconventionally has a period at the end. The director has stated in multiple interviews it is to signify the movie as a “period piece” set in the original era.

Other reviews:

Emma.

Purple Rain: Excellent Musical Performances

(not great everything else)

Purple Rain

The review:

I’m thankful that Albert Magnoli’s Purple Rain exists, not because of the acting (not good) or the plot (mostly terrible), but because I never got to be a young person watching an ascendant Prince play at a small club in Minneapolis and if it weren’t for this movie, I wouldn’t ever have that opportunity. This is a movie where women are easily discarded objects* and with a main character who, even though we see what demons are driving him, isn’t likable,** and the plot had me drifting off to sleep more than once. But when Prince gets on stage, every synapse snapped to attention.***

The verdict: Skip

(Or watch only for the performances)

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*Example: a woman asks a man where he was last night and the man has another man throw her into a dumpster.
**As noted, he is not a good actor. He is particularly bad at kissing while acting, which just looked gross.
***Good lord, could that man perform. Morris Day and the Time were great too.

Questions:

  • Is it worth watching a terrible movie for the performances when only 25% of the movie is performances?
  • Have you seen Prince in anything good?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

An early, simpler version of the unpronounceable symbol that Prince changed his name to during his dispute with Warner Bros. Records is painted on the side of his motorcycle’s gas tank. It also appears on a wall of the overpass he rides under during “When Doves Cry.”

Purple Rain

The Wood is a Very Late-90s Film

The Wood

The review:

Rick Famuyiwa’s The Wood goes in a different direction that a slew of 90s “hood” movies, instead showing the close relationship of three friends in two different time periods.* This movie has a view of women that is very much of its time** and it excels in its portrayal of living in the hood, but being the guys who are not in gangs. It’s funny, and sweet and has some really great scenes.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free!
Where watched: 5th Avenue Cinema (alumni get in free, as do students!)

Consider also watching:

  • Love & Basketball (The main charcters are both in the Wood!)
  • Love Jones
  • Waiting to Exhale

Further sentences:

*The movie is double cast with Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs playing the older friends, while Sean Nelson, Duane Finley and Trent Cameron play their junior high and high school counterparts.
**It wasn’t going to win any feminism award in 1999 and most of the boy/girl interaction has not aged well.
***I think having a tough gang member named Stacey is one of the jokes and De’aundre Bonds was great in that role.

Questions:

  • What’s your approach to movies with humor/plots that don’t work with today’s understanding?
  • What are you favorite friendship movies?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

While writing his screenplay, Rick Famuyiwa worked full time at the Beverly Hills branch of Niketown.

The Wood

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is Incendiary

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

The review:

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is* a movie singularly focused on women in a way that few films are.** There is so much to see in this film, from the way the artist studies her subject surreptitiously, to the way the portrait evolves. It’s also a movie where class barriers are removed, and one that depicts a common issue most movies don’t address; by the end I felt fully immersed in these characters*** and their world.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $9.00
Where watched: Living Room Theaters

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It is at this point that I want to insert my original take, texted to my friend: I have now seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire and deem it a slow burn, but very good. There I am, being punny without meaning to. This movie is not concerned about speed, but it earns its viewers’ attention with every deliberate scene.
**Where are the men in this film? I found their absence to be not at all realistic, but also a refreshing tonic. It was like my early undergraduate days, spent at a women’s college. I suspect the lack of men in this film has something to do with the fact that I first heard about this from the Online Female Film Critics 2019 awards shortlist, and heard almost nothing about it for the rest of awards season. Movies without women? Fine. Movies without men? Just not interesting to most of the people who review movies.
***I am also now curious to look up all the previous directorial efforts of Céline Sciamma, and previous movies with Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel and Luàna Bajrami

Question:

  • Do you think she was actually on fire, or was it a manifestation?
  • Did you see the page number thing coming?
  • Are movies that remove standard things (men, for instance) to tell their story distracting for the lack of such things, or captivating because of the removal?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The literal translation of the original title is Portrait of the Young Girl on Fire. One suspects that “the young girl” was changed to “a lady” for the English title of the film in order to evoke the Henry James novel, The Portrait of a Lady.

Other reviews:

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Heartburn Starts With a Happy Marriage

Heartburn

The review:

Mike Nichols gives us a happy marriage that suddenly slams on its breaks in Heartburn.* I’m not a fan of Jack Nicholson** and was surprised to find him a chilled-out, easier-to-watch dude who nicely offset Meryl Streep’s performance, plus I enjoyed that darling red-headed baby.*** This is full of great lines and a great selection of 1986-era clothing, plus Kevin Spacey’s first film role, and various 80s-style ridiculous situations.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free via Kanopy, the library’s streaming service.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I was under the mistaken impression that this movie was all divorce, all the time, but it begins with with the couple meeting at a wedding.
**”Are you watching The Shining?” the boyfriend asked as he caught a glimpse of Nicholson on the screen.”
“Nope,” I replied, “I’m watching a movie with the cutest baby ever!”
***Later in the film, looking at the way Meryl Streep was looking at that baby, I thought, “Is that Meryl Streep’s baby?” And it was. That’s Mamie Gummer.

Questions:

  • Knowing that this was based on the Nora Ephron/Carl Bernstein marriage, what do you think about Bernstein being a ladies’ man/lech?
  • Have you read this book?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In Everything Is Copy (2015), Jacob Bernstein’s documentary about his mother Nora Ephron’s life and career, he reveals that contentious negotiations over the movie adaptation of her novel Heartburn extended his parents’ divorce for several years longer than most divorces take. Eventually, their divorce agreement included a stipulation that the movie was not allowed to depict the “Mark Forman” (Carl Bernstein) character as anything but a good, loving, and conscientious father (whatever his failings as a faithful husband were), and Mike Nichols had to be named as a legal signatory to the divorce.

Random bit of me trivia:

The Carly Simon song featured on this soundtrack “Coming Around Again” was played ad infinitum on the radio station my parents listened to.

Heartburn

Out of context, this quote sounds dirty. Jack Nicholson was talking about some food that Meryl Streep had cooked.

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Is a Very Long Title

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

The review:

After disliking Noah Centineo so intently in The Perfect Date, I was gun-shy of To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, but Michael Fimognari managed to include enough good relationship things* that I came away satisfied. And sometimes in a woman’s life there is a period where the boys come out of the woodwork, and this is rarely represented on film, so that was fun. This is solid, middle-tier movie making, perfect for two hours of untroubled movie viewing.**

The verdict: Good

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

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*The indie drama fan in me is always interested in what happens after the couple gets together and there were a lot of first-relationship troubles.
**There are troubles, of course, because otherwise there wouldn’t be a movie. But no one is dying here.

Questions:

  • What film comes closest to your own first relationship?
  • When do you turn to films like this one?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Jordan Fisher plays John Ambrose McClaren in this movie. In To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) the role of John Ambrose was played by a different actor, Jordan Burtchett.
(I wondered about this, but was too lazy to check. Thanks IMDB trivia writer!)

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You