Tag: Drama

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

Radha Blank 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:

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

Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey in the Pixar film Soul.

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:

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

Meryl Streep in Let Them All Talk

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:

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

Happiest Season: A Lot of Great Performances by Women

Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart in Happiest Season

Happiest Season

Directed by Clea DuVall
Written by Clea DuVall & Mary Holland

The review:

Astute readers* will remember how I’m always going on about the lack of good roles for women and I’m here to say that Happiest Season, a story about two women who love each other, who are heading to one of their family homes for Christmas, provides an entire movie with juicy roles for women.** This film captures a couple at a time in their relationship where it’s a little hard to root for them, but that just makes it all the more fun to watch.*** Aside from being big fans of most of the people in this movie, I thought Aubrey Plaza turned out her best performance in years.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Monthly Hulu charge of $6.00 (because bundled with Disney+)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Or those just passing by.
**This inverts the usual formula. Rather than a bunch of men and one woman, we’ve got a bunch of women and one man playing a side character.
***Plus, it can give you some compassion practice. What if you hadn’t found the courage to come out to your parents yet? What if you had to juggle that with the usual going-home teenager-esque feelings? What if sibling relationships made everything more complicated? I get that Harper isn’t making good choices, but I feel for her. (Plus, Mackenzie Davis was in Tully, and I will love her forever for that.)

Questions:

  • Were you rooting for, or against?
  • Your worst acting-like-a-teenager-though-a-full-grown-adult-while-visiting-parents moment. Go!

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In Harper’s old room there’s a poster of Josh Hartnett. The film’s director, Clea DuVall, co-starred with Hartnett in The Faculty (1998).

Other reviews of Happiest Season:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: Have you managed to get a man's permission to take ownership of an adult, human woman yet? —Happiest Season. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the Story of Levee

Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Directed by George C. Wolfe
Written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

The review:

Despite the title, this is really the story of Levee (Chadwick Boseman), the trumpet player in Ma Rainey’s band, but Viola Davis is a commanding presence all on her own.* As the hot day gets hotter and the recording session drags on, a lot of stories spool out of Rainy, Levee, and the other band members. It’s a film full of hard truths, great performances, an atmosphere that can’t be beat,** and a couple good punches in the gut, like any great story should have.***

The verdict: Recommended

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

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I’d love to see both Boseman and Davis get a slew of awards nominations for their work on this film.
**From the sweat on the musicians in the recording studio to the tent revival to the stage performance this movie brings all the details.
***It’s a solid play-to-screenplay adaptation, too.

Questions:

  • What did you think of Ma Rainey’s attitude during the recording session?
  • What was your favorite period detail?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Denzel Washington, who produced this film, had been a mentor to Chadwick Boseman since his college years. When Denzel Washington received his 2019 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, Boseman recounted that he was one of nine of Phylicia Rashad’s Howard University acting students for whom Washington paid the full summer-program tuition at the British Academy of Dramatic Acting in Oxford.

Other reviews of Ma Rainy’s Black Bottom:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: I know what I'm doin'. Let me handle them my way. —Ma Rainy's Black Bottom. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

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

Ryan Murphy and the extended cast of the 2020 Netflix feature: The Prom

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:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: We have come to show this community that gay people, and gay positive icons such as myself, are made of the same flesh and blood as they are. —The Prom. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com

Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique Dazzle in Bessie

Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith in the film Bessie.

Bessie

Directed by Dee Rees
Written by Dee Rees, Christoper Cleveland, Bettina Gilois

The review:

The always remarkable Queen Latifah gives us a tutorial of blues singer Bessie Smith’s rise to fame and fortune including the usual downturn that comes with biopics of performers. First cast in this film in 1997, Latifah delivers a very physical performance* with a ton of nuance. Mo’Nique also is amazing as Ma Rainey, the singer who teaches Smith the value of performance, and alerts her to the many people who are standing by to cheat blues singers out of their money.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free. Borrowed the DVD from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

  • Ma Rainy’s Black Bottom
  • Ray
  • Dreamgirls
  • We are the Best (because I can’t not recommend this punk rock girl film every chance I get)

Further sentences:

*Aside from knock-down-drag-out fights, there is also enough enthusiastic sex to remind you that your generation wasn’t the first to invent sex.

Questions:

  • What was your favorite performance scene in Bessie?
  • Do you prefer Mo’nique or Viola Davies as Ma Rainey?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Charles S. Dutton, who plays Pa Rainey, made his Broadway debut in 1984 in August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Other reviews of Bessie:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: I ain't playing second to nobody! —Bessie. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Mank: Amanda Seyfried Shines

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in the film Mank

Mank

Directed by David Fincher
Written by Jack Fincher

The review:

The film that made me wonder if Fincher is feeling old and worn out.* While I can see what he’s doing there with the looping plot and the black and white and the deeper meaning, Herman J. Mankiewicz was not someone I was super interested in,** Gary Oldman’s fine performance notwithstanding.*** However, this is probably worth watching just for Amanda Seyfried, who was excellent as Marion Davies, and it was a solid depiction of Old Hollywood.****

The verdict: Good (ish)

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

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*His father wrote the original script, so perhaps it was the elder Mr. Fincher who was feeling very beat down.
**You can catalog this under: Tales of a Privileged White Man Who Wastes His Talents and is Generally Horrible to All, Volume 3,458,721.
***Although I really wish they would equalize their age-wise ridiculous casting. Gary Oldman was born in 1958 and is playing a 43-year-old man. Tuppence Middleton was born in 1987 and is playing his similarly aged wife.
****You know, when it was just some fun hijinks to have the stenographer sit around with pasties on.

Questions:

  • How many more films of this ilk will be made before we move on to a more interesting angle? (Like say, the story of that stenographer with the pasties.)
  • What’s your favorite movie about making a movie?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The presenter announcing the Academy Award for best original screenplay to Mankiewicz and Welles at the end of the movie is played by Ben Mankiewicz, a grandson of Herman J. Mankiewicz. Ben Mankiewicz is a presenter for Turner Classic Movies, which frequently airs films by Herman Mankiewicz and his brother Joseph. Ben’s father, Frank, is portrayed briefly in Mank by the uncredited child actor Matteo Menzies.

Other reviews of Mank:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: Irving, you are a literate man. You know the difference between communism and socialism. In socialism, everyone shares the wealth. In communism, everyone shares the poverty. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com

When the Starlight Ends Should Have Never Started

Arabella Oz and Sam Heughan in the film When the Starlight Ends

When the Starlight Ends

Directed by Adm Sigal
Written by Adam Sigal

The review:

Sometimes enjoying actors in TV series leads me to really great films made by the actors,* and sometimes they lead me to stinkers. The looping stories in this film made it hard to tell what was the story and what were side bits the author was writing so he could get over his failed marriage.** And Sam Heughan, who has been holding my attention in Outlander, failed to do so here.***

The verdict: Skip

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*Steve Carell is a good example. He was great in the Office, but I’ve also enjoyed him in Dan in Real Life, Foxcatcher, The Big Short, Battle of the Sexes and Beautiful Boy.
**This film also featured terrible green screen stuff, and I couldn’t tell if that was due to budgetary constraints or an intentional feature.
***And, his performance here may have just diminished my enjoyment of him as Jamie Fraser in Outlander.

Questions:

  • Did you have a favorite scene in this film?
  • This movie was so lackluster I can’t come up with a second question.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Kane Knox is the cute baby in this picture.

(This was the only trivia item and I have no idea who Kane Knox is.)

Other reviews of When the Starlight Ends:

The Thanksgiving I Finally Watch Planes, Trains & Automobiles

A picture of Steve Martin and John Candy in the film Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Directed by John Hughes
Written by John Hughes

The review:

2020 is the year I finally watch this John Hughes classic film!* I found it to be an amusing road trip in that very 80s way and I was reminded of the humanity John Candy brought to his misfit characters.** While I don’t think this will become a Thanksgiving tradition, this is an enjoyable bit of classic 80s cinema.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

  • Uncle Buck
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  • Mr. Mom

Further sentences:

*In looking at the films he directed, I’m not sure if I’ve seen Weird Science or not, and I know I’ve not seen Curly Sue, but the rest of the filmography bridges my elementary school through my junior high years. Kids were talking about Sixteen Candles in 1984, which was about four years before I was old enough to watch it, and I remember getting dropped off at the theater with my friend Laurie to watch Uncle Buck. (Apparently I already wrote about this in 2010.)
**RIP John Candy
***It was also fun to see the bits in the film I remember people recounting to me over the years. (“You haven’t seen Planes, Trains & Automobiles? There’s this classic scene where…”)

Questions:

  • What’s your favorite John Candy role?
  • What’s your favorite zany road comedy?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

On instruction from John Hughes, Edie McClurg’s role as the St. Louis rental car agent was partially improvised. Hughes told her to simply riff a fake phone conversation with someone about Thanksgiving plans while Steve Martin remains waiting in line staring at her to finish up. McClurg came up with the idea to speak with her sister about who was going to make what adding “You know I can’t cook!” Hughes asked her how she came up with those lines so quickly and she replied that, like his scripts, she just drew it from her own life. McClurg claims to this day that random people ask her to tell them they’re fucked.

(All hail Edie McClurg who will forever be Patty Poole the neighbor in the
television show Valarie/The Hogan Family)

A picture of Edie McClurg in the film Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Other reviews of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles:

  • Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times
  • Janet Maslin, New York Times (I can’t get a working link, but the excerpt says: Mr. Martin and Mr. Candy are an easy twosome to watch even with marginal material, though, and the film is never worse than slow.)
Orange background with a white frame. Text: Quote: Those aren't pillows! —Planes, Trains, & Automobies. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com