DOWNTON ABBEY---Most pleasurable film of the week for me and ANY fan of the PBS DOWNTON ABBEY family, this plays like a super sized TV episode (with spectacular costumes, soaring music, glorious photography and) where all the main characters (close to 20 I imagine,) each get a big big scene or 2 or 3. If you are not a fan then you might not know what's going on as the film moves along at breakneck speed, and the ironies of character history maybe tough to follow, but the dialogue is as witty as ever (thank you Maggie Smith) and the asides are amusingly snide and clever. A perfect, enchanting treat. GRADE----------A
THE GOLDFINCH--A novel is not a movie (although it can be imagined in your mind in a cinematic fashion) and a movie is NOT a novel. I've heard or read more than a dozen various critics talking or writing about the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel THE GOLDFINCH and they all had read the novel--I have NOT read the novel though the film makes me want to read it--and they all have the same ridiculous reason for not liking the movie. Using the dismissive phrase, "Well, it wasn't as good as the book" or "it was too long and dull (the book is nearly 800 pages and was a prize winner but the movie is a svelte 2 1/2 hours that whizzed by for me. I was transfixed and engaged by the epic, moving, Dickensonian plotting and I enjoyed the various characters that slip into and out of the young protagonist's life, and the twists had a strong ironic pull to them. The acting is first rate all around, and technically the film looks great. The film does have a few moments where I'm sure some characters or plotting was short shifted, but they are trying to get 800 pages into a manageable format. So I ask, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM A GOOD MOVIE, PEOPLE? By year's end I'll have seen around 300 films, and I'm confident that this moving film will be in the top ten. GRADE---------A-
BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON--I saw this originally last May at SIFF and remembered it as being a sparkling comedy, but a recent second viewing felt to me like some minor tinkering and editing had emphasized the more serious and sad aspects of this story. Brittany is a chubby pushing 30 party girl with low self esteem at the start, but when a doctor (and some neighbors) encourage her to take control of her life, she decides to start running because that is cheaper than a gym membership! Comedian Jillian Bell is the best reason for seeing this film, as her self-deprecating humor takes the edge off her depression and low self worth. It's a brave funny/sad performance. GRADE------------B+
WHERE"D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?--Here's another case of a popular novel being transformed into movie that has received many negative reviews from the book readers. Not having read the novel, my only comment is that it is hard to make a difficult, hard to like character sympathetic, but fortunately, you have the amazing Cate Blanchett, who not only makes her inspiring but also very funny. She made me laugh more than any other comic character so far this year, with the possible exception of the above mentioned BRITTANY. GRADE------------B+
DORA AND THE CITY OF GOLD--I'm not too familiar with the Dora the Explorer TV character for kids phenomenon, but the the film makers have wisely aged Dora by 10 years making her a smart, clever teenager, and I found the film to be cheeky and adventurous fun. The occasional injection of fantasy sequences and animated moments made me smile and laugh, and this is one adults may enjoy as much as older kids. GRADE--------------B
PEANUT BUTTER FALCON--A Down Syndrome young man escapes from his group home and hooks up with a drifter and eventually his care giver as he searches for a mythical man to train him to be a TV wrestler. Film works very well until the final 10 minutes when all semblance of reality go out the window when the wrestling fantasy takes over. Shia La Beouf, Dakota Johnson and the newcomer Zach Gottsagen are quite charming together, and John Hawkes, Bruce Dern and Thomas Haden Church give fine support. It's a lovely surprise. GRADE----------B
AD ASTRA---Here's a serious space exploration film that feels at the start to be an adult STAR TREK episode--an astronaut Brad Pitt, who plays it moody and serious, is sent to Jupiter to track down his astronaut father who disappeared 16 years earlier, and who might have discovered a power source that will destroy ALL the universe as we know it (!!!??? all the way from Jupiter!!??) and somehow he manages to get there despite all the hurdles placed in his way, and he is so so serious all the time. There are a lot of holes in this plot that made me go HUH?, but the story should be more affecting than it is. Technically the film looks good, but it moves at a snails pace at times, and by the ending I kept thinking I was watching a condensed version of the lost in space drama GRAVITY with Pitt instead of Sandra Bullock, but GRAVITY is a better film by far. GRADE---------------------C+
ANGEL HAS FALLEN--Gerard Butler is a top secret service agent for president Morgan Freeman but he is set up to appear as the attempted assassinater of the president, and must clear his name even though all government and police are searching for him. Jada Pinkit Smith plays one of the tough agents trying to track him down. We've seen this plot before and the cliches don't help much, but at least the action is continuous and there are lots of chases and gun battles and bombs exploding to keep us awake. GRADE------------C+
HUSTLERS-- Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu play struggling strippers who decide to cheat drunken men out of their money by drugging them. The film plays like a low brow drunken WOLF OF WALL STREET--where you need a shower after watching the film because all the characters are so unlikable and greedy. There's not much fun to be had in watching this play out, but at least Lopez looks impressive on a stripper pole. GRADE--------C
DON'T LET GO--Impressively playing a police detective, David Oyelow ( THE HELP, SELMA, UNITED KINGDOM, LES MISERABLES on PBS)is shocked when he starts to receive phone calls from his recently murdered niece, played well by Storm Reid. Myketi Williamson and Alfred Molina are fine in supporting roles, but someone forgot to make sense of this convoluted plot, which veers wildly from intense action sequences to WHAT THE F*** moments--sometimes within the same scene. GRADE----------C
Viewed the following on TV, Netflix or DVD---------------------------
"MO" 2010--Julie Walters is a startling revelation in this British film based on a true story of Mo Mowlam who served under Tony Blair as Secretary of State for many years until a brain tumor made it apparent she could no longer serve. I wasn't always able to follow the politics (she was instrumental in creating the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, partly by meeting with political prisoners alone without security) but Walters is so riveting in the part that it doesn't matter. It's an eye opening portrayal. Viewed on Netflix. GRADE-------A
O LUCKY MAN--1973--Star Malcolm McDonell came up with the story and part of the script, which was improvised many times throughout the film, so it is amazing that the film holds together so well. It is part satire, road trip, social commentary, and nearly a musical as there are a dozen songs written and preformed by Alan Price and his band. The large cast includes many playing multiple roles, including Helen Mirren, Mona Washbourne, Rachel Roberts and Ralph Richardson. The rambling plot has McDonell as an innocent who because of his cheerful and positive countenance is given major opportunities in advancing his career ( and also at the start of the film has many women falling at his feet so to speak.) It is not easy categorizing this film except to say that it was a funny, charming, wicked, fascinating experience, and I enjoyed this satire very much. DVD from library. GRADE----------------A-
THE SCAPEGOAT 2012--Two doppelgangers (look alike) switch places in 1952 London--one is poor and unemployed, the other is corruptly rich. The results are suspenseful and tragic. Based on a Daphne duMaurier novel, who also wrote REBECCA and THE BIRDS, this story was also filmed in 1959 with Alec Guinness and Bette Davis.
THE BOOKSHOP 2018--Emily Mortimer is a simple woman who starts a bookshop in a small conservative British town that doesn't seem to want one. Also stars Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson. The pacing is leisurely but the ending packs a memorable wallop. Viewed on Netflix. GRADE-----B
WHAT THEY HAD 2018-- An excellent cast make this poignant drama sadly hit the target, as the matriarch slips into dementia. Hilary Swain and Michael Shannon are the adult siblings, and Robert Forester and Blythe Danner are the parents. Library DVD. GRADE------------B
HOTEL 1967--Rod Taylor, Melvyn Douglas, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, and Merle Oberon star in this melodrama written by Arthur Hailey and set in New Orleans old class hotel having financial problems. From the first scene you KNOW an elevator accident will feature in the finale! Library DVD GRADE------------B-
FAST COLORS 2019 --Gugu Mbutha-Raw has some strange powers she can't quite control. She returns home to her mother and the child she left behind to build a better life. Interesting take on female empowerment. Good cast includes David Strathairn and Lorraine Tousaint. DVD received as gift. GRADE-------------------B-
I bought a 6 pack of older Spy (cold war) thrillers on DVD--with mixed results:
THE DEADLY AFFAIR--1966--This was the best one, with a classy cast including James Mason, Simone Signoret and Maximilian Scheel, based on a novel by John LeCarre. When a fellow spy is murdered after he interviews him, James Mason must find who would do such a thing. The pacing is leisurely but effective. GRADE------------B
THE EXECUTIONER-- 1970--Agent George Peppard suspects a fellow agent of being a double agent. Joan Collins and Judy Geeson costar. There's some good suspense and a sickening twist. GRADE-------------B-
MAN ON A STRING--1960-- Ernest Borgnine pretends to be a double agent for Russia, wondering when he will be discovered. There's some good suspense towards the end.
GRADE------------B-
OTLEY--1968--A light- hearted romp with Tom Courtney playing an irresponsible sticky fingered roustabout who is accused of murdering a friend. Set in swinging London. GRADE------------C+
A DANDY IN ASPECT--1968--The most stylish looking film, but the final 10 minutes are a messy confusing chaotic blur. Agent Lawrence Harvey wants to defect to Russia but agent Tom Courtney is around to stop him, and Mia Farrow is there to distract him. GRADE---------C+
HAMMERHEAD--1968--There is nothing to recommend this poor James Bond rip-off---including a bad Shirley Bassey song that sounds as close to GOLDFINGER as possible, and a non plot with a race through town in a hearse! Vince Edwards looks the part but his stony expression is no match for any of the previous Bonds. GRADE-----------D
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