Some quality films are starting to roll out before holiday and year end, and so add to last months fine HARRIETT and JUDY come some of the better of the year so far-----
DARK WATERS--Director Todd Haynes gives the film a natural, dark look using only available lighting- --which adds to the grim seriousness of this legal thriller when DuPont was sued for poisoning an entire community by disposing of deadly chemicals in and near their water supply. Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the quiet lawyer who takes on a client suing DuPont only because the client knew his mother. The film shows how little wins can finally add up to giant victories over time with patience. The engrossing and intense film keeps us captive through even the most despairing moments. Very well done. GRADE-------------A-
QUEEN AND SLIM---Who'd guess that one of the more moving of this years low budget films was produced, written and directed by a woman and features one of the better women's roles of the year? This magical wonder has two characters on a first date to a simple, "greasy spoon" cafe (he choose it because he likes the down home waitress and it's "black owned.") They don't hit it off real well, but on the way home they get stopped by a white cop with an alternative agenda, and find themselves on the run, meeting and depending on the kindness of strangers and slowly building a trusting relationship between them. It's a simple story and there are not a lot of surprises, except that the film becomes a moving and profound microcosm of racial injustice in America. Daniel Kaluuya (GET OUT, BLACK PANTHER, WIDOWS) and newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith (who previously did some modeling, some TV shows, and music videos) are both sensational together--she is especially compelling. GRADE---------------B+
KNIVES OUT--It's not exactly the best of Agatha Christie, but certainly worthy of her style. This all star murder mystery thriller is full of twists and the obligatory surprises--it's a classy mystery that will keep you guessing. At the half way point you are told what happened, but of course there are some more twists to keep you going. With an entertaining cast including Daniel Craig as a famous detective, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Chris Evans as suspected family members, Christopher Plummer as the deceased who appears in numerous flashbacks, and a dozen other potential murderers associated with the family, all of whom are stylishly and distinguishably played. GRADE----------B+
LAST CHRISTMAS---Written by actor Emma Thompson, who also appears in this romantic comedy/drama, the projectile of this story starts off in typical romantic comedy fashion. A cranky young woman with health problems keeps running into a charmingly handsome but mysterious man just a few weeks before Christmas. Lucky us Anglophiles! The movie is filmed in London at Christmas time, featuring seasonal displays, Christmas music (a lot of great stuff from George Michael, especially the title song) and holiday lights galore, so that it becomes a true pleasure to watch. The cast headed by Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding,Thompson and Michelle Yeoh give it their all. But then it happens--an ethereal scene that changes the whole thrust of the film, changing everything that has come before, and after and it really hit me--in a very nice way. If you're a Scrooge, you probably will be pissed off, but I found a wonderful surprise in my stocking for the holiday season! GRADE--------------B+
FORD VS FERRARI---Here's a solid, technically proficient drama with exciting race car scenes that moves along at a gallop. Race car movies are not my favorite theme to get involved with, but if you give it a chance, you'll find yourself caught up in the mile aux. Based on a true story of two racing competitors who join together with Ford to create a new racing car for the Le Mans race of 1966, Christian Bale and Matt Damon keep us involved in the action. GRADE--------B+
PAIN AND GLORY--Pedro Almodorvo's latest feels the most autobiographical, and as usual with his cinematography, the film is drenched in vivid colors and art pieces. This helps keep the film which deals with his personal issues like his illnesses and drug addiction and homosexuality from feeling like a pity party. It's another triumph from Pedro. GRADE--------B+
THE GOOD LIAR--Two strong performances by Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren (who oddly have never been in the same film together before!) star in this deceptive thriller with a few good twists about revenge, love, trust and memory. The film is a pleasure to watch, satisfying and thoughtful. GRADE------------------B
JOJO RABBIT--This satiric, comedy drama is set near the end of WWII when a young German pre- teen boy is philosophizing with a comedic Hitler, (think Mel Brooks) trying to learn to become a little Nazi (with no idea of what that involves) and must befriend a young Jewish girl who lives in his attic! Some comic scenes are very funny, and as the film becomes more dramatic, the film becomes heartbreaking. It's an odd combination but it's also a unique experience. With Rebel Wilson and Scarlett Johanson as his mother and Sam Rockwell as his Nazi camp leader. Director Taika Waititi plays the wacky Hitler. GRADE-----------B
21 BRIDGES-- This straightforward police thriller has a beleaguered Chadwick Boseman as a top cop assigned to a drug case where 7 cops were killed---his solution is to close down all 21 bridges out of Manhattan to keep the two killers from escaping by car, bus, train or foot, but it becomes clear from the start that he is also dealing with a lot of cops on the take. The cast includes a very tough Sienna Miller, with J.K. Simmons, Taylor Kitsch and others. GRADE---------B
CHARLIE'S ANGELS--I never watched the TV series, and missed the last two movie reincarnations but I was interested because of some positive reviews. I had fun with this film. Lots of double entondres, lots of fist fights and bare knuckle business, lots of spying and special contraptions---this is like a milder version of a high stakes 007 film, and until the next James Bond, this will do just fine for filler. GRADE-------B-
MIDWAY--There are a lot (dozens) of mostly young men in uniform or in cockpits wearing oxygen masks, so sometimes it was difficult to determine who was who, but this telling of the Pearl Harbor attack and the Midway attack during WWII is lifted up by spectacular visuals of air battles and ship attacks that are very realistic and startling. Very strongly thumbs up if interested. GRADE-------------------B-
THE IRISHMAN--I wanted to like this film more than I did, but found nothing new in the gangster category to justify this rehash of other more interesting Martin Scorsese gangster films. The pacing is very leisurely (it is well over 3 hours in the telling) and should have been edited by about 30 minutes without losing anything. The casting was strong, with Al Pacino coming out best as hard headed union rep Jimmy Hoffa, and Joe Pesci is refreshingly low key while still being sinister. Robert DeNiro was the strong but silent type and looks convincing with the aging special effects. Perhaps most annoying in my enjoyment of the film was a woman directly across the aisle from me who had her leg crossed at the knee and exasperatedly rocked her leg up and down for most of the 3hour 40 minute length, as if bored to tears. GRADE------------------------C+
MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN--Written, directed and acted by Edward Norton, the story is the weak point here. Set in the 1950's, it tells of New York City real estate corruption in a moody film noir type of style. Unfortunately, it is nearly 2 1/2 hours and the plot does not sizzle like it should. I did appreciate Norton's characterization of a Tourette Syndrome would be detective who tries to solve the murder of his boss Bruce Willis. He provides much needed levity with his blurted profanities and inappropriate comments and nearly alone becomes the main reason for seeing this film, although other actors including Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Bobby Cannavale are first rate. Unfortunately there is some confusion about what exactly happens at the end and a major post film discussion needed to occur. GRADE----------C
Films viewed on DVD or TV--------------------------
ROSEMARY'S BABY 1967--Some how I never got around to seeing Roman Polanski's first American masterpiece as a whole, although I've read about it and seen enough clips to feel like I've seen it. So it's a real revelation to say, watching it start to finish for the first time that I was really creeped out and disturbed by the film as a whole, and many scenes were very intense. The Satanic rape scene was particularly disturbing, as is the birth and post natal sequence. Scene to scene is skillfully tension building, and the treatment Rosemary gets from her husband in particular and other women in general is very sad indeed. This is not a liberating film for women. Ruth Gordon who plays a noisy neighbor and heads the local Satanic group was amusingly creepy and won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her efforts. She had been nominated three other times for her screenplays. This was a major breakthrough for Mia Farrow--she'd spent a couple years in Peyton Place, a TV soap opera, and a couple TV movies, but became a substantial actor after that (plus her marriage to Frank Sinatra helped.) The film is still amazingly effective today. GRADE-------------A
SLIM 1937--A young Henry Fonda gets a first job as an electrical lineman in the depression under his foreman Pat Obrien, and the two men form a bromance--and they both fall in love with Obrien's sometimes girlfriend. I kept thinking they should form a menage au trois and live happily ever after. Some effective scenes of tension occur on the high wires, and there's a couple of startling moments as men fall to their death. The dialogue is pretty clever and the film kept me entertained one late evening. GRADE-------------B
BEN IS BACK 2018--I don't remember this getting a theatrical screening (in Seattle) last year and I can understand why. Julia Roberts is surprised when her drug addicted son appears on her doorstep the day before Christmas, claiming to have been released for the holiday for good behavior from rehab. Unfortunately, his bad habits lead to lying, revenge, violence and tragedy. This is not the Christmas film you may have been expecting, and although the cast is quite good and the plot keeps building in tension, the over all feeling is one of sadness and resignation. GRADE-------------B
LOVER COME BACK 1962--Doris Day and Rock Hudson star as competing agents from different ad agencies completing for the account of a product that doesn't exist yet. Womanizer Hudson treats Day in a condensending manner, hoping to get her into bed----not til the end of the film does Day get her revenge, and silly though it is at times, there are a number of witty gags. GRADE---------------B-
LEGEND 2015---Twin gangsters (played by Tom Hardy) rule London in the mid 1960's with force and violence. Hardy is pretty good, but the plotting and direction seem vague and predictable. GRADE-------------C
CHAIN LIGHTENING 1950--Humphrey Bogart plays air force pilot who returns after WWII and meets up with woman (Eleanor Parker) he nearly wed before war ended. Part soap opera, part drama about trying to break sound barrier, but actors talk too fast (if feels more like farce) and romantic triangle feels unconvincing. GRADE-----------------C-
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