Tag: review

Movie review: Hamnet

director Chloé Zhao.

My wife and I looked forward to seeing the new movie Hamnet. So in mid-December, we went to the Spectrum 8 in Albany.

This is what I liked: the mysterious nature of Agnes (Jessie Buckley), who is a healer and a bit of a mystic. Unsurprisingly, Will (Paul Mescal) is captivated by her. There’s definitely serious chemistry there. After she becomes pregnant, and despite resistance from both their families, they marry.

Wait. Do you know what this sounds like? The actual courtship of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare, who got married in 1582. The story is based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet. Due to the non-standardization of  English in 16th and 17th-century England, Anne/Agnes, and for that matter Hamnet/Hamlet, are essentially the same.  

This is something we unfortunately did not like: the dialogue was often hard to follow. Sometimes, it was volume, sometimes the words, occasionally both. And it wasn’t just us; I could hear other people in the theater whisper, “What did they say?”

Language barrier

I have a working theory about this. From the Times of London: “Chloé Zhao…, said she understood only a third of the language and depended on [Mescal] to guide her on set.” She said: “When I was on set of Hamnet, when Paul was delivering his speech, I only understand a third of it, technically, because I don’t understand what those words mean.”

Further,  she noted, ” Paul said to me, ‘Listen, if Shakespeare is performed right, you don’t have to understand what they’re saying. You feel it in the body, the language is written like that.’”

I think there is an element of truth in that. Still, I’m more aligned with Adrian Chiles in the Guardian. “You know what that is, don’t you? That’s balls, that’s what that is. Of course, you need to understand what’s being said and what’s going on. At least I do. I’ve often been told not to trouble myself with such trifling details. Just let the artistry wash over you, I’m told, and consider how it makes me feel. Well, I’ll tell you how it makes me feel. It makes me feel confused, rather inadequate, frustrated, even angry, ultimately disengaged, and therefore bored. Just plain bored.”

I was confused and frustrated, for sure. Yet there was enough in the two crucial moments to sustain me. One is mentioned in the IMDb description and on Anne Hathaway’s Wikipedia page. (Yet there were people in the theater who were audibly confused.)

The other critical moment is the play’s production, which, interestingly, was MUCH easier to hear. 

It was good enough that I might watch it again at home. Young Jacobi Jupe as the title character was quite good. But I would turn on the captions. Critics were 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences at 93% thumbs-up.  

Movie review: Grand Hotel (1932)

Garbo, Crawford and TWO Barrymores

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went to the Spectrum Theatre in Albany to see the film Grand Hotel. I didn’t review it then because I was struggling for a narrative.

It came across, at least early on, as stagey and melodramatic. From Wikipedia: “Alfred Rushford Greason of Variety, comparing the film to the stage production, wrote, “[it] may not entirely please the theatregoers who were fascinated by its deft stage direction and restrained acting, but it will attract and hold the wider public to which it is now addressed.”

Once the story started revealing itself, it became more interesting. Doctor Otternschlag (Lewis Stone), a permanent resident of the Grand Hotel in Berlin, observes, “People coming, going. Nothing ever happens.” He is proven wrong on the latter point.

Felix von Gaigern (John Barrymore) has the title of baron, but the assets from his position are spent. He survives as a gambler and sometimes a thief. Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) has a fatal condition and decides to enjoy his remaining days at the luxurious hotel.

General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery) seems to be a decent industrialist trying to close an important deal. He hires aspiring actress Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford) as his stenographer.

Russian ballerina Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) is no longer packing theaters, causing her despair.

Most of these folk interact. As we get to know them, we find that the thief has a conscience and that the industrialist is not as nice as he initially seems.

Kael says

The Times of London wrote: “Even all this brilliance of acting and even the remarkable ingenuity of the production cannot disguise the simple artifice of the whole construction, which seems all the more obvious in a plotless story designed to show a section of life.” I wouldn’t say plotless. It was more that the strands began to overlap.

The late, great Pauline Kael (1919-2001) wrote in the New Yorker: “There is every reason to reject Grand Hotel as an elaborate chunk of artifice… But if you want to see what screen glamour used to be, and what, originally, ‘stars’ were, this is perhaps the best example of all time.”

Notice the word “artifice” in both quotes. Yes, the acting seemed, at times, overly affected. Then I remembered that this movie was released in the early days of film with audible dialogue.

So I was glad I saw it. It has Garbo’s “I want to be alone” quote. Two brothers in the legendary Barrymore family are represented; Drew Barrymore is John’s granddaughter.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

the album Nebraska

It occurred to me after seeing the movie Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, and then reading the heavily negative reviews (Rotten Tomatoes was only 59% positive), either my wife and I saw a different film or they were had different expectations.

Of course, we watched the movie at the Spectrum Theater in Albany. I was very much taken by young Bruce’s relationship with his father, and his great affection for his mother. The Boss talked about that during his brief Broadway run Springsteen on Broadway.

Some of the reviewers were saying this film was not worthy of an artist such as Bruce Springsteen. But the fact that the singer was heavily involved in giving feedback to actor Jeremy Allen White who portrayed the Boss was significant. Clearly, it was real enough and meaningful enough to him that he wanted to share this narrative of his depression.

The movie is about the period after Bruce had released the River album in 1980, a big double album hit that included the #5 pop hit Hungry Heart, followed by months on the road. Naturally, the record company was looking forward to the next chart mover.

When he decides to veer into uncommercial territory, recording Nebraska onto a cassette, barren and unpolished, the people on his label didn’t know what to make of that. He didn’t even want his picture on the cover. For more info about the album, go here.

Reviews

One of the positive reviews: “It’s an admirable adaptation that sometimes goes out of its way to avoid the usual cliches and pitfalls of the typical big-screen rock flick. But it also wants to be one.” That’s a fair assessment.

Another: “Jeremy Allen White captures the essence of Springsteen. To its credit, it’s not the conventional biopic of his whole career, but the problem is that the section they picked is not compelling to a normal viewer. Springsteen fans will find it more intriguing.” I’ll admit to having quite a number of the albums by the Boss. But my wife, who is at best a casual Boss fan and has never heard Nebraska, was nevertheless captivated. 

A negative review: “I have to think Bruce Springsteen was a little more exciting to be around during the creation of Nebraska. No way he was this dull.” Of course, I can’t answer that, but I have known depressed people, and it seems plausible. 

The fans were more supportive, 83% positive. I was very affected by Deliver Me From Nowhere, maybe even a little teary-eyed. 

Movie review: The Lost Bus

2018 SoCal fires

My wife wanted to go to the Spectrum Theater and see the new movie, The Lost Bus. Unfortunately, when I looked at the schedule on what I believe was the first Friday after it had opened, it was no longer available there, which disappointed my wife.

I wondered if it’s on one of those streaming services we happen to have, which I can access on the Roku that will facilitate that. Sure enough, there it was on Apple+. My wife made popcorn.

The film is based on a true story about the 2018 California fires. Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaugh) is a guy just hanging on. His father died recently, and he is taking care of his mother and has joint custody of his angry teenage son. He has a job as a school bus driver, but he’s not good with the regulations, such as bringing the bus in for inspection.  

Meanwhile, a moderate-sized fire is miles away, but because of the terrain, it cannot be contained. As the fire spreads, schools need to be evacuated. Kevin has an empty bus, so he goes to an elementary school and picks up Mary (America Ferrera) and her nearly two dozen students. 

McKay’s son Shaun was played by McConaugh’s real-life son, Levi. Matthew said on a TV show that because his father-son relationship with Levi was so solid, he encouraged his son to play the role as caustically as possible. 

Burning

Harrowing fire stuff happens, which probably would have been more intense on the big screen. But it was nerve-wracking enough, especially at the highlight of the film. Indeed, the exposition setup was necessary, but the disaster creates the tension. What was as interesting as the attempted escape from the fire was the firefighters’ scenes as they slowly realize this is an inferno like they had never seen.     

The film was directed and co-written by Paul Greengrass, who’s known for how well he presents films based on real events (United 93, Bloody Sunday). 

Scores on Rotten Tomatoes were 87% postive with critics and 94% with fans. One critic noted, “This is a spectacle-type movie but didn’t feel like a spectacle.” Another critic complained about “the refusal to acknowledge the climate changes making bushfires ever more savage.” As I complain a lot, that wasn’t the film Greengrass was making; he was addressing the surprise/shock and ultimate lack of preparation in 2018. 

There’s Red Cross page featuring McConaugh and Ferrera urging people to be prepared for wildfires.  

Movie review: Eleanor the Great

June Squibb stars in ScarJo’s directorial premiere

My wife and I saw the movie Eleanor the Great at a recent Saturday matinee at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. We were not disappointed. The IMDb noted, “After a devastating loss, witty and proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein, 94, tells a tale that takes on its own dangerous life.”

Eleanor (June Squibb) lived with her long-time friend Bessie (Rita Zohar), a pair of widows, for over a decade. Bessie was a Holocaust survivor who shared harrowing details with her friend.

After Bessie’s death, Eleanor moved to Manhattan to live with her daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and her grandson Max (Will Price). Eleanor and Lisa have a tricky relationship.

To fill her mom’s day, Lisa recommended that Eleanor go to an event at the Jewish Community Center. It turns out that it’s a Holocaust survivor’s group, and Eleanor is not a survivor. But she knows another’s story quite well. The group is entranced, especially college student Lisa (Erin Kellyman), who wants to write about Eleanor for her class.

Lisa, too, has experienced loss and is having a tough time connecting with her father, local newsman Roger Davis (Chiwetel Ejiofor).  

Critics

Eleanor the Great is Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. We liked the film a lot. An interesting device was having a flashback serve as the last scene.  

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 67% positive reviews from critics and 93% from the audience.  I believe the majority of the negative comments the film either addressed or wasn’t saying.

“Dull portrait of friendship”? Meh. 

“This comedy/drama is problematic because it tries to make dishonesty and rudeness from an old person look cute.” The dishonesty wasn’t cute; she fell into it, much to our discomfort. And Eleanor WAS a bit rude. I hope I’m that rude at 94. 

Tara McNamera noted: “Plenty will see this film about sidestepping the truth as standard fare—cute enough, maybe even a little thought-provoking—but they’ll be missing the bigger picture. In fact, Scarlett Johansson‘s feature directing debut is remarkable. The story of Eleanor the Great is powerful… It’s a very personal story, with shocking details about Nazi cruelty and the lasting trauma inflicted on the survivors of their hatred.”

I liked June Squibb in Nebraska and Thelma, and I loved her in Eleanor the Great.

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