Tag: review

Movie review: Little Women (2019)

best picture nominee

Little WomenI’m not an expert on the writings of Louisa May Alcott. Thus I can only judge the new movie Little Women based on what I saw on the screen. I was most impressed. My wife, on the other hand, is seeped in the story. She enjoyed it immensely.

I understand that this is a reimagining. Writer/director Greta Gerwig drew on Louisa May Alcott’s life and letters, as well as the original source. It was not strictly chronological, which confused me early on, but it soon made sense.

We really enjoyed Gerwig’s previous film, Lady Bird, which also starred Saoirse Ronan. In Little Women, she plays a Jo March that is talented, but with doubts. The Oscar-nominated Ronan was also excellent in Brooklyn and Atonement.

It seems that Gerwig has developed a troupe, of sorts, besides Saoirse. Timothée Chalamet, best known in Call Me By Your Name, was a young musician in Lady Bird, and Theodore “Laurie” Laurence in Little Women. Tracy Letts embodied Henry Ford II in the Oscar-nominated Ford v. Ferrari; he was the father in Lady Bird and Mr. Dashwood in this film.

The former Hermione Granger

They were all fine performers, as were Emma Watson as Meg, Eliza Scanlen as Beth, and the always reliable Laura Dern as Marmee, among others. Apparently, the role of the aunt was expanded, which I suppose happens when one gets Meryl Streep for the role.

But Florence Pugh as Amy was a revelation. She was a force. The performer has been in a number of movies, none of which I’ve seen, and most of which I never heard of. Her Academy Award for best supporting actress nomination was well deserved.

I’d already put Alexandre Desplat’s original score on my wishlist. I’m glad he, Greta for adapted screenplay, and costume designer Jacqueline Durran all got Oscar nods. I’m sorry, though that Greta Gerwig got left off the ballot for best director; what remains is that burger joint, five guys.

Movie review: Ford v Ferrari

Wide World of Sports

fordvferrariI read the description of Ford v Ferrari in IMBD. “American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.”

Frankly, this doesn’t sound too compelling to me. I’m not a car guy by any stretch. But as a critic put it: “Ford v Ferrari reaches beyond a niche car-enthusiast audience. The screenwriting team has really made it accessible for anyone with or without car knowledge.”

It’s partly an unlikely buddy movie with the clever, smooth-talking Texas-born Shelby (Matt Damon) encouraging, protecting and occasionally fighting with Miles, the prickly and creative Englishman. Certainly, it was a love story without a lot of hearts and flowers between Ken and wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe). Their kid Peter (Noah Jupe) is nice without being movie-kid annoying.

Shelby exploits the corporate ego of the Ford Motor Company in getting them to let him and Miles build the car they wanted to create. Ford loses yet again to their Italian rival at the 24 hours at Le Mans. The jousting between Shelby and Ford executives such as the Henry Ford II himself (Tracy Betts) was quite delicious.

NOW I remember

Finally, it’s a sports story of speed, endurance, and technology which I ended finding fascinating.

These were real-life guys I had never heard of. But I suddenly remembered that I had seen television coverage of Le Mans when I was a kid. I was probably watching it with my grandfather McKinley Green in the second-floor apartment he shared with my grandma.

I’m guessing it was on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and that the late Keith Jackson was the announcer. The TV anchor certainly was a ringer for Jackson.

At two hours, 32 minutes, it is probably too long by a quarter-hour. But Ford v Ferrari was a film both my wife and I enjoyed when we saw it at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany in December 2019.

Movie review: Dark Waters (2019)

Hoosick Falls, NY water used for drinking is contaminated with PFOA

dark watersMy wife and I went to see Dark Waters at the Spectrum Theatre in mid-December. As we came home, we realized we were both really ticked off. But it wasn’t a flaw in the movie. Rather, it was too damn effective.

Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) is a defense attorney for large corporations who just made partner at the firm. A neighbor of his grandmother’s, a West Virginia farmer named Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp) shows up at Bilott’s office. Wilbur thinks something untoward is killing his cattle.

Negotiating with the managing partner Tom Terp (Tim Robbins), Robert decides to take a quick look see at the case. Soon, he’s conversing with duPont bigwig Phil Donnelly (Victor Garber). Donnelly buries Bilott in discovery, and other stalling tactics. Eventually, this process becomes an environmental lawsuit against the major chemical company that was creating PFAS chemicals that pollute the water and much more.

Robert’s wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway), a lawyer who retired to raise the family, tries to be supportive, but the cost in Robert’s time and their lifestyle begins taking its toll.

This is a very steady, credible film. In some ways, it reminded me of the 2015 movie Spotlight, in which Boston Globe reporters were investigated alleged sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. No one wanted to believe that narrative either.

In Dark Waters, one of the young women who was getting her blood tested said, “But you won’t find anything . DuPont is good people.”

A better example might be The Firm, the movie based on the John Grisham novel, or maybe a low-key Erin Brockovich. Dark Waters is engaging and informative about corporate irresponsibility that affected millions of lives.

PFAS

When my wife and I got home that very night, we saw on NBC News a story about PFAS chemicals in the drinking water of a seemingly well-to-do Philadelphia suburb. I didn’t find that specific report, but note that PFAS chemicals have contaminated 17 sites in Pennsylvania. See also the NATIONAL map.

It’s a problem in my neck of the woods. The water depended upon by the people of Hoosick Falls, New York, for drinking and cooking is contaminated with PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). PFOA is a subset of PFAS, one those C8 “forever” substances.

As the farmer Wilbur noted, you can’t count on industry or the government to protect us. We have to count on ourselves.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Beautiful Day in the NeighborhoodThe movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood I thought was going to be some sort of biopic about Mr. Fred Rogers. But it really wasn’t.

Rather, the story concentrated on a hard-bitten journalist Tom Junod. He’s called Lloyd Vogel in the film, played by Matthew Rhys (The Americans; Brothers and Sisters). Lloyd is assigned to write a puff piece on the television performer (Tom Hanks). He interviewed Rogers extensively for what was supposed to be a 400-word piece in Esquire magazine. Because of that very clever angle, the story worked.

Tom Hanks, nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Globes, embodies Fred Rogers without overtly imitating him. I was astounded by a couple of interviewers suggesting to Hanks that playing Mr. Rogers must have been easy. Fred Rogers was nice. Tom Hanks seems nice. Those reporters showed no understanding of the craft in creating a specific persona.

Even though it it less Fred’s story than Lloyd’s, the values of guy in the cardigan sweater are clearly infused. One of the funny moments was in the trailer, but still worked. Lloyd’s wife Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson) says to her husband, “please don’t ruin my childhood.” Chris Cooper is strong as Lloyd’s estranged father.

For its time

As Ken Levine put it in his review: “As I was watching it I thought, if Fred Rogers hadn’t really existed no one would ever buy this film. We’d all be saying, ‘No one is that genuine and kind-hearted.’ But of course he was. And my second thought was ‘Boy, we sure could use him now.'” That last sentiment shows up at least in the subtext of many of the reviews I read.

I’m glad this was not the standard biopic because the 2018 documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, which I loved, already covered that territory. And if it isn’t quite as strong as the doc, the biopic nevertheless stands on its own.

(Conversely, I had a much different feeling after seeing two films about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The documentary RBG was great. The biopic On the Basis of Sex was extraneous unless you’d never seen RBG.)

I recommend A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which did made me feel better about the world. Oh, and check out a piece from the Washington Post: “What happened when I showed vintage Mister Rogers to my 21st-century kids.”

Movie review: Jojo Rabbit (2019)

emotional rollercoaster

Jojo RabbitJojo Rabbit is your basic boy coming of age story. Well, if you’re a German 10-year-old who has bought into the Nazi propaganda machine and your best friend appears to be Adolf Hitler.

The film, marketed as an anti-hate satire, is by New Zealander Taika Waititi. He previously directed Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi wrote and directed Jojo Rabbit, as well as playing a rather insecure Adolf. The movie reminded me a bit stylistically of a Wes Anderson film.

Roman Griffin Davis plays Jojo, who gained his unfortunate last name moniker from an incident at a Nazi youth camp. It was run by Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell), assisted by Frau Rahm (Rebel Wilson) and others. This is the young man’s first movie, and he’s very good.

Jojo’s mom Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is raising her son on her own, as her husband is “away.” Rosie is a delightful character, particularly in a fireplace scene. While mom was away, Jojo discovers a young woman, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding in the attic. Could she possibly be a Jew? And if she is, how should Jojo deal with her?

The emotional rollercoaster of this film should not work. Groan-worthy puns and quips precede more stark content. I suspect some folks will hate it. It certainly won’t connect with everyone.

But Jojo Rabbit worked for my wife, daughter and me when we saw it at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany on Veterans Day. It was thought-provoking, and occasionally LOL funny. Yet it was also ultimately a takedown of bigotry and prejudice.

Sidebars

Taika Waititi, who is Jewish, appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on October 17. Sometimes, he noted, he’d be directing, forgetting that he was in the Adolf garb. Then he’d catch a glimpse of himself. “I’m not directing, I’m suggesting,” he’d say to the cast.

I previously saw Thomasin McKenzie in the truly great 2018 movie Leave No Trace, which was Oscar-worthy. She, like the director, is a Kiwi, but there’s no sense of her accent in this film.

Isabella Rossellini appeared on the genealogy program Finding Your Roots in 2019. Her DNA test showed that Scarlett Johansson is related to her, certainly on her mother Ingrid Bergman’s side.

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