6/15/17 Logan, nominated Best Adapted Screenplay, 2017
I write this knowing full well that I may be in the minority, but I'll get over it. I was so excited to see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Logan, but then I heard it was heavy, and serious and so dramatic, and over two hours, I couldn't drag myself to the theater. I watched on the flight from New York to Barcelona (as one does) and it felt like the movie was longer than the flight, and I don't mean that it a good way. I fell asleep at one point. Wolverine is losing his powers, Professor X is fading fast and they're being hunted. There's a girl who has powers similar to Wolverine. Blah blah. I don't really know much else, except it was too long.
1/20/18 Marshall, Nominated Best Original Song, 2017
We need Thurgood Marshall as much today as back in the 1950s and 1960s. Marshall looks at one of Marshall's cases, when he was working for the NAACP, that was taking place in Connecticut. It might not have been as overtly racist as Mississippi, but there was definitely racism and anti-Semitism in the Northeast. Chadwick Boseman ( who also played Jackie Robinson and Black Panther) is Marshall, and is boisterous and brash and very confident, which is a little overwhelming for Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), the Jewish attorney who is 'sponsoring' Marshall (I think because Marshall was not licensed to practice in Connecticut) as well as for the judge (James Cromwell). They are representing Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown, "This is Us") who is accused of raping and attempting to kill a white woman. Marshall and Friedman come to an uneasy peace and try to figure out what Spell isn't telling them and how to get it across to a jury. It is not easy to see how this is going to turn out. The movie is good and hopefully inspired and/or educated people (it was released in the autumn, which is prime time for teachers to assign it for a class), but I didn't feel as inspired as when I watched Hidden Numbers or 42 or Selma. I think it's tough when you do a movie based on a real person or real events; there are certain expectations that an audience has. And something was missing for me; nothing to prevent me from recommending it, but I wanted more. It was nominated for Best Original Song "Stand Up For Something" and it is very good and did give me goosebumps.
1/21/18 The Post, Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, 2017
I'm struggling with my feelings about The Post; I liked it, especially the last 25 minutes, but I really wanted to love it. The story that director Steven Spielberg tells about The Washington Post's publication of the Pentagon Papers, after The New York Times was served with an injunction to prevent them from publishing any more, is an undeniable example of freedom of the press, something under attack by the current administration. The movie tells two stories, really, one is of Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) running The Post, a rare role for a woman in the 1970s, and her struggle to make her voice heard amongst her many male advisors; and then the story of publishing the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg made copies of The Pentagon Papers which were classified reports on America's involvement in the Vietnam War, unfavorable reports. Ellsberg gave much of the documentation to The New York Times, but turned to The Post after the injunction. Editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) is looking for a story and is anxious to get his hands on whatever The Times was working on. Something about the pacing of the movie bothered, maybe it was the way it bounced between Graham's personal life, life at the paper and the newsroom; it seemed uneven. The cast includes names you'll recognize, even if you don't recognize the actors under the makeup: Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford, Tracy Letts, Bruce Greenwood, David Cross and my favorite, Michael Stuhlbarg. I loved watching the process of writing, editing, setting the type, and then hitting the button for the massive machines to start printing. They don't do it like that anymore. There is the inevitable link to Watergate, and you can't help but make the connection between this and All The President's Men. The Post is an important and good film, a good history lesson, but I don't think it's the Best Picture, and I don't think Meryl Streep will win Best Actress.
1/21/18 Victoria and Abdul, Nominated Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, 2017
Alas, here is another movie that is good and pretty to watch, but not great. It's being called a 'sequel' to Mrs. Brown, which also starred Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and another man, not her husband, who threatened the Royal Household. In this case, many years later, the man is Abdul (Ali Fazal), a Muslim Indian, who is brought to England as part of Victoria's Jubilee. He charms her, and she gives him more access, and asks him to teach her Urdu and the Qu'ran. It's not hard to imagine that this did not sit well with her family or advisors, including the Prince of Wales (Eddie Izzard) and her physician, Dr. Reid, who was very obstructionist. There were times that I felt the family/retinue were clownish exaggerations. Abdul's place in the Queen's retinue was hidden from history until recently when Abdul's papers were discovered, and I was interested in that. Judi Dench is wonderful, I mean, when isn't she? You can watch this on the small screen.
