Finally The Black Panther, a double dose of Ferdinand, and one very greedy man

4/7/18 Ferdinand, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2017
4/21/18 Ferdinand the Bull, Best Animated Short, 1938

I don't know if it's fair to put these two films that share a name and essentially a similar plot line but are separated by 80 years in the same review, but it sure is convenient. Both films are based on the book The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson and feature Ferdinand the flower loving bull. The 2017 film stars John Cena as Ferdinand and a cast of well known personalities as the supporting cast: Peyton Manning (yes, that Peyton Manning), Anthony Anderson, David Tennant and Kate McKinnon as the comfort goat (and who should had a short film all her own). Ferdinand is a lover, not a fighter, but through some unexpected and undesired consequences, Ferdinand finds himself getting ready for a very important bull fight. Kate McKinnon was really my favorite part of the whole movie, otherwise, I didn't find it very original or engaging, and certainly not worthy of an Oscar-nomination. Watch Coco or Kubo and the Two Strings or my favorite recommendation, The Boxtrolls. Ferdinand the Bull won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1938. It's much simpler, with one person, Don Wilson (announcer for "The Jack Benny Show"), narrating and doing the voices (there is actually very little dialogue). That might seem quaint given the star-studded voice casts these days, but it's similar to a parent reading to a child and doing all the voices. The short is only seven minutes plus, but it tells the story of Ferdinand without a lot of fluff and filler.

4/15/18 All the Money in the World, nominated Best Supporting Actor, 2017

I think what most people are going to remember about All the Money in the World is very last minute casting change, after the film was for the most part completed, with Christopher Plummer replacing Kevin Spacey as billionaire J. Paul Getty. The movie is about the abduction of Getty's grandson, Paul, by an organized crime ring, and just as notoriously, the senior Getty's reluctance to pay the ransom. Battling Getty for her son's life is Gail Harris (Michelle Williams); Harris divorced Pauls' father, but walked away from any potential settlement in order to retain custody of her children; her husband, Paul II, was a drug addict and an otherwise useless person in his younger days. Acting as a link between the two camps is Fletcher Chace (Mark Wahlberg), security advisor and other duties as assigned to Getty, Chace finds himself dubious of the kidnapping plot, but becomes convinced of the reality, and becomes an advocate for Gail. Charlie Plummer plays the unfortunate young Paul. Director Ridley Scott knows how to tell a tense tale, and even if you are familiar with the events of 1973, it's still a little shocking to hear Getty be so cold and calculating (literally) about why he shouldn't or wouldn't pay the ransom (it would inspire other kidnappings of his grandchildren or that he didn't have enough money - he was the richest man in the world at the time). I enjoyed the movie, but I didn't love it, and I can't quite put my finger on it, something was missing. As for Christopher Plummer as Best Supporting Actor, I'm not sure he was better than Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and I'm also not sure if he would have been nominated if not for the last minute substitution. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but I think it's a legitimate question.

4/16/18 The Black Panther, 2018

You know me, I love my super hero movies, but I was so burned out from Oscar season, it took me almost three months to get my ass to a theatre, even with regular nagging from my brother. I may be one of the last people on the planet to see The Black Panther. But, I finally did, and I loved it. The Black Panther is the final film before Avengers: Infinity Wars, which is promising to be the mother of all super hero films. Director and co-writer, Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) brings the sense of fun that I like in my comic book movies, but also a strong sense of purpose and empowerment and history from a different perspective. Chadwick Boseman (who has portrayed real people - Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and Ernie Davis) is T'Challa, the Black Panther, newly crowned king of Wakanda. He inherits the throne after his father, T'Chaka is killed, and he defeats a challenger to the throne. The kingdom of Wakanda is built upon a stash of vibranium, the most powerful metal/element in the world, and it has helped to sustain and strengthen Wakanda, while keeping it isolated from the rest of the world, including its African neighbors. There are those who are trying to steal the vibranium, including Klaue (played by Andy Serkis, who looks like he really bulked up for this role, you may be more familiar with Serkis in his performance capture roles like Smeagle, Caesar or King Kong). Klaue hires a few mercenaries to help him, one of whom turns out to be T'Challa's cousin, N'Jadaka/Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who has his own agenda. These competing goals lead to some pretty intense and awesome battle scenes. The movie succeeds on so many levels for me: the action, the humor, the effects, the story and the cast. The cast was incredible with Angela Bassett as T'Challa's mother who is so regal; Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, T'Challa's love interest, but also a strong, wily woman; Jordan taps into his evil side with pleasure; Boseman makes you think there could be a lot more Panther movies and you wouldn't mind a bit; Letitia Wright as T'Challa's sister, Shuri, who is the teenage equivalent of Q from James Bond - she has brains and crazy technical skills, but also an irrepressible spirit and sense of humor (there have been calls for Shuri to get her own action figure/be a new type of Disney princess); Daniel Kaluuya (straight from his Oscar-nominated performance in Get Out); and my personal favorite, Danai Gurira (from Grinnell, Iowa and graduate of St. Paul's Macalester College) as Okoye, the head of Wakanda's special forces who was fantastic - we need more female roles like Okoye. The story does not shy away from the theme of racial inequality, but also the empowerment and enlightenment of African Americans and minorities. Maybe it's an oversimplification on my part, but just like Wonder Woman gave little girls a glimpse of powerful and intelligent women who were more than capable of taking care of themselves and breaking stereotypes; I think The Black Panther has given that same glimpse to young African Americans - physical strength, but also technology that defies anything the so-called "first world" has come up with; and demonstrates the importance of science among girls and minorities. So far, the movie has earned over 1 billion dollars and something about convinced the Saudi Arabian government to make The Black Panther the first movie shown in public movie theaters since 1979. I could probably go on, but I just loved this movie and I'm really glad that I saw it on the big screen.

As a post-script: Rachel Morrison was the cinematographer - she was nominated for an Oscar for Mudbound, the first woman to receive that nomination. And, speaking of Oscars, I expect a few technical awards, let's see if it can get one of the other categories.

Watch these 2017 nominated films: A Fantastic Woman and Faces Places

3/12/18 A Fantastic Woman, Best Foreign Film, 2017
Normally when it takes me a long time to write a review it's because I didn't like the movie, or worse, didn't care about the movie, and can't figure out how to express that. I have to say that is totally NOT the case with A Fantastic Woman, winner of the Best Foreign Film for 2017. I think what happened is I was so burned out from cramming in movies in a condensed period of time, I just couldn't do it. However, I ready now. If you watched the Oscars, you saw the star of A Fantastic Woman, Daniela Vega, as the first transgender presenter for the awards. The film is set in Chile, and Vega is Marina, a singer and waitress, who is the girlfriend of an older man, Orlando (Francisco Reyes). After a night out of celebrating, Orlando doesn't feel well, and Marina takes him to the hospital. Orlando dies, and Marina calls his brother, Gabo, to explain what happened. Gabo is aware of their relationship, and is the most sympathetic of Orlando's family. The movie follows Marina as she deals with the loss of her partner, but not being able to grieve openly because of his family and society's fears and prejudices against transgender people. I found her to be an incredibly likeable and sympathetic character, and I got upset and angry at the way she was treated by the police, who on the one hand tried to accuse her of beating Orlando, but then were condescending towards her, and thought she was forced into the relationship. I wanted to scream at the screen. The battle she has with Orlando's ex-wife (I'm not sure if that was a translation error, or if it's a cultural difference, because she seemed to have a lot of power as an ex-wife) broke my heart. Writer/director Sebastian Lelio could have easily made this into a campy film, playing into negative stereotypes, or more sexualized, but he made Marina (I believe he said in his acceptance speech that Daniela was the inspiration for Marina) a very real and accessible character, ultimately hopeful. I think Vega could have been nominated for Best Actress, she was that good. There were a couple of scenes that reminded me of Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (this is kind of a non-sequitur, but I wanted to mention it). I have been recommending this movie to anyone I think will give it a try; foreign films often scare people away, and the topic of transgenderism can make people uncomfortable, but I hope you give this a try. Here's how great I think it is: I was going to see it a second time, the day after I saw it, with my brother. I rarely watch movies more than once.

3/31/18 Faces Places, nominated Best Documentary, 2017

Faces Places by Agnes Varda and JR is the last of the nominated documentaries for 2017, and the only one I had not seen prior to the Oscars. I don't think it should have won, but it was by far better than the ultimate winner, Icarus. Agnes Varda, a French filmmaker, has been making films since the 1950s (she's a contemporary of Jean-Luc Goddard) and JR is a French photographer and artist who does a lot of his work in the streets. These two artists connected and wanted to do a project celebrating people in the French countryside. They drove around in a big truck that actually produced large format photographs and made huge posters. One of the first installations they did was in a mining town, on a street where everybody was gone, except for one woman, Jeannine, who still lived in her house. JR re-printed some existing, vintage photographs in giant size and pasted them on the buildings. It was quite something to see the response of the village to these representations of the lives of their parents and grandparents. Varda and JR go from farm to village to seaside and meet people and talk to them, and find that little nugget of information or history that makes the encounter special, and the photographs unique. The photos can last a few weeks, days or hours, depending on the weather conditions and the environment. The viewer gets a brief glimpse of different French towns, but also gets to observe the relationship between Varda and JR, which is sometimes teasing, sometimes educational, sometimes a lesson in film and film history, like when they visited the home of Jean-Luc Goddard, to unexpected results. If you watch the movie on DVD, there is an interview with JR and Agnes that talks about how they made the film, how they chose their locations, their friendship, and I found that as interesting as the documentary, and in fact, just ordered Varda's film The Gleaners and I from the library.