Proud Mary

Who knew that Taraji P. Henson could play a bad ass? In “Proud Mary” she plays an assassin who works for the Black mob in Boston. The head of the organization, played by Danny Glover, raised her as a daughter. She ends up taking in a boy whose father was one of her hits. To help the boy she ends up killing the guy who “owns” him and sets off a war. She wants out, but Glover won’t let her go. There is a lot of action and a huge body count. The film is entertaining and full of action. Not the greatest, but it kept my interest.

I, Tonya

I wasn’t sure what to expect from “I, Tonya”, the story of Tonya Harding’s rise to fame and then her fall. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. First, the story was told in documentary style with the characters being interviewed. Second, it was told with a lot of humor because the people involved were so horrible to each other that if it was done any other way the story would be totally depressing. I knew that Harding came from a lower class background, but I did not know how abusive most of her relationships were. Her mother is a monster, but she recognized Tonya’s talent. Her way of encouraging her was to put her down in terrible ways, even physically abusing her. From her mother’s house she went to her husband’s, Jeff Gillooly, another abusive loser whose best friend gives new definition to stupid. According to the movie Tonya was a victim of all this stupidity and being surrounded by idiots. Margot Robbie does an incredible job as Harding and Allison Janney is brilliant as her mother. Very entertaining and well done.

Phantom Thread

Despite the title, this is not another installment of the Star Wars saga. It is the story of 1950’s high fashion dress maker Reynolds Woodcock in London, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. The film was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who is somewhat of a cinema auteur. His recent works include “There Will Be Blood” and “The Master”. The role of the dress designer is one of Day-Lewis’s most normal acting jobs. While playing an eccentric, he isn’t invisible within the character like he was in “Lincoln” or “Gangs of New York”. Don’t get me wrong, he is still very intense. Woodcock is eccentric and obsessed by his work. As with all Paul Thomas Anderson films, it is beautifully shot, technically proficient and has a wonderful score. Also like his other movies, it is way too long. He is one of those writer-directors who needs someone else to edit his films. When sitting through an Anderson film, I hear myself saying, “Enough already! We get the point.” Supporting Day-Lewis are Vicky Krieps as his love interest/muse and Lesley Manville as his sister/business partner. Both actresses hold their own with him, which is not an easy thing to do. Day-Lewis has said he plans to retire from film making after this one. It’s too bad he couldn’t wait to do that until he made another great one.

Call Me By Your Name

“Call Me By Your Name” is one of the best reviewed movies of 2017. It’s the story of a seventeen year old boy living in northern Italy with his parents who invite a graduate student to live with them for the summer. Romance ensues. Did I mention that the grad student is male? The whole thing is tastefully done, beautifully filmed, well acted, and very, very slow. In my opinion it would have worked with twenty minutes cut out of it. Timothee Chalamet plays the young boy and he is amazing. He shows the emotions of a boy that age realistically, both good and bad. Armie Hammer as the graduate student is the best he has been since “The Social Network” and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Chalamet’s father, doesn’t have much to do until the end, but then he has a scene that is beautifully written and incredibly acted. Chalamet, Hammer and Stuhlbarg are all being talked about for Oscar nominations. I wasn’t overly impressed.

The Post

How ironic is it that two of the best newspaper movies ever made dealt with the Washington Post during the Nixon administration? I have always thought that “All the President’s Men” was one of the best films made about news reporting. Now comes “The Post” which tells the story of what it took to get the Pentagon Papers published. When the government put a halt to the New York Times revealing what was in them, Katherine Graham and Ben Bradlee risked a lot to publish them in the Post. Along the way I learned that the Washington Post was not considered a major paper before the Pentagon Papers and that most of the men on her board walked all over Mrs. Graham. Meryl Streep once again inhabits a character, becoming someone different than she has played before. Tom Hanks, as Bradlee, does what he does best; he plays honest, tough and forthright. The supporting cast is excellent and this being a Steven Spielberg movie, it is filmed beautifully with a score, by John Williams, that enhances the whole film. “The Post” is a great film that tells an important story about freedom of speech and why we need journalists to do their job.

Paddington 2

I enjoyed “Paddington” when it came out a few years ago. It was witty, smart and cute, the perfect family movie. I especially liked the English humor, not Monty Python but more Winnie the Pooh. So, I went to see its sequel, appropriately titled “Paddington 2”. I figured it would be a continuation of the charm of the first one or a dud. Well it pretty much followed the first one, though there were parts of it that were sappy. The added casting of Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson livened things up. Paddington is still the naive bear who only sees the good in everyone to comic results. The technology is flawless in bringing him to life. You really think of him as a person. Grant overacts, but it is what the part calls for since he plays a washed up ham actor. Enjoyable, light, G-rated. A bit of fluff. Perfect for kids. If you are looking for sophisticated drama, stay away.

The Darkest Hour (From December 30, 2017)

I also saw “The Darkest Hour”, the story of Winston Churchill’s rise to Prime Minister at one of the worst times in English history. Gary Oldman becomes Churchill the way that Jamie Foxx became Ray Charles, Daniel Day-Lewis became Abraham Lincoln and Marion Cottilard became Edith Piaf; he inhabits the character. His acting is nothing short of brilliant and I am saying that as someone who is not a Gary Oldman fan. I learned a lot about how Churchill’s own party disliked and disrespected him because he was a volatile person who had made some bad decisions and about the conflicts he faced. This is an historical drama, well acted and detail oriented. If you saw “Dunkirk” this summer and want to see what was happening over in England at the same time, this movie tells you. Not a lot of action, but I found it very interesting.

Pitch Perfect 3

My review for “Pitch Perfect 3”: They should have stopped at two. I liked the first two installments because they were clever, funny and different. The cast was fine this time, but there really wasn’t much that was new except we learned Fat Amy’s back story. We learned almost nothing about new characters and even the production numbers were uninspired. This is a wait for cable movie. Andrew Rossman See? I don’t like every movie I see.

The Commuter

Liam Neeson has become the go-to guy for action movies debuting in January. His latest entry is “The Commuter” where he plays an allegedly mild mannered insurance salesman who has an epically bad day. As bad as that day is, his commute home is ten times worse. He is drawn into a plot that he has no control over, a sort of sick game of cat and mouse. It is not your typical terror on a train movie. Instead it is one of the most suspenseful movies I have seen in a long time. There are just enough action sequences to keep your interest. They might have subtitled it “Taken on a Train”, but it’s more than that. The plot is tight, clever and keeps you guessing until the end. If you like suspense, action and Liam Neeson being a bad ass, go see this movie.

All the Money in the World

We saw “All the Money in the World” last night. This is the film that costarred Kevin Spacey, but when the sexual scandal surfaced they refilmed all of his scenes with Christopher Plummer in less than 30 days. It’s the story of the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty’s grandson. Getty was the richest man in the world and refused to pay the ransom. Like most Ridley Scott films it is brilliantly filmed. I do not normally like Michelle Williams because I find her acting stagey, but in this film she was natural and quite good. Christopher Plummer adds another great performance to his resume, playing a miser who only loves money. I am not sure if it will get any awards but it is a very good movie.