A running tab of movies I’ve seen in theaters or at home, and a quick comment about them. I’ve succumbed to the idea of assigning a personal score for each film. My scale:
- 4 Stars – One of the best, well recommended
- 3 Stars – Recommended, but some issues here and there
- 2 Stars – Problematic, hard to recommend
- 1 Star – Disappointment, stay away
The Trip to Spain; Dec. 2017 on flight to London. With our plane’s diversion to Boston we had more time than usual to watch films, so I had a second look at this installment of The Trip series. I enjoyed it the first time for the gags and to see where they went. This time I had a better appreciation of the secondary asides and offhand comments that really are the best part of this series. I like to thing these films are as loose and unscripted as they seem. Also on flight I took in a couple of episodes of the Alan Partridge series with Steve Coogan. I didn’t realize that Armando Iannucci (who did Veep) was one of the creators/writers/directors. I need to see more of these. 3 Stars.
Churchill; Dec. 2017 on flight to London. This was a much weaker study of Churchill’s wartime contribution, focusing on the days before the Normandy invasion. It presents a weakened, vacillating prime minister having doubts about the success of the invasion. It’s an interesting choice of story line, but opens lots of questions of credibility of the screenplay. How do they know what his doubts were? Why, in this case, are they being exhumed? Brian Cox plays Churchill and comes up well short of Gary Oldham in his impersonation. 2 Stars.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Dec. 2017 at Snowden with Barb and Allie. Obligatory viewing of the latest chapter in Star Wars canon. I appreciated the humorous bits, and the story moved along, albeit slowly. The series doesn’t excite me as it once did, though. Will be interested to see the last in the series for the sake of wrapping things up (hopefully), but it’s become a Disney franchise now, and exists mostly for the sake of generating a new sequel and other spinoffs. 2 Stars.
Darkest Hour; Dec. 2017 at AMC Columbia with Barb and Allie. A marvel of performance by Gary Oldham who disappears into his characterization of Churchill, and a greatest hits compendium of Churchill’s aphorisms and eccentricities. But I was annoyed by an aggressive use of cinematic flourishes and an intrusive score. I didn’t consider the movie overall as well written or well made, but to its credit it did make me think. It seems clearly meant to paint a heroic portrait of Churchill in the early weeks of his tenure, gaining power and guiding England through Dunkirk and into the war. The TV histories of WWII make it all seem so inevitable that Churchill rallied the nation and led the charge against fascism. After all, “History is written by the victors,” said Churchill. This movie at least shows that it was not a foregone conclusion with folks like Chamberlain and Lord Halifax arguing for negotiation and peace. I wonder where I would have been through those times; probably agreeing with the appeasers. I can certainly see their perspective of not wanting to consign another generation of Britain’s youth to a meat grinding total war. History (and “greatness”) is made by changing the status quo, and great leaders often have a different vision/perspective on the current “truth”. Problem is, I think that’s what Trump and Bannon believe today. History is made by upsetting the apple cart, and Trump more than anything wants his name in the history books. He’s already succeeded in one sense, but I wager he wants to get right to the top, and that route leads to a total war…that he would have to win. I hope that’s not the game we’re playing. I hope he doesn’t see this movie. 3 Stars.
The Shape of Water; Dec. 2017 at Snowden. This film garnered the most Golden Globe nominations for 2017 but I’m not sure why. It’s beautiful, the river creature is a marvel, and the performance by Michael Shannon is career-making and over the top evil at the same time. But the basic Beauty and the Beast fantasy didn’t connect with me. I’m sure Guillermo Del Toro was playing with layers of allegory that passed me by or went over my head. Why make up a fantasy river creature and layer him into a cold war timeline? Why the allusions to cinema and old movies? 3 Stars.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Dec. 2017 at Snowden. Not a great movie, but some fine performances, especially Frances McDormand evoking Fargo and our neighbor Janis. 3 Stars.
Lady Bird; Nov. 2017 at AFI Silver with Allie and Jeff. A sweet film written and directed by Greta Gerwig and loosely based on her own history. Can see an Oscar nomination for Laurie Metcalf as the mother. Evidently is the current highest rated movie of all time with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not quite that stellar, but a well-done portrait of a mother-daughter relationship, and a movie where thankfully no one is shot or killed. 3 Stars.
Coco; Nov. 2017 at Snowden with Barb and Allie. Barb wallowed her ambivalence about Day of the Dead and we went as a family on Thanksgiving weekend. Movie was fun and story made universal — what else would you expect from Pixar? I appreciated the accurate fingering in the guitar playing; not sure how many others that would appeal to. I fell asleep during the long opening short about Olaf from Frozen (which got so much grief it’s been removed from subsequent screenings). 3 Stars.