****

Corpus Christi-sp

This is Poland’s entry in the Oscar race for best foreign film and it could be a winner. A young man escapes from his violent detention in prison where he has to work in a sawmill and gets into gritty fights. While he already knew that his desire to go to seminary and become a priest could not be possible because of his prison record, he finds a way to act out his fantasy. After he escapes from his detention, he finds refuge in a church in a small town. He convinces the vicar there that he is actually a recent graduate priest who is passing through and then accepts the role to temporarily be the Church’s spiritual leader when the older man has to leave for a period of time. Not surprisingly, interesting things happen and issues of spirituality, morality and fairness are all put on the table for the viewer to contemplate along with the characters in the film. The core of the story is based on a true incident of priest impersonation, but much of the story comes from the imagination and creativity of the screenwriter, Mateusz Pacewicz, director, Jan Komasa, cinematographer, Piotr Sobociński, Jr. as well as the great acting performance by Bartosz Bielenia, along with an excellent supporting cast.(2020)

****

Jojo Rabbit-rm

On one hand, this is an outlandish, fanciful story about Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) a 10-year old German boy who has an imaginary friend who happens to be Adolf Hitler (played by the director, Taika Waititi). It is also a story about a young girl (Thomasin McKenzie) who is being hidden in the attic by Jojo’s mother (Scarlett Johanson) because she is Jewish and is being sought out in order to be murdered by the Nazis. Sam Rockwell has a somewhat slapstick role as the German captain who is training our little hero.

On one hand, this film is a comedy, but it is hard to laugh when we are being reminded of Anne Frank and the horrendous story of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.

The film is extremely creative and very well done. It will hold your interest and make you chuckle just as it will allow you to reflect on this time in history. It is clearly worth seeing this satire, which emphasizes the cruelty, stupidity and unmitigated arrogance of the Nazi cause. It is another reminder of how important it is that no one is allowed to forget this horrific time in the history of the world. (2020)

***

1917- rm

One of us was especially looking forward to what we hoped to be a classic war movie about World War I. Two British soldiers (Dean-Charles Chapman and George McKay) are chosen to make a dangerous journey through the trenches and battlefields to reach some other troops who are planning to advance on German troops but unknowingly will be led into an ambush which will destroy 1,500 troops, including the brother of one of the two chosen messengers. There was no radio communication available because it had been disrupted and we are not sure why additional teams of messengers were not chosen for this important mission. As you would expect, there is running, crawling through smoldering battlefields, occasional enemy encountering enemy soldiers, and even an air attack. One of the main features of this film is that director Sam Mendes gives the impression that the entire movie was done in one continuous take. Unfortunately, it is repetitious and predictable with few surprises, but we certainly do not believe it will go down as a classic war film despite the Oscar hype. However, battlefield and war aficionados might want to see it, but others may choose to skip it. (2020)

****

Incitement- sp

This award-winning Israeli film is based on the real-life events which led to the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It is a well-done docudrama, which seemlessly interfaces actual video and movie clips with the excellently-constructed, very well-acted movie. It was put together by Yaron Zilberman who directed the film and co-wrote the screen play as well as leading the team of producers who researched all details of this movie for over a year prior to production. The preparation that they did included interviewing the actual assassin Yigal Amir (played by Yehuda Nahari Halevi) who is serving a life sentence in prison. Special recognition also should be given to the cast who played Amir’s family (Amitay Ousilio, Anat Ravnizky, Yoav Levi) and other important people in his life (Sivan Mast, Daniella Kertesz).

The seminal event which this film focused is upon was a pivotal moment in Israeli history. Rabin was assassinated in 1995, at which time, Yassir Arafat, was negotiating with him and planning the previously evasive possibility of agreed-upon boundaries and peace in the Middle East.

This film highlights the controversies within Israel among various groups. The viewer gets to understand the point of view of the young law student would-be assassin as he evolves his thinking into his deadly plan. How he rationalizes and justified his plan and finds support from the Bible and various religious leaders is quite fascinating and makes this movie well worth seeing. (2020)

***

Truth and Justice-sp

This film is Estonia’s entry for best foreign picture. It is based on a classic Estonian novel, apparently well known to everyone who grows up in Estonia. It takes place in the 1870s in the rural area as Andres (Priit Loog) and his wife Kroot (Maiken Schmidt) settle down on a rural farm, which they have gone into debt to purchase. Their goal is to be successful and bring up a family with a male heir who can carry on what they hope will be a successful endeavor. Things became complicated and difficult as the neighbor, Pearu (Priit Võigemast) is somewhat devious and there are personal and legal conflicts that soon develop. The young couple finds it not so easy to make everything the way you want to it. The story line allows the viewers to see the growth of children and how relationships and aspirations of the entire family young and old play out. While the setting beautifully captured by magnificent cinematography, and the time period may be unfamiliar to most of us, director and writer Tanel Toom has taken a classic Estonian novel by Anton Tammsaare and portrayed its humanity and universality, which will nevertheless touch some of the audience (2020).

****

The Report – nf

In this docudrama based on the true story of Daniel Jones (Adam Driver), a staffer for United States Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) is given the assignment to examine secret files and make a report on the purported enhanced interrogation techniques (EIT) that the CIA was performing on suspected terrorists after 9/11. You need to remember that this was a time of great anxiety and concern in this country after the U.S. homeland was attacked by Al Queda. The CIA felt very responsible to determine if future attacks were being planned and exactly who was involved. They were able to bring into custody suspected terrorists and would determine to extract from them as much intelligence as possible to save the homeland. At one point two seemingly credible psychologists offered to help the CIA to develop these enhanced interrogation techniques which featured the torture of the people they were interrogating with waterboarding among other methods. They had the confidence that this would extract essential intelligence data. The United States government is one of critical checks and balances and while the CIA reports to the President, the U.S. Congress has the duty to examine ethical and moral behavior of all agencies of our government. This critical and pivotal moment in modern United States history all played out in the actions and reactions of this one younger staffer Daniel Jones, who had the task of examining the most highly classified information and reports. He ultimately found himself in direct conflict with the various leaders of the CIA which included John Brennan (Ted Levine), George Tenant (Dominic Fumusa)and Denis McDonough (Jon Hamm) who was chief of staff for the President’s office.

This historical drama was written and directed by Scott Z. Burns. The movie holds the attention of the viewer as we watch this unlikely hero struggle against the powerful forces as well as his own inner conflicts as to how he should act and should he reveal the top secret information that was being hidden from the American public and from the U.S. Congress.

This movie is quite relevant today as, the headlines tell of U.S. President Trump complaining about people who are questioning the United States Intelligence Office which provided information regarding his decision to have a major Iranian military leader killed. (2020)

***

BOMBSHELL-rm

You have heard about the situation where Roger Ailes, the long-time creator and boss of Fox News Network was ousted from this position by the Murdock family who owned the Fox Enterprise, after charges of sexual harassment were validated against Mr. Ailes. This film, with an all-star cast of actors and actresses who were made to resemble the real people they played, tells the story of the brave women who made this happen. The story centers around Megyn Kelly who is played by Charlize Theron. We see the pressure and sexual harassment she received by the powerful boss of Fox Network, Roger Ailes, played by John Lithgow, who is depicted as the obese and somewhat wobbly boss of the mammoth network. We also follow the experience of Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), a fading anchor at Fox who after some agonizing tells her story of being harassed and actually starts the ball rolling against Mr. Ailes. We also meet other players, men and women at Fox, some familiar and some who worked behind the scenes. They are played by excellent actors and actresses and their work is interspersed with actual film clips. While the story is quite dramatic and revealing and a very important one to document, we found it somewhat disjointed. In the end, however, it will be an important part of the epic story of American television journalism. (2019)

***

QUEEN & SLIM-rm

This is a road trip movie but under tragic circumstances. It is directed by Melina Matsoukas with a screenplay by Lena Waithe based on a story by her and James Frey. It stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith. The film opens as we meet a black couple who are on their first Tinder arranged date. Things go wrong in what should have been an innocuous police stop. Within a few minutes, it turns into a horrendous situation where the young woman is shot in the leg and the police officer is killed. We follow the frightened couple as they flee and become labeled as wanted criminals. We get insight into the prejudiced environment that could allow such a situation to develop. We also come to see how family and friends as well as friends of friends try to help this couple survive against the unfair forces that are pitted against them.

If you were someone who grew up being taught that the police are fair and are your friends, you will be clearly reminded that certainly this has not been the case for many people in the United States, especially many people of color. The message of this film is important and terrifying but the film left something to be desired. (2020)

 

 

****

Dark Waters-rm

This is an important documentary film that we would hope that as many people as possible could see it and be informed of its contents. It is produced by Mark Ruffalo, who stars in the film as the lawyer who takes on the DuPont Chemical Company to expose the large scale damage to people and the environment done by their product related to Teflon. The movie is directed by Todd Haynes and has an all star supporting cast of actors including Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Bill Pullman, Anne Hathaway, and Marie Winningham. It is based on the New York Times magazine article “The lawyer who became DuPont’s worst nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich and was adopted for screen by Mario Correa and Matthew Carnahan. It is a painful movie that will more likely have you squirming in your seat rather than sitting on the edge of it as you realize the drawn-out painful process that had to be gone through over many years in order to gain recognition of the dangerous harmful effects on people by the chemical produced by DuPont. The process of recognizing this dangerous situation has been very slow but the staggering amount of compensation this mega corporation is beginning to pay out to the unwitting victims finally is achieving some small amount of justice. This movie deserves kudos for taking on the story and deserves to be seen by many moviegoers.( 2020 )