Where The Crawdads Sing -nf. ***

It is expectedly sad to see a story about a young abandoned girl who raises herself in an isolated marshland.. She does develop a talent for drawing wild life which has the potential for being a successful published endeavor. She has encounters with two boy friends which give the viewer hope that her life will somehow work out . As films tend to do, the plot thickens into a murder mystery with our heroine being a suspect. The lead actress Daisey Edgar Jones is excellent as are the two male leads. It is directed by Olivia Newman. The setting, unusual story and suspenseful plot will hold your attention for an interesting cinematic experience

The Good Nurse-nf
***

On one hand, this could be one of those one-hour television series such as Blue Bloods, Law & Order, or Chicago PD. It is actually based on a true story. It is directed by Tobias Lindholm with a screen play by Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Its stars, Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain. It is the story about a serial killer who works as a nurse in various hospitals and secretly kills his victims The very unsatisfying aspect of this movie is that we never know why he does these heinous crimes. The acting is great, the storyline draws you in, and suspense pervades the entire film, but the result is very unsatisfying and I would prefer another episode of the aforementioned weekly TV series.

House of Gucci
***

Lady Gaga demonstrated that in addition to her well-known singing talent, she had great acting chops. She played the girlfriend, then wife, and a lot more of one of the Gucci heirs magnificently portrayed by Adam Driver. This is a biographical crime drama. The film is directed by Ridley Scott and is based on the 2001 book by Sara Gay Forden titled “House of Gucci: A Sensational Story Of Murder, Madness, Glamor, And Greed,” which tells it all. At times, you may lose a beat of the story line or the role of a specific character, but the overall cinematic experience is quite engrossing. The supporting cast is great and features Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino.

We found it interesting to learn that Lady Gaga took into account how her longtime friend Tony Bennett felt about Italians being represented in films in terms of crime and that she aspired to “make a real person out of her character and not a caricature.” To achieve this she studied the voice and vocal cadence as well as the attitude of the real person she was portraying and tried to be “authentic from the perspective of a woman, not an Italian American woman.” She studied for 18 months speaking in accent for nine months of this period. She also ad libbed many of her lines including the film’s iconic quote “father, son, and House of Gucci”, which went viral after the release of the film. (The above information is from Wikipedia).

I Care A Lot
**

While we both agree this film was quite engaging and held our interest, we find it very difficult to accept the premise of the film and ultimately cannot really recommend it.

A seemingly competent caring woman (Rosamund Pike) along with her business partner and lover (Eliza Gonzalez), run a con game where she arranges to have an older unattached elderly individual declared incompetent and a ward of the state and then she becomes their legal guardian. She is therefore able to arrange for these persons to be isolated in a fancy nursing home while she gains all their assets. However, she runs into a difficult situation when her latest prey, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) appears to have a son who is a dwarf (Peter Dinklage) and is part of the Russian mafia. There is a great deal of intrigue with murders and unbelievable almost murders. In the end, it was quite an adventure, but we do not recommend the ride (2020).

The Undoing – Six Episode TV Series on HBO
****
This six-episode TV series stars Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman, and Donald Sutherland with an excellent supporting cast, especially a young boy played by Noah Jupe. This mini-series is based on the novel “You Should Have Known” by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It is created by veteran TV producer David E. Kelley and is directed by Susanne Bier. This “whodunnit” will hold your attention and if you have any tendency to binge, you will take this one in just a few gulps. A doctor who is a caring pediatric oncologist finds himself accused of a brutal murder of a woman with whom he was having an affair. There are hints that the killer might possibly be his wife, a successful psychotherapist or perhaps the husband of the murdered woman. A couple of other suspects flash through your mind as this story unfolds. As you might expect, there are some great courtroom scenes. This is well worth the six hours of running time of this series.(2020)

***

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)

 

 

***

The Irishman-nf

Despite the fact that this film is directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Robert De Niro, as Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran and features Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa along with other great actors such as, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Anna Paquin, and others, we suggest that you think twice before committing yourself to this three and a half hour movie. The story is based on an excellent book, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” by Charles Brandt, which MB reviewed more than seven years ago (click here to see the review).

At the beginning of the film we meet an older Frank Sheeran as he is reflecting how he turned into a gangster and a ruthless murderer. There is not any clear explanation how a seemingly sensitive man who cared about his family could emerge as this serial killer. There is a suggestion that his experience in World War II might have primed him for this way of life.

The screenplay, based on the book by Charles Brandt, is written by Steven Zaillian, who previously wrote the story for Schindler’s List, which may account for how he is able to suggest emotional turmoil, although it is often not fully explained. The movie features flashbacks where the actors are skillfully “de-aged” as we encounter earlier events in the lives of their characters. One of the central themes is an insight and explanation into the death of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, who was an important character in this movie and whose body in real life was never found after he was eliminated. Unfortunately, the inordinate length of this film only underscored its inability to help the viewer really understand any of the characters

If you are drawn to gangster movies and enjoy the work of this cast of actors and the renowned director, you might find this collection of unending “rub-outs” of interest but be sure you have lots of popcorn or your favorite snack to help you persevere (2019).

Your comments are welcome below:

*****

Just Mercy- rm

This is an amazing true story of Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), a black attorney who is fresh out of Harvard Law School and travels to Alabama with the purpose of trying to save the lives of falsely incarcerated prisoners who are on death-row awaiting execution. He teams up with Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), a woman with a similar dedication who becomes the operations director of their newly formed Law Center For Equal Justice. Stevenson begins visiting Alabama’s death-row and meeting prisoners scheduled for execution. The main focus of the film was on his interaction with Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who was sentenced to die for a crime, it became clear he did not commit. His case was based on the testimony of a man who was providing false information in order to avoid charges for another crime of which he was accused. In addition, the testimony of many friends and family of Stevenson who were at a party with the accused at the time of the murder were not considered worthy evidence to exonerate the condemned man. While the main focus is on one case, we also meet other prisoners on death-row and witness a very painful scene of an execution. It became clear that the unfair cruel treatment of prisoners was a residual of slavery and continued prejudice in this country.

The movie is based on a memoir of the same title by Bryan Stevenson, which was an outstanding book (click here for book review). This book was transformed into this excellent movie by Andrew Lanham and Destin Daniel Cretton, who also directed the film. It is a riveting heartbreaking cinematic experience, which we highly recommend (2019).

Your comments are welcome below

****

The Good Liar- sp

When you put together Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen with a really good story with twists and turns, big surprises and even some roots in Nazi Germany, you know you are going to have a riveting movie. These two iconic actors are at the top of their game. The screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher based on the novel by Nicholas Searle requires you to pay close attention or you may miss some of the subtleties where the storyline is taking you. Special kudos to director Bill Condon who guided this complicated but yet fascinating movie. Do not be surprised if the talents of these great actors are once again recognized during award season. (2019)

Please leave any comments below:

*****

The Kitchen-sp

Three wives of gangsters take over their husbands’ racketeering business after the men go off to prison for a couple of years. The women show that they can kick ass and clearly establish a new genre of women tough gals. There is nothing comedic about these characters but two of them are played by established comediennes, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish. The other character is inhabited by veteran actress Elisabeth Moss.

The setting of this film is Hell’s Kitchen in New York City in the late 1970s. The story is written by Ollie Masters and is based on a comic book series by her and illustrated by Becky Cloonan and Ming Doyle. First time director Andrea Berloff who has credentials as a writer and actress definitely establishes herself as a big league director. Not only does she capture the vibes of New York City in the 70s with wonderful photography but   she infuses this movie with great action scenes of numerous murders and other violence as well as various confrontations intermixed with tension, humor and great timing with many surprises.

We believe that this movie stands a chance to become a classic gangster film with its own distinctive flavor. It certainly would be the definitive woman gangster film even surpassing Bonnie and Clyde and may very well be in the top tier of this genre. (2019)