There are a couple of different ways to start the review for Spotlight. I could talk about the cast (quite possibly the ensemble cast of the year). I could talk about the hypocrisy that is organized religion. I will mention both of these in this post. But I will start with the old-fashioned newspaper reporting that used to be our number source of reliable news. In many ways, it is unfortunate that newspapers aren’t what they used to be, nor will they ever be again. With the invention of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before most newspapers folded while others had to majorly trim their staff, editions, and the number of pages produced with each issue. Where will The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The New York Times be in 20 years? Well, if the changes in the previous 20 years are any indication, I’m not sure these newspapers will even be around in 20 years. If they are, they might be entirely electronically based. There will still be a place for prominent metropolitan newspapers, but it will not be in the print variety. There are still things that I am interested in in the Washington DC area that I feel can only be fully addressed in something like The Washington Post. Still, I haven’t purchased a physical newspaper in over a decade and only read one if I saw it sitting at a bar when I’m eating dinner, in the school library, etc. Likewise, I go online to The Washington Post to get the same information that I cannot find elsewhere, but their website isn’t nearly as user-friendly as some other sites I go to. And finally, after I read several articles, I’m told that I reached my limit for the month and that I need to pay for a subscription to read anymore. Well…how hard is it to use a different device that hasn’t yet recognized me to access the same material? And am I going to need to read more than five articles a month? Nope. I have other resources that I still have at my disposal. Long story short…I still want and need these major newspaper articles to survive. Yet, I haven’t given a cent towards any of these papers in over a decade, and I don’t plan to. If these newspapers are going to survive, they need to do something to tap into my monetary resources.
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Suffragette (2015)
I’m not entirely sure how Sarah Gavron’s (Village At The End Of The World, Brick Lane) Suffragette could have been a film that I truly enjoyed. I’m not the biggest fan of British historical dramas, and this was not a movie I went to see for enjoyment. It was a film I went to see just because I always try to see every movie that potentially could receive a nomination for a Best Six Academy Award. I think it’s unlikely that this film will get any recognition, but there was some buzz surrounding it before its release. In any regard, I knew this would be a movie I would end up seeing. Is it a bad movie? Not at all. It’s actually a very educational movie that has some above-average acting performances. But, unfortunately, it was very predictable (which I expected) and not nearly as riveting as it probably could have been (also something that I expected). Also, if you are hoping to experience the annual Meryl Streep (Doubt, The Devil Wears Prada) Oscar nomination, this isn’t it. She has all of one scene and is on the screen for less than two minutes.
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The Railway Man (2014)
The biggest flop of 2014? Possibly. Jonathan Teplitzky’s (Burning Man, television’s Broadchurch) grossed under $5 million in the theaters but cost $18 million to make. This movie should have been great. But then again, so should have been Unbroken, the underwhelming Angelina Jolie vehicle that showcased the 47-day survival of two men living on a raft after their plane was shot down during World War II only to be held in a prisoner of war camp. This movie did just fine at the box office (doubling its budget costs), but it still did not come close to expectations. The Railway Man had lesser expectations than Unbroken, but it did have a better cast and weaker competition at the time of its release. A 66% on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t bad, but usually, you want to see a slightly higher (at minimum) for a true story-based historical drama. I am uncertain of why I watched this film. I had convinced myself I was not going to. But it showed up on my Showtime OnDemand list one day when I was trying to find a movie to watch and decided to give it a chance. I’m glad I did. It is certainly not a great movie but is better than expected. It is a much more complete film than was Unbroken.
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I Smile Back (2015)
Remember when reading the book used to make you excited about seeing the movie? I used to love watching the film in English class after finishing one of the classic novels we had just finished. It was always interesting to see how a filmmaker’s version of a movie differed from the vision that I had formulated in my mind. Nowadays, if I am made aware of this with enough advance notice to see the film, I’ll try to read the book. To say I do this as many of my English teacher friends would be a lie. Still, recent books that I have been able to read before seeing the movie were The Martian (great movie, but better book) and The Maze Runner. I also recently read Paper Towns, which I disliked so much that I will skip the movie. Also, a few years ago, I read In The Heart of the Sea. With apologies to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, this was THE most descriptive book I have read in my entire life. I had no idea when I read it that a film version would also come, and I am super excited to see this Ron Howard-directed movie when it comes to theaters in a couple of weeks. In any case, the movie rarely lives up to a good book. It’s just impossible to get everything in a great book into a two-hour film. Recently I’ve seen a couple of movies where I’ve wanted to read the book afterward. These have included American Sniper, Room, and Amy Koppelman’s novel I Smile Back. There is a difference, however. American Sniper was my number one movie of 2014, while Room is pushing for that spot on my 2015 list. I Smile Back was a book that I could see as something I might love and be able to relate to better. The movie, however, was highly disappointing.
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Crimson Peak (2015)
Guillermo del Toro. Some people love the movies he has directed. Some people don’t love them. I think I am starting to land in the second group. I know he found his early cult following with movies like Hellboy and Hellboy II while also receiving critical accolades for films like The Orphanage and Pan’s Labyrinth. For me, his movies aren’t must-see (I’ve had Pan’s Labyrinth on my list of movies to watch for years, but each time I think I might want to watch it, I put something else on instead). Hellboy and The Orphanage were both okay, but del Toro is no early M Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs). While Crimson Peak has had mostly positive reviews (69% on Rotten Tomatoes), it hasn’t hit home with audiences. Its marketing campaign has hurt its inability to categorize it as humor, mystery, suspense, romance, or drama. This movie attracted del Toro’s best-ever cast ensemble (Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, Tom Hiddleston). Still, with an estimated budget of $50 million and only half of that amount accumulated in revenue from the first two weekends, Crimson Peak might barely break even. This movie is by no means great. It was an okay watch, but my life certainly would not have been altered if I had not seen it. I absolutely will never watch this movie again. It certainly is not a horror film, so even though the previews look scary and categorized as horror, you’re not going to be scared. If you like del Toro’s other movies, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by this one. If you’ve never seen one of his movies before (other than maybe Pacific Rim), I’d suggest watching either The Orphanage or Pan’s Labyrinth at home and base your decision on your fondness of either of those movies.
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