Before I start the review for Darkest Hour, we should get one thing out of the way. Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy, The Dark Knight Rises) will win this year’s Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. Whoever the other four nominees can skip the ceremony. Buried in thick coats of makeup and padding that make him unrecognizable, Oldman (who was only six years younger in real life than the many he was portraying on screen was at the time of this movie but who takes better care of himself physically than the man he is portraying) pulls off one of the most remarkable actor character transformations in recent memory in his portrayal of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His performance will be compared to Colin Firth’s portrayal of King George VI (who ironically was a character in this movie) in 2010 The King’s Speech, a role in which he earned numerous awards, including the coveted Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Oscar.
Category Archives: Academy Award Nominees
Hidden Figures (2016)
I get knocked a little bit when I talk to my friends about Hidden Figures. The Ted Melfi (St. Vincent) directed movie based on the untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson – Hustle & Flow, Four Brothers), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer – The Help, Snowpierecer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe – Moonlight, Made in America) as brilliant African-American women who were hired by NASA and who served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world. When I rip on the movie a bit, it is not because I think it is not good, but because it’s just a little too predictable and too PG for me. While I enjoy and recognize a movie based on a true story, I appreciate a darker, edgier movie. When I say a movie is too Disney for me, it has nothing to do with Disney. It concerns a movie being too toned down for my jaded self to appreciate. And, unfortunately, that’s my feeling on Hidden Figures.
Fences (2016)
We all know about Alonzo Harris (Training Day). Most of us know about Frank Lucas (American Gangster). Some of us even know Tobin Frost (Safe House). Add Troy Maxson to that list of vile characters portrayed by Denzel Washington. Okay, so the character he portrays in Fences (a movie he also directed) isn’t as bad as those depicted in the above films. He’s a different kind of evil. There is some good in Troy. He means well. But he is a complete hypocrite. He talks about doing right by others, providing for his family, and teaching them the importance of right over wrong. But in the end, Troy does only things that fill his massive ego. And in doing so, he hurts everyone who has ever cared for him.
Elle (2016)
Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Total Recall) Elle opens with a scene that even the most jaded person would find difficult to watch. Whenever we see a rape scene on the big screen, we are mortified. Rape is a crime we abhor and, next to murder, the one we find most unacceptable in society. To start a movie with a brutal rape sets the immediate somber tone of the movie and, ironically, a tone that we often get away from. There are so many genres in this French-subtitled film. It can be classified as drama, romance, suspense, thriller, revenge, mystery, and even comedy. I’d be lying if I said I understood every component of this movie without having to do some research for it afterward. The older gentleman didn’t have that problem and began clapping as we rolled to the credits. I saw this film because Isabelle Huppert (Things to Come, Amour) is a lock for a Best Actress Academy Award nomination after winning a Golden Globe. I think she has a solid chance to win. Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Emma Stone (La La Land) are her only real competition.
Moonlight (2016)
Barry Jenkins’ (Medicine for Melancholy) Moonlight is an ambitious film in many ways. Though it mainly revolves around the uncertainty of being gay, it also touches on many of the other important issues of the day, including adolescent bullying, drug abuse, masculinity, broken relationships, and poverty. The acting in this movie is out of this world. Never does this feel like a movie to me. Instead, it feels like you are just an invisible camera watching three different stages of a male discovering and dealing with his sexual identity in the hardships of a destitute part of Miami, Florida. The film is divided into three chapters. All are centered around Chiron. At age 6 or 7, he is referred to as Little. At age 16 or 17 (the chapter that gets the most focus), he is Chiron. And for the last chapter, he’s 26 or 27 and goes by Black. He’s equally conflicted in all three different stages of his life. The simplicity of this movie is its strength. If you like artistic movies that center around a real story with characters who feel real, you will find this movie riveting.