Michael B. Jordan has arrived, at least for those who haven’t watched films in either the Creed or Black Panther franchises. For many, Jordan first arrived with his breakout role in Ryan Coogler’s 2013 film Fruitvale Station, the true story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black man who is on the straight and narrow with his girlfriend and young after spending time in prison, only to be caught up in a 2008 altercation following a night that ended in tragedy after watching New Year’s Eve fireworks in San Frnacisco that ended in tragedy. Jordan’s sympathetic performance as a man wronged by a system that seemed determined to persecute him before knowing all the facts leaves the viewer feeling angry and distraught at the film’s conclusion. It could have earned Jordan his first Academy Award nomination. Twelve years later, he is still searching for that Oscar nomination that will add him to an exclusive list of Hollywood’s elite.
Category Archives: Hailee Steinfeld
Begin Again (2013)
Begin Again had all of the makings of a great movie. It had an all-star cast with Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, and Catherine Keener (in addition to Maroon 5’s Adam Levine). It had a fantastic soundtrack (with most of the songs sung by Knightley). But most importantly, it was tying itself to John Carney, the screenwriter/director’s 2007 gem Once, perhaps the most incredible “musical and performing arts” movie you’ve ever heard of. I started off really liking this movie. After 30 minutes, I felt confident it would be as good as, if not better than, Once. The problem was that, as believable as Once felt, this movie felt unbelievable by its third act. It was a movie that stretched so far past the idea of a feel-good story that you really couldn’t take it seriously at all. If I had to break down the three acts, I would give Act One an A, Act Two a C, and Act Three a D (based on the implausibility of not just the last act itself, but because it doesn’t effectively bring resolution to any of the issues the characters are dealing with in the first two acts of the film). This movie reminded me of August Rush, but I’ll need to watch it again to see if that’s a fair assessment. I do remember wanting to like August Rush much more than I did.
True Grit (2010)
I am the first to admit that I am not as big a fan of Joel and Ethan Coen-directed movies as most people are. While I did enjoy Fargo (1996) and A Single Man (2009), I wouldn’t say I liked Miller’s Crossing (1990) and Barton Fink (1991). While I thought No Country for Old Men was pretty good, it was not close to being the best movie from 2007. Then there are the other Coen-directed movies I would prefer to see. These include Burn After Reading (2008), The Ladykillers (2007), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), or O Brother, Where Art Though? (2000). I appreciate a good Western. Once True Grit was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, it became a no-brainer that I saw the movie, despite my reservations about the Coens.