Harriet Tubman. What a legendary American. We all studied her in elementary school and then again in high school. We know that she was born into slavery, escaped, and was an integral leader in the Underground Railroad that helped free slaves before the United States Civil War. Cynthia Erivo (Widows, Bad Times at the El Royale) pours her heart and soul into the title role and makes Kasi Lemmons’ (Eve’s Bayou, Talk to Me) Harriet a must-see for anyone over twelve. It is the first time Tubman’s story has been captured in biopic form. This film is so well told that it won’t need to be retold (in big production film form) for a long time. It’s one of the best history lessons you could hope to have on another person. It’s brutally honest. It doesn’t drag its feet. It’s entertaining. It brings to the big screen a real-life American hero who deserves all the fame and glory she is due. Harriet is a 2019 big, big win.
Category Archives: Joe Alwyn
Operation Finale (2018)
Operation Finale, a film that chronicles the 1961 top-secret raid to capture the notorious Adolf Eichmann, the highest-ranking living Nazi official from World War II, is probably the best movie of 2018 that you’ll never hear about. Under-publicized and just a little north of neutral on Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate film rating site, Operation Finale was released during a period (late August) when quieter movies don’t do so well at the box office. Plus, this movie doesn’t have an A-list headliner. While it is true that Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, A Most Violent Year), who, in 2018, is one of our finest working actors, is not quite a household name. At least not yet. Sure, he plays the recognizable Poe Dameron in the latest Star Wars trilogy (episodes VII, VIII, IX), but a respectable actor must be more than that. And Isaac is in the actor circles but isn’t well-known enough to the public. And while he stars opposite a widely respectable actor in Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog, Gandhi), his elder counterpart’s best years are far behind him. At 74, who knows how much longer his career will continue? If this is Kingsley’s final role, it’s a good one.
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The Favourite (2018)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of the Sacred Deer) is not my favorite director. His latest film, the Olivia Colman (Murder On The Orient Express, Locke) led The Favourite, is not my favorite film. His style doesn’t work for me. I like creative movies. I like unique films. I sometimes like eccentric movies. But weird movies are hit or miss, and his are mostly a miss for me. Ironically, The Favourite is probably his most “normal” to date. But I found myself disinterested in it from the start. Just as ironically, the much lesser recognized Mary Queen of Scots, which was released within a week or two of this movie (and a film that I enjoyed), was widely disregarded by critics and audiences alike (63%, 44% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 94%, 61% for The Favourite). I’m only reviewing this movie because it will likely get nominated for many Academy Awards, and sadly, Best Picture will be one of those.
Boy Erased (2018)
After two movies, the jury is still out on Joel Edgerton as a director. After catching fire with 2015’s surprise hit The Gift, Edgerton tried his hand with material based on a true story, adapting and writing the screenplay for Garrard Conley’s novel Boy Erased. To be perfectly transparent, I had extremely high expectations for this film. This was a novel I read a couple of years ago, well before I knew that a movie based on the story was in the process. I enjoyed the book, and when I saw that the cast was to include Edgerton, Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe and that it was already being mentioned in Oscar discussions before it was released, I was more than excited. However, I knew that the topic of this film was controversial. When I read the book, I was not dissatisfied with the ending but felt rushed quite a bit. Boy Erased was one of my ten most anticipated films of the year. And like a few others in my ten most anticipated films of the year (namely First Man), it ultimately failed to impress. A film that should have been ripe with emotion left me completely unaffected.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016)
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is not your typical Ang Lee (Lust, Caution, Hulk) film. It doesn’t have the effortless flow near the sweeping landscapes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi, or Brokeback Mountain. While these three movies netted the legendary director three Best Director Academy Award nominations, including two wins, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk likely will not earn him nomination number four. It’s awkward and clumsy at times. It has unnecessary elements in it. Most importantly, it lacks any immediate or emotional impact that the trailers lead you to believe it has. The premise felt very much like Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Father. I expected much more from these movies than from what was delivered. Nevertheless, there were some good things about Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. It is much better than its current 43% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.