The Midnight Sky

— Sometimes George Clooney’s films are very good, and sometimes they’re a little disappointing, but I tend to like even those that are less liked. This may be one of those less liked films because it can’t help but be compared to a variety of recent, sci-fi films that were excellent (“Gravity,” “The Martian,” “Intersteller,” and “Moon”). It quietly juggles more than one storyline on earth and another in space, sidestepping time just a little to make room for memory. It considers man’s place in the larger universe and his responsibility to safeguard earth, the importance of family, communication, and love, all in the midst of a cataclysm. I think the film is affected greatly by timing and, although made before most of knew about COVID-19, it is impossible not to look at the film more seriously when an “event” on earth is its basis. It is nicely made with good actors and worth seeing. I enjoyed it. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 118 min. Directed by George Clooney. Starring George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Caoilinn Springall, and Kyle Chandler.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-midnight-sky-movie-review-2020

The 2nd

— Oh my, but this is pretty bad. Even Ryan Phillippe, who isn’t exactly a top tier actor, is wasted. The idea’s not exactly new, but still a good action thriller if given a decently written script and directed by halfway competent director. A man who is ex-military and now secret agent arrives to pick up his son from college, only to stumble into a plot to kidnap his son’s classmate, the daughter of a Supreme Court justice, in an effort to sway justice’s opinion on one of the court’s cases. With a mediocre script and halting direction, it ends up being one fight scene after another and predictable enough to make you wish you'd watched any number of better, similar films. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 93 min. Directed by Brian Skiba. Starring Ryan Phillippe, Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo, and Lexi Simonsen.]
https://rogersmovienation.com/2020/12/02/netflixable-ryan-phillipe-takes-the-2nd-amendment-seriously/

Ava

— Netflix has figured out how to get good people for their original movies, sometimes ending up with a very good film and sometimes not. This tends to be one of the “not great” ones although the cast is certainly pleasing (Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Common, Geena Davis, and Colin Farrell). It’s the story of a black ops assassin who’s racked up over 40 hits but’s having some kind of crisis, perhaps of conscience. It has the look and initial feel of an action flick but shifts toward drama, probably trying to make some use of the acting talent, when our assassin returns to Boston with a hit on her own head, to reunite with her mother, sister, and former fiancé. The cast does its best, but there’s just not enough script, nuance, or direction to make it more than somewhat entertaining. Luckily, we’re all hunkered in our homes and there’s not much competition from the usual streaming options, so it's a tolerable way to spend 90 minutes. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 96 min. Directed by Tate Taylor. Starring Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Common, Geena Davis, and Colin Farrell.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ava-movie-review-2020

The Prom

— This is lots of fun if you like a somewhat campy musical, with a slew of good actors, evidently signed on to have a little fun or to support inclusion, with plenty of theater references, and tidied up with that Ryan Murphy varnish. It fits nicely into the growing library of mainstream LBGT-themed films that have appeared in the past 2-3 years (“Boys in the Band,” “Uncle Frank,” “Booksmart,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Rocketman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Boy Erased,” “Papi Chulo”). The sections of the film that make fun of Broadway narcissism and insecurities, as well as life in the urban, East coast bubble are more appealing to me than the parts designed to encourage inclusion and acceptance in the Midwest, fly-over bubble. It is fun to see Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells singing and dancing in both NYC and small-town Indiana, and the music is mostly good. When it ran over 2 hours, I wondered if something couldn’t have been cut, but part of its charm may be its excess. I enjoyed it but it really isn’t anything special. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 130 min. Directed by Ryan Murphy. Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington, and Keegan-Michael Key.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-prom-movie-review-2020

Mank

— This film has a lot going for it, with Gary Oldman and David Fincher topping the list. It’s also an interesting script, written by Fincher’s father, telling the tale through a series of flashbacks, à la “Citizen Kane,” an appropriate nod since the story is held together in the “present” with Herman Mankiewicz (“Mank”), recovering from a serious auto accident, in a remote cabin working on a deadline to write the script for “Citizen Kane.” It’s a complicated back-and-forth in black-and-white and it manages to keep your attention, at least if you’re interested in 1930’s and 1940’s Hollywood. What seems to be a film about the experiences that gave Mank the inspiration for the script, ends up as a beast with two personalities, and is as much about the intersection of Tinsel Town power and politics with national and statewide politics then, and, by extension, now. Well, it’s all very interesting but a little disappointing too. It doesn’t rise to the level of Fincher’s “The Social Network,” perhaps because the story remains less personal to draw out the parallels, or maybe Oldman’s Mank just isn’t as artfully written and acted as Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg. No matter what, although historical fiction, Mank feels much more speculative than historical. It’s a beautiful and wonderful film some of the time, and that’s enough to make it worth watching. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 131 minutes. Directed by David Fincher. Starring Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Arliss Howard.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mank-movie-review-2020

Uncle Frank

— I was taken by “Uncle Frank” with its well-written script, nice acting, and wonderful Southern vibe. I suggested it to a friend and he liked it too, even mentioning the tone reminded him a bit of the Southern feel Harper Lee provided so well. Initially, it almost seems like another entry in the gay-and-not-out-in-the-1970s genre we seem to be seeing more frequently, but that’s something of a parallel and maybe even lesser story to what ends up being a coming of age tale tale. Beth, the niece of the man who’s made a life for himself in New York City and whose sexuality isn’t discussed by his family in South Carolina, ends up at NYU, and stumbles across Frank’s secret. They soon they forge an even stronger bond during a road trip back home for a funeral. Once they arrive home, the script is easier to guess and not completely believable, but a shift to tug at our heartstrings isn’t the worst thing that could happen. It’s hard not to find a tear running down your cheek by the end. I enjoyed the film. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2020. 95 minutes. Written and directed by Alan Ball. Starring Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, and Peter Macdisi.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uncle-frank-movie-review-2020

Hillbilly Elegy

— It’s always sad when a top notch director and first rate actors can’t carry a film I based on a pretty decent book, but that’s the case with “Hillbilly Elegy,” based on J.D. Vance’s book, directed by Ron Howard, and featuring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. It’s not bad, just disappointing—it iwould be fine as a movie of the week on a cable channel. It’s a look at three generators of dysfunction and one person who escapes the cycle. There’s a lot of screaming and a too many flashbacks, and too little focus on the rustbelt world so many people don’t understand, and it’s characteristic of being isolated and isolating. In the end, the film makes it clear the world from which we come makes us what we are, but our dreams and actions make us what we become. Unfortunately, this must seem like a hopeful misconception of the privileged to people living lives without hope. Some of the parts of this film are pretty good, but it doesn’t come together as well as I’d like. Sadly, I think this is one where too many of the original story’s nuances slipped away when the film was made. [Netflix streaming.]

Small Axe, Season 1: Mangrove

— I’ve seen three of Steve McQueen’s films (“Shame,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Widows”) and, different as they are, they’ve all been very good, so it’s no surprise that the first episode of his anthology for Amazon is very good too. It’s a look at harassment by London police of a Trinidadian immigrant’s restaurant in Notting Hill as the restaurant, the Mangrove, became an enclave for West Indian immigrants, intellectuals, and activists in the late 1960s, culminating in a protest/march in 1970. The result was a confrontation and subsequent courtroom drama vaguely reminiscent of the Chicago 7, but referred to as the Mangrove Nine and with a decidedly British twist. It is well done and worth seeing, but hard to watch without thinking about our country’s current struggles with racism and systemic racism. I also confess I knew nothing of the Mangrove Nine before watching this film and realize I received a dose of “history” through a single lens focused by McQueen to make a point, again speaking to how history is being written today as we receive our news through social media and “news” programs that cross the line between reporting and opinion. It also makes me think about unlikely heroes who may engage in personal acts of resistance, but then suddenly find themselves at the center of a larger, cultural change, and the courage they must find within themselves. Evidently this is the first of five episodes in the first season, all of which McQueen directed and all of which focus on the same community. I’m looking forward to the next one. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2020. 126 minutes. Directed by Steve McQueen. Starring Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/small-axe-mangrove-movie-review-2020