Hacksaw Ridge Preview

Hacksaw Ridge is the story of an Army Medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who was the first to ever receive the Medal of Honor for bravery without having fired a single shot.  His father Tom (Hugo Weaving) fought in World War I and raised his sons Desmond and Hal to be seekers of peace and to never raise a weapon.  The War took its toll on Tom who turned to drinking and was often violent with his family.  Things got even tougher for Tom when both of his sons enlisted in the army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor launching the United States into World War II.

Desmond did not get along with his superiors in training due to his opposition to guns and killing.  Refusing to train on Saturdays as it is the Sabbath, didn't earn him any popularity points with his fellow trainees.  Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) makes his training as hellish as possible and he is beaten in his barracks by the other soldiers who view his conscientious objections as cowardice.  But Desmond did not give up their names when asked who attacked him.  He took everything they threw at him and persevered.  The day the squad was released from training, Desmond was arrested for his insubordination making him miss his own wedding day.  Only the testimony of his father saved him from a court martial.

Desmond's stand against the war continued in Okinawa, Japan as he refused to take up a weapon against the enemy, even though he believed their cause was just.  Instead, he regularly risked his own life, unarmed, to aid his wounded brothers away from the front lines to get medical attention.  In all, Desmond rescued over 75 men without ever firing a shot.

Hacksaw Ridge marks Mel Gibson's return to the Director's chair after a ten year hiatus after Apocalypto in 2006 and The Passion of the Christ in 2004.  Hacksaw Ridge has been nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year, Best Leading Actor (Andrew Garfield) and Best Director (Mel Gibson).  Gibson 2 for 2 in Oscar wins, both for Braveheart in 1996 that earned him the Best Picture of the Year and Best Director.  Hacksaw Ridge looks like yet another installment in brutally graphic, tragically realistic, touching and character-driven movies in Gibson's repertoire.  I was concerned about Andrew Garfield in this role.  He started gaining major recognition with his role in The Social Network in 2010 followed by a reprized role as Peter Parker / Spider-man in two Spider-man movies.  But this is quite a different role for Garfield.  Most of my trepidation subsided by watching the preview.  I was also more than just a little unsure about Shia LaBeouf in Man Down, but he absolutely slayed that performance in my opinion.  Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert, and pretty much everyone else who's opinion matters saw it differently, so I could also be wrong about this role for Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge.  Though he seems to be getting a much warmer reception.  I'm also concerned about Vince Vaughn in this very heavy movie.  I love him in his comedies, but he failed to impress in the second season of True Detective.  Granted, everyone failed to impress in that series follow-up, but particularly Vaughn who wasn't very convincing in his dramatic role.

That being said, early comments on the film, the notoriety of Gibson's work and the preview make me very optimistic for Hacksaw Ridge, so I'm giving it an anticipatory 4.0 Star Prediction.  I think it will be well worth the money in the theatre, hopefully worth the 6 nominations, and a contender for a spot in my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Fences Review

3.0 Stars

 

Every boy and girls has dreams of what they'd like to be when they grow up: an astronaut, a ball player, a ballerina, a princess.  Fences is the story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) who had a dream to play baseball.  Growing up in the early 1900's, that dream was impossible for him as African Americans weren't allowed to play professional baseball until Jackie Robinson broke through that racial wall in 1947.  By that time, the league deemed Maxson too old to play and he continued his career as a sanitation worker in Pittsburgh to provide for his family.  He tried to be the good husband and father, but the pain of missed opportunity grew to resentment and anger over the years putting a strain on his family.

Troy's wife, Rose (Viola Davis) tells him that their son, Cory (Jovan Adepo) is being looked at by a college recruiter to play football.  Troy is set against it.  Being a talented baseball player never got him anything.  Tensions grow so deep in their family, Cory actually confronts his father asking why he never liked him.  Troy's response is "What law says I have to like you?"  His job is to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.  He advises Cory that he can't go through life worrying about if anybody likes him. And that's just one of many problems facing the Maxsons.  Troy's other son is a struggling musician who stops by regularly for money.  Troy's brother suffered a major head injury while in the military. Troy is summoned to meet with union representatives after questioning his boss why only white men get to drive the sanitation trucks.  And Troy is also dealing with other demons finding solace at another woman's home. 

Fences has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Leading Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Adapted Screenplay (August Wilson).  August Wilson was an American playwright who wrote a series of ten plays called The Pittsburgh Cycle.  He won two Pullitzer Prizes for drama.  Fences earned him one of those.  Wilson was always revered for his portrayal of African Americans with humor, drama, and real brutal honesty.  Washington and Davis brought every ounce of emotion from his writing and from the era to life in a film that is a slow, methodical, character-driven realistic tragedy of American Pittsburgh in the 1950's.  

I gave what looked like a beautifully and sincerely acted drama a 4 Star Prediction.  At this point, I need to remind you of what my rating scale means.  5 Stars does not necessarily mean a movie is Oscar-worthy.  It's more about my own personal preferences and the likelihood of my owning said movie and watching it repeatedly.  By the same token 3 or 4 stars does not mean I hated the movie.  In fact, I can see a movie and agree with it being nominated or even winning awards and still only give it 3 stars if seeing it once is enough for me.  With that in mind, I'm giving Fences 3 Stars.  Directed by and starring Denzel Washington, the August Wilson play was literally brought directly from the stage to the big screen.  It had the same feeling as watching Oklahoma or Glengarry Glen Ross or Six Degrees of Separation.  That's not a bad thing, but it felt very much like watching a Broadway production on a movie screen rather than a screenplay that was adapted for a motion picture.  And Washington and Davis gave performances that would surely earn either of them a Tony Award Nomination.  Though I don't disagree with their nominations for Oscars, I don't see either of them winning for their roles, nor do I see Fences taking home the trophy for Best Picture of the year.  It was real, beautiful, smart, funny, tragic and wonderful; but for me, once was enough.  If this was a stage performance making a tour like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera, I could see wanting to catch it again the next time it's in town.  Being a major motion picture, though, I doubt I'll be watching it again and I'm sure I won't be owning Fences.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Fences Preview

Every boy and girl has dreams of what they'd like to be when they grow up: an astronaut, a ball player, a ballerina, a princess.  Fences is the story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) who had a dream to play baseball.  Growing up in the early 1900's, that dream was impossible for him as African Americans weren't allowed to play professional baseball until Jackie Robinson broke through that racial wall in 1947.  By that time, the league deemed Maxson too old to play and he continued his career as a sanitation worker in Pittsburgh to provide for his family.  He tried to be the good husband and father, but the pain of missed opportunity grew to resentment and anger over the years putting a strain on his family.

Troy's wife, Rose (Viola Davis) tell him that their son, Cory (Jovan Adepo) is being looked at by college recruiters to play football.  Troy is set against it.  Being a talented baseball player never got him anything.  Tensions grow so deep in their family, Cory actually confronts his father in the preview asking why he never liked him.  Troy's response is "What law says I have to like you?"  His job is to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.  He advises Cory that he can't go through life worrying about if anybody likes him.  

Fences has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Leading Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Adapted Screenplay (August Wilson).  August Wilson was an American playwright who wrote a series of ten plays called The Pittsburgh Cycle.  He won two Pullitzer Prizes for drama.  Fences earned him one of those.  Wilson was always revered for his portrayal of African Americans with humor, drama, and real brutal honesty.  Washington and Davis look like they bring every ounce of emotion from his writing and from the era to life in a film that looks like it will pull at your heart and punch you in the gut.  I'm giving what looks like a beautifully and sincerely acted drama a 4 Star Prediction.  Well worth the money in the theatre and a contender to become a part of my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Hidden Figures Review

3.5 Stars

 

In the early 1960's, America was in the middle of two heated battles.  At home, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil movement for racial equality in a time when African Americans were forced to ride separate buses, drink from separate water fountains and just generally were considered less human.  In addition to that, women were fighting for their own equal rights. On a global scale, NASA fought to keep ahead of the Soviets in the race to explore space.  Hidden Figures is the story of three African American women who fought both battles.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) work for NASA and are part of a group of mathematical geniuses referred to as human computers since mechanical computers weren't invented yet to perform such difficult calculations.  The Russians launched the first ever satellite into space followed by the first man to orbit the earth and Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) is pressured to surpass the Soviet efforts.  They don't want to be outdone in the space race, they need to justify a space program that has yet to send a man to space, and they fear the Russians' access to space will allow them to spy on the United States.  Desperate to succeed, Katherine is sent to the think tank of all white male human computers.  She struggles to fit in and be accepted and respected, but she is determined, eventually winning them over.  

On the day of the launch of John Glenn aboard the Mercury Friendship 7, the IBM super computer calculations do not match the ones the human computers had figured out and Katherine is called in to confirm the correct numbers.  The information must be relayed to Glenn, but her findings are given to Al and she is shut out.  Al opens the door and invites her to come witness the achievement she helped to orchestrate.  

Katherine was also instrumental in the Apollo 11 flight to the moon in 1969.  It wasn't until 2015 that she  received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and until 2016 that NASA renamed the Langley Research Center in Virginia the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility.

Hidden Figures is an amazing story that took entirely too long to come to light.  The biggest thing the trio of African American human computer women had going for them in 1961 was that America hated the Soviets just a bit more than they held to their racism and sexism.  If Katherine could find a way to beat the Russians, their biases against her skin color and gender were overlooked to defeat the enemy.  The preview showed what could be an Oscar nomination worthy performance from Taraji P. Henson in the biggest role of her long career.  She has mostly done television work and voice overs with some supporting character roles along the way.  Most recently, she has starred in the TV series Empire after she left the hit drama Person of Interest.  She was quite comfortable in her role as the leading lady playing the timid and demure mother of 3 trying not to rock the boat at work but also the strong woman who knew when and how to speak up when necessary.  Surprisingly, Henson was not nominated for her role, but Octavia Spencer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and honestly, I feel they got those reversed. 

While the racial tensions were heated in the United States, the preview showed clips that glossed over the severity of the fight for equality with walls of segregation falling around them both in and out of NASA.  There was a lot of humor in the preview and my only concern was how the 2 hour and 7 minute movie would deal with the graphic nature of our countries ugly history at this time.   I'm gave Hidden Figures a 3.5 Star Prediction.  I am sticking with that 3.5 Star rating.  I thought it was missing something and I can't quite put my finger on it.  I didn't want the racial issues to be jammed down my throat, but I felt the true weight of the tension of the time wasn't adequately portrayed.  We saw clips of segregated buses and schools, white and colored drinking fountains, a special colored only coffee pot for Katherine, but it still didn't quite feel as uncomfortable to a viewer as it should have.  I know the main point of the movie was about their accomplishments at NASA during this particular time, but I still think they could have addressed the racial and sexist issues in such a way that it really upset an audience member, thus further emphasizing just how incredible their accomplishments were.  Still, I thought it was worth the money to see it in the theatres, I'll probably watch it again, but probably won't be owning this one.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

 

Hidden Figures Preview

In the early 1960's, America was in the middle of two heated battles.  At home, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil movement for racial equality in a time when African Americans were forced to ride separate buses, drink from separate water fountains and just generally were considered less human.  In addition to that, women were fighting for their own equal rights. On a global scale, NASA fought to keep ahead of the Soviets in the race to explore space.  Hidden Figures is the story of three African American women who fought both battles.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) work for NASA and are part of a group of mathematical geniuses referred to as human computers since mechanical computers weren't invented yet to perform such difficult calculations.  The Russians launched the first ever satellite into space and Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) is pressured to surpass the Soviet efforts.  They don't want to be outdone in the space race, they need to justify a space program that has yet to send a man to space, and they fear the Russians' access to space will allow them to spy on the United States.  Desperate to succeed, Katherine is sent to the think tank of all white male human computers.  She struggles to fit in and be accepted and respected, but she is determined, eventually winning them over.  

On the day of the launch of John Glenn aboard the Mercury Friendship 7, something goes wrong and Katherine figures out a solution to the calculation needs.  The information must be relayed to Glenn, but her findings are given to Al and she is shut out.  Al opens the door and invites her to come witness the achievement she helped to orchestrate.  

Katherine was also instrumental in the Apollo 11 flight to the moon in 1969.  It wasn't until 2015 that she  received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and until 2016 that NASA renamed the Langley Research Center in Virginia the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility.

Hidden Figures is an amazing story that took entirely too long to come to light.  The biggest thing the trio of African American human computer women had going for them in 1961 was that America hated the Soviets just a bit more than they held to their racism and sexism.  If Katherine could find a way to beat the Russians, their biases against her skin color and gender were overlooked to defeat the enemy.  The preview shows what could be an Oscar nomination worthy performance from Taraji P. Henson in the biggest role of her long career.  She has mostly done television work and voice overs with some supporting character roles along the way.  Most recently, she has starred in the TV series Empire after she left the hit drama Person of Interest.  She looks quite comfortable in her role as the leading lady.  

While the racial tensions are heated in the United States, the preview shows clips that gloss over the severity of the fight for equality with walls of segregation falling around them both in and out of NASA.  There is a lot of humor and my only concern is that the 2 hour and 7 minute movie shows a bit more of the graphic nature of our countries ugly history at this time that will only serve to further highlight their accomplishments and the significance of their work than the 30 second preview indicates.   With that hesitation in mind, I'm giving Hidden Figures a 3.5 Star Prediction.  If the film lives up to the potential of truthfully, delicately, boldly dealing with the social issues of 1961 while balancing the global fight against the Russians and infusing humor and intelligence, that star rating could easily go up.  So, am I right?  We shall see.

La La Land Review

4.5 Stars

 

As big and daunting as Los Angeles is, it's also a relatively small town, especially if you're trying to get into show business.  Mia (Emma Stone) is one of those many hopefuls.  She's working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers studio lot, giving the actors who are doing what she longs to do their caffeine fix.  Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is another hopeful, also currently scraping the bottom of the barrel.  To keep the roof over his head in his dumpy apartment and to pay what bills he can, which isn't many, he plays jazz at any club that will have him.  Mia and Sebastian first meet in the notorious LA traffic.  She is holding up traffic going over lines for an audition, he is stuck behind her.  He passes her with a glare, she responds with another unfriendly, but definitely Los Angelan gesture.  Their paths cross again later that evening after a party that Mia's roommates encourage her to attend after a bad audition.  She leaves on her own, walking home after her car was towed and hears Sebastian playing at a club she passes.  She walks in just in time to see him get fired for not sticking to the Christmas set list.  She tries to compliment him, but he brushes right by her.  Months  later at an 80s party, Mia gets some revenge as Sebastian is performing with an 80s tribute band.  They end up leaving together in search of their cars and start a wonderful song and dance duet a la Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. 

After a number of close calls and missed opportunities in La La Land both professionally and personally, Sebastian encourages Mia to write her own show.  She agrees, though terrified of failure, and writes a one-woman show she will also perform.  All Sebastian wants is to own his own jazz club, but he doesn't have the money, so he reluctantly takes a gig with a fellow musician.  The group is very successful, but it's not the type of jazz Sebastian wants to play and it's keeping him apart from Mia.  With glimpses of romance with each other and opportunities for success in the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment, the two must make some tough decisions about what they really want out of life.  Ultimately, they both decide what is most important to each of them and they live happily ever after . . .  though, not quite how you might assume.

La La Land was written and directed by Damien Chazelle who recently shot into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed writing and directing achievement with Whiplash.  While both deal with music, La La Land is completely different than his dark and torturous Whiplash.  If Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Judy Garland, or Fred Astaire were still making musicals today, La La Land would be their product.  They don't make movies like this anymore, but hopefully the will after this.  We've seen episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Scrubs, Family Guy and even South Park pay homage to the art of yesterdecade.  We've also seen musicals revitalized with Mama Mia!, Moulin Rouge, Rock of Ages, and Jersey Boys.  But a musical set today with the feel of the 50's is long overdue and it's been worth the wait as La La Land  combines traditional old school movie sets mixed with some of the modern movie special effects that they couldn't even imagine in Singin' in the Rain or Grease.

Gosling and Stone lit up the screen in the preview, coming across as the perfect kids you're rooting for, both in their pursuits of their passions and in their blooming romance.  They delivered as did La La Land.  If you like any of the movies I've named, just watching the preview probably made you smile with anticipation.  It just cleaned up at the Golden Globes with wins for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay.  I gave La La Land a very hopeful 4 Star prediction but I'm boosting it up to 4.5 Stars.  It was nearly perfect.  Gosling and Stone are a perfect match in their wit, comedic timing, sincerity, romance, singing and dancing.  If this is the first of many more modern day musicals to come, then we are in for a real treat.  If this doesn't spark more of its kind, it would be a shame, but we were blessed with this rare gem and I'll be adding it to my collection for sure.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

La La Land Preview

As big and daunting as Los Angeles is, it's also a relatively small town, especially if you're trying to get into show business.  Mia (Emma Stone) is one of those many hopefuls.  She's working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers studio lot, giving the actors who are doing what she longs to do their caffeine fix.  Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is another hopeful, also currently scraping the bottom of the barrel.  To keep the roof over his head in his dumpy apartment and to pay what bills he can, which isn't many, he plays jazz at any club that will have him.  Mia and Sebastian first meet in the notorious LA traffic.  She is holding up traffic going over lines for an audition, he is late and stuck behind her.  He passes her with a glare, she responds with another unfriendly, but definitely Los Angelan gesture.  Their paths cross again months later at an 80s party that Mia's friends have encouraged her to attend and Sebastian is performing at.  

After a number of missed opportunities in La La Land, Sebastian encourages Mia to write her own show.  She agrees, though terrified of failure, and writes a one-woman show she will also perform.  All Sebastian wants is to own his own jazz club, but he doesn't have the money, so he reluctantly takes a gig with a fellow musician.  With glimpses of romance with each other and opportunities for success in the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment, the two must make some tough decisions about what they really want out of life.

La La Land was written and directed by Damien Chazelle who recently shot into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed writing and directing achievement with Whiplash.  While both deal with music, La La Land looks completely different than his dark and torturous Whiplash.  If Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Judy Garland, or Fred Astaire were still making musicals today, La La Land would be their product.  They don't make movies like this anymore.  We've seen episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Scrubs, Family Guy and even South Park pay homage to the art of yesterdecade.  We've also seen musicals revitalized with Mama Mia!, Moulin Rouge, Rock of Ages, and Jersey Boys.  But a musical set today with the feel of the 50's is long overdue and looks like it's been worth the wait as La La Land boasts traditional old school movie sets mixed with some of the modern movie special effects that they couldn't even imagine in Singin' in the Rain or Grease.

Gosling and Stone light up the screen in the preview and come off as the perfect kids you're rooting for, both in their pursuits of their passions and in their blooming romance.  And I'm rooting for La La Land.  If you like any of the movies I've named, just watching the preview probably made you smile with anticipation.  It just cleaned up at the Golden Globes with wins for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay.  I'm giving La La Land a very hopeful 4 Star prediction and anticipate that rating will only go up after watching it.  Am I right?  We Shall See.