Jackie

Plot: Jackie is the story of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy from the assassination of President Kennedy to his funeral.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I loved Jackie because as it tells one woman's tragic story and at the same time talks about what is important to a nation, to a family with small kids, and even to be alive. It's about politics and history and it's all through the eyes of Jackie Kennedy. Natalie Portman is so emotional and perfect the whole time.

Jackie seems to have had a sense of artistic aesthetic, and I wonder how accurate that was. She seemed so convinced of what the right thing to do is. On the outside, the nation saw this poise, style and grace. The movie explores what was going on in her head.

I really liked it, and Natalie Portman really should get the Oscar. Amazing performance.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard

Directed by: Pablo Larrain

Written by: Noah Oppenheim

The Music: Powerful electronic and orchestral music by Mica Levi. Not too many female movie score composers. The whole score is online at least for now.

The Visuals: They recreated many 1960's scenes and  simulate old-time television footage. 

Rating: 4.0 stars - clearly.

More: Director Larrain said of the original Jackie Kennedy White House tour footage that it looked like Jackie was either going to explode or melt.

Even More: A movie about an American president shot in France by a Chilean director.

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Moonlight

Plot: This is anthology of three stories that follow a Florida boy, Chiron, through high school and into young adulthood. Chiron is bullied in grade school and in high school.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: 
I kept waiting for something to happen that so Moonlight would make sense or create a payoff for all the set-up. The payoff is so deeply hidden that it takes a lot of work to find it. The first story is a drama about a damaged child. The second two stories are morality tales about damaged children becoming damaged adults and then healing of damaged adults. The second two stories don't work as dramas and they are kindof dull--they only work metaphorically. The story's meaning is only available on contemplation of the whole later on. The second two stories are not enjoyable to watch in the theater.

The childhood story is the best; it is gripping and the characters are deep & interesting. The second story has weaker-acting and stereotypic school-yard antics. The third story of the adult Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) is insubstantial. The subplot about homosexuality isn't edgy in 2017, but it is a metaphor for male friendship.

The scenes of bullying are hard to watch, but strangely they were the best part of the movie. They were dramatic and well acted. The bullying was emotive and created sympathy for Chiron. In the first segment the characters were well-developed and acted appropriately.

I loved Mahershala Ali as the heroic local drug dealer who took care of Chiron when his Mom (Naomie Harris) could not. He has a great presence. Too bad he wasn't in the latter 2 stories. I want to see more movies from him. Andre Holland, who played Kevin in the third story was also a stand out actor. I loved his performance in the diner scene.

Moonlight isn't preachy, but there is a social message in there about caring for people, about growing up, and about how our society doesn't take care of the weakest among us.

The story arc is about the emotionally-damaged, drug-dealer man, who seeks solace from compassionate near-strangers. It encourages everyone to be compassionate to strangers because we don't know their stories. 

Cast: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Alex Hibbert, Andre Holland

Directed by: Barry Jenkins

Written by: Tarell A. McCraney and Barry Jenkins

The Music: Wide variety of music from pop to classical

The Visuals: A number of artsy shots of people talking, especially early in the movie. 

Rating: 2.0 stars: Not fun to watch. Not well constructed, but you can find the story arc if you look hard for it. 

  

More: Seems like a boring art movie, and it is, however, there is a core there to chew on.

After I got home, I wrote "I am disappointed to have wrecked an evening watching this." Today, the first story is sticking with me. The characters were deep, and I spent time thinking of them.

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Hidden Figures

Plot: Hidden Figures tells the stories of three black women who worked at NASA during the 1960's Mercury missions as computational mathematicians. Katherine (Taraji Henson) solved difficult orbital mechanics problems. She is a widow; we meet her kids and a potential husband. Dorothy (Octavia Spencer) supervised a group of other mathematicians and early computer programmers. Mary (Janelle Monae) overcame Jim Crow segregation to become a professional engineer at NASA.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Hidden Figures is a positive and uplifting story about three black women in 1960's Virginia who overcome obstacles and accomplish something. It is a reminder of how backwards the 1960's were in terms of race relations and women's rights. Simultaneously somehow, it shines a spotlight on how many of these things remain the same.  Director Melfi talks about how the time has become right for this story to be told.

It is easy to cheer when the women overcome each small obstacle. The story is told with some humor and patience. I liked that there was a little mathematics too, including Euler's method for solving a differential equation. (I suspect they must have done this with the IBM, but perhaps they really did do that by hand -- a long rote calculation.)

Taraji Henson's Katherine is the main story. Her performance was great: both emotional and subtle. The other two woman's stories subplots were somewhat stand alone. I liked Janelle Monae's energy, and she sends a more political message that works dramatically and as a social message.

It is nice to see black women were able to overcome so much back in the 60's. I was thinking about how much segregation existed 97 years after the Civil War. Now it is 152 years after the Civil War, and slavery's social residue remains yet.

Overall I enjoyed watching it, and I learned things too. I will probably buy the book on tape to learn more. 

Cast: Taraji Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner

Directed by: Theodore Melfi

Written by: Allison Schroeder & director Melfi wrote the screenplay based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly 

The Music: Many good R&B songs by Pharrell Williams. There were two slow songs by costar Janelle Monae -- not her best stuff. 

The Visuals: The best part of the visuals is the period setting including the old time space capsules that looks so much like somebody's science project. No fancy special effects. They do a lot with chalk on a blackboard.

Rating: 4.0 stars: I liked it. Makes you think. With a happy ending that makes you feel good. 

Why is it a 4.0 star movie and not 3.5 stars? It is not a perfect movie because the three stories play a little like an anthology. Taraji Henson deserves an Oscar, but Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner not so much. I liked Janelle Monae, and I am going to forgive her 2010's sensibility.

On the bright side, Hidden Figures is an interesting and important story about overcoming injustice. It is also fun to watch.

The rating depends on how much you value the social message against acting & film craft.

In 2016, I have two four star movies, Doctor Strange and Girl on the Train -- very different movies from each other and from this one.

I tipped toward 4 stars since the other top movies this year were so fluffy. 

More: 1961's America was seventeen years past WWII, and the ethic of national unity against foreign powers was strong. I liked the seriousness and dedication of the society at the time. We could use more of that.

Even More: I wonder how much of the story is amped up for Hollywood. Was there really a hold in the countdown while the landing calculations were checked? Did the NASA administrator really pull down the Colored Women's bathroom sign with a crowbar? Did Katherine really run 1/2 mile to the bathroom? It makes me want to read the book.


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Passengers

Plot without Spoilers:  Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) are mistakenly awoken from hibernation on a interstellar spaceship, and no one else is awake. They can't go back to sleep so they try to make the best of it, until spaceship malfunctions threaten to kill them. [imdb]    [photos]

Review without spoilers: It is hard to discuss Passengers without knowing the plot twists and the questions of sacrifice and selfishness. There are multiple levels and most obvious is the Sci-Fi problem solving like The Martian at the beginning and the special-effects heavy action scenes at the end.

Most interesting are the moral quandaries Jim and Aurora puzzle through. In their impossible situation we see what the characters do, and I wondered what I would have done.

Because the moral situations are the driver, the plot twists are contrived to make the choices more stark and absolute -- whereas on a Star Trek episode focused on adventure Scotty or Jordy would  find an Sci-Fi engineering solution to avoid a moral catastrophe -- this give a happy ending and avoids immoral or questionable choices that would make a network executive cringe. Here writer Tyldum wanted the characters to figure it out.  (See the Even More section below.) This change in tone is a little unfamiliar, but it is the core of the movie. 

Passengers is staying with me. I keep thinking about what would I have done. The moral dimension is why it is getting three stars.

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Plot with Spoilers: After a spaceship accident, Jim (Chris Pratt) is awoken from hibernation by a malfunction decades early with no way to return to hibernation and therefore fated to die before rest of the passengers awaken. He is lonely so he awakens cute female passenger to keep him company through the remaining decades, Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence). It's great for a while, but then she finds out that he woke her on purpose, and she is pissed. The spaceship continues to malfunction threatening their lives until Jim & Aurora work together to save themselves and the sleeping passengers.

Review with spoilers: Passengers is primarily about one or two people stuck in a life threatening situation. It is really about the moral choices especially Jim's selfishness in awakening Aurora, Aurora's choice when she learns about it, and the how Jim and Aurora choose to spend their future. While it looks like a Sci-Fi movie: most obvious is the Sci-Fi problem solving like The Martian at the beginning and the special-effects heavy action scenes at the end; it really is about the moral choices.

The soul of the movie is the moral lapse where Jim awakes Aurora just because he is lonely and in doing so sentencing her to death. This permeates every scene both before and after Aurora knows, and it deeps the ending where she agrees to stay with him. Jim seems likeable, but we know he may be a predator, and Chris Pratt's acting conveys that.

In their impossible situation we see what the characters do, and I wondered what I would have done.

Because the moral situations are the driver, the plot twists are contrived to make the choices more stark and absolute -- whereas on a Star Trek episode Scotty or Jordy would  find an Sci-Fi engineering solution to avoid a moral catastrophe -- this gives a TV happy ending and avoids immoral/questionable choices that would make a network executive cringe. Here writer Tyldum wanted the characters to figure it out.  (See the Even More section below.) This change in purpose is a little unfamiliar in Sci-Fi movies, but it is the core.

I liked Jennifer Lawrence a lot. She has a subtly in her expressions. Chris Pratt is more comic, but he is relate-able and amiable. It is easy to see why Aurora likes him. Michael Sheen shows up as a robot bartender, and give the characters someone to talk to. His deadpan delivery provides levity.

I liked the movie. Passengers is staying with me as I roll over the moral issues in my mind. 

Cast: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence

Directed by: Moren Tyldum

Written by: Jon Spaihts, who also wrote Doctor Strange. It is not based on a novel

The Music: Nice instrumental music by Thomas Newman.

The Visuals: There are many well-composed shots evoking loneliness and the beauty of space. I  liked the swimming pool and the window. I like the helical ship too.  

Rating: 3.5 stars: 

Even More:  This interview with writer Jon Spaihts talks about the moral quandaries at the core of the film, and some interesting insights into his process. He likes to minimize exposition at the beginning of the movie, and then dole it out as the audience needs it. In a Sci-Fi this can seem phoney in that it seems like -- Oh look the write set up this new twist in the "universe" just to enable this plot twist. On the other hand, the lack of exposition at the beginning made the film more lonely and beautiful.

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LA LA LAnd

Plot: Mia (Emma Stone) has been trying to break into acting for four years, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a frustrated, overly-idealistic jazz musician who is paying the bills playing restaurants. Mia and Sebastian meet, flirt, and after singing a few songs become a couple. They discuss their frustrated dreams and try to inspire each other keep trying to be successful in acting or music. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: LA LA LAnd is a musical with some good songs and earnest storytelling. The songs are spotty: there are good ones like the opening song on the freeway, and less good ones like Mia's audition for the French film. It's always interesting, but the drama is not dramatic enough, and the songs are not fun enough.

I like musicals, like 2015's Into the Woods or 2012's Les Miserables. I loved Evita (2006) or Moulin Rouge (2001). Musicals can be fun and imaginative.

The photography and art direction are great. There are some great images. Emma Stone's looks great in her stylish retro dresses. We get great images and dispense with the realism, which is fine with me.

Emma Stone has some great facial acting, and Ryan Gosling is OK, but not as good. The other supporting actors are not well developed, but they do get to sing and dance.

There is a part where the screen goes black, so we can concentrate on the audio. I thought that was effective. It was foreshadowed earlier in the film when a film stopped in a theater where Mia and Sebastian were.

The best part is that LA LA LAnd is different and fresh. It is strong on style, but the conventional drama of the story is a little weak. 

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

Written and directed by: Damien Chazelle

The Music: It's a musical, and its all about music. Most of the songs are show tunes with additional piano and jazz instrumental music. 

The Visuals: Very stylish photography throughout. Great images.

Rating: 3.0 stars: a 2.5 star movie with an extra half star for the visual style and imagination. Not fun enough for 3.5. It will make my 2016 top ten list.

More: Writer-director Damien Chazelle made the music-oriented and very intense Whiplash in 2014. This is his third movie.

SPOILER - Even More: People are too cynical for a happy ending. Mia can't live happily ever after with Sebastian because our depressed zeitgeist. Chazelle gives us the happy ending as a dream sequence and a wan, tired smile across a crowded room as the real ending.

I liked this ending.

I am also happy that Mia and Sebastian both get satisfaction in their artistic lives too. I wonder how realistic that is.

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Plot: Jyn Erso's (Felicity Jones) father was pressed into service building the Death Star, and he had Jyn raised by a friend, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). When she grows up,  her father wants to see her, and the rebels try to take her to him. On the way, she makes friends with the rebels especially Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and robot K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). Because this is a prequel to "A New Hope," it is not a spoiler to say that the team steals the plans, and transmits them to Princess Leah's ship.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I liked it. It is a fresh story but it has all the familiar elements from the original Star Wars movies. The characters are clearly motivated, and the bad guys are characters we know already. When the battles come, they are grittier and smarter versions of the battles in the original movies. The special effects are non-stop perfect, and the art direction is inspired and detailed.

Rogue One is dark. No jokes or funny robots. Very little smiling. It is a tragedy and that means a sad ending. The worst part of the movie is the sad ending.

I liked the performances by Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna. They were much more concerned about people than about their technology, and I liked that. The humanity of the characters made the story better.

 I also liked Donnie Yen who played a blind monk who kept chanting "I am one with the force and the force is with me." I am sure he will inspire of a generation of Force-oriented mystics.

The battle scenes at the end seemed long, and while I could follow it all, the fighting not the most interesting part. 

Cast: Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk

Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Written by: Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy, John Knoll, Gary Whitta

The Music: Orchestral music with a nice majestic feeling like John Williams'

The Visuals: All top notch

Rating: 3.5 stars: A good movie; fun to watch, but dark and with a sad ending. I want to see it again. 

More: Director Edwards as a young man made a trip to Tunisia (where the Tatooine scenes were filmed) with food coloring so he could drink blue milk like Luke Skyworker. He was and probably still is a real fan.

Even More: Jyn Erso: We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope!



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Manchester by the Sea

Plot: [imdb]  [photos]

Lee (Casey Affleck) feels guilty and responsible for a past tragedy, so he is angry and depressed. When his brother dies, he goes back to Manchester for the burial. His brother left his 16 year son Joe (Kyle Chandler) in Lee's care, and this causes Lee to move back to Manchester and all tragic old memories. Joe and Lee have many sharp worded arguments. He encounters his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) at the funeral and later around town.

Review: The film is all about Lee and his depression about the tragedy (that I am not going to spoil.) Lee can't forget and never learns to cope. The film is tragic because it is not a redemption or come-back or healing story. At the end, I wondered, why did the movie end here?

Manchester by the Sea has a core pessimism, and perhaps that fits the national zeitgeist -- leading to its surprising popularity.

Casey Affleck's performance is the highlight thoughout -- playing the broody and boiling Lee with intensity and sadness. There is snappy dialog with Joe, but young Kyle Chandler isn't up to the role and he sounds like a 40 year old scriptwriter. Joe isn't fully realized, but he challenges Joe just like the internal voices of his younger self might have. Joe does provides the few moments of levity -- primarily involving attempting sex with his girl friends.

The end is the least satisfying part. It does not resolve Lee's central issues, and his life will become much like it was at the beginning. Manchester by the Sea is a fictional story where a writer has concocted all the characters and all the plot twists, I expect the writer's message to be embedded inside. I don't find one here: just a cold, stormy reality -- just like all those wintery seascapes director Lonergan shows us. The message is that life sucks, and while people can fight it, in the end life still sucks.

"Why did the movie end where it did?" The answer is that it could have ended anywhere, because just like Godot nothing ever is going to change. If Manchester by the Sea has a message for this modern age, it is an icy, windy, bleak seascape. 

Cast: Casey Affleck, Kyle Chandler

Written and directed by: Kenneth Lonergan

The Music: Simple minimal music by Lesley Barber mixed with orchestral classics

The Visuals: Many photos of the ocean, the harbor, and sea birds. Few special effects.

Rating: 3.0 stars: Worthwhile and with deep characters. 

More: After the election, I read that this is an age for the Black Madonna -- not the pop star Marea Stamper or Kanye West -- rather the 12 Century European original. A dark faced woman who embodied the tragedy of the plague and the descent in to ignorance. The Pope is planning to visit her shrine on his trip to Poland.

New age pantheists link her to the Hindu goddess Kali, who is called the dark mother and associated with destruction & doomsday.

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