Monday Moments - Glass Onion Hilarity

 If you haven't seen Glass Onion: A Knives Out Movie yet, what are you doing that's more important? 

I'm ready to watch it again and try to pick up more pop culture references. This flick is an absolute hoot. Daniel Craig is back as Benoit Blanc, world's greatest detective. He's been invited to a tech billionaire's retreat with old college friends. A murder (Edward Norton - rich dude Miles Bron) is to occur and the gathered friends (Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista are to solve it. All in good fun. 

BUT...cue dramatic music. A real murder or two happens, plot twists abound, Benoit's skills are put to the test and how did he really get included?

So many little back  stories. Everyone has a reason to want Miles dead.  Benoit must truly peel back the onion to expose the truth. 

Great cast, clever script, excellent production. Just a fun escape. Join the fun in 2023 - it's a good start to your movie year. 

Movie Review Madness - Hidden Figures

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson. Those are names we should know and revere. Instead we know the women who play them in Hidden Figures – Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae (acting kudos to all). This is a must-see film about African American women living in 1961 segregated Virginia – not just any women,  but women with amazing mathematical and engineering minds who helped NASA get John Glenn to the moon.

This is a dazzling film that yes, presents history, portrays the reality of segregation – i.e. there were no colored women bathrooms on the east side of the NASA campus. Katherine had to hoof it in heels  over a mile to use the “proper” facility. Her boss Jim finally asks, “Where are you for forty minutes at a time?” When she explains, it’s like a light bulb goes on. Mary has to petition a court for the right to attend engineering master classes at the “all white” high school – a very smart judge approves it. Dorothy sees the future and gets a book on Fortran programming from the “white’s only” section of the library. So many small things could impede these women. But they persevered in their jobs, knowing they were right

Yes, the story is about roadblocks and obstacles and challenges. The Russians beat America to space. Now it was a race against time and numbers are key. A roomful of white guys in white shirts don’t know the analytical geometry necessary to head for the stars. In comes Katherine, requisitioned from the colored computing group.  As she writes out formulas on the blackboard it is clear – numbers matter, not her color, not her gender. The math is key and John Glenn trusts her numbers over the newfangled IBM computer.

This film has spirit. It soars and the spirit of effort and brains is contagious. Hidden Figures is SO good on so many levels and it’s awesome that this story is being told, these women are being honored,  and that you have a film a whole family can see and appreciate. Math can be exciting, and yes nowadays computers are necessary, but you still have a human brain daring to dream.

Movie Review Madness - Moonlight

Moonlight is one of those films you will never watch but be aware. It could show up at Oscar time. I saw it because I like to support my local theater when they run that one artsy weird flick. I want them to keep ‘em coming.  Mahershala Ali as Juan is so darn good. You’ve seen him in films (he’s in Netflix’s Luke Cage - Cottonmoth) and he’s a great understated actor. He just shines in this film as the drug dealer who befriends a kid in the hood who needs guidance. 

The kid is the adult Chiron (Ashton Sanders), but before that he’s Little ( Alex Hibbert) – a wide-eyed little boy who just seeks escape. When he hides out in a room, Juan finds him and takes him home. His wife, Teresa (Janelle Monae – yes, she can sing and act) feeds the kid and doesn’t ask too many questions.  Little aka Chiron ultimately always seeks Juan and Teresa out as his rock. He can count on them to feed him, shelter him, and not question.

His mother, Paula, played by a heartbreaking Naomie Harris, is a druggie. Oh, she cares for her son but the drugs and that life suck her in. Meanwhile, Chiron is a sensitive kid who’s gay but just won’t acknowledge it. There’s an underlying need for love but he shoves that aside with a tough guy attitude.

Moonlight operates on many levels and it’s really well acted and touching. It might not have themes that everyone cares about, but ultimately it is about love and family and friendship and who you can count on………..that means a lot in this day and age.  I truly hope it sees some Oscar nominations.