Movie Review Madness - Three Billboards

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri – what a title , what a film. I saw it. I don’t think I need to see it again. It’s up for a lot of Oscar buzz and is very worthy. It’s a challenging film. Can’t call it entertaining. It makes you think. It makes you sweat a bit. It can make you laugh – but it’s that uncomfortable laugh – like, this is sorta PC wrong, but it’s funny, but it’s wrong, and am I cleared to laugh?

So, Frances McDormand (beyond Oscar worthy, she is SO good in this film – just hand her the statue now) is mourning her daughter who was killed and died while being burned. Ugly. So horrific. And she’s pissed – the local cops haven’t solved a thing. The chief (an excellent Woody Harrelson) has tried, but there have been no clues.  The local worker bee cop (Sam Rockwell – very Oscar worthy) is a racist pig with a lot of issues and does not seem interested in a solution.  Meanwhile, she puts up three billboards that challenge the police force.

Bam. It’s front and center.  Many issues are faced in this film. Racism. Police work. Murder. And more.  Seems like the whole town is seething, and McDormand is front and center. Her very being vibrates. She is such a good actress and she can show fury, combustion, and more just with a clenched jaw, a raised eyebrow, and a cutting remark.

This film can get ugly. The language is brutal. The actions are ugly. These aren’t really pleasant people. But it’s truly an interesting story, a sad heartbreaking at times story, and everyone in it grows in some way or another.

It’s an Oscar must see film that is tough....that’s where I’ll leave it.  Wow and whoa and dang.

Movie Review Madness - The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls wrote The Glass Castle – excellent memoir about her unique childhood with two off the grid parents-artsy and smart, offering a different perspective of “living” to their kids. However, the kids just wanted to eat and were tired of always moving. And yet, despite everything, those were her parents and she did love them.  Now the movie brings her story to the big screen. The book was better. I think the author’s words just strike a deeper chord. But, the movie is well acted and does a decent job of portraying the contrasts in the Walls’ lives.

Brie Larson is the grown-up Jeannette, now a writer in New York, engaged to a financial fellow, living the dream. One day on a taxi ride home from a fancy dinner, she sees her parents poking through trash, and she chooses to ignore them. In flashbacks, we see Jeannette’s life as a girl with her siblings. Often hungry, not attending school, always rushing to pack up meager possessions to move on to another squatter home. Woody Harrelson is Rex Walls – a free thinker, always dreaming, always scribbling in a notebook, “designing” the dream home – a glass castle that’s energy efficient. We also see him drink away what little money the family has, while his kids eat butter mixed with sugar as desperation. He’s bigger than life, and yet harbors a darkness.  Naomi Watts plays  Rose Mary, the artistic mother who’s along for the ride. She encourages reading and arts. Jeannette soon realizes she has to look out for her siblings and that their goal is to help each other move on.

Present day Jeannette is conflicted and gets tired of her own lies about her parents. The awkward scenes that bring together her fiance’s family with her own are heartbreaking. So much comes to a head – the hurt, the resentment, the love. How she lived made her who she is – that’s the key to the story. The youngsters who play the kids are superb. You root for them, and it’s rather amazing that they did turn out okay. They stuck with each other – sibling power is strong. Brie, Woody, and Naomi are also vibrant on the screen. The Glass Castle is quite a story – and it’s real. That’s the flabbergasting part. 

Movie Review Madness - Edge of Seventeen

Edge of Seventeen is such a reminder of the old 1980s John Hughes movies – edgy teens with “real” scenarios and great soundtracks. Now it’s updated for 2016. For me, a bit too much of the “F” word, but otherwise, this movie is on target and so true and totally made me laugh (and cry on the inside) at the same time.   I felt for Nadine (a brilliant Hailee Steinfeld) – she’s an insecure high schooler who’s pretty but doesn’t know it. She’s not comfortable in her skin and lets her motor mouth run her façade.  She’s smart, well read, and nerdy (and that’s okay but she doesn’t know it).  She resents her mother (Kyra Sedgewick – who can play attractive but trying too hard and acting too young). She “hates” her brother Darian ( a very solid Blake Jenner) who’s the star football god at high school. She counts on her bestie, Krista ( Haley Lu Richardson) who cheats on her with her brother – yep, Krista is moving on.  And then there’s the smitten young man (Hayden Szeto) that Nadine takes for granted and oh, he’s so right for her.

Seventeen??  Yep, tough age.  And this movie captures all of the horror, the good, the anxiety, and more.

Gotta love Woody Harrelson who’s the English teacher that Nadine counts on. She’s always barging in on his lunch break and assumes he really has no life.  Ultimately when the chips are down and she counts on this teacher, he goes the extra mile. He has a wife and a baby and Nadine witnesses that her teacher is a real person.  Oh, she has so much to learn.

Edge of Seventeen is excellent.  It truly captures that age of uncertainty and potential.  I am fifty-eight and could feel seventeen again – that inner heartache and worry.  You’ll laugh and inner swoon. Huge thumbs up to a superb little film with a big heart.   Go see it

Movie Review Madness - Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2

All good things must come to an end. Some go out with a whimper, others with a bang. Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is the latter – a worthy end to quite a journey for Katniss Everdeen. This film picks up right where the other ended. Katniss is in the once thought destroyed District 13. She’s banged up but recovering. Peeta is still in isolation after being brainwashed in the Capitol. Hammish, Gale, Plutarch, and Finnick are there to rally with Katniss and plan a way to get into the Capitol to kill President Snow and free the people of war torn Panem. 

From the movie synopsis blurb - What lies ahead are mortal traps, dangerous enemies and moral choices that will ultimately determine the future of millions. 

We’ve watched Katniss grow and she’s a bit weary now – tired of fighting, tired of the stress, and afraid she will fail those who depend upon her. However, the girl has gumption and a good team who has her back. In Mockingjay Part 2, she has to dig deep and fight for Peeta’s soul. Will she ultimately choose him or Gale? Was there ever a question?  President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is so evil, so full of snake oil, and he knows better than to underestimate Katniss. Believe me, there’s a Holy Crap! scene that will have you cheering.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss has been so perfect for this role. She embodies character, growth, loyalty, and a stoic presence. She is a true heroine. Josh Hutcherson has grown as Peeta, the baker boy. He and Katniss have been thrown together and their strength and bond has evolved. Woody Harrelson as Hammish has offered Katniss wisdom and strength of friendship. The word strength keeps appearing and that’s the key to the Hunger Games series – it’s been the key to survival after all.  Time to put down your bow and arrow. Time to say farewell to Katniss. The odds have been forever in our favor, after all.

Movie Review Madness: Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a place setting movie. Ever since Hollywood figured out there were big bucks to be made from splitting  finales into two parts, the game is on, and it works. They get my money. I’ve read the series by Suzanne Collins, and I do recommend the books. It’s not too late. You get more of the descriptions of despair and fuller characterizations. But if you are only watching the films, then be sure to watch this Part 1. The first Hunger Games gave us Katniss and Peta as wily competitors from District 12. Catching Fire had the two playing the game better with heightened stakes. By the end, District 12 has been destroyed and Katniss is the model for the growing revolution.   

Now, Katniss has been pulled out from under President Snow’s nose. Hiding in the once rumored ruined District 13, Katniss worries about Peta’s status captured in the Capitol. He’s transmitting a message of forgiveness under duress. Katniss does not believe he turned into one of “them”. She’s torn between Gael and Peta. She misses Cinna. She’s unsure of her message as the mockingjay. The district president, played by Julianne Moore, is wise and wants Katniss to recognize her potential as a leader. As Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) ventures out on missions, sees the destruction and poverty, her stoic demeanor cracks and she vows to do what she can.  

There are a lot of quiet moments in Mockingjay, but the tense undercurrent heightens the urgency of the situation. As the propaganda machines heat up and Katniss is showered in white tulips, she knows her battle with President Snow is for the sake of the world. Jennifer Lawrence just keeps getting better as an actress – she can look so sad and forlorn, and then kick butt. Donald Sutherland is suitably sinister. Liam Hemsworth, as Gael, is loyal to the revolution and fights hard for Katniss’s heart. Josh Hutcherson, as Peta, is soulful and tortured. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Plutarch, is plucky (his performance makes us sad to know he’s gone).  And Woody Harrelson is a hoot as a regrettably sober Hammish.  

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 makes us hungry for the true finale. It’s well filmed, has plenty of action, and gives us fear, sorrow, worry, and some humor. Raise your three fingers, and give the soulful mockingjay whistle. Katniss needs rebels on her side.