"Hostiles."
What a delight--what a refreshing delight--Armando Iannucci's THE DEATH OF STALIN was! Cold, British deadpan satire perfectly executed. I was hooked from start to finish. The decision to give this historical fiction contemporary finishes, especially the language and accents, was excellent. And that cast! And that script! Three slots in the Golden Globes for Musical/Comedy went to "The Disaster Artist," "The Greatest Showman" and "I, Tonya," when very clearly, here was the year's funniest film. One of the nastiest, but also the funniest. I will certainly be watching this again in the near future.
As for Darren Aronofsky's MOTHER!, I was amazed only by Jennifer Lawrence's consistency--by her capacity to keep the same, baffled-slash-shocked-slash-appalled expression for all of two hours. Aronofsky can go fool another crowd with this piece of Biblical blather, but not me. I was watching the entire thing unfold, wishing it could reach the end faster.
Andy Serkis' directorial debut, the disability drama BREATHE, stars one of the best actors of his generation and currently working, Andrew Garfield, whose Prior Walter in "Angels in America" is a stunning, fabulous creation. Here, Garfield is confined to a bed, then to a wheelchair, with a tube glued to his neck, for 90% of the film. Claire Foy does her best to set Elizabeth's shell aside (but she just can't, or is it just me? So effective and indelible is she in "The Crown.") The rest of the cast and the rest of this story are rather forgettable. Sometimes affecting, occasionally tearjerking, mostly forgettable.
Scott Cooper's HOSTILES is beautifully shot: vistas of the Great Plains in just about every weather and every light. And Rosamund Pike in tears in just about every imaginable situation. I'm being hyperbolic, of course. This is an emotional Western. An emotional Western! Christian Bale takes the lead, speaking so softly, even Apple earphones have a hard time catching his words occasionally. But the effort to depart from genre convention, though. You can almost hear Cooper's brain tick and tock throughout his film. The fight scenes, especially, all feel so contrived and cheaply choreographed. And the story itself hardly surprises; you can practically predict every twist and turn of the plot. And for this level of predictability, the film's length is not justified.
I still maintain that the third season of FRESH OFF THE BOAT was its best. The fourth one was still good, though there were a couple of episodes that weren't up to par, I thought. The third season was simply slam dunk after slam dunk. Still, Constance Wu remained the series' biggest asset, followed by Lucille Soong. And if ABC had the right mind, they'd renew this show for two more seasons at least.
Scott Cooper's HOSTILES is beautifully shot: vistas of the Great Plains in just about every weather and every light. And Rosamund Pike in tears in just about every imaginable situation. I'm being hyperbolic, of course. This is an emotional Western. An emotional Western! Christian Bale takes the lead, speaking so softly, even Apple earphones have a hard time catching his words occasionally. But the effort to depart from genre convention, though. You can almost hear Cooper's brain tick and tock throughout his film. The fight scenes, especially, all feel so contrived and cheaply choreographed. And the story itself hardly surprises; you can practically predict every twist and turn of the plot. And for this level of predictability, the film's length is not justified.
I still maintain that the third season of FRESH OFF THE BOAT was its best. The fourth one was still good, though there were a couple of episodes that weren't up to par, I thought. The third season was simply slam dunk after slam dunk. Still, Constance Wu remained the series' biggest asset, followed by Lucille Soong. And if ABC had the right mind, they'd renew this show for two more seasons at least.
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