"Mary, Queen of Scots" (director: Josie Rourke)
I have always been a fan of movies about queens: "Elizabeth," "Elizabeth the Golden Age," "The Queen," you name it. So when I saw the previews for this movie, I was hyped. And I’m sorry I was. The film is meant to chronicle the 1569 conflict between the two cousin monarchs of the time, who both were trying to rule to the best of their ability, but were basically ruled by the men who surrounded them. However, the potential that this movie has to be majestic is unfortunately like Mary’s reign: curtailed at every turn.
Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots and Margot Robbie as her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, are both magnificent in their respective roles. Saoirse commands the screen as Mary Stuart, with a force and passion that I’m sure only another queen could understand, taking her mistakes in stride, insisting on what is rightfully hers, and showing a spine that her half-brother does not. Even Margot does justice to the portrayal of Elizabeth, the queen who decided to be married to her country, for what little time she is on the screen. However, it is the script that rules this movie and not in a good way: beautiful acting by the two leads is overshadowed by a script that seems half baked. The entire time is focused on trying to get Mary to come to heel to Elizabeth through means of marriage and control from her Protestant half-brother, all the while Mary tries to assert herself as the dominant monarch while trying to be respectful of her cousin. Honestly, the back and forth about who is in the right about who should rule over England and Scotland reminded me of quarrels between siblings over who got the last slice of cake, while indulgent nannies looked on in the form of the privy council members. I became bored to the point where I found myself thinking of the silly Saoirse song from SNL: “it’s Saoirse with an r not Saoirse with an...”
"Mary Poppins Returns" (director: Rob Marshall)
Mary is back! Well, sort of. This was probably not the best thing to go see after waking up at 4am and having no sleep the night before, but there was “no time like today” to go see it.
This was a very “eh” movie, with the key mistake being trying to make everything feel like it was a counterpart to some other song from the original. Emily Blunt blows back into the lives of the Banks family as the one and only Mary Poppins (although many will agree that while she does a very good job, she had very little to work with by way of a script and she is no Julie Andrews). Lin Manuel, while a great writer of song and verse but not of speaking with a London accent, attempts to steal the show in a forced love story between him and the now grown up Jane Banks, who is helping grown up Michael deal with the aftermath of his wife’s death and the inevitable foreclosure of the family home. The romance never amounts to anything so there’s no point, as if the writers are trying to make something happen that was supposed to occur in the first movie. The ending feels very Deus ex machina, as Disney movies tend to do, the answer coming in on a kite in more ways than one.
The hand drawn graphics, meant to pay homage not just to Disney's heritage but what was revolutionary at the time of the original, now just feel underwhelming. The music numbers feel like they are trying to make up for lack of script that can’t make up its mind about which plot to follow, complete with lamp lighter number that is a mirror image of the chimney sweep number from the original. Overall, in trying to breathe new life to a classic, Disney should take a lesson from Mary and “leave when another door opens.”
This was a very “eh” movie, with the key mistake being trying to make everything feel like it was a counterpart to some other song from the original. Emily Blunt blows back into the lives of the Banks family as the one and only Mary Poppins (although many will agree that while she does a very good job, she had very little to work with by way of a script and she is no Julie Andrews). Lin Manuel, while a great writer of song and verse but not of speaking with a London accent, attempts to steal the show in a forced love story between him and the now grown up Jane Banks, who is helping grown up Michael deal with the aftermath of his wife’s death and the inevitable foreclosure of the family home. The romance never amounts to anything so there’s no point, as if the writers are trying to make something happen that was supposed to occur in the first movie. The ending feels very Deus ex machina, as Disney movies tend to do, the answer coming in on a kite in more ways than one.
The hand drawn graphics, meant to pay homage not just to Disney's heritage but what was revolutionary at the time of the original, now just feel underwhelming. The music numbers feel like they are trying to make up for lack of script that can’t make up its mind about which plot to follow, complete with lamp lighter number that is a mirror image of the chimney sweep number from the original. Overall, in trying to breathe new life to a classic, Disney should take a lesson from Mary and “leave when another door opens.”
"Aquaman" (director: James Wan)
We all know that Warner Brothers has struggled to keep up with the juggernaut that is Marvel/Disney when it comes to movies. In fact, there have been very few times have I even cared to see a DC movie in theaters, the last being "Wonder Woman," when it seemed DC may have actually done something RIGHT and then they screwed themselves by rushing "Justice League." And now we get another origin story in the form of "Aquaman," aka Arthur Curry, aka hot Jason Momoa, and just like "Wonder Woman," this does not disappoint.
The film starts with learning about how Arthur came to be, and Nicole Kidman kicking some SERIOUS ass! Then we get to the meat of the story—proving Arthur is the one true king, which honestly makes the whole thing feel like the legend of the sword in the stone. And after basically a treasure hunt and a random bad guy in the form of Black Manta (in the comics he’s one of the major foes of Aquaman), it might as well be. After pulling the sword from the stone—I mean trident from the hands of the first king of Atlantis, it’s back to stop his half-brother Orm from becoming Ocean Master (which honestly is a title I’d like to have).
Unlike "Wonder Woman," which felt more gritty and faded in its cinematography (which is exactly what was called for), the visuals in "Aquaman" are bright and bold. You could almost call this the DC version of "Black Panther" when it comes to looks—"Black Panther" was stunning on land, "Aquaman" is stunning under the sea. There are some great one liners, and the acting of both Momoa and counterpart Amber Heard is fantastic, giving us the beginnings of their future as a couple. While I may not go back and see this movie twice more like I did with "Wonder Woman," "Aquaman" definitely has picked up some of the DC slack.
The film starts with learning about how Arthur came to be, and Nicole Kidman kicking some SERIOUS ass! Then we get to the meat of the story—proving Arthur is the one true king, which honestly makes the whole thing feel like the legend of the sword in the stone. And after basically a treasure hunt and a random bad guy in the form of Black Manta (in the comics he’s one of the major foes of Aquaman), it might as well be. After pulling the sword from the stone—I mean trident from the hands of the first king of Atlantis, it’s back to stop his half-brother Orm from becoming Ocean Master (which honestly is a title I’d like to have).
Unlike "Wonder Woman," which felt more gritty and faded in its cinematography (which is exactly what was called for), the visuals in "Aquaman" are bright and bold. You could almost call this the DC version of "Black Panther" when it comes to looks—"Black Panther" was stunning on land, "Aquaman" is stunning under the sea. There are some great one liners, and the acting of both Momoa and counterpart Amber Heard is fantastic, giving us the beginnings of their future as a couple. While I may not go back and see this movie twice more like I did with "Wonder Woman," "Aquaman" definitely has picked up some of the DC slack.
"Vice" (director: Adam McKay)
Christian Bale brings a surprise to the table for winter movies—playing former VP Dick Cheney in the new movie "Vice." To say that this movie is not thought provoking would be a gross miscalculation; indeed the director Adam McKay brings the same attitude to the film as he brought to "The Big Short," with little intervals throughout to help explain the things that the average person doesn’t know (my personal favorite being when Alfred Monila comes in as a waiter and explaining different ways to get around the torture laws). But this is a more somber note. And just like in "The Big Short," Bale delivers—this time, though, his performance (and transformation) are scary in the reality check they deliver to the viewing audience. Even the beginning of the movie warns us that “they did their f***ing best” in trying to show what VP Cheney did while in office. With Amy Adams backing him as Lynne Cheney, Bale powerhouses through the years that Cheney basically silently climbed up the politically ladder, becoming president in all but name, the perfect puppet master. And the hard part is that you start to WANT to have sympathy for him, especially when you hear his initial “line in concrete” on going against his younger daughter Mary’s lifestyle of being gay and then the ending monologue directed to the viewer where he defends his actions. And when you hear it laid out as he does, it’s only the cold reality of facts that show up afterward that make you ask the question: “Was this really for the good of the country?”
Steve Carrell is definitely a figure to watch in this movie as he portrays Don Rumsfeld, and while Sam Rockwell did not physically transform into former president Bush, the mannerism is still there, which makes him more believable. And make sure you stay for a bit after the initial credits! "Vice" is definitely not one to miss.
Steve Carrell is definitely a figure to watch in this movie as he portrays Don Rumsfeld, and while Sam Rockwell did not physically transform into former president Bush, the mannerism is still there, which makes him more believable. And make sure you stay for a bit after the initial credits! "Vice" is definitely not one to miss.
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