A Monster Calls

First Hit:  Although intellectually interesting, this film fails to engage.

This film deals with acceptance, letting go, and facing fears. Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is a pale and frail young man who is picked on in school, is keeping house because his mum (Felicity Jones) is very sick, and has horrible dreams at night.

This film is dark not only in color in the scenes and topic it addresses, but in the way, all the characters are drawn. Although mum was optimistic in her engagement, there was a melancholy nature in her scenes that seemed to drive all the movie’s scenes.

The main part of the story is about Conor and how his dreams fuel his ability to create an alternate reality by which a Monster (Liam Neeson) appears to Conor at 12:07 and tells him three stories. In return the Monster requires that Conor to tell his truth and tell the Monster his horrible dream.

Adding to the difficulty Conor was having with his mom’s illness and dreams, his Dad (Toby Kebbell) lived in the United States, schoolmate Harry (James Melville) was beating him up, for no reason, on a daily basis, and his Grandma (Sigourney Weaver) was very strict and seemed unloving.

As this film works through this story to resolve the character’s difficulties, I struggled to stay engaged. This film seemed to languish as it unfolded. The slowness of the film, the lack of  character development, and the darkness left me wondering, through sections of the film, what was next.

This is not a children’s film although it is told through the eyes of a young boy. It is complex as the Monster tells stories that are supposed to help the boy however they are a bit esoteric and were lost on the boy and maybe the audience.

MacDougall was amazing in this role. He was very good at being, sullen, a picked on weakling and strong in the face of his mother’s death. Jones was OK. Unfortunately, it was my perception that her youngish look in this film made it hard for me to believe she was Conor’s mom. Neeson’s voice for the monster was really good and portrayed the darkness of this film really well. Kebbell was good as Conor’s dad who loved his son but not enough to bring him to the US and live with his current family. Melville was OK as the bully. Weaver was oddly cast and only until the end of the film did I engage with her in this role as Grandmother. One failing of this film was that there was little back story of the characters which caused me to have too many questions while watching. Patrick Ness wrote the screenplay. The lack of each character's history made it a difficult to believe and engage with. J.A. Bayona created some interesting segues between the fantasy of the dream world and the real world, but the lack of backstory, left me wondering most of the time.

Overall:  The film was lifeless with sparks of wonderful engagement.

Films I Saw and Liked in 2016

These are some of the films I saw in 2016 that I liked and why. Eye In The Sky:  Gave a view of how war has changed through the use of drones and electronics. This was also Alan Rickman’s last film.

Where To Invade Next:  A Michael Moore Documentary about our inability to provide US Citizens with aspects of living we founded but never implemented.

Knight Of Cups:  This film is not everyone’s cup of tea but its esoteric nature touched me.

Hello, My Name Is Doris:  Sally Field was spectacular as a woman who tried to find love with a much younger man.

Deadpool:  Despite the thoughts of most other reviewers, I thought this was a very funny film.

Money Monster:  I like Clooney and the premise of this film about television stock pickers.

Golden Kingdom:  I loved the young monks and their clear devotion to their Buddhist practice.

Dark Horse:  Sweet film about a group of Welsh villiagers.

Nerve:  Although nothing great about this film, it was a blast to watch, which is enough sometimes.

Captain Fantastic:  I loved the premise and story of this film.

Southside With You:  I thoroughly enjoyed this version of Barack and Michelle’s first date.

Hell Or High Water:  Really evoked the old west with fine performances.

Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World:  Wonderful documentary about how we got the World Wide Web.

Samsara:  Powerful images showing the cycle of life.

Snowden:  I really liked how Oliver Stone told this sotry.

The Beatles:  Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years:  Outstanding documentary about The Beatles earliest years.

Sully:  Tom Hanks was great in telling this amazing true story.

Certain Women:  Very interesting study and story about these women's lives.

Nocturnal Animals:  I loved the acting in this film.

The Edge of Seventeen:  Wonderfully acted film about how hard it can be to be a 17-year old girl.

Loving:  Genuinely sweet film about how love can conquer – even the law of the land.

Moonlight:  Another film that opened the doors to a way of life that needs to be seen and accepted.

The Handmaiden:  Wonderfully filmed story about deception and love.

Arrival:  One of my most favorite films of the year as it shares the concept of non-linear time.

Hacksaw Ridge:  Well executed film about a conscientious objector and a very bloody battle.

Fences:  Although very “play like”, it is a wonderful study of a family.

La La Land:  A thoroughly wonderful engaging film about love.

Elle:  Powerfully acted film about the strength of a woman.

Manchester By The Sea:  The acting in this film is sublime.

When the Oscar Award listing comes out, I’ll share my opinions and best guesses.

Hidden Figures

First Hit:  A very touching and wonderful film about strong smart women overcoming prejudicial perceptions about their capabilities.

This film is based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, which tells the story of how smart intelligent black women persevered and overcame the challenges of 1960’s discrimination in Virginia to help the United States come from behind and beat the Russians in the space race. This movie chronicles their journey along with the journey of the early space program.

Having grown up in this era, but in Southern California where the overt and obvious signs of segregation didn’t exist, I was shocked knowing that Virginia had segregated lunch rooms, bathrooms, and bus seating. This issue drives this film’s story.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) are three friends who work for NASA in Langley Virginia. The Russians have successfully launched manned orbital space flight with Yuri Gagarin. Because we were in a cold war with the Russians, it was a societal imperative of the time, that we beat them in the space race.

Under the guidance Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) NASA was struggling to develop rockets, space capsules, and the ability to calculate orbital exit and entry points of these space vehicles. To assist with the more mundane calculations, NASA used a unit called “Colored Calculators” of which Katherine, Dorothy and Mary were a part.

There are three major stories about these women in this film, plus other side stories. This is both the strength and weakness of this film. We didn’t need every story, however the main story about the three finding their rightful paths was divine. Katherine was a mathematical genius graduating high school at age 14 and college at age 18. She is a single mother raising three daughters, while working long hours calculating numbers. When she is discovered as the only one who knows analytical geometry, she gets assigned to Harrison’s group to figure out how the United States will launch a man into orbit and bring him back alive. This is the main theme of the film.

It also documents how Mary had to find a way to become a certified engineer with NASA. As she assisted Research Engineer Kazimierz Czarnecki he asks her why she didn’t become a certified engineer, she tells him, “I wouldn’t have too. I would already be one.”. Dorothy, managed the Colored Calculators but they refused to give her the title of Supervisor because she was black. When NASA attempted to install a IBM computer, she learned Fortran and ended up Supervisor of the computer programmers. However, when there were calculation discrepancies by the IBM computer and the orbital launch was in jeopardy, John Glenn (Glen Powell) says; “Get the girl (Johnson) to check the numbers… if she says the numbers are good, I’m ready to go.”

The mixture of using old original film footage tying together the major events of the day with events in the film was very well done. Emotionally and at a feeling level, this film is very well done. From the moment Katherine’s daughters talk about diving underneath their desks at school to protect themselves from bomb fallout to the hurdles of racism that were being jumped over; tears of joy and sorrow fell down my cheeks.

Henson was amazingly wonderful as a brilliant mathematician and woman who finds her way into a very elite world. Spencer was very good as a woman that wouldn’t let herself be slighted any longer and took matter into her own hands and learned computer programming. Monae was fantastic as the sassy woman who outwardly challenged the status quo. One of the best scenes in film is when she went before the Judge to make her case for getting into an all-white school. Costner was good as the head of the space program and one of my favorite scenes with him was when he ripped the “Colored Only Women’s Room” signs off the wall. Mahershala Ali as Colonel Jim Johnson, Johnson’s beau, was very good. His strength and sensitivity were perfect. Kirsten Dunst, as Johnson’s boss, was strong. She had an appropriate level of aloofness. Powell as Glenn was excellent. His open welcoming personality made everyone’s life better. Jim Parsons as Paul Stafford the lead analyst heading up the development team was very good. Allison Schroder and Theodore Melfi wrote a very good screenplay but it had more side stories than needed. Melfi did a wonderful job of directing this cast, however it felt more complicated and longer than it needed to be.

Overall:  This film documents a changing and glorious time in our country and these women led the way.

The Eagle Huntress

First Hit:  Wonderful uplifting film about a young 13-year-old girl breaking the Mongolian sexist barrier of becoming an eagle hunter.

Not only is the young girl Aisholpan the star of this film so is her father Nurgaiv. His determination to support his daughter breaking the lifelong tradition that only men can become eagle hunters is amazingly beautiful.

This film documents this type of hunting by honing in on this family of nomadic people who live in Yurts in the Spring, Summer and Fall and live in a building during the Winter. For 12 generations, this family has developed top-notch eagle hunters. Aisholpan’s father and grandfather have won the top prize at the annual Eagle Hunting festival. To become an eagle hunter, the prospect must first find eaglets that are old enough to be taken out of their nests but cannot yet fly. Then comes the training which includes teaching the eagle to be carried on the hunter’s arm while walking and riding a horse, chase and pounce on animal skins being pulled on a string, and how to fly back onto the hunter’s arm while on a horse. The final barrier is to actually hunt and kill an animal with your eagle.

The film documents, Aisholpan’s lifelong desire to be a huntress, her dutiful practice and the difficult training regimen. When her father thinks she’s ready, they search out, find and capture an eaglet of her own. She trains the eagle and enters the contest.

All through this, there are interviews with elders who scoff that a woman, let alone a girl, has the strength and ability to become an eagle hunter. Her final test, will be to go into the frozen mountains, find and have her eagle capture and kill a fox.

The expansiveness of the land is well displayed here. The shots of this beautiful, stark, desolate and arid country touched me deeply. The shots of the eagles performing their training and captures was fantastic.

Aisholpan was amazing. Her beautiful smile, steely eyes and determination are perfectly documented. Her father Nurgaiv deserves kudos for defying tradition and old sexist ways by supporting his daughter's desire. Otto Bell did an amazing job of presenting us this amazing way of life and Aisholpan’s challenge.

Overall:  This was a joyful and uplifting film and made me want to go to the annual eagle festival.

Fences

First Hit:  Excellent acting but this film feels like too much a play.

This is Denzel Washington’s film as he was the main character as well as directing it. It is purely a dialogue based film and there is very little space for it to breathe.

I’m not sure that it could have been done differently as August Wilson who wrote the play also wrote the screenplay. Additionally, Washington and Viola Davis did this on Broadway and therefore their experience as these characters was play based.

Washington as Troy Maxson is a garbage collector (lifter) for the city of Pittsburg. His wife Rose (Davis) takes care of the home. One point made in the film is that Rose manages the money because each Friday he brings home his envelope with $76.00 and he gives it to her. He expounds on this time and time again throughout this film as a way to state who really controls the home in his eyes. They have a home partially purchased by a settlement given to his brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson) because he’s got a metal plate in his head. Troy has a sense of guilt about this.

His best friend Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson) is also a lifter and together they talk all day as they lift garbage cans into their truck. Troy protests, asking the city why all the drivers are white and when he’s called down to the commissioner’s office instead of being punished, he’s made a driver.

Troy tells stories in the backyard while drinking gin with Bono. His son Cory (Jovan Adepo) wants his dad to sign football scholarship papers so that he can go to college. Troy refuses because he says nothing will come of it, just as nothing came from his self-aggrandizing baseball abilities. He doesn’t understand that Cory just wants a good education at a good college.

Troy and Rose also have another older son named Lyons (Russell Hornsby) who isn’t willing to work like his dad and wants to be a musician. Unfortunately, he must borrow money from time to time and Troy gives him a hard time each time he asks.

This film is about a man rebelling about his fenced in life, his transgressions, and his son coming out from the control of his father. It is a story that has roots in most families where there are fathers having different plans for their son’s life. This is also a story about friendship in addition to how Troy demeans his own integrity and life by introducing his way to have more freedom.

The sets are simple. There are a couple scenes of Troy working, many backyard and inside their home scenes, and a couple of front yard scenes. I felt as though the backyard sets were very staged for the dialogue and not realistic.

Washington was very strong. He commanded every scene. Davis was wonderful and when it was time for her to shine, she did. Henderson was fantastic as the lifelong friend. Hornsby was good as the older son and Adepo was very strong as the younger son who wanted to find a way out of his current life. Williamson was amazing as the mentally limited brother. His horn blowing scene at the end was sublime. The script by Wilson was too play like and therefore didn’t make use of the big screen. Washington was hampered by both the script and his experience with the play.

Overall:  This is a much better play than film.