Novitiate

First Hit:  It was very well acted and I learned something about how nuns become nuns.

I was fully engaged with this film from beginning to end. What made this work was the story, direction and acting.

Nora Harris (Julianne Nicholson) and her daughter Cathleen (Margaret Qualley) are living alone. Nora is divorced and dates frequently and they are not religious. One Sunday she takes Cathleen to church to show her what religion is like. Nora does not believe in God or any structured religion. But something happens to Cathleen that day and after getting a scholarship to a Catholic high school, she becomes more curious about her continuing thoughts of God and Jesus. After graduation, decides to join a convent because she’s had a calling. Once there she quickly decides and commits to the process of becoming a nun.

Reverend Mother (Melissa Leo) has a very strict code of conduct and she’s exactly what you’d think of if you ever thought of a Reverend Mother being mean spirited, controlling, closed minded and fully believing she’s very self-righteous and speaks the word of God. The first six months Cathleen and the others learn about becoming a nun. Besides the very strict rules and program, and silence is observed from last bell (about 9:00 pm) till morning but the nuns in training find ways to communicate some.

A few of the new sisters begin to discover their sexuality and because it is not accepted behavior and against the scriptures, they struggle with what they’ve discovered about their bodies and the rules of being a nun.

After the initiation, the novices Novitiate, which means they marry the one they love—God. This ceremony was wonderfully staged and enlightening. I found myself fascinated with the whole thing.

When Cathleen wakes up from a very erotic dream, she becomes panicked and begins to starve herself for punishment. She also asks Reverend Mother for the knotted rope whip to self flagellate herself to make her stop thinking about sex and the feelings coming from it. She then meets Sister Emanuel (Rebecca Dayan) who arrives at this particular monastery because she wants the strictness Reverend Mother provides. We soon learn that she’s here to punish herself, through this strictness, because of the same sexual discovery at her previous monastery.

In the meantime, Reverend Mother is getting the Vatican II directives, which are communications from the Rome telling her that the church is changing and that her world is going to crumble and fall apart from these changes.

Watching Reverend Mother’s unholy behavior about implementing the rules wasn’t surprising because, for her, she was in control and in a vaunted position, and her world was about to be dismantled.

In the closing credits, the film talks about how many nuns walked away from the monasteries during the Vatican II changes. It was in excess of 90,000,  a huge number.

Dianna Agron as Sister Mary Grace was excellent as a nun that found she had to do something different. Nicholson was amazing as Cathleen’s mother. Her concern for her daughter’s welfare, especially as she lost weight, was perfect. Leo was sublime. She embodied the structure and closed mindedness of being a Reverend Mother who found her niche and didn’t have any other skills. Qualley was divine. She perfectly embodied the role of a young woman searching and believing she found her calling. Dayan was wonderful as the struggling nun, who really tried to push away her sexuality. Margaret Betts wrote and directed this film with a clear firm idea of what she wanted. I fully was transported in this film to another place, learned something and thought the storyline was excellent.

Overall: This fill will probably not be seen by a large number of people and it’s a shame because it is a really good film.

Murder on the Orient Express

First Hit:  I was bored through and through.

I’m not a Kenneth Branagh fan and he doesn’t disappoint here. The whole film from the very beginning was over-done and confusing. The opening sequence is an elongated setup to prove that Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is the very best detective of all time. Solving a crime at the wailing wall where the accused, a priest, a Rabbi, and a Imam are accused of stealing an important object from where an icon stands in a temple. Of course, the world greatest detective pontificates in front of a huge crowd as he explains the story in excruciating detail and finally accuses someone else. The capturing of the real criminal in front of the crowd was too obvious.

His friendship with the director of the Orient Express train from Istanbul to Europe gets him a first-class accommodation on the train. There are numerous characters on the train; Bouc (Tom Batemen), Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz), Princess Dragomiroff (Judi Dench), Samuel Ratchett/John Cassetti (Johnny Depp), Hector McQueen (Josh Gad), Edward Henry Masterman (Derek Jacob), Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom), Caroline Hubbard/Linda Arden (Michelle Pfeiffer), Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley), Pierre Michel (Marwan Kenzari) and a few others.

The murder of Samuel Rachett/Johnb Cassetti, one night in his cabin, sets Poirot off on finding out who killed him. This is where the film just sinks. It acts as more as a play than a mystery film. The pontificating by Poirot gets old very quick.

The train stopped, because of an avalanche, is supposed to make finding out who the killer is easier. However, everyone has a link to the murder of a young girl many years earlier by Cassetti and therefore everyone is vested in having Ratchett/Cassetti killed.

As Poirot puts the pieces together, the audience has to wait and wade through all the extraneous drama and storytelling.

The showdown scene where he’s going to name the killer Poirot stands in front of a long table with all the others on one side of the table facing him, just like the last supper. Really? This is so over done it becomes tedious just sitting there waiting for the end.

Yes, it is a matter of justice being served correctly and retroactively but the way we get here is a time waster. Branagh comes across as self-important both in the film and of the film. He just can't seem to get out of his own way. His poor direction makes him the standout actor and it’s noticeable. Pfeiffer was probably the best of the lot, as she had a strong role and delivered despite the direction. Depp was mediocre as the villain and he tries to do more with series of looks versus acting. Gad was OK as was the rest of the acting team. Michael Green wrote an Okay script. Given better direction and less Branagh egocentricity of having to be elevated above and separate from the role/film and rest of the cast, it might have been a better or more interesting film.

Overall: This movie was mostly “telling” versus “showing” and because of this, I just had to wait until it was over to leave.

LBJ

First Hit:  An uninspiring film and Harrelson’s make-up was very distracting.

I didn’t know a lot about President Lyndon Baines Johnson (Woody Harrelson) except that LBJ rose to the position of President because of President John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) assassination. He also escalated the Vietnam war, picked up his beagles by the ears, which distressed dog owners, and got the landmark civil rights bill banning racial discrimination in public places, interstate commerce, housing and in the workplace. This last part was milestone legislation.

I had hoped this film would fill in some of the blanks I had about the man and his legacy; it didn’t. It showed he drank a fair amount of whisky, he was crass, wanted to be liked, really wanted to complete JFK’s agenda and was really disliked by Bobby Kennedy.

From what the film showed there was little to like about LBJ. We did see that his wife Lady Bird (Jennifer Jason Leigh) was his true confidant, although her part in the film was minimal.

The story might have been interesting if there were a few changes. A better more deeply developed main character by providing something about who he was and where he came from, would have helped. I think the prosthetics used to make Woody Harrelson were distracting. It made Johnson’s face look fake by having the eyes and mouth seem to be working in a different plane than the rest of the face and body.

The best part of the whole film was LBJ’s speech to a full session of congress after JFK’s death.

It is hard to determine Harrelson’s performance because he was so encumbered by the prosthetic devices and makeup. His accent fluctuated at times and seemed to move toward a more modern feeling instead of being from the 1960’s. I do think Harrelson was earnest in his effort and the script was not well thought out. Leigh was OK in her very almost invisible background role. Michael Stahl-David as Bobby Kennedy was strong. He carried and excellently expressed the differences between a southern democrat and a northern one. Richard Jenkins as Senator Richard Russell was really good. I think Jenkins was excellent at sharing old-school southern democratic ways. Joey Hartstone wrote a week and rambling unfocused screenplay. Rob Reiner did LBJ and this film a disservice and let the unfocused, rambling and un-grounded biography to play out in this way.

Overall:  A disappointing film.

The Truth About Lies

First Hit: Enjoyable little indie film about how lying can catch up with you.

The film begins with the main character Gilby Smalls (Fran Kranz) having a really bad day. He gets fired from his job, his apartment burns down and just as he goes over to his girlfriend’s house with boxes full of his remains from the fire, she tells him he cannot stay there. Standing in her living room, she dumps him as she gets ready to go out with a man she’s been seeing on the side. The world crashes around him.

To set up how he lies, we see him in a job interview and his lying is hilarious. Then, going to a friend’s family party he runs into Rachel Stone (Odette Annable) who is his friend’s sister and she's a knockout. His conversation with her is sidesplitting because he lies the whole time. Each time she catches his lie, he segues into another lie. It is even more funny because you know he doesn’t even really believe his own lies but he tries to make the other person believe them.

When Rachel’s husband Eric (Chris Diamantopoulos) has to go on an extended trip, he hires Gilby to run his company because Gilby told him he had previously sold a company that was just like his. This, of course, is a lie.

What drives him in this new endeavor? Partly it is because he’s fallen in love with Rachel and the other part is that he wants to be successful. With nowhere to live, he moves back in with his mother May (Colleen Camp). His mother has never told him who is father was because she slept around a lot and has no idea whose Gilby’s father is. After berating his mom for a name, she finally names a man, James Lance (Arthur J. Nascarella) as his father which is, of course, a lie.

All of these lies, get found out and Gilby, Rachel, May, James, and Eric all finally get the truth. And as we all know the truth does finally set Gilby free.

Kranz is very good in this role. He’s funny, self-effacing, and convincing with the stories he tells. Annable is strong as the woman wanting a different life than the privileged one she has. She has to own her truth as well. Nascarella is very good as Gilby’s potential father. Diamantopoulos is strong as the company owner whose self-importance has him missing the beauty of his wife. Camp is funny and excellent as Gilby’s mother. Phil Allocco wrote and directed a fun and pointed indie film.

Overall: This is a nice little film that is funny and has a story worth telling.

Thor: Ragnarok

First Hit: Found this film and story to be silly and having a mediocre plot.

I know I’m not the target audience for superhero adventures. What I find is that the more films are made about these superheroes the less plausible they become. The fantasy kingdoms have no basis in anything relatable and with the stupidity and/or lack of depth of most of the characters, I check-out while watching them.

Here we have Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who is being imprisoned by a fire demon named Surtur (why, how and so what), learns that his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is no longer in his home world of Asgard (why, how and so what) and that everything is going to be succumbed by the prophecy of Ragnarok. This prophecy tells of the death of the gods including Thor because he’s the God of Thunder. This might be a good thing as these characters are getting long in tooth and stretched far beyond their original purpose. More importantly, they aren't interesting any longer.

Breaking free, he discovers that his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been posing as their father Odin in Asgard. Together they endeavor to find their father Odin. In comes the older sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) who is the goddess of death and tells Loki and Thor that she’s taking over the kingdom of Asgard.

From here it just gets bad, we have flights of fancy to a planet called Sakaar where Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) holds court. He pits Thor against Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in a fight to the finish. Then they meet a drunk Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) who relinquishes her drunken lost ways and decides to fight the good fight to kill Hela.

Was there anything I liked? The tongue-in-cheek stuff was OK, but this film is all over the map in time, space, and story.

I didn’t care about any of the characters. I thought that many of the sets were fun to look at. Didn’t think the story was compelling or interesting. I wondered by Blanchett and Hopkins would do these parts. The constant battles are the same everywhere and there’s nothing new under the sun here.

I was left thinking; why can’t someone get creative?

Hemsworth did what he was told. There’s no real acting here, just a modern man playing a god and losing his hair along the way. Wondering if he gets his hammer back in the next movie. Ruffalo was OK, nothing interesting in this role for him. Thompson was adequate to the role. Goldblum was his over the top Goldblum – when will he actually act as something other than a smart-alecky buffoon. Blanchett was good, but I couldn’t help but wonder why she took this on. Hopkins, obviously, does things for money in some cases and this is one of them. Hiddleston was OK as the evil brother. Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle wrote a very mediocre, lackluster script. Taika Waititi threw everything at the audience and the outcome was how much shit actually stuck on the wall? Very little.

Overall: I’ve got to quit going to Marvel films because it is too hard to make the story work with what I see on the screen.