Last Christmas

First Hit: It started off on the silly side, and by the end, I was very touched by this heartfelt story.

I’d seen the previews for this story and thought, oh, this could be a silly sort of way to spend an hour and a half. However, I’m glad I didn’t judge the movie by the preview. It has a beautiful and deeply touching message.

The story begins with watching a young Kate (Madison Ingoldsby as young Kate) being the lead singer in a Yugoslavian church choir. Her mother, Petra (Emma Thompson), Ivan her father (Boris Isakovic), and her sister Marta (young Marta played by Lucy Miller) are in the audience watching. There is a moment in this scene that plays out later with the sister Marta looking at another person in the choir.

Roll into the future, and the twenty-something years old Kate (Emilia Clarke) is living in London as is her whole family. Kate is working at a Christmas store that’s open year-round, owned by “Santa” (Michelle Yeoh), who loves Christmas and the magic it brings. Kate is her employee and dresses like an elf. We get that Kate isn’t a perfect employee but that Santa likes her for some reason.

Kate rushes out of the store to make singing and acting auditions but is usually late, rarely prepared, and seems to have lost her ability to sing as well. We soon get that Kate’s in a rut, which is compounded by her almost always homelessness. She’s often shown dragging around her roller suitcase. At times, when she needs a place to sleep, she picks up guys in bars, sleeps with them, but something invariably happens, and she’s back on the streets.

Her friends, like Jenna and Rufus (Ritu Arya and Ansu Kabia respectively), give her a room, but within two days, she’s messed this up, and they ask her to leave. She tries to reconcile with her family, but her mom is tough, and her father hides from her mom as much as possible. She and her sister Marta (Lydia Leonard) seem to be at each other’s throats, and there appears to be no love lost anywhere. The family dynamics are really screwed up.

All during these scenes, we are under the impression that Kate has no common sense, is flighty, and very ungrounded. Some would say unlucky. There is some hint that something happened to Kate about a year ago, but at this stage in the film, we are not privy to that part of the story. Did this event cause this ungrounded flighty nature?

One day Tom (Henry Golding) pops into her life one day and impresses upon her to take a walk with him. She declines, but on the second random meeting, they walk, and you can see his caring and compassion for others, including Kate. The chemistry is strong between them, and he just seems like a wonderfully lovely person who’s taken an interest in Kate. She wants to see him again and asks for his mobile number, but he says he doesn’t use it, and it’s kept in a kitchen cupboard at home, so giving Kate his name would be useless.

On one of the walks, Tom takes her to a homeless shelter. Thinking he’s trying to get her to stay there, she discovers differently; he volunteers his time at the shelter and says she could help as well. But as Tom is prone to do, Tom disappears for days at a time. No one seems to know where he is.

 Kate begins to sing outside the shelter, collecting money, hoping that Tom will pop-up again. Alas, he doesn’t, but just as she becomes even more despondent Tom shows up again.

One evening she tells him what happen to her a year ago and why she doesn’t feel like a whole person anymore. It is genuinely a sweet scene. He tells her that she can change her life by being open to others and by making kinder decisions. She’s not a victim and can change her life.

Tom’s influence has a positive effect on Kate. She starts to make amends with “Santa,” her mom, dad, and sister. She volunteers more at the homeless shelter and is more thoughtful. An example of this is early in the film we see her getting picked up at a bar from some guy using a standard line. Now, we see her in a bar, she gets the same pickup line from another bloke, and she makes a better decision.

A fun secondary story is about “Santa” trying to find companionship dates for herself. One day “Santa” meets “boy” (Peter Mygind), and how they engage with each other is so sweet and funny.  

I cannot delve into what happens to Kate that made her feel the way she does, nor how Tom is there to help her see the light, but the story is sweet, and the ending was fun and touching.

Clarke is a hoot and actually inspirational as the film moved along. She did a great job of making this character work. Golding was beautiful as the man who pops into Kate’s life to provide hope and inspiration. Yeoh is hilarious as the Christmas store owner who can see Kate’s sweet side. Mygind was excellent as “boy,” the man who brought joy to “Santa’s” life. Arya and Kabia are fantastic as Kate’s friends, who keep supporting and allowing her to get better. Thompson was oddly funny and entertaining in her role as Kate’s mother. Isakovic was terrific as the browbeaten husband of Petra and Kate’s father. Leonard was harsh in her role as Kate’s sister, with whom there were a lot of animosities. I didn’t think this part of the film was developed enough, and their conversations felt too jarring at times. Thompson and Bryony Kimmings wrote this screenplay in such a way that it didn’t telegraph the ending, and that was a good thing. Paul Feig got the feel of this story right.

Overall: After the end credits, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking this film.

Official Secrets

First Hit: I really enjoyed this film not only because of the exceptional acting but also because I learned about this brave individual.

Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) worked for the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as part of British Intelligence. Her mandarin language translation skills from living all around Asia as a child, helped the agency translate tapped intercepted telephone conversations and write reports about them. Her job was to help prevent terrorist activities and attacks in Britain.

One day she receives an email with an attached memo stating that the United States and Britain were going to coerce votes from small United Nations members to influence the support for invading Iraq. George Bush and his team of people wanted to invade Iraq after 9-11, and he wanted to do it legally with United Nations support. Manufacturing evidence (WMDs) and using this coercion of small nations, they would get UN approval to bomb the hell out of Iraq. Bush wanted to prove that the US was doing something about the 9-11 attack and he felt his father the senior Bush didn’t do enough when they’d previously invaded Iraq.

The attached memo was seen by Gun as collusion between England and the US to enter this war illegally. With a deep sense of purpose to stop this illegal action and from the potential deaths of fellow Englishmen, US soldiers and possibly thousands of Iraqi citizens, she prints a copy of the memo and gives this copy to a friend who will give it to the press. Three weeks go by, and it isn’t published, but finally Martin Bright (Matt Smith) of The Observer decides, after doing their due diligence, to release the memo in full and all hell breaks loose.

Scotland Yard starts their investigation at GCHQ and shortly after the interviews begin, Katharine admits she leaked the memo in violation of the Official Secrets Act. After threatening and harassing her and her husband Yasar (Adam Bakri), even arresting him and attempt to deport him, eight months later the government decides to formally charge Gun.

Obtaining Ben Emerson (Ralph Fiennes) a volunteer lawyer, through a public legal group, they decide to take on the government. By investigating authorized personnel in the government that had initially told Prime Minister Tony Blair that his actions would be illegal, they decided to fight the case. Because it is public knowledge, I’ll share that the government exonerated Gun from the crimes she committed even though she confessed to leaking the document.

This was a great story and one I knew nothing about until seeing this film.

Knightley is fantastic as Gun. Her ability to be fragile, scared, and brave, all at once is perfect for this film. Great casting call. Smith, as Bright was excellent. His drive to publish the article was strong. His look when someone on their staff used “spellcheck” on his story and changed the spelling of key words was perfect. Bakri as Gun’s husband was wonderful. His caring support of Katharine felt genuine. Fiennes was excellent as Gun’s lawyer, and the scene at the end of the film when he asks his friend to leave the spot where he’s fishing is pointed about how things have to change. Rhys Ifans was fabulous as US investigative reporter Ed Vulliamy. His outrageous drive helped to secure the information needed to validate the information in the leaked memo. Everyone in this film was good and, of course, seeing the real Katharine Gun in film footage was perfect. Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein, and Gavin Hood did a fantastic job of creating a compelling screenplay. Hood got terrific performances from the entire crew and actors.

Overall: This film is a potent reminder that we have to live our truth and be willing to stand up for what is right.

Always Be My Maybe

First Hit: This film had wonderfully funny moments and pointed scenes about discovering love right next door.

Childhood friends and neighbors Sasha Tran (Ali Wong) and Marcus Kim (Randall Park) spent all their spare time together growing up. Sasha’s parents were rarely home as they were tending to the family store, so Sasha spent time at Marcus’ house. Marcus’ mother cooked a lot and taught Sasha how to cook great original Asian recipes.

After the sudden accidental loss of his mother, Marcus and Sasha were in his car and in processing his grief, he attempts to kiss Sasha. At first, it was awkward, but she eventually responds, and after a funny make-out session they end up having car sex, and anyone who has had car sex knows how passion filled, intimate, and ridiculous it can be.

However, those two events build a wall between them, and they grow apart. Marcus gives up his plans for a future as a musician to take care of his father Harry (James Saito) who is a heating and air-conditioning specialist.

Marcus starts dating Jenny (Vivian Bang) a dreadlocked Asian woman while working with his dad. Although he continues to play in his band, they’ve not tried to expand their music into new venues. Marcus’ world has become small while supporting his dad. 

Sasha, on the other hand, has become a well-known celebrity chef who is used to walking red carpets and opens restaurants around the country. She’s engaged to her manager Brandon Choi (Daniel Dae Kim). Although at first, Brandon wants to marry Sasha, he changes his mind and heads off to open another restaurant overseas and tells Sasha they are on a break. Meanwhile, after opening a restaurant in LA, Sasha heads home to San Francisco to open another previously planned restaurant.

At a chance, or not so chance, meeting set up by Sasha’s assistant Veronica (Michelle Buteau), Sasha and Marcus reunite. One evening Sasha has a meeting and date with Keanu Reeves which, in her mind, was unbelievably fantastic.

Double dating with Jenny and Marcus, Sasha and Keanu meet for dinner at an exclusive and expensive restaurant where Keanu, arrives fashionably late, greets tables of well-wishers and admirers before sitting down. The food is pretentious and so is Keanu when he picks up the bill for 6,400 dollars, and we learn, that for Reeves, it is merely a residual check amount for the film Speed.

They head to Keanu’s hotel room to play a game and it ends up Marcus punches Keanu after Reeves rudeness hits a high point. Sasha and Marcus leave, star-struck Jenny stays.

This reuniting of Marcus and Sasha grows until she presses him to go to New York with her to open another restaurant. Marcus passes until his dad straightens him out about his life.

The film was well paced and not once, did it lag. The comedic moments were sprinkled throughout the movie, and these specific moments were not sight gags, but natural human moments to which the audience can relate.

Wong was excellent as Sasha. She was both sparklingly funny and sensitive. Loved that her character wasn’t going to sacrifice her love of her work. Kim was terrific as Marcus. Although, I didn’t think the transition from interesting young man to a basic recluse after his mother’s death was well understood or presented. However, his song about punching Keanu was delightful and a highlight. Saito as Marcus’ dad was outstanding. As the film went on, his wisdom grew, as did his presence in the movie. Buteau, as Sasha’s assistant, was lightheartedly enjoyable. Her role really worked at moving the story and film along. Reeves, as himself, was funny as all get out. He did all the things we might expect a self-important star might unabashedly do. Michael Golamco and Randall Park wrote a well-blended script of comedy and romance. Nahnatchka Khan did a great job of keeping this film focused, funny and poignant.

Overall: This film was fun, lighthearted and very entertaining.

The Souvenir

First Hit: A languid slow-paced film that bordered on torturous to watch.

This is either a good film about how a bad relationship can screw up your life, or it’s a bad film about how long the audience can watch someone live with their poor choices.

After seeing this film, I decided to peek at what some other reviewers said about this film. I’m surprised at how many reviewers liked this film when, while watching it, I wanted to get up and leave at least three times.

I believe I understood the point of the film; when someone is in love, that love can seep into, and drastically affect, every part of their life. My issue is why did this supposedly smart woman stay with this drug-laden man.

Here we have Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a budding young filmmaker, being allowed to become a student in a prestigious film school. The scenes during class sessions are mostly long and uninformative, unlike the underlying philosophy espoused by the instructors. This film wouldn’t have passed the instructor’s criteria.

At one point after Julie explains her film’s subject, the interviewers state that it is usually better to make a film about topics the director has some experience and knowledge about. It’s obvious Julie knew little or nothing about her subject of a boy losing a parent they love.

Julie’s family is wealthy. Her mom Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) and father live life well on a large English country estate. But the scenes where Julie asks for money are incredibly disheartening and remind me of someone entitled and never really having worked for a living.

Julie meets an older man, Anthony (Tom Burke), who is supposed to be a diplomat, but we never really know for whom or what. He doesn’t want to be questioned about anything. This set-up allows him far too much freedom to not share where he goes and what he’s doing. The reality is that he’s addicted to heroin and when he’s out he out scoring drugs.

Although he’s always dressed nicely, he never pays for anything, and watching Julie ever reaching for her purse made me ill. His arrogance and air of superiority were not attractive, and I don’t know what Julie saw in him. These scenes were often followed up by another plea, by Julie, for money from her mom. When he robs Julie’s apartment, the act was only believable from an addicts point of view. Her response was almost benign.

I never saw or felt much chemistry between Julie and Anthony and saw no reason for them being together, except he needed her money to pay for his habit. Just like when two of her film friends come over for dinner, and the man says to Julie when Anthony leaves the room; I don’t understand you two, how do you handle him being drugged all the time? Julie has no response and the shock on her face would make you believe she will pursue this with Anthony, but she doesn’t, she just goes along for the ride.

There are long scenes where nothing happens and no setup too long, languid scenes to gain insight into the characters, let alone the film. The multiple shots of the four trees with a voice-over worked once, but that’s it.

Byrne has an attractive and unusual look, like her mom, but her actions in this role seemed juxtaposed to what I sense to be an intelligent person. This is either poor acting or weak script and direction. Burke was an excellent addict, and his behavior of using his system of excuses was typical addict oriented. Swinton was superb as Julie’s mom. Being her real mom probably helped. Joanna Hogg wrote and directed this film.

Overall: Despite reviews saying that Joanna is in charge of her craft, I can only say this film was uninteresting and forgetful.

Red Joan

First Hit: Laborious story of a woman who gave away British state secrets.

My intuition told me this film would be a shot in the dark, not the Peter Sellers kind, and it was.

Although, based on the true story of Melita Norwood, here her name is Joan Stanley (Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson as the young Joan).

This movie begins with an eighty plus-year-old Joan (Dench) sitting at home alone when there’s a knock on the door. It’s a special branch of the police and she’s taken away to be questioned.

It’s an okay opener, but the story rises and falls and eventually peters out at the end.

What happened? Why does an eighty plus-year-old woman get arrested? It’s interesting, in that she’s being detained because she’s accused of giving Britain’s atomic bomb secrets away to the Russians during WWII. Was it true? And if so, why did she do this?

These are the questions we hoped would be answered as the investigators probe her for answers while her lawyer son Nick (Ben Miles) sits shocked next to her in the interrogation room. It’s apparent that he knows nothing about his mother’s past.

To develop the story, the film slips back in time when young Joan (played by Cookson), is entering college to get a physics degree. Back in the late 1930s, this was almost unheard of, and throughout the film, there are numerous scenes where she gets mistaken as a coffee or tea server.

Graduating she gets a job as an assistant for Max Davis (Stephen Campbell Moore) one of Britain’s lead researchers for developing the atomic bomb. He hires her because she’s smart and knows she’ll contribute to Britain’s success. The scenes where she proves him right are lovely.

While in college Joan became friends with Sonya Galich (Tereza Srbova) who happened to be linked with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. While socializing with Sonya, she meets Sonya’s brother Leo (Tom Hughes) who is gregarious, smart, handsome, and very active in the party.

When Leo and Sonya learn that Joan is working for Davis on in a project to figure out how to make an atomic bomb, they begin to pressure Joan to share the secrets with them so that they can pass them on to the Russian government.

What put Joan over the top and start supplying the secrets was either her love for Leo or that she really believed that if Russia has the bomb as well as the United States, there would be peace, a stalemate in warlike aggression in the world.

This is where the film falls apart. Neither story was convincing. It wasn’t that these arguments weren’t or couldn’t be valid, I just didn’t believe Joan’s attraction to Leo, and I didn’t think she was credible about the case about a stalemate. I wasn’t convinced.

Dench was OK as the slightly surprised and shaken older Joan for being arrested for a crime some fifty years earlier. Being discovered that she was the person who leaked these secrets and why she leaked them could have been more exciting. Cookson was good as young Joan, but it was either her acting ability, the script or direction that didn’t have me believe Joan was really in love with Leo. Nor, did I think she was anxious about the destruction and death of war. Yes, there were shots of results of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I didn’t get an impassioned sense from Cookson. Moore was beautiful as Britain’s lead researcher on their own atomic bomb project. I believed he really loved Joan. Srbova was strong as one of Russia’s conduits to obtain secrets. She was alluring and stealthy. I didn’t like Hughes’ character Leo, and that was purposeful. He was a user, and Hughes was excellent as that. Miles was okay as Joan’s son who didn’t seem shocked enough that he knew so little about his mom and dad. Lindsay Shapero wrote an uninspired screenplay. Trevor Nunn didn’t get a lot out of this story and his actors.

Overall: This is a great story that lacked inspiration on the screen.