She Said: Based on the book of the same name, it tells the heart-pounding story to uncover the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. NY Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) take on Weinstein and the Hollywood machine in a way that is jaw-dropping.
Elvis: Austin Butler transforms himself into Elvis Presley, adding new layers to the music icon.
Call Jane: Elizabeth Banks plays a housewife whose pregnancy is not going well in the days before Roe v. Wade. Denied an abortion by the local hospital, she finds an underground group and soon joins them in their mission to help women.
Hocus Pocus 2: After 29 years, the Sanderson sisters are back. It has enough of its predecessor while holding its own in the best way possible.
Mr. Malcolm’s List: Based on the book of the same name by Suzanne Allain, Mr. Malcolm is the most coveted bachelor in this Jane Austen-inspired narrative. In order to fend off marriageable young ladies and their match-making mamas, he creates a list of qualities that his wife should have. Little does he know that it will soon be moot.
Downton Abbey: A New Era: This second film in the franchise opens the door to new stories while closing old ones in perfect fashion.
Women being subjugated is a story as old as humanity. It took generations of our foremothers speaking up and not standing down to get to a point in which we are closer to equality. That does not mean, however, that the war has ended.
The new film, Women Talking is based on the book of the same name by Miriam Toews. It is set in 2010 in an isolated Mennonite community. For the last few years, the women have complained of rampant rape and sexual assault. Drugged, and later waking up sore and with blood between their legs, they are told that the perpetrators were not human.
When they realize that they were raped by the men in their community, they gather together to make a choice. The first choice is to stay and pretend that nothing happened. The second is to fight for equal opportunity. The third is to leave and start over somewhere else.
Directed by Sarah Polley, the themes are very similar to She Said. The difference is that She Said was a heart-racing thriller. Women Talking is not completely bland, but it is missing the heavy question that hangs over the character’s heads.
Politics and the want for power go hand in hand. Some people achieve this via hard work and making connections with those who can help you climb the ladder. Others cross moral and legal boundaries, and may even be willing to spill some blood along the way.
The Tragedy of Macbeth was released at the end of last December. An adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Macbeth, the film stars Denzel Washington in the starring role and Frances McDormand as his wife, Lady Macbeth. Returning from battle as a respected warrior, Macbeth wants one thing: to wear the crown. The first person in his way is his cousin and King, Duncan (Brendan Gleeson). Conspiring with his wife, they conceive a plan to remove all obstacles that stand in their way.
This movie is so good. Filmed in stark black and white with geometric shapes, the narrative is stripped down to its most basic premise. The chemistry is fantastic between the lead actors. I truly believed that Washington and McDormand were a married couple who are completely in sync with one another. The feeling that something otherwordly had a hand in the fate of these people was potent from the opening shot until the credits rolled.
We keep going back to Shakespeare’s work because it is timeless, universal, and thoroughly human. The Tragedy of Macbeth is just another reminder of why we return to his narratives again and again.
Do I recommend it? Yes.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is presently in theatersand is available for streaming on AppleTV+
The game of cat and mouse between the police and those committing a crime has been a standard narrative for years. The question is, how can a writer or writers make their narrative unique and different?
In the 1996 movie, Fargo, Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) has got himself into a financial pickle. He has embezzled money through his father-in-law’s car dealership. About to be caught by his father-in-law, Jerry cooks up a scheme to have his wife kidnapped so her father will pay the ransom. The kidnapping does not go as planned. This catches the eye of Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), a pregnant sheriff who is determined to figure out who is responsible for the three murders in her jurisdiction.
What I like about this movie is that there is an almost sick sense of humor. Unlike other cops and criminals stories which are often just a little serious, this film has an undercurrent of humor that makes it stand out within the genre.
Sometimes, when life throws us a curve-ball, we can only think quickly and hope for the best.
In Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008) Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a middle-aged governess who has just lost another job. The agency who has found her work in the past is not so quick to find her a new position. With no other way out, she steals the information of a new client and presents herself as the new social secretary for Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), an actress and nightclub performer. Delysia is juggling three men: Nick (Mark Strong), the owner of a night club, Michael (Lee Pace), who plays piano for Delysia and is ready to marry her at a moments notice and Phil (Tom Payne), a young theater producer who is eager to cast her in his newest production.
While juggling all of that, Guinevere has caught the eye of Joe (Ciarán Hinds), a fashion designer. Will Delysia choose from one of her three boyfriends and will Miss Pettigrew be unmasked for whom she truly is?
Set during World War II, this film is the perfect modern screwball comedy that was a staple of the movie going experience in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Amy Adams channels Marilyn Monroe as a goodhearted, but not all there actress who does not know what she wants. And of course, there a couple of 1990’s Austen leading men, which always makes a film that much better.
Writergurlny 