The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part: 2019

I'm behind in my posts--I saw The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part over a week ago in the theater--but before I discuss that film, I need to say that I'm so disappointed in the Academy. Did you really just give the Best Picture to another Driving Miss Daisy? Or am I imagining that Green Book won Best Picture last night? I hope it's one of those Bob Newhart endings, and I find out that I'm dreaming because there's no way that Green Book deserves it. I'll even watch that movie to prove it.

As for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, the film is fun and so relatable for my family. My daughters saw themselves in the siblings fighting, and my husband and I could relate to the mom trying to keep the peace. Sure, the film is a sequel, so some of the magic in the first film doesn't happen in the second, but there's something reassuring about seeing the optimistic and kind-hearted Emmet trying to save the day. And I loved how the story begins with a dystopian Lego world. It's so fitting for a pre-teen to make Legos fit that genre.

Instead of seeing the most recent Best Picture winner in theaters, go see the new Lego movie. You'll feel better seeing that story of friendship and overcoming hardships.

What Men Want: 2019

Okay, I know what you might say: What Men Want is not an Oscar-contender. Not even close. And you're right. It's not an Oscar movie, and I doubt it will be present in the Academy's minds when nominations happen for this year's films. But you know what? I don't care. What Men Want is fun, and sometimes, we need a little fun in our lives from the films we watch. At least I do.

The best part about What Men Want is the cast. Taraji P. Henson stars as Ali, a woman who after a wild night and concussion, gains the ability to hear what men are thinking. The premise of this film may remind you of 2000's What Women Want, but please stop that comparison. Stop it right there because What Women Want is far superior than that Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt film. That superiority comes from the actors. Henson is hilarious as Ali, firing off verbal barbs at her male co-workers, engaging in slapstick physical comedy that fits the scenes, and expressing her disgust at what she hears men thinking through her facial expressions. I saw Henson in Hidden Figures where she plays Katherine G. Johnson, the amazing mathematics genius, but that role didn't require Henson's comedic skills. And wow, does she have them.

Besides Henson, the cast includes an always enjoyable Tracy Morgan as an overbearing parent of a soon-to-be-famous basketball player and a mesmerizing Erykah Badu as a psychic. I found myself eagerly anticipating the psychic scenes--each one was funnier than the last. Badu embodies the role, and her interactions with the other characters are beyond funny.

What Men Want was worth seeing it in the theaters. When the weather is gloomy and the work stress is piling up, sometimes you just need a little fun, and What Men Want delivers exactly that.

Beauty and the Beast: 2017

With three extra days off last week from work due to snow and cold, I had time to watch Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, one I've been wanting to see since it came out in spring 2017. Unfortunately, my daughters think it's too scary to watch for family movie night, so I've been waiting to have time on my own to watch it. They may be right--it's a little scary for young kids with the wolves scene and the live action Beast is intense at times. But it was exactly what I needed this past week.

When life seems overwhelming, I'm all about comfort. Whether that's comfort food like elbow mac and cheese or comfort shows (everyone keeps telling me to watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix), I fall back on Disney for my comfort viewing. I grew up watching Disney movies; we even had the Disney Channel for several years. While I may have watched The Little Mermaid more than any other princess movie (my best friend and I would act it out with her sisters), my favorite princess has always been Belle. With her kindness, generosity, and love of books, Belle seemed perfect to me. When she disobeys her father, it's to save him, not to meet some prince. Watching the new film version of her story, though, makes me love Belle even more because she not only is kind, generous book reader, she also has spirit and a mind of her own. Belle doesn't put up with the Beast in the animated version, but that's even more apparent in the live action version. Besides improving Belle's character, the writers actually gave the Beast a character. In the animated version, he's a flat character--everything he does is for Belle, sure, but his actions don't show who he is. So when Belle falls in love with the Beast, the audience doesn't know why beyond him being kinder than expected for a beast. In this new version, the Beast shares common interests with Belle, and writers added a more complete backstory to show how his childhood impacted him. When Belle falls for him in this version, her love seems more authentic and realistic.

I liked all the changes, but what really made the movie the comforting experience I craved was the music. In the opening scene with Belle in the village when the music started, I had chills as each Bonjour rang out. My childhood memories. Right there, in those few minutes, I escaped from the responsibilities of adulthood and was a kid again. Emma Watson as Belle is perfect casting. She has the right amount of sass with determination and courage along with a decent singing voice. I'm still adjusting a bit to seeing her as any character other than Hermione Granger, and her portrayal of Belle only helps a little with that distancing because in many ways this Belle is the Hermione Granger of 18th century France. But that's okay. The world could use more women like Hermione.

As Disney continues on this path of making live action versions of their beloved classics, I'll keep watching. I won't go out of my way to see them in the theater, but if they show up on Netflix or my kids wants to check them out at the library, I'll watch them. Maybe next time I watch one I'll pair it with some mac and cheese.

Roma: 2018

So did I already watch this year's Best Picture Winner? Seeing Roma makes me wonder if I have.

Roma is a Netflix film, which means it's easier for me to watch than most of the films nominated for this year's Oscars. While all the films except Vice are available for streaming (see this article for a full listing), the only service I subscribe to is Netflix, and for the sake of my budget, I either watch films on Netflix or I visit my local library, which has an extensive DVD collection. So whenever Netflix releases a new film on their service AND in the theaters with hopes to snag some awards love, I try to watch them. Sometimes I'm successful--Roma being an example of that. And sometimes I'm not--The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is still hanging out on my list, half watched (I guess that's what happens when a film is a series of shorter ones or it could be that it's a western). While Buster waits for me, I figured I should write about Roma.

While watching Roma, I wondered if knowing more about Mexico City in the 1970s would help me understand the film better. The story is focused on Cleo, a nanny who works for a family that lives in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. Cleo is affectionate with the children. At bedtime, she is the one tucking them in, telling them that she loves them. The four kids are challenging, especially the two older brothers, and to add to the chaos, there's a dog that constantly barks. But the story isn't about the family as much as it is about Cleo. Early in the film, she seems distant. She keeps to herself. I found myself wondering about her life and her personality. Being a nanny, Cleo has faded into the backdrop of this family, becoming a household appliance. Her affection seemed one-sided...until the father leaves the family for a younger woman and Cleo becomes pregnant and her boyfriend dumps her. At that point, the mother of the family grows bitter and wants to help Cleo because all men are terrible like her husband.

Cleo's pregnancy is what drives the plot for the rest of the film, and I won't spoil what happens here, but trust me, this is one heartbreaking film (a checkmark for the Academy as most winners are sad stories). I wanted to be more emotionally invested in the film before Cleo's pregnancy, but I found it hard because she seemed withdrawn from the audience. The filmmaking, too, made it difficult for me to connect with Cleo because the director (and writer and cinematographer and more) Alfonso Cuaron used so many long shots. I need to see a character's face to know them better, and he doesn't use many close ups in the film. While I appreciated the aesthetic of the film, that made it difficult for me to connect with the characters, so when the father leaves, I didn't feel much sadness for the family initially. It wasn't until the last half hour of the film that I experienced more empathy with the characters, and most of that was due Yalitza Aparicio who plays Cleo. She is amazing. Her isolation early in the film transitions into being fully connected to the family and in the end she is fully part of them. But her own personal fears are what make her such an interesting character in the end, and Aparicio is stunning in her nonverbal performance. When Cuaron used the close up, it was worth the wait. Aparicio's expressions conveyed so much more than the dialogue and setting. I'm hoping she does more acting and soon.

What I think I need for Roma is sitting in on a film class discussion about the film. I think I missed a lot in one viewing, but before watching it again, I would need to do some reading about the setting and the film itself. It's not an easy film to take in.

On the Basis of Sex: 2018

I didn't know much about Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Sure, I knew she is a justice on the United States Supreme Court. And yes, I knew that a documentary came out in 2018 called RBG about her life (and I've been meaning to see it). But beyond that, I didn't know how she started her career in law or what she did to gain the skills needed to serve on the Supreme Court. So I went into On the Basis of Sex with limited background knowledge and quickly learned that wasn't going to be an issue because the film doesn't assume that viewers know about Ginsberg and her work.

Starting at the beginning of Ginsberg's career, as a first year law student at Harvard, the film explores how being a woman is constantly seen as negative. Ginsberg entered law school in 1956, a time when women were expected to stay at home and have children. Instead, Ginsberg seeks her own career and faces skepticism at best and outright anger at worst from her professors (or at least that's how it's portrayed in the film). The film progresses from her days in law school to her job at Rutgers where she is a law professor. It's not the job she wanted, but it was the only job she could find. Instead of fighting for women's rights in court, Ginsberg teaches students about how law and gender intersect. Not quite the job she had in mind.

Watching Ginsberg's early career and how she takes on a case (with the support of the ACLU) is inspiring for sure, but it left me with the realization that I didn't know just how bad it was for women prior to 1970. Sure, women could have jobs, but legally, they had no protection. For women, it was like being in the eye of a hurricane; things were calm but at any moment devastation would begin. I realized that not only have I benefited from the work women like Ginsberg did in the 1970s, I didn't know just how terrible life was for women before the laws changed. My life would be completely different today if not for her work. And yes, there were men who helped as well. But Ginsberg's tenacity is why so much changed. She didn't give up.

Ultimately, On the Basis of Sex is an inspirational biopic. I felt empowered afterwards and a whole lot smarter. But is this film one for the Academy to recognize? Probably not. And I'm okay with that. Sometimes it's just awesome to have a film that speaks to your soul.

I, Tonya: 2017

Last year, Allison Janney won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role as LaVona, Tonya Harding's mother, in I, Tonya. As a fan of Janney from her time on The West Wing and the voice of Peach in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory along with my childhood obsession with figure skating, I, Tonya seemed like a logical choice for me to watch. And it was. Oh, it was.

In the early 1990s, I was a HUGE Kristy Yamiguchi fan. I watched the 1992 Olympics with my mom, and Yamiguchi's performances mesmerized me. Here I was, an unathletic kid who could barely rollerskate and had never ice skated, and Kristy Yamiguchi made me want to don a sequined leotard and tights and become a famous Olympic figure skater. Or at the very least, a performer at the Ice Capades. (It's probably for the best that this career never moved past the "When I grow up, I wanna be" stage since the Ice Capades ended in early 2000.) Just two years later and the Winter Olympics were coming back. I was so ready to see my favorite, Kristy Yamiguchi, take the ice, but alas, she decided not to return. So that left me with a choice: Nancy Kerrigan or Tonya Harding. I went with Kerrigan, but the choice was not satisfying. Kerrigan seemed aloof and unrelatable. But when the whole break-her-knee-so-she-can't-skate attack went down, I felt justified in picking Kerrigan, Clearly Harding didn't deserve my support. I was fully convinced she had something to do with the attack.

Fast forward twenty years and here I am as an adult, aware now that ice skating is better admired from my couch than actually donning the blades myself, watching I, Tonya. In some ways, the film was shocking. I had no idea that Tonya had such a horrible life, with an abusive mom (a role that Janney most certainly delivered in) and later an abusive husband. I also didn't realize her athletic skills and hard work or the way the figure skating community completely excluded her because of her background. I know I, Tonya is not completely true; it is, after all, a biopic and thus susceptible to exaggeration at best to outright incorrect information at worst. But what set this biopic apart from other ones I've watched is the inclusion of footage at the end:

The part that caught me the most at the end here is how Tonya looks when she's in the car with her ex-husband Jeff. She looks like she's uncomfortable, like something is wrong. Seeing that in the context of the film, I couldn't jump right to "well, she's uncomfortable because she's in on the attack." Instead, I wondered about the abuse. Was she safe with this man? Is that why she looks scared?

The film is about what is true or not, and it doesn't leave the audience with a definitive answer. Perhaps the truth will never be known, but at the very least, I think Harding deserves more than what the world gave her.

The Greatest Showman: 2017

After watching 1952's Best Picture Winner The Greatest Show on Earth, I swore I would never watch another circus movie again. Well, that lasted about four years...

A co-worker recommended The Greatest Showman, so I borrowed a copy and watched it over my winter break. I had already listened to the soundtrack, and when I watched last year's Oscars, I saw the cast perform the Oscar winning song "This Is Me." I don't remember much of my reaction at the time, but within the context of the film, the song is a heartfelt, powerful reminder that people need to accept others for who they are:

With such an essential message in this song, I expected the film to focus on this message. And yes, that's part of the story. But the real story in the film is about P.T. Barnum (played by Hugh Jackman, who, as always, is enjoyable to watch), who comes across at times as a savior for the "freaks" he finds. Not thinking much about the film, that could be one interpretation. But take a moment and think about it: a regular guy must be the one to save these people who are just being themselves. They are persecuted because of their size, shape, color of their skin, and other physical qualities. Watching the film, I began hoping that the focus would move away from Barnum and be more about the stars of the show; after all, they are the ones people came to see. Barnum brought them together, but it's their talent and their uniqueness that drew people in. But even that is troubling for me because I had to wonder why the audience was there. Were they really interested in seeing talent? Or were they merely curious about what is deemed odd or freakish? I suppose the initial draw was the second reason and later it became about the talent. I don't really know.

As for the film, the story is predictable, so it makes for a good folding laundry film for me. I could look away from the screen and still follow the story. I didn't mind the predictability that much because the ending is happy, and sometimes I need a happy ending. Considering I had recently watched BlacKkKlansman, a predictable and happy ending film was the right fit for me. But I'm not telling people to see The Greatest Showman. It's fine, sure, and if you want something predictable, go for it. But you would probably be just as satisfied if you pulled up your favorite comfort food film and watched that, possibly even more so.

BlacKkKlansman: 2018

Spike Lee's newest film, BlacKkKlansman is a film everyone must see. It's not an easy film to watch; actually, it's emotionally wrenching at times because of the hatred that has to be present to show just how horrible the KKK is. Yet my discomfort was one reason I needed to see this film; I need to understand better what it's like to be a person of color in this country. BlacKkKlansman is another step for me in understanding that experience more (and here I must acknowledge that I will never be done in taking these steps).

The film is based on Ron Stallworth's experience as the first black police detective in Colorado Springs in the 1970s. In 1978, he saw an ad in the newspaper for the KKK and decided to contact the group. Pretending to be white, he convinced the KKK to let him join (which required him to ask a white colleague to do all face-to-face meetings). Lee's film follows Stallworth's story to a point, taking creative freedom at times to develop characters and create engaging conflicts that make the film riveting. But the main premise, that a black police detective talks to David Duke (the head of the KKK) and Duke has no clue that he's talking to a black man, is true. And that is yet another reason why segregation and prejudice and racism don't make sense. We are all people who deserve equal treatment. Even a man who claims to be superior to other races and leads an organization centered on hatred and racism cannot figure out when he's talking to a person of color.

With a storyline like this and an innovative director like Lee, the film already has so much power. But the acting takes the film beyond amazing into the phenomenal level. John David Washington as Ron Stallworth shows the conflict that Stallworth must have felt working for the police while being a black man. Washington conveys Stallworth's discomfort at times while also making him a strong, honorable man who is trying to make the world safer and better. During the phone conversation scenes, Washington's facial expressions reflect Stallworth's true feelings toward Duke and other KKK members while maintaining a different verbal tone to keep up the undercover work. It's no surprise to me that Washington was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Washington does (and on January 22 I'm expecting him to be nominated for an Oscar). Adam Driver plays the white Ron Stallworth, and in this role, he must switch between being a cop to being a KKK member. What impressed me were the moments when Driver had to be at the meetings and act the part of being full of hate to convince the other members that he meant it. There are subtle moments where Driver shows the conflict he feels in this position, especially since his character Flip is Jewish, and those suspenseful moments drive the film forward, intensifying the danger both the real and fake Ron Stallworth is in.

I can't write much more without giving away more of the plot, so I'm going to end here. I'm so grateful I watched BlacKkKlansman. Now if only the Academy will give it the respect it deserves.