Clouds of Silas Maria

Clouds of Silas Maria was promoted as an aging actress coming to terms with how painful it is to no longer be in the limelight.

I thought that the plot line was misleading. I don’t think that at any time throughout that film did the main character, Maria Enders, played by Juliette Binoche ever truly stop being desired by directors or that she herself ever have an issue with not being as famous as she once was. I thought though, that, Juliette’s portrayal of Maria was well done. Her story was still interesting, she was able to deliver the scrip with real passion, bringing to light the struggles that Maria had with change and the evolution of her career, through great range of feeling and emotion.

The film also stars Kristen Stewart who won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress, which is the equivalent of an Oscar. I didn’t think that her performance was that noteworthy, she brought the exact same range that she brings in every film. Additionally, she didn’t speak any French, which confused me as to why she would receive this award.

The editing was amateur at best. The landscapes were highly focused on throughout the movie. I thought that they were vast and beautiful. The issue I had with them though was that the same ones were repeated over and over, I understood the emphasis and its importance but I felt like it was a bit overkill. It was almost as if the movie was more National Geographic than drama. Additionally, there were a couple of scenes where you could tell they took multiple takes and didn’t properly blend the shots together. It was messy.

In the end the film is left to the viewer’s interpretation. Although I thought that the idea of this movie was interesting, it was too slow moving and left me wanting more. I'd say skip this one.

Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour is a biographical drama of Winston Churchill. It follows him during his ascension to Prime Minister and the beginnings of the UKs involvement in the Second World War.

This movie won Oscars for Best Actor and the Best Makeup and Hairstyling. There have been many depictions of Churchill throughout the year and I thought that this one was pretty good. I thought that Gary Oldman did a believable job portraying the icon. He was able to master the motions of the PM and his polarizing nature. Kazuhiro Tsuji, the make-up artist, for the movie did a superb job transforming Gary Oldman, a man of smaller stature to a heavier set Churchill.

I thought the nomination for costume design was just, the costumes and even the sets were able to help transform you to the 1940s. The nomination for best picture, I didn’t quite agree with. Even though the script was interesting and did a great job in delivering some new trinkets about Winston that I hadn’t seen in some other versions, it was a little dry and dialogue heavy. It also didn’t go as far as I would have liked for it to go in the historical timeline. It briefly touched on Dunkirk but I would have liked for it to have gone a few years further than that.

Overall it was a movie that is worth checking out once but not one that I would seek out again.

My Cousin Rachel

My Cousin Rachel is a drama adapted from a novel of the same name, staring Rachel Weisz as Rachel Ashley and Sam Claflin as Philip. It follows Philip as he receives a letter from his guardian and cousin, Ambrose, which causes him concern. He goes to investigate and after discovering his death, plots his revenge against his Ambrose’s wife, his cousin Rachel, whom he believes murdered him. The revenge plot becomes detoured as he begins to fall in love with Rachel. 

Visually, I thought that the vast landscapes were beautiful and the costume design was appropriate for the time period.

The acting was pretty good, especially that of the lead, Rachel Weisz as Rachel. I thought that she was able to convey the conniving, mysterious, dangerous character that she was.

The plot was interesting but not completely fulfilling. I felt that the story was dry and missing some key details. The situation seemed rushed and not very realistic, thus leaving me with many questions unanswered. Because of these things I would recommend skipping this movie.

I, Tonya

I, Tonya is the Tonya Harding biography that takes you through her troubled and abusive upbringing, her tumultuous relationships with those around her, how she rose through the ranks to become an Olympic competitor and finally another perspective as to what happened during the 1994 attack of Nancy Kerrigan.

This movie was nominated for a best actress and film editing and won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Allison Janney’s depiction of Tonya Harding’s mother, LaVona, definitely earned the best supporting actress awards. Her portrayal was cold, ruthless and deplorable. It really showed how Tonya had some really terrible role models around her. Margot Robbie was nominated for best actress and I do think that her version of Tonya Harding was well deserving of the nomination. She did a great job garnering a true sense of empathy of Tonya. She helped to humanize her and showed you just how hard Tonya had to fight to get to the height of her career through multiple abusers and class discrimination.

The film editing was also unique and well done. I liked that it was interview style and left it up to the interpreter to decide if they felt that Tonya was guilty or not of having any involvement in the Nancy Kerrigan attack.

Overall, I thought that this was an intriguing drama. It was worth checking out once but probably not something I would watch again.

Miracle at St Anna

Miracle at St. Anna is a fictional World War 2 drama set in German occupied Italy in 1944. The story follows four Buffalo Soldiers who are separated from their company after a German attack. 

I thought that the story was interesting. There aren’t many movies about the Buffalo Soldiers of WWII so I appreciated being able to see that on screen. Although mostly fiction there were some elements of truth.

The filming was different from the majority of Spike Lee’s other movies, which I liked. There weren’t any weird camera angles or floating people, just traditional cinematography.

I appreciated the diversity and the large amount of minority actors in this film. The leads were Derek Luke as 2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps, Michael Ealy as Sergeant Bishop Cummings, Laz Alonso as Corporal Hector Negron and Omar Benson Miller as Private First Class Sam Train. I thought that they all did a great job of portraying their unique character qualities and acting off one another. Additionally, John Leguizamo and Kerry Washington made some pretty great cameos.

There was this theme of fantasy and faith which I thought was a bit much but for the most part there wasn’t really anything to dislike about this movie. My only concern was that I just wasn’t really moved by it; I felt like something was missing, I couldn’t fully connect to these characters, so for that I would say this might be worth it to see once, just to have an appreciation for the history, but it’s not going to be one that you would want to see over and over again.

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady is a biography about the life of Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of England. This biography stars Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. I wanted to give this movie a shot because of Margaret Thatcher’s polarizing resume.

I thought that the acting from Meryl Streep was great, as usual. She really did a good job of embodying the character. I also thought that the makeup and costume design were appropriate for the period.

The primary issues with this film were with the cinematography, editing and the script. The way it was filmed was grainy and looked cheap. With the editing, you couldn’t tell the time period and there was also a lot of back and forth between the ages with no clarity or explanation as to when it was in history. I also wasn’t a fan of the script, it was dry and very flat in its pace.

Even though there were some good visual qualities within this film, these things couldn’t save this movie. The majority of the detractors outweighed those merits and because of that I’d say save 2 hours of your life a skip this dud.