Frida

Frida is the 2002 dramatic biopic of surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, a woman who channeled her experience of chronic pain into timeless works of art.

The casting was unique and full of high profile actors including Alfred Molina, Antonio Banderas and Edward Norton. The acting from the entire cast was good but for me Salma Hayek was the star of this film. I can see why she was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Kahlo. She brought the physical and emotional pain that Kahlo felt from her long lasting injuries and also the tumultuous relationship that she had with her husband.

The hair, makeup and costumes were beautiful and bright. They were works of art within themselves which was perfect for this movie. The Academy Award for Best Makeup was a well-deserved.

Cinematically I really liked the edits, especially the reenactment of Kahlo’s art. It is explained best by the American Film Institute who included Frida in their Movies of the Year for 2002. They said, “The film's unique visual language takes us into an artist's head and reminds us that art is best enjoyed when it moves, breathes and is painted on a giant canvas, as only the movies can provide.”

My only criticisms would be that I would have liked more Spanish incorporated in the script and there needed to be a clearer more detailed timeline throughout the movie. Other than that, it was an entertaining and easy movie to watch.

Black Widow

 

Black Widow is a standalone, prequel film that picks up after Captain America: Civil War. Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, is on the run from the law. When she receives a mysterious package, she is forced to confront her past.

The first time I watched Black Widow I feel asleep on it. She isn't my favorite Avenger, so to be fair I wasn't totally invested. I decided to give it another shot today and I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. Not necessarily because of Scarlett but more because of her supporting cast. Florence Pugh who played Yelena Belova was able to hold her own against Johansson. She was funny and charismatic. I look forward to seeing her character in the Hawkeye Disney+ show coming up next month. David Harbour who played Alexei Shostakov and the Red Guardian was also hilarious in a self-deprecating type of way. O-T Fagbenle, who I knew from The Handmaid's Tale, was an interesting choice but I liked it. He was a completely different character as Rick Mason, and even got to use his English accent which was cool. I've liked Ray Winstone for a long time, he has played a lot of different roles in his career. His role of Dreykov was minimal but impactful. Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff was great. I liked her motherly, tough and smart role.

Overall this was a surprisingly well-made and enjoyable movie with a plot that was easy to follow and some unpredictable twists throughout. 

Dune

 

Dune: Part 1, is the first installment of the epic story of Paul Atreides, the son of a noble family, whose house has been ordered by the Emperor, to rule over the desert planet, Arrakis, informally known as Dune, and the export it’s natural resource. This is the second attempt at turning Frank Herbert's science fiction novel into a feature film adaptation, with the original coming out in 1984.

The plot was interesting and engaging though at times quite convoluted so took a couple of watches for me to fully understand everything. Because it is the first installment there were obviously still questions left unanswered. There was not enough of a backstory for me and Zendaya’s character, Chani, is featured a lot in the previews but her story and time on screen is pretty minimal, so I'm looking forward to the sequel to get more of each of those lacking parts.

The script was well written and the fight choreography was creative, futuristic and unique.

I loved the sets and artistic cinematography. There was a lot of complexity and symbolism in the edits. The sets were another character of sorts, you really felt the heat, the vastness and the dryness. The CGI was also crisp and realistic.

The costumes were modern, sleek yet functional. The hair and makeup were also well done. At times I could see a Star Wars influence. I also noticed strong religious influences throughout. Joseph Hammond's Washington Post article said it best, "The Duniverse, as some fans call it, is heavily influenced by ecology and sociology — as well as imagery from the Islamic world and the Middle East. Herbert also used Middle Eastern languages, in particular, Arabic, throughout his novels”.

I know that there was criticism for Arab cultural appropriation and I can see why Maya Lang for Rowdy Magazine pointed that out. But what I will say is that this movie is fiction and is set in 10191 A.G., so we have no clue how ethnicities will evolve and change in the future. And even though there wasn’t a strong Middle Eastern presence, they did provide much more diversity and female empowerment than the original 1984 film, which was an all-White cast with women who did not have strong leading roles.

In the end I left this movie excited for the next one. Timothée Chalamet is a leading man and he held his own with seasoned veterans Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin & Javier Bardem. Everyone brought their A-Game and really helped in the temporary transportation to another space and time.

What Happened, Brittany Murphy?

 

What Happened, Brittany Murphy? is a 2 part documentary from HBO Max that recounts the life and sudden death of Brittany Murphy.

I remember when Brittany Murphy unexpectedly died. She was so young and talented, so the first rumor was that it had to be drug related. At the time she was under a lot of scrutiny for being aloof and unfocused so people just assumed she was on drugs. Then when the autopsy came out, and it was revealed to be pneumonia. That was hard for people to comprehend because it seemed odd for someone of her age to have died from this treatable infection, which tended to target a much older population. Shortly after that I remembered the rumors that mold in her home might have been a cause to her death. During this time, everything seemed so frantic and unsure. I never really felt like we got a true answer as to what happened to her, so this documentary did a great job at presenting a lot information that wasn’t originally detailed in those news articles in the early 2000s. 

The part I found most interesting was what was found on Simon Monjack, her husband at the time. I remember seeing articles that talked about how he was creepy but this documentary dug deeper into his past relationships, his secrets and his reputation of being controlling. The documentary also highlighted how Murphy’s personality drastically changed once she was with him. I thought that the filmmakers did a great job of putting these pieces together to show how Monjack could have potentially been a contributing factor to Murphy’s and his own demise over 10 years ago.

I hadn’t thought about this story in a long time, so I was glad to have watched it. It made me think about how you never really know what someone is going though and it’s not right to make assumptions about someone’s mental health or physical health. I hope this documentary will help people think twice before making snap judgement about others. I also hope this does what it did for me, which was make me nostalgic for some of Brittany Murphy’s most iconic roles, so I added Clueless and 8 Mile to my watchlist.

Dave Chappelle: The Closer

 

The Closer is comedian Dave Chappelle’s final installment in his Netflix stand up deal. In this special he talked about COVID, feminism and the LGBT community.

Chappelle has always been one to stir up controversy and this standup was no different. When I heard that he was going after the Trans community again and that people weren’t pleased, I knew I wanted to check this one out to formulate my own opinion.

I came away feeling like Chappelle is a smart guy, I like how he always loops in a couple of history lessons in his standup. I thought that the jokes toward the beginning of the show were pretty funny. The controversial parts were more toward the second half. Someone not really listening might think Chappelle expressed his support for the feminist movement and the LGBTQ+ community with his anecdotes about his one Trans friend, Daphne Dorman, and promising not to tell any more homophobic jokes. However, for those who understand coded language, we see right thought this. What he was really doing was a good ol’ fashion okey-doke, making you think he’s an ally, when in reality, he devoted the entire second half of his show toward further digging himself a transphobic hole. He even had the nerve to say that the LGBTQ community “punches down” on the Black community, which to me sounded a lot like fictional projection. For someone so worried about how the Trans community perceives him, he sure spent a lot of time obsessing over their physical appearance. Even going as far as saying gender is a fact and that he is “Team TERF”, which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist, an anti-trans extremist group. The complete opposite of being a feminist or an ally.

I’m a big fan of Chappelle but if he really wanted to quite all of the people who call him transphobic, he wouldn’t have tried to gaslight us by doing some huge monologue at the end of his show, after he had already spent a good 30 minutes prior doing the exact opposite of what he was promising to no longer do. What he should have done was just cut out that entire second half from his set.

Eddie Murphy: Raw

 

Raw is one of Eddie Murphy’s most infamous stand ups from the late 1980s. I’ve been told that it is a classic and one that every fan of comedy must watch. In this standup he talked about women, being single, the gay community and celebrity.

I had never seen this stand up before so I was surprised that quite a few of his jokes held up. With that being said, there were plenty of cringe worthy moments. When he would talk about women, he was very demeaning. These jokes were also a bit lazy and not very funny. It was more like an omission of his truth vs just telling the jokes. He also spent a lot of time talking about how all men cheat and why it was okay. I thought was pretty extreme; you could tell he was going through something personally. In 2019 Murphy disclosed that during the time he filmed Raw, he wasn't in a great place. He was an angry young man with a broken heart. So that kind of makes sense why he went so hard at women; I just wish he could have figured out a better outlet. 

Additionally, some of the homophobic language he used was hard to hear and definitely not something he could get away with now. Overall, Eddie Murphy isn’t my go-to when it comes to standup. He does not measure up to the comedic genius of Chappelle. To me he was pretty basic and he lost me at the end when it got too awkward. I much prefer him in the acting lane.

Michelle Wolf: Joke Show

 

Michelle Wolf: Joke Show is comedian, Michelle Wolf's 2019 stand up special from New York.

She tackles a lot of topics from feminism to cancel culture. I liked her self-deprecating humor. She was edgy and stood firm in her convictions, which I appreciated. 

She joked about how her voice wasn’t the most pleasant, even a bit shirking at times. That unfortunately became more evident the longer the special went on. I thought that some of her jokes were played out, especially the man bashing, and some of them dragged on for too long. 

In looking for a quick laugh on a Friday night, I was able to get some of that, with the couple of funny bits in this standup. It was however mostly a lackluster performance, so therefore I'd have to say this standup is not one I'd watch again or recommend.

Athlete A

 

Athlete A is a Netflix distributed documentary that digs deep into the abusive culture within USA Gymnastics and heavily focuses on the former attending physician, Dr. Larry Nassar

This was a well-made documentary with a lot of backstory and factual evidence that helped to connect a number of dots. The reporters from The Indianapolis Star were able to expose the toxicity that had been festering inside USA Gymnastics for decades.

It was hard hearing some of the stories from these young women who were sexually and physically abused. You feel sick knowing a number of people got away with atrocious behavior for over 20 years, while the other adults in charge continued to sweep it under the rug, because they didn't want to mess up the brand.

Although this documentary was a bit pre-mature, given that parts of this case are still ongoing, I think that this was a story that needed to be told in hopes to prevent this behavior in the future. I left feeling like some justice had been served when these women were finally believed and got their day in court, where they faced their abuser. I also hope the director of this film does a follow up on those who haven't been prosecuted yet. I'd like to see all of those who were involved in the cover up or any other abuses, get what's coming to them in the end as well.

The Colony

 

The Colony is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller where small colonies of people are all that is left of population after the word froze over.

I thought that the plot wasn’t unique but it was still an interesting take on a natural disaster. The movie definitely gave off a low budget, gritty vibe which worked well for the theme, but unfortunately the script was terrible and the villains were unrealistic.

Kevin Zegers, who is a Zac Efron doppelganger, Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton were surprisingly great casting. I’ve never seen Kevin Zegers in a role before, but I thought he had good range and played well off of his co-stars. Laurence Fishburne was a bit typecast but I liked his leadership, and Bill Paxton brought a selfishness and a villainous demeanor that I had not seen him play before, so I was impressed with that.

In the end this movie missed the mark. The Rotten Tomatoes critic’s consensus said it best, "A formulaic sci-fi thriller, The Colony features clichéd dialogue, cheesy special effects, and underdeveloped characters". Therefore, I’d say skip this one.

Respect

 Respect is an Aretha Franklin biographical drama that depicts her evolution from a 10 year old girl singing in her father’s church to the 30 year old superstar she became.

Although the movie only spans 20 years of Aretha’s life, it was a tumultuous time for her. She dealt with an immeasurable amount of trauma during this period in her life. She had to endure a significant loss, physical abuse, sexual assault and addiction while still managing to churn out hits that have lasted a lifetime. I was not a huge Aretha fan growing up but after watching this movie, I have a lot of respect for her, pun intended.

The casting was spot on. Forest Whitaker played Aretha's father C. L. Franklin, a very popular pastor, know as the "man with the million-dollar voice". He did really great in the role showing both sides of this flawed man, the entertainer who everyone wanted to be around and also his darker side, a controlling man, who was abusive at times with questionable relationships. Marlon Wayans casting was an interesting one. He is known more for his comedic roles, so his dramatic part as Ted White, Aretha's abusive husband, definitely encouraged Wayans to stretch his range. I thought he did well in doing so. Jennifer Hudson was the star for me, she carried this movie was grace and poise. She was only woman Aretha chose to play her and it was the best choice. Jennifer embodied the shy 18 year old Aretha who didn’t know the power of her own voice, all the way to the 30 year old woman who knew how to command a room and knew exactly what her worth was and what she wanted in life.

This movie was well made, the hair, makeup and costumes were perfect for the era and script was heartfelt. It even brought out some tears toward the end. Therefore, I’d definitely recommend checking out this gem.