Montana Story (2022)

 Pros: Though simple, the story unravels slowly, with solid characters, this film manages to bring something just slightly different to the screen which is always lovely to see. Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague deliver master class performances as the estranged half-siblings of a wretchedly abusive father who now is dying of a stroke, lying their in that portable hospital bed a shell of his former self.

Cons: It was nice to see a film with tons of minorities even though the leads were white, and this film succeeds with such a small cast though it would have nice to have a bit more background on their corrupt father and what made him so evil. And why did a lawyer want such a large piece of land, as it was wasting away around him.

Recommend: Probably

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The father was so mad at Erin (Richardson) after she exposed him for the corrupt attorney that he was, he killed her horse, beat Erin within an inch of her life (though she refused to tell the hospital the truth), so he is truly a wretched excuse for a human being.

-Cal (Teague) didn't defend his sister back when they were in high school but he dabbles with his father's ventilator, letting him die. 

-Humans should have a living will for this very reason.

-The horse is allowed to roam free in Montana, the retirement he deserved.

-I wonder how they handled the title for that old truck and trailer. 

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

 Let me just preface by saying, I utterly adored this book. It will probably always without a doubt, be one of my favorites. I even named my second cat after the main character.

Pros: I love the base plot line. Abandoned child, Kya (Jojo Regina and then Daisy Edgar-Jones) grows up surrounded by nature and finds solace in that after being physically and emotionally abused by her father (Garrett Dillahunt) after her mother (Ahna O'Reilly) leaves. She soon falls in love with two town boys, each very different from each other: Tate (Taylor John Smith), lonely and intelligent in his own right who is kind and sympathetic to Kya and they develop a deep friendship and Chase (Harris Dickinson), the golden boy whose needs are not fulfilled by his crystal fiancé, Pearl (Caroline Cole) and needs side piece and feels that she should be grateful that he's gracing her with his presence. So there's a love triangle and then a murder mystery and trial, sprinkled in with Kya's career as a naturist. Fortunately, the acting (at least by the main characters) is also solid and the setting was also great as you feel like you are out there in the marsh along with Kya.

Cons: Despite the solid plot, the film uses the trial of Kya, charged with Chase's murder, as the frame story while the book is linear, and honestly, while each is great, they are not blended together sufficiently, and the source material deserved much, much better. Also, I found the responses of the courtroom audience to be canned and overly done, certainly not realistic and not subtle, so that was ridiculous. Not to mention, while Edgar-Jones is a good actress and gives a good performance, she was often too clean and had too many outfits. 

That all being said, the love story between Kya and Tate is one of my favorites of all-time, so yes, I will gladly see this film again and again.

Recommend: Yes, but prepare yourself, the book is better.

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-David Strathairn is good in the supporting role of the retired lawyer who feels the need to defend Kya, with good success.

-That ending twist is truly shocking.

-This is one of the few films, recently, that nearly made me cry. That is becoming increasingly rare these days in my old age (I'm 31). 

-While I do not condone violence, Chase is an absolute asshole who wanted to have his cake and eat it, too and would not have stopped as he'd never been told no before and couldn't handle it. Tate was correct, she deserved better. 

-You would think that one of Kya's siblings would have insisted she come with them, after all, she is the youngest. 

-Okay, I have to call it out, when her brother (Logan Macrae) and his family come to visit, how in the world do they get a car up there as her home is only accessible by boat. 

-Kya's family boat never breaks down, both in the film and book. I feel that that must mentioned. 

-Ahna O'Reilly, where have you been since The Help? 

-Does it ever rain in the marsh?

-Accents were a little all over the place, which required some sort of explanation.

-The film was written, produced and directed by women. 

-I love how men say that sex will get better for the woman, that's beyond demeaning. 

-Though Tate was a fool for standing her up, I'm glad she forgave him and that they stayed together, separated only by death. 

-Taylor Swift better be nominated for an Oscar for her song played over the end credits. 

Cyrano (2021)

 Pros: Honestly, the performances were truly the only solid (mostly) item in this film until the flash forward, when finally, I was interested. Sure, the dialogue was good and clever, with tons of brilliant rhymes, but this film just couldn't keep my interest, until the ending.

Cons: The accents were all over the place, which was super annoying and despite the lush cinematography and choreography, it was boring, mundane film about such vain characters and, until the end, the plot was very paint by the numbers. 

Recommend: Probably not

Grade: B

Side Notes:

-Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett are delightful as the leads with Kelvin Harrison, Jr in great support.

-Harrison has just been everywhere the past several years, though I have to admit, so far, his best performance is in 2019's Waves, a truly remarkable film. I'd watch that one instead.

-Dinklage is a very talented swordsman.

-Roxanne's family is seemingly very poor though they still manage to have a servant.

-Cyrano's final words will haunt me: "And I loved my pride." 

-Spoiler alert: he dies at the end meaning Roxanne has lost both loves of her life. 

Persuasion (2022)

 Pros: Honestly, it is hard to find a solid pro about this film, but the acting wasn't bad (not great either) so I don't really know what to put here as not even the plot was something I could fully get behind. However, the sets were great and I liked the song at the end. Yeah, pulling at straws here.

Cons: Okay, my time to shine. While I normally love Jane Austen's film adaptations (see 1995's Sense and Sensibility), this time, the plot wasn't thrilling, I didn't find the characters engaging and many were downright annoying and even the dialogue wasn't particularly great as there was far too little witty banner between William (Henry Goulding) and Anne (Dakota Johnson). Some of the costumes seemed out of place and while the viewer needed stuff explained, the narration was odd and over used. Though Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) is supposed to be the male hero, he's certainly one of her dullest characters and honestly, I didn't find Anne to be that interesting as she's heartbroken for much of the first half of the film and then struggles to figure out where her true feelings lie and her support system was weak at best. Her two sisters were total tools but at least her nephews were cute and though I thought she was going to end up with William, he was hellbent to ruin her father's (Richard E. Grant's) happiness just so he could inherit the estate. 

Recommend: Doubtful

Grade: B-

Side Notes:

-Dakota Johnson does alright as the British heroine.

-She also has a pet bunny for unknown reasons.

-Of course in every good Austen novel, the heroine suffers a change in fortune, this film is no exception. 

-Jam makes a good mustache, in a pinch.

-Marriage was considered purely transactional.

-As in Bridgerton, color blind casting (keeping the families the same) is used, to solid success. 

-How does Frederick get out of his engagement to Louisa (Nia Towle)?

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

 Pros: One of the few films where Woody Allen isn't super annoying. The plot is solid and the dialogue is good as is the acting and I'm glad that the film ended happily though Hannah (Mia Farrow) was incredibly naïve when it came to her husband Elliott (Michael Caine) true colors.

Cons: Because there are so many characters, it is hard to appreciate the solid development of Mickey (Allen) is a bit wasted as it is just stuffed in there with so many other plots. And of course, this just has to be about an acting family, people can never have real careers in films.

Recommend: I guess

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Mickey is a TV show producer and has a skit which includes child molestation, which is ironic as Allen turned out to have sex with his stepdaughter before she turned eighteen.

-It has got to be awkward when you marry your sister's ex-husband.

-It also must be awkward to have a crush on your wife's sister.

-Lloyd Nolan and Maureen O'Sullivan star as the parents and deliver great performances albeit in supporting roles. 

-Despite the stacked cast only Caine and Dianne Wiest were Oscar-nominated though they both would win. 

Platoon (1986)

 Pros: True this film is grittily realistic and painful to watch, but the plot and screenplay are solid and the acting is brilliant as you feel as though you are both on those tragic crimson fields near the Cambodian border, and each character does have a unique personality which is always refreshing to see and the cast is relatively diverse though the three leads are all white.

Cons: Honestly, Captain Barnes (Tom Berenger) is a wretched, sorry excuse for a human being and Charlie Sheen who stars as Chris Taylor probably could have been a bit better but his performance was at least workmanlike even if it fell just short of being brilliant. 

Recommend: Yes, though this film isn't for the faint of heart

Grade: A-

Side Notes: 

-The cast is jam-packed with good actors including Willem Dafoe as the humane but doomed Captain Elias, Forest Whitaker, Keith David, Kevin Dillon and a blink and you'll miss him, Johnny Depp. 

-American soldiers were truly nasty to the civilians of Vietnam. 

-While the soldiers are supposed to be fighting the Vietnamese but they are also fighting each other as the leaders are completely different from each other and the men just take sides and thus hostility is created between the two of them. 

-Being a soldier must have been extremely dreadful as the weather is wretchedly hot, the hours long and the work grueling. 

-Of course Chris Taylor survives at the end though neither Elias or Barnes remain. Elias is shot as Barnes's hands and though Taylor kills a gravely wounded Barnes at the end of the film. 

Save the Tiger (1973)

 Pros: Jack Lemmon delivers a brilliant performance as Harry Stoner, a man who somehow need money and is so desperate he calls his arson guy to burn down one of his outlet factories. He's not a bad guy, or at least, he doesn't want to be a bad guy but his real dream lies with baseball and he remains haunted by his memories of battling in World War II. And I do like films that show every day life, though Harry is hardly a typical American as he lives in Beverly Hills and has a housekeeper but the film has a very real feel to it nevertheless.

Cons: Despite his great performance, the film is a bit plodding and boring at parts especially when they talk about areas of business I'm not familiar with, which is a shame as his performance along with the rest of the cast deserved better.

Recommend: Maybe

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Despite Harry seemingly believing in love with his wife, Janet (Patricia Smith), he nevertheless takes a hooker because his wife has to go to New York for some reason.

-Apparently pornos were pretty expensive viewing pleasures in the early 1970s. 

-Harry does show a good bit of humanity at the end by insisting the arsonist keep his co-worker, Phil (Jack Gilmore) out of it. 

-Harry does refuse to talk no for an answer, if he wants to eat Chinese, he will even if Phil wants to eat something different. 

Elvis (2022)

 Pros: This opulent bio-pic had tons of material to work with and it paints Elvia (Austin Butler) as both a hero and genius but also a deeply flawed drug-addict who never seems to have enough love surrounding him, never fully recovering from his mother's (Helen Thomson's) premature death largely due to alcoholism. This film is also impressive in that it appeared that hundreds of extras were used despite the COVID restrictions so despite the lush sets, costumes and everything, concessions must have been made though the viewer would never suspect. And the acting is great and this should be, deservedly so, Butler's break-through role and he is truly excellent.

Cons: The film is over-stuffed and despite it being titled Elvis, the narrator is actually Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), the controversial manager of Elvis, so the film tries to have two leads which doesn't really work. It should show how Parker specifically mismanaged Elvis's money and estate. That is the main issue with the film, though there are also a ton of characters and often they aren't introduced correctly. 

Recommend: Yes

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The supporting cast is filled largely with unknowns mixed in with established actors: Olivia DeJonje (as Priscilla, great), Kelvin Harrison, Jr (as BB King apparently), Richard Roxburgh (the duke from Moulin Rouge) as Elvis's Daddy, Xavier Samuel, Dacre Montgomery, David Wenham and Kodi Smit-McPhee (in the cameo of the year so far).

-Though Elvis did plenty throughout his career, if he had a different manager, he could have done so much more. 

-Elvis longed to be a talented movie star like Jimmy Dean.

-He originally met Priscilla in Germany when she was just 14, yeah, that's more than just a little gross.

-Parker had an unnatural control of Elvis.

-It must have been nice in the1950s when the nation was only divided on Elvis, rather than issues which actually matter, as it is nowadays.

-Elvis shakes his hips to soothe his nerves but it makes him a global sensation as it is probably the closest many of his fans have gotten to sex thus far in their lifetime. 

The Sting (1973)

 Pros: Well, the plot is top-notch and I liked that it was divided into chapters and the acting is superb as it should be, considering the caliber cast. Sure, the plot is complicated but not painfully so, as that is what makes the film interesting, with quick dialogue and mischievous characters. The film mechanics are also solid. 

Cons: None of the characters are particularly redeeming as they are hopeless gambles, cheaters, con artists and thieves but the film was effective nonetheless. 

Recommend: I suppose, as it was solid, but just not my sort of film.

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The cast includes Paul Newman, delighting in him outwitting his enemy Robert Shaw, Robert Redford was Oscar-nominated, Charles Durning, the simple cop, Eileen Brennan and Sally Kirkland. 

-Sally Kirkland is just one of the characters who tries and nearly succeeds at double-crossing Robert Redford's Johnny Hooker.

-Paul Newman is a master cheater at poker.

-His front is a simple carousel. 

-Edith Head designed the costumes which is why all the men look absolutely dapper. 

-The twist at the end was great though even I couldn't see that the FBI organization was also on the inside.

-At least Robert Redford and Paul Newman are alive at the end of this film. They both died in their previous film pairing. 

-This film nearly treats the sole African-American character with the same respect as his white counterparts. Except for the fact that he's killed off rather quickly, but his death sets the main plot in motion.