Network (1976)

 This remains an interesting film.

Disgruntled newsman, Howard Beale (Peter Finch) states that he will kill himself on air and it takes a bit for those in the control room to pick up on this and then all hell breaks loose. 

He's fired but he's not fired after the ratings significantly increase due to his madness and thus, he remains on the air and head of programming (but not news), Diana Christiansen (Faye Dunaway), a true vulture who is literally only passionate about work latches on to him and turns his show into a three-ring circus as Howard continues to descend into madness. 

Diana is certainly the central star of this film and Dunaway does receive top billing. She's an unfeeling man-eater who stops at nothing to get what she wants, even mingling with international criminals and killing a man when the ratings drop precariously. 

While it is a little more complicated than that, that's the basic jist of the film, an interesting satire and that William Holden's Max Schumaker is the only real character in the film, with actual human feelings while board director Ned Beatty's Arthur Jensen is using Howard to propagate his own, twisted and mildly unpopular agenda, so the acting is brilliant all-around with a tight screenplay and while the film is more than forty years old, it has held up well because who knows who truly controls the media and people remain mad as hell as they're not going to take it anymore. Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Pay attention to Beatrice Straight's cameo as Max's wronged wife. Her brief but potent appearance earned her an Oscar for best supporting actress. I found Marlene Warfield's Laureen Hobbs just as effective though she works with criminals. 

-Instead of applauding the essential workers, people threw up their shutters and shouted outside how mad they were.

-I wonder how all the obesities Howard shouted made it past the sensors as they weren't exactly family-friendly. 

-Notice how all the shows pitched to Diana contain a crusty but benign character. 

Wonder Woman 1984

I don't really know where to go with this film. It was decent but I'm glad I didn't pay to see it in theatres. 

Gal Gadot continues to shine as Diana, aka Wonder Woman, bagging criminals in a quicker, more effective and less destructive fashion than the police all while continuing to mourn her beloved Steve (Chris Pine) and working at the Smithsonian which is where the 'Luck Stone' is discovered. Her new co-worker, Barbara (a good Kristin Wiig, in a completely unfunny role) is a mousy mess of a woman but by wishing to be more like Diana, she gets some surprises and gains confidence but loses her charm and good judgment by allowing nasty, corrupt businessman Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) to seduce her to steal the stone which may appear to be a fake but is very much real. By wishing to be the stone itself, the world almost immediately turns into a war zone, people hoarding oil and wishes counteracting with each other but Diana is somewhat reluctant to renounce her wish as she will lose Steve, again. Despite her weakening, thanks to Barbara's crazy strength, Diana summons up the courage to lose Steve and defeat Max Lord. However, her main battle is with Barbara which ends with Barbara being electrocuted and her battle with Max is far more psychological, by finally having his love for his son trump his wild desires of total control. But it works, he renounces his wish and the world slowly returns to normal, which was the plan all along.

Now, while Diana is supposed to be the hero and Barbara the enemy (though it is a long-time coming), Diana makes some poor, selfish decisions, such as illegal commandeering the plane for Steve to have some fun with everything shiny and new of the 1980s. Still, the acting was solid but I found the film to be nothing special or extraordinary even though it moved swiftly with no jarring mistakes or editing cuts so it wasn't bad, I found it somewhat unimpressive and the ending was oddly unsatisfying. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-Pay attention for Kristopher Polaha as the man whose body Steve inhabits and shows up at the end, spoiling an opportunity to ask Diana out. 

-Ravi Patel also makes a quick little cameo as an expert on the Mayan culture. 

Sylvie's Love (2020)

 There should be more films like, period pieces starring African Americans about African Americans.

Tessa Thompson shines as Sylvie Johnson, who whittles her time away during the hot summer watching the TV at her father's record store where she meets jazz saxophonist Robert Holloway (Nnamdi Asomugha). While the attraction is immediate and mutual, she's engaged to Lacy Parker (Alano Miller, a solid if typical 1950s male). That doesn't stop them from hooking up but Robert gets a gig in Paris and she lets him despite being pregnant with his child (once again, use protection, people). 

Flash forward, five years later, both have careers on the up-swing and Sylvie manages to land a job as an assistant producer for Lucy Wolper's (Wendi McLendon-Covey) cooking show, something that she loves. However, Laci (who married her because he loves her) isn't truly supportive and eventually, after Robert re-enters the picture, the marriage does crumble. And when Robert catches wind of this news, he gives up his shiny career to become a family man but he can no longer find a career in music and his trip to Detroit back fires badly so now it is his turn to lie to Sylvie and dumps her and returns to Detroit with his tail between his legs.

Fortunately, Sylvie changes her mind and gets him back, so happy endings for all. While the film is somewhat of a slow-burn, it is exquisitely filmed and styled with great, brilliant acting and while the Civil Rights movement is mentioned, it is only in the background as this film focuses on two people trying to pursue their dreams and each other at the same time. The film also managed to give the characters (and there were probably a tad too many of them) personalities, in addition to truly capturing the spirit of the time period which I always marvel at. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Pay attention to the dinner Sylvie and Lacy host for a new account he will get. While the white couple is gracious, they are also racists and Lacy was awarded the account solely because of the color of his skin. While Sylvie is offended, Lacy doesn't care. He's all about the money.

-Both McLendon-Covey (as the Julia Child inspired TV chef who loathes high heels) and Eva Longoria's Carmen needed far more screen time. Ditto for Ryan Michelle Bathe as the original producer for Lucy's show who hires Sylvie. 

-Once again, use protection. There are so many forms of it, even in the 1950s and I believe that it was legal in New York where this film occurs. 

-I liked that they wrapped up the film by showing the epilogue over the credits.  

The Midnight Sky (2020)

 This was mostly a good film, though I felt that there were perhaps some scientific inaccuracies.

Augustine Lofthouse (George Clooney) decides to stay behind in Antarctica to keep watch over the research station as the entire continent is evacuated due to a mysterious illness gripping the planet (sound familiar?). However, this illness is far worse than the dreaded COVID as basically by the time the film begins Augustine is the last person left alive or so we're led to believe. However, a research shuttle is still roaming around in space and Augustine is determined to give them a message so they don't return to a dead planet.

The film then flips back and forth between Augustine and Iris (Caoilinn Springer) whom he discovers was left behind as he fights to get to another satellite station to deliver the message and the research space ship, Aether who is manned by five diverse astronauts who have their own struggles including Sully's (Felicity Jones's) pregnancy and the ship being somehow thrown off course. 

And then when Augustine finally gets his message to the ship, pilot Tom Mitchell (Kyle Chandler) refuses to believe that everyone is dead and decides to take a return pod and go back to Earth anyway and Sanchez (Damian Bichir) decides to join him, to give Maya Lawrence (Tiffany Boone) who tragically dies in a meteor shower, leaving just Sully and the Captain Gordon Adewole (David Oleyowo) to make the return trip, while back on Earth Augustine, ill enough to need daily dialysis treatments dies, revealing that young Iris was merely a figment of his imagination, finally giving him the relationship with his daughter, certainly his deepest regret. It is revealed that Sully is actually his daughter, which I figured out almost immediately during the first flashback to a younger Augustine. 

While I hate twists like that, I did find this film satisfying though I found parts unrealistic or inaccurate such as when Augustine falls into the deep, cold water due to cracking ice, he manages to swim for a bit and it isn't until he rises that the hypothermia sets in, which just made no sense. On the other hand, Aether sling-shotting around the Earth to use Earth's gravity to return to Jupiter's moon which can manage to support life just as was done in another brilliant solidary space film, based on a book, The Martian. 

Still, the film was brilliantly acted and went by quickly and relatively smoothly and I did truly enjoy it. Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Gordon is revealed to be the father of Sully's unborn child and it appears that there certainly some love there but the pregnancy catches them both off-guard which leads me to a constant point I've made time and time again: there is this lovely little invention called a condom which is pretty effective, if one is used. 

-The same also applies to Iris's parents when they meet. Ethan Peck (grandson of the brilliant actor Gregory) is young Augustine turning in a brilliant performance, even matching his voice to meet Clooney's while Sophie Rundle shines as Jean Sullivan enamored by Augustine though she lies and tells him that she isn't pregnant when she actually is. 

-There are some interesting name choices for Sully's unborn daughter, hopefully they pick Caroline, by far one of the better choices. 

-Shockingly Maya doesn't recognize the classic Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline". I guess she was too young when that song was played on the radio but this is the slightly distant future. 

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

 Here is another great film told in almost real time. 

Ma Rainey (the unrecognizable but brilliant Viola Davis) is a celebrated jazz musician and is in Chicago to record some of her songs but of course, there is plenty of drama, namely between the studio musicians. Levee (Chadwick Boseman) is the trumpet player, talented, cocky and as the film progresses, mentally unhinged, and he has his own arrangement of one of Ma's songs which she hates. He also is a songwriter and wants to start his own band and become just as famous as Ma. Ma is certainly a diva, but she knows that she can act like a bitch because she has something they want and once they have that, they will cut her loose which is basically correct and is what she more or less states halfway through the film.

The film is illuminating to see how the two interact though they have very few scenes together but Levee gets what he wants, he gets fired because he doesn't respect Ma despite being warned by the other musicians and making eyes at Ma's young lover, Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige) who may or may not be lesbian but is rather hungry for fame herself, considering she is fine with almost immediately having sex with Levee. But Mr. Strudyvant (Jonny Coyne) doesn't think that the songs will be hits but buys them off him anyway and then things take a turn for the worse. Levee has known the other musicians for bit by now, but is a different kind of person than they are, he doesn't believe in God and heard his mother be raped when he was just eight years old and when he and Cutler (Colman Domingo) get into a fight, he has no issue pulling out a switchblade and when the wise pianist, Toledo (Glynn Turman) accidentally steps of Levee's shoe (though I failed to see a scuff mark) and doesn't make the proper reparations, Levee stabs him and eventually he fades away, never to be seen in the movies again, while Ma stares into the abyss in the back of her shiny new car, upset that the white man will make more money off her voice than she will. 

While Viola Davis receives top billing, Boseman is certainly the lead and delivers certainly one of the greatest performances of his career, demonstrating a wide range of emotions while Davis is equally as brilliant in a role that is smaller but absolutely just as important. The screenplay is solid too, giving each character a personality that still shines through from page to screen though a couple of cuts are too jarring. Still, you do feel like it is 1927 and that is no small feat. Grade: A-

Valley Girl (2020)

 This film wasn't as bad as expected even though the plot's been done a thousand times before. 

Julie Richman (Jessica Rothe) is a typical rich teenager, enjoys shopping with her friends but she longs for more though they don't understand why, considering she's dating the perfect guy, the perfectly blond and bland Mickey (Logan Paul). Nevertheless, she wants something real and by chance meets Randy (Josh Whitehouse), who is a bit rough around the edges with tattoos (the horror) but this is 80s after all. 

Nonetheless, they get together but she has a perfect life and no one approves of this relationship while Randy is encouraging of her dreams but is also a screw-up and Mickey isn't thrilled despite his new relationship with Julie's former friend, Karen (Chloe Bennet). 

Of course they get back together, in a bit of contrived turn of events, Randy and his friends end up playing at Julie's prom, but honestly, until then, I found the film relatively realistic in a throwback to the 1980s sort of way and I liked the songs, classic 80s. However, while the performances were solid, if they were going to make this a genuine musical they should have gotten stronger singers because while Rothe and Whitehouse try, they are better at acting than singing. Still, this film wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday night. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-The scene Julie has with her parents (Rob Huebel and the always lovely Judy Greer) is great and she has the best and most important line in the film: "Maybe I'm not as needy and boring as you."

-For the record, a man should be able to take care of his family but a woman can do that, too.

-In the end, I did like Julie's other two friends much more than Karen, Stacy (Jessie Ennis), who eventually ends up going to Dartmouth and the dancer Loryn (Ashleigh Murray).

-Randy's friend, Jack (the underused Mae Whitman) is also a delight though her character is painfully underdeveloped. 

-Apparently, this was filmed back in 2017 but was shelved for years. 

The Prom (2020)

 I don't really know where to go with this film. Sure, it's packed with talent and the musical numbers are spectacular, but I found the plot relatively old and tired and the cast great and miscast at the same time.

Indianans can't stand different so when Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) wants to take her girlfriend to prom but of course, the PTA throws a hissy fit and cancels prom and some narcissistic has-been Broadway stars take pity, wanting to get positive attention and join her cause. 

I thought that when Emma arrives at prom just an hour in, I thought the film would be over but there was a twist, the PTA planned a second, secret prom and didn't tell Emma about it which leads us attempting to get her fellow students to become more tolerant and raise awareness for her story and find the funding for another prom. 

Personally, I found Mrs. Greene's (Kerry Washington's) change of heart, from rigid, perfectionist PTA president to accepting her gay daughter (Ariana Debose) in a matter of hours to be unrealistic. And having Broadway stars Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry (James Corden) be friends with Angie (Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells) who are in the chorus line, all be friends is also ridiculous. 

Still, despite everything, the acting is solid (despite some awkward pairings) and I'm a sucker for great musical numbers and this film contained several, I just wish this film was better to match the talent in it. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-The pairing of Meryl Streep and Keegan-Michael Key (as the high school principal) was predictable and while they had good chemistry, the age difference was not something I could get behind and nearly threw up for the first kiss.

-I think Andrew Rannell's Trent would make a natural drama teacher. 

-I can't believe that there hasn't been a musical on Eleanor Roosevelt's life yet.