Quick takes on 5 films

Green Book was the heralded masterpiece of last year, winning the Oscar for best picture. It’s a very good movie, but I’m not sure it was the best of the year (I think the award should have gone to Roma). Starring Mahershala Ali and Vigo Mortensen, the film is based-on-the-true story of an Italian, “Tony Lip,” who is hired to drive a musician, “Doc” Shirley, on a tour through the deep south in 1962. Along the way they face racism of course, but also learn a lot from each other. Tony is a hardcore Italian immigrant (he knows and is recruited by the mob in New York), so in some people’s eyes in the south, he isn’t much better than the black man he is driving around. Doc is a cultured, learned man who shares little in common with the people of his color, especially where they are driving. The film features fantastic acting by both leads. Ali was worthy of his win for best supporting actor, but honestly Mortensen is absolutely tremendous (can you even remember a film he was in that you didn’t like?). I enjoyed the movie, but for me, it is one of those that I’ll watch once and probably won’t remember a few years from now. But with material like this, it is was destined to be the darling of the awards circuit.

I followed up with a movie that received as many negative reviews as Green Book did positive, and once again, I have to disagree with the professionals on this one. Glass is fantastic as a fitting conclusion to the “superhero” trilogy of M Night Shyamalan. What began with Unbreakable nearly 20 years ago and continued later with Split in 2016 comes to an epic end. Elijah Prince (aka Mr Glass, played by Samuel L Jackson), Kevin Wendell Crumb (The Horde, James McAvoy), and David Dunn (The Overseer, Bruce Willis) are rounded up and put in a mental asylum to be evaluated by Dr Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson). She is trying to convince them that they are not super humans, but their supposed strengths can all be explained by science. Mr Glass has other ideas though, and sees a chance for a final showdown between superhero The Overseer and supervillian The Horde, broadcast in front of millions on television. The film is not without flaws, some major plot points are telegraphed a bit too much, but the big climactic fight at the end, and the ultimate reveal (Shyamalan style) are just too good to miss. McAvoy is once again brilliant as the man with 24 distinct personalities living inside him. If you like comic book films and want something that feels more real than DC or Marvel, this is a really fun movie.

It’s not that I think Mary Poppins Returns is a bad movie, it’s just that Julie Andrews left such an iconic impression of the character on my mind forever that the new sequel starring Emily Blunt feels like a bunch of actors playing at make-believe as much as their characters in the movie. In the film, the Banks children, Michael and Jane, are all grown up and living in their same old house, a house that they are about to lose to the bank. Amid this conundrum, Mary Poppins does indeed return, to help Michael’s young children find a way to save the house, but first of course going on adventures to teach them life lessons. She is welcomed to London by Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), a former apprentice to Bert from the original film, who goes on their escapades with them. Unfortunately, so much of the film feels like pandering to both the audience, with too many blatant references to the original to try to tug at the heart-strings (which only serve to further remind you that Blunt, however talented, is no Andrews) and pandering to the actors themselves too. When in cartoon world, Miranda is given an opportunity to show off the rapping skills he displayed when he wrote and starred in Hamilton. When done, the cartoon penguin joyfully exclaims, “He did it!” Yes, yes he most certainly did. And so did the film’s creators, for better or worse.

BlacKkKlansman was a heralded film for director Spike Lee, his first big hit in what seems like a very long time. Based on a true story, it is about the first African-American police officer in the Colorado Springs police department in the 1970’s. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) wants to do more than work in the records department, and hatches a plan to infiltrate the local chapter of the Klu Klux Klan. He makes calls to the Klan as himself (and even mistakenly gives his real name!) but has fellow detective and veteran undercover agent Flip Zimmerman (excellent actor Adam Driver) fill in for him during the face-to-face meetings. Also going on locally, the black student union at Colorado College is making noise and bringing in renowned speakers to promote rights for black men and women across the country. The film has a timely voice, and it is amazing how much and how little has changed in the last 40 years. Ranging from satire to heavy, the film never loses its goal of showing the maniacal views of the bigots and white supremacists in our country, and while it should be taken very seriously, Lee also manages to infuse humor to make it a very enjoyable film with a message, much as he did with Do the Right Thing so many years ago. Lee was very upset that Green Book took home the Best Picture award over his own film, and while I still think Roma was the best, I have to admit I enjoyed BlacKkKlansman a whole lot more than Green Book.

Capernaum is a heartbreaking Lebanese film about the plight of a poor child in Beirut and the kinds of things these people face every day in their lives. The film opens with Zain in a courtroom. Just 12 years old, he is serving 5 years for stabbing a man, but he is in court today because he is suing his parents “for having given birth to him.” The film then rewinds to see how he got here. Zain lives in a hovel with his parents and a multitude of siblings. His closest friend is his 11 year old sister Sahar. However, when his parents “sell” Sahar to the neighborhood store owner to be his wife, Zain loses it and runs away. He finds himself with a kind Ethiopian refugee and her baby son. She takes care of Zain as best she can, but she has no money either, and before long, she is arrested for deportation since she has no papers, leaving Zain to care for the baby. There’s one nice moment near the end of the film, but don’t expect a lot of happy endings here, but I can’t imagine life has many happy endings for young people like Zain. Capernaum was nominated for best foreign film at both the Oscars and the Césars, and won the Jury Price at Cannes.