Quick takes on 5 films

If you are going to do a historical film based on a real life person, you should at least make it somewhat accurate. That key point of evidence fails fully in Emperor, based on the life of Shields Green. Green was an escaped slave who worked his way north, only to fall in with the famous early abolitionist John Brown during his ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry. Unfortunately, there’s a few major discrepancies in this film from what really happened, and even setting those aside, the movie isn’t all that good either. Though the sets are top notch, there is shoddy dialogue that is straight out of a B movie, and while some of the actors are big names (including the likes James Cromwell and Bruce Dern), there is some serious overacting going on by all involved. The film is directed by Mark Amin, a longtime film producer, though this is his directorial debut (and was a writer as well). It certainly appears he was not up to the task, to what should have been an excellent tribute to an important event in our history. ★

First Cow is the latest from director Kelly Reichardt. It is a simple film, with a simple plot, but, in my opinion, made more lovely for its simplicity. A woman is walking along a river when her dog unearthed a skull. The woman digs around a bit and finds 2 skeletons laying next to each other. The film then jumps back in time 200-ish years to the bustling beaver trade days in Oregon in the early 19th century. Figowitz, nicknamed Cookie because he’s the cook, is traveling with one such group of fur trappers, but they are about to break up after their latest foray. Cookie sticks around the settlement upon the split, and befriends a Chinese immigrant who’s been living there for a couple years. At the same time, a local wealthy Englishman has just brought was is supposedly the first cow in the Oregon territory, for the sole purpose of supplying milk for his tea. Cookie and Lu hatch a plan to milk the cow and night, in order to make biscuits to sell to the trappers. The biscuits go over like gangbusters, making money quickly for our duo, but Cookie starts to fear that the Englishmen will soon suspect the secret ingredient to their foodstuffs. It isn’t an action picture (though there is some tense gunplay), and looks like an accurate portrayal of what life on the frontier very much could have looked like. The film is amazingly authentic looking and feeling, with texture and grit oozing from the screen. Its a beautiful, touching picture of friendship and hardship. ★★★½

Bad Education is a based-on-a-true-story film about the largest embezzlement from public schools in American history. It stars Hugh Jackman as superintendent Frank Tassone and Allison Janney as his assistant Pam Gluckin. The school, Roslyn School District, has been growing into one of the better public schools on Long Island, NY, with kids getting into prestigious ivy league colleges and home values in the area rising along with the recognition. The school is also getting ready to oversee a large and expensive facelift, the culmination in a decade-plus of Tassone’s guidance in bringing the school to where it is. Tassone geniunely loves the kids and is a popular person both at school and in the community. With the big project coming up, high school junior Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan, from Blockers and Hala) has been given the job of writing a story for the high school paper. She’s prepped to just write a fluff piece, but coincedentally it is Tassone himself who tells her not to settle for a throw-away assignment, and to make the story her own. When she starts digging in, Rachel begins finding all kinds of paid invoices that don’t lead anywhere. At the same time, Gluckin’s brother is caught red handed using the school credit card to buy supplies to renovate her private home. It’s a fascinating movie about the lengths people will go to do hide their crimes, and, unsurprisingly, extremely well acted by Jackman and Janney in the leads. I was not familiar with the story going in, though it just took place in the mid-2000’s, and it was a fun film. ★★★

All Together Now is about a high schooler and her mom who are currently homeless, living in a parked school bus on the school lot (the mom is a bus driver by day). Amber Appleton is maybe the most well adjusted teenager ever shown on film, and I don’t believe anyone is that perfect. She teaches English to some Korean immigrants at nights, helps people get their GED, cooks breakfast for her friends every morning at one of their homes, spends time visiting older people at a retirement home, and heads up many groups at school. She gets an audition at the college of her dreams to study music, her love, and things are starting to look like they are going up when everything comes crashing down. Amber’s mom is fired at her job, perhaps related to her struggling alcoholism (Amber never finds out the real reason), so they lose their place to stay. The mom decides the only option is to move back in with her ex-boyfriend, who used to beat her, so Amber refuses and runs away. Things only get worse from there. The movie is predictably predictable, but it is heartwarming, if a bit cheesy at times. Amber is portrayed by Auli’i Cravalho, and while you might not recognize her face, you will probably recognize her voice, as she was Moana in the popular Disney movie. Her bubbly energy and enveloping smile is infectious, and she gets to show off her singing a couple times here again, which is also a highlight. Cast is round out with Rhenzy Feliz (from Marvel’s Runaways for my fellow nerds), Fred Armisen, Justina Machado, and, amazingly, the incomparable Carol Burnett. ★★½

I have no idea what I just watched, but holy cow was it good! I’m Thinking of Ending Things comes from director Charlie Kaufman, and while it isn’t quite to the level of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (of which he was the writer, as well as Being John Malkovich, among others), it is an enthralling film from the opening minutes. Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley play Jake and his girlfriend (who goes by several names in the movie, more on that in a bit), on their way to visit Jake’s parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis) out at their rural farm, in the middle of a snowstorm. The film’s title is the opening lines of the film, as the girl has a running dialogue in her head throughout the drive and indeed, for all of the movie. We learn that she and Jake have only been together a few weeks and she doesn’t know why she agreed to “meet the parents” so early in the relationship, but there she is. Jake seems a little off, which is explained more so when they get to the house, as his parents are REALLY weird. And here is where the movie goes sideways. Events start to get off kilter. Stories told by Jake and the girlfriend change from one telling to the next, and even names and important aspects are different. Time starts to get weird too; the father may leave the room in his 50’s, and returns looking closer to 80. To say more would spoil much of the fun ride, but suffice it to say, their stay in the house, and events afterwards, take on a distinct sinister feel, as the girl keeps repeating she needs to leave because she has to work the next day, yet Jake or the parents keep sidetracking the conversation. The ending is way weird, and I don’t know what to make of it, but I definitely want to watch it again sometime, and delve deeper! Absolutely incredible performances by the 4 leads. Just don’t expect to get all (or any) of the answers you may be seeking. ★★★★½