A Last Look at 2020
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): I’m getting a jump on 2021 here (2020 can’t be gone soon enough) by making a foundational-Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark-New Year's-resolution to not let these postings grow to such enormous lengths (after this week) as they have in recent years because they've become such a task for anyone to read as well as an hours-turned-into-days-task for me to research, write, and post so I’m determined (once again, because I’ve made this attempt at increased-brevity before but then backslide as my natural rambling inclinations take over), at least on a normal week, to shorten my lead review, truly be brief in any Short Takes reviews (as well as cut back on the inclusions under my weekly Turner Classic Movies recommendations and the Other Cinema-Related Stuff farther below—and curb my cursing of this BlogSpot software); we’ll see how good I am at being faithful to my (latest) good intentions on a regular basis, but, for now, given I’ve taken a break from posting during these last couple of weeks I’ve accumulated a cluster of reviews, all under the concept of Short Takes, with a bit more space allowed for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom because of its outstanding, impactful performances. As Two Guys (just me at this point, as my so-far-silent-writing-partner, Pat Craig, is still in rehearsal for his debut here after working as a theatre critic [and actor] for years [it really should be him reviewing Ma Rainey ..., Jingle Jangle ..., and The Prom, but you’ll just have to bear with me]) continue on into our Internet-based 10th year we continue to thank all of you who’ve ever read even 1 of our postings, with special appreciation for any regular readers out there in our worldwide audience (weekly statistics as the last item, very far down, in every posting). Happy New Year! And away we go, once again, including commentary on the other current Meryl Streep movie, The Prom, to complement her presence in Let Them All Talk in our previous posting. Some of you might be able to access a couple of these movies in a theater somewhere (35% of U.S.-Canada theaters are open), but if, like me, you’re limited to streaming you’ll find Ma Rainey …, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, and The Prom on Netflix, Soul on Disney+, Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max, all without extra charge if you’ve paid your monthly subscription fees.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe)
rated R 94 min.
Based on August Wilson’s Broadway play (1984)—1 of his 10-part "Pittsburgh Cycle" (but this one's in Chicago)—we have a mostly-fictional-drama about “The Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey, and her recording of the song from which both play and adapted-film share titles; it all takes place on a hot summer day, tensions abounding in the studio. Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman are astounding.
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid those important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
The second installment of a project Denzel Washington and his producer partners are undertaking to bring August Wilson’s 10-play-cycle exploring aspects of the African-American experience across each decade of the 20th century to the screen, with this story using the historical character of “Ma” Rainey* in a fictional setting about how her version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” was recorded on a hot day in Chicago in 1927 with most all of the action taking place in a recording studio where Ma’s band—Cutler (Colman Domingo), guitar and trombone; Slow Drag (Michael Potts), bass; Toledo (Glynn Turman), piano; and newest, most obstinate member, Levee Green (Chadwick Boseman), trumpet—arrives before she does much to the consternation of both her manager, Irvin (Jeremy Shamos), and Mel Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne), studio owner/Ma’s producer. While waiting for her, Levee (anxious for having his own band, making his own records), constantly pushy, self-focused, convinces the others to use his arrangement of her “Black Bottom” song, which immediately is rejected once bi-sexual Ma arrives with girlfriend, Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige)—Levee’s got his eye on Dussie for his future also (even puts the moves on her when Ma’s not in the room)—and Ma’s nephew, Sylvester (Dusan Brown), whom Ma wants to speak the intro to the recording even though the young man suffers from a distracting stutter. With all of these elements in place (after Ma argues with a cop outside the studio after her driver bumped another car) the recording session stumbles along, with one confrontation after another ultimately leading to a horrid, unexpected finish as shared background misery turns into tragedy, but merely over a pair of expensive (for that time, $11) shoes.
*If you’d like to know more about Ma (Gertrude Pridgett Rainey, 1886-1939)—who took this stage name when first married to Will “Pa” Rainey—you can consult this Britannica biography and/or this Wikipedia one, the latter quite extensive on her life and lengthy discography; you might also be interested in this video (7:13) about the real Ma and how she’s transformed into this film’s story, then either after seeing Ma Rainey ... for yourself or just plowing through my spoilers to know all about it now there’s another video (10:18 [ads interrupt at about 2:50, 7:00]) with a plot synopsis, spoiler comments on the ending. As for the song, “… Black Bottom,” it is a tune from the time (she did make a recording of it, linked farther below) and there was a popular dance version that could be done solo or in groups (this video has White kids dancing but with a different tempo and melody from Ma’s version, which is powerful to listen to but not danceable). While the song title and dance take their origin from New Orleans and the Detroit African-American community, Ma’s version goes in a different direction (see the Musical Metaphor below to listen to her take on this old craze).
The first problem is Ma’s not recording anything until she gets an ice-cold Coca Cola, which takes more time than it should, leads to more tension between a White producer and a Black performer than should emerge if she weren’t being treated sometimes as an employee (however, Ma was rather unique in standing up so strongly for herself during these overtly-racist-times, based purely on her economic power as her career was in full swing). Once she gets the Coke, though, tensions continue to escalate when band members object to Sylvester doing the intro due to his hard-to-control-speech-impediment; they finally get a good take (praised by the control-room-guys in the above trailer), but it’s not usable because Sylvester’s mike cord was detached from the wall (maybe by Levee?). Levee (who carries a lot of anger because White men raped his mother when he was 8; after that his father moved the family but later left them) keeps making trouble, demanding more respect just as Ma feels she’s only appreciated for making money for Mel (threatens to find another producer just like Levee threatens to quit), then she balks at signing release forms but finally relents.
⇒Tensions pass the boiling point after Levee tries to sell his songs to Mel who’ll only pay $5 apiece, showing no interest; then Toledo accidently steps on Levee’s shoes, leading to Levee’s outburst when he suddenly stabs Toledo, who dies bleeding on the floor. To rub further indignity into tragedy, the film ends with Mel using a White band to record Levee’s “My Jelly Roll” (inspired by jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton), confirming Ma’s accusations about how unscrupulous White industry-execs drain the talent of Black artists.⇐ Ma and her record are about the only actual facts in this story, yet it becomes a powerful exploration of race relations true to its time (sadly, still functioning in ours) and the difficulties of minorities (and women) getting true credit for what they bring to society. It’s rare for me to grant 5 stars to a contemporary film, judging them as I do against time-honored-classics, but just as I was taken completely by Wilson’s Fences adapted to the cinema (directed by/starring Denzel Washington, 2016; reviews in our January 4 and 12, 2017 postings) I was also enthralled by this one with Oscar-nomination/winning-worthy-performances from Davis, Boseman; yes, it’s heavy on dialogue, likely adapted very slightly from its theatrical origins, with verbal sparring mostly in a single location (after a brief intro of Ma’s early fame in Barnesville, GA, which shows you in the first 5 min. how terrific this will be), but that doesn’t preclude successful filmmaking as a result.
The CCAL’s as impressed with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as I am, with Rotten Tomatoes critics offering a superlative result of 99% positive reviews, the folks at Metacritic giving it an (extremely high for them) 88% average score (only 2 films both they and I addressed from 2020 topped 88%: Never Rarely Sometimes Maybe [Eliza Hittman; review in our April 9, 2020 posting] at 92%, First Cow [Kelly Reichard; review in our July 23, 2020 posting] at 89%; I agreed with the former but not the latter, no matter what the New York Film Critics Circle says). You’ll have to be a Netflix subscriber to see Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, but, if you’re not already, I highly recommend at least a month’s investment (about $14) because this film’s definitely worth it (plus you get access to the rest of their streaming catalogue for no extra charge). I always cap off these reviews with a Musical Metaphor as a last avenue of commentary so what else could I use here except Ma’s recording of the song that gives the film (and the play) its name, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cph 7qZoE5d8 (with the irony of “black bottom” referring not only to the dance directly but also to Ma’s inherent sensuality, conveyed so well in her vocal delivery). However, maybe because I’ve just finished watching a documentary on HBO—also streaming on HBO Max—(The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? [Frank Marshall]) about other musicians balancing fame with tragedy, as Barry Gibb endures the deaths of brothers Robin, Maurice, and Andy, I though it might be useful to use the song that gives this doc its name (on their 1971 album Trafalgar) because its lyrics about “We could never see tomorrow No one said a word about the sorrow […] And how can you mend this broken man? How can a loser ever win?” seem to fit Ma and Levee as well as anyone the Gibb Brothers might be singing about, either in the “younger days” of the 1920s, or the 1970s, or currently.
Soul (Peter Doctor, Kemp Powers)
rated PG 100 min.
Pixar’s new animated feature's about a NYC middle-school music teacher who yearns for a career on stage displaying his abilities as a jazz pianist. One day he gets a chance to join a noted band, but in his enthusiasm he fails to see a manhole, falls in, finds himself headed for the Great Beyond unless he can find a way to return for his dream gig, partnered with a young spirit resisting her birth.
Here’s the trailer:
This latest Pixar/Disney animated feature—just like Wonder Woman 1984 (reviewed below), postponed from its intended release date for months due to the pandemic—has debuted on Disney+ where it joins other Pixar successes taking us beyond well-crafted-entertainment into the realm of exploring foundational human values. Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), an unfulfilled NYC part-time middle-school music teacher gets 2 upward opportunities: (1) A full-time contract offer at his school (Momma Libba [Phylicia Rashad] supports that); (2) Through a former student, a chance to add his fine piano work to the band of jazz-master Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). However, in his jubilation, distracted Joe falls into a manhole, revives on an escalator taking him to the Great Beyond; not ready to die, Joe frantically runs back down, falls off, lands in the Great Before where young souls prepare for Earth (after a personality's added—some better than others). Joe ends up as an instructor for sour 22 (Tina Fey) who can’t find a spark (like Joe’s music) to give her life meaning. Somehow (confusing plot point) Joe’s body is just in a coma (why was he on the “stairway to heaven”?) so he and 22 tumble down to Earth, but she ends up in Joe’s body while he’s in a therapy cat. Joe and 22 encounter various fast-paced-adventures as Joe/cat tries to prepare 22/Joe for the Williams gig that night, but they’re caught by afterlife-accountant Terry (Rachel House) who takes them back to the Great Before; Joe learns the “spark” is being ready to live rather than knowing your purpose. ⇒Using 22’s life-pass, Joe goes to Earth for a successful night on stage but still wants to help 22 so he comes back to the “beforelife,” reconciles with distraught 22, now ready to be human, then Joe’s told he can return also which he does, now eager to live life to the fullest.⇐
Joe’s lessons about making the best of what life gives you (just as 22 convinces Joe’s student Connie [Cora Champommier] to not give up on her emerging talent with the trombone) is beautifully portrayed in this story, adding life-affirming-concepts to marvelous visuals (the “other life” in simplistic renderings contrasting the marvelously-detailed-presentations of the human realm) and an engaging soundtrack. The CCAL’s impressed too, with 95% positive RT reviews, an 83% MC average score. I highly encourage you to see Soul, Pixar’s first (and successful) attempt to feature a Black protagonist along with other African-American supporting characters (especially the group at Joe’s barbershop), even if you have to buy a month of Disney+ ($6.99), but I’m not writing any further on it because it’s best appreciated seen rather than read about. I’ll give you a Musical Metaphor, though, with a song used under the final credits, “It’s All Right” by The Impressions (lead singer, Curtis Mayfield), from their 1963 album named for the group, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Ei ZiGCX1w because “When you wake up early in the morning Feelin’ sad like so many of us do Hum a little soul, make life your goal And surely something’s got to come to you And say it’s all right” gets straight to the heart (and soul) of what Soul is all about. See it soon, have a good time, it’s all right.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
(David E. Talbert) rated PG 122 min.
Set in what seems to be the 19th century this musical’s about a toymaker whose new invention could provide material success for his family but it’s stolen by his assistant, the first event of a downward spiral for the man. Many years later his granddaughter completes another of his fantastic toys but the same thief still lurks nearby; further complications arise for everyone. See it on Netflix streaming.
Here’s the trailer:
By now, a Christmas movie might seem past-tense, but maybe you’ll appreciate its joyous nature. As with those reviewed just above, we’ve got a story with mostly Black characters, music as a crucial element—this one’s even a full-blown-musical (very colorful, magical at times, uses puppetry in place of actors in a few scenes), like The Prom (reviewed farther below)—but now the strong African-American presence is through casting rather than exploring specific aspects of Black life as in Ma … and Soul. Narrated by a woman (Phylicia Rashad) to her grandchildren, we drift back to a sort of steampunk-Dickens-times where Jeronicus Jangle (Justin Cornwell) is an toymaker whose next discovery, a sentient, egotistical matador doll, Don Juan Diego (voice of Ricky Martin)—he wants to remain unique, not be mass-marketed—is stolen (along with Jangle’s book of inventions) by his apprentice, Gustafson (Miles Barrow), whose fortunes rise as Jangle’s fall. 30 years later Jangle’s (Forest Whitaker) self-confident granddaughter, Journey (Madalen Mills), comes to visit, discovers an unfinished toy designed by her mother, Jessica (Anika Noni Rose), The Buddy 3000 (voice of Tobias Poppe [toy reminds me of WALL-E from the 2008 Pixar/Disney movie]), which Jessica and Jangle’s assistant, Edison (Kieron L. Dyer), bring to life through their belief in his vitality; however, Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key) then steals Buddy too. Jangle, Journey, and Edison escape from Gustafson’s factory with Buddy, but the toy’s damaged, to be repaired by Jessica, arrived to reconnect with her estranged father who’d wanted to reach out to her as well but couldn’t for years given misery over his failed career plus the death long ago of his wife, Joanne (Sharon Rose). ⇒Gustafson brings the police to Jangle’s shop, accusing the older man of stealing Buddy from him; Journey confounds the lie, Gustafson’s arrested instead. However, Jangle gives his old colleague a gift, a component for the Twirly Whirly, which Gustafson successfully finishes while in prison. Due to Buddy’s success with a crowd of shoppers, banker Mr. Delacroix (Hugh Bonneville) gives Jangle all the funding he needs for future projects. We then learn Grandma’s really elderly Journey, as a quick cluster of final scenes shows us resulting events for Jangle and Gustafson (with Diego finally being mass-produced) as these current family members fly off to visit the wondrous Jangle toy factory.⇐
With the many songs used here, this summary could continue in more detail, but I think you get the idea well enough, so I’ll continue my tactic from the 2 reviews above of borrowing my Musical Metaphor directly from the soundtrack, using “This Day” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1 EKa5iHkpsE (and again from the movie's intro of Jeronicus, Joanne, and young Jessica). Jingle Jangle … certainly epitomizes the concept of “family entertainment” (even if some tunes are better than others) with a triumph for the misbegotten plus a final attitude of forgiveness rather than retribution toward the villain. The CCAL’s in support as well, as RT positive reviews total 90%, although the MCers mirror my not-quite-so-generous-position, yielding a typical 69% average score.
Wonder Woman 1984 (Patty Jenkins)
rated PG-13 151 min.
After a hugely-successful ($822 million globally) stand-alone-intro to this character in 2017 (following a debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2016) our favorite Amazon is back, moving without aging from 1918 to 1984, still mostly stays hidden from the public (with some notable rescues), then comes upon an artifact that grants wishes while causing tremendous chaos everywhere in the world.
Here’s the trailer:
This is the sequel to the wondrous movie, Wonder Woman (Jenkins, 2017; review in our June 8, 2017 posting), beginning with a flashback to the hidden Amazonian land of Themyscira where young Princess Diana (Lilly Aspell) takes part in a demanding contest against adult Amazons, set to win with some last-minute-trickery until she's disqualified by Aunt Antiope (Robin Wright); Mom, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), explains how victories must always come honestly or they’re worthless. We jump ahead to 1984 where Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in her secret identity of Diana Prince works at the Smithsonian, befriends competent but shy, self-effacing Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig); together they come across an ancient artifact, the Dreamstone, which they discover can grant wishes so Diana asks for the return of her late WW I lover, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine)—who shows up inhabiting the body of a contemporary man (Kristoffer Polaha) yet Diana sees him as Steve—Barbara wishes to be like Diana, confident and competent, making her immediately attractive to men (most come on like jerks, though) but also, surprisingly, physically-powerful. Barbara becomes charmed by Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), a TV personality/aspiring-oil-baron (Jenkins denies this, but I can’t help but see him as a parody of Donald Trump, an all-about-swagger-but-no-soul-man out only for his own increased success in response to upbringing by a cruel father), loans him the stone which he uses to internalize its powers so he can grant the wishes, but, as we soon learn, when you receive your wish you also lose something of yourself due to the stone being created by an evil god. Diana’s powers begin to diminish, Barbara’s sense of morality recedes, Lord develops health problems so he uses others to make wishes as he'll siphon away their vitality to maintain his stability.
Ultimately, Barbara works with Lord, gets him to make her an “apex predator,” sort of a human/feline mix, Cheetah, who battles Diana. ⇒Steve, realizing he’s causing Diana’s growing weakness insists she renounce her wish; when she does he vanishes but she regains her stupendous strength and flight-ability, finally defeats Cheetah (battered though still alive), uses her Lasso of Truth to force Lord—who’s taken over a global-television-system connecting him to anyone who sees him in order to grant their wishes but steal whatever he wants, resulting in worldwide chaos—to see the error of his ways, leading to his wish-renunciation, along with all of his millions of duped-collaborators, restoring order on the planet.⇐ In a brief credits scene we see legendary-Amazon Asteria (Lynda Carter, TV’s Wonder Woman [1975-‘79]), like Diana secretly working to right those wrongs she encounters.
You certainly couldn’t wish for more impressive special effects in various scenes of this movie as young Diana meets massive physical challenges, her 1984 self prevents an attempted theft in a huge shopping mall (leading to the introduction of the Dreamstone), the various battles she has with Barbara/Cheetah (especially the final one when these combatants have become equally matched), the desperate dismantling of Lord’s convoy on a desert highway by Diana and Steve as she’s wounded for the first time, the crisis scenes of civilization on the brink as all those global wishes run up against each other almost pushing the U.S. and U.S.S.R. into nuclear war. Much as I liked the whole experience, though,* I do think it goes on a bit too long, seemingly searching for an excuse for another spectacular CGI moment, probably beefing up the story too much with 2 villains (not unlike Batman Forever [Joel Schumacher, 1995] where the Caped Crusader [Val Kilmer] and Robin [Chris O’Donnell] face off against both The Riddler [Jim Carrey] and Two-Face [Tommy Lee Jones]); the CCAL’s in agreement, with RT offering only 62% positive reviews, MC an equally-restrained 59% average score, which is a collective shame given how long we’ve waited for WB to finally release this movie (originally set for November 2019, pushed to June 2020 but COVID-delayed, finally out this December 25, 2020 simultaneously in theaters [where possible] and streaming on HBO Max, WB’s new plan for all their 2021 releases); WW 1984 debuted with $85.4 million worldwide, a COVID-19-era-opening-weekend-record ($16.7 million of it in 2,150 domestic [U.S.-Canada] venues), but it’s final take is sure to be far short of the enormous blockbuster status intended for this superhero. Finishing off with a Musical Metaphor, I’ll turn back to The Kingston’s Trio’s “Desert Pete” (from their 1963 Sunny Side! album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FKjt54pDqI as it also deals with making sacrificial choices to obtain desired results, “You’ve got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive. Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face to your feet. Leave the bottle full for others. Thank you kindly, Desert Pete,” just as Diana (and everyone) learns about choosing priorities for supporting the greater good.
*This interesting video (13:24 [ads annoy at 5:00, 8:30]) offers a detailed overview including notes on Easter eggs (bringing in references to other Justice League movies, comic-book-backgrounds I'm not aware of regarding some WW 1984 characters), and the ending, but it clearly contains spoilers.
The Prom (Ryan Murphy) rated PG-13 130 min.
Also from a Broadway play (2018), this is a socially-conscious-musical as 4 stage pros falling on hard times retool as “celebrity activists” by going to an Indiana town where the high-school PTA’s cancelled the prom to keep 1 lesbian from bringing a date; added twist: that date is the closeted-daughter of the PTA head. Available for Netflix streaming folks.
Here’s the trailer:
The original play (inspired by some actual yet disgusting, miserable Mississippi events) leads to this rousing adaptation/plea for inclusion as Broadway icons Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden)—but she’s got 2 Tony Awards to his none, desperate as he is to win one—are miserable when their new show closes on opening night after terrible reviews (condemning them for narcissism, involvement in vanity projects); they’re joined by Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), who’s quit Chicago after stuck too long in the chorus, and Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells), proud of his Julliard heritage, frustrated he’s known only for a TV sitcom. They see positive-social-activism-PR as help for their careers, so they’re off to Edgewater, IN to protest a high school PTA cancelling the prom to prevent lesbian Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) from bringing a female date. The dance goes on, though, due to Principal Tom Hawkins (Keegan-Michael Key [definitely not a villain here]) and the state Attorney General (more simpatico with Pete Buttigieg than Mike Pence) where Emma’s secret love, Alyssa (Ariana DeBose), daughter of PTA president Mrs. Greene (Kerry Washington), intends to come out; however, when Emma shows up at the gym nobody’s there as the PTA arranged a secret prom at the Elks Club where even Alyssa’s attending due to Mom’s pressure. Emma’s heartbroken but later she gets support from Angie to fight back, so she does a livestream on the Web about holding her own prom, paid for by the NY “angels” (mostly Dee Dee, now less self-absorbed); at the grand event some local kids come (encouraged by Trent to reject homophobia as ultimately un-Christian), but mostly it’s LGBTQ couples from all over the state. ⇒As The Prom ends, Emma and Alyssa make up (she comes out; Mom’s love wins out); Dee Dee and Tom connect; Barry and his mother (Tracey Ullman) reconcile (she rejected him as a teen, like Emma, who now lives with Grandma [Mary Kay Place]); Trent’s hired for a new drama program at the school; Angie gets a call to fly back to NY to be Roxie Hart in Chicago; everyone sings and/or dances enthusiastically.⇐
While there’s a lot to like about this fast-paced, at times funny film, the OCCU wasn’t amused: RT, 57% positive reviews; MC, a rare-near-match, 56% average score. At times, I found it stretched or padded in getting its sincere, important message across (Emma and Angie’s inspirational number, “Zazz,” imitates Chicago’s “All That Jazz”*) but ultimately enjoyed, admired it. But, for my Musical Metaphor I’ll enlarge the concept to a story where religious prejudices prevent anyone from dancing until Kevin Bacon breaks through in Footloose (song by Kenny Loggins, same-titled-film [Herbert Ross, 1984]) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltrMfT4Qz5Y, although I couldn’t resist this clip of Dee Dee’s powerful (egotistical) "It's Not About Me" as preparation for this version where 11 noted drag queens lip-sync it, each costumed as Streep in roles from her various cinematic pasts.
*In tribute to director Ryan's connections to TV's Glee, here’s a version of "All That Jazz” from an episode of the Fox series (2009-'15) he created/produced (but, if you insist, here it is from Best Picture Oscar winner Chicago [Rob Marshall, 2002] too [clip’s subtitle language unknown to me]).
👉 Well, this is certainly no slimmed-down-posting, but that’s due to the number of reviews, not their individual lengths, with the subject matter of each something I thought should be shared (likely to be the situation anytime I’ve got a back-from-hiatus-posting as I’m always watching even when not writing on a weekly basis). So, as we hope for a better world overall, moving “glee”-fully into 2021, let’s just see what happens with an intended slimmer presence of Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark (now, if I could just slim myself a bit from this coronavirus-influenced-weight-gain, I’d be better off as well; maybe when those holiday cookies run out …). 😁
Suggestions for TCM cablecasts
At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees. While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week. All times are U.S. Pacific Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed. These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like even better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click the down arrow at the right of each listing for additional, useful info.
I’ll bet if you checked that entire schedule link just above you’d find other options of interest, but these are the only ones grabbing my attention at present. Please dig in further for other possibilities.
Thursday December 31, 2020 (more than I intended this week but too many good ones to pass up)
If you’re in the mood for a nostalgia binge you can start with the whimsical detective stories of The Thin Man (1934) at 6:15 AM, followed by After the Thin Man (1936) at 8:00 AM, Another Thin Man (1939) at 10:00 AM, Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) at 11:45 AM, The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) at 1:30 PM, Song of the Thin Man (1947) at 3:15 PM, then finish with the documentary about great MGM song and dance moments in That’s Entertainment! (1974) at 5:00 PM, plus more of the same with That’s Entertainment! II (1976) at 7:30 PM, finally That’s Entertainment! III (1994) at 9:45 PM.
Friday January 1, 2021
9:00 AM The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1967) First version, later adapted to a successful Broadway musical (spawning another movie). Flimflam artist/stage producer Zero Mostel, nervous accountant Gene Wilder seek riches by getting too many investors for a show doomed to fail, Springtime for Hitler by ex-Nazi Kenneth Mars, starring wacky hippie Dick Shawn. But, it’s seen as satire, becomes a hit. Excellent balance keeps this as hilarious, not repulsive; Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Saturday January 2, 2021
5:00 PM City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931) On my all-time Top 10 list, combining the Tramp’s physical-dexterity-comedy (especially in the prizefight scene) with subtly-serious observations during this early-Depression era as he tries to help a blind woman (Virginia Cherrill) he’s fallen in love with, her mistakenly thinking he’s a rich man; there’s an actual millionaire also (Harry Myers) who buddies with the Tramp when drunk, dismisses him when sober. Poignant ending left open to interpretation.
6:45 PM Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) Once a decade, Sight & Sound magazine polls film critics on All-Time #1; in 2012 Vertigo ended Citizen Kane’s (Orson Welles, 1941) 50-year run on top (Kane’s still #1 for me), certainly one of Hitchcock’s best, but a hard choice also. James Stewart’s an ex-cop with a fear of heights, shadowing—then romancing—a friend’s possibly-faithless wife (Kim Novak), who seemingly leaps to her death … or does she? Stewart’s character’s a real departure.
Sunday January 3, 2021
3:00 AM The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930) A heartbreaking classic with Marlene Dietrich as nightclub star Lola Lola and her schoolteacher-lover Prof. Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings, great star of silent films [this one's with sound]), who first wants to keep his students away from her but falls instead for her charms, causing him to lose his job in disgrace (but a worse fate awaits him).
I assume this is the German version with subtitles, not the original cast remake in clumsy English.
Tuesday January 5, 2021
7:00 PM The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) Some claim this started the troubled-crime-tradition of film noir: Humphrey Bogart as Dashiell Hammett’s streetwise-private-eye, Sam Spade, whose life gets complicated when the takes on Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) as a client searching for the priceless “black bird.” A fabulous cast includes Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook Jr. Masterful “Hardboiled-detective” story with a sense of morality amongst greed.
If you’d like your own PDF of ratings/summaries of this week's reviews, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: Here are extras of possible interest: (1) Golden Globes restrict Minari to Foreign Language category bringing about much dissent; (2) Entertainment Weekly's opinion on the 10 Best, 5 Worst 2020 movies; (3) How 2020 changed Hollywood and the movies forever. As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and a reminder that you can search streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
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Here’s more information about Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom:
https://www.netflix.com/title/81100780
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAY2oAm2rv4 (7:13 info on actual “Ma” Rainey and
this film’s depiction of her)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ma_raineys_black_bottom
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ma-raineys-black-bottom
Here’s more information about Soul:
https://movies.disney.com/soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxs9dapsXDY (16:21 exploration about why Soul is a masterpiece without getting into spoilers; all about sincerely following your inner voice rather
than forcing yourself into a predetermined goal above all else; no Spoilers)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/soul_2020
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/soul
Here’s more information about Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
https://www.netflix.com/title/80232043
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpeu1lvE6ls (24:57 sing-a-long of tunes from the movie
with various notable musicians)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jingle_jangle_a_christmas_journey
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jingle-jangle-a-christmas-journey
Here’s more information about Wonder Woman 1984:
https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/wonder-woman-1984
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJDmeVUh_Y (12:24 silly interview with director Patty Jenkins and actors Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, Kristen Wiig, who don’t talk all that
much about the movie but more about the 1980s)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wonder_woman_1984
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/wonder-woman-1984
Here’s more information about The Prom:
https://www.netflix.com/title/81079914
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3G6f_Ghfwo (14:15 interview with actors Andrew Rannels, James Corden, Kerry Washington, Jo Ellen Pellman, Keegan-Michael Key, Meryl Streep, Ariana DeBose, screenwriters Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin, director Ryan Murphy, and stage music composer for the original stage musical Matthew Sklar [Martin and Beguelin also wrote
the book for the stage version, Beguelin wrote the lyrics])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_prom_2020
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-prom
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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)
If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.
By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact). Ken
P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker. But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"
—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.
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