The Favourite (2018)

Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) has fallen on hard times thanks to her dissolute father.  She opts to seek aid from her distant cousin, Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), who happens to be the current favorite of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman).  Sarah is married to the Duke of Marlborough, England's leading general in the War of Spanish Succession.  Taking pity on her cousin, Sarah places her in the kitchen.  Abigail is not content.  She is ambitious and sees opportunities to come to the queen's attention  Sarah soon finds that she has a rival for the queen's attention and her status as favorite might not be as secure as she thinks.

 

The movie is based on history though it is compressed for dramatic purposes.  Emma Stone is quite good as a sometimes sweet but more often conniving courtier.  Where Sarah had declined to destroy her cousin when she had the chance, Abigail was not so kind.  It is not quite as funny as the trailer led one to think it would be.  Yes, there are big laughs but mostly it is drama.  Abigail was fun early on but her treatment of her husband is hard to overlook.  She is the worst sort of gold digger and one has no sympathy for her hardships thereafter.

 

Sarah, as the victim of her own charity, comes off better though still not admirably.  Her manipulation of the queen is constant.  She wants the war to continue and bends the queen's ear in that direction.  She makes sure the queen is unavailable to meet with Harley, leader of the opposition in parliament, who wants to make peace with France before the war bankrupts the nation.  Sarah proposes tax increases to the queen and even drafts the bill.

 

The movie proposes lesbianism among the queen and her favorites.  There is no hinting; it is graphically shown.  Emma Stone has her first nude scene here.  Abigail wins the chase for favorite thanks to greater willingness to please the queen sexually.  This could have been completely excised and it would have improved the movie and not besmirch Lady Sarah or Queen Anne.  When I took English History at the University of Iowa, somehow Queen Anne's lesbianism wasn't mentioned.

 

Harley (Nicholas Hoult) steals every scene he is in.  He is a politician's politician, a matchless jerk, and a skilled manipulator.  He assists Abigail's rise because he doesn't like the war.  Sarah, whose husband fighting the war, has the opposite view.  He doesn't give a whit what Abigail wants except as far as it advances his goals.  He treats her with contempt and amusement.

 

Queen Anne ruled from 1702 to 1717.  She was only 49 when she died.  Her father was James II (1685-88), who was grandson of James I (1603-1625).  James I was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots.  Anne was the last of the Stuarts to rule, though several efforts to restore the line were made following her death.  The remaining Stuarts were barred from succession because they were Catholic, thus George I of Hanover succeeded Anne.

 

It has it's moments but fell well short of expectations.  However, it is far, far superior to Mary Queen of Scots.

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Vincent Van Gogh (Willem Dafoe) is in Paris and trying to establish himself as an artist.  He sells nothing.  The shop clerk where he has displayed his paintings demands that he remove them immediately.  At a meeting of painters, there is a proposal to spread the income from those paintings that sell among all the members.  Paul Gaugin (Oscar Isaac) storms out and Vincent follows.  Thanks to his brother, Theo, Vincent moves to the south of France and paints.  He has his breakthrough in style though no one appreciates it.  Gaugin visits - being paid by Theo to do so - but soon leaves.  Vincent slices off an ear and is soon in a sanitarium.  Arles no longer wants him so he moves back to Paris and produces almost a painting a day until his untimely death.

The movie attempts to put the viewer in the mindset of Van Gogh.  This rarely works and is mostly annoying.  There are many times when the screen is blurry and discolored.  Frequently, exchanges Vincent has are repeated several times as he weeps and wanders about.  When he is coherent, he is often abrupt and it becomes clear why he does not get along well with others.  I am far more interested in exploring his art than his mental illnesses.  Yes, one may lead to the other but putting the emphasis on the art would have been better.

 

The movie proposes that a pair of hooligans shot Van Gogh and buried the canvas he had been painting.  What is this about?  It does not delve further into it, as such it should have left is out and just had a gunshot (off screen) followed by Vincent walking back to town with a bullet wound.  Don't introduce conspiracy theories if you aren't going to explore it.

 

Dafoe is terrific in the role, an inspired choice.  He is 62 and Van Gogh died at 37.  But Van Gogh had a difficult life and Dafoe perfectly shows that.

 

I know little of Gaugin and have never cared for his art.  Isaac plays him as a know-it-all jerk.  He is constantly lecturing Van Gogh on how to be a good painter while Vincent counters with his opinions with equal confidence but less vigor.  If anything, I like Gaugin less from this depiction of him.

 

It is a difficult movie to watch but has its moments.

Aquaman (2018)

The movie opens during a storm on the coast of Maine.  Tom Curry, the lighthouse man, sees a figure on the rocks.  He finds a woman in an odd wetsuit and a trident nearby.  She is wounded.  He carries her to the lighthouse and bandages her.  When Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) awakens, she is initially hostile but she soon warms to Tom and the two settle into a blissful life together that soon includes a son, Arthur.  However, Atlanna's past catches her and she is taken back to the sea.  Arthur grows to manhood and gets trained by Vulko (Willem Dafoe).  Arthur wants to see his mother again but Vulko always sets another test for him before a meeting can be arranged.  He finally realizes his mother is dead and mostly swears off Atlantis and Atlanteans.  Meanwhile, his half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson) wants to go to war with the surface dwellers.  With the help of Black Manta, a human pirate, he triggers a crisis that will lead to a war.  Black Manta has revenge on his mind.  Aquaman let Manta's father die.  This only scratches the surface of the story.  It is epic.

 

It feels like the previous DC movies in that much of the CGI is over the top.  When we see the vast undersea empires, it becomes impossible to believe that folks on the surface would be unaware of them.  However, the tone of the movie allows that to be ignored.  Unlike Batman and Superman, Aquaman isn't a brooding stick in the mud.  He's well-adjusted and hangs out with his dad when he isn't stomping pirates at sea or joining the Justice League to save the world.  Unlike Zack Snyder, James Wan knows he is making escapist entertainment, not high drama.  That makes all the difference.

 

Jason Momoa is great in the role.  He can be hard edged here, comedic there, serious when needed, and silly on occasion but is works.  This is a faceted character, a rarity in the current string of DC movies.  Let's get the Aquaman & Wonder Woman movie and forget about those others.  Well, I am curious to see the Flash.

 

It is a long movie but it has good pacing.  The fight scenes are reminiscent of some of the hyperactive space battles in the Star Wars prequels.  Lots of fun.  If DC can shift gears to make them like this, it might start competing with Marvel.

Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

World History: A Social Justice Warrior Interpretation.

Lord Randolph is a black man.  Scotsman George Dalgleish is black.  Andrew Ker is black.  Bess of Hardwick is Chinese.  After this, I don't want to hear another complaint about Mickey Rooney playing Japanese, Johnny Depp as Tonto, or John Wayne as Genghis Khan.  This movie screams out that it is not history.  The slave trade that brought blacks to Europe had barely begun but this movie proposes that blacks are long integrated into the society and have risen to the nobility.  If this was a high school or college play, that's fine.  But big budget film?  No.

 

David Rizzio, who served as a secretary for Queen Mary, is openly gay.  Also, he has an affair with Henry Darnley - Mary's husband - on their wedding night!  Right.  Well, it is true that Rizzio was accused of impregnating the queen because of his close association with her and Darnley was estranged from Mary very soon after the marriage but this is an interesting bit of fiction.  The brutal murder of Rizzio takes on a new meaning when he is homosexual.

 

Mary Stuart was raised in France.  She was married to the King of France, Francis II.  He died young and she returned to Scotland, where she had been queen since she was a week old.  She should not have an Irish accent.  The movie is more interested in listening to Mary titter and squeal with her ladies in waiting than ponder the decisions and crises that led to her abdication, English imprisonment, and execution.  Her menstrual cycle figures in the story because that's unique to Reformation royalty.

 

The characters are mostly unlikeable and I cared not a whit when Rizzio was murdered or Darnley strangled.  Even Mary seals her fate in an exchange (entirely fictional) in which she tells Queen Elizabeth that she is her superior.  No, Mary was quite clearly Elizabeth's inferior except that she managed to birth a child.  Mary's son became King of England and Scotland upon Elizabeth's death.

 

This is crap.  I was very tempted to walk out.  Avoid this turkey.

An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)

It is 1966 and a car pauses on the street. Seen ahead through the fog is a police box. A police man emerges and walks toward the car. “You must move along, sir,” he tells the driver. The driver is William Hartnell (David Bradley), who appears bemused.

Flashback to 1963. Sydney Newman (Brian Cox), head of BBC Drama, needs a half hour show to bridge a gap between two ratings hits. He has in mind a Sci-Fi show, which induces groans from the others in the room. He knows just the person to produce the show: Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine). Verity had been his assistant at ITV but he promotes her to show runner, the first female producer at BBC! She is assigned Waris Hussein to be her director; he is the first Indian director at BBC! As they hammer out details of the script and get props to design the TARDIS, Verity looks for the titular Doctor Who. She wants someone who is grandfatherly, a bit abrasive, but still charming. She finds William Hartnell. Hartnell has spent his career in the mold of criminals or military/authority figures. His most noted recent role is that of a Sergeant Major in The Army Game. He’s not sure he is right for the part but is convinced to try it. He loves it. From these early beginnings, the show moves through the years and the people leave. Waris is the first to go. Then his onscreen granddaughter, Carole Ann Ford, departs. The whole cast is gone but for Hartnell after two years and then Verity Lambert moved on. The later part of the show is rather depressing and sad. Though only in his fifties, Hartnell is not well and has trouble remembering his lines. By 1966, Sydney tells him that it’s time to get a new Doctor. Hartnell is heartbroken but approves the choice for his replacement.

Back on the road, the policeman knocks on the window. Hartnell rolls it down, is recognized by the now happy policeman, and then drives on. Today is the last day of filming, the day the Doctor regenerates and a new actor, Patrick Troughton, takes the reins.

This is a terrific TV movie and loads of fun. It is great to see them chat while Daleks roll in the background or the Doctor is dressed for the Reign of Terror, or Cybermen are taking a smoke break. Each year, there is a photo of the latest batch of companions. It is also quite sad. Hartnell is the central character and this is mostly a tragedy from his perspective. All those who were with him at the beginning have departed for other projects, his health is failing and not helped by the 48 week shooting schedule, and he can barely remember his lines. He takes such joy in interacting with the young fans of the show and doesn’t want to let go.

A must see for any Doctor Who fan. This is how it all started.

George H W Bush

I read an interesting article that described Bush well.  He viewed himself more as a caretaker than a leader.  He didn't have the vision thing.  Per the Constitution, the president enforces laws that Congress passes which is how he saw his domestic position.  He had spent his life preparing for the Cold War and then it ended in the middle of his presidency.  With no Soviet Union, the country was willing to take a risk with an anti-war Democrat.

 

The first opportunity I had to vote in a presidential election, I voted against George Bush.  He won despite me.  The next time around, I voted for him.  He lost.  I have a very bad record with presidential voting and it all started with Bush.

 

The most memorable thing about President Bush is Dana Carvey.  What a terrific impression.

 

RIP

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

1991: Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a successful writer and author, has fallen on hard times.  She has no job, her agent won't return her calls, she's months behind on rent, and her cat is sick.  It is so bleak that she takes a framed letter from Katherine Hepburn from her wall and sells it.  Later, while researching for a book she's planning, she encounters some letters that she pockets and sells.  This proves lucrative so she decides to write some originals.  When buyers start getting suspicious, she uses Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant) to sell her forgeries.  Then the FBI arrive.

Billed as a biographical crime comedy, this had very little comedy.  Melissa McCarthy, who can be enormously funny, has almost no material here.  She is a sad alcoholic cat lady who has resorted to crime.  Lee is an unlikeable character throughout the movie.  Even when she tries to be funny, it is the sort of humor that is mean.  For instance, a used book seller didn't want the majority of the books she brought to the shop so she phoned him a few days later and said his apartment building was on fire.  What a sense of humor.  The scene where she and Jack discover that the cat has been pooping under her bed - and she had gone weeks without noticing - was just pathetic.  There is virtually no comedy and the main characters are terrible people.  Jack is a homeless homosexual alcoholic and drug abuser.  His only redeeming feature is he can be charming.  Lee doesn't even have that.

 

This is the unfunny story of a criminal who got off lightly and then profited further by publishing a book of her exploits in 2008.  Unable to sympathize with their hardships or laugh at their antics, this story offers nothing to enjoy.  Skip it.