James' World 2

Four Good Days is a drama, directed and produced by Rodrigo García, from a screenplay by García and Eli Saslow, based upon Saslow’s 2016 Washington Post article “How’s Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction”. I hadn’t heard of this movie until its Oscar nod.  I later found Four Good Days is based on Libby Alexander, and her daughter Amanda Wendler. This is one of the great ones that has been left by the wayside and flew way under the radar.

Margaret “Molly” Wheeler, a 31-year-old drug addict walks to her mother’s house while reminiscing about better times before she became a drug addict. Molly insists that she is ready to be sober and begs her mother Deb (Glen Close) to allow her to stay for a few days before going to detox. Deb, although clearly ambivalent about the matter, stands resilient with the support of her…

Cyrano is a musical romantic drama directed by Joe Wright.  The screenplay by Erica Schmidt is based on Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical of the same name, which is based on the 1897 Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac. This movie features one of my most beloved actors, so I couldn’t resist seeing a musical version of Cyrano with him in the starring role.  I enjoyed this musical version of Cyrano even though it had an extremely sad ending.

This musical adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic play tells the story of Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) as he pines for the affections of the beautiful Roxanne (Haley Bennett), who has fallen in love with another man named Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison, Jr). Though Cyrano understands that his social status and physical appearance will forever keep him apart from his love, he offers his skills as a gifted poet to Christian in…

House of Gucci is a biographical crime drama directed by Ridley Scott, based on the 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden. Scott wanted to make a film about the Gucci dynasty after acquiring rights to Forden’s book in the early 2000s. The project languished for several years, with a number of directors and rumored actors being considered to be casted in the movie. The film follows the Gucci family, as they fight for control of the Italian fashion empire.  I really enjoyed House of Gucci and thought it should have been nominated for more Oscar awards.

In 1978, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) a young, attractive Italian woman works as an office manager for her father’s small trucking firm. At a party, Patrizia meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a law student and heir to a 50% interest…

Spencer is a historical fiction psychological drama directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Steven Knight. The film is about Princess Diana’s existential crisis at Christmas because she wants to divorce Prince Charles and leave the British royal family. This version of Spencer doesn’t paint Princess Diana in a very good light but I found it to be an interesting film.

In December of 1991, the British royal family prepares to spend the Christmas holidays at the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Among the attendees is Diana (Kristen Stewart), Princess of Wales, whose marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) has become strained due to his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (Emma Darwall-Smith). As the sizeable staff of Sandringham, led by the capable Major Alistair Gregory (Timothy Spall), prepare for the royals’ arrival, Diana drives around the Norfolk countryside. On the verge of a breakdown, she avoids heading to Sandringham until running into Royal…

Parallel Mothers (Spanish: Madres paralelas) is a Spanish drama written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Parallel Mother follows a young mother who must make the right decision when she finds out there’s been a life-changing mistake made after she gives birth to a beautiful baby girl. Additionally, a friend works to prove that a terrible wrong was committed to families of Hispanic origin during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. Despite having to read subtitles, I really liked this movie and how it showed an interesting and different approach to how the problems were resolved.

Photographer Janis Martínez (Penélope Cruz)does a photoshoot with renowned forensic archaeologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde). She asks him if his foundation will help excavate a mass grave in her home village, where her great-grandfather and other men from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War. Arturo agrees to review the…

The Lost Daughter is a psychological drama written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her feature directorial debut, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Elena Ferrante. Olivia Colman also serves as an executive producer.  I found The Lost Daughter to be somewhat weird and boring. However, the subject it dealt with was profound and I felt any message that was being offered just got lost somewhere in the storytelling.

While on holiday in Greece, a middle-aged college professor, and noted translator, Leda Caruso (Olivia Coleman), meets Nina (Dakota Johnson), a young mother, after Nina’s three-year-old daughter Elena (Athena Martin) goes momentarily missing on the beach. Leda finds Elena and returns her to her mother (Nina), who expresses her growing exhaustion and unhappiness. Elena is upset after she loses her favorite doll, which Leda has secretly taken. In flashbacks, it is revealed that young Leda…

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a biographical drama directed by Michael Showalter, based on the 2000 documentary of the same name by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of World of Wonder. The film tells the story of Tammy Faye Bakker, from her humble beginnings growing up in International Falls, Minnesota through the rise and fall of her televangelism career and marriage to Jim Bakker. The screenplay is written by Abe Sylvia, while Chastain is also one of the film’s producers. I found The Eyes of Tammy Faye to be well written and well performed.  I liked it very much.

The film opens with a young Tamara Faye LaValley (Chandler Head) and her early beginnings growing up in a religious community in International Falls, Minnesota. Tammy (Jessica Chastain) moves to Minneapolis, Minnesota to study at North Central Bible College, where she meets and falls in love with fellow college student

Tick, Tick… Boom! (also stylized as tick, tick… BOOM!) is a biographical musical drama directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his feature directorial debut. Written by Steven Levenson, it is based on the stage musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick… Boom! is a semi-autobiographical story about Larson’s writing a musical to enter the industry. I didn’t know what to expect of this movie, after seeing it, all I can say is WOW!  It was fabulous!  I think Tick, Tick… Boom! deserved a Best Picture nod in addition to the other Oscar nominations it received.

In 1992, Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) performs his rock monologue Tick, Tick… Boom! at New York Theatre Workshop, accompanied by friends Roger Bart (Joshua Henry) and Karessa Johnson (Vanessa Hudgens). He describes an incessant ticking noise he hears in his head and begins to tell his story. An unseen narrator explains the…

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a historical thriller written and directed by Joel Coen and based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It is the first film directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other’s involvement.  Macbeth is the story of the progeny of three witches.  I would not have watched this movie, except that again, Denzel is nominated for Best Actor.  I think this was Denzel’s best performance of all.

Macbeth (Denzel Washington), the Thane of Glamis and a warrior, along with Banquo (Bertie Carvel), a father and also, a warrior, brings the army of King Duncan (Brendan Gleeson) to victory over the treacherous Thane of Cawdor.  While on the battlefield, three witches tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and king hereafter.  However, when King Duncan appoints his son Malcolm (Harry Melling) as Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth sees this as a threat to…

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