James' World 2

Drive My Car (Japanese: ドライブ・マイ・カー, Hepburn: Doraibu mai kā) is a Japanese drama co-written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. It is primarily based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name from his 2014 collection Men Without Women while taking inspiration from other stories in it. The film follows Yūsuke Kafuku as he directs a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima and grapples with the death of his wife, Oto. This is a very deep movie.  I thought the movie was too long (three hours) but a decent story.

****  SPOILERS BELOW  ****

Actor and theater director Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is married to Oto (Reika Kirishima), a screenwriter. Oto conceives her stories during sex and narrates them to her husband, Yūsuke. After watching her husband in a performance of Waiting for Godot, Oto introduces Yūsuke to her frequent collaborator, the young actor Kōji Takatsuki (Masaki Okada)

Cruella is a live-action feature comedy based on the character Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. The film was directed by Craig Gillespie with a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, from a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis. It is the third live-action adaptation in the 101 Dalmatians franchise and serves as a reboot and an origin story for the title character. Set in London during the punk rock movement of the 1970s, the film revolves around an aspiring fashion designer, as she explores the path that will lead her to become a notorious up-and-coming fashion designer known as Cruella de Vil. Well Done!

Estella (Emma Stone) is a creative child with a talent for fashion and a nefarious streak. Estella’s mother, Catherine (Emily Beecham), decides to pull her from school to keep her record clean…

The Worst Person in the World is a Romantic, Comedy Drama directed by Joachim Trier and written by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt. The Worst Person in the World chronicles four years in the life of a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is. I watched the film because it was Oscar-nominated. Upon completing the movie, I thought it was a very good story.

Julie (Renate Reinsve), a medical student in Oslo, is having difficulty trying to figure out what she wants in life. Julie starts out studying to be a doctor, then a surgeon, then a psychiatrist, then a writer before settling on being a photographer but ends up working as a clerk in a book store near the university campus.  She meets Aksel Willman…

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Shang-Chi is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, from a screenplay he wrote with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham. Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past when his father, leader of the Ten Rings organization, draws Shang-Chi and his sister into a search for a mythical village. I was really hyped about seeing Shang-Chi — It didn’t let me down.  Fantastic film!

Approximately one thousand years ago, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) discovers the mystical ten rings which grant immortality and godly powers. He establishes the Ten Rings organization, conquering kingdoms and toppling governments throughout history. In 1996, Wenwu searches for Ta Lo, a village said to harbor…

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…