Antebellum

November 10, 2020 at 9:49 am | Posted in 2020 | Leave a comment
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I had been looking forward to this film since before COVID. I had seen a cryptic teaser and was all in. It looked like it would be evocative. It turned out to be entertaining and a bit mysterious, but I think I over hyped it in my mind. It’s definitely worth seeing, as long as you know what it is. The film starts with a beautiful long shot moving through a plantation. We see a little girl running, confederate soldiers, slaves, and a woman thrown over a horse. That woman, played by Janelle Monáe, is the film’s core; she is in every scene. The film felt very slow at first, and it appeared to be unfolding as just another film about slavery in America. And, given the brilliant films we have already had on the subject, one might reasonably wonder why bother with this one. But, then, about 45 minutes in, something strange happens. The less I say about this, and the rest of the movie, the better. Let’s just say, it shifted my whole experience of the film and what I thought was going on. And, when I thought I had figured it out, I was wrong. That made the film much more interesting than it first appeared to be. In the second part, there are some great scenes with Gabourey Sidibe that were a delight to watch. Tonally, the final act of the film felt more like a thriller, and did a pretty good job of creating some suspense. In the end, it wasn’t as good as I had expected, nor was it as bad as I had feared. It was just fairly entertaining. And, for $5, that was good enough for me.

Moonlight

November 6, 2016 at 1:15 pm | Posted in 2016 | 1 Comment
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Sometimes, a film is so awful that I find I have virtually nothing to say about it. Then, there are times like this one, when a film is so close to perfect, it also leaves me speechless. “Moonlight” may prove to be my favorite film of the year and, as an exercise in curiosity, it is worth comparing it to my one other 5 lozenge movie so far this year: “Swiss Army Man.” They could not be more different. While that one is shocking, vulgar, profane, and absurd, this film is so earnest and painfully real. Every single moment felt exactly right, because every single moment felt completely true. The film tells the story of one boy growing into a man. Growing up on tough streets in Miami, we watch the young boy nicknamed Little become the teenager Chiron and then the fully grown Black. Circling around him are the various men and women and boys who will help shape and haunt him. I really cannot convey how right this movie felt to me. I do not know this community but I absolutely believe that Tarell McCraney does. McCraney’s play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” is the basis for this film. I am familiar with McCraney and was blown away by his play, “The Brothers Size” when I saw it many years ago. Like much of his other work, “Moonlight” deals with intimacy of all sorts between Black men, but sexual intimacy in particular. It’s raw and touching and incredibly powerful. There are so many scenes I could talk about, but I will mention just one, when Black visits his old friend Kevin at a diner. From the clink of the bell as he walks in that door to the clink when they leave, that scene is perfect. Every moment is filled with unspoken, heavy emotion. Just watching the food get made was a joy because there was so much language in those images. Every look, every smile or pained expression, every held breath and long pause all said so much. The language of this film was not just in its words, but in its images and the final one was heartbreaking. There are many reasons to make films. To tell a simple, needed truth is a great one and this is a great film.

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