The Mountain Between Us Movie Review

October 6, 2017 (updated October 2, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Mountian Between Us’ is a movie that poses a question: What is more important in the wilderness after a horrifing plane crash in the Rocky Mountains, survival — or romance? Well, maybe is does not put it in those terms. But the end result is two strangers on a small plane struggle to stay alive, and then later, struggle with new-found love. When the plane cracks up on the mountain, two hearts crack open… Will they find death in the journey home, or a new life that will lead them on?

In a small airport in Wyoming, there are two people caught up with flight delays that will affect them profoundly. Dr. Ben Bass (Idris Elba) needs to get to Baltimore for a scheduled surgery he will perform the next day. Alex Martin (Alex Martin) is a photojournalist with an assignment completed. She needs to get back to Denver by tomorrow for her long-planned wedding to Mark (Dermot Mulroney). They are both in a bad spot with no flights available on the main carriers. Alex searches for a local pilot and gets a charter flight set up with Walter (Beau Bridges). Ben and Alex split the cost of the quick flight to Denver.

When they are flying over the Rocky Mountains, the weather changes quickly. Walter is overwhelmed by the bad storms and it triggers a stroke. With the pilot down, the plane also goes down. They crash land on a large snowy peak, with no civilization in sight. Walter is dead, his dog (he is not given a name) is OK, and the plane’s emergency beacon is broken. Ben wakes up with some minor injuries, and Alex is in bad shape. She has a severely injured leg that would make very tough to walk out. Ben takes his phone up to the closest peak, but still gets no cell signal. He nearly slides off a cliff and Alex has a run-in with ‘The Mountain Lion Between Us’.

Ben has a mysterious back story and will not talk about it. Alex was to be married, and now she is missing. Nobody knows that they took the flight with Walter, and he never filed a flight plan. If there is any type of search party, the people would not know where to begin to look. Ben wants to stay where they are, with the wreckage of the small plane. Alex wants to start moving down the mountain, so they would have a better chance to find anybody. They finally decide to move on from the peak and find a way down to a valley.

Ben starts to open up, and Alex explains her misgivings about her (missed) marriage ceremony. They continue to fight the forces of nature and some wild animals, until they come across an abandoned cabin. They have limited food, but they can melt snow for water and have a small fire for warmth. But the pressing issue Alex and her need for medical attention and her inability to travel any more. These two are in a fight to stay alive, so of course the only thing to do is fall in love. Ben had a wife who has died from a terrible illness. Alex puts herself into extreme situations for her job. But mostly it is because that is how she likes to live.

Can a down-to-earth neurosurgeon and a thrill-seeking journalist find love and happiness in an extreme situation such as a plane crash? That is what makes up the bulk of this movie. But then when is shifts out of survival mode to back into real-life mode, the action and suspense slows and then stops. The future of Ben and Alex is a bit more exciting when it is unknown if there will continue to be a Ben or an Alex. After that is cleared up, the pace crawls to a conclusion that is trite and superficial.

Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are both fantastic actors with a wide range and deep capabilities. This movie allows them to put an effort on the screen that proves they can act, and the movie is lifted up because of that. However, the best of actors cannot lift material that is mediocre at best and is substandard at worst. The production values are really nice, but with one exception. The fluid motion of the camera in the minutes just before the plane crash is astounding. The view glides from one part of he plane to another, and shows the distress that each of the characters is in. But then it ends the scene with a crash into the the snow that is so bad, it looks like it was stolen from a video game.

This movie really tries to get over that peak and climb to the highest position. But it just can’t seem to get over that mountain of clichés and plot devices that leave the actors stranded. This might be one “Mountain” that is best to be avoided.

GOODBYE-CHRISTOPHER-ROBIN-movie-screening

Goodbye Christopher Robin Advance Movie Screening

October 4, 2017 (updated October 4, 2017) Published by markdeli

Movie Screening Summary:

GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN gives a rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children’s author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (Will TIlston), whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie the Pooh. Along with his mother Daphne (Margot Robbie), and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books; the enchanting tales bringing hope and comfort to England after the First World War. But with the eyes of the world on Christopher Robin, what will the cost be to the family?

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New Trailer for “Darkest Hour” with Gary Oldman!

September 29, 2017 Published by Shari K. Green

During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman). While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds. Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill’s courage to lead changed the course of world history.

Director: Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Hanna,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “Anna Karenina”)

Writer: Anthony McCarten (“The Theory of Everything”)

Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn

For more info, please follow the film on social:

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In Theaters November 22nd

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Woodshock – Movie Review

September 29, 2017 (updated September 29, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

WOODSHOCK

Kirstin Dunst has been working a lot lately, most recently in the remake of the film The Beguiled and her presence is very comforting. She’s showing range with the characters she’s picking… she’s not a little girl anymore. With this role, she’s a wee bit of a killer. She plays Theresa, and also plays Executive Producer to the film itself. Theresa is married to Nick (Cole), who works as a day laborer cutting down trees not far from home. They live in an area surrounded by trees, live and dead ones, in a tiny home where they’ve also housed her very sick mother. She talks to her mother about the pain she endures, which is making them both miserable. Knowing a lot about extracts, Theresa decides to roll her a joint. The joint has been laced with a few drops of something that will help the pain go away… forever. She promises her mother a painless release. Her mother smokes the joint and drifts away. Having been incredibly close to her, Theresa finds it difficult to move on. She does things anyone might do after the death of their mother. She wears her clothes, looks in the mirror to find her mother inside of her and lays on the bed where she took her last breath.

She starts to smoke some of the special herb herself and here is where the movie turns into a nightmare for her. Up until now, it has been a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of loss with fascinating cinematography by Peter Flinckenberg. If you don’t like movies that are too alive and filled with motion, this could bother you some but the old-fashioned look they were going for, using filters and interesting fades, makes the film much more appealing during the trips Theresa takes in her mind. She ends up there often and we see less and less of a truly clear picture. The score was equally as engaging if not more so. It was done by veteran Jake Jackson who has worked on such films as Love Actually, Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, The Road and Hell or High Water to name but a few. These two artists enhance the splendor of watching Theresa’s struggle as she moves between being lucid and delusional.

She doesn’t spend much time with her husband anymore which isn’t helping her with her loneliness. She starts working again at a friend, Keith’s (Asbaek), marijuana dispensary to feel a part of this world and to re-connect with life in general. Store regular, Johnny (Kilmer) comes into the store and they hang out at a party. This doesn’t lift her grief as she’d like so she retreats back into her habit of smoking her magic elixir. When she does this, she isn’t sure of what it’s doing to her or what she’s doing to herself while under its influence. She begins to rely on it and smokes so often that she’s starting to blend in with her surroundings and is barely able to recognize herself anymore. She doesn’t smile and walks around almost completely lifeless. Ed, an older gentleman who’s suffering from an unknown illness, comes into the store. Per Keith’s instruction, she gives him what was given to her mother. Somehow, the batches are mixed and it’s not Ed that gets the special mix. Johnny does. What has she done? Not only is she torturing herself over this question, but Keith loses his mind and unleashes a ferocity on her she’s unable to handle.

The film gets rather twisted, as much as she is internally. It’s very delicate in the way it treats her mother and Theresa’s clarity of mind to help her kill herself, but she is unable to handle her decision later and the filmmakers seem to somewhat lose the audience. Again, Theresa walks amongst live trees but is surrounded by dead ones. She doesn’t like trees being chopped down as they are alive and have the right to live. She killed her mother. She has a relationship with nature, loves it but is almost incapable of loving anything else.

The movie draws from her pain and her desire to love and be loved; to be like her mother but the way it gets you to the end credits is slow moving and sometimes tiring. A thrilling moment in the end when Theresa balances nature and rights things. How we get to this point is by seemingly taking a long path through a thick brush and though you may enjoy the harmony of the music, editing and cinematography working together to create this dream state… you might not be able to get to the clearing. If you’re a fan of the more ornamental, dramatic and eerily mysterious pictures, this is for you. If a movie that decreases in its pacing and uses little dialogue that often acts more like a 3D piece of art than a film distracts you from your enjoyment of the said film, it isn’t. Dunst and the rest of the cast are wonderful in their roles but will do little to help when the pacing gets you yawning.

*Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview @ Fashion Square and Harkins Shea

Victoria and Abdul Movie Review

September 29, 2017 (updated September 28, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

England was once a great Empire, and a great Empire needs a great ruler. Queen Victoria was that type of ruler. Even near the end of her reign, she was still the one in charge, and she let people know it. The movie “Victoria and Abdul” gets into detail about the Queen’s final years, and how a humble clerk from India played a large role in the royal household. Based on true events, it shows how a lonely and despondent lady (who happened to be Empress of India) made a close friend with a common man from that continent.

Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) is a tired and somewhat bored royal Head of State for England and all the colonies. For her Golden Jubilee, there will be two tall and rugged Indian men from the country there in the castle to present with a special gold coin, a mohur. The men are found, and they are brought to England for the ceremony. But one of them named Mohammed (Adeel Ahktar) is not tall or rugged. However, the other man is Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), who is a clerk in his hometown of Agra, near the Taj Mahal. Abdul is optimistic and quite forward. He captures the eye of the Queen, and he and Mohammed are asked to stay in England for more than just the one ceremony.

Abdul presents more items to Victoria, and she decides to keep Mohammed and Abdul as special servants in the royal household. Mohammed is really mad, because he was told it would be a quick one-time thing and then they could go home. The Queen has other ideas, and the more she learns about Abdul, then more she wants him around. She declares that Abdul will be her “Munshi”, a wise teacher. He explains the history of India, and how food from there is flavorful and delicious. He teaches the Queen how to speak and write in Urdu, and he says it is native language of kings. He is bright and very eager to be helpful to Victoria.

Of course, the royal household is not equally enthralled with Abdul. Victoria’s son is Bertie, Prince Edward of Wales (Eddie Izzard) is not a fan and he would like to get Abdul to leave. The head of the castle is Sir Henry Ponsonby (Tim Pigott-Smith) is flummoxed by Abdul, and he is not able to convince the Queen that this situation is improper. The Prime Minister (Michael Gambon) is puzzled why the lowly clerk from India has made a place for himself next to the Empress of India. Also, Jane Spencer (Olivia Williams) is furious that the Queen is spending more time with Abdul and less time with staff. All of they want Abdul out of there, but none of them can convince the Queen.

Of course, the Queen did not rule forever, and upon her death – the situation did change drastically. But the overall enjoyment of this movie is seeing how Queen Victoria moved from being a side character in her own life to a full-fledged master of her own castle. The interactions between Abdul and the Queen are very interesting. She learns more about the area that she rules, yet has never seen. The house staff is constantly scheming to find a way to get the Queen out of Abdul’s Rasputin-like spell. Yet they never succeed and they are admonished again and again.

Dame Judi Dench is perfectly wonderful in the role of Queen Victoria. But then she ought to be. She played the monarch once before in the movie ‘Mrs. Brown’ (in 1997). Now as an older and more melancholy Queen, she is a joy to watch. Her mood picks up as she brings Abdul closer to the royal throne. When the rest of the staff get upset, she feels more in control and becomes confident.

Ali Fazal plays Abdul as a bit of a mystery man. He was picked at random to travel to England, but he plays it up to the hilt. He is pleased with anything that comes along that would make his life easier. He takes pleasure with his time with the Queen. But he passes over some facts, at first. Such as how he is Muslim, not a Hindu. And how he is married with a wife back home. And how he is from the common class, and not an educated teacher…

“Victoria and Abdul” plays out at times like a ‘Very Special Edition of Masterpiece Theater’. Still, the performances are above par, and the locations shots are excellent. The music is moving and delightful. The script is filled with subtle humor and the costumes are period-piece perfect. It is a pleasant way to learn about the history of Queen Victoria. It is also the perfect way to see how Judi Dench makes magic happen…

The Lego Ninjago Movie Review

September 22, 2017 (updated September 19, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Never before has there been a movie franchise where the audience didn’t mind at all about the Product Placement! Starting with “The Lego Movie”, and then on to “The Lego Batman Movie”, it has been a very enjoyable series. The fresh approach to an animated kid’s movie, based on the kid’s toy, makes a movie that is much more than just for kids. Can lightning strike a third time with “The Lego Ninjago Movie”, and can it produce another remarkable movie experience?

Starting with a brief live-action sequence, there is a young boy to meets the owner (Jackie Chan) of a Chinese curio shop. The owner begins to tell the boy about a far away (Lego) city called Ninjago, protected by a mighty (Lego) ninja warrior named … Lloyd (Dave Franco). Lloyd works with a group of friends and fellow ninjas; Kai (Michael Peña), Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), Nya (Abbi Jacobson), Cole (Fred Armisen) and Zane (Zach Woods). Respectively, they are Green Ninja, Fire Ninja, Lightning Ninja, Water Ninja, Earth Ninja and Ice Ninja. This team of young fighters is guided by Master Wu (also Jackie Chan).

The city of Ninjago is always attacked by an evil warlord named Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux). Garmadon happens to be Lloyd’s absentee father, and Master Wu is Garmadon’s older brother. Garmadon took the path of darkness and evil, while Wu took the path of light and goodness. That can be tough on the family reunions… But after the recent attack by Garamdon, Lloyd stole the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ from Master Wu’s stockpile. And that unleashed an even greater terror, Meowthra. Meowthra is a cute kitten that comes around and knocks over half of Ninjago.

Master Wu says that there is an ‘Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon’ hidden in a secret place far away. But only a Master Ninja can use the weapon, and Lloyd is not yet a Master Ninja. So the entire team sets out to journey far away on a quest to become powerful Ninjas who can fight off and defeat Meowthra. Master Wu and the gang are attacked by Lord Garmadon. Garmadon is captured, but Master Wu seems to fall to his death. So they proceed to the final destination with Garmadon as prisoner.

There are many obstructions on the way to find the hidden weapon. When they arrive at “Temple of Fragile Foundations”, Lord Garmadon has become more of a father figure to Lloyd (whom he always calls “La-Lloyd”). He explains that Lloyd’s mother Koko (Olivia Munn) was once a Ninja Master called Iron Dragon. The other Ninjas find their inner powers and the group becomes more powerful. Lloyd has become a true Ninja Master, and he is ready to take on the terror of Meowthra. But oops! Lord Garmadon is still up to his evil ways, and it willing to destroy the Ninjas and let the city of Ninjago fall to the clutches of the cute kitty Meowthra.

So, will there be a final climax with Ninja fighting and Master Wu returning and Meowthra purring? Also, as Lloyd learns to be a true Master and Leader, and as he reconciles with his father Lord Garmadon, will find inner peace? Also, will the movie find its inner power at the box office? All signs point to yes…

This movie has an unusually large group involved with creation of what made it to the screen, seven people working on the overall story, six people with credit for the screenplay, and even three directors. It also has quite a few name actors performing in the main voice roles, but they are well suited and the casting works out fine. The animation is clean and bright, and the made-up city of Ninjago is a wondrous thing. The pace is quick and it keeps the characters moving and interacting.

Lego made a good choice to allow qualified people to take up the burden of making a simple toy block set and turning it into a major motion picture franchise. Each new movie is taking Lego higher and higher, building the brand and expanding the audience. I just hope that doesn’t give somebody the idea to maybe make something called “The iPhone Movie”…

Brad’s Status Movie Review

September 18, 2017 (updated September 18, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

Meet Brad. He’s smart, he’s a good husband and father, he’s a philanthropist but, largely, he’s average. Well, to himself, he’s average and at this point in his life that’s the worst thing he could be. Brad (Stiller) is a guy who has found middle age an impossibly uncomfortable place to be. With his son Troy (Abrams) about to go to college, he recalls what he was like at that age and thinks about all the things he wanted, the opportunities he had and what he did with those opportunities. He has spent most of his adult life comparing himself to the friends he went to college with. This hasn’t helped his self-esteem because most of them are successful, even famous in some circles.

Throughout the film, Brad tells us, through voice-overs, that he doesn’t like himself. His inner thoughts, when he has a conversation with someone, is generally how awful a person he believes himself to be. Since college, all his best friends have done well for themselves so, ‘what’s to like about me?’ Watching his son advance in life to the point of starting his college days, he worries Troy could turn out like him. Another fear is, how will he feel if Troy turns out better? What if he has all the success Brad only dreamed of?

Brad owns and operates a non-profit and though he lives in a nice home and all his needs are met, he believes his life’s work to be, in his words, ‘Absurd.’ He can’t see through all of his jealousy and his need to have more, be more.

He continually focuses on his station or status in life, judging whether being wealthy or not speaks to what quality of a person you are. He wonders how life would be if he were rich like his old friends, who live life as if it was a giant playground while he walks the earth with bills to worry about, finding his ground more in the battle variety.

Where did it go wrong, he asks himself? The voice-over is there to stay but don’t fret, it works correctly to advance the story. He and Troy take a trip to Boston to visit some universities. Troy misses the interview with Harvard and Brad calls on a powerful and influential friend, Craig, played by Michael Sheen. Craig comes through for him, beautifully and gets Troy in to speak with the dean. This moment is big for this young musical prodigy and he’s proud of his father.

There are several touching moments in the film between father and son. Regarding the actual music in the film, it’s completely theatric and necessary. During Brad’s inner dialogue, generally, the scene is accompanied by a single hopping bow across the bridge of a violin. The sound emanating from the instruments F-Holes directed the mood Brad was in and highlighted the black cloud hanging over his head. Every note heard fits into the scene perfectly; the film wouldn’t have been as good without it.

Troy and Brad have dinner with a friend of Troy’s who already attends Harvard and within her, Brad sees the drive and the idealistic intentions he once had. This was the turning point of the film where he tries to explain to her that wanting to help will not be appreciated and that instead, her efforts will go unnoticed and she’ll be forgotten about. This conversation with her awakens him because through her judging eyes and her voice he hears and sees his own, or at least who he once was and would rather be again instead of this bitter man he has become. He has a nice life, doesn’t struggle, but always wants more. When will enough be enough?

He hears of the passing of a favorite professor which hits him hard. It’s this loss where Brad puts things more into perspective. Family. Love. Time. Those things are important. His son, who doesn’t see him as a failure is who matters, not old friends that don’t call and who, as it turns out, aren’t exactly who he thought they were, after all. Brad is alive. Time to be alive and live for himself, not for any of them.

Again, the music throughout every scene is spectacular. Though the character of Brad is depressing you a fair amount of the time, Ben does well with him, carrying the heavy load, so to speak. Brad will frustrate at times and will move you to tears the next. The best part is that at no time during this movie will you see a character like Derek Zoolander come through Stiller’s performance. This is some of the best work I recall seeing from him. Abrams’ portrayal of Troy is competent. He has a real grasp of the character and is the perfect complement to Stiller’s Brad. When Brad was at his most erratic, Abram watched his co-star and went completely in the opposite direction which thoroughly balanced the movie.

Photo Credit : Jonathan Wenk / Amazon Studios

*For more information, visit the website and check out the social pages:

WEBSITE: https://bradsstatus.movie/

FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bradsstatus

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/bradsstatus

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bradsstatus/

HASHTAG: #BradsStatus

Rebel in the Rye Movie review

September 15, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

Hollywood will never be allowed to make a movie adaptation of the book “Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger. So the next best thing is to make a biographical picture of the reclusive author. Jerome Salinger was known as Jerry to his friends, except he did not have any friends. He would love women he could never have, and ignore the wife and children he did have. He held his inner ghosts tightly, until he could unravel his thoughts out to the page. While his creative outlet makes for some great short stories and novels, it also made for a troubled life.

Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) was not a great student in college. His wealthy father balked at Jerry attending Columbia University just to study creative writing. But his mother urged him to follow his passion for story telling. In class he met Whit Burnett (Kevin Spacey). Whit was a professor and also the editor at Story Magazine. He saw the raw talent in Jerry and also encouraged him to reach for his goals, to be published. At first there was a long string of rejections. But finally Whit published one of Salinger’s short stories. Many others followed, and Salinger was becoming well known.

Jerry began dating Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch), who was the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill. He had a passion for her and a few short stories reflected their relationship. But World War II breaks out, and Jerry enlists. He is put into battle and helps storm beaches in Normandy and frees prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. But Oona did not remain true, and married another man. His best friend dies in battle. Salinger is a severely broken man. His constant writings about a character named Holden Caulfield had kept him focused on life and getting home. Now that the war was over, all thoughts of Holden bring up the horrors of the war.

Salinger spends months in a veteran’s hospital, mentally unbalanced. Back stateside with a war bride, Jerry is lost and adrift. Whit Burnett tries to get a book of Salinger’s short stories published. But he failed, and Jerry never forgives him. The wounds of the war are painful, but he finds that meditation calms him down. His ability to write about his internal stories comes back. He creates “Catcher in the Rye” and his agent Dorothy Olding (Sarah Paulson) gets it published. It becomes a nationwide sensation, but Jerry is not comfortable with all the attention.

He marries a young woman named Clair (Lucy Boynton) and they move to a very secluded place in New Hampshire. He is far away from his New York City roots, and his mind is free to create. Clair and Jerry have children, but he ignores them and his wife. Seclusion and privacy for Salinger extends even to his immediate family. Jerry continues to write and to meditate. He is still abrupt and not fond of the public. He will never allow Hollywood to destroy his novel. Not even to his death…

This movie ends up like a ‘greatest hits’ edition that quickly mentions Salinger’s various accomplishments. It does a tiny bit of digging into why his personality was so closed off to the world. He feet that many things in life were phony and just for show. That is brought out in the Holden Caulfield character. It becomes his alter-ego when he writes. This is not the first time this idea has ever emerged, but it is key to the movie.

Nicholas Hoult does a serviceable job with a character that is very difficult to present. He has some tell-tale facial tics that shows when he gives someone disdain and can return satire for counter argument. He stretches over a few decades, but always appears boyish. Kevin Spacey is a great supporting actor in his role. Whit Burnett is always ready to match wits with Salinger. But he does see the talent within and gets JD on the right path.

All in all, this is an enjoyable movie, but mostly for big fans of literary works and of Salanger. Making a movie about a person who rose to fame, only to reject the public that adored him is a tough thing to do. If you have more desire to see a popular author come to life, then this should be a movie that you might want to catch.

mother! Movie Review

September 15, 2017 (updated September 12, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Darren Aronofsky has a track record for being the Pied Piper of the Perverse. See any of his prior movies and you see disturbed characters acting in increasingly bizarre manners. Take the movie “Pi”, or “Requiem for a Dream”, or “The Fountain” or “Black Swan” or “Noah”. Each has a main character who tilts a little towards crazy, and everyone else in there does not fare much better. And that brings us to “mother!”…

Since none of the characters are named, there is a young Woman (Jennifer Lawrence) who is married to a much older Man (Javier Bardem). He is a famous poet of some repute, but he is having terrible writer’s block. She is a devoted wife who is very busy fixing and redecorating his old house. This house had burned down years before. Now they live in the very isolated house while she works building it up. It is so far from everybody that he hopes to get his poetry back on track.

The Man and the Woman do not have any children, yet that does not seem to be an important aspect. But one day a older Sick Man (Ed Harris) comes to the house. He says he is a big fan of the Man’s poetry. He is ill and he needs place to rest, so the Man says it is okay. But soon the Sick Man is joined by his Wife (Michelle Pfeiffer). Soon the two of them are flattering their way into the Man’s life, but leaving the young Woman out of all the fun.

The Sick Man and his Wife have two grown boys, and somehow they find their way to the house. They all argue and fight over a will and during a major conflict one of the brothers is killed. The Man is deeply moved and again opens his home to the various friends of the Sick Man and his Wife. They mourn the death of the son, and soon there is a party atmosphere. The young Woman is getting more and more upset at all of these people taking advantage of the Man’s generosity. Once they leave, the two make love and the young Woman will become a mother!

The Man loses his writer’s block and becomes great and famous once again. The very pregnant young Woman is about to serve a very special and very private meal with just her and the Man. But then she hears all the voices outside the door. Press people and publicists have come to interview and fawn over the wonderful poetry from the Man. The young soon-to-be-mother! is disturbed and shocked that people have come her secluded place. But it goes past disturbing to insanity when more and more people keep coming.

During that single night, dozens turn into hundreds and even more are on they way. The Man is looked up to and becomes adored. His word cause people to worship him and a religious cult is created. But there are also people out to loot and pillage and steal items from the home as souvenirs. The riot police come and huge fights break out just as the young Woman is about to give birth. But there is swirling chaos and unending waves and violence erupting in the house. Perhaps the better thing is to leave. but the Man will not have any of that. This is his house and this is where he and the mother! will stay. Perhaps…

To say this movie breaks down normal movie conventions is saying the least. This takes a typical domestic relationship and turns it into the Seven Levels of Hell. The story is no longer about two people in a struggling marriage, but it becomes microcosm of the world at large: fans who become fanatics and loose all control, people who force all of life into the narrow scope of their own fears, police who use brutality to handle all situations, protestors who feel the need to destroy just to get their point across.

Jennifer Lawrence does a noble job playing a concept more than a character. Javier Bardem is also more a collection of traits than an actual character. Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer both do a fine job, but there is more going on between them than there is between the Man and the young Woman. Everyone else pretty much comes into the house in waves, but few people stand out. Of course, this whole production is based on the twisted mind of Darren Aronofsky.

Aronofsky seems bound and determined to, how shall we say… fornicate up your mind. This movie is a testament to the lengths he will go to make you feel uncomfortable…

Battle Of The Sexes Advance Movie Screening

September 11, 2017 Published by markdeli

Movie Screening Summary:

In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women’s movement, the 1973 tennis match between women’s world champion Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men’s-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/battleofthesexes/

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