Movie of the Month: January 2019

And we are back! New year, first movie of the month of the year, twelve movies, seven based on true stories, it must be Oscar season! Seven of the movies have nominations in the upcoming Oscars, including eight acting nominations. Not to mention the 25th Anniversary reissue of a stone cold classic that won seven of the twelve Oscars it was nominated for.  But which is the movie of the month? Here are the contenders:

Colette – True story of the early life and career of French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.  Compelling drama with a fantastic performance by Keira Knightley in the title role.

The Favourite – The court of Queen Anne gets the Yorgos Lanthimos treatment.  Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz are all outstanding as co-leads.  Bonkers, bizarre, and totally brilliant.

The Front Runner – Former senator of Colorado, Gary Hart is the titular front-runner for the for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987, until his personal life gets in the way.  Hugh Jackman and Vera Farmiga are both excellent, the direction is good, but the story is a little thin. 

Vice – Adam McKay sets his sights on former Vice President Dick Cheney.  Directed with the same style and edge as the directors previous movie, The Big Short but not as pointed or as funny.  The standout is Christian Bale’s stunning performance.

Glass – M. Night Shyamalan returns with a sequel to both his best and second best movies.  James McAvoy is outstanding, and the rest of the cast are good.  The film is fun with some excellent scenes but on the whole it disappoints.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? – True story of celebrity biographer Lee Israel based on her own memoir detailing her decent to rock bottom.  Melissa McCarthy’s gives her best performance to date,  she needs to avoid being overshadowed by Richard E. Grant on top form.

Mary Queen of Scots – Revisionist retelling of the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart.  No one seems to agree on the historical accuracy of the film, from a cinematic point of view, it looks spectacular, but its depiction of time and space are very weak.  Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie are both give brilliant performances.

Mary Poppins Returns – I am not the best person to comment, as I hate musicals and believe director Rob Marshall is responsible for, if not the worst best picture winner ever, certainly the worst I have seen.  I also don’t have the same affection for the original movie that everyone else seems to.  having said that it is OK disposable fun, Emily Blunt is as brilliant as ever.

Escape Room – Six strangers find themselves in the escape room to end all escape rooms.  A cast of vaguely recognisable (mainly TV) actors make a largely compelling ensemble.  The production design is good, and the film has some fun moments,  but the plot totally lacks originality or subtlety.

Schindler’s List – Anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s holocaust movie.  It hasn’t lost any of its power in the 25 years since its release.  The question remains, how did Ralph Fiennes not win an Oscar for this?

If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel.  Brilliantly conveying a novels internal monologue in a way that last years On Chesil Beach failed to do. The acting is first rate throughout,  but the true triumph of the film comes in its direction and construction.  Surely the favourite for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

Destroyer – Nicole Kidman plays an LA cop whose undercover past comes back to haunt her.  A brilliantly constructed film, elevated by Kidman’s transcendent performance.  Held back a little by a script that can’t match Karyn Kusama’s direction and Kidman’s performance, it is still an outstanding movie.

After all that, what is the movie of the month?  As always, re-releases are not included, making it an easy choice, my favourite is The Favourite!

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Stan Lee 1922 – 2018

We lost Stan Lee this week at the age of 95.  Many people first became aware of him from his cameo’s in Marvel movies, but his impact on popular culture goes far beyond that:  For better or worse, make your own mind up; without Stan Lee we probably wouldn’t be seeing all the comic book movies that are dominating cinema screens.  Like many people I first became aware of him from the animated shows of the 1980’s.  These animated show were the start of a push to develop Marvel properties into other media.  Initial results were mixed at best but eventually led to what we now know as the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

But it all started before that, growing up Lee born (Stanley Martin Lieber) loved swashbuckling movies, and dreamt of becoming a novelist.  One of his earliest jobs as a writer came writing obituaries before at the age of 17 a family connection got him a job as an assistant at Timely Comics, the precursor Marvel Comics was at the time a new division of a pulp magazine.

Lee’s first job actually writing in a comic book came with the text fillers for Captain America Comics #3 in 1941.  This was the first time he used the pseudonym Stan Lee, which later became his legal name.  Before long he moved from fillers to writing the backup feature, “‘Headline’ Hunter, Foreign Correspondent”.

His early creations Jack Frost, Father Time, and Destroyer may not be household names now, but things were about to change.  At the age of just 19 Lee was made interim editor, a position that quickly became permanent, one that he remained in for just over thirty years before becoming Publisher.  After the war, were Lee served in first the Signal Corps, and then the Training Film Division, he formed a partnership with artist Jack Kirby, together they created a few characters you may have heard of: the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Panther, Ant-Man, and the Fantastic Four.

He also created Daredevil with Bill Everett. And with Steve Ditko with, Doctor Strange and his (and Marvel’s most successful character) Spider-Man.

As significant as the characters they created, in 1963 gathered them together along with some older character, most notably Captain America to create the  Avengers, a rival to DC’s Justice League (originally Justice League of America). With various reboots, relaunches, spin-offs, alternate universes, and ever changing line-up, The Avengers have been a constant fixture within the comic book world.     

In 1981 Lee moved from New York to California in 1981 to develop Marvel’s movie and TV, while the live action of these were forgettable at best, the cartoons introduced a whole new generation to Marvel.  They also provided the springboard of what was to come.  The success of Blade for New Line Cinema, X-Men with Fox Studio’s and Sony’s Spider-Man movies proved there was a market for quality comic book movies that snowballed into the MCU, and who knows where that will take us? Excelsior!

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