Mudbound (2017)

This dark and brutal story about bad luck and racism in 1940s Mississippi when a white family and an African-American one live close by as tensions build and World War II takes place in Europe. It's hard to watch but I persisted, in three sessions on Netflix, because it's getting some awards already.

The white McAllan family includes Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund (last blogged for Suffragette, Zero Dark Thirty, and On the Road, respectively) and Jonathan Banks (he has a long resume but is best known for playing Mike Ehrmantraut on 28 episodes of Breaking Bad and 31 of Better Call Saul). The African-American Jackson family is headed up by Rob Morgan (eleven episodes of Stranger Things as Officer Powell and much more) and singer Mary J. Blige (she has a quick mention in Rock of Ages and is the most lauded in the acting group so far), with Jason Mitchell (most recently in Detroit) as the eldest son. All seven won a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance.

Director/co-writer Dee Rees (Pariah) adapted Hillary Jordan's 2008 novel with Virgil Williams (his feature debut after writing many and producing more TV episodes).

When I say "dark," I mean literally as well as figuratively. The sun was shining one of the days I watched and it was difficult to block it enough to see everything on the screen.

Composer Tamar-kali also makes her feature debut (after contributing some songs to Pariah) and you can stream the 51 minute soundtrack, beginning with a Blige song, from this link.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swooning at 97% and its audiences aren't too far behind with 87. Don't watch it right before bed for fear of nightmares.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Denzel Washington gives a great performance in this drama about an idiosyncratic Los Angeles lawyer, possibly with Asperger's, trying to adapt to huge changes in his life. Washington (last blogged for Fences) sports a shaggy Afro, shabby clothes, and a space between his teeth that is, off-screen, normally covered with dental work. In great contrast, Colin Farrell (most recently in The Beguiled) is convincing as a slick, tailored, lawyer in a high rise downtown building. Carmen Ejogo (last in Born To Be Blue) supports as the kindly Maya.

Director/writer Dan Gilroy is no stranger to intense characters, as evidenced by his last picture, Nightcrawler, in which he did the same jobs and was Oscar-nominated for the script. His son Sam Gilroy plays a young lawyer at the firm.

You may not remember James Newton Howard's (most recently scored Detroit) compositions (stream 38 minutes of soundtrack here) because of all the great songs, many of which are listed on imdb and can be streamed from this page.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are not too enthusiastic, averaging 50 and 67%. You can probably wait for the DVD but Denzel and Colin are awfully good.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

We didn't hate this lushly produced mystery, taking place on a luxury train across the Eur-Asian continent, based on the 1934 Agatha Christie novel. The cinematography, costumes, and locations are spectacular. Sir Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot with a silly accent and an enormous double handlebar mustache. He was last blogged for acting for Dunkirk. The ensemble includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Derek Jacobi (most recently in these pages for The Family, Into the Woods, Victoria & Abdul, The Eagle Huntress, The Florida Project, The Brothers Grimsby, Hereafter, respectively) and, in his first film role since the original Broadway cast of Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr.

Because I usually add a guttural sound to the end of his name, Jack researched the correct pronunciation of Branagh's (last blogged for directing for Cinderella) name. It's BRAN-uh. The screenplay, adapted by Michael Green (co-wrote Blade Runner 2049), has lots of goofs, including continuity, pronunciation/accents, anachronistic Godiva Chocolate product placement, and a plot hole or two.

But the pictures! Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (shot, among others, Enduring Love (2004), Sleuth (2007), Thor, Cinderella, Denial--the middle three were directed by Branagh) gives us magnificent photography including scenes in Valle d'Aosta, Italy (for the snow exteriors); Istanbul; Malta; and New Zealand.

The Costume Designers Guild nominations haven't been announced yet but Alexandra Byrne (won an Oscar for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), nominated for three others, including Elizabeth (1998) (both Elizabeths played by Cate Blanchett) and Finding Neverland (2004)) has been nominated for a Satellite Award and I expect she'll get more accolades as the season progresses. Jim Clay's (best known for The Crying Game (1992), Match Point (2005), Children of Men (2006) and Woman in Gold) Production Design team has so far been noted with a Critics Choice nomination so far.

Patrick Doyle's (last scored A United Kingdom) mysterious soundtrack can be streamed from this YouTube playlist, including, as track 23, his song Never Forget with lyrics by Branagh, sung by Pfeiffer.

The end of this movie sets up for the sequel, Death on the Nile, an undated release to be directed by Branagh with Green adapting another of Christie's novels.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are understandable tepid on this, averaging 58 and 59%. The images are its most redeeming values.

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Jack and I loved this story of the friendship that led to the making of "The Citizen Kane of bad movies." James Franco is spectacular as enigmatic, possibly insane, auteur Tommy Wiseau and Dave Franco is also terrific as Greg Sestero, with whom Wiseau made The Room (2003). The brothers act together for the first time in this picture. James was last blogged for Why Him? and Dave for The Little Hours, which also featured his wife Alison Brie, who plays his girlfriend Amber in this picture.

Neither of us has seen the original The Room, though Jack watched some clips on youtube. Here it is if you want, or, better yet, see it late one Saturday night in a theatre with an audience who will participate in celebrating the cult classic (apparently plastic spoons and footballs are a thing).

Frequent James Franco collaborator Seth Rogen (most recently in Steve Jobs) plays it somewhat straight as frustrated script supervisor Sandy who has to do much of the directing while Wiseau is in front of the camera. By binge-watching the Showtime series I'm Dying Up Here, I've become a fan of Ari Graynor (she was also the title character in the TV adaptation of Bad Teacher) so was happy to see her as the actress who plays the main love interest in the movie-within-a-movie. The cast is enormous, credited and not. I particularly enjoyed cameos by Melanie Griffith as an acting teacher, Sharon Stone as an agent, and Judd Apatow as a Hollywood producer trying to have a quiet dinner. The real Sestero appears as a casting agent and Wiseau has a full scene with James Franco after the credits so do not leave the room while the credits are rolling!

As Wiseau did in The Room, James Franco directs and stars. Franco has directed thirteen other features (plus some documentaries and shorts) but I haven't seen one. Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (last blogged for The Spectacular Now) adapted the 2013 book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Sestero and Tom Bissell.

I can't even begin to guess the psychological diagnoses a professional would assign to Wiseau, but it's interesting that someone so thin-skinned, at least according to this movie and the research I've done, would approve of this adaptation. I'm glad he did, though.

The Room premiered at Laemmle's Fairfax Theatre in 2003. It has since closed. In The Disaster Artist, the Crest Theatre in Westwood, a few miles west, is a gorgeous substitution.

The original score is by Dave Porter (62 episodes of Breaking Bad, 30 of Better Call Saul, and more) and you can stream his tunes by starting with this YouTube link and turning on autoplay. Imdb lists thirteen songs and spotify has fifteen.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are with us this time, averaging 94 and 91% before its opening weekend is over. I do suggest, however, making allowances for MPMS (sit far back if Motion-Picture-Motion-Sickness is a problem for you--here's my running list) and getting a closed caption device if your theatre offers it. James Franco's weird accent can be quite difficult to understand.

Loving Vincent (2017)

This cinematic tour de force, about a postman enlisting his son to find Theo Van Gogh in 1891 and deliver Vincent's last letter to his brother, is the first 100% painted animated feature film, based on famous works of Vincent Van Gogh and executed by a team of 100+ artists over the course of five years. In addition to the marvelous images, it's a pretty good detective story as well.

The voice actors are somewhat recognizable in their painted versions, including Chris O'Dowd (last blogged for St. Vincent) as the Postman, Douglas Booth (first in these pages for Noah) as his son, Helen McCrory (in, but not blogged for, Their Finest) as the church-going Mme. Chevalier, Eleanor Tomlinson (covered in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) as the perpetually smiling Adeline, Saoirse Ronan (just seen in Lady Bird) as Marguerite Gachet at the piano, and Robert Gulaczyk (it's his second feature and I didn't see the first) as the tortured Vincent, among others. The dialogue is (almost entirely, as I recall three weeks after seeing it) in English with strong British or Irish accents though most of it takes place in France.

It was directed and written by Dorota Kobiela (directing her second feature, writing her first) and former puppeteer Hugh Welchman (wrote one feature, directed nothing before this) and co-written by Jack Dehnel (his first anything). Kobiela and Dehnel are Polish and Welchman is English. You can learn more at the movie's website.

Clint Mansell (last scored Noah) brings suspenseful, dark, and light music which can be streamed from this playlist. Over the end credits we hear Liane La Havas' cover of Starry Night, which Don McLean wrote about Vincent Van Gogh.

Playing on one screen once or twice a day in these parts, its DVD and blu-ray release is set for January 16, 2018. I'd like to see it again, just to freeze frame some of the paintings. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging 80 and 89%.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Another fabulous movie this season, the story of a grieving mother trying to get justice for her murdered daughter is a lot funnier than it sounds, yet it's moving and boasts much character development. Francis McDormand is magnificent as the filter-free Mildred in a role written for her (she was last blogged for Hail, Caesar!). Woody Harrelson (most recently in The Glass Castle) is great as the kind but foul-mouthed police chief--in fact, almost everyone is foul-mouthed in this dark tale. Sam Rockwell (last in Laggies) brings humor as the dumb cop Dixon, until we realize what a menace he is. Caleb Landry Jones (just seen in The Florida Project) has a nice turn as advertising manager Red, as do Abbie Cornish (most recently in Robocop) as the chief's wife, Lucas Hedges (just seen in Lady Bird) as Mildred's son Robbie, and Peter Dinklage (last blogged for The Boss) as James (who is resigned to the yokels calling him a cruel and outdated word for a little person), among many. Darrell Britt-Gibson (best known to me as a character actually named Shitstain in 17 episodes of You're the Worst, he was also in six episodes of Californication and Keanu) makes a nice appearance as one of the billboard installers and Kathryn Newton (profiled in Lady Bird) shows up in flashback as the dead daughter Angela.

This is the third feature directed and written by Martin McDonagh (covered in these pages for Seven Psychopaths, which also starred Harrelson, Rockwell, and Cornish, among others; he is also a lauded author and playwright) and he is talented at pivoting from the ridiculous to the sublime. Following many nominations and wins for In Bruges (2008), he's starting to rack them up for this one, too.

Despite the picture's title, the glorious scenery was actually shot in Sylva, North Carolina, by Ben Davis (Avengers: Age of Ultron). McDonagh is an Englishman, by the way, and I haven't unearthed any reason he decided to set it in the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri.

Lovely music by the prolific Carter Burwell (last scored Wonderstruck) can be streamed from this link, including The Last Rose of Summer by Renée Fleming, Jeffrey Tate & The English Chamber Orchestra and nearly the whole Joan Baez rendition of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

Ann, Jack, and I loved this movie and Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences averages are 94 and 91%, respectively. Jack thinks McDormand may get an Oscar nomination and I'd be pleased if that happens.

Lady Bird (2017)

Jack and I loved this tale of a rebellious Sacramento Catholic-high-school senior bickering with her mother and figuring out her life. Saoirse (SEER-sha) Ronan is transcendent as Christine "Lady Bird" and we don't doubt for a minute that she's 17 or 18 (it begins in September 2002), though she's now 23 and, in her Oscar-nominated performance in Brooklyn she played 23 and older as time passed. As Lady Bird's mother Marion, Laurie Metcalf (best known for 221 episodes of Roseanne as Roseanne's sister, she's done a ton of work on screens both small and big) is also getting some awards buzz and the scenes between them go from funny to wrenching. Tracy Letts (last blogged for The Lovers) is the befuddled father/husband caught in the middle. 

Many of the supporting actors are terrific, including high school classmates Beanie Feldstein (new to me, she is Jonah Hill's sister) as Julie, Lucas Hedges (Oscar-nominated for Manchester by the Sea) as Lucas, and Timothée Chalamet (I've seen him in four episodes of Royal Pains, eight of Homeland, movies Men, Women & Children and Interstellar, and he's got another coming out momentarily) as Kyle. The lovely Kathryn Newton doesn't have many lines but, even in those tight blond braids, I recognize her from 36 episodes of Gary Unmarried, seven of Big Little Lies, ten of Halt and Catch Fire, and the movie Bad Teacher, and I mention her because of another movie I'll write about after this.

Greta Gerwig, making her debut as the sole director of a feature (she wrote Frances Ha and co-directed another feature which I missed), has admitted that this movie is semi-autobiographical. Her mother's name is Christine but I hope they were a bit nicer to each other when Greta was in high school.

The lilting folk-inflected score is thanks to Jon Brion (composed for Wilson) and 27 minutes of it can be streamed from this link. The pop songs include Alanis Morissette's Hand in My Pocket, Dave Matthews Band’s Crash into Me, Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River, and The Crossroads by Bone Thugs N Harmony.

You don't need our recommendation to run and see this: Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a perfect 100% and its audiences a respectable 89.