Guardianship Matters..."Gifted"

Gifted (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Evans, McKenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer,

Directed by Marc Webb

The Story:

Frank (Evans) has been taking care of his niece Mary (Grace) for the last seven years after his sister died. However Mary is now old enough to go to school. The only real problem, Mary is a math genius, and the public school curriculum is a bit... redundant for her. That's when the grandma (Duncan) shows up and demands custody of little Mary, so she can put that brain to use and become famous.  Sounds like this one is heading to court.

Ah, contesting guardianship...

That's a fun subject for a film! : /

That's the underlying theme for this film though as the grandmother who has never been there shows up demanding what she deems best for the child.

On the other side, the uncle who has been by her side the entire time, trying to make sure that she isn't just some "weird kid" because he already knew what that was like growing up, and he wants Mary to be as close to normal as possible.

Would this even be necessary if Mary were any less than a mathematical genius?

I think you'll figure out that answer long before the credits roll.

It's a sweet, caring film that is carried by Grace and the subdued performance of Evans. Proving that he's more than just a guy with a shield, Evans carries a weighty burden on his shoulders as he constantly doubts whether what he's doing is right or not, but always erring on the side of what he believes to be the best interests of Mary, and honoring what he believes his sister would have wanted.

It's quite likely you missed this in theaters during the winter.

Now's the time to make up for it.

Final Grade: B+

Space Race Relations..."Hidden Figures"

Hidden Figures (2016) B+

Rated PG

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Glen Powell

Directed by Theodore Melfi

The Story:

In the race to beat the Russians into space, NASA was coming up short. Test after test was proving fruitless. Al Harrison (Costner) has ordered the first IBM computer, but it's taking forever to arrive and get installed. So he turns to the human computer section, and is sent Katherine Johnson (Henson) who can do computations better and faster than anyone else. Meanwhile Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer) can see the writing on the wall: with IBM on the way in, she and all the rest of the human computers are on their way out. Finally, Mary Jackson (Monae) is asked a simple question - why aren't you an engineer?

You guessed it, based on a true story.

Elevator pitch was probably The Right Stuff meets The Help.

Boiled down to the basic framework of the story, that's an apt description. The best part, those were both pretty good movies in their own right.

Hidden Figures doesn't let them down.

Johnson's story gets the most screen time, but the three stories interlock nicely together.

There is enough glimpse of life outside of NASA (as well as inside) that paint the Civil Rights portrayal as a whole without overshadowing what these ladies were all bringing collectively to the table in their own lives and to the history of NASA.

The cast is an amazing ensemble of talent...

however...

The casting of Jim Parsons struck me as odd.

I don't watch the show he is on, but I know enough about it and his character to know they annoy me.

So when he shows up here, it just felt more like stunt casting, let's give the comedy guy a serious role to show his range.

Meh.

However, you wanted to give me a character I didn't like, well, bravo, his casting sure helped.

:)

Aside from that though, inspiring stories, very well done by all involved.

Absolutely worth your time.

Final Grade: B+ / A- range.

More Like Average..."The Great Gilly Hopkins"

The Great Gilly Hopkins (2016)  

Rated PG

Starring Sophie Nelisse, Kathy Bates, Glenn Close, Octavia Spencer, Bill Cobbs, Zachary Hernandez, Clare Foley, Billy Magnussen,

Directed by Stephen Harek

The Story:

Gilly Hopkins (Nelisse) has bounced from one foster home to the next, always making herself unwanted by the family until they send her away. She's finally met her match in Maime Trotter (Bates) who is raising one little boy (Hernandez) and caring for her blind neighbor across the street (Cobbs). The more Gilly tries to get under Maime's skin, the more she fails. But her latest attempt to reunite with her mother (Stiles) may just blow up in her face.

Always hoping for an enjoyable family movie, many of kids books to movie translations turn out to be enjoyable enough for a viewing, but nothing I would need to see again, or even bother my family with.

This is where Gilly Hokins falls.

She is totally unlikable for at least the first half of the film, I even debated turning it off, that's how unlikable I found her to be.

I mean, it's not like we haven't seen this story in some form or another already:

unlikable person meets someone with a heart of gold who will melt that icy exterior and the two will bond and become a family.

The rest of the cast kept me interested, and I wanted to see if Gilly could be turned into a nicer person.

Spoiler... of course she can. ;)

Then it all comes crashing down with the arrival of Grandma (Close) and the stage is set for another conflict as Gilly was finally becoming part of a family, only to have that taken away from her as well.

Except this is the movies...based on a book... so there is a happy ending.

In real life, no way does the Grandma ever visit Maime Trotter's house again.

:)

Final Grade: C 

They Saved The Last For Last..."Allegiant"

Allegiant (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Naomi Watts, Jeff Daniels, Octavia Spencer,

Directed by Robert Schwentke

The Story:

Tris (Woodley), 4 (James) and their crew decide to leave the walled city of Chicago and see what truly lies on the other side. There they meet David (Daniels) who claims that Tris is the key to rebuilding the future. But can he be trusted?

At this point, can anyone in this franchise be trusted.

So, I've stuck with the franchise this long, you feel you might as well finish with it, am I right?

Well, judging by the box office, about half of the fans abandoned ship this go round.

Possible reasons?

Well for starters, Allegiant does not rhyme with Divergent or Insurgent. Clearly the pattern was broken, and people may have mistakenly thought this was a brand new Dystopian Future movie.

;)

More likely, people are simply tiring of the Young Adult books brought to cinematic life after all of the Hunger Games, this series, the Maze Runner and a few other films as well.

These aren't superhero movies. These are films about depressing futures.

Oh, so maybe they are just like DC superhero movies. ;)

Either way, perhaps the audience is growing tired of that genre.

Or perhaps they are simply getting tired of a storyline that seems just a bit padded at this point.

Because, quite frankly, it seems like the same thing that happened in the last movie happens in the next movie.

They escape the ruthless clutches of a power-mad leader, only to watch as all of the factions begin fighting amongst themsleves to see who becomes the new power-mad leader.

So the franchise is treading water.

And when you bring in less than 100 million dollars from your previous film, the 4th film in the franchise, 4th!!?? gets changed on the schedule from a next summer in theaters to a next year on tv as a springboard for a new TV show.

Good luck with that.

So on that note, I bid this series farewell.

Final Grade: C

Everyone Can Always Use a Little Bit of "The Help"

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

The Story:

In the mid 1960s in Jackson Mississippi, there's a change coming.  Skeeter (Emma Stone) wants to be a writer, and has an idea that she pitches to her editor in New York (Mary Steenburgen).  She wants a first-hand account of what the black maids in Jackson feel about their life, and about raising the children of the white folk in town.  At first, Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) are the only maids to come forward, but through the deplorable actions of Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and others, soon they all want to help Skeeter, and they tell their stories.  Then a book is published and the world as they all knew it will never be the same again.

Yes, I enjoyed this movie immensely.  It was one of my Ten Best from 2012, yet it never had a proper review last year, so I aim to rectify that today.  I have now seen it several times, and it gets better with each viewing.

It's thought-provoking but never insulting.  The relationships between the southern whites and their help ring true and not contrived.  Many felt love and affection for the extended members of their families, yet generations of that lifestyle ensured that the majority of people grew up...and grew apart from the very women who actually raised them.  In many cases, doing a better job than their own mothers.

The movie also doesn't sugar-coat the race relations of the south in the 60s.  Every action that any character takes in this film, regardless of color, has repercussions, both large and small.  They often affect many other characters, just by association.  I've heard complaints that the movie portrays the life of the help as not that bad, and should have been more turbulent and violent, like the 60s.  I counter that such a thing would have ruined the whole point of this movie, which was a quiet, gentle revolution.

In the end, what you do come to realize is that some people are simply ignorant and/or evil, regardless of color. 

Hilly Holbrook, I'm looking at you.

She is evil personified, and it is glorious to see her reaction as she is called out on it. Yet at the end of the day, she wins, and it is ultimately heartbreaking.

When Aibileen is forced to say goodbye to Mae at the end of the film, well, that one scene gets me every time.

I highly encourage you to give it a spin if you've never watched it before.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Immeasurably rewatchable.  I have yet to purchase it, but due to a fairly steady rotation on cable, I haven't found a need to.  Yet.  : )