Runtime 125 Minutes

Capsule Review (minimal spoilers):

The Two Popes is an interesting character study. It is the dramatization of events that happened in real life. Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (Anthony Hopkins) is elected Pope in 2005. He’s a conservative man, and that carries over into his papacy. He beat out other contenders, including the liberal Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce). Bergoglio returns to his normal duties in Argentina, until, one day, he travels back to the Vatican. Coincidentally, the Pope summons him to talk.

Thus begins a set of conversations that form the basis for the movie. It’s as if an impressionist came up with the premise, you can almost hear it – “What if two contradictory Roman Catholic priests struck up a friendship? It might go a little something like this… ” and he turns around for a moment, then begins his act.

It’s an unusual relationship that that actually happened, and it’s really compelling. Hopkins and Pryce are at the top of their acting game, and they’re perfectly suited for these characters. It’s been said that Pryce physically resembles Bergoglio, even by Pryce’s children!

To reveal any more would ruin the film. You have to watch it and allow yourself to be drawn in to the story. I won’t say any more other than it’s quite good, and worth your time if you love interpersonal drama.

Runtime 152 Minutes

Capsule Summary, Minimal Spoilers:

Ford V Ferrari is a film about true events that happened in the 1960s. A competition between Ford and Ferrari., which came from a disagreement on a deal between the two companies. It’s a story about passion, which comes in many flavors, several of which we get to see on screen. It is one of the truest movies about racing that I’ve seen.

It follows the story of several people, primarily Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), who are hired by Ford to help them build a car that will beat Ferrari at the annual race at Le Mans, France. Its a turbulent relationship between people who demand the best of their equipment and their people.

The story’s main focus is on Shelby, and how things came to be. It’s also a story about love, between driver Ken and his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), two very strong willed individuals. They have a son, Peter (Noah Jupe), who figures heavily into this film.

There’s never a dull moment in this movie. Everything fits together so well and is so gripping that you lose track of the runtime. The racing scenes are as good as they can be. I can easily say this film is my favorite film of 2019, so far. Highly recommended for everyone, not just fans of racing. Several of my friends who are not racing fans enjoyed this movie more than they ever would have suspected. If you do see this movie, I strongly suggest you find a theater showing it in Titan Luxe/Dolby Atmos, or IMAX, if possible. The sounds were just incredible in the theater we went to.

Standard Review, Some Spoilers:

The movie starts off with a teaser. Carroll Shelby was a racer, and was competing at the annual 20 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most prestigious and longest endurance races in the world. Next thing you know, he’s at a doctor, who’s telling him he can’t race any more. It’s in his blood, so he can’t give it up completely. He moves onto the next best thing, a boutique carmaker.

Meanwhile, at Ford, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) needs some ideas. He wants to improve the business, and calls to everyone in a Ford Falcon plant to come up with ideas, or see themselves out. We hear one man’s proposal. Lee Iococca (Jon Bernthal) focuses on Ford acquiring Ferrari. Ferrari is a small company, compared to Ford (actually, compared to almost every car manufacturer), but the people that work there are fanatical about their work. One person assembles a motor, completely. One person assembles the transmission, and so on. It’s a level of craftsmanship that is unparalleled (for the most part), even today. Ferrari has spent a lot of money on the Le Mans races, and is near bankruptcy. Iococca meets with Enzo Ferrari, the owner and founder, and presents him with Ford’s offer. After some thought, he totally turns down the offer, and in his closing words, ends his rejection in a manner that forever ends any possibility they could come to terms, to put it mildly. The rejection angers Ford enough that he goes contrary to the old adage, and realizes that if he can’t join ’em, he’ll beat ’em. At Le Mans.

Iococca realizes he needs people on the team with the drive and the vision to make this happen. Ford’s team in England has designed the car, but that’s just the basic element that’s needed. There are drivers, and considerations for a race like Le Mans, especially considering that any car that races there has to survive mechanically for 24 hours without any major issues or breakdowns. Any car can be made to race for 2-3 hours, but 24? Not quite impossible, but it’s a major obstacle.

I’ve implied that the focus on Carroll Shelby is the heart of the film, I should point out that the true soul of the film is represented by Ken Miles. He’s a terrific driver, but not without his faults. He can be a hothead and a pain in the ass, and he’s also not a team player. Surprised? His wife Mollie isn’t. She understands him completely, when he is open and honest with her. He’s a bit off his gourd, but so is she, as you’ll see. Balfe is excellent in this role, and it’s refreshing to see Mollie as a three dimensional character. Ken is at his best when he’s with his son Peter, though. He is there at the testing sessions, and is a dedicated student of racing, which Ken is happy to explain. These are some of the best moments in the film.

There is talk of perfection in this film, primarily in terms of racing, but it’s equally applicable to other things, as well. Moviemaking, for one. This film is intense when it needs to be, thrilling wherever possible, and is like a well-crafted gemstone. It pulls you in, right from the start, and never really lets go. There are so many little extras that are unnecessary, but they are the things that make it more real than I thought a racing film could be. While it is a racing film, it’s done in such a way that it’s more than just for the racing community, because of the themes involved. See for yourself.

I suspect this film will be nominated for several technical Oscars, as the sound and editing were on point. The acting is brilliant, and the story itself was very engrossing. Go see it.

Capsule Review, Minimal Spoilers:

Midway is the dramatic retelling of what was the most decisive battle of the Pacific War portion of World War II. This is the second major motion picture to do so – the 1976 movie Midway had also tackled the subject, using stock footage, and footage from several other films. This Midway uses CGI to accomplish that goal, and it’s mostly effective.

This movie is good, but has its issues. It has a runtime of 2 Hours, 18 Minutes, and tries to cover too man of the events leading up to the battle. There is a large cast, and, to me, was sometimes difficult to differentiate between a few actors, in terms of their roles. I suspect (and hope) that there’s a more complete film, where portions of it ended up on the cutting room floor, but will now reside on the DVD/BR of Extras associated with the film. There are other criticisms that I will discuss in the second part of this review.

I recommend this film for War Film buffs, but with some reluctance. Perhaps I am being too harsh, but I felt it was trying to document the entire Pacific War for the US forces leading up to the battle, and that was too much for this one film.

Main Review, Some Spoilers:

Oh, where to begin. I guess I can discuss the focus of the film. It primarily involves several groups – The Bomber flight crews of the USS Enterprise, one of the most versatile aircraft carriers in the US Fleet, participating in more combat actions than any other ship in Pacific War. It also focuses on the secret code breaking team and its leader, Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson), as well as the commanders, Admiral Chester Nimitz (Woody Harrelson(!)), Admiral William ‘Bull’ Halsey (Dennis Quaid), and Admiral Raymond Spruance (Jake Weber). On top of them, it also provides a Japanese perspective on the war, via Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushu Toyokawa), and Admiral Chuichi Nogumo (Jun Kunimura), leader of the invasion and carrier forces respectively. The film jumps around between these groups, and at times, struggles to make them whole characters, not just “an actor in a role”. One can easily appreciate that they are trying to round out the story, but with some of them, the Japanese Admirals aren’t given enough time to properly give them life. It’s not enough time to handle this many people properly. FYI, there are a few women in the cast, most notably Mando Moore, as Ann Best, wife of pilot Dick Best (Ed Skrein). She gives a good performance with her material, but it’s practically lost in the scheme of things.

The film starts off in 1937, where the young Naval attache Layton has a conversation with Yamamoto in an exchange of information, suggesting that Yamamoto’s life is in jeopardy, because he’s not the warhawk that the Army wants controlling the Navy. They’re trying to set the stage for what is to come. Next up is the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is handled far better than that overly dramatic and borderline campy Michael Bay Film. Next, you’re dropped aboard the USS Enterprise, and several pilots are talking about how they’ll spend their shore leave in Honolulu. Then, they jump to Admiral Nimitz being appointed supreme commander of the Pacific Naval Fleet, who talks to Layton to try to bring the movie’s focus back to the subject. Intermingled with this is the Battle of the Coral Sea, with the Enterprise participating, and further events leading up to the fight at Midway. This is now starting sound more like a history lesson than a movie review, so I’ll stop there.

Intermingled with this was Dolittle’s raid on Tokyo. The USS Enterprise was involved in this, only as a support ship, to defend the fleet, in case of attack. Dolittle (Aaron Eckhart)’s tale is told, through his eventual rescue in war-torn China. I do not understand why this was included, other than the involvement of the Enterprise and its air crews, who do nothing on the mission. I suspect the writers were basing their script on a memoir of someone on the Enterprise. I felt it unnecessary to this movie.

Let’s talk about the CGI. It was reasonable, but far from excellent. For more close shots, it’s reasonable, and sharp, but for objects further away, it resorts to fuzzier detailing. Perhaps it was a budgetary issue, but given the nature of graphical detail in video games these days (the game World of Warships, in particular), it could have been rendered better.

My biggest issue with what we see on screen is the Japanese counterattack against the US fleet, or the lack thereof. It’s shown in the preparation of the Japanese carriers, but the next thing you know, the USS Yorktown is damaged by an attack that happened off camera. It’s jarring, and extremely disappointing that they couldn’t show this, in favor of showing Dolittle’s raid and aftermath instead. Will it be included in the Extras? Who knows? Who knows if they even shot/rendered it?

At the start of the film, a title card comes up to indicate that this is based on the facts. It is, but there are some truths that seem glossed over, and others ignored, and that was a bit of a letdown. It IS visually engaging, but, as I mentioned, I wasn’t pleased completely. I also noticed what were apparent flaws in the attack patterns of the planes, but this is just speculation on my part.

I have to reluctantly recommend this movie. It’s a visual spectacular that’s a bit lacking, and the cast is good, albeit overfull.

Summary Review, Minimal Spoilers:

Marriage Story is a good movie with an unremarkable title. It’s definitely a story about a marriage, but marriages can end up being so many things, some wonderful, some terrible. This is somewhere in between.

Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johannson) have what a great life in New York City. He’s a director of Off-Broadway plays, and she is his muse, and star. They have a son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), and they’re all really engaged with each other. However, the situation changes, as a job opportunity starts a rift in their idyllic life.

It’s the sort of story you’ve seen before, but it’s very engaging and draws you in as it continues. This film has an excellent cast, populated with well known stars, and each of them have good moments on screen.

As a movie, I was pleased with what the movie did. I’m not a huge fan of the story, but I can forgive it because it feels like it’s the “right” outcome. I’m not a huge fan of interpersonal conflicts. There were some slow moments, with a lot of close-ups, and I do admit that I spent some time trying to count the number of moles in both Adam’s and Scarlett’s faces. I sat really close to the screen, OK? I’ll just say that I was not bored, but I did feel some scenes plodded along.

I’ll go ahead and recommend this. It’s not the best sort of story like this that I’ve seen, but it felt like a sincere effort to portray these people’s lives. They really felt like people, not just characters on a screen, and that goes a long way with me. The runtime is 2 hours, 16 minutes, so plan accordingly. It’s currently playing in theaters, but will go to Netflix soon enough, since they backed the film.

Extended Review, with Minor Spoilers:

If you hadn’t guessed, this story dances around with the dissolution of a marriage. It’s about someone repressing their dreams for the sake of keeping the relationship happy and free of conflict. Sometimes, it just takes a separation for someone to realize they’re missing out, and that’s the push they needed to make things happen.

The supporting cast’s parts were well written. So often, they are just sounding boards for the lead cast members to talk to, and they usually come off as wooden and/or two-dimensional. Not here. They are properly fleshed out, and have their own drives, desires, and agendas. The ones that stand out the most are Julie Hagerty as Nicole’s mom, followed by Laura Dern and Alan Alda as lawyers. Their characters really help give Nicole and Charlie some perspective, because it appears that neither have that close friend/confidant, because they were that, for each other. They were both navigating new territory, and and you could see they were both awkwardly accepting that. It was not a simple process, by any stretch of imagination.

Summary Review, Minimal Spoilers:

The Current War: Director’s Cut is a story about the electrification of the USA. There were two types of power for people’s homes. One is Direct Current (DC) and the other is Alternating Current (AC). On the one hand, Thomas A. Edison (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) was the proponent of DC, while George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) had AC, which was more cost effective. This film documents their struggles to gain acceptance, and the conflicts that arose. Interesting stuff.

It’s a rather good bit of history that’s not well known. Also involved in this story was one Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), who had an important role to play in the success of both people.

The story itself doesn’t hold back much. It portrays Edison for the person he was known to be, not the myth that most people remember. I suspect that the delay in having this movie released related mostly to criticism about this portion of the movie, but apparently, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the director, won out, and we’re seeing the movie he made. It is said that the release was delayed also because it was one of Harvey Weinstein’s last movies as the head of a studio when the scandal broke, but his alleged criminal have nothing to do with the nature of this movie.

This film was well researched and properly done. You definitely get the sense of being there, in the 1880s. It feels very authentic. Cumberbatch and Hoult give good performances, true to their characters’ actual natures, but this movie rests on the shoulders of Michael Shannon. As Westinghouse, he gives a stern and driven performance that one would hope is a fair representation of the man. You see this film from all of there perspectives, at times.

If you know the history,they do cover the involvement of animals. It is re-enacted, briefly, and fortunately not for thrills, as it were. I’m glad it is dealt with, that way, as anything more would’ve cheapened the film.

I really liked this film, and I do recommend it.