Race relations in the Jim Crow era are put under the spotlight in Green Book.Green book (2018)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Peter Farrely
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Don Stark, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov
Duration: 130 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd
Based on the life of Italian-American Tony Lip, Green Book recounts the tale of Lipp’s (Viggo Mortensen) cross-country journey with African-American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley in the 1960s.
It being the height of the Jim Crow south and with Shirley being a gay, black man in an era were it was potentially lethal to be so, Lip must rely on The Negro Motorist Green Book, to ferry Shirley from one location to another as well as keep him safe.
The two characters clash as Shirley’s refined affluence doesn’t quite gel with Tony’s working- class upbringing to begin with, but the two form an unlikely bond on their journey regardless.
The film received a warm reception for riding a story smoothly into some potentially uncomfortable subject matter.
“Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen are two excellent actors outclassing their material,” writes Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian.
“It’s a handsomely made and watchable picture and there is a real warmth in Ali and Mortensen’s performances.”
“Farrelly has done a nice job with this fairly simplistic message film,” says Christopher Orr of The Atlantic.
“Though the film doesn’t do a lot with this intended cultural inversion, it nonetheless provides adequate narrative fodder.”
“First-rate execution can’t solve all of a film’s problems, but Mortensen and Ali offer a reminder that it can solve an awful lot of them.”
“On paper it sounds cringeworthy, but much of it is great fun,” writes David Edelstein of Vulture.
“The acting is better than the dialogue, which is better than the plotting. The movie taps into a kind of nostalgia for when everything seemed simpler.”
Ratings
IMDB: 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Empire: 4 stars
Christian Bale transforms into Dick Cheney in Vice.Vice (2018)
Genre: Drama
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill
Duration: 132 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd
Director Adam McKay’s follow-up to 2015’s The Big Short is something of a civics lesson dressed up as a political biopic, setting its sights on one Dick Cheney.
Vice is a characters study of Cheney, here another astounding transformation from Christian Bale, mapping his political career from its humble beginnings in the Nixon administration to his turn as Vice President of the United States of America.
Vice received mixed reviews and left audience reception divided. “Bale credited ‘Satan’ for inspiration for the role, and it shows,” writes Wendy Ide for The Observer.
“McKay makes a virtue of the known unknowns of this slice of US political history.
“Winking over the fourth wall in acknowledgement that the true facts of certain encounters will never be known, the screenplay propels the film off into comic fantasy.”
Similarly, Owen Gleiberman of Variety writes, “McKay, who wrote and directed the film, sticks mostly to the facts, though he includes a sprinkling of satirical fantasy sequences.”
“He turns history into a rollicking circus for liberals, inviting us to revel in Dick Cheney’s Greatest Hits Of Infamy. The pop catharsis of Vice, to the extent that the movie provides one, is in actually seeing Dick Cheney throw his weight around, elbowing the wimpy, clueless George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) out of the way as he effectively assumes the role of president.”
Ratings
IMDB: 67.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Empire: 4 stars
Man’s best friends shows her big heart in A Dog’s Way Home.A dog’s way home (2018)
Genre: Adventure
Directors: Charles Martin Smith
Starring: Ashley Judd, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi, Barry Watson, Chris Bauer
Duration: 97 minutes
Class: PG
KRS Releasing Ltd
This family-friendly adventure sees the story following Bella, a stray dog voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard, who is rescued by and quickly becomes bonded to her new human, Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King).
Following a ruling that sees the prohibition of pitbulls, Bella (who is judged to be of the breed) is rehomed to New Mexico.
However, her bond with Lucas is so strong that she embarks on a two-and-a-half-year journey to reunite with him, getting herself into capers along the way.
The film has received mixed to average reviews.
“In the pantheon of puppy pictures, this doesn’t rank as top dog, but it’s certainly not the runt of the litter either,” writes Courtney Howard of Variety.
“Surprises aren’t why we go to see movies like this,” says Chris Nashawati of Entertainment Weekly.
“We go to have a few laughs, a sniffle or two, and to be reminded once again of the unwavering loyalty of man’s best friend.”
Ratings
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 58%
Empire: N/A