Bullets Over Broadway

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Directed by Woody Allen

Screenplay by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath

Stars: John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Tilly, Chazz Palminteri, Jack Warden, Joe Viterelli, Mary-Louise Parker, Rob Reiner, Tracey Ullman, Jim Broadbent, and Harvey Fierstein 

There was an Oscar clip that I saw online with the legendary Dianne Wiest before winning for Best Supporting Actress. How come it took me this long to watch this movie? 

Broadway, 1928. A fussy playwright, David Shayne (Cusack) wants his latest play, 'Gods of Our Father' to be a hit. In order for it to be that to happen, his producing partner Julian Marx (Warden) had to make a deal with local mobster, Nick Valenti (Viterelli) to have his moll, Olive (Tilly) a part.

I want to dedicate this section of the review to Dianne Wiest as the self-absorbed Broadway diva, Helen Sinclair. Whenever she was onscreen, she commanded it. She was hilarious. That Oscar was richly deserved.

The costumes, dialogue and the feel of the movie was perfect. The performances were tight and correct.

The only knock I have with the movie is the ending. I hated it. It came out of left field. I will not accept it.

Rating: 9/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Seven: Priest

Priest (1994)

Directed by Antonia Bird

Screenplay by Jimmy McGovern

Stars: Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle, Cathy Tyson, Lesley Sharp, Robert Pugh, Christine Tremarco, James Ellis and Paul Barber

I was intending to see The Watermelon Woman or Victim today, but some weirdness with Amazon Prime Video happened and I came upon this movie. I was bored with the movie.

A Roman Catholic priest, Father Greg Pilkington (Roache) is brought to a new parish, St. Mary's. As he gets acclimated to the community, he realizes that his calling and his hidden gay life threaten to intersect.

I understood the internal struggle of Greg. Trying to hide who are you are from others so they don't judge you for being gay. I get that. 

I understood being scared, having internalized homophobia, struggling with dichotomy religion and being your true self. 

My biggest problem is Greg as a character. I felt that he was an asshole to everybody. I cannot reveal too much. I feel that some emotional beats of the movie felt inauthentic to me. It wasn't earned to me. I felt the movie was trying to beat me over the head with a message. I didn't like that.

Rating: 4/10
 

Heavenly Creatures - The Director's Cut

Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Directed by Peter Jackson

Screenplay by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh

Stars: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison and Simon O'Connor

As I try to expand my expectations on directors that are well known for certain genres, I have heard of Heavenly Creatures. It was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award. When I heard that it was based on a true story, you know that movies take liberties with the narrative. The movie is fine, but not memorable.

Taking a different approach about focusing on the friendship between a loner, Pauline Parker (Lynskey) and an English transplant to New Zealand, Juliet Hulme (Winslet). The two seems to bond over their shared love for singer, Mario Lanza and going into their fantasy world. Juliet calls that world, "The Fourth World" where its like heaven without Christians in it. As the girls spend almost all of their free time together, they start to collaborate on a novel that encapsulates their wildest dreams. Both of the girls parents feel like their friendship is going into dangerous territory.

It was surprising to know that this was the feature film debuts for Melanie Lynskey who people know from Two and Half Men and Kate Winslet. I was not familiar with the case of Parker/Hulme, because it took place in the 1950s New Zealand. I don't think anybody knew about it on the Western Hemisphere. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh wanted to retell the story of the girl and not the monsters that they were portrayed in the papers.

I didn't understand how the girls were initially attracted to each other as friends. I have shared interests with other people, that doesn't mean that I should be with them 24/7. I didn't feel their bond come through the way that Jackson and company wanted. It felt forced to me. The fantasy sequences of the film about "The Fourth World" and their made up kingdom of Borovnia were very nice to look at.

It was nice to see the beginning of the two leads careers, but I feel like American audiences would not get the significance of the story and the case.

My Rating