Armageddon Time

Armageddon Time (2022)

Written and directed by James Gray

Stars: Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jaylin Webb, Anthony Hopkins, Tovah Feldshuh, John Diehl, Ryan Sell, and Jessica Chastain

Can I say this out front? I hate the movie title. Atrocious. I was hearing that the movie was getting buzz for Anne Hathaway's performance and possibly Anthony Hopkins. I completely forgot that this movie came out in theaters until I saw it on Twitter. 

In this semi-autobiographical look at James Gray's life in 1980 New York City. Gray's avatar is Paul Graff (Repeta), a 11-year-old that dreams of being an artist one day. He and his friend, Johnny (Webb) get into constant trouble. The plot gets a bit muddy.

The truth is that I zoned out in this movie. I understand that the movie is very personal for James Gray. Cool. I cannot empathize with a Jewish boy living with his conservative family in the 1980s.

I get that Gray wanted to make a commentary about race relations, family dynamics and all that. The movie did not move me enough to care about what was happening to the characters. I did not care for Paul's older brother, Ted (Sell). He was being a huge asshole. He can fuck off. The father, Irving (Strong) was awful. The dynamic is the family was odd.

I didn't mind Hathaway or Hopkins in the film. They were serviceable. It felt like the movie was paint by numbers that I knew what was going to happen before it does. It felt like one of those Oscar baity movies that try to get a nomination and failing.

Rating: 4/10

The Good Nurse

The Good Nurse (2022)

Directed by Tobias Lindholm

Screenplay by Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Based on the book by Charles Graeber

Stars: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne, Nnamdi Asomugha, Noah Emmerich, Kim Dickins, David Lavine, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Devyn McDowell, and Alix West Lefler

The story sounds familiar to me, but I confused it with a case of a nurse that killed four patients by injecting air in their bloodstream. Anyway, there was a tepid response to this movie at the London Film Festival. The story is compelling. The movie is not.

The action center around Amy (Chastain), a hardworking nurse that doesn't have health insurance which is complicated that she has a severe heart condition. A new hire, Charlie Cullen (Redmayne) comes in to ease the workload for the staff. The two become fast friends. Patients who are normally is good health suddenly code. Two detectives, Baldwin and Braun (Asomugha, Emmerich) are brought in to investigate and uncover a dark secret.

The thing with telling true stories is that they feel generic. You get the feeling that some stories should not be told. This is one of them. If this movie was a talking head documentary, the subject matter would be more compelling. A dramatized version of the story will fall flat. This movie is a prime example.

Chastain and Redmayne give solid performances, but it is not enough to warrant seeking out this movie. Have in on in the background while doing chores around the house.

Rating: 6/10

Interstellar

Interstellar (2014)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Screenplay by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Mackenzie Foy, Timothée Chalamet, Casey Affleck, Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart

For the longest time, I have stayed away from Nolan's movie as of late. I felt that he has become to big from his britches. People blindly loved all of his movies, and I'm not part of the cult. 

In a dystopian Earth where a blight has wiped out all chances of sustainability, Cooper (McConaughey) and his daughter, Murph (Foy) is shown coordinates to a supposed decommissioned NASA station. Cooper learns from Professor Brand (Caine) that there might be a chance to colonize an Earth like planet.

Why did this movie have to be almost three hours long? I think the characters pontificating about their motives got on my nerves. Thirty minutes could have been cut out and I would have been happy.

I'm not going to shit on the movie that much. I will say that first half on the movie was good. All about the journey, going back to be with loved ones. Cool. My heart ached for Cooper trying to find a way to get back home to his family.

The thing is when an action of a certain character is revealed, I rolled my eyes. The aftermath of that sent the movie careening off course. Nolan lost me. The ending of movie was nonsense.

Hans Zimmer's score... Why was music so loud? It was sonic booming all over during the action sequences. It took me out of the experience. I liked the score when it was quieter.

I don't hate the movie, but I think people are overly praising it.

Rating: 7/10

Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Screenplay by Mark Boal

Stars: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Fares Fares, Jennifer Ehle, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Strong and James Gandolfini

One of my most anticipated releases of 2012 was Kathryn Bigelow's latest feature, Zero Dark Thirty.Waiting on bated breath as the movie didn't come out in wide release until it was nominated for five Oscars on Thursday. Bigelow's last film was the Oscar winning The Hurt Locker, which was my number one movie of 2009. I fully expected that this movie was surpass it. Needlessly to say, I was slightly disappointed with it.

Maya (Chastain) is CIA operative who has been reassigned to Pakistan after the events of 9/11. She witnesses first hand what interrogators do to get the information they need to find the most wanted man ever. The small groups of operatives go off of leads and intelligence reports to find the exact whereabouts of bin-Laden. Is he in a cave as the American people all believed? Was he hiding in place sight and nobody knew anything about it? That was Maya's number mission to locate and bring bin-Laden to justice.

I remember the night when the president announced that Osama bin-Laden was killed. People were gathering in front of the White House cheering on his death. Watching a movie, I remembered a phone interview I had with former Fox commentator John Gibson on his radio show a few years back. He asked me if the US should go into Pakistan to get UBL. I said, yes. We debated on how can the US invade a friendly country to get the mastermind behind 9/11. He had to pay for killing 3,000 people that day. I was proven right. In your face, John Gibson. Suck on that.

As stated before, my expectations with this movie were very high. I thought it was going to blow all of the other movies out of the water. Was the movie intense? Yes. They were few and far between, expect the last act of the movie was edge on your seat. I had the same feeling when I saw The Master. The movie felt empty. I was bored was the movie, shifted around in my seat. I think that Chastian's performance deserved the nomination for Best Actress. There were specific moments in The Hurt Locker that I back on with awe. I guess, that would be said with the last moments of the movie, but it had to be added in when the US captured bin-Laden as they made the movie. Without that last part of the movie, it would been another disappointment as I had many this year.

My Rating

The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life (2011)

Written and directed by Terrence Malick

Stars: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan and Fiona Shaw

I don't know what to say. Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life was eagerly anticipated that it was delayed a couple of times. When it came out, the movie was met with little fanfare. It didn't come back tot he radar until it was nominated for Best Picture, Director and Cinematography at last years Oscar. I watched the film last night and I had to marinate on it.

The movie is a serious of flashbacks when Jack O'Brien (Penn) is haunted about what happened in his childhood back in the late 1950s. Most of the film dealing with the strained relationship between his strict religious father (Pitt) and his free spirited earth mother (Chastain), younger Jack's (McCracken) relationship to his father and a tragedy that changes the family dynamic forever.

I heard a little bit about the movie that it was metaphysical take about life, love and connection. I understand  that it what Malick wanted to do on screen, but I felt like it was no executed well in my opinion. I don't know if was Penn's distancing himself from movie, but I never understood why he was in the movie. He looked so lost and confused. I had the same trouble with the film like with 2001: A Space Odyssey -- which there were many comparisons of . I understand that you wanted to make this grand statement about the human condition, but do we need to go back to the beginning. We get it.

I went through a range of emotions when I saw this film, I was confused, bored, angry, in awe, back to anger, boredom and relief that it was finally over. As I said before, I understood that Malick wanted to make a movie about the human condition, the relationship between a father and son, the difference in people's beliefs about God, the Devil, Heaven and Hell. That's all well and good. I was not invested in the movie that much. If the movie has the relationship between Mr. O'Brien and Jack without seeing closeups of nebulas, seaweed and light posts, I would have enjoyed it more.

I will say that the strongest aspect of the movie was the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. It was some gorgeous visuals.

My Rating

Take Shelter

Take Shelter (2011)

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols

Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Ray McKinnon, Robert Longstreet, LisaGay Hamilton, Katy Mixon and Kathy Baker

This is a movie that I heard nothing but good thing about when it was released last year. People were talking about the performances of Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. When I was scrolling through the On Demand movies, it was there. I figured that I had to see it to see what the fuss was about and I'm glad I did.

Taking place in Ohio suburbs, a construction worker, Curtis (Shannon) is happy with his life with his wife, Samantha (Chastain) and his hearing impaired daughter, Hannah (Stewart). Things change when Curtis beings to have terrible dreams about a great storm coming that will wipe off the town. As time goes on, Curtis sees physical manifestations of his dreams with storm clouds, lightning, thunder and flocks of birds forming strange patterns in the sky. He discovers a storm shelter in his backyard and decides to prepare for the possible end of days.

The first thing that stuck me about this movie was the naturalism that writer.director, Jeff Nichols has placed in his screenplay. I may have had a failing grade in freshman English, but I know when naturalism is the main thrust of the story. Instinctively, I could see that Curtis' mind was breaking down. He questions that he could have schizophrenia from his mother played by Kathy Baker, but it's unclear. What I took away from the movie is that there is a fighting going on in Curtis's mind and it looked like it was all consuming.

Michael Shannon was very good in these movie. I was surprised that he didn't get more love during awards season that the Spirit Awards. He went to places that I have never seen before. When he was in agony, I felt it with him. It was a haunting performance. In my opinion, Jessica Chastain was better in this film that she was in The Help where she got her Oscar nomination.

My Rating

The Help

The Help (2011)

Written and directed by Tate Taylor

Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett

Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Alison Janney, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson

I have heard great things about the Tate Taylor's debut film, The Help, since it was released last summer. It was a sleeper hit as some people called it. I know that people were surprised that the black driven movie could make money.

I have this unwritten rule that I usually shy away from the black movies, because these movies reflect on me. I cannot support a movie where people, especially black are the butt of jokes at people's expense. This movie I wanted to see, but I didn't get the chance to see until the movie premiered on Showtime a couple of days ago. Is it as good as people say it is? Yes and then some.

This time is 1963. A spunky journalist who recently graduated from Ole Miss, Skeeter (Roberts) has a hard time adjusting to the crusty society of Jackson, Mississippi. Skeeter's quietly observed the way that her childhood friends treat the maids working for them. Skeeter wants to be a serious writer instead of doing a cleaning advice column. She tries to enlist the help of Aibileen Clark (Davis) and her sassy friend, Minny (Spenser) to write a book about the lives of the help. Tentative at first, they decided to try to make a difference and instill some change for generations to come.

This movie is beautiful beyond words. I could not believe that this white women would treated people like they were a dog. I know that I did not live during that time. My mom, late dad, aunties and uncles lived through that time where everything was separate but equal. Colored people did not have many opportunities in those days. People criticized the movie for the language that they speak. It's not correct English. People need to understand that the black people were not allowed to be educated. Some had to drop out of school to support the family. If this is the kind of movie that gets made, there is something wrong with Hollywood not giving black writers and filmmakers many chances. I was not offended with the movie. It made me proud that a movie like this exists.

I have to talk about the performances. I know that the movie movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and two Supporting Actress nods. I love the cast, but I thought to myself, "Why was Jessica Chastain nominated for this movie?" I felt like it was a bit part like the other ladies. She didn't have that much to do. Octavia Spencer who won the Oscar for role of Minny is likable, but I didn't think it warranted an Oscar. The other performances must have been really weak. I am not knocking on Spencer's talent. I think it was wasn't Oscar worthy in my opinion. I thought Viola Davis really deserved her nomination. She made me laugh and cry at the same thing. I wanted hear to be okay and pulled through.

It is a great example of how a newcomer can make a movie that no one else would make. Thank you, Tate Taylor.

My Rating