Women Talking

Women Talking (2022)

Directed by Sarah Polley

Screenplay by Sarah Polley and Miriam Toews

Based on the novel by Miriam Toews

Stars: Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, Kate Hallett, Liv McNeil, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, and Frances McDormand

There is a lot of buzz surrounding this movie since TIFF. Those Oscar movies really want to go hard in the last week of December. Seeing the movie, I can see why people are loving this.

It is 2010. A small colony is rocked by the realization that most of the men in the community have raped the women in the middle of the night. It has been going on for years. A perpetrator has been caught and sent to jail. While most of the elder men leave to bail the suspect out, the women must decide to either forgive the men for what they have done, stay and fight the men or leave the colony.

I am not familiar with the story of the women in this particular story. The decision that they made must have been incredibly hard to do. Your whole world is turned upside down by the actions of awful people in your community.

There was a lot of buzz with Jessie Buckley as Mariche, Claire Foy as Salome and Ben Whishaw as August. Seeing the movie, I believe that Buckley will probably be the sole acting nomination in the movie. I am not discrediting the other actors. The Academy loves to nominate a performance where a lot happens to them. Mariche goes through it in this film.

This is a visceral experience to witness. This makes me want to read the book.

Rating: 10/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Twenty Two: Carol

Carol (2015)

Directed by Todd Haynes

Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy

Based on the novel, "The Price of Salt" by Patricia Highsmith 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy, John Magaro, and Cory Michael Smith

There have a been a slew of movies that I didn't like as of late. Before watching this movie, I heard from Harper's Bazaar named this one of the best lesbian movies. I would agree. Thank Goddess for Todd Haynes, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

Set around the Christmas season 1952, a shopgirl turned aspiring photographer, Therese (Mara) meets unhappy housewife, Carol (Blanchett). They strike up a friendship that leads to more.

Todd Hayne's movies are handled with care and brilliance. This one is up there with Far From Heaven, one of my favorite movies of 2002. I have never been so enthralled with a movie. The costumes, the score, Blanchett, Mara were superb.

The relationship between Therese and Carol is a slow burn. I loved it. The pacing was perfection. I was choked up. I wanted the world for them.

The only thing that bothered me was Mara was put in supporting at the Oscars. She was the co-lead with Blanchett. The audacity of The Weinstein Company for that bullshit.

Rating: 10/10

 

Nightmare Alley

 Nightmare Alley (2021)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan

Based on the novel by Lindsay Gresham

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins and Ron Perlman

Oh, boy. How do I start this? I love Guillermo del Toro. His movies from the past five years have been a miss for me. The Shape of Water was another movie of his that I did not like. I was bored to tears with it, because I could not connect with the characters. It's the same with this movie that I am reviewing.

The visuals of the movie are gorgeous. The costumes, the production design, the cinematography are immaculate, but the biggest problem with this movie is the story. You follow this grifter (Cooper) as he falls into the carny life. The thing is I don't care about Cooper's character, Stanton to get me invested in the story. I was bored to tears with this movie. No character was fully fleshed out. They were cupboard cutouts that could talk. I would rather watch the original Nightmare Alley than this.

Rating: 4/10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Directed by David Fincher

Written by Steven Zaillian

Based on the novel "Män som hatar kvinnor" by Stieg Larsson

Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright,Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson, Geraldine James, Goran Visnjic, Donald Sumpter and Ulf Friberg

This movie was my most anticipated ones that I wanted to see last year, but I had lockout on watching movies last year. I was listening to a podcast and I was compelled with the movie. I did watch the original Swedish movie and reviewed it. The biggest problem I had with that movie was that I thought the pacing in the first half of the movie made it almost unwatchable. This has the opposite reaction.

The film is split between parallel narratives. There is one with Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), a journalist was convicted on libel for publishing a false story about Hans-Erik Wennerström (Friberg). He has to take a leave of absence from his post at Millennium Magazine leaving his sometimes lover, Erika Berger (Wright) in charge. He is summoned by Henrik Vanger (Plummer) to find out who killed his beloved niece, Harriet forty years earlier.

Little does Mikael know, that he was investigated himself by world class hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Mara) who was summoned by Henrik's lawyer, Dirch Frode (Berkoff). Lisbeth is a ward of the state since she was twelve because of a incident that happened when she was twelve. Eventually, the story lines intersect as the two delve into the Vanger mystery.

I have read the English translation of the book and I know that screenwriter Steven Zailian had to cut subplots that were not integral to the main story. I found that like the pacing of this movie better than the original. I was engaged in the mystery even though I knew what was going to happen. A big part of that was the fitting score of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The cinematography was truly extraordinary by Jeff Cronenweth. I'm glad that Fincher did not shy away from the brutality that happened in the book.

The film was nominated for five Oscars including Rooney Mara for Best Actress. I thought that Lisbeth was a meaty part of any woman. There is so much for Mara to do here. I was rooting for her when Lisbeth's case worker, Nils Bjurman (van Wageningen) gets his comeuppance. The only thing I did like was the ending shot of the movie. If you have seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. I mean, really?

I was not bored with the movie. The movie is almost two and half hours long. I was not checking my watch. I was engaged with the narrative.

My Rating