Eighth Grade [2018] review

Bravo to Bo Burnham and Elsie Fisher.  They really did capture what 8th grade felt like and I was pleasantly surprised how much I cared about Elsie's character Kayla when I didn't really know much about her.  Like many of us who might have felt like outcasts or who weren't socially accepted, she gave great advice that she couldn't really herself simply out of fear of being rejected, but she did try.  

The humor was very subtle which fit for this film.  I did enjoy when I got the chance to laugh out loud with the cast, especially during the scene when Kayla and Gabe dinner scene.

Her father did an excellent job - trying to play it cool, but not too cool, and also wanting to be there for his daughter.  I thought they worked well together.  I also liked when they introduced the character of Olivia.  The movie needed that outgoing friendly person to help Kayla on her journey and it gave us hope that things might be okay.

In the end, there isn't a huge revelation why Kayla is the way she is.  They don't dig into her mental health, or go on in length about the absent mother, or what the father does for a living, or feel the need to have an adult step in and be a voice of reason.  The movie presents a serious of simple experiences and puts an awkward teen said experiences, and the result felt very genuine.  Personally I was transported right back to 8th grade.  I can see why it has a 99% on RT and I definitely recommend it.

Glory [1989] review

It's the time during the Civil War.  As a non-war expert, the audience is given dates of certain events, but since I don't know the specific start or end dates, I wasn't sure at what point in the war these events were happening and if they were building towards a large battle.  So plot aside, racism is at the front and center.  The audience is constantly reminded through the dialogue and actions of the cast.  Matthew Broderick's character of Colonel Shaw appears to have no racist bone in his body, but his flaw is that he's pretty clueless on how to run his own command so he has to rely on a lot of help.  Unfortunately the help is also racist, on both sides of the coin.  

The orchestral score does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to emotion.  Early in the movie when Col. Shaw informs those under his command that General Lee has decreed that any black person fighting for the North will be executed and when the fighting is over those black people must also return to a life of slavery.  Shaw expects his entire company to quit.  The next morning when he asks his second in command, Mayor Forbes (Cary Elwes) how many soldiers are left, the music swells as Shaw turns a corner to see that no one quit and everyone stayed.  The music swells again when the soldiers get new shoes and uniforms and when they finally get their first real assignment.

Outside of that, the biggest stars of this movie were Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington (who I later learned received a Best Supporting Academy Award for his role).  Denzel doesn't chew the scenery as he would in later movies, but you can see the seeds of it start here.  He does an excellent job of crying on command and you truly care about what happens to him, Morgan Freeman's characters, and the other troops.  Speaking of the other troops, Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) also does an excellent job in his role.

Overall, the plot isn't important, and the main message is that racism is bad (obviously).  The writers and director must have felt that the American people need that reminder, whether it comes in the form of this movie in the 1990s, or we get a more recent reminder with the films honored during the 2018 Academy Awards.

A Star Is Born [2018] review

Personally, my biggest problem with this movie was that initially I could only see Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.  Who I needed to see was Jack and Ally.  When the movie started, I began to get Jack as a character, the nooses on the billboard as he coughed and drank from his limo, just looking for any bar to satisfy his addiction.  But then the movie switched to Ally, who I guess sucks at her job and gets yelled at, but all I see is Lady Gaga and knowing that she is the star "to be born" and knowing she's already a huge musical star, I found it a little hard to get past to just see her as "Ally - no name girl going no where in life that happens to strike gold".  Then for her to punch the guy in the bar... I know it was needed to move the story along and for her and Jack to bond outside the supermarket, but it just felt out of character for her from the little I knew about her.  Is she a hot head all the time?  Is she potentially violent?  Who is this girl?  All I know is that she's Lady Gaga, but I'm supposed to see her as Ally and it's not quite jelling with me yet. (Maybe it's probably because she's not a great actress, super talented musically, but not an actor.)

So things start to happen for Ally very fast and I like that the movie picked up steam here as she needed to decide whether to go for it or just stay at her job.  We begin to get more love story, but we're reminded that Jack is broken, losing his hearing, alcoholic, doesn't get along with his brother so my focus is caring about him and not Ally at this point.  I was surprised when Shallow came so soon in the movie, as I thought it would be the big number later, but it was perfectly placed. Then my mind started to leave the movie world and enter the logical world as Allly began to rise from a nobody to a somebody and she's writing music with Jack and touring on Jack's tour, what happens to her if her and Jack break up?  Who owns the music they wrote?  Does Jack?  Would Ally just fade away?  I started to become concerned with her and then shortly after questioning that, in walks in new character - ass hole music producer.  Good, this is what my logical brain needed.

So as Ally's star burns brighter, Jack's brother quits his tour, and Jack and Ally somehow continue to work professionally and personally, but then they start to take different paths musically.  Ally is shown to have a few flaws with firing her dancers and butting heads with her producer, but then eventually listens.  She continues to rise and Jack continues to fall, and I thought it was a great contrast in telling the story.  

I thought the movie was shot very well and while I didn't initially get sucked in, it wasn't until the last 45 minutes or so that I really cared about Jack and Ally and I saw the characters and not the actors.  I don't know if it was just me, but I was entertained and intrigued the whole time so I'd definitely recommend it.