Mary Queen of Scots

First Hit: Saoirse Ronan (Mary Stuart) and Margot Robbie (Queen Elizabeth 1) give powerful performances in this adaptation of how Mary Queen of Scots tried to claim her title to the throne of England and Scotland.

Mary, by lineage, had rights to the throne of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales but her upbringing in France, that she was Catholic, and that her cousin Elizabeth also had throne rights to England, Wales, and Ireland, caused her to fight to claim her sovereignty.

At six days old, Mary was enthroned as Scotland’s ruler. However, Mary was raised in France and as a Catholic. Because England had long since rooted out Catholicism and the control of the Vatican over their nation, this Protestant nation was at odds with Mary claiming England’s throne while being Catholic.

After Mary lost her first husband in France, Mary came to Scotland to rule her country. She longed and aspired to rule England as well under a single throne. Although popular with her subjects, often because of her religious tolerance, she was manipulated by her supporting cast and therefore struggled to rule effectively over men, the lords of her land.

Mary realized that if she got pregnant and Elizabeth didn’t, her child would be heir to the throne of both English the territories and Scotland. Mary took on her second husband who did impregnate her although he wasn’t attracted to women and preferred one of Mary’s gay servants. Elizabeth didn’t have any desire to have children although her court tried and begged her to wed and have a child. She didn’t want men to have power over her and that meant in the bedroom as well.

Both queens were reviled by the men in their court. Elizabeth dealt with this prejudice in ways that allowed her to be less affected by this sexism.

Mary’s behavior, intelligence, and open heart allowed her to be threatened by her advisory court and therefore a coup took place. She was driven to England as Elizabeth told Mary she’d be safe in there. Her son James VI, however, was left in Scotland and eventually after Elizabeth’s death became ruler of England and Scotland.

Elizabeth suffered from smallpox and the makeup effectively portrayed how badly this affected her facial features. In the film Elizabeth sometimes wore white pancake powder to cover the scars on her face.

After escaping Scotland, without child, Mary was imprisoned for some eighteen years prior to Elizabeth having her killed.

The film begins with Mary being walked to her beheading and then ends with her beheading.

Because this was the 16th Century most of the film has a darkness to it. Fires in fireplaces and candles were the only light in the dank stone castles. However, Mary’s fire red hair along with the very stylistic hair designs brought powerful color to the screen as did Elizabeth’s wig and makeup.

Ronan is amazing. As probably one of the greatest young actors of our time, this film is yet another powerful entry in her resume. Robbie is fantastic as the strong thoughtful Elizabeth. Although there are a host of other actors in this film, they are minor characters to the power brought forth by these two women. Beau Williams wrote a strong screenplay that highlighted the differences between these two powerful women. Josie Rourke did an excellent job of showing the difficulties women in the throne faced by men who believed they knew better.

Overall: The film is lifted by the superb acting from Ronan and Robbie.

Vice

First Hit: I liked this oddly created film about a powerful yet enigmatic man who really ran our country for a period of time.

Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) powerfully found his way into and as a guiding influence in our government especially during the President George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) years.

The scene that points out his guile was when during the transition from Clinton to Bush, when he, not only had is standard office in the Senate (as a tie-breaker vote), but also had his team find an office in the House side of Congress (that’s where the money bills are created), in the Defense Department, and other places in the seat of our government. He moved in and out of these offices to wield the influence of the Executive branch where ever he could.A

He believed in the Unitary executive theory whereas the President possesses the power to control the entire executive branch of government. Sort of like Nixon’s belief when interviewed by David Frost; “If the President does it, it isn’t against the law.” Cheney believed he, as the lever puller for George Bush, he could do no wrong and nothing he did was illegal. A couple of his feats include; torture of captured combatants, invading Iraq when there was no proof that the country had anything to do with September 11 attack on world trade towers.

It was a focus group that indicated that the American public wanted a country as an enemy and not a concept (Al-Qaeda), so we invaded Iraq, because both Bush, H. W. Bush, and Cheney had wanted to this for a long time. This is just a smattering of the bold divisive actions Cheney took as VP.

We see his earlier years as a college drunken mess. His stint as a lineman in Wyoming. Drinking and fighting in bars after work. His comeuppance by his wife Lynne (Amy Adams), who said after one drunken bout, you either shape up or ship out.

He does shape up and becomes an intern in Congress working for Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) – (the truth is that he worked for Congressman William A. Steiger), then into the White House, eventually rising to Chief of Staff for Gerald Ford (Bill Camp). Then he was elected to Wyoming’s only Congressional seat. This was followed by becoming Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush and oversaw Desert Storm, which he believed didn’t go far enough.

The film shows many of these events with sincerity while mixing in scenes with a level of irreverence, and also scenes of Cheney fly fishing in Wyoming. But watching Dick and George’s mistake in both leaving Iraq while pumping up a radical person, resulted in ISIS (Desh). These mistakes are Bush’s and Cheney’s legacy.

Like with the Big Short, director Adam McKay mixes his film’s stories up in ways that various impacts on people. For me this approach was effective, but it was Bale’s Cheney that was amazing.

Bale was Cheney. I believed I was seeing the real guy on the screen. Nothing he did seemed out of character with whom the public knew something about but not how the man thought. And even with this film, most of Cheney’s screen time is watching him think. He wasn’t an impulsive man, that’s clear. Adams was fantastic as Lynne Cheney. Her drive and power over Dick were clear and direct. Carell as Rumsfeld was strong. I never got much of an impression from the real Rumsfeld through his brief public appearances so I’ve nothing to compare this performance to. Rockwell was wonderfully cast as George W. Bush. His breezy, thoughtless manner comes through just as one saw the real Bush in public. Justin Kirk as Scooter Libby was good. LisaGay Hamilton played Condoleezza Rice one of the people Cheney didn’t see eye to eye with. Tyler Perry played Colin Powell who reluctantly spoke at the UN for the bombing of Iraq, although he never believed it was the right thing to do. Alison Pill played Cheney’s older gay daughter Mary whom is stood behind by her family early on in the film and then when the younger daughter Liz (Lily Rabe) runs for office, Dick turns against Mary’s lesbian ways so that Liz can get elected as the Representative of Wyoming. Power was what drove Dick in life and not even family got in the way. Adam McKay wrote an interesting script that reflects the way he likes to create a movie. Dancing across the information while willing to mix it up in ways that are different. I happen to like it.

Overall: The acting is superb and the way this story is told is probably not everyone’s cup of tea.

The Front Runner

First Hit: I liked the feel of the film in that it felt almost documentary like versus a deep dive into the character(s).

Like Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) the candidate himself, the film didn’t go into his feelings or into the deeply personal aspects of the main character. Gary, as portrayed here, only wanted it to be about good ideas, a government that runs well, a government that focuses on people, and a strong ethical honest government.

The problem is that he didn’t think the public's opinion about his ethics towards his marriage and wife mattered. Gary comes across as if the big picture of what he represented for government was the only thing worth discussing and everything else he was above discussing. This was his downfall, because as we know, people must also relate to a Presidential candidate at a personal level as well and if they cannot, any flaws that are publicly played out will find a life of their own and possibly doom the candidacy.

His wife, Lee Hart (Vera Farmiga), liked her life living on a Colorado ranch and didn’t like engaging with and traveling with Gary as he campaigned for President. The scenes where Gary and Lee are together, were strong in how they related to each other at a level that worked for them and maybe it wasn’t typical.

In one scene, Lee states, “I only asked that you not embarrass me.” He did embarrass Lee and did so by attending a gathering of supporters on a boat called “Monkey Business” where he met a young woman named Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). The press then, and a little in the film, made fun of where he met Donna Rice, a young beautiful blonde and smart (graduated “summa cum laude”) woman. Hart’s disdain for the party and the people on the boat, except Donna, is aptly shown.

In press interviews, like on the boat, Gary only wanted to talk about the important stuff and this philosophy was echoed by his campaign manager Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons). They didn’t want to appear on food shows or go to fairs in Iowa. He didn’t want to be asked about what he liked and, on the occasion, where he’d show up to a public event, like the lumberjack contest, he wanted to be seen as honest, strong, and the man with the answers who could also throw an axe.

The film floats, with distance from all the characters, from scene to scene. We pop into press briefings, strategy sessions, team meetings, telephone calls, press interviews. Everything is done with some distance except when Donna and Irene Kelly (Molly Ephraim) spend time together as Donna gets moved out of Washington DC, where she had a tryst with Gary, and back to Miami FL.

The scene when Donna goes down the escalator in Miami’s airport is heartbreaking because she’s alone and Irene can no longer help her. Irene sitting at the bar, is so telling.

With a slight distance, we watch newspaper editors discussing covering Hart and reporters doing their job of digging up stories that either support or do not support the candidate. The Washington Post reporter Roy Valentine (Nyasha Hatendi) interview with Gary and the press interview where Roy asks very poignant questions were very powerful scenes. The breakdown of Gary’s façade was perfect.

When his team learns, that Gary is leaving the presidential race, the team, who so believed in him, are disappointed, and it shows.

Jackman was excellent as the handsome, smart politician with great hair, Gary Hart. His ability to keep people at a distance, while drawing them in with his ideas was perfect. Farmiga was wonderful as Lee Hart. Her hurt was appropriately displayed while showing her strong independent nature as well. Hatendi was outstanding as the reporter learning the ropes of asking the hard questions. Loved the scene in the final press briefing Gary gave. Ephraim was sublime as the key woman on Gary’s campaign team, who also had a heart. When she asked Gary at dinner about how Donna was doing, his response showed so well on her face. Simmons was great as Gary’s campaign manager. His distaste for making it personal was perfectly aligned with Gary’s view of the world, until it didn’t. Paxton was wonderful as Donna. I loved her telling Irene about her previous boyfriends over drinks. Matt Bai, Jay Carson, Jason Reitman wrote a strong telling script that was well executed by director Reitman.

Overall: I liked how story played out on film.

At Eternity's Gate

First Hit: I both learned something about Vincent van Gogh and enjoyed the film's journey about this amazing painter.

I love van Gogh’s work. Next to Mark Rothko, he’s my favorite artist. Early in this film, van Gogh (Willem Dafoe) is shown walking towards a young woman tending her flock. He says he wants to draw her, then we fade into scenes where we watch Vincent in nature looking for something that grabs him, so he can stop and paint.

The film emphasizes that van Gogh liked to paint in one swoop – meaning what he saw and felt internally in that moment had to be completely documented and painted in one attempt.

The film also noted that Vincent ate poorly, sometimes only existing on bread and booze. He also drank heavily possibly to quiet the raging internal voices.

Often, van Gogh states that painting was the only thing he knew how to do. At one point he claims that when he paints, it's the only time, he finds internal peace and mental quiet. It was, as one told him, his meditation. He stated there were occasions where he didn’t remember events and what happened to him, and as a result of these events, he found himself in trouble or a mental hospital.

The film gave a significant amount of time towards his friendship towards fellow painter Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac), who was discovering some success. Although their styles were different and they argued a lot, there was a friendship between them. Vincent was more dependent on the relationship. Gauguin pushed van Gogh to take his time, consider the canvas and how the paint adheres to the canvas while painting, while van Gogh kept saying, one must work quickly to catch the feeling given the artist in that moment. Use color and paint to show the power being shown the artist.

Theo (Rupert Friend), Vincent’s brother, supported Vincent by sending him money each month. Vincent would spend the money on painting supplies because as later shown, Vincent was a prolific painter. He created some 2,100 pieces of art and 860 of them oil paintings.

As he delved into his style of bold expressive colors, painted impulsively and dramatically. His brother tried selling his art as his agent, but nobody wanted to buy the paintings. He also drew drawings in an accountant’s ledger book, which according to the film wasn’t found (discovered) until 2016.

The film gets back to the opening sequence with the young lady with her flock. The encounter doesn’t end well and was one reason he found himself in a sanitorium or hospital. Vincent had internal demons it was situations, such as these, that he didn’t remember, that caused him to be a scary person to others.

For someone who was rejected by his fellow artists and the world back then, today his paintings can demand in excess of $50m each.

There has been some controversy about how Vincent died. It’s been said and written that the gunshot stomach wound he had was self-inflicted, however, the film has it that he was shot by one of the two young men that were robbing him of his supplies while he was out painting one day.

Dafoe was very strong as van Gogh. His rough angular face looked much like van Gogh’s might have looked like. But it was Dafoe’s eyes that shared the intensity and other worldly nature of artist. Isaac was strong as Gauguin. Friend was very good as Vincent’s brother Theo. Jean-Claude Carriere and Julian Schnabel wrote this interesting dialogue. Schnabel did a wonderful job of creating scenes that kept me visually and mentally engaged.

Overall:I felt like it must have been very difficult to be Vincent van Gogh – if he only knew how his great work would finally be accepted.

The Favourite

First Hit: A stark, intense musical score underscores the bizarre and tension filled interrelationships between the queen and her court.

The film is bizarre in that it always feels like it’s on the edge of chaos in both the way the film is presented and in its content. There are a couple of dance scenes, where it appears that the dancers are doing very traditional 18^th century dance, then there are moves that are contemporary in nature.

Would one really believe that a queen would purposefully throw herself on the floor, cry and scream, in front of her government? Would the queen purposefully fall down and fake a fainting spell while addressing Parliament because she doesn’t know what to do?

These on the edge of reality scenes are mixed with scenes that reflect the time period. Yet the costumes are angularly odd in their accurateness, restrictiveness, and color. The use of blacks and dark colors in odd angles for the Queen and her immediate court were inspired and pointed in the feeling they created for the audience.

Under it all was this music. Sometimes it was just two notes, one sounding like it came from a keyboard and a dissonant one from a violin in a scratchy intense tone. Back and forth these notes went while growing in volume creating tenseness.

Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman) is a mixed-up individual and leader of England. She’s ill-informed, helpless, petulant, inquisitive, always  feels victimized, a baby, and a physical wreck.

In odd scenes we see her stuffing her mouth with cake, throwing up, all while playing a game of solitary. Or deciding to build a huge palace for her right-hand woman Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz). The palace she wants to build for Sarah is huge and in celebration of winning the war with France. When Sarah indicates that England has only won a battle not the war, the queens states “oh, I didn’t know that.”

Sarah cares about the government, makes most all the decisions, is strong willed, cares for the queen, driven to keep the queen’s childish ways from ruining England, and sleeps with the queen providing her with sexual pleasure.

Abigail (Emma Stone) enters the court early as a kitchen worker. She was once a Lady of fine standing, but her family fell on hard times, and since then she’s been tossed around the country as sort of a homeless rag doll. She's all about self-preservation. She knows Lady Sarah from her prosperous earlier times and when Sarah discovers that Abigail is part of the queen’s home, Sarah decides to keep tabs on Abigail by making her a personal servant.

Abigail, we learn early on, is out for herself and discovers that she likes the queen, sees that the queen is manipulable, and knows that if she can get in the queen’s good graces, she will make a better life for herself. When Abigail manipulates the queen into letting her marry one of the queen's court, we see how interested she is in loving her new husband on their wedding night as she services him while dreaming up new ways to cement her relationship with the queen.

The battle lines are drawn between Abigail and Sarah; who will become the queen’s favourite?

Coleman is unbelievable. Her ability to show compassion, petulance, chronic illness, being uninterested, and all the time being head of state was fascinatingly amazing. She will get an academy award nod for this performance. Weisz continues to show me, time and time again, how powerful she is at carrying an underlying tones and feelings while outwardly showing something different. Her performance here is outstanding and deserving of an award nod. Stone is sublime in this quirky role of self-preservation. She is both raw and sweet while being kind and conniving. Another award-winning performance. There are many other actors in this film, all giving wonderful performances. The wildly quirky and strangely interesting screenplay was created by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Mixing this brew of a bold visionary story, powerful music, and a cast of gifted actors was the clearly deft hand of direction by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Overall: This was a strange brew of color, sound, and dialogue in scenes that seemed to always teeter on the edge of sanity.