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Flash Movie Review: Chevalier
ONE OF THE FITNESS CLASSES I taught had a weird dynamic. Well, at least it was weird to me. It was one of my larger classes where the members filled the entire studio. Things have changed but some time ago, aerobic classes were filled predominantly with women; most men felt self-conscious, based on my own personal survey. I would try to coax them in when I was working out on the fitness floor, but they had this unwarranted fear that they would look “stupid” and be looked down upon by the class. The reason why I said this class had a weird dynamic was because it had several men in it. One man was six feet five inches tall, with a massive build; there was no way he could blend into class. I remember the first time he walked into the classroom. Like I did with any new person, I went up to talk to him. The reason he came in was because his wife was a participant in my class and told him he would be surprised by it. What I noticed most when he found a place to stand in class was how the members around him were looking and making eyes at each other. I knew that look; it was because of his size. I was sure they assumed he would not be able to do any of the exercises or moves. Unbeknownst to any of us, his wife gave him some pointers and he did fantastic. At the end of class, drenched in sweat, he came up and thanked me. FROM THAT EXPERIENCE, I REMAINED ATTUNED to watching how participants reacted to new people in class. There was another man who started coming to the same class. From introducing myself to him, I discovered he purposely chose my class to attend because it incorporated more dance moves than other classes. Being thin and trim already, I soon realized some of the female members were always trying to stand close to him. It was amusing to me. His moves were smooth and always on the beat; I knew he had to have had some dance training, even if it was just going out to clubs at night. Where some of the members avoided the large man, others were striving to get close to this other man because of his looks. The reason I know this to be a fact is because he told me at some point a member was asking if he was single. This is the weird dynamic I was speaking of. Because I always focused on internal qualities like brains, humor, and empathy with dating prospects; I get fascinated when people express their desires for external things like height, hair and weight. Now here is the kicker; several months later this thin man disappeared from class and the fitness center. Then one day all the newspapers came out with a photograph of him on the front pages. He was arrested and charged with killing his roommate. One of my first thoughts was how ironic all of this became. As they say, “Never judge a book by its cover,” nor should one judge this historical drama by its cover. WITH HIS MOTHER TAKEN AWAY AND his father abandoning him, a young boy soon realizes he would need to be the best he can be if he wanted to survive in a world, he was not meant to be in. With Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Monsters and Men, It Comes at Night) as Joseph, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Snake Eyes) as Marie-Josephine, Lucy Boynton (Murder on the Orient Express, Bohemian Rhapsody) as Marie Antoinette, Ronke Adekoluejo (Been So Long, Christopher Robin) as Nanon and Marton Csokas (The Last Dual, The Equalizer) as Marquis De Montalembert; this film based on a factual story intrigued me deeply. Having been raised early on with classical music, I was stunned to find out there was truth to this story. The acting was right in synch with the character representation, especially from Kelvin. I will say I enjoyed the first half of the film more than the last half, simply because towards the end the script started becoming a generic version of itself and turning predictable. The script could have used more punch to keep things exciting as they were in the beginning. This was such a fascinating story, and I appreciated the extra knowledge offered before the ending credits.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Burn Your Maps
I KNEW THEY WERE EXPECTING THEIR baby soon but did not know exactly when. As far as I heard the pregnancy had been going relatively smoothly, just the typical things like swollen ankles and nausea were being experienced. When word finally came that the baby was born, everyone was happy to get the news. Along with the baby’s name, we were told about the baby’s length, weight and their full head of hair. However, along with this news there was a request to hold off calling the family because the baby had some complications that needed to be addressed. As you can imagine, everyone wanted to know what was going on but refrained from asking, respecting the new parents’ wishes. For the next couple of weeks, all of us would ask each other if there was any news about the baby. If one person found out something, the news quickly spread amongst us. I was told the baby was still in the hospital and had gone through a couple of procedures. Upon getting such news my instinct was to reach out to the parents, but they early on reinforced their desire not to be contacted due to their hectic schedule for taking care of the baby’s needs, besides being present for their other child. AS THE WEEKS PASSED BY WITH little news, everyone’s attention began to wane ever so slightly. Without getting any updates, it felt as if there was this big hole that was slowly getting filled back up with daily living; that is for everyone except the new parents. At some point word came out the baby was being released from the hospital and would be coming home. We were excited by the news but there was an ominous message included with it; the parents requested if everyone would not ask them how the baby was doing. The only thing they shared was that the baby had been born with a genetic defect and would not grow up in a normal way. This was hard to hear; all of us were feeling helpless. We wanted to do something, even if we could send disposable diapers or formula, anything to try and help. Without any direction we were at a loss and could only keep the family in our thoughts and prayers. I could not imagine how the parents were handling the situation without some kind of outlet to vent, talk, scream, whatever needed to be done to try and find some balance in their life. I felt the same way about the married couple in this comedic, drama adventure. THEIR SON’S OBSESSION WITH MONGOLIA AND belief that he was a goat herder was causing a rift in the family structure. One parent appreciated the vivid imagination, while the other was afraid their son would be ostracized in school. With Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Departed) as Alise, Marton Csokas (The Equalizer, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Connor, Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder) as Wes, Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi, The Million Dollar Arm) as Ismail and Virginia Madsen (Dune, Sideways) as Victoria; this movie survived on the strength of its cast. The acting was excellent, once again I am so impressed with Jacob’s abilities. He just doesn’t take on a character, he becomes them. My issue with this film was the script. I felt the story was uneven due to the swings between the dramatic and comedic scenes. It felt as if the core of the story was getting shortchanged in its development. Also, there were a couple of scenes that seemed farfetched to me. If I did not enjoy watching the cast as much as I did, I am not sure I would have finished watching this picture. On the other hand, being a strong proponent of communicating, I appreciated what the story did to advocate it.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Loving
THE first time I heard that word being hurled at me I knew it would not be the last time. What I did not know was once a person was labeled by that word, no matter what they achieved, most of their peers would still only see a f-a-t person. Around the same time I remember a classroom discussion about race. A little boy in class asked the teacher why some people’s skin was a different color. I still recall what the teacher said to us. She told the class all it meant was that person’s family, from a very long time ago, was born in a different part of the world. The closer to the equator, the darker the person’s skin would be is how she described it. This bit of information turned into a game outside of class, where students would guess where a person’s grandparents were born based on the color of the skin on a person. NOW fast forward to high school my freshman year; we heard a rumor there was a time when girls were not allowed to wear pants in school. You can imagine how astonished we were on this bit of news. It turned out it was true; if you were female then you had to wear a skirt or dress to school. I could not understand what possible reason did the administration have for such a ridiculous rule. Past my school years when I was living in the city in my first apartment, I was walking down the street. Two guys were walking in my direction but I did not pay attention since there was a variety of shoppers on the street. Just as we were coming shoulder to shoulder the guy closest to me punched me in the face and I staggered back into a plate glass window. Either they did it for some initiation or they just did not like the way I looked. For 2 1/2 decades I had experienced actions based on looks, why was there such a preoccupation with it? MILDRED and Richard, played by Ruth Nega (World War Z, The Samaritan) and Joel Egerton (The Gift, Black Mass), were deeply in love. Their love however was not right according to some of their neighbors. Based on a true story this dramatic biography set during the 1950s in Virginia had such an important story to tell. With Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings franchise, The Equalizer) as Sheriff Brooks and Nick Kroll (Adult Beginners; I Love You, Man) as Bernie Cohen, the actors were all good; however, Joel and Ruth were incredible and Ruth deserves an Oscar nomination. For this story I felt the script could have done a better job in telling the story. I wanted to know how Mildred and Richard met considering the obvious racial divide that was on display. There was a subdued nature to the telling of this story, both the written word and the directing of scenes. At the end of the film I had a mixture of feelings. On the one hand one could say we have come a long way from this story; but on the other hand, the hate I am currently seeing in the world makes it seem as if nothing has changed. Hate is the new black.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Equalizer
I believe everyone has at one time experienced some form of injustice. There are all kinds of injustice; some more powerful than others. How many of us have felt we were unfairly treated by someone in a customer service role, either in person or on a toll free number? I would guess nearly all of us. This type of scenario has more to do with poor training than some form of discrimination. Speaking from personal experience, more times than not if you end the conversation and try again later for someone different they may be able to resolve your issue. You just need to get the person who is better trained. Now there are some forms of injustice that are more serious. The guy walking down the street, minding his own business, when a small group of young adults push him down as they walk by, just because they did not like the way he looked could make you angry. However, there is little you could do without becoming a victim yourself; so you wait until the punks are far enough away to go over and help the fallen man. Having seen more than my share of injustices, I am intimately familiar with the anger that wells up inside and the frustration that takes over because there is not a damn thing I could do to stop it. HAVING left his former ways behind him Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli, The Great Debaters), could not sit back and watch the mistreatment of young Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz (If I Stay, Let Me In). His actions would not go unnoticed. I have to give credit to Denzel for putting in a strong performance. In the recent past I felt he was showing us he could act instead of simply acting and in this crime thriller he was very much his character Robert. The other excellent performance was by Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings franchise, Noah) as Teddy. Visually I found this crime film interesting to watch with its great camera angles; it was a plus for the dynamic fight scenes. Unfortunately the story could not keep the good parts together. With a slow build-up, I found things were getting sillier as the movie progressed. There were some unanswered questions I had by the end of the film which left me somewhat unsatisfied. I can only assume the movie studio is hoping for this to become a franchise. Not that I want to judge the idea unfairly, but if the studio wants to go forward they would need a better script next time. There were several scenes with blood and violence.
2 1/2 stars
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