Harry Belafonte chose to produce this captivating, potent film (1970) of Bernard Malamud’s story The Angel Levine as his come-back after a decade-long absence from movies. He stars alongside the excellent Zero Mostel (as the elderly impoverished Morris Mishkin) and the magnificent Yiddish stage actress Ida Kamińska (as Mishkin’s dying wife.) Belafonte plays the Jewish Angel Levine, or rather an apprentice angel who, in order to earn his wings, needs to convince the exhausted tailor Mishkin to believe in him. The two men grapple with issues of race, love, ethics, and friendship as the Angel tries to overcome Mishkin’s skepticism.
Take one of the greatest writers in English (Jane Austen); select her feistiest and most complex heroine (Emma); emphasize the comedy and the emotional transformation; film in really ornate grandiose estates; add in a scintillating cast that includes Bill Nighy and Miranda Hart and voila! – you’ve got a captivating film.
Just Mercy: Bring a hanky for this gripping torn-from-the-headlines story about a young Black lawyer (Jordan) leaving Harvard to fight wrongful convictions in Alabama. He meets a prisoner who has been framed (Foxx) for the murder of a young white woman and is now sitting on death row. The Black community understands, as one character says, that in the eyes of the criminal “justice” system, they are “Guilty from the moment you born.”
How can the Academy include a lightweight “Marriage Story,” and snub “Just Mercy” for Best Picture? Foul!
This South Korean film won the Golden Globe’s Best Film in a “foreign” language. The director Bong Joon Ho gave such a cool 1 minute acceptance speech that I’ve linked to the clip below. Parasite is all about class war and the unbridgeable divide between employer and employee. It highlights how poor people end up screwing each other over crumbs, while the rich are blind to their lives, even when their workers are quite literally up to their ears in sewage. The one burst of violence didn’t put me off. The painful upstairs / way, way downstairs visuals are muscular.
Greta Gerwig's enthralling Little Women is a creative retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s book, incorporating a ton of flashbacks and hugs. I welcomed the emphasis on Jo March as a writer trying to sell her work: her doubts, her process, her setbacks, the moment she holds her first book in her hands. Other than Laura Dern as the mother, the acting is strong. Gerwig has given the sisters a decidedly 20th C consciousness about the role of women, but when Jo sells her hair for money for the family, their shock is every dyke’s delight. Highly recommended, but bring tissues.
I needed that. Lightweight, witty, ornate – and everyone seems poised to live happily ever after. There’s romance, intrigue, royals, and delicious snark between Violet Crawley (Maggie Smith) and Isobel Merton (Penelope Wilton). Lucy’s entry (Tuppence Middleton) – with kisses for Tom (Allen Leech) – hints of a welcome sequel on the horizon.
Now here’s a documentary to see, indeed. Molly Ivins started her life of raising hell by resisting her rich authoritarian father. ‘I remember my dad and his friends sitting around fixing the price of oil.’ Later she said, “My teenage rebellion lasted 35 years.” Six feet tall and a devoted intellectual, her young years reading in her bedroom well prepared her to be a rebellious journalist who splintered glass ceilings and spoke truth to power. Her hilarious wit – unfortunately fueled by heavy drinking – and the confidence privileged kids inherit, combined to make her a sterling, popular syndicated journalist and author.
Combine Toni Morrison’s fascinating life and fulsome talent with an elegant documentarian, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and you get that rare film that is both comely and edifying. Add in talking heads who love Morrison – from Angela Davis to Oprah to Walter Mosley to Fran Lebowitz – and you have a wondrous film. The racism and sexism she faced in her eventual journey to the Nobel Prize were countered by the 48 black writers who signed a statement deploring the lack of establishment recognition for her. Greenfield-Sanders showcases not only Morrison’s personal beauty, but also the soothing Hudson River view from her home.
Do you want to take a break? Do you want music that lifts you up, talent that brings tears, and comfort all around.
Go see the movie of Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace, made in 1972 when she was already a massive star. I fell in love with her brilliant, warm mentor James Cleveland and was moved by his Southern California Community Choir. Most of all, I was transfixed by Aretha Franklin's transcendent voice, which is a crucial part of the soundtrack of my life – and that of several generations.
The film was shot during the making of "Amazing Grace, which was both Aretha’s biggest selling album and – to this day – the best-selling live gospel album ever. Sydney Pollack, who was directing for Warner Brothers, made a terrible technical error, which left the audio out of sync. Producer Alan Elliott devoted decades to saving the film, but faced a lot of resistance, including from Aretha herself. A new technical fix and Aretha’s death allowed him to bring it to us now.
It is raw and real and sweaty and full of bloopers, such as the film crew stepping in front of the camera by accident or turning up behind Aretha messing with wires. Interesting guests dot the audience – from her father (oddly invited last minute) to Mick Jagger, hanging out in the back of the room. The vast majority of the audience is members of a Los Angeles Baptist church where they filmed over two nights.
It's simply wonderful. “Don’t bother with tissues. Bring a towel,” said The New York Times.
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