Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Where the Crawdads Sing

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

Several of my friends recommended that I read the book this movie is based on, but I just never got around to it.  Now that I have seen the movie, I wish I would have taken them up on it because I highly enjoyed this movie.  The plot concerns Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who lives with her family in the marshlands of North Carolina.  However, all is not well, as her abusive father drives her mother and siblings to leave one by one until Kya is alone with her father.  Eventually, he, too, abandons her, and she is left to raise herself.  Rumors started to circulate in the small town about the “Marsh Girl” who runs barefoot in the woods and wouldn’t even go to school (and why should she? She speedily learns how cruel kids can be).  This isolates Kya and she grows into a self sufficient and capable teenager, still shunned by those around her who can’t be bothered to learn anything about her except for a couple who run a little store who try to help and support her.  However, she becomes an expert in the denizens of the marsh; and is able to draw realistic pictures of everything from owls to mussels.  Eventually, the mysterious and naïve Kya is attracted to two men from town, both of whom let her down.  Complications ensue when one of her suitors is found dead in the marsh and Kya is put on trial for murder.  One of my favorite actors, David Strathairn, plays her attorney.  No spoilers, but the resolution of her difficulties is uplifting and positive.  I thought this was going to be kind of dumb, but since I hadn’t read the book, I was surprised and intrigued by the mystery of who the killer might be. I also found the variety of her experiences and life so very interesting. This might be a little movie, but the setting is breathtaking and the acting is better than I thought it would be.  I definitely think this movie is worth a look, especially if you are tired of the summer block busters.

The Power of the Dog

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

“The Power of the Dog” has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.  Why, you ask?  Well it is full of great acting, wonderful costumes, and breathtaking scenery.  Will you want to watch it?  My guess is probably not.  In summary, this is a story about two ranching brothers who live in 1925 Montana.  Phil Burbank is a bitter bully who torments his brother, his horse, and anyone else who makes him angry.  Phil is played by Benedict Cumberbatch who speaks in an American accent and is perfectly convincing and menacing in his role.  Phil and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) stop at a prairie restaurant in a small  town to give their men a break on a cattle drive and meet widow Rose played by Kirsten Dunst and her seemingly tender-hearted son, Peter (Kodi Smit McPhee).  After a whirlwind courtship, George marries Rose and she and her son move to the ranch where Phil’s ominous presence and overt bullying cause a change in behavior in both Rose and Peter.  Everything that happens (or doesn’t happen) is so slow and subtle that if you blink, you may miss an important piece of the plot. In fact, you will spend most of the movie waiting for ‘something’ to happen. This is one of those movies that needs 100% of your attention.  By the way, “The Power of the Dog” has nothing to do with dogs for you animal lovers out there, and there is animal abuse depicted that is hard to watch.  That being said, this may be some of the best acting  of Cumberbatch’s career  and I would not be surprised if he won an Oscar.  His performance may be reason enough to see this, although Jesse Plemons really surprised me as the quiet, long-suffering brother.  But the other characters are sketchily drawn and hardly figure in the story. And a lot of what action is depicted is detached and doesn’t really add or detract from the story, and borders on the lightly bizarre at times.  I’ll be honest, after seeing this movie, I had to look up a few things on Google in order to understand exactly what the ending was all about.  That rarely happens to me.  I know this movie is an artistic triumph, but I just can’t give it my highest rating as it was not an enjoyable experience  and I don’t see myself watching it again.  If you end up watching, I would love to hear what you thought!

West Side Story

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

“West Side Story” won 10 Academy Awards in 1961 and two Tonys in 1957.  It was such a smash success that no one thought that it could ever be redone.  That didn’t stop Steven Spielberg though. He had big shoes to fill and boy did he fill them!  The story is essentially the same as that of Romeo and Juliet.  If you are a fan of Shakespeare (and I definitely am), you will appreciate how closely the two stories parallel each other.  Juliet in this case is Maria played flawlessly by newcomer Rachel Zegler.  Romeo’s role goes to  Ansel Elgort who plays the love sick Tony.  Tony used to belong to the Jets, a local gang he started with his friend Riff.  But he is on parole, and has been keeping his distance from the gangs.  They are poor, disadvantaged and angered by the demographic changes in the neighborhood they grew up in.  The immediate object of their hatred, and the perceived reason for all their problems, is the Puerto Rican gang headed by Maria’s brother, Bernardo – the Sharks.  As the rivalry between the two gangs come to a boil, Maria and Tony briefly meet at a community dance, and fall in love.  This forbidden love sparks a full blown rumble that has the expected dire consequences.  Every actor in this movie is ideally suited to their part and they perform perfectly.  Some of the standouts are David Alvarez as Bernardo, Mike Fist as Riff, but especially Ariana DeBose as Anita.  She had a hard row to hoe trying to take on Rita Moreno’s Academy Award winning role as the fiery girlfriend of Bernardo, who loves America.  I was especially heartened to see that Rita Moreno was given a role in this film and she even gets to sing a solo!!  Everything about this is top-notch.  Remember, the great Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein wrote the lyrics and score so you know the songs will be spectacular.   The emotional punch caused by a great director, terrific actors, timeless songs and beautiful cinematography had me in tears at the end.  If you see only one movie this year in a theatre, please let it be this one.  Also, don’t forget the Kleenex.

House of Gucci

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

Wow!  Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” is quite a movie!  This basically true story has it all.  Lady Gaga plays Patrizia, an ambitious party girl who marries into the ultra conservative and super rich House of Gucci.  Adam Driver is Maurizio Gucci, who marries her against his father’s – Rodolfo Gucci played by Jeremy Irons – wishes, and is disinherited.  Rounding out the major players are Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci and Jared Leto (almost unrecognizable) as Paolo Gucci.  They are Maurizio’s uncle and cousin. The plot centers around Patrizia who cajoles, plots, connives and charms Maurizio into taking charge of the Gucci empire – by any means necessary.  Of course, it only ends up destroying the family.  The people in this story are  despicable as they participate in betrayal, tax evasion, back-stabbing, forgery, and even murder.  I am reminded of “The Godfather” in the sense that, at first, you kind of like the characters.  At first! Salma Hayek plays Pina Auriemma who is a television psychic. She advises Patrizia, and as Patrizia and Maurizio’s stars rise, so does hers.  But the greed, jealousy and envy so often at the core of the exercise of wealth based power soon take the auspicious beginnings down the path to turmoil, desperation and an inevitable, futile and sordid end. This is one cautionary movie that will make you glad you were not born into lavish wealth.  Obviously, this is a very adult movie – you would want to leave your children at home. Nonetheless, the acting is superb, the settings extremely well done and the story is engrossing.  I highly recommend this movie for a chance to see the seamy underbelly of the fashion world.

The Card Counter

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

I really like Oscar Isaac, but I did not care for this movie. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t seen the trailer. I felt that “The Card Counter” trailer is very deceptive. I knew it wasn’t going to be a comedy; but it left me with the impression that it would be a little mysterious, but light hearted, revenge motivated sort of story with some clever twists and surprises. Wow was I wrong! Oscar Isaac plays William Tell, an ex-convict who has been released from prison not too long ago. While in prison, he had taught himself how to count cards and he makes a moderate living by moving around the country, winning just enough money in various casinos to get by. He escapes notice, and a subsequent ban, by keeping his winnings low. His life gets complicated when he decides to play in a high stakes poker tournament in order to help an aimless young man (Tye Sheridan) out for revenge against a mutual acquaintance (Willem Dafoe) with a dark and cruel past. Even the addition of Tiffany Haddish as his contact and controller, La Linda, doesn’t help anything. If this had been the main theme of the movie, I might feel totally different. However, it’s interwoven with a subplot involving Tell’s involvement with the Dafoe character in torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib that is jarring and brutal. And the rest of the movie moves at a slow pace with little to really make it interesting or generate any involvement with the characters. Isaac does give a great performance, but not enough for me to recommend this one. You will not come out of this movie in a good mood. In fact, I found the whole thing down right depressing.