Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Northman

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The Northman is about a young Viking heir, Prince Amieth, who witnesses the murder of his father, King Aurandil War-Raven at the hands of his brother, Fjolnir (a la the Lion King).  Ethan Hawke plays the ill-fated king who I honestly did not recognize – as was the case with other characters like Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool and Bjork as Seeress the blind prophetess.  Prince Amieth (Alexander Skarsgard) vows to avenge his father’s death and rescue his kidnapped mother played by Nicole Kidman.  Unfortunately for Fjolnir (Claes Bang), the kingdom he steals from his brother is stolen from him and he flees to Iceland with  Prince Amieth’s mother.  The Prince pretends to be a slave in order to get to Iceland for his revenge.  In the process, he meets a slave girl on his journey played by Ana Taylor-Joy and she becomes his love and his support in his quest.  But the road to vengeance is bumpy for them both.  There is a lot of fighting, torture, murder and pain. This is an extremely violent movie, but then Vikings were violent people.  A common Christian prayer at the time was “a furore normanorum, libera nos Domine! (from the fury of the Norsemen, deliver us O Lord). Animal lovers take care as there are two gruesome beheadings of horses.  I also did not enjoy the very realistic Viking funeral.  The Viking lore interspersed throughout the movie was fascinating to me and it appears they did a lot of research into the lifestyle.  The setting (especially when they get to Iceland) and cinematography were exquisite.  The plot has a few surprises, and I love it when I do not anticipate events in a movie.  All in all, if you like realistic violence, Viking mythology and breathtaking scenery, and people with unusual names ( Finnr the Nose-Stub, I’m talking about you) you just might enjoy the Northman.

Being the Ricardos

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Are you a fan of the old 1950’s sitcom, “I Love Lucy?”  If so, I think you will enjoy this movie.  If you are asking yourself, “Lucy who?” this may be one to skip.  As I am a fan, I totally enjoyed “Being the Ricardos.”  The whole thing takes place in one week  during the filming of an episode of the hit show.  It starts with the script read  on Monday and takes us all the way to the final live performance on Friday.  Much happens in that week though.  First, Lucille Ball is accused of being a communist.  This revelation could be, and was, the kiss of death for a lot of 50’s actors, writers and directors.  Second, the tabloids had published pictures of Desi out on the town with another woman.  Last of all, Lucy finds out that she is pregnant, and she and Desi have decided to write the pregnancy into the show. This is absolutely unprecedented and shocking to their network and sponsors who were afraid even referring to her as pregnant would  lose viewers (and revenue!).  All of this drama is woven in and out of the performances of the four key players.  And they are all marvelous!  Nicole Kidman does not do an imitation of Lucille Ball, she becomes her.  You really get to see the difference between the ditzy Lucy Ricardo and the tough as nails Lucille Ball.  Javier Bardem surprised me.  I never felt he parodied Desi Arnaz in any way.  J.K. Simmons was the curmudgeonly William Frawley as Fred Mertz.   Nina Arianda is heartbreaking as Vivian Vance who played Ethyl Mertz.  Even though she and Lucille Ball were around the same age, it was always her fate to play older, dowdier and dumpier.  On top of everything else, there are flashback scenes which were my favorites.  These scenes showed how Lucy and Desi met, how much in love they were, and how astute they were as business people. The two Arnaz children apparently approved of this vision of director Aaron Sorkin and they are the executive producers.   If you are looking for a documentary, this is not the movie for you, although you may want to check it out if it streams on Hulu or Netflix.  If you are a fan, you will definitely want to check this one out.