Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

News of the World

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Movie-going right now is kind of catch-as-catch-can. Of course many movies (“Wonder Woman” probably the most well known), can be seen on various streaming services. But for us true connoisseurs, nothing beats going to an actual theatre for the full moving-going experience. But is it safe? I am here to tell you that from my view point, the answer is yes! We went to the AMC in Columbia, Maryland at the Columbia Mall. Everything is designed with your safety and comfort in mind. We ordered tickets and concession food online (which we picked up at the counter as you would any take-out). There were wet wipes and hand sanitizer everywhere. The seating is appropriately socially distanced. Also, going to the first showing of the day meant that we were the first people for the day to sit in those seats. I felt safer there than I do in a grocery store. Anyway, you are probably wondering how the movie was. It was fantastic! “News of the World” is a western starring the always entertaining Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kidd, a man who wanders through the small towns of Texas in the years following the Civil War, reading newspapers to small town denizens who are thirsty for news of any kind. Riding between jobs, he comes across a burned wagon and a lynched man. Hiding nearby is a frightened girl dressed in buckskins. She doesn’t speak English, but he finds documents that show she is an orphan. He tries to bring her to the authorities, but no one can take her. At first, he doesn’t want to either, but he decides it is his responsibility to get her to her only kin. The rest of the movie is a sometimes brutal, sometimes poignant journey of the savagery and humanity of the western frontier as they travel the wilds of northern Texas; encountering an interesting number of human and natural barriers on the way. This is the perfect movie to see in a big theatre during a pandemic. The scenery is breathtaking and the settings realistic and interesting. The characters are very well drawn. Bravura performances and a good story with a hopeful message for the future make this one worth seeing.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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This movie definitely was not what I expected.  I thought it was going to be a biopic about Fred Rogers.  Instead, it is the story of journalist Tom Junod (LLoyd Vogel in the movie) and how just meeting Fred Rogers changed his outlook on life, and in the end made him a better person.  That approach might have even made this a more interesting movie.  Lloyd Vogel, who is played by Matthew Rhys, is a jaded journalist whose reputation is so tarnished by his angry approach, that he is having a hard time getting interviews.  Esquire magazine is doing a spread about American heroes and asks Vogel to write an article about TV’s Fred Rogers.  They figure it would be hard to mess this assignment up.  And Rogers is the only person who agrees to let Vogel  interview him anyway.   Vogel is sure he will uncover the dirt on this way too nice appearing guy, but he doesn’t.  There apparently isn’t any dirt, he’s the real thing!  The Fred Rogers you see on the screen is the Fred Rogers you get in real life too.  Vogel and Rogers forge an unlikely friendship in which Fred shares some of his problems in life; like his boys’ troubled teenage years trying to cope with a famous father or the fact that he was teased when he was a kid for being chubby.  Rogers helps Vogel deal with his absent, philandering father (played by Chris Cooper) and his mother’s death many years ago, which still haunts him.  This is such a sweet movie, I don’t see how anyone could leave feeling sad.  Because Mr. Rogers was such a nice man, there are all kinds of rumors about him, he hated kids, swore like a sailor, or was a Navy Seal.  Not so! This movie does an excellent job of showing you what made this man tick and how he was able to touch the individuals he met and how they touched him.  Also, Mrs. Rogers gives this movie two thumbs up and apppears in a brief cameo in a Chinese restaurant.  If you don’t want to miss her, look for pictures on the internet so you know what to expect.

Toy Story 4

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Toy Story 4 is everything you want in a Toy Story movie.  Of course, Sheriff Woody (so endearingly voiced by Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (enthusiastic Tim Allen) are back.  So are the usual gang, Bo Peep, Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Slinky and The Potato Heads just to name a few.  The new characters introduced, really too many to mention, are all well-acted and well-animated for that matter.  One of the standouts is Forky, as voiced by Tony Hale, who thinks he is trash but learns to accept his destiny as a toy.  The other standout characters are  Ducky and Bunny as voiced by the hilarious Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.  The story is funny, heart-warming, has an unexpected twist, and even brings a tear to your eye at the end.  Add in music by Randy Newman and you have a movie that people just can’t complain about.  Everyone will enjoy.  I brought my 82 year old Mother who had never seen the other ones and she loved it!  Kudos to everyone involved to create a movie that everyone can go to and still enjoy!

The Post

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Are you looking for a powerful, riveting movie that will give you a historical perspective of the ’70s and yet is very relevant to today’s influx of fake news and assaults on the First Amendment?  If you answered ‘yes’ to that question, ‘The Post’ is the movie for you.  I was a teenager when Nixon was president, and I had heard of The Pentagon Papers; but really didn’t know what all the fuss was about.  This movie schooled me, that’s for sure.  Steven Spielberg directs this timely story that defends freedom of the press even when what is published could embarrass or even implicate those in authority and in the public eye.  Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, while Tom Hanks plays Ben Bradlee, her editor-in-chief.  The basic plot involves how the Pentagon Papers, which outlined how every president since World War II lied to the American public about our involvement the Vietnam War,  were acquired by several major newspapers – and the basic Constitutional issue of whether they should be allowed to publish them or not.  President Nixon tries to use his power to stifle the publication (sound familiar?)  of the papers, citing national security.  The Post’s, and press in general’s, contention is that a free press, particularly when the government is lying to its people, is a critical protection as established in the Bill of Rights.  I think you know what happened!  The large supporting cast are all pros and really help to make this movie exciting.  I especially enjoyed Bob Odenkirk whose character, Bob Bagdikian, has a key role to play in the shenanigans.  I really think everyone, Republicans, Democrats and anyone with concerns about our country  alike should see this movie and take a look at how real news is made!

The Circle

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As a teacher, I worry about my students’ total immersion in social media.  Is instant access a good idea or is it potentially harmful to society?  “The Circle” attempts to get us to think about these questions.  Emma Watson, sans her English accent, plays Mae Holland, who lands a dream job at The Circle, the world’s most powerful social media company (Think Google+ Facebook+ Twitter).  The “bad guy” is the company’s founder played by the always likable Tom Hanks, who  proposes 24/7 world wide surveillance on everyone, everywhere, by the use of tiny little cameras that blend in with their surroundings.  Emma agrees to become the first person in the world to use these cameras as a way to ‘total transparency,’ to be under scrutiny at virtually all times, sort of like Jim Carrey in ‘The Truman Story,’ except the twist is she is a willing participant.  She is watched world-wide by everyone, except when she has three minute privacy breaks to use the restroom or is sleeping.  As you can imagine, there are some horrendous implications to this kind of public life with tragic results.   John Boyega was so wonderful in the new Star Wars movie, but he doesn’t have much to do in this one.  I would have loved to see more of him.  Apparently, The Circle was Bill Paxton’s last film, and he is interesting in a small role as Mae’s father.  I found the topic really interesting, but the movie itself moves slowly and really doesn’t pick up until the end. ‘The Truman Story’ was a much better movie; I would recommend re-watching that and wait until you can see this one on the small screen.