I Feel Pretty

I Feel Pretty (2018)

Starring Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Rory Scovel, Emily Ratajkowski, Busy Philipps, Aidy Bryant, Naomi Campbell, and Lauren Hutton

Directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein

Written by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein

Summary (in 500 words or less):  After hitting her head at SoulCycle class, insecure and incredibly body-conscious Renee (Amy Schumer) suddenly becomes a confident woman who decides to go out and get everything she wants.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Venom

Venom (2018)

Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, and Jenny Slate

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Written by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Kelly Marcel

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Investigative reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is overtaken by an alien lifeform while he is visiting the bioengineering corporation Life Foundation run by billionaire Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) which causes him to take on the alter ego of Venom -- a nasty creature that has designs on taking over the earth for his kind.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

All the Money in the World

All the Money in the World (2017)

Starring Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Plummer, and Romain Durais

Directed by Ridley Scott

Written by David Scarpa

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Sixteen year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is the grandson of the richest man in the world.  When he is kidnapped by members of an Italian crime ring,  his captors demand a ransom of $17 million which his mother Gail (Michelle Williams) assumes will be paid by her former father-in-law (Christopher Plummer).  However, John Paul Getty refuses to part with any of his money, leading to a family face-off.

Undoubtedly an intriguing story anchored by a strong, emotional performance by Michelle Williams, <em>All the Money in the World</em> doesn't quite work in large part because of some pacing issues that hamper it.  

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+ 

The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Paul Strong, and Rebecca Ferguson

Directed by Michael Gracey

Written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon

Summary (in 500 words or less):  P.T. Barnum's life story from how he went from rags to riches thanks to his unique concept of a circus.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D+

Movie Review - Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, C.J. Wilson, Tate Donovan, and Matthew Broderick

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Having high expectations doesn't always hinder one's cinematic experience (see La La Land as a case in point), but Manchester by the Sea is the unfortunate victim of this odious psychological conundrum.  It's not that writer-director Kenneth Lonergan's film is bad in any way, it's just that after months of talk about fantastic performances and gripping drama and depressingly tragic moments, I found myself the slightest bit let down by what I saw onscreen.  While a nice "slice of life"-style film (albeit with some severely sad scenes), Manchester by the Sea rarely grabbed me on an emotional level in the way that I feel it should have particularly given the subject matter.

Casey Affleck is the anchor here as Lee Chandler, a young thirtysomething janitor living in Boston.  His mundane life is interrupted one snowy afternoon when he receives a phone call that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has suffered a fatal heart attack.  Lee makes the two-hour journey to Manchester - his hometown - where he finds himself forced to relive his past and the reasons he left the town to begin with, all the while becoming the new father figure to his sixteen year-old teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) whose mother (Gretchen Mol) abandoned him and his father nearly a decade prior.

There is a heartbreaking backstory that oppresses Lee in his present life and it has weighed heavily on him for years.  Lee's past is revealed to us in spurts by Lonergan in a way that feels natural -- sometimes flashbacks can take away from the current tale, but Lonergan's spacing out of Lee's past adds to the sullen man's characterization.  Casey Affleck nicely balances Lee's past and present, creating two distinct personalities that evolve into one another believably.  His Lee is wrought with pain and desires nothing more than to essentially be punished for his sins, but he also realizes, upon his brother's death, that he is needed to step up to the plate and become a reliable figure in young Patrick's life.

Newcomer Lucas Hedges is a nice counter to the depressed Lee as his Patrick deals with his father's death in a different manner, deciding to act strong as if it doesn't affect him which ultimately leads to one of the better scenes in the film as the gravity of his situation begins to manifest itself.  Michelle Williams has a small, but critical role in the piece and she's given two heartbreaking scenes that give us not only an understanding of her character's plight, but also add a great deal of depth to the character of Lee as well.

Ultimately, though, I wanted to be moved more than I was with Manchester by the Sea.  Given the subject matter -- which you must understand I'm not fully detailing here -- I wanted to be grabbed by Lee's plight and I never quite got there.  Technically, Kenneth Lonergan delivers a somber, intimate film that looks pretty, but the film lingers too long -- at 137 minutes, it's got about forty minutes of lifelessness that could've been left on the editing room floor. While I can't say I was bored per se, the length of the film did affect its dramatic effectiveness.  Sure, Manchester by the Sea has a lot of things going for it -- it's well shot, well acted -- but in the end, it didn't get that guttural emotional response from me that I can't help but think it wanted.  At times, I was moderately moved, but I wanted more.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Oz: The Great and Powerful

Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)
***viewed in 3D***

Starring James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, and Zach Braff

Directed by Sam Raimi

There was no way Oz: The Great and Powerful was going to compare to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, but I was surprised by what disappointed me the most about this prequel of sorts to that Judy Garland winner.  Rather than be wowed by the "astounding" visuals that can be created by filmmakers 75 years later, I instead found myself longing for the days when computer generated landscapes and backdrops didn't even exist yet.  When Garland's Dorothy lands in Oz, the flowers certainly have a plasticine look to them, but they look more "real" and visually appealing than much of what is seen in Sam Raimi's new take on author  L. Frank Baum's work.  The one lesson I learned from this new film is "just because we can utilize computers, doesn't mean we should."  That's not to say that Oz: The Great and Powerful is horrid.  Comparisons have been made to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Oz fares better than that Johnny Depp-starring dreck.  But both films epitomize what is wrong with Disney's desire to "update" these classic films and stories for a new generation -- computer effects may seem to allow for more creativity, but the fact is that filmmakers decades ago had to be much more creative in a hands-on manner in order to get these fantastical lands like Oz and Wonderland to come to life.

Dorothy doesn't make an appearance in Oz: The Great and Powerful.  Instead, this is the tale of how the wizard -- podunk traveling circus magician Oscar Diggs (played by James Franco) -- got to the fantasy land in the first place.  Much like Dorothy, Oscar gets whisked up into a tornado, and when he arrives in Oz, he's greeted by Theodora (Mila Kunis), a lovely looking witch, who tells him about a recent prophecy that mentioned a man much like himself would come to Oz and, with his wizarding ways, right all that was wrong with the land.  Theodora takes Oscar to meet her sister, fellow witch Evanora (Rachel Weisz), in Emerald City where he discovers the abundant riches that the new wizard will inherit...should he manage to destroy the wand of the Wicked Witch who lives in the Dark Forest.  Along the way to destroy the Wicked Witch, Oscar meets Glinda (Michelle Williams), yet another witch, who tells Oscar that it is in fact Theodora and Evanora who are the evil ones in the land.  The question then becomes who exactly is Oscar to trust in this unfamiliar place?

Considering my rant in the opening paragraph of my review, it should come as a surprise that I think the best parts of the movie are the unique computer-animated characters brought to the screen in the forms of Finley (voiced by Zach Braff) -- a monkey who becomes forever indebted to Oscar after the wizard saves him from inevitable death -- and China Girl (voiced by Joey King) -- a tiny porcelain girl from Oz's China Town in which everyone is made of fine porcelain china.  While I disliked the computer generated landscapes the humans travel through in every single scene, I do appreciate the character work that has advanced with computer technology.  Finley and China Girl are able to do a bit more than, as an example, Toto in the original film.  Together, these two characters breathe life and impart much humor into the story...more than any of their human counterparts, that's for sure.

I used to be a fan of James Franco.  I say "used to" only because I can't help but think he just doesn't care about anything anymore.  Ever since his horrific hosting of the Oscars a few years ago, his attitude has been a complete turn-off to me and his nonchalance is carried to the screen in this obvious paycheck role for him.  His eyes are lifeless in nearly every scene and he lacks the whimsy needed for a character like the Wizard to succeed.  Similarly, Mila Kunis starts off painfully wooden.  As her character's secrets gradually are revealed, she's able to emote a bit more, but it's a rough start for her as well.  Things aren't much better for Michelle Williams either, but the role of Glinda is perhaps the trickiest one of the bunch, so I'm cutting her a little slack.  Glinda's the epitome of good (as we know from the 1939 original) and there's simply not much to work with.  Rachel Weisz certainly fares the best -- I just wish we didn't have to wait nearly an hour to see her character for the first time.

Despite the humans certainly disappointing, the film managed to hold my attention throughout and I can't ever really say I was bored and that's likely a credit to director Sam Raimi.  Raimi starts the film in a lovely black-and-white 4:3 Academy ratio when Oscar is in Kansas and then expands to a color widescreen format when in Oz.  While I thought this may be too much of an homage to the original, it's a device that still manages to work incredibly well -- it's oddly exciting when we get the first glimpse of color.  Raimi also realizes that despite Oz: The Great and Powerful being a family film, it's okay to throw in a few scary moments here and there...and there are a few moments involving those pesky flying monkeys that could easily frighten a young child.  Credit also must be given to some pretty nice 3D work on display.  It's not often that I'm able to comment positively on 3D work, so when I can, I like to point it out and mention that the upgrade may be worth the surcharge.

While Oz: The Great and Powerful may not have me clamoring for the inevitable sequel that will come our way in a few years, it certainly didn't taint the fond memories of its 1939 predecessor.  And it's a step in the right direction in terms of "fantasy remakes" after the heinousness of Alice in Wonderland a few years back.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson, Derek Jacobi, Julia Ormond, Dominic Cooper, Dougray Scott, Zoë Wanamaker, and Judi Dench

Directed by Simon Curtis

I say this whenever I write of review of films like these, but I am not a fan of biopics.  I greatly admire actors who are able to mimic the well-known personas of others, but oftentimes, I find myself left completely empty by the films they inhabit which all seem to want to tell the same tale -- more or less -- about the character's rise from adversity to something greater.  While My Week with Marilyn certainly follows the biopic formula, it fortunately only gives us a glimpse at the sexy and alluring Marilyn Monroe (played quite well by Michelle Williams) during a brief stint in her life when she traveled to London to make the film The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier (played over-the-top [although I imagine Olivier was that way in real life] by Kenneth Branagh).  Giving the audience only a small chapter of the well-known Monroe's life proves to be a much better moviegoing experience and allows the viewers to infer how events prior to making this film, her time during the filmmaking process, and her years after starring in The Prince and the Showgirl all shaped her into the tragic figure she became.  The sheer fact that we're allowed to "infer" things is a welcome relief in this day and age when we're always hit over the head with everything as filmgoers.

The film -- which is a showcase of the power struggle between Monroe and Olivier during the making of the frivolous romantic comedy in 1956 -- can be summed up in one good line spoken by Dominic Cooper (I believe) portraying Marilyn's manager Milton Greene:  "[Sir Laurence] is an artist wanting to be a film star; [Marilyn] is a film star wanting to be an artist."  The two just don't mesh, but by the end of the filming process they've perhaps made each other a bit better at their craft.  Although this struggle between the two powerhouse actors is certainly front and center, the "My" in My Week with Marilyn refers to the young 23-year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a young Brit who, despite his parents' disdain, travels to London to work on the set of the Olivier picture.  While performing the task of the third assistant director -- essentially a glorified intern position -- he befriends Marilyn whose method acting techniques are causing huge issues with the cast and crew of the production.  The two bond and, as any young man would be, Colin becomes quite enamored with Ms. Monroe who despite having just married her third husband Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) is already having some marital issues which may very well work in Colin's favor.

As a fan of movies, admittedly it's fun to see "behind the scenes" stories like these and this film is no exception.  The scenes on set with the bombastic Olivier and out-of-her-element Marilyn are brilliantly funny -- Branagh's Olivier, in particular, is also a hoot as he grows ever more exacerbated in the scenes.  Admittedly, I'm not all that familiar with Olivier, but I can't help but imagine Branagh's rather snooty interpretation of the guy -- who not only acted in The Prince and the Showgirl, but also directed it -- is spot-on.  Adding to the excitement is a very nice turn from Judi Dench playing Dame Sybil Thorndike who becomes somewhat of a loving mother to Marilyn on set and a hilarious turn from Zoë Wanamaker as Paula Strasberg, Marilyn's famous acting coach in the Stanislavski acting method which created much tension with Olivier.

The film falters a bit, however, when we walk away from the movie set.  Most notably, there's a throwaway subplot involving a romance between Colin and a young costume designer (played by Harry Potter's Emma Watson in a completely thankless role) that could have been (and should have been) left on the cutting room floor.  Additionally, as Marilyn begins a downward spiral after several difficult weeks on the set, the film shifts much too awkwardly from a light comedy to a rather serious look at the toils and troubles that made up Marilyn's life.  The tonal shift never quite finds an appropriate balance which is a shame.

Fortunately, never once does Ms. Williams' performance shift into a caricature of Monroe which it so easily could have done.  Surprisingly, however, Williams ends up shining in the more intimate moments of the film's second half rather than the comedic realm of the first half.  This ends up working in the movie's favor as us viewers can latch on to Williams' performance when the film -- which becomes a bit too psychoanalytical for its own good -- begins to falter.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Meek's Cutoff

Meek's Cutoff (2011)

Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, and Paul Dano

Directed by Kelly Reichardt

As a self-professed hater of westerns, no one is more surprised than me to be quite taken with Meek's Cutoff, a tale of a group of settlers traveling across Oregon in 1845.  On the surface, Kelly Reichardt's flick may appear to be one of the slowest paced films you'll ever watch, but if you dig deep, you'll find that you're witnessing a horror story realistically portraying the struggles facing American pioneers.  Ever growing in tension as the tale of our settlers' search for water grows increasingly more perilous, Meek's Cutoff turns into an edge-of-your-seat nailbiter unlike any film I've ever seen simply because it achieves this uneasiness by plunging the viewers into the utterly monotonous world of the settlers who begin to question whether their trek is a worthy one.  It's an odd flick, but one that is rather ingenious in the way it tells its tale.

Key to the film's success is a cast of only nine actors who, for the most part, prove to be quite adept at showcasing the desperation of American settlers.  The film's poster places the focus squarely on Michelle Williams and while it could certainly be said that she is the main character, her role as the headstrong (although never too "modern" in manner to seem out of place in the 1840s) Emily Tetherow never gives the film an overtly feminist tone that I thought I was going to see based on previews.  Emily is still a woman who "obeys" her new husband, Solomon (a solemn and subdued Will Patton), but isn't afraid to express her views on how to find a watering hole.

It is her views on that very subject that are the impetus behind the flick's overarching predicament.  Does the group of seven settlers follow their rugged and cocky guide Meek (a brilliantly offbeat Bruce Greenwood) who boasts about his abilities but has yet to really showcase his brilliance or the spiritual Native American (Ron Rondeaux) that they have captured whom they can't understand and may simply be leading them to their demise?  Emily has her own thoughts on which man to follow and, needless to say, the group doesn't entirely agree with her.

The film looks stunning (great work from cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt).  The first ten minutes are nearly dialog-free shots of our group of settlers living off of the land and traveling through the arid landscapes of the American Northwest.  However, at the beginning of the film, director Kelly Reichardt often sets her camera outside of group conversations so that unless we turn the volume up full tilt, we're really unable to hear what's going on.  After having seen the film, I now completely comprehend that in these scenes, we the viewers are supposed to be like the women traveling in the group, only able to hear bits and pieces of the conversations of the men...but it just irked me more than anything else.  As the film progresses and Emily becomes a bit more forceful in having her opinions be heard, the viewers begin to hear all the goings-on and these sound issues become much less frequent.

I know full well that many will watch Meek's Cutoff and think it is one of the most boring films they've ever seen (that's assuming they even make it through the first thirty minutes).  They may scream, "Nothing happens!" and, on the surface, I wouldn't be able to disagree with them.  [And I should readily admit that there were moments towards the very beginning where I was doubtful I would make it through this one.]  To me, though, I find it to be a great (and probably as realistic as you're going to get) glimpse at the life of a roving American settler in the mid 1800s.  It's in this reality that the tension mounts and, like life itself, things aren't always tied up in a neat little bow in the end.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine (2010)

Starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

Directed by Derek Cianfrance

I think the ultimate compliment that I can give Blue Valentine is that I wanted to continue my voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of the two rather tortured individuals onscreen long after the credits began to roll.  While the story can essentially be boiled down to something very simplistic -- married couple Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) are experiencing some troubles, unsure if their rocky relationship can continue -- the roles that the two actors inhabit are anything but basic.  There's a depth here that we don't usually see onscreen.  While the reasons for the couple's problems may not be clear, what is evident is a once loving relationship is now deteriorating...and it's devastating to witness.

What ultimately makes Blue Valentine cinematically special (beyond the great performances from Gosling and Williams which I'll get to in a bit) is the ballsiness of director-cowriter Derek Cianfrance to just keep things squarely in the bubble of Dean and Cindy.  No extraneous characters are presented for comedic relief, but instead moments of respite are provided by Cianfrance bouncing back in time six years to when Dean and Cindy first met.  Counteracting the pain they're experiencing in the present, these joyous moments from the past...goshdarnit...I frickin' loved these moments.  There's a scene where, on their first date, Dean plays a corny song on a ukelele while Cindy does a lovely little softshoe dance.  In this moment, I fell in love with Blue Valentine just as Cindy and Dean were falling in love with each other.  And these happier times make the jump back to the present all the more painful and all the more emotionally trying.

Of course, none of this would make any difference in a sharply focused indie love story if it weren't for the actors, and Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are amazing.  There's no doubt that Gosling's Dean genuinely loves Cindy -- it's the inability to express that love that causes things to heading south.  While the reasons for their gradual falling apart are never really explained, it's obvious that Williams is playing Cindy as a woman who, in a most basic sense, needs more from Dean.  When the two head to a seedy hotel in order to try and reconnect again, both Williams and Gosling are pained, raw in both their physicality and emotions, which stands in complete contrast to the sweet innocence portrayed by their characters from six years prior when they find each other in bed together for the first time.  This ability of Williams and Gosling to take the viewer down the path from head-over-heels giddiness to sorrow is a key to the film's success.  Williams, in particular, keeps things bottled up and we can sense that she's always ready to truly express her disappointment in the disintegration of the relationship, but never quite able to let it all out -- it's a difficult role to tackle.  Together, their chemistry is palpable.  From the obviously improvised dialog to their sly sexy smiles to one another, the "past" storyline feels as real as it gets when it comes to movies.

I walked out of the film knowing that I really liked it, but didn't quite place it at the top of my 2010 movie list.  However, as the movie continued to work its magic on my mind as the day progressed, I have grown to appreciate it even more than I thought I did upon initially viewing it.  Despite the somewhat disjointed review above, Blue Valentine is an odd kind of love story that makes me want to find love and yet fear the pain it can inflict at the same time.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

On a side note, Blue Valentine got some buzz for initially earning an NC-17 rating due to a sex scene.  After watching Saving Private Ryan a few days ago, if that movie can earn an R, then there's no reason this film shouldn't have earned it from the outset.  The ridiculousness of the MPAA sometimes.

Movie Review - Incendiary

Incendiary (2009)

Starring Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, and Matthew MacFadyen

Directed by Sharon Maguire

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

When a group of suicide bombers set off an explosion at a British football (AKA soccer) match, over a thousand people are killed, including a mother's son and husband.  The mother (who remains oddly nameless throughout the film), played by Michelle Williams, happens to be having sex with another man (Ewan McGregor) at the time of the explosion so, of course, that simply compounds her guilt even more.  

Ugh...the plot Incendiary reeks of a really serious Lifetime movie and despite a pleasant turn from Michelle Williams, there really isn't much to even discuss here.  The film was little seen and barely released in US theaters in 2009 and it'll remain little seen for all eternity.  I'm all for exploring the aftershocks of 9/11 in film -- United 93 was absolutely riveting and emotionally draining (although I do feel it was an important film to be made in order to depict our country's recent history).  Incendiary, however, attempts to go for the emotional gut punch, but never even comes close to achieving it.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Shutter Island

Shutter Island (2010)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Williams, and Patricia Clarkson

Directed by Martin Scorsese

It's the mid 1950s and patient Rachel Solando has disappeared from a psychiatric hospital located on Shutter Island. Two U.S. Marshals are called in to investigate the case. Little do the two marshals know that the island is home to some interesting and perhaps unethical treatments and they may be the hospital's next "experiments."

That summary is pulled directly from my book review of Shutter Island that I posted last year.  The novel was an enjoyable read, but didn't really work as a whole for me.  There were dream sequences that seemed oddly written and characters seemed to simply appear in order to give a clue to the main character, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (here played by Mr. DiCaprio).

Fortunately, my qualms with the book worked extremely well onscreen thanks, in large part, to some beautiful direction by Martin Scorsese.  Feeling quite old school, Scorsese has crafted big budget "pulp" film.  While those cheaply made film noirs of the 40s and 50s certainly appeared to be made on a miniscule budget (see this as an example), no expense was spared here.  Thanks to some fantastic scenic design by Dante Ferretti, Scorsese proves to be a master behind the camera, crafting some beautiful and ingenious shots that lifted this film way above the average cinematic experience.

While Act Two of the film drags a bit, Act Three proves to be quite engaging...much moreso than the book.  I remember the book feeling like it ended much too quickly, but in the film, I was actually astounded by how Scorsese and screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis allowed the film to play out at a relatively slow pace.  They weren't afraid to explain things, unlike the book which seemed to have a need to bring the tale to an end as quickly as possible.

However, the film isn't perfect.  Leo has an accent that fades in and out which irked me a little bit.  It also seems that Scorsese wanted his actors to "overact" similar to those film noirs of yore, but it seemed a little jarring at times.  My biggest issue -- which would certainly nary be a quibble to most -- is that there were some very poorly edited scenes.  Thelma Schoonmaker is Scorsese's go-to editor, but here there were multiple scenes with inconsistencies.  A raised hand in this shot turns into a lowered hand in the next would be an example.  True, none of these errors affected the story, but they were glaring to me...enough that I'm posting about it here.

Still, overall, this is quite a good film.  A nice homage to cinema of the past.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+