KING RICHARD, THE HARDER THEY FALL, THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, HOUSE OF GUCCI, PASSING, ENCANTO, GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE

Originally posted November 14, 2021

KING RICHARD  | Warner Bros | Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green |Writer: Zach Baylin 

It’s always been said there’s a fine line between madness and genius and this theory proves itself in Richard Williams (Will Smith) father/coach/mentor to tennis legends Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) Williams. This man with a plan is often hard-headed, stubborn, infuriating, single-minded and bold. More importantly, he understands the power of thought, that if you believe something down deep in your soul, you can make other people believe it too and manifest amazing life altering realities. Someone asked why would the biopic be centered around the father instead of Venus & Serena? But the sisters attest to the fact that without their father they would not be the phenoms we all know and admire. Also, giving much credit to their incredible mother, Oracene “Brandy” whose character in the film is solidly present, played by (Aunjanue Ellis). Yet, it’s Richard that figured out how to get the girls to not only play tennis, but love the sport. To insist on the open winning stance, and just steamrolled his way into these affluent, white, male coaches lives; insisting that they see what he sees in his daughters’ abilities. And best of all, after they did, he never for a moment let them think they were in charge of him, his daughters, their finances or his “plan”!

I really love this movie, it’s probably Will Smith’s best role in terms of morphing into another person entirely. The two young actresses playing the sisters are amazing talents, not only new to acting, but had to learn to play tennis like the two GOATS! It’s a family movie with heart and energy. Richard Williams is not a saint in the movie and I’m sure was much worse in real-life, but what is true he taught his daughters to value themselves as black girls turned women of power. T&T LAMB rating: 5 outta 5

Check Out The Cast, Writer, Director, Venus & Serena Interview:

THE HARDER THEY FALL  | Netflix | Director: Jeymes Samuel |Writers: Jeymes Samuel & Boaz Yakin

An old-fashioned shoot-em up Western tale of revenge and gang loyalty, with a black cast.  Really bloody, violent fun!

“The Harder They Fall” announces itself on-screen without question with the title card “These. People. Existed.” The classic revenge plot of the film is fictional, but nearly every character is based on a historic Black figure who, yes, actually existed in the Wild West. There’s Trudy, Nat Love, Rufus Buck, Bass Reeves and more — Black frontiersmen and women who probably wouldn’t recognize the whitewashed West depicted in the genre’s classics.
“I hate when people say I remixed, re-envisioned or reimagined the western,” said Samuel. “I haven’t. You guys reimagined the Old West. I just brought balance to the force, like Luke Skywalker.”  READ MORE – Washington Post

I think my original Tweet sums up my #MiniMovieReview on this one:

#previewscreening (10/18) @netflix THE HARDER THEY FALL
Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, Regina King, Danielle Deadwyler
The coolest peeps on horseback with hats. What more do you need!#TheHarderTheyFall pic.twitter.com/VLyfcLMuNH

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 19, 2021

T&T LAMB rating: 4 outta 5

MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES  | Netflix | Director: Mike Rianda |Writers: Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe

If there’s two things we as a society are dead set on attracting into reality according to countless movie premises – it’s a Zombie Apocalypse or AI taking over the world. Maybe it will be robot controlled Zombies?  I hope I’m not around for this doomed future, but I do seem to always be down for the fictional ride. 

Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) is a creative loner who got the filmmaking bug at an early age, enlisting the help of her little brother Aaron (Mike Rianda) and pudgy Pug Monchi in her colorfully wacky movies made for her Youtube channel.  All of it eventually pays off as she gets accepted into Film School.  Her mom (Maya Rudolph) is supportive, but her Dad (Danny McBride) is a Luddite, DIY type who can’t see how this career choice is going to pay off for his little girl. Katie and her Dad don’t get along in general, with little in common; a painful truth Dad would like to fix before she goes off to college – so, what about a cross country family trip to drive Katie to film school, giving everyone time to bond.  An idea detested by Katie who wants to fly and get to meet her peers, as this is the first time she’s found people who “get her”. 

The road trip goes from bad to worst to apocalyptic when a tech giant Mark Bowman (Eric Andre) introduces the world to the next Siri or Alexa, but in this world, she’s called PAL (Olivia Colman) and like this year’s other animated rogue tech movie Ron’s Gone Wrong, this version doesn’t live in your phone, but instead is a robot companion.  And as I’ve said, the thing we all know about AI technology is that it begins to think for itself and can out think humans and take over the world!  Unless the dysfunctional last family standing – The Mitchells can save the day!

The Mitchells vs. The Machines is produced by Phil Lord & Chris Miller (The Lego Movie & Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse). It’s non-stop action, loaded with jokes and gags and visually vibrant animation.

T&T LAMB Rating: 3.5 outta 5

1st of the swag has arrived! Animated feature @MitchellsMovie @netflix #themitchellsvsthemachines #awardsseason #animation @PhilaFCC pic.twitter.com/iFz88DxVsF

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) November 5, 2021

HOUSE OF GUCCI | United Artists Releasing | Director: Ridley Scott |Writers: Becky Johnston & Roberto Bentivegna

The trailer for House of Gucci has a wild, fast-paced, absurdist quality to it that made me anticipate seeing this movie.  It is nothing like the trailer.  Instead, Ridley Scott decided this would be his “The Godfather” only he doesn’t come close.  Although, beautifully filmed, the movie lacks resonance.

The beginning starts off well enough for a straight movie. (not the tone I was expecting) We quickly get introduced to a young, stacked Italian woman in heels strutting along the parking lot of a trucking company, enjoying the catcalls and whistles of the workers.  This is Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) daughter of the owner. She works at the family owned business doing the books. Soon she’s meeting a friend at a Club where there’s a private party happening, she’s not actually invite to. This is where she meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). She recognizes the name Gucci and from that point on Maurizio doesn’t stand a chance, she makes quick work of seducing him. And in no time, Maurizio goes against his father Rodolfo Gucci’s (Jeremy Irons) wishes asking Patrizia to marry him. Realizing it’s going to be a hard sell to get father and son to mend fences for the moment, she instead encourages Maurizio to get closer to his uncle Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino). 

And so it goes, Maurizio seems a mild manner sort, not very interested in the company, respecting the Gucci heritage, but leaving the business to his father, uncle and idiot cousin Paolo Gucci (Jaret Leto) [in fat, balding prosthetic. Leto is another Johnny Depp never wants to use his own face]  That being said, he gets that Patrizia wants to make sure they are not excluded from the family’s wealth and Maurizio sees the benefit in that, allowing his wife’s ambitions to serve him without too much effort on his part. And he truly seems in love with her.  Which is why his character arc comes outta left field.  He changes on a dime, becoming ruthless, turning on his wife and family with no build up.  Not only that, there’s no story in the middle.  I couldn’t tell you one scene after Aldo invites his nephew and new wife to leave Rome and come spend some time in New York, to them conspiring against him. There’s a lot in between there, that doesn’t seem to advance the narrative.

I do feel Lady Gaga holds it all together.  She’s just very watchable and has a magnetic personality, so you enjoy her in all her Gaudy Gucci finery.   The accents… well, at least in this movie they fake Italians speaking English, unlike Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel where the actors speak with New York and Boston accents, despite it taking place in 14th Century Normandy, France.  In summation, House of Gucci is a beautiful bore. But I do wonder where I was in the 90’s when this trial was taking place, cause I knew nothing of this family treachery of revenge and murder.    T&T LAMB Rating: 2.5 outta 5

ENCANTO  | DISNEY | Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard |Writers: Charise Castro Smith & Jared Bush | Music: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Walt Disney Animation Studio’s 60th feature, Encanto, is about the ties that bind a large Colombian family, the Madrigals, each of which has their own magical talents based on their personalities. A healer, strong woman, flower bloomer, one with bionic-like hearing, one who controls the weather, a psychic, and one without any special gifts, Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) she seems fine with it, as she’s fiercely proud of their family history, their Enchanted home and loves being a part of a family that lives together, sharing special moments.  Like in most families, there are some tensions and secrets, but everyone abides by the matriarch Abuela Alma Madrigal (María Cecilia Botero) who was the first member of the family to be given the perpetual light which fuels the magic. But could Mirabel be the reason why that light is fading?

“We knew we wanted the film to be in Latin America, but then everything kept pointing us back to Colombia for so many reasons,” director Byron Howard recalls. “The country is a crossroads of so many different things — cultures, music, ethnicities; these families are such a perfect mix… Places of magic that some call ‘encantos.’ “These are all over Latin America, usually in areas of natural wonder,” notes Howard. “Our friends in Colombia told us that magic happens in these places and always has. But not European magic, not wizards and wands, but magic tied to emotion and part of a tradition called magical realism.” – READ MORE Animation Magazine

Like Marvel Superhero movies, it’s hard not to like a Disney Animated movie, special care is taken to deliver each one. You never feel like Disney is just cranking them out, and I want to encourage these stories set within cultures we didn’t use to ever experience.  Yet, I have to admit, for a story that deals with magic, that’s what seems to be missing.  Not in terms of they need to add more magical elements. No, it’s missing that intangible movie magic that allows you to get swept up in the tale; the way I was enchanted with recent films Coco or Raya and the Last Dragon. Even Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s original songs are just favorable, but not memorable. Still, @encantomovie is a beautifully animated, musical with brown skinned people, so go see it!

T&T LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5

PASSING | Netflix | Writer/Director Rebecca Hall | Based on Novel by Nella Larsen

Irene “Reenie” Redfield (Tessa Thompson) has finished shopping for the day and finds herself parched.  She decides to hail a cab and has him take her to a fancy uptown hotel for a glass of iced tea.  By the costumes and set design, cars etc you can tell the movie is set in the late 20’s or 30’s (also, it’s filmed in black and white) so my first thought – how is this black woman gonna walk right up into this Manhattan hotel and expect to get served?  Later you come to understand when it suits her to do so, Reenie, well-dressed, well-mannered and light of skin tone can “pass” for white.  While sipping her tea she notices a white woman across the room keeps eyeing her. Eventually the woman approaches and calls Reenie by name – now she recognizes the fair-skinned, blonde woman as Clare Bellew (Ruth Negga), a childhood friend.

Clare is passing for white at all times. In fact, it’s imperative as her very white husband John (Alexander Skarsgård) has a bigoted disdain for people of color. Once again, upon meeting John, Reenie passes.  Clare wants to renew their friendship. Reenie would rather not; but Clare is insistent and winds up a fixture at their home, while her own husband is away on business – winning over both Reenie’s husband Brian (André Holland) and their two young sons.

“Writer-director Rebecca Hall discovered the novel that inspired her debut feature film “Passing” 13 years ago at “a very specific moment in my life. I think I was talking more about my own complicated mixed-race heritage, and complicated in that it was very shrouded in mystery and hidden.” The book “gave me this context for understanding my own racial identity, for understanding my grandfather, who I now know was Black.” READ MORE Gold Derby

I expected to love this movie, possibly move it up above “King Richard” (see #MiniMovieReview above) but unfortunately, I found it too slow, indolent, and delicate for my taste.  I also expected the story to be more even-handed, but it’s really Tessa Thompson’s character’s story and Ruth Negga’s Clare is more a figure of a person, she doesn’t feel actualized.  The costuming by Marci Rodgers and overall look of the film is rich and feels right as vintage Harlem.  But there’s just not much meat to it all.  The take away, I believe is that Clare didn’t need to “sell out” to have a good life, as Irene and Brian seem to have a good portion of the American Dream without having had to give up their culture.  My issue, everything, except the inevitable dread that John is going to find out the truth of his wife’s race, is so below the surface, it’s a bit boring.  I also don’t believe either of these actresses could pass for white.  Tessa Thompson has black features and Ruth Negga (Ethiopian-Irish) looks like someone from, IDK – Martinique or some exotic country with a number of people who are of mixed-race, but even in a blonde wig, she would not be mistaken for straight-up white.  I’m a fan of Rebecca Hall (see The Night House) as an actress and think she has talent as a director, but in terms of plot, I had to relegate Passing to number 37 on my Letterboxd Best and Worst list of 2021.

T&T LAMB rating: 3 outta 5

Just realized I never posted the #swag for @netflix PASSING dir Rebecca Hall starring Tessa Thompson & Ruth Negga#PassingNetflix pic.twitter.com/I56ty2juSs

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) December 1, 2021

GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE | Sony Pictures Releasing | Writer/Director Jason Reitman | co-writer Gil Kenan | Producer Ivan Reitman

I was watching the Netflix series “The Movies That Made Us” for GHOSTBUSTERS and never knew Dan Aykroyd came from a spooky, occult studying family, which was his inspiration for the original Ghostbusters. They also say, after Ivan Reitman & Harold Ramis came onboard the final script retained almost nothing of Aykroyd’s original story and then many more changes after Bill Murray‘s ad-libbing exploits. It was almost called Ghostbreakers (terrible) because some stupid C rated TV series had copyrights on the name.  Which, I really have to study up on the rules of naming movies, it’s something that I have a thing about, titles can really make or break a movie, but there’s plenty that share a name, so I don’t know why this was such an issue with Ghostbusters.  Ray Parker Jr claims he came up with “Who Ya Gonna Call” at the final hour, just as the messenger was coming to pick up the tape.  Some of these miraculous things in this series I think are punched up for effect, because each and every episode, no matter the movie, it’s basically the same – no one had faith in it working at all, it was put together with glue and spit, and everything that’s now iconic was just happenstance.

Ghostbusters Afterlife does a good job of tying the past with the present, while not making the present too contemporary, by setting it in some middle of the country, spooky farmhouse, in a small town that still has that 1950’s like kitsch to it.  We learn that Egon Spengler (Ramis) left his wife and daughter, Callie (Carrie Coons) to go conduct supernatural experiments at this farmhouse, the reason is the climax, which hearkens back to the original Ghostbusters climax.  His grand kids, Callie’s children, know nothing about who he was, but Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) an actress I’ve come to love since “Gifted”, favors her grandfather in brains and to a degree, looks. Her brother, Trevor “Stranger Things” Finn Wolfhard, is really just doing the, I’m new in town and want a cute, bi-racial girlfriend (Celeste O’Connor), although he is the one to uncover The Ectomobile.

“In some respects, “Afterlife” represents a rather conspicuous exercise in fan service, after the bizarre temper tantrum thrown by some in response to the female version of the concept that premiered five years ago. While that movie was flawed, the reaction seemed completely out of whack, elevating “Ghostbusters” to an overblown level of “You ruined my childhood!” exaltation.”  READ MORE CNN

I liked Ghostbusters Afterlife, I think deliberately giving it a Stranger Things vibe is smart to pull in the younger demographic, while throwing in things like Mini Marshmallow Men for lovers of the franchise.  I don’t revere the original like most people do. I’m fond of it, but probably have only seen it like 3 maybe 4x over the last 37 years. But it’s definitely fun to see the gang suit up, even if those suits are now twice their original size.

T&T LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5

SEE MORE #MINIMOVIEREVIEWS