Movies: Months in Review {January & February 2021}

Beauty and the Beast (2014) ● not rated

I've been wanting to watch this movie for quite some time, and I was delighted to finally discover that it's available for free (with ads) on Tubi, where you can stream it without even setting up an account.

Visually, it was even more stunning than I'd thought it would be.  Narratively . . . I don't know.  I loved certain aspects of the retelling, and didn't care for certain others.  The Beast character was extremely . . . predatory . . . in more ways than one.  That made me very uncomfortable, and I wish it was resolved more thoroughly. 

But I still liked it overall, and I'll want to watch it several more times to see how my opinion evolves.

Denial (2016) ● PG-13

This was excellent.  I wasn't very familiar with the realm of Holocaust denial before reading a review of one of Deborah Lipstadt's books (Lipstadt is the protagonist of the film, based on her memoir of the same name).  That review mentioned the movie adaptation, and I instantly put it on hold at the library.

The cast is fantastic.  The narrative is compelling and respectful while remaining fairly simple and avoiding sensationalism.  

Doubt (2008) ● PG-13 

Spotlight from the other perspective:  two nuns grappling with their suspicion that their priest is molesting children in their school. 

I thought this was great (with a couple of technical caveats regarding artistic choices that felt gimmicky to me).  The acting was excellent. 

Much Ado About Nothing (1993) ● PG-13 

Okay but??  I actually loved this so much???

I haven't seen a movie this joyous and exuberant since Mamma Mia.  Definitely my favorite new-to-me film in quite some time.  I have so many thoughts and feelings about it, but I don't want to delve into all of them in this post. 

Also!  Fun fact!  If Denzel Washington's Don Pedro hadn't acted as he had during the whole Hero debacle (*inhales*), there is every possibility that I would marry him in a heartbeat. 

Princess Ka'iulani (2009) ●  PG

Eh.  For a show about national annexation, this felt very . . . adolescent, to me.  The focus turned so heavily on the romance, and while I'm not saying that you can't have a strong political story coexisting with a strong love story, the emphasis here felt out of place.  Especially since I found the romance pretty tepid and uninspiring to begin with.  

I also wasn't as impressed with Q'orianka Kilcher's performance as I had expected to be.  Still, there were some good moments.

look how pretty, though.

The Descendants (2011) ● R

Another flop, for me.  It got a little stronger as it went on, and in the end I'd gotten somewhat attached to the characters.  But the script and the acting both felt generic and overt, and the messages were mixed and messy.

Victoria & Abdul (2017) ● PG-13

This was interesting!  I wasn't expecting the comedy/satire angle, so that was a fun surprise.  The ending was sweet and moving, as well. 

There were a few things that seemed 'off' to me, but in general it was good.

Woman in Gold (2015) ● PG-13

I was surprised by how much I liked this one.  I'd known of it for a while and not been that interested, but it proved me wrong!  Mirren and Reynolds were great together, and it was just a very compelling film overall.  (Although I'm now reading that significant liberties were taken with the real Maria's story.  C'est la vie.)

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What have you been watching lately?