HIDDEN FIGURES: There is a smorgasbord of treats for moviegoers this holiday weekend. By far the best film of the year is “Hidden Figures.”
It is not only entertaining with award winning performances, but it educates. It is the untold story of three brilliant black women—Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae)—working in NASA’s basement yet are responsible for John Glenn’s orbit and return, thereby saving face in the Space Race with Russia.
The three are just the tip of the iceberg for more than 20 black mathematical human “computers” that worked in the basement are responsible for advances in modern day science and computer technology. It opens Christmas Day. (https://eurweb.com/2016/12/taraji-henson-and-octavia-spencer-play-superheroes/, https://eurweb.com/2016/12/taraji-henson-and-octavia-spencer-play-superheroes/)
FENCES: Also opening Christmas Day is “Fences,” directed by and starring Denzel Washngton as Troy Maxson. A fine performance by Viola Davis, Mykelti Williamson, Russell Hornsby, Stephen Henderson, and Jovan Adepo is the icing on the cake. The racism that consumes Troy is as prevalent today as it was when August Wilson wrote the play set in the 1950s. But what is not a common occurrence this century is a wife accepting her cheating husband’s infidelities and taking in his mistress’ baby. Troy’s wife Rose has to not only deal with his betrayal, but her husband’s bitterness. Disenchanted by the American dream Troy, a Sanitation garbage collector, often proclaims that had it not been for discrimination he would have become a baseball star.
A MONSTER CALLS: Another contender for best picture is the emotional drama “A Monster Calls,” starring Liam Neeson, Lewis MacDougall, Felicia Jones, and Sigourney Weaver, opening 12/23. The film goes beyond being a children’s book captured on screen, but a guide to healing. The Monster helps a bullied Conor (MacDougall) deal with his ailing mother and the grief that is consuming him. https://eurweb.com/2016/12/a-monster-calls-that-liam-neeson-recommends/
SILENCE: Liam Neeson competes against himself in “Silence,” that opens the same day as “A Monster Calls.” The intense Martin Scorsese “Silence” story has gripping depictions of Christians put to death in Japan for their beliefs. Missionaries Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver are the missionaries who travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor, Father Ferreira (Neeson).
WHY HIM?: “Why Him?” offers some comic relief. I say some because like most comedies of late, they rely on bathroom jokes, crude and outrageous situation to elicit laughter. Dad Ned (Bryan Cranston), along with the family, visit daughter (Zoey Deutch) and billionaire boyfriend (James Franco), who has no filter for his inappropriate language and behavior for the holidays.
SING: “Sing” is a joyous celebration of songs that adults will probably enjoy just as much as the kids because of the familiarity of many of the tunes. A koala (Matthew McConaughey) stages a singing competition to save his theater that draws the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Scarlett Johansson, and Reese Witherspoon. It best attraction, however, is its message.
PASSENGERS: “Passengers” is a fun film that is beautifully shot and engages audiences to wonder what they would do if on a spacecraft that malfunctions while traveling to a distant planet. Aura (Jennifer Lawrence), Jim (Chris Pratt), and Capt. Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburne) will face spending 90 years in space unless the ship can be fixed.
PATRIOTS DAY: Audiences must again relive a tragic event and the killers immortalized in “Patriots Day.” The Boston Police Department is the focus as it carried out its duties in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the aftermath that included the citywide manhunt to find the terrorists. Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, and Michael Beach star.
ASSASSIN’S CREED: A stellar cast Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Charlotte Rampling in “Assassin’s Creed” does not help this hodgepodge of nonsense—Callum Lynch (Fassbender) dangles from the ceiling and is tortured by his past and present—that includes the search for the apple from the Garden of Eden. Wouldn’t it be quite rotten by now if it existed? Lynch finds he is a descendant of the secret society of Assassins and is the key to finding the apple. With such a dumb premise and a lackluster story to aid it, “Assassin Creed” is dead in the water.
Syndicated Entertainment journalist Marie Moore reports on film and TV from her New York City base. Contact her at [email protected]
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