Category: 2020s

In 1961, pensioner Kempton Bunton (portrayed here by Jim Broadbent) stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from London’s National Gallery as part of his campaign to provide television licences for those struggling to afford them. Broadbent is a good choice as Bunton and Helen Mirren provides the perfectly sensible foil as his wife. There’s a category of film that I tend to think of as cozy British flicks and this one falls firmly into that category: working class characters who live perfectly average lives except for one quirk which sets them apart and provides the impetus for the story. It’s a comfy way to waste away an afternoon, watching something that’s not too complex or offensive but still entertaining.

The only ones who appreciate and can afford English cutter Mark Rylance’s custom suits in 1950s Chicago are a family of Irish mobsters. When his livelihood and his life are threatened by this association, he must use all his skills to save himself. They say they’re in Chicago, but there’s nothing about the one location setting that gives that away, neither does whatever accent Zoey Deutch was trying to give. I love Mark Rylance for his quiet understated performances and here he combines that with an underlying confidence. He carries the film from start to finish and it is never not an interesting ride.   

In 1971, photographer W. Eugene Smith (portrayed by Johnny Depp) traveled to Minamata, Japan to document the effects of mercury poisoning caused by industrial pollution on the residents there. Because of Depp’s various legal and personal problems, the film was shelved for a long time which is a shame. I’d never heard of Minamata disease before nor that it is considered one of Japan’s big four pollution diseases. The United States is no stranger to corporate environmental malfeasance, but it’s disconcerting, though not surprising, that it happens elsewhere. The film offers a beautiful and captivating story, though reading the real life story as always makes me wonder why the producers make the changes they do.

Unable to fly to the United Kingdom to receive a literary award, writer Meryl Streep travels aboard the Queen Mary 2 inviting along her nephew Lucas Hedges and her somewhat estranged college friends Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest. Traveling on a cruise during a pandemic is a bit foolhardy, but this was interestingly filmed right before it started alongside actual passengers. The film itself is fairly hollow, serving mostly as a travel brochure for all the incredible features on board. The best parts are watching Bergen and Wiest playing board games in various areas of the ship, dishing on their mutual friend and past experiences more than actually playing the games.

Right before her IRS audit meeting, struggling laundromat owner Michelle Yeoh is visited by an alternate universe version of her husband Ke Huy Quan who entreaties her to connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent the destruction of the multiverse. I had seen many positive reviews for this film, but I was not prepared for how endlessly entertaining and thought provoking this film would be. Michelle Yeoh is a goddess who brings all her skills, including the ability to switch from being beaten down by life to kicking ass on the flip of a coin, to this fight. It doesn’t hurt that she’s supported by incredible performances, not only from Quan but also James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Stephanie Hsu. I love all the multiverse concepts and how committed the film is to fully realizing each and every one of them.      

While the majority of the Crawley family is off to the south of France to visit a villa that Violet (Maggie Smith) has surprisingly inherited, Mary (Michelle Dockery) stays behind to supervise over a film crew who is using Downton as a location to shoot their film. The film has very few stakes for anyone involved, but it is a fine continuation of the Downton saga that is simply easy to just settle in to its coziness.. My only complaint is with so many new characters in two separate locations, some of the original core characters get short shrift in the story telling but it’s a minor complaint especially if the story continues on.