Monday, January 9, 2017

Movie #1297 ........................."Moonlight"

Movie #1297 "Moonlight" --- saw this the other night and have been thinking about it ever since..... trying to figure out why I thought it was just okay.  Once again, I was feeling that  a film that was  well touted by critics was just okay.  Hmmmm.  Becoming a trend this year?  Perhaps, it has to do with me  going in with huge expectations?  maybe.  I respect the playwright (saw and enjoyed  some of his stuff at Steppenwolf) knew  Mahershala Ali won a critics' choice award for supporting actor, knew the two women (the mom and Theresa) were being suggested for supporting acting awards for sag, etc., and I also knew that the film was about growing up black and gay in Miami --- a subject not covered a lot in film.   With all that going for it, while I was watching it, I found myself with way too much time to do everything BUT feel the emotions I think I was supposed to be feeling in the film ---- I had lots of time to be.......... confused (as to what was happening), because not enough is said or relationships and characters aren't delved into enough; or time to be  bored (things were going so slowly, I found myself at times  counting the  seconds per shot or scene); or having  time to check out how repetitive some of the scenes or pieces of dialogue were;  that's not to say there were some fine moments here, it's just as a film, it didn't meet my expectations.  It's a good indie film, but I wouldn't recommend it wholeheartedly because it has its faults.  So why did it win a golden globe last night?  I don't know.  I guess critics and the foreign press see something in it that I didn't....  It IS multicultural, but then why wasn't the foreign press swayed to give the best picture award to "Fences" (which I thought worked better) ?  I don't know, but I DO feel that  for these awards shows perhaps Hollywood  should be looking farther back in the year for the "best" nominees because these end- of- the -year films aren't all that great.......so far.

"MOONLIGHT"    2016    R rated            3.6 stars out of 5

Growing up in the drug-soaked world of 1980s Miami, young Chiron struggles to make his way through a helter-skelter adolescence while also grappling with confusion and anxiety about his emerging sexuality.
Cast: Trevante RhodesAndré HollandJanelle Monáe, Mahershala Ali, Naomi Harris....

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