Movie #2165 ........................."In the Heights" (HBO max)

 Movie #2165 "In the Heights" (HBO max)

Disclaimer:  I have seen this show 3 times, including one time on Broadway, and I have not really been emotionally pulled in to the story, so I wasn't thinking I would be crazy about the film version, and I was right.  But there are a lot of things I liked about it, in comparison to the show.  1) the choreography is stupendous and exuberant and right out in front being showcased.  On broadway, the dancing was throughout the show, but for a lot of the time it was upstage in the background, and I was never pulled into the liveliness of the dancing, like in this film.  2)  This is so much easier to follow -- you can read the subtitles and follow along so much easier.  If there's an expression that is said, and I didn't know of it, I could pause the film and google it so I could better understand what they are saying --- I actually heard every word and that helps sooooo much with pulling the audience in.  3) Cinematography-wise, it had beautiful images that were memorable -- I even made a list of them while I was watching -- (to be honest, I have no memory of any moment stage play, which  is very rare for me not to remember even one song, but like I said, I did not like this show when I saw it).   Some of these memorable moments include: an image of dancers reflected in another character's sunglasses; the opening number was a great intro to Washington Heights; George Washington vs. Alexander Hamilton with the ice cream truck war was nice comic relief; the pool dance a la Busby Berkley; Chita/Frieda small but great number; The two lovers dancing on top of the windows (sideways on the building); the ending was well executed.  All of these are memorable, and there are so many more --- it really works well as a film, and it seamlessly moves from one scene to another.  And for that alone I would recommend this to see --- the only negatives to me are the story and the songs.  For a two hour show, there are a lot of characters introduced that  we are asked to keep track of at a very quick speed, but on  the whole, they really don't propel the story too much.  And there isn't much of a story really.  And I guess this is where I will compare it to Hamilton --- just because everyone keeps asking:  is it better than Hamilton?  (first time I saw  comments on facebook, that was the question I saw!)  My answer is a resounding NO.  (There is no other show I know of as expertly done as Hamilton  in every aspect of theatre).  For example,  it soars way ahead of this one  in the story and the songs.  I'm sure Hamilton has way more songs (most every line is sung) yet, I never feel there's too much music in that show --- but this one, I do.  Too many ballads, that run together from one scene to the next --- and the two lead girls sing a lot the same,.....not a plus.  But what this show does (as did Hamilton), it showcases an immigrant story, a proud one, and most importantly a PASSIONATE one that can't help but  be contagious to the viewers.  And it's bouncy, nonstop, quick hold-on-to-your-hat dialogue/rap that most everyone will react to with sheer delight.  A+ in entertainment with this one!  I'd give it 4 out of 5.

"IN THE HEIGHTS" (HBO max)   2 hours and 23 mins      PG-13        2021

A film version of the Broadway musical in which Usnavi, a sympathetic New York bodega owner, saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.

Director:

 Jon M. Chu

Writers:

 Quiara Alegría Hudes (screenplay by), Quiara Alegría Hudes (based on the musical stage play, book by)  Lin Manual Miranda|

Stars:

 Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace 

Movie #2164 ........................."The Underground Railroad"( t.v. series - netflix)

 Movie #2164 "The Underground Railroad" (t.v. series netflix) I had read the pulitzer prize- winning book and found it quite amazing, but reading about man's inhumanity to man is very different than seeing it --- yes, you can read that in the South while the whites attend a  garden party and chomp on all their delicacies, a black slave is being  hanged by his arms and torched to death, but seeing it was way too hard for me personally to watch.  The movie has what I would call horror moments that I just couldn't watch, but the way it was filmed was at times mesmerizing and pure beauty --- esp. when the director  tableaus  the characters/actors so they  look like they are stand out in dignity  from the awfulness of their background (our white world of privilege) .  It's hard to explain but pure beauty in film --- but the film is sooooooo slow in pacing, so grim in tone, so difficult to watch --- and I know you are thinking, well, shouldn't it be? Sure, but this is just a warning to those of you who, like me, can just see so much of man's inhumanity to man --- it's preaching to the choir for me --- I got it!  I fully agree with the  message.  Now what can we do about it?  It's those glimpses into how whites treat blacks like slaves in a subtle fashion and suggestions how we can change our thinking and our behavior that I so much liked in the book, that occur here, too.  I just wish there were more.     Each place that Cora goes to, the way the book is set up, she faces a different type of mistreatment.  For example, in the first place the train takes her to, which is  South Carolina, you don't see the beatings like you did in Part I.  In S. Carolina, Cora gets a job to wear a costume and pick cotton in a museum ----- yes, she gets paid for the job and the appearance is that this state is trying to give freedom to the newly freed blacks; however, when she goes to a doctor, he intends to sterilize her so she doesn't bring any black children into their society.  Freedom with a price?   Part III in North Carolina, she has to live in an attic, sequestered from the white world.  Parts V and VI through Tennessee she is shackled and walking by hanged blacks on trees, or blacks  lying on the ground from disease. Finally, when she gets to Indiana and there appears to be blacks in leadership positions on this plantation,  we learn that there are rules blacks need to follow to appease the whites in the community  --- rules that turn their backs on the runaway slaves who need their help and protection.  It is all of these subtle and not so subtle ways to beat the black race into submission , and they continue on today--- we see now, in our voting laws that are being recklessly changed in Republican states that  refuse to recognize a president who  was voted on BY THE PEOPLE!   So this t.v. series becomes very important right now  --- very topical.  The series is worth the watch, for sure. If you can't watch the torturing and violence, be aware they are mostly  in Parts 1, 3, 5 and 9.  The one shared thread through the literature and the t.v. seres is the underground railroad --- and it is as exciting to see it at work in the show as it was to visualize in the book --- such a fantastical symbol that never existed in reality, but in the dreams of the thousands and thousands of runaway slaves who "traveled"on it  to gain their freedom.  For that alone, it is worth seeing this well done, well-acted , well-messaged t.v. series.  I would give it 4.0 --- tough, intense  and slow to watch, but worth the time you are willing to give it.  

"THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD"    9 hours and 53 mins

A young woman named Cora makes an amazing discovery during her attempt to break free from slavery in the deep south.

Stars:

 Thuso Mbedu, Chase Dillon, Joel Edgerton 

Movie #2163 ........................."the Woman in the Window" (netflix)

 Movie #2163 "The Woman in the Window" (netflix)  I had read the book so I knew basically what was going to happen, but there were still some surprises to me.  I don't like horror films, but a good mystery is my cup of tea, and I liked this one a lot.  Yes, it's a bit bloody (at the very end), but up until that, a real easy watch --- and much like "Rear Window" with the set up --- in fact, there's a picture of Jimmy Stewart in her room (and she likes to watch TCM classics) all in homage to film noir, and esp. that film.  This is a great cast, with Amy Adams leading the way --- she is on screen the whole time and it demands skills from A to Z.  Her agoraphobia and the set up of all her drinking and pill popping isn't as well set up as in the book, just because we can be in her mind in the book most of the time, so it works better to make us doubt a lot more what she sees isn't always what we would be seeing --- in film, we are seeing what she is seeing, so there is less doubt --- does that make sense?  With the unreliable narrator in the book, you can get away with confusing the reader more easily, and that was missing here.  And I remember the cat plays even a bigger part, esp. her hurt leg, than she does in the film.  

"THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW"    1 hr and 40 mins    2021    R-rated

An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.

Director:

 Joe Wright

Writers:

 Tracy Letts (screenplay by), A.J. Finn (based upon the novel by) 

Stars:

 Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie 

Movie #2162 ........................."The Friends Reunion" (HBO max)

 Movie #2162 "The Friends Reunion" (HBO max) We are huge fans of this show, and probably as I am writing this, Dave is upstairs watching a Friends show before going to sleep -- it is that popular in our household.  And we walk around and say things like "Pivot" or "Can I BE wearing any more clothes" or "that's how they measure your pants....in prison!"  So we were very anxious to see this reunion, even though the critics were not kind to it.  And we found it quite enjoyable.  Just watching them watching the excepts they are so famous for was a treat.  We couldn't believe that they hadn't seen each other for such a long time, and were never in a room all together since they filmed the last show!  They talked about what made this show so different -- that everyone was well cast and very talented, that there wasn't an obvious lead in the show , that they were all adept with physical comedy, they all got along so well, how well written it was, how it was filmed with an audience and if a joke didn't work, they had a company of writers putting new ones in to test with the audiences..... etc.  It was wonderful to see the sets, to have James Cordon asking questions while they sit in front of the opening of the show fountain and sitting on that couch..... Lady Gaga singing smelly cat with phoebe!  I never valued the character Phoebe so much until this reunion when I realized how important of a part she actually played in comparison to the others.  There are a lot of secrets they divulge, but we wished they would have talked about how they did some moments, and just more background history on some of the moments and some of the episodes.  More secrets!  But for an hour and 1/2 you get to spend time with people you feel you know and want to revisit, and it was quite fun for us to do that.  We highly recommend  -- 4.5 out of 5.

"THE FRIENDS REUNION"      104 minutes   2021

An unscripted Friends reunion special.

It is a reunion special where the main cast reminisce about the past, we are shown some fans pov and how the show influenced their lives, some behind the scenes that maybe most people didn't know, it is a nice treat for a reunion, but not a follow-up episode after all these years.

Director:

 Ben Winston

Writers:

 David Crane (based on the TV show by), Marta Kauffman (based on the TV show by) 

Stars:

 Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow , Matt Leblan, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry