Get Ready For The 2026 Golden Globes With These Golden Globe Nominated Films, Part 1

[I review the Golden Globe nominated films "Frankenstein (the new version), "One Battle After Another," "Nouvelle Vague," and "Sinners" - And I make my predictions. Who will win?]

Frankenstein (2025)

A boy with a tyrannical doctor father grows up with the desire to outdo him, to have command over life and death. He creates a "monster."

Director Guillermo del Toro, who won a Best Picture and a Best Directing Oscar for "The Shape of Water" in 2018, has adapted Mary Shelley's famous work into a story of compassion and forgiveness rather than adhering to the "science gone wrong" concept. This is a reimagining of a story that has been told many times. Though Del Toro has changed some of the plotlines from the original story, such as Victor Frankenstein's backstory, Elizabeth's role and the creature's motivations, he has still captured the heart of Mary Shelley's work.

The film is divided into three parts: Prelude, Victor's Tale and The Creature's Tale. 

In the Prelude, it's 1857, and the Horisont, a Royal Danish ship sailing for the North Pole, is trapped in the ice. Alerted to an explosion in the distance, Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen) and his men discover an injured Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac). After bringing him on board, they are attacked by a Creature (Jacob Elordi) who demands that they turn Victor over to him. Captain Anderson manages to shoot the Creature and sink him into the icy water after which Victor explains that he is the Creature's maker and tells his story

Part I: Victor's Tale

Victor's father (Charles Dance) is a renowned surgeon who abuses young Victor and favors his younger brother, William.  Victor grows up to also be a brilliant surgeon but an arrogant one, obsessed with wanting to be more powerful than his father by conquering death. It's the classic story of "I will show my Dad!"

When Victor is expelled from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh for trying to bring corpses back to life, arms merchant Henrich Harlander (played by a toned-down Christoph Waltz) offers Victor unlimited funding and an isolated tower to continue his experiments where Victor harvests body parts from hanged criminals. He enlists his brother, William (Felix Kammerer) as his assistant and becomes smitten with his fiancee, Elizabeth (Mia Goth). 

Victor eventually creates the Creature and is amazed at his strength but becomes frustrated that he can only teach it one word - "Victor."  So he starts to abuse the Creature, just as his father had done with him, which in turn doesn't go over well with the Creature, who is eventually able to escape.

So that's Victor's story. 

And then when the Creature is able to get out of the water and get onto the ship, he tells his story.

Part II: The Creature's Tale

After escaping from Victor, the Creature befriends a blind man (David Bradley) living in a cabin in the woods.  The man teaches the Creature to read and speak. The Creature also becomes sentient and when he eventually discovers the truth about his creation, self-loathing sets in. He feels he is an outsider, misunderstood, hated, and realizing he cannot die and will spend eternity alone, the Creature begs Victor to create a companion for him. The Creature is not happy when Victor refuses, thus why the Creature wants to kill Victor. 

The film asks the question: Who is the real monster here?

So that's the gist of the film's story but there is much more and Del Toro has created a different ending that is a tear-jerker.

The film is two-and-a-half hours long, and you know how I feel about overlong movies, but I have to say, this one did not feel overlong.  It flew by, because every scene meant something, every scene was filled with emotion, not to mention the moody beautiful set design and cinematography, the incredible Victorian costumes and the exquisite score. And the acting is extraordinary.  Both Isaac and Elordi are wonderful. Hard to believe Elordi once played Elvis. 

Both Isaac and Elordi are nominated for acting Golden Globes as is Del Toro for Best Directing and the film for Best Motion Picture-Drama (the score was also nominated). The film has already won 27 awards and has another 90 nominations from other film societies.

So will this film win the Golden Globe for "Best Picture-Drama?" Will Del Toro win Best Director?  Will Isaac and Elordi win?

Prediction: I feel it should win and so should Del Toro and the actors. I think the main competition in this category is "Hamnet (not seen at this writing)," but this was truly a wonderful film experience.  It should win.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Del Toro has said "I dream that I can make the greatest Frankenstein ever..."  And he has. This is the best movie I have seen all year. Not to be missed! (Netflix)

One Battle After Another (2025)

Can a movie about revolutionaries and white supremacists be funny?  Well, yes, kind of.

"Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are members of a leftist revolutionary group called the French 75. While breaking out immigrants from a detention center at the U.S.-Mexico border, Perfidia comes across Capt. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), one of the commanding officers, and manages to sexually humiliate him in a very cringeworthy scene. However, didn't seem to bother him that much, because turns out our very white supremacist Steven J. Lockjaw has a thing for black women, and when he catches Perfidia planting a bomb, he releases her after she agrees to have sex with him, and such is the screw, pardon the pun, that turns this story. 

Later Pat and Perfidia become lovers, and then Perfidia gives birth to a girl named Charlene and they have a little family together. Mmmm, that little girl.  Who is the Baby Daddy?  One can't help but wonder. But Pat is all in and tries to persuade her to settle down, but Perfidia has postpartum depression, or maybe she is just bored, but anyway she abandons Pat and baby Charlene. She is caught after murdering a security guard in an armed bank robbery, but there is Lockjaw again, and he arranges for her to avoid prison in exchange for her to give him information on the whereabouts of the key French 75 members which she does. Perfidia enters witness protection and walks into Mexico (can you do that without a passport?). 

Pat and Charlene have been given protection by the French 75 and changed their names to Bob and Willa Ferguson and are living in the sanctuary town of Baktan Cross, Calfornia, a place that does not exist in real life, but fun to try to figure out where this was filmed. Turns out Eureka, Stockton and San Juan Bautista, all of those California locations were in this movie. 

Anyway, now it's sixteen years later, Willa (Chase Infiniti) is a free-spirited teen, and she has to be, because Bob has become a paranoid stoner. And through his vehement anti-immigration efforts, Lockjaw has become a colonel and a prominent figure within the US security agencies. When Lockjaw is invited to become a member of the Christmas Adventurers Club, a far-right white supremacist group, and they plan to do a deep dive into his personal life to see if he is lily white enough, he realizes he needs to find Willa and kill her to hide his past relationship with Perfidia. 

So now we have Bob and Willa, with the help of sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio Del Toro) and Perfidia's former ally, Deandra (Regina Hall), trying to escape Lockjaw and his goons and Lockjaw trying to hide his past proclivities from the Christmas Adventurers. Lots of car chases and running around trying to avoid being killed ensues, and that is when the movie finally kicked in for me and it's description as a dark comedy resonated.

One of my criticisms of this movie is the title.  I can never remember it and not really sure how it figures in the movie. But my main problem was that it took me almost an hour to get into the film, and after some cringeworthy moments, such as when Perfidia first meets Lockjaw (not a fan of shock value moments - I actually said out loud "What the hell?"), I figured out it was supposed to be funny.

And did I say this movie is almost three hours long?  I have a problem with that too.  Directors these days seem to have a difficult time editing themselves.  And the soundtrack was really annoying at times.   

But despite my complaints, after the first hour, I was all in. 

Leonardo Di Caprio really shows his talent here.  He is really, really good.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him and Sean Penn?  Geez, that guy, whatever he does, he gives it his all and this movie is no exception.  I mean, just watch him walk.  That's acting! I see Oscar nods for both of them. And props to the other actors and to writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia," "There Will Be Blood"), who based the film loosely on Thomas Pynchon's book "Vineland."  

Though I think this film didn't need to be so long, Anderson has made an important film that speaks to where we are now.  There are all kinds of nuances that those of us who are not happy with the current political climate in America can relate to, such as rounding up immigrants en masse, authoritarian police forces and rich white men creating secret societies.

So will this one win a "Best Picture - Musical or Comedy" Golden Globe? Will Leo and Sean win in their categories? 

Prediction: With nine Golden Globe nominations, another 100+ other nominations and 110 wins already from other film societies, I say the film will probably win in this category. And Leo and Sean are right up there also as contenders in their acting categories. I also think Mr. Oscar is knocking at the door.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a timely film that will take you on a wild ride. I still haven't gotten over Sean Penn's walk. (available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime)

Nouvelle Vague (2025)

The making of Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless (1960)," one of the first feature films of the French New Wave cinema.

Director Richard Linklater is on a roll.  He has two films nominated for a Golden Globe in the "Best Picture - Musical or Comedy" category - this one and "Blue Moon (which I reviewed in my last post on December 12)." Like "Blue Moon," which paid homage to classic Broadway musicals and the songwriting duo of Rodgers and Hart, this one celebrates filmmaking, paying homage to the French New Wave, which clearly was an influence on Linklater's own filmmaking.

In 1959, Jean-Luc Godard attends the film premier of "La Passe du diable" along with his fellow film critics at "Cahiers due Cinema" - François Truffaut (Adrien Rouyard), Suzanne Schiffman (Jodie Ruth-Forest) and Claude Chabrol (Antoine Besson), all of whom had already made movies. At the afterparty, Godard harshly criticizes the film and pledges to become a film director, as his other colleagues have. Later, Godard attends the Cannes Film Festival where Truffaut's film "The 400 Blows" becomes a resounding success, so Godard decides it is his time to direct a film, so he co-writes a short outline with Truffaut and off he goes to direct "Breathless.

The story of "Breathless" involves Michel Portail, a young, impulsive petty criminal in Paris who idolizes American movie gangsters, especially Humphrey Bogart. When he kills a motorcycle cop after stealing a car, Portail becomes a wanted man. Then he meets Patricia, an American student, and the two fall in love, but as Patricia learns of Portail's crimes, she questions their relationship and it all ends badly. Actress Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) enjoying the success of her film "Bonjour Tristesse," plays Patricia and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) is cast as Portail.  

So that's the gist of "Breathless," which became a classic of French cinema, but you would never know that would be the outcome because of the chaotic, impulsive and disjointed way that Godard directed the film, and that is what Linklater highlights in this movie. For example, there isn't a finished script, and on the first day of production, Godard films only one scene.  As production goes on, Godard wants spontaneity and improvisation rather than finishing the script.  There is no continuity and short shooting days.  Cast and crew, and especially the producer, Georges de Beauregard (Bruno Dreyfurst), become frustrated. After 23 days, Godard wraps production.  

When the film is shown, Truffaut, Chabrol and others dismiss the film, but we all know what happened. "Breathless" became one of the most daring and influential films ever made; Belmondo became an international heartthrob; Seberg went on to make 35 more films but sadly died from suicide at 40 (read her biography. Really sad what happened to her); and Godard went on to have a brilliant film career for over 60 years.

Many filmmakers have been influenced by the French New Wave and particularly by Godard.  And Linklater is clearly one of them. Written by Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr. and Michele Petin, this is a little slice of French film life, a look into the early days of the French New Wave, but this film also seemed to be very niche.  

I wonder how many current filmgoers can relate to this part of film history, and who will recognize the famous names thrown around, because to enjoy the film, it helps to know the movers and shakers of the French New Wave. Famous names abound as well as famous quotes (Godard's most famous line - "All you need for a movie is a girl and a gun"), but that doesn't mean much if no one recognizes the names or the quotes. The film is black and white mostly in French with English subtitles, which is fine, but Linklater also chose to include closed captions like "chuckling" and "sound of car horn."  I found that very irritating.  Not sure what the purpose of that was. Linklater also seemed to be imitating Godard's style of filmmaking because the movie felt very disjointed and chaotic at times. But the actors were great and the production values captured the times and did mimic the filmmaking of that era, and, of course, there were lots and lots of cigarettes.

Linklater pays homage to French New Wave cinema and perhaps hoped that this little film would ignite interest in that part of film history.  Not sure that will happen.

Will it win a Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Musical or Comedy?"

Prediction: I say no, and it doesn't help that Linklater's "Blue Moon" is also nominated in this category.  They could cancel each other out.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an interesting little love letter from Linklater to Godard and French New Wave cinema, but I wonder if the general movie going public can relate (Netflix).

Sinners (2025)

What does a black community in the 1930's South have to do with vampires? Nothing really but it makes for an intriguing concept in this tale about twin brothers returning from their troubled lives in Chicago only to find more trouble.

Michael B. Jordan plays identical twins and World War I veterans Elijah "Smoke" and Elias "Stack" Moore (get it?  Smoke-Stack? - lol) who return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, after spending seven years in Chicago. These guys are gangsters and they have returned to their small town to start a juke joint for the local Black community. They are accompanied by their young cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton), AKA Preacher Boy, who is a blues singer.

They reunite with Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), a blues harmonica player; Grace (Li Jun Li) and Bo Chow (Yao), local Chinese shopkeepers; field worker Cornbread Omar Benson Miller); and Smoke's wife, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku).  Delta will perform in the joint, Grace and Bo will supply the food, Cornbread will be the bouncer and Annie will cook.

In the meantime, Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), Stack's ex-girlfriend shows up. As an aside, Annie believes in Hoodoo and thinks that she has kept the twins safe over the years, but that is yet to be determined because there are vampires afoot. What? Vampires?

Anyway, on the joint's opening night, the music attracts Remmick (Jack O'Connell), who is a KKK guy and also a vampire (huge metaphor there) and his fellow vampires, and it all goes to hell after that.

Michael B. Jordan is nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe and it's well deserved as he played both brothers and each is distinctive. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, the film is nominated for another six Golden Globe awards and has already won 124 awards from other film societies, but this movie just didn't do it for me. It took too long to get going, and when the vampires finally showed up, I couldn't help but think, where did the vampires come from? What do they have to do with this? 

Despite the focus on the music, traditions, culture and the struggles of the black community in the 1930's South as well as the moody and sometimes beautiful cinematography, good acting, and, yes, vampires...sorry, I just didn't get it, much as I love vampires. If you are going to do black culture, do black culture, and if you are going to do vampires, do vampires, but mashing them together, didn't work for me.

So will this win "Best Picture - Drama?"  Will Michael B. Jordan win Best Actor-Drama?"

Prediction: I say, no. Despite the stylish presentation and the metaphor, I just could not get into this movie.  And I also think Michael B. Jordan has some stiff competition in the Best Actor-Drama category.

Rosy the Reviewer says...even though I kind of like vampires, I didn't find this a satisfying movie experience. It was a very bizarre vampire movie. The movie actually could have done without the vampires. (streaming on HBO Max and Hulu).

See You Next Time For More on the Golden Globes!

And Happy New Year!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, X, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer where I share short reviews about TV shows I am watching, books I am reading and all sorts of other fun stuff that doesn't appear here!

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

"Isle of Dogs" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the movie "Isle of Dogs" as well as DVDs "Molly's Game" and "Proud Mary."  The Book of the Week is "I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer." I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with "Lola."]




Isle of Dogs

It's a Japan of the future and the fear of Dog Flu and Snout Fever has banished all dogs to Trash Island but an intrepid little boy travels there to find his dog, Spots.

I am not a big fan of stop-action animation and Wes Anderson is a strange guy.  I mean I am still mulling over what the heck was going on in "Moonrise Kingdom," though he won me back with "The Grand Budapest Hotel," and I am still a big fan because I absolutely loved this film.  And it is a testament to Anderson that so many big name actors wanted to do the voices in this film - from Bryan Cranston to Scarlett Johansson to Yoko Ono, there are almost 20 A-listers here, not to mention a boat load of big name Japanese actors.

There is a dog flu virus rampant in Japan and the new mayor of Megasaki City, Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura), a member of a long-time cat-loving family, banishes all dogs to Trash Island, despite the fact that a scientist named Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito) insists he is close to finding a cure. But Kobayashi ignores him. Japan is a cat world now. The first dog to be banished is Spots (Liev Schreiber), who was the canine bodyguard for twelve-year-old Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin), the orphaned nephew and ward of the mayor.

Missing his beloved Spots, Atari steals a plane and flies to Trash Island to find him. After a crash-landing, he is rescued by five dogs: Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), Boss (Bill Murray), and Chief (Cranston) who decide to help Atari locate Spots, although Chief, who was a former stray, wants nothing to do with it at first.  He doesn't trust humans, is bitter about his life and often says, "I bite."  But with the help of a female show dog named Nutmeg (Johansson), Chief has a change of heart and decides to help.

Nutmeg: Will you help him, the little pilot?

Chief: Why should I?

Nutmeg: Because he's a twelve year old boy, dogs love those.

So the motley crew traverse Trash Island to look for Spots and survive a series of adventures that involve fighting off a rescue team sent by Kobayashi to retrieve Atari and a band of cannibal dogs.

Meanwhile, back in Megasaki City, Professor Watanabe finds a cure, but is poisoned by Mayor Kobayashi to prevent the dogs from being returned from Trash Island, but American foreign exchange student, Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig), suspects a conspiracy to exterminate all dogs and begins to investigate.  When Atari and his dog friends arrive back in Megasaki City and confront the Mayor, a fight ensues, but it all wraps up nicely because, hey, it's a cartoon.

I say it's a cartoon but that's not to say that this film is for children.  It's not. 

This is definitely too dark for young children. On a superficial level, it's about the love between humans and dogs and the companionship they provide, though Anderson uses a humorous device to remind us that little Rover doesn't really understand us when we ask him about his day.  All of the humans speak only in Japanese with no subtitles and the dogs speak English, reminding us what we humans must sound like to our dogs, like we are speaking in another language. But there are deeper themes at work here - genocide, loyalty, death, and the abuse that animals suffer at the hands of humans.  

Narrated by Courtney B. Vance, the story, which Wes Anderson wrote with Roman Coppola, Kunichi Nomura and long-time collaborator Jason Schwartzman, is an engrossing and often humorous one but also a touching tale of dog and human love.  It has also been controversial as some critics felt the film was an appropriation of Japanese culture and an example of the "white savior."  You will have to decide what you think of that. 

As I said, I am not usually a fan of stop-motion animation, but thanks to animation director Mark Waring, who worked with Anderson on "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," this film pays homage to Japanese anime and pop culture and was really life-like and lovely to look at, and thanks to Anderson's story, it pulled my heart strings.  However, it helps if you love dogs.

And I do.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an enjoyable and original film experience and a clear nominee for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.  One of my favorite films of the year so far.  

***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

On DVD

Molly's Game (2017)

What do you do when you are an Olympic class skier who has sustained a career-ending injury?  Why you run one of the world's most high class and exclusive poker games, right?  Huh?  How did that happen?

Based on a true story, this film takes us on Molly Bloom's journey from a skier on her way to Olympic glory to a career-ending back injury to running high stakes poker games and ultimately tangling with the FBI.

Molly (Jessica Chastain) was one of those athletes with a Dad who was short on praise ("What's the worst thing that can happen in sports?  Coming in fourth.") and big on working his daughter to the point of exhaustion.  When a back injury ended her skiing career, Molly moved to L.A. to go to law school but before starting school she just wanted to take some time off, be young and enjoy the nice weather.  

So she got a job as a cocktail waitress, but when she met Dean (Jeremy Strong), an obnoxious but successful real estate developer, she became his office manager. But her job didn't just include office work.  Dean also ran underground high stakes poker games for celebrities, so when he asked Molly to help him - set up the bar, handle the music and the food - and she made $3000 in tips, a light bulb went off in her head so I guess it was only natural that when Dean and she had a falling out Molly figured she could run her own games.  And that's how Molly found herself running her own poker games and raking in the cash.  And she was good at what she did.  She kept the confidences of the rich and famous players who populated her underground (but still legal) games, and she was living large until the inevitable happened.  She got into drugs, started taking percentages of her large pots and found herself involved with the Russian mob.  That's when the FBI got wind of what she was up to which led to her arrest. Not good.

Adapted from Molly Bloom's memoir and directed by Aaron Sorkin who is best known for his writing smart and fast-paced dialogue for "The West Wing" and movies such as "Moneyball" and "A Few Good Men," this is his directorial debut.  It's also a tour de force for Jessica Chastain because the film is all about her and it's a true tale of a tough woman making it in a man's world.  Told in a series of narrated flashbacks, she plays a powerful woman living life on her own terms and she delivers a powerful performance.  

The rest of the cast is also good especially Idris Elba (sigh) as her lawyer, Kevin Costner (another sigh - he and Idris are two of my celebrity crushes) as Molly's father and Michael Cera as Player X, who I am pretty sure was supposed to be Tobey Maquire. Remember?  I told you it was a true story.

Anyway, with that said - all of those great performances - the film just didn't resonate with me.  It was too long and there just wasn't that much of a story to sustain it.  The first half of the film sizzled.  The last half fizzled.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Though I enjoyed Chastain's performance, the second half of the film bogged down and I couldn't help but wonder why this story was worth telling. 




Proud Mary (2018)

Mary (Taraji P. Henson) is a hit woman for a crime family whose life is changed when she meets a young boy in trouble.

This is a stylish film that pays homage to the Blaxsploitation films of the 1970's - remember "Foxy Brown" and "Shaft?"  And in case you didn't notice that right away, the film begins with "Papa Was a Rollin Stone," which puts you in the mood as we watch Mary get ready for a hit. 

During the hit, Mary notices a young boy in one of the rooms and realizes that she has just killed his Dad.  Then she sees him later walking around town, and figures out what he is up to.  He is a young drug runner and when he is beaten up and lying in an alley, Mary's so far suppressed maternal instincts kick in and she takes him to her apartment.  

When it becomes clear that Danny (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) is in deep with "Uncle (Xander Berkeley)," a Russian mob drug dealer, she takes charge and shoots "Uncle" to save Danny, but in so doing becomes a target herself, not just of the rival drug gang but in her own circle as her boss (Danny Glover) tells the rival gang he will find out who killed "Uncle" and deal with "him" so as to avoid a drug war. To point suspicion away from herself, Mary fingers someone else and when ordered to kill him she does, so our girl is not above immorality to save her own skin, but the gangster life is starting to get to her and her relationship with Danny brings those feelings to the surface.  So now she wants out and she discovers getting out is not as easy as getting in.

Directed by Babak Najafi with a screenplay by Steve Antin, John Stuart Newman and Christian Swegal, this reminded me of "Atomic Blonde," which was also about an empowered woman who takes care of business, her business being shooting people.  But "Atomic Blonde" was a stylish cartoon compared to this gritty story of the drug culture, child abuse, young children just trying to survive and a hit woman who experiences guilt.

Speaking of children.  By now you must know how much I dislike annoying, overly precocious child actors but I have to say that Jahi was not that kid.  His Danny was a tough street smart kid who was suffering and he brings that character to life beautifully.

Taraji B. Henson is wonderful in this. She makes a great conflicted hit woman.  This film pays homage to the Blaxsploitation films but where those were short on character development, this one allows Henson to show her full range of acting skills and characterization. 

I have to add that twenty minutes into the film, I thought I had figured out the twist.  Turns out there was no twist, but I really think this film would have been better if my plot line twist had been how it ended.  But that doesn't matter.  I still liked the film.  The soundtrack is spot on and of course we can't call this film "Proud Mary," unless we play that iconic song, perfect for when Mary is taking everyone out.  This film is as much about the soundtrack as it is the story.

Rosy the Reviewer says...not a fan of gangster films that involve nail gun torture and plastic bags over people's heads, but I love bad ass women characters and this film showcases Henson nicely.

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

147 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?




Lola (1961)

Two ex-lovers rekindle their romance even though one of them is carrying a torch for another old love.

Lola (Anouk Aimee) is a cabaret dancer who is still in love with Michel, who left her.  However, she rekindles a romance with Roland, a childhood friend she hasn't seen in ten years and, if that wasn't enough, an American sailor is also in love with her.  Our Lola is a busy girl.

Lola has never gotten over Michel (Jacques Michel) who is the father of her child and she is waiting for him to come back to her, but in the meantime she carries on romances with Roland (Marc Michel) and Frankie (Alan Scott), the sailor.  There is a parallel story about Roland and his inability to get his life together but when he meets Lola that gives him the spark he needs to get a job and become someone.  However, wouldn't you know it's a dodgy smuggling job.  Can't end well.  And the film is all about unrequited love which also can't end well.  And it doesn't.

Anouk Aimee was already a star when she made this film but before she became a huge international star in "A Man and a Woman." Here she personifies the feminine yet complex woman men so adored in French New Wave, but her acting ability imbues the role with a softness and vulnerability not often found.

The score is lush and romantic and establishes the long-ranging relationship that would develop between composer Michel Legrand and Director Jacques Demy.  Anouk pays homage to Marlene Dietrich in "Blue Angel" with her cabaret act (Dietrich's character's name was also Lola) and writer/director Jacques Demy dedicates this film, his feature film directorial debut, to Max Ophuls who was known for his smooth camera shots and films told from a female point of view. It's also a sort of fairy tale of lost love, which hints at Demy's films to come, the dreamy "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," which was to follow three years later and "The Young Girls of Rochefort" which followed six years later.

Why it's a Must See: [This film] is imbued with a poignanet awareness of the transience of happinesss and the difficulties and unlikelihood of love...Oh, and Anouk Aimee is unforgettable."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

Rosy the Reviewer says...if, like I did, you loved "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," you will like this.
(b & w, in French with English subtitles)

***Book of the Week***

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (2018)

For over ten years in the 1970's, The Golden State Killer sexually assaulted 50 women in Northern California, then became a murderer, killing ten people in Southern California, avoided capture and then disappeared. Who was he and would he ever be caught?

Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist and creator of the website TrueCrimeDiary.com was obsessed with finding out who The Golden State Killer was.  His crime spree began in the Sacramento area in the 1970's where he was dubbed The East Area Rapist.  He had an MO - he was a young Caucasian guy who staked out his victims beforehand, often entered their homes to check out it out when they weren't there, then wearing a mask broke in during the night shining a flashlight in their eyes to blind them.  He had a strange gutteral whisper of a voice seemingly through clenched teeth, smelled bad, and took items of little value.  He started by attacking women who were alone but graduated to attacking couples as they slept.  He terrorized the Sacramento area  - and then he moved South and his rapes became murders.

Thirty years later, McNamara, who was also the wife of actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, became obsessed with him and it was she who dubbed him The Golden State Killer.  For years she focused on his crimes by reading police reports, interviewing surviving victims and participating in online communities who were also obsessed with trying to figure out who he was.  Sadly McNamara died tragically before finishing the book, but it was completed by her lead researcher and friend using McNamara's notes, and it's a compelling true crime story as well as the story of a woman's dogged journey to discover the identity of the Golden State Killer and bring him to justice.

The title comes from something The Golden State Killer said to a victim:  "You'll be silent forever and I will be gone in the dark." Chilling.

Did McNamara discover the identity of the Golden State Killer?  You will have to read the book to find out.

Rosy the Reviewer...if you enjoy true crime, this is a good one.  But be forewarned.  It's scary and you will also want to make sure all of your windows and doors are locked!

Thanks for reading!

See you next Friday 

for my review of 

"I Feel Pretty"

 and

  

The Week in Reviews

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

 and the latest on

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before 
  

I Die Project." 

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