Get Ready For The 2026 Golden Globes With These Golden Globe Nominated Films, Part 2!

[I review these Golden Globe nominated films: "Wicked: For Good," "Bugonia" "It Was Just An Accident," and "Sentimental Value:]

Wicked: For Good (2025)

Part II of "Wicked."

Well, "Wicked" is back and I have good news and bad news. 

The good news?

After over a year's wait, "Wicked" is back.

The bad news?

"Wicked" is back.

I kid.  But only a little bit, because as I said in my review of Part I - absolutely no reason to turn this musical into a two-parter, except for greed. The powers that be have taken a two hour and 45 minute Broadway musical and turned it into a five hour movie experience.  And sorry, there wasn't enough content nor hummable songs here to double the size of this story.  So to see the entire film in the theatre, you not only had to pay twice in the movie theatre but also get yourself off the couch and dressed to go out twice.  This movie wasn't worth that.

And since it's been a year since Part I debuted, it would have been nice to get some kind of recap about what happened in Part I. Going in, I did understand this was all a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" and how Elpheba became the Wicked Witch of the West. However, "Wicked" is not my favorite musical.  I have only seen it once in a theatre, so I needed to be reminded of the details I was left with in Part I. That was not done, so I was in the dark for much of Part 2. 

To save you from that same fate, here is a quick recap of Part I.  

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) has green skin so has popularity issues.  However, she forges a friendship in school with Glinda (Ariana Grande), who is popular.  All goes well for awhile until some boy trouble and then suppression against the talking animals.  When Glinda and Elphaba go to the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) to get help for the animals, they discover that the animals are in deep trouble and the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) are behind it, so Elphaba goes against the Wizard and Madame Morrible and is branded a traitor. Madame Morrible calls her "Wicked," hence "Wicked Witch of the West," get it?

So that's basically Part I, which I had to remind myself of with recaps on the Internet.  You would think for a two-and-a-half hour movie, there would have been time for a recap in Part II.  

Anyway, so Part II, directed once again by Jon M. Chu, begins with a time jump after Elphaba's escape in Part I. Glinda is now "Glinda the Good" and engaged to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey, who just happens to be People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" this year), and the hunt is on for Elphaba, who continues her animal rights campaign but who is now branded "The Wicked Witch of the West." And in the course of the movie, we also learn where the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion came from and that's basically it. What will happen to Elphaba? By the time I found out, I didn't care anymore. And just to give you some context, my nine-year-old Granddaughter didn't really like Part II either.

But okay, that aside, I didn't like Jeff Goldblum and his auto-tuned voice as the Wizard nor Michele Yeoh as Madame Morrible. She can't sing either. And Cynthia Erivo kind of irritates me but at least she can sing and has an Oscar nomination under her belt. 

But if there is a ray of sunshine coming out of all of my complaints, it is Ariana Grande.  Like I said, Erivo is a Broadway baby so I expected her to be good.  But like I said in my review of Part I, Ariana was the real star.  She showed her vocal range in this, as well as some very good acting chops.  I enjoyed her most of all. And I give props to the cinematography, costumes and set design.  The film is lovely to look at, and I will say that the theme of friendship is an important one, but it all just went on too long, and in the end, for me there was no there there.

So this film, again written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, is nominated in the category called "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement," so here comes another complaint of mine.  The Academy Awards people have also added a similar category in recent years. This is a made up category to make sure movies that made a lot of money or were popular got recognized, basically throwing out the whole idea of artistry and dumbing down the awards. If a bunch of people went to see it, why we need to give it an award.  I think there were complaints in the past that the awards folks were getting too intellectual and honoring films nobody went to see so here we are. So in this category "Wicked: For Good" is up against "Zootopia 2," "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning," "Avatar: Fire and Ash," and a couple of other movies I didn't care about.

Other nominations for this film include Cynthia and Ariana for "Best Female Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy" and "Best Female Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy" respectively, along with a couple of songs (five total).  Note: no nomination for the director, the screenplay, even the costumes.

Will "Wicked: For Good" win for best "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement?"  

I don't really care, but wouldn't it make most sense for this kind of category to just give the Golden Globe to the movie that made the most money?

Will Cynthia or Ariana could win? 

I think Ariana has a chance and deserves to win, but I think Cynthia's competition is too steep.

And if you haven't already seen Part I and still want to see it after hearing all of my complaints, for continuity sake, I recommend a binge day. Watch all five hours at once.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are a "Wicked" superfan, I know it won't do me any good to tell you to skip this, especially if you liked the first half, but don't say I didn't warn you. (Available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime)

   

Bugonia (2025)

Two environmental conspiracy theorists kidnap the CEO of a pharmaceutical corporation, convinced that she is an alien bent on destroying the earth.

Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) worries about his bees.  And he worries about his mother who is in a comatose state due to a clinical trial she participated in. Teddy blames Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the CEO of the pharmaceutical megacorporation Auxolith, whose drug messed up Teddy's mother.  And Teddy also believes that Michelle is a member of an alien species known as the "Andromedans," who are killing honeybees and destroying humanity. So Teddy decides that he and his cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), must kidnap Michelle before the upcoming lunar eclipse so they can meet with the Emperor of the Andromedans.  And they are serious in their plan. They even go through a chemical castration in order to be able to concentrate on their plan and not be distracted by sexual urges. Oooo-kay.

Before Teddy and Don implement their plan, we see Michelle's life unfolding and she isn't a particularly nice woman.  She is quite smug, entitled and out of touch, just the kind of person you wouldn't mind seeing getting her comeuppance.

So Teddy and Don kidnap Michelle and imprison her in their basement, shave her head (because they believe her hair can somehow communicate with her fellow Andromedans), and cover her body in antihistamine cream to prevent her from sending out a distress signal to other Andromedans. Teddy explains that she has four days to negotiate a meeting with the Andromedan emperor before an upcoming lunar eclipse, which will allow the Andromedan mothership to enter Earth's atmosphere undetected.

Michelle claims her innocence and works on Teddy which kind of works because in truth, Teddy isn't that smart. Teddy tortures Michelle with electroshocks and her resistance convinces Teddy that Michelle is not only an alien but a high ranking one so he unties her and lets her come upstairs.  Big mistake. Have Teddy and Don bitten off more than they can chew?

This film, based on the Korean film "Save the Green Planet," adapted by Will Tracy and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Stone also starred in his film "Poor Things" and "Kinds of Kindness"), feels a bit like "Misery" in reverse. It also highlights the evils of the Internet and what it does to those who go down the conspiracy rabbit holes as well as the evils of Big Pharma. The film is mostly Teddy and Michelle -Teddy trying to get Michelle to admit she is an alien and Michelle trying to out think Teddy, which isn't that difficult.

Emma Stone is always good and is deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.  But for me, Jesse Plemons is the stand out. He has been around for awhile and was even nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2022 for "The Power of the Dog," but I would guess most people do not know his name.  He is a face.  But now, nominated for a Golden Globe for his leading man performance here, he is finally getting the respect he deserves. His performance was just amazing.

I really enjoyed this film and what I especially liked was the good old-fashioned storytelling, a linear narrative that we don't often find in films these days.  If I have one complaint, the twist ending was a bit over the top.

Oh, and the title?  Look up "bugonia."

The film has three Golden Globe nominations - Best Performance nominations for Emma and Jesse and the film has a Best Picture nomination and they are all nominated in the Musical or Comedy category! What??? Okay, but for me that's a stretch.  To enjoy this film, I think you have to suspend disbelief and take it seriously but okay, a comedy, but a very, very dark one.  

Anyway, will Emma or Jesse win?  Will this film win?

Prediction: Emma and Jesse as well as the film are in my top two to win in their categories.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a very satisfying film experience.  That's all I ever ask for. (streaming free on Peacock)

It Was Just An Accident (2025)

An accident leads to an accidental meeting...and revenge.

A man (Ebrahim Azizi) with a prosthetic leg is driving his car at night with his wife and daughter when he accidentally hits and kills a dog. When the man visits a nearby garage to get his car repaired. Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an ethnic Azerbaijani auto mechanic, recognizes him from the sound his prosthetic leg makes when walking. The next day, Vahid follows the man, kidnaps him, and attempts to bury him in the desert. He tells him that he recognized his voice and walk as that of Eghbal (nicknamed "peg leg"), his former abuser in an Iranian prison. The man denies being Eghbal and begs Vahid not to kill him, telling him his leg was amputated recently.

When Vahid examines the man's leg and it looks like a recent wound, now Vahid isn't so sure so he puts the man into his van and goes to see Salar (George Hashemzadeh) another ex-prisoner.  Finding out that Vahid has the man tied up in his van, Salar doesn't want anything to do with it, but tells him to contact Shiva (Mariam Afshari), a photographer who Vahid finds taking wedding photos of Goli (Hadis Pakbaten) and Ali (Majid Panahi) who are getting married the next day. Goli reveals that she too had been tortured by Eghbal and, though both she and Shiva, think this man could be Eghbal, they aren't sure. So next they find Hamid (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr), Shiva's partner, who insists it is Eghbal. So now we have Vahid, Shiva, Goli, Ali and Hamid, all together in a tight space, trying to figure out if this is the tormenter, Eghbal or not.  What to do? Believe it or not, there are some funny moments.

The film, written and directed by Jafar Panahi, is very one note - is this guy Peg Leg or isn't he? But there is insight into dictatorships and murderous regimes and the lasting traumas that political prisoners must live with, which is very timely in our world now and the film ends on an intriguing cliffhanger.  And just, think, if that guy had not hit that dog, none of this would have happened.

The film, a co-production between Iran, France, and Luxembourg, is a very personal film for Panahi, who himself was imprisoned in 2010 in Iran for opposing the government and was abused while in prison. It won the 2025 Palme d'or Award at the Cannes Film Festival and it is nominated for four Golden Globes: "Best Motion Picture-Drama," "Best Motion Picture-Non-English Language" as well as "Best Screenplay" and "Best Director" nominations for writer/director Panahi.

Will it win?

Not sure why a "non-English" film gets nominated in both the "non-English" category and the "Best Motion Picture-Drama" category.

Prediction: "Best Motion Picture-Drama?"  No.  Too much competition in that category.  "Best Motion Picture- Non-English Language?"  I am guessing no, as it didn't win the Critics' Choice Award for "Best Foreign Language Film."

Rosy the Reviewer says...billed as a thriller, not many thrills but the film is tense and the last half hour is worth the wait. (In Persian and Azerbaijani with English subtitles - available for rent on Amazon Prime). 

Sentimental Value (2025)

This movie is all about a house...and the family in it.

Sisters Nora and Agnes grow up in their Oslo family home raised by their psychotherapist mother, Sissel, after their father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgard), a film director, leaves the family. Later, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) marries and works as a historian while Nora (Renate Reinsve) becomes an actress, an actress with crippling stage fright.

When Sissel dies, Gustav returns to Norway to reclaim the house. He hasn't seen his daughters for some time, and though Agnes is sympathetic towards him, Nora resents him for his drinking and long absences.

In the meantime, Gustav's career has been on the decline. He can't get financing for his projects.  He has a film he wants to make about his mother, Karin, who had been a member of the Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazis in WWII.  She had committed suicide in the family home and Gustav wants to make the film in that house and asks Nora to play Karin.  Nora isn't interested so Gustav hires Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), an American actress, whose presence in the film convinces Netflix to finance the project.

All kinds of trouble ensues during the making of the film - Rachel can't speak Norwegian, Nora loses interest in her work, Agnes argues with Gustav after he casts her son in his movie without her permission and Gustav gets drunk - but then the daughters come to understand the generational trauma that Gustav suffered because of his mother's suicide and the regret he has felt over his broken relationships - the healing power of art.

Written by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier and directed by Trier, this Norwegian film won the Grand Prix Prize this last year at the Cannes Film Festival and felt like the kind of psychological family dramas Bergman used to do with its beautiful cinematography and long, lingering shots of faces. It was also a slow, moving lingering film. Trier directed "The Worst Person in the World" in 2021 which also starred Reinsve.  I didn't get that film.  I liked this one better, despite feeling it went on too long. But the acting is first-rate, always a pleasure to see Skarsgard, though not sure how Elle Fanning ended up in the movie.  But it must have worked because she is nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance along with Skarsgard, Lilleaas and Reinsve. Speaking of Reinsve, her scene of Nora's stage fright is tense and breathtaking. The film is also nominated for a Golden Globe for  Best Motion Picture in both the Drama category and the "Non-English" category and Trier for Best Director and Screenplay.

Will the actors win?  Will the film win? Will Trier win?

Prediction: Though this film did not win Best Foreign Language Film at the recent Critics' Choice Awards, I think it has a chance to win a Golden Globe in the "Non-English" category.  I don't think the actors or Trier will win.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like family dramas and some insight into filmmaking, you might like this. (in Norwegian, Swedish and English with English subtitles - available for rent on Amazon Prime)

See You Next Time!

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)!

What I Watched in January - Movie Picks and Pans!

[I review the Oscar-nominated movies "Wicked," and "Anora," as well as Clint Eastwood's latest movie "Juror #2," and "The Critic" starring Ian McKellen]

Wicked (2024)

Here is the backstory on why the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz," became "wicked."

[Note:  If you are a big fan of this movie, then probably best if you cover your eyes now and scroll down to read the rest of my trenchant reviews, because I was not a fan of this film.]

Let me say at the outset that I started watching this film with a rather jaundiced view.  

First of all, this is not one of my favorite musicals.  I am more of a classic musical girl - "West Side Story," "Singin' in the Rain," "My Fair Lady," you know, those oldies but goodies.  Though I have been known to love some newer ones like "The Book of Mormon." 

But secondly, and more importantly, I am not a fan of these Part 1 and Part 2, etc. movies, a pattern which seems to be happening more and more ("Dune" and "Mission Impossible," do you hear me?), and it is especially a problem in this case, when Part I is just the first act of the play and that one act is almost THREE HOURS LONG!  That's longer than sitting in a theatre for the entire play which runs for less than three hours and with a 15 minute intermission!  If the movie industry is worried about getting people into the theatres, then it needs to stop trying to wring as much money out of us by making us not only wait for Part II of movies, but making us pay twice to see the entire story. 

And if you want to see Part II of "Wicked," you will have to wait until November! 

I started this blog over ten years ago and for all of that time I went to the theatre every Friday.  But now I have a 75" TV at home, I can rent movies soon after their release for what it would cost me and my significant other to go to the theatre, and I don't have to put up with people talking behind me and crinkling their candy wrappers in the theatre, so why wouldn't I stay home with a glass of wine to keep me company? Wine doesn't talk or crinkle. The movie industry needs to figure out how to get this movie fan out of the house and back into the theatre, and making overlong movies, where I have to wait a year to see Part II, is not the way to do it.

But that said, I like director, Jon M. Chu, I liked his "Crazy Rich Asians" and his memoir, "Viewfinder," so I decided to give this the benefit of the doubt.

The film (screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox) begins with Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) in Munchkinland celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West.  A child asks Glinda why wickedness happens and she tells the story of Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), who sadly, was born with green skin and rejected by her parents.  She was also ostracized because of that, and also, because she just happened to have uncontrollable magical abilities. Turns out Glinda and Elphaba had known each other.

They met when Glinda was actually Galinda and Elphaba had accompanied her younger sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), to Shiz University.  Nessarose was wheelchair bound and Elphaba was helping her get situated.  While there, Elphaba had an unintentional release of her powers, and it was witnessed by Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), the Dean of Sorcery Studies.  Intrigued, Madame Morrible offered to enroll Elphaba and tutor her privately.  Elphaba accepted in the hopes that she would meet the Wizard of Oz and he would "de-greenafy" her.  Turns out, Elphaba's roommate was the bubbly Galinda and let's just say they didin't get along.  In fact, Galinda was kind of a mean girl and her friends were not very nice to Elphaba either.

Shiz University was not your everyday college.  It employed talking animals as teachers but when Elphaba arrived, the animal teachers were facing discrimination, especially the popular Dr. Dillamond, a talking Goat (voice of Peter Dinklage).  Elphaba tells him that the Wizard can help. But things get worse for the animals.

But happily, Elphaba receives an invitation to meet the Wizard who has heard of her powers.  By this time, Galinda has changed her name to Glinda and she and Elphaba have become friends. She accompanies Elphaba to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) where things don't go as planned. Elphaba leaves Shiz University on a broomstick singing the classic "Defying Gravity."  Also, many song and dance numbers took place before that.  Because, hey, it's a musical!  

And that's the end of Part I. Actually, the end of ACT I.  Three hours for just Act I of the play, a play where you can watch it in its entirety in less than three hours! 

Okay, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and...sorry, for me, the movie was a snooze fest.  When you take a three hour story and turn it into a six hour story, there is bound to be a LOT of down time.  I confess that I had to fast-forward through some of it (yet another reason to watch at home)!

But I want to stay positive, so here is what I liked:

• Though I expected that Cynthia Arivo would be good in this because she is a theatre kid and a great singer, Ariana Grande was a revelation.  Who knew she could sing like an operatic soprano? And she can act too. She was my favorite thing about the film.

• The set design and cinematography were first rate, and the film has an epic feel. It's beautiful to look at.

What I didn't like:

• As I said, this is not one of my favorite musicals.  I can sing at least 3-5 songs from the classic musicals like "South Pacific," "Oklahoma" and "West Side Story."  I challenge you to sing even one other song from this musical besides "Popular" and "Defying Gravity." If you don't leave the theatre humming the tunes, what's the point of seeing a musical?

• I won't rant about the Part I and Part II thing again, because you already know.

• And for some reason, I don't like Michelle Yeoh.

But it looks like I am alone in my disappointment, though I do have friends who are fans of the musical play, who said they didn't recognize much of what was going on in this Part I. Duh...no offense to my friends, but that's what happens when you turn a two-and-a-half hour play into a six hour movie in two parts.  There has to be a LOT of padding.

However, the movie was named one of the best films of 2024 by the American Film Institute and won best film at the National Board of Review. It has ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture, Best Actress for Erivo and Best Supporting Actress for Grande) and a record-tying five nominations at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards. It also won Cinematic and Box Office Achievement at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. It has grossed $718 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing musical film adaptation of all time, and the fifth-highest grossing film of 2024.

So, okay, I am in the minority about this film. 

Will I watch Part II?  I probably will because hardly anything happened in Part I, but I will watch at home where a glass of wine will help numb my jaundiced view and disappointment.

Rosy the Reviewer says...despite the accolades, I can't recommend this. It was not "popular" with me.   (for rent on Amazon Prime).

Anora (2024)

A young sex worker impulsively marries the son of a rich Russian oligarch.  Needless to say, his family is not happy and sends their henchmen to get it annulled. Crazy stuff ensues.

Anora "Ani" Mikheeva (Mikey Madison) is a 23-year-old stripper living in Brighton Beach, a part of Brooklyn with many Russian residents. She is a sweet girl who lives one life at home and one life at the clubs, but she is also a "boss girl."  Don't mess with her.  She speaks Russian, and because of that, her boss introduces her to Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the 21-year-old son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, Nikolai Zakharov (Aleksey Serebryakov). Vanya is supposedly in the United States to study, but prefers to party and play video games in his family's mansion.

Vanya hires Ani for $15,000 to stay with him for a week. Vanya asks Ani to marry him so that he can obtain a green card instead of returning to Russia to work for his father. Although Ani is skeptical, Vanya insists his love is genuine, and they elope to Vegas. Ani quits her job and moves in with Vanya, but when Vanya's parents find out about the wedding, Vanya's mother, Galina (Darya Ekamasova), orders Vanya's Armenian godfather, Toros (Karren Karagulian), to find the couple and arrange an annulment while she and her husband fly to the US.

Toros sends his henchmen, Garnik (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov, who has an Oscar nod for this role), to the house. When they inform Vanya that his parents are planning to take him back to Russia, he promptly does a runner, leaving Ani behind. But Ani is no shrinking violet. When they call her a prostitute, she attacks them, throws things and rages around the house until they have to tie her up.  She finally agrees to help them find Vanya when Toros offers her $15,000.  The rest of the film is a crazy night of driving around New York looking for Vanya and a plane ride to Vegas with Vanya's parents to get the marriage annulled. It ends with a poignant moment where we understand that perhaps Anora isn't such a "boss girl" after all.

Written and directed by Sean Baker and billed as a comedy/drama, this film is more drama than comedy but some of the characters and situations are indeed comical such as older Russian hard men trying to navigate the Gen Z world. It's a little bit "Pretty Woman," a little bit comedy of errors with a Woody Allen feel, and, if you remember that movie, a sort of Russian version of "Adventures in Babysitting," but with lots of sex and nudity. The film has six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and a well-deserved Best Actress nomination for Madison. This film is a riveting and wild ride with an amazing performance by Madison and it deserves to be seen.

Rosy the Reviewer says...you won't be able to take your eyes off of this film and the amazing Mikey Madison, who deserves her Best Actress Oscar nomination. (In theatres and for rent on Amazon Prime and Apple+)

Juror #2 (2024)

What do you do if you are serving on a jury and realize you have information that could save the defendant but it would implicate you?

Clint Eastwood may be 94 but that is not stopping him from continuing to make really good movies. His latest directorial effort has produced the same level of excellence we have come to expect from the director of "Mystic River," "Unforgiven," "Million Dollar Baby" and so many more. What keeps him going?  He has stated that "I don't let the old man in."

Journalist and recovering alcoholic, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), is called for jury duty in Savannah, Georgia.  It's a high-profile murder case. A year prior, a young woman named Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood who just so happens to be Clint's daughter) was found dead under a bridge.  Because witnesses saw her having a fight with her boyfriend, James Sythe (Gabriel Basso), at a local bar, he was arrested, charged with murder and is the defendant. 

There is evidence against Sythe.  Witnesses say he was drunk and disorderly on the night of Carter's murder and that he followed her when she left the bar.  Additionally, the coroner testified that her injuries were consistent with the blunt force of being thrown off a bridge and an eyewitness claimed to have seen Sythe near the bridge.

So sitting in the courtroom, Justin hears all of this and recalls that night.  He was in the same bar as Carter and Sythe, trying not to relapse.  When he left the bar, he hit something with his car.  Thinking it was a deer and unable to find it, he went home.

OMG...what if he had hit Carter and Sythe is innocent? But if he comes forward, would anyone believe he wasn't drunk when he hit Carter?  He has had prior DUIs.  And the prosecutor, Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette), is hell bent on getting a conviction because she is running for reelection and has said she will try this case as many times as needed to get a conviction, so forcing a mistrial will not save Sythe.

What should he do? What will he do?

Holt is wonderful as he struggles with Justin's dilemma and the supporting players that include J.K. Simmons, Zoey Deutch and Kiefer Sutherland, are also all first-rate.  And this is a first-rate film.

With great acting, a compelling screenplay by Jonathan A. Abrams and the expert direction we have come to expect from Eastwood, this courtroom drama is like a John Grisham novel come to life with many twists and turns as Justin wrestles with his conscience. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...a fast-moving courtroom drama that will have you on the edge of your seat and one of the best films of the year that was, sadly, snubbed by the Oscars. (streaming on Max). 

The Critic (2023) 

A powerful but aging London theatre critic is fired and creates a web of deceit, blackmail and eventually murder to get his job back.

It's 1934 London and Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellan) is the film critic for the Daily Chronicle.  Jimmy is not a very nice man. He is haughty and arrogant and delights in writing bad reviews when a play or actor doesn't live up to his standards.  No one is safe. But Viscount David Brooke (Mark Strong) has inherited the paper after the death of his father, and he does not delight in Erskine's vitriolic reviews and asks him to tone it down. But when Erskine and his secretary lover, Tom Turner (Alfred Enoch) are arrested for homosexuality (yes, it was against the law in England), Brooke has an excuse to fire him.  But Erskine will not go quietly.

When Erskine discovers that Brooke is a secret admirer of Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), an actress that Erskine has repeatedly dismissed and brutally reviewed, Erskine convinces her to seduce Brooke so that he can blackmail him into giving him his job back.  In return, he promises to give her glowing reviews.

But as these things go, nothing goes to plan and it all goes very dark and then even darker.

Based on the book "Curtain Call" by Anthony Quinn (adapted by Patrick Marber) and directed by Anand Tucker, this is not a very complimentary portrait of a critic (some of us aren't so bad), but it's a compelling drama, though dark, with a wonderful ensemble cast, including Leslie Manville as Nina's mother, who doesn't have much to do here but I always enjoy her work.  

But this is all about McKellan doing his thing and showing why his acting career has lasted for sixty years.  He is wonderful but one expects that.  It's nice that he gained fame for his role in "The Lord of the Rings," but he was an acclaimed actor for forty years before that.  He has been nominated for two Academy Awards; he has won a Tony Award, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe, four BAFTAs, and five Emmys. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...I would watch McKellan recite the alphabet.  He is one of our greats (for rent on Amazon Prime).

See You Next Time!

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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)!

"The Greatest Showman" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the movie "The Greatest Showman" as well as DVDs "Battle of the Sexes" and "Friend Request."  The Book of the Week is "The Futilitarians" by Anne Gisleson.  I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with Vittorio De Sica's "Umberto D."]




The Greatest Showman

A musical version of the life of P.T. Barnum with songs by the guys who brought us "La La Land."

But that is where the comparison ends.  This is no "La La Land."

Over the holidays I decided that I wanted to watch "White Christmas" starring Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney.  I had seen it many times over the years, but had not seen it lately and was just delighted to be reminded how much I loved those old musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood.  It just left me feeling happy and all warm and fuzzy.  It made me wish that more musicals were being produced today so you can imagine that I was really looking forward to this film especially when I discovered the songs were written by the same guys who brought us the songs from "La La Land.  I absolutely adored "La La Land."

But sadly I found this film very disappointing.

According to this film, P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) wasn't just the guy whose name became synonymous with the circus. He also supposedly invented the term "show business," and he was a really nice guy with a rags to riches story who just wanted to entertain and make people happy.  Pretty sure he was more of a con man who exploited people to make a buck, but OK.  I can suspend disbelief.  This is a musical, after all.  I usually don't have too much trouble suspending my disbelief especially when it comes to musicals which always requires that.  I mean, how often do we break into song when telling our loved ones what we plan to do with our lives?

According to this film, Barnum started out poor but had a childhood sweetheart who believed in him, and you know about the power of love especially when it's set to music, right?  He lost his boring job as an accountant and was on his last dime when he got the idea to open a "freak show," though this film is too politically correct to call it that because this film wants to sugar coat the shadier sides of Barnum and to be about celebrating differences, which is kind of ironic when you consider Barnum had a bearded lady, the fattest man on earth, conjoined twins, etc. and exploited them and treated them like freaks by putting them on show to make money.  Despite the fact that the film tries to not go there, you can't deny that is what he did and that gave me an uncomfortable feeling while watching this film.

But getting the facts of P.T Barnum's life right wasn't particularly the problem for me here.  The problem was the movie just tried too damn hard.  It had too much of that "let's put on a show and save the farm" feel.  That worked in "White Christmas," but it didn't work here.  And when I say trying too hard that 
is actually my way of saying that Hugh was trying too hard. I know Hugh Jackman is a Broadway musical kind of guy (except for when he is Wolverine) but geez.  What works on Broadway doesn't necessarily work on film.  If you have seen him on talk shows recently promoting this film, he seems like a very nice, genuine guy, but he is just always ON and this film is no exception.  He wore me out.

I could forgive this film because of the handsomeness that is Zac Ephron.  I never get tired of looking at him but then it hits me...he's not a very good actor.  He is fine in comedies like "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" and the "Neighbors" franchise, but when it comes to dramatic acting, which he is required to do here, his lack of skills comes out. 

Michelle Williams, who was wonderful in "All the Money in the World (see last week's review)" has absolutely nothing to do here except sing a little and act supportive and comforting to P.T./Hugh when he's feeling down.  She's the kind of wife that even when he ditches her and runs off with Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), she forgives him.

And speaking of Jenny Lind.  I am assuming that the writers and director didn't think we would know who Jenny Lind was considering they had her singing what could only be called a 21st century pop song when in fact she was a 19th century OPERA star!  I know this is a 21st century musical but can we at least have an opera singer sing an operatic song?

And the songs by the "La La Land" guys, John Debney and Benj Pasek -  Sorry, guys, not memorable this time, though I enjoyed the opening sequence with the young Barnum (Ellis Rubin) and the young Charity (Skylar Dunn) singing "A Million Dreams."

Directed by Michael Gracey with a screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon, this film is doing well at the box office which tells me people are thirsting for wholesome entertaining musicals that the whole family can enjoy.  This is certainly wholesome family entertainment (if you don't think too hard about the real life of P.T. Barnum), but somehow it left out the entertaining part. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...I really wanted to love this but I didn't.  I didn't even like it.

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

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

On DVD

Battle of the Sexes (2017)

A dramatized version of the 1973 tennis match between the then top-rated female tennis player, Billie Jean King, and ex-champ and much older hustler, Bobby Riggs.

If I'm already not a fan of Steve Carell, will his playing a famous chauvinist pig help?  No.

Though I was around when this so-called "Battle of the Sexes" match came down, and it was a big deal because it was at the height of the Women's Liberation Movement and Bobby Riggs was the epitome of male chauvinism, I wonder who remembers this today.  However, I do. From a personal standpoint, my older sister was a tennis professional and a big fan of Billie Jean King's, so I remember this vividly, but I can't help but wonder if anyone cares about this anymore except possibly tennis fans and those of us who lived it.

To give you a little background, Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) was the top-rated female tennis player in the 70's, but there was a huge inequity in the amount of prize money women tennis players could earn from their tournaments compared to the men.  The men made eight times as much.  Billie Jean appealed to Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) at the then U.S. Lawn Tennis Association (now the U.S. Tennis Association) and when she was told that the men needed to earn more because they were the breadwinners for their families (yawn) and that men's tournaments were better attended and just more exciting than the women's, Billie Jean decided to leave the U.S.L.T.A. and form her own Women's Tennis Association.  She did and it was backed by Virginia Slims cigarettes (Remember "You've come a long way, baby?").

Then there was Bobby Riggs.  He was a top-rated men's tennis player back in the day, but was now in his 50's and working a boring desk job for his father-in-law.  He also had a wee bit of a gambling problem.  Let's just say he was a hustler and it wasn't helping his marriage any (his wife is played by Elizabeth Shue - I wondered what happened to her). He was a washed up tennis player who made a few bucks playing his friends for money with one hand behind his back or holding two dogs on a leash.  

But Billie Jean's winning the Grand Slam, her fame and her feminism gave Riggs the idea to have a tournament between him and Billie Jean to prove once and for all that men could outplay women, and of course, so he could also make a few bucks. However, Billie Jean refused so, when up-and-coming Australian player, Margaret Court, beat her, Riggs approached Court.  She consented to a tournament, only to be humiliated by Riggs. He said that women players couldn't handle the pressures of the game and that's why they shouldn't earn as much as men.  He even went so far as to put out a challenge - $100,000 to any woman who could beat him. That did it. Billie Jean couldn't stand the idea that Riggs could gloat about the inferiority of women tennis players.  

So Billy Jean decided she had to play him to prove that a woman can beat a man and the tournament became a cause celebre. It was played at the Houston Astrodome and was watched by over 90 million people.

People today might have a hard time getting their heads around how important this match was in the real life battle of the sexes considering all that has happened since.  

I even thought the film was going to be corny and all rah-rah, especially since I knew the outcome but the film actually went deeper.  It certainly resonates today, considering the continuing pay inequity and sexual harassment that continues to haunt women, but the film also sensitively explores Billie Jean's burgeoning feelings about her sexuality thanks to a stellar performance by Emma Stone who just oozes vulnerability.  Though Billie Jean was married, seemingly happily so, she was starting to have feelings for women. 

In the film, Billie Jean meets Marilyn, a hair dresser, and Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough, in a very sensitive performance) gives Billie Jean a haircut in what could only be called the most sensuous scene of hair cutting I have ever seen.  The two embark on a relationship and Billie Jean has to come to terms with that side of herself.  Despite the build-up to the epic tennis match, the film is really about Billie Jean King herself, what she was going through in her personal life and her fear that it would be found out.

The film doesn't really do much to enlighten us on what made Riggs tick other than him just being a jerk with a gambling problem.  I mean, what hubris for a 55-year-old man to think he could beat a 29-year-old woman at the top of her tennis game!  But Carell does a good job with that and there is a bit of an inkling about Riggs battling ageism and feeling irrelevant.

Sarah Silverman is making a dramatic name for herself playing wise-cracking side-kicks - she's good - and I couldn't help but notice Fred Armison in a non-speaking role as Bobby's trainer - if you blink you will miss him.

Directed by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris with a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, the film has a delightful 70's soundtrack and the tennis footage from the match is well-integrated into the film to give us an exciting finale.  Speaking of integrating footage, tennis player Rosie Casals (Natalie Morales) called the match along with Howard Cosell.  The footage of Cosell and Casalls was so good I couldn't tell if that was actual footage of Casalls and Cosell or the actress CGI's in, but I have to say, in light of the #Metoo and Times Up movements, I couldn't help but notice how discomforting it looked to see Cosell reporting while towering over Rosie with his arm tightly wrapped around her, literally talking down to her and treating her like a child.  Yuck.  Thank goodness, he wouldn't have been able to get away with that today.

The epilogue shows the real Billie Jean who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 for her work on behalf of Title IX and LGBQ rights.

My one complaint about the film is that it was shot in digital and you know how I feel about that.  I don't like it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...despite my fears that this film wouldn't resonate in today's world, it's a powerful reminder that we actually haven't come a long way, baby.






Friend Request (2016)

A cautionary tale about accepting friend requests.

I think there was a time when Facebook was new when we all accepted every friend request we received. I think that's how so many became vulnerable to catfishing.  I still get friend requests from handsome guys in military uniforms who, when I click on their profiles, have no friends.  That tells me immediately that he's a catfish, probably some guy in a Nigerian call center. I think I must be on some list of lonely old ladies.  I never fall for it, even though I have always been a sucker for a guy in a uniform, but hey, it only takes one to say OK and those guys are off and running.

However, this film isn't about lonely old ladies.  It's actually about Laura Woodson (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a very popular young college girl with over 800 friends on Facebook (though Facebook is not actually named in the film), who was just trying to be nice when she friended Marina (Liesl Ahlers), an outcast girl in one of her classes.  We know that Marina  is an outcast because she wears a hoodie with the hood up, doesn't say much and draws witchy art on her page. Unfortunately Marina is also a bit of a nutter and got carried away (Laura is her only friend) and started bombarding Laura with PM's and liking and commenting on every post that Laura put out.  Laura is not a mean girl but she eventually gets a bit weirded out by Marina, and when Laura excludes Marina from a party, Marina goes off on her.  Soooo Laura unfriends her. Uh-oh. 

Now we have a girl-stalking-girl movie, that is, until Marina hangs herself live online, it gets posted on Laura's page and Laura can't get rid of it.  The video also somehow goes viral and turns up on her friends pages as if it's coming from Laura.  Now everyone thinks Laura is twisted so they start unfriending HER.  Laura can't delete the video, can't unfriend Marina, can't get rid of that damn video and can't delete her account.  

And if that's not bad enough, Laura's friends start dying.

Did Marina really kill herself?  And why can't anybody delete those posts that keep appearing?  Who was Marina?  And what are Black Mirror Cults?

This is a perfectly good thriller/horror film starring young unknowns that I call "Horror Light."  I like the occasional horror film, but I lean toward the Lifetime  Movie type horror film or films like "It" or "Split," not gory ones like "Jigsaw" or "Hostel," hence my "light" appellation.  "Horror Light" still employs the usual horror tropes but is not so gory and brutal as to leave you speechless.  "Horror Light" includes the kind of horror films where things go bump in the night, images flash on the screen to make you jump, ominous music plays when our heroine opens a refrigerator door and when she closes it someone is standing there, or she goes down a dark hall even though the light switch doesn't work, or someone says, "Did you check the basement?" These are all opportunities for you to shout at the screen, "Don't go down there!"  If the movie is too graphic and gory and you are left speechless, you can participate or you might have your hands over your eyes and what fun is that?

And actually, this film, directed by Simon Verhoeven (screenplay by Verhoevan, Matthew Ballen and Philip Koch) is more silly than scary, though it makes a statement about technology, or at least I think that's what it was doing. It seems that bad things happen when people look at their computer screens too long, so I kept yelling at the TV: STOP LOOKING AT YOUR COMPUTER!  But you know in this day and age, telling young people to stop looking at their computer is like telling them to stop breathing.

Rosy the Reviewer says...moral of the story:  Be careful who you friend - and if you stare at your computer long enough you might be communicating with demons...but, geez, we already knew that! 

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

159 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?





Umberto D. (1952)

An old man who lives alone with his little dog struggles to live on his small pension in Rome.

Umberto D. (Carlo Battisti) is a lonely old man living in an apartment he can't afford.  He worked for the government for 30 years but his pension doesn't cover his living expenses. His landlady is disrespectful, threatens to throw him out and even rents out his apartment by the hour to illicit lovers when he is not home.  His only companion and source of comfort is his little dog, Flike, and Maria (Maria Pia Casillio), a young girl who is the cleaner for the building, is the only human who is kind to him.  He can't pay his rent and is so desperate he fakes an illness so he can go to the hospital to get some sleep and food.  When he returns, the house is being renovated, his room is all torn up and little Flike has run away.  They are eventually reunited but Umberto is desperate and decides to kill himself.

This film shows that no matter what country you are in or time period - even 66 years later (this film was released in 1952) - some things never change.  We still don't respect or care for the elderly.  Old people become invisible.  It's a cruel world for seniors with little money.

Director Vittorio De Sica, an early proponent of the Italian Neorealism Movement, who also directed the highly acclaimed film "The Bicycle Thief," has captured the world of the old and forgotten in this story of an old man's desperation, and 66 years later it still resonates today.  De Sica avoids any sentimentality in a story that could easily fall into that trap, especially when one of the stars is a darling little dog.

And it still resonates with me. I can't stop thinking about it.  I loved it.

Neorealism was an Italian movement that started during WW II and continued through the 50's.  One of the tenets was that films should embody everyday life and the characters should be played by non-professionals. "Umberto D" is one of the most successful demonstrations of that theory, and it is amazing that Umberto is played by a 70-year-old university lecturer who had not acted before.

Battisti has a face that just demands empathy, and Maria Pia Casillio was delightful and looked like a young Debbie Reynolds.  And Flike?  What can I say.  He was so adorable I am calling my little dog Flike.

Why it's a Must See: "With it's unapologetic tragic story of an old man's despair and love for his pet, and its pointed observations of social injustice, [this film] provides the perfect opportunity for the viewer to consider this question...De Sica leaves us wondering whether Umberto's love for his dog, who depends on him alone, is redemptory or futile."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

I choose to think that little Flike was redemptory and gave Umberto something to live for.  Dogs are like that.

Rosy the Reviewer says...as part of my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project," I have to watch a lot of films that I sometimes don't really enjoy but all of that is worth it to discover a gem of a film like this. This film will stay with you.
(b & w, in Italian with English subtitles)

***Book of the Week***

The Futilitarians:  Our Year of Thinking, Drinking, Reading, and Grieving by Anne Gisleson (2017)

A search for meaning in the face of tragedy and grief.

Anne Gisleson knows tragedy.  Her twin sisters killed themselves a year apart, she had to flee from Hurricane Katrina, and her beloved father died of cancer. Anne's husband, Brad, was a widower and had also had his share of heartbreak.

Anne and Brad wanted to make sense of all of that and, realizing that their friends had their own issues, came up with the idea of the Existential Crisis Reading Group, which they jokingly dubbed "The Futilitarians." From Epicurus to Tolstoy, from Cheever to the Bible, each month they read and talked about the meaning of existence in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Anne's father had forbade her to ever write about the deaths of her twin sisters, but now that her father was gone, Anne felt she could take on that task so this book is part-memoir and part existential musings but mostly it's about how talking about great literature and philosophy can help you understand life and its many challenges.

Epicurus wrote (and no, it's not about food) in "The Importance of Studying Philosophy:

"So, both for young and old, it is imperative to take up the study of philosophy.  For the old, so that they may stay youthful even as they are growing older by contemplating the good things of life and the richness of bygone events. And, for the young, so that they may be like those who are advanced in age in being fearless in the face of what is yet to come."

Rosy the Reviewer says...an interesting story with a message: literature can heal.

Thanks for reading!

See you next Friday 

for my review of 

"I, Tonya"

 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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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

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 down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.