MARRIAGE STORY (2019) – My rating: 7.5/10

Marriage Story is a drama written, directed and produced by Noah Baumbach. The film follows a married couple going through a coast-to-coast divorce. Marriage Story is probably an unlikely scenario for divorce but not impossible.  I was annoyed by their situation because I was hoping for better but didn’t get it.

Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) is a successful theater director in New York City. His theater company is currently producing a play that stars his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), a former teen film actress. The film delves into happier days when the couple only had good analogies to define each other.  They have a son Henry Barber (Azhy Robertson)  that they both adore.  Suddenly things begin to go sour initiated by Nicole. The couple begins to experience marital troubles, which sends them to see a mediator, who suggests that they each write down what they like about one another. Charlie writes his feelings but Nicole refuses to read hers aloud so they decide to forgo the counseling.

Meanwhile, Nicole is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles, and she decides to leave the theater company and temporarily live with her mother Sandra (Julie Hagerty) in West Hollywood, taking the couple’s young son, Henry with her. Charlie decides to stay in New York, as the play is in the process of moving to Broadway. Despite the couple agreeing to split amicably and forgo lawyers, Nicole hires the family lawyer Nora (Laura Dern).  Nicole tells Nora the full story of her relationship with Charlie and how she gradually felt neglected by him and how he rejects her ideas and desires.

Because I’m a happy ending kind of gal, I’m always looking for one.  I truly dislike endings that leave me in tears or unknowing what happened or “make it up yourself”, resulting in open-ended closures.  Marriage Story gave me semi-quasi closure but not the one I was hoping for.  Driver and Johanssen are two of the best actors around and played Nicole and Charlie excellently.  In some parts, the movie was a tad bit boring but was interesting for the most part.  I didn’t really care for their son’s attitude but I think it’s a cultural thing.  I’m not sure what message Marriage Story sends but it was well-acted.  An awful lot of people really liked it and that’s what counts.  Since Marriage Story is airing on Netflix, it’s easy to see it at your leisure, just remember the Oscars are presented on February 9th this year, so you don’t have that much time if you follow the award shows.  Check It Out!

[MARRIAGE STORY is Oscar-nominated for BEST: Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress,  Original Score and Original Screenplay — TOTALLING 6 OSCAR NOMINATIONS]

 

READY OR NOT (2019) – My rating: 4/10

Ready or Not is a black comedy/horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. When I first saw this movie listed, it had 100% rotten tomatoes. A few days later it had been adjusted to 91%. The film is about a newly-wed woman who becomes hunted by her in-laws. I felt I had to see it. It was the biggest waste of my time, ever.

“Ready or Not” follows the ultra-rich Le Domas family. They are in the business of games and are about to add a new member, Grace (Samara Weaving) to the family. After courting Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien), the youngest brother of the family, the two have decided to tie the knot. The wedding is taking place on the enormous family estate where Alex’s parents, Tony Le Domas (Henry Czerny) and Becky Le Domas (Andre Macdowell) have always lived along with their oldest son, Daniel Le Domas (Adam Brody), Tony’s sister, Aunt Helene Le Domas (Nicky Guadangi), Daniel and Alex’s sister, Emilie Le Domas (Melanie Scrofano), Daniel’s wife, Charity Le Domas (Elyse Levesque) and the butler, Fitch Bradley (Kristian Bruun).

Right after the wedding ceremony, Grace’s wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws convince her to take part in a terrifying game. Grace draws a card that says “Hide & Seek”, the one card nobody wanted Grace to get saddled with. After confirming they were actually going to play, Grace gets her set of rules and goes off to hide. After the maid accidentally gets shot and killed, Grace overhears a conversation that reveals she is the one being hunted for the kill.

“Ready or Not” makes an attempt to mimic “Get Out” but fails miserably. The movie is not funny and how it got 91% “Rotten Tomatoes” is one of those things that make you want to say “um”. The aura surrounding Ready or Not seems childish and didn’t make much sense. The reason for the game is survival of the Le Domes family but why did it come to this? It was suggested that an invisible person named Mr. Baile was seated at the dining room table.  The invisible Mr. Baile was never really explained nor what happens if a different card were drawn. The sequences of events were beyond anyone’s understanding. There’s a car scene where the vehicle is shut down by the security company because the person driving wasn’t the owner. However, that person was in danger and hurt, needing medical assistance. The security company abandoned the situation leaving the person to possibly die. That is not funny, just crazy. I do not recommend seeing “Ready or Not”, even when it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray. If you decide this movie is for you, SEE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!

 

ANON (2018) – My rating 7/10

Anon is a 2018 British science fiction thriller directed and written by Andrew Niccol and financed by Sky Cinema Original Films.  Anon follows a troubled detective in a futuristic world where privacy and anonymity no longer exist. A woman is discovered that has defied the governmental transparency system, which is now the focus of this detective.  This movie gives a whole new meaning to the term “Big Hal is watching” but could easily become reality in the near future.

In a modern world where advanced biosyn implants mean everyone is subjected to a relentless visual stream of information they call the “Mind’s Eye”, privacy and anonymity as we know them have vanished. Everyone’s personal information is on public display and each person’s life is recorded down to the millisecond to a vast grid called “The Ether”, a database which law enforcement can access and use to prosecute criminals. This means no one has any secrets.  Any and everyone can access your information, which is the opposite of HIPAA.  It seems that the government has done an about face on privacy.

Sal Frieland (Clive Owen) is faced with a series of shocking murders which appear to be linked. The police find themselves unable to identify the killer or killers. It soon becomes apparent that what the murders have in common signals a major breakdown in the system on which society has come to rely upon. As he delves into the case, Sal encounters a woman (Amanda Seyfried) who seems to have no identity. Something he initially assumes is a minor glitch becomes the first clue that security of the “Mind’s Eye” has been compromised, sending Sal into a mission where he acts as bait to trap someone who effectively does not exist before they kill again.

Going forward, Sal is tasked with a highly technical mission trying to catch this young lady and stop her reign of murder.  It was fun watching this mystery unravel.  It’s an eerie feeling knowing that chips are already implanted into selected people that holds all of their medical history.  That means, we certainly have the ability to make a movie like this real.  None the less, I enjoyed Anon which is currently streaming on Netflix and not a series.  I recommend Anon to science buffs and those who are interested in SiFi films. There are parts of the movie that are no easy to follow.  Check it out!