HARRIET (2019) – My rating: 9/10

 

Harriet is a biographical film about slave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, who wrote the screenplay with Gregory Allen Howard. Harriet was released in the US on November 1, 2019 by Focus Features, which is owned by Comcast. Harriet turned out to be better than I expected.  While Harriet isn’t 100% accurate, it’s close enough.  Everyone should learn about Harriet Tubman.

 

Harriet opens on the Brodess plantation in Maryland with Araminta “Minty Ross /  Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo) laid out near a tree.  She appears to be asleep but her husband John Tubman (Zackary Momoh) and her father Ben Ross (Clarke Peters) are standing by as she recovers from what they call “a spell”. In fact, her spells are visions of the future along with her conversations with GOD.  As Minty awakens, her husband cuddles her showing much love.  Minty is excited about a letter they received quoting freedom for her mother and perhaps Minty as well. This might mean they all could live together.

**** SPOILERS ****

Later Minty, her family and a few fellow-slaves gathered to listen to a church sermon, preached by a respected, fellow slave, Reverend Samual Green (Vondie Curtis-Hall) on the front porch steps of Edward Brodess’ (Michael Marunde) house. After the service, Minty and members of her family asked to speak with Edward regarding a promise his father made to free her mother, Rit Ross (Vanessa Bell Calloway) when she turns 45. Minty’s husband John and her father Ben were already free men. Rit is now 57 and Edward refuses to free her despite the letter stating the information needed for her release. Edward tears up the letter and banishes Ben and John from his plantation. Edward turns to his son, Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn) and says he would have sold Minty a long time ago if it weren’t for him. Rit cries and calls Edward the Devil. Upset, Minty runs away to the very tree where she had her last vision. She starts to rant and pray, asking GOD to take down Edward who is evil. Gideon appears and says “GOD don’t listen to Niggers”. He touches Minty, she brushes his hand off and he slaps her, then tells her a wicked story about pigs. He tells her she’s like a pig, one day you’ll have to eat it or sell it. A week later, Edward Brodess dies, leaving the plantation to his widow Eliza Brodess (Jennifer Nettles) and his elder son Gideon.

Gideon’s first order of business is to honor his father’s wishes by hanging “Negro slave girl for sale” flyers, made up to sell “Minty” South, away from her family.  Minty, who can’t read, has another spell/vision, which reveals her sale is soon to take place.  She instantly sees the urgency to run away to the North.  She tells her husband, who wants to run with her and reluctantly agrees to meet him at the outer gate as soon as she tells her father goodbye.  Minty passes by the field where slaves are working and starts to sing a code song “farewell”  that lets them know she is about to run.  Minty decides to run alone because she doesn’t want to jeopardize John’s freedom if caught.  John waits for Minty until dark, then realizes she’s not coming.  He starts walking back home to the plantation where he lives.  Gideon sees John and asks, “what are you doing here?” At the same time, a plantation hand catches up to Gideon and tells him Minty has run away.  Gideon now pulls a gun on John and demands to know where Minty is.  He strikes John when he answers he was just coming to see Minty and has no idea where she’s gone.

Meanwhile, Minty runs to her father’s house to tell him of her plans to run and gathers a few items.  Ben wouldn’t look at her in order to say he never set eyes on Minty. As a keepsake, he gives her a small talisman; a beautiful carving of a man’s head.  He also demands that she goes to see Rev. Green before leaving and ask him to pray for her journey. Rev. Green gives Minty directions to Wilmington, Del emphasizing, she has to be miles away before dawn. He also tells her, “fear is your enemy, keep faith in the Lord”, then gives her the name of a blacksmith, Thomas Garrett (Tim Guinee) to call on when she arrives.  As she leaves, he tells her to follow the North Star and if there are no stars, follow the river. If all else fails, follow GOD.

Focus Features’ website highlights the movie by saying, “Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, HARRIET tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

To find out the remainder of her story, see the movie, it’s really a very good film based in truth about a very real person.  Not everyone has had the privilege of learning Black History.  If you haven’t or if you don’t know about Harriet Tubman, you should see Harriet. Kasi Lemmons has done a good job of telling her story.  While I don’t think everything in this movie was exactly as things were, I do believe the very essence of Harriet’s life and passions were captured. I am unfamiliar with the young lady who played Harriet but I find her to be multi-talented and a brilliant actress. I heard the role was originally offered to Viola Davis but time went by and it never happened.  I also think Janelle Monae deserves acknowledgment for her brilliant performance as Marie Buchanon. This film is very well made.  Harriet received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised Erivo’s performance and found the film sincere but formulaic. I found the film enlightening, well-acted and worthy of an Oscar nod. Check It Out!

[HARRIET is Oscar-nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song]

 

BIRD BOX (2018) – My rating: 8/10

Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic thriller film, directed by Susanne Bier from a screenplay written by Eric Heisserer and based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman. The film follows a woman and two children who must travel through a forest and down a river blindfolded to avoid supernatural entities that cause people who look at them to commit suicide. I thought Bird Box was over rated via Netflix and local TV ads, but I still found it entertaining.

Bird Box opens in a post-apocalyptic world as Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) advises her two young children, Boy/Tom (Julian Edwards) and Girl/Olympia (Vivien Lyra Blair) that they will be going downstream on a river in a boat. She strictly instructs them to not remove their blindfolds, or else they will die.

Five years earlier, a pregnant Malorie is visited by her older sister, Jessica (Sarah Paulson). A news report is being shown on television about unexplained mass suicides originating in Russia and quickly spreading across Europe. After hearing the devastating news report, Malorie visits Dr. Lapham (Parminder Nagra) at the hospital for her routine pregnancy checkup. Jessica accompanies her sister for support however, when leaving the hospital, Malorie sees a woman bashing her head into a glass panel followed by others panicking as chaos quickly erupts throughout the town. Malorie and Jessica attempt to drive away from the violence, but Jessica witnesses the phenomenon affecting the masses, loses control of herself and the car she is driving, which overturns. Injured, Malorie watched Jessica purposely walk in front of an oncoming truck that kills her instantly.

Bewildered and hurt, Malorie attempts to flee on foot through the mass chaos. Suddenly, Malorie encounters a woman, Lydia (Rebecca Pidgeon), who invites her to seek shelter in her home even though her husband, Douglas (John Malkovich) doesn’t want to let anyone in, friends included. However, right before his wife reaches Malorie, she goes into a trance, begins talking to her dead mother, and casually climbs into a burning car, which subsequently explodes. Malorie is rescued and brought into Lydia and Douglas’ house by Tom (Trevante Rhodes), a fleeing passerby. Another survivor, Charlie (Lil Rel Howery), who is seeking refuge in the house, theorizes that a celestial entity has invaded Earth, taking the form of its victim’s worst fears and driving them insane before causing them to commit suicide. At the insistence of Tom they cover all windows in the house and use blindfolds whenever they must venture outside. As the supply of food decreases and with the arrival of a new pregnant survivor, Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), decisions have to be made quickly. Ultimately, Greg (BD Wong), who is also seeking refuge in the house, volunteers to tie himself to a chair while monitoring the house surveillance cameras, hoping to find the issue of the entity, but kills himself by rocking his chair violently and slamming his head into a hearthstone after seeing it.

Although Bird Box is deemed a thriller, it’s also a mystery. What’s going on, who or what is causing this chaos and mass suicide to take place? Is this an alien invasion or is it something in the food or water? Where is Bird Box going with this movie and is there any hope? Only some of these questions are answered, however the journey is quite interesting with much more twists and subplots to be revealed. Survival demands the use of common skills that are most difficult to withstand. There is much sadness in Bird Box but it’s worth watching. The acting is brilliant and the cinematography is exceptional. Bird Box is streaming on Netflix — Check It Out, if you have Netflix already, what do you have to lose?

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (2018) – My rating 8.7/10

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is a dystopian science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball and written by T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel, The Death Cure written by James Dashner. It is the sequel to the 2015 film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the third and final installment in the Maze Runner film series.  In my opinion this final sequel was the best of the trilogy and was easiest to follow.  I was sort of tired of trilogies but after seeing Maze Runner: The Death Cure, I am newly motivated.

— some SPOILERS BELOW — 

The film opens with Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and Frypan (Dexter Darden) who are the last of the free “Gladers” and who are immune to the Flare virus that has ravaged the world’s population. They and The Right Arm resistance conduct a rescue operation where they retrieve other Immunes from a train, owned by WCKD, an organization responsible for capturing and experimenting on immune children. They thought they were recusing Minho (Ki Hong Lee) as well as the other children but their remaining Glader friend, whom WCKD had captured, was not on the train, which is headed to “The Last City”, WCKD’s base of operations.

Against the orders of Vince (Barry Pepper), leader of The Right Arm, the three leave their camp to rescue Minho, who is being tortured by WCKD in hopes of developing a cure for the virus. Heading for the Last City, the group is attacked by Cranks, humans infected with the Flare. However, they are saved by Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and Brenda (Rosa Salazar), who join them. The group makes it to the wall of the Last City, which protects those within the city walls from Cranks. Outside the wall, people are rallying in protest to be let into the city. When WCKD opens fire at the protesters, the group is captured by a contingent of masked men and taken to a hideout. Gally (Will Poulter), who survived Minho’s attack during The Scorch Trials, is among the masked men. Gally takes them to see Lawrence (Walton Goggins), a rebellion leader for those outside the walls, who helps them enter the Last City through a secret entrance. Gally leads Thomas and Newt through to the city where they spot Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), Vince’s former girlfriend.   Gally informs Thomas that he can get them into WCKD headquarters.

I really enjoyed this version of Maze Runner.  Their adventure into WCKD’s city and who and what they encounter was exciting.  The plot to stop WCKD once and for all definitely thickens and leads to many exciting twist.  The acting was brilliant and the special effects were terrific.  Some scenes were so spectacular, I was on the edge of my seat.  I recommend you see this final sequel, as it makes the entire series worth while.  Maze Runner: The Death Cure is now on DVD and Blu-Ray — Check it out!

 

SNEAKY PETE (2016) – My rating: 8/10

Sneaky Pete is an Amazon original streaming on Amazon.  I found this series to be a fun adventure in the life of con artist.  Sneaky Pete focuses on a lone grifter and whatever crew he picks up for his con game.   At times the story gets pretty complicated as con games go.  I found myself binge watching the entire season in 1 night — so I’d say Sneaky Pete is pretty good.

Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi) is in prison for a crime he had to commit in order to save his life.  While in there, he finds out from his brother Eddie Josipovic (Michael Drayer), that he cannot come home once he makes parole, so Marius decides to hide from the gangsters he owes a great deal of money to by assuming the identity of his cellmate, Pete. He moves in with Pete’s family, who hasn’t seen him since he was a small boy (over 20 years ago) and is roped into the family’s bail bond business. Marius ends up a criminal taking down other criminals and, in the process, he’ll discover the family life he’s never had, among other things.  The situation is not “easy peasy” for Marius because the leader of the old crew knows Marius is out of prison and is threatening Eddie to get Marius to return.  Of course there are many unanswered questions Marius attributes to memory lapses, which cause suspicious moments from some of Pete’s family members. This problem definitely motivates Marius to work overtime researching the answers, even paying a visit to the prison to see Pete, who talks excessively about his pass family life.  Sneaky Pete is both dramatic and humorous but make no mistake, dangerous and violent.  Vince (Bryan Cranston) is the ruthless leader of the old crew and is always at the top of his game.  Otto and Audrey Burnhardt (Peter Gerety) and (Margo Martindale), respectively are Pete’s grandparents, who almost steal the show as they are smart, bad ass and resourceful, not your typical grandparents.

Sneaky Pete airs in 10 episodes on Amazon and is exciting, adventurous and suspenseful.  I was hooked after 1 episode.  Season 2 is slated to start in 2018.

Save

Save