Yesterday, I took in the Academy Award nominated movie, "1917", directed and co-written (along with Krysty Wilson-Cairns) by Sam Mendes. Normally, I am not attracted to war movies as a genre, but the critical buzz surrounding this one, its multiple Oscar nominations, and its wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, put this on my "To See" list. Plus, and not to get too geeky about it, the manner in which it was filmed, to appear that it was done one continuous take (much like Hitchcock's "Rope") made me really want to see it. I will say that this "one take" aspect of the movie really was amazing.
I did like the movie. Unlike "Saving Private Ryan", to which it has been compared, "1917" doesn't deal too much with actual battle scenes and gruesome deaths, although there is some of that, but it does show a lot of the aftermaths of brutal warfare, as the protagonists encounter fields littered with dead bodies, both human and animal, and decimated landscapes and buildings. Movies have forever been showing us the brutality and futility of warfare, it will always be thus, and "1917" does it as well as any movie that you will see.
With exception of Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch, who were on screen for only a few minutes each, the actors were unknown to me, but recognition has to be given to British actors Dean-Charles Chapman and George McKay who played the British soldiers Blake and Schofield. They were great. Chapman, while unknown to me, was one of the stars of "Game of Thrones", so he is no doubt familiar to a lot of you who may be reading this.
Also, play attention to the "Dedication" that Mendes gives to this movie when it ends and the screen goes to black. That had a real effect on me and made me see the movie in a different light.
Would this have made my "Ten Favorites of 2019" had I seen it in the calendar year of 2019? Probably would have, although, I'm not sure which movie on that list I'd have bumped off in favor of it. I am sure that this movie will be taking home some Oscars next month.
The Grandstander gives this one Three Stars.
Catching up on a couple of items from earlier in the month.....
After watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", the fear existed that Season 3 would in no way be able to live up to the high expectations that fans of the show had for it. Fear not, as this newest season was every bit as good, funny, charming, and poignant as the previous two. When it was over, we had the same sentiment as after the previous seasons: "What? We have to wait a whole year for NEXT season? Bummer!"
Four Stars from The Grandstander.
"Jesus Christ Superstar", the production that introduced Andrew Lloyd Webber to the world is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2020. When it was unleashed upon the world in 1970, I was, of course aware of it, but I had never seen a production of it, nor did I ever own the album - the famous "Brown Album". I knew only three of its songs, the title song, Everything's Alright, and the wonderful I Don't Know How to Love Him.
The Fiftieth Anniversary tour production of the show came to Pittsburgh in the first week of January as part of the Broadway in Pittsburgh schedule. The show was a wonderful production. Great rock music from the on-stage band and interesting choreography that made the show a true spectacle (in a good way), but I really wish that I had made the effort to listen to the music of the show ahead of time. Save for the three songs mentioned above, I had a hard time hearing and understanding the lyrics over the loud rock music of the band (wow, did I just sound REALLY OLD with that statement!). As I have told everybody who asks about listening to the music of "Hamilton" before you see the show, that is precisely what I should have done before seeing JCS. My loss, unfortunately.
Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander, which no doubt puts me in the minority.
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