Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Tag Archives: Helena Bonham Carter


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My Review of OCEAN’S 8

Ocean’s 8, rated PG-13
***

Ocean’s 8 is an entertaining, all-women sequel to the Ocean’s trilogy that was launched in 2001, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred George Clooney as Danny Ocean. Those Ocean’s films were actually a remake of the 1960 Ocean’s 11 film starring the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., etc.).  Soderbergh serves as producer for this film. The film, which features an all-star cast, is directed by four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Dave, Big), and written by Ross and Olivia Milch.
Oscar winner (The Blind Side) Sandra Bullock stars as Debbie Ocean, the estranged younger sister of Danny. The film begins as Debbie is finishing a five-year prison sentence. Although she convincingly assures the parole board that she is looking forward to the simple life, in reality, she has spent the past five years, eight months and 12 days planning her next big heist. Immediately after being released from prison she cons her way through a department store and into a high-end Manhattan hotel room. So much for the simple life.
Shortly after that Debbie contacts her best friend and nightclub owner Lou, played by two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, The Aviator), to tell her of her plan to steal a large diamond. The $150 million diamond necklace, weighing in excess of six pounds, is locked in an underground Cartier vault, and only removed for special occasions.  One such event is the Met Gala, the annual fashion extravaganza at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it will be worn by the famous actress Daphne Kluger, played by Oscar winner Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables).
Debbie and Lou then go about putting together their dream team to carry out their audacious plan. Their team will be comprised of all women, because as Debbie says “A ‘him’ gets noticed. A ‘her’ gets ignored. And for once, we want to be ignored.” Each of the women will bring a specific talent to the team.
Their team is comprised of singer Rihanna as the hacker Nine Ball, two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of the Dove, The King’s Speech) as Rose Weil, a struggling high-end fashion designer, Golden Globe winner Sarah Paulson (American Crime Story), as Tammy, a former fence (middleman), who is trying to live a quiet life as a mom in the suburbs, rapper-comedian Awkwafina as the pickpocket Constance, and six-time Emmy nominee Mindy Kaling (The Office) as the jeweler Amita.
Fashion plays a big part in this film. Costume design is by Sarah Edwards. She not only outfits Ocean’s gang, but we also see incredible fashion on display at the Met Gala. We see Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, as well as a number of celebrities at the Gala.
How Ocean’s 8 carry out the heist with the tremendous amount of security around the diamond necklace was entertaining, and includes some plot twists, though the lead up to that was a bit slow.
There is also a subplot of revenge involving one of Debbie’s former lovers, Claude Becker, the art dealer played by Richard Armitage (The Hobbit films, Hannibal). Four-time Emmy winner James Corden (The Late Late Show with James Corden, The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special, The 70th Annual Tony Awards) plays the excitable insurance investigator John Frazier.
The film gets its “PG-13” rating for adult language, including at least one abuse of Jesus’ name. Themes include theft, revenge and deception.
Ocean’s 8 is an entertaining twist on the Oceans films, this time using an all-female crew. The performances by Bullock and Cate Blanchett lead the way for this strong cast.


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My Review of SGT. STUBBY:  AN AMERICAN HERO

Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, rated PG
***

Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero is based on the true story of the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment in World War I, and the most decorated war dog in U.S. military history. I found the animated film both entertaining and interesting. However, with much of the film taking place during intense war action, I can’t say that this film is really family friendly and wonder if it will struggle finding an audience.
The film, which was endorsed by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, was directed by Richard Lanni and written by Lanni and Mike Stokey. While the animation in the film was average at best, the musical score by two-time Oscar nominee Patrick Doyle (Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility) was superb, subtly adding a great deal to the film.
As the film begins, it is the early months of America’s involvement in World War I. We see a hungry stray Boston terrier looking for food. As a military parade goes by, a 25-year-old private Robert Conroy, voiced by Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson films, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), throws the hungry dog a cookie. The dog then follows Conroy and the rest of the men of the 102nd Infantry Regiment back to their training ground at Yale University. Conroy and the dog, whom he names Stubby due to his short tail, bond, and Conroy’s leadership allows the dog to stay and participate in the basic training exercises.  Stubby even learns how to salute. Conroy’s closest human friends are the German American Schroeder, voiced by Jim Pharr and Elmer, voiced by Jordan Beck.
When Conroy and his fellow troops are shipped out to the frontlines in France to assist the battle-weary French soldiers, Stubby somehow sneaks aboard the U.S.S. Minnesota. When he is discovered onboard, he becomes their official mascot and is even given his own dog tags.
In France the unit formed one of four infantry regiments in the 26th Division, which was nicknamed the “Yankee Division”, because it was made up of National Guard units from the New England states. The Yankee Division would take part in some of the most intense fighting of the Western Front in 1918, from February to November on the front lines, taking heavy casualties.
We see Stubby proving his worth, from scaring away rats, sniffing out the presence of the enemy, and in a powerful scene, warning French civilians of mustard gas that is coming into their village. For his actions in combat, Stubby was promoted to sergeant.
Oscar nominee Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac), voices the likable French soldier, and restaurant owner/chef, Gaston Baptiste. Although he is in good spirits, we see his weariness, the result of being in intense battles for years, and not having seen his family. Together, with Conroy and Stubby, the three form a bond, becoming the “Three Musketeers”.
Conroy’s sister Margaret, voiced by two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (The Kings Speech, The Wings of the Dove), narrates the film, giving the viewers updates on where Conroy and his fellow soldiers were, based on letters from the battlefield that she receives from her brother.  She was like a mother to him after they lost their parents.  Adults will find the history very interesting, but it will be over the heads of young viewers who will instead enjoy Stubby’s brave exploits.
The film shows the horrors of war (gun fighting, grenades, mustard gas, etc.), and also addresses issues such as German Americans fighting in the war, the deadly Spanish flu of 1918, and soldiers being wounded and killed.
I enjoyed Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, and learned a lot about World War I. While the animation was just average, the film features an excellent musical score as it tells the stranger than fiction story of the most decorated dog in U.S. military history, who participated in 17 battles over 18 months. However, due to the intense war scenes that are included in the film, I do not consider this film to be for youngest viewers, and wonder if it will struggle to find an audience.  Themes in this film include sacrifice, teamwork, loyalty and friendship.


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Movie Review – Suffragette

SuffragetteSuffragette, rated PG-13
** ½

This film shows the battle for women’s right to vote in political elections, or suffrage, in England in 1911-13. It is directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan, who wrote the screenplay for Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. Streep, who is a three-time Oscar winner and has an incredible nineteen Oscar nominations, appears in this film as well, though it is misleading to have her on the movie posters or DVD boxes, as she appears in just one short scene, lasting no more than five minutes, in the film. She portrays Emmeline Pankhurst, the figurehead of the suffrage movement.

The film chooses to focus on a fictional character named Maud (Carey Mulligan, Oscar nominee for 2009’s An Education). As the film begins, Maud lives happily with her husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw, “Q” in the James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall), and their young son George (Adam Michael Dodd). Maud and Sonny work in a laundry, with bad working conditions, low wages and a sexual predator for a boss. Maud has spent her entire life in the laundry, having been born to a mother who also worked there.

A co-worker at the laundry, Violet (Anne-Marie Duff), is involved in the suffrage movement and invites Maud to secret meetings led by Edith (Helena Bonham Carter, two-time Oscar nominee) and her husband Hugh (Finbar Lynch). Edith is a pharmacist who we see breaking laws that she wasn’t allowed to vote on.

In a key scene in the film Violet is to testify about the hardship of women in front of a panel led by future Secretary of State for War Lloyd George (Adrian Schiller). When she can’t testify, having been badly beaten, Maud reluctantly does so. Rather than following the prepared statement, she shares from her heart, impressing George. However, when George later informs the women gathered that the suffrage bill didn’t pass, a protest breaks out. The police brutally batter women, including Maud, while Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson) looks on. Steed is overall kind to Maud throughout the film however, seeing the working-class women taking the front-line risks in the movement that the upper-class women would not take.

This begins a pattern of arrests for Maud, who deceives her husband about her involvement in the movement. This leads to personal consequences for Maud. We later see her refusing to eat in jail, being involved with Edith and others in bombings and the blowing up of Lloyd-George’s summer home. All of this culminates with a scene at “Derby Day”, where King George is entered as a rider.

We see women making sacrifices (family, jobs and life itself) and repeatedly breaking the law in pursuit of the ability to vote and later better working conditions and wages. I would have preferred for the film to have been more focused on the movement. Instead, much of it was about the fictional story of Maud and her family – thus my lower rating for the film.

Mulligan delivers a solid performance as Maud. Bonham Carter is even stronger as Edith, and Gleeson is excellent in an understated performance as Inspector Steed. The film is rated PG-13 for a small amount of adult language, violence and one brief scene of nudity when women are stripped of their clothing and given uniforms in jail.