Review: "Hidden Figures"

It was in a history textbook in high school that I first came upon the name Katherine Johnson. I can vividly remember the photo of her and the caption, which noted Johnson as a trailblazing mathematician who worked for NASA during the Space Race. In the years, following, however I hadn’t come across her name again – that is, until President Barack Obama honored Johnson in 2015 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of her efforts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Now, more than half a century since Johnson calculated the trajectory for the space flight of Alan Shepard (the first American in space), comes an inspiring and plenty entertaining motion picture highlighting the tremendous accomplishments – and struggles – of Johnson and other African-Americans in the space program.

As the Hidden Figures opens, Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) are working in the segregated, dungeon-like West Area Computers division at the Langley Research Center. With the Soviet Union making headway in the Space Race, through cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person to orbit Earth, the brilliant Johnson is recruited by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), director of the Space Task Group, to conduct research and calculations that will lead to John Glenn (Glen Powell)’s orbiting of the planet. Johnson is beyond qualified for the job but that hardly makes this white sausage fest of an office all too welcoming of an African-American woman.

Meanwhile, Vaughan has a tense relationship with her cold-as-ice supervisor (Kirsten Dunst) and fears she and her colleagues may become disposable to NASA, given the rise of computers. The picture also focuses on Jackson’s strides to go from the title of ‘mathematician’ to ‘engineer’ – a feat that requires an advanced degree that locally can only be obtained at an all-white institution.

The film, directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, is a genuine crowd-pleaser, packed with humor, delightful performances and – even when you know some of the outcomes – a fair share of suspense too. Spencer, as always, is a natural scene-stealer, and between this and Moonlight, 2016 has proven one hell of a year for Monae. (Moonlight star Mahershala Ali has a nice turn here too, portraying a suitor of Johnson’s.) Hidden Figures also offers a prime supporting role for Costner, nicely cast as a man whose entire life seems to revolve around the space program.

The true shining star of this film, however, is Henson, pitch-perfectly convincing and charming as can be as this amazing woman. Here is an actress who, frankly, does not always select the finest scripts, but here hits a grand slam. She’d make a fine Best Lead Actress Oscar nominee this year, crowded as that category may be.

When it comes to motion pictures about NASA, The Right Stuff remains tops but Hidden Figures really ain’t too far behind.

A-

2016 Writers Guild of America nominations

Congratulations to this year's Writers Guild of America honorees!

Best Adapted Screenplay

Eric Heisserer, Arrival
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Deadpool
August Wilson, Fences
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals

Best Original Screenplay

Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Jeff Nichols, Loving
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney, Moonlight

2016 Golden Globe Awards predictions

Prediction time! I feel reasonably confident about at least half of these - no way, for instance, La La Land, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone or Viola Davis are losing here. Some of these are true jump balls - Manchester by the Sea vs. Moonlight in both Drama Picture and Screenplay, Casey Affleck vs. Denzel Washington, Moana vs. Zootopia and arguably all of the contenders in Foreign Language Film. Upsets to keep an eye on include Jeff Bridges, Mel Gibson and yes, Ryan Reynolds, who I am begrudgingly predicting for the win here. (My feeling is if Deadpool could inexplicably garner a Comedy/Musical Picture nod, a Reynolds victory is not only plausible but perhaps even likely.)

Check out my predictions below, ranked from most to least likely to prevail. And of course, feel free to chime in with your own two cents as well!

Best Motion Picture – Drama:

1. Manchester by the Sea
2. Moonlight
3. Hacksaw Ridge
4. Lion
5. Hell or High Water

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

1. La La Land
2. Florence Foster Jenkins
3. Deadpool
4. 20th Century Women
5. Sing Street

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:

1. Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
2. Denzel Washington – Fences
3. Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge
4. Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic
5. Joel Edgerton - Loving

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:

1. Natalie Portman – Jackie
2. Amy Adams – Arrival
3. Isabelle Huppert - Elle
4. Ruth Negga - Loving
5. Jessica Chastain - Miss Sloane

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

1. Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool
2. Ryan Gosling – La La Land
3. Hugh Grant - Florence Foster Jenkins
4. Colin Farrell - The Lobster
5. Jonah Hill - War Dogs

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:

1. Emma Stone – La La Land
2. Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins
3. Annette Bening - 20th Century Women
4. Hailee Steinfeld - The Edge of Seventeen
5. Lily Collins - Rules Don't Apply

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

1. Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
2. Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
3. Dev Patel - Lion
4. Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Nocturnal Animals
5. Simon Helberg - Florence Foster Jenkins

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

1. Viola Davis – Fences
2. Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
3. Nicole Kidman - Lion
4. Naomie Harris - Moonlight
5. Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures

Best Director – Motion Picture:

1. Damien Chazelle – La La Land
2. Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge
3. Barry Jenkins - Moonlight
4. Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea
5. Tom Ford - Nocturnal Animals

Best Screenplay:

1. Manchester by the Sea
2. Moonlight
3. Hell or High Water
4. Nocturnal Animals
5. La La Land

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language:

1. Toni Erdmann – Germany
2. Neruda – Chile
3. The Salesman – Iran/France
4. Elle – France
5. Divines – France

Best Motion Picture – Animated:

1. Moana
2. Zootopia
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
4. My Life as a Zucchini
5. Sing

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:

1. City of Stars – La La Land
2. How Far I’ll Go – Moana
3. Can’t Stop the Feeling – Trolls
4. Faith – Sing
5. Gold – Gold

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:

1. Justin Hurwitz – La La Land
2. Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka – Lion
3. Nicholas Britell – Moonlight
4. Johann Johannsson – Arrival
5. Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch – Hidden Figures

Review: "Sing"

Earlier this year, I fawned over Illumination Entertainment's The Secret Life of Pets, an endearing roller coaster ride of an animated feature that was exquisitely drawn, enthusiastically performed and sported one hell of an Alexandre Desplat original score to boot.

The studio's latest effort, I'm afraid, is lacking in all areas where Pets excelled, a haphazard, pedestrian film that rarely even stimulates a smile.

Writer-director Garth Jennings' Sing starts off on a decent-enough note, as we see the theater-owning koala bear Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) come up with an idea to save his failing, once-extravagant venue - a singing competition. The event draws far more attention than anticipated when Moon's bumbling secretary misprints the contest as having a grand prize 100 times the actual amount. This draws in a host of characters, few terribly interesting or funny, voiced by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Seth MacFarlane and Nick Kroll, who belt out new and old Billboard hits.

Each A-lister has their own little subplot but there's not much to write home about. Only MacFarlane, as an arrogant mouse who croons like Sinatra, interjects some life into the proceedings. Perhaps superfans of American Idol and/or The Voice (or - sigh - the Pitch Perfect films) will get a kick out of the musical performances here but I was left mostly unmoved. And where Pets crafted a breathtaking Manhattan setting that really popped off the screen, Sing feels curiously claustrophobic and isn't all that visually striking.

Sing is animated cinema for only the most undemanding of moviegoers.

C

Review: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"

Fingers crossed this does not spur the wrath of franchise fanboys - I am not much a fan of Star Wars. I respect The Empire Strikes Back and get a real kick out of Return of the Jedi (largely on account of Jabba the Hut and those irresistible Ewoks) but A New Hope mostly bores me and I felt Episodes I, II and III often teetered on the hideously awful. I was entertained by last year's The Force Awakens but trust me, there was no urgency felt to revisit it anytime soon.

So, as you might imagine, I was not terribly pumped about the latest picture to sport the Star Wars name. There is, however, some good news to report - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is not a complete miss, on the level of The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. It is still, I'm afraid, not an especially great film.

Rogue One opens with scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) being plucked away from his peaceful home life by the malicious Orson Kreenic (Ben Mendelsohn) to work for the Empire. Years down the road, he is the lead engineer for that notorious, seemingly unstoppable weapon, the Death Star. Galen's daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones), who fled the scene when Orson took her father, teams up with a Rebel spy (Diego Luna) and other members of the resistance to take on Orson and hopefully destroy the Death Star. There are, of course, plenty of bumps, explosions, one-liners and half-baked action sequences along the way.

Despite an accomplished cast and screenplay by the usually reliable Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz, Rogue One never quite takes off. It's not a bad film but rather one that just kind of sits there, as you wait for something fabulously exciting to happen (it never does). Jones, who was superb two years ago in The Theory of Everything, has a nice screen presence here but isn't given a whole lot to do. Even less meat is on the bone for her talented co-stars to devour. Only Mendelsohn really shines, as the film's one truly compelling character.

Michael Giacchino's original score is no John Williams but also not half-bad. Visually, the picture is not as striking as the last entry, or the first three pictures released, but at least it's not the same wall-to-wall, head-inducing CGI of Episodes I, II and III. Even as someone not enamored with this series, I sorely missed past characters, so much more memorable and fun than this bland crowd.

Could someone please make a spin-off for me with just Jabba, the Ewoks and Yoda?

C+