michaeldoud

First Hit: This version of the Jane Ashton tale, isn't very funny, somewhat long at over two hours, and, at times, oddly entertaining.

I'm not a big fan of period pieces, and this one spends a lot of time showing us how the class structure and social hierarchy in England produced rude behavior.

The rude behavior is characterized by having the people guessing what others think and then respond without knowing what they really think. The culmination of this lack of communication is when Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy) and George Knightley (Johnny Flynn) are under a tree, having extreme difficulty telling each other how they feel about each other.

The innuendos, the backhanded slights, and the occasional direct put-downs throughout this story were, on occasion, amusing. Still, mostly they struck me as arrogant attacks on people who had less social standing than others.

Emma is a rich girl in her early twenties, living in a large house on an estate in England. She lives there with her father, Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy). It is near a small town, and because of her wealth, she's looked up to by everyone in the village. When Emma walks into a store, everyone bows or curtsies. She hires friendships and people to spend time with her; Harriet Smith (Mia Goth) is one such person.

We watch Emma try to influence and control who gets engaged to whom, including Harriet. Emma is devoted to her father and has no intention of ever marrying. Emma is also forever being prodded and challenged by Knightly, her neighbor.

Knightley lives in a vast empty estate by himself. Interior shots of the house show most of the furniture covered up.

Although I didn't like the character, Taylor-Joy was good as the arrogant Emma. Nighy was appropriately clueless as Emma's father. Flynn did a terrific job of being the rich neighbor who suddenly harbored deeper feelings for Emma. Goth was sublime. She portrayed innocence and faith that Emma was looking out for her in a beautiful way. Eleanor Catton wrote this screenplay, that to me, was way to elongated. Autumn de Wilde directed this movie. It was at least 40 minutes too long and uninspired.

Overall: Despite the brief moments of hilarity, it was painfully long and contrived.

First Hit: This is a compelling true story about racial change in a small South Carolina town.

The movie documents this story about how Mike Burden (Garrett Hedlund), who was part of the Ku Klux Clan, decides to change his beliefs and makes amends because of his love for a woman.

In this small town, the Klan is still alive and well. Tom Griffin (Tom Wilkinson) is the head honcho in more ways than one. He's on the verge of opening a Ku Klux Klan museum in an old movie theater, and the most impoverished people in town rent furniture and televisions from him. His repossession rate for his rentals is high. He intimidates the town with this control.

Burden works for Griffin and is his prime repossessor. Griffin treats Mike like his own son. On one repossession, he meets Judy (Andrea Riseborough), whose current boyfriend is behind in his payments, and Burden takes the television. Judy throws a temper tantrum and storms out to the car. She attempts to leave, but the car won't start and Buden, gets the car started for her. The looks they give each other show that there is going to be a connection.

Judy has a young boy whose best friend is a young black child. The relationship between the young boys is a reminder that when Burden was young, his best friend was Clarence Brooks (Usher Raymond). Clarence is black, and because he's having trouble making payments on the rented television, Mike has arrived to repossess the tv. Seeing Judy's boy playing with Clarence's son brings up memories of their past friendship, and conflicting feelings based on his current beliefs as a Klansman.

The town has a large black population that comes together at the church that is led by Reverend Kennedy (Forest Whitaker). Kennedy preaches love, forgiveness, and bringing people together non-violently. As you might expect, with the KKK museum opening in town, the black community is upset, and Kennedy leads the non-violent protest.

At one point, Judy puts it to Burden that he has to pick between her or his continuing to be part of the Klan. This choice begins Mike's transition from his being Klan oriented to seeing how it is hurting the community and people he cares about.

Hedlund was amazing as Burden. The way he talked, scattered his gaze when communicating with anyone, and how his walk embodied someone who was doing little to further himself was well done. As he found his voice, he showed subtle ways to make his character believable as he evolved. Whitaker was wonderous as the town's reverend whose goal was to create a peaceful difference. When he brings unexpected guests home, the way he tried to make it right with his family was perfectly portrayed. Riseborough was terrific as Judy. She captured a young woman who stood for her beliefs and had enough compassion to let Burden find his way to her. Wilkinson was excellent and utterly horrible as the town's Klan leader. He made me believe he was a Klansman. Andrew Heckler wrote and directed this true story. I loved seeing the real people at the end of the film as the credits rolled.

Overall: This was a wonderfully presented story about how racism tears communities apart and how love, forgiveness, and acceptance can put them back together.

First Hit: Confusing movie about important subjects; income discrepancy, responsibility, and revenge.

I'm not very sure on how to write this review as the disjointed presentation of the subjects mentioned above left me wondering about the film's intent.

At the end of the movie, next to still photos of the film's scenes, we are given information about how clothing designers, companies, and sellers make billions of dollars of profit while the people who sew the clothing make, as little as $2.47 for a 10-hour day of work.

The overall story follows Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), Greedy McCreadie, as he's referred to by many, from his high school days when he left school, focused on making money to his 60th birthday party. As we learn, he was always conniving someone to play cards, or play find the queen or ways to buy something low and sell it high.

How he got into the fashion industry was more of an accident than a purpose. From a part-time endeavor, McCreadie excelled at the art of negotiating extremely low clothing manufacturing prices. Seeing an opportunity to make a lot of money with these skills, he decides to open a clothing store, and it becomes very successful. We see him in various scenes negotiating rock bottom prices. We also see the aftermath and conditions these workers work and live under given these negotiated low manufacturing costs.

The focal point of the film's story is he's giving himself a costly 60th birthday party in a Greek beachside villa. We know it is expensive because he's trying to spend less than £1,000,000 for entertainment. He's also invited some celebrities, and because many cannot make it, he hires celebrity stand-ins. One funny bit has McCreadie looking at these stand-ins in the makeup room, and when he says, and you're George Michael, the guy says "yes," and McCreadie looks at his assistant and says, "well how's that going to work, George Michael is dead." They are also building a small version of a coliseum where there will be a gladiator scene with a real lion.

Then there are vital scenes showing McCreadie's privileged ways by wanting the refugees, who are living on a public beach, removed because it won't look good for the guests. There are scenes where a government agency is questioning McCreadie about his businesses, the number of bankruptcies he has gone through, how he has all his assets in offshore accounts and countries and can live so well. In contrast, others that work for him or his manufacturers suffer.

Then there are the personal relationships. McCreadie's son Finn (Asa Butterfield) hates him as by his open discussion about killing his father. His ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher), is still very close with him, and as we discover early in the story, she care-takes much of his offshore money.

Lastly, the revenge component is shared through a couple of characters. All through the film, we track McCreadie's official biographer Nick (David Mitchell), who is probably weak and influenced to write a positive book, as he is talking with family and party attendees. He learns through Naomi (Shanina Shaik) that through decisions made by McCreadie and a manufacturer, her mother got fired, She had to find another job and ended up in a factory that burned down, her mother suffocated to death. Naomi has a sincere dislike for McCreadie. Her unattachment from the revenge she gets is a fascinating subject that stayed with me for hours after seeing the film.

Coogan is rather good as this arrogant, self-aggrandizing, prick of a man. The scene where he is chastising a color decorator in a new store location about the interior color and finally McCreadie says to use this one, holding up a Fuschia colored sample is funny and sad. What's precious about it is that later one we revisit this store, and nobody wants to shop there because of the color, and McCreadie rails, who pick this color? Fisher is compelling as the ex-wife who lays back and reaps the benefits of her ex-husband's ways. Mitchell is terrific as the hesitant biographer. In the end, his understanding of Naomi's actions are well done. Shaik was probably the best in this film. Her compassion for the Greek children living on the beach, finding ways to make everything work, and explanation for pushing the button was sublime. Butterfield was keen as the intimidated son who just wanted to be seen, heard, and respected. Sophie Cookson (as the daughter Lily McCreadie) was great as the daughter trying to live a Kardashian life by having her every moment filmed. The scene where she gives food to the homeless on the beach is so telling. Michael Winterbottom both wrote and directed this film, and I just didn't think it came together well. The oddly timed switching between different scenes, McCreadie's early life, the party, and in front of the government committee were well placed. It came across as confusing.

Overall: There are good points made by this movie, but the confusing story made it difficult to piece it all together.