The last movie that I saw was
Promising Young Woman at the beginning of the year. That is a film that really resonated with me. Director and screenwriter, Emerald Fennell, has some very interesting ideas, and did a pretty good job with the film overall. I was also deeply affected by Carey Mulligan's performance.
I found it so uncomfortable to watch, and I think it's because it's so true. I mean, anyone over the age of 25 who took part in nightlife for a considerable amount of time will have seen something like that play out in front of their own eyes. You know, the predatory guys being gross. It doesn't matter if you went to the poshest 'lounges' or some hyped underground club in dodgy parts of town.
We've all seen these guys proposition girls in club settings, but we don't know what happens behind closed doors. And those scenes were so unsettling and creepy, but necessary.
I just don't know what to make of the movie. It's so.....all over the place. The scenes with her family were good and there are obviously a lot of 'reading between the lines' that push the movie into the 'serious' category. I liked that. But then I found the parts with her and 'Ryan' was so cheesy. There was this corny scene of them kissing, in slow motion in the coffee shop. Throw in Laverne Cox as the 'sassy black friend' it's basically your average romantic comedy. And then the end is some subversive Kill Bill spin-off, down to Elle Driver's nurse's outfit.
And then the tragic way it ends? It was all so disjointed, like I was watching 3 different movies. But maybe that was the point. All things considered, Carey was good in it. Definitely an award-worthy performance.
"The United States vs. Billie Holiday." I definitely wasn't sold on the idea of Andra Day playing Billie Holiday, but after watching it, I'd have to say: yeah, she gets my respect for her role.
These days, I'll come across these shows + films about what could have happened, and I wouldn't mind seeing a fictional retelling of what could have happened between her + Tallulah Bankhead (but please, no Ryan Murphy).
Great costumes, too, but the eyewear was the exclamation point at the end of this sentence for me!
Oh, Andra was spectacular in it! She instantly won me over in the very first scene where she's sitting with the crew, getting her hair done. And she kept it natural throughout, it wasn't a caricature type of performance you often see in biopics. I'll place my bet on either her or Frances McDormand to nab the Oscar for Best Actress this year.
The directing was done quite well because there are all these subplots and they're all solid and intense enough, but ultimately everything ties into Billie. I thought that was masterful.
Also, considering her true story you'd think the movie would have taken a strong anti-male stance, but oddly enough it had a variety of role models - good and bad. That was refreshing. Because I recall with Edith Piaf's biopic, and most golden era biopics actually, the men were always the b@stards. Which they probably were at the time, but still.
All of Andra's evening looks are from Prada, btw.
