DailyView: Day 296, Movie 419

Yesterday, I watched a concert movie with the King, Elvis Presley and I enjoyed the film quite a bit. So I decided that I would look into some of the other available concert films, but, fact was, I did not find a bunch that I wanted to see. However, there were a few that I found and the one I chose for tonight was featuring the band Queen.

Queen, which included, arguably, the greatest front man in music history, Freddie Mercury, as well as amazing guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon, went on their final tour with Mercury behind the Iron Curtain and into Hungary.

Hungary, in 1986 when the tour took place, was still under a Communist dictatorship at the time, which was unbelievable that a British rock band was able to tour. They were Queen, after all.

To be fair, the non-music part of this documentary was severely lacking. However, these scenes, with Queen making their way around Budapest, were short and allowed a nice respite from the concert.

The music was the reason to watch this. Queen is utterly brilliant and the performances of these songs were fantastic. Freddie Mercury’s voice is unmatched and the skill with which he used it is completely impressive. What was just as awesome here, Freddie spent most of the concert running all over the stage. There were steps and pavilions and scaffolding and Freddie went everywhere. He had to be in amazing shape (even though he possibly was HIV + at the time).

Queen hit all of the songs that they performed at their famous Live Aid performance. There were a few of Queen’s hits that I would have liked to have heard. In fact, the first group of songs they played were songs that I did not recognize. It was wonderful hearing the songs that were like all new ones.

Queen was not just about Freddie Mercury though as the other band members were remarkably talented too. Brian May’s guitar work is breathtaking. Roger Taylor is something special to watch as he sings and pounds away on the drums. Taylor had his own impressive voice.

And watching thousands of audience members jumping up and down and clapping in synch showed how beloved this group was…even in Hungary.

There was not much more to this film than the music, but fortunately, the music is more than enough.

DailyView: Day 295, Movie 418

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, a film coming out this year with Tom Hanks, dropped its first trailer today so I felt like a film with Elvis in it would be a nice touch for the DailyView today. However, I have not begun the journey into the King’s movie career because they are, supposedly, not the greatest in cinema history.

Because of my uncertainty, I found a documentary that followed Elvis on a 15-city tour during the summer of 1972. It was a documentary and a concert film mix.

Elvis Presley is one of the most charismatic, yet eccentric characters from real life. However, that does not come through here near as much as some other examples. The film focused more on Elvis’s fans reactions to Elvis and the people behind the scenes with the King than the eccentricities of the singer.

That does not make this a bad film, by any stretch. I enjoyed the film on the strength of the music. It was an interesting collection of songs. There were not a ton of classic Elvis songs, though a few made their appearance. Hearing Elvis do songs such as “Proud Mary” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is cool. What was even better was hearing the rehearsals of Elvis and his background singers doing the gospel songs. There were some wonderful singing and beautifully performed.

It is fascinating watching the crowd lose their minds to Elvis, who has seen his better days. Fact was that 5 years after this, Elvis died. The spell that Elvis held over the audience is amazing.

I am looking forward to the Elvis project to see more about the King, but this was a nice evening worth of entertainment.

DailyView: Day 294, Movie 417

The fifth and final film in the Small Axe series, Education, is the shortest of the series. I really enjoyed two films in the series (Mangrove & Red, White & Blue), while the two others (Lovers Rock and Alex Wheatle) were not my favorites. Education will see which way the series, directed by Steve McQueen, will tilt for me. Education packs quite the punch as the wrap up of the five film series dealing with the racism and challenges faced by the West Indian population in London.

Education is one of two fictional stories of the Small Axe series. As a teacher, it is also the one that I related to the most.

12-year old Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy) caused problems at his school with his behavior and struggled to read. When the school identified Kingsley as someone who should be sent to a “special” school, Kingsley’s parents (Sharlene Whyte, Daniel Francis), who were desperately busy with their jobs, just went along with it.

However, the special school Kingsley attended did nearly nothing to teach or help the students, leaving them to, basically, do whatever they wanted. Kingsley realized quickly that he had been sent somewhere to be removed.

When Hazel (Naomi Ackie) arrived at the “educationally subnormal school” trying to find out the names of the students, she met Kingsley and that led her to his home. Kingsley’s mother did not want to hear the truth at first, but, after educating herself, she became a fearsome advocate for her son.

I was totally engrossed with this movie. It was such a painful reminder about how the education system can get in the way of some students, especially when there is a systematic racist undertow. There are scenes in this movie that I recognize, and that was even more difficult to comprehend.

There is such a message of hope on display and the idea that, with supportive parents, many children, even those dismissed or forgotten, can raise above the expectations. There were a few moments where I felt emotional watching this as the story and the situation it described resonated soundly with me.

Small Axe: Education was the shortest of the five films at 63 minutes, and I would have liked it to be longer. Although it does a decent job of showing us Kingsley and his life, I would have loved to go into greater detail with his family, learn more about his parents and how they became the way they did. This was touched on, but another 20 minutes or so would have really made this character piece even stronger than it was.

The scene where Kingsley’s mother finally confronted him about his reading ability was extremely powerful and beautifully acted, in particular by Kenyah Sandy. He was very solid in what he was given, and I would have loved to have seen his part written with more to it.

Small Axe: Education brought the Small Axe series to a fittingly solid ending. Even with the episodes that I did not love, I appreciated the efforts and the experimental styles used overall. Steve McQueen brought five wholly original and powerful works of art that brought to life the sometimes chaotic lives of the West Indian population in London. I may not have loved every one, but I respect the journey.

DailyView: Day 293, Movie 416

I was on Twitter the other night and I saw a tweet talking about a movie called Driveways. The tweeter (I do not remember who it was) said that the film was criminally underwatched and the tweeter wished people would search out the film.

I went in search of the movie, which turned out to be the final film in the career of the late, great Brian Dennehy, and I found it on Vudu.

A lonesome young boy Cody (Lucas Jaye) comes with his mother (Hong Chau) to clean out his late aunt’s house. Cody met and befriended a former veteran Del (Brian Dennehy) who lived next door.

Driveways was a sweet, deeply connecting character study, focused mainly upon the relationship between the old man and the young boy. The movie does not have a lot of plot, but the story is really in the characters. Both Dennehy and Lucas Jaye are wonderful here and they create a friendship that carries the emotional depth of the movie.

Cody’s mother, played by Hong Chau, does a great job as well, struggling with the job of cleaning out her sister’s house (which is packed to the ceiling with junk) as well as her sister’s death. She is trying to maintain her job, raising her son on her own, while dealing with the emotions swelling within her.

There are some fantastically sentimental scenes with these characters in a real life setting that places each character into situations that are powerful and moving. It may seem to be a fairly simple film, but there is so much more going on with the characters that you will fall for it.

I’m pleased that I found that tweet. Thanks to whomever that was. Driveways is a gem that I missed when it was first released. I am so happy that I got a chance to see it now.

DailyView: Day 293, Movie 415

The fourth film in Steve McQueen’s personal opus followed the early life story of Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole), award-winning YA author. This biopic tells the story of Alex from young boy spending his childhood in a mostly white institutional care without any real closeness or caring to young adulthood in Brixton where he finds a sense of community and who he truly is.

Of the Small Axe series so far, Alex Wheatle was the one that I was least engaged in. The last two in this series have not been my favorites and have not reached the levels of the first two.

Sheyi Cole is excellent in the title role. He is obviously the standout in this film.

The tone and mood of the movie continues to fit the time and the circumstances beautifully. The scenes of confrontation with the London police stands out among the tale.

This was one of the shortest of the series so far, but it did feel long. There were some impressive scene with Alex in jail with Simeon (Robbie Gee), who becomes a major influence on the future of the writer. I enjoyed Robbie Gee’s work in Alex Wheatle.

Good performances, but I just did not connect with this film either.

DailyView: Day 293, Movie 414

I picked out a second film for the DailyView that looks at the career of the late Ivan Reitman, who produced this Academy Award nominated film, Up in the Air. Ivan Reitman’s son, Jason Reitman directed the film which starred George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) worked for a company specialized in employee termination. If a company needed help in releasing their workers, they would call the company and Bingham would go out and let the employees go.

On his trips around the country, Ryan met a woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga), another traveling professional. They bonded in a special relationship that they would carry on whenever they needed each other.

However, Ryan was called back to his office by his boss (Jason Bateman) who introduced Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). Natalie had a strategy to cut down on costs of travel by planning on firing people via videoconferencing. Ryan, who found himself most at home when traveling, was unhappy about the new process and he challenged Natalie to fire him. He went through several things that could happen during a video call that she was unsure about and his boss wanted Ryan to take Natalie on the road and show her the ropes, teach her the skill of firing people.

This, of course, led to several scenes between the two characters, looking at the different perspectives of their lives and their career choices. The movie was really a character study of a man who had isolated himself from any sort of connection and a woman who was trying to be successful in a world where isolating was helpful.

George Clooney is as charming as ever in this film, bringing his odd philosophy on life and making it seem to work. Clooney and Vera Farmiga were tremendous together. Vera Farmiga has never given a poor performance in my mind and she is just excellent in this movie, completely warm and welcoming despite being a female version of Ryan.

There was a sweetness to Natalie, through the work of Anna Kendrick, that let you know that she was not made for this business. Her struggle with the pain being leveled on the employees and her lack of understanding about how crushing firing these people were wound up being on display with some strong cameos. In particular, the scene involving J.K. Simmons was powerful.

Up in the Air was a film that featured some strong performances and amazing character development. Ryan grew a lot during the story and it made the ending even more impactful.

DailyView: Day 293, Movie 413

We lost another amazing director the other day. Ivan Reitman passed away in his sleep. Reitman directed such classics like Ghostbusters, Kindergarten Cop, Dave, Stripes, and Twins. To honor him, I found a film that he directed that I had not see. It was the 2006 My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) is just a regular guy who had unrequited feelings for his co-worker Hannah (Anna Faris), but she was in a relationship. So on the advise of his best friend Vaughn (Rainn Wilson), Matt started looking to date. Seeing an attractive woman on the subway, he approached her and asked her out. Except, someone snatched her purse. Matt took off in pursuit of the thief, eventually retrieving the purse.

The woman he approached, Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman) turned out to be the super powered G-Girl in her secret identity. As they grew closer, their physical relationship built, and Jenny told him the secret.

Matt began to see though that Jenny was needy and jealous and he decided that he had to break up with her. Jenny did not take it well and began to use her powers to mess with him.

There are some funny moments of this film, but the biggest issue I had was how crazy they made Jenny. It became very over-the-top, even with the super hero stuff. It made the trope of the crazy ex-girlfriend look even worse than it is.

I will admit that I liked more of this than I thought I would. Luke Wilson is charming and his bro relationship with Rainn Wilson was funny. Uma Thurman is always ready to give it her all and Anna Faris was a good addition. There was also Eddy Izzard as the Lex Luthor-type supervillain, Professor Bedlam, aka Barry. The back story of Barry and Jenny was well done and made sense.

Yes, the movie is derailed by a lot of the sexist tropes and clichés that were on display and Jenny went psycho really quickly, but there were some decent moments in the film as well. I think the idea is sound, but could have used some more work.

RIP Ivan Reitman.

DailyView: Day 292, Movie 412

The third of the Small Axe series from 2020 is the next film in the DailyView today. This one starred John Boyega in Small Axe: Red, White and Blue.

Boyega played the real life person Leroy Logan, a man who joined the Metropolitan Police with the intent to try and change the racist attitudes and policies from inside. This is a true story of the man who founded the Black Police Association. The film does not go into that aspect of the character. Instead, it focuses on the early part of Logan’s life, and his own relationship with his father (Steve Toussaint), who had been beaten by the police and had been falsely arrested.

John Boyega does a great job in this role, trying to show the building frustration of the racism around him and how it affected him, the people of London and the police around them.

The ending of the film did not feel completely satisfying, but I believe that was done intentionally to symbolize how racism never can come to a happy conclusion, that it is always going to be an uncomfortable situation.

This episode of the Small Axe series is perhaps my favorite one. This has a simple story, but one that had so much more depth that it looked like it would. Boyega is great and the anger displayed is excellent.

DailyView: Day 291, Movie 411

Next up on Super Bowl Sunday DailyView is the true story of the friendship between Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers as they played together on the Chicago Bears. Brian’s Song was a 1971 TV movie that won a bunch of Primetime Emmy Awards for the tearjerker that it was.

The Bears drafted Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) number one and he came to camp with lofty expectations. Meanwhile, Brian Piccolo (James Caan), who played the same position, had to battle every second to keep his place on the team.

In a symbol to the world, the Bears, led by coach George Halas (Jack Warden), placed the two men, one white and one black, as roommates. This was not something that was done in the NFL and the breaking of this racial tradition sent some shockwaves across the sport.

Despite some early problems, Gale and Brian became close friends. Brian was there when Gale injured his knee and he helped Gale to work his way back.

Unfortunately, Brian was becoming sick and he wound up being diagnosed with lung cancer. This took their friendship into a different direction.

The racial issues were touched upon, but they were not the main focus of this movie. The focus was the relationship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, and in that area, this movie does a fantastic job. You believe that these two men had built up a connection as teammates on the Bears and that they would do anything for each other.

Billy Dee Williams does a good job as Gale, but James Caan was a huge standout as Brian. Brian Piccolo was more of an outgoing and loud personality and Caan fit that perfectly.

Shelley Fabares, who I knew from the TV series Coach as Christine, appeared as Brian’s wife, Joy. I would not have recognized her if I did not know it was her. Joy also formed a bond with Gale and his wife Linda (Judy Pace). Fabares’ performance was very understated, and real.

The film started with this quote from the narrator: “Ernest Hemingway once said ‘Every true story ends in death.’ Well, this is a true story.” It foreshadowed the sadness that would be coming, but it did not show how much life and hope the film was able to reveal.

DailyView: Day 291, Movie 410

Football films for the DailyView continued this morning in honor of the Super Bowl with a film that was released late in 2020 on Disney +, a film that I had never heard of before. Safety is the true story of Clemson football player Ray McElrathbey who, because of troubles at home, had to take in his younger brother while trying to continuing to play football for the Clemson Tigers.

Ray McElrathbey (Jay Reeves) was a freshman at Clemson, filled with a brutal schedule between practices and a heavy class load, when he found out that his mother (Amanda Warren) had been arrested again for possession and was being placed in a recovery program. Instead of letting his brother Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson) be placed into the system during their mother’s program, Ray decided to take him with him back to Clemson to hide him out in the dorms.

This would not last though as the difficulties of what he was trying to accomplish started to weigh on Ray, affecting his football play and classwork. When they found out that their mother was going to continue in the program after the original 30 day plan, Ray had to make some changes.

After initially sending Fahmarr back to the system, Ray returned and brought his brother back. With some aid from his coaches and his team, Ray and Fahmarr began to adjust to their new normal. The problem was that the NCAA began investigating the case for improper gifts and help for a student athlete.

I have to say that this was so much better than I ever expected it to be. Sure there were the typical Disney movie cheese surrounding the story, but it worked surprisingly well. At the end, I was shocked to find my eyes watering up, even during some of the more saccharine sweet moments.

Jay Reeves, who had not a ton of credits on IMDB, does a really good job as the brother desperately trying to figure out how not to lose either of his families. He had a good chemistry with young Thaddeus Mixson and they made a wonderful pair of siblings. I believed everything with them.

While this may not be as great as some of the best football movies (Remember the Titans springs to mind), Safety is a solid film and of higher quality than I expected from a direct to Disney + film.

DailyView: Day 291, Movie 409

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and at EYG, we celebrate with some DailyView additions. While looking for football movies that I have not seen before, I came across a film that not only worked as a football movie, but also fit into one of the three remaining years without a movie representing it. 1925 was one of three years that had yet to have a movie in the DailyView, however, that is now over as Harold Lloyd’s silent/comedy The Freshman takes that place.

The Freshman is about a naïve young man Harold Lamb (Harold Lloyd) who has enrolled at Tate University and wants to be popular. He goes about it in some strange ways, making himself the butt of the upper classmen’s jokes, without his understanding or knowledge.

In his continual efforts to become popular, “Speedy” as he has become known, joined the football team (although he was only there in reality as the waterboy).

There is a sweet relationship with Harold and Peggy (Jobyna Ralston), a woman he met on the train coming to Tate University. This relationship keeps the film grounded, allowing the rest of the comedy to be really slapstick fun.

The are a lot of funny moments throughout the silent feature. Harold Lloyd had an excellent look for this style of comedy and fits into the slapstick and visual humor of the period extremely well.

The music, always important in a silent film, works with the movie though never really stands out. The football scenes were the most effective in the use of the background music.

The Freshman is on HBO Max and it is a fine example of the early days of cinema.

DailyView: Day 290, Movie 408

Tomorrow there is a little football game that is going to be played called The Super Bowl. I did some research about football movies to watch in honor of the Big Game and I found a couple that I had not seen that would work as films for the DailyView. One of them was a 2008 documentary by Kevin Rafferty, which detailed the final game of the season for Harvard and Yale, a season in which both teams had been undefeated.

Of course, if you were not aware of the game, as I was not, the title of the documentary is a gigantic spoiler: Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.

The season in question was 1968, and the documentary compiled a group of players from the game (including actor Tommy Lee Jones) for their insights into not only the game, but also their whole season at their respective schools.

What a fantastic film. I have to say that, even though I knew the title of the doc, as the film was winding down and Harvard was trying desperately to come back from their deficit, I was totally engaged and, if I am being honest, considerably nervous.

In 1968, the two Ivy League schools’ football teams were undefeated heading into their season’s final game. Harvard was an unheralded undefeated team while Yale was fully expected. The air of attitude around the Yale players indicated that they had every expectation of winning this game too.

The first half, Harvard was getting destroyed, but a replacement quarterback, Frank Champi, brought a big strong arm into the game and swung the momentum into Harvard’s camp. However, it did not seem to be that it would matter as Yale led Harvard 29-13 with but 0:42 seconds left to play.

The documentary featured interviews from over 50 players involved in the game and it brought so much depth to the story, not only about what that game meant, but how an instant in your life could affect you for the rest of your lives.

There were also mentions in the documentary of the life at the two universities and how other famous people were in the orbit of these players. They mentioned Meryl Streep as a girlfriend of one of the players, George W. Bush and his antics as a known drinker, Al Gore as Tommy Lee Jones’ roommate who would play Dixie on the touch tones of the phone. These stories may not have added to the story of this famous game, but it helped us see these football players in a more humanistic view.

The film also brought us a villain. Yale linebacker Mike Bouscaren was one of the players interviewed for the doc and he admitted freely that he was trying to take players out of the game because he thought that would help Yale win. He claimed to have injured the ankle of Harvard half-back, Ray Hornblower. He claimed he targeted Hornblower in revenge for making him look foolish on a play the season before. However, replays showed that, despite his insistence that he caused the injury, he was nowhere near Hornblower when the injury occurred.

Bouscaren admitted that he was going after Champi as well, but this led to a vital 15-yard penalty for a face mask violation that help Harvard get themselves into position to score. At the movie’s end, Bouscaren spoke like a person who had realized his part in the game and how it helped him become a better person.

The film had color kinescope video from a WHDH station mixed with the interviews conducted by Rafferty. The video featured play-by-play from sportscaster Don Gillis.

As I said, I was thrilled with this documentary, loving every minute of it. I was totally engrossed with the game and, even though I knew the outcome, was never bored. I hope tomorrow’s Super Bowl is as exciting as this dicumentary.

DailyView: Day 290, Movie 407

The second film in the Small Axe series of films directed by Steve McQueen and this one works in the DailyView both for Black History Month and romance (Valentine’s Day). This film was called Lovers Rock.

Lovers Rock was a totally different type of film from Mangrove, and something that I have not seen the like of before. Lovers Rock is the story of a couple of lovers (Michael Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) who met at a reggae house party in West London in the year 1980, although calling this a story might be stretching the definition a bit. There is not much of a narrative running through the film as it is really focused on the house party and the expression of joy brought on by the music.

There is legitimately more time spent on the dance floor than on the characterization of any individual character. There were a couple of characters that appear that are given some moments, but moments are all that there is.

I found the second half of this film considerably better than the first half, mainly because of one song in particular found during that first part that had a high note at the end of a chorus that is sung by the whole room which felt like it was screeching. That screeching note drove me nutty, like nails on a chalkboard, and the song really never seemed to end. It dominated, crushed… any enjoyment I may have had during that part of the film.

After that song ended, the film improved for me, but it really never got to the point where I was truly engaged in what they were doing. Some of other songs played in Lovers Rock were more entertaining, but there was just not enough to recover.

DailyView: Day 289, Movie 406

Ava DuVernay’s Academy Award nominated documentary is on Netflix and this continued my investment in the Black History Month for the DailyView.

13th is a deep look into the history of black people in the United States and the way the race has been attacked and imprisoned over the decades. She looks at the way presidents such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and, especially, Bill Clinton used wording such as “war on drugs” or “law and order” as dog whistle politics.

The statistics shared about how the numbers of black people in prison were skyrocketing over the decades of the 70s, 80s and 90s was unbelievable. Matching the elevation of these numbers with the political world was fascinating.

The doc uses some great footage to illustrate the point and there are some good uses of the talking heads to pass on the information. Some of the clips of Donald Trump were extremely powerful, showing his thoughts and how those thoughts paint him. To be fair, they picked certain lines from Trump to illustrate their point, context be damned. However, I am not sure that the context would change much of this.

This was a good documentary and it provided some terrible numbers and can help open my eyes about the history of black people in America.