Mary Queen of Scots

It doesn’t end well.

The story of Mary Stuart, who left France for her native Scotland in 1561 to take her place on the throne and simultaneously threaten the throne of Elizabeth I, is filled with deceit, lust, religion, power plays and double-crosses. Everything you want in a royal treatment — almost.

Compared to gushy Elizabeth (1998), the film proves too small. Compared to the The Favourite, the recent, inventive, rollicking take on Queen Anne, it seems quite old fashioned. So, it's a film that is neither grand nor bad, simply a solid period piece with few surprises, including the obvious last scene.

What does earn your ten bucks is Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as Mary and Elizabeth. They are each sensational in their roles of 16th Century frenemies. It's a blast to see history through their performances.

In a December when a dozen of the year’s best films are on screen, and despite the luscious, cinematic shots of Scotland, this film is not as big as the story — something just seems missing. For this, I’d look to first-time film director Josie Roarke who comes from the national theatre/playhouse world. A pretty strong debut, but it's just not the movie of the year I'd hoped for.

In a nutshell: It may not be one of the year’s ten best, but it's worth ten bucks.

Award potential: Potential Academy Award nominations for Best Actress Saoirse Ronan, Best Supporting Actress Margo Robbie and Best Costume for designer Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth: Golden Age). 

The historically inaccurate meeting of the two Queens ( Eyes will roll where heads should have) should keep it out of the Best Screenplay category as well as Best Picture. Leave that stuff for on stage theatre, folks.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Roma

Run to Roma in the theaters — or watch it at home?

Roma, the number one best film of 2018 according to Time magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and countless others, was released in theaters this week. Somewhat surprising and definitely reflective of the times, Roma will debut on your home Netflix the following Friday, December 14.

This scheduling begs a tricky question: Should “the best film of the year” be seen at home or in the theater?

Your decision should take a few items into account including the director — and your screen at home. Writer, director and cinematographer Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity, Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) has assembled a stunning film with meticulously shot images and precise sound design that may lose some impact on a laptop with headphones, but should screen well on home theater screens with a quality home theater audio system. The wonder of this film is in the small details, so you’ll need either a theater screen or a home screen that delivers.

In favor of watching at home, I should note that Roma is an intimate and personal story, told from the point of view of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a 1970s housekeeper to a middle class family in Mexico City. Similar to a Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Before Sunrise) film, there is very little plot. It’s a story told through the senses and a series of moments in life. Items that are usually in the background are in the foreground here — not unlike the 1970s housekeeper experience.

I would also factor in your ability to watch a black and white film — in Spanish — at home. I didn’t love Roma above all pictures this year, but I felt as if I was invited to see a moment in time in a world I won’t soon forget. Don’t miss out on this if you’re apt to multitask or snooze on the couch.

The decision? If you live a city with art-house theaters, have a MoviePass and want to fully enjoy one of the strongest movies of the year, then the effort to experience Roma in the theater will surely pay off. If the holidays have cut into your free time, the quantity of quality movies in the theater in December have cut into your budget, you're iffy on art-house foreign films in general, or you just can’t wait, I believe watching it at home will be rewarding as well.

In a nutshell: The only poor choice is to miss out on Roma completely. 

Award potential: Did not qualify for Golden Globe Best Picture and doesn't fit the model for the SAG Best Ensemble award, but is a front runner for Oscars Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film — unless the Netflix association has a backlash. 

Yalitza Aparicio is on many Best Actress prediction lists, but it's a competitive year to reward a non-showy newcomer in a Spanish-speaking film. She may get overlooked with both Oscars and SAG.

Roma has already won both the L.A. critics and New York Film Critics Best Picture awards, BIFA's Best International Independent Film award and the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks — in the theater or towards a monthly Netflix subscription.

2019 Golden Globes — who gets nominated tomorrow?

The SAG awards match Oscars' selections more often than the Golden Globes, yet the inexplicable, kooky Hollywood Foreign Press Association's awards get all of our attention.

The 90 members of the HFPA have just one overlap with the 9,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). Yet, somehow a Golden Globe nod provides a positive impact on both Academy voters and Oscars campaigns. An omission tomorrow could hurt a film on the border, such as First Man, Eight Grade or Mary Poppins Returns.

That said, here's what's going to happen tomorrow:

Best Picture, Drama
A Star is Born
BlacKkKlansman 
Bohemian Rhapsody 
If Beale Street Could Talk
Black Panther

In the past, subpar films like Matt Damon's The Martian will enter the Comedy/Musical category to secure a slot. However, this year the race for one of the five drama slots are going to be more, well, dramatic. 

Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born, Blakkklansman and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, despite their obvious musical or comedy elements, have each been submitted (by their respective studio) in the drama category. The HFPA may vote however they want. 

Most predictions have First Man in the top five but I think this group may be wowed less by an artful, solemn treatment of an American astronaut and more by a glossy celebration of an international rockstar, so I bumped up the Queen biopic. Roma is not eligible.

Spoiler: First Man
Shocker: Melissa McCarthy’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?
 
  
Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
Eighth Grade
The Favourite
Green Book
Mary Poppins Returns
Vice
 
The romantic film of the year, Crazy Rich Asians, is at the top of most GG prediction lists but it’s light on comedy and musical. I’ve replaced it with  Green Book which is peaking at nomination time
Spoiler: Crazy Rich Asians
Shocker: The well reviewed, kiddie sequel Paddington 2     


Best Actress, Drama 
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
 Glenn Close, The Wife
Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Saoirse Ronan, Mary Queen of Scots

Spoiler: Nicole Kidman, Destroyer
Shocker: Julia Roberts, Ben is Back or Maggie Gyllenhaal,The Kindergarten Teacher or Toni Colette, Hereditary


 
Best Actor, Drama
Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Rami Malek, Bohemian RhapsodyI
Hugh Jackman, The Front Runner
Ryan Gosling, First Man
 
Spoiler: Steve Carell, Beautiful Boy
Shocker: John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman or Willem Dafoe, Eternity’s Gate or Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased



Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)
Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Kathryn Hahn, Private Life
Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians
 
Shocker: Voters placing Melissa McCarthy, from Can You Ever Forgive Me? in this category instead


Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)
Christian Bale, Vice
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins ReturnsViggo Mortensen, Green Book
Robert Redford, The Old Man and the Gun
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 2

Shocker: Henry Golding,Crazy Rich Asians, or Nick Robinson Love, Simon


Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Vice
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians  
 
Spoiler: Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased
Shocker: Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots


Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Timothée Chalamet, Beautiful Boy
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Elliott, A Star is Born
Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther 

Spoiler: Sam Rockwell, Vice
Shocker: Nicholas Hoult, The Favourite or Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Five films to see before 2019

After a year of struggling to make my MoviePass pay off with a slim choice of quality films, more than a dozen Oscars-friendly films suddenly dropped into the most wonderfully busy time of year. There's no way to see them all, so I thought I'd point out a few favorites that are definitely ten buck worthy.
 
The Best Picture Front Runners
Black Panther, The Favourite, Green Book, Roma and A Star Is Born are the five films on every respected Oscars prediction list. 

Roma opens in theaters on December 5, but moves to Netflix (TV) on December 21 so I'll eliminate that theater visit, followed by removing Black Panther which is available on Netflix now. I favor the bawdy The Favourite (opens November 30) over the pandering Green Book, but A Star Is Born has a magical touch that makes it a must see. Star will be eligible for almost every category and should tally a titanic-sized 13 or 14 nominations. Don't miss it on the big screen.

Recommendation 1: A Star Is Born  

The Melodramas
Boy Erased, Beautiful Boy and Ben is Back are all quality, family dramas featuring a parent and child working through difficult situations, but boy, oh boy it will be a blue Christmas if you watch all three.

Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carrell's father/son story in Beautiful Boy and Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges' mother/son film Ben Is Back (opens December 8) will gather the most acting nominations, but we've all seen the alcoholism story before and know how it ends. If I had to choose just one of these tissue-necessary dramas, Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges' conversion therapy drama Boy Erased, the one of these that is the least likely to get acting nominations, offers a more unique and hopeful story for the holidays.
 
Recommendation 2: Boy Erased
 
 
The Best Picture Contenders 
These films are vying for a slot in the Oscars Best Picture race: All Is True, BlacKKKlansman, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, First Man, Mary Queen of Scots, Mule and Vice.
 
I must confess I haven't seen All Is True, Mary or Vice, and while I respected the artsy gusto of First Man I think it has a Houston-sized problem with matching subject and tone. 

That leaves BlacKKKlansman and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, two dramedies that I fully enjoyed. Melissa McCarthy creates one of the best film characters of the year and I'd hate for anyone to miss it. 

Recommendation 3: Can You Ever Forgive Me?  


Films You Can Stream Tonight
December is a busy time to hit the theater, but these Academy Award eligible films are available on your TV: Black Panther, BlacKKKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, Eight Grade, A Quiet Place plus the documentaries RGB and Won't You Be My Neighbor. All great choices, but I'd pick the one that pairs best with wrapping presents.

Recommendation 4: Crazy Rich Asians

 
Music-Based Crowd Pleasers
Everyone should see the first hour of A Star Is Born and the last 20 minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody in the theater. Mary Poppins Returns should be a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious time at the theater as well. 

I've already picked A Star Is Born, and Mary Poppins Returns won't be flying out of theaters until January, so I can narrow your December choice to the Freddie Mercury biopic because it will, it will rock you.

Recommendation 5: Bohemian Rhapsody 


The Ten Buck Review: All worth ten bucks.
 

The Favourite

 

In a class of its own.

In early 18th century England, the family of Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) was reduced to poor circumstances, and she was forced to work as a servant. Lady Churchill (Rachel Weisz), Lady of the Bedchamber and close advisor to Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), took Abigail in. Years later, Queen Anne, named Abigail to be Keeper of the Privy Purse, reversing the fortunes of Lady (Sarah) Churchill.

It's a perfect setup for a Merchant Ivory production or pehaps a Shakespearan tragedy, yet The Favourite is a black comedy that plays more like Heathers and Reversal of Fortune collided with the bunny burner moments of Fatal Attraction.
 
Simply put, director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) has created the comedy romp of the year, and assembled a trio of actors that sizzles onscreen.

The sharply angled camera pivots and extreme wild angle lenses physically prepare the audience for something never seen before on film, and that's half the fun. The contest for Queen Anne's affection is thrilling in the most peculiar way. Not to mention there is plenty of duck racing, tomato tossing and pineapple eating. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, I can assure you it is not. For everyone else, prepare yourself for a royally wicked time.
 
In a nutshell: This is not a highbrow affair, but a dark comedy featuring a cynical set of characters you can't take your eyes off of. Not for the whole family. Not for Christmas week.
 
Award potential: Expect quite a tally. I predict Oscars nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, two for Best Supporting Actress, plus technical awards such as Best Makeup and Hair and Best Costume. 

It's a frontrunner for the SAG ensemble award. Colman (The Crown) should fall in line right behind Glenn Close and Lady Gaga for Golden Globes and other awards, and her chances may improve in time.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks. (Opens Friday, November 30)

 Extra five cents: The posters for Lanthimos' films, like his work, are in a league of their own. I've included a few below:

 

Beautiful Boy

Director Felix Van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy is beautiful.
 
The film takes place in cinematographer Ruben Impens’ vision of Northern California’s Marin County. If you’re not watching close enough, you may think you’ve stumbled upon a drug abuse episode of TV’s Big Little Lies. The story to be told is not as easy on the eyes.

Boy is another “based on a true story” addiction story, and there are only two ways these stories go. However, Beautiful Boy offers more welcome realism than Ben Is Back (in theaters December), and interesting characters that elevate it from melodrama familiarity.

The film is based on two memoirs. One by father David Sheff (Steve Carell) and another by son Nic Sheff (Timothée Chalamet), but the film is told mostly from the parental side. It’s a solid choice; this is where the uniqueness lies.

David, a journalist, approaches the crisis by gathering stats, expert facts, and first-hand stories. Eventually he realizes he’s not in control. Similar to Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges' Ben Is Back, it explores the powerless aspect of parenting at this level — and the power of unconditional love.

In a nutshell: An emotional roller coaster that adds up to a tender, powerful story. Stay through the credits.

Award potential: The film has too many melodrama qualities and unlikely to be recognized other than the acting and screenplay categories. Chalamet is a likely bet for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, a spot he held last year for his work in Call Me By Your Name.

Carrell is skilled with balancing comedy and drama, but some elements of this role are out of his range and he's in a competitive, high bar category. I’d call him a wild card for Best Actor. Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan are great, but not likely to be recognized for their limited roles.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Can you ever forgive me?

“I’m a better Dorothy Parker than Dorothy Parker.”

Melissa McCarthy’s new film Can You Ever Forgive Me? is not an actual plea to forget her criminally bad 2018 films, The HappyTime Murders and Life of the Party, but it does serve as one.

McCarthy is stellar as Lee Israel, a moderately successful writer who stumbles on a unique way to pay the rent — literary forgery. Israel finds herself uniquely qualified to create private letters of past literary figures such as Fanny Brice, Noël Coward and Dorothy Parke — and sign them as such.

I authentically enjoyed this compelling story that takes us inside the world of New York’s used bookstores, but it’s McCarthy’s portrayal of a fireball loner that makes it unforgettable. As a woman who wants to find her place, yet instinctually hates everyone she encounters, McCarthy creates of the most memorable characters on film this year.

Add Richard E. Grant, in one of his best roles as accomplice Jack Hock, and you have one of the most memorable duos on film this year.

In a nutshell: The surprise film of the year featuring a character you won't forget anytime soon.

Award potential: The film isn’t big or important enough to make the Oscar Best Picture list, but lock her up as a nominee for Best Actress and Lee for Best Supporting Actor. The true life Lee considers these letters “to be my best work,” and this is McCartney and Grant’s best work as well. 

Strong potential at the Golden Globes in the comedy/musical categories. 
 
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.