Category Archives: Leslie Odom Jr.

2022 Films, Crime Thriller, Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Hugh Grant, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Renner, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Natasha Lyonne, Thriller

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery-2022

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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery-2022

Director-Rian Johnson

Starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe

Scott’s Review #1,331

Reviewed January 5, 2023

Grade: B

I teetered over grading Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), simply referred to as Glass Onion, a B+ or a B but the hardline critic in me won out on this day.

If I hadn’t compared it so much to the deliciously witty and inventive Knives Out from 2019 I might have given in and awarded it a generous B+ rating but it’s also impossible not to compare the two since the setups and similarities are too apparent.

Rian Johnson who returns to the fold as director, writer, and co-producer pays tribute to the fabulous Agatha Christie murder mystery whodunits and the Hercule Poirot detective inclusion with the delightful Daniel Craig as the lead, reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc as he takes on an exciting new case.

A Greek island owned by ultra-billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) provides the setting for the Southern detective’s latest adventure, which unfolds as a group of the tech giant’s friends gather for a murder mystery party, quickly turning deadly.

I couldn’t watch Miles without thinking of Elon Musk, the current controversial social media Twitter chief executive officer in all his juvenile buffoonery.

Appearances by top stars Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr., and a surprise cameo by Hugh Grant round out the cast. Along with Craig and Norton, this brings enough star power to create buzz.

It’s also appealing that Benoit, a clear ode to Poirot, is the only character that is the same from the first Knives Out story. His character is immediately developed when we see him soaking in a bathtub in his Manhattan apartment conversing with a male voice offscreen.

He refuses to leave the tub during the very topical COVID pandemic making the entire film feel incredibly timely and relevant.

Let’s see what happens when the film ages ten years.

We later learn that his husband, Phillip (Hugh Grant) lives with him and Blanc is gay. How wonderful to incorporate an LGBTQ+ presence into a main character and icing on the cake is that the studly James Bond actor is all in.

With Blanc’s vague sexuality revealed, the exciting mystery commences with many twists and turns among the characters, led by a wonderful dual performance by Monáe. She plays sophisticated New Yorker Andi and her southern sister Helen Brand.

The other characters are a mixed bag with Hudson and Hahn playing ridiculous, over-the-top roles as a washed-up fashion designer and an aspiring governor, respectively.

But the cartoon character award goes to former WWE professional wrestler David Bautista as the weird, buff guy, Duke Cody who barely keeps his clothes on.

Still, the characters are a hoot, and the anticipation of how they all connect, who has screwed over who, and why, are slowly revealed in fun form.

Not to be outdone there are even revelations of who is screwing who in the bedroom.

The story isn’t as interesting as the story in Knives Out was. The ingenious script is lost and by the end, it’s a case of who cares? All we want to know is who’s dead and who’s alive and what does the Mona Lisa have to do with anything?

The cast undoubtedly had a ball making Glass Onion and the sunny Greek Island locale is a great choice. As the players bask in the sun and saunter around in bikinis sipping a cocktail or three amid peril is great fun for the cast and viewers alike.

It’s unclear if Johnson will create another installment of the Knives Out ‘collection’ but I’m on board if he does. I’ve been fascinated by the whodunit genre for as long as I can remember.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) isn’t quite as riveting or satisfying as Knives Out (2019) but the film is simply fun with superior, glossy production values and a great cast.

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay

2021 Films, Crime Drama, Drama, Leslie Odom Jr., Mob

The Many Saints of Newark-2021

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The Many Saints of Newark-2021

Director-Alan Taylor

Starring Michael Gandolfini, Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga

Scott’s Review #1,272

Reviewed July 4, 2022

Grade: B

Fans of the iconic HBO series The Sopranos which ran from 1999 to 2007 have been chomping at the bit since the announcement of the soon-to-be-released The Many Saints of Newark (2021).

The film is a prequel to the series centering on a young Tony Soprano. The kicker is that the actor who portrays Tony in the movie (Michael Gandolfini) is the real-life son of James Gandolfini who played Tony in the series.

To add mustard to the on-paper perfect setup is that the film is written by David Chase, the writer, and creator of The Sopranos. This ensures rich character development and dedication to the rich history.

What could go wrong?

The answer is that nothing is ‘wrong’ with The Many Saints of Newark. It’s just not brilliant like the series was and rather unnecessary to have been made in the first place, especially after such a long gap.

While the film meanders at times this gave me time to thoughtfully ruminate that perhaps The Many Saints of Newark would have been better as a limited series.

There are so many characters and too few of them are familiar to audiences of The Sopranos. The two-hour and change running time couldn’t possibly provide enough time to get to know many of them and I longed to.

On the upside, the film is shot quite well and the costumes, sets, and design of the 1960s and 1970s are remarkably beautiful with superior accuracy.

It succeeds in transplanting the audience to what Newark, New Jersey was like during that time. Additionally, the film looks quite a bit like The Sopranos and is influenced by the legendary 1991 offering Goodfellas and other mafia-laden films.

Young Anthony Soprano (Gandolfini) is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, as rival gangsters begin to challenge and desecrate the powerful DiMeo crime family.

As the year 1967 emerges and Newark is now an increasingly race-torn city events take on a violent and historical time.

Conflicted by the changing times is Tony’s Uncle Dickie (Alessandro Nivola) whom he idolizes much more than his own father Johnny (Jon Bernthal) or domineering mother Livia (Vera Farmiga).

The Many Saints of Newark depicts how Tony will eventually become whom the audience knows as mob figure Tony Soprano!

Besides looking like his father, Gandolfini is not the best actor in the world but he does his best with a small role billed as the lead. He hardly appears until thirty minutes before the film concludes and he never carries the film like one would expect the character to.

The real star of the film is Dickie (Nivola) who is terrific. The storyline follows his conflict and a damaged relationship with his father, wonderfully played by Ray Liotta, and his father’s horny wife Giuseppina, who later becomes his mistress.

A shocking scene occurs when Dickie beats a major character to death by repeatedly slamming their head against a steering wheel. The death will hold forever repercussions for Dickie, emotionally and otherwise.

The problem is that even though Dickie is a great character the audience doesn’t know him and this is a problem.

Despite flaws with the marginally adequate casting, the uneven writing, and the focus on unfamiliar characters, there are other small treats to enjoy.

The film is peppered with familiar characters like Paulie, Big Pussy, and Carmella as younger people. Even though they don’t have much to do with the story their mere presence feels like an old home week.

The racial tensions are another win and actor Leslie Odon Jr. adds a winning formula to his character of Harold McBrayer, a black associate of Dickie’s.

I haven’t watched an episode of The Sopranos since it ended in 2007 and it may be advantageous to watch The Many Saints of Newark immediately after. Situations, history, and characters will be fresher in one’s mind and it may result in more cohesiveness.

Or maybe the film shouldn’t have been made fourteen years after the series ended.

Regardless, The Many Saints of Newark (2021) is a pretty solid effort but completely underwhelming especially when compared with such a groundbreaking television series.

2019 Films, Biography, Cynthia Erivo, Drama, Janelle Monáe, Joe Alwyn, Leslie Odom Jr.

Harriet-2019

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Harriet-2019

Director-Kasi Lemmons

Starring-Cynthia Erivo

Scott’s Review #1,031

Reviewed June 10, 2020

Grade: B

The story of real-life American freedom fighter, Harriet Tubman, a woman who risked her life multiple times to rescue slaves from the United States of America South, pre-civil war, is a story of monumental importance to get right.

An escaped slave herself, Harriet was more than an Abolitionist, she was a political activist and hero to all whose lives she touched. She was a figure that all women and men should aspire to emulate with her message of freedom and civility.

The cinematic telling of Harriet’s story, simply titled Harriet (2019), is a mild success, mostly deserving of praise for being told at all.  At well over one-hundred and fifty years post-civil war, racism still runs rampant across the United States, so the release of the film is important.

A gutsy performance by Cynthia Erivo, a British singer turned actor, is the high point but unfortunately, the rest of the offering is lackluster, frighteningly modern in look and feel, with clear heroes and clear villains and nobody with muddied motivations to be found anywhere.

We first meet young Harriet (Erivo), then named “Minty” Ross, in 1840’s Maryland, then a slave state. She is to be married to her intended, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh), already a free man. Minty’s father, also free, asks her owner to release her as his grandfather had promised before his demise.

Refusing, his son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn) decides to sell Minty as punishment. Savvy, Minty flees for the northern states and settles in Philadelphia, a newly free woman with her life ahead of her.

She risks capture and death to return to Maryland, in disguise, to rescue her family from the horrors of slavery.

Her plight was so important and so heroic that I wanted to love this film.

To be fair, it is okay but does not do justice to the real-life Harriet, or succeed as a cinematic offering. The weakest point is the modern look that the film and the actors possess, and I think this was done intentionally.

Every single actor, black and white, looks like a present-day’s actor dressed in mid-nineteenth century garb and it does not work. My hunch is that filmmakers wanted this to add relevancy to the current racial problems and I am all for that, but the film suffers as a result.

I am all for feminism in cinema, but Harriet can be accurately accused of stomping that point into the ground.

During some of the numerous action sequences when Harriet becomes a flawless sharpshooter, she nearly rivals a Marvel superhero instead of a simple woman championing a cause. And why is Harriet psychic?

This is a silly addition that feels plot-driven. Director Kasi Lemmons, known for films like Eve’s Bayou (1997) and Black Nativity (2013) knows her way around a picture, but Harriet will not be known as her finest achievement.

There are some positives to mention. Erivo, not known for her acting as much as her singing ability, rises to the occasion. Viola Davis nearly ended up being cast, who would have been brilliant, but Erivo nonetheless impresses. She is pretty, yet plain which humanizes Harriet and makes her relatable to many.

Erivo provides both toughness and sympathy so that the audience will champion her cause without it feeling forced. Early in the year, thought to be a lock for the Best Actress Oscar, the film lost ground critically, and Erivo limped to an Oscar nod, and she was lucky to get that. She lost.

The cinematography is credible and another positive to the film. The green, lush landscapes are very southern and peaceful, roaring rapids, bridges, and spacious forests making for atmospheric niceties serving as backdrops for many sequences.

Casting Janelle Monae as the gorgeous (and free) Marie Buchanan is fine and adds a Color Purple (1985) comparison-think Celie/Shug Avery.

Ironically, the acting among the black actors is superior to the most over-the-top or cartoon-like white actors.

Best described as a formulaic Hollywood film with a good message, Harriet (2019) could be a launching pad for Erivos, a new name in Hollywood film.

She tackles a difficult role and is the best thing about the production. The sleekness and modernism make the resulting experience less than the grittiness that a film like Harriet needs.

Much better biographies of legendary figures exist, a shame since Harriet Tubman is one of the most prominent to have their stories told on the big screen.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Cynthia Erivos, Best Original Song-“Stand Up”

2017 Films, Agatha Christie, Daisy Ridley, Derek Jacobi, Drama, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Leslie Odom Jr., Lucy Boynton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Thriller, Tom Bateman, Willem Dafoe

Murder on the Orient Express-2017

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Murder On The Orient Express-2017

Director Kenneth Branagh

Starring Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer

Scott’s Review #698

Reviewed November 25, 2017

Grade: B+

Kenneth Branagh leads and directs an all-star cast in a 2017 remake of the 1974 thriller Murder On The Orient Express.

The film is based on the famous 1934 Agatha Christie novel of the same name. With a ritzy cast that includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, and Willem Defoe, top-notch acting is assured.

The cinematography is tremendous, and the film looks gorgeous from start to finish. The story is an effective, good, old-fashioned whodunit that will satisfy audiences.

We meet our hero, Hercule Poirot (Branagh), in Jerusalem. He has recently solved a murder mystery and is anticipating a good rest. A friend invites Poirot to travel back to his homeland of London via the lavish Orient Express.

Amid a group of thirteen strangers, all inhabiting the luxurious first-class accommodations, one of them is savagely murdered in the middle of the night as a blustery blizzard and subsequent avalanche derails the train atop mountainous terrain.

The strangers are trapped together with a murderer on the loose. Poirot must deduce who has committed the crime and why.

Murder On The Orient Express has all the trimmings for a good, solid murder mystery, and director Branagh sets all of these elements in motion with a good flow.

Paced quite nicely, each principal character is introduced intriguingly, so much so that each contains a measure of juicy intrigue. The film briefly describes each character as they board the grandiose train.

Judi Dench broods as rich and powerful Princess Dragomiroff oozing with jewels and a chip on her shoulder. Corrupt American businessman, Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), is suave and shady as he seems destined to cause trouble.

Finally, Penelope Cruz gives her character, repressed Pilar Estravados, enough shame and guilt that we cannot think something may be off with her motivations.

The details of the characters are rich and compelling.

The playing field is set very high with actors such as Dench and Depp, and all actors play their parts with gusto.

An excellent experience with Murder On The Orient Express demonstrates the true nature of an ensemble cast—each character is relevant in his or her own way, regardless of screen time, and the casting works well.

The cast must have enjoyed working together on this lovely project. Each character is written so that the individual actor can sink his or her teeth into the role, and the wonderful reveal at the end of the film allows each a chance to shine, giving each part equal weight.

After the actual murder is committed, the story takes off as each character is interviewed by Poirot and given a glance of suspicion.

The first half of the film is just the buildup, and, at times, the story slightly lags, but this is fixed when the movie kicks into high gear midway through.

Sometimes, a climactic conclusion makes up for any slight lag in the film’s first portion, and Murder On The Orient Express is an excellent example of this.

My standouts are Branagh himself as Poirot and Pfeiffer as the sexy Caroline Hubbard, an American man-crazed older woman.  How wonderful to see Pfeiffer back in the game in 2017- with fantastic roles in Murder On The Orient Express and Mother!

She has the acting chops to pull off sex appeal, vulnerability, and toughness. Branagh’s acting never disappoints in any film he appears in, but seeing him in a leading role is fantastic, and he can carry a film with such a dynamic cast.

Branagh’s Poirot is classy, intelligent, and charismatic.

I adored the film’s conclusion and found the explanation and reasoning of the murderer or murderers quite effective and believable. The use of black-and-white flashback scenes perfectly balances the action aboard the grandiose yet slightly claustrophobic train scenes.

Furthermore, the explanation and motivations of the killer or killers make perfect sense, and much sympathy is evoked. The story is moralistic and not a black-and-white subject matter.

Murder On The Orient Express succeeds as a wonderfully shot and star-studded affair. The filming is grandiose, and the production values are high. It is a caper film with a mystique and class.

The film may not be a true masterpiece or necessarily remembered ten years from now, but what it does, it does well.

The original film from 1974 is a tad bit better, but as remakes go, the 2017 offering is quite good.

A rumored sequel, Death on the Nile, is planned.