Sunday, March 12, 2017

Rogue One

I belatedly saw the film and didn't enjoy it as much as The Force Awakens. It was really slow and ponderous in the beginning. Plus it seemed to have a lot of nonsensical moments, like Saw Gerrera tossing the pilot in with that weird creature who was supposed to read his mind and/or turn him crazy. I mean, what was even the point of that, other than be gross? And why bother making it look like Saw was maybe crazy and not a good guy? His reunion with Jyn was initially tense, then began to warm up after seeing the holograph message, then Saw just decides to stay behind after the Death Star strike. So he'd prefer to die than join Jyn on her new mission? So incomprehensible.

SPOILERS BELOW, though probably everyone else has seen the movie already:

Monday, March 6, 2017

A United Kingdom

It was an enjoyable movie, though the beginning courtship felt rather vague about how long they had been dating before Seretse proposed to Ruth. Once engaged, they face strong opposition from both Seretse's uncle and Ruth's father, along with the British Government itself. Bechuanaland is a British protectorate, so under the guise of preventing a civil war between Seretse and his uncle, the British bureaucrats try to keep him off his throne. Britain's real motive is to avoid offending South Africa, with its new apartheid policies; the prime minister argues that they need South Africa's uranium and gold, so they must exile Seretse. He and Ruth resist the machinations, but end up separated as they each try to stir public outrage to reverse the exile. Ruth was not welcomed at first by Seretse's sister and his aunt, but slowly they warm up to her and help her out, especially when she has to face pregnancy and childbirth alone.

Meanwhile, Seretse keeps making their case in England, with the help of a reporter and a sympathetic government official. I was surprised to learn that Winston Churchill even spoke out, claiming that he would end the exile if he was elected. When Churchill does win, though, he instead exiles Seretse for life! So apparently the campaign promise was all politics, and not sincere. Contrast that with the community-based kgotlas meetings, and the Bechuanaland government seems more respectable and honest.

There is a secret "Harringdon report" that Seretse is looking for, as well as an American mining company searching for diamonds on their land. A lot of political intrigue. Then Ruth finally gets to reunite with Seretse and her family in England, while Seretse works out a way to make up with his uncle to end the stand-off. Ultimately Seretse gives up the throne and argues that Bechuanaland should become a democracy and seek independence from Britain. It's a moving film, and David Oyelowo delivers some fine, impassioned speeches about leadership, freedom, and not going along with segregation.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Historical movies

I didn't really watch the Oscars on Sunday, but I caught a few minutes during a break at work, and I got to see the Hidden Figures cast bring out Katherine Johnson to a standing ovation. It was great that such an important film was recognized; sadly they didn't win any Oscars, so they'll have to settle for the considerable box office success. Still, I was very pleased later this week to hear about the new Lego Women of NASA set, featuring Katherine Johnson and other STEM women.

As for the rest of the Oscar kerfuffle, I only checked the winners online, in that short minute between the initial announcement of Best Picture and the correction of Best Picture, so I was shocked by the reversal too. Though I've not seen either Moonlight or La La Land, I'm glad that Moonlight won. Prior to the Oscars, all the hype building about a La La Land sweep annoyed me, because I'm tired of Hollywood being obsessed with itself and tongue-bathing any movie about show business. As Honest Trailers called it, it was a Hollywood hand-job, so I'm glad that they looked beyond themselves and rewarded diversity instead.

As for diverse movies, this weekend I'm going to finally see A United Kingdom with David Oyelowo. This film was very slow to arrive here in DFW, much less move out beyond the specialty art theatres that are so inconvenient to me. I'm excited to learn about a historical romance I never heard of before, and in my favorite African country of Botswana. (It was the setting of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.)