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Alpha (2018)
Not Exactly Jean Auel Here
And she did it much better in the Mammoth Hunters describing a girl and her wolf. The first part of the movie was particularly hard to believe. Any modern farm kid grows up understanding that if you want to eat a ham sandwich, you have to kill the pig. It just wasn't credible that an adolescent paleolithic hunter would shrink from the coup de grace. Unless this guy's name is really Ferdinand and he just wants to smell the flowers and frolic with the butterflies. As noted, and like the much superior Quest for Fire from the early 1980s, there is no/no English dialogue (although nobody believes the Western Hemisphere was populated 20,000 years ago, so Anthony Burgess' made-up Quest for Fire dialogue is more plausible.) Another much superior version is the first 20 minutes of 2001, circa 1967. Subtitles only so don't bring the kids unless you want them to pester you to death--which they'll do anyway cause this movie moves at a veeerrrry "stately" pace.
Dear wife got hooked by the previews, but this is no Clan of the Cave Bear, and this actor is no Darryl Hannah. This left me wondering how on earth this got financed, and I find it hard to believe its going to find an audience. Go read the first three volumes of Jean Auel's series. It goes rapidly downhill in the later volumes, but the parts of Valley of Horses covering the survival of an adolescent in the harsh Ice Age are vastly superior, and much more plausible than this since that particular adolescent actually seems to know what she's doing. Be warned.
All the Money in the World (2017)
Out of Control Greed On and Behind the Screen
Despite the nits, a beautifully acted and staged period piece, with plenty of tension although, or perhaps because, we remember how it turned out. Getty, like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs, was world famous for his wealth, but in personality he appears to have been closer to John D. Rockefeller or Henry Ford, and much of the "facts" covered in this film weren't really public knowledge then. Suffice it to say, JPG wasn't a very nice guy.
Now to the movie: Christopher Plummer and Michelle Williams, as well as the "good guy" kidnapper were brilliant, but tell us again why a supporting actor in a bad 70s haircut with only one memorable scene was able to almost get away with an extra cool $1.5 mill before being publicly outted and shamed. Markie Mark was pretty good in "We Three Kings," but I'll never look at him the same again.
Check out the trivia note, and ask yourself who showed more class in crisis: Michelle or Mark
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Murky and Unsatisfying
Having seen the original when it came out, as well as 2001 when it came out, our eyes aren't what they used to be, but still....Also saw the original Blade Runner, and this movie is every bit as gloomy and murky. Why bother with cool sets if you can't see the darn things? I guess Meghan Markle's daddy, with his heart trouble and all, wasn't available to dial up the lighting a tad so we could actually see what was going on.
The dim lighting aside, a decent origin story, with Rogue One coming to the same point in the chronology from another direction. As with Daisy Ridley, an appealing set of fresh faces, but unlike with lucky Daisy, the Star Wars caravan has moved on and so alas these characters have "aged into" the iconic actors we've all come to know and love. At least we now have a pretty good idea who shot first in the cantina in episode IV.
Still, this ain't a highpoint either for Ron Howard, or for the saga. Frankly, I think even Rogue One did a better job with backstory, but maybe I'm just unhappy that the Mother of Dragons wound up with such an unsatisfying story (unless I just missed her in a later episode--and the way Lucas has re-cut and CGIed some of these films, you never can tell. The way I figure, Episode III takes place before Solo, so alas Qi'ra seems to be consigned to a deadend side plot.)
The Post (2017)
The Truth Hurts
Which is why this movie is so controversial almost fifty years after the fact, and why you see so many reviews express hostility to the real life "Washington Post" rather than addressing the merits of the story, the acting, the message, etc. My wife and I lived through the Nixon years in Washington, and the story so well told here is of determined and fearless professionals unafraid to challenge assaults on our liberties. As with "Spotlight," who knew you could milk so much drama out of folks typing madly away or pawing through stacks of paper? Or that the mighty vibration of a huge printing press starting up could be so moving? Despite nits, this story rings true on so many levels, emotional, dramatic, personal, historical, and I can think of lots worse ways for modern audiences to get an advanced education on the role of a Free press in a democracy.