Posts Tagged ‘Howard McQuitter’
Movie Corner: Elvis
Elvis Warner Bros. Pictures 2022 ★★★★★ By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Elvis died tragically at the age of 42 on August 16, 1977. But when he died, the rock star had recorded about 700 songs and sold more than one billion records worldwide, which was more than anyone in the record industry. Australian director Baz Luhrmann's (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet , Moulin Rouge! , The Great Gatsby ) new film project is Elvis, starring Austin Butler who plays the character Elvis in exceptional fashion. Austin's performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination in a leading role. The film starts with Elvis (Chaydon Jay)as a boy in Tupelo, Mississippi, who is exposed to Black music - both profane and gospel - living in a mostly Black neighborhood. Those were the days: 1940s, the pre-Civil Rights era when de jure segregation was solidly in place. Fast forward to Elvis' teen years on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, where he mingles among the Black people going [...]
Movie Corner: The Phantom of the Open
Comedy/Drama Sony Pictures Classics 2021 ★★★★☆ By HOWARD MCQUITTER II The opening film for the 2022 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival starts with a chuckle, a laugh, and guffaws. I think it was a brilliant move for the Festival to open with a comedy/drama after these last few years of COVID 19 and unrest. Mark Rylance plays a real-life Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator for Vickers shipyards, following in his father’s footsteps. He is married to his lovely wife Jean (Sally Hawkins) and has 3 sons: Michael (Jake Davies) and twins Gene (Christian Lees) and James (Jonas Lees). In the movie we get a peek of Gene and James as disco dancing champions. Maurice has no hobbies. Jean suggests he find one. One day he’s watching a golf tournament on TV and has the idea that he could play golf even though he never swung a golf club. Despite their misgivings, Maurice’s family encourages him to golf. He tries repeatedly to join elite golf clubs but [...]
The Crossing (Original title: La Traversée)
MAUR film 2021 ★★★★★ Movie Corner By HOWARD MCQUITTER Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is back in person! A special gem of the festival is The Crossing. This animated film follows two children, Kyona (Emilie Lan Dürr) and Adriel (Maxime Gemin), siblings who return from playing in the forest to their village and witness an unspecified group of hooded soldiers who have come to massacre the Yelzid people. Immediately Kyona, Adriel, their parents and two younger siblings pack their belongings and flee. They manage to catch a train packed with others who have also fled the village. However, the ride on the train is thwarted by soldiers for Control detaining the family by force on the platform. Kyona and Adriel decide to proceed alone across the border, hoping for safety. But it is the opening scene that gives a blueprint for this colorful animation painted in oil paint on glass. Kyona has a sketchbook, a gift from her father which she [...]
