Movies -- A Recap -- Part XXXII -- The Biopic Edition

I have to give Spencer credit for being better than I expected.  It was intensely psychological and Kristen Stewart performed extremely well.  I don't typically care for her as an actor, but she was exactly the right amount of dark and moody and whiny to tackle this role.  I will say that I didn't realize it covered such a limited timeline in the Charles-Diana story, but regardless, it was well done.

I was on a flight when I saw House of Gucci.  I was disappointed.  It had such potential to be good, so many good actors, such a wild story, but it just ... wasn't good.  Compared to paying attention to the people around me on the airplane, it won out, but in other circumstances it would have been painful.  Also, I just don't like Adam Driver; I don't know why.  I recognize that he's a pretty good actor, but he just seems like sort of a slimy human and I can't get over that; maybe it's the hair.

It's hard not to love a movie like Hidden Figures.  It's a forgotten piece of some of America's favorite history (the Space Race), and it stars a trifecta of today's Black lady stars in Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, and Janelle Monae -- who of course save the day.  Of course there are also Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, and Mahershala Ali.  When you put that many phenomenal people in a movie, how can it not be good? (Unless it's House of Gucci.).

As a random Hidden Figures aside, it's based on a book.  During the Pandemic when nobody could see anybody, E ordered me a delivery from a local bookstore.  The package had a book, a coaster, a postcard, some pencils, and other gifts.  The book that was included in my package was Code Girls.  For a while, I thought that this was the book the Hidden Figures movie was based on; it's not.

I'm predisposed to like anything Amy Adams does, and Hillbilly Elegy is no exception.  I can't give this film credit, though, without also giving credit to Glenn Close, who's grumpy-old-lady persona was something for the record books. She really is the star of this show.

I have been wanting to watch All the President's Men for years, and finally got around to it. The good thing about the details that are portrayed in the film is that they were minute enough that I had overlooked them in the broad stroke histories that I had learned in school.  That meant that, even though I knew broadly how it was going to go, I didn't know the ins and outs that the movie would follow.  It was a win.

I didn't know quite what to expect from Colette.  I like Keira Knightly and Dominic West, so I watched it.  I like a good period drama.  And generally I liked the movie, even more once I realized that it was based on a true story.  I loved Keira's character, who was a total boss lady, not to mention a writer and actress to boot.