VICTORIA AND ABDUL

If I had to choose a favorite season of the year, it would definitely be the one we're in now, and not just because of the cooler temperatures and beautiful fall foliage, but because it's when the summer blockbuster movie season is finally, thankfully (for me) over, and Hollywood begins to trot out their important, "prestige" films for Oscar consideration. 'Victoria and Abdul' should be at the top of that list.

Based on the book of same name by Shrabani Basu, it's a film about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim, and it's very, very good. It's being touted as the unofficial equal to the 1997 movie 'Mrs. Brown' in which Dame Judi Dench played a younger Victoria, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She should definitely win one for playing the British sovereign in this one, because she's perfection in it.

The story is touching and intriguing, and addresses more themes about human relationships than I care to even go into here (love,  regret, friendship, the trappings of fame, racism, religious intolerance, aging and death, to name a few). The first half is comedic, even romantic, and made me think of several other movies, including 'Harold and Maude' and 'The King and I'.

Ali Fazal is wonderful in the role, and especially during the first part kind of makes you fall in love with Abdul as you feel the Queens feelings for him move in that direction, as well.

The second half takes on a darker tone as several realities of life set in with the two principles, and it doesn't have what one would call a necessarily happy ending. But the life-affirming examination of how one life can affect another will not be lost on you. In that sense, it's a ver powerful film.

Excellent movie-making.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

'Battle of the Sexes' is a pleasure. The biographical sports film, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is loosely based on the famous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and it's really good.

Emma Stone (who can basically do no wrong on the screen, as far as I'm concerned) pretty much channels BJK, a la Streep, and Steve Carell (who is really a very good actor) puts in a performance that is at once funny and a little heart-breaking. In real life, Bobby Riggs often came off as more of a cartoon character than anything else, but Carell definitely humanizes him here, which is no small task. The rest of the cast, including Sarah Silverman, does a great job with what they have to work with. 

I also love when a period pic gets it right with the look and feel of the time, and this one totally does. It's pitch-perfect as a time-travel trip to the early part of the "Me Decade".

The movie isn't just about a battle of the sexes on the tennis court, it's also about King coming to terms with her own sexual orientation in real life, and that part of the story is handled with a kind of sensitivity that I personally could relate to, and found to be very moving. Anyone from the LGBT community who knows what it's like to honestly and sincerely spend the majority of your life trying to be something that you're not because you think it's the right thing to do, and because of the people in your life and because of the pressure of public opinion will get this movie on a very deep level...especially anyone who was married to the opposite sex and really loved and respected their spouse, and never wanted to hurt them. The way the movie handles King's relationship with her husband at the time, and the way that he is portrayed in the story is quite inspirational (and there's a happy ending for them in the end credits)...

Btw, women should make the same that men make for doing the same job.

Good flick. Good message.

MOTHER!

I was interested in seeing 'mother!' because the trailer looked really cool and creepy, and I like everyone in the cast (Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris) a lot. I intentionally didn't read anything about it beforehand, and went to see it not knowing what to expect. For the first 30 minutes, it appeared to me that it was going to be a kind of re-make of the horror classic 'Rosemary's Baby', but that's not what it is at all.

What it is is a strange combination of a study in what fame can do to a relationship, and what the demands of sacrificial, unconditional love can do to a person, along with a kind of bizarre and very violent biblical allegory, complete with an Adam and an Eve and a Cain who kills an Abel and even a very insightful yet disturbing observation of religious Christian communion.

The last half kind of makes you feel like you're hallucinating because of the fast pace of it, and as soon as it was over I admit that I had to read about it to fully understand what the heck I had just seen.

It's well done for what it is, and I'll give it kudos for originality, but it's not the kind of film that you actually enjoy. It's more of the kind of film that you appreciate. Can't say that I necessarily recommend, unless you're a fan of director Darren Aronofsky's work.