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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano presented a complex character who showed the full range of triumph and tragedy. Edie Falco as his wife Carmela and Lorraine Bracco as therapist Jennifer Melfi are other standouts who go through their own arcs.
In curating this lineup, I selected four films that all share one specific point of commonality: flawed people trying to make it through their day despite the odds being stacked against them. Some stories are more successful than others, yet these four films demonstrate a unique perspective in their search to make sense of our current American lifestyles.
Godfrey was returning to the area at the time to find inspiration for a book about the lives of the girls who live in a group home since they have nowhere else to go. There, she meets Josephine Bell, the de facto leader of the girls. Godfrey quickly learns of their harsh lifestyle and the fact that the city sees them as disposable.
The new film, the feature debut of Damian Hurley (son of star Elizabeth Hurley), is melodrama at its most melodramatic. In fact, there are times when the tone verges on parody, but the swelling music and cast’s deadpan delivery argue that audiences are to take all this excess seriously.
Of course, anyone who’s coming to this movie is doing so to watch the Titans fight, and it delivers great battles. Kong and Godzilla have their fights in the first half but eventually team up to fight the new big, bad villain: the Scar King -- a giant ape that lives in exile within Hollow Earth with other apes he’s enslaved.
Wes Anderson returns to the world of Roald Dahl with his now Oscar-winning short, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. The film tells the story of Henry Sugar, a man who learns to see without his eyes, allowing him to become the richest man in the world. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular role and is joined by Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes in supporting roles.
Freaknik didn’t survive the end of the ‘90s, and many debate if it was truly something that advanced the cultural mainstream, or just a party that spiraled out of control. Despite all the historical footage and Freaknik’s reputation for being debaucherous, this documentary doesn’t tell a story that is as outrageous as its marketing makes it out to be.
Things finally start to ramp up towards the end, and by then the slow place turns into a mad dash to the credits. Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon show up for a couple of scenes and the movie could have benefited from having them on screen longer, but maybe the budget wouldn’t allow for it. The absurdity of the plot and what the bad guys are chasing make for some good, cheap laughs, but it just seems too little, too late.