Signs (2002)
7.4
Rate It
Movie Watch
Everything that farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) assumed about the world is changed when he discovers...
Duncanville - Season 2
TV Season Watch
"Duncanville" is centered around a spectacularly average 15-year-old boy, his family and friends....
Duncanville Amy Poehler Rashida Jones Ty Burrell
A Sprinkle in Time
10.0
Rate It
Book
The second book in the Shake Shop Mysteries—a new murder in town has Trinidad Jones thrown for a...
Erin Brockovich (2000)
8.4
Rate It
Movie Watch
A real woman. A real story. A real triumph. In her Oscar®-winning role, Julia Roberts stars as Erin...
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated An American Marriage in Books
May 25, 2018
If this book was found in the poetry section of my local bookstore, I would believe it.
“Marriage is like grafting a limb onto a tree trunk,” Celestial reflects. “You have the limb, freshly sliced, dripping sap, and smelling of springtime, and then you have the mother tree stripped of her protective bark, gouged and ready to receive this new addition. ... In my marriage, I never determined which of us was rootstock and which the grafted branch.”
And the story is just the cherry on top of the words. Celestial and Roy, barely out of the newlywed phase when Roy is sent to prison. It's a heartbreaking story, of separation, as well as togetherness, between this married couple, but in a grander scheme a critique on America and unequal treatment of its citizens. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, but I felt for them, probably more than I've ever felt for any character in a novel. I felt for them in my soul.
It's not a activism story. It's a love story. About the American dream and how just like a spouse, your country can fail you - no matter how hard you work for your dreams.
It's poignant, and thoughtful, and written like a painting. I am so glad I read this book. For several different reasons. And I'm excited to read what Tayari Jones paints next.
Black Mirror - Season 3
8.7
Rate It
TV Season
Black Mirror is a British science fictiontelevision anthology series created by Charlie...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) in Movies
Feb 13, 2022
Telling the story of Tammy Faye Bakker, the heavily made-up spouse/partner to disgraced Televangelist Jim Bakker, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE has, at it’s core, some TERRIFIC performances by Chastain, Andrew Garfield (Jim Bakker), Cherry Jones (Tammy Faye’s mother) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Jerry Falwell), it’s a shame that these performances couldn’t be performed with a better written and directed film.
Directed by Michael Showalter and Written by Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato and Abe Sylvie (which might explain part of the issue), THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE just doesn’t go deep enough into the characters portrayed, but - instead - opts for the superficial, opting to paint each character in one dimension. There is the “not attached to the real world/idealistic” Tammy Faye. The “he seems nice on the surface, but there is something else going on underneath” Jim Bakker. The “evil/power hungry” Jerry Falwell and the “never approving” Mother.
All of these, on the surface, are the makings of a good film, unfortunately Showalter and the 3 writers never mine the depths of these characters showing other sides and/or connecting the characters to each other.
Which is a shame for the performances of all the main characters are terrific and would have been much more so had they had better material to work with. Chastain, rightfully, has been Oscar nominated for her turn. She won’t win, but she is deserving of the nomination and would have been a quite serious contender had she had better material.
Which, ultimately, makes this film fall flat. The ingredients were there, they just weren’t put together well enough to make a satisfying experience.
Letter Grade: B- (for the performances)
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)