Sarah Paulson – NZ Film Freak

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Released: January 2019
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson and Samuel L. Jackson
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Okay. So. In order to enjoy this movie to the max, I strongly recommend you view the two prequels before heading to the cinema.

The very first movie in this trilogy (look at me assuming there’s only going to be three…) is Unbreakable. This came out 2000 and actually has a stronger connection to Glass than Split.

The second movie was Split, and this is important to understand the backstory of the ‘villain’ (James McAvoy) and the ‘brain box’ (Samuel L. Jackson).

I’m so excited about this film, I don’t know where to begin!

Okay, so if you loved seeing all the characters that James McAvoy played in the previous film, then you will feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven in this film. You will learn more about each of his personalities and understand Patricia a little more. But you must watch Split before seeing Glass if you want to understand and appreciate the relationship between the different personalities.

I know that everyone knows, but James McAvoy is just a remarkable actor! He portrays each personality so accurately that you swear you were looking at a different actor. Absolutely obsessed with this character! So amazing to watch. You’ll giggle with nervousness, and chuckle at the absurdity, but ultimately he’s the scariest villain I’ve come across.

Where Unbreakable was about the ‘reluctant hero’ (Bruce Willis), Glass is about the baddies. A psychiatrist (Sarah Paulson) has captured all three characters (Kevin Crumb/The Horde, Elijah Price/Mr. Glass and David Dunn/The Overseer) and locked them in a secure unit. They are unable to escape as each of their weaknesses guards their cell. What kryptonite is to Superman: water is to Dunn, flashes of light is to Crumb and a room void of mental stimulation is to Price.

How will they escape? Who’s really in charge?

There are tonnes of references to comic book tropes and character stereotypes, which I loved! Also, because much of the film is shot via security cameras within the secure unit, you feel like it’s a movie within a movie. Especially because Elijah Price almost narrates the film in third person, referring to each main character as the ‘villain’ and the ‘reluctant hero’.

“That sounds like the bad guys teaming up.” – Mr. Glass

A couple of presenters on either Coast or Radio Hauraki (I can’t remember which) only gave Glass 2/5. But one of the presenters hadn’t watched Split, and the other presenter hadn’t watched Unbreakable. So I think this was likely the reason for their low rating. They probably found it boring because they would have missed the interesting details and references.

You must watch this film if you love movies in general, comics or M. Night Shyamalan.

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

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Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer
Released: December 2017
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys
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The Post comes across as a film with similar emotional impact to the likes of Spotlight (a highly recommended investigative journalism movie), but it sorely missed the mark.

It follows the real-life story of the Washington Post in the 1960s, a paper passed down to Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) who is struggling to keep the company financially afloat. Then, a big story breaks as government secrets relating to the Vietnam war are leaked – this massive story could make or break the paper.

But with the New York Times already being threatened with legal action for publishing only part of the information now available, Katherine is reluctant to allow editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) to publish the story for fear of bankrupting the paper. Meanwhile, she is fighting the emotional turmoil of being a woman in a man’s world.

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The movie opens with a scene of the Vietnam war, which was definitely not required and I believe it was only included to pay homage to Stephen Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan success. So that kicked this film off poorly.

Then it was about an hour of long, dry dialogue, which I struggled to pay attention to. So I’m not entirely sure if they explained what the government secrets were specifically, but I’m pretty sure the gist was that the government knew the US would lose the war but continued to send troops for fear of being embarrassed. But I don’t see how that could have taken an hour to explain… Maybe I missed something.

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The second half of the film focussed on gender inequality and women’s rights as it follows Katherine, who slowly becomes more self-confident as she learned the ropes of running the paper after her husband’s death. She is spoken down to by colleagues, which makes the decision of publishing the leaked information or not even more difficult to make.

The cast was great of course. Meryl Streep is amazing and Tom Hanks is his usual great self, but did come across as more ‘family man’ than ‘tough editor’. I do wonder if Bryan Cranston was considered for this role due to the amount of Breaking Bad actors featured (Bob Odenkirk and Jesse Plemons). I think his darker domineer would have come across well.

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Overall, the exciting, fast-paced and emotionally-charged storyline that I was expecting was not there. Just a ton of unnecessary dialogue and a story that didn’t portray the risk and stress of the situation very well.

Oh well. Perhaps it needs a second viewing.

Jodie’s rating: 5/10