Flying under the radar this fall are two movies that had very limited theatrical releases while also debuting on streaming services. Both films are the type that ten years ago would’ve received platform releases starting in arthouse theaters while building award buzz and word of mouth. Sadly, in this new distribution model, these types of prestige pictures often get overlooked by audiences overwhelmed by streaming content.
On Apple+ Steve McQueen’s London set WWII drama Blitz is well worth the watch. We watched it over the course of two nights and were completely enthralled in this tale of a young boy and his mother trying to reunite while London is relentlessly bombed. McQueen incorporates some wonderful directorial flourishes to accent both the action (that flood scene!!!) and the drama (the young boy waking up and peeking from underneath a covering at the blitzkrieg lightshow overhead). The script doesn’t dig very deep, but it doesn’t have to as the inherent intrigue of the harrowing setting carries the characters along. The music, sound design, and cinematography are top notch.
Meanwhile on Netflix, Denzel Washington’s one son directs while another stars in a sterling, albeit somewhat overlong, adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. It’s the third such adaptation Washington has ushered to the screen following the fantastic Fences and unforgettable Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. We got to see this one in a Philly arthouse theater, and the performances were matched by amazing cinematography and directing. Of special note was the lighting. I dare you to find better lighting than when the light from the top of the stairwell illuminates the bottom of Berniece’s nightgown as she stands on the top step, or when the cross around her neck suddenly catches the light from a candle on the piano in the shattering denoument.
Meanwhile, on the biggest screen possible, Denzel Washington is currently starring in Gladiator II chewing the scenery in epic ways only he knows how to conjure. This bloated Ridley Scott opus is a sequel no one really asked for to a film I’ve always found to be a guilty pleasure. Usually more is not less, unless, as is the case here, the more makes up for what the film lacks. A paper-thin script that echoes too often the corniest pieces of the original is salvaged by a game cast having a helluva time (especially Washington), better special effects and production design, and even more over-the-top coliseum action scenes (baboons and rhinos and sharks, oh my!) None of this was necessary, but I can’t deny it wasn’t fun, too. I also can’t help but wonder how it would’ve played as a comedy (which I always feel Scott is secretly making comedies) or a musical – oh, to see Denzel sing!
Bottom Lines: Blitz and The Piano Lesson get 8/10 while Gladiator II is a solid 7/10.
The Schleicher Spin 