What I’m watching: ‘Black Panther’ is a cut aboveDate: 2/22/2018 What I’ve been watching has been very satisfying: a hit theatrical release, and through streaming an amazing animated film and a thoughtful indie feature.
In theaters: Black Panther
Superhero movies may be insanely popular, but they haven’t been seen as cinematic game changers. “Black Panther” has altered that.
The first such film to feature a black superhero, “Black Panther” is more than a multi-million dollar action movie. The script by the film’s director Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole – based on characters by created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby – has more connections to Shakespeare than it does the standard comic book movie.
“Black Panther” tells a very human story. It is about what happens when the sins of a father are visited onto a son and what that son must do to correct an injustice.
Chadwick Boseman is T’Challa, the prince in line for the throne of the tiny and obscure nation of Wakanda when his father, the king, is killed. He has misgivings about assuming that mantle of power, but does so willingly. His worldview is shaken, though, when he discovers something his father did that now threatens not only his legacy, but also the nation itself.
T’Challa is not just a new king, but he is also the Black Panther, a masked warrior charged with the protection of the country.
This dramatic story is the core of a film about how four tribes in a small African country developed an amazingly sophisticated technology over centuries thanks to the discovery of a rare metal called vibranium. Understanding the power of the metal and how it could be misused, the nation essentially hid itself behind an image of a poor Third World country struggling for its existence – a county so poor and insignificant as not to attract attention.
Besides the very human story is another of the responsibility of one African nation to assist not only other countries on the continent but the world as a whole with technology that can change the fate of humanity.
This is heady stuff for a good guy/bag guy movie, but “Black Panther” presents it in a package that works on these multiple levels all at the same time.
Besides Boseman, who’s excellent in his role, the films boasts of a great cast including Forrest Whitaker, Martin Freeman, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett Michael B. Jordan and Andy Serkis.
The visual realization is quite impressive, as well.
There are two post-movie scenes nestled in the credits. Be sure to stay for them.
Streaming on Hulu: Lucky
This love letter to the late Harry Dean Stanton – who was 90 years old when he made this film – is a film with a slender plot but plenty of charm.
Stanton plays “Lucky,” a single apparently retired resident of a small Southwestern town. His life is very regimented and he clearly enjoys the structure of his daily exercises, trips to a restaurant for a coffee and his crossword puzzle and evening forays to a local bar.
He appears content, but all of that changes when he falls down in his kitchen. He isn’t hurt, but his perception of himself is deeply shaken. His mortality is underscored.
The rest of the film is how he comes to grips with his realization and recovers from it.
Don’t expect big dramatic moments. Instead there are several scenes that pack a quiet wallop, especially one with Tom Skerritt who is playing a WWII vet with whom connects to Lucky over coffee.
Another great moment is when Lucky sings at the birthday of the son of the store owner he shops at every day. It’s very moving and unexpected.
I liked “Lucky” a lot and was glad to have caught it on Hulu since I had missed it at the last year’s Northampton Film Festival.
Streaming: Loving Vincent
I’ve seen a lot of animation in my life, but I’ve never seen a film that is animated oil paintings done in the style of Vincent Van Gogh to tell the story of the last days of this life.
This is a magnificent accomplishment and a film whose somber story is contrasted with the vivid colors of the Van Gogh’s work.
Directors and writers Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman reportedly had originally planned to do a short subject with Kobiela painting it herself in Van Gogh’s style. Once it was changed to be a feature 95 artists were then used to finish the film.
The story involves the son of the postman who befriended Van Gogh charging his son to deliver a letter to Van Gogh’s brother after the suicide of the artist. The young man is at first reluctant but becomes drawn into the artist’s story and unanswered questions.
The two directors based their work on not only the facts in Van Gogh’s life as his work and used rotoscoping to assist them in animating the human figures – shooting live action footage which is then used as reference.
The result is a visual stunning as well as dramatically compelling work.
I was pretty much stunned by it. I think you would be as well.
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