Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful adaptation of the book by James Baldwin. The story takes place in 1970’s Harlem. It’s the story of the love of Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James) and Tish Rivers (KiKi Layne). Tish and Fonny have known each other since they were small children, and always been close. Their relationship turns romantic when Fonny is 22 and Tish is 19. Tish becomes pregnant and the couple move into a small apartment together. Soon afterward, Fonny is arrested and falsely charged with rape. Fonny is jailed while Tish and her family hire an attorney and do all they can to get the charges against Fonny dropped before the baby is born.

Beale Street is the first film to be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Barry Jenkins since his Oscar winning Moonlight. It does not disappoint. Technically, it’s a stunning film. The photography is excellent. Jenkins uses the camera with fluid movement to bring viewers in and out of the story. Sets and costumes are evocative of the 1970’s. The score is also lovely, combining blues, jazz, and a romantic sound.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Roma refers not to the Italian city, but to a middle-class neighborhood of Mexico City, where Oscar winning director Alfonso Cuarόn (Gravity) grew up. In this semi-autographical movie, Cuarόn takes us to the home of Antonio, a doctor, his wife Sofia, and three children (Paco, Pepe, and Sofi) in the 1970’s. As the movie opens, Antonio tells his Sofia that he is going away to a conference in Canada. Sadly, it soon becomes apparent that he will not return to his family.

The main character in the movie is Cleo, a young maid, beautifully played by Yalitza Aparicio.  Cleo gets the children ready for school, cleans the house, and does the laundry, and other chores. Cleo is the one who holds the family together while they cope with Antonio’s departure. 
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

The Favourite is the story of England’s Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) in the early 18^th Century. The Queen was eccentric, suffered terribly from gout, and grieved her 17 children who died at childbirth or in early childhood. As the movie opens, Queen Anne’s constant companion is Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz). Queen Anne depended upon the counsel of Lady Sarah in state and personal matters. The two were inseparable.

One day a young woman named Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives at the Queen’s palace. Abigail informs Sarah that she is her cousin, looking for a position in the palace. Abigail’s father had fallen on hard times. Sarah hires Abigail as a kitchen maid.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Green Book is a likeable movie which is emerging as one of the favorites for the Oscars this year.

Green Book is based on the true story of the unlikely friendship between Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian-American New York nightclub bouncer, and Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), an African American pianist. In 1962, Dr. Shirley is scheduled to embark on a two-month tour with his trio that would take him into the Deep South. Dr. Shirley hears about Tony, and his reputation for toughness, which he may need in the segregated South. The club where Tony works is closed for renovations, so he goes to meet Dr. Shirley. Tony is hired. The two set out on their journey.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Can You Ever Forgive Me tells the true story of Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a writer of biographies in the 1980’s-1990’s. Lee was moderately successful in her writing. As the film opens, she is planning to write a biography of entertainer Fanny Brice, although her agent and publisher show no interest in the project.

Lee is running out of money, and needs to find some way to pay the rent. In her research on Fanny Brice, Lee comes across a letter written and signed by Fanny. She takes it to a book store. The owner tells Lee she will buy it for a modest amount. However, the letter would be worth a lot more if it was more substantial. Lee forges a P.S. on the letter, and sells it to the book store. Seeing this as an easy way to make some money, Lee begins to forge other letters by literary celebrities, including Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker. She soon is selling these forged letters and signatures for several hundred dollars apiece.
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