Page 64 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-2019

The Laundromat
By Diane McCurdy
The Laundromat now streaming
on Netflix has nothing to do with washing machines but it has a great deal to do with spin cycles. The film opens incongruously with two outrageously dressed
December is here, a month celebrating your families and friends. Definitely a month to catch an amazing movie. This month I present The 12 Days of Movies.
1. First is the iconic “Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker” The surviving resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga. Starring Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver. Opens December 20th.
2. “Jumanji The Next Level” The gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. Starring Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Danny DeVito. Opens December 13th.
3. “Bombshell” Starring Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman. Based on the real scandal, this is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous men who created it. Opens December 20th.
4. “Uncut Gems” Starring Adam Sandler. An electrifying crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Sandler), a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. Also starring Idina Menzel. Opens December 13th.
5. “Cats” Based on the long-running Broadway musical. Starring Taylor Swift and Judi Dench. A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life. Opens December 20th.
6. “Little Women” Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Timothee Chalamet. Opens December 25th.
7. “The Laundromat” Another movie starring Meryl Streep. It’s called Also starring Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman. When her idyllic vacation takes an unthinkable turn, Ellen (Streep) begins investigating a fake insurance policy, only to find herself down a rabbit hole of questionable dealings...
8. “Ordinary Love” Starring Liam Neeson. Joan and Tom have been married for many years. There is an ease to their relationship which only comes from spending a lifetime together. Opens December 31st.
9. “Clemency” Starring Alfre Woodard. Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadette Williams.
As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill. Opens December 27th.
10. “1917” Starring Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. Two British soldiers experience one harrowing day while fighting in World War 1. Opens December 25th.
11. “Richard Jewell” Starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Clint Eastwood. American security guard Jewell saves thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics but is vilified by journalists and the press who falsely report that he was a terrorist. Opens December 13th.
12. “Dark Waters” Starring Mark Ruffalo as a tenacious attorney who uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due to one of the world’s largest corporations. Also starring Anne Hathaway.
13. Reading Cinemas recently lowered their prices on movies and popcorn. You can get endless popcorn for $6. Quite the deal! If you haven’t seen “Knives Out” or “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” you still have a chance.
commentators in sparkly tuxedos who explain to us the finer points of economics
as applied to the rich. Apparently, the 1% have one system and everyone else adheres to
a more traditional arrangement. This condescending lecture is delivered directly to the camera against an opulent setting. It looks
as if Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman are having a good time, very much enjoying their roles. They appear periodically in this episodic piece functioning as a kind of Greek chorus interpreting what is going on in the basic scheme of things.
Suddenly we are thrust into
mid-America. This initial chapter is called “The Meek Are Screwed”. Meryl Streep, a senior citizen, is on an outing with her husband, James Cromwell. There is a horrific boating accident and Cromwell drowns. David Schwimmer explains that the boat company has essentially been duped by an unscrupulous insurance company which leads Meryl on a circuitous journey in her attempt to collect. The narrative spine of the
plot follows Meryl to Las Vegas, to
the tropics and South America as she attempts to get what is owed her. The subplot follows the money to a huge, opulent estate of an African-American father and finally to China.
What we witness is a scathing
critique of corporate corruption
There are flashes of The Big Short
here and remembrances of Gordon
Gekko’s classic line in Wall Street, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Taken from a non-fictional book by Jake Bernstein and based on the “Panama Papers” scandal, the film demonstrates how the rich and famous avoid paying taxes, through fraud and in the over two-hundred shell companies that are offshore. A whistleblower leaked the information for the book because he was disturbed over income inequality.
The Laundromat might give some insights into why there are
those who are maniacally determined not to release their tax records.
A sterling cast is at work here headed by Oscar-winning director, Steven
Soderbergh. The film is not always easy to understand. The machinations behind all the money laundering are indeed confusing and complex.
There is a phenomenal twist at the end that was a stunner. Wait for it!
Our print edition can only hold PART of what comes our way...
all month long.
Visit our website on your
for MAPS to EVENTS... LINKS for more information...
the rest of the story!!
64 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/19
Mobile Device