Movie Review The Post

The Post (2017) 

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Josh Singer, Liz Hannah

Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford

Release Date December 22nd, 2017 

The Post is an of-the-moment history lesson about the important role of the media in America. Steven Spielberg has made arguably the most relevant movie of our political moment, given the way that President Trump has made attacking the media a staple of his public discourse. Casting two of America’s most beloved and respected actors in the lead roles only deepens the importance of The Post.

The title The Post refers to the Washington Post, which in 1971 battled the Nixon White House over the so-called Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers refers to a study commissioned by then Secretary of State MacNamara, who tasked members of the Pentagon, including young genius, Daniel Ellsburg (Matthew Rhys), to study the state of the Vietnam War.

After not getting the positive returns that they had hoped to get, MacNamara lied to the media and tried to bury the report. Ellsburg then stole a copy of the report from Pentagon partners, The Rand Corporation, and made copies which he leaked to the New York Times. The Times began publishing the report in early 1971 in pieces before the Nixon White House took the Times to court to stop them.

This is where the Washington Post comes in. Spielberg picks up the story with a desperate Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) hammering his reporters to find out where the New York Times is getting their information. He wants a copy of the report so that the Post can publish them as well. While his reporters are scouring their sources, Bradlee’s boss, Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) is battling with the board of directors over her position as owner of the company.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Maestro

Maestro (2023) 

Directed by Bradley Cooper

Written by Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer

Starring Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan. Maya Hawke, Matt Bomer 

Release Date November 22nd, 2023 

Published ?

There are many things to like about Bradley Cooper's Maestro. This biopic of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein is incredible to look at. Cooper and his cinematographer, Matthew Libatique, and production designer, Kevin Thompson, have put exceptional craft into the movie. Several of the films scenes simply pop off the screen in composition, detail, and the use of color. There is no denying that Bradley Cooper has a wonderful directorial eye aided by an exceptional team behind him. Where Maestro falters, sadly, is storytelling where the tenets of the movie biopic restrict and restrain. It's as if there was simply too much life in Leonard Bernstein to be constricted to the film form. 

Maestro begins its story with Leonard Bernstein being interviewed about his life and reflecting mostly on his beloved wife Felicia. Then we are thrown into a flashback, black and white, a young and eager Leonard Bernstein gets the phone call that will change his life. The main conductor of the New York Philharmonic is ill and cannot perform. His replacement is snowed in upstate. The 25 year old Bernstein with no rehearsal time, will have to fill in. He crushes it, he delivers an incredible performance that skyrockets his career. 

Meanwhile, in his private life, Bernstein is enjoying life as a gay man in New York, collaborating on various musical projects and spending time with his lover, David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer). These moments are brief but show a playful and wildly creative Bernstein constantly in creative mode, in the flower of his youth. Soon after however, he's met a woman at a party. Her name is Felicia (Carey Mulligan) and the two spark immediate chemistry. It's never stated that Bernstein is bisexual and the movie is remarkably vague on this point, perhaps because, until late in his life, Bernstein himself was vague on this point. 

The two undergo a whirlwind romance accompanied by Bernstein's remarkable successes on the stage, screen and as a composer of numerous symphonies. A lovely scene has Bernstein take Felicia to the stage where a musical he's working on with Jerome Robbins is rehearsing. The two get swept up in the dance rehearsal before being pulled apart. The symbolism rages aloud in this scene as the two sides of Bernstein's sexuality are pulled in different directions, one toward Felicia, one away from her. Dancers keep pulling both in different directions with Felicia imagining a man who might have taken her from Bernstein earlier in their life. It's an exceptional and exciting sequence that demonstrates Cooper's terrific direction. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media