Hello 2020!

            Hey, happy 2020 to you out there! 2020 always seemed so far away, now it looks as though it's here to stay. I didn't do much posting last year. Actually, I haven't done much posting for a long time. A long time ago, a movie and music review blog seemed like a fun idea. Then life got busy and I didn't much feel like writing about what I was watching. Now, I'm in that mindset again, so I'd like to check in at least once a month . 



           

So far this year, I've seen two movies. The first was "Hell or High Water", a film about two brothers who become bank robbers in order to save their family's ranch. The brothers are played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster. Pine's character Toby is the mastermind behind the bank-robbing plan, and his brother Tanner is a loose cannon in every aspect. Toby never knows what Tanner is going to say or do, which often jeopardizes their chance at success.

            Toby and Tanner are pursued by rangers Marcus Hamilton (played by Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker (played by Gil Birmingham). Marcus is very close to retirement, and he’s teased often by Alberto about all the time he’s going to have after the end comes. Marcus frequently jokes about Alberto’s ethnicity.

There is much to like about “Hell or High Water”. The two sets of characters are very entertaining, and I loved the symmetry of following the bank robbers and the Rangers. Each set of characters has its tensions. The brothers’ personalities are extremely different. Toby’s careful and calculating, and Tanner, well, he’s not very intelligent and ruled by impulse. With the Rangers, it’s hard to tell if Alberto is bothered by Marcus’s frequent insults, but I did detect something simmering under the surface. Marcus doesn’t seem to have any idea what he’s going to do when he retires.

It’s often said that a film’s setting is like a character, and that’s very true here. Most of Hell or High Water is set in places where there’s a real struggle for people to get by, and those places are inhabited by folks who have been toughened by that struggle. There are several scenes that follow the characters in the car, and the cinematography is beautiful. There are also a few scenes with some memorable and sassy locals who provide some comic relief

Overall, I’d really recommend Hell or High Water. It was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and for me, it’s easy to see why.

I also recommend "Raise Hell: The Life And Times of Molly Ivins". The documentary about journalist/columnist/personality Molly Ivins shows what a force Ivins was throughout her life. Ivins was quick with a mean one-liner and took on state and presidential administrations, but the film also shows that her style did have some drawbacks, both personally and professionally.