For Barry Jenkins, I thought “Moonlight” (2016) was brilliant. “If Beale Street Could Talk” is also brilliant. However, in that context it is more so amazing with its breathtaking cinematography, its vast movement of different camera angles, and its acting. I felt it was very similar to “Moonlight” based on its plot, its conflict, and the focus being the two main characters are African-American facing issues in regards to their race.

The film focuses on Tish Rivers and Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Kiki Layne and Stephan James). A couple that is on their way to having their first child, however Hunt is guilty of a crime that is false. Therefore, Rivers and her family struggles to prove his innocence. It becomes a visual and emotional journey of politics, love, distrust, and stress. As viewers watch the movie they see the emotions in both the eyes of the main characters of what they are feeling. Cinemtographer, James Laxon (also was the cinematographer who did the lighting and such for “Moonlight”), has a variety of moments in the film where he gears on emotional faces to which enhances the drama of “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

With this movies technical elements, I loved the vast imagery of New York City. The colors were faded in a sense that strengthens the time period of the people. The time period being the 1950s, the wealthy and the poor, and the different types of businesses that existed. The film also incorporates competition among different minorities and such.

When I walked out of the auditorium after “If Beale Street Could Talk” I left with mixed emotions. Not negative or positive, but I came to realize an aspect of life. That everyone in life deserves to be treated equally. No matter what race, religion, or gender. The conflict of the film is not fair for Rivers and Hunt, the issue though is they do not have enough witnesses or authority on their side to prove Hunt is innocent. That is all because of their skin color. I felt like I was watching “Moonlight” but with different people and a different time frame. “Moonlight” geared on a boy that was African-American growing up with transitional issues in his different stages of life. “If Beale Street Could Talk” follows people struggling because of their race. Both gear on issues in regards to the main characters struggling because of being African-American. Jenkins is definitely good at making his viewers have feelings towards his films when they come to abrupt scenarios.

Therefore, “If Beale Street Could Talk” is a must watch. It will leave viewers in tears, but also captivate them by its scenery and its music. I will give this movie three and a half stars.

For a film that Scarlett Johansson wanted to play the lead in back in 2006, but decided to drop, “Mary Queen of Scots” ended up being a project of a mess for the last twelve years. I foud “Mary Queen of Scots'” to be like I was watching the old series on Showtime, “The Tudors” (2007-2010). Not because, of the premise being similar to that TV show, but because the story seemed like it was lacking. If I were to go with some movie math, here is how I would describe the film: take “The Other Boleyn Girl” (2008) mixed with a little bit of “The Lover” (1992), and add some of “Brooklyn” (Which also had Saoirse Ronan and was brilliant) and end up being confused about what the focus is. Is it either battle for love or revenge. That is why I felt “Mary Queen of Scots” was somewhat difficult to follow.

The plot of the film is Mary Stuart (Ronan) wants to try to put an end to her cousin Elizabeth I (played by Margot Robbie) who is the Queen of England. However, this puts Stuart in a tough situation. She begins to realize that the queen has much more power and authority than she had thought. The film starts to become a poorly done cat and mouse game in terms of marriage and independence. I found that there was a decent amount of dialogue to somewhat help understand what was going on in the movie, but not enough factors were brought into the background to understand the historic value of the film. I found the script focused more on moments of jealousy, revenge, and power over helping viewers see what the historic conflicts are.

Generally, I do all I can to not be very negative about movies, so I am going to give “Mary Queen of Scots” some credit. Ronan and Robbie were both stellar. I loved Ronan in last years Lady Bird (2017), and Robbie in “I, Tonya” (2017). Both have the voices to play the roles of these historic figures. Also, I was fond of the cinematography because the views and sights were just breathtaking. The costumes had value in the film. I felt like there were moments where the costumes played suspense in the movie. That is because the clothing back then was quite complex to deal with and in those moments of complexity due to that, it created suspense.

One of the writers, Beau Willimon, did the writing for Netflix’s “House of Cards” (2013) and George Clooney’s, “The Ides of March (2011). I find given he has done writing in terms of politics, that is why revenge and such in terms of having power played a big role in “Mary Queen of Scots.”

Now, this is not a horrible movie, or a great movie, it is just slightly mediocre. I find now when it comes to historic films and TV shows (where now we have had plenty), lots of people nowadays care more about the action and dramatic situations over the actual historic backgrounds of what actually happened back then .Therefore, I will say two and a half stars for this movie.

For Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate is definitely a performance he will be remembered by. Dafoe is Vincent van Gogh, and he does an excellent job portraying the role. Even though Dafoe is 25 years older than the real-life Vincent Van Gogh, he still plays the role of a young artist well. He has the quietness, the patience, and the artistic trait. I felt that the movie was visually moving with oblique camera angles in a variety of moments that made me feel like I was part of the life of Vincent Van Gogh. For director Julian Schnabel, he did the writing for the film with Jean-Claude Carriere and Louise Kugelberg. While “At Eternity’s Gate” is Kugelberg’s first film to have a writing credit, Carriere has got multiple writing credits since the 1960s. Those written credits were mainly Foreign films. However, “At Eternity’s Gate” I will say is his most notable writing credit to have co-written with Schnabel.

The plot of the film takes place in Arles and Auvers-Sur-Oise, France. It is the time of a banishment. During this time, Vincent van Gogh builds his craft with his particular painting style. However, he may be purely artistic, but he begins to battle with various issues ranging from religion and mental health problems along with struggling to hold down a friendship with artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac). Another character that starts be concerned is the priest (Mads Mikkelsen). With all of these conflicts, this leads van Gogh to be extremely worried how he relates to eternity over his paintings. It is a breathtaking and visualizing depiction of what stories have told about van Gogh. The person in charge of the art direction, Loic Chavanon was the art department coordinator for Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017). The artistic concepts Chavanon uses sets a dark tone where they feel the emotions of Dafoe’s performance. The cinemtographer (Benoit Delhomme) did the cinematography for James Marsh’s “The Theory of Everything” (2014). With “At Eternity’s Gate” he has the color faded quite well as he did with “The Theory Of Everything.” The colors faded to a point where the scenery looks like the actual time period.

At moments, the film lacked with some dialogue, I believe though that is because in van Gogh’s life he did not speak french very well and there are moments where van Gogh was taunted by french people, in those moments of the film, the lack of dialogue somewhat heightens the climatic moments. Also, the film solely cares about the visual emotions in the eyes of Dafoe’s performance.

“At Eternity’s Gate” is a moving film. I felt like it was the type of movie that I could get lost in for its running length of one hour and fifty-one minutes. The opening tends to be slow and stale, but the film builds up emotionally as the thirty minutes kicks in. Three and a half stars.