Tag Archives: Josh O’Connor

The History of Sound – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is both profoundly moving and also downright frustrating. The visual construction was some of the best all year, yet it pondered along, afraid to commit to what its thesis statement was.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A river flowing in a forest.

The History of Sound Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that existed in a state of dissonance for me, from the heights of beauty that you see throughout, to the despair of frustration. Some of this dissonance is purposely built into the film, an intentional conversation in subtext. However, while that is important, you can’t forget the actual text.
 
So, to set the scene, Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal) has always had a special relationship with music since he was a child, able to feel it, see it, and manipulate it. It was this gift that took him in 1917 from the rural farm in Kentucky where he grew up to the Boston Conservatory to study music. It is here that he came across fellow student and composer, David White (Josh O’Connor). They had an instant bond, but war broke out, and David was drafted. David returned in 1919 and asked Lionel to join him on a trip collecting and recording folk songs, a trip that would have a marked impact on both their lives.

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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A visual delight, filled with actors giving stellar performances, fantastic chemistry, a riot of emotions, an intriguing mystery, and an honest exploration of motivations as old as time itself.  

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains a scene with flashing lights.

A woman bursts through the doors to a church.

Wake Up Dead Man Review Introduction –

While people say that you should be impartial when writing a review, I find that, to use the words of Benoit Blanc, to be hooey. Art is subjective, and everyone will bring their own interpretations to art. Or to put it more bluntly, we all bring our own baggage along for the ride. But more than that, sometimes a film speaks to you on a fundamental personal level due to things happening in your life right at the moment you see it. Well, for me, we will be looking at just such a film today.  

So, to set the scene, we open with Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) writing a letter to the famous private detective/investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) about the Good Friday Murder. Jud was a boxer before he found Christ, and sometimes comes out swinging still. This led Bishop Langstrom (Jeffrey Wright) to send the young Catholic priest upstate to the town of Chimmy Rock and to the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude run by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Msgr. Wicks rules his congregation with an iron fist, the kind of ministry that creates zealots out of parishioners like Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), Dr Sharp (Jeremy Renner), Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack) & Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church). But even in a group as tight as this, there is murder afoot, and maybe Benoit Blanc is the only one who can see through all the hooey.

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