Beauty and the Beast: A Timeless Tale

When Disney released the live-action Cinderella in 2015, I was sceptical. Why would we need a live-action re-imagining of an animated classic except as a corporate money-spinning venture? However, once I saw the movie, I sang a different tune. And thus, I found myself in the theater this week, excited to watch Beauty and the Beast come to life in truly glorious Disney fashion.

The top reason to watch this movie is Sarah Greenwood's production design. Every architectural swirl or elegant stick of furniture looks like someone put all their effort into perfecting it, and the result is a jaw-dropping fairy-tale world that is almost better than anything you could see in an animated film. The Beast's castle is simply magnificent, full of dark and twisty staircases and frivolous flourishes that make it look both foreboding and inviting in equal measure. Jacqueline Durran's costumes are similarly fantastic, and when Belle walked out in that yellow gown, I literally sighed in envy. I have never been the sort of person who wants to buy things they see in movies (OK fine, I did buy the One Ring), but oh what I wouldn't do to wear that dress.

The next reason to watch the movie is Emma Watson. I found her utterly bewitching throughout the film, and I am perplexed as to why people are being so lukewarm about her singing and/or acting abilities. As far as I'm concerned, it's a masterstroke of casting. Belle is a beautiful bookworm, and who better to play her than a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women who played Hermione Granger in eight movies and has lately been on a crusade to share literature around the world as part of her feminist book club? Personally, any character who falls in love with a library before she falls in love with a man is my kind of heroine, so I was thoroughly on board for this performance. Dan Stevens is also great as the Beast, though one can't help but think there must be an in-joke involved in making one of Downton Abbey's dreamiest men unrecognizable as a hairy monster for an entire film. Of course, his inner charm and wit shine through, which I suppose is the lesson I was meant to be learning from this story instead of lusting after Belle's wardrobe.

The supporting cast is fleshed out with voice acting from the likes of Ewan McGregor (as Lumiere the candelabra), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth the clock), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts the teapot), Audra McDonald (the wardrobe, Madame de Gardrobe), Stanley Tucci (the harpsichord, Maestro Cadenza) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Plumette the feather duster), and real-life acting from Kevin Kline (Maurice, Belle's father), Luke Evans (impressively bulked up to play the detestable Gaston), and Josh Gad (Gaston's sidekick, Le Fou, the now-infamous "gay" character, who is causing an uproar for no discernible reason whatsoever). It's an impressive bunch and they all acquit themselves in fine fashion apart from some truly terrible French accents from Audra McDonald and Ewan McGregor (who is tolerable when speaking but becomes increasingly Scottish when singing). And when Emma Thompson starts to warble "Tale as old as time," you'll be hard-pressed not to get a little misty-eyed.

Beauty and the Beast isn't particularly innovative and is quite faithful to the original 1991 animated film. However, it does throw in more backstory for both Belle and the Beast, fleshing out their characters and giving us a better sense of why they turned out the way they did and why they are ultimately perfect for each other. The musical numbers are wonderful to watch but less wonderful to listen to - it can be difficult to make out the words so I would suggest you lean back and revel in the visual splendor instead. This is a movie that caters to your nostalgia but also lets you experience the story in a fresh and dazzling way. I have always been a fervent advocate of the black-and-white 1946 Jean Cocteau film, La Belle et la Bete, which was the inspiration for Disney's movie. But now in 2017, it continues to inspire filmmakers, and while some may choose to complain that we're merely getting multiple versions of the same story, I choose to celebrate the fact that we are getting multiple versions of a story that I will never tire of watching on screen. 

Black Mirror: Prescient Television

Despite reading about Black Mirror for years, I had never watched the show. Then after a colleague talked about it for months (thanks Adam!) I finally caved and binge-watched all three seasons of the show on Netflix. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

The show consists of a series of stand-alone episodes set in the not-too-distant future and dissects the effect of a particular type of technology on society. From the dark and twisted mind of Charlie Brooker, the results are almost inevitably dystopian - the latest season featured one optimistic episode, "San Junipero," but in general, this show takes a fairly bleak and pessimistic view of humanity. This is the modern equivalent of The Twilight Zone, but with high production value, tight scripting, and a whole lot of eerily accurate predictions about our ability to use technology to bring each other down instead of lifting each other up.

The first two seasons aired on the UK's Channel 4 in 2011 and 2013 and consist of three episodes each with a Christmas Special that aired in 2014. But the latest season premiered on Netflix late last year, so we got six more episodes of ominous science fiction to whet our appetites. You don't have to watch in order, but if you're a fan of Easter eggs, they do sometimes contain subtle callbacks to previous episodes. And while everyone has their opinions, I personally believe the first season of the show was its strongest and is the best possible introduction. As recommended by my colleague (thanks again Adam!) it might be better to start with the second and third episodes, as they contain more of a science fiction slant and, whilst disturbing, are far less viscerally horrifying than the events that transpire in the first episode. (However, the first episode is the one that made me truly believe in the show's weird omniscience, because despite airing in 2011, it managed to refer to a British political scandal that came partially true in 2015.) The second episode, "Fifteen Million Merits," has the added bonus of starring Daniel Kaluuya, for those of you who have just watched Get Out and need to experience more of this man's incredible acting chops.

If you're not an Anglophile and are going to need a more American introduction to the show, you could do no worse than to start with the first episode of Season 3, "Nosedive," which stars Bryce Dallas Howard and was written by Rashida Jones and Mike Schur, based on a story by Charlie Brooker. It is directed by Joe Wright and features eye-popping production design, a simple but spot-on premise, and captures everything that makes Black Mirror such a tantalizing and creepy show to watch. If you're a Mad Men aficionado, you can then move on to the Christmas Special, which starred Jon Hamm, who has made a habit in recent years of showing up in British shows and being amazing.

After all of the above, I haven't even gotten to my favorite episode, "Be Right Back," which was the Season 2 opener. Starring Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson, it is beautifully shot, acted, and scripted, and will wallop you with emotional sucker punches from beginning to end. Like the best Black Mirror episodes, it is set in a world that is completely like ours, but has one form of advanced technology that is so emotionally resonant that it becomes a dangerous human liability. So follow me down the deep, dark rabbit hole of Black Mirror. Not every episode is a sure-fire hit, but when you find the one that speaks to your soul, you will never forget it.

Get Out: The Horror of Racism

Has everyone recovered from the Oscars? Good. Now grab a friend and get back to the movie theatre to watch Get Out.

Written and directed by Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele fame), Get Out is the story of what happens when Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a black man, agrees to visit his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend. His girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), is extremely nonchalant and dismisses Chris's concerns that her parents will be shocked when they find out she has a black boyfriend. "My father will tell you that he would have voted for Obama for a third term," she tells him while rolling her eyes. As far as she's concerned, her parents are embarrassing, not racist.

Their weekend excursion begins innocently enough, and Rose's parents (played by Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener) seem like perfectly nice, welcoming people. And yet, as you might know from the trailers and from literally everyone who has seen this movie in the past two weeks, this is a horror movie. Before long, Chris becomes increasingly discomfited by how weirdly everyone is behaving around him, and while Rose seems to think he's being paranoid, he cannot shake off the feeling that something is not quite right. The only other black people in the house are the gardener and housekeeper, and every time Chris engages them in conversation, he can't understand why they don't react like the typical black people of his acquaintance. And yet, there's nothing overtly racist or frightening about anything that's happening. It's all lurking under the surface, and that is what makes things so particularly terrifying.

I dare not discuss the details any further because watching this movie unfurl its plot and hurtle towards its thoroughly satisfying conclusion is a joy that should not be denied to any moviegoer. Suffice to say, it is a pitch-perfect film, a profound commentary about the many ways in which racism permeates our society masquerading as a hilarious and bloody horror show. Black audiences will empathize with Chris's discomfort in his predominantly white surroundings and his resignation to the casually racist comments he encounters from every source. White audiences will uncomfortably recognize the weird things they or their families have said to their black friends. And everyone will jump in their seats as plot twist after plot twist is unveiled, even until the very last minute, when Jordan Peele turns your final race-based assumption on its head.

No review of this movie is complete without highlighting the superb performances that anchor this film. Daniel Kaluuya is an absolute marvel, the perfect audience surrogate who draws you into his every thought and action and has you rooting for him from the very first minute. Allison Williams is impeccable as the clueless Rose, a seemingly woke white lady who is still blind to her family's bizarreness. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener are captivating, playing off their carefully cultivated white liberal actor images until their endgame is shockingly revealed. And special shoutouts to Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson, and LaKeith Stanfield, the only three black people Chris meets at Rose's house, who are delivering surreal, silent performances that only make sense once the plot is fully explained.

Get Out is a veritable onion of a movie - you keep peeling away and discover more witty and insightful layers that you missed the first time around. Even after knowing the plot, you could re-watch it multiple times to revel in the artistry of every scene and every piece of dialogue. It is insanely incisive and wonderfully funny. And it is also frightening - but less because of blood and gore, and more because of the way it reveals how racism is baked into our society in insidious ways we have never fully appreciated.