October Movie Roundup: The Forty-Year-Old Version, Mulan, The Boys in the Band

Another month, another batch of movies to while away the hours! Again, there's something for everyone here, whether you're in the mood for incisive New York comedy, live-action Disney war games, or gay men having a birthday party. Surely one of those tickles your fancy?

Mulan: I had pre-ordered tickets to see this in the theater before the pandemic hit, so let's be clear, I 100% wanted to watch this movie. But having seen it, I can now tell you that I have plans to watch the 1998 animated version over Zoom with my friend Peggy instead. This movie is...fine. As always, I did appreciate the feminism that Disney has been striving to imbue into all their live-action remakes, but Mulan (played here by the wonderful (Yifei Liu) was already a kick-ass feminist Disney "princess" anyway. The movie does away with any comedy or music, and is a straightforward story of a woman masquerading as a man so that she can go to war instead of her aging father, who will almost certainly be killed. Along the way, she learns to embrace her "chi," and the warrior spirit that she was always told to suppress because it wasn't ladylike. And she saves the day and wins the respect (and in one case, the love) of her fellow male soldiers and wider community. It's a great rah-rah story of how girls can be destined for greatness too, not just a life of tea ceremonies and marriage, but that's a story that young children are better off getting through the 1998 animated feature, rather than this much more violent film that is more focused on battle scenes. Older kids (aka the YA set) might find more to love here, and of course, if you're a young Asian girl, you can never discount the importance of seeing yourself represented onscreen in such a meaningful way. I did love the costumes and set pieces, and the action sequences were beautifully choreographed (though come on, there's no way Mulan wouldn't tie her hair back first before wading into war). I may have had a very different reaction if I was watching this in a theater on the big screen; but at home on the couch? I was underwhelmed.

The Forty-Year-Old Version: I love a punny title, so I was in the tank for this movie from the outset. But damn, what a revelation it turned out to be. Directed by and starring Radha Blank as a fictionalized version of herself, this is the story of a Black playwright in New York City who is having a mid-life crisis and trying to get her life together ahead of her fortieth birthday. With her playwriting ambitions constantly thwarted, she suddenly hits upon a long-dormant ambition to become a rapper, and that's when the film comes alive. This is an exceedingly funny movie, brimming with jokes about the very white New York theatre scene (while workshopping a play about gentrification, Radha is forced to add a white character to the play because that's what would speak to the majority of the audience), the expectations heaped upon an older Black woman, and how to define success as you get older. Radha works as a high school teacher to make ends meets, and it's refreshing to see how supportive her students are of her efforts to make it, rather than being snot-nosed teenagers who are too cool for school. Interestingly, her best friend Archie (Peter Kim) is a gay Korean man who is also her agent, which is a nice nod to the diversity in the NYC public school system and how minorities often have to stick together to overcome the odds. The standout moment in this film for me, however, is when we see an all-female rap battle, where, for the very first time, I got to see a female rapper in a hijab. This movie is fresh and original, telling a story you've never seen before. Shot in black-and-white, it's a bit disconcerting to get into, but give it a few minutes and you'll be swept away by the sheer force of Radha's personality. Give The Forty-Year-Old Version a chance - her rap about Poverty Porn alone is worth it. 

The Boys in the Band: This play came out in 1968, had a Broadway revival in 2018, and now you can watch the Netflix movie adaptation starring the cast from that 2018 production. It's a veritable who's who of openly gay Hollywood actors, including Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tuc Watkins, Robin de Jesus, Charlie Carver, and Brian Hutchinson. It can still be difficult for gay men to come out in Hollywood, as they get stereotypical roles and rarely get to play the leading man in a cis hetero romcom, but in this movie, we get to see this incredible cast play off each other and reveal the many multitudes contained within the world of homosexuality. Is it somewhat dated and of its time? Sure. But is it still a fascinating insight into what it was like to be gay in 1968 in New York City and what it sometimes is like to be gay in 2020 today? You bet. The story consists of a birthday party that goes horribly wrong when the host's old college roommate, who is straight, shows up and stirs up some shit. None of the people are perfect, but that's kind of the point - they are allowed to be messy and have all of their foibles, and their gayness isn't immediately some sort of value judgement of the content of their character. This movie does often feel very much like a play - the dialogue and confined apartment setting instantly transports you to a stage - but all told, this is a solid movie that is well worth your time.