RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDES TO GO FOR IT

 

            What a life Rita Moreno has had—and it’s still going on!  She got a Hollywood Star at age 64, and at 84 is working on a remake of “One Day at a Time”, a Broadway play.  Arriving with her mother in the 1930’s from Puerto Rico on the U.S. shores, Rosita (only later would she be called Rita) was struck by the lack of greenery and color on her approach and a statue of a woman holding what looked to her like an ice cream cone in her right hand.  Little did Moreno know what was ahead for her.

            She was a success right away (“I learned very early how to get attention”), having been spotted by an MGM agent at a New York nightclub when she was only 16 years old. After a brief meeting with Louis B. Mayer, she traveled to Hollywood with a contract in hand, where her mother’s sense of how to make her look as much as possible like Elizabeth Taylor, helped her get cast immediately.  Unfortunately, Hollywood filmmakers saw her solely as a Latina, so there followed countless roles as a beautiful young native girl with an accent.  (She began to realize that it didn’t matter which accent; the filmmakers didn’t distinguish between them.  She only needed to come across as a slightly kooky “other” girl.)

            Moreno hadn’t come across many people to guide her in in the new world she was in, so she stumbled into numerous situations/roles that were great initially, but weren’t the best for her ultimately.  But she was good at realizing what she was being asked to do.  This extended to her relationship with Marlon Brando who, despite all his narcissism, at least guided her into psychotherapy.  That would stand her in good stead as she continued to make her way through the Hollywood scene after she and he had parted.

            It was interesting to me that the filmmakers (Mariem Perez Riers, director) interspersed excerpts of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings into Moreno’s story.  It was a way to demonstrate the vulnerability of many women in the context of male authority/power, which indicated the intent of the makers of this documentary to use Rita Moreno’s life to illustrate the point.  And that is that generations of women are starting to learn how to manage and maneuver themselves through the male-dominated maelstrom of whatever business they are in.  It’s not just Hollywood; it’s almost every major business of today.

            This incredible woman has now achieved EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status.  

 

A fine documentary about Rita Moreno’s remarkable life directed by Mariem Perez Riera

 

Grade:  A                              By Donna R. Copeland

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

Emily Blunt     Dick Van Dyke     Meryl Streep     Angela Lansbury     Emily Mortimer

Colin Firth     Lin-Manuel Miranda     Ben Wishaw     Julia Walters

     Everything is coming apart at the seams in the Banks household; Mr. Michael Banks is grieving for his wife, and is having a hard time managing without her. Their three children are remarkably responsible, but they are just children, and the housekeeper/cook is losing her grip as well.  Michael’s sister Jane comes by from time to time and does what she can to bolster things up, but a major threat looms with the possibility that the house Michael and Jane grew up in will be repossessed by the bank after Michael missed three payments. 

     Yes, it seems like the perfect time for Mary Poppins to drift down on her umbrella and pop in (sorry—couldn’t resist the pun).  It happens magically—as do many things having to do with the nanny—when young Georgie chases after a kite and it keeps rising with him attached. Jack, the town lamplighter, is helping Georgie pull the string with all his might to bring the kite down, when who should appear down through the clouds but Mary herself.

     Now, the three children don’t know who she is, as she was the nanny for their father and Aunt Jane when they were kids.  And when they learn that she has come to be a nanny for them—humpf!—these responsible children, especially the two older ones, can’t see the need. Michael is troubled because he can’t see how they’ll be able to afford her, but Jane—often the voice of reason—advises him to welcome her.

     Of course, it doesn’t take long for Mary Poppins to exert her authority and magic (just what the family needs). She wows them with a few things, but wins them over with a thrilling and beautiful sequence where she prepares a wondrous bubble bath with all kinds of beach-type things thrown into the bubbles then shoves each child in for their bath.  She follows, and we are treated to some of what Disney does best: a colorful fantastical trip down into the ocean filled with exotic marine life.  This is the kind of nanny to have.

     All sorts of intrigues, emergencies, and close calls follow, and it’s touch-and-go until the very end.  Director/producer Rob Marshall’s follow-up to the 1964 production of Mary Poppins is largely successful in sustaining the Poppins and Disney brands, being entertaining for children and adults, and achieving a mixture of fancy, excitement, and human values.  

     Emily Blunt has received a lot of advance press about her Mary Poppins role, and she comes across splendidly.  Contrast her role here and of that in A Quiet Place, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario, for example, to appreciate the full range of this actress’s talent.  Her acting here is as praiseworthy as in other films; however, as good as her voice is, she is not up to Julie Andrews’ first Mary Poppins (1964), and that is a slight detraction.  In a similar, but different way, Lin Manuel Miranda’s voice, while very fine and engaging, doesn’t quite mesh; although I think this has more to do with the composers’ (Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman) work than as a function of his voice and skill.  When he sings in rap—which he is known for, and which I presume he has contributed to the material—he is his usual fine performer.  (I dearly loved hearing his British accent.)  Overall, I think the score lacks the pizzazz of the 1964 version.  When Blunt and Miranda sing together, they almost rescue the whole score.

     A standout here is Meryl Streep as Topsy; she can immerse herself into a role so completely it’s hard to find Streep in it.  The sequence with her is one of the most entertaining in the film, and brings up important points for both children and adults about perspective. 

     Other instructive sequences for children include ways to think about and deal with the loss of a loved one, the message that even if one is a child he/she can be helpful to adults, and the optimistic idea that things that may seem impossible can actually be accomplished.

Cameo performances by Dick Van Dyke (reprised from the first rendition), Angela Lansbury, and Colin Firth are entertaining and engaging.  

An updated version of the Mary Poppins story that largely succeeds.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

MOANA

Voices of:  Auli’i Cravalho     Dwayne Johnson     Temuera Morrison     Rachel House     Jemaine Clement

          This magical, musical animation from Disney incorporates folklore and myth to tell a story about identity with reverence for history and the preservation of the world.  It’s a hero’s—actually, a heroine’s—journey where she must go out into the world far beyond her safe island and undergo many trials to save her people and their land.  The sea has called upon her to do this, and she is encouraged to go by her old grandmother, who knows all the old tales about the island.  The most important one has to do with an island goddess who was life-giving and created many islands in the sea.  But competitors wanted her life-giving powers.  One of these rogues was Maui (Johnson), a trickster and shape shifter with a magic fishhook; he stole her heart where the life-giving powers resided, and ran away with it.  Unfortunately, for him, he encountered his own enemies, one of which takes his magic fishhook away from him.

          Moana (Cravalho) is the daughter of Chief Tui on the island of Motunui where she will succeed her father as chief eventually.  Because of a past bruising experience, Chief Tui orders everyone to remain on their safe island and not venture out beyond the reef.  But when the coconuts begin to dry up and turn black inside and the fish start disappearing when Moana is a teenager, she begs her father to allow her to go beyond the reef where there will be more fish.  He adamantly says “No.” 

         Now, Grandmother Tala is rather mischievous as well as wise, and she knows a way for Moana to get a boat on her own and defy her father.  (This is just one of the many points made in the film about females needing to be strong and not necessarily heed a male superior.)  So this is just the beginning of our heroine’s journey; she must find the demigod Maui and persuade him to help her retrieve his sword and return the heart (which was given to her by her grandmother) to its rightful owner, thereby saving their island.

         The unlikely pair (he’s a blustering chauvinist and she is feisty and competitive) set off quarreling—he tries to ditch her several times.  But they always end up working together when they encounter pirates, a lava monster, and a crab that glitters to retrieve what belongs to them.  The ocean will help with its special powers to return a favor to Moana, who aided it many years before. 

         The story is exciting and humor is sprinkled in throughout.  For instance, there is a pet rooster called Heihei who has a liking for rocks which it swallows then coughs up and who insists on traveling in Moana’s boat, despite the fact it can’t swim.  The ocean has a way of rising up in a cone-like form to deliver things to Moana (once it high-fives her) or it speeds her or Maui through the water like a speedboat and tosses them—splat!—back on the boat.  These and other scenes had the kids and me laughing out loud.

      The animation is absolutely beautiful and is accompanied by music and song that reminds of a Broadway show, with a mix of Polynesian and other music genres.  Composers are Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina.  The two directors (Ron Clements and John Musker) and co-directors (Don Hall and Chris Williams) are to be congratulated with their cast and crew for such a fantastic production.  The story has substance with fine messages for children, e.g., “Listen to the voices inside you to know who you are” and a nonrestrictive role model for girls.  Boys should love it just as much, with its strong male figures and the kind-hearted Maui. 

Moana:  Animation and music for all ages.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland