47 Ronin (2013)

I didn't remember whether this was supposed to be good, but its 118-minute run made it seem a decent choice to keep me occupied while donating platelets. I later learned that it bombed at the box office but still managed to get a Netflix sequel last year. Go figure.

Circa 1700, half-English, half-Japanese Kai (Keanu Reeves) is rumored to have been raised by demons or perhaps be one, which doesn't stop Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) from giving him shelter since boyhood. But one day, power-hungry Lord Kira (Tadanobu, heh, Asano) uses demonic connections of his own to deceive Asano into an act bad enough to demand seppuku. The shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) awards Asano's domain to Kira and orders Asano's daughter Mika (Ko Shibasaki), Kai's love, to marry Kira after a year of mourning. Asano counselor Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) spends a year in jail, then frees Kai from slavery as a combatant. Regretting his earlier acquiescence to such injustice, Oishi now plans to lead Asano's former samurai to illegal revenge on Kira before the wedding. Since ronin are considered honorless, they become more amenable to accepting help from Kai, who really does know a thing or two about demons....

Hamilton (2020)

For all the popularity of the Broadway musical, I was reluctant to check it out. Anachronistic music and blatant racial/ethnic inaccuracy in a story based on true events seemed like punchlines, yet it was clearly not played primarily for laughs. Weirdness without humor is often off-putting. Then I remembered liking Jesus Christ Superstar and decided I had no excuse.

This is not really an adaptation of the play but a screening of a 2016 production thereof, complete with the sounds of a then-live audience. It covers a period roughly from the first time Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote and composed it) met Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr.) to, well, the last time. You should already know what that means. If you badly need an early U.S. history lesson, let's just say for now that he helped George Washington (Christopher Jackson) in the Revolutionary War and became Secretary of the Treasury.

Amazing Grace (2006)

What's this, another Black history movie centered on a White man already? (Not to be confused with last year's documentary.) Well, it wasn't my first choice. I was cat-sitting at my parents' house and discovered that they had rented the DVD. Their streaming connection is a bit shaky for a whole feature film, so I gave the disc a whirl.

Despite what the trailer (presented at the start of the DVD!) would have you believe, this story is not really about the titular song, tho poet John Newton (Albert Finney) appears in two scenes. It's more about William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd), an MP and one of England's most prominent abolitionists, starting in 1782 and continuing to 1807. In addition to the rigors of supporting legislative proposals of dubious viability, he faces severe colitis, subsequent laudanum addiction, a strain on his friendship with William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch) after the latter becomes prime minister, and obnoxious pressure to marry one Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai).

The Favourite (2018)

This is one of those times that I completely forgot what I'd learned of a movie's nature before it began playing in front of me. All I knew offhand was that it's in talks for award nominations, and a Meetup group invited me.

For starters, the setting is 1708 England, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), who lost her aristocratic status through no fault of her own, finds employment as a scullery maid in the royal palace, thanks in part to her blood link to royal counselor Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), however little they've known each other. Abigail's medical knowledge earns her the positive attention of ailing Queen Anne (Olivia Colman)—to too great a degree for Sarah's comfort. Anne and Sarah are on very intimate terms, and it might be especially bad to attempt a ménage à trois while fighting France....

Tom Jones (1963)

This was easily the latest Academy Best Picture I hadn't seen. Partly I'd put it off because it's not so popular as Best Pictures go. It also took a long time to come to DVD. This edition, at least, was released within the last year.

No, it has nothing to do with the singer of the same name. Based on an 18th-century novel, the story follows a literal bastard of questionable heritage (played by Albert Finney in adulthood) nevertheless raised as a lord's son. He becomes quite the Don Juan, tho he does have an eye toward one woman in particular, Sophie (Susannah York), against her father's permission. The era of duels is not a relatively safe time for one such as Tom....

That Hamilton Woman (1941)

No connection to the subject of Hamilton here. It's another historical figure from around the same era: Emma Hamilton. Even if her name doesn't ring a bell, you may have seen her portraits by George Romney, Joshua Reynolds, and others.

Emma (Vivien Leigh) is heavily implied to have been licentious in youth, until Charles Francis Greville (not portrayed herein) courted her into upper-class society. Alas, he's not the type to follow through on proposals, and Emma marries his uncle, Lord Hamilton (Alan Mowbray), ambassador to Naples, out of sheer convenience. This convenience does become pretty cushy, but it is hardly surprising to anyone that her heart should wander from her husband, especially upon meeting Admiral Horatio Nelson (Laurence Olivier).

The Scarlet Empress (1934)

I had known next to nothing about Catherine the Great, and what I had learned of her was not from school. I couldn't have told you that she lived in the 18th century. I might not even have remembered that she ruled Russia. This alone was enough to justify my viewing, but it's not the only justification.

The film starts in her youth as German Princess Sophia and ends with her becoming the Russian empress. In adulthood, she is played by Marlene Dietrich. The focus lies primarily on her disenchanting arranged marriage to unhinged Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe in his silver screen debut), her mother-in-law Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Louise Dresser) demanding that she be fully dutiful and bear a son, and her unstable adulterous feelings toward Count Alexei (John Lodge). You may well imagine how the tension builds within the royal family -- and what happens after Elizabeth passes away.

Belle (2013)

A rare case in which my dad selected a movie I never heard of before. It's also a rare case in which I had to wonder about the title. The protagonist, Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay, always goes by "Dido" or "Miss Lindsey." I suppose Dido would evoke either the mythical queen or the singer, but it wasn't the only alternative. Belle evokes either Beauty and the Beast or a southern debutante...then again, perhaps not for native British audiences.

Nor had I heard about the true story on which it's based. IMDb presently lists only one, quite trivial error, tho other sources say it plays a tad fast and loose in parts.

Reign of Terror, or The Black Book (1949)

Dad helped me choose this from among the Norman Lloyd collection showing at the AFI Silver Theater (a rather random choice, as he gets little screen time). I'm not sure why Dad favored it. It wasn't the star power; I've barely heard of anyone in the credits. Its reception has been pretty good but not outstanding. Offhand, I'd say it's the unenviable setting: France under Maximilien de Robespierre.