Battle of the 'Sexes

“Battle of the Sexes” was written by  Simon Beaufoy  and co-directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton   The film stars Emma Stone as Billy Jean King and  Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs and culminates in the famous tennis match between the two in the year 1973. Sometimes low expectations for a slightly better than average film can make viewing it even more enjoyable than it otherwise might be and for me, at least, this movie is no exception. Filled with interesting information and facts involving the personal lives of each of these two players, the viewer sees more than just a male chauvinist Riggs and a dedicated advocate for women’s rights in the person of Ms. King. The story of each of the principals is made even more meaningful by the fine acting of Ms. Stone and Mr. Carell who play their parts with a sense of honesty and credibility and make this film a lot more than simply a tale about a hyped tennis match. I give the film 3 stars and urge the viewer to take advantage (pun intended) of this pleasant viewing experience.

Mother

“Mother” was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky so at least we can lay the blame on only one individual for one of the worst pictures I have had the misfortune of viewing in many years. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, this film isn’t worthy of the time it takes to write this review except that, by giving an honest summary of it, others will hopefully be dissuaded from going to see it and that I will consider my good deed for the week. It’s difficult to characterize this movie without using such adjectives as insane, unrealistic, absurd and mostly containing acts of extreme overkill and violence. Much like some pseudo-intellectuals, there may be some misguided folks who will see allegories and analogies to life in this cinematic disaster but for this viewer, at least, I saw nothing more than ridiculous manifestations of poor writing and directing with supposed horror scenes so bad that, instead of being fear provoking, made them almost laughable. It would have been funnier had I not wasted an evening watching the movie instead of some bad television at home. I give this poorly executed effort by Mr. Aronofsky a one star rating, and that goes solely to Ms. Lawrence’s efforts on the film’s behalf. Simply stated this is the “Mother" of bad movies and deserves a strong boycott of this insult to the viewing audience.