The Screening Room (New Years Edition)

The harshest critic meets the best and worst movies.

While most movies were delayed by a year, many great and not so great movies still came out in 2020. With the year coming to a close lets take a look at two good and not so good movies. 

 

The Prom: ★★★★

One of the best movie musicals ever made, “The Prom” follows washed up Broadway stars Dee Dee Allen (Merly Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) as they try to rejuvenate their image. They decide to “help” high schooler Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) convince her conservative school to allow her to take her girlfriend Alyssa Greene  (Ariana Debose) to the upcoming prom. 

After a cruel joke is played on her, Emma, her new famous friends, and the kindhearted principal (Keegan Michael Key) must show the school that everyone should be accepted and everyone deserves a prom. 

This film was an emotional roller coaster. I laughed, I cried, and I cheered for our protagonists. It has so much heart to it and has such a good message. The music is one of the best parts of the movie, each song finds a way to top the previous one. 

Although I enjoyed it, I did have some issues with it, such as some of the songs being trimmed down from the Broadway musical, and a lot of the film focusing on Merly Streep and James Corden’s characters. 

This movie is a true gem, who’s message of acceptance will hopefully resonate with those who decide to give it a watch. 

 

Wonder Woman 1984 ★★☆☆☆

“Wonder Woman 1984”, is the next installment in the D.C. film series and it was not all that great. The story takes place in the 1980s, thirty years after the last Wonder Woman film, with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) continuing to live out her days amongst the humans as well as using her alter ego to protect those around her. But when oil tycoon Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) comes into possession of a dangerous and mysterious artifact, Diana faces a threat she may not be prepared for, and must make a choice that could change her life forever. 

While the concept sounds exciting, the execution unfortunately fell flat with the poor character development of characters such as Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Minerva and some convoluted plot devices such as, “The Wishing Stone.” I saw the film on Christmas and boy did it feel like coal in my stocking. To be fair some of the action scenes and costumes were pretty incredible. But if you’re looking for an epic, groundbreaking, action packed superhero film, you won’t find that here. Overall, I’d say if you like Wonder Woman, give it a look. Just don’t expect to get much out of it.