30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 28- Ford v Ferrari (2019)

This years Academy Awards featured a lot of great films that were in contention for a lot of awards including that for Best Picture (the winner being Parasite). The task for today's 30 Day Movie Challenge was to watch a film that was nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards and with only three options left to choose from, I went with 2019's Ford v Ferrari which was directed by James Mangold (Walk The Line). The film stars Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) as Carroll Shelby who at one time was considered one of the best racers ever, but after winning the 24 hour Le Mans, he was forced to retire from behind the wheel. After a failed deal with Ferrari, Ford Motor Company decides that it wants to get even by building a race car, but they need someone to do it and they hire Shelby. The only question is can Shelby actually do it despite the pressures from corporate and will they let his driver race? The film also stars Christian Bale (Vice) as Ken Miles, Jon Bernthal (The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Lee Iacocca, Caitriona Balfe (Escape Plan) as Mollie Miles, Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) as Leo Beebe, Noah Jupe (Honey Boy) as Peter Miles, Tracy Letts (The Big Short) as Henry Ford II, Remo Girone (Live By Night) as Enzo Ferrari, Ray McKinnon (Deadwood) as Phil Remington, and JJ Feild (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Roy Lunn.

One of the sad facts about the film is that Beebe did not like Ken Miles, but it wasn't for his racing style or anything having to do with racing. He disliked Ken Miles because Ken shit all over the Mustang right to Beebe's face so it was a constant d**k measuring contest between the two and obviously Beebe has the most pull being the corporate stooge that he was and let me say that Josh Lucas plays that role very well. I was thinking to myself that I do not remember watching a movie with Lucas where I actually liked his character. Nonetheless, he was a decent secondary villain in the film of course the Ferrari team being the main villains of the film as Ford strives to be number one. I honestly thought that Christian Bale was the main star of the film as he absolutely stole the show as the wild and what seems untameable Ken Miles, but we end up finding out just what his character really was. I loved the action that you get in this film which means that I loved the cinematography cause they did an amazing job capturing everything. I loved the cars, the look of the film, and all of the sets that they designed for this film. So, I definitely agreed with the Academy's choice to have this film nominated for Best Picture, but I definitely agree that it wasn't the best one on the list. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Film and Best Sound editing which I definitely agree with as they did an phenomenal job which is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Honey Boy (2019)

One of the most polarizing and notorious actors to come from the Disney Channel has been none other than Shia LaBeouf (The Peanut Butter Falcon) who has proven that when he is on point in his acting that there is no one like him. He started out on Disney on the show Even Stevens before landing the dream role in Transformers which led to more fame. That in turn led to him having some trouble in his past that brings him to this very point in 2019 when Amazon released the biographical film Honey Boy which was written by LaBeouf and directed by Alma Har'el (Bombay Beach). The film follows child actor Otis Lort (Noah Jupe) as he tries to navigate through a stormy time in his childhood that leads to his ultimate destruction as an adult. This in turn leads him to have to face up to his past while he spends some time reflecting in rehab. The film also stars Lucas Hedges (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Adult Otis, LaBeouf as James Lort, Byron Bowers (Loiter Squad) as Percy,  Laura San Giacomo (Sex, Lies, and Videotape) as Dr. Moreno, FKA Twigs as Shy Girl, Natasha Lyonne (American Pie) as Mom, Maika Monroe (It Follows) as Sandra, Clifton Collins Jr. (One Eight Seven) as Tom, Martin Starr (Knocked Up) as Alec, and Graham Clarke (Lucifer) as TV Dad.

After watching the film, it's definitely easy to see all of the factors that went in to making Shia who he became. Shia did such an amazing job in the film, but if you think about it how much work did he have to do to get into the role of his father. The one thing that I can say is that mentally it must have been hard to do because it would bring back so many memories, but at the same time it has to be therapeutic to let it all go. Shia is an underrated actor in Hollywood and when he puts his mind to it, he does amazing things. My favorite film of his in 2019 was The Peanut Butter Falcon, but this one is definitely right up there. While I have to give Lucas Hedges credit for the role and the amazing job he did playing the rotten child star all grown up, but how do you go from being a brunette to a red head in adulthood? That part was a little bit confusing for me and what was the deal with the same chicken over the course of the film other than the fact it was a wild and un-tamable creature like himself. If you are a fan of Shia LaBeouf and you want to know a little of what he was dealing with as a kid then definitely give this film a watch. I loved the grittiness of the cinematography because it kind of had that documentary look to it while being melancholic in look as well. With that being said, I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.