Being the Ricardos
Being the Ricardos vs. the True Story of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz (historyvshollywood.com)
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
Let’s be honest, Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) was a pioneer in showing us how a mixed marriage could be accepted.
She challenged the idea that maybe there could be an equal relationship between a husband and a wife.
And, she even shattered the status quo concept that pregnancy could be depicted on television.
In “Being the Ricardos”, she is depicted as being a little crazy, when it was actually her husband, Desi (Javier Bardem), who was the crazy lying cheat in their marriage.
Ball used humor to help people accept it all, and in the process, she let people laugh at her.
She was doing it all for love, except her Cuban husband had old school ideas about men and women.
Like Tammy Faye, Lucille Ball becomes a clown-like figure in public.
Cast
- Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball
- Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz
- K. Simmons as William Frawley
- Nina Arianda as Vivian Vance
- Tony Hale as Jess Oppenheimer
- John Rubinstein as older Jess Oppenheimer
- Alia Shawkat as Madelyn Pugh
- Linda Lavin as older Madelyn Pugh
- Jake Lacy as Bob Carroll
- Ronny Cox as older Bob Carroll
- Clark Gregg as Howard Wenke
- Nelson Franklin as Joe Strickland
- Jeff Holman as Roger Otter
- Jonah Platt as Tip Tribby
- Christopher Denham as Donald Glass
- Brian Howe as Charles Koerner
- Ron Perkins as Macy
| Directed by | Aaron Sorkin |
| Written by | Aaron Sorkin |
House of Gucci
HOUSE OF GUCCI | Official Trailer | MGM Studios – Bing video
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
Similar to “Being the Ricardos,” the “House of Gucci” is fascinating, because it depicts a marriage comprised of mixed classes: The crazy rich and the hard-working upper middle class.
This film shows us the strengths of both classes.
Patrizia (Lady Gaga) manages the payroll accounts of her father’s business, so she is used to managing authority as a woman.
Like Lucille Ball, she is an intelligent woman trapped in a patriarchal society.
Both films are true stories.
In my opinion, Patrizia did not need a tarot reader, she needed an ally, which, unfortunately, was not her husband.
Maurizios’ (Adam Driver) father’s lawyer manages to pit the rich family members against each other to his own advantage.
Patrizia ends up in jail, Maurizio ends up dead, and the family lawyer (Jack Huston) takes over the family business.
Cast
- Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani
- Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci
- Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci
- Jeremy Irons as Rodolfo Gucci
- Salma Hayek as Giuseppina Auriemma
- Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci
- Jack Huston as Domenico De Sole
- Reeve Carney as Tom Ford
- Camille Cottin as Paola Franchi
- Vincent Riotta as Fernando Reggiani
- Alexia Muray as Silvana Reggiani
- Mia McGovern Zaini as Alessandra Gucci
- Florence Andrews as Jenny Gucci
- Mădălina Diana Ghenea as Sophia Loren
- Youssef Kerkour as Nemir Kirdar
- Mehdi Nebbou as Said
- Miloud Mourad Benamara as Omar
- Antonello Annunziata as Karl Lagerfeld
- Catherine Walker as Anna Wintour
- Martino Palmisano as Richard Avedon
| Directed by | Ridley Scott |
| Screenplay by | · Becky Johnston
· Roberto Bentivegna |
| Story by | Becky Johnston |
Spencer
SPENCER – Official Teaser Trailer – In Theaters November 5th – Bing video
The director of “Spencer” talks about the movie on Princess Diana – Bing video
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
In “Spencer,” Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), does not become a clown, she becomes bulimic.
Big red flag, her bulimia begins and is most severe right before she is to marry, Prince Charles (Jack Farthing).
Her subconscious body was screaming, “don’t marry him.”
What kind of man, agrees to marry a beautiful young woman, while not hiding his affair with another woman (Camilla)?
Diana (Kristen Stewart) was too young and amenable to patriarchal ways, to protest.
She apparently thought that she could make Charles (Jack Farthing) love her in the process of bearing him two sons.
Like in “Being the Ricardos” and in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Diana is made to look crazy in the process of becoming another victim of the patriarchal system.
Diana finds herself on the outside, under intense, microscopic criticism.
Diana was a person of feeling and empathy, which was out of place in such a militaristic environment.
The Queen (Stella Gonet) appears to be cold towards her. With Diana’s mother gone, Diana was seeking some kind of warmth from the mother Queen.
In the end, her escape to freedom is divorce.
Cast[
- Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales (née Spencer)[2]
- Timothy Spall as Equerry Major Alistair Gregory (based on David Walker)
- Jack Farthing as Charles, Prince of Wales
- Sean Harris as Darren McGrady, the Royal Head Chef
- Sally Hawkin as Maggie, the Royal Dresser
- Jack Nielen as Prince William
- Freddie Spry as Prince Harry
- Stella Gonet as Queen Elizabeth II
- Richard Sammel as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Olga Hellsing as Sarah, Duchess of York
- Thomas Douglas as John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer
- Mathias Wolkowski as Prince Edward
- Oriana Gordon as Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
- Amy Mansonas Anne Boleyn
- Ryan Wichert as Staff Sergeant Wood
- John Keogh as Michael
- Niklas Kohrt as Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- Elizabeth Berrington as Anne, Princess Royal
| Directed by | Pablo Larraín |
| Written by | Steven Knight |
*(“For all her aristocratic breeding, this innocent young kindergarten teacher felt totally at sea in the deferential hierarchy of Buckingham Palace. There were many tears in those three months and many more to come after that. Weight simply dropped off, her waist shrinking from 29 inches when the engagement was announced down to 23 inches on her wedding day. It was during this turbulent time that her bulimia nervosa, which would take nearly a decade to overcome, began,” Morton writes.
After the wedding in 1981, Prince Charles allegedly commented on Diana’s weight, which exacerbated Diana’s insecurities. “My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered off something in me. And the Camilla thing,” Diana said in the novel, the “Camilla thing” being Charles’s apparent and ongoing affair with Camilla Shand. On their honeymoon, Charles wore cufflinks that Camilla had given him, which had intertwined “C’s,” and spoke to her on the phone regularly.
While Diana’s bulimia was a secret to the public, the princess said everyone in the palace was aware of her struggles. “Everyone in the family knew about the bulimia, and everyone blamed the bulimia for the failure of the marriage,” she said.)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Tammy Faye (young) and (old).
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE Trailer (2021) Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield Drama Movie – Bing video
The Eyes of Tammy Faye vs. the True Story of Tammy and Jim Bakker (historyvshollywood.com)
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
Here comes the clown, Tammy Faye.
Tammy (Jessica Chastain) is one of many a young woman, who innocently marries a gay/bi man.
She finds herself in a loveless marriage.
In the film, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Tammy is depicted as an energetic, intelligent woman, who gives out love to everyone, but herself.
She gives love to her husband, her mother, her parishioners, but does not get it in return.
She becomes a love-starved, clown-like figure.
The sad part is that her religious intensions were sincere, and receiving money was not important to her.
Tammy Faye just wanted to help people.
Getting more and more money was how her husband, Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield), proved his manhood, for which he goes to jail.
Cast
- Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker
- Chandler Head as Young Tammy Faye
- Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker
- Cherry Jones as Rachel LaValley
- Vincent D’Onofrio as Jerry Falwell
- Fredric Lehne as Fred Grover
- Louis Cancelmi as Richard Fletcher
- Sam Jaeger as Roe Messner
- Gabriel Olds as Pat Robertson
- Mark Wystrach as Gary Paxton
- Jay Huguley as Jimmy Swaggart
| Directed by | Michael Showalter |
| Screenplay by | Abe Sylvia |
| Based on | The Eyes of Tammy Faye by Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato |
1/13/2022 # Women in Film 2021 & 2022