Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hidden Figures (2016) - Melfi's easily digestible ode to some unsung heroines

5/28/2023

Hidden Figures (2016) - Melfi's easily digestible ode to some unsung heroines

♥♥♥

Three women of color tower as formidable heroines on this poster for Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures

The 'space race' in 1960s America: The Soviets have succeeded in being the first to send a human into space, and NASA is under tremendous pressure to attain the upper hand on the new frontier. A group of black American women also work towards reaching this goal.

Hidden Figures is written by Allison Schroeder (Mean Girls 2 (2011, TV movie)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Theodore Melfi (Winding Roads (1999)), based on the non-fiction book Hidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly.

Segregation falls by the wayside in favor of reaching a common goal in the course of the work described in the plot outline above, - eyes are opened to the fact that brainpower has no skin color. But the sympathetic narrative lacks opposition; the villain here is 'the times', and that gets boring. The funky score (made with help from Pharrell Williams (Despicable Me 3 (2017))) and the honest performances from all help this polished, safe product (it feels more as such than as a film) go down without fail.

Related posts:

Theodore Melfi: Going in Style (2017) - Flip the bird to banks with game veteran stars (writer)

St. Vincent (2014) - Melfi debuts with a heartwarming dramedy (writer/director)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 235.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 9.43 times its cost)

[Hidden Figures premiered 1 December (Virginia) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 2016 in Georgia. Although based on real people, several aspects of the segregation and racism shown in the film are entirely fictional constructs. The film opened #18 to a 515k $ first weekend in 25 theaters in North America, where it peaked some weeks later at #1 with a 22.8 mil. $ weekend before grossing finally 169.6 mil. $ (71.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 13.3 mil. $ (5.6 %) and the UK with 7.9 mil. $ (3.3 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars: It lost Best Picture to Moonlight, Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer (The Witches (2020)) to Viola Davis in Fences and Adapted Screenplay to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for Moonlight. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, 2 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, won 2 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Melfi returned with The Black Ghiandola (2017, short), Daughter (2020, short) and theatrically with The Starling (2021). Taraji P. Henson (Empire (2015-20)) returned in The Simpsons (2017, TV-series) and theatrically in Proud Mary (2018); Spencer in The Shack (2017); and Janelle Monáe (Harriet (2019)) in 8 music videos and a TV-series prior to her theatrical return in Welcome to Marwen (2018). Hidden Figures is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hidden Figures?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

5/28/2023

Hidden Figures (2016) - Melfi's easily digestible ode to some unsung heroines

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