What to See If It Rains

This Holiday Weekend

By Sandra Olmsted

Since the weather pattern seems to indicate rain can be expected this holiday weekend, several films, all with elements of escapist fantasy and in theaters now, might be worth checking out. Yesterday and Men in Black: International will be around a bit longer, but Late Night and The Last Black Man in San Francisco will migrate to other delivery means very soon.

In director Danny Boyle’s Yesterday, a Universal Pictures release, Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) an aspiring rock star experiences an accident-induced coma during a worldwide blackout and awakens to a world where The Beatles never existed. He remembers all their songs and also notices other anomalies to the world before his accident. When Jack begins playing the Beatles’ iconic songs, he rockets to fame and fortune; however, he has many qualms about stealing someones else intellectual property, even if the real owners have no knowledge of their alternate-universe fame. While his manic and obsessed LA promotor, Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon in a fabulous performance) pushes him to do more, Jack also may lose Ellie Appleton (Lily James), the girl next door he loves. Watch for cameos, roles, and portrayals of and by musicians. Screenwriter Richard Curtis riffs on how events and pop culture interact in this enjoyable and fun comic fantasy with toes tapping music that make the film ripe for a sing-along. Patel proves a likable leading man with definite star quality, and McKinnon’s over-the-top silliness makes the most of her small role. Yesterday runs a toe-tapping 116 minutes and is rated PG-13 for suggestive content and language.

For those who want action in their fantasy, especially if they want a female hero, the Columbia Picture’s released Men in Black: International provides Agent M (Tessa Thompson), a spunky heroine, whose determination to become part of the Men in Black origin originates in her childhood. Once a “Women in Black,” she is paired with the unconventional Agent H (Chris Hemsworth), who is a rogue in many ways. When their mission goes south, intrigue in the top echelons of Men in Black may be the reason why an important alien leader is killed on M and H’s watch. In addition to Thompson’s solid embrace of her action heroine role, look for the performance by big stars, Emma Thompson as Agent O and Liam Neeson as Agent High T. In director F. Gary Gray’s spin-off, audiences get the snappy, smarty-pants dialogue, deadpan humor, and absurd action-adventure as the others films in the Men in Black franchise. Men in Black: International is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, some language, and suggestive material and runs an energetic 114 minutes.

While Yesterday and Men in Black: International will be in theaters longer, Late Night and The Last Black Man in San Francisco are poised to leave theaters very soon.

The brainchild of screenwriter, actress, and comedienne Mindy Kaling, Late Night follows Molly Patel (Kaling), a young woman who has idolized Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), the only female host of a late night TV-show. Newbury won and maintained that coveted spot by being tougher than any man around and by hiring only male writers. Mindy, a lowly lab worker for a company which owns the TV network, wins an interview with anyone in the conglomerate and chooses Newbury. Appalled to realize that not only has she no female writers and that she may lose her show, Newbury orders an underling to hire a woman writer, and Molly is on the station at that very moment. Because she’s seen the rest of the all-male writing team, Molly isn’t worried about the testosterone in the writers’ s room; however, head writer Tom Campbell (Reid Scott) isn’t taking the threat posed by Molly lightly. Director Nisha Ganatra’s crowd-pleasing comedy also looks hard at the issue of gender parity in the television industry, and Kaling, as the originator of The Mindy Project, seems to have some insight regarding the issue. This Amazon Studios release and Kaling’s first feature provides solid entertainment even if it has a few problems such as inconsistent and underdeveloped characters, especially the male writers. Late Night is rated R for language throughout and some sexual references and runs 102 minutes.

Last but not least by any means is the award-winning dramedy, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, which takes on the gentrification of neighborhoods and the pushing out of the original residents. Director Joe  Talbot won the Directing Award and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award at Sundance for this film. The film takes the audience inside the world of two young African-American friends, Jimmie Fails (played by Talbot’s real-life best friend Jimmie Fails) and his best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors). Both live with Mont’s invalid grandfather Allen (Danny Glover). Despite the fact that the current residents/owners resent his intrusions, Jimmie obsessively repairs the home his family once owned in San Francisco’s historically black Fillmore District, which was once dubbed “Harlem West.” Mont, who asked the homeless Jimmie to live with him and Allen, tags along on Jimmie’s trips to his family home. Then, an opportunity to reclaim the house via squatting presents itself, and Jimmie moves into his memory-laden family home. Will Jimmie reclaim his family home? How much of what he remembers about it is true? Will he find a place for himself in a city that is erasing his past and future? Screenwriters Talbot, Fails, and Rob Richert delicately and humanistically present Jimmie dilemmas regarding the idea of home and need to have a home in both the physical and psychological sense. The Last Black Man in San Francisco is sure to be Oscar bait and worth seeing on the big screen. The Last Black Man in San Francisco, an A24 release, is rated R for language, brief nudity, and drug use and runs a compelling if slowly paced 121 minutes.

All these films will keep audiences out of the rain for a few hours and will provide plenty of entertainment and even a little food for thought.

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