Movies like “Serenity” that are described by some critics as “January junk” are the kind of films that come out early in the year because they have no chance for any kind of an award and are essentially just early year filler until much better movies are released. Unfortunately Serenity is another example of January junk.

One reason why screenplays are so difficult to write is that when you are trying to trick the audience, everything along the way has to have plausibility. The story has to make sense and the way people react to what is going on, also has to make sense. In all my years of watching and writing about movies, this movie has probably the stupidest idea yet to trick the audience and in conclusion none of the entire 2 hours makes any sense. Movies like this anger audiences much more than entertain them, because a person would have to throw out all levels of common sense to buy into the insane high level idea that controls all of the action that happens for the entire movie.

Serenity stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane and Djimon Hounsou and I thought it was very hard to believe that 4 actors who have won and been nominated for Academy Awards, still agreed to act in this movie after reading the script. Serenity is probably another example of deal making and Hollywood favors that have to be honored. Considering the large number of better scripts that will never be made into a film, this bad script being produced is another example of one that should have been thrown into the trash. I have seen worse movies than this one, but I cannot remember a more inane high level idea that does nothing more than try to trick an already bored audience. The last ditch effort to save this bad film was the heads up to US audiences about a few McConaughey nude scenes, but this will not save the box office for an idea this bad.

The Rotten Tomatoes reviews for this movie are a very low 22% and I agree with this rating and recommend that everybody runs from this 2 hours of mess.

Best Picture:

“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”

Lead Actor:

Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Lead Actress:

Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Director:

Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”

In 1937 Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the number one comedy act and movie actors in the world. Unfortunately Laurel and Hardy were at the top during a time when movie companies like Paramount, Warner Brothers and MGM signed all of their actors to contracts and those contracts guaranteed that the company made a great majority of the money generated by the movies produced. But the actors and screenwriters never got a fair share of the money they generated from their talent and creativity. This kind of financial injustice meant that Laurel and Hardy both had constant money problems and had to travel on the road to make money all the way up to the year 1953 when they went on their last tour in England. This last tour in England represents about 80% of this film and it shows many of the acts they did on stage together before Oliver Hardy’s heart problems, brought on by his weight, forced the end of Laurel and Hardy’s long collaboration.

Amazingly, Stan Laurel was married 5 times and Oliver Hardy was married 3 times – and one can only guess that the reason for this were the long hours and traveling away from their many wives that was large part of their careers as world famous comedy performers. Laurel and Hardy made over 150 movies together and even after Hardy died in in 1957, Laurel continued to write movie scripts for both them up until his death in 1965, refusing to ever work with anyone else. Laurel and Hardy had their problems and arguments, one big one was depicted in this film, but this was inevitable due to so many years working together and the pressures of show business.

This movie stars John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy and Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and both are outstanding in their roles. John C. Reilly’s facial and body makeup to play Oliver Hardy was about as good as any makeup I have ever seen in any film. Reilly has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Oliver Hardy and he will also receive an Academy Award nomination as well. The Rotten Tomatoes reviews for Stan and Ollie are a very high 92% and I agree with this rating as well as strongly recommend this film.