31 Days, 31 Movies 12/23: The Post

Old white people love to do two things during movies: clap and cough themselves to death.  That is what I have found out over the last few weeks.  I have spent lots of time in theaters full of old white people, they seem to be the only demographic that partakes in the kinds of movies that I enjoy.  Clapping at the end of movies has always irked me.  Who are you clapping for?  The newest phenomenon that is even more confusing is the applause started during the middle of the movie, can you stop so I can hear the actual movie going on?  The one thing that was pretty clear is that a Bethesda, MD audience really enjoyed this movie.  The other thing that is clear from the reviews is that this movie does not play well in the flyover sections of this country—one of the least surprising developments of 2017.

The Post closes out 2017 by giving Murder on the Orient Express a run for most talent packed movie of the year.  Carrie Coon has maybe a dozen lines in this movie and if you blink you might miss Zach Woods but I can imagine it was pretty easy to fill out this cast with willing actors happy to work with Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Josh Singer and Steven Spielberg.  I can’t imagine the prospect of celebrating freedom of the press in the year 2017 hurt their recruiting efforts either.  Because of the sheer wealth of talent in this movie is it hard to be surprised by its quality.

I saw three movies in three different theaters yesterday so I’m going to bail on this review so that I can do the other two justice.  I know it’s probably not fair to my reader but this movie was so obviously excellent that I think it’s fair for me to skip out on this one.  And I can assure you that in a few days for list week we will be talking about this movie so do not miss it, for a plethora of reasons.

Conclusion:

Steven Spielberg and Josh Singer do their best to recapture the magic of Spotlight and to great effect.  Lead by two generational talents in Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and with a supporting cast bursting with talent The Post makes for an excellent political thriller.  For some reason making a movie about the actual events that surrounding the publishing of the Pentagon Papers has become controversial.  Don’t let anything so silly stop you from seeing this movie that is quite worthy of all the praise it, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Spielberg are receiving.

Rating: 85