Adventures in moviegoing: "Frozen II," "A Beautiful Day," more

Thanks to a Regal Unlimited card and my wife's masterful handling of our schedule, November has been loaded with movies in theaters. I have thoughts on all we've seen below, including the blockbuster "Frozen II," but first up is the best of the lot, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," with Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.

Hanks is wonderful as the children's-TV host, capturing his warmth, his thoughtfulness and his challenging of himself and others. I knew Rogers a little; I arranged for him to appear at a press conference for the Television Critics Association, and he gave me a fine interview for my book Television's Greatest Year: 1954. A memorable aspect of the book interview was Rogers's repeatedly urging me to include a section about Frieda Hennock, a crusading member of the FCC in the early '50. An even more noteworthy part of the TCA appearance was Fred encountering some children who had brought him gifts in the lobby of the hotel where we were meeting, inviting the children along to the TCA session, and his opening their gifts before beginning the formal press conference.

I saw that Fred Rogers in the scenes of the film. I also saw myself in the reporter (played by Matthew Rhys) whose life is changed by meeting Fred. Like that reporter, I did not understand Fred before I had children -- I had not encountered his program in my own childhood -- and spoke cynically about him before I saw the effect he could have. Then, and now, I get it. Now, too, I wish I had talked to Fred more, that maybe he could have helped me to be a better person, the way he helps others in the film.

Of course, as the movie makes clear, Fred helped millions of little ones to accept themselves, to express their feelings, to feel understanding and love, regardless of how much anger, sorrow and cynicism surrounds them. And we can use that. I do not know if Hanks will get a well-deserved Oscar nomination for "A Beautiful Day," but I imagine him facing off against Joaquin Phoenix's brilliant performance in "Joker," and academy voters facing a choice between the nihilism of Joker and the uplift of Fred Rogers. Too often these days, in too many parts of the world, nihilism is winning. This would be a nice chance to go another way.

Other movies ... 

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Frozen II. Too much plot, not enough Trolls. This sequel to the mega-hit inevitably was bound to feel less fresh  than the original (and a recent re-viewing of the first on Disney+ reminded that it was a nice movie with a catchy song and good characters but not the stuff of the greatest Disney films). Bur the sequel, while not bad, huffs and puffs its way through a strained story, and at least one very odd decision -- a musical sequence built from cliches in '80s music videos. There are some moving bits, Anna and Elsa are still engaging characters and some of the visuals are impressive. But I still wanted a better-told tale, and more with the Trolls.
21 Bridges. An efficient action film, its title really has little to do with the story, a prolonged pursuit of a couple of cop-killing thieves (Stephan James, Taylor Kitsch). To stop their escape from Manhattan, a tough detective (Chadwick Boseman) has all egress from the island shut down -- subways, trains, water traffic and those 21 bridges. Boseman's detective is seemingly the ideal man for the case since he has a reputation for killing suspects, and no one wants the bad guys to survive for a trial. But his insertion into the case is just one indication that Things Are Not What They Seem. The twists in the movie are not as twisty as you might hope (with one given away by casting), but the pace is lively enough to make this an escape from a dreary day.
Ford v Ferrari. One of the surprises at the end of this movie is that it had been going for about 2 1/2 hours, a length that it filled very nicely thanks to an intriguing and face-based story (about  Ford's '60s effort to best Ferrari in the Le Mans race), a good character and performance by Christian Bale as crack race-car driver Ken Miles, and some pointed arguments about creativity-by-committee. Matt Damon is also on hand as racing impresario Carroll Shelby, but the focus is more often on Miles. We see a lot about Miles's family life, for instance, almost none about Shelby's (perhaps because his real life included seven marriages). There's a good supporting cast as well, including Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II and Jon Bernthal as Lee Iaccoca, with dramatic racing sequences keeping the energy high.
Charlie's Angels. Written and directed by Elizabeth Banks, this latest reworking of the '70s TV series tries oh so hard to be freshly funny and exciting -- with Kristen Stewart especially eager to show it's all FUN -- but it ends up being forced, overlong and only intermittently entertaining. Some old ideas are better left behind.
The Good Liar. What a disappointment. From the first time I saw a trailer for this, I thought what could be more fun than Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren in a con-game thriller where we couldn't be sure who would end up the cat and who the mouse. But the movie itself was slow, talky and a waste of the two stars' talents. Sure, they easily offer the crafty glance. It wasn't enough for this exhausting and exhausted tale.
Midway. A big, noisy rendering of the pivotal World War II battle as seen from both the American and the Japanese sides, this would prove enlightening to younger spectators if they were at all interested in an action-laden history lesson. And the battle segments are often impressive. But the movie is lacking in detailed portraits of its characters, especially the less-known names, while the bigger actors (Dennis Quaid and Woody Harrelson, for example) play the folks found in the history books. It's not enough to portray heroics; we have to know more about the heroes.
Last Christmas. A holiday tale set to the songs of George Michael, this stars Emilia Clarke as a woman whose aimless life involves working in a Christmas-items shop and being miserable. Her misery will not last, thanks to the help of a stranger, and that might have been enough for a Hallmark movie -- but this (co-written by Emma Thompson, who also plays a supporting role)  has larger ambitions, such as contemplation of immigration. Some of it is quite sweet, and it builds to a surprise. But, while I will watch Kendrick in just about anything, I don't see myself giving this a second look.
Harriet. All hail Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, the slave who not only escaped her masters but became renowned for leading others to freedom. The film, co-written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, is an earnest history lesson, perfect for middle schoolers and older students who want -- who need -- to know more about America's slaveholding era. And it's a satisfying film for everyone else, especially when you look at the uncompromising, solemn presentation of Tubman embodied in the script and in Erivo's performance.
Terminator: Dark Fate. The best thing about this latest reconsideration of the Terminator saga is Linda Hamilton, back as Sarah Connor and as nail-hard as ever. The movie as a whole is an improvement on the third through fifth movies in the series, not least because it tosses out story from those movies and picks up in the wake of "Terminator 2." The problem is that for long stretches it looks a lot like "Terminator 2" in its action and its villainy. I didn't mind it but, if I'm going to introduce anyone to Connor and the Terminator, I'm going back to the first two movies to do it.
So ends the November film-going to date. Hey, the month's not over yet.