Harriet: Live Free or Die

Cynthia Ervino is Harriet

She is an American hero. She escaped slavery and risked her life again and again by returning to the South to guide hundreds of other slaves through the Underground Railroad.

It's a story that screams suspense, drama, and inspiration.

So why is this movie such a dud?

It stars Cynthia Ervino, who grabbed the Movie Slut with her soulful portrayal of a blues singer in "Bad Times at the El Royal." And she even gets a chance to sing in this flick. Otherwise, she appears muzzled, as do most of the other characters. Even the despicable stick-figure slave owners seem more ridiculous than scary.

Oh, Harriet. You deserve so much better!

Turning: Screwy

Since it was written in 1898, Henry James's novella "The Turn of the Screw" has been a continuous source of fascination. How else to explain the Benjamin Britten opera (1954). the Luigi Zaninelli ballet (1980), a Broadway play, and dozens of film and television adaptations.

Which begs the question: Do we need this movie?

The Movie Slut would like to say, "Yes." Alas, she cannot.

Movie-goers should be left  to wonder if the nanny (a terrific Mackenzie Davis), who foolishly takes a position in a spooky old mansion with a couple of weirdo kids and a creepy cook, is slowly going bonkers because of her difficult past? Or is she freaking out because the house is haunted by ghosts?

The problem is this horror film just isn't horrifying. and left the MS saying "Huh?" instead of "Eeeeeeee!"

The Gentlemen: Gangsta Chic

Guy Richie's new flick confirms the age-old adage: "It's not what you know or who you know. It's what you wear."

Matthew McConaughey, around which the plot twirls, is a marijuana mogul who wears bespoke updated Savile Row suits. His wife (Michelle Dockery) is turned out in Balmain, Lauren, Stella McCartney, and Christian Louboutin. Collin Farrell, and his posse of gym rats, sport track suits of exaggerated British plaids, stripes, and checks.

Now, imagine taking these folks seriously. The Movie Slut could not. Although the movie is billed as an action/thriller, she insists it's a comedy. Consider Hugh Grant as a smarmy, poofter with a cockney accent. Funny?

The plot is simple, a couple of low-life business entities are after McConaughey's lucrative underground pot biz. But they underestimate his abilities to keep them at bay. Obviously, it's not the plot that counts.

Underwater: Glug. Glug. Glug.

The Movie Slut was desperate. It was the third week in January and she'd only seen three movies on the big screen. Withdrawal symptoms were setting in. She hunted through the listings for local theaters. She'd seen all the good ones. That left...

Underwater was the best of the worst and had two attractions. The first was Kristin Stewart. The MS has been a fan since 2010 when she starred as rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways. The second was an absurdly, creepy, slimy, reptilian monster that erupts with clicking sounds a la Alien.

The plot of Underwater is basically 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, circa 2020. Jules Verne's 1870 novel is slightly updated with humans working on drills six plus miles underwater. We never know what they were doing there exactly. And perhaps Kristen doesn't either, because she wonders philosofically if she and the crew were trespassers in a place where they had no right to be. 

Deep!

1917: War Story

Ever  have one of those dreams where you're trying to get somewhere or see someone and roadblocks pop up at every step. Now imagine you're a soldier in World War I trying to deliver a message to the front line. You must  pass through enemy territory, but if you make it the reward is tremendous. You could save 1,600 of your comrades.

This is the bare bones of director Sam Mendes's brilliant film. The plot is simple, yet the movie brings much more to the big screen. It's a condemnation of war that touches on heroism, humanity, and brutality.

Mendes works with a gentle touch despite the subject he's dealing with. Don't expect gratuitous blood and gore, or lofty speeches. His characters show you what they feel and how they suffer. They don't have to tell you.

War movies aren't the Movie Slut's fave genre. Still, if she had a vote for Best Movie of 2019, it would be 1917.

Just Mercy: A story of merciless injustice

Michael B. Jordan is Attorney Bryan Stevensen

Welcome to Alabama, 1987, where a black man has as little chance of finding justice as he does of winning the lottery and getting hit by lightening on the same day.

Enter Bryan Stevensen, a recent Harvard Law School grad, who's devoting his career to defending death-penalty inmates who were wrongly condemned. Walter McMillian (Jaime Foxx) is one of his first clients and if ever there was a trumped up case, this is it.

Still, don't expect an easy road for Stevensen. Racist local law enforcers are happy with the status quo. To them McMillian's guilt or innocence is as important as a flea in a haystack. As long as someone was found guilty of murdering an 18-year-old white girl, it's all good to them.

A true story, based on a book written by Stevensen, the film, also starring Brie Larson, wowed the Movie Slut. Sure, she's seen similar plots, but none as well executed (excuse the pun) as Just Mercy.   

A Hidden Life: Lived out in the open

Long and lingering, Terrence Malick's movies are kind to the audience. Should you need to use the facilities, by all means, get up and go without fear of missing anything.

That is not to say that the Movie Slut didn't relish every minute of the three-hour screen time.

The cinematography is exquisite, the acting superb, and the story engrossing. The experience is hypnotic.

The action revolves around an Austrian farmer whose moral compass will not allow him to sign an oath of allegiance to Hitler. It's not that he has to fight for the Nazi cause. He can work in a hospital instead.

Still, no can do.

The repercussions are dire. This is not an upbeat, begin-the-new-year-with-a-smile movie. But it will make you think.