Evan D. Making a movie about Fred Rogers is a daunting task. Millions of Americans grew up in the Neighborhood and even now, nearly 20 years from his program’s final episode, Mister Rogers remains an almost universally beloved figure. All this to say that the bar was set awfully high for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The film more than clears that bar. It excels for two specific reasons: Tom Hanks and Marielle Heller.
Evan D. Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) appears on screen for less than 10 minutes in a film that bears his last name. James Mangold’s new racing epic may be called Ford v Ferrari but the famous Italian super car designer is hardly the foil this title would seem to indicate. Instead the real battle taking place is between bureaucracy and individuality.
Ford v Ferrari tells the story of the Ford Motor Company’s attempt to defeat the dominant Ferrari racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. In reality though the rivalry between Ferrari and Henry Ford II (Tracey Letts) is just the background for a tale about Caroll Shelby (Matt Damon,) Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and the internal roadblocks they faced creating a car to compete with Ferrari. Evan D. With the launch of Disney+ last week and the massive box office haul in progress for Walt Disney Studios, the Mouse House is really having a moment. Indeed after just one day Disney plus reported over 10 million subscribers to its streaming platform. If that seems like a lot, it is. Disney+ already boasts a subscriber count higher than that of any other streaming platform except Netflix and Hulu (which Disney also owns.) Couple that with the company’s staggering box office numbers in the first 10 months of 2019 and you’re left with, pretty inarguably, the most powerful media company in the world right now.
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