Red One

My View:  Red One  (2024) PG-13 In Red One, after Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons), aka Red One, is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) teams up with the world’s greatest bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to find Saint Nick and save Christmas. Red One is a film that has no idea what it is. Is it a kid's movie (then why all the cursing?)? Is it an action film for adults? Is it a Christmas movie that wants to be included in your yearly viewing around holiday time? After seeing this film (in 4DX, which is like watching a movie while having motion sickness and being continually punched in the back), I have no clue what this film is besides one big mess. I liked that Santa is in shape (which explains how he can visit so many places in one night), and the film smartly has Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus, but that’s about it. Johnson and Evans have no chemistry between them; it’s as if those rumors of turmoil on the set were accurate. The CGI is horrible, the film wants you to believe that there is a toy store in every city in the world (not these days), and Santa has a brother (named Krampus, yes, that one) who came up with the naughty list. The film feels much longer than the little over two hours, which answers the question of whether this is a kid’s movie. In this day and age, do you think kids want to sit down for over two hours in a theater? The laughs are few and far between, and there is a slap contest that is supposed to be funny but seems way over-the top violent (again, not a kid’s movie). Oh yeah, and the film’s villain is a witch, played by Kiernan Shipka, which answers the question: is this a Christmas movie that can be added to our yearly viewing list? Uh, nope. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See It Again  Red One Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Ghost Cat Anzu  (2024)  Ghost Cat Anzu is about Karin, a teenager whose father has left her in the care of her grandfather, who lives in a temple. Anzu, a giant ghost cat, has been tasked with looking after Karin. Karin and Anzu are about to find out making a deal with the devil is a terrible idea. This animated film feels almost like an anti-Ghibli film, in which the film uses rotoscoping for its animation and with a lead character who loves to fart and thumb his nose at society. That being said, it’s a sweet, funny film that takes a bit to get going, but once it does, it goes at almost a breakneck speed towards a lot of fun. Ghost Cat Anzu is about a young girl who feels abandoned (her mother is dead, and her father is a deadbeat) and is looking for a place where she can belong and be loved. It’s a world where our main character gets introduced to a huge, talking cat, and she just accepts it with little fanfare. That’s just the beginning of us exploring a world where ghosts walk the earth, demons come up for a visit, and a giant talking cat is a hero to a little girl who is desperate for heroes in her life.  My Rating: Full Price  Ghost Cat Anzu Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  A Real Pain  (2024) R  A Real Pain is about two cousins, David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. Their trip will explore tensions that have been simmering for a long time. Writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg has created a film where he isn’t the star. In fact, of the two main characters, we could have done away with about half of David’s interactions with the rest of the cast. That’s because Kieran Culkin is the main force in this film, and it’s to his credit as an actor that even though we occasionally don’t like Benji, we always want to see what he will do or say next. It’s an amazing performance you are always drawn to when he is on the screen, making us love Benji, even with all his faults. The film is about discovery, pain, and lost innocence, and trying to come to an understanding of both the cultural past of your ancestors and the recent past of two cousins who feel more like brothers. Brothers who have lost their connection to each other and are trying to find it again. My Rating: Full Price  A Real Pain Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point  (2024)  PG-13  On Christmas Eve, a huge family gathers together for their annual party in what could be the last gathering in their ancestral home. As tensions rise, drinking begins, and the teenagers sneak out of the house to make it another memorial time in Miller’s Point. Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is a movie that feels like you have been invited to a family home for Christmas Eve but have never met anyone in the family before. From the start, we are thrown into the family car, sharing the back of the station wagon with a kid looking at the Christmas lights from upside down, as the father drives with almost uncaring abandon. We arrive at the home and the party is already going, with no introductions to anyone. This is a film where you will get to know some of the family better than others, as they bicker over whether the aging mother should be put in a home, kids run rampant in the house, and teens are sullenly waiting for the adults to start drinking so they can sneak away. Some of the family’s stories are left open-ended, and for others, we see the consequences by the film’s end. Christmas in Miller's Point is a film that allows us to share in the excitement of a big and loving family on a night where gifts are given and love is present.  My Rating: Full Price Christmas Eve in Miller's Point Website Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Chasing Chasing Amy  (2024)   Chasing Chasing Amy is a documentary exploring the complex legacy of Kevin Smith’s film Chasing Amy (1997) and its impact on the LGBTQ+ community. The origins of this documentary are a TED talk that the director of the film, Sav Rodgers, did about how the film Chasing Amy helped him deal with high school, feeling alone with suicidal thoughts, and his awakening sexual orientation. Sav watched the movie over 200 times, and as time went on, the film took on different meanings to him. Through that TED talk, Kevin Smith got in touch with Sav and the genesis of the documentary started to take shape. The film explores both the good and bad of the film through Sav’s story and interviews with people like filmmaker Guinevere Turner, whose screenplay for the groundbreaking indie film Go Fish came out simultaneously with Kevin Smith’s Clerks. Sav, with help from Kevin Smith, interviews members of the cast and crew from Chasing Amy, including a very memorable and touching interview with its star, Joey Lauren Adams. What started as an odyssey to discover what the film meant for Sav and others turns into a journey of self-discovery for Sav. It seems that Sav no longer needs a film to feel comfortable about himself and his place in this world. And that's okay.   My Rating: Full Price  Chasing Chasing Amy Website  Now playing in select theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Off the Map  (2003) PG-13  Bo (Valentina de Angelis) is an eleven-year-old girl who lives in New Mexico with her father, Charley (Sam Elliot), and mother, Arlene (Joan Allen). They live simply off the land, selling cut flowers to make a few bucks. Charley has become depressed, and neither his wife nor his best friend, George (J.K. Simmons), can pull him out of this darkness. Into their lives walks William (Jim True-Frost), an IRS agent, who is there to audit them. Off the Map is a film that poses questions but rarely gives us answers. Things slow down on the property, and the longer William stays there, the more he becomes under the spell of a place where things will be dealt with in their own time. Sam Elliot is wonderful as the father who has lost his spirit and needs to get it back or lose his wife. Bo, played beautifully by Valentina de Angelis, is the only person who will probably leave as she has a fire inside her that the rest of the cast of characters don’t have. My Rating: Full Price  Off the Map Info  Available to rent/buy on Amazon

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Red One:  Precision Car Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Wicked  (2024) PG  Wicked is about Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood young woman who has been looked down upon because of her green skin. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is a spoiled rich girl who is a little boy crazy. At Shiz University in the Land of Oz, they find themselves becoming unlikely friends. We are about to learn that there are always two sides to a story. Wicked is one of the most anticipated films of the season, based on the Broadway musical. The film will be in two parts as the director, Jon M. Chu, felt that there was too much story to explore in just one film.  Wicked Website The film is in theaters nationwide on Friday, November 22, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Heretic

My View:  Heretic  (2024)  R   In Heretic, two young Mormon women (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) have been spreading the word of God door to door without much success. They knock on Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant) door, and he welcomes them in, eager to hear what they have to say. The two girls soon learn that they are captive in the house and are to play a game of cat-and-mouse in the home of a madman. Heretic is a highly inventive horror/suspense film that will test your nerves and even your puzzle-solving skills. Hugh Grant gives one of his best performances in years and against type as a man who invites two young women into his home to test their faith and will to live. Grant, as a man who has lots of questions and few answers, is a delight to watch on the screen, as he pulls out all the stops, including some songs from the past and some trivia from the present. It’s a master class in being charming while also being weird and scary at the same time. Heretic is a film where evil thinks it can out-think good, as Mr. Reed pushes the young Mormon missionaries to question their religious beliefs while also putting them through a torturous puzzle of a house that seems always to have one more door to open. If you're not prepared for the constant questions about faith and religion, Heretic may not be the horror film for you. However, if you wait for Mr. Reed to get down to business, there are some excellent scares in your future. Just know that you may want to take a religion course or two at your local community college after seeing Heretic and being a part of Mr. Reed’s lectures. You might also have a craving for blueberry pie. Then again, probably not.  My Rating: Full Price Heretic Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Small Things Like These  (2024)  PG-13  Small Things Like These takes place in Ireland in 1985, where Bill (Cillian Murphy), a local coal distributor, lives with his wife and five children. While delivering coal, he sees a sight that will change his life: a young woman is screaming while being dragged against her will by two nuns and another woman into the church of the convent he is delivering to. Small Things Like These is about a man who has a troubled past and now is confronted with a situation that constantly brings up that past. Cillian Murphy gives us a performance that is all about the silence that almost encapsulates the character as he ponders his childhood and what to do about the young woman he has seen being mistreated by the nuns. Bill is a man with a good heart. He is a wonderful father to five girls and is married to a wife he adores. However, Bill, like the rest of the town, knows that nuns run a home for unmarried women who have become pregnant. As the film progresses, Bill learns more and more about how these young women are being treated, especially the young woman he saw earlier. Bill has to make a decision whether to stay silent and carry on with his business or take a risky action that could lead to significant consequences. Murphy gives us another Oscar-worthy performance, one where his face, often in shadows and in close-up, gives us all we need to know about what he is feeling. It’s a performance that you will not forget.   My Rating: Full Price  Small Things Like These Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest:  Emilia Perez  (2024) R Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is a lawyer who feels that she will never be successful. She gets an anonymous call that tells her if she is willing to meet with someone, she will be richly rewarded. Rita goes to the meeting against her better judgment and discovers that her new client is a cartel kingpin, Juan ‘Manitas’ Del Monte. It's a meeting that will change her and Manitas' lives, for both good and bad. Emilia Perez is a musical in the style of Andrew Lloyd Weber, where much of what the characters think and say is expressed through song. Shot in Mexico by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the film stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez in a film that takes you on a journey you won’t expect. I loved the performances by all three, especially the opening musical number that Zoe Saldaña does as her character expresses her frustration with being smarter and a better lawyer than her boss. The problem for me was that the musical numbers seemed endless and were often filled with words that didn't quite fit together. The film felt much longer than its two-hour and ten-minute running time, and while the plot certainly gets points for creativity (and makeup), it felt a little too much like watching a very long Telenovela. While I am not enamored with the film, I will tell you that France has submitted it as their official submission for Best International Picture, and it won awards at film festivals across the world, including Cannes. It’s just not my type of film. However, it might be yours. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Emilia Perez Info   Now playing in select theaters and will be available on Netflix on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently)   Juror #2  (2024)  PG-13   In Juror #2, Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult), is serving on a high-profile murder trial. Justin faces a moral dilemma that will undoubtedly impact his entire life. Justin is being forced to reexamine a past event that happened to him that could help determine the case’s verdict. This could be the last film that Clint Eastwood directs, which is sad because the studio only gave it a small amount of screens in a few cities. Eastwood, for the last ten years, has been an up-and-down director with some good work (Richard Jewell, Sully) along with some so-so work (Cry Macho, The 15:17 to Paris). I am happy to say that this time out, Eastwood has given us a solid courtroom drama about a man, played by a low-key Nicholas Hoult, who has a huge moral dilemma. He has information that could change the outcome of the trial, but it could also get him into trouble. The film keeps the tension going soon after Justin is picked to be a juror for the trial, as we are let in on what Justin knows. The film puts you in the shoes of Justin, and we have to decide whether to go along with what Justin does with the information or root against him, this family man with a baby on the way. While not a great film, Juror #2 is a solid work that deserved more theaters and promotion for a four-time Academy Award winner. Sorry Mr. Eastwood, Hollywood is a very fickle town.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Juror #2 Website   Soon will be on streaming services. 

My View:  Blitz  (2024)  PG-13   Blitz is about nine-year-old George (Elliot Heffernan), who is sent by his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) to the countryside via train to escape World War II in London. Defiant and determined, George leaves the train and sets out to return to his family in a city being attacked by constant bombing. The film takes place when London was under siege by bombing, and going to a makeshift fallout shelter was a nightly activity. Rita works in a factory making bombs, and she wants her son to be safe. So, against his will, she puts him on a train. George shares the same fate as more than a million other children during the war, being sent to the countryside for safety, but without his family. However, George has other ideas and jumps the train, starting a journey to go home again. Blitz is the tale of two people. George, a young, independent boy, will see and do things that he can’t imagine to get back home. And his mother, Rita, who at first is sad that her only child has been sent away. Rita learns her son jumped the train, and no one knows where he is. The production design and the cinematography of this film are outstanding, making you feel as if you, too, are in London dodging bombs and burning houses. The film is anchored by two exceptional performances: Elliot Heffernan as the tough, determined George and Saoirse Ronan as Rita, the single mom trying to raise her son and keep him safe. Heffernan is perfect in the role of George, who seems almost as if he is from a Dickens story. We see the horror of war through Heffernan's eyes as George brings us along for his adventure full of betrayal, close calls, and death. Saoirse Ronan is remarkable as the young mother who is just trying to survive while loving her son with all her heart. It's a performance that will tear at your heart. Writer/director Steve McQueen takes us on an adventure where the world has been torn apart, and we get to experience it from the point of view of a son and a mother who only want to find each other again.  My Rating: Full Price  Blitz Info  Now playing in select theaters and will be streaming the Apple TV+ platform on Friday, November 22, 2024.

My View:  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)  PG   In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Grace (Judy Greer) has been given the reigns of the annual Christmas Pageant. One problem: the Herman kids, the terrors of the neighborhood, are determined to be included in this year’s pageant. Wherever the Herman kids go, mayhem and trouble always follow. Will Christmas survive? I got a very different film than what I was expecting. I thought this would be more of a silly and laugh-out-loud funny film, like A Christmas Story. Instead, we get a wonderful film about acceptance, compassion, and empathy. If you're not looking, you might even get the meaning of Christmas thrown in for good measure. What you see in the trailer is about all the hijinks you get from the Herman kids. This is a film whose message is that the church is for all of us, poor and rich alike. A lovely performance by Judy Greer anchors the film as the mom who takes on the Christmas Pageant and the busy body women who want her to get rid of the Herman kids from appearing in the pageant. Greer works the story with lightness and joy in her performance, making us fall in love with Grace as she is willing to include the kids who everyone else wants gone. The film also has standout performances from Molly Belle Wright as Beth, Grace’s daughter who prays to God to help her mother put on the pageant, and Beatrice Schneider as Imogene, the leader of the Herman kids who is determined that she will play Mary in the pageant. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a film that the whole family will enjoy, and I can see it becoming a permanent part of the yearly Christmas movie-watching experience.   My Rating: Full Price  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Website  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Shade  (2003) R  Vernon (Stewart Townsend) is a card shark, so good that people think it’s magic. Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne) and his girlfriend, Tiffany (Thandiwe Newton), see someone they can use to do a con. The man they want to take down is a notorious gambler, Dean Stevens (Sylvester Stallone). It’s going to take a lot to take Dean down. This is a film that has so many twists and turns that it almost makes your head spin. There are some fun performances, including Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith. It’s a movie that makes for a good weekend watch, with plenty of surprises to keep you interested.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Shade Info  Available for rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Heretic:  Breakdown Artist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  September 5  (2024)  R  During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting team finds itself covering a hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes. The trailer looks fantastic, highlighting an event when literally the whole world was watching.  September 5 Website  The film will be in theaters on Friday, November 29, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Here

My View:  Here  (2024)  PG-13  Here is about more than a century of life in one American home, one room, shown to us from one view as we see a tale of love, loss, laughter, family, and life. Here is an intriguing filmmaking experiment that occasionally succeeds, but most of the time feels too gimmicky for its own good. The camera stays stationary throughout the film as we traverse the history of this piece of land and, for the majority of the film, the history of the house. Much has been made of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright back together again as a couple in this film, and yes, there is some de-aging (sometimes not well), but mostly this is a film about couples and how they spend their lives together, most until the very end. The film takes a bit of getting used to as it constantly goes back and forth through time, never staying in one place for too long. Each scene builds its story, like the bricks we see being laid for the house’s foundation early in the film. Some couples stand out more than others, even a few famous ones (if you count a couple who invented a certain landmark recliner). And as we move along, we get a few interesting tidbits, but they come in dribbles and drabs. The family that Tom Hanks’s character is part of makes up a good portion of the film, and for better and sometimes worse, we get to know that family the best. There is some joy in Here but it doesn't come from the Hanks/Wright portion and that makes the film feel uneven. I have a feeling that Here would have made a great animated short, but alas, instead, we get a valiant attempt in filmmaking at creating something unusual. However, the melodrama of the story and the sheer gimmickry overwhelm what could have been.  My Rating: Cable  Here Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Anora  (2024)  R   Anora (Mikey Madison), or as she will tell you, Ani, is a sex worker from Brooklyn who meets Ivan (Mark Eidelshtein), who hires her for the weekend. The weekend becomes something more when the two impulsively marry. Little does Anora know that Ivan is the son of an oligarch, and when his family finds out about the marriage, Anora and Ivan are in big trouble. Mikey Madison gives us a performance that knocks you right out of your seat as the take no bull, just trying to survive anyway she can Ani. It's a stunning, take no prisoners display that will make Madison a star and maybe even get her a deserved Oscar nomination. Anora is from award-winning filmmaker Sean Baker, who gave us Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket. As with his previous movie, Red Rocket, sex plays a vital role in the plot and how Ani sees herself and her world. Now, at first glance, you will fall in love, as does Ani, with Ivan, played by the beautifully hyper Mark Eidelshtein. However, there is a secondary character that will steal the film from everyone except for Madison. Igor, played by the amazingly low-key Yura Borisov. Borisov, as the muscle in the film, is able to make us follow him as he barely says anything, but his part becomes more important as the film moves along. The film slows down a bit in the last third of the film, but that allows us to see the little things that go on between Ani and Igor. I and my fellow critics were blown away by the final scene of Anora at a screening. We all sat there in silence, watching all the credits roll by, not wanting to break the mood of what we just watched. It's possible that you will do the same. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Anora Website   Now playing in select theaters.

My View:  Music by John Williams  (2024)  Music by John Williams is a documentary film about the life and work of legendary composer John Williams, who has composed some of Hollywood’s most famous scores. Music by John Williams is more of a tribute film than a life story documentary, and if anyone deserves a tribute film, it’s John Williams. I was amazed by how much he has done in his life, from leading a jazz band to composing music for symphonies, along the way, playing piano on some of the great film scores of the 50s and 60s. And in all that, he also did a ton of TV work in the 60s, creating scores for programs like Peter Gunn and, yes, Gilligan’s Island. Then he met a certain director, Mr. Spielberg, who was just starting his career, and they began a partnership that created some of the most iconic and beautiful scores for films that will be celebrated long after they are gone. The amount of work that Williams did was astounding, including one year when he did the scores for Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List in the same year. Fans of Williams will love all the behind-the-scenes stories that he tells about his work, and film buffs will love all the scenes from some of the most influential films of the last 30 years that John Williams made memorable because of the music he created.  My Rating: Full Price  Music by John Williams Website  Now playing on the Disney+ platform.

My View:  Martha  (2024)  R  The documentary Martha tells the story of Martha Stewart, who went from teen model to America’s first influencer, a woman who became a billionaire but also went to prison. Martha Stewart is a person who I would call an odd duck. She is a brilliant woman who insists on perfection from herself and anyone who works for her. From this film, we see that. We also see a woman who got married too young. Had a child too young and from what you see in this film, she shouldn't have ever gotten married. Martha is interviewed on camera for the film, and there are a few moments when we glimpse a bit behind the curtain of the woman who wants to control everything. It’s very fleeting, but when she talks about her marriage and her husband’s cheating, we see a bit of Martha that we don’t normally see. It’s still a fascinating story about a woman who was driven to be a success and kept breaking that glass ceiling, whether it was working on the male-driven world of Wall Street or convincing a group of stodgy old men that her magazine idea would not only work but would be a huge seller. The film does look at her arrest and trial. It’s very clear that Martha was put on trial to make an example of, not because she had been caught doing something wrong. If you are a fan of Martha, you will love this film because you see so much of her life both in the past and now. If you aren’t a fan, then you might, like me, get a little tired of the constant self-congratulation that she does throughout the film. But that’s Martha being Martha. She feels that if she doesn’t do it, no one will do it. At least not to her high standards.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee     Martha Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View:  Time Cut  (2024)  Time Cut is about Lucy (Madison Bailey), a modern high school senior who stumbles on a time machine and is transported back to 2003, the year her sister was murdered by a serial killer. Lucy must now figure out how to blend in while living in 2003 as she tries to find and stop a serial killer and save her sister. Time Cut is a film that has the basis of a good plot that never comes to the surface. Madison Bailey is the best thing about this poor excuse for a slasher film, but even her effervescence can’t overcome a script that throws out things like time machines without explanation or reason. The scares are barely there, and the killer looks like a terrible attempt at putting together a Jason costume teen for a last-minute party. I love how films like this ask us to just accept that Lucy can just show up at a high school and no one will ask who the heck she is. The plot is too lazy to explain anything, and the ending is mind-blowingly dumb. It’s too bad because other than a few cool April Lavigne songs and a brief trip to the mall, not much is made of the 20-year time jump unless you have Lucy ask about Facebook and Twitter, haha. Nevermind.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Time Cut Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Forgotten Film:  On the Edge  (2001)  R  Jonathan (Cillian Murphy) is mourning the loss of his father. He steals his father’s ashes and tries to commit suicide by driving a stolen car off a cliff. He survives with barely a scratch and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. Jonathan develops friendships and realizes that life can be challenging and troublesome, but if you have friends and a sense of humor, things can change. Although On the Edge is not a great film, it features an exceptional performance from a very young Cillian Murphy. Murphy’s Jonathan is a young man who is hurting but uses humor to stay sane. Murphy carries the film, which overall is a script that could have used a rewrite or two. However, Murphy makes On the Edge worth watching.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  On the Edge Info  The film is available for rent/buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Time Cut:  Additional Literary Material

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Small Things Like These  (2024)  PG-13  Small Things Like These takes place in Ireland in 1985, where Bill (Cillian Murphy), a local coal distributor, lives with his wife and five children. While delivering coal, he sees a sight that will change his life: a young woman is screaming while being dragged against her will by two nuns and another woman into the church of the convent he is delivering to. The film was shot on location in Ireland. That’s enough for me to see it.  Small Things Like These Website  Coming to theaters on Friday, November 8, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Venom: The Last Dance

My View:  Venom: The Last Dance  (2024)  PG-13  In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie and Venom (Tom Hardy) are on the run, being hunted by both of their worlds, and about to be caught. The duo will have to make a devastating decision that will end their partnership forever. I liked the first two films of the series, especially the second one, which was much darker than the first film. Eddie and Venom's back-and-forth dialogue has always been enjoyable in the Venom series, as they have gradually mastered the kinks of working together to become superheroes. Venom still eats people’s heads, so there’s that. However, I did not enjoy this film as much as the first two. The film is slow to develop, with the duo deciding to ditch Mexico and go to New York. The problem is that they are on the run from the government, with Eddie’s face plastered on TV, and now there is a new evil force looking for them, some super-aliens that want to capture Eddie/Venom. I can appreciate Tom Hardy wanting to have a long goodbye to a character that he cares about (Hardy produced and co-wrote the storyline for the film) and we get lots of scenes of Eddie and Venom having fun as they travel across the country (they don’t get very far due to everyone trying to capture them). The plot looks pretty slim, and the interactions with the bad guys (both human and alien) are a little too few and far between to help move the film along. Juno Temple is wasted as a scientist who wants to understand Venom and his fellow aliens and not kill them. It's a part with a sappy backstory that doesn't fit the overall feel of the film. The ending feels a little rushed and predictable, making the film feel a bit of a letdown from the first two films. I will still miss Eddie and Venom. They were a fun couple of guys to go on adventures with. By the way, there are two bonus scenes in the credits, one in the middle of the credits and one at the very end of the credits that you will want to stay around for.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Venom: The Last Dance Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View:  Conclave  (2024)  PG  Conclave begins when the Pope has suddenly died, and Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) has been given the task of leading the secretive and ancient voting process of selecting a new Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have convened, Cardinal Lawrence discovers a trail of secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake. These secrets have the potential to destroy the Church. Conclave is a very different film than what I thought I was getting from watching the trailer. It’s not a bad thing; I just had to adjust my thinking a bit as the film went along. It’s still a bit of a mystery film, but it is more about politics and the attempts to grab power by any means necessary. The film is still a thriller, with lots of twists and turns, as things are slowly revealed to Cardinal Lawrence as he tries to guide the conclave to find the right leader for the church. Politics is at the core of the film, as we see how things can quickly change, where one candidate looks like a sure thing but then things are revealed. Conclave is a captivating film that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.   My Rating: Full Price  Conclave Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock  (2023)  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is a documentary where a fictional Alfred Hitchcock (voiced by Alistair McGowan) gives a lesson on filmmaking the Hitchcock way. The film's use of an actor to give voice to the late Alfred Hitchcock takes some time to get used to. However, once you get used to Alfred talking directly to you (and sometimes to sound guy) it becomes a fascinating look at one of the greatest filmmakers in cinema history, giving us example after example of his genius. The film is broken down into six themes that provide insight into how Hitchcock made films and how he used the camera to create the world he wanted us to see and experience. The film demonstrates how Hitchcock mastered the techniques to create the feel and style of a movie. This film is a Hitchcock fan’s dream of a film, as it shows us films from not just his notable Hollywood films but also extensive scenes from his silent and early talkies done in England. It’s fascinating to see how things he used in the 1920s could still be used in films from the 60s, like Psycho. What I have always appreciated about Hitchcock is that even in his lesser films like Marnie or Torn Curtain, there is always something that he amazes you with. That is what this film shows us: Hitchcock was a master filmmaker who knew how he wanted to tell a story in the most amazing and impressive way possible, giving us thrills and chills every time we watched one of his films.  My Rating: Full Price  My Name is Alfred Hitchcock Website Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest:  Your Monster  (2024)  R   In Your Monster, life has gone from bad to worse for Laura (Melissa Barrera), as she is just getting over cancer surgery, and her boyfriend (Edmund Donovan) has broken up with her and taken the musical they wrote together away from her. Just when things are going horribly wrong, she meets a terrifying but charming monster (Tommy Dewey) living in her closet. Could this be love…with a monster? The film lets Melissa Barrera, who we all loved in the last two Scream movies and as Vanessa in In the Heights, show off both her comedic talents and her singing. Barrera is charming as lovelorn Laura, who can't believe her boyfriend broke up with her and isn't allowing her to participate in his musical she helped develop. Into her life comes Monster, someone who used to hide in her closet or under her bed, which Laura used to be afraid of when she was a little girl. At first, Monster wants Laura to leave the house, hurt that she hasn’t had him around for all these years. They soon become friends and then start falling in love with each other (think Beauty and the Beast), but Laura still has feelings for her old boyfriend, so things then get messy. I must warn you that the ending is very unexpected (24 hours later, I’m still in a little bit of shock over it) and may not be quite what you were thinking when you started watching this film. I will tell you it was a big hit on the film festival circuit. Your Monster is a film that will probably stay with me for a while, and my review of it might change in time. Right now my review is: My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Your Monster Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  The Remarkable Life of Ibelin  (2024)  PG-13  The documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is about Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who loved the World of WarCraft games. Mats succumbed to a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely life until they started receiving messages from his online friends. It turns out that Mats had been leading a life full of friends and adventure on the internet. Get out your tissue box, a big one, because you are going to need it. However, while you are going to shed a few tears, the story of Mats Steen and his alter-ego Ibelin is a story that will make you proud of his parents and of this remarkable young man. A young man who used a computerized world to make friends and spread warmth, happiness, and understanding to people from around the world. The first thirty minutes is about Mats’ life, and how his parents and sister saw him through the years. It’s a touching story of a young man who never got to do most of the stuff that boys and young men get to do. And then his parents discover that the gaming world that their son spent so much time in was a world where he could be someone without limits and make friends that he never thought he could in the real world. The film does a remarkable job of recapturing the conversations that Masts had as Ibelin in the World of WarCraft game. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a stunning and thoughtful portrayal of a life that his parents believed would never materialize. It’s a tale of love gained and lost, of friends made and sometimes betrayed, but mostly, it’s about a young man who found a place where he could be something he always aspired to be. Just a young man without limits.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View:  Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band  (2024)  The documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations Springsteen and his band made to get ready for their 2023-2024 World Tour. I first saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Drum (RIP the Special Events Center) in Austin, Texas, on December 7, 1978. It is, to this day, the greatest concert I have ever seen. So, you could say I’m a fan. This film was fantastic and gave a glimpse into the process of putting together a tour after 6 years of not being on the road. We get to see rehearsals, both small and large, along with all the work that goes into making a tour happen. What was interesting to me was that Bruce created a set list and stuck to it throughout the tour, something he has never done before. There are some great interviews and a look back at some of the bandmates that have passed. There are lots of songs, and you get a feel for what it was like in both the smaller venues in America and the big, outdoor stadium venues in Europe. The film has some cool scenes from the past, but mostly Road Diary is about this tour and how the band put together a show that was fun, touching and unique. Much like the man himself.  My Rating: Full Price
   Road Diary Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

Forgotten Film:  The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea  (1976)  R  Anne (Sara Miles) and her son, Jonathan (Jonathan Kahn), live in a small, English seaside town. Anne lost her husband four years ago, and both the mother and son still mourn his passing. Jonathan has joined a secret society of young boys, ruled with a sadistic hand by a boy named Chief. Into Anne and Jonathan’s lives comes an American sailor named Jim (Kris Kristofferson), who becomes romantically involved with Anne. Jonathan initially sees Jim as a father figure, but things go badly. This was a mild hit in 1976, primarily because of the sex scenes between Miles and Kristofferson and the ending, which is pretty shocking (even by today’s standards). The film is beautifully shot and I always enjoy watching Kris Kristofferson on the silver screen. A word of caution: some later versions of the film released on DVD have been badly edited, cutting out some of the sex scenes and cutting down the ending.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea Info The film is available to rent/buy on screening services. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Conclave:  Hair Truck Driver 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Blitz  (2024)  PG-13  Blitz is about nine-year-old George (Elliot Heffernan), who is sent by his mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) to the countryside via train to escape World War II in London. Defiant and determined, George leaves the train and sets out to return to his family in a city being attacked by constant bombing. The film is from filmmaker Steve McQueen, who won an Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave (2012).  Blitz Info The film will be in select theaters on Friday, November 1, 2024, and streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, November 22, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Smile 2

My View:  Smile 2  (2024)  R  In Smile 2, Pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is about to embark on a world tour when she begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. The curse of the smile is back, and Skye has become its latest victim. I enjoyed the first Smile film, as it combined a mystery with horror, even if it had a slender and somewhat weak plot. While several of my fellow critics I saw Smile 2 with loved the film, I did not have as good a time with this one. Too often, the ‘jump out of the dark’ scares were so poorly done, to where I laughed a few times at their craziness. One of the things I liked about the first Smile was the story was pretty straightforward, moving along at a quick pace, so you just got caught up in the mystery of why horrible things were appearing in front of our heroine. In Smile 2, there is a ton of setup, as we constantly revisit a scene in her past, when Skye’s life fell apart. The film keeps going back to that moment and it feels like we are being hit over the head with the fact that Skye was a messed up person at the time and had a bad thing happen to her. I felt the film’s over two-hour length during these flashbacks. I will say that I enjoyed Naomi Scott’s singing performances as Skye practices for her tour. Scott shows us why she was picked as the live-action version of Jasmine in the 2019 film Aladdin, giving us a Skye that commands the stage when she isn’t seeing the Smilers milling around. Unfortunately, there were times in the scary moments of the film when Scott went overboard in her reactions, making them seem too over the top. It’s going to be interesting to see where they take this film series beyond this point. I just hope there is less of it.  My Rating: Cable Smile 2 Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View: We Live in Time  (2024)  R  We Live in Time is about an up-and-coming chef (Florence Pugh) and a recent divorcee (Andrew Garfield), who meet under incredible circumstances that bring them together in a decade-spanning look at life, love, and heartache. This love story is about two people you probably wouldn’t pick to be together, but they make it work. And, boy, do they make it work. I loved that the telling of the story is very unconventional, as we travel to unique moments in their lives, often returning to time periods to explore further their relationship and the love the two have for each other. The film works because of the two leads. Garfield plays the perfect, love-lorn guy in Tobias, who is fresh off a divorce and isn’t ready for any sort of relationship. Or so he thinks. Florence Pugh is magnificent as Almut, the fiery chef who never wants a long-term relationship or kids. She is happy to become the chef that she has dreamed of becoming. That is until she meets Tobias and they are both gobsmacked by the other that they can’t find an excuse to stay away, even when it seems they should. Filmmakers of romance films dream of the chemistry that Garfield and Pugh have on the screen. Sparks fly every time they are together, even when you think maybe they aren’t destined to find love, then they turn toward each other and it’s all over. Again and again. Pugh is an absolute delight as Almut, and even when we, the audience, are mad at her character, we still can’t help but fall in love with her. Now, a bit of a warning: this is a film about love and loss. It’s about fighting the good fight and then knowing when it’s time to say goodbye. At the end of We Live in Time, I didn’t feel bad. A little sad, sure, but not crying into my hands bad. I felt I had enjoyed the life the two characters had with each other, knowing that they pulled every bit of love and life out of the relationship that they could.  My Rating: Full Price We LIve in Time Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Brothers  (2024)  R  In Brothers, two twin brothers, Jady (Peter Dinklage) and Moke (Josh Brolin), are career criminals who have spent most of their lives in and out of jails. Despite Moke’s efforts to reform, he succumbs to Jady’s plan to steal emeralds worth millions. The only problem is they may have to ask their mom (Glenn Close) for help. I wish this film had been funnier, but a lot of the jokes/situations in which the two twins find themselves lack any sort of humor or punch (though there is a lot of punching of fists). There is a bizarre scene between Moke and an orangutan named Samuel that is so uncomfortable that it’s hard to watch. The film wastes the last performance of the late M. Emmet Walsh, though he gets off a few zinger lines. As Jady’s looney-tone pen pal, Marisa Tomei is also given almost nothing to work with. The highlight of the performances is Brendan Fraser, who plays a jailhouse guard with an anger problem, who is hot on the trail of the two brothers, as he has made a deal to get Jady out of prison for the emeralds that the twin’s mother took 30 years ago. As usual, Glenn Close is a blast as the boy’s mother, who is only out for herself, continually breaking the duo’s hearts as the film goes along. The plot of the film has a smattering of a great idea, but the film never succeeds in bringing us any sort of joy in watching the film as the twins continually try to work together without much success. My Rating: Cable Brothers Website  Now playing on the Prime Video platform. 

My View:  Woman of the Hour  (2023)  Woman of the Hour is about Cheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick), a struggling actress who gets a job to appear on a hit national dating show in 1978. Cheryl is unaware that behind the gentle facade, Bachelor Number 3 is a serial killer. Woman of the Hour is a brilliant first directorial achievement from Anna Kendrick, who also stars in the film. It is rare, especially in these days of seemingly constant releases of documentaries and podcasts on true crime stories, that a film concentrates not on the person doing the killing but on the women that he is murdering. Kendrick weaves the story (sadly, it is based on a true one) around Cheryl, who is trying to make it as an actress in L.A. She doesn’t have lofty sights as a star, just as a working actress. So we follow her as she goes from another failed audition to sleeping with a neighbor she can’t seem to get rid of to a call from her agent that she will be on a nationally televised game show. While we are seeing her life, we are also seeing the life of a serial killer, Rodney (Daniel Zovatto), who meets his victims by posing as a photographer. He is the type of guy who says all the right things, with an easy, non-threatening way about him, that makes women trust him. And then he kills them. We see a number of his victims, all trusting him until it’s too late, but Kendrick, the director, does a service to the women that he has killed, not showing them as they die. We just hear things as the camera concentrates on something else. It’s that respect for the women that this horrible person killed that sets this film apart from a lot of serial killer films. The film builds the suspense as we follow Cheryl onto the game show set, and we realize Bachelor Number 3 is the serial killer. Will Cheryl figure him out, or will she become the latest victim? My Rating: i Would Pay to See it Again Woman of the Hour website Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest:  Dusty & Stones  (2023)  The documentary Dusty & Stones tells the remarkable story of Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, a duo of struggling country singers from the African Kingdom of Swaziland. The film follows the two as they travel to Texas to compete in a battle of the bands. I saw this film at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. I love this film, mostly because the two guys are so good-natured and excited to be invited to Texas to sing. The two have been struggling for years to try and bring country music to Swaziland, with minor success. The guys then are notified that they are entered in a battle of the bands show, in all places, Texas. I won’t ruin what happens, but whatever happens, the duo always takes things in stride. You will fall in love with Dusty and Stones as they sing their way across the world to bring a little country to all of us.  My Rating: Full Price Dusty & Stone Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

My View:  Goodrich  (2024)  R  In Goodrich, Andy Goodrich’s (Michael Keaton) life is going into a tailspin. He is about to lose his art gallery, and his second wife has left him and checked into a 90-day rehab program. Andy is left on his own with his young kids. Andy leans on the only person he can think of, his daughter Grace (Mila Kunis) from his first marriage. The problem is that Andy wasn’t a good father to Grace and there is a lot of baggage that they will have to deal with. This is a delightful story of a man who, for too long, has been too involved with his work and not in his family. Shocked by his wife’s addiction problem (apparently the only one), Andy now has to come to grips with being a single father while also trying to interact with his grown and very pregnant daughter. This film only works because of Michael Keaton, who makes every scene better by playing the everyman role. Keaton is wonderful in the scenes with Kunis, who plays his smart and funny daughter Grace. Their chemistry makes the scenes feel real as Andy is slow to realize just how he treated Grace as she was growing up and continues to treat her now, as an afterthought. What I liked about this film is that Keaton’s Andy isn’t a bad guy, he just wasn’t aware that he wasn’t the man that others needed him to be. The film is about learning through your mistakes and figuring out how to go from there. Andy is a guy that will take two steps forward and, occasionally, one step back. However, now he is willing to try those steps again. My Rating: Full Price Goodrich Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently)  Blink  (2024)  PG  Blink is a documentary about the Pelletier family, who find out that three of their four children will soon lose their vision to retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable disorder that leads to permanent blindness. The family sets out on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to explore as many of the wonders of the world as they can while they can still see it. Blink is a film about family, love, and how to come to grips with something that will change you and your loved one’s life. My first reaction while watching this film was, ‘Are you nuts? Taking a family with four children on a trip around the world?’ However, that’s the beauty of this film: they take a trip as a family through all the struggles, tears, laughter, and realizations that their lives will never be the same. The film opens with the family trekking through the snow to see the aurora borealis, and as the family gets to a hilltop where they can view the sight, we realize that some of the children can’t see it. We later find out that once it becomes dark, the children can’t see. Some have never seen the stars at night. What strikes me about this film is the resilience of the parents, who are helpless to stop the blindness of their children but are determined to give them memories to think back on when they go blind. Amazingly, these parents are able to handle kids being kids, which isn’t easy at home, but on a trip through foreign countries, sometimes in harsh climates. Yes, there are beautiful scenery shots (it is a National Geographic doc) but what is more thrilling is seeing their oldest child, the daughter, dancing by herself on a sand dune in Egypt. That is more beautiful than any shot of a mountain at sunset or a rain forest trail you could see.  My Rating: Full Price  Now playing in select theaters.

Forgotten Film:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream  (1999) PG-13  Romance is in the air, but it’s complicated by spells and dreams. This telling of William Shakespeare’s play, set in 19th-century Italy, is a fun romp. Things get complicated when a spell is cast on a bunch of lovers in a forest as they sleep. When they wake up, the spell makes them fall in love with the first person they see. Even Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Queen of the Fairies, falls in love with a lowly weaver (Kevin Kline). The cast includes Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Dominic West, Sophie Marceau, Roger Rees, Bill Irwin and Sam Rockwell. Stanley Tucci as Puck is the highlight of the cast, causing problems as the mischievous Puck. Even people who don’t like Shakespeare will have a good time watching this wonderful tale of love and mischief. My Rating: Full Price  Available to rent/buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of We Live in Time:  Head Chaperone

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Conclave  (2024) PG  Conclave begins when the Pope has suddenly died, and Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) has been given the task of leading the secretive and ancient voting process of selecting a new Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have convened, Cardinal Lawrence discovers a trail of secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake. Secrets that could destroy the Church and get Cardinal Lawrence killed. The cast has three former Academy Award Nominees: Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci. Conclave Website The film opens in theaters on Friday, October 25, 2024. 

 

Until Next Time!