10 Cloverfield Lane

My View:  10 Cloverfield Lane  (2016)  PG-13   After surviving a car accident, a young woman, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in an underground cellar. She was rescued by a man, Howard (John Goodman) who claims that a worldwide chemical attack has left the Earth’s surface uninhabitable. I enjoyed this suspenseful film that slowly builds the tension as we learn, along with Michelle bits and pieces of information that may mean things aren’t what Howard told us had happened. There are plenty of twists and turns in the film that will keep you guessing until the very end. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is superb as the headstrong woman who keeps questioning what is going on in the outside world. John Goodman gives a smart and multilayered performance as the good Samaritan that may or may not be holding on to a secret. The film is brilliantly written, and I loved the ending to the movie. Think of this film as more of a Hitchcock type genre film then your more typical Sci-Fi movie.    My Rating: Full Price   10 Cloverfield Lane Website

Indiefest:  Knight of Cups  (2016)  R  A writer (Christian Bale) travels around L.A. and Vegas in a search for love. Let me say right off the bat that I am not a fan of Terrence Malick. I just don’t get his films, and this one is not the exception. Don’t get me wrong, his films are always interesting to look at and beautifully shot (cinematography on this film was done by three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki). I just don’t know what the point of this movie is, other than rich people like houses with lots of windows and they like to swim with their clothes on. Until I read the IMDB synopsis, I only knew that Christian Bale’s character worked in Hollywood, but I had no idea he was a scriptwriter (we never see him work). Bale’s character likes to meet beautiful women, sleep with them and then break up with them (after swimming with them at some point). There isn’t any dialogue spoken by the characters on screen; the whole film is done in voiceover, once again making it hard to figure out what’s being talked about. The film felt like it was a two-hour ad for some sort of perfume or cologne, so much so, I kept waiting for Julia Roberts to show up or for Johnny Depp to bury some jewelry in the desert while wearing lots of eye makeup. If you enjoyed Mallick’s Tree of Life, you might like this one, but for everyone else, I would skip it.  That is unless you like watching pretty people playing for hours on the beach.  My Rating: Cable   Knight of Cups Website

Indiefest:  Only Yesterday (1991)  PG  Taeko is a 27-year old office worker who travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo. This is a reissue of the Studio Ghibli classic animated film in celebration of its 25th anniversary. The film, directed by Isao Takahata, was never released in North America until now. The film is a beautiful and touching tale of a young woman who visits relatives and friends in the country as she thinks about her life as a schoolgirl. As she works happily out in the fields with her relatives, she remembers incidents in her childhood that made her the woman she is today. While all this is going on, she strikes up a friendship with a young local farmer. As they traipse around the countryside, discussing their hopes and dreams, their attraction goes stronger. This is an animated film for adults, and it is as good as any modern day romantic film. The film treats its main subject with a loving respect that gives us insight into a woman who is still trying to understand and discover just who she is and how she fits in this world. The love story between the farmer and the girl is brought along slowly, as you see their relationship building naturally throughout the film. I loved this movie, a timeless classic that is as enjoyable today as it was 25 years ago.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Only Yesterday Website

Forgotten Film:  Dark City  (1998)  R  John (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a strange hotel room with no memory. He gets a phone call from a Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) that a group of beings known as The Strangers are about to capture him. John escapes only to be in a world that he doesn’t understand, and he only knows he must try and stop The Strangers from taking over the city. Much in the genre of Blade Runner, Dark City is part Sci-Fi, part film noir with a few horror undertones. John must make his way in a very dark and dangerous world that seems to be threatening his existence at almost every turn. The film takes a detective story and makes it its own, keeping you guessing until the end. It’s a film that you will want to watch multiple times to understand exactly what transpires (and even then you might still not get everything).   My Rating: Full Price   Dark City Info 

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I've Only Seen in Trailers But Just Looks Like a Bad Idea):   God’s Not Dead 2 (2016)  PG  Didn’t we prove this already in the first film? The film is something about a high school teacher discussing Jesus in class and getting sent to the principal’s office.   God's Not Dead 2 Website   

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Knight of Cups:  Source: Harinezumi Camera Footage

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Miles Ahead  (2016)  R   Don Cheadle stars, writes and directs this film about the legendary jazz pioneer Miles Davis. Davis created jazz music that was groundbreaking but was also one of the weirdest cats out there, so this movie should be fascinating.  Miles Ahead Facebook Page

Until Next Time!