Fly Me to the Moon

My View:  Fly Me to the Moon  (2024)  PG-13  Fly Me to the Moon occurs before the first lunar landing. NASA has been having a rough couple of years with its attempts to reach the moon. Due to failed tests, successes by the Soviet Union, and a launch pad disaster that resulted in the death of three astronauts, NASA is in danger of losing its funding. The White House has hired marketing maven Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) to come in and get the public behind the U.S.A.’s race to the moon. With her constant demands and interference, Kelly has made the job of strait-laced launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) even more difficult. Little does Cole know that Kelly has an even bigger task: to stage a fake moon landing as a backup. If you avoid getting too caught up in the plot, which can be insultingly ludicrous, Fly Me to the Moon can be a fun and funny movie. Johansson and Tatum share an incredible chemistry, and it's a love where the two characters are almost opposite but are meant to be together. Johansson is having a great time in this role, which allows her to play with accents while manipulating men with charm and intelligence. Tatum is a by-the-book kind of guy who has a past that haunts him. The problem is that this is a screwball comedy that sometimes gets too serious and pushes the boundaries of believability too far. Still, watching the two characters spar while knowing they will end up together is fun. And yes, spoiler alert, we do land on the moon.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Fly Me to the Moon Website Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View:  Longlegs  (2024)  R  In Longlegs, FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to an unsolved case involving a serial killer and the occult. Agent Harker discovers she has a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again. Film critics, just like the rest of the theatre going audience, can get caught up in the buzz of films coming out. That’s the case with Longlegs, a film that the buzz said the film was terrifying and shocking. It doesn’t help that the film has a plot that isn’t dissimilar to Silence of the Lambs, with a rookie agent on the trail of a serial killer. Well, unfortunately, the film doesn't live up to the hype. The film’s first half is scary and full of incredibly moody cinematography, as we see that Agent Harker has a personal stake in catching the serial killer Longlegs. What I loved about the film’s first portion is that we don’t see Nicolas Cage’s face as the man who is Longlegs. That creates tension and some mystery. The problem with the film is the 2nd half can’t match the intensity of the first half. Cage’s Longlegs looks too weird to be anyone other than an actor in bizarre makeup. The oddness of it makes me believe that Mr. Cage designed it himself. The film also ventures down the path of Satanism, with some voodoo magic thrown in. The third section of the film takes the story further downhill, with a simplified explanation of how the killings were committed. I was all in for the first third of this film, especially with the performance of Maika Monroe as not your typical FBI agent, but someone who can sense evil without knowing why. But then Cage goes overboard, the story gets caught up with the devil, and the plot grinds into almost nothing at the end.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Longlegs Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Touch  (2024)  R  Touch spans decades and several continents as Kristopher (Egill Ólafsson) has been told he is running out of time, and he sets off to find his one true love, who disappeared over 50 years ago. The story of finding love in an unexpected place, losing it, and trying to find it again is beautifully captured in this film. The film is broken up into two storylines: one is right before COVID is about to shut down the world when Kristopher searches to find a woman he was in love with that he lost touch with 50 years ago. 50 years ago, there was a love story that took place in the other storyline. What I loved about this film is that we get to see this love story almost in real-time. We are there when the two lovers, Kristopher (Palmi Kormákur) and Miko (Kôki), meet at her father’s Japanese restaurant. Kristopher has quit school and, on a lark, applies to work at the restaurant owned by Miko, her father, Takahashi-san (Masahiro Motoki). Takahashi likes what he sees in Kristopher and lets him wash dishes. Kristopher loves the restaurant, so much so that he learns Japanese and how to cook. Kristopher also has fallen for Miko, who, though she has a boyfriend, is intrigued by the young man from Iceland. As the elder Kristopher travels the world trying to find Miko, in what seems like an impossible task, we see why he is so passionate because we see how in love he was with Miko 50 years ago. Touch is a film that lets things develop, and it’s a film that is full of youthful love and the melancholy that is brought on by old age and loves that have been lost. So bring a tissue or two and go on a journey to find love again.  My Rating Full Price  Touch Website Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Sing Sing  (2023)  R Devine G (Colman Domingo), a man in jail for a crime he did not commit, survives by acting in a theater group with other inmates. This is a powerful and emotional film about a group of men in a hopeless situation who find comfort and power in the theater. Led by an incredibly moving performance by Colman Domingo, we see how inspired the men are to find an outlet for their emotions and thoughts. The cast is made up mostly of former convicts who were in the theater program. Because of the casting, we see how moving and powerful acting is to let the men get in touch with their feelings and emotions in a system that doesn’t always allow you to do so. We get to see the men start the process of finding a play, in this case, written for them, that melds Shakespeare with modern spoken word to significant effect. I was struck by how much this cast made us feel what they were going through, giving us an inside look at a world we can only imagine. Sing Sing is a film about healing, no matter what you have done in the past, and using the power of theater and acting to find that way.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Sing Sing Website   Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest: Sorry/Not Sorry  (2023) Sorry/Not Sorry is a documentary about comedian Louis C.K., accused of sexual harassment in 2017. The film investigates his comeback and how it impacted the women who publicly spoke out about his behavior. The film is told in seven parts, as you see the rise of Louis C.K. from a standup comedian to someone who was starring/directing movies while producing TV shows, along with his record-breaking standup shows. Sorry/Not Sorry centers on three female comedians, Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, and Megan Koester, who all have stories to tell of their encounters with Louis C.K. and the aftermath. Sorry/Not Sorry is a film that will make you mad and possibly make you reconsider if you think his standup is funny. This is a movie about a troubled man who had/has power and, though he suffered for about a year, seems to have done nothing to make up for his horrible treatment of women. The film asks many questions about how we treat women who speak out, how the powerful can go for years doing things that ordinary people would get in trouble for right away, and how quickly they should be forgiven. Sorry/Not Sorry gives us an inside look at what it's like to work as a woman in standup, and it's not pretty. Especially when someone can’t even say sorry with a straight face.   My Rating: Full Price  Sorry/Not Sorry Website  Now playing in theaters and On Demand. 

Indiefest:  Dandelion  (2024)  R  Dandelion (KiKi Layne) is a singer-songwriter whose career is filled with small venues and even smaller towns. Desperate for a gig, she takes a job at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota, where she meets Casey (Thomas Doherty), a guitarist who left his dreams of stardom long ago. Casey will ignite something in Dandelion that she thought was long forgotten. Casey and Dandelion begin to mesh together, and Dandelion starts to believe in herself and her music again. However, Casey isn’t perfect and has baggage that could end things before they get started. Dandelion is a beautifully shot film that lets the scenery tell the story. I enjoyed a terrific scene where Casey and Dandelion collaborate on a song on a picturesque hilltop, which shows their passion for making music. The film’s second half flounders as Casey and Dandelion flirt with romance, but I had trouble getting to know Dandelion and just what she was thinking, especially at the end of the film. KiKi Layne gives us a performance that at times is dazzling, especially in those duets with Doherty, but she is let down by a script that doesn’t let her character grow enough to make the ending satisfying.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Dandelion Website Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Coach Carter  (2005)  PG-13   Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) is a man of standards and rules. He was a high school record-setting sports hero, had a standout career in the military, and was a successful businessman. Now, Coach Carter has taken the job as basketball coach of a high school. Coach believes that high school is for learning, with sports secondary. The high school doesn’t know what they have gotten into, but they will soon realize that the coach means business. Coach Carter is an inspirational film based on the true story of a man who stood up to the administration and the parents when he ensured his players were students first. Jackson is outstanding as the coach who commands respect from the first whistle but also gives it to those who earn it. My Rating: Full Price  Coach Carter Info  The film is available for rent/buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Touch:  Tattoo Art

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Trap  (2024)  PG-13  A father (Josh Hartnett) and his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) are attending the concert of a lifetime. However, not everything is as it seems, and something dark and sinister is about to make its appearance at this concert. The film is from M. Night Shyamalan. His daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, portrays the concert performer, Lady Raven, that the father/daughter are seeing.  Trap Website  The film will be released in theaters on Friday, August 2, 2024. 

Until Next Time!