The Wild Robot

My View: The Wild Robot (2024) PG    The Wild Robot takes place when a robot named Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) crashes on Earth and is stranded on an uninhabited island. Roz’s survival depends on her wits and newfound animal friends, including an orphaned baby goose. Roz is going to learn a lot about life and the importance of friends. I will tell you right off the bat that this is not only the best animated film of 2024, but right now, it’s the best film of 2024. This is that rare film that the whole family will fall in love with right from the start. We follow Roz as she learns how to survive on her own, make friends, and become a mom to an orphaned baby goose. The Wild Robot is a film about learning to adapt to your surroundings, how to parent, and how to live your life to its fullest. The animation is gorgeous, the voice cast is brilliant (especially Pedro Pascal as the sly fox), and the story will have you laughing one moment and crying tears the next. The plot is fast-moving, and I loved that there are even a few moments of dark humor thrown in. Lupita Nyong’o is perfect as the voice of Roz, making her a robot with a heart and a mind willing to learn, especially from mistakes. The Wild Robot is a magical tale of a parent’s love for a child, wanting to do everything so that the child can eventually leave the nest and have the tools to go out into the world on their own. The Wild Robot is a stunning film that dazzles with its charm, wit, and heart while wowing us with animation that comes to life. And I can’t wait to see it again on the big screen! My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again The Wild Robot Website Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View:  Megalopolis  (2024)  R  In Megalopolis, a brilliant architect, Cesar (Adam Driver), wants to rebuild his beloved city and create a utopian future. Not everyone believes in Cesar’s vision, including the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). In between the battle for the city is Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is divided between her father, the mayor, and Cesar, her beloved. Francis Ford Coppola has made some of the greatest films in cinema history, including The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation. He has also made some stinkers (Jack, Twixt), but he is at a time in his life when he has decided to use his own money to make a film that has been on the drawing board since the 80s. So he brings us Megalopolis, which he calls a fable about how America has become the new Rome, and in so Coppola asks, is America going to fall like Rome did? By the time this film ended, I didn’t care. I was fortunate to see this film about a year ago at a special showing, with Mr. Coppola in attendance. It was a work in progress, with none of the final music, lots of scenes with only natural sound (shown with subtitles so we could understand the low-volume dialogue), and almost no special effects. I came away from that screening wondering what I had just seen and hoping that the film would become much clearer as Mr. Coppola worked on it. The second screening was this past week on a huge IMAX screen. I am sad to say that while the film flowed much better, the script is such a mess that no special effects, sweetening the audio and a soundtrack could fix it. The film is filled with characters making speeches. I felt it was as if Coppola had shown the script to his friends and advisers, and had cut and pasted bits of speeches from past scripts into his final script. The film is full of weird performances that I couldn’t tell if they were due to a badly written script or if they were supposed to be campy and over the top. The plot is hard to follow as characters jump from one scene to another, always making those speeches. Speeches that don’t seem to add up too much of anything. And that’s how I felt when the film was over. The film didn’t add up too much of anything. My Rating: Cable Megalopolis Website   Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Wolfs  (2024)  R   In Wolfs, a professional fixer (George Clooney) is hired to cover up a high-profile crime. However, a second fixer (Brad Pitt) has also been hired to clean up the crime site. The two ‘lone wolves’ are forced to work together, and soon, the two find that their night starts spiraling out of control, much to their dismay. Wolfs is one of those films that will probably be forgotten by the end of the year (and rightfully so), but it’s still fun to watch two movie stars do their job on screen. Clooney and Pitt have great chemistry together, making this film watchable because the plot isn’t much to begin with and gets a little messy as it goes along. Still, I had fun watching it, laughed a few times (especially during a hilarious scene at a seedy motel), and enjoyed watching the two just be cool in each other’s company. I wish it was a better film, but for a popcorn movie that will not win any awards, it’s fun to watch. Just don’t pay much attention to the plot and let the star power take you over. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Wolfs Info Now playing in selected theaters and on Apple TV+.

My View:  Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story  (2024)  PG-13  The documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story tells the story of Christopher Reeve, who went from an unknown stage actor to Superman, only to have his world changed when he suffered a near-fatal horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed. Using the Reeve’s own voice (from his two audio books), the film tells the story of how the Man of Steel became paralyzed and then used that to become a force to get funding to help all people with paraplegia. This beautiful and touching documentary focuses on Reeve and his family fighting to regain his life after the accident. With extensive interviews with his grown children and his first wife (sort of explained in the film) and extensive footage of family videos, we get an inside look at what Reeve went through in the years following the accident. The film goes over his career, as flashbacks, that tell the story of a brash young man who went from off-Broadway to one of the biggest stars of the 70s and 80s. By letting us see and hear Christopher Reeve tell his story, it brings us closer to a man who had faults but also loved his family and his life, even when seen from a motorized wheelchair. So bring a tissue or two and settle down to go on a journey with a man that took us up in the air, flying above the clouds, even when he was still grounded by an accident.  My Rating: Full Price Super/Man Website The film will be soon released to theaters and On Demand.

My View:  Killer Heat  (2024)  R  In Killer Heat, Nick Bali (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is a private eye American expat living in Greece, and has been hired to investigate the death of a young shipping magnate, Leo, on the island of Crete. Nick discovers that the victim’s sister-in-law, Penelope (Shailene Woodley), doesn’t believe that Leo’s death was an accident. Nick soon learns that the rich control the island, and they don’t want him around to mess up their world. I am a fan of both Woodley and Gordon-Levitt. Unfortunately, they are let down by a script that is slow to develop and makes it too easy to figure out what happened. This is one of those films where you know the two leads took the roles because they got to film on location in Crete. We are given a side story of Nick drowning his sorrows each night by drinking until he blacks out due to something bad that happened between Nick and his wife in the past. The film wants us to think it’s a mystery that only Nick can solve, but alas, most of its viewers will solve it long before he does. My Rating: Cable Killer Heat Website  Now playing on Amazon Prime.

Indiefest:  My Old Ass  (2024)  R  In My Old Ass, on her 18th birthday, Elliot (Maisy Stella) goes to a remote island with her pals and takes some mushrooms. During her mushroom trip, she meets herself at age 39 (played by Aubrey Plaza). Her older self gives her one piece of advice: avoid any guy named Chad. The next day, Elliot, of course, meets a guy named Chad. Uh oh! My Old Ass is a funny and delightful film that is buoyed by an outstanding performance by Maisy Stella. Elliot, a teenager, would rather spend her birthday camping out with her best friends than celebrating it with her family. After watching her friends get delightfully high, Elliot is convinced that she isn’t under the influence until her 39-year-old self shows up. They spend the night talking, and Elliot is left with a warning to stay away from anyone named Chad. Of course, she meets Chad the next day, and he is funny and sweet, the type of guy who could convince a young lesbian like Elliot to change teams. Elliot and Chad continue to run into each other and Elliot slowly develops a crush on him. This coming-of-age film has some emotional moments that have a real impact, and a lot of that has to do with Maisy Stella, who makes Elliot a blast to watch go through so many of her feelings in a short amount of time. If you are seeing the film for Aubrey Plaza, let it be known that she is in it for about ten minutes, and a lot of that is on the phone with Elliot (somehow she can make phone calls from the future). I will say that near the end of the film there is a powerful and moving scene that Plaza just slays. Still, this is Maisy Stella’s film, and she runs with it, bringing us along on this journey that she takes full of laughs, tears, and a better understanding of how important it is to cherish our time with our loved ones. My Rating: Full Price  My Old Ass Website   Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  From Dusk till Dawn  (1996) R  Two brothers, Ritchie (Quentin Tarantino) and Seth (George Clooney), are on a spree of robbing and mayhem, with Ritchie killing almost everyone he meets. They kidnap a family (Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu) and head down to Mexico, where they make the mistake of going into a strip club and things get really weird after the sun goes down. Co-written by Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film is part Tarantino caper film and part Rodriquez horror film. The film should have been better, but I think the two styles of Tarantino and Rodriquez clashed. This isn’t a great movie, but the dialogue is off-the-wall fun, and Clooney, hot off his star-making role in ER, is great as the less crazy brother who he tries to reel in every once in a while. Plus, Salma Hayek playing a giant snake-holding stripper turned vampire isn’t too bad. My Rating: Bargain Matinee From Dusk to Dawn Info The film is available to rent/buy on most streaming services.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Wild Robot:  Hair Global Development Supervisor

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Smile 2  (2024)  R  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 next victim. With a great promotion campaign (creepy smilers at major sporting events) the horror film Smile became a box office hit in 2022. Can the Smilers strike twice?  Smile 2 Website The film opens in theaters on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Until Next Time!

Transformers One

My View:  Transformers One  (2024)  PG  Transformers One tells the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, who, when they were young, were friends who bonded like brothers. Little did they know that the two would change the fate of Cybertron forever after discovering what they had always been told was false. I am not a big fan of the Transformers films (other than Bumblebee (2018) and Transformers (2007)), but I know there are a lot of fans out there who love the series going back to the 80s TV show and the legendary The Transformers: The Movie (1986) that had a voice cast that included Orson Welles and Leonard Nimoy. I’ve lost count of how many live-action films there are, most of which were directed by Michael Bay. Having said all that, this is maybe one of the first films in the series that is not only good but is fun to watch, and not just for fans of the series. Transformers One is an origin story, so if your knowledge of the Transformers universe is only knowing that they are giant robot-like beings that turn into cars and trucks, you will be okay. We get to see how Optimus Prime and Megatron, who we learn were best friends, became the leaders of two warring factions that battled for control of the universe. The voice cast is outstanding, with great performances by Chris Hemsworth as Optimus, and Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron. Hemsworth worked with Peter Cullen, who has been the voice of Optimus for the franchise, to get ideas on how a young Optimus might sound. The rest of the cast isn’t too bad either with Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson taking key roles. There is one voice actor who steals almost every scene he is in, Keegan-Michael Key, as B-127 (soon to be Bumblebee, a fan favorite in the Transformers world). Key is brilliant as the overly excited young worker who wants to be with the guys he sees as heroes, only to discover that he can become one. Transformers One is an old-fashioned origin story of how a villain is created by gaining power (both physically and emotionally) and a voice to express that power. It is also about how we need heroes to stand tall and be willing to sacrifice to stop those villains from wielding their power. So take the kids and, for once, have a good time yourself at an animated Transformers movie. My Rating: Full Price  Transformers One Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View:  Never Let Go  (2024)  R  Never Let Go is about a mother (Halle Berry) and her two sons (Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV) who have been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Even when traveling outside, they keep themselves connected by tethering themselves with ropes, ensuring they are always linked back to their house. When one of the boy’s questions if the evil is real and the ties that bind them together are severed, their fight for survival becomes life and death. This film starts with an interesting premise: you have grown up only knowing what your mother has told you, that there is an evil force outside your home and the only way to survive is to stay connected to the house. Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) are becoming older, and Nolan is beginning to question whether what Mamma tells them is true or not. Is there really an evil force that wants to kill them as soon as they lose connection to their home? The film tries hard to create a horror aspect that it never delivers, as very early on, what Momma believes and sees is a very evil and scary world that constantly tries to trick her into letting her guard down. Even when some gross-looking characters come to torment Momma, the chills don't register. I thought Berry gave it her all with a character that, at times, is fierce and strong but also tilts on the side of madness. Both Percy Daggs IV, as the ever-questioning Nolan, and Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel, always on the side of caution, always backing up his mother, even when it seems things aren’t what she says they are. Unfortunately, the final third of the film becomes a big mess, as the film fails to deliver what it has set up. The film becomes less of a horror film and more of a movie about who will win a will of beliefs. And while I won’t give it away, I hated the final bit of information the film gives us, a horror trope I have always detested when used.  My Rating: Cable  Never Let Go Website   Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Child Star  (2024)  The documentary Child Star explores the world of being a child star and how growing up in the spotlight and their ascension to fame, riches, and power affects their adult lives. Demi Lovato provides us with an inside look into the pressures and pitfalls that arise when children become stars at a young age. Lovato, whose own troubles were seen in the documentary Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, takes us on a journey to explore what happens to children who often become the breadwinners of their family and are under constant pressure to preform, often at a nonstop pace. Lovato interviews former child stars Christina Ricci, Drew Barrymore, Raven-Simone, Kenan Thompson, JoJo Siwa, and Lovato’s fellow Rock Camp star Alyson Stoner. It’s a fascinating and, at times, horrifying look at an industry that often treats children as commodities to make money, and then when they grow up, or the ratings have gone down, to be let go without a support system to help them transition back into the real world. The film looks primarily at the world of Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel and how those two channels battled it out to make as much money off of their stars as they could. The documentary shows us too often that the star-making machine creates insecurity, eating disorders, and, ultimately, looking to drugs and alcohol as a way to escape. What I loved was that the blame wasn’t always put on the parents, as often they were only trying to make their children’s dreams come true. It's shocking to see how many child stars end up with almost nothing after their stardom ends due to mistakes and con artists. The film, unlike the documentary Quiet on the Set, doesn’t go into the seedier side of child exploitation but concentrates on the mental well-being of the children that grow up on sets, constantly being told they need to lose weight or they are pretty enough to get a role. And what we come away with is that Lovato is passionate and caring about making things better for the child star of tomorrow. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Child Star Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

My View: The Substance (2024)  R   Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) used to be the ‘it girl’, the woman that every man wanted and every woman wanted to look like. Elisabeth’s star has faded (literally as we see her Walk of Fame star develop cracks and fade during the opening credits), and she is getting old, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. When on her birthday, she loses her job as host of a workout show (think Jane Fonda) and gets into a traffic accident, where she meets a doctor who slips her a jump drive that promises her a new, young, and improved body if she agrees to take a drug known as The Substance. The drug will transform her into a new person for 7 days, but then she must return to her old form for 7 days. What it doesn’t tell her is that her old body will be dormant for 7 days, while her new body, which is born out of her back, produces a new body (portrayed by Margaret Qualley), who takes the name of Sue. I will warn you that this film is full of incredibly uncomfortable and gross transformations, as the new body is first born out of the back of Elisabeth, reminiscent of horror films like Alien and The Fly. As the movie progresses, it becomes increasingly bizarre and repulsive. While a horror film, it is also a satire, with the film mocking the Hollywood system, controlled by dirty old men, with an emphasis on sex and beauty, always looking for the new fresh face. I became numb at all the incredibly over-the-top scenes, whether it was the extreme close-ups of the executive (played by Dennis Quaid) as he eats like a pig while firing Elisabeth or the constant transformations as Elisabeth suffers bodily disfigurement as the Sue person continues to be young and beautiful. I was excited to see this film because I am a big Demi Moore fan. Hollywood has ignored her for far too long, but after the first 30 minutes of the film, I became more and more disappointed that she was thrown into being the monster in a bad horror film. While I was impressed by the lack of CGI used to create all the special effects, the film went overboard with them and tried to constantly shock us. The film’s ending is as bizarre as the rest of it and makes it feel like a farce, more than a satire, as we end where we started, on the cracked and faded star on the Walk of Fame. I left The Substance feeling disappointed and longing for my two-plus hours back.   My Rating: Cable  The Substance Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) R   Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt) is tired of the dating scene and her bad luck with men. Her job as a copy editor and fact-checker causes her to be a perfectionist and overthink situations. She works for Josh (Scott Cohen), who used to be her boyfriend. After a series of disastrous dates, she decides to try dating a woman and answers a dating ad. Into Jessica’s life comes Helen (Heather Juergensen), who is instantly attracted to Jessica and is willing to try, taking it slow with Jessica. Helen is constantly amused by Jessica’s attempts at being with another woman, much like a person who doesn’t know how to swim, going to a pool and slowly dipping their toe into the water. I love this film, mostly because of the performance of Jennifer Westfeldt, who portrays Jessica as a woman with a good heart but someone who wants to go slow, really slow, in this new relationship, all the while worrying about what other people will say when they find out she is dating a woman. Kissing Jessica Stein is a romantic comedy with heart and wit and a lead that shines in every scene she is in. My Rating: Full Price  Kissing Jessica Stein Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Substance:  English Translation

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  We Live in Time  (2024)  R  An up-and-coming chef (Florence Pugh) and a recent divorcee meet under some incredible circumstances that brings them together, in a decade-spanning look at life, love and heartache. The film wowed audiences at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival.  We Live in Time Website The film releases in theaters on Friday, October 18, 2024. 

                                                                   Until Next Time!

Speak No Evil

My View:  Speak No Evil  (2024)  R  In Speak No Evil, a married couple, Ben (Scoot McNairy) and Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis), and their young daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), on vacation, meet another couple, Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi), along with their daughter and son. A friendship is develops, and the other family invites the Daltons to stay at their country home for the weekend. Their stay is fun at the start, but the hosts’ behavior soon turns sinister as dark secrets are exposed, and the family realizes that they will be lucky to get out alive. Speak No Evil is produced by Blumhouse, who gave us horror movies like the Paranormal Activity films, Insidious, The Purge, and Happy Death Day. So you would expect when buying a ticket it’s going to be another scary horror film. Not so fast. Speak No Evil is more a suspense film than a horror film. However, given the reaction of the audience that I saw the screening with, this is more of a black comedy than anything else. That’s the only way I can explain how this film pushes the boundaries of plot and common sense. While the audience I saw the movie with had fun shouting at Ben and Louise to get the hell out of Dodge, they also became frustrated as the couple continually did the old horror trick of ‘going back into the house’ or ‘going upstairs to escape the bad people’ tropes. A few times, I can accept, but this became a running joke as Ben, who has to be one of the weakest decision makers in the history of film, either can’t make a decision (one of the weaker moments in the movie) or keeps leading his family into worse positions. Louise is the hero of the story, someone who wants to leave almost immediately from the moment she enters Paddy’s home. She only agrees to go on the trip because her husband, Ben, has a little pity party fit. Unlike some of my fellow filmgoers, I did not enjoy Speak No Evil, except when watching James McAvoy just go nuts in almost every scene. It was a scary movie with no scares and a couple who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag, much less a home filled with a couple of nutty people.  My Rating: Cable  Speak No Evil Website   Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View:  The Killer’s Game  (2024) The Killer’s Game is about Joe (Dave Bautista), an assassin for hire who has been diagnosed that he will die in a few months, so he orders a hit on himself to get it over. Once the hit has been ordered, Joe finds out that the doctor made a mistake and he isn’t dying. The problem is an army of assassins are on the loose, and are out to kill him anyway. I had fun with this film for about the first hour, but then things were pushed too far; with a plot already put together with balling wire and bubblegum, it went off the deep end and never came back. I love Bautista, and I think he has become a delightful actor as he gives his character a clumsy charm that works so well you can see a woman (played by Sofia Boutella) being smitten by him. The film has fun with Joe as the killer with a heart of gold (he only does hits on bad people) but goes a little too far trying to be cute, giving us too many characters with cutesy names to follow, all introduced in a bloody haze of flying body parts and individual soundtracks. Wrestling fans may enjoy seeing WWE wrestler Drew McIntyre as one of the assassins sent out to kill Joe, but they will be disappointed by the fight sequence he takes part in.  The fight sequences are well done, but too often the film goes for the big ending for each assassin out to kill Joe, which becomes almost numbing to watch. The final thirty minutes doesn’t work at all, especially a trip to a church (flashbacks to John Woo’s The Killer, maybe?) that is so poorly done that it almost hurts to watch it. I had high hopes for The Killer's Game after seeing the trailer, but it was a disappointment because it tried too hard to be funny and cute.   My Rating: Cable  The Killer's Game Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Uglies  (2024)  PG-13  Uglies takes place in the future, where a society is obsessed with physical appearance, Tally (Joey King) is looking forward to when she turns sixteen. That’s when every citizen undergoes extreme cosmetic surgery to erase any imperfections, turning a person from an ‘Ugly’ into a ‘Pretty.’ Tally’s world is going to change when she meets Shay (Katherine Langford), who is part of a group of rebels living in the wilderness known as ‘the Smokies,’ who refuse to undergo the operation. For a while, we were getting a lot of these dystopian YA book-based films about a future where young people are the only hope for saving the world from tyranny and destruction. Films like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent came out, all based on YA best sellers. It’s been a few years, and now a new film has come out based on a best-selling YA series, Uglies. Joey King plays a young woman who can’t wait to become a ‘pretty’ on her sixteenth birthday. She soon learns that what she has been told her whole life might be a lie and that getting turned into a ‘Pretty’ comes at a price. Turning YA films into movies is not always a sure thing. For every Hunger Games, there is a Vampire Academy or Ender’s Game that doesn’t capture the magic that made those book series so successful. Despite the efforts of Joey King as our hero and Laverne Cox as our very stylish evil scientist, Uglies comes up short. The Uglies books were huge best-sellers, and fans have long waited for the series to be turned into movies, but I think those fans will be disappointed in this film. What works in a book doesn’t always translate to the visual medium of movies, and this film feels like they picked a few of what they thought were the best parts of the book and threw them against the wall to see what stuck. The CGI is at times lacking (there is a horrible hoverboard sequence that looks so bad I thought the sequence might be hand drawn) and the film seems like one long set up for the next movie, taking such a long time to set everything up. I think I’ll just read the books next time.  My Rating: Cable   Uglies Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  Seeking Mavis Beacon  (2024) Seeking Mavis Beacon is a documentary about searching for the woman who graced the cover of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, an incredibly popular computer program in the 1980s. Jazmin Jones (director) and Olivia McKayla Ross (associate producer) go on a quest to find this mysterious woman who taught so many people to type. I saw this film at the Atlanta Film Festival and was enchanted by a film about solving the mystery of who Mavis was and why she was on the cover. This is a film about two people who go on a journey of discovery. What I loved about the film is that the heart of the film is really about the journey and the people that the two investigators meet. The lives that were impacted by this computer program and how just a simple photo could inspire people around the world to think they could learn to type from the person on the cover. And yes, they find out who the woman in the photograph is and give her the attention she deserves.   My Rating: Full Price  Seeking Mavis Beacon 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): Rebel Ridge  (2024)  TV-MA  In Rebel Ridge, all Terry (Aaron Pierre), an ex-Marine, wanted to do was post bail for his cousin, but a small-town police chief, Chief Sandy Burne (Don Johnson) has taken his money, and Terry is about to get it back anyway he has to. Rebel Ridge is one of those films where you go, that actor is killing it, and I can’t wait to see what he does next. Up to this, Aaron Pierre has mostly been a TV actor, but I’m telling you that Aaron Pierre is a movie star. From the first moments of Rebel Ridge, the tension builds and builds. The film has been compared to the Stallone film First Blood (the first Rambo film), but that’s a misplaced comparison. In Rambo, there isn’t much of a plot other than a sheriff (played by Brian Dennehy) who hates another man and will do anything to get rid of him. Rebel Ridge slowly gives us reasons why Terry is so determined to get his cousin out on bail and why the police chief is trying to keep Terry’s money. Rebel Ridge isn’t your typical, one-man-against-the-system movie, though Aaron Pierre as Terry can kick a lot of butt, all without killing anyone. Terry gets help from a court staffer, Summer (played by AnnaSophia Robb), who becomes Terry’s ally in his quest to get his cousin out on bail. It turns out there is a lot to Summer’s story too. There are plenty of action sequences to keep the film moving, and then there is Don Johnson, who is so good at playing a slick, cocksure Chief who thinks he can get away with anything because he has a badge. Well, he hasn’t met a man like Terry.  My Rating: Full Price  Rebel Ridge Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies  (2023)  How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is about M (Putthipong Assaratanakul), a university dropout without a job, who sees his cousin strike it rich, caring for a dying relative and then being named in the relative’s will. A motivated M volunteers to care for his terminally ill grandmother (Usha Seamkhum) with the goal of achieving the same outcome. This is a moving film about family, commitment, and how it takes time to know someone. M is someone who you don’t like at first, mostly because he is such a slacker, living off his mother while trying to make it as an online gamer, which he sucks at. Seeing his cousin hit it big, he moves in with his grandmother and trying to become the perfect grandson in her eyes, all so he can have her house to sell when she dies. However, the more he cares for his grandmother, the more he becomes attached to her. M also observes how the rest of the family doesn't pay much attention to her, even when she falls and needs to go to the hospital. The film doesn’t mince with making most of the characters self-involved, almost always showing us their worst sides, like Amah’s son, who she waits patiently for him to show up, which he only does when he is in trouble and needs money. M learns about his grandmother's life, both present-day (her loneliness) and in the past, when she was in an arranged marriage. What makes this film stand out is that the characters are fully fleshed out. We get to know them, and they seem real with all their flaws. I also loved that the film has a few twists and turns, some you don’t expect that take you down a few paths you didn’t know you needed to walk on. And yes, you will need a box of tissues for the ending, but I think you will come away feeling that M is a better person than he was when his scheme started.  My Rating: Full Price  How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies Info  Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest:  The 4:30 Movie  (2024) The 4:30 Movie takes place in the summer of 1986, where three sixteen-year-old friends (Reed Northrup, Nicholas Cirillo, and Austin Zajur) spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. This Saturday, they may learn a thing or two about life and love. Filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) can be hit or miss with his films, with a lot of misses lately. I am happy to say that this film is a delight, especially for moviegoers of the 1980s. The film takes you back to a time when teens would spend their whole Saturday going from one film to another, no matter how many times they had seen some of them. The film revolves around Brian (Austin Zajur), a movie fanatic who has just gotten the guts to ask out the girl of his dreams, Melody (played by the wonderfully cute Siena Agudong), to see an afternoon movie. It took Brian a year to ask her out after kissing her in her parent’s pool. She says yes, but his best friends, Belly (Reed Northrup) and Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) aren’t too happy about the idea that Brian has asked a girl to their day of movie-watching. From the moment they arrive at the theater, things start going wrong, and at one point it appears that Brian won't be able to get his dream date. The 4:30 Movie is a love letter to Kevin Smith’s teen life, with references to everything from Billy Idol to discussions on if the first movie of a series can be called Poltergeist I if the films sequels have numbers attached to the titles. The 4:30 Movie works when we are just dealing with the three friends or when Brian is hanging out with Melody. Characters in the film feel like real teens, and the chemistry between Austin Azajur and Siena Agudong, which is everything you want in a first romance, makes us want more of their scenes together. The film does a horrible job of creating fake movie trailers that don’t come close to the look and feel of the 80s exploration films (though the trailer for the Nun by day and hooker by night one is enjoyable for a bit). There is also a touching scene between Brian and one of the ushers (played by Genesis Rodriguez), where she tells Brian that he should think about becoming a director because of his love of film. Overall, I had a good time with the film. I wish Smith had done one more re-write and tightened up some scenes that go on a little too long. Still, it’s fun going to the local cinema with Brian and his friends and trying our hand at sneaking into a few R-rated films. There are two bonus portions in the credits. One an additional scene after the first bit of credits and then outtakes during the rest of the credits.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The 4:30 Movie Website Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Bright Young Things  (2003)  R  The film takes place in 1930s England when young aristocrats wore tuxes, partied all night, and slept all day. They all thought their days of fun and debauchery would go on forever. Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore) has written a novel he is convinced that the world is going to love. Having already spent the advance, his only manuscript is seized as pornography, and he is now out of luck. What’s a guy to do when his fiancé Nina (Emily Mortimer) expects to be supported in the life she has grown accustomed to. Adam, desperate for money, starts writing an anonymous column in the biggest newspaper in the country, giving everyone an inside scoop into what goes on at all those parties that everyday people are never invited to. Bright Young Things is a fun and enjoyable film with a cast of soon-to-be stars like Emily Mortimer, David Tennant, and James McAvoy. It also has some brilliant performances by Stockard Channing, Jim Broadbent, Dan Aykroyd, and scene-stealer Peter O’Toole. It’s a look at a life that didn’t last as long as they thought it would.  My Rating: Full Price  Bright Young Things Info  The film is available on most streaming services.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Speak No Evil:  Skipper

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Saturday Night  (2024)  R  On October 11th, 1975, at 11:30 pm, a group of young, wild performers and writers launched a new live TV show that changed the landscape forever. This is the story of what happened in the 90 minutes before the first broadcast of what was to be later named Saturday Night Live. I want to see it just to see J. K. Simmons as comedy legend Milton Berle.  Saturday Night Website  The film releases in theaters on Friday, October 11, 2024.  

Until Next Time!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

My View:  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice  (2024) PG-13  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice begins after an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family have come home to Winter River and the house we all know so well. Lydia (Winona Ryder) is still haunted by Beetlejuice, and to make things worse, her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), has discovered that mysterious model of the town. It’s only a matter of time before someone’s name will be uttered three times. So Tim Burton and Michael Keaton decided it was time to revisit the weird house up on the hill. So the big question is, does going back to see the ‘Juiceman’ work? Yeah, it does. Is it anywhere close to the original? No, but it’s still a good, funny popcorn film that you will have a great time watching. One thing that Burton did is realize that Keaton is in only about 15 minutes of the 1988 film because most of the film is about Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’s characters dealing with being dead and then trying to get their unwanted houseguests the heck out of there. So Keaton is in this film a lot more; in fact, there seem to be about four plots going on simultaneously, and Keaton’s Beetlejuice is involved in all of them. Catherine O’Hara is back as Delia Deetz, and O’Hara steals every scene she is in, just as you would expect, with some of the film’s best lines. Ryder does an admirable job of playing the mom who has made a career as a woman who can see ghosts. Lydia is just trying to keep things together after her ex-husband disappeared on a trip to the Amazon. Besides Keaton, this is Ortega’s film, as she plays a young woman who had to grow up as the daughter of the ghost whisper, and she misses her father, who made things seem not quite as weird when he was around. Ortega does a great job of selling us on a person who is constantly giving the side eye to her mom, especially when she brings up seeing the afterlife around them. Keaton has a blast as the man we all came to see and he doesn’t disappoint with lots of quips that only Beetlejuice can say (or do). The film is a little bloated by a secondary plot led by a character played by Monica Bellucci, who never quite feels like her character really was needed. The film also has a bit of trouble trying to tie all the loose ends together, and some of the resolutions to big plot lines seem rushed. Still, I had a great time watching this film, and yes, there are plenty of callbacks to the first film, including the shrunken-head guys (one of who plays a pretty big part). I also loved that a lot of the special effects weren’t done with CGI but with things that made the first film so much fun to watch, with lots of strange and creepy puppet-controlled ghouls and some stop-motion animation. So get ready to say a certain guy’s name three times and go back to the world of the weird and creepy. You will have a fun time.  My Rating: Full Price  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

Indiefest:  His Three Daughters  (2024)  R  His Three Daughters is the story of three daughters (Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne, and Carrie Coon) who converge on their father’s New York apartment to care for him in his last days. In the next three days, the daughters will try to heal old wounds and come together to patch together a family that has been separated for far too long. This is a film about how families aren’t always what they seem. Katie (Carrie Coon) is the woman who wants to plan everything, has opinions on everybody, and can’t seem to sit still. Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) is a free spirit who does yoga, tries to be the peacemaker, and seems to have a successful life. Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) is the daughter who has been living with their father for the past few years, taking care of him as his sickness took control of both their lives. Rachel, who has a different mother than the other two sisters, spends most of her days doing off-track betting and getting high. She would rather spend time in her room than interact with her sisters. The three are forced to work together to make their father’s last days as comfortable (aided by a couple of hostel nurses to help them make his death as painless as possible. His Three Daughters is a warm, funny, and touching film that also has a few tearful moments. All three women are wonderful in their roles. Coon has the most demanding role because Katie is not a likable person, and it’s Coon’s job to let us see beyond the hard shell that Katie has put up. Coon lets us know she does care but couldn’t always deal with the fact that her father was sick and dying. Olsen is fun to watch as the seemingly always positive Christina, who tries to keep things moving along but uses her yoga to escape when things get too tough. Of the three, Natasha Lyonne is the actor who shines throughout as a woman who just wants the whole thing to be over and uses her betting and getting high to escape the reality of her father’s soon-to-be death. Lyonne is perfect in the role, delivering the film’s center, as we see things through her (sometimes bloodshot) eyes. There are some incredible moments in this film, one of which is when Rachel’s boyfriend, played by Jovan Adepo, who knows how much Rachel has done for her father and lets the other two sisters have a piece of his mind on how they don’t known Rachel and what she has done this past year. I loved everything about His Three Daughters (though there is a section near the end that I wish wasn’t a part of the film, but that’s nitpicking), and the performances by these three outstanding actors are worth the price of admission alone. Just bring a tissue or two.  My Rating: Full Price  His Three Daughters Website    Now playing in select theaters and on the Netflix platform on September 20th. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see in theatres but have seen recently):  The Killer  (2024) R   In The Killer, Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel) is the most lethal and feared assassin in the business. In fact, she is known by the name Queen of the Dead. Zee takes a job to kill a young blind woman (Jenna Silvers) and has a change of heart. Now, every hitman in Paris is out to kill her, and her only ally is a French detective (Omar Sy). A few directors have remade their own films through the years. Hitchcock is the one everyone remembers when he remade The Man Who Knew too Much. Was it a better film? I am a fan of Hitchcock’s early work, so I don’t think any film that has Doris Day sing Que Sera, Sera about a million times is a better film. In 1989, John Woo brought us The Killer, considered one of the best action films of all time, and brought Woo to Hollywood. So why would Woo remake this film? Sure, you can do a few more things with CGI than you could with actual stunts in 1989, but that’s what made that film stand out. Its action sequences are brilliant, and I loved how Ah Jong, the hitman played by the totally cool Chow Yun-fat, didn’t just shoot a person once (like so many of Hollywood’s action heroes). No, he shot them 6 to 10 times before moving on to the next guy. So, in this remake, Woo has our hero as a woman, Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel), known as the Queen of the Dead. It’s basically the same setup: our hero goes out to do a hit, and a singer gets caught up in the gunfire and is blinded by the firefight. Zee feels guilty, and instead of killing the singer, the only person who can testify against Zee, she saves her instead. The Killer has plenty of gunplay, some fun chase sequences, and a couple of well-choreographed firefights. However, Nathalie Emmanuel doesn’t have the star power to pull off the most feared assassin in the business. I also did not like the chemistry between Emmanuel and Omar Sy, who plays the cop who can’t be bought and slowly becomes Zee’s ally in bringing down the bad guys. One of the great things about the original was the chemistry and friendship that developed between the assassin and the cop. There just isn’t much there for us to care about either character. Woo pulls a few changes to the script (which I won’t give away), but I am incredibly disappointed by the ending of this film. It’s hard to revisit your old haunts, especially when they are shown so brightly in the past. Sometimes, it is best to let things stay in the past.   My Rating: Cable  The Killer Website   Now playing on the Peacock platform.

Indiefest:  Red Rooms  (2023)  Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) is a model by day and an online poker player at night. Although she excels at both, she doesn't find much pleasure in either (although she enjoys watching men lose). She starts attending a high-profile trial of a serial killer, but not just any serial killer, but one where the man kidnapped young teen women, held them captive, and tortured them to death, all while videotaping them. Kelly-Anne's obsession with the trial is so great that she sleeps outside the courthouse to be first in line to get into the proceedings. Kelly-Anne has started on a path that will become such an obsession that she will risk her career to keep going. Not only that, she is willing to pay any amount to obtain the missing footage of one of the girls. Red Rooms is a dark and disturbing film that looks at how people get so involved with serial killers, making them almost part of a weird kind of religion where they worship at the feet of the killer. We don't exactly understand why Kelly-Anne does what she does, but we watch her become more and more obsessed with the murderer and what he did. Juliette Gariépy does a magnificent job of keeping Kelly-Anne at an arm’s length from us, the audience, and we never see her waver, even when things seem at their most desperate. I saw the film at the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival and could hear the audience occasionally gasp as we followed Kelly-Anne down the rabbit hole. Red Rooms is a horror film without the bloodshed (we never see the footage, only hear the screams), but it’s still scary as a young woman seems to lose her self-worth as she delves deeper and deeper into an abyss that she may never come out of.  My Rating: Full Price  Red Rooms Website   Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Boomerang (1992)  R  Marcus (Eddie Murphy) is a successful cosmetic company executive who loves to date women like they are just another conquest, another notch on his bedroom headboard. He meets his match when Jacqueline (Robin Givens) becomes his boss and plays Marcus like all the women he used to date. She flirts with him, sleeps with him, then dumps him, and then does it again. Marcus soon realizes he is being played with like he used to play women. His eyes are opened when he realizes there has been a remarkable woman right there all along, Angela (Halle Berry). The cast shines in this film with Givens perfect as the man-eater who doesn’t care who she hurts, as long as she is in power, and Berry as the sweet and wonderful Angela, a woman who is perfect for Marcus, if he would only realize it. Boomerang is one of those movies that makes me mad at Murphy because he is brilliant in this film and plays Marcus perfectly, but too often in Murphy’s career, he took the easy money and made a bunch of crap films that were below his talent. So see this film, revel in Berry and Murphy’s chemistry, and have fun with Givens giving Marcus his just turn at being used. My Rating: Full Price  Boomerang Info  Available on Amazon and Apple TV to rent or buy.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Shrinker Performers 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Never Let Go  (2024)  R  A mother (Halle Berry) and her two sons (Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV) have been haunted by an evil spirit for years. They stay connected at all times, even tethering themselves with ropes when they travel outside so they are always connected back to their house. When one of the boys questions if the evil is real and the ties that bind them together are severed, their fight for survival becomes life and death. I’ll go see Halle Berry in anything where she has to kick some evil butt.  Never Let Go Website   The film is in theaters on Friday, September 20, 2024. 

Until Next Time!