A Complete Unknown

My View:  A Complete Unknown  (2024) R  A Complete Unknown begins in 1961, when a young man from Minnesota arrives in New York City with only a few clothes and a guitar on his back. That man was Bobby Dylan (Timothée Chalamet), and in just a few short years, he would become a worldwide folk singer sensation. But Bob wanted more, and he was about to set the folk world on fire. I am a huge Bob Dylan fan and have seen him in concert 8 times, including my first time with his Rolling Thunder Revue in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, in January 1976. I still can’t believe that my parents let me and a bunch of teenage nerds drive 3 hours to Houston to see a concert. I had high expectations for this film, and I am pleased to say that it lives up to them. Timothée Chalamet is dazzling in what is undoubtedly an Oscar-nominated performance. Chalamet captures the essence of Dylan up on the screen, while his singing is spot on in the familiar Dylan cadence and tone. It’s a daunting performance, and Chalamet nails it. In fact, all three leads, Chalamet as Dylan, Edward Norton as the folk singer Pete Seeger, and Monica Barbaro as the legendary singer/songwriter Joan Baez, are brilliant in their roles. I loved Norton as Pete Seeger, a man who has been forgotten but was a huge star in the 50s/60s and was known as one of the nicest guys ever to play the musical stage. It's an uncanny performance where Norton effortlessly slips into the character. Monica Barbaro has the most demanding role in the film, as Baez was a singer who had a unique vocal style and range. Barbaro is a force to be reckoned with, even when sharing the screen with Chalamet. When Dylan hit the scene in New York, Baez was the toast of the town and was a huge star in the folk circles. That Dylan was soon to eclipse her is part of the film’s story. The film does a remarkable job of allowing us to watch Dylan navigate his way through stardom, but it never attempts to explain who he is or what he is thinking. That’s because only Bob Dylan knows what the hell is going on in the world that he has created for himself. Also, as Joan says early on, Bob Dylan was and is an asshole. While I loved this film, it's more for the performances than the story, which goes on a little too long and is over-filled with songs. Despite any flaws, A Complete Unknown is filled with brilliant performances and Bob Dylan's music, and that's all you can ask for. Oh, and one more thing: I love Boyd Holbrook as an actor, but he is too pretty to be playing Johnny Cash.  My Rating: Full Price  A Complete Unknown Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Nosferatu  (2024)  R  Nosferatu tells the tale of an obsession between a newly married young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) who is haunted by her dreams and a master vampire, Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), who is so infatuated with her he travels across the ocean to be near her. I am a massive fan of films from the silent era, and one of the best is the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by the great F. W. Murnau. You have probably never seen the movie, but I can guarantee you that you have scenes from the film as it has constantly been used in music videos and commercials, notably the Queen/David Bowie music video for ‘Under Pressure.’ Now filmmaker Robert Eggers put his stamp on a remake of the silent film that unquestionably delivers the dark gothic feeling from the original film. Nosferatu is a film about desire, and how that desire can take hold of you, making you do things you would never think you would do in the right frame of mind. Lily-Rose Depp plays Ellen, a newlywed to Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), both eager to start their lives together. Ellen is a woman who has had vivid nightmares since her younger days, some of which cause her to sleepwalk, and those nightmares have recently returned in frequency and intensity. Unfortunately, Thomas has been given a great opportunity. If he completes the sale of a castle to a foreign buyer, he will get a huge promotion. However, Thomas must leave his wife behind and travel a long distance to a remote castle to conduct the paperwork in person. Little does Thomas know that this is a trap, and the man he is to see is the one who has been invading Ellen’s dreams, Count Orlok. The Count is intent on moving near Ellen and taking her for his own. Nosferatu is a brilliant gothic horror film, where Eggers takes the source material and makes it his own. The original Nosferatu is known for its groundbreaking cinematography and set designs. Eggers, known for his films The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), and The Northman (2022), puts his own look and feel on the tale while also harking back to the shots that Murnau gave us. It’s an impressive-looking film, with tons of dark passages, lonely streets, and a woman’s bedroom that becomes the focus of a madman driven to find a woman he has been desiring for years. Bill Skarsgård plays the Count, and it’s a performance infused of evil and lust. Eggers and his cinematographer, Jarin Blaschle, don’t let us see the full features of the Count until near the end of the film when the horror that has been building comes to a head. Nosferatu is a masterful work that lovers of gothic horror will thoroughly enjoy. And it has an ending that will keep you talking about long after you have walked out of the theater. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Nosferatu Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Babygirl  (2024)  R   In Babygirl, a high-powered CEO, Romy (Nicole Kidman), has everything she’s ever desired except one thing. She finds it in a torrid affair with her much younger intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson). November is a month when film critics are inundated with screenings/screeners where studios want us to see films before we vote on the best films of the year. So I saw Babygirl a month ago and I am glad that I had time to reflect on the film, as my opinion has changed quite a bit as I have thought about the film. Now, it had nothing to do with the performances, as I think Nicole Kidman could easily get her sixth nomination for Best Performance by an Actress. And Harris Dickinson is outstanding as the young man who sees an opportunity to have some fun with a woman who he almost instantly sees as someone who is missing something in her life. And that something is that Romy wants to be in a role-playing submissive/dominant relationship, something that she feels she will never get from her husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), with whom her sex life is boring and unfulfilling. The more I thought about this film, the more I enjoyed that this wasn’t your typical high-powered CEO taking advantage of a younger person. Instead, it was two consenting adults who started a sexual relationship where each wanted something from the other person but were also careful and respectful of that person, pushing the boundaries but never going too far. The film doesn’t pass judgment on these two people. Babygirl creates a lot of suspense in how far the relationship will go and if they will ever be caught. Will it destroy Romy’s career and her marriage? Will others in the company find out about the relationship and use it over Romy? You will have to watch to find out. And give the film some time to percolate in your brain before you come to a conclusion about it.  My Rating: Full Price  Babygirl Website Now playing in theaters.

My View:  The Fire Inside  (2024)  PG-13  The Fire Inside tells the story of Claressa ’T-Rex’ Shields (Ryan Destiny), a boxer from Flint, Michigan, who, with the help of a local gym owner, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), trained to become the first American woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal. Claressa realizes that a gold medal doesn’t matter when you’re trying to support your family. The Fire Inside is an outstanding movie based on a real woman, about beating the odds, not just in the ring, but in life as well. Ryan Destiny gives a powerful and moving performance of a young woman who is determined to fight her way to success but is crushed when her success in the ring doesn’t translate to real life in Flint, Michigan. Destiny plays a young woman who doesn’t have the best of home life, is battling the idea that women can’t and shouldn’t box, and the fact that she trains in a gym with limited means but has dreams to one day become an Olympic champion and bring her family wealth and fame. It is rare in a movie when the goal is met halfway through the film as T-Rex, against the odds, wins the first gold medal ever for the American women’s Olympic team (this isn’t a spoiler; it’s in the trailer). But things don’t change for T-Rex when she comes back, and she has to deal with all the problems she had before she won gold. Brian Tyree Henry plays Jason, who reluctantly lets Claressa train at his gym, only to realize she might be the real deal, a woman who can box. Henry was nominated for his role in the 2023 film Causeway, and he just might get another nomination for this role. It is a magical performance of a character who is willing to risk it all for a young woman who has dreams he wants to help come true. There is a scene near the end of the film between Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry that is brilliant between two actors that are bringing magic to the screen. Move over Rocky, there is another rags-to-riches boxing story told here. It just takes a little longer to come true.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  The Fire Inside Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film: The United States of Leland (2003) R  Leland (Ryan Gosling) is a young man who has been sent to a juvenile hall for killing a special needs kid. A teacher (Don Cheadle) spends time with Leland and convinces Leland to start a journal. The teacher soon figures out that he could write a book on Leland if he could read his journal. All the while, the people in the town where Leland lived are trying to comprehend why it happened and are trying to put their lives back together. Overall, the film attempts to put too many stories into the plot, but Don Cheadle, as the teacher who tries to reach Leland through writing, and Kevin Spacey, as Leland’s estranged father, gives us some great performances. Add in the fact the cast includes Jena Malone, Lena Olin, Michelle Williams, Sherilyn Fenn, and a very young Kerry Washington, making it a film worth watching.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The United States of Leland Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon and iTunes.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Brutalist:  Office Cleaner

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Flight Risk  (2025)  A small plane pilot (Mark Wahlberg) is transporting an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) accompanying a fugitive (Topher Grace) to trial. As the flight goes across the Alaskan wilderness, tensions rise, and it becomes obvious that everyone on board isn’t who they seem. Two-time Academy Award-winning Mel Gibson directs the film.   Flight Risk Website  In theaters on Friday, January 24, 2025. 

Until Next Time!

Mufasa: The Lion King

FamilyFaire:  Mufasa: The Lion King  (2024) PG In Mufasa: The Lion King, Mufasa is a cub who is lost and alone. He meets another cub named Taka, heir to a royal bloodline. They become fast friends, and with Taka’s help and some new friends, Mufasa might survive in this savage and beautiful world. Lately, it seems Disney has given up on new ideas and is just remaking all their classic animated films with live-action ones. So, when it was announced that Barry Jenkins, Academy Award-winning filmmaker (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) would be directing, and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights) would write original songs for it, I had great hope that this would break the streak of bland musical remakes. Unfortunately, it's not even close. We have a story that no one was asking for: the origins of Simba’s dad, Mufasa, and his rival, Scar.One is how Mufasa and Scar first met, became friends, and then became enemies. The original animated 1994 movie was nominated for four Oscars, three of which were nominated for Best Song (Elton John (music), Time Rice (Lyrics), with ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ winning. Nothing in this film comes even close to any of the songs from the original film. There is one song, ‘Tell Me It’s You,” when (small spoiler alert) Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) profess their love for each other that is catchy and works in the moment. The rest of the songs are instantly forgettable, and there is one song, ‘Bye Bye,’ where the villain of the film, Krios (Mads Mikkelsen) sings about killing all his enemies, that is possibly the worst song that has ever graced the Disney movie screen (and that includes all those family musicals that Disney did on the cheap back in the 60s) with our bad guy constantly singing the words Bye Bye to his soon-to-be victims. Although there are some glimpses of what Barry Jenkins wanted to achieve with this film, he is hindered by the fact that the film has two storylines. The other storyline, which brings this whole film down to almost unwatchable, is Rafiki, with the help of Timon and Pumbaa, babysitting a young lion cub by telling him the story of Mufasa. I am guessing that Disney told Jenkins, hey, can you throw in the comic relief guys every ten minutes to keep the kids interested? It will help with our toy lineup. These interruptions to the story are grating and full of horrible jokes, most of which only a 3-year-old will find funny. While the lifelike animation is an improvement over the 2019 The Lion King remake (where every animal had faces that showed no emotion), this film would have worked much better as a traditional 2-D animated film. One of the great things about the Disney animated films of the 90s was that they had some incredibly beautiful shots, something this live-animated film is sorely missing. I guess I’m old school, but having lifelike animated animals singing just seems a little weird to me. The film feels longer than the two-hour runtime, with too many songs, too much Timon/Pumbaa, and an ending that seems very anti-climactic. By the movie’s end, I just wanted to say “Bye Bye,” and I sure wasn’t singing or humming any of the songs from this overly long and dull film.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Mufasa: The Lion King Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

FamilyFaire:  Sonic the Hedgehog 3  (2024) PG Sonic the Hedgehog 3 begins with Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails facing their most powerful foe ever, Shadow. If they have any hope of defeating Shadow, they will need help from a very unexpected source, Dr. Robotnik. As a film critic, I see about two-thirds (sometimes more) of the films I review with an audience. Sometimes this helps (seeing a children’s movie with kids in the audience lets me know if they are engaged with the film). Sometimes, it hurts (audience members pulling out their iPhones and distracting my vision while a key scene is being played out on screen). With horror, comedies, and Marvel films, seeing a movie with an audience can help significantly with the experience, sharing in the screams, laughs, or cheers. When I saw this film, it was evident that the audience I saw it with were fans of the Sonic games. They cheered when Sonic or Shadow showed off their powers, and when new characters were revealed, the audience would erupt. So, from those reactions, I feel that if you are a fan of the games, you will enjoy this film. I am not a fan of the film series. I barely liked the first film, mostly because of Jim Carey going nuts on screen, and I hated Sonic 2, mainly because Jim Carey’s Dr. Robotnik took a backseat to Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) in the film, taking away from the joy of the first film. Luckily, the studio figured out we wanted more Jim Carey, not less, so we get two Jim Carey roles: Dr. Robotnik (who has been watching a lot of Telenovelas) and his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, who is also an evil bad guy but even more so. And then we have Shadow, voiced by Keanu Reeves, who is a character who is determined to get his revenge for killing a friend of his and imprisoning him for 50 years. Carey has a blast playing two evil and weird bad guys, including several dance numbers he does as both characters. Shadow is a much better villain than Knuckles was in the second film, with a backstory that helps you understand why he is so pissed off all the time. The film is fast-paced, and even better yet, there is less interaction with the weak points of all three films, the husband and wife team of Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), mostly seen at the beginning and end of the film. Of the three films, this was the one that I enjoyed throughout, and I think you will enjoy it too. And by the way, there are two bonus scenes, one in the middle of the credits that the audience went nuts over and one at the end of all the credits.Both set up the next film in the series.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Website Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View: The Six Triple Eight  (2024) PG-13  The Six Triple Eight takes place in 1943 during the height of WWII, when priorities changed, and a huge backlog of undelivered mail was overflowing warehouses. The 6888th Women’s Army Corps’ all-Black battalion was tasked with sorting years’ worth of mail and raising the spirits of soldiers and their families worldwide. This film is directed and co-written by Tyler Perry, a filmmaker not known for his subtle touch. The Six Triple Eight is based on a true story about an all-Black battalion that not once but twice did what others before them failed to do: finding a way to get the mail to the soldiers fighting the war and getting their letters to their loved ones back home delivered. Perry, unfortunately, makes this film about what these soldiers endured and not about the incredible accomplishment they were able to achieve against all the odds. The film constantly hits us over the head with how badly these women were treated and how they were set up for failure. It’s a constant theme throughout this film, and the repetition gets old after a while. Add in that the dialogue in this film is horrendous, with lines that felt hollow and out of place, making the film hard to watch. Their commanding officer, Major Adams (played by Kerry Washington), is constantly surprised by the racism she encounters. Every ten minutes is another scene where Capt. Adams stands up for her troops and is shot down by a racist military man. Her reaction is always of surprise and shock. The film never achieves any of the power and emotion that this story richly deserves. Instead, we get scene after scene that has little impact on the story or the great accomplishment that this battalion did. The film’s final scenes are with some of the surviving members of the battalion, who finally got recognition for their outstanding service to our country in the last few years. I wish the feeling I got from those few moments had carried over into the rest of the film. My Rating: Cable  The Six Triple Eight Website  Now playing in select theatres and on the Netflix platform. 

Forgotten Film:  The Taylor of Panama  (2001)  R  Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) is a British spy for MI6 who has a habit of sleeping with women that can get him in trouble. Andy is given one last assignment to redeem himself. Go to Panama and find out if the Panama Canal is going to be sold to a foreign government. Andy needs someone who can supply him with information. He meets Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a tailor for the rich in Panama. Andy finds out Harry has a past that could ruin his career, making a perfect patsy from which Andy can mine information from. Harry also has a beautiful wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) whom Andy can hit on. The Taylor of Panama is a film based on a novel by John Le Carre and is directed by five-time Oscar nominee John Boorman (Hope and Glory, Deliverance). It's a brilliant spy film where no one is a hero and has one of my favorite lines from a spy film: 'Welcome to Panama-Casablanca without heroes.'   My Rating: Full Price  The Taylor of Panama Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Sonic The Hedgehog 3: Sports Therapist to Mr. Carey

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Last Showgirl  (2024) R  Shelly (Pamela Anderson) has been part of a Las Vegas revue show for over 20 years. Shelly has given up everything to be a part of the show and is told that in two weeks, the show will close forever. Pamela Anderson hasn’t headlined a movie since her 1996 film Barb Wire. Anderson playing the aging showgirl that has gotten a lot of attention recently from film critics and the Golden Globes, and could possibly garner an Oscar nomination for the role. The film contains an outstanding supporting cast, including Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Dave Bautista, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman, and Jamie Lee Curtis.   The Last Showgirl Website  The film is in theaters on Friday, January 10, 2025. 

Until Next Time!

Kraven the Hunter

My View:  Kraven the Hunter  (2024)  R   Kraven the Hunter tells the story of Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a descendant of Russian nobility who has a complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Kraven has made himself into the world’s greatest hunter, but he is also one of its most feared. I stopped reading comics a long time ago, so I had no clue who Kraven was. However, after doing some research, I found out he is a ‘supervillain.” Then why the heck would Sony/Marvel make a movie where this character is a hero throughout the film? I mean, maybe he turns bad at the end, but I have no clue other than he gets a new outfit at the end. Russell Crowe tries as hard as he can to lift up this mess of a film, but he is at the mercy of making the film center on one of the worst villains to ever appear in a superhero film, The Rhino. Alessandro Nivola plays Aleksei, a wannabe mobster who finds a doctor who gives him the ability to turn into a man/rhino. Then, he devises a plan to take down Kraven’s dad, Nikolai. Aleksei delivers some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a superhero movie, and I have seen Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (RIP Christopher Reeve). I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson could have done something with this role, but we never see Kraven as the great hunter he is supposed to be. I knew I was in trouble when, near the start of the film, a character is talking to a young girl and, in the span of two sentences, says her name twice. I get it. I’m supposed to remember her name, Calypso. The ending of this film is laughable, predictable, and just plain stupid. What was Marvel/Sony's plan for this character? Was he going to do a ‘heel turn,’ where you see a good guy turn bad all of a sudden like you see in WWE? We will never know since this is the end of this character, as he won’t be part of the next version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And no, thank goodness, you don’t have to stay during the credits because this film’s runtime is two hours and seven very-long-minutes. At least the film has that going for it.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Kraven the Hunter Website  Now playing in theaters.  

My View:  The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim  (2024)  PG-13  The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim tells the story of the legendary King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. The King and his family must defend their kingdom against an army of Dunledings led by the clever and ruthless Wulf. I am guessing that fans of The Lord of the Rings film series will be disappointed (though there are a few nods to it) mostly because it brings nothing new to the story. I was underwhelmed by the animation, which didn’t give me the splendor of Middle-Earth that we are used to. The animation felt very flat, and too many times, it felt like the film went cheap on the action. I liked that the hero of the story was the King’s daughter, Princess Hera (voiced by Gaia Wise), but the plot of the film feels like it was constructed on a whiteboard, knocking off plot points and characters like they were bit players and not a story worthy of The Lord of the Rings lore. I wanted to be dazzled by the animation and the story. Instead, I got a tale that could have easily been told in less than an hour, not the two-hour-plus run time.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Oh, Canada  (2024)  Oh, Canada tells the story of Leonard Fife Richard Gere), a terminally ill writer and filmmaker who has agreed to tell his story. Leonard was one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. Remembering the past can be a challenging experience. Oh, Canada revolves around a man telling his tale to a documentary crew. It’s a story full of decisions, betrayals, and people he left behind to run away and reinvent himself. Unfortunately for the documentary crew, Leonard is in the final stage of his cancer fight and his memory is clouded. We see this in flashbacks, sometimes showing Leonard being played by Jacob Elordi, as what Leonard looked like when he was a young man. At other times, we see Leonard in the flashbacks, played by Richard Gere, as the storytelling gets confused. Oh, Canada is aided by a strong supporting cast, including Uma Thurman as Leonard’s present wife and Michael Imperioli and Victoria Hill as the husband/wife team of documentary filmmakers who share a past with Leonard. I never felt close to any character in the film, feeling like there was more to this story than what we were being told. Oh, Canada ends up as a frustrating look at a man we never get to know, and while that maybe filmmaker Paul Schrader’s point, I didn’t enjoy the experience.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Oh, Canada Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Carry On  (2024)  PG-13  In Carry On, it’s Christmas Eve, and the airport is incredibly busy. Ethan (Taron Egerton) is a TSA agent who, while at work, gets a call from a mysterious traveler who tells Ethan, let a carry-on bag go through, or your girlfriend dies. They picked the wrong agent. It must be tough to write thrillers that are set in airports. Gone are the days when John McClane could run all over the Dulles International Airport without a care, saying a quip or two, while saving the day. This film tries hard to follow the rules, and for a while, it does. However, during the last third of the film, when our hero Ethan, with the help of a plucky, determined LA cop (Danielle Deadwyler), tries to stop the terrorist plot, things like common sense go out the window. The film’s first half is a fun cat-and-mouse film of Ethan trying to figure out a way to alert someone about the package while our bad guy stays one step ahead of him. Once the package gets through, the film goes downhill with ideas like a cop in an unmarked car being able to get from the highway to the drop-off point of LAX in minutes. Our hero does have some John McClane in him, as he gets beat up and shot a bunch of times, which he seems to forget about because he was a track star in high school. Carry On isn’t a terrible film, I just wish the second half had been as interesting as the first. Much like McClane, Ethan is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Carry On Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest:  The End  (2024)  The End is about a wealthy family who, after surviving the end of the world and spending years alone in an underground salt mine, a stranger shows up to change their world. This is the first narrative film from director Joshua Oppenheimer, known for his Academy Award-nominated documentaries The Act of Killing (2014) and The Look of Silence (2016). For him to choose a musical about the last possible surviving family on Earth is a little strange but I loved his films, so I was game. With a cast that has Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon as the heads of this peculiar underground family and it is a musical (one of my favorite film genres), you would think that I would love this film. Unfortunately, I tired of it rather quickly, and at two hours and almost thirty minutes, it’s a lot of songs that rarely captivate and are filmed almost entirely in long shots, making a small world seem stagy. A couple of songs stand out, including a fantastic song that George MacKay, as the son, sings about his love for the new stranger, a woman portrayed by Moses Ingram. Ingram is the shining light in the film, as her musical numbers have some punch to them. However, while touching on everything from climate change to the privilege of the wealthy, along with nods to race, The End never fully delves into anything except another song that doesn’t pay off. And then another one starts up, and so on. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The End Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Rhapsody in August (1991) PG  An elderly woman (Sachiko Murase) living in Nagasaki, Japan, welcomes her four grandchildren to her home for their summer vacation. She attempts to teach them about the atomic bomb that was dropped on her city in WWII and how it killed their grandfather. She learns of her brother’s death and reaches out to his son, an American (Richard Gere), who comes to visit and learn from the woman about her life and city. Rhapsody in August is directed by one of my all-time favorite directors, Akira Kurosawa, whose Seven Samurai is a masterpiece of storytelling. This beautiful, moving film about a woman who wants the past never to repeat itself will bring you to tears. It’s also a love letter to a city that rose from the ashes but never forgot what happened to its people. While not one of his best, it’s still a powerful, exquisite-looking film that will touch you. My Rating: Full Price  Rhapsody in August Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Kraven the Hunter:  Fashion Consultant

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  The Brutalist  (2024)  The Brutalist begins in the aftermath of WWII when visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) flee post-war Europe to restart their lives. When László begins working for a wealthy client, Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), he little realizes how much his life will change. Many film critics feel this role could bring another Academy Award for Adrien Brody. The film was shot in the VistaVision format, a widescreen camera system that hasn’t been used in an American shot movie in over 60 years.  The Brutalist Website  The film will first be released in IMAX in January 2025 and then to a wide release on Friday, January 23, 2025.

Until Next Time!

Nightbitch

My View:  Nightbitch  (2024) R  Nightbitch is about a woman (Amy Adams) who has paused her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but it’s not what she wanted in life. Soon, she feels different, and her life begins changing. She starts to transform into a dog. Does she actually become a dog or is it just her imagination? Do the local dogs worship her? I have no clue. Nightbitch is a film that needed to go further into the bizarre. Sure, there are a lot of strange scenes where she goes out into the yard and digs like a dog or goes for runs in the middle of the night, but the film never pushes the boundaries that it needs to. Amy Adams gives a stellar performance but is let down by a script that sometimes seems too conventional. How often have we seen a main character go off on someone who is being stupid, and then we realize that it’s only in her mind, with the character retreating without saying what she is really thinking? The film has a lot of say about motherhood and how society in America makes mothers almost second-class citizens with limited maternity leave and childcare that makes it too expensive for women to do part-time jobs until their kids are in school. All that is great, and the film hits us over the head with those thoughts. Unfortunately, Nightbitch leaves a lot to explore. It should have been a little weirder and more out there. It’s kind of like the scraps left in a dog bowl. It's tasty, but not enough to make a meal or a movie.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Nightbitch Website   Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Flow  (2024)  PG   In Flow, when a cat’s home is devastated by a great flood, it goes on an adventure to find a new home. Along the way, the cat must team up with other species to find this new world. One of those species is a dog. The best way to describe Flow is Homeward Bound in an alternate universe, where the cat and its friends don’t know where they are going; they just know that they have to do this together in order to survive. While this is Latvia’s nomination for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category of the 97th Academy Awards, there aren’t any spoken words in the film, only animal sounds (all recorded with real animals). You will fall in love with the plucky cat, who is living a good life in an abandoned house with a ton of green space for the cat to explore and find food. Other than having to hide from a pack of local dogs, things are good until a flood that makes it impossible to stay turns the cat’s world upside down. The cat (we never know if it is male or female) finds a boat to climb aboard, and wouldn’t you know it, a dog is also on the boat. The adventure then starts from there, as we follow the cat and the boat, finding more friends along the way to join on in the journey. Flow is a magical film with animation that must be seen in a theater to appreciate its beauty. As we root for the cat to survive, your heart will beat a little faster at some of the troubles the cat gets into, and a few tears will be shed along the way. Flow is a film not to be missed, and though it is animated, I’m not sure small kids will be as interested as the teens and adults as the adventures go on with our cat and its rag-tag friends. I was stunned by how quickly this film moved and was sad that it ended. I wanted more with the cat. And I’m not a cat person. There is a small bonus scene at the end of all the credits. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Flow Website   Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Queer (2024) R Queer is about William Lee (Daniel Craig), an American expat living in Mexico City in the 1950s, struggling to survive on part-time jobs and the GI Bill. Along comes Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a former soldier, and William starts to believe that having an intimate connection with someone might be possible. If you have read any of William S. Burroughs’ work, you know he can be a little (ok, a lot) trippy. I loved the first two-thirds of this film, with a performance by Daniel Craig that might be his best ever. Craig plays William Lee, a man who is happy being a barfly who picks up a man from time to time but stays a loner for the most part. In fact, he seems to revel in going from bar to bar, conversing with his friends, and then going home to sleep until it’s time to do it again the next day. Into his life comes Eugene, a man who becomes Williams’s obsession. I loved Craig, portraying a man who, at the film’s beginning, is sure of himself, then falls head over heels in love with Eugene, even before they sleep together. William is a flawed man, but Eugene sees something in William, which allows him to hang around and occasionally sleep with William. Then comes the part that I didn’t enjoy when William and Eugene go off to South America to find a mysterious plant that might have the ability to allow you to do telepathy. This is where Burroughs’ work turns weird (the film is based on a novella he wrote in the 80s), and I felt the film gets too far off the tracks to ever recover. Still, Queer is a film to be seen to show us that Craig is an outstanding actor who I hope keeps making interesting choices like William Lee.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Now playing in select theaters. 

My View:  Y2K (2024) R    Y2K takes place on New Year’s Eve in 1999 when everyone is told that because of Y2K, the world might end. Two best friends, Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison), go to a party to have fun. Little did they know that when the clock strikes midnight, the party is over. Y2K is a film that might have made a funny 10-minute short to show at the midnight screenings at a film festival. The problem is that the material can’t sustain an hour-and-a-half film. Heck, it can’t even make it to the half-hour mark. Since Y2K was twenty-five years ago, who is your audience for this film? The couple of times that I laughed while watching this film was because I lived through this time of dial-up modems and downloading pictures that took what seemed like days. SNL alum Kyle Mooney co-wrote and directed the film, and Y2K feels like it was a leftover idea from a pitch he did five years ago. The film wants to be a teen horror comedy film, but the deaths are creative enough to be funny, and the plot gets old way too fast to sustain any interest in any of the characters. If you remember video stores and Billy Blanks, you might find a funny joke or two, but that’s about it. Frankly, I don’t want to be reminded of my AOL days with that saying, “You’ve Got Mail.” Not anymore.  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Y2K Website  The review will be up Friday night. 

Familyfaire:  That Christmas  (2024)  PG  That Christmas is about the small town of Wellington-on-Sea when a snowstorm for the ages threatens to shut the town down, altering everyone’s plans, including Santa’s. This is a fun family movie based on the children’s books by Richard Curtis, who wrote the screenplay for the mainstay Christmas movie Love Actually. The film is greatly helped by the voice cast, including Brian Cox as Santa, Bill Nighy as Lighthouse Bill, and Jodie Whittaker as Mrs. Williams. Kids will love this film, which is full of action, where the town's children are the ones who save Christmas and a life or two. The film touches on many subjects, from loneliness to young love and how parents underestimate their children on how much they understand, especially when it deals with families in trouble. I loved that Santa not only delivers gifts, but he also knows when a town needs some special help and guidance. That Christmas is a fun and enjoyable addition to the animated Christmas fare that gives us a warm ending to take into the season.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  That Christmas Website  Now playing on Netflix. 

My View:  The Order  (2024)  R  The Order takes place in 1983 when a series of bank robberies and car heists were frightening communities in the Pacific Northwest. Law enforcement was baffled, not knowing who or why the robberies were being committed. One man, an FBI agent (Jude Law) in Idaho, began putting the pieces together and was out to prove he was right. The Order is a taut thriller that, while based on actual events that happened in the 80s, could easily be set in 2024. Jude Law plays an FBI agent, Terry Husk, who drinks too much, is an outsider to life in Idaho and has a past that keeps haunting him. He does make one friend, a local police officer, Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan), who wants to help Terry in investigating a local White Supremacist group that may be involved in some local bombings and bank heists. Terry, with the help of Jamie, discovers that a splinter group may have started up under the direction of Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult), who has shown his dissatisfaction with the leader of the White Supremacist group. The Order is an intense film where the stakes keep getting higher as Bob convinces more of his followers that now is the time to strike against the government. Things get serious when the violence and bank heists escalate, and Terry is convinced that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The film is buoyed by an incredible performance by Nicholas Hoult, who has the charisma and charm to make Bob a character that we can believe would make men (and women) follow him down a rabbit hole they won’t return from. It’s a film filled with fantastic performances, including Marc Maron as a radio DJ who plays an integral part in raising the stakes in the fight. The Order is a film about good versus evil and how evil can hide in the weeds before striking, often with only a few brave people to oppose it.   My Rating: Full Price  The Order Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Wilde (1997) R  The story of Oscar Wilde (Stephen Fry), who was a playwright, a poet, and a genius. He was in a straight relationship with his wife (Jennifer Ehle) and was the toast of the town because of his wit and his plays. Then, he met Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law), who wanted to be famous and seduced Wilde. Wilde's world then crumbled as he accepted his homosexuality, but the law and the public didn't. Stephen Fry is brilliant as the witty and tormented Wilde, who just wanted to live his life, having fallen for a man who didn’t really care about him. The supporting cast is a dream with Vanessa Redgrave, Tom Wilkinson, Ioan Gruffudd, and Gemma Jones. Jude Law is perfect casting for the man who brings Wilde down. In my opinion, Stephen Fry should have been nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. My Rating: Full Price  Wilde Info   Available on streaming services. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Nightbitch: Decorator Gang Boss

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim  (2024) PG-13  The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of the legendary King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. The King and his family must defend their kingdom against an army of Dunledings led by the clever and ruthless Wulf. Peter Jackson, who made The Lord of the Rings film series, produced this animated film. The film takes place 180 years before The Lord of the Rings.   The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Website  In theaters on Friday, December 13, 2024. 

Until Next Time!