The Matrix Resurrections

My View:  The Matrix Resurrections (2021)  R   Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a successful, award-winning programmer of video games. However, Thomas is dealing with feelings and thoughts that his world isn’t real and that a great love has been lost. Soon, Thomas will have to make that choice again; to take the red or blue pill. I have seen the other three Matrix films, and always I have only been able to understand or follow about half of what is said or going on. This movie is no different. At times, I had no clue what the heck was going on, but I had fun trying. This is a celebration of the series, with lots of flashbacks for people that haven’t seen the movies in a while. I mean, it’s been over twenty years since the first one, so we do need a bit of refresher course, and this film does that. If you have never seen a Matrix film (first, where have you been?), this isn’t a film to start as it is about love lost. I enjoyed this film because its central theme is love and what we will do to find it. The Matrix Resurrections has its usual fights, gun battles, and car chases to make the action fans happy, but it’s really Thomas/Neo dealing with feelings that he is missing something. He is a man lost and is searching for something he feels he once had. So take the red pill and go on another journey with Neo and the gang, this time for love.   My Rating: Full Price   The Matrix Resurrections Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide and on the HBO Max platform

Familyfaire: Sing 2 (2021)  PG  Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) and his friends are convinced that they are ready for the big time, but first, they must convince a mean and ruthless promoter, Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale), that they have the star to headline their latest show, Clay Calloway (Bono). Now, all Buster and his gang must do is convince Clay to come out of retirement and seclusion to headline their new act. I did not like the first Sing film, feeling it was just an excuse to repackage a bunch of songs to be sung by stars who don’t usually sing in films. This time I had a much better time. There is a purpose to these songs as the gang tries to put on a show that will wow the audience and brings back a singer that they all love, someone who, due to a tragedy, hasn’t sung in a long time. They have added to the cast, and then, somehow, someway, they got Bono to be in this film. His entrance as Clay Calloway to his song is worth watching the movie for. I enjoyed this film much more than the first one, and some of the songs are quite good. There are a couple of characters that are crazy enough to keep the kids interested, and the songs should make the adults in the crowd at least tap their feet.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Sing 2 Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide

My View: The King’s Man (2021) R   In the early 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal, led by Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), who want to start a war that will wipe out millions. Now it's up to Orlando, Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) and his fellow Kingsmen to stop the cabal. I have not been a fan of this series, and after seeing this film, I hope that it goes away. Now, if watching a weird monk sword fight while dancing is your thing, then this movie is for you. For the rest of us, it will be a bore. Hey, did you know World War I was started by an evil guy to destroy England? Yeah, I didn’t either, but that’s the plot of this silly and boring film. The film gets more ridiculous as it goes along, including a Mata Hari moment that is incredibly laughable. Rasputin has to be one of the worst villains ever created (yes, I know he was a real, bizarre guy), and I found the use of curse words in this film to be such an over-the-top attempt at being cool that it made me mad watching it. Look, I like Ralph Fiennes and have a special place in my heart for Gemma Arterton, who is plays Orlando’s servant/love interest/partner?, but this film wastes them in roles that aren’t fun or heroic. And don’t get me started on the goats in the film. Yes, goats play an essential part of the plot. There is a short bonus scene after the first portion of the credits.   My Rating: Cable    The King's Man Website  Now playing in theatres

My View: The Tender Bar  (2021) R    JR (Daniel Ranieri) and his mother (Lily Rabe) must move back into JR’s grandfather’s house (Christopher Lloyd). Under the tutelage of his uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), the manager of a bar called Dickens, JR will learn everything he needs to become a man. But JR will always be haunted by his missing father, a man he only knows as The Voice, a DJ on the radio. This is one of those films where I bet the book is far better than the film. The Tender Bar isn’t a bad film, but it's one that kind of never gets going anywhere, much like JR’s life. The film centers on JR, which we first follow as he, as a young kid, moves back in with his single mother to his grandfather’s home. JR only knows his dad as a voice on the radio (his dad is a journeyman radio DJ) and looks for guidance from his uncle Charlie, a book-loving bar manager that loves to give JR advice on how to be a man. We also get to know JR during his college years, a great student who wants to be a writer but sometimes lets his obsession with a girl named Sidney (Briana Middleton) override his life. I wanted to love this film (the kid playing JR, Daniel Ranieri, is adorable and the best thing about this movie), but it’s a story that never gets going as Charlie keeps spouting off and JR keeps pining away for a girl who will never love him.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee    The Tender Bar Website  Now playing in select theatres and available on the Amazon Prime platform on Jan. 7th.

My View:  A Journal For Jordan  (2021) PG-13   When Dana (Chanté Adams) first meets Charles (Michael B. Jordan), she doesn’t think he is her type. However, after a few dates, she realizes that there is more to Charles than meets the eye. They fall in love, get married, and are about to have their first child when Charles is deployed to Afghanistan. Before he leaves, Dana gives Charles a journal to fill with his thoughts for his son to read after he is born. It will be how Charles's son will get to know his father. This is not quite the tearjerker that you want it to be. It’s more of a love story between a man who is earnest and good and a woman who falls for him, even though he seems not to be her type. Look, I am a big fan of Michael B. Jordan, and he could probably make reading the phone book interesting, but it seems to me that the film is solely aimed at the female audience. There are countless scenes where Jordan is shirtless or pantless, doing pushups while being a stand-up guy that any woman would fall for. The love story isn’t engaging and though based on a real-life story, seems too lackluster keep us interested in the storyline for a payoff that takes way too long to come.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee    A Journal for Jordan Website  Playing in select theatres starting on Christmas Day

My View: American Underdog  (2021) PG  The story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), a man who had a dream of playing in the NFL and went from stocking shelves of a supermarket to becoming an NFL quarterback who won a Super Bowl and a member of the Hall of Fame. Is this a corny, rags to riches story of a guy who, through determination and belief in himself (and God) because one of the best quarterbacks to play in the game? Yeah, but it’s well made, has a great cast, and has two leads that make you want to root for them and their unusual family. Warner’s story seems too unbelievable to be true but is. This is a faith-based film, but unlike many films of this type, it doesn’t go overboard with the religious factor, but it is an integral part of Warner’s make up and faith in himself. American Underdog is a fun film that I think the whole family will enjoy, rooting for a guy who is as good as his character on the screen in real life. Stay through the credits to see about Warner’s real life and his charity work involving his adopted son Zack. It just might bring another tear to your eye.   My Rating: Full Price    American Underdog Website  Playing in theatres nationwide starting on Christmas Day.

Indiefest: Licorice Pizza (2021) R   It’s 1973, and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) is a fifteen-year-old high school kid who thinks he has the world by its tail because he is a famous working actor. Then he meets Alana (Alana Haim), an older woman who is about to change his life. I loved this film from the very first scene where we meet Gary and Alana. That first meeting sums up what their relationship will be like for the rest of the film; a guy who has an abundance of confidence and a young woman who is intrigued by this brash young man. I had so much fun watching this film and seeing where it was going to go. The film is just an adventure that two people go on, as they figure out their places in the world while enjoying each other’s company and friendship. Gary wants more, but Alana, being older, is hesitant to get close to Gary, though she is intrigued by him. I loved the two leads in this film. Cooper Hoffman, who you see so much of his father, Philip Seymour Hoffman, in his performance, is brilliant as the almost too smart and brash for his own good kid who seems to do everything to get Alana’s attention. It’s Alana Haim, in her first starring role, as the headstrong Alana, who makes this film work. Haim is a force on the screen, as she plays a woman who, against her best intentions, is attracted to Gary and wants to be in his life and involved with all his crazy adventures. Bradley Cooper makes a very memorable and possibly Oscar-bound performance as the legendary Jon Peters, a man who took his ability to promote himself from hairdresser to the stars to running a major studio. Cooper is not in a lot of scenes, but boy, he makes his mark as the nutty Peters who wanted everyone to know he was the boyfriend of Barbara Streisand. Licorice Pizza is a film that made me laugh and smile throughout my viewing. It’s one of those films that I wanted to see again as soon as I saw it. I hope it's that kind of experience for you too.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Licorice PIzza Website   Playing in select theatres starting on Christmas Day

Indiefest: Red Rocket (2021) R   Mikey (Simon Rex) is a porn star who has hit hard times. With nowhere else to go, he goes back to his hometown to try and live with his ex, Lexi (Bree Elrod). While doing odd jobs, he meets a young woman working at a donut shop named Strawberry (Suzanna Son), who just might be his ticket back into the big time. Like his previous films, Tangerine and The Florida Project, filmmaker Sean Baker has filled this world full of characters that have lived a hard life, constantly scraping by, sometimes by luck and sometimes by their charm or wit, but just getting by. In walks (literally) Mikey, back into his ex-wife’s world, a man who is down on his luck but is still proud to be known as a porn star. Mikey is always looking for an angle, a way he can get back on top, and he uses his good looks and charm to try and convince anyone that he meets that the good times are just around the corner, even if that corner is miles away. Mikey is a character that Simon Rex knows well as Rex is a former porn star in real life, whose acting career has not always gone well, but this is a role of a lifetime, and Rex plays Mikey to the hilt, giving him a bit of substance behind that facade of a brash man who thinks he can charm his way out of any situation. I also loved the performance of Suzanna Son, the donut shop counter girl named Strawberry, who is charmed by Mikey and becomes his new conquest. Strawberry is someone that Mikey thinks is his ticket out and back into the world of porn, and she seems to be willing to go on that road with him. Red Rocket is a film filled with characters that you would never want to meet but wouldn’t mind watching up on the screen for a couple of hours, though you might feel the need for a shower or disinfectant afterward.   My Rating: Full Price    Red Rocket Website  Now playing in select theatres

Forgotten Film: A Gift From Bob (2020)   Based on the books by James Bowen, this series is about James, a drug addict who gets clean with the help of friends and a street cat that adopts him. Bob is a smart, street-savvy cat that found James (not the other way around) and, through his love, helped James kick drugs and start to turn his life around. In this Christmas film, James struggles to keep his head above water, barely making enough to keep the electricity on in his apartment and keep Bob fed. Things start looking bad when the local authorities investigate James to make sure that Bob is well cared for. I loved the first film, and though I am not a cat person, I fell in love with the cat named Bob, who loves to place himself across Jame’s shoulders as he walks or plays for money on the street. A Gift from Bob is a sweet and sometimes funny Christmas tale starring a cat named Bob. What more could you want?   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    A Gift from Bob Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Matrix Resurrections: Cast Physical Trainers

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The 355 (2022) PG-13  A top-secret weapon has fallen into the wrong hands, so CIA agent Mace (Jessica Chastain) gathers a group of international spies to help her find and defeat the mercenary that stole the weapon, while a mysterious woman tracks their every movement. Just the cast alone of Bingbing Fan, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, and Jessica Chastain is enough to make me want to see this film.     The 355 Website

Until Next Time!

West Side Story

My View:  West Side Story   (2021) PG-13   The classic love story between two young people (Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler) who fall for each other during a turf war in 1957 NYC between the Jets and the Sharks. I am an admitted lover of musicals, a theatre brat who performed in a few during my childhood. I consider the 1961 film to be one of the greatest films of the 20th century, though it has always bothered me that the two leads of the film, Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, as the two star-crossed lovers, vocals were recorded by two others (Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant). Still, the dancing in that film is extraordinary, and Rita Moreno just dazzles on the screen as Anita. I am happy to say that this new rendition of the legendary musical by Steven Spielberg lives up to the 1961 film. Led by a magnificent and glowing performance of Rachel Zegler as Maria and an exciting and beautiful take on the choreography, this film stands up with the classic movie in every way. I absolutely loved Ariana DeBose’s performance as Anita, bringing as much passion and forcefulness to the role as Moreno did in the original. DeBose gives us an Anita who is proud to be from Porto Rico and is willing to stand up to anyone who gets in her way. Ansel Elgort's singing impressed me with his range, though I didn’t get as much turmoil and passion from his performance as I wanted. I love that they gave Rita Moreno a beautiful song to sing, in a role that a man has always played, and it could garner another Academy Award nomination for her for that song alone. West Side Story wowed and thrilled me from the start and gave us a performance by Rachel Zegler that will be long remembered. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   West Side Story Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View:  The Unforgivable  (2021) R   After serving time for a horrible crime, Ruth (Sandra Bullock) just wants to put her life back together, one day at a time, but society won’t forgive her for her past. Her only hope for redemption is finding the young sister she was forced to leave behind. It wastes a good cast and a gutsy, real performance by Sandra Bullock with a plot that feels like it’s from a 1970s TV crime drama. Bullock’s Ruth is a woman who has spent a good part of her life in prison, and it has made her hard and almost unlikable. Ruth has only one thing to live for, to see her sister again, but society won’t allow her to contact her and puts up obstacles along the way to make it hard for Ruth to just make a living, much less start her life over again. There are a lot of great actors in this film, including Vincent D’Onofrio, Viola Davis, and Jon Bernthal, and most feel wasted in roles that don’t allow them to be much more than be a part of the storyline that Ruth must overcome. The Unforgivable's ending is so underwhelming that any drama that the film had is gone by the start of the credits.   My Rating: Cable    The Unforgivable Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Being the Ricardos  (2021)  R   Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are at the height of their success, with 60 million people watching their weekly TV comedy series, I Love Lucy, and their marriage seems stronger than ever. Their world may be crashing down around them as two stories are about to hit the newsstands that could wreck both their careers and their marriage. It’s hard making biopics about famous people, especially someone so iconic as Lucy and Desi. I loved the writing of this film, feeling that it gives us a great look at what made Lucy, Desi, and the show they created so groundbreaking, funny, and dynamic. It’s an interesting story at a critical and trying time in their lives as both a couple and as performers on a show that was more popular than anything either had done before. The problem is that the two leads for the film are terribly miscast. I thought Nicole Kidman did a fantastic job of portraying the Lucy behind the scenes but did a horrible job of portraying Lucy as the character on the show. The attempt to make Kidman look like Lucy is a bit distracting and takes away from her performance. The real problem is the miscasting of Bardem as Desi. I just never got the feeling for Desi, who he was, and for some reason, Bardem doesn’t process the magnetism that Desi had both on the screen and in person. I did love the performances of J.K Simmons and Nina Arianda, playing William Frawley and Vivian Vance. They are the best thing in the film, with their continuous bickering and their want for both of their characters to have more control over their careers than Lucy and Desi will let them. My guess is that J.K. will get another Academy Award nomination out of this role. Overall, I enjoyed the film because it gives us a behind-the-scenes look at making a classic, but the film doesn’t feel that it will be a classic itself.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Being the Ricardos Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide and will be available on the Amazon Prime platform on Dec. 21st.

My View: Don’t Look Up (2021) R   Two low-level astronomers (Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio) discover that a comet is heading for earth, and if we don’t do anything, it will destroy life as we know it on this planet. The problem is the President (Meryl Streep) is more concerned about being reelected and her son (Jonah Hill), her Chief of Staff, only cares about his followers on Instagram. The first fifteen or twenty minutes of this film are funny and full of laughs, but then the storyline becomes predictable, the jokes get old, and the film becomes almost obnoxious in its message that the world and our leaders are screwed up. The film wastes a lot of actors in roles that they aren’t meant for. Streep, surprisingly, is the weak point of the film, playing a character that is a cross between Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with absolutely no comedic feel or timing. Jennifer Lawrence also seems a bit miscast as a grad student who appears to be the only sensible one of the characters until she strikes up a romance with a teen skater punk played by Timothée Chalamet. There is zero chemistry between the two, and it brings that storyline down a peg or two because of it. The film feels as it goes along, it loses its way. Is it a farce, a straight-out comedy, or its it a tragedy? I could never figure that out, and by the end, I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters. If you make it to the end, there is a bonus scene at the end of the credits that one of my fellow critics predicted as they started to roll. That probably tells you all you need to know about this film.   My Rating: Cable    Don't Look Up Website  Now playing in select theatres and available on the Netflix platform on Dec. 24th.

My View: National Champions   (2021) R  Three days before the college football national championship game, Heisman trophy quarterback LeMarcus James (Stephan James) calls for a boycott of the game in support of his teammate Emmet Sunday (Alexander Ludwig) and all the other student-athletes that play the game without compensation or health insurance. Now, LeMarcus’s legendary coach (J.K. Simmons), on the cusp of winning his first national championship and NCAA, are coming down on LeMarcus to protect the prevailing collegiate athletic system. This is a film with its heart in the right place but never quite figures out how to effectively tell its story. It's a subject that needs to be talked about, and the film does an excellent job of giving us reasons why the system needs to be changed, but unfortunately, it has too many scenes where characters preach to us (sometimes literally), and that makes the film feel slow and clumsy. There is a whole sub-plot between Kristen Chenoweth (playing the coach’s wife) and Timothy Olyphant (playing a college professor having an affair with the coach’s wife) that is pointless and seems to only be there to give a bit of sex to the film. The film never delivers the impact that the film needs while just adding to the confusing plot that seems to write itself into a corner that it can’t get itself out of. The film has an ending that I have no idea why it happened the way it did and does nothing to contribute to the issues brought up in the film. National Champions is a film that feels that once done, it is like a tie in football, which always feels like a loss for each side. In this case, no one wins, including the filmgoer.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    National Champions Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Hating Game  (2021) R  Lucy (Lucy Hale) loves her job except for one thing, Joshua (Austin Stowell), a man that she hates working with and has become her biggest rival for promotion and success. Lucy decides to embark on a ruthless game of one-upmanship with Joshua, but there is one problem. Lucy is beginning to become attracted to him. This film far exceeded my expectations, as I found the film highly enjoyable and loved the chemistry between the two leads. There are sparks between Hale and Stowell right from the start, as you find that they seem to hate each other, but there seems to be an underlying attraction that they will soon not be able to resist. There is a level of attraction and even sexiness to their constant bickering and fighting, as they seem to be on opposite sides in a job that they both love but take very different views on how to do that job. What surprised me was that the film gets a little steamy, as the two realize that their attraction to each other is mutual, and that attraction comes out on the screen. It helps that the two characters seem to be so different. Lucy is warm and cares about her job and the people she works with, while Joshua seems a bit cold and calculated in dealing with people and the job. We soon learn that both have a passion for their jobs and each other. The film does the usual rom-com plot of bringing up an issue that could cause their breakup, but like any good romance, love will overcome all, even a bad boss or two.   My Rating: Full Price    The Hating Game Website  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Indiefest: To What Remains (2021)   Documentary about Project Recovery, comprised of a team of scientists and researchers who have dedicated their lives to searching the world over to find, recover and repatriate the remains of American servicemen and women who have been missing in actions since WWII. In just one area, around the island of Peleliu, over 200 Allied planes were shot down during World War II. Many of the airmen that died in those battles were never recovered, leaving their families to grieve and wonder what happened to their husbands and fathers. A group of dedicated men and women have taken on the task of trying to locate the wreckage of those downed airplanes and find the remains so that their families can give their loved ones a final resting place. The documentary follows a group of searchers as they look for a known downed plane in an area around the island of Peleliu, where the fierce fighting for control of the tiny island went on for three months. The film shows us how hard it is to locate the wreckage, even with the latest technology, such as underwater drones. This ‘needle in a haystack search makes it all the more remarkable when the searchers find a plane and then even better when they find the remains of the airmen who flew those planes. We see the extraordinary efforts that this search takes and their impact when those remains are brought home. To What Remains is a touching film about a group of remarkable men and women who have dedicated their lives to bringing home the fallen heroes of the past.   My Rating: Full Price    To What Remains Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: The Real Charlie Chaplin (2021)   Documentary on the life and work of one of the greatest filmmakers of any generation, the legendary Charlie Chaplin. I am a huge silent film fan, though I am a bigger Harold Loyd fan (Safety Last, The Freshman), but it’s no argument that Chaplin took silent films from its infancy of just pure entertainment into the realm of art. This is a film that gives us the behind-the-scenes story of Chaplin, an incredibly complicated man, who hid behind his creation, ‘The Little Tramp.’ Using interviews with people that knew him, including his children, and a legendary interview with Life magazine in the mid-60s, the film gives us a glimpse into the private life of Charlie and his journey from a young teen performer on the stage to the biggest film star, who became more famous than anyone in the world. I loved the behind-the-scenes footage and photos of some of his legendary works, including scenes of Chaplin shooting one of his masterworks, City Lights. The film does deal with some of the dark sides of Chaplin’s life, his many wives, his tendency to woo his co-stars, many who were way too young for him, and his troubles with the blacklist times of the 40s. The Real Charlie Chaplin is a fascinating look at a man who gave us great films but seemed never to find the happiness or satisfaction he seemed always to be looking for.   My Rating: Full Price    The Real Charlie Chaplin Website  Playing on the Showtime platform starting Dec. 11th and On Demand.

Indiefest:   White on White (Blanco en Blanco)   (2020)   At the turn of the century in Chile, Pedro (Alfredo Castro) has been hired to photograph the wedding of a wealthy landowner on an isolated ranch. While waiting for the wedding to happen, Pedro becomes increasingly fascinated with the land owner’s soon-to-be wife and the people the landowner has taken the land from. The cinematography of this film is breathtaking and adds to the overall doom and misery that Pedro becomes involved with. Pedro is an artistic man who becomes trapped in a world where misery and killing are an everyday occurrences. He has been hired by a man he will never meet and becomes more and more entwined in the harsh, daily life of living on the ranch, where outsiders take the land from an indigenous people that they hunt down and kill, taking their ears as proof of their death. From the long shots that seem to go on forever to the white-out conditions, the country appears to be fighting back against these interlopers, with Pedro trying to survive in a world that doesn’t care about him and his pictures. Pedro has become a lost soul among other lost souls.    My Rating: Full Price   White on White Website  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Forgotten Film: Cry Freedom (1987) PG   The story of the friendship of South African journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) who becomes friends with Steve Bilko (Denzil Washington), a black activist fighting the South African government during Apartheid. When Donald begins an investigation into the death of Steve, he and his family are forced to flee the country that they love. Unfortunately, the emphasis of the storyline is on Donald Woods and his family and not on Bilko because, at the time, Kevin Kline was a much bigger star than Denzil. Still, it’s an important story that is well done by an Oscar-winning director (Richard Attenborough); I just wish that Washington had been more at the forefront of the film.   My Rating: Full Price    Cry Freedom Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of National Champions: Hygiene Production Assistants

Coming Soon to Screen Near You: A Journal for Jordan (2021) PG-13   When Dana (Chanté Adams) first meets Charles (Michael B. Jordan), she doesn’t think he is her type. However, after a few dates, she realizes that there is more to Charles than meets the eye. They fall in love, get married, and are about to have their first child when Charles is deployed to Afghanistan. Before he leaves, Dana gives Charles a journal to fill with his thoughts for his son to read after he is born. It will be how Charles's son will get to know his father. You had me at ‘directed by Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan.      A Journal For Jordan Website

Until Next Time!