The Watchers

My View: The Watchers  (2024)  PG-13  Mina’s (Dakota Fanning) car breaks down while she is traveling on a forest road in Ireland. Taking off on foot, she suddenly sees a woman yelling at her to run to a concrete bunker. Mina makes it before the bunker’s door closes, and she finds herself in another world where creatures observe their captive humans and terrible things happen when people don’t reach the bunker in time. The Watchers is Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut. The daughter of M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) shows that she has an eye for creating some cool horror scenes, but like her father, her film falters as it writes itself into corners it can’t get out of. The movie starts out with great promise, with a lead character, Mina, who isn’t going to go down without a fight. The problem (among many with this film) is that it sets up a series of rules that the humans are not supposed to break and then go about breaking them at every turn. Not giving anything away, but I figured out just about everything that was supposed to be a mystery about ten minutes into the film, with the rest of the mysteries hitting me over the head as the story went along. The Watchers ends with a whimper and never answers a ton of questions that would typically come up. It looks like the daughter is following right in her father’s footsteps.    My Rating: Cable  The Watchers Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Bad Boys: Ride or Die  (2024)  R  In Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the bad boys (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence) are back and in trouble. The late Captain Conrad Howard is being accused of being on the take with the Romanian Mafia. The guys set out to exonerate the late captain but get set up themselves, and now, as fugitives, they will have to work outside the law to solve the case. I am not a huge fan of this series. I like the first film and somewhat enjoy the relationship between Mike and Marcus, with Marcus, played by Martin Lawrence, being the comic relief of the two. The two stars work well together on screen, and there are some funny moments (and one great one which I won’t give away), but I tired of Lawrence’s performance rather quickly, as Marcus has a near-death experience and feels that he can’t die, all the while pushing that fact to no end. The storyline is weak (no reason is given why the mean, big bad guy starts the whole mess into action), but the action sequences are imaginative, and there are some great set pieces that are both funny and thrilling. Directors Arbi and Fallah do some brilliant things with the camera during the shootouts that put you right into the action. Overall, I had more fun than I thought I would. I wish Lawrence would dial it down to about an 8 instead of a 15.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Bad Boys: Ride or Die Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Am I OK?  (2022)  R  Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno) are lifelong friends, even though Lucy is a mess. Jane is in a stable relationship with her boyfriend, and the dates with the guy Lucy is interested in always end with a hearty handshake. Things change when Jane announces she is moving to London, leading Lucy to reveal a secret about herself. Lucy just might be gay. I loved this film and Dakota Johnson’s performance. Am I OK? is a sweet, funny, and at times moving look at someone, realizing that they may haven’t been true to themselves. This is a film about friendship and how we need friends to help us find our path. The chemistry between Johnson and Mizuno is better than some of the recent rom-coms out there, making their friendship enjoyable to watch and all that more believable. Lucy is a person who needs someone to push her past her comfort zone, and Jane is that person who does it out of love. Am I OK? is a rom-com, not about two people falling in love but about two people whose friendship will get them through anything, even if it’s life-changing. My Rating: Full Price  Am I OK? Website   Now on the Max platform. 

My View:  How to Rob a Bank  (2024)  In the documentary How to Rob a Bank, a bank robber, Scott Scurlock, nicknamed Hollywood, was the most prolific bank robber in the 1990s. His robberies were straight out of the movies, and he was taking a ton of money out of the banks with the FBI not having a clue who he was or how he was doing it. However, everything must end, and it all comes crashing down in one spectacular final heist. Ever wonder what makes a person become a bank robber? Right out of a Hollywood film (Scurlock was inspired by the 1991 film Point Break), this documentary has all the thrills of some of the best that movies have put out. With interviews with the people who helped Scott rob banks and the FBI agents who were trying (for years) to catch him, you get an inside look at how Scott was so successful in doing something that most people who attempt it fail. Scott was a person who was probably too smart for his own good, and combined that with someone who was an adrenaline junky; it made a perfect combination for a person who outsmarted the FBI and might have gotten away with it if he hadn’t tried for too big of a haul that caused his downfall. The documentary tells a story about a man who, if you saw it in a fictional film, you would think, this isn’t possible, but it was. How to Rob a Bank does a fantastic job of telling the story of a man who lived a life his way, for a while.  My Rating: Full Price  How to Rob a Bank Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Forgotten Film:  Girl 27  (2007)  Documentary about a chorus girl named Patricia Douglas, who in 1937 was raped at an MGM promotional event. The studio had tricked her and 100 other women (many underage) into attending a party on an isolated Hollywood studio ranch. Although the attack and trial received newspaper headlines in the day, the case was covered up by MGM, the police, and the LA D.A.. 70 years later, filmmaker David Stenn came across the story while researching a book on Jean Harlow. Girl 27 is a fascinating look at how much power the studios had in Hollywood and how they could make almost anything disappear, all to protect their product. The film uses interviews, archival footage (including footage of the man who attacked Patricia), and newspaper clippings to piece together what happened and why. Girl 27 is a ‘Me Too’ story before the movement started, but it shows that not a lot has changed in 70 years.   My Rating: Full Price  Girl 27 film website  Now available on YouTube. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Bad Boys: Ride or Die:  Helicopter Mockup Provided By

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: MaXXXine  (2024)  R  In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is about to get the big break she has been dreaming about. However, there is a mysterious killer stalking the streets of Tinseltown, and Maxine’s bloody past may be catching up to her. This is the third of filmmaker Ti West’s X trilogy, after X (2022) and Pearl (2023), all starring Mia Goth.  Maxxxine Website  The film will be released on Friday, July 5th.

Until Next Time!

The Identical

My View:  The Identical  (2014) PG Two Identical brothers are born in the 1930s to a poor family. One brother is given up to the local preacher (Ray Liotta) and his wife (Ashley Judd). The two brothers grow up not knowing about each other, and one becomes a famous entertainer and the other brother struggles with his love of music and his dedication to his family. He now must choose between his love of music and his father’s wishes for him to follow in his footsteps.  The biggest problem with this film is the music, and there is a lot of it. There are only original musical numbers in this film, and they sound like they were written by a Las Vegas lounge singer from the 1960’s.  I like Ray Liotta, who gives a very restrained performance as the preacher who loves his son. It’s amazing that we see Ray Liotta age throughout this film, but Ashley Judd doesn’t age at all.  Blake Rayne, who plays the two singers, is average as an actor and has a good voice but has almost no star power, and it shows on the screen.  My Rating: Cable  The Identical Website

Indiefest: The Last of Robin Hood (2014) R Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline), dashing Hollywood film star, meets an up-and-coming young woman, Beverly (Dakota Fanning). The two enter into a relationship, and Errol tries to land a big part in a film for his new girlfriend. Little does he know, Beverly, under the tutelage of her mother, Flo (Susan Sarandon), is working under a false birth certificate…her real age is 15.  Kevin Kline gives a great performance as Errol Flynn, and Susan Sarandon is equally as compelling as the ultimate stage mother.  The weak link in this film is Dakota Fanning.  She just doesn’t have the star power to hold her own with the other two actors.  I wish someone else had been cast in this role, like Chloe Grace Moretz, because Fanning brings down the scenes that she is in with her lack of energy on screen.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Last of Robin Hood Info

Indiefest:  Code Black (2014) This is a documentary on what goes on at the L.A. County General Hospital Emergency Room. Doctors in training are working in an environment that is more like a war zone hospital than an inter-city one. A word of warning - this documentary is hard to watch. It is filled with a number of scenes in the emergency room where you see lots of blood and surgeries.  There are also a number of people who die while on the table in the ER.  If you have a strong stomach, it’s an interesting and engrossing film showing just how tough it is to be a doctor in an ER.  The film follows a number of doctors as they make the transition from a building built in the 1930’s to a new, modern hospital.  Surprisingly, with the new hospital, the care of the patients  decreases.  If you enjoy the hospital based TV shows like “Greys Anatomy" or "ER" and want to see how a real hospital works, then see this film.  My Rating: Full Price  Code Black Website

Indiefest:  A Five Star Life (2014)  Irene (Margherita Buy) thought she had the perfect life. She gets to travel around the world evaluating five-star hotels.  Then she met Kate (Lesley Manville), and her world turned upside down.  I really enjoyed this Italian drama about a woman who lives a lonely life of travel.  She has a sister who has a family, and even her best friend is starting a family, but Irene is starting to feel there is more to life than just a job.  Margherita Buy gives a striking performance in the role, and the film goes to a number of exotic locations as Irene travels around the world.  It’s not an earth-shattering film, but one that I truly enjoyed.  My Rating: Full Price  A Five Star Life Info

Forgotten Film:  The Insider (1999) R Russell Crowe is brilliant in this film about a research chemist who worked for a tobacco company and goes on Sixty Minutes.  In the interview, at great expense to himself, he tells the truth that the CEO of the company knew that cigarettes can cause cancer and that his company added chemicals to make the cigarettes more addictive.  Great dialogue and even better performances by the whole cast make this film riveting to watch from the first minute. My Rating: Full Price  The Insider Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Identical: period hair stylist

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Tracks (2014) PG-13  A young woman (Mia Wasikowska) goes on an adventure to travel 1,700 miles across the desert of West Australia alone, with just four camels and her dog.  The trailer reminds me of one of my Forgotten Films, Walkabout (1971).  Tracks website

Until Next Time!