Deadpool & Wolverine

My View: Deadpool & Wolverine  (2024)  R   Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is recovering from some serious injuries when he comes across someone he really doesn’t like, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds). After trying to kill each other, the two frenemies team up to defeat a common enemy. Be sure to try to avoid all spoilers, as there are a lot of them because of the almost endless cameos and easter eggs that constantly appear. I loved the first Deadpool as it continually mocked superhero movies, with Ryan Reynolds breaking the fourth wall to talk to us. I loved the character and thoroughly had a good time. The second film was entertaining, but it's hard to match the first one. Now we have a third film, and to save the day, Hugh Jackman, the man who has played Wolverine for an incredible 23 years, is on board. The film breaks the fourth wall from the start, as Deadpool makes fun of Marvel during the opening credits. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, laughing and clapping so hard that I missed some of the dialogue. There is great chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Reynolds. It's easy to see how Jackman would get back in shape to play the role one more time, because he is having the time of his life in this film. Yes, the plot is a little (ok, a lot) convoluted, Reynolds goes a bit too far talking to the audience, and the film starts to drag a bit in the last thirty minutes. Still, it's great fun trying to find all the easter eggs, and some of the cameos are jaw-droppingly good. The end seems a little too easy, but it’s still a blast to watch. They do a nice job during the credits to salute all the characters that have appeared in the 20th Century Fox superhero movies, and yes, there is a bonus scene at the end of all the credits. And oh, there is a dog that has a pretty big part in the film that has to be seen to be believed. So go get your Deadpool/Wolverine popcorn bucket and have a great time.  My Rating: Full Price Deadpool & Wolverine Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View: Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net  (2023)  PG-13  In the documentary Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net, the company, after shutting down and declaring bankruptcy due to the worldwide Covid outbreak, moves to reboot its flagship production O. The film documents the struggle of both performers and crew members as they work to return to their world-class standards in time for an opening night. My love for Cirque is immense and I am lucky to live in a city where their circus tents are set up every year with a touring show. So I was excited to find out that a documentary was being done on Cirque du Soleil putting their flagship Las Vegas show, O, back on after 400 days of being dark because of the COVID crisis. The film does an outstanding job of letting us get to know some of the performers, as they have to quickly get back in the groove of performing after being sidelined. O is a unique show in the Cirque lineup, as a great part of the performance is done in or around water. The film shows us all the trials and tribulations that go on behind the scenes to put on the show, including getting used to new partners and having equipment that doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to. I loved seeing all the practices they had to go through, and it made me appreciate the spectacular show they put on night after night. So put on your tights, limber up, and join in on the fun. My Rating: Full Price  Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net Info     Now playing on Amazon Prime.

Indiefest:  Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger  (2024)  Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger is a documentary that chronicles the British cinematic partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known as The Archers. Between 1939 and 1972, the duo created 24 award-winning films, including Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948) and The Elusive Pimpernel (1950). Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Killers of the Flower Moon) gives us a Master Class on the films of The Archers. Their films greatly impacted filmmakers like Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, as they did with me. I can tell you exactly what theater I was in when I saw The Red Shoes; that's how big an impact their films had on me. The film gives us the history of Powell and Pressburger’s unusual partnership, with Powell directing the films and Pressburger writing them. The two then produced the films together, and their output was some of the finest films ever to come out of England. Scorsese spends time giving us insight into each film they made, with behind-the-scenes stories and a ton of footage from the archives of the two men. If you have never seen one of their films, this is an excellent introduction, as Scorsese shows us the magic they created on the screen. The wonderful thing about The Archers is that you can find any type of film you love because they did it all, from musicals to war films to even romantic comedies. There is something from The Archers that will amaze and astound you. This documentary will help you find a movie of theirs that you will fall in love with, just like Martin and me.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Made in England Website   Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  National Anthem  (2023)  R Dylan (Charlie Plummer) is a 21-year-old construction worker in New Mexico when he finds himself working on a ranch with a community of queer rodeo performers. Dylan is about to meet someone, Sky (Eve Lindley), who will change his life forever. National Anthem is a coming-of-age film with a twist. It is set in the world of rodeos and ranches with a setting that makes Dylan’s discovery come naturally, with acceptance and love. Charlie Plummer is fantastic as the love-stuck wannabe cowboy who comes upon this community by chance and falls instantly for a woman named Sky. The only problem is that Sky is in a relationship with the group leader, Pepe (Rene Rosado). Plummer portrays Dylan as someone tired of his life, worn down by a mother (Robin Lively) who likes to party and having to take care of his little brother (Joey DeLon), all the while trying to save up money to buy a camper so he can get out of his situation. Along comes Sky and the rest of the gang at the ranch, and Dylan finds his place in the world. I loved the film’s cinematography, as the land becomes a welcoming surrounding where Dylan can become who he truly is. National Anthem is a beautiful story that works because of the performances of Plummer and Lindley, making Charlie’s first genuine romance feel part of his growth from a lost soul to someone ready to explore what life will bring him next.  My Rating: Full Price National Anthem Website   Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Dominick and Eugene (1988)  PG-13  Dominick (Tom Hulce) and Eugene (Ray Liotta) are twins. Eugene is soon going to graduate from medical school. Dominick had an accident as a child and is a little slow, often having trouble dealing with everyday life, but he is able to have a job as a sanitation worker. Soon, Eugene will go off to do his residency, and that means leaving Dominick on his own, something Eugene isn’t sure that is something that he can do. Tom Hulce is the reason to see this film as he gives Dominick a person who is so sweet and earnest that you have to root for him. Ray Liotta is perfect as the brother who is conflicted by wanting a life for himself but wanting to make sure his brother can live on his own. Dominick and Eugene is a warm and sometimes funny movie that works throughout.  My Rating: Full Price  Dominick and Eugene Info  Available on Amazon.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Deadpool & Wolverine:  Drapes Trainee. 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Borderlands  (2024)  PG-13  Lilith (Cate Blanchett) is an infamous bounty hunter who has reluctantly returned to her home planet, Pandora, to find the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramirez), the universe’s most powerful villain. Lilith recruits a ragtag team to find the missing daughter, who just might be the key to saving the universe. The film is based on one of the best-selling video game franchises ever. The cast includes Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Menteanu, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis.  Borderlands Website In theaters on Friday, August 9, 2024.

Until Next Time!

Inside Out 2

My View:  Inside Out 2  (2024)  PG  Riley is now a full-time teen, and her mind is going through some changes. The gang of Emotions—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, have been doing a great job, but they are about to meet a new addition to the group: Anxiety. And it looks like she isn’t alone. When we last left Riley (Inside Out (2015)), she was still a preteen trying to get over moving to a new city and dealing with a lot of new emotions. Just when Riley thinks she has things handled with some great friends and a budding ice career, she becomes a teenager. With that comes a whole bunch of new emotions show up: Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hause), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and worst of all, the ever hyper Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Just as these new emotions move in, Riley is given the immense chance to impress her future high school coach as she has been specially invited to a summer hockey camp. In the past, Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) has run the show, but now Anxiety has taken control, and things aren’t going well for Riley or her old emotions. Inside Out 2 is a wonderful addition to the Pixar lineup, and while not entirely on the level of the first film, it’s still a rousing, fun time, full of comedy and adventure. The new characters are hilarious, especially Ennui (think of her as a bored, too-cool French teen), with the standout being Maya Hawke as Anxiety. Hawke brings a fresh energy to the film, and her comedy timing is spot-on, making Anxiety antics over-the-top funny. Oh, and there are a couple of awesome new characters that I don’t want to spoil, but fans of old kids’ animation and old video games will be in heaven. Can Joy and the rest of the gang get control back from Anxiety? Well, you will have to see if Riley can conquer her emotions to survive hockey camp and the horrors of being a teenager. Make sure to stay through all the credits to see a bonus scene that perfectly caps off the film.  My Rating: Full Price  Inside Out 2 Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

Indiefest:  Tuesday  (2023)  R  Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a single mom, has devoted her life to her terminally ill daughter Tuesday (Lola Petticrew). One day, Death, in the form of a size-altering macaw, arrives at their home and tells the two to prepare for the end. Death’s arrival sends Zora and Tuesday on a journey that explores life, death, and love. I am not giving anything away (since it’s on the poster and in the trailer) that Death shows up in the form of a macaw parrot. When I saw the trailer for this film, I was expecting a film where Death and Zora talk about life and death, much like the professor and the genie in the Tilda Swinton drama Three Thousand Years of Longing  (2022). Instead, we get a wandering film that never can find its footing, as, at first, Tuesday befriends Death, convincing Death to let her live until her mother returns from an outing. Then it becomes Zora trying to defeat death in any way to keep her daughter alive. I never corrected to this film and never felt any of the emotions that the film wanted me to. I also felt that early on, the film was slow to get going because Death has a hard time speaking, and it takes a while for Death to make any sense at all. But mostly, Tuesday never fully gives us characters that we can understand and embrace, as its theme seems to be a one-note film.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Tuesday Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Treasure  (2024)  R  In 1991, Ruth (Lena Dunham), a neurotic journalist from New York, takes after her father, Edek (Stephen Fry), back to Poland to visit his childhood home. However, Edek, a survivor of the Ghettos during the Holocaust, does not want to relive the trauma and does his best to sabotage the trip. Treasure works because of the performances of Dunham and Fry. Dunham plays Ruth as a sad sack person who desperately wants to connect with her father but doesn’t know how and is too stuck in her own misery to see how hard this trip is on Edek, making him relive a past he wants to forget. Edek is also at fault, and Fry plays him as a man who tries to make everything full of sunshine and laughs when he won’t open up to Ruth to tell her how he is feeling. Ruth feels she can make things right between her father and his past by confronting it. Edek would rather avoid the past and live in the present. Treasure is full of both funny and harsh moments as the two people try to connect, but don’t have the guts to truly make a connection. The film tackles the idea that it’s hard to tackle the horrors of the past when you can’t even confront the present. The film’s big moments are not only in the actual Auschwitz grounds but in those moments when the two are both trying to connect in hotels or cabs and can’t find the words to reach each other.   My Rating: Full Price  Treasure Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  20,000 Species of Bees (2023)   While on a family vacation in a village house linked to beekeeping, a mother, Ane (Patricia López Arnaiz), and her eight-year-old son, Altor (Sofía Otero), will learn about themselves and each other, changing their lives forever. This is a film about trying to find a place in the world where you are comfortable in your own skin. The film moves at a pace that allows us to get to know the characters and how they deal with life’s pressures. Right from the start, we know something is up, as Altor keeps telling her brother that his name is not Altor but Coco. We soon learn that Coco is a child who is used to staying behind with his mother, not taking part, even at a pool with other kids. As the film moves along, we see that Altor/Coco doesn’t feel right in his skin, that he knows things don’t seem right, and that maybe, just maybe, he should have been a she. I loved this film, as we slowly see a child discover that the world isn’t in black and white, but full of color and choices. Ane tries to understand her child but has problems of her own, with a marriage that is falling apart, a disapproving mother, and pressure to create a sculpture in time for a job interview that her family desperately needs. Altor/Coco finds a friend in her mother’s aunt, who takes the child under her wing and teaches Coco about life and how to deal with/care for bees. 20,000 Species of Bees is a beautiful film about life and young person trying to figure out a way to live a life they feel they must follow.   My Rating: Full Price  20,000 Species of Bees Website  Now playing in theaters.  

Familyfaire:  Ultraman: Rising  (2024)  PG  Ken Sato, a superstar baseball player, has returned to Japan to become the latest hero to carry the mantle of Ultraman. His dreams are shattered when he is given the task of raising a newborn kaiju monster. The newborn is the offspring of his greatest enemy and will be Ultraman’s greatest challenge. Ultraman: Rising is a collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions, the creators of the Ultraman franchise, and Netflix Animation. That makes this an excellent primer for kids to get into the world of the Kaiju monsters (think monsters from the Godzilla world) without getting scared. The core of this film is family and how sometimes we don’t realize the sacrifices that our parents make to ensure that we are safe and happy. Ken has returned to Japan to reluctantly take the mantle of being Ultraman from his father, who, because of all the battles he has been in, must retire. Their relationship is not great and is getting worse since Ken’s mother disappeared and is presumed dead. Ken is also coming back to Japan to prove that he is a winner in baseball, having never won a championship in the U.S., even with all his baseball heroics. What makes this film fun for kids is when the baby kaiju falls into Ken’s lap, and he becomes an instant father to a giant pink baby kaiju monster named Emmy, who has a tendency to get heartburn that projects fire and, of course, throws up green slime. The battle sequences are fun and have plenty of action, but I will warn you that the family I saw it with and I were not ready for the almost 2-hour run time. Also, like a lot of Japanese manga animation, there are a lot of discussions that go on, making those parts boring for kids (and sometimes adults too). The family storyline goes on a little too long, but as 5-year-old Miles said after the screening, ‘The best thing was Emmy and the fighting.’  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Ultraman: Rising Website    Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest:  Late Bloomers  (2023)  Louise (Karen Gillan) is a 28-year-old woman who is recently single again, in need of a job, and depressed. When she drunkenly falls while doing something stupid, Louise breaks her hip and finds herself in a physical therapy ward full of people twice her age. There, she meets Antonina (Małgorzata Zajączkowska), a cranky elderly Polish woman who doesn’t speak English. Somehow, Louise gets a job as a caretaker for Antonina, and it just might be time for her to grow up with Antonina’s help. Late Bloomers is a coming-of-age story that isn’t about a teen but a 28-year-old woman who acts as if she is still in high school. Louise is a person who is lost, selfish and isn’t willing to listen to anybody, including her friends. Along comes Antonina, a woman who speaks no English and seems to hate everyone and everything. The two start bonding, even without the ability to converse, with Louise feeling she has found someone she can finally relate to. This is a fun, sweet film that is helped by a captivating and sometimes brave performance by Karen Gillan. Gillan plays Louise as a person who we don’t like at first, but we soon learn that there are reasons Louise has never grown up. We soon root for this newfound relationship that is strange and mystifying but somehow works between Louise and Antonia. So grab a walker or a crutch and join Louise and Antonia on a journey where they learn about each other and themselves. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Late Bloomers Website  Now playing in theaters and On Demand. 

Indiefest:  I Used to Be Funny (2023) I Used to Be Funny is about Sam (Rachel Sennott), an aspiring standup comedian and sometimes nanny who struggle with PTSD and depression. Sam sets out to find Brooke (Olga Petsa), a troubled teen she used to nanny who is missing, but only if Sam can get off her bed and out of the house. While the film wanders a bit with its structure of going back and forth from the past to the present, the film is a delight to watch because of the awe-inspiring performance by Rachel Sennott. Sennott plays Sam in the present as someone who has gone through a traumatic event that has changed her outlook on life and the world. This is a contrast to Sam we saw in the past, because she is confident, quick to make humorous comments, and adept at addressing a very moody preteen in Brooke. Sennott handles both with incredible grace, causing you to fall in love with Sam, even when she's challenging and unapproachable. Sennott flows through the past scenes with superb comic timing while she gives the present, Sam a multilayered personality, one who wants to hide but knows it is best if she keeps trying to live her life. I Used to Be Funny is a film about friendship, love, and, with the help of good friends, putting your life back together when it seems hopeless, which writer/director Ally Pankiw delivers with a sure hand and an ear for creating real and natural dialogue. Sennott anchors the film with a performance that actors with 20 more years of experience couldn’t deliver. I Used to be Funny that gives us both laughs and tears with a performance that you won’t soon forget. My Rating: Full Price  I Used to Be Funny Info  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  O  (2001) R  Modern-day telling of Shakespeare’s Othello. Coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen) runs his high school basketball team with a firm hand, often taking it out on his own son, Hugo (Josh Hartnett). Josh feels he is the star of the team but is put out when his own father makes Odin (Mekhi Phifer) the award winner of ‘Best Player,’ who then shares the award with his best friend, Michael (Andrew Keegan). Hugo decides to take Odin down and using Odin’s own girlfriend Desi (Julia Stiles), to create a plot that will destroy both Odin and the high school basketball team. O was a film that very few people saw (the original studio delayed its release by two years because of the original release date being around the Columbine High School shootings). The young cast is outstanding, with Phifer and Stiles shining in their parts as teens on a collision course with tragedy. Fans of Shakespeare should check this film out.  My Rating: Full Price  O Info  The film is available on most streaming platforms. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Inside Out 2:  Character Groom Lead

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Deadpool & Wolverine  (2024)  R  Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is recovering from some serious injuries when he comes across someone he really doesn’t like, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds). After trying to kill each other, the two frenemies team up to defeat a common enemy. I am a huge fan of the Deadpool series and can’t wait to see this film. I love how Reynolds kept after Jackman to put on the yellow uniform for one last time. And by the way, it’s rumored that a certain baldheaded man in a wheelchair may show up.  Deadpool & Wolverine Website  The film will be released in theaters on Friday, July 26, 2024. 

Until Next Time!