Moana 2

Familyfaire:  Moana 2  (2024)  PG   Moana 2 takes place when Moana receives a message from her wayfinding ancestors and must go on a journey to the far seas of Oceania. Moana and her friends will sail into dangerous, long-lost waters to seek out an island that could unify all the people of Oceania. I really liked Moana (2016). I thought it had a great message, some cool songs, and Auli’i Cravalho, who was delightful in the title role. Even Dwayne Johnson was fun in the role of the demigod. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about Moana 2. Despite Auli'i Cravalho's excellent performance and top-notch singing, the plot and rest of the film are lacking. The film was originally conceived as a series, and that's what it feels like. It’s a bunch of 15-minute stories woven together, with some very forgettable songs and a plot that is incredibly hard to follow. The film has an ending that seems rushed and all too easy to happen when the rest of the movie was leading up to this breakthrough point. And don’t get me started on how Johnson’s demigod character has become annoying and bland. Add in Johnson once again trying to sing, and it makes for a long film to watch that only young kids will have fun with, mostly due to the stupid chicken that keeps popping up everywhere. A bonus scene at the end of all the credits explains what happened to one of the main characters in the film and sets up a Moana 3. Let’s hope they get better songs and a better plot.  My Rating: Cable  Moana 2 Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Maria  (2024)  R  Maria is about Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), who was at one time the world's most famous opera singer with a voice that thrilled the masses. Now Maria has retired and has retreated to Paris, where she is attempting to mount a comeback but cannot escape the past. Maria is a film where the lead's performance lifts a meandering and weak script and makes it watchable. The film follows Maria during the last week that she was alive. She has been retired for five years but wants to mount a comeback. Her problem is twofold: she has a strong addiction to drugs, and her voice, once one of the world's greatest, has become a shadow of her former self. Jolie is brilliant in the role, playing a character who was a huge star whose every move was documented by the paparazzi. Jolie reveals the agony of realizing that Maria will never have that voice back, but she still believes she is a star. The film, though, lets Jolie’s performance down, mired in a series of weird flashbacks and drug-induced fantasies that don’t give you the emotional punch you need. The film never gives us in the flashbacks the big moments in her life, just glimpses of them as Maria stumbles through her last days. Still, Maria is a film to see because Jolie is spectacular in the role. I just wish it had been a different film that showed us why she was the star who captivated the world with her voice.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Maria Website  Now playing in select theaters and on the Netflix platform on December 11, 2024. 

My View:  Dear Santa  (2024)  PG-13   In Dear Santa, every year, tons of kids send letters to Santa. This year Liam (Robert Timothy Smith) sent his letter to someone else because he is a crappy speller: that man, Satan (Jack Black). Who the heck thought that giving Bobby Farrelly, one of the brothers behind films such as Shallow Hal and There’s Something About Mary, the reigns to a Christmas movie for kids would be a good idea? It is rated PG-13, so "it may not be suitable for children." I have no clue who this film is for. I just know that Dear Santa isn’t funny, has Jack Black making some pretty raunchy jokes, jokes that a kid Liam's age shouldn't be hearing and has an incredibly lazy ending. I wasn’t happy with this film almost from the start, as Liam isn’t a crappy speller (as I put in the description). Liam has dyslexia because that’s so funny. And the film goes downhill from there. Liam agrees to a deal with the Devil, granting him three wishes in exchange for his soul, and there are still more ha-ha moments to come. Maybe the kids will enjoy Post Malone being goofy but even that isn't funny. It's just kind of sad. If you find Jack Black dancing around in a leotard hilarious, go ahead and watch Dear Santa; otherwise, watch any other Christmas movie out there. They have to be better than this. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Dear Santa Info     Now playing on the Paramount+ platform.

Indiefest:  All We Imagine as Light  (2024)   All We Imagine as Light is about Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), nurses who work at the same Mumbai hospital and are roommates. Prabha and her husband, who is currently away in Germany, have not seen each other in a year, and the phone calls have stopped coming. Anu is younger and in a relationship with a Muslim boyfriend, which is challenging because of their conflicting religious beliefs. Prabha and Anu take a trip to a coastal town to get away, and there, they learn about life and love. All We Imagine as Light is a beautiful and touching story of love told from the perspective of two women. They are opposites in their lives, yet they are connected by a marriage custom that removes love from the picture. Anu is a young woman in the first stages of love, where you will do just about anything to steal time with that special person. Anu is blinded by love in the moment, not knowing or wanting to care about the future. All she wants is to be with the man she loves. The issue is that her parents won't approve of the relationship. In actuality, they are already preparing candidates for her to wed. Prabha is older, and she never had the chance to find love. Her marriage was arranged, and her husband is off in Germany, seemingly having forgotten her. There is a doctor who she likes and who is interested in her, but it can never happen because she is married. I loved the performances of the two leads. Kani Kusruti, as the sad and lonely Prabha, is brilliant in the role, letting us see Prabha’s true feelings in those small moments when she is alone and her thoughts take over. Divya Prabha, as Anu, is like a breath of fresh air when she is on the screen, making Anu someone who can contain herself when she is in her loved ones’ presence. This is also a love story about Mumbai, the city where they live. We are constantly shown the city as a warm and lively place where romance can happen, with the possibility of getting lost in the crowd on a train or in a restaurant. All We Imagine as Light is a story about love, loneliness, and the hope a city can bring you if you look hard enough. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  All We Imagine as Light Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

My View:  Beatles ’64  (2024)  Beatles ’64 is a documentary about the Beatles US debut, which created a frenzy that changed the world of music forever. Beatles ’64 is an inside look at the tour of America that the Beatles did in 1964, just months after President Kennedy had been assassinated. Two brothers, Albert and David Maysles, were given unprecedented access to the tour, as we join the Beatles in hotel rooms, trains and backstage at their legendary concerts. We get to experience what it was like for the four lads to tour America for the first time and experience the madness of how America’s teens went nuts over them. The footage includes interviews, both past and present, that detail the experience of being on that tour. And we get to see some of their legendary concert footage, not just the songs they sang on the Ed Sullivan Show, but also concerts in Miami and Carnegie Hall. You will fall in love with the four young men from Liverpool who are just as mystified by the mania that they inspired as the press is. Beatles ‘64 is a Beatles lover’s dream, but it’s also a way to understand how something like the Beatles coming to America could start the healing process of a country that had just lost a leader. My Rating: Full Price  Beatles '64 Info Now playing on the Disney+ platform. 

Forgotten Film:   A Hard Day's Night  (1964) G  Two days in the life of The Beatles as they prepare for an important live TV broadcast. Richard Lester directed this fantastic and fun look at The Beatles in a fictional look at what it was like to be them in England in 1964. The film allows the guys to have fun and showcase their personalities. While the plot is incredibly thin, and the boys mostly do a lot of jokes and winking at the camera, we do get to see how much fun they had at the time being together. Plus, we get a ton of their music. What is forgotten about this film is that it garnered two Academy Award nominations: Best Original Screenplay and Best Score.  My Rating: Full Price A Hard Day's Night Info The film is available to stream on Max and buy/rent on Amazon. 

Weird Credits: From the credits of Moana 2: Environment Lighting

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Babygirl  (2024) R  A high-powered CEO (Nicole Kidman) has everything she's ever desired except one thing. She finds it in a torrid affair with her much younger intern (Harris Dickinson). Nicole Kidman has won a couple of awards from film festivals for this role. Could an Academy Award nomination be coming next year?  Babygirl Website  The film will be in theatres on Christmas Day. 

Until Next Time!

Mank

Note to readers: I currently am not willing to risk my health (I’m 62 and an asthmatic) by visiting a theatre. All films that I have seen for review have been screened in my home. I am not going to tell you whether or not to attend a theatre. Just be aware of the risks, do your research, and follow the instructions to the letter.

My View: Mank (2020) R   In 1940, with Germany taking over Europe and the US on the brink of entering WWII, Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), some considered the finest screenwriter of all time and others, a washed-up up has-been, is hired to write a script in sixty days. That script was Citizen Kane, maybe the greatest film of all time. As a lover of classic movies, I found this film fascinating with its use of 30s and 40s style filmmaking and the possible origins of a legend of a movie. Director David Fincher, along with shooting in Black and White, uses old-style techniques like montage sequences in the film to give it a classic look and even puts the ‘cigarette burns’ in the upper right-hand corner of the film, which used to signal the person operating the projector that there was a reel change. The dialogue is spot-on, with Mankiewicz spewing one-liners right and left, something his legendary film characters were known for. Gary Oldman gives a masterful performance as Mank, a witty screenwriter who was reckless with both his money and his opinion. The film takes place in 1940 when Orson Welles hire Mank to write a screenplay, while we also flashback to Mank’s early days in Hollywood when he was the toast of the town and was a frequent guest of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hurst and his mistress Marion Davis, a Hollywood star. The film goes back in forth between time periods, giving us the background for a screenplay that would become one of the great films of our time. I loved Amanda Seyfried as Davies, a talented actress who was smarter than she allowed people to see, and Lily Collins, as a plucky British secretary, hired to keep Mank focused on his writing and not on the whiskey bottle. Seyfried is terrific as a woman straight out of a 30s screwball comedy, and Collins reminded me of 40s star Teresa Wright, who seemed to always play the slightly troubled girl next door. Mank is a delight to watch, especially for Oldman’s performance, and a must for any lover of old-school Hollywood films.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again     Mank Website    Available on the Netflix platform and currently playing in select theatres.

My View: Half Brothers (2020) PG-13   Renato (Luis Gerardo Mendez) is a successful Mexican aviation exec that finds out his estranged father is dying. Renato is shocked that he has an American half-brother, Asher (Connor Del Rio), that he never knew about. Now, Renato’s father is sending him and Asher on a scavenger hunt trip to trace the path their father took on his journey a long time ago. Another boring attempt at a road trip picture that never finds its comedic footing and tries too hard to push two opposite characters together to make something funny happen. The storyline is weak, often relying on stereotypes even when making fun of those games stereotypes (stupid Americans think Mexicans in their country zip line everywhere because that’s what the tourists do in Cabo). The filmmakers try on occasion to tackle some serious immigration issues, but they never quite hit any nerves, just a lot of trying to tug on the heartstrings without giving us any heart. The two leads don’t have the chemistry to make the comedic situations funny, and Connor Del Rio comes off trying too hard to be the zany, weird one. I loved some of the scenes in a town I used to visit as a kid, San Miguel de Allende, but those are too far and between many tired, boring bits trying to be funny.   My Rating: Cable     Half Brothers Website    The film is currently playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: Black Bear (2020) R   At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple (Sarah Gadon, Christopher Abbott) host a filmmaker, Allison (Aubrey Plaza), who wants to spend some time at their house because she is at a creative impasse with her work. Little does the couple know that the woods' isolation will bring out Allison’s inner demons sho could destroy the couple’s peaceful life. This film has quite a few twists and turns, some that I never saw coming. The three leads are outstanding but make no mistake about it, this is Aubrey Plaza’s movie, and she shines in the role. Her character is as complex as the plot is, and Plaza is asked to give us a performance that asks here to turn on a dime, making her character one to watch throughout the film. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but it makes for an interesting and sometimes surprising trip.  My Rating: Full Price     Black Bear Info    The film is currently playing in select theatres and is available to rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: Dear Santa (2020)   Documentary on the 100-year-old tradition of the ‘Operation Santa’ program of the United States Post Office, which offers letters from children whom the public can adopt and make a child’s Christmas wish come true. First, this is absolutely a movie you can watch with your kids as the film goes to great lengths to not give away any of Santa’s secrets. The film is a joy to watch as Santa’s ‘elves’ volunteer time and money to make sure that families in need get a Christmas that they will be sure to remember. The film follows some of the volunteers throughout the process, from cities like New York and Chicago to small towns across the country, like the town of Chico, which grew immensely after the devastating fires wiped out so many California homes. The volunteers are wide-ranging, from an elementary school in Brighton Beach, NY, to ironworkers in a big city. You will need to keep your tissues near you as you will surely wipe away a few tears as Santa does his magic.   My Rating: Full Price     Dear Santa Website    The film is currently playing in select theatres and is available to rent on participating on-demand services. 

Indiefest: Another Round (2020)   Four middle-aged friends, all teachers, feel that they are in a rut and decide to embark on an experiment from an obscure philosopher: to see if a constant level of alcohol in their blood will help them find happiness and freedom. At first, the experiment seems to work, then that past comes up to the surface, and the friends must decide to face the music or keep going. The idea sounds like fun, and the four friends are happy with the results; they seem freer, able to do their jobs with joyless abandon. Then reality starts to sink in, as the group pushes the boundaries further, they go down a slippery slope that could have some harsh consequences. The characters are multi-layered, and the performances run the gamut of joyful to morose. The film has a sense of humor to it, but at the same time, there is a forbidding that this experiment could come crashing down on the four at any time. Another Round is a film that, at times, you will laugh at and other times will be uncomfortable and might squirm a bit in your seat. Mikkelsen gives a bravo performance that is ripe with emotion and pain.   My Rating: Full Price    Another Round Website   The film is currently playing in select theatres and is available to rent on participating on-demand services on Dec. 18th.

My View: I’m Your Woman (2020) R  Set in the 70s, a young mother, Jean (Rachel Brosnahan), is forced to go on the run with her baby when her husband betrays his partners. The film takes a crime genre and turns it around to focus on a woman who is in over her head. Jean is thrown into a situation that she did not make and one that she might not escape. Along with Jean, we slowly learn more about her situation, and as it goes along, the more hopeless it seems. Brosnahan gives us a woman who at first seems doomed, as she is clueless on how to survive in the mean streets but, Jean is a smart, tough woman who tries to roll with the punches and is willing to do anything so that she and her baby survive. The film has a great supporting cast, as Jean must find some allies to help her survive and figure out what the end game of this adventure is. Jean is far from the wisecracking standup comic that Brosnahan has played in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but she is up to the task and gives us an adventure on the dark side of life.   My Rating: Full Price    I'm Your Woman Website    The film is currently playing in select theatres and is available on the Amazon Prime platform on Dec. 11th.

Forgotten Film: Stories We Tell (2013)  PG-13  In this documentary, Actress/Director Sarah Polley has known that her family has harbored some secrets for some time now. So, Sarah decides to interview members of her family and let them, in their own words, tell what really happened. Stories We Tell is an incredibly moving documentary about a woman who is determined to get to the truth. It’s a fascinating film that explores how people remember events in their lives and how their own beliefs shade those stories. It’s a funny and touching film that is not to be missed.  My Rating: Full Price     Stories We Tell Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Mank: Table Person

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Wild Mountain Thyme (2020) Rosemary (Emily Blunt), against her family's wishes, is head over heels in love with her neighbor Anthony (Jamie Dornan). The problem is Anthony is cursed, as madness runs in the family, and he remains oblivious to Rosemary and her advances. In walks an American (Jon Hamm), who wants to buy Anthony’s family farm and also, just might take Rosemary away too. Hey, a comedic romance with Emily Blunt, Jon Hamm, and Christopher Walken? You had me at Emily Blunt.      Wild Mountain Thyme Website

Until Next Time!