Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

My View: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) PG  Mourning the loss of his only son, Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) makes a boy puppet named Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) that magically comes to life. Now Pinocchio, with the help of his father and his friend, the talking Cricket (Ewan McGregor), must learn what it is to be a boy in the real world. This isn’t your father’s (or should I say my) Pinocchio, which may be a little too advanced for young kids. The stop-motion animation is some of the best I have ever seen and the storyline, which includes death and Mussolini’s fascist regime in Italy, is simply magnificent. The film has del Toro’s imprint all over it, from the, at times, very dark subject matter, to the mysterious talking Death (voiced by the terrific Tilda Swinton). You do have some fun comic relief with Pinocchio’s sidekick and mentor, Sebastian J. Cricket (voiced by Ewan McGregor), who constantly gets smushed, and a hilarious monkey named Spazzatura (voiced by Cate Blanchett), who at first is a bad guy but becomes an ally of Pinocchio in the later stages of the film. The film still has the heart and soul of a young boy who makes mistakes but wants to be real because he loves his father so much. It’s a beautiful film, both cinematically and story-wise, that gives you hope about love and humanity conquering evil, even if you have to lie a little bit.   My Rating; I Would Pay to See it Again Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Website  Now playing in select theatres and on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: The Whale (2022) R  A reclusive English teacher (Brendan Fraser) attempts to reconnect with his long-estranged teenage daughter (Sadie Sink). The film is based on a stage play, and at times, it feels that way. That being said, the performances of both Brendan Fraser as the recluse father named Charlie and  Sadie Sink as Ellie, the daughter he left behind and wants to desperately reconnect with, make this film worth watching. Fraser gives the performance of a lifetime as a man who thinks he doesn’t have much time and wants to make one last effort to make things right with his daughter. It’s a profoundly moving performance that is fierce and touching, giving us a man who makes a huge mistake with his daughter and wants to make amends somehow. Fraser provides us with a man who has never recovered from a lost love, one that cost him his daughter and his marriage, and he wears the scars of the past on his tortured face. It’s a brilliant performance, and I wish the writing was better. There is a character that I would cut out entirely in the film, Charlie’s ex-wife (played by Samantha Morton), that is there just to give us some background. It’s a part that should have been cut, as it gives us nothing but someone to yell at Charlie for a few minutes. I loved Sadie Sink in the role of Ellie, a daughter who is angry at the world, and Charlie, someone who Charlie sees has potential, if only she can realize that potential herself. The question will become Academy Award time if the members can overlook the lousy writing and see the performance that Fraser gives us, which is the best he has ever given us.   My Rating; Bargain Matinee  The Whale Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: Empire of Light (2022) R  Hilary (Olivia Colman) is a troubled woman who is having an affair with the married boss (Colin Firth), who owns the movie theatre she manages. When a new worker is hired, Stephen (Michael Ward), Hilary's life is changed, and they quickly form a bond that will change their lives forever. I wanted to like/love this film but feel let down by a script that never figures out exactly where it is going. As expected, Olivia Colman is the best thing in this film, playing a woman who, on the surface, seems ok but, beneath, is a deeply troubled soul that can’t find happiness or peace. The film suffers from trying to make statements about racism, sexism, and many other issues that it seems to throw up on the screen every few minutes. As a film buff and someone who loves going to the cinema, I did enjoy the trip down memory lane when films were shown on film, and it was an art to project them correctly. Unfortunately, I left the film feeling like there was a good movie somewhere in the plot but that it never found it up on the big screen, unlike all the films that were projected in the Empire movie house.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Empire of Light Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Indiefest: Aftersun (2022) R  A young girl named Sophie (Frankie Corio) spends a holiday with her father, Calum (Paul Mescal). It’s a time that both want to desperately connect but can’t seem to find common ground. The movie is told from the framing of an adult Sophie looking back at the footage she and her father shot on vacation in a low-rent Turkish resort. The film explores the relationship between the father and daughter, which at times is lovely and strong, and other times distant and aloof. Sophie is at the age where she is starting to want to be treated more like a teen than a child, and unfortunately, Calum isn’t a strong enough father to put boundaries on her, letting her go out alone and fend for herself. I loved Frankie Corio in the role of Sophie, as she brings Sophie to life and is someone we instantly root for. While I loved Corio’s performance, I was sometimes bored by the constant shots of the two of them just staring out at the ocean or the almost nonexistent plot of the film. Aftersun is a film that I felt let down by a storyline that expects us to just wallow along with the characters in the movie. That’s something that I just didn’t want to keep doing.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Aftersun Website Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: Something From Tiffany’s (2022) PG  Rachel (Zoey Deutch) isn’t pleased with how her life is going, but that’s all about to change. Rachel’s life is turned upside down with an engagement ring that was meant for someone else is given to her by mistake as a Christmas gift. Was it a mistake or fate? Reese Witherspoon and her production company better be glad that Zoey Deutch is so damn cute; otherwise, this film would be even worse than it is. The biggest problem is that Rachel is the only likable character in the whole darn film. OK, that’s not true because the kid of the love interest, Daisy (played by Leah Jeffries), is also pretty cute. But that’s it. Even the love interest, Ethan (played by Kendrick Sampson), isn’t all that great of a guy. I mean, he seems to be proposing (it’s his ring that gets switched) just so that Daisy can have a mom, not because he loves her. Rachel’s guy, a tattoo artist named Gary (Ray Nicholson), sucks even more than Ethan, and we see from the start why he isn’t right for Rachel. The plot is easy to predict, and there are holes in it the size of a bagel including that Rachel seems to have a lot of time on her hands for a woman who is running two locations that sells fresh baked goods. Still, this isn't a horrible film if you need a quick romance fix (run time was less than 90 minutes). Did I mention that Zoey is pretty darn cute?   My Rating: Cable  Something From Tiffany's Website Now playing on the Amazon Prime platform.

My View: Spoiler Alert (2022) PG-13 Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons) is a famous and successful media critic who has never had success with love. He meets Kit (Ben Aldridge), a man who falls for Michael, even his rather large Smurf collection. Then Kit comes down with cancer, and everything changes. The film is based on a true story, and Michael Ausiello is my favorite TV critic. One of the great things about Ausiello (that’s what we, his fans, call him) is that through his writing, we really get to know him, his sense of humor, and his taste in TV programs. That is what is lacking in this film; we never get a sense of what makes Michael tick, and his sense of humor never really gets to shine. Jim Parsons was an excellent pick to portray Michael, and Parsons does a good job with what he is given, but this film could have been as good as Michael’s book (also titled Spoiler Alert), but it’s not. The film never connected for me, and other than a fantastic scene in the hospital (think Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment), we never get the touching of the heartstrings to make the impact of the illness and loss hit home. Stay at home and read the book. You will be much happier, or maybe not because you will probably cry a lot. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Spoiler Alert Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide.

Indiefest: The Eternal Daughter (2022) PG-13  A middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother return to their former family home that is now a hotel. This once-grand manor now is only full of long-buried secrets in a place brimming with mystery. Tilda Swinton is undoubtedly one of our finest actors, and in this film, we see two of her, as she plays both the daughter and the mother who are visiting the old homestead, reliving memories of a past that isn’t always so happy. The daughter has brought the mother to the hotel so that she can write a screenplay based on her mother’s experiences growing up in the home, but it’s not a happy time for either of them, and they struggle to find a way to revisit the past. The daughter is also hit with insomnia, which fills her nights with her mind racing and worrying about her mother. I was expecting more of a ghost story, but it is primarily a tale of two women trying to connect and not doing a very successful job. The film is full of dread and the feeling that something terrible will happen. Swinton is marvelous in the duel role, conveying the underlying depth of a story that isn’t what is on the surface.   My Rating; Full Price  The Eternal Daughter Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Forgotten Film: Rocket Science (2007) R  Hal (Reece Thompson) is a kid who has a crush on the girl next door, Ginny (Anna Kendrick) but feels she is out of his league because he stutters. After her debating partner quits, Ginny, to Hal’s stunned surprise, talks Hal into becoming her debate partner. Why? Well, that’s to be determined. I love this movie, mainly because it has real high school characters and not someone's lousy idea of what high school is about. This is one of Anna Kendricks's first film roles, and she is lovely as the girl who may have a few tricks up her sleeve. The film continues to surprise you as it goes along, making it a fun watch.   My Rating: Full Price   Rocket Science Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Laser Cutter

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Alice, Darling (2022) R  A young woman (Anna Kendrick) is in an abusive relationship that could become deadly but doesn’t want to see the warning signs. Her friends stage an intervention at a weekend getaway to make her realize that she is in trouble, but her boyfriend shows up unexpectedly, which could get ugly. Anna Kendrick is a favorite of mine, and I am hearing great things about her performance in this film.  The film will be released in Mid-January.   Alice, Darling Website

Until Next Time!

The Good Nurse

My View: The Good Nurse (2022) R   Amy (Jessica Chastain) is a single mom who juggles caring for her daughter and working the overnight shift as a nurse in a hospital. She befriends a new nurse, Charlie (Eddie Redmayne), and they are soon fast friends. Amy is hiding a secret, and soon she finds out that Charlie is too. Which secret will come out in the open first? Jessica Chastain plays the nurse you want in your service when you end up in a hospital. Amy is a warm, loving person who tries to learn about her patients' lives and make them as comfortable as possible, even if it means breaking a rule or two. Amy is on the overnight shift, and she soon finds a fellow worker who feels the same way that she does in Charlie, who, in a time of need, offers to help Amy. Charlie seems too good to be true, and then we learn that maybe he is. This film is based on a true story, which makes it much more horrific when we learn about what is going on in this hospital and others in the area. Redmayne is perfect as the soft-spoken Charlie, who seems like a nice guy, but you, as the viewer, feel a bit wary about him, especially how quickly he becomes important in Amy’s life. As usual, Jessica Chastain is remarkable as a woman with a secret that could destroy her life. The Good Nurse is a film that will keep you guessing until the end if our Amy will come out of this story with her life still in one piece.   My Rating: Full Price  The Good Nurse Website  Now available on the Netflix platform.

My View: Run Sweetheart Run (2020) R  Cherie (Ella Balinksa) is excited to go on a blind date set up by her boss. However, her date Ethan (Pilou Asbaek), who seemed perfect at the start, has become a monster and has told Cherie that if she can survive the night, he will forever leave her alone. It’s a night Cherie will never forget if she lives. This is a fun, scary romp of someone trying to escape from the bogeyman from the viewpoint of a woman who isn’t afraid to kick a bit of butt. Ella Balinksa is terrific in the role of Cherie, a single mom who has an idea of what she sees for herself and her daughter. But we get almost from the start that Cherie is dealing with a man’s world, where ride-share drivers can be openly creepy, and bosses can demand that you figure out how to get them out of overbooked situations. Along comes Ethan, who seems like a guy Cherie could enjoy dating until things turn quickly wrong. We get to try, along with Cherie, to learn the rules of this deadly game and how she can escape what seems to be an escapable scenario. While the ending feels a little too easy, I enjoyed this horror/run-for-your-life film with a definite female twist.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Run Sweetheart Run Website  Now available on the Amazon Prime platform.

My View: Call Jane (2022) R  In the 1960s. Joy (Elizabeth Banks) is a married woman with an unwanted pregnancy that endangers her life at a time in America when abortion is illegal. Joy meets a group of suburban women who have created a safe but underground network to give women the help they need. Joy gets the help she needs and then decides to join the other women to help people in need. The problem is this story is based (loosely) on true events, and the film’s story is better told in the HBO documentary The Janes that came out earlier this year. The film decides to center the movie around Joy, an upper-middle-class woman who, before her pregnancy, biggest decision was to have a second drink with her next-door neighbor or if she should start cooking now for her husband and teenage daughter. Joy becomes involved with the Jane organization when she is in need of an abortion. She is told she has a 50/50 chance of surviving the pregnancy due to a heart condition but is turned down by the medical staff (all men) of a hospital for the abortion because it might cause problems for the hospital (sound familiar right about now?). I would have loved for the film to be more focused on the woman who formed this amazing underground group of women who wanted to give women a way to make a decision about a life-altering choice. I wanted more scenes between Banks and Sigourney Weaver, who runs the Jane group. Their interactions are the best part of the film, but instead, we get a lot of Joy’s home life, with a husband who is more concerned about his own job and that his wife has his dinner ready, and a daughter who feels that her mother is spending too much time away from home. The film takes a turn that I did not like (I won’t go into what that turn is) and makes the film more about Joy and less about the amazing group of women who risked everything to keep women safe and given a choice.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Call Jane Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Familyfaire: Wendell & Wild (2022) PG-13   Kat (Lyric Ross) is a 13-year-old orphan living at a boarding school. Little does Kat know that she has a connection to two scheming demon brothers, Wendell (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele). The two brothers hatch a plan to get Kat to summon them to the land of the living, but they have never met someone like Kat. This is a film that I wanted to love because I so enjoy stop-motion animation, and I admire the filmmaking that Jordan Peele is creating. Unfortunately, even with a standout voice cast and stunning animation, the film is packed with too much storyline, too many characters, and a plot that sometimes comes off the rails. Kids will enjoy the antics of Kat and the two demons but may get a bit bored by the plot. Still, it’s a fun film to watch, especially around Halloween time. I just wish the story had been a little simpler.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee Wendell & Wild Website   Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (2022) R Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues is a documentary on the life and legacy of the man, the myth, and the legend Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was not only a ground-breaking jazz artist but was America’s first pop star and a cultural ambassador to the world. Most people today know Armstrong from his singing songs like Hello Dolly or What a Wonderful World. That is a shame because Armstrong was one of the greatest jazz trumpet players of all time. To hear other jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Wynton Marsalis not only sing his praise but are out and out astounded by his ability to hit high notes or capture phrases of music that they could only dream of achieving is mind-blowing. An incredibly popular artist who became an icon, his musical talent shines most in this documentary. The film does a magnificent job of giving us insight into the man behind the myth, letting us in behind the curtain through his own recordings of conversations he had in his home and around the world with friends and loved ones. I loved that Louis Armstrong created picture books and decorated his home walls with cutouts of quotes and pictures of his life and the film uses this technique throughout the film to highlight what Louis is saying in his interviews/talks. There is a decisive moment where the legendary actor Ozzie Davis talks about what he thought about Armstrong when Davis was younger and how that changed when he made a film with Louis and saw the man behind the mask that he usually held up to the world. We could all use more of Louis Armstrong, both in his music and his outlook on life and this film helps us discover the joys of his music and life.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues Website  Now playing in theatres and on the Apple TV+ platform.

My View: Prey for the Devil (2022) PG-13 Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) is a nun who has been allowed to attend the School of Exorcism at St. Michael The Archangel as an observer. She becomes involved with an exorcism that has her come face to face with a demonic force from her past. This is a pretty ordinary exorcism film with a few ‘jump out of the dark’ moments but overall is rather bland in the scares department. The plot is relatively easy to figure out, and other than seeing a couple of favorite actors of mine in Virginia Madsen and Ben Cross, there wasn’t much to this film. I enjoyed that the church has a high-tech headquarters in Boston to combat the devil. I kind of was hoping Q would pop up and give us a demo of a cross that can shoot holy water over distances. But no, just a nun who wants to be an exorcist and a little girl who has to be a demon.  My Rating: Cable   Prey for the Devil Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Forgotten Film: Pascali’s Island (1988) PG-13  Basil Pascali (Ben Kingsley) is a spy on a small island in 1908. Basil has been on this island writing reports for over 20 years that no one probably reads. He is secretly, or so he thinks, in love with an artist, Lydia (Helen Mirren), who sees men as a way to spice up her life. Basil’s life is turned upside down when an archeologist named Anthony Bowles (Charles Dance) is instantly interested in Lydia. This is one of those films in which you don’t know who to root for, for all the characters in the film have secrets and flaws that make them almost unlikable. Still, we want to stick around and see what happens, especially when an archaeological find could change everyone's lives. This is a masterful performance by Kingsley, who is much happier being behind the scenes, looking on as others lead their lives. He is a man who would rather dream about life than live it.   My Rating: Full Price   Pascali's Island Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues: Detroit Filed Producer

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Empire of Light (2022) R Hilary (Olivia Colman) is a troubled woman who is having an affair with the married boss (Colin Firth), who owns the movie theatre she manages. Hilary’s life is changed when a new worker is hired, Stephen (Michael Ward), and they quickly form a bond that will change their lives forever. Written and directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, 1917), cinematography by two-time Oscar winner Roger Deakins and a cast composed of Oscar winners in a movie about the power of film. Yeah, I think I would watch this.   Empire of Light Website  In theatres in early December.

Until Next Time!