Five Nights at Freddy's

My View: Five Nights at Freddy’s  (2023)  PG-13   A new security guard (Josh Hutcherson) takes his kid (Piper Rubio) to his new job, the night shift at the old, shutdown Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Once upon a time, Freddy’s was the place to be with pizza and animatronic bears singing songs. But something happened to cause the business to close, and the guard and his daughter are about to find out. A review of the film will be up Friday night. The film is now in theatres nationwide. Based on a very popular video game series, this film is not scary enough for horror fans and not gruesome enough for splatter fans. I guess this is Blumhouse/Universal’s attempt at getting kids into horror films. The film’s ending is confusing, and I had questions when it ended that only got answered by some spoiler articles on the internet. Never is a good thing when you have to go on the internet to explain who died and why. By the way, there is a bonus scene after the first part of the credits, and at the end of the credits, a strange computer voice spells out “Come Find Me.’ I believe this will all be worked out in a sequel because there is always a sequel with horror films. I wanted this to be a fun, scary ride in a pizza parlor of your nightmares, and all it got was some burned-out animatronics and no pizza.  My Rating: Cable  Five Nights at Freddy's Website   The film is now in theatres nationwide and on Peacock.

My View: The Killer (2023)  R  The Killer is the story of an assassin (Michael Fassbender) who screws up a hit, and someone he cares about has paid the price for his mistake. Now, the assassin is out for revenge but insists it isn’t personal. David Fincher is an interesting director who has given us a wide range of films like Zodiac, The Social Network, Gone Girl, and Mank. I always enjoy his movies, but I had a blast watching this funny black comedy where we follow a hired killer around as he gets revenge on the people who tried to kill him and hurt someone he loves. The killer narrates the film, giving us an insight into how he sees life and death, which he deals with precision and reserve. The killer is a man who is good at his job and takes pride in keeping things under control, even when things don’t always go his way. There will be a great drinking game with this film, and I won’t give it away, but you will be helped by knowing classic TV. Fassbender is perfect as the killer, a man who keeps track of his heart rate, not because of health, but because a slower heart rate means he can shoot his rifle with a better chance of success. The Killer is a film with lots of death, some of which are surprising until you understand the killer’s thoughts. Can you root for a guy that kills people for a living? Maybe, but you can have a fun time finding out.   My Rating:  Full Price  The Killer Website   Now playing in theatres nationwide and on Netflix on November 10th.

My View: Pain Hustlers (2023) R  Liza (Emily Blunt) is a high school dropout with a young daughter (Chloe Coleman). Liza dreams of a better life for herself and her daughter. She gets a job at a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a strip mall. Liza has the smarts and charm to bring success to the company and is living the life she always envisioned. However, success comes at a price, and Liza soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences. I had high hopes for this film, and it met expectations for the first thirty minutes. Unfortunately, the film loses its punch and gets lost in its storytelling while trying to hit us over the head with the idea that Pharma companies are, wait for it, evil and greedy. The film wastes performances by Emily Blunt, who portrays a woman who can talk anyone into anything, and Chris Evans, the sleazy sales guy willing to say or do anything to push the legality of the drug world right up to the line. The film runs out of gas, and in the end, we see the company go under because of greed and thinking they would never get caught. Like the drug the characters were pushing, the film worked at first and then failed to deliver what it promised due to pushing it too far.  My Rating: Cable   Pain Hustlers Website   Now playing on Netflix.

My View: The Other Zoey (2023) PG-13  Zoey (Josephine Langford) is a brilliant computer nerd who loves to study and has her sights set on graduating with honors. Her world is turned upside down when Zack (Drew Starkey), a college soccer star, is in an accident and wakes up thinking, because of amnesia, that Zoey, the first person he saw after the accident, is his girlfriend. Told that he must remember on his own terms, Zoey goes along with the lie, and things get really complicated. In this rom-com, the main character goes through the usual storyline of putting herself in a tough spot to win a guy's heart, only to realize she's falling for someone unexpected. This is nothing out of the ordinary from other rom-coms but for the presence of Josephine Langford. She makes watching this film worth our time. Zoey, who dislikes rom-coms, unexpectedly finds herself in one. Langford's excellent performance makes us cheer for Zoey to realize what we knew from the beginning: the unexpected guy is her perfect match.   My Rating Bargain Matinee   The Other Zoey Info  Now in theatres.

Indiefest: Anatomy of a Fall (2023) R  Anatomy of a Fall tells the story of Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and Samuel (Samuel Theis), a famous literary couple living in the French Alps with their partially sighted 11-year-old son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner). Out for a walk, Daniel finds Samuel’s dead, bloody body in the snow, having fallen from the house’s attic window. Was it an accident? Did Samuel kill himself? Or was he murdered? It’s always interesting when the main character is someone that you don’t like but wonder if you should root for them anyway. This is the case of Sandra, who, right from the start, you feel that there is something up with her as she flirts with a reporter who is interviewing while her husband is right upstairs. This is a film where you will change your mind a dozen times if Sandra is guilty. The film peels back layer after layer as we learn more about their marriage. Sandra Hüller is brilliant as the complex and self-assured writer and mom. Anatomy of a Fall is a movie that gets you sucked in from the opening credits and keeps you wondering beyond the ending.   My Rating: Full Price  Anatomy of a Fall Website  Now playing in theatres. 

Forgotten Film: Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) R  Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) is a recent widow who has inherited a lot of money and a rundown London theatre. Bored with life, she decides to reopen the theatre, which goes down in history for one thing: it’s all-nude reviews. This is one of those films that you enjoy from start to finish. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters) and a cast that includes Bob Hoskins as Vivian Van Damm, the man Mrs. Henderson hires to run the show, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, and Anna Brewster. Dench has a blast as the unpredictable Mrs. Henderson, who wants to put on a show that no one will forget. Bob Hoskins is brilliant as the showman who initially tries to take over the show, but soon relents to Mrs. Henderson and her ideas.   My Rating: Full Price  Mrs. Henderson Info  Available to rent or buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Killer: School Trainee

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Maestro (2023) R  The love story chronicling the relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). Leonard was a famous conductor because of his TV appearances and brilliant composing, but he had a secret that threatened his career and his marriage. Bradley Cooper follows up his directorial debut, A Star Is Born (2018), with this film that could be in the thick of the Oscar race.   Maestro Website   In theatres in mid-December and later on Netflix. 

Until Next Time!

A Haunting in Venice

My View: A Haunting in Venice (2023)  PG-13  Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has retired, giving up solving crimes, and is living in his own exile in post-World War II Venice. He reluctantly attends a seance, and one of the guests is murdered. Now it’s up to the world’s foremost detective to once again solve a crime and uncover the killer, even if it brings up ghosts from the past. Regardless of what the trailer makes it look like, A Haunting in Venice isn’t a horror film. It’s still a mystery based on an Agatha Christie novel, though very loosely. As with the other two Kenneth Branagh Christie films, this one has an all-star cast with Michelle Yeoh as a medium, Tina Fey as a world-famous mystery writer, and Kelly Reilly as the woman who has lost a child and wants to use Michelle Yeoh’s character to talk to her daughter. The film has a few scares and is greatly helped by Tina Fey’s character, who constantly gives Poirot a hard time. Of the three films, I enjoyed this more than the Death on the Nile, though I think Murder on the Orient Express is still the best. However, this is a fun film to go on a mystery with Hercule as he battles ghosts and a murderer.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  A Haunting in Venice Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: A Million Miles Away (2023) PG  A Million Miles Away is the story of Jose Hernandez (Michael Peña), who started out as a migrant farmworker who, after putting himself through school to become an engineer and then, against the odds, became an astronaut. The review will be up Friday night. I loved this film about a man who dreamed from an early age about the stars and becoming an astronaut. Michael Peña is terrific as a man who worked hard and believed in himself to reach for the stars and make his dream come true. Rosa Salazar is brilliant as Jose’s wife, who always believed in her husband and sacrificed as much as he did to get him into space. Their chemistry is real, making the film work as they struggle together. I loved the soundtrack to this film as it captured Jose's spirit and the culture he grew up in. A Million Miles Away is a feel-good movie that may bring a tear or two and one the whole family can enjoy.   My Rating: Full Price   A Million Miles Away Website  Now playing on Amazon Prime.

My View: Love at First Sight (2023) PG-13   Love at First Sight starts on a long flight from New York to London, where Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy) meet and sparks fly. After Oliver gives Hadley his phone number, there is an accident, and the number is lost. What’s the odds of Hadley ever finding Oliver in a city as big as London? Love sometimes has a way of defying the odds. I love romantic movies, and this one works because of the stinking chemistry between the two leads. The ‘meet cute’ is fun, and there are sparks right from the start between the two. I have enjoyed Haley Lu Richardson in films such as Columbus (2017), After Yang (2021), and Montana Story (2021), and she is fun to watch in this film, giving Hadley someone you root for right from the start. Jameela Jamil is also outstanding as the narrator who keeps showing up to help move our two lovers closer to their happy ending (oops, spoiler alert). So go on a really long first date and have some fun when the two try to find each other in the big city of London.   My Rating: Full Price  Love at First Sight Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

My View: Cassandro (2023) R   The story of Saúl Armendáriz (Gael Garcia Bernal), a gay man who, in the macho wrestling world of Lucha Libre, became a star as the character Cassandro, an ‘exotico.’ I think I will be in the minority with other critics with this film, but I didn’t like it. I loved Gael Garcia Bernal’s performance, but the storyline didn’t connect with me. One problem I have with this film is that Saul keeps talking about how rough it is being a gay wrestler, but you never see him suffer or get put down. Sure, his father rejects him, but even that doesn’t stop him from living his dream. My other problem is we see all the work that goes into when he is small time but other than one match, we don’t see how Cassandro became a huge star, one who broke a lot of barriers. It’s a strange film that I wanted more from, but I felt let down by the end.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Cassandro Website  Now playing in theatres and on Amazon Prime on Friday, September 22nd.

FamilyFaire:  The Inventor (2023) PG   Leonardo da Vinci (voiced by Stephen Fry) was a famous artist who felt he wasn’t appreciated in Italy, so at the invitation of the King, he moves to France, where he hopes he has more freedom to explore his ideas including where in the body the soul resides. There he meets a French princess (Daisy Ridley) but finds that science is not always welcome when it means doing something new and different. The Inventor is a beautiful film to watch, and I enjoyed the performances of Stephen Fry and the rest of the cast. The film does an imaginative job of blending in Da Vinci’s actual drawings with both stop-motion and 2-D animation. This is a film that explores Da Vinci’s ideas on war, life, liberty, and God. The Inventor is an animated film that smaller kids will have trouble following, though I think they will enjoy the songs and the animation style. There is a fun running joke about how Da Vinci couldn’t finish a project while his rival Michelangelo spends years and years working on his ’ceiling painting.’   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Inventor Website  Now playing in theatres. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see in theatres but have seen recently): The Retirement Plan (2023) R  When Ashley (Ashley Greene) and her young daughter Sarah (Thalia Campbell) get caught up with some bad guys who put their lives at risk, Ashley turns to the only person who can help, her estranged father, Matt (Nicolas Cage). Matt may look like a retired beach bum, but he has a past that the bad guys will soon learn about with their lives. I’m a fan of Nicolas Cage, though I understand he can be a bit weird for some moviegoers. Cage is a low key in this film, playing a guy who wants to make up for past mistakes and save his daughter and granddaughter. The film is aided by performances from Ron Perlman as a mob enforcer who loves Shakespeare, Jackie Earle Haley as a mob boss who can’t believe all his guys are getting killed by a retired beach bum, and Ernie Hudson as a former colleague of Matt’s. I have a feeling all this star power, including Cage, was because they all got to hang out together in the Cayman Islands to shoot the film. I had fun with the film’s first half, but the script shows its weakness in the 2nd half when it tries to pull all the plot points into a neat pile. Still, it’s a fun ride, and Cage gets to kill (almost matter-of-factly) a bunch of bad guys.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Retirement Plan Website  Now playing in theatres.

Forgotten Film: Cross My Heart (1987) R David (Martin Short) and Kathy (Annette O’Toole) are about to go on their big ‘third date’ known as the one you have sex on. They are going into the date with some baggage. David just lost his job, and Kathy has a kid, and each one is worried that the news will cause them to break up. But lies lead to bigger lies, and the once promising night becomes a night never to forget. Cross My Heart is another film where the two stars outperform the script they are given. Martin Short makes an enjoyable romantic lead, and I have always enjoyed Annette O’Toole in movies and TV. Now, I don’t particularly appreciate where the characters end up, but the performances make this film worth watching. I’m tempted to tell you to stop watching after the bedroom scene.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee Cross My Heart Info Available on DVD.

Weird Credits: From the credits of A Haunting in Venice: Set Decorator Breakdown Artist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) PG-13 A new security guard (Josh Hutcherson) takes his kid (Piper Rudio) to his new job, the night shift at the old, shutdown Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Once upon a time, Freddy’s was the place to be with pizza and animatronic bears singing songs. But something happened to cause the business to close, and the guard and his daughter are about to find out. There is a lot of buzz about this Blumhouse Productions horror film, and I can’t wait to see it.  Five Nights at Freddy's Website   The film will be in theatres in late October. 

Until Next Time!