A Quiet Place: Day One

My View:  A Quiet Place: Day One  (2024)  PG-13  A Quiet Place: Day One takes place on the first day of the alien invasion. Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) and her pet cat must survive in an ever-isolated New York City. Sam tries to figure out a way out while evading the bloodthirsty alien creatures with ultrasonic hearing. She teams up with a young law student, Eric (Joseph Quinn), who is just looking for help and guidance. I am a big fan of John Krasinski’s first two Quiet Place films, as they were a perfect mix of great drama with some horror thrown in. I will admit it took me almost a day to change my opinion of this film, which takes place on the first few days of the invasion by killer aliens who locate their victims by sound. My first reaction was that the film didn’t give us much information about the aliens and why they have invaded. But with further thought, this isn’t about the aliens; it’s about the people trying to survive and make connections in a world where talking rarely happens. Day One is not a film about survival, but rather about living your life, finding connections with others, and finding solace in the little things that make up the world. Yes, there are plenty of scary aliens seemingly around every corner, and it’s a world where the slightest mistake could cost you your life. But it’s also a story of finding humanity, sometimes in small gestures, that connect people. Oh, and cat lovers will fall in love with Sam's cat, who constantly steals the movie from Nyong'o, something I thought would be impossible. So pack a few cans of cat food, a couple of flashlights and go on a journey with Eric and Sam as they try to evade the invaders and survive together with a cat that has more than nine lives.  My Rating: Full Price  A Quiet Place: Day One Website Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View:  Horizon:  An American Saga- Chapter 1   (2024)  R  Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 spans the  years of the Civil War, as the film looks at the people who made up the Old West at a time of conflict. The story is told through the lens of families, friends, and foes as America expanded its boundaries. If you are hoping for another Costner-directed Dances with Wolves, you will be sadly disappointed. Horizon is a film that has too many characters to keep track of, and I have no clue if they will all somehow connect in Chapter 2. While Costner, the director, still has an eye for some stunning shots of the American West, the film suffers from characters you don’t care about and a script that meanders like the wagon train that Luke Wilson is leading. Who the heck thought he could be perfect as the trail boss? Costner’s character shows up about an hour into the film, doing what I never was clear about, and quickly gets involved with a prostitute played by Abbey Lee and gets into a whole bunch of trouble. By the way, Abbey Lee’s character, Marigold, is the only character I enjoyed. And apparently, in what seemed like 5 minutes of highlights from Chapter 2, shown at the end of the film, Marigold does not appear again. I am not sure the audience will show up for Chapter 2 either. As a fan of Westerns, I was hoping Mr. Costner would give us something to enjoy, but other than a very talkative prostitute, he doesn’t. It’s just a long, a big mess of a story that may never end.   My Rating: Cable  Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Daddio  (2023)  R   In Daddio, a woman (Dakota Johnson) takes a cab ride from JFK to the city. On the way, she converses with a widower cab driver, Clark (Sean Penn), who has a habit of asking questions. Sometimes, it’s easier to discuss your personal life and loves with a stranger. All it takes is a conversation with someone you don't know to figure out a few things. It’s a time-honored thing for someone to talk to a stranger. Sometimes, it’s a bartender, or a fellow stranger at the bar, or on a long cab drive. This used to be more common before people could bury themselves in their phones. To pass the time, you would talk to a stranger, and if you connected, someone might bear personal things. That's what happens in Daddio: during a long taxi ride from the airport to midtown, with heavy traffic in between, they have time to discuss love, life, and mistakes. Daddio is a fine match between two strong and personal actors in Johnson and Penn. Both portray likable characters, which is essential because we, the audience, are along for this hour and forty-minute ride. Johnson plays a successful computer programmer who is in a relationship that, through Clark’s probing and guessing, we discover, is with a married man. To make the young woman comfortable, Clark makes a game of these confessions, one secret given for one in return. The back-and-forth chemistry between the two actors and a realistic dialogue, where we almost feel guilty for being allowed to ride along, without us having to share a secret or two in return. We get to ride along and do not have to pay Clark for the privilege of being invited into the lives of the two people. Like most cab rides, we will never see them again, and that’s okay; we got to learn a few things about these two people and us as well.  My Rating: Full Price   Daddio Website  The film is now in theaters.

My View: I Am: Celine Dion  (2024) The documentary I Am: Celine Dion gives the audience a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic singer, her Vegas residency, and her struggle with a life-altering illness that Celine vows to overcome and be on the stage again. The numerous concert clips and behind-the-scenes footage are sure to delight Celine Dion fans. Plus, Celine gives us a tour of her costume collection, which makes up a whole warehouse, and we get a ton of scenes in her Las Vegas home, with her kids and dog. However, I will warn you that this is not a warm and fuzzy movie. I Am gives us a close-up of the battle that Celine is waging with the rare neurological disorder, Stiff Person Syndrome, that has taken her away from the concert stage. I commend Celine Dion for allowing the cameras to see her both at her best and worst, showing how devastating this condition is and how it has robbed her of what she loves almost as much as her family: performing. There are two heartbreaking scenes. One is where Celine struggles to record a new song, something she hasn’t done in years, with a singing voice that doesn’t want to respond. The second is near the film’s end when we see her go into a total seizure, brought on by trying to do too much. It’s a scary and heartbreaking scene that she recovers from because of her team. At one point, near the end of the seizure, she is asked if she wants the cameras to be cut off, and she bravely says no. I Am: Celine Dion is a brave and insightful film that shines a spotlight on a devastating neurological disorder that few have ever heard of. Before watching this film, I was not a big fan of Celine Dion, the singer, but I am now a fan of Celine Dion, the person. My Rating: Full Price  I Am: Celine Dion Website  The film is now on the Amazon Prime format.

My View:  Kinds of Kindness  (2024)  R  Kinds of Kindness is a trilogy of stories about a man who tries to take control of his life, a police officer whose wife has become seemingly a different person, and a woman who searches for someone with a special ability. This is a film from Yorgos Lanthimos, who gave us the 11-nominated, four-time Oscar-winner comedy Poor Things. Poor Things was a comedy with a bit of darkness. Kinds of Kindness is the exact opposite: it’s a drama full of darkness with a bit of comedy. So you have been warned. This is a film built from three different stories. One character connects each story, but that connection is so slight and quick that you might not even notice it. Kinds of Kindness comprises three stories. The first is a man who has had his life predetermined for him and tries to break the chain. The second story is about a cop who is convinced that his wife, who has been missing and presumed dead, is not really his wife. Story number three is about a couple who are on the search for someone who can raise the dead. All three stories are strange and take almost absurd turns that leave you wondering if what you saw is true or a figment of a character's imagination. Unlike Poor Things, which, because Emma Stone played such a bizarre and fun character, along with all the strange animals/people in the film, was fun to watch, this film can be brutal and extremely dark. Surprisingly, I think I found this film more enjoyable than Poor Things. It’s a film that seems to have more substance than the comedy. Somehow, someway, I was more involved with these dark and strange stories, all of which surprised me with how they told, and how the stories each ended. So, if you dare, get into the purple muscle car that Emma Stone’s character drives in the third story and take a ride with a film that will take you on a very bumpy ride.   My Rating: Full Price   Kinds of Kindness Website   Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Janet Planet  (2023)  PG-13  Janet Planet is about 11-year-old Lucy (Zoe Ziegler), who is spending the summer of 1991 with her mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), at their home. As the summer goes along, three strangers enter Janet’s world and are captivated by her and her very insightful daughter. Janet Planet is a film about a young girl trying to find her place in the world with a mother who doesn’t seem to have ever found her place. Buoyed by two powerful performances from Zoe Ziegler and Julianne Nicholson, the film is about two people living together but not always on the same page. Lucy is someone who likes to be the center of attention. Her mother seems to collect people, often being influenced by the people she lets into her life, but it's never permanent. The only constant in Janet’s life is her daughter, who she often opens up to her as they lie in bed together at night. Lacy's entire world revolves around her mother, and there is no room for anyone else. We never know if this is also the case with Janet, but it’s clear that their relationship is the only thing that ultimately matters. Not much happens in Janet and Lacy’s world, and they seem fine with that.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Janet Planet Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Fancy Dance  (2023)  R    In Fancy Dance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) is obsessed with finding where her missing sister has disappeared to. Jax’s sister has left behind Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) in Jax’s care, much to the dismay of Jax’s father, Frank (Shea Whigham). At the risk of losing custody, Jax sets out for the state powwow, hoping to track down Roki’s mother before the ceremonies begin. While Lily Gladstone’s character, Jax, is the one making the decisions, we see how all the drama that is happening with the family through the eyes of Roki, who desperately wants to see her mother again. Gladstone lets Deroy-Olson be the emotional one, allowing her to reflect on what is happening in their lives through Roki’s actions and facial expressions. Jax knows the deck is stacked against her in finding her sister, Roki’s mother. It’s stacked because of the lack of resources given to finding missing persons who live on the reservation. It’s stacked against Jax because of someone who has made mistakes in her past, and the courts will use it against her. And it’s stacked against her because, in her heart, Jax thinks this might be a lost cause. The story slowly teaches us about life on the reservation and about Roki’s mother. Fancy Dance is a film that lets us peek into the lives of two women with a bond of more than just aunt and niece; It’s a bond of history, culture, and a way of life. Life is full of injustices, but family can help you deal with them, even if it takes dancing to do it.  My Rating: Full Price    Fancy Dance Info  Now playing on the Apple TV+ format.

My View:  A Family Affair  (2024)  PG-13  In A Family Affair, Zara (Joey King) has been a personal assistant for a couple of years to super mega movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron), a selfish, demanding womanizer. The job has taken a toll on Zara, and because she is fed up dealing with Chris and his constant demands, she quits. Soon after, to her horror, she discovers that her widowed mother and successful author, Brooke (Nicole Kidman), has begun a romance with Zara’s former boss. So with Zac Efron playing the selfish, boorish star, Nicole Kidman playing the widow/perfect mom, Kathy Bates playing the wise and fun grandma, and Joey King playing the put-upon, smart, lovable personal assistant, this film should have been a smash hit. However, the'meet-cute'/jumping into bed is too easy (sorry Nicole, pun intended), and everything else in the plot is predictable and lazy. Despite the star power, the film falls flat on its face. Besides his winning smile and rock-hard abs (they are brought up several times), you wonder what Brooke sees in Chris. Sure, he is someone who looks good in anything he wears, but the man treats Zara, Brooke’s beloved daughter, like crap. In addition, Chris is a shallow idiot who thinks he can persuade his assistant to order fresh air for him to breathe. This same person then meets Brooke and is suddenly a nice guy who reads books and can converse with an author without boring her to tears. The laughs are few, and the chemistry between Efron and Kidman is sorely lacking. Do we truly believe that this love affair will span beyond a six-month shooting schedule? The only bright spot is Joey King, who tries as hard as she can to be kooky, lovable, and willing to be silly when it’s needed. But try as hard as she can; nothing can save this rom-com from needing a rewrite or two. Or three.  My Rating: Cable   A Family Affair Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Forgotten Film: Eye of the Needle  (1981)  R  A ruthless killer and German spy, Henry Faber, nicked named The Needle (for the way he kills) is in Britain during WWII and has gotten important information about the upcoming Allied invasion of Europe that must get to Hitler himself. As he waits to be picked up on an Isolated island off the Scottish coast and against his better judgment, he becomes involved with the wife, Lucy (Kate Nelligan), of a disabled man (Christopher Cazenove). This is a story about lost souls finding each other, even in wartime. However, this is not a romantic tale as Henry is a killer who doesn’t think twice about murder if it benefits Henry. Henry is a troubled man, and no matter how much Lucy falls for him, she won’t be able to change him.  Or will it? Donald Sutherland gives an outstanding performance as only he can, making a man with all the makings of a serial killer, someone who is so complex that you wonder if he can find happiness with Lucy.  My Rating: Full Price  Eye of the Needle Website  The film is available for rent/buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of A Quiet Place: Day One:  Wire Assistants 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Longlegs  (2024)  R  FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to an unsolved case involving a serial killer and the occult. Agent Harker discovers she has a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again. The cast includes Nicolas Cage, Blaire Underwood, and Alicia Witt.  Longlegs Website  The film will be released in theaters on Friday, July 12, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Hit Man

My View:  Hit Man  (2023)  R   Gary (Glen Powell) is your typical, boring philosophy professor with two cats. Except, Gary has a side job, he poses as a hit man for the New Orleans police department and he is good at catching criminals who want someone dead. Things are going great until he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), who wants to hire him to kill her husband. There are two problems: Gary is falling for Madison, and her husband just turned up dead. Glen Powell has been working in Hollywood for quite a while, mainly as a supporting actor, playing roles such as John Glenn in Hidden Figures (2016). However, filmmaker Richard Linklater gave Powell a starring role in his baseball film Everybody Want’s Some (2016) set on a small college campus in the early 90s. Then Hollywood figured out that maybe there was more to Mr. Powell when he blew everyone away in his role as Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin in Top Gun: Maverick (2022). He then showed he could be the leading man in the successful rom-com Anyone But You last year. Now he shows us what a great and mesmerizing actor he is in the role of a college professor who moonlights as a fake hitman to catch crooks for the New Orleans police department. Powell is exceptional in the role, letting him play Gary as a man with a talent and a passion to be a chameleon, meeting his potential clients in disguises and outfits to match their expectations of what a hit man should look and act like. Powell gives one of those performances where you can’t take your eyes off him, commanding the screen, even when he is playing the quiet, mild Gary. And that’s saying a lot when you have someone like Adria Arjona on the screen with him. I loved their scenes together, as they just about combust on the screen as the two characters constantly joke and flirt, and you know from that first meeting that they are destined to end up together. The film is a blast to watch as Gary gets deeper and deeper into a relationship with Madison, one that we know could blow up in his face at any time. Hit Man is an outstanding date film, and it could be called a rom-com with a few dead bodies along for the ride. The film moves at a quick pace, and as things start to get sticky for Gary, we wonder how he will ever get away with it. You will have to go on a few capers for that answer as Gary plays hit man for a while.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Now playing in theaters and on Netflix on June 7th.

My View:  Ezra  (2023)  R  Ezra is about Max (Bobby Cannavale), a struggling standup comedian who is co-parenting his autistic son Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald) with Max’s ex-wife (Rose Byrne). Max gets the break of a lifetime but has to go cross-country to do it. Against his better judgment, Max decides to take Ezra on the trip. It’s a trip that could change both their lives. This is another in a long line of films that its heart is in the right place, but it has a hard time staying there. I loved William A. Fitzgerald as Ezra, who spouts lines from TV and movies when he needs to make a point and often tells the truth when others won’t. It’s a beautiful and thoughtful performance, making this film watchable. The problem is his dad is a self-centered jerk who won’t listen to anyone, at times, even his son. It’s hard to root for a character like Max, who thinks only his way is right, even though he has a wife (played by Rose Byrne) who puts up a lot with Max (more than she should) and struggles to raise their son. The film does show the hardships it is to raise a child with autism and how the world seems always like a hard place to raise a child with special needs. But Max goes too far in his attempt to make sure his son is given a chance in the world, and it hurts the film that we aren’t on board with what Max is doing. The film also does a lousy job of giving us bits and pieces of Max’s upbringing, which shows that he might have had some of the difficulties that Ezra is now experiencing. I liked every character in this film, including the people in Max’s life we meet along the way. I don’t like Max, and that’s a problem when we are supposed to root for him. Oh, and there is a bizarre bonus scene at the end of the film that took me entirely out of what good feeling I had for the film.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Ezra Website Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Young Woman and the Sea  (2024)  PG  Trudy Ederle (Daisy Ridley) is a woman who is used to setting her mind to something and succeeding. Trudy took swimming lessons from her father when no one would teach her. She joined a swim team when no one wanted her. She competed in the 1924 Olympics. Now, Trudy has a bigger goal. One that no woman has ever done swim across the English Channel. Young Woman and the Sea is the type of film that Disney does so well. The underdog who fights incredible odds and a system that is set against them to not only succeed but to prove that they belong. This is an inspiring tale of a young woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Instead, she would find a way to complete and push the boundaries that society had set up for her to overcome. Ridley is perfect as Trudy, a woman who is sure of her abilities and has the drive to keep going, no matter what comes up in her way. Young Woman and the Sea is perfect for young women to see, as Trudy not only goes past any barrier she encounters but also destroys it. Like Trudy did in the 1920s, this film will inspire girls to go further and break those barriers, just like Trudy did.  My Rating: Full Price  Young Woman and the Sea Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  The Dead Don’t Hurt  (2023)  R  The Dead Don’t Hurt takes place right before the Civil War when Vivienne (Vicky Kreips) meets a Danish immigrant, Holger (Viggo Mortensen), who convinces her to follow him to his ranch outside of a small town in Nevada, where they start their life together. The outbreak of the Civil War happens, and Olsen joins the Union Army to fight for his newfound country, leaving Vivienne to fend for herself on their homestead. It’s a decision that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. I am a big fan of Westerns, so it’s always fun to see a new one, this time with one of my favorite actors, Viggo Mortensen, at the director’s helm. Mortensen has a great eye for framing, and there are some magnificent shots of how a man and his woman make a home in the middle of a vast and harsh country. This is a love story between two people who were meant to fall in love and how that love stands the test of time in a world that can be cruel. I will tell you that, at first, the story is a little hard to follow as we go back and forth between the present and the past. We see how the two met and how their unconventional love story starts between two unique individuals who are used to being alone and independent. Their love is short-lived when the Civil War comes knocking on their doorstep, and Olsen decides to join up. Leaving Vivienne to deal with the rough conditions on her own. While Mortensen wrote and directed this film, a good deal of the story is in the hands of Vicky Kreips, and she carries the movie with an emotional and charismatic performance portraying a character that won’t give up on love, no matter what happens. The Dead Don’t Hurt is an impressive film that goes off into uncharted territory, which makes the film even more powerful. The Dead Don’t Hurt makes me want more from Viggo Mortensen, and I hope it’s soon.  My Rating: Full Price  The Dead Don't Hurt Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  In a Violent Nature  (2024)  R   In A Violent Nature starts when hikers come across a burned-out fire tower, and one of them discovers a necklace that they take. That mistake will cost them their lives, as the vengeful spirit is resurrected and now is haunting the woods, hellbent on getting the necklace back. In a Violent Nature is a unique horror movie that doesn't rely on scary music, jump scares, or the killer's perspective. What it does do is give you an origin story of a bogeyman that appears every ten years or so and kills in incredibly gruesome ways. This is a slow ride of a film as, like many of his fellow slashers, our killer takes his time, waiting in the woods for the right time to strike. And he isn't exactly fleet of foot. You are nowhere safe in these woods, and our killer may strike at any time; though he doesn’t hide his approach, people just don’t think there is anything out in those woods until it is too late. In a Violent Nature is not a film for your ordinary horror fan; it’s far too slow, and the kills tend to go on for a while, but for the hardcore horror fan who wants to see something different, this is right up their alley. Just remember, if you come across a necklace out in the woods, leave it there. Please.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   In A Violent Nature Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  MoviePass MovieCrash  (2024)    Documentary about the founding and destruction of a radical idea, a way to get people to see more movies without breaking the bank. As a film critic, I get to see a lot of movies for free that the studios send me or have me attend a screening. However, as a movie fan, I also pay for movies when I miss a movie screening or the studio doesn’t set up one. So I was an early adopter of MoviePass, a service where you could see any movie, any theater (almost), and one a day, all for ten dollars. Too good to be true, right? Yep, turns out it was. This film proves that 1). It’s hard to be an entrepreneur, especially a black one 2). Greed will take over when dealing with big business and investors who only want to see the bottom line. This is a film about injustice and the men who take over companies not to succeed but to make as much money as possible before getting out. I was an early MoviePass subscriber and was sorry to see it go, but even I could see that the business model could never sustain the low price and the unlimited movies you got with the plan. As it turns out, we see that the people who ran the company (in the last few years of its existence) knew this also, and the film does a great job of clueing us to this. The film has heroes (I’m looking at you brave people in customer service), villains, and an ending with a bit of hope for justice and success. It’s kind of like the movies they wanted us to go to the theater to see.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  MoviePass MovieCrash Website   Now playing on HBO Max. 

My View:  Jim Henson: Idea Man  (2024)  The documentary Jim Henson: Idea Man is about the man behind The Muppets, Sesame Street, and films like The Dark Crystal, following Henson’s career from the early days, centering on his partnership with his wife, Jane Henson. It is a fascinating film that gives you an inside look at the magic and genius of Jim Henson. The film traces his life from childhood to college, where he met his wife Jane and developed an interest in puppetry. This is a must for any fan of The Muppets as it gives you a look at the early days of creating Kermit and the journey of creating live TV with puppets in Jim and Jane’s early days. Early footage of their live TV show, including commercials they created to keep the operation going, is fantastic. What I loved while watching this movie is we see how Jim found and hired the creative people who would design such wonderful puppets as Fozzie, Big Bird, Burt and Ernie, and, of course, Miss Piggy. There is a ton of behind-the-scenes footage from everything, including the early days of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (which was, by the way, turned down by all three networks). Jim's passing was unexpected, shockingly young, but he left a legacy that is celebrated in this fabulous documentary for us to enjoy.   My Rating: Full Price  Jim Henson: Idea Man Website  Now playing on the Disney+ platform.

Forgotten Film:  Robot Dreams (2023)   Dog is living alone in an apartment in 1980s New York City when he sees what could be the solution to not having any friends, an ad for a home robot. He orders Robot, and they have a great time together until one fateful day at the beach when a horrible mistake causes them to separate. Will they find each other again? I loved this fun and quirky film about a dog who finds a pal in a robot and then keeps trying to rescue his buddy Robot when an afternoon at the beach goes horribly wrong. What more could you want from an animated film than a robot and a dog roller skating a dance to Earth, Wind and Fire’s September? Robot Dreams is a fun and sometimes touching film about finding someone to connect with, and it can bring happiness and completeness to your life. The animation is bold and colorful, set in NYC in the 80s (the Twin Towers keep showing up), and I loved all the brand name products that are part of the story, especially Cheetos, which Dog has a fondness for and always has trouble opening the bag (don’t we all). The story is a simple one that hits the heartstrings and makes you laugh and cry a bit too. Kids will love the Robot and Dog’s constantly wagging tale, and adults will love the story of friendship and love. Note: While the film is from Spain, there isn’t any dialogue spoken throughout the film.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Robot Dreams Website The film had a limited release in Dec (which is where this review is from) and is being given a full release to theaters. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Hit Man:  Featured Cats

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1  (2024)  R  Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, the film looks at the people who made up the Old West at a time of conflict. The story is told through the lens of families, friends, and foes as America grew its boundaries. This is Kevin Costner’s first directorial effort since his 2003 film Open Range. The films are in two parts and span over fifteen years and has a cast that includes Will Patton, Kathleen Quinlan, Thomas Haden Church, Luke Wilson, Sienna Miller, Jena Malone, and Tom Payne.  Horizon: An American Saga Website  Chapter 1 releases in theaters on Friday, June 28, 2024.

Until Next Time!