Marry Me

My View:  Marry Me (2022) PG-13  Music superstars and power couple Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) and Bastian (Maluma) are about to be married in the event of the year. Seconds before the big event, Kat finds out that Bastian has cheated on her. As a result and before a live audience, Kat locks eyes with a stranger in the crowd, Charlie (Owen Wilson), and decides right then and there to marry him. For fans of Jennifer Lopez, this will be a dream come true as she sings what seems like every five minutes and has more costume changes than possible anyone ever on-screen. That given, this is a classic rom com plot of two very different people being pushed into a situation, and loves comes from that unexpected place. I am not a big fan of Owen Wilson, but he makes this film work. His Charlie character makes you want to root for this couple, bringing a sweetness and innocence to the role that is very believable, and you can see why Kat falls for him. I loved the chemistry between the two stars, and their playful back and forth seemed genuine and was one of the best things about this film. Sure the plot is easy to figure out, but that’s what we love about this type of movie, plus we get a lot of Jennifer Lopez songs to get up and dance to.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Marry Me Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide and on the Peacock platform.

My View: I Want You Back (2022) R   Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate), who meet by chance on a day that both of them got dumped. Therefore, they decide to become a team to get back the ‘loves of their lives by breaking up their old partner's new relationships. What could go wrong? Since it’s almost Valentine’s Day, it's time for a good and very funny romantic comedy with two dynamic stars. Day is perfect as your likable everyman, and Jenny Slate is terrific as the quirky Emma, a woman who will do just about anything to get her man back. I Want You Back is a hilarious movie, mainly because Day and Slate have such great comedic timing and are just out and out hilarious. The supporting cast of Gina Rodriguez as Peter’s ex-girlfriend and Scott Eastwood, as the hunky ex-boyfriend of Emma, are fine in their roles but are there really just to be window dressing for the antics of Day and Slate. I loved this film and had a blast watching Charlie Day and Jenny Slate get into so much trouble trying to get their lovers back while slowly falling in love with each other.   My Rating: Full Price   I Want You Back Website  Now playing on the Amazon Prime platform.

Indiefest: The Sky is Everywhere (2022) PG-13    Lennie (Grace Kaufman), a musical prodigy high-school student, has lost her love for music because her older sister, Bailey, has died. Surprisingly, when she meets a new student, Joe (Jacques Colimon), a fellow music lover, things start looking up. However, everything gets complicated when Bailey’s grieving, devastated boyfriend Toby (Pico Alexander) shows up, and Lennie starts bonding with him. This film has a lot of tropes that make up the typical Young Adult romance. The quirky best friend (Grace Kaufman) is there to boost Lennie when things are down. The strange but kind relatives (Jason Segel, Cherry Jones) who only want what’s best for Lennie. The evil and mean rival (Julia Schlaepfer) who is always a thorn in Lennie’s side. And the two possible loves of Lennie: the perfect guy (Jacques Colimon) who falls for Lennie even though he could have any girl in the school and the bad boy Toby (Pico Alexander), who is suffering a loss just like Lennie. What makes this different from your ordinary YA romance is that we get to experience what Lennie is feeling through her thoughts in her mind. When Lennie first meets Joe, she falls over backward, blown away by his playing, or when they play a duet, as they fly above the crowd as people dance below. It’s those beautiful, magical moments where we get to experience the joy or sorrow that Lennie feels that make this film worth watching. My favorite scene is where Lennie is struggling with the loss of her sister, and as she talks on the phone, everyone around her is struggling too. Whether it’s the guy who drops his ice cream cone, or the man who can’t get his papers back into his briefcase, everyone around her in Lennie’s world is struggling with life just as much as Lennie is.   My Rating: Full Price    The Sky is Everywhere Website  Now playing in select theatres and on the Apple TV+ platform.

My View: Tall Girl 2 (2022) TV-PG  Your favorite ‘tall girl,’ Jodi (Ava Michelle), is back! Now that Jodi has everything going for her with a boyfriend and is suddenly popular in school, it would seem that things would be great. However, being popular can cause problems, especially when the new guy (Rico Paris) in school shows an interest in you. I liked the first Tall Girl film, which, while not a great movie, was charming and had a winning start in Ava Michelle. This sequel doesn’t match the first film's charm and feels like they are pushing the boundaries to make a lot out of very little plot. Michelle still gives us someone to root for, and we get to see her dance a couple of times, which is an added bonus. I just wish there had been a little more to the plot to keep my interest, though I think the younger crowd may enjoy it.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Tall Girl 2 Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: The In Between (2022) PG-13   Tessa (Joey King) is trying to piece her life back together after surviving a horrible car accident that took her boyfriend's life. Although heartbroken, Tessa suddenly realizes that Skylar (Kyle Allen) is trying to reconnect with her from the afterworld. In the film, we go back and forth between what happened before the accident, giving us all the adventures into love between Tessa and Skylar and the events after the accident, when Tessa starts getting what she thinks are messages from Skylar from the beyond. I liked but didn’t love this film about a young woman whose troubled past gets in the way of her loving someone now. Like many teen romance films, Skylar is the perfect boyfriend, with his only fault, trying to do the right thing for everyone. Tessa is the typical teen romance woman who can’t commit fully to the relationship because she has been hurt in the past. Add in the fact that Skylar is trying to contact Tessa from the afterlife, and Tessa is willing to risk her life to see him one last time, and you get a film that seems to fit all the base but never hits at the heart enough for us to care.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    The In Between Website  Now playing on the Paramount + platform.

My View: Kimi (2022) R Angela (Zoë Kravitz) is a highly-skilled tech working on the latest voice-controlled AI called Kimi. Angela works from home because she has agoraphobia, making it almost impossible for her to leave her home. While fixing the AI’s system, she gets an audio file that she thinks maybe a recording of an assault. Taking a bit from Hitchcock’s Rear Window, along with a few other suspense films, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh gives us a thriller about the perils of a world dominated by devices that we now own and depend on. The film is a fun ride, with a few twists and turns that make it exciting, and Kravitz is great as the strange set in her ways Angela. Kimi speeds up a bit at the end, making it feel a bit rushed to get to the big ending, but it has a very satisfying conclusion.   My Rating: Full Price   Kimi Website  Now playing on HBO and the HBO Max platform.

Forgotten Film: Light Sleeper (1992) R   John (Willem Dafoe) is a drug dealer who has been serving the same clients for years. He used to do drugs but has been off them for a few years. He starts thinking about quitting the business when his boss (Susan Sarandon) keeps talking about going into a legit line of work. He then meets Marianne (Dana Delany), his one true love who left him a few years ago to get clean herself. Marianne wants nothing to do with John, as she is afraid she will go back to her old ways. Dafoe gives a sobering, gut-wrenching performance as we go deep into the world of drug addiction and the lives that it destroys.   My Rating: Full Price     Light Sleeper Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of I Want You Back: Lead Zone Monitor

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Bad Guys (2022) PG A gang of criminals led by Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell) decides to turn a new leaf and go good, but it will be more challenging than they think it will be. The voice cast looks outstanding with Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, and Alex Borstein and the trailer looks like this could be a fun time.     The Bad Guys Website

Until Next Time!

The Tragedy of Macbeth

My View:  The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) R    A Scottish lord (Denzel Washington) is convinced that he will be King after being visited by a trio of witches. His ambitious wife (Frances McDormand) eggs him on, and Macbeth’s act of seizing power will lead to madness and death. As a kid growing up in the theatre, I have seen a lot of Shakespeare both on the stage and on the screen, and I can say that this is one of the most beautiful and thrilling productions I have ever seen. At times the film feels like you are front row of a stage production, with its minimalist sets and stark lighting, but then Denzel and Frances fill your screen with performances that jump out at you and grab you by the throat, and you realize you are witnessing brilliance and unmatched artistry. Directed by Joel Cohen, the film is shot in beautiful black and white, making the film feel like an instant classic while using all the tricks of current cinema to make the film flow effortlessly. One of the things I loved about this film is the interpretations of the Lord and Lady Macbeth. Washington’s Macbeth is a man who is weary of living in the shadows, and his lust for power drives him into madness, a madness that he seems to have no control over. McDormand’s Lady Macbeth is different altogether, a woman who plots and schemes, knowing full what she is asking her husband to do and damn the consequences. The supporting cast is flawless, with Brendan Gleeson playing King Duncan, a man loved by his men, making his murder that much more powerful, and Kathryn Hunter playing all three of the ‘weird sisters,’ the witches that foretell what will come. Add in a much-needed bit of comic relief by Steven Root, and the film is filled with performances that will thrill and marvel you. So sit back and watch with wonder and amazement a story that still has the power to thrill you to the core.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    The Tragedy of Macbeth Website  Now playing in select theatres and available on the Apple TV+ platform on Jan. 14th.

My View:  Passing  (2021) PG-13   Irene (Tessa Thompson) seems to have everything she has wanted. She lives in a nice house in a prosperous section of Harlem, with her two sons and her husband, Brian (Andre Holland), a successful doctor. But Irene isn’t happy, and this is brought out by a chance meeting with Clare (Ruth Negga), someone she was once friends with in high school. Clare is living a secret life; she is living as a white person, married to a racist (Alexander Skarsgard) who is clueless to Clare’s real identity. When we first meet Irene, she travels around shopping in New York due to her light skin, but the difference is Irene does it as a necessary way to go to shops that wouldn’t let her in if they knew her race. Passing is a story of two women who are not comfortable in the lives that they have created for themselves. Beautifully shot in black and white, we follow the two women as they become close, but there is always a barrier between the two, with Irene wanting what Clare has and Clare wanting to disappear into the life of Harlem. The film centers on Irene’s life, as she deals with a husband who wants to move to a foreign country, where he feels he can be free of living in a society that allows blacks to be hung for looking at a white person the wrong way. While the film centers on Irene, it's the performance of Ruth Negga that makes this film worth watching. Negga gives a mesmerizing performance of a woman who lives a life full of lies but is willing to lose everything for a friendship that she desperately wants and needs.   My Rating: Full Price Passing Website   Now playing in select theatres and on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  Storm Lake (2021)   Documentary about Art Cullen, who with his family and friends put out a twice-weekly paper, the Storm Lake Times, in a small town in Iowa. Shot during a time when small-town newspapers are dying at an incredible pace, this tiny newspaper tries to continue to serve its community and be a voice for the farmer and for democracy. I grew up with a father who, on a typical day, would read three or four newspapers in a day, so I have always loved local newspapers, the smaller, the better. I often would ask friends traveling the country to bring me back a newspaper from their hometown, loving to read about the latest news about store openings, bar-b-cues, and the always happening beauty pageant or talent show. We follow Art, who writes an opinion piece for each issue, his wife, who is in charge of local events, things she calls the ‘happy news,’ and Art’s son, who covers local politics. It’s a fascinating world of a paper that is holding on by a thread to keep going, even when the paper wins the Pulitzer Prize (which, by the way, hurt the paper locally). I loved this look at everyday life in a small town, where a store owner agonizes over running two ads or one, pondering if the extra 50 dollars will pay off in sales. The film is helped by the Democratic Iowa caucus, which meant that a lot of important politicians visited Storm Lake to try and propel their campaigns (Pete Buttigieg comes off the best of the parade of wannabe presidents). So pull up a chair and sit down to watch a small staff work their butts off to put out the best paper they possibly can while still covering that baby pig in a diaper visiting an elementary school.    My Rating: Full Price  Storm Lake Website  Now available on demand including for rent/purchase on the Amazon Prime platform.

My View:  Mother/Android (2021)   Georgia (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Sam (Algee Smith) should be happy as they are about to have a baby. The problem is the world has changed overnight as the androids built to serve mankind have turned on the human population. Now Georgian and Sam must go on a treacherous journey through the No-Man’s Land, a stronghold of the android uprising, in order for their baby to be born in safety. I liked the beginning of the story on how the android revolt started, but the film takes forever to get to any action sequences, and we spend a lot of time with Georgia and Sam talking to each other about baby names and how to get to Boston. The twist is something that you see from a mile away, and the film never delivers the punch to the gut that it desperately wants you to feel. Except for some nice chemistry between the two leads, this is a pretty bland attempt of an end of the world plot.   My Rating: Cable    Mother/Android Website  Now available on the Hulu platform.

Forgotten Film: Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold  (2017)   Joan Didion was a fantastic writer, someone who could go from writing a screenplay to a novel to a series of essays without breaking a sweat, and all were interesting and sometimes brilliant. All the while, she was married to another brilliant writer. John Gregory Dunne, as they edited each other’s work. This documentary is directed by the actor Griffin Dunne, who happens to be Didion’s nephew. He uses his connection and affection for Joan to get her to open up, sometimes shockingly frank, about her life. Didion was destined to be a writer, given a journal by her mother at age five, and she never stopped writing, giving us some of the most moving and amazing work, mainly dealing with what she experienced in her life. This is a fascinating documentary about a woman who just recently passed, a woman who wrote like her life depended on it. The documentary gives us a glimpse into a life filled with glamour, Hollywood stars coming in and out of her life like the parties that she used to have. Her life was also filled with sadness, in a marriage to a man who was often angry at her and the world, and in quick succession, she lost her husband and her adopted daughter in the span of a couple of years, only to write about it in the award-winning book The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold is a beautiful and fascinating look at a complex woman who would touch the world with her writing.   My Rating: Full Price   Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Tragedy of Macbeth: Shakespeare Consultant

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: I Want You Back (2022) R   Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) meet by chance on a day that both of them got dumped. They decide to become a team to get back the ‘loves of their lives by breaking up their old partner's new relationships. What could go wrong? I can’t wait to see this rom-com because I have been a huge fan of Jenny Slate since her breakthrough starring role in Obvious Child (2014).   I Want You Back Website

Until Next Time!