The Grudge and Mike's Top Ten Films of 2019

My View: The Grudge (2019) R   A house is cursed by a ghost hell-bent on getting vengeance by dooming anyone who enters will die a violent death. The first The Grudge (2004) was a surprise hit, mostly riding on the coattails of Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar. After two lesser successful sequels, they have decided to reboot the series with this film. While the original movie wasn’t a slam dunk, it did have its scary moments and was worth the watch. I can’t say the same thing about this film. The film does a very clumsy tie-in to the first film and then proceeds to jump back in forth between three or is it four stories (I was too bored to keep track). The film has a bunch of jump out of the dark scares that don’t ever work, and the movie never builds any suspense. I now have a grudge against the writer/director of this film for making sit through ninety-three minutes of boring  My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   The Grudge Website

Indiefest: Cunningham (2019)  PG   Documentary on Merce Cunningham and the history of his iconic dance company. A fascinating film about a cutting-edge choreographer/dancer who created a ground-breaking company that pushed the boundaries of music and dance. When asked if he wrote and performed ‘avant-garde’ pieces, he replied, ‘I don’t describe it, I just do it.’ The film beautifully recreates some Cunningham’s most well-known pieces, often in usual settings such as a forest or the top of a high-rise. There are also behind-the-scenes glimpses of Cunningham at work with his dancers, plus archival footage of the company performing on live television. Cunningham isn’t a film for everyone, but for lovers of theater and dance, it is a must-see.    My Rating: Full Price    Cunningham Website

Forgotten Film: Whale Rider (2002)  PG-13   On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe that they were founded by an ancestor, Paikea, who, when his canoe capsized, he rode to shore on the back of a whale. This New Zealand tribe believes that the first-born sons are the only heirs that can become the chief. Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) believes that it is her destiny to become chief, against the wishes and beliefs of her grandfather, Koro (Rawin Paratene), she fights against a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her place in history. A stirring film of courage, with the unbelievable setting of New Zealand, along with Castle-Hughes giving us a magical and uplifting performance as the determined Pai, make this a film you will want to watch.   My Rating: Full Price    Whale Rider Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Grudge: Special MUFX Show Runner

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Just Mercy  (2019) PG-13   A young Harvard grad lawyer (Michael B. Jordan) could have the pick of any job in the country, but he picks Alabama to set up a law firm specializing in advocating for death row inmates he feels to have been wrongly condemned. He meets and defends Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx), a man convicted of a notorious murder of an 18-year-old-girl. As I stated before, I will see any film starring Michael B. Jordan.    Just Mercy Website

Mike’s Top Ten Films of 2019

1).  1917   (film comes out Jan. 10th)

2).  Parasite   Parasite Review

3).  Marriage Story  Marriage Story Review

4).  The Peanut Butter Falcon   The Peanut Butter Falcon Review

5).  The Irishman    The Irishman Review

6).  Little Women    Little Women Review

7).  Avengers: End Game   Avengers: End Game Review

8).  Knives Out    Knives Out Review

9).  Apollo 11    Apollo 11 Review

10). The Little Biggest Farm    The Biggest Little Farm Review

Honorable Mention: Honeyland, Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood, Pain and Glory, Uncut Gems, Toy Story 4, I Lost My Body, Booksmart, Ford vs Ferrari, Us, Diego Maradona, The Amazing Jonathan, Jojo Rabbit, One Child Nation, Maiden, Late Night, Dolemite Is My Name

Until Next Time!

Knives Out

My View:  Knives Out  (2019) PG-13   World famous mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has committed suicide, throwing his extending family into a jumbled mess. Private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is on the case and thinks that Harlan’s death might just be murder, with a house full of relatives who are all suspects. I love a film where the cast looks like they are having as much fun making the film as you are watching it. This film is a blast to view right from the start. It’s a murder mystery, or is it just a simple suicide? We follow along as PI Benoit Blanc, played with great comic timing by Daniel Craig, uses his powers of deduction to try to figure out what really happened in HarlanThrombey’s room that night of his death. The stellar cast includes Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, and Katherine Langford, each of whom brings their rather eccentric and loopy band of characters to life. The plot takes plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing, and the ending shot is one of the best of the year. I can’t recommend this hilarious and witty film enough.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Knives Out Website

My View:  Dark Waters   (2019) PG-13   A corporate defense attorney on the fast track to partner, Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), as a favor to a relative, takes on an environmental lawsuit against one of the biggest chemical companies in the world that exposes a history of pollution and cover-up. This is a film about a lawyer, and Robert Bilott does what a lawyer does; looks at a lot of paperwork and digs to find the truth. This is a film about the little guy taking on a big corporation and through dogged perseverance and a little luck, is willing to gamble his job and reputation to try and right a wrong. Mark Ruffalo gives a passionate and consummate performance as the everyman lawyer. The film will piss you off and maybe make you want to go out and help take on someone more significant than you.   My Rating: Full Price    Dark Waters Website

Indiefest:  White Snake  (2019)   Snake spirit Blanca (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) loses her memory while being disguised as a woman. She falls in love with a mortal enemy, a human snake hunter, Ah Xuan (voiced by Paul Yen). The union with a human greatly displeases Blanca’s sister, Verta (voiced by Vivian Lu), the green snake demon who has been sent to find and bring her sister back. This Chinese animated film is not for kids, as the heart of the film is a very adult love story. I loved the lush animation, but I was let down by a storyline that seemed to be put together clumsily on a story board, where scenes don’t always transition smoothly. I was also confused a bit by all the villains of the story. It just seemed that there was one too many bad guys in this film for the two star-crossed lovers to overcome. I have a feeling that if I was familiar with the Chinese folk tale that the story is based on, I might have enjoyed it a little more.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    White Snake Website

In Case You Missed It (A Film Just Released on DVD / Blu-ray):  Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (2019) PG-13   Bernadette (Cate Blanchett) quit a promising career to raise her daughter (Emma Nelson) along with her loving husband (Billy Crudup). But Bernadette can’t be held down for long and goes on an epic adventure that will jump-start her life and lead her to happiness. Despite a strong performance by Cate Blanchett in a very unlikeable role as the difficult to deal with Bernadette and a subtle comic relief performance by Kristen Wiig and the put upon next-door neighbor, I found the film very hit and miss. I think the primary problem is that until the end of the film, you find that you don’t like Bernadette very much, even when she is dealing with some really stupid people. The film takes way too long to get going, although I did enjoy the last 1/3 of the film, once the plot starts moving forward. I think the film spent way too much time setting up the story and way too little resolving it.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Where'd You Go, Bernadette? Website

Forgotten Film:  Ali: Fear Eats the Soul  (1974)   A chance meeting in a German city sparks a romance between a woman in her mid-sixties (Brigitte Mira) and a Moroccan migrant worker (El Hedi ben Salem), a man who is twenty-five years younger. Tensions rise as both their family and friends think this romance is doomed from the start. This is a beautiful, sometimes funny and at the same time, sad film about two lonely people who find love in an unlikely place. Directed by the legendary filmmaker, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the film is a fascinating look at relationships that come together even though the world doesn’t seem to want them to be a couple. Keep some tissues nearby when you watch this film, you will need them.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Knives Out: Talent Driving Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:   Seberg  (2019) R Inspired by real events, Seberg chronicles the life of actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart), an actress that rose to fame during the French New Wave films of the 1960s. She was targeted by Hoover’s FBI because of her politics, and the fact that she was dating black activist Hakim Jamal. You had me at Kristen Stewart, who was the only thing that made the last Charlie’s Angels film watchable.   Seberg Website 

Until Next Time!

Frozen II

My View: Frozen 2 (2019) PG   Anna (Kristen Bell), Elsa (Idina Menzel), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Josh Gad), and Sven leave Arendelle to find the origin of Elsa’s powers to save the kingdom. While not quite measuring up to the wonder and brilliance of the first Frozen film, this movie still hits all the right spots and makes it an enjoyable experience for you and your family. The film doesn’t have a showstopper song like ‘Let it Go,’ it does have several songs that hit the mark, including ‘Into the Unknown’ sung by AURORA and Idina Menzel. What makes this film such fun to watch is the antics of Olaf, expertly voiced by Josh Gad. Olaf, the dim but always overly optimistic snowman, provides just the right amount of comic relief that will make you not only giggle but laugh out loud. The film’s animation is stunning, and many of the scenes are just draw-dropping gorgeous. I think families will enjoy this film with its central message of girl power and how family is there to stand right by our sides when faced with obstacles that seem bigger than maybe we can handle.    My Rating: Full Price     Frozen II Website

My View:  A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood   (2019)  PG  Journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is a hard-hitting reporter who is known to ruffle the feathers of the people he interviews. Lloyd’s outlook on life is about to change as his next assignment is to interview the legendary nice guy, Mr. Rogers (Tom Hanks). Let me tell you right off that Mr. Rogers is not the focus of this film. In fact, Tom Hanks will probably be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor for his role and not leading role. The film centers around the journalist, Lloyd, a disliked reporter who doesn’t want to do a profile on someone he considers beneath his journalistic skills. Lloyd, while in a loving relationship with his wife (Susan Kelechi Watson) and just born baby but is troubled by his past with a father (Chris Cooper) who abandoned Lloyd and his mother early in Lloyd’s childhood. Matthew Rhys gives a winning performance as the reporter, but it's Tom Hanks that makes this film work. It would be hard to pick an actor who could do a better job in this role as a fascinating and lovely man who only wants to help children deal with their feelings and how to interact with the world around them. While it takes a little while to warm up to the structure of the film (which I won’t go into so I don’t ruin it), you will enjoy this film that has a mission at its core, to make you, the viewer, a better person.    My Rating: Full Price     A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Website

Indiefest:  Waves  (2019) R   The story of a suburban family, led by a domineering father (Sterling K. Brown), that starts to fall apart when an accident turns deadly. Writer/director (It Comes at Night (2017), Krisha (2015)) brings us a film that is separated into two parts. The first part centers around Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a popular high-school student who seemingly has everything going for him until it comes crashing down. The second part revolves around Tyler’s sister, Emily (Taylor Russell), who struggles to keep going in the aftermath of a horrible accident. The performances in this film are powerful and moving, with Sterling K Brown standing out as the father who knows he pushed his son too hard and too fast. This is a deep and weighty dive into a family's dynamics, where each member must ask the question, ‘Is there something I could have done to prevent this from happening to my family?’. You will be thinking about this film long after the final credits roll.    My Rating: Full Price     Waves Website

My View:  The Report (2019) R A Senate staffer (Adam Driver) is given the lead in an investigation into the CIA’s post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program. What he finds will cause shockwaves across the nation. This isn’t a film that you can just sit down and let it wash over you. You are going to have to think, sometimes really hard, while watching this film that is less about action and more about reaction. Adam Driver once again proves that he is one of the best actors out there, giving a complex and multi-faceted performance of a man who is driven to find out the truth, no matter the cost. It’s a intricate tale that will make you mad at times on how our government could have made the choices that it did in a quest to find terrorists, even if they weren’t always there. This isn’t a film for everyone, but for those that choose to see it, it will keep you interested until the end.  My Rating: Full Price     The Report Website

Indiefest:  Marriage Story (2019) R   The story of a couple (Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson) whose marriage is falling apart, told from the separate viewpoints of the husband and the wife. The heartbreaking story of a marriage that is crumbling before the eyes of both the parents and their young son. The story starts out with two people trying to make this break as quick and painless as possible, but as soon as lawyers get involved, the divorce becomes messy and ugly, with both sides making horrible mistakes that they both will regret. Driver and Johansson do remarkable jobs as the couple, with Johansson shining in a role that sometimes makes her the bad guy. Laura Dern is brilliant as Johansson’s characters lawyer, a woman who is all about taking as much as she can from the father, even if its not in wishes of her client. This is a devastating and powerful film that is often very painful to watch as two people we learn to care about are going through something that can destroy not only a relationship but the family dynamics as well.     My Rating: Full Price   Marriage Story Website 

Forgotten Film: Comfort and Joy (1984)   Just in time for the Holiday season is this film about a depressed Scottish morning radio host, Alan ‘Dicky Bird’ (Bill Paterson). Alan is the witness of an attack on an ice cream truck by a bunch of vandals (one who stops to make a song request for ‘Dicky Bird’ to play on the radio). Alan becomes enamored with the truck’s worker, a woman named Charlotte (C. P. Grogan) and because of her, he decides to find a solution to the great ice cream van wars, where two Italian families are battling over the rights to sell ice cream on the streets of Glasgow. Paterson gives a winning performance as the DJ that just may lose his mind over trying to solve this problem, and the film is greatly enhanced by a brilliant score by Dire Straights frontman Mark Knopfler.   My Rating: Full Price      Comfort and Joy Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Waves: Crafty Assistant

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Knives Out (2019) PG-13 World famous mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has committed suicide, throwing his extending family into a jumbled mess. Private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is on the case and thinks that Harlan’s death might just be murder, with a house full of relatives that are all suspects. An all-star cast that includes Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, and Katherine Langford make this mystery/comedy one of the holiday’s must-see films.     Knives Out Website

Until Next Time!