Last Night In Soho

My View:  Last Night in Soho (2021) R   Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a fashion student in London, living a good life, but she has always dreamed of being alive in the 1960s. Eloise begins dreaming at night about being a glamorous wannabe singer named Sandie (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), living the nightlife in 60s Soho. Be careful what you wish for because Eloise’s dreams are about to become dangerous as she uncovers something ugly. This isn’t your typical Edgar Wright film like fan favorites Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, or Baby Driver. Yes, there is some humor in the film, but this is a horror story full of ghosts, killings, and a young woman who is slowly going insane due to her dreams. I loved the look of this film, and the first portion of this film is fun and magical as Eloise begins to dream about Sandie, who wants to become a pop singer in the swinging section of clubs in Soho. Eloise is captivated by Sandie’s life, as it is everything that Eloise has wanted for herself; to be free and alive in the 60s. Soon, though, that life turns bad as Sandie finds out that the man who has promised her a life of fun and glamor, Jack (Matt Smith), isn’t the man she thought he was. Eloise, through her dreams, life becomes a nightmare as she can’t escape the dreams or the life that Sandie is now trapped in. I loved the first half of this film and the world that Wright has created, giving us what it was like in Soho at that time. There is an incredible sequence when Sandie goes into a club for the first time, with Eloise looking on (and sometimes taking her place). Sandie is made to feel as if the world revolves around her, dancing the night away with a handsome man who promises her he will give her what she desires, as the camera follows both Sandie and Eloise, caught up in the ecstasy of the moment. The film, for me, starts to fall apart as Eloise begins to be haunted by ghosts of the past and starts a quick decline into what may be madness. I had a hard time with every appearance of the ghosts, which seemed to be a weak attempt at horror, and we are given an ending that is easy to figure out with a twist that doesn’t surprise us at all. I wish that Wright had just stayed with the story of Sandie, where the true horror of the story is the evil world that Sandie and Eloise get caught up in. Last Night in Soho is a film is worth seeing for the production values alone and the fact that this is the last role of the late, great Diana Rigg, who plays Eloise’s cranky apartment owner.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Last Night in Soho Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The French Dispatch (2021) R   Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) has created an English-language newspaper and assembled a talented group of writers in a French city. From the pages of the paper are told three stories that will amaze and astound you. Not everyone loves filmmaker Wes Anderson, even though he has been nominated seven times for four different films over the years. Anderson’s films are a bit quirky, as seen from one of the first shots of this film, as a narrator (voiced by Anjelica Huston) gives us background on Arthur, we see a waiter prepare a collection of drinks, which keep being added to on a lazy susan, to take up to the offices of Arthur. A long shot of the building from the outside is shown as we see the waiter make his way up many flights, as he keeps popping up in windows or openings as he slowly ascends the building. It’s an amazing shot full of the Anderson humor and whimsy, setting us up for what the film will be like. The film centers around Arthur as the stories told are from his magazine, but Bill Murray fans will be disappointed that he is but an instrument to paste three stories together for us. Surrounding the story of Arthur and his magazine are three stories: a painter (Benicio del Toro) whose muse is his jailer (Lea Seydoux) and his paintings become the hottest things in the art world, a writer (Frances McDormand) who falls for a student (Timothee Chalamet) who lazily leads a student revolution, and food columnist (Jeffery Wright) who turns a story on a prominent chef into a rousing tale of kidnapping and rescue. The film is sometimes light and funny, but at other times, it meanders too much into stories that seem to have too much content for the story they are trying to tell. It’s a mixture of storytelling as we travel back and forth between Arthur trying to get these stories out of his writers and his staff dealing with the aftermath of Arthur’s death. The cast is vast, with big stars such as Edward Norton, Christoph Waltz, and Saoirse Ronan showing up in small parts. The best of the three stories is the first one, with a captivating story of the troubled artist, played by a sometimes growling del Toro, being smitten by his guard, Lea Seydoux, whose deadpan expression throughout the section is terrific to watch. If you love or even just like Wes Anderson’s films, you will want to see this fun film that is so packed with stories and things to look at, it just might get better on a second or third look. If you haven’t liked Anderson’s films in the past, especially his live-action ones, you might want to skip this one.    My Rating: Full Price   The French Dispatch Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Familyfaire: My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission (2021) Japan’s greatest heroes spread out around the world in an attempt to track down an evil mastermind and stop his plan to take over the world with a series of bombs that threaten life on Earth. Before seeing this film, I had never seen any of the My Hero Academia films or series, but I had heard good things about both. I was slightly disappointed by this film, which centers around two characters, Deku, a young, inexperienced hero who wants desperately to become the hero he knows he can be, and Rody, a reckless kid who runs deliveries for a crime organization. The two become partners when they cross paths in a mixup of sorts, and both go on the run together, wrongly accused of killing many people. I liked the animation, especially the action sequences, which are fun and full of super-hero antics. Because I haven’t seen past films, I felt a little lost in the storyline and never connected to Deku or other characters who make up the story's heroes. Young kids, who aren’t invested in the past films, will find the film a bit boring, but fans may enjoy this film about two characters who discover that they have that certain something to become heroes themselves.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Army of Thieves (2021)   A small-town bank teller and amateur safecracker, Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer) gets recruited to join a team of thieves on Interpol’s most-wanted list, to heist a sequence of legendary, ‘impossible to crack’ safes owned by a billionaire during the start of a zombie apocalypse. One of the standout characters of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead film was Dieter, the safecracker that Dave Bautista’s character recruits to break into the vault in the casino in Vegas that is surrounded by zombies. This film is how Dieter came to be, and it’s just as much fun as the original film is. Dieter, called by his real name, Sebastian, is a wannabe safe cracker who toils at a dreary job as a teller at a bank. This film tells us how Dieter evolved into who he is in Army of the Dead, as he becomes involved in a gang put together by master thief Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel). The team consists of hacker Korina (Ruby O.Fee), getaway driver Rolph (Guz Khan), and the ‘action man’ Brad (Stuart Martin). The film follows the gang as they attempt to break into three legendary safes created by a master locks man, who created the safes based on the four 'The Ring of Nibelung’ operas by Richard Wagner. The film gives us great background into what happens in Army of the Dead, as Dieter becomes more confident in his abilities as a safecracker and falls deeper into love with Gwendoline from afar, convinced that someone like her could never fall for a nerd like him. The film has some nice twists and turns, some incredible action sequences, and Matthias Schweighöfer has a blast playing the nerdy safecracker. The film is fast-paced and fun to watch as we root for Dieter to become the master safecracker that we know he will be. Now, if those nasty zombies would just quit showing up in his dreams.   My Rating: Full Price     Army of Thieves Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: The Crickets Dance (2020)   Southern lawyer Angie Lawrence (Kristen Renton) inherits a historic antebellum home. There she discovers a journal written by a girl who lived in the house over 150 years ago. Reading the journal, Angie will find a mystery full of murder and intrigue about the brutal history of the home that she now calls home. This is one of those films whose heart is in the right place but never quite pulls at the heartstrings enough for you to care about the two different stories that are intertwined in the story. The film goes back and forth between the slow-developing love story between Angie and a fellow lawyer, Andrew (Maurice Johnson), and the tale of Emmaline (KateLynn E. Newberry), the wife of an evil plantation owner, whose best friend, is her slave, Ophelia (Jamie Butler). As Angie reads the journals, she becomes more and more involved in the story of Emmaline and what happens to her and the children that she gives birth to. The film slowly provides us with a mystery that comes to a head near the end of the film, with the story giving the two lawyers a shared past. I liked Kristen Renton in the lead role, but she is let down a script that becomes so complex that I had trouble keeping up with what was happening in the past to care what was happening in the present.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    The Crickets Dance Info  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Indiefest: Minyan (2020)   David (Samuel H. Levine) is a 17-year-old Russian Jewish teenager struggling with his faith and sexuality while living with an overbearing mother and an abusive father. Stifled by the constraints of his conservative religious community, David finds solace in his grandfather’s senior housing complex, where he makes friends with two closeted men who open his eyes to all the possibilities that the world has to offer. David is a young man who is more comfortable in the midst of his grandfather and the men who make up his neighbors in his senior living center than David’s classmates or his parents. David is trying to come to terms with being gay in a time of Aids and when gay men still had to meet other men in library restrooms and dark parks. The film follows David as he figures out his place in the world, which is scary and full of heartbreak for someone hiding his sexual preference, desperate for love and acceptance. The film is centered around a masterful performance of Samuel H. Levine, who makes David someone to root for, even when he makes mistakes or picks the wrong men to fall in love with. Minyan is a slow story about a teenager searching for answers and getting more questions in response.    My Rating: Full Price     Minyan Website  Now playing in select theatres and available On Demand.

My View:  Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin  (2021) R  Margot (Emily Bader) goes to Amish country to shoot a documentary about meeting her long-lost relatives in Amish country. Margot wants to know what happened with her mother, who disappeared years ago. Finding out the truth and learning about her mother’s past may cost Margot her life. This film has little to do with the past Paranormal Activity films, and fans of that series will be disappointed in this one, which is being promoted as a reboot. While I would agree, the Amish are just naturally a little creepy, with no electricity and weird hairstyles and clothes; this film has few scares and takes forever to get to anything that resembles horror or suspense. Besides a strange kid sleepwalking and a weird little girl playing with a doll, along with a few bumps in the night, nothing really happens until the last 20 minutes of the film. I couldn’t decide if this was a found footage film (like Blair Witch or the original Paranormal Activity) or it is just a documentary gone wrong (which the plot suggests but never explains how we are looking at the footage now). Not that it matters because this film never delivers the scares or builds any tension that is sorely needed. Instead of watching this film, go back and watch the first Paranormal Activity, a genuinely scary movie, and forget this ripoff in name only.   My Rating: Cable   Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin Info  Now playing on the Paramount+ platform.

Indiefest:  Heart of Champions (2021) PG-13    After finishing last in the national championship, an Ivy-League college rowing team has descended into turmoil. In walks Coach Murphy (Michael Shannon), an Army vet who uses his experience and unconventional coaching methods to transform the rowers by learning what it takes to be a team before they can become champions. This is a likable sports film that is helped by the always brilliant Michael Shannon and a cast of young actors who make the characters seem real and complex. The story isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, as an unlikely group of athletes comes together despite the odds and a troubled young man at the center of it all who learns about life and how to become part of a team from a coach who has a tortured past. Yeah, is the storytelling a bit overblown with some stock characters and an ending that you can see coming from a mile away? You bet, but Michael Shannon can make any story work, and he is believable as a coach that demands attention and will inspire a group of young men to do what they think is impossible.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Heart of Champions Website   Now playing in select theatres.

Forgotten Film: Mysteries of Lisbon (2010)   Joao is the illegitimate child of two members of the aristocracy who are forbidden to marry. Joao goes on a quest to discover who his mother is and why she abandoned him. This is one of those films that critics and film festivals showered awards and praise on, but no one in America saw it because it’s a foreign film and incredibly long (over 4 hours). It’s a fantastic film, full of rich characters, cinematography as lush as the French countryside it takes place in, and a story that takes a while to develop but keeps revealing more and more, with stories within stories. Mysteries of Lisson is a film that you could watch at home and stop a few times (there are a few places that are natural stopping points). Think of Mysteries of Lisbon as more of a miniseries than a long film, and you will be amazed at the storyline and the complexity of life that it delves into.   My Rating: Full Price    Mysteries of Lisbon Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Last Night in Soho: Blood and Body Colorist

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Belfast (2021) PG-13   Buddy (Jude Hill) is a kid growing up in Belfast in the 1960s. He has a loving family and a school that he adores. All that starts falling apart when unrest hits Northern Ireland, pitting neighbors against each other in what becomes an all-out war for control of the area. Buddy’s father (Jamie Dornan) decides that his family is in danger and wants to move his family to Australia, but Buddy’s mother (Caitriona Balfe) wants to stay where her family has roots. This film, directed by Kenneth Branagh, is an early leader for the Academy Award Best Picture and has won 4 awards at film festivals worldwide, including the People’s Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.    Belfast Website

Until Next Time!

Dune

My View:  Dune  (2021) PG-13   A son of a noble family, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), is destined to become the leader of a planet that contains the most vital element in the galaxy, spice. Paul will face untold horrors, challenges, and sadness as he battles forces for control of a world and a people that have been waiting for their hero for centuries. Frank Herbert’s novel Dune was a life-changing book for me, as it was the first ‘adult’ sci-fi book that I read as a kid, and it blew me away with its story of a young man who is destined to be the savior of a people on a distant planet. I was greatly disappointed in the 1984 David Lynch attempt at putting an over 500-page book into a 2-hour film. I can say that this is a much better attempt at adapting such a sprawling and dense book into a watchable movie. First, go into this film knowing that Dune is part one of a two-part film series and that the film is two hours and thirty-five minutes long (so pack a lunch and go to the bathroom before seeing it). Also, please don’t watch this film at home; watch it, like I did, on the big screen, where the glorious cinematography and the wondrous score by Hans Zimmer can surround and overwhelm you. Timothee Chalamet is an excellent choice for Paul, the man destined to lead, as he is young enough that Paul’s enemies will underestimate him and charismatic enough on the screen to believe that a nation of people suppressed for centuries will rise up and follow him. The cast is impressive, with Oscar Isaac, as the steadfast father of Paul and Josh Brolin as his loyal right-hand man, stand out in their performances. I loved Jason Momoa, as the brash pilot (shades of Hans Solo) who is a hero to the young, impressionable Paul. Momoa has some great action sequences, and his chemistry with Chalamet is warm and genuine. Fans of Dave Bautista and Zendaya may be a little disappointed in this film, as their parts as mostly hinted at on what they will be in the next movie. Overall, the film feels slightly lacking, only because the world that Frank Herbert created in Dune is so complex, and most of the action will take place in the second film. Still, that being said, this is a film spectacle that is one not to be missed on as big a screen as you can find.   My Rating: Full Price    Dune Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide and on the HBO Max platform. 

Indiefest:  The Electrical Life of Louis Wain  (2021)  PG-13  British artist Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch) becomes famous for his paintings of cats, which transform the public’s perception of how we see and deal with our house pets. But Louis, an eccentric man responsible for the care of his five sisters, has bigger ideas brewing; unlocking the ‘electrical’ mysteries of the world. I loved the first half of the film as we get pulled into the world of Louis and his large, strange family. Into the madness of Louis and his five sisters walks Emily (Claire Foy), who is given the task of teaching the younger of Louis’s sisters, much to the unhappiness of Louis’s older sister, Caroline (Andrea Riseborough), who has taken over the role of both mother and father to her sisters and Louis himself. Emily brings life to both the family and Louis himself, and they fall in love, creating a great scandal, where a nobleman like Louis would love and marry a spinster, governess, who is of a lower class. However their happiness is short-lived, as Caroline becomes sick, though Louis discovers his love of cats when on a walk, the couple finds a kitten abandoned in the rain. The second half of the film begins to fail as Louis, having lost Caroline, starts to lose his sanity and slowly delves into madness. The film takes such a dark tone from its first half that it feels like it is two different films, and the pace becomes so slow that it is almost painful to watch Louis slowly descent into a shell of what he once was. The film is based on a real man, who almost single-handedly, through his drawings, made cats more than just something to keep around to catch vermin. Louis captivated his audience with whimsical depictions of cats that inspired a nation to see them as companions, something to love and cherish. I wish I felt the same way about this film, but it left me wanting more.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   The Electrical Life of Louis Wain Website  Now playing in select theatres and available on the Amazon Prime platform on Nov. 5th.

Indiefest: Becoming Cousteau  (2021) PG-13  Documentary looking at the life of Jacques Cousteau, the explorer and environmentalist who because famous for his sailing vessel, Calypso, his invention of the diving apparatus, the Aqua-Lung, and for his documentaries and TV specials on marine conservation. Cousteau is someone who has been somewhat forgotten. Still, for someone like me, who grew up in the 60s/70s, he was a part of our family, showing up for TV specials that not only entertained but also astonished with its beauty but always with a warning that the beauty of the sea was fragile. The film does a wonderful job of giving us a look at a man who became a symbol of the attempt to save the world from poisoning itself with pollution and the reckless abuse of the sea. The film has a ton of behind-the-scenes footage, some of which has just recently been discovered. The film explores how Cousteau, whose early explorations were funded by oil companies, became aware of how we were destroying the planet and how he became someone who preached about global warming as early as the 80s. The underwater footage alone is worth the price of admission, but Becoming Cousteau's message about a man who made it his mission to save the seas is worth more.    My Rating: Full Price   Becoming Cousteau Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest:  Mass (2021)  PG-13  Years after an unspeakable tragedy has occurred, two sets of parents (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney, and Ann Dowd) agree to meet to talk privately in an attempt to deal with what happened. The meeting will be a journey of grief, anger, denial, and finally, acceptance by those left behind. I will warn you that if you are a parent, this will be a hard film to watch, as the story is one of a parent’s nightmare; your child has been killed by another in a senseless act of violence. The film mainly takes place in one room with the two couples as they slowly go over what happened to their children and try to understand why. From the start, you feel the rage and hurt from Martha Plimpton, who is bubbling over with her feelings, wanting to point fingers at the other couple, especially at Ann Dowd, who plays the mother of the kid who pulled the trigger. The contrast between the two couples is stark and makes for some of the tension in the film, as the parents of the kid who died in the shooting are looking for answers, and the parents of the kid who did the shooting, really don’t have them. The tension in the film ebbs and flows between the two couples as the film goes along, and we see that both sides have been hurt to the core. This is a film that is hard to watch due to the subject matter, but the performances are so real, raw, and emotional that you can’t look away. As the mother of the kid who pulled the trigger, Ann Dowd is exceptional in the role of a woman who loved her child and is as shocked and guilty as a person can be, all the while looking for some way to find forgiveness. Mass is a powerful film with four outstanding performances that will shake you to the core.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Mass Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: Found (2021) PG   Three American teenage girls, each adopted from China, discover that they are blood-related cousins through the 23andMe website. Their meeting inspires them to confront the burning questions of their shared past and lost history. Found is a fascinating and lovely story of three young women who are looking for answers. All three girls were adopted from China, probably abandoned by the parents due to the ‘one child’ rule that China had for many years that heavily punished families for having more than one child. The three girls were adopted by Americans, and all three have grown up in loving homes and are doing well. But there is that lingering wonderment that the girls have; why were they given up, and who are their natural parents. All the girls wonder; do their birth parents regret what they did, and do they ever think of them. This is a touching film about trying to find out these questions and how much the girls want to know. The film follows the girls as they discover that they aren’t alone in being adopted and finding solace in the fact that they have cousins of roughly the same age and from simular circumstances. Found is a film that is filled with not only hurt feelings, regret and guilt but also love. The love of family, of not just the ones that are related to you but also the family that chooses you.    My Rating: Full Price    Found Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  Ouija Japan  (2021)   Karen (Ariel Sekiya) is an American housewife living in Japan and desperate to fit in with her Japanese community. She joins other homemakers to play the Kokkuri-san (the Japanese Ouija board), and they unwittingly disrespect a local deity, which starts a game that will pit each housewife against each other in a battle that can only have one winner. This is one of those films that deserves to be seen at a small film festival as a midnight horror showing. There, an audience could have fun with it and enjoy it for what it is, a fun, somewhat amateurish version of a horror film. The film, while unlike a lot of small movies, does have some good qualities, with excellent sound and cinematography. But, it’s hard to overlook the somewhat clumsy dialogue, a plot that seems to forget how many people are in the group, and acting that is sometimes painful to watch. The film does combine two aspects that show up in a lot of Japanese horror films; the love of Ouija boards and the battle royal and I had fun watching this film move along, but it needed a stronger cast and a few re-writes of the script to make it more than just a nice film to see at a midnight screening.   My Rating: Cable    Ouija Japan Info  Now playing On Demand.

Indiefest: Bergman Island (2021) R  Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) are an American filmmaking couple who move to Swedish island to each write screenplays. They hope to be inspired by the landscape where famed filmmaker Ingmar Bergman created some of his best works. The couple soon finds out that the lines between reality and fiction have become blurred. This is an interesting film that doesn’t always work. More of a slice of life film combined with a bit of mystery (is the film within the film real or a figment of Chris’s imagination?) than a full-fledged narrative, the film explores the dynamics of a couple whose writing process is exposed to us, while the couple explores the life and meaning of a famous filmmaker. I have never been a fan of Bergman’s films, but I know that his films mean a great deal to his fans and critics worldwide. The film explores what goes into the creative writing process, as the two writers talk about their work, though Chris is more forthcoming about her work than her husband is. The film is a bit frustrating, much like some of Bergman’s films, in that we never get a resolution; we are left with the couple continuing to work and live on the island, and what tensions that have been created, aren’t truly resolved.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Bergman Island Website  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Familyfaire:  Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021) PG   Barney (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) is an awkward middle-schooler who just wants to fit in. He is given a Bot, a new walking, talking, digitally connected device meant to be your best friend. The problem is right from the start, Barney’s Bot, named Ron (voiced Zack Galifianakis), is defective. Can Ron and Barney still be friends? This is a fun film that tries too hard to carry the message of self-worth via the internet is bad. I liked the relationship between Barney, a kid who doesn’t fit in with anyone at school and just want’s to be a part of the crowd. He sees his salvation in a Bot, but it turns out the Bot he is given has a lot of problems, making it and Barney not fit into the rest of the kids. Barney learns that friendship is imperfect that not fitting in isn’t a bad thing. I don’t know if there is enough action for really small kids to get into, but I think most kids will enjoy the story and the silly antics of Ron.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee      Ron's Gone Wrong Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Forgotten Film: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) R   Corrine Burns (Diane Lane) is still recovering from her mother's death when she is fired from her job on live TV. Using the publicity from that event, she and her band, The Fabulous Stains, get hired to open for a tour of a washed-up glam-rock group and an up-and-coming British punk band. Soon, through outlandish outfits and attitude, the Fabulous Stains become the headliner, but fame can be hard to handle, and Corrine learns that love and fame can be fleeting. Seeing both Diane Lane and Laura Dern as teenagers is worth watching this film alone, but it’s the performance of Ray Winstone, as the leader of the punk band who falls for Corrine, that makes this film worth watching. Plus, the song that his band plays is a darn good punk song, and the best of all the songs are in this film. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains isn’t a great film, but it’s fun watching Lane as the lead singer of a band that shouldn’t be out on the road, much less headlining.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Dune: Sandwalk coordinator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Last Night in Soho (2021) R  Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is a fashion student in London, living a good life, but she has always dreamed of being alive in the 1960s. Eloise begins dreaming at night about a glamorous wannabe singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), living the nightlife in 60s Soho. Be careful what you wish for because Eloise’s dreams are about to become dangerous as she uncovers something ugly. I am a big fan of Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead), so I can’t wait to see this film. Add in the fact that Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), and Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones, The Avengers), and it makes it one not to miss.   Last Night in Soho Website

Until Next Time!