Bad Boys for Life

My View: Bad Boys for Life (2020) R   The Bad Boys (Will Smith, Martin Lawrence) are back together for one last ride. The guys have to confront possible career changes and midlife crises, as they join a new task force named AMMO to take down a ruthless leader of a Miami drug cartel. If you are a fan of the first two films in the Bad Boys series, then you will have a good time watching this film. Is the plot stupid and the ending pretty unbelievable? Yes. Are there a lot of high-speed car chases and numerous things blowing up (sometimes for no reason)? Yes. Is the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence still there? Yes (but barely). I didn’t quite have as much fun as the audience I saw the film with, but if you know what you are getting into (watch the trailer), you will probably have a good time watching this ‘popcorn’ movie.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee     Bad Boys for Life Website

Familyfaire: Dolittle (2020) PG   Seven years ago, the famed doctor and veterinarian of Victorian England, Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), lost his wife and has been sequestered behind the walls of Dolittle Manor with his menagerie of animals for his only company. When Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) falls ill, Dr. Dolittle sets out on an epic adventure to find a cure. Dolittle is an unfunny and rather stupid film that only young, and I mean really young, kids will enjoy. Downey has some sort of Welsh accent that I have no idea what he was saying about a third of the time. The plot is predictable, and the only fun animal in the whole bunch is a squirrel (voiced by Craig Robinson) that thinks people are out to kill him. The CGI is unimpressive, with some of the animals looking like they were drawn by eight-year-olds. I hope the paycheck was huge for Downey because he isn’t going to live down this film for quite a while.    My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again    Dolittle Website

Indiefest: The Song of Names (2019) PG-13   Thirty-five years after his close childhood friend, a violin prodigy, disappears on the eve of his big solo concert, an Englishman travels throughout Europe to find him. I wish this was a better film than what it turned out to be. It is intriguing at first, with the mystery of why the violinist disappeared without a trace. Unfortunately, the film takes too long to solve that mystery, and I became rather bored with the movie as it moved back and forth from the past to the present. When the mystery is solved, it’s quite a letdown, making the film feel a little shallow. Tim Roth plays the adult who is looking for the long, missing violinist, and Clive Owen is the man he finds. Both actors aren’t given much to do in this film, and the big, emotional moment just doesn’t deliver.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee     The Song of Names Website

Indiefest: Les Miserables (2019) R   A cop (Damien Bonnard) transfers to the 93rd district (where Victor Hugo wrote his 1962 novel ‘The Miserables’) so that he can be near his son after his divorce. He is assigned to the local Anti-Crime Brigade, where cops try to keep the peace between residents. Les Miserables is a gritty, down, and dirty cop drama about the hard streets of a low-income Paris neighborhood, where the cops are constantly harassing the people of the community. What I loved about this film is there are a number of different characters in the movie, all with interlocking stories that all come together at the end of the film. Nominated for an International Feature Film Academy Award, this film is a hard look at a harsh life in the street.   My Rating: Full Price     Les Miserables Website

Indiefest: Weathering With You (2019) PG-13   A high-school boy, Hodaka, runs away to Tokyo, where he meets and befriends a girl who seemingly can manipulate the weather. The animation in this film is beautiful and sometimes a bit haunting. The film is a love story between a 15-year-old boy and a mysterious 18-year-old girl, Hina, who he discovers is called ‘The Sun Girl.’ Tokyo is in the middle of a record-setting weather event, it won’t stop raining. Hina, it seems can through prayer, stop the rain from falling for a short time. They start up a business, selling sunshine for events like a wedding or a ball game. Weathering with You is a love story, and the film is aimed at teenagers (think a Young Adult novel) where we wonder if Hodaka is ever going to get up the nerve to tell Hina just how he feels about her. Hina has a secret, and this love affair could be doomed. I enjoyed this film, and I loved the soundtrack that had a number of Japanese pop songs that perfectly captured the feelings of the characters.   My Rating: Full Price     Weathering With You Website

Forgotten Film: Lady in White (1988) PG-13   Frankie (Lukas Haas) is an 11-year old kid who one night is lured into the school cloakroom by some kids and is left behind, the door locked and Frankie realizes that no one knows where he is. He is visited by a ghost, a young girl who looks sad. As he tries to communicate with the spirit, another figure appears, a masked man who is looking for something in the cloakroom. The masked man decides to spare Frankie, leaving Frankie to figure out if he was visited by one or two ghosts. Lady in White is an excellent ghost story as our hero sets out to discover why he was visited by the young ghost, and if the masked man had anything to do with her death. I loved the fact that the film perfectly captures the look and feel of a small town as it deals with a ghost and a possible murderer. The film has a few nice twists and turns to make this a movie to watch. My Rating: Full Price    Lady in White Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Bad Boys for Life: Elk Set Production Assistant

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Saint Frances (2019)  A young woman (Kelly O’Sullivan) life is falling apart, and she decides to take a new approach, she becomes a nanny to a six-year-old girl who will change her life. The star of the film, O’Sullivan wrote the screenplay, and the trailer looks like this film could be a lot of fun to watch.     Saint Francis Website

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Django Unchained

My View:  Django Unchained (2012) Set in the South in 1858, Django (Jamie Foxx), a former slave who has turned bounty hunter, with the help of his partner, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), look for Django’s long lost wife, Hildy (Kerry Washington). They find her on Calvin Candie's (Leonardo DiCaprio) plantation, where the main sport is slaves fighting to the death. I loved the first 45 minutes of this film, which is part comedy, part spaghetti western (western films made in the 60’s/70’s in Italy). Waltz and Foxx play off each other extremely well, as Dr. Schultz teaches Django the finer points of bounty hunting. But the film bogs down when DiCaprio’s character enters the picture, as there is quite a bit of sitting around dinner tables and porches, talking about slavery. Samuel L. Jackson, in a part that only he could play, is the butler Stephen, who is Candie’s right-hand man, and helps with the rest of the slaves, looking out for his master. I did enjoy the ending, but I just wish the film was about 20 minutes shorter. Be warned that there is an incredible amount of violence with lots of bloodshed, whipping, raping and other really savage.   My Rating: Full Price   Django Unchained Website

My View:  Les Miserables (2012) Based on the Broadway hit, this musical takes place in 19th century France where Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), has been running from the law for decades after breaking parole. Valjean agrees to take care of Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), the illegitimate daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), after Fantine can no longer afford to take care of her. But by doing this, Valjean may be discovered by the police inspector, Javert (Russell Crowe), and his life could take a turn for the worse. Anne Hathaway is amazing in this film as the mother of Cosette who loses her job and has to sell herself to make sure her daughter survives. Hathaway’s song, "I Dreamed a Dream", is the highlight of the film, and the use of live recording as they were filming is displayed at its best with her performance. The other notable performance is Samantha Barks, who plays Cosette’s rival, Eponine.  Barks solo song, ”On My Own”, is an extraordinary bit of singing and is probably the best song in the film.  But, 99 percent of the dialogue is sung, and I found that the constant singing was a little tiring. Microphones were mounted under the cameras to catch all vocals, so there are quite a few close ups in the film, and this also gets very old during the film's 157 minutes. Jackman has the most to sing, as he is in almost every scene, and, as expected, does a superb job. While I found Crowe’s voice enjoyable, it is a performance that you will probably either love or hate. Overall, while there were some enjoyable performances, and a couple of amazing songs, the film was not the experience that I felt it should have been and, by the final scene, I was just ready for it to end.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Les Miserables Website

The 50 (A Movie From My Best/Worst Film of All Time)

#10 Worst Film

Gigli (2003) Ben Affleck plays Gigli, a mob hit man who has been hired to kidnap the brother of a district attorney. Jennifer Lopez plays Ricki, a lesbian hit woman who is assigned by the mob to make sure Gigli doesn’t screw up. Affleck and Lopez were a couple in real life when this stinker was made, but there isn’t any evidence on film, as their isn’t an ounce of chemistry between the two. The plot is as dumb as the hit man that Affleck plays, and Lopez keeps claiming to be a lesbian (she tells just about everyone in the film this), but she is about as believable as Christopher Walken is as the detective trying to solve the case. Lopez and Affleck were paid a combined 25 million dollars for this film.  I think they should pay us every time we see it.   Gigli Info

Forgotten Film: Tender Mercies (1983) Robert Duvall plays Mac Sledge, a legendary country singer, who has fallen on hard times due to his drinking. He finds himself abandoned in a small, west Texas motel run by a widow, Rosa (Tess Harper) and her young son (Allan Hubbard). Through the kindness of Rosa, Mac slowly gets his life back on track, falling in love with Rosa, and he begins to write songs again. But life is complicated, and his ex-wife Dixie (Betty Buckley), a big country star herself, comes back into the picture to possibly mess things up. Duvall gives one of the best performances of his career, bringing depth and warmth to a very flawed character. Everyone in this film did their own singing with Duvall and Buckley lighting up the screen with their vocal talents. This is almost a perfect film with an incredible script by the Texan writer Horton Foote, whose talent for finding the right words for his characters shines throughout.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   Tender Mercies Info

In Case You Missed It (A Film Just Released on DVD):  Total Recall (2012) Not really a remake of the 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger but more like a total retooling. I liked Kate Beckinsale in this film but found it way too long and very confusing.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Total Recall Website

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I’ve Only Seen in Trailers But Just Looks Like a Bad Idea): The Last Exorcism Part II (2013) Should it really take two films to perform an exorcism? I think one was enough.    The Last Exorcism Part II Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Les Miserables: Petty Cash Buyer

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: 42 (2013) The life story of Jackie Robinson. Trailer looks amazing. Just hope the film lives up to the man himself.   42 Info

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Killing Them Softly

My View: Killing Them Softly (2012) Two men (Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn) decide to make some easy money, so they hold up a poker game. The big problem - it's Mob-protected game, and Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is sent to find the men and kill them. Pitt plays the killer Cogan with ease and skill, but you just wish he had a better storyline to showcase his talents. This film seems to want to make lots of points about politics and the economy as every mobster’s car radio and every bar scene is playing some sort of sound clip about the failing economy. I felt that James Gandolfini was wasted as the hit man who doesn’t want to do anything other than get drunk and sleep with hookers. Besides Pitt’s character, the one interesting part of this film is the character Ray Liotta plays - a man who runs the poker games and is now in trouble with the Mob. This is an ultra-violent film where bullets fly in slow motion, and you hear bones crunching under the weight of a punch.  The action, though, is too few and far between which makes this film one that is mostly about uninteresting characters talking about nothing to each other.    My Rating: Cable   Killing Them Softly Website

Indiefest: A Royal Affair  (2012)  This costume drama from Denmark is the story of a young woman (Alicia Vikander) who marries a king (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) who is insane. In a circumstance of being in the right place at the right time, the king picks a young, brash doctor (Mads Mikkelsen) to not only join his court but also be his friend and counselor. The doctor then has an affair with the young queen that  changes their relationship and changes the workings of the court, itself.  This is a gorgeous film with great sets and costumes, but it’s the acting that makes this film work so well. Mikkelsen and Vikander have great chemistry on screen together; their passion is so well displayed.  Folsgaard, as the mad king is amazing and makes this character one that you sometimes feel sorry for and, at other times, detest.    My Rating: Full Price    A Royal Affair

The 50 (A Movie From My Best/Worst Films of All Time)

#12 Best Film

Fargo (1996) The Coen brothers (Joel, Ethan) bring us this fantastical world of interesting characters who inhabit the cold north Minnesota country. Jerry (William H. Macy) works at his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself into a financial crisis. He decides to hire two shady characters (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare ) to kidnap his wife so that he can get money for the ransom. But, things don’t go as planned, and now Jerry’s in a world of trouble since Sherriff Marge Guinderson (Frances McDormand) is on the case. The film perfectly captures the coldness of the Minnesota winter and the unique characters that inhabit that world. Frances McDormand is absolutely perfect as the determined sheriff, that, although pregnant, is going to solve the crime and catch her man. The Coen brothers have created a fascinating film that both delights and shocks, and sometimes at the same time.   Fargo Info

Forgotten Film: The Candidate (1972) The Democratic party can’t find anyone willing to run against U.S. Senator Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter) who is considered unbeatable after he, the incumbent, has served many terms. So, the Democrats convince Bill McKay (Robert Redford), the son of a long-time/popular governor, to run, and since he is destined to lose, McKay can run the campaign any way he wants. Due to his charisma and his sincerity, he begins making inroads with the voting public, and now McCay must choose to continue to be the outspoken rebel who can’t win, or, will he compromise his convictions to get the votes to be elected. Redford is brilliant as the guy who, at first doesn’t seem to want to win, but starts seeing that he just might make a difference. This film still has relevance today and is an interesting look at the world of politics.   My Rating: Full Price    The Candidate Info

In Case You Missed it (A Film Just Released on DVD): The Dark Knight Rises (2012) I thoroughly enjoyed this film and feel it was a fitting end to the Batman Dark Knight trilogy. Gotham City is convinced that Batman is a criminal, but Bruce Wayne feels, in both body and spirit, that he is no longer up to wearing the cowl and the cape.  A new menace, though, is hell-bent on destroying the city, so Batman suits up again. The reason to see this film is Anne Hathaway, who brings a picture-perfect performance to the role of Catwoman.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    The Dark Knight Rises

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I’ve Only Seen in Trailers But Just Looks Like a Bad Idea):  A Haunted House (2013) Marlon Wayans brings his type of humor to a spoof of the Paranormal Activity films. It’s bad enough that most of the horror films lately have been laughable, but now a horror film that’s supposed to be funny? Ugh.   A Haunted House Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Killing Them Softly: Air Conditioning Tech

  

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Les Miserables (2012) This film is getting a lot of buzz, especially for Anne Hathaway. Based on the hit Broadway musical, producers of this film do something that has never been attempted to this extreme before: all of the cast are singing live, on camera.  No playback/looping was done.    Les Miserables Website

Until Next Time!