Haunted Mansion

My View: Haunted Mansion (2023) PG-13 A single mom, Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), has just bought a mansion, and it’s haunted. What’s mom to do but hire a tour guide, a psychic, a priest, and a historian to help exorcise the ghosts? I found this film boring, which is sad considering that the cast includes Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Winona Ryder, and surprisingly, Jared Leto as the bad guy, Mr. Hat-Box Ghost. The film felt like one extended promo for the Disneyland ride, and while it has a few fun moments, the film never finds a way to combine a few scares with a few (and I mean few) laughs. I have grown tired of Tiffany Haddish and her limited range, finding her more annoying than funny. LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson try hard to keep the momentum going, but this ride never makes it past the first hallway of scary pictures.   My Rating: Cable  Haunted Mansion Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: Talk to Me (2023) R  A group of friends have come across an embalmed hand with mysterious tattoos. They soon discover that they can use it to conjure spirits, which becomes their favorite game to play. Until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Talk to Me is one of the best horror films of the year, maybe of the last five years. It’s downright scary without having to resort to ‘jump scares.’ I will warn you I predict some people will walk out of the theatre during the opening scenes because of the extreme and shockingly quick violence. This is a film where the tension builds from almost the beginning and doesn’t let up until the end. I loved we know what the teens are doing will go badly, but they don’t seem to care until it’s too late. Much like the stupid TikTok challenges that can become dangerous, the teens keep on tempting fate because of the rush it gives them, but we know that rush will come at a cost. Sophie Wilde is perfect as our heroine, Mia, who is reluctant at first to take part, but under peer pressure and wanting to fit in, she relents. Things get out of hand, and Mia realizes she must try to find a way out. But is it too late? If you get past the opening sequence, you are in for a very imaginative and scary film that may make you sleep with a light on.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Talk to Me Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: Happiness for Beginners (2023)   Helen (Ellie Kemper), who year after getting divorced and stuck in a rut, signs up for a week-long wilderness survival course on the Appalachian Trail. Her fellow hikers are a mess, but it does include her brother’s best friend, Jake (Luke Grimes). Can Helen survive long enough on the trail to fall in love? I am a big fan of Ellie Kemper and had fun with this slight, breezy rom-com. This is a film that I call the ‘beach read’ movie. It’s a film that, like those fun novels, you take on your summer vacations to read while getting some sun and drinking a glass or two of wine. There’s not much to the plot as it’s light and predictable, and you have a good time watching it, and as soon as it’s over, you will forget it. Kemper plays an accident-prone woman who has a troubled past and a bad marriage to get past. So, what does Helen do? Why, go on a survival hike with a bunch of strangers. Along the way, she will learn about herself and her fellow travelers and maybe fall in love. There is some good chemistry between Luke Grimes and Kemper, with their will they/won’t they possible romance. The plot is predictable, but then again, don’t we want it to be with this kind of film? So lace up your hiking boots, fill your pack with dehydrated food, and go on a hike to help find Helen a few answers and a romance.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Happiness for Beginners Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: Kokomo City (2023) R  Documentary that shows the lives of four black transgender sex workers living in New York and Georgia as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves. Kokomo City is a wildly entertaining, sometimes shocking, look at four black transgender sex workers and how they look at themselves, their work, the men who pay for their services, and how others see them. Shot in B&W and using a bit of animation and play-acting make the film move at a fast pace. The subject matters range from downright X-rated material to almost innocent talks about their lives. These four women know they are living on the edge and that what they do is dangerous and looked down on. Sadly, after the film’s release, one of the subjects was found murdered on the streets of Atlanta. Needless to say, this isn’t a documentary for everyone. Still, if you want to spend some time with four fascinating and unique individuals who graciously let us into their world, it’s an interesting 75 minutes.  My Rating: Full Price  Kokomo City Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

Indiefest: The Unknown Country (2022)  Tana (Lily Gladstone) has just lost her grandmother, who she was caring for. She gets an unexpected call to come to her cousin’s wedding and sets out on a road trip across the Midwest in her trusty car. It’s a trip that Tana will learn about herself and the people she meets along the way. I loved this film primarily due to another brilliant performance by Lily Gladstone. The character played by Gladstone, Tana, travels after her grandma's death to experience the beauty of the land and its people. Tana is Native American, and her family lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This is a film that takes its time, much like the road trip that Tana is on. We get to know not only Tana’s relatives but also the people that she encounters along the way, including a waitress, an owner of a motel, and a convenience store worker. All are not actors, and we get a brief story about their lives, much like if you stopped and talked to them at their jobs for a bit. Tana decides to continue her road trip and find out more about her grandmother’s time in Texas, with only a few pictures to go on. The Unknown Country is a gorgeous film due to the magnificent countryside and the people we meet along the way.  My Rating: Full Price  The Unknown Country website Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: The Beanie Bubble (2023) R Ty Warner (Zach Galifianakis) was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women (Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, and Geraldine Viswanathan) grew their idea into one of the biggest toy crazes in history. It’s a story of fame, fortune, greed, betrayal, and Beanie Babies. I loved this film about the man who created Beanie Babies, or did he? Based loosely on a true story, Ty Warner is a man who went from almost nothing to one of the wealthiest men in the world (and still is), and the women who made it happen (sometimes with his help, sometimes dragging his feet all the way to the bank). This is the story of three women who, at various times in Ty’s life, made his dreams come true and then were forgotten because of a man who could not share the spotlight or admit that not every idea wasn’t his. Zach Galifianakis is fantastic in the role of a man who cares only about himself and will stab anyone in the back to get what he feels he is entitled to. I loved Geraldine Viswanathan, whose character, Maya, goes from part-time receptionist to creating one of the first company-based websites that started the Beanie Babies craze. Her character is based on a real person who convinced Ty to get on the internet long before anyone else figured out what it could do. Viswanathan is a force in the film and holds her own with Zach, someone who tends to dominate the screen with his antics. Elizabeth Banks plays Robbie, a fiery woman who has a chance meeting with Ty and goes all in on his stuffed toy company, ultimately falling for Ty. Sarah Snook plays a divorced woman, Shelia, who has two young girls and, against her best instincts, falls in love with Ty. Like Elizabeth Banks’s character, Robbie, Ty has weaved a spell and seduced Shelia. The question is, will Ty ever wake up and reward these women for their ideas and hard work, or will the women have to get revenge? Gather your little stuffed Beanies from your closets and storage units, pour yourself a drink, and find out.   My Rating: Full Price  The Beanie Bubble Info  Now playing in select theatres and on the Apple TV+ platform.

My View: Theater Camp (2023) PG-13 Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is forced to run his mother’s three-week theater camp after his mother (Amy Sedaris) has a seizure during a performance of Bye Bye Birdie and slips into a coma. Troy must rely on staff because Troy has no talent and no idea how to run a camp. But the kids have a ‘can do’ attitude and a song in their hearts, so what could go wrong? The film’s cast is the reason to see it because they are having a blast making it. Co-written by two of the cast, Noah Galvin and Molly Gordon, the film is about an annual camp for theater kids run by a group of wannabe performers who take their jobs a little too seriously. Into the mix walk Troy, a YouTube guy who thinks he can turn the camp into a money-maker just because he thinks he can. The film is funny but very uneven because the dialogue and scenes are improvised. The kids are the best part of the movie, so much so that I wish there was less interaction with the adults and more of the kids doing goofy stuff. Theater Camp gets a little stale by the midpoint, but the last fifteen minutes are just so well done, and much like the show they are putting on, it all finally comes together.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Theater Camp website Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: The First Slam Dunk (2022) PG-13  Seventeen-year-old Ryota is trying to follow his late brother’s dream of being a basketball star. It’s hard to follow in the footsteps of someone who cast such a large shadow. The First Slam Dunk is a must for any fan of Japanese animation or anyone who loves basketball. The film takes place at a championship game while showing us in flashbacks the important scenes of Ryota’s life, and what makes him the person and player he is today. This is an impressive work of animation that lets us experience up close a basketball game while also allowing us into the character’s makeup and what Ryota is thinking and feeling. The movie is filled with amazing shots of not only the basketball game but also Ryota’s life, letting us feel like we are there with him as he goes through all the obstacles that have been put in his way. The game is as exciting as any game seven of the NBA, and it has an ending that is both touching and exhilarating. I think fans of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga series are going to be very happy with his adaptation of this work.  The First Slam Dunk is one of the best films of the year, and I hope it gets recognition by the Academy come award time. So find a seat in the bleachers and get ready to root for Ryota and his team as they try to win a championship. My Rating: I Would Pay to See It Again  The First Slam Dunk Website The film is playing in theatres nationwide.

Forgotten Film: The Day After Trinity (1981)  Documentary on the Manhattan Project and the man behind the creation of the Atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. This Academy Award-nominated film is a great companion piece to the Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer, with interviews of most of the participants in the research, including Oppenheimer's brother. It goes into great detail on the building of the bomb. The film’s second half goes into Oppenheimer’s fall from grace when he speaks out against nuclear arms proliferation and the hunt for Communists that cost him his clearance. The Day After Trinity is a fascinating film that will amaze and terrify you while giving you a better understanding of the man and the myth.   My Rating: Full Price  The Day After Trinity Info  Available for purchase on Amazon and playing on the Criterion Channel for free through the month of July.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Haunted Mansion: Prosthetics Silicone Runner

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Equalizer 3 (2023)   Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has finally found a home in Southern Italy. That home is being threatened by the mafia and its local crime boss. As the mafia flex their muscle and threaten McCall’s new friends, McCall does what he always does: protect his friends by any means possible. I have enjoyed this series by filmmakers Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington and look forward to seeing this one.   The Equalizer 3 Website  Coming to theatres nationwide in September.

Until Next Time!

Asteroid City

My View: Asteroid City  (2023)  PG-13  It’s 1955, and students and parents from all over the country come to Asteroid City for a Junior Stargazer convention. Their lives will change drastically when something comes out of the sky to make an appearance. I am a huge Wes Anderson fan, and I loved this film with all its weird little quirks. You will probably hate this film if you don’t like his movies (The Royal Tenenbaums, The French Dispatch, Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore, Bottle Rocket), however, for fans it’s a real treat. It’s a film that is a little hard to get into because of the format of the film (which I won’t go into so that it’s a surprise for you) and how it jumps a bit back and forth. The cast is significant, and while I missed Bill Murray (who has been in every one of Anderson’s films since Rushmore), I loved the casting. Jason Schwartzman as the widowed dad and his love interest Scarlett Johansson, who plays a Hollywood actress that is more concerned about her upcoming role than if aliens are invading Earth, are both hilarious. It’s a magical world that Anderson has created, and it’s full of interesting and strange characters that all will tell you just how they feel at any time. I had a blast watching this film, though I never want to visit anywhere near Asteroid City. After you see the movie, you will know what I mean.   My Rating: Full Price  Asteroid City Website Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: No Hard Feelings (2023) R Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) has had her car repossessed and is on the brink of losing her home. Maddie finds an intriguing job position: parents (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) of a 19-year-old boy (Andrew Barth Feldman) want their shy, introverted son to ‘become a man’ before going to college. There was a time in the 70s and 80s where every summer, a bunch of films would be released to bring in the teen audience. Most of these films were aimed at teen boys and involved a guy who didn’t have a chance but somehow landed the girl out of his league. There were some horrible films but also some that worked. No Hard Feelings is a film that belongs to that time. I enjoyed this comedy, something that Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t explored much in her career. She has nice comedic timing and lets us have a good time following her adventures trying to get a shy and awkward teen to have sex with her. It’s a tribute to how good Lawrence is that her character, who isn’t the nicest individual, is someone you want to succeed. Lawrence does a great job in the physical comedy, even taking a small thing like trying to go upstairs with rollerblades on and milking it for all it’s worth. Andrew Barth Feldman is fun as the kid with no clue how to deal with Maddie, but he is willing to try. I mean, it’s Jennifer Lawrence, for gosh’ sake. The film is a little raunchy (there is a nude scene on a beach that has to be seen to be believed), but at its heart is the story of two damaged people who find friendship out of an extraordinary situation. No Hard Feelings is a film that some critics are going to kill because they will think it’s below an actor in Lawrence’s caliper, but I would say that is just why we need her in a role like this.  My Rating: Full Price   No Hard Feelings Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Perfect Find (2023)   Jenna (Gabrielle Union) was fired from a high-profile job and has just gone through a messy breakup that everyone in the world seems to know about. She moves back to New York and goes to work for a hard-as-nails mogul and former rival named Darcy (Gina Torres). Jenna meets a charming co-worker, Eric (Keith Powers), who she dates even though he is much younger. Only one problem, Eric is Darcy’s son. Gabrielle Union shines in The Perfect Find, a fun rom-com that celebrates women taking charge of their lives like successful men have been doing for years.. I loved the chemistry between Union and Keith Powers. They, of course, after a brief encounter at a party, start out as rivals, but that chemistry is too powerful to deny. Plus, they both love classic cinema and love for actress Nina Mae, a legendary Black actor who trail-blazed a career that got her named the ‘Black Greta Garbo.’ The Perfect Find has your typical manufactured breakup and an annoying ending that I’m not totally happy with. However, the flirtatious dialogue and Gabrielle Union creating a character we can all root for make for a film worth seeing with a glass of wine and maybe someone special.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Perfect Find Website Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest: The Last Rider (2022)   Documentary about one of the greatest cycling races in history, the 1989 Tour De France. While the documentary is about the race, it’s more about how American Greg LeMond overcame betrayal and childhood sexual abuse to complete one of the most inspiring comebacks in the sport’s history. I am a big cycling fan, and I thought I knew the story well, but it turns out I didn’t know even half of this fantastic story. I don’t want to give too much away because this is one of those stories that, if you saw it as a fictional film, you would go that could never happen. The film is told by Greg and his wife, Kathy, along with some of the principal riders and race participants. The Last Rider is part love story, part thriller, with incredible twists and turns and an absolutely thrilling ending. One of the best documentaries I have seen this year, The Last Rider is a film to be seen and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  The Last Rider Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

Indiefest: Love Gets a Room (2020)   Set in the Warsaw ghetto during WW II and cut off from the outside world by the Nazis, Stefcia (Clara Rugaard) and her fellow Jewish theatre actors keep performing plays to give the inhabitants behind the walls something beautiful in a world full of chaos and destruction. Stefcia will have to choose between love and her life. I like this drama that revolves around a theatre troupe performing a play while backstage, a drama of its own is going on. Add in Nazis around every corner, death that can come at any moment, and a love triangle that has Stefcia having to decide to leave for possible freedom or stay, with the result almost certain death. The film revolves around a musical performed by a real theatre group in the ghetto five months before it was torn down and all its inhabitants either killed or sent to camps. The musical is fun and has some beautiful songs that the cast performs as the drama unfolds backstage. Clara Rugaard is perfect as the actress who leads the troupe and has to make a horrible choice by the end of the play. Love Gets a Room is a film that will stay with you long after the final curtain falls.   My Rating: Full Price  Love Gets a Room Info

Forgotten Film: Derailed (2005) R  Two people, Charles and Lucinda (Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston), have a ‘meet cute’ on a commuter train. They exchange information, and that leads to more meetings and then sex. The problem is that both are married, and things get worse when someone breaks into their hotel room and attacks them. Things get worse when the attacker (Vincent Cassel) realizes that the two haven’t gone to the police because of their situation, and he begins to blackmail them. The plot gets complicated from there, including an ending that doesn’t quite work, but there are some good performances worthy of seeing. Jennifer Aniston is excellent as the woman who is looking not for a good time but for someone to connect with. Also, RZA is brilliant as a co-worker of Charles who becomes his tool to help to defeat the bad guy, but at a price. Derailed isn’t a great film, but there is a very cool chemistry going on between Owen and Aniston on the screen that is enjoyable to watch and possibly root for (if you can root for two cheaters).   My Rating Bargain Matinee  Derailed Info  The film is available to rent on most online platforms.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Asteroid City: Roadrunner Puppeteers

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Talk to Me (2022) R  A group of friends have come across an embalmed hand with mysterious tattoos. They soon discover that they can use it to conjure spirits, and it becomes their favorite game to play. Until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. The film is getting great reviews, and the word of mouth is that this is a genuinely frightening film. Can’t wait to see it.  Talk to Me Website The film is in theatres on July 28th. 

Until Next Time!