Kraven the Hunter

My View:  Kraven the Hunter  (2024)  R   Kraven the Hunter tells the story of Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a descendant of Russian nobility who has a complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Kraven has made himself into the world’s greatest hunter, but he is also one of its most feared. I stopped reading comics a long time ago, so I had no clue who Kraven was. However, after doing some research, I found out he is a ‘supervillain.” Then why the heck would Sony/Marvel make a movie where this character is a hero throughout the film? I mean, maybe he turns bad at the end, but I have no clue other than he gets a new outfit at the end. Russell Crowe tries as hard as he can to lift up this mess of a film, but he is at the mercy of making the film center on one of the worst villains to ever appear in a superhero film, The Rhino. Alessandro Nivola plays Aleksei, a wannabe mobster who finds a doctor who gives him the ability to turn into a man/rhino. Then, he devises a plan to take down Kraven’s dad, Nikolai. Aleksei delivers some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a superhero movie, and I have seen Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (RIP Christopher Reeve). I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson could have done something with this role, but we never see Kraven as the great hunter he is supposed to be. I knew I was in trouble when, near the start of the film, a character is talking to a young girl and, in the span of two sentences, says her name twice. I get it. I’m supposed to remember her name, Calypso. The ending of this film is laughable, predictable, and just plain stupid. What was Marvel/Sony's plan for this character? Was he going to do a ‘heel turn,’ where you see a good guy turn bad all of a sudden like you see in WWE? We will never know since this is the end of this character, as he won’t be part of the next version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And no, thank goodness, you don’t have to stay during the credits because this film’s runtime is two hours and seven very-long-minutes. At least the film has that going for it.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again  Kraven the Hunter Website  Now playing in theaters.  

My View:  The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim  (2024)  PG-13  The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim tells the story of the legendary King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. The King and his family must defend their kingdom against an army of Dunledings led by the clever and ruthless Wulf. I am guessing that fans of The Lord of the Rings film series will be disappointed (though there are a few nods to it) mostly because it brings nothing new to the story. I was underwhelmed by the animation, which didn’t give me the splendor of Middle-Earth that we are used to. The animation felt very flat, and too many times, it felt like the film went cheap on the action. I liked that the hero of the story was the King’s daughter, Princess Hera (voiced by Gaia Wise), but the plot of the film feels like it was constructed on a whiteboard, knocking off plot points and characters like they were bit players and not a story worthy of The Lord of the Rings lore. I wanted to be dazzled by the animation and the story. Instead, I got a tale that could have easily been told in less than an hour, not the two-hour-plus run time.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Oh, Canada  (2024)  Oh, Canada tells the story of Leonard Fife Richard Gere), a terminally ill writer and filmmaker who has agreed to tell his story. Leonard was one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. Remembering the past can be a challenging experience. Oh, Canada revolves around a man telling his tale to a documentary crew. It’s a story full of decisions, betrayals, and people he left behind to run away and reinvent himself. Unfortunately for the documentary crew, Leonard is in the final stage of his cancer fight and his memory is clouded. We see this in flashbacks, sometimes showing Leonard being played by Jacob Elordi, as what Leonard looked like when he was a young man. At other times, we see Leonard in the flashbacks, played by Richard Gere, as the storytelling gets confused. Oh, Canada is aided by a strong supporting cast, including Uma Thurman as Leonard’s present wife and Michael Imperioli and Victoria Hill as the husband/wife team of documentary filmmakers who share a past with Leonard. I never felt close to any character in the film, feeling like there was more to this story than what we were being told. Oh, Canada ends up as a frustrating look at a man we never get to know, and while that maybe filmmaker Paul Schrader’s point, I didn’t enjoy the experience.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Oh, Canada Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Carry On  (2024)  PG-13  In Carry On, it’s Christmas Eve, and the airport is incredibly busy. Ethan (Taron Egerton) is a TSA agent who, while at work, gets a call from a mysterious traveler who tells Ethan, let a carry-on bag go through, or your girlfriend dies. They picked the wrong agent. It must be tough to write thrillers that are set in airports. Gone are the days when John McClane could run all over the Dulles International Airport without a care, saying a quip or two, while saving the day. This film tries hard to follow the rules, and for a while, it does. However, during the last third of the film, when our hero Ethan, with the help of a plucky, determined LA cop (Danielle Deadwyler), tries to stop the terrorist plot, things like common sense go out the window. The film’s first half is a fun cat-and-mouse film of Ethan trying to figure out a way to alert someone about the package while our bad guy stays one step ahead of him. Once the package gets through, the film goes downhill with ideas like a cop in an unmarked car being able to get from the highway to the drop-off point of LAX in minutes. Our hero does have some John McClane in him, as he gets beat up and shot a bunch of times, which he seems to forget about because he was a track star in high school. Carry On isn’t a terrible film, I just wish the second half had been as interesting as the first. Much like McClane, Ethan is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Carry On Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest:  The End  (2024)  The End is about a wealthy family who, after surviving the end of the world and spending years alone in an underground salt mine, a stranger shows up to change their world. This is the first narrative film from director Joshua Oppenheimer, known for his Academy Award-nominated documentaries The Act of Killing (2014) and The Look of Silence (2016). For him to choose a musical about the last possible surviving family on Earth is a little strange but I loved his films, so I was game. With a cast that has Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon as the heads of this peculiar underground family and it is a musical (one of my favorite film genres), you would think that I would love this film. Unfortunately, I tired of it rather quickly, and at two hours and almost thirty minutes, it’s a lot of songs that rarely captivate and are filmed almost entirely in long shots, making a small world seem stagy. A couple of songs stand out, including a fantastic song that George MacKay, as the son, sings about his love for the new stranger, a woman portrayed by Moses Ingram. Ingram is the shining light in the film, as her musical numbers have some punch to them. However, while touching on everything from climate change to the privilege of the wealthy, along with nods to race, The End never fully delves into anything except another song that doesn’t pay off. And then another one starts up, and so on. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The End Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Rhapsody in August (1991) PG  An elderly woman (Sachiko Murase) living in Nagasaki, Japan, welcomes her four grandchildren to her home for their summer vacation. She attempts to teach them about the atomic bomb that was dropped on her city in WWII and how it killed their grandfather. She learns of her brother’s death and reaches out to his son, an American (Richard Gere), who comes to visit and learn from the woman about her life and city. Rhapsody in August is directed by one of my all-time favorite directors, Akira Kurosawa, whose Seven Samurai is a masterpiece of storytelling. This beautiful, moving film about a woman who wants the past never to repeat itself will bring you to tears. It’s also a love letter to a city that rose from the ashes but never forgot what happened to its people. While not one of his best, it’s still a powerful, exquisite-looking film that will touch you. My Rating: Full Price  Rhapsody in August Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Kraven the Hunter:  Fashion Consultant

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  The Brutalist  (2024)  The Brutalist begins in the aftermath of WWII when visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) flee post-war Europe to restart their lives. When László begins working for a wealthy client, Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), he little realizes how much his life will change. Many film critics feel this role could bring another Academy Award for Adrien Brody. The film was shot in the VistaVision format, a widescreen camera system that hasn’t been used in an American shot movie in over 60 years.  The Brutalist Website  The film will first be released in IMAX in January 2025 and then to a wide release on Friday, January 23, 2025.

Until Next Time!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

My View:  Godzilla: King of the Monsters  (2019)  PG-13  The Titans have awakened and the three-headed King Ghidorah is taking over. It’s up to Godzilla to save the world from Ghidorah and the army of titans. So the fights between Godzilla and the Titans are cool but there is just too little fighting and too much human talking. The film feels longer that it’s two hours and eleven minutes in length. The film wastes the talents of Vera Farmiga and Sally Hawkins. Millie Bobby Grown is given almost nothing to do in the film other than hug people and scream. The plot has holes as big as Godzilla himself and much of it doesn’t make sense. Do stay through all the credits as there is a clue for the next Godzilla film.   My Rating;  Cable   Godzilla Website

My View:  Rocketman  (2019)  R  The life and music of Elton John (Taron Egerton). This is one of the best films of the year and Egerton gives one of the great performances I’ve ever seen. Egerton perfectly captures the magic of Elton John’s performances and you get to see John and lyric writer Bernie Taupin create their greatest songs. This is a different type of biopic as the music tells most of the story. My only complaint about this film is the last third of the film lags a bit as Elton John goes down a dark hole of drugs and alcohol, cutting off everybody he was close to. All your favorite Elton John songs are in this film making it a trip down memory lane. If you are an Elton John fan this film is a must but really it is a must for any film lover.   My Rating: Full Price    Rocketman Website

Indiefest:  All is True  (2019)  PG-13  William Shakespeare (Kenneth Branagh) retires from writing and goes home to his family. I liked this film because I felt that I got to know the man behind the legend. Branagh is perfect in the role of Shakespeare, bring the man to life in front of our eyes. I loved the look of this film, as all the interior scenes were shot only using candlelight. Fans of the bard are going to love this movie.  My Rating: Full Price    All is True Website

Forgotten Film:  Collateral (2004) R   Max (Jamie Foxx) is a cab driver who picks up a passenger, Vincent (Tom Cruise) who gives Max 600 dollars to take him to five stops. What Max soon learns is that Vincent is a contract killer and is going to kill someone at each stop. What I enjoy about this movie is not the action sequences, it’s the conversations that Max and Vincent have in the cab and at a nightclub that Vincent makes Max go to. Their conversations are interesting and meaningful, as Vincent is constantly thinking about the meaning of life, even though his occupation is taking life away.  My Rating: Full Price    Collateral Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Rocketman: Facial Hair

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near Your:  Late Night  (2019)  R  Molly (Mindy Kaling) joins the staff of a late night talk show hosted by Katherine (Emma Thompson) who is told that her show is in its last year. Could Molly be the one to save the show? The trailer looks amazing and I love Mindy Kaling, so I’m really looking forward to this one.    Late Night Website

Until Next Time!

Eddie the Eagle

My View:  Eddie the Eagle (2016)  PG-13  Eddie the Eagle (2016)  PG-13  Eddie (Taron Egerton) has always wanted to compete in the Olympics, and he discovers there hasn’t been a British Ski jumper since the 1920’s.  So, if Eddie can just figure out how to jump, he can compete for his country and achieve his dream though, he needs help learning how to jump. Can he persuade Bronson (Hugh Jackman), a former US ski jumper to coach him?  I loved this feel-good film. It’s not at all what I expected, and I credit Egerton for giving such a warm and funny portrayal of a man who was fearless and wouldn’t quit no matter what the odds. Jackman is perfect for the washed-up former ski jumper who doesn’t like to be reminded of his past. Egerton and Jackman have superb chemistry which is important as much of the dialogue in this film is between just the two of them. Go see this film and root for Eddie!   My Rating: Full Price   Eddie the Eagle Website  

My View:  Gods of Egypt (2016)  PG-13  Bek (Brenton Thwaites) joins the god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in a battle to save the world from the god of darkness Set (Gerard Butler). This is a mess of a movie. It’s as if the writers decided to throw most of what we know about ancient Egypt and create superheroes from the Egyptian gods. The gods are twice as big as the humans, so the scenes between the two species look weird, the Gods bleed gold when cut and not to mention that Sun God Ra (Geoffrey Rush) flies around in a spaceship. Set’s chariot is pulled by giant beetles, and the bad guys ride on the back of giant sand serpents. The specials effects are so dreadful I could almost see the “green screen” used for almost the entire film. Some of the actors, Rush especially, look downright depressed that they agreed to make this mess of a movie. This is a bad film, and, because it takes itself so seriously, it’s not fun to watch. It's the kind of film that, thirty minutes into it, I wished it would end.  My wish was granted an hour and thirty-seven minutes later.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again   Gods of Egypt Website

Indiefest:  The Club  (2015)  Four retired Catholic priests share a house in a small Chilean beach town.  Their world is turned upside down when a fifth man shows up and makes them relive the past. This is an hard film to watch. The four priests have all done bad things (most seem to be child molesters) and have been moved to a small remote village on the coast. A fifth priest is sent to figure out if the house should be disbanded and so he interviews, at length, each priest about their past sins. The performances are riveting, especially the role of the housekeeper, played by Antonia Zegers, who has a past sin of her own. This is not a movie for the easily offended, but if you can tolerate the in-depth look at the subject, it’s well worth watching.  My Rating: Full Price   The Club Website

Forgotten Film:  The American Friend  (1977)  Directed by the great German filmmaker, Wim Wenders, this film is a modern film noir story. An American forger (Dennis Hopper) is living in Germany when he becomes a middleman between a dying picture framer (Bruno Ganz) and French gangster (Gerard Blain). The gangster needs a hit man, and, since the picture framer is dying, he decides to do the job. The American soon finds out that not everything is on the up and up. The film is shot almost as if it were a black and white film using shades of color to create what looks as almost textured darkness on-screen. Hopper gives one of his better performances, and the film will keep you guessing until the end.   My Rating:  Full Price   The American Friend Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Eddie the Eagle: Special Effects Teeth

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You (Repeated from June 2015.  That’s how long it has taken for this film to premiere):   The Bronze (2015)   R  A foul-mouthed former gymnast (Melissa Rauch) has made a living on the fact that she won an Olympic bronze medal. Now she is asked to put her ego aside and help mentor a new up-and-coming star. I love Melissa Rauch and am looking forward to seeing what director Bryan Buckley can do with this material. Buckley has directed some of the best commercials of the past ten years.    The Bronze Website

Until Next Time!