The Kid Who Would Be King

FamilyFair:  The Kid Who Would Be King  (2019)  PG    King Arthur’s half-sister Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) is going to take over the world in 4 days in modern times. Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) has found the legendary Sword in the Stone and is able to pull it out. Now Alex and his friends must go on a quest to find the opening of hell and battle Morgana. I loved this film. It’s a great family film with an excellent message for kids. Adults will enjoy this film just as much as the kids will. The cast is outstanding with Angus Imrie playing a young Merlin who makes noises with his hands and mouth to cast spells side-splitting funny. Take you your family and go see this beautiful, entertaining, moving film.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    The Kid Who Would Be King Website

My View:  Stan & Ollie  (2018)  PG  Once the greatest comedy team in film, Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (John C. Reilly) attempt to revive their careers as they go on a stage tour of England. First of all, the two leads look so much like Laurel and Hardy (John C. Reilly had to be in the makeup chair for 4 hours each day). It’s a touching tale about two men who just can’t accept that they will never make another film. Both performers are top notch in the film and perfectly do some of Laurel and Hardy’s best bits. It’s a bittersweet film that I hope inspires people to go explore their great library of movies.   My Rating:  Full Price    Stan & Ollie Website

My View:  Serenity  (2019)  R   The past of a fishing boat captain (Matthew McConaughey) comes back to haunt him when his ex-wife (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down with a plea for help. For a good portion of this film, it felt like an R rated version of a lifetime movie. Then something happens (that I didn’t see coming) and this movie gets really good. It’s a bold move, and I applaud writer/director Steven Knight (who also wrote/directed the brilliant 2013 film Locke). McConaughey and Hathaway have great chemistry together. I think most critics are going to kill this film, but I enjoyed it.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Serenity Website

My View:  Cold War  (2018)  R  In the 1950s, a music director (Tomasz Kot) tries to get his lover and lead singer (Joanna Kulig) to defect from communist Poland to France. The film with its B&W cinematography perfect sets the mood of the 1950s in Europe. The movie about star-crossed lovers is heartbreakingly beautiful, and the performances are breathtaking, especially Joanna Kulig, who can not only act but also sing, I can’t express just how I loved the look and feel of this movie.  My Rating: Full Price   Cold War Website

Forgotten Film:  The Wedding Banquet  (1993)  R   Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) is a gay young man from Taiwan who lives with his American boyfriend Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein) in New York City. His parents don’t know he is gay and wonder why he hasn’t found a Chinese woman to marry and start a family. So Wai-Tung sets up a marriage of convenience to a tenant in his building named Wei-Wei (May Chin, who needs a green card. Wai-Tung world spins out of control when he finds out his parents are coming for a visit and they want to host a banquet to celebrate the wedding. This is a hilarious film, where things start going bad and keep getting worse. Unlike the horrible The Birdcage, this treats homosexuality with real characters that are warm and funny. This is a very early film of two-time Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (it was a nominee for the 1994 Best Foreign Language Film).    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    The Wedding Banquet Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Kid Who Would Be King:  Lead Facial Modeler

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  In Like Flynn  (2018)  R   Before Errol Flynn (Thomas Cocquerel)  became a famous actor, Flynn was a bit of a rascal, working in Australia as an opium smuggler, gambler, street fighter, adventurer, gold prospector and of course, womanizer. Errol Flynn is one of my favorite actors so I would love to see his early life.   In Like Flynn Website

Until Next Time!

Glass

My View:  Glass  (2019)  PG-13   Three men are being held in a high-security mental institution: David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a former security guard who has somehow supernatural powers, Kevin (James McAvoy), a killer that has 24 personalities and a mysterious man named Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The film is much too long, and the middle portion of this film slows down, with Sarah Paulson, playing a therapist, that just sits there and lectures the three men, sometimes alone, sometimes at all three together. Samuel L. Jackson’s character Mr. Glass is in a drug-induced haze for much of the film. Bruce Willis looks puzzled and uninterested. As with his performance in Split, James McAvoy is fantastic as he instantly goes from one personality to another. I had hoped that M. Night Shyamalan had gotten back on track, but it proves once again that when given a big budget, he tries to do too much. Glass is a superhero movie that rarely lets the superheroes be heroic.  My Rating: Cable   Glass Website

My View:  Destroyer  (2018)  R   A police detective (Nicole Kidman), seventeen years ago, went undercover and things went horribly wrong. Now she is exploring her past to make peace. I found the storyline a little weak, and it takes a while to get going, but the reason to see this movie is Kidman. She gives a deep, vulnerable performance as a broken woman who is trying to right the wrongs that she created 17 years ago. I liked the ending of the film, which ties everything up, I wish it had gotten to that point a little quicker.  My Rating:  Bargain Matinee   Destroyer Website

In Case You Missed It (A movie just released on DVD/Blu-Ray):  The Old Man & the Gun  (2018)  PG-13      Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) who escaped from San Quentin and then went on to rob over 80 banks while in his seventies. If this is genuinely Redford’s last acting performance, then he goes out on a high note. It’s a brilliant, understated performance that only someone with skill like Redford can do. Redford’s performance is bolstered by the performances of Casey Affleck, the world-weary cop trying to catch Forest, and Sissy Spacek, who slowly falls in love Forest. The film is based on a true story, and I loved the ending of the movie where they used old photos and footage of Redford to illustrate the 16 prison escapes that Forest did over the years.   My Rating: Full Price    The Old Man & the Gun Website

Forgotten Film:  Control  (2007)  R    Fascinating film about the troubled life of Ian Curtis (Sam Riley), the lead singer of the legendary band Joy Division. The film gives us insight into why at age 23 he decided to commit suicide. The film at times almost feels like a documentary and is based on Curtis’s wife Deborah (played by Samantha Morton) book on Curtis’s life. The photographer Anton Corbin, whose pictures of Curtis, made him the sex symbol of young, like-minded teens, directed the film. The film is shot in black and white, and the cinematography is just gorgeous. I loved the performance of Morton as Ian’s long-suffering wife in the movie. Her performance is almost magical it is so good. Control is a movie about a man who came to the conclusion that he must end his life to stop his misery.  My Rating: Full Price   Control Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Glass:  Prosthetic Makeup Design and Fabrication: Charlayne Woodard's Aging

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  The Kid Who Would Be King  (2019)  PG   King Arthur’s half-sister Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) is going to take over the world in 4 days in modern times. Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) has found the legendary Sword in the Stone and is able to pull it out. Now Alex and his friends must go on a quest to find the opening of hell and battle Morgana. The guy, Joe Cornish, who wrote and directed Attack the Block, is back with a new film, so you know I’m seeing this one.    The Kid Who Would Be King Website

Until Next Time!