Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

My View:  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice  (2024) PG-13  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice begins after an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family have come home to Winter River and the house we all know so well. Lydia (Winona Ryder) is still haunted by Beetlejuice, and to make things worse, her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), has discovered that mysterious model of the town. It’s only a matter of time before someone’s name will be uttered three times. So Tim Burton and Michael Keaton decided it was time to revisit the weird house up on the hill. So the big question is, does going back to see the ‘Juiceman’ work? Yeah, it does. Is it anywhere close to the original? No, but it’s still a good, funny popcorn film that you will have a great time watching. One thing that Burton did is realize that Keaton is in only about 15 minutes of the 1988 film because most of the film is about Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’s characters dealing with being dead and then trying to get their unwanted houseguests the heck out of there. So Keaton is in this film a lot more; in fact, there seem to be about four plots going on simultaneously, and Keaton’s Beetlejuice is involved in all of them. Catherine O’Hara is back as Delia Deetz, and O’Hara steals every scene she is in, just as you would expect, with some of the film’s best lines. Ryder does an admirable job of playing the mom who has made a career as a woman who can see ghosts. Lydia is just trying to keep things together after her ex-husband disappeared on a trip to the Amazon. Besides Keaton, this is Ortega’s film, as she plays a young woman who had to grow up as the daughter of the ghost whisper, and she misses her father, who made things seem not quite as weird when he was around. Ortega does a great job of selling us on a person who is constantly giving the side eye to her mom, especially when she brings up seeing the afterlife around them. Keaton has a blast as the man we all came to see and he doesn’t disappoint with lots of quips that only Beetlejuice can say (or do). The film is a little bloated by a secondary plot led by a character played by Monica Bellucci, who never quite feels like her character really was needed. The film also has a bit of trouble trying to tie all the loose ends together, and some of the resolutions to big plot lines seem rushed. Still, I had a great time watching this film, and yes, there are plenty of callbacks to the first film, including the shrunken-head guys (one of who plays a pretty big part). I also loved that a lot of the special effects weren’t done with CGI but with things that made the first film so much fun to watch, with lots of strange and creepy puppet-controlled ghouls and some stop-motion animation. So get ready to say a certain guy’s name three times and go back to the world of the weird and creepy. You will have a fun time.  My Rating: Full Price  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

Indiefest:  His Three Daughters  (2024)  R  His Three Daughters is the story of three daughters (Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne, and Carrie Coon) who converge on their father’s New York apartment to care for him in his last days. In the next three days, the daughters will try to heal old wounds and come together to patch together a family that has been separated for far too long. This is a film about how families aren’t always what they seem. Katie (Carrie Coon) is the woman who wants to plan everything, has opinions on everybody, and can’t seem to sit still. Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) is a free spirit who does yoga, tries to be the peacemaker, and seems to have a successful life. Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) is the daughter who has been living with their father for the past few years, taking care of him as his sickness took control of both their lives. Rachel, who has a different mother than the other two sisters, spends most of her days doing off-track betting and getting high. She would rather spend time in her room than interact with her sisters. The three are forced to work together to make their father’s last days as comfortable (aided by a couple of hostel nurses to help them make his death as painless as possible. His Three Daughters is a warm, funny, and touching film that also has a few tearful moments. All three women are wonderful in their roles. Coon has the most demanding role because Katie is not a likable person, and it’s Coon’s job to let us see beyond the hard shell that Katie has put up. Coon lets us know she does care but couldn’t always deal with the fact that her father was sick and dying. Olsen is fun to watch as the seemingly always positive Christina, who tries to keep things moving along but uses her yoga to escape when things get too tough. Of the three, Natasha Lyonne is the actor who shines throughout as a woman who just wants the whole thing to be over and uses her betting and getting high to escape the reality of her father’s soon-to-be death. Lyonne is perfect in the role, delivering the film’s center, as we see things through her (sometimes bloodshot) eyes. There are some incredible moments in this film, one of which is when Rachel’s boyfriend, played by Jovan Adepo, who knows how much Rachel has done for her father and lets the other two sisters have a piece of his mind on how they don’t known Rachel and what she has done this past year. I loved everything about His Three Daughters (though there is a section near the end that I wish wasn’t a part of the film, but that’s nitpicking), and the performances by these three outstanding actors are worth the price of admission alone. Just bring a tissue or two.  My Rating: Full Price  His Three Daughters Website    Now playing in select theaters and on the Netflix platform on September 20th. 

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see in theatres but have seen recently):  The Killer  (2024) R   In The Killer, Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel) is the most lethal and feared assassin in the business. In fact, she is known by the name Queen of the Dead. Zee takes a job to kill a young blind woman (Jenna Silvers) and has a change of heart. Now, every hitman in Paris is out to kill her, and her only ally is a French detective (Omar Sy). A few directors have remade their own films through the years. Hitchcock is the one everyone remembers when he remade The Man Who Knew too Much. Was it a better film? I am a fan of Hitchcock’s early work, so I don’t think any film that has Doris Day sing Que Sera, Sera about a million times is a better film. In 1989, John Woo brought us The Killer, considered one of the best action films of all time, and brought Woo to Hollywood. So why would Woo remake this film? Sure, you can do a few more things with CGI than you could with actual stunts in 1989, but that’s what made that film stand out. Its action sequences are brilliant, and I loved how Ah Jong, the hitman played by the totally cool Chow Yun-fat, didn’t just shoot a person once (like so many of Hollywood’s action heroes). No, he shot them 6 to 10 times before moving on to the next guy. So, in this remake, Woo has our hero as a woman, Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel), known as the Queen of the Dead. It’s basically the same setup: our hero goes out to do a hit, and a singer gets caught up in the gunfire and is blinded by the firefight. Zee feels guilty, and instead of killing the singer, the only person who can testify against Zee, she saves her instead. The Killer has plenty of gunplay, some fun chase sequences, and a couple of well-choreographed firefights. However, Nathalie Emmanuel doesn’t have the star power to pull off the most feared assassin in the business. I also did not like the chemistry between Emmanuel and Omar Sy, who plays the cop who can’t be bought and slowly becomes Zee’s ally in bringing down the bad guys. One of the great things about the original was the chemistry and friendship that developed between the assassin and the cop. There just isn’t much there for us to care about either character. Woo pulls a few changes to the script (which I won’t give away), but I am incredibly disappointed by the ending of this film. It’s hard to revisit your old haunts, especially when they are shown so brightly in the past. Sometimes, it is best to let things stay in the past.   My Rating: Cable  The Killer Website   Now playing on the Peacock platform.

Indiefest:  Red Rooms  (2023)  Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) is a model by day and an online poker player at night. Although she excels at both, she doesn't find much pleasure in either (although she enjoys watching men lose). She starts attending a high-profile trial of a serial killer, but not just any serial killer, but one where the man kidnapped young teen women, held them captive, and tortured them to death, all while videotaping them. Kelly-Anne's obsession with the trial is so great that she sleeps outside the courthouse to be first in line to get into the proceedings. Kelly-Anne has started on a path that will become such an obsession that she will risk her career to keep going. Not only that, she is willing to pay any amount to obtain the missing footage of one of the girls. Red Rooms is a dark and disturbing film that looks at how people get so involved with serial killers, making them almost part of a weird kind of religion where they worship at the feet of the killer. We don't exactly understand why Kelly-Anne does what she does, but we watch her become more and more obsessed with the murderer and what he did. Juliette Gariépy does a magnificent job of keeping Kelly-Anne at an arm’s length from us, the audience, and we never see her waver, even when things seem at their most desperate. I saw the film at the 2024 Atlanta Film Festival and could hear the audience occasionally gasp as we followed Kelly-Anne down the rabbit hole. Red Rooms is a horror film without the bloodshed (we never see the footage, only hear the screams), but it’s still scary as a young woman seems to lose her self-worth as she delves deeper and deeper into an abyss that she may never come out of.  My Rating: Full Price  Red Rooms Website   Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Boomerang (1992)  R  Marcus (Eddie Murphy) is a successful cosmetic company executive who loves to date women like they are just another conquest, another notch on his bedroom headboard. He meets his match when Jacqueline (Robin Givens) becomes his boss and plays Marcus like all the women he used to date. She flirts with him, sleeps with him, then dumps him, and then does it again. Marcus soon realizes he is being played with like he used to play women. His eyes are opened when he realizes there has been a remarkable woman right there all along, Angela (Halle Berry). The cast shines in this film with Givens perfect as the man-eater who doesn’t care who she hurts, as long as she is in power, and Berry as the sweet and wonderful Angela, a woman who is perfect for Marcus, if he would only realize it. Boomerang is one of those movies that makes me mad at Murphy because he is brilliant in this film and plays Marcus perfectly, but too often in Murphy’s career, he took the easy money and made a bunch of crap films that were below his talent. So see this film, revel in Berry and Murphy’s chemistry, and have fun with Givens giving Marcus his just turn at being used. My Rating: Full Price  Boomerang Info  Available on Amazon and Apple TV to rent or buy.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Shrinker Performers 

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Never Let Go  (2024)  R  A mother (Halle Berry) and her two sons (Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV) have been haunted by an evil spirit for years. They stay connected at all times, even tethering themselves with ropes when they travel outside so they are always connected back to their house. When one of the boys questions if the evil is real and the ties that bind them together are severed, their fight for survival becomes life and death. I’ll go see Halle Berry in anything where she has to kick some evil butt.  Never Let Go Website   The film is in theaters on Friday, September 20, 2024. 

Until Next Time!

Five Nights at Freddy's

My View: Five Nights at Freddy’s  (2023)  PG-13   A new security guard (Josh Hutcherson) takes his kid (Piper Rubio) to his new job, the night shift at the old, shutdown Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Once upon a time, Freddy’s was the place to be with pizza and animatronic bears singing songs. But something happened to cause the business to close, and the guard and his daughter are about to find out. A review of the film will be up Friday night. The film is now in theatres nationwide. Based on a very popular video game series, this film is not scary enough for horror fans and not gruesome enough for splatter fans. I guess this is Blumhouse/Universal’s attempt at getting kids into horror films. The film’s ending is confusing, and I had questions when it ended that only got answered by some spoiler articles on the internet. Never is a good thing when you have to go on the internet to explain who died and why. By the way, there is a bonus scene after the first part of the credits, and at the end of the credits, a strange computer voice spells out “Come Find Me.’ I believe this will all be worked out in a sequel because there is always a sequel with horror films. I wanted this to be a fun, scary ride in a pizza parlor of your nightmares, and all it got was some burned-out animatronics and no pizza.  My Rating: Cable  Five Nights at Freddy's Website   The film is now in theatres nationwide and on Peacock.

My View: The Killer (2023)  R  The Killer is the story of an assassin (Michael Fassbender) who screws up a hit, and someone he cares about has paid the price for his mistake. Now, the assassin is out for revenge but insists it isn’t personal. David Fincher is an interesting director who has given us a wide range of films like Zodiac, The Social Network, Gone Girl, and Mank. I always enjoy his movies, but I had a blast watching this funny black comedy where we follow a hired killer around as he gets revenge on the people who tried to kill him and hurt someone he loves. The killer narrates the film, giving us an insight into how he sees life and death, which he deals with precision and reserve. The killer is a man who is good at his job and takes pride in keeping things under control, even when things don’t always go his way. There will be a great drinking game with this film, and I won’t give it away, but you will be helped by knowing classic TV. Fassbender is perfect as the killer, a man who keeps track of his heart rate, not because of health, but because a slower heart rate means he can shoot his rifle with a better chance of success. The Killer is a film with lots of death, some of which are surprising until you understand the killer’s thoughts. Can you root for a guy that kills people for a living? Maybe, but you can have a fun time finding out.   My Rating:  Full Price  The Killer Website   Now playing in theatres nationwide and on Netflix on November 10th.

My View: Pain Hustlers (2023) R  Liza (Emily Blunt) is a high school dropout with a young daughter (Chloe Coleman). Liza dreams of a better life for herself and her daughter. She gets a job at a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a strip mall. Liza has the smarts and charm to bring success to the company and is living the life she always envisioned. However, success comes at a price, and Liza soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences. I had high hopes for this film, and it met expectations for the first thirty minutes. Unfortunately, the film loses its punch and gets lost in its storytelling while trying to hit us over the head with the idea that Pharma companies are, wait for it, evil and greedy. The film wastes performances by Emily Blunt, who portrays a woman who can talk anyone into anything, and Chris Evans, the sleazy sales guy willing to say or do anything to push the legality of the drug world right up to the line. The film runs out of gas, and in the end, we see the company go under because of greed and thinking they would never get caught. Like the drug the characters were pushing, the film worked at first and then failed to deliver what it promised due to pushing it too far.  My Rating: Cable   Pain Hustlers Website   Now playing on Netflix.

My View: The Other Zoey (2023) PG-13  Zoey (Josephine Langford) is a brilliant computer nerd who loves to study and has her sights set on graduating with honors. Her world is turned upside down when Zack (Drew Starkey), a college soccer star, is in an accident and wakes up thinking, because of amnesia, that Zoey, the first person he saw after the accident, is his girlfriend. Told that he must remember on his own terms, Zoey goes along with the lie, and things get really complicated. In this rom-com, the main character goes through the usual storyline of putting herself in a tough spot to win a guy's heart, only to realize she's falling for someone unexpected. This is nothing out of the ordinary from other rom-coms but for the presence of Josephine Langford. She makes watching this film worth our time. Zoey, who dislikes rom-coms, unexpectedly finds herself in one. Langford's excellent performance makes us cheer for Zoey to realize what we knew from the beginning: the unexpected guy is her perfect match.   My Rating Bargain Matinee   The Other Zoey Info  Now in theatres.

Indiefest: Anatomy of a Fall (2023) R  Anatomy of a Fall tells the story of Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and Samuel (Samuel Theis), a famous literary couple living in the French Alps with their partially sighted 11-year-old son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner). Out for a walk, Daniel finds Samuel’s dead, bloody body in the snow, having fallen from the house’s attic window. Was it an accident? Did Samuel kill himself? Or was he murdered? It’s always interesting when the main character is someone that you don’t like but wonder if you should root for them anyway. This is the case of Sandra, who, right from the start, you feel that there is something up with her as she flirts with a reporter who is interviewing while her husband is right upstairs. This is a film where you will change your mind a dozen times if Sandra is guilty. The film peels back layer after layer as we learn more about their marriage. Sandra Hüller is brilliant as the complex and self-assured writer and mom. Anatomy of a Fall is a movie that gets you sucked in from the opening credits and keeps you wondering beyond the ending.   My Rating: Full Price  Anatomy of a Fall Website  Now playing in theatres. 

Forgotten Film: Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) R  Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) is a recent widow who has inherited a lot of money and a rundown London theatre. Bored with life, she decides to reopen the theatre, which goes down in history for one thing: it’s all-nude reviews. This is one of those films that you enjoy from start to finish. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters) and a cast that includes Bob Hoskins as Vivian Van Damm, the man Mrs. Henderson hires to run the show, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, and Anna Brewster. Dench has a blast as the unpredictable Mrs. Henderson, who wants to put on a show that no one will forget. Bob Hoskins is brilliant as the showman who initially tries to take over the show, but soon relents to Mrs. Henderson and her ideas.   My Rating: Full Price  Mrs. Henderson Info  Available to rent or buy on Amazon and Apple TV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Killer: School Trainee

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Maestro (2023) R  The love story chronicling the relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). Leonard was a famous conductor because of his TV appearances and brilliant composing, but he had a secret that threatened his career and his marriage. Bradley Cooper follows up his directorial debut, A Star Is Born (2018), with this film that could be in the thick of the Oscar race.   Maestro Website   In theatres in mid-December and later on Netflix. 

Until Next Time!

The Way Back

My View:  The Way Back (2020) R   A former high school basketball star, Jack (Ben Affleck), is struggling to overcome his alcoholism and is offered a job to coach at his alma mater. When his team starts on a winning stream, his old demons resurface to try to stop his road to redemption. While technically a ‘sports’ film, the movie focuses more on the struggles of Jack, who is dealing with demons from his past through alcohol, and the relationships he develops with the members of the team he takes over. Affleck gives one of his best performances as a man who reluctantly takes over a team that barely has enough players to fill out a team. Jack deals with coming back to the place of his glory days and tries to inspire his team to play for each other and believe in themselves. The beauty of this film is the emphasis on the people in the story and not the outcome of the games themselves. My guess is that this might get Ben Affleck the two-time Oscar winner the Academy Award nomination for acting that he has long deserved.   My Rating; I Would Pay to See it Again     The Way Back Website

Familyfaire:  Onward (2020) PG    Two brothers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) go on a magical quest to try and revive their dead father for one day, a father the two barely remember. While not quite the gold standard that past Pixar movies (Toy Story franchise is the model) have brought us, Onward is still a fun and at times, moving tale that is perfect for young children to learn about the importance of family and how we have to believe in ourselves in order to succeed in life. The film has quite a few funny moments and takes a couple of twists and turns to keep the storyline moving at a quick and smart pace. Pratt, as the older, almost bumbling brother and Holland as the younger and less adventurous younger brother, make a great pair and play off each other with ease. While not a home run, Onward is still an enjoyable film that lets us tag along on a journey of two brothers who would do anything to bring their father back, even if it’s for a brief instant.    My Rating: Full Price     Onward Website

My View:  Burden (2018) R   When a museum celebrating the Ku Klux Klan opens in a small South Carolina town, the Reverend Kennedy (Forest Whitaker) tries to broker a peace all the while sheltering a former Klansman, Mike (Garrett Hedlund), much to the shock of his family and his church. While its heart is in the right place, Burden just doesn’t quite hit the mark, making the film feel a little too long and slightly flat in tone. I enjoyed Hedlund as Mike, a man who’s troubled past he must overcome with the help of the Reverend and Mike’s long-suffering girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough). I thought Hedlund went a little too far in his performance until I saw the real Mike talk in the closing credits, and I realized that Hedlund had captured the essence of the man. The film feels a little too much like a Lifetime movie, going for some of the easy emotional pulls, especially when Mike turns his back on the Klan. Whitaker is enjoyable as the Reverend, but this is a part that he probably could have played in his sleep, as the Reverend is portrayed as a one-trick pony, a man who never wavers in his beliefs that he can overcome evil with love and kindness.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee     Burden Website

Indiefest:  Greed (2019) R    Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), a billionaire fashion mogul, is determined to celebrate his 60th birthday in the grandest scale on the Greek island Mykonos, even if it kills him. This satire badly misses the mark, making the film feel shallow and way too long. Coogan gamely gives the part of the very unlikeable Sir Richard, but he can’t overcome a script that feels like it wanted to be a harder hit on the super-rich and their life of excess but never quite has power or message to hit its mark. The ending of the film feels very unsatisfying and rushed, with a setup that takes way to long to come to its climax.    My Rating: Cable     Greed Website

My View:   The Banker (2020) PG-13    Two African American businessmen, Bernard (Anthony Mackie) and Joe (Samuel L. Jackson), devise a plan to help other African Americans get bank loans. The two men hire a working-class white man, Matt (Nicholas Hoult,) to pose as the face of the banking empire, while the two businessmen pose as his janitor and chauffeur. Their plan succeeds beyond their wildest dreams, that is, until the federal government begins snooping around. I loved the relationship between the straight-laced Bernard and the free-wheeling, hard-drinking Joe, making them the ‘odd couple’ of banking. Mackie and Jackson seem to enjoy being on screen together, and the two play off each other with an ease that makes their success and their friendship seem real and genuine. I wish the film wasn't so slow in developing and so bland in its storytelling. I had a bit of a problem with Nicholas Hoult in the part of the ‘aw shucks’ Matt, who is pretty dull in the part, especially when on the screen with Mackie and Jackson. The film seems to be on the verge of making some real and exciting points about race in America but never quite can figure out how to deliver that message.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee     The Banker Info

Indiefest:  Seberg (2019) R I  nspired by real events, Seberg chronicles the life of actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart), an actress that rose to fame during the French New Wave films of the 1960s. Hoover’s FBI targeted her because of her politics, and the fact that she was dating black activist Hakim Jamal. When I was a kid, I saw the 1969 film Paint Your Wagon and fell in love with Jean Seberg. As an adult, I always wondered what happened to her and her promising career, so I read several books about her. I am sad to report that though Kristen Stewart valiantly tries, this film falls way short in bringing anything new to the story of Seberg, a woman who was deeply troubled. The film never really explores or even tries to explain Seberg’s mental troubles, seemingly blaming all her misfortunes on the harassment by the FBI. A great many people tried to help her throughout her short life, but Seberg never scratches the surface of this complicated, talented woman. Instead of this film, watch her landmark performance in the 1960 classic Breathless or heck, even Airport (1970). Anything in her early career would be better than this film.    My Rating: Cable    Seberg Website

Forgotten Film: The Killer (1989) R    An assassin (Chow Yun-Fat) accidentally blinds a singer during a hit gone wrong. He falls for the singer and decides to take one last hit in order to pay for an operation to hopefully restore the singer’s sight. He is double-crossed and must now team up with a cop to take down the mob boss who was out to kill him. Written and directed by John Woo ( Broken Arrow, Face/Off), this is a movie that blends perfectly action (which can get quite bloody) and drama. The reason to see this film is the final gunfight, one of the best gunfights that I have ever seen.    My Rating: Full Price     The Killer Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Way Back: Face Painter

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The New Mutants (2020) PG-13   Five young mutants, who are still discovering their abilities, are held against their will and now must learn to fight on their own. The cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy, who just wowed us in Emma. and Maisie Williams, who I loved in as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones.      The New Mutants Website

Until Next Time!