Military Wives

My View: Military Wives (2019) PG-13   With their partners away serving in Afghanistan, two headstrong women (Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan) form a choir on a military base. The women in the choir form a bond that transforms their lives and gives them a way to deal with the reality of the everyday fear that their loved ones won’t return from the war. This is a good old fashioned feel-good film that doesn’t disappoint and just might have you pull out the tissues a time or two. The plot is relatively predictable, but that’s ok because it’s precisely what we need in this time of chaos and strife. Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan work well together on screen as the two military wives who head of the choir, with Thomas as the officer’s wife who is all about protocol and Horgan, who is more about making sure the wives are getting the support they need, regardless of the rules. The film is based on a true story, and it is quite inspirational in its showing how war impacts not only the soldiers but also the families they leave behind. The film will feed your soul, and you might sing along to a song or two as you watch it.   My Rating: Full Price    Military Wives Website   Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: The Trip to Greece (2020)   Actors Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan travel from Troy to Ithaca, eating their way across Greece following in the footsteps of the Odysseus. So this is the fourth ‘trip’ movie, and if you haven’t seen the other three, the plot is pretty simple; two British actors take a trip, visiting foreign lands as they stop at historical sites and fantastic restaurants all the while trying to one-up each other with impressions and stories. I love these films and have a great time watching them. Brydon and Coogan are playing themselves, and the plots of the movie don’t matter too much. What does matter is both actors have incredible comic timing and brilliant impressionists. I have a feeling that the scripts are pretty small, as most of their back and forth talks are mostly improved. The film takes you across Greece, and the scenery is magnificent, plus you will be envious of the places the two go to eat at. These films aren’t for everyone, but if you like to travel, be apart of great conversations and are a foodie, you will want to see this film.    My Rating: Full Price    The Trip to Greece Website   Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: The Painter and the Thief  (2020)   Documentary about an artist who befriends the thief who stole two of her most valuable paintings from a gallery in Oslo. When the thief is severely hurt in a car crash, the artist becomes his supporter. This film is the reason why I love documentaries because very often, the truth is much stranger than fiction. With a storyline with more twists and turns than your average movie mystery, this film and its two main subjects will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat throughout the film. Both people are very complex, and the film does an impressive job letting us see their lives both before the paintings are stolen and afterward. I can’t say too much about this film because I want it to be revealed in the movie, but I will say that you won’t be disappointed and probably surprised by how this film ends.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    The Painter and the Thief Facebook Page    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: Lucky Grandma (2019)   Set in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown, a recently widowed 80-year-old grandma (Tsai Chin) is told by a fortune teller that her luck is about to change and she decides to go gamble at a casino. She suddenly finds herself on the wrong side of a local gang and employs the services of a rival gang member as her bodyguard. Grandma is about to be caught up in the middle of a Chinatown gang war. Tsai Chin is a trip as the tough as nails, headstrong, chain-smoking Grandma who gets into a bit of trouble. Chin is superb playing a character that, at times, is hard to love, but you end up rooting for anyway. Hsiao-Yuan Ha is very funny and sweet as the lumbering bodyguard Big Pong. This film reminded me of the buddy cop films of the 80s, with Grandma and Big Pong making a tremendous on-screen team. Join the fun and see what trouble Grandma and Big Pong can get into.   My Rating: Full Price    Lucky Grandma Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

My View: The Lovebirds (2020) R   A couple (Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani) are accused of murder and now have to clear their name. Will they and their relationship survive the night?  I thoroughly enjoyed this funny film with a couple of actors who have such comedy chops they can overcome a plot which is pretty darn weak. Rae and Nanjiani are hilarious as a couple who argue over everything, so much so that they decide to break up. Before they can, they witness a murder, a murder that looks to some bystanders that Jibran and Leilani have committed. The couple decides to go on the run, and with the phone of the dead man, they are determined to clear their name. Throughout the film, Rae and Nanjiani keep up their banter back and forth, sometimes resulting in laughs, often in groans, but it is obvious that the two actors are having fun in the roles. The Lovebirds is one of those films to forget that what the characters are doing doesn’t make a lot of sense and just have fun listening to and watching this couple react to some impossible situations   My Rating: Bargain Matinee      The Lovebirds Website     The film is currently available on Netflix.

Forgotten Film: Eyewitness (1981) R    A Vietnam War vet turned janitor, Daryll (William Hurt) is obsessed with a news reporter, Tony (Sigourney Weaver). When a wealthy Vietnamese businessman is murdered in the janitor’s building, Daryll pretends to know about the murder in order to get the attention of Tony, but little does Daryll understand that the killers think he actually does know about the killing and they want to shut him and his reporter friend up. The supporting is worth the price of admission, with Christopher Plummer as a mysterious Israeli agent, James Woods as Daryll’s friend and fellow janitor and Steven Hill and Morgan Freeman as the cops investigating the murder. The mystery is a fun who-done-it, and the characters in the film are full and rich with interesting storylines. Weaver and Hurt have a nice chemistry that gets stronger as the film goes along. While not a great movie, it's still fun to watch all these actors in their prime act on the screen.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Eyewitness Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Lovebirds: Rigging Medic

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Old Guard (2020) R   Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a group of mercenaries who cannot die, have fought evil to protect the mortal world for centuries. Led by Andy and a new recruit (KiKi Layne), they have to regroup when their identities are exposed to the world they seek to protect. Anytime Charlize Theron is a lead in an action movie, I will be first in line to see it.     The Old Guard Website

Until Next Time!

The Wretched

My View: The Wretched (2019)  Ben (John-Paul Howard), a rebellious teenage boy who is struggling to deal with his parents' separation. Ben believes that somehow the family next door is responsible for the missing children in a town that is hiding secrets. Ben learns that the woman next door isn’t your ordinary neighbor; she is a thousand-year-old witch that has the ability to live beneath the skin of her victims. I really enjoyed this horror film which has just the right amount of scares to make it worth a watch. The plot is a little familiar, with a troubled teen who no one thinks is telling the truth until it is too late, but the film has some nice twists and turns that make the film keep the tension going. I liked Howard as Ben, who becomes obsessed with the creepy next-door neighbors. There is some excellent chemistry between Howard and Piper Curda, who plays Mallory, a teen girl who works at Ben’s father's business. The special effects, though on a small scale, are well done, and the witch is quite horrific. This film is much better than a lot of horror films of the past few years with twice the budget. In the mood for a late-night scare? This film might just fit the bill.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   The Wretched Facebook Page    Available for rent on participating on-demand services and is currently playing at drive-in theatres around the country.

Indiefest: Bull (2019)   In a rundown subdivision near Houston, a troubled teen, Kris (Amber Havard) breaks into a neighbor’s house, an aging bullfighter, Abe (Rob Morgan), who has seen his better days in the rodeo. Abe decides to take Kris under his wing, and their relationship will change both their lives forever. Bull is a low-key but excellent film about small-town living in Texas and the people struggling to make it in the world. I loved the look into the world of the small rodeos and the people that make it their world. Rob Morgan gives a multi-layer performance of a man who has lived a hard life but a life that he loves. Amber Havard provides us with an insight into a young woman who is just looking for someone to help guide her into making better decisions and not follow into the footsteps of her mother, who she can only see when she visits her in prison. Kris doesn’t make the right decisions, and Abe isn’t always the best person to be her surrogate father, but by the end of the film, you get the idea that they will be good for each other.   My Rating: Full Price    Bull Website     Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

My View: The Half of It (2020)  PG-13  Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is smart, so smart that she makes needed cash doing school work for other students. Ellie gets an unusual assignment; Paul (Daniel Diemer) wants Ellie to write love notes for him to give to Aster (Alexxis Lemire), the most popular girl in school. Ellie’s notes begin to work when Ellie realizes that she may have gotten in over her head and might be creating a surprising love triangle. This is a beautiful and funny take on the old Cyrano de Bergerac tale as things get a bit complicated and messy. I loved the cast of this film, and Leah Lewis stands out as the headstrong Ellie, who has taken care of her father since her mother suddenly died when she was thirteen. Lewis is perfect in the role, as Ellie, the studious misfit, falls slowly in love from afar with Aster as she writes love notes and, of course, texts for Paul as he attempts to date Aster. Writer/director Alice Wu, who gave us the delightful 2004 film Saving Face, has a great ear for dialogue, making her characters feel real and easy to root for. I loved the ending of the film and would welcome an update on the characters in a few years to see how things worked out for the trio.   My Rating: Full Price     The Half of It Website  Currently available on Netflix.

Indiefest: A Secret Love (2020)  A documentary on the love story between Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel. Terry played in the women’s professional baseball league, which inspired the classic movie A League of Their Own. The film tells Terry and Pat’s story, who had to keep their relationship under wraps for most of their lives. The documentary is a sweet and sometimes sad story about two women that hid their love for each other from not only the outside world but also their families as well. There are some great behind the scene pictures and plenty of home movies that make this film feel very personal. The couple is proud of Terry’s baseball career, where she was quite a player. The phrase ‘There is no crying in baseball’ shows up from time to time in their wardrobe. I will warn you that the film centers around the fact that the couple is getting up in years, and family/friends begin pressuring the couple to move out of their house and into a managed facility. The couple holds out as long as they can, and quite a few tears are shed as they finally have to make the move. The film gives us what it was like for two women who were in a loving and committed relationship that they felt they couldn’t share with the world until now.  My Rating; Full Price    A Secret Love Website   Currently available on Netflix.

Indiefest: Circus of Books (2019) In 1976, Karen and Barry Mason were struggling to make money. Barry happened to see an ad for a magazine salesman, and before you know it, the couple had an adult bookstore in Los Angeles that became a national icon and at one time, was the largest distributor of gay porn in the US. I saw this film at the Out of Film Festival here in Atlanta and had a blast watching it with an audience that couldn’t stop laughing at and with the Mason’s. The couple raised a ton of kids, all of who didn’t know their parents were in the porn business. The bookstore in the 70s and 80s was the place for gays to meet (and hookup, sometimes out in the alley in the back), and the Mason’s, though very conservative, kept their politics out of their bookstore. In fact, during the AIDS crisis, they kept employees that became stricken on the payroll, even when they were on their deathbeds. The film is funny and touching, especially as the couple finally decides that the bookstore has had its day, and it is time to close it down. You will have a great time with the Mason’s and their delightful and unusual little bookstore.   My Rating: Full Price    Circus of Books Website    Currently available on Netflix.

Forgotten Film: Castle in the Sky (1986) PG   A young boy, Pazu, comes across a mysterious girl named Sheeta, who somehow floats down from the sky. The girl is being chased by not only pirates but also an army and secret agents. Pazu and Sheeta go on an adventure to search for Sheet’s identity in a floating castle in the sky. If you have never experienced the magic of animator Hayao Miyazaki, then this is the film for you. The story is fun and adventurous with a touch of sci-fi and even a little steampunk added in. Castle in the Sky is an adventure that you and your kids will fall in love with, a film that will be a part of your family's favorite movies.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Castle in the Sky Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Half of It: Vocal Contractor

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Lovebirds (2020) R   A couple (Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani) are accused of a murder and now have to clear their name. Will they and their relationship survive the night? This film is from the same director, Michael Showalter that teamed up with Kumail Nanjiani to give us the 2017 film The Big Sick, so I’m there!    The Lovebirds Info

Until Next Time!

https://youtu.be/uMSkGD7RCdY