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!

Jumanji: The Next Level

My View: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) PG-13   The gang (Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan) is back, and this time it’s a rescue mission. In order to escape the most dangerous game, they will have to go into an unknown country full of arid deserts and snowy mountains. While not quite as fun and inventive as the first film in this series, it’s still a thrilling and hilarious ride. The same characters are back, but there is a twist (quite a good one) that lets everyone in the cast have a blast. I don’t want to give away who or what Awkwafina plays in the film, but as with everything she is in, she steals the film from the regular cast. If you enjoyed the first film or even the original Jumanji that starred Robin Williams, I think you will have a great time on this adventure.   My Rating: Full Price    Jumanji: The Next Level Webpage

My View: Richard Jewell (2019) R   A security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is initially hailed a hero when he saves thousands from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Soon the FBI and the press believe that Richard is not a hero but the bomber himself. Clint Eastwood, in the last ten years, has had somewhat up and down success with the movies he has directed. There were a couple of winners with The Mule (2018) and American Sniper (2014), but too often his films lately have felt like Eastwood has just been going through the motions, like the horrible Jersey Boys (2014) and the boring The 15:17 to Paris (2018). While not the quality of Eastwood's earlier work like Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) or Million Dollar Baby (2004), Richard Jewell is still a good film with some outstanding performances. Paul Walter Hauser does an exceptional job as Jewell, a man who wanted so badly to be a law enforcement officer who when given chances to become one, blew it by being overzealous in his methods. Kathy Bates is almost sure to get a supporting actress nomination for her portrayal of Richard’s mother, a woman who always believed her son was a hero. For me, the actor that hit it out of the park was Sam Rockwell, as Jewell’s attorney, a crusty lawyer who sees that Richard is the victim of a system looking for a quick villain to prosecute. My one problem with the film is the two characters that are instrumental with Richard being persecuted; Olivia Wilde’s reporter character, who will go as far as to sleep with someone for inside information and Jon Hamm, playing the lead FBI agent who is willing to give her that information. Both characters feel like something out of a bad daytime soap opera and bring the story down quite a bit. These two characters lessen the film’s impact, but the film still has the performances of Hauser, Bates, and Rockwell to keep it upright.   My Rating: Full Price     Richard Jewell Facebook Page

My View: The Two Popes (2019) PG-13   The conservative Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) reign is plagued by a corruption scandal. He invites the liberal and future Pope Francis Jonathan Pryce) to the Vatican to discuss life and try to find common ground. Watching the two actors in Hopkins and Pryce work on the screen together is a joy. The two actors are let down by a second half of the film that can’t match the quality or charm of the first half of the film when we get to know the two men. The second half feels a little too much like a stage play and at times, becomes slightly boring. I did enjoy the back and forth of the two characters as they slowly find common ground and while each man may not agree with the other, they can, by the end of the film, acknowledge that the other man has made some good points for his side of their outlook on the Catholic church and its traditions.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee     The Two Popes Website

My View: Black Christmas (2019) PG-13   A group of female students are stalked by a stranger during their Christmas break, only to learn that the killer is part of an underground college conspiracy. Well, we are close to the end of the year, and I have to say, this film could have just made it to the top of the worst films of 2019. With a plot that makes no sense and dialogue that had to written by an Autobot, this film seems twice as long as its 93 minutes run time. There is a plot twist so out of left field that it took me a full five minutes to make sense of what happened. There is a reason that this movie was not screened ahead of time to film critics, because it is rotten. There is a short bonus scene at the end of the initial credits at the end but its not worth staying for.    My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again     Black Christmas Website

Forgotten Film:  Son of Rambow (2007) PG-13   The story of two unlikely friends; Will (Bill Milner), a young boy who loves cartooning, inventing things and 80s action movies and Lee (Will Poulter) whose life is strictly limited due to his family’s religious beliefs. The two boys bond over the Rambo film First Blood and they decide to film their own Rambo movie. The making of the movie will involve stealing a guide dog, setting off their school’s fire alarm, and almost getting run over by a Jeep. Both boys have home lives that are less than ideal and use the movie making to escape into a world of their own creation. While the storyline is a little weak, the chemistry between the two boys is off the charts, and the fun that they have creating their movie is infectious. Let’s hope that Will and Lee went on to make many more films.    My Take: Full Price     Son of Rambow Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Jumanji: The Next Level: Greens Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The Way Back (2020)   A former high school basketball star (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. This film seems right up in Affleck’s wheelhouse, though the trailer leaves me a little worried that it might be just a little sappy.      The Way Back Website

Until Next Time!