West Side Story

My View:  West Side Story   (2021) PG-13   The classic love story between two young people (Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler) who fall for each other during a turf war in 1957 NYC between the Jets and the Sharks. I am an admitted lover of musicals, a theatre brat who performed in a few during my childhood. I consider the 1961 film to be one of the greatest films of the 20th century, though it has always bothered me that the two leads of the film, Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, as the two star-crossed lovers, vocals were recorded by two others (Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant). Still, the dancing in that film is extraordinary, and Rita Moreno just dazzles on the screen as Anita. I am happy to say that this new rendition of the legendary musical by Steven Spielberg lives up to the 1961 film. Led by a magnificent and glowing performance of Rachel Zegler as Maria and an exciting and beautiful take on the choreography, this film stands up with the classic movie in every way. I absolutely loved Ariana DeBose’s performance as Anita, bringing as much passion and forcefulness to the role as Moreno did in the original. DeBose gives us an Anita who is proud to be from Porto Rico and is willing to stand up to anyone who gets in her way. Ansel Elgort's singing impressed me with his range, though I didn’t get as much turmoil and passion from his performance as I wanted. I love that they gave Rita Moreno a beautiful song to sing, in a role that a man has always played, and it could garner another Academy Award nomination for her for that song alone. West Side Story wowed and thrilled me from the start and gave us a performance by Rachel Zegler that will be long remembered. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again   West Side Story Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View:  The Unforgivable  (2021) R   After serving time for a horrible crime, Ruth (Sandra Bullock) just wants to put her life back together, one day at a time, but society won’t forgive her for her past. Her only hope for redemption is finding the young sister she was forced to leave behind. It wastes a good cast and a gutsy, real performance by Sandra Bullock with a plot that feels like it’s from a 1970s TV crime drama. Bullock’s Ruth is a woman who has spent a good part of her life in prison, and it has made her hard and almost unlikable. Ruth has only one thing to live for, to see her sister again, but society won’t allow her to contact her and puts up obstacles along the way to make it hard for Ruth to just make a living, much less start her life over again. There are a lot of great actors in this film, including Vincent D’Onofrio, Viola Davis, and Jon Bernthal, and most feel wasted in roles that don’t allow them to be much more than be a part of the storyline that Ruth must overcome. The Unforgivable's ending is so underwhelming that any drama that the film had is gone by the start of the credits.   My Rating: Cable    The Unforgivable Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Being the Ricardos  (2021)  R   Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are at the height of their success, with 60 million people watching their weekly TV comedy series, I Love Lucy, and their marriage seems stronger than ever. Their world may be crashing down around them as two stories are about to hit the newsstands that could wreck both their careers and their marriage. It’s hard making biopics about famous people, especially someone so iconic as Lucy and Desi. I loved the writing of this film, feeling that it gives us a great look at what made Lucy, Desi, and the show they created so groundbreaking, funny, and dynamic. It’s an interesting story at a critical and trying time in their lives as both a couple and as performers on a show that was more popular than anything either had done before. The problem is that the two leads for the film are terribly miscast. I thought Nicole Kidman did a fantastic job of portraying the Lucy behind the scenes but did a horrible job of portraying Lucy as the character on the show. The attempt to make Kidman look like Lucy is a bit distracting and takes away from her performance. The real problem is the miscasting of Bardem as Desi. I just never got the feeling for Desi, who he was, and for some reason, Bardem doesn’t process the magnetism that Desi had both on the screen and in person. I did love the performances of J.K Simmons and Nina Arianda, playing William Frawley and Vivian Vance. They are the best thing in the film, with their continuous bickering and their want for both of their characters to have more control over their careers than Lucy and Desi will let them. My guess is that J.K. will get another Academy Award nomination out of this role. Overall, I enjoyed the film because it gives us a behind-the-scenes look at making a classic, but the film doesn’t feel that it will be a classic itself.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Being the Ricardos Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide and will be available on the Amazon Prime platform on Dec. 21st.

My View: Don’t Look Up (2021) R   Two low-level astronomers (Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio) discover that a comet is heading for earth, and if we don’t do anything, it will destroy life as we know it on this planet. The problem is the President (Meryl Streep) is more concerned about being reelected and her son (Jonah Hill), her Chief of Staff, only cares about his followers on Instagram. The first fifteen or twenty minutes of this film are funny and full of laughs, but then the storyline becomes predictable, the jokes get old, and the film becomes almost obnoxious in its message that the world and our leaders are screwed up. The film wastes a lot of actors in roles that they aren’t meant for. Streep, surprisingly, is the weak point of the film, playing a character that is a cross between Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with absolutely no comedic feel or timing. Jennifer Lawrence also seems a bit miscast as a grad student who appears to be the only sensible one of the characters until she strikes up a romance with a teen skater punk played by Timothée Chalamet. There is zero chemistry between the two, and it brings that storyline down a peg or two because of it. The film feels as it goes along, it loses its way. Is it a farce, a straight-out comedy, or its it a tragedy? I could never figure that out, and by the end, I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters. If you make it to the end, there is a bonus scene at the end of the credits that one of my fellow critics predicted as they started to roll. That probably tells you all you need to know about this film.   My Rating: Cable    Don't Look Up Website  Now playing in select theatres and available on the Netflix platform on Dec. 24th.

My View: National Champions   (2021) R  Three days before the college football national championship game, Heisman trophy quarterback LeMarcus James (Stephan James) calls for a boycott of the game in support of his teammate Emmet Sunday (Alexander Ludwig) and all the other student-athletes that play the game without compensation or health insurance. Now, LeMarcus’s legendary coach (J.K. Simmons), on the cusp of winning his first national championship and NCAA, are coming down on LeMarcus to protect the prevailing collegiate athletic system. This is a film with its heart in the right place but never quite figures out how to effectively tell its story. It's a subject that needs to be talked about, and the film does an excellent job of giving us reasons why the system needs to be changed, but unfortunately, it has too many scenes where characters preach to us (sometimes literally), and that makes the film feel slow and clumsy. There is a whole sub-plot between Kristen Chenoweth (playing the coach’s wife) and Timothy Olyphant (playing a college professor having an affair with the coach’s wife) that is pointless and seems to only be there to give a bit of sex to the film. The film never delivers the impact that the film needs while just adding to the confusing plot that seems to write itself into a corner that it can’t get itself out of. The film has an ending that I have no idea why it happened the way it did and does nothing to contribute to the issues brought up in the film. National Champions is a film that feels that once done, it is like a tie in football, which always feels like a loss for each side. In this case, no one wins, including the filmgoer.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    National Champions Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Hating Game  (2021) R  Lucy (Lucy Hale) loves her job except for one thing, Joshua (Austin Stowell), a man that she hates working with and has become her biggest rival for promotion and success. Lucy decides to embark on a ruthless game of one-upmanship with Joshua, but there is one problem. Lucy is beginning to become attracted to him. This film far exceeded my expectations, as I found the film highly enjoyable and loved the chemistry between the two leads. There are sparks between Hale and Stowell right from the start, as you find that they seem to hate each other, but there seems to be an underlying attraction that they will soon not be able to resist. There is a level of attraction and even sexiness to their constant bickering and fighting, as they seem to be on opposite sides in a job that they both love but take very different views on how to do that job. What surprised me was that the film gets a little steamy, as the two realize that their attraction to each other is mutual, and that attraction comes out on the screen. It helps that the two characters seem to be so different. Lucy is warm and cares about her job and the people she works with, while Joshua seems a bit cold and calculated in dealing with people and the job. We soon learn that both have a passion for their jobs and each other. The film does the usual rom-com plot of bringing up an issue that could cause their breakup, but like any good romance, love will overcome all, even a bad boss or two.   My Rating: Full Price    The Hating Game Website  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Indiefest: To What Remains (2021)   Documentary about Project Recovery, comprised of a team of scientists and researchers who have dedicated their lives to searching the world over to find, recover and repatriate the remains of American servicemen and women who have been missing in actions since WWII. In just one area, around the island of Peleliu, over 200 Allied planes were shot down during World War II. Many of the airmen that died in those battles were never recovered, leaving their families to grieve and wonder what happened to their husbands and fathers. A group of dedicated men and women have taken on the task of trying to locate the wreckage of those downed airplanes and find the remains so that their families can give their loved ones a final resting place. The documentary follows a group of searchers as they look for a known downed plane in an area around the island of Peleliu, where the fierce fighting for control of the tiny island went on for three months. The film shows us how hard it is to locate the wreckage, even with the latest technology, such as underwater drones. This ‘needle in a haystack search makes it all the more remarkable when the searchers find a plane and then even better when they find the remains of the airmen who flew those planes. We see the extraordinary efforts that this search takes and their impact when those remains are brought home. To What Remains is a touching film about a group of remarkable men and women who have dedicated their lives to bringing home the fallen heroes of the past.   My Rating: Full Price    To What Remains Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Indiefest: The Real Charlie Chaplin (2021)   Documentary on the life and work of one of the greatest filmmakers of any generation, the legendary Charlie Chaplin. I am a huge silent film fan, though I am a bigger Harold Loyd fan (Safety Last, The Freshman), but it’s no argument that Chaplin took silent films from its infancy of just pure entertainment into the realm of art. This is a film that gives us the behind-the-scenes story of Chaplin, an incredibly complicated man, who hid behind his creation, ‘The Little Tramp.’ Using interviews with people that knew him, including his children, and a legendary interview with Life magazine in the mid-60s, the film gives us a glimpse into the private life of Charlie and his journey from a young teen performer on the stage to the biggest film star, who became more famous than anyone in the world. I loved the behind-the-scenes footage and photos of some of his legendary works, including scenes of Chaplin shooting one of his masterworks, City Lights. The film does deal with some of the dark sides of Chaplin’s life, his many wives, his tendency to woo his co-stars, many who were way too young for him, and his troubles with the blacklist times of the 40s. The Real Charlie Chaplin is a fascinating look at a man who gave us great films but seemed never to find the happiness or satisfaction he seemed always to be looking for.   My Rating: Full Price    The Real Charlie Chaplin Website  Playing on the Showtime platform starting Dec. 11th and On Demand.

Indiefest:   White on White (Blanco en Blanco)   (2020)   At the turn of the century in Chile, Pedro (Alfredo Castro) has been hired to photograph the wedding of a wealthy landowner on an isolated ranch. While waiting for the wedding to happen, Pedro becomes increasingly fascinated with the land owner’s soon-to-be wife and the people the landowner has taken the land from. The cinematography of this film is breathtaking and adds to the overall doom and misery that Pedro becomes involved with. Pedro is an artistic man who becomes trapped in a world where misery and killing are an everyday occurrences. He has been hired by a man he will never meet and becomes more and more entwined in the harsh, daily life of living on the ranch, where outsiders take the land from an indigenous people that they hunt down and kill, taking their ears as proof of their death. From the long shots that seem to go on forever to the white-out conditions, the country appears to be fighting back against these interlopers, with Pedro trying to survive in a world that doesn’t care about him and his pictures. Pedro has become a lost soul among other lost souls.    My Rating: Full Price   White on White Website  Now playing in select theatres and On Demand.

Forgotten Film: Cry Freedom (1987) PG   The story of the friendship of South African journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) who becomes friends with Steve Bilko (Denzil Washington), a black activist fighting the South African government during Apartheid. When Donald begins an investigation into the death of Steve, he and his family are forced to flee the country that they love. Unfortunately, the emphasis of the storyline is on Donald Woods and his family and not on Bilko because, at the time, Kevin Kline was a much bigger star than Denzil. Still, it’s an important story that is well done by an Oscar-winning director (Richard Attenborough); I just wish that Washington had been more at the forefront of the film.   My Rating: Full Price    Cry Freedom Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of National Champions: Hygiene Production Assistants

Coming Soon to Screen Near You: A Journal for Jordan (2021) PG-13   When Dana (Chanté Adams) first meets Charles (Michael B. Jordan), she doesn’t think he is her type. However, after a few dates, she realizes that there is more to Charles than meets the eye. They fall in love, get married, and are about to have their first child when Charles is deployed to Afghanistan. Before he leaves, Dana gives Charles a journal to fill with his thoughts for his son to read after he is born. It will be how Charles's son will get to know his father. You had me at ‘directed by Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan.      A Journal For Jordan Website

Until Next Time!

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Note to readers: I have started going to movies in the theaters, having received my two shots and passed the two-week standby period, wearing a mask at all times and following social distancing. Most of the films I am reviewing are still movies that I watched at home, but I will note in the review if I saw them in a theatre. I am not going to tell you whether or not to attend a theatre. Just be aware of the risks, do your research, and follow the instructions to the letter.

My View:  The Eyes of Tammy Faye  (2021) PG-13    The rise and fall of Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain), who went from very humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network (including a theme park) with her husband, televangelist Jim Bakker. Her downfall was trusting in her husband, who, through financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal, toppled their empire. Though hit with everything life could throw at her, Tammy Faye had a spirit that wouldn’t let all the hurt bring her down for long. First, the good news; Jessica Chastain is fantastic in the role of Tammy Faye, going from Tammy’s days as a college beauty who wanted to change the world through God’s love to the extreme, raccoon eyes makeup, and horrible singing voice of the PTL leader who we all became obsessed with when Jim and Tammy Faye’s kingdom came crashing down. It’s a brilliant performance that overshadows a movie that doesn’t give us much more than the high and low lights of her life. My problem is I never could figure out if this film was a drama, a comedy, or a satire, as it seems to have aspects of each. The film wants you to love Tammy and feel that she wasn’t in on the scam that PTL was during the Jim Baker times, but its' a hard act to swallow. The Eyes of Tammy Faye doesn't give us the redemption of the main character that the film needs and we want. Like Tammy Faye herself, the film stays way too long, making us feel a bit uncomfortable at the end, tired of watching the train wreck keep plugging along.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee    The Eyes of Tammy Faye Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

My View:  Cry Macho     (2021) PG-13     A washed-up rodeo star, Mike (Clint Eastwood), takes a job transporting a former boss's son, Rafa (Eduardo Minett), home and away from his alcoholic mother. It will be a journey where the cowboy and the kid learn about each other and about what it takes to be a man. For the first time in his career, Eastwood is playing who he is, an old man, damaged by time, who has seen better years. While I liked this character, a cowboy whose glory days are long gone, I didn’t like the movie, primarily due to a script that feels it is written for a first-time director and not a four-time Oscar winner. With cringe-worthy dialogue and a plot that takes forever to develop, the film feels amateurish. Combine that with a bad guy who is so inept, all it takes is a punch from a 90-year-old man and a horrible car chase that ends almost as bad as the movie itself. The relationship between Mike and Rafa seems forced, and their interaction never feels real; instead, it feels right out of those 60s TV westerns that Eastwood used to be on, with a storyline that concludes with all the loose ends tied up like a horse to a hitching post. Cry Macho sure feels like Eastwood's swan song, but I hope it isn’t. The actor, the director, and the man himself, all deserve a better sendoff.   My Rating:  Cable     Cry Macho Website   Now playing in theatres nationwide and on the HBO Max platform. 

My View:  Copshop   (2021)   R   Con artist Teddy (Frank Grillo) is on the run, and hitmen are hot on his trail. He figures out a way to avoid the hitman, Bob (Gerard Butler), who is just one step away, getting himself arrested. Teddy sucker punches local rookie officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) and lands in jail. The problem is Bob schemes his way into the lockup himself and is biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission. Mayhem ensues when a competing assassin (Toby Huss) shows up, and now officer Young must deal with two killers who want to finish what they came for. I enjoyed this film from the Quentin Tarantino school of filmmaking. Plenty of great one-liners, insane situations that get more crazy by the minute, and lots of confrontations with a bit of a puzzle thrown in make Copshop a fun ride. The cast has a blast with their roles with Toby Huss, as the crazy hitman, chewing up scenery with gusto, singing as he ruthlessly blows away anyone in the way of his mission. The film also has a great hero in Alexis Louder, whose character is too intelligent to be in this podunk town and too skilled with her six-shooter to lose in a gunfight. Both Butler as the cool, collected hitman and Grillo as the smarmy con-man are excellent in their roles, but it’s Huss and Louder that make this film worth seeing. I would love to see what happens next to these crazy characters.   My Rating: Full Price    Copshop Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

Indiefest:  Blue Bayou   (2021)   Antonio LeBlanc (Justin Cho) is married to the love of his life, Kathy (Alicia Vikander), and is a great step-dad to their daughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske). When arrested on an incident with Kathy’s ex, a cop, Antonio is shocked when confronted by the ghosts of his past, discovering that he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home. I want to first point out the extraordinary, deep, and complex performance that Sydney Kowalske gives as the stepdaughter to Antonio. It’s a great role that Kowalske gives us as a young girl who has had her heart broken by a parent and doesn’t believe that the world  Antonio has created with her will last. Justin Cho, who also wrote and directed the film, gives us a man trying to make up for the sins of his past but is stuck between a government that doesn’t forget, and a wife that he loves but hasn’t fully let into his dark past. I loved Alicia Vikander’s performance of Kathy, a woman who is trying to raise her daughter with a man she loves but is being pulled by outside forces, including the father of her daughter, a cop (Mark O’Brien), and her mother (Geraldine Singer), both of whom think Antonio is the source of all of Kathy’s problems. Blue Bayou is a moving film, enhanced by beautiful cinematography (made even better when I saw it in a theatre) that will make you get out the tissues plenty of times, so keep them handy. However, it is hurt by an unnecessary subplot involving a woman who comes into Antonio’s tattoo parlor and an ending that feels too contrived to pull at your heartstrings. Still, the film hits a lot of the right notes, and the performances by Cho, Vikander, and Sydney Kowalske make this a movie to see and maybe, just maybe, incite you to action.   My Rating: Full Price   Blue Bayou Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest: The Starling   (2021)  PG-13   After suffering a devastating loss, Lily (Melissa McCarthy) goes on a journey to expel a combative Starling bird that takes next besides her quiet home. The grief-stricken woman is about to find her will to live and capacity for love through a strange little bird. There is a good story in this film somewhere, but the filmmakers didn’t find it, and an able cast is weaker for it. Both McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd give their roles everything they have, but it’s not enough to save a script that, from almost the start, tries to bring a tear from your eye. O’Dowd is in a psychiatric hospital, being visited by his wife once a week on family day. There are attempts at humor throughout this film, but most of the time, those attempts fall flat, even when Lily begins to garden and is attacked on a daily basis by a very territorial bird. This allows Lily to meet a Veterinarian who used to be a psychiatrist (played by Kevin Kline). They begin a strange relationship that allows the combative Lily to seek help without admitting it. The film is not helped by a soundtrack that, like the rest of the film, tries too hard to make the film’s emotional moments work. The Starling never gives McCarthy and O’Dowd a genuine moment to show what they could have done with their parts about a couple trying to move on from the heartbreak of loss.   My Rating; Cable    The Starling Website  Now playing in select theatres including Landmark Midtown Art in Atlanta and available on Sept. 24 on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: Prisoners of the Ghostland  (2021)   In the frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is taken out of jail by a wealthy warlord called The Governor (Bill Moseley) and has been given a task. Find The Governor’s adopted granddaughter (Sofia Boutella) and bring her back, or the leather suit our ‘Hero' has been outfitted with will blow up. Ok, Nic Cage (I only call him Nicolas when he does serious work like the recent beautiful film Pig) has done some nutty and insane movies. Some films are meant to be seen at midnight at a film festival, while others can be seen in more traditional settings. This film, instead, should be seen at around 2 am after a few drinks, and that’s not a bad thing, just setting it up for you. The plot makes almost no sense, Cage is allowed to go full-throttle Cage, and the ending is just as weird as the rest of the film. That being said, if you can get by with a paper-thin plot, the overacting, and the gore, you just might have an enjoyable time watching this film. Visually, this film can be stunning at times, and the opening sequences of this film are beautiful and highly imaginative. The problem is that Prisoners of the Ghostland keeps going on and on with a plot that is too razor-thin to keep us in the game. I became bored with the movie about three quarters in and just wanted it to end. I will say this, anytime there is Nic Cage and samurai blades flying around, it can’t be all bad.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Prisoners of the Ghostland Info  Now playing in select theatres including the Plaza Theatre in Atlanta.

Indiefest: My Name is Pauli Murray (2021)  Documentary that looks at the life and works of Pauli Murray, a non-binary Black lawyer who influenced both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall. Pauli Murray was more than a lawyer. Pauli was a force of nature that should be better known. This is a beautiful and inspirational film about a ground breaker that most of us don’t know about. Pauli was a remarkable, driven person that was ahead of her time. It seems that everything Pauli did was ten to fifteen years before other people were doing that same thing and getting credit for it. From riding on a bus and refusing to move to the back once that bus crossed the Mason-Dixon to attempting to get into universities that didn’t allow Pauli in because of either of her race or her gender. Pauli was constantly pushing boundaries, all the while suffering because she didn’t fit into what society wanted Pauli to become to conform to. I learned so much from watching My Name is Pauli Murray, a film about an incredible person who made a difference in how we see people today, even if she didn’t get credit for those changes until this film.   My Rating: Full Price   My Name is Pauli Murray Website  Now playing in select theatres and will be available on the Amazon Prime platform on Oct. 1st.

Indiefest:  Best Sellers  (2021)   Lucy (Aubrey Plaza) has inherited her family’s failing boutique publishing house. In a last-ditch effort to save the business, Lucy goes on a book tour with the bitter, booze-addled author, Harris Shaw (Michael Caine), who put the publishing house on the map decades ago. This is an enjoyable film, primarily due to Michael Caine’s performance as an author who has been hiding behind the cloak of a first novel that made both his career and his publishers. Now a cranky man who would rather stay in his home than face the public, Harris is forced out on a book tour when Lucy discovers that Harris owes the publishing house another book, one which Harris has just finished. The film has some great performances by Caine and Plaza but has a plot that seems to get lost in trying to bring the publishing world into the electronic age by a storyline that just gets too confusing on why Harris’s new book suddenly becomes a success and ending to the film that feels too much like the filmmakers wanted to wrap everything up in a nice, pleasing ending. Still, any movie with Caine pissing openly in a bar while shouting out a British obscenity is a film to see.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Best Sellers Website  Now playing in select theatres.

Forgotten Film: Popi  (1969) G   A widower, Popi (Alan Arkin) from Puerto Rico, is trying to raise two sons in NYC and give them a better life. This is a film that I am going to tell you to turn off about halfway through it. The problem is that the film turns from being a well-constructed drama about dealing with life in a run-down neighborhood in New York to a comedy about a plan to have his kids appear to wash up ashore on the beach as Cuban immigrants. I love Alan Arkin, and I think the first half of this film shows him at his best; the second half is at his worst as he tries to milk the comedy bits too much to be even halfway funny. The film also has Rita Moreno as Arkin’s love interest, and any movie with Rita makes that film better. Just don’t watch it all the way through.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee     Popi Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Copshop: Groomer

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  West Side Story   (2021) PG-13   The classic story of two young people (Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler) who fall in love, around the hostilities that grow between the two rival gangs of the Jets and the Sharks. Directed by Steven Spielberg is enough to see this film, but a brilliant trailer combined with the recent documentaries on Broadway and Rita Moreno (who won an Oscar for her role in the 1961 film) makes me want to see this film as soon as possible.      West Side Story Website

Until Next Time!