ROMA   4.0***

Well - to start - 'Roma' is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I have seen in a while. It is done in black and white and every shot is masterfully executed, blocked, framed, and detailed. The movie was directed, written, produced and edited by Alfonso Cuarón ( he Directed the awesome “Gravity” and “Children of God” movies). Amazingly Cuarón was also the cinematographer  and  did a phenomenal job.  Right from the opening shot I knew I was in for something very special. Cuarón's  long takes are masterful. Sometimes he lingers on a subject beautifully to emphasize a point, or makes a small adjustment to a shot - giving it a completely different meaning. The symmetry and pure brilliance of every single scene is a cinematic experience.

With that having been said, I should mention that this is a rather simple story that moves at a slow pace for 2 hours and 14 minutes and many people may find it TOO slow and even boring However the slow pace allows the awesome artistic and technical features to shine and stand out. The other thing is that there is full male frontal nudity, not for a fleeting moment but for a couple of minutes while the man performs martial arts to impress his girl.  Finally, it is a Mexican made movie so it is in Spanish with English subtitles. So be forewarned.

The story takes place in Mexico City in the early 70s, and is about Cleo, a young Mexican housemaid who takes care of a family of four children, along with their parents and maternal grandmother ( and a dog that poos more than most any other dogs) . The film is set in a time of political unrest and that backdrop adds to the chaos of what occurs in Cleo's life.   The film shows her routines as the housemaid, her trials and tribulations at work and love, and how her life changes when she becomes pregnant. She becomes so accustomed to her work routine that she practically cares and looks after the kids as if they were here own family. And family is definitely one of the themes in this film. Also, another of Roma's themes is the perseverance of women within the societal stronghold of men. With its unapologetic display of evil deeds at the expense of women going criminally unnoticed every day, Roma is, in a way, a love letter to say that Cuarón did not forget the multifaceted strength of the women in his life.  

The simplicity of this film is captured beautifully with the highly skilled cinematography, which Cuaron developed by himself. Every frame is methodically crafted in the form of a black and white portrait that perfectly reflects the people and the settings.. Cuarón's visual designs appear throughout the film, tying the somewhat loose plot into a resounding and heart wrenching force. He uses planes, water, cars, dogs, and themes of birth and death to represent metaphorically and sometimes literally how characters feel and their relationships to each other .

Rated R for graphic nudity, some disturbing images, and language.

NOTE: This Mexican movie will be Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Film and could even be nominated for Best Picture,  Director and Cinematography and other categories. It shows up in most Top 10 Movies of 2018.It was backed by Netflix and can be found there and is also playing in some theaters.

I read that the title of the movie, “ROMA” when spelled backwards is “amor” which in Spanish means “love”.

Sara and I re-watched one of the best comedy movies of all tine (it’s in my top 3 comedy movies) It came out in 1970 during the Viet Nam war although the story takes place during the Korean war. Some considered it an anti-war movie but I don’t agree. It is a satirical comedic look at the military in a war time hospital unit. Robert Altman is the Director and gave us a full-time laugh movie with unforgettable characters with names like: Hawkeye, Trapper John, Hot Lips O’Houlihan, Lt. Dish, Radar and Spearchucker. We saw it in 1970 while I was in the Air Force stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB at the base theater with a full house. The laughter started in the first two minutes and hardly stopped until the movie was over.

Below is parts of a 1970 review from the Hollywood Reporter which I fully agree with . A 4*** must see for everyone.

 John Mahoney, originally published Jan. 20, 1970 in the Hollywood Reporter

     *M*A*S*H is the finest American comedy since Some Like It Hot and The Graduate of 197o.    It stars 28 of the freshest, funniest comic improvisers around. M*A*S*H is irreverent of many things: war, sex, bureaucracy, military decorum, but never of the unquenchable spirit of its people, who work with the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital near the front lines of the Korean War and acknowledge therefore that they, too, are prisoners of war in a sense. 

While the point of the comedy requires that much of it be played against some gory backgrounds of emergency field surgery, only a negligible portion of the potential audience is apt to be offended. Nor, in context, will the language of M*A*S*H greatly offend, though at its most commercially groundbreaking, it includes such lines as "Schmuck!" and "All right, Bud, your fuckin' head is coming right off!" 

If one could stop laughing long enough, he would have to admit that the overly pious, the officious, the prudish among the film's company of surgical workers fall victims to some very cruel jokes, but that is as natural to the comedy as it is to the survival of the men and women who perform their jobs with pride and efficiency while desperately striving to maintain their individuality, pleasures and sanity in the constant presence of death. It is a tough, bawdy, bloody comedy, to be sure, and it has to be. 

But despite the necessary, and highly productive, use of caricature, M*A*S*H retains an extraordinary sense of actuality through the use of improvisational delivery which gives latitude to a carefully wrought script. It is fresh and spontaneous, plausible at its most logically improbable, thanks to Robert Altman's superior direction, the script, the fine selection of actors and to an omnipresent camera .

The FAVOURITE  2.8***

    Everybody requires something different from their moviegoing experience. Some of us need explosions and high-speed chases and easily identifiable good guys and bad guys while others want quiet moments of deep thought or subtle drama. There aren't any explosions in this film but there are deafeningly loud musket shots. There are no high-speed chases but  there is plotting, brooding, mind games and manipulation. And while we have bad gals/guys, there are no good gals/guys. The general theme of the movie is "Every woman or man for themselves" and to heck with anything else including one’s country. While there is humor spread out over the story the movie is still dark and troubling given the main theme.

The story goes like this: Lady Abigail (Emma Stone, excellent in the role) wants her place in aristocracy. New to the royal court, she is a cunning ambitious wannabe who craves fame, fortune, and, most importantly, power. Her arch rival is a woman just as cruel and demanding, her cousin, Lady Sarah Churchill (a winning Rachel Weisz) who is firmly entrenched in all the decision-making for Queen Ann (ruled England 1702 to 1714. These ladies-in-waiting scheme and battle to gain control of the queen. They rely on manipulation (including sexual advances) and one-upmanship to win-over a very unstable Queen Anne (a magnificent Olivia Colman), whose physical health and mental issues cloud her judgement.

The acting is absolutely stellar, Colman, Weisz, and Stone all giving crackerjack performances. The film explores the lengths to which people will go in order to yield power over one another. Though all three ladies get plenty of screen time, the film feels more "about" Abigail (Stone) than anyone, and we watch her first wrestle with her morals as she realizes how sleezy she will have to be to beat Lady Sarah (Weisz) at her game, and then commit to doing what she has to do to be top dog, . Olivia Colman (amazing acting job) as Queen Anne is a wolf in sheep's clothing, her physical and emotional frailty a camouflage for her monstrous obsession with being adored.

Director Lanthimos stages his scenes with astute skill, filling the screen with gorgeous costuming  and an amazing production . “The Favourite" looks stunning, the kind of film that often wins Oscars for production design, costume design, and cinematography and here actually deserves them. The film reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" in its look and tone, though "The Favourite" isn't afraid to get its hands dirty whereas "Barry Lyndon" remained stately and pristine.

I must admit that the Director Yorgos Lanthimos is not one of my favorite directors. While his 2015 film, “The Lobster” landed on some year-end  best films lists,  it landed on my “worst” film list. That movie was a pure indulgence of dry, cruel humor. His initial premise in “The Favourite” and  his other films is intriguing, but his convoluted plotting and third act ambiguous sour endings never satisfy.       

Rated R for strong sexual content (scenes of lesbian activity), nudity and language (these folks were rather bawdy)

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY  4.0****

Wow. What a brilliantly made film .Director Brian Singer has walked a sublime tightrope in creating a wonderfully engaging, funny and emotional film without turning it into a sleezy Hollywood smarm fest. This incredible story takes us on the journey of one of the most iconic rock bands of all time, Queen, and gives us a look at not only the birth and life of the band but a peek behind the curtain into the life of one of music's biggest legends and Queen front man, Freddie Mercury. From their humble beginnings playing college shows to their historic performance at 1985's Live Aid concert, “Bohemian Rhapsody” will take you on one hell of a rock n' roll ride.

Rami Malek is of course the star and his performance as Freddie is uncanny. Rami Malek takes on the role of Freddie Mercury with all the charm and swagger that the real man gave off. He is incredible. Most of the vocals are Freddie’s originals but Malek does attempt some of his own with commendable success, and you quickly forget it's not actually Mercury himself. If Malek doesn't at least earn an Oscar Best Actor nomination for this role, there is no justice in the Oscars.

Unlike some biopics the music itself does by no means fall by the wayside and there is a multitude of Queen classics crammed into the just over 2 hours running time. I was pleasantly surprised as to how much of the movie was dedicated to the music and if I hadn’t been in a movie theater I would have spent half the time air guitaring and singing at the top of my voice. (in fact during the last 10 minutes I did sing with gusto) Of course we have a lot of the film dedicated to Freddie and his declining social life, behavior and ultimately health and this is handled with so much respect and emotion that at no point does it seem forced or uncomfortable.

The film follows a classic rise, fall and rise again formula culminating in a final fist pumping, rousing half hour which sees the band bust out in what many say is the greatest live performance of all time as they re-emerge for Wembley’s Live-Aid concert.  What we  get with this exhilarating movie is a barnstorming, foot-tapping, heart pumping movie which for me is without a doubt one of the best Music biopics ever made. Go see it.

Rated PG-13 for certain elements, suggestive material, drug content and language 

This week some of the movie theaters give us a second shot at movies we have already seen. Chief among these is Schindler’s List Remastered (Dec. 7), a new print of Steven Spielberg’s harrowing 1993 drama about how one German industrialist (Liam Neeson) attempted to save Jews from the Holocaust. The multiple Oscar winner  (7 including Best Picture and Best Director) is a great film but a tough watch but well worth it as it is in the top 10 for best movies of all time. It is long .. 3 hr 15 min.

Sara and I re-watched it on the big screen with the super Dolby sound on Thursday night, and were awe struck all over again.

Below is parts of a review from the Chicago Tribune done in 1993 when it came out.

4.0****

Michael Wilmington, Tribune Movie Critic CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“The movie is a triumph on almost every level-of artistry, technique, humanity, entertainment and spirit. Anyone worried that Spielberg has bitten off more art and history than he or we can swallow should bury their qualms. Defying all our cynicism about big-time Hollywood (is he intent on capturing Oskar or winning Oscars?), this is a great movie, one of the most powerful portraits of World War II or the Holocaust on film.

At the center is Liam Neeson as Schindler, the suave, arrogantly handsome double agent in a world of institutionalized treachery and murder. Around him is a beautifully acted gallery: the victims (Ben Kingsley as the ghetto/factory financial genius Itzhak Stern; Embeth Davidtz as victimized maid Helen Hirsch; Jonathan Sagalle as Poldek Pfefferberg, who first told writer Thomas Keneally the Schindler stories), persecutors (Ralph Fiennes, memorably loathsome as Commandant Amon Goeth) and protectors (Caroline Goodall as Schindler's long-suffering wife, Emilie).

The picture doesn't cheapen its subject. It gives us the stark, horrific atmosphere of Krakow, Poland, and Brinnlitz, near Czechoslovakia, even of Auschwitz-Birkenau itself. It gives the nerve-shattering chaos in the ghettos and camps and also provides a nightmarish portrait of Nazi evil: Fiennes' brutish, smug, weirdly comic Goeth, a sadist and voluptuary who kills prisoners as King Lear's wanton boys kill flies, for sport.

Neither does the movie slight Schindler. "Schindler's List" is based on Keneally's 1982 book and on the memories of the Schindlerjuden, Jews saved by Schindler during the war years. And the story's prime fascination lies in its paradoxical take on his nature: opportunist and benefactor, philanderer and crusader, sinner and savior.

With seemingly effortless grace and skill, "Schindler's List" balances fear and exaltation, humor and horror, love and death. It evokes, superbly, a time of savagery and grief, and the inexplicable, stunning compassion that rises within and against it.

Yet the irony is inescapable. The Jews on the List, after all, the ones Schindler saved, were the exception, the chosen-the shocked and happy few among millions who died. That's the dirge keening beneath Spielberg's psalm of unlikely benefactions. For if goodness in the face of absolute brutality were not so rare, its spectacle couldn't make us weep.

Sara and I re-watched this 1989 Christmas movie and enjoyed it all over again. It never got much acclaim.. sort of fell by the wayside so far as Christmas movies go. But it is in my Top 10 of Christmas movies. A modern but old-fashion Christmas story.

     PRANCER   3.5***

   “Prancer” is inspired by the famous newspaper article “Yes, Virginia: There Is a Santa Claus” A 9 year old girl named Jessica Riggs is being told by others around her there is no Santa Claus yet steadfastly holds to her faith that he exists. This modern day “Virginia” loves Christmas and everything about it, and is horrified to see a street decoration Prancer (the reindeer) be damaged in an accident. Later when she comes upon an injured real reindeer in the forest, she assumes it to be Prancer, and hides him in a shed on her farm and takes care of him. Jessica is feisty at times, but always shows a good heart in her effort.

For Jessica, who listens to Christmas records year-round, a belief in Santa Claus is absolutely essential. Jessica has gotten her belief in Santa Claus tangled up with her faith in God. She reasons that if Santa doesn't exist, then maybe God and  heaven don’t exist either. And if there's no heaven, she wonders about where her dead mother is?

The girl’s faith is only part of the story. How Jessica (Rebecca Harrel) touches others who have lost their hope and faith in various ways is even more profound, and touching. A village recluse (Cloris Leachman), a veterinarian (Abe Vigoda), her jaded widowed father (Sam Elliot), her skeptic friend (Ariana Richards), a newspaper writer (Michael Constantine) are all wonderful in these roles.

The cast is amazing, . Sam Elliot and Cloris Leachman are the main huge stars, but the hit of the show is Rebecca Harrell, who plays Jessica. She is enthusiastic without becoming too sugary,  she’s touching rather than cloying, and displays a real determination as she clings to her feelings longer than the adults in the story expect her to do,.  

The movie's plot plays out very well; each scene evokes different emotions and captures them all well. Sweet but not too sweet, heartfelt, genuine, touching. Everything a FAMILY Christmas movie should be. Kids and adults will get a yuletide glow from this one. One caution. The movie has a serious side and there are sad/tense moments along with the sugar and spice.

  

 

 

   WIDOWS  3.0***

   A crime thriller set in Chicago, this film is about a group of wives of career criminals who find themselves the targets of powerful political and criminal interests after their husbands die in a police shootout following a robbery of another gang’s money. Still grieving, they soon discover how much their husbands owe and who is after them for it and thus a bold heist that was to be done by their husbands is undertaken by them.

A contemporary crime drama, this one delivers well-defined characters and a fast pace that powers the story. It's all woven together by Director Steve McQueen's stellar direction (known for “12 Days a Slave). As a film taking place in Chicago, this story touches on the occasional overlap between the political and criminal worlds. The menacing backdrop of the political tug-of-war between the rich and the poor adds to the film's tension.

This film has a truly stunning ensemble cast and most of the actors and actresses are very good here. Even though the ensemble is large, most of the characters are surprisingly well-developed--a rarity in films with this number of characters. Viola Davis is outstanding as the lead actress ( A sure thing for a Best Actress nomination) . Other standouts in the cast include Colin Farrell as the son  of a crooked and openly racist machine politician (Robert Duvall,) and Daniel Kaluuya as a psychopathic criminal.

The film's heist scenes are suspenseful and well-executed although quite fleeting in duration. The same is true with the scenes regarding the actual planning of the heist. You should know that the film is more of a political/mob drama than a true heist movie.. The film's attempts at social commentary hit most of the time, but the misses don't leave much of a mark.  

"Widows" is a good film but not a great one.  With an ambitious tone rooted in urban and social issues and a number of plotlines, the film bites off more than it can chew. It is also unevenly paced, as most of the planning and execution of the heist occur in the film's final 30 minutes. Yet despite this, the film feels a bit too long. Some of the first act could have been trimmed to tighten up the story. That said, this is a fairly good heist movie  so long as you know what you’re in for. 

Rated R for violence, language throughout, and some sexual content/nudity ( This is a fairly hard R)

GREEN BOOK  4.0***

by saying this is the BEST movie I have seen this year !!!!

I love it when directors who are usually identified with one type of film break  out of that cycle do something radically different. Such is the case with writer/director Peter Farrelly who is  known for mostly doing gross out, or raunchy and immature comedies such as the Dumb and Dumber( very dumb movie) and There’s Something About Mary (which I liked a lot) doing a 180. This time around, with Green Book, Farrelly takes a true story and helps write the screenplay and directs. The film  has just as much humor, better humor, as the films he would normally do, but here he elevates his style by giving the film a timely message of friendship and acceptance.  

Green Book is based on a true story about a black concert pianist (played by Mahershala Ali) who tours the American Deep South in the early 1960's, and takes along a rough-and-tumble Italian bar bouncer as his driver/fixer (played by Viggo Mortensen). The driver (Viggo) begins the tour as a northern racist who takes the eight week assignment because he needs quick cash. The pianist (Ali) starts the tour as a lonely and pompous uppity concert pianist unable to fully navigate the white world where his music is highly valued, and equally uncomfortable in black-America. The couldn't be more different if they tried.  Through the film we see the two characters slowly find each other and themselves as they subtly bond, and we feel the connection as a real friendship blossoms. One of the things I liked best is the movie teaches tolerance as much by example without preaching at you.. It all unfolds through a myriad of natural moments between two great actors and a strong supporting cast. 

The title of the film  (“Green Book”) comes from a once essential tour book for African Americans that listed hotels and other businesses willing to serve black customers, in a shameful era when American blacks were legally equal to whites but discrimination in the South remained grossly overt.  

This is a wonderful film about putting prejudices aside and seeing goodness within your fellow man and learning to appreciate that. This road trip truly reshapes the two characters in marvelous ways. This is an absolutely an outstansing film that made me laugh more than any other film this year and at the same time warmed my heart  while shocking me by the deplorable racist attitudes and actions of the 60's.  It  shows how far we still need to move ahead as a society.

The performances by the two leads are I think the two best male performances I have seen this year and the characters are so wonderfully vibrant and full of emotions, personality and life all thanks to a meticulously researched screenplay based on a true story. A film of this type of quality does not come along too often, so I suggest you see it while you can and do not be surprised to see  Oscar nominations and even wins coming from it

. One of the best films of this year.

Sara and I re-watched “Field of Dreams” (1989) and once again  were swept away by this magical fantasy story. This is about as close as it comes to a perfect movie. In fact it is my #1 Sports movie in that genre. While the sport is baseball, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to love it. It’s really more about dreams and redemption of the best kind.

Here’s my review:

FIELD OF DREAMS  4.0***

    I truly believe that every once in a blue moon, a film comes along which contains a remarkable sense of wonder coupled with the power of dreams. The title says it all: "Field of Dreams” which has become an American classic. This film  reaffirms that dreams can come true and people can be saved by what they  believe in. And to top it all off, baseball is its subject. The great American pastime takes on a mystical quality that adds to the magic of the story

Kevin Costner plays Ray Kinsella, an Iowa corn farmer who seems to be stranded in his life.  One day, while roaming aimlessly through his cornfield, he hears a unknown voice speak to him saying the words that have become synonymous with the film itself, "If you build it, he will come." He is compelled by the strange message and comes to believe that the words mean he is to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield, and he sets out to do just that, and indeed does one heck of a great job.  Nothing comes of it until one night somebody in a 1920's baseball uniform turns up on the baseball diamond ready to play baseball. This happens to be the great Shoeless Joe Jackson who is dead but has come back to play the game he was banned from playing.  Other Baseball greats soon join him to play. When the voice continues, Ray seeks out a reclusive author played by James Earl Jones to help him understand the meaning of the messages and the purpose for his baseball diamond. For Ray it’s a journey of self-discovery with some truly beautiful moments.

It's not just  the film/story that delivers, it's also the actors who make this delightful tale come to life. Kevin Costner is surrounded by other great actors in Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan and Burt Lancaster, and he wisely lets these actors dominate the scenes that he shares with them . However, Costner is the glue that binds the whole film together … his is a very engaging performance for which he should have gotten more recognition.

"Field of Dreams" is one of the most fascinating films I've seen, and one of the best. I was deeply moved like Costner and Jones were by the miraculous incidents put in front of them. Anybody who likes a “feel good” film like “It’s a Wonderful Life” will also fall in love with this movie .  

This is a DO NOT MISS movie.

Rating: PG

First MAN   2.8***

               Ryan Gosling and director Damien Chazelle ( La La Land and Whiplash) reteam for a mostly understated  dramatic account of Neil Armstrong (Gosling) and his life during the 1960s. The film presents more of an intimate focus on the man and his family  and his sacrifices rather than a “rah rah" retelling of the space race. Much screen time is devoted to Armstrong and his wife Janet (Claire Foy), including dealing with tragedy (the death of his 3 year old daughter to brain cancer and the harsh realities of the dangers of being an astronaut ( as movingly shown by the scene of Armstrong painfully telling his sons that he may never come back from his moon mission).

Any  discussion of this movie  brings up a comparison to The Right Stuff,  Apollo 13 and Gravity. Those were space movies. On the other hand, First Man is a movie set partially in space. Specifically, it's a family drama - an intimate and personal portrait of a man and his family.  As for the space scenes, they are spectacular and better than most movies before it. They aren't sexy or glamorous. They’re realistic in a way I don't think I've seen before and all the more powerful for it. I strongly believe this movie captures what it feels  like to actually ride in those small claustrophobic space vehicles in a way that’s not  been done before.

Nonetheless , the movie was somewhat of a letdown for me for given reasons.The focus is on the man, Neil Armstrong, who was a  great hero but as a man he was reticent, withdrawn and a man of few words. This does not make for good drama. And there is also the fact that everyone knows how it turns out.... he’s the first man to walk on the Moon and return safely . So all the dangerous events he encounters beforehand, though quite well done, are not very suspenseful because we know he survives . Finally the movie is too long ( 2 hr & 21 min) and whatever tension could have been generated is sucked out by the time it’s over.

 Overall I  liked the movie for what it is; a well-made biopic of a fascinatingly courageous  man with awesome scenes in space.

THE GREEN MILE 4.0***

               Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) directs his second film and second, and in my opinion, one of the best Stephen King adaptations with The Green Mile. The film centers on Death Row at a Southern penitentiary known as 'the green mile' due to the dark green floor. The time is 1935 during the post-depression. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the head guard on the Green Mile when the towering new inmate John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), convicted of murdering two young girls, is brought into custody. Despite his huge figure and supposed horrific crimes, Coffey seems to be of a more gentle nature, like that of a child, not a child killer. After some time Edgecomb starts to notice miraculous things coming from Coffey, leading to questions about whether Coffey could be capable of the terrible things to which he has been convicted

Director Darabont doesn’t rush this film, which clocks in at three hours  which is not a bad thing because it allows the characters to be developed and the story to build. Darabont delivers precision in his direction and manages to immerse the audience in the death row setting, using the flashback device to ease into the story. Plenty going on during the film including some vile horrible characters, both guard and convict, as well as many acts kindness and generosity.

The acting throughout this film is awesome with Tom Hanks leading the way, allowing the film to flow smoothly, keeping the audience listening and watching which is definitely needed due to the length of the movie. Michael Clarke Duncan perfectly portrays the friendly giant John Coffey, successfully giving off a combination of innocence and mystery. Furthermore, the supporting cast, which includes Sam Rockwell, David Morse and James Cromwell, is also excellent. In fact this is one of the best ensemble casts you’ll find in a movie.

This movie is a triumph as an incredible story and an incredible movie that tells the story. It’s a beautiful emotional film that is perfectly done.

Rated R for violence (the electric chair executions are quite realistic and graphic ) and language and some sex-related material (very mild) |

 

My Cousin Vinny”. (1992) 4.0****

Another “oldie but goodie ”that is one of Sara & my all-time favorites !! It is in my top 15 of legal movies .... actually #3.

Joe Pesci’ character  is called upon by his Nephew to defend him & his friend from a charge of robbery/murder in Alabama... rural Alabama. His character has a legal degree thru night school and passed the bar exam ... not the 1st time ... not the 3rd time .. but it took 6 times !!! And he had not yet had a trial civil or criminal  yet he is being called upon to defend the 2 boys in a capital murder trial .

The Director was a lawyer & insisted that all the trial scenes/legal matters be correct & accurate .... and were to the extent that the American Bar Association ranks this movie #3 in their top 25 legal movies.

The story is hilarious and yet an excellent trial movie ... so good that I think law schools should require law students to watch it . The humor is primarily generated by and between Pesci and his fiancé played by Marisa Tomei who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.  They are both from New Jersey & speak heavy “ Jersey”. Their scenes range from a “debate” about a leaking spigot, her defense of not killing a “dearr” ( deer) and the matter of her biological clock  for having babies ticking away ... and on & on !

You really should see this movie...I guarantee that you will like it !!!

A SIMPLE FAVOR 3.5***

     I came into this movie not knowing what to expect. If you've seen thrillers like Gone Girl you get the general gist of this movie.   What  I was not ready for was the excellent blending of comedy into such a gripping suspense thriller. Between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively there are  plenty of laughs to go around especially when both share the screen time together. Their chemistry is stunning.  

Anna Kendrick plays Stephanie, an uptight  single mom who, when not doting on her cute son, keeps up a cooking/crafts VLOG ( a “vlog” is a video log of a person’s thoughts, opinions or interest usually collected on YouTube) with a tiny audience. One day, while picking up her son at school, she encounters  a mom of a different kind, played to BASIC INSTINCT perfection by Blake Lively. A case study in dead-eyed assertiveness, her Emily oozes strong-willed fashionista while Stephanie has her  meek but sweet passive-aggressive down pat. Quicker than you can say, "Play Date!" the women bond at Emily's gorgeous home over martinis and swapped stories about their wicked pasts.  

After being asked  "a simple favor" by  Emily  to pick up her son from school, Emily’s then total disappearance sends  Stephanie into a spiral of mystery, passion, and shocking discoveries. Stephanie does all she can to find Emily, taking such Nancy Drew action steps as scanning through microfiche at the library and snooping around Emily's office at a NY Fashion Design empire.  As she searches for clues, Stephanie learns that neither she nor anybody else knew Emily very well at all.

Take every trashy supermarket novel and Lifetime Network movie imaginable, stew them together into a pot, and you've got yourself Director Paul Feig's ( did “Bridesmaids”, “Heat” and “Spy” ) newest film. That's not a bad thing at all, though, thanks to Feig's strong direction and a wickedly talented cast led by the always phenomenal Anna Kendrick. Kendrick's    (especially when comedic) is right on point with every single line, mannerism, and endearing little fumble she makes, It's easily one of the most fun performances of the year. Lively's performance is also outstanding. Some people think she only has opportunities because she is married to Ryan Reynolds. But she is quite talented as well as gorgeous.

Overall the movie was a lot of fun and as well as a puzzler. The plot maintains its twists and turns as you would expect in a mystery/thriller and and at the same time delivers many funny quips and laughs that don’t feel overused or out of place. 

Rated R (for sexual content and language and some  nude images, drug use and violence.

OPERATION FINALE   2.5****

          Hollywood loves a true story, especially the kind most of us have either forgotten or never heard of. “Operation Finale” fits squarely into this field considering it’s a recognizable true event.

Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), a Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel was the logistical mastermind of the holocaust. A powerful Nazi who, unlike his colleagues (Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels), survived World War II,  escaped Germany and  fled to Austria, then Argentina. His whereabouts remained a mystery until one day in 1960, when a chance encounter between his nephew Klaus  and a German Jew . Word soon gets to the Israeli Mossad ( similar to our CIA) director who dispatches a team to Buenos Aires. Their mission is to find Eichmann and bring him back to Israel to stand trial. The group  is led by Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac).  If they succeed, Jews the world over will experience some relief from the years of unspeakable atrocities.  It's a compelling premise, all the more so for being real.  

Why, then, don't we connect with it on screen as much as we might? The answer may lie within a simple plot point. For reasons for which the film does not elaborate, the Israeli air force refuses to fly into Argentina to extract Eichmann. This leaves El Al, the nation's commercial airliner. But El Al won't risk such a venture without a signed note from Eichmann consenting to his departure. Thus, a large portion of the film details the Mossad's efforts to convince Eichmann-perhaps gently, perhaps not-so gently to consent to such a seemingly absurd action.

It is in this waiting that the movie loses steam.  Also it is quite difficult to generate tension when we know the outcome. We know they get Eichmann to Israel for trial.

 A slow script cannot hide Kingsley's  magnetic creepy portrayal of the reclusive and manipulative Eichmann, nor Isaac's complex, restrained passion as the team’s leader.  

Operation Finale is the kind of film you see once, admire and appreciate, and probably don't see again. In fact that is reality for probably 90% of movies, even the good ones.  

NOTE: “Eighth Grade” is an amazing “slice of life/coming of age” film. As an aside,  I cannot identify as well with “middle school” life as most of you will. Way back in my day in Greenville NC we did not have middle school. We had elementary that went from 1^st thru 7^th grade and high school that went from 8^th thru 12^th. I could compare this character’s finishing 8^th grade and middle school with my first awkward scary year in high school as an 8^th grader.)

EIGHTH GRADE   4.0***

   If you want to understand what it may feel like to be an eighth-grade girl today, go with the perspective of comedian and first-time director Bo Burnham’s movie “Eighth Grade” and experience the anguish, self-doubt, loneliness, and hope of making it to high school with enough of your identity intact to make it through. 

The film centers around 8^th grader Kayla Day (played by Elsie Fisher), who goes through many struggles during her last week of 8^th grade classes prior to entering high school. From the opening scene alone, we understand Kayla's character and emotions rather quickly. Her awkward tone is demonstrated through her self-created You Tube videos (which are seldom watched by anyone), especially with her using the awkward "ums" and "likes" to collect herself. In addition, we see and experience the sympathetic side of Kayla and her constant mood swings, showing how relatable her character truly is. However, the most dramatic aspects come from Kayla's self-imposed negative relationship with her father (a single parent), who seems just as concerned about Kayla's difficult life as she does, which helps to create the right amount of emotional depth.

“Eighth Grade” is a brilliant rendering of the adolescent mind with enough social-media exposure to either crush Kayla or move her forward to self-understanding. Kayla and the other teens spend an enormous amount of time on their smart phones, occasionally doing smart, creative things, but most often texting and surfing.  In almost in every screen situation they are seen looking down at their phones.

This is a movie that is so good that words do not do it justice. And Elsie Fisher’s  performance  is so masterful and realistic and sympathetic that you'll find yourself cringing when she cringes, laughing when she laughs, and crying when she cries; you'll share in her happiness and her sadness; and you'll be glad to do it because her performance is without a doubt one of the best one of 2018 and should garner her a “Best Actress” Oscar nomination. She gives one of the best portrayals of a teenager I have ever seen on film. She doesn't deliver lines like an actor, but instead with all the unevenness and unsure feelings one would expect from a teenager. She doesn't look like a supermodel so you buy every single second of her self-doubt, her nerves and anxieties. Now, don't get me wrong, all of the performances in this film are excellent; but Elsie shines so much more brighter.

It is Rated R for language and some sexual material which is unfortunate because it should be seen by middle and high school students. So if you have a 12 or older son or daughter, take them to see this movie.

The HAPPYTIME MURDERS 1.5***

     Rated R for strong crude sexual content and language throughout, and some drug material.

I’m putting the “R” rating first because this is NOT a children’s movie !!! In  fact many adults will or should forego this movie because the simulated sex going on with the puppets is so graphic and crude that many will be offended. You ask how can that be with puppets, well they figured it out.

The story:  Puppets live in L.A. along with humans, but only as second-class residents. The puppet hero is Phil, a down-and-out private detective, salvaging a meager living after being booted from the  LA police force for an unfortunate incident. He's a classic example of a film-noir PI, complete with a dumpy office in a seedy area, and a devoted ditzy secretary (Maya Rudolph). When the puppets who starred in an old sitcom called the Happytime Gang start getting bumped off, his efforts to solve the crimes  lead to his reluctantly reuniting with his former LA police partner (McCarthy).   Enter Melissa McCarthy in her normal foul-mouthed role. She swears in direct proportion to how un-funny her role is; as if doing that will make up for a really bad script. In this she doesn't need to swear too much but she does anyway.  

It gets very weird. This is what happens when sexually repressed puppeteers have to do nice, fluffy kiddie films for fifty years. When they finally get a chance let go: they really let go. Including bad language, graphic simulated puppet sex (including Phil having hot and heavy sex with another puppet and shooting a ton of silly string all over his office  but not with his gun),  and cow-milking with extreme prejudice. I think the Director wanted to embarrass the audience and succeeded quite well. Although indulging in a lot of tastelessly vulgar stuff may have been meant to provide humor, it actually proves to be quite off-putting and more offensive than funny.  

On one positive note, I will say the puppetry is excellent. The puppeteers and technical wizardry behind making these puppets characters as convincing and believable as they are is an achievement. But all the negatives of the movie far offset the fine puppetry.

MAMA MIA: Here We Go Again  3.0***

  

         In a world that has gone crazy, it was so nice just to sit back with my wife, Sara, for 114 minutes and forget about real life. Transport yourself back to a simpler time and of course to the wonderful music of ABBA. Throughout the movie you go through all the emotions yet once it’s over you just want to sit back and relish the good feelings. The whole cast looked like they had as much fun making it as we did watching it. Everyone did their bit although Lily James was outstanding as the young Donna. It's one of those rare films where you leave the theater and re-enter the real world with a big smile. 

The movie is a sequel as well as a prequel, showing us Donna's life before Sophie was born, and Sophie's life after her mother has passed on. The young versions of Sam, Bill, and Harry were recognizable and resemble the adult characters. Lily James as young Donna was perfect! We heard the story of the three dads in the first movie, but now we are able to see how it could have happened. And then there was Cher. She was excellent, and there was just enough of her.

I was curious about which, if any, of the musical numbers in the 1^st movie would appear in the sequel. Well a number of them were performed but with a more spirited presentation  ("Super Trouper", “Mama Mia”, and "Dancing Queen" especially) . Then regarding the other numbers, i.e. the added songs, were well picked and gracefully, as well energetically, performed.  

The back-and-forth narrative with the present flashbacking to the past has a nice balance that actually parallels until both timelines reach their climax in one beautiful number before the celebrative finale  

Credit goes to the large cast for making the words, both in the narrative and songs, more fun and lively. The dynamic of the returning cast from the first film is like a typical reunion while putting more sizzle into their performances. But the cast that stands out are those playing the younger version of their older counterparts with a fresh charm, particularly Lily James being a younger Meryl Streep.

I'm not going to  say that these Mamma Mia films great , but they are well done and the main thing is they are fun and I really enjoyed them. There's just something special about a group of actors, not normally seen in these cheesy films, having the time of their life singing incredibly catchy pop songs and dancing their butts off.

BLACKkKLANSMAN  4.0***

     For starters, this is a great movie that reminds us that nothing much has changed in the good old USA when it comes to race relations. Director Spike Lee and crew do a fabulous job bringing a story to life with an up-to-date ending that should affect any decent human being. The movie chronicles a stranger-than-fiction true tale of a black rookie police officer, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington), and his personal awakening to "white hate". His on-the-job experience leads him to involvement with two extremist groups, Black Power activists and the Knights of Ku Klux Klan. Going undercover with the black group is no problem for Ron, but he must enlist the aid of a white Jewish officer (Adam Driver), to impersonate him and infiltrate  the white supremist group. All this leads up to an amazing meeting with Grand Wizard David Dukes (Topher Grace) and exposing these hate-mongers and their terrorism. 

Spike Lee's films are always concerned with righting wrongs. Unafraid to call out racial prejudice and anti-Semitism, among others, his cinematic statements deal with current issues and our continued repeating of past mistakes. This is grandiose filmmaking, ambitious in its epic undertaking and layered with multiple storylines and stark imagery.  The tone of the film dramatically shifts  in its mood swings from heavy drama into  dark satire and humor to convey the irony and cruelty of the human condition.  

There are major set pieces that are quite impressive. Very notable is Lee’s crosscutting of contrasting scenes with the Klansmen and their families viewing D.H. Griffith’s  film: “A Birth of a Nation” ( considered very racist in its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan and its brutal images of blacks) in rapturous attention and chanting "white power" while in another part of the city, black college students listen in awe to a lecture about the senseless murder of an innocent black man as they shout "black power". The variance between the two groups is startling. Never one to shy away from making a political statement or two, Mr. Lee uses intense documentary imagery in the film including an ending holding our current President personally responsible for the polarized climate in our splintered nation.

John David Washington gives an interesting and quirky performance that nails his role perfectly, and Adam Driver, is excellent as the white undercover cop who handles the person to person meetings with the Klansmen with  some really great moments. The supporting cast does a great job especially Topher Grace as David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the KKK, who delivers an insanely fine performance.  

Rated R for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material

THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME  2.0***

    The buddy action/comedy has long been a staple of Hollywood films. In the 80s it became common in the buddy Cop format after the success of "Lethal Weapon" amongst others. In the new film "The Spy Who Dumped Me"; audiences are introduced to Audrey (Mila Kunis), and her friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon) two thirty-year-old best friends in Los Angeles, who are thrust unexpectedly into an international conspiracy when Audrey's ex-boyfriend shows up at their apartment with a team of deadly assassins on his trail. Surprising even themselves, the duo jump into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins and a suspicious-but-charming British agent, as they hatch a plan to save the world.

This might have been a stylish little spy movie.  But the movie isn't a spy movie—not really. There are no exciting secret-agents on display, and no detestable lunatic villain either. And the plot, involving yet another world threat from yet another hazy terrorist organization, is uninteresting. All of which is supposed to be okay, I guess, because this isn't a straight-up spy flick—it's a female buddy spy comedy. Okay. But then shouldn't it be funny—or at least funnier than what we have here?  

The central problem here is that the two leads, Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon, never mesh. There are times when they don't even seem to be in the same movie.  I love McKinnon, but she's over-equipped with one-liners here, and it's a glaring problem. Whenever there's a lull in the attempted zaniness, you know she's going unleash some kooky joke, and then she does, and then you give a sigh of amusement and wait for her to do it again. It's a comic strategy of diminishing returns, and it tends to leave Kunis looking sidelined. Neither actress is well-served by the poop gags, and the movie itself is undermined by its determination to blend comedy with bloody, limb-severing violence.

It’s the kind of movie that contains within it what could’ve been a 7 out of 10 as an action movie and a 7 out of 10 as a comedy, but when smashed together, it’s more like a 3.5 out of 10. That’s because the comedy serves mainly to puncture the realism of the action and the action renders the jokes irrelevant. It’s no wonder the movie ends up being kind of forgettable — it’s devouring itself while we watch.

Rated R for heavy violence and foul language throughout, with some crude sexual material and graphic nudity |

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT  4.0*** 

  Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt returns once again with his crew but this time three nuclear plutonium cores have been stolen and Hunt must  retrieve them to avoid a nuclear holocost. .  He’s joined by his reliable crew of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames along at times with Alec Baldwin and they're joined by Henry Cavill as a no-nonsense CIA operative and Rebecca Ferguson as a British MI6 spy. 

This movie has rejuvenated what had been a mostly weak summer of action-blockbusters. Sure there have been a couple of sort of good movies but thankfully this film is so far better. Actually, it's excellent. 

Its excellence comes from a commitment to the craft. Normally, three months of intensive training are required for someone to qualify for a helicopter pilot's license. Tom Cruise, in preparation for this film, did it in half that time. How? By training 16 hours a day, seven days a week. He did all this for one action sequence. The same dedicated training went into his training for the parachute drop from the rear of a cargo plane. That’s the level of commitment to the craft that went into this movie. 

Each grand set piece (all of which are glorious) fills the frame just right. Very little CGI is used, which makes everything look real because it is real. We aren't watching a contrived creation of what is supposed to look like Tom Cruise zipping through town on a motorcycle-he's actually zipping through town on a motorcycle, and he’s actually parachuting from a high altitude plane and piloting a helicopter. All of that pays off in a big way. It delivered what are some of the best, most intense action sequences in years. 

Each scene flows smoothly into the next, rarely pausing to catch its breath. It brings to mind memories of 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' which featured a similarly breakneck pace and continuous propulsion.  

Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action, and for brief strong language 

THE  FIRST PURGE   0.0***

         This has to be one of the worst, most divisive, race-baiting films I've had the misfortune of watching.  I have never given a movie a “0”***. Well never say never… this one earned that distinction easily.

I have seen all 3 of the prior “Purge” movies none of which was very good but at least they stuck to the general theme of what a purge was about. That being that American values had deteriorated  to the point where a very radical far far right President was elected who espoused the idea that a purge was good for the nation. That once a year on a given date  from 7pm to 7am the laws were suspended and anybody could kill or maim or rape anybody else without any consequence. It was helter-skelter for 12 hours once a year. In truth the plan of the President and his followers  was that the purge was a good way to get rid of thousands of the poor and downtrodden (primarily non-whites) and thus save billions of dollars in social aid. However this movie, as a prequel to the other 3 comes up with a ludicrous story to explain how it all started.

 The movie targets Staten Island, New York as the place where the first purge takes place. The movie then falsely shows that every single person on the island is of a different ethnic background and are either poor, a gang member, mentally unstable, or drug dealers. As the movie progresses you find out that this new government fearing that a real purge would not happen has hired mercenaries to infiltrate Staten Island and start killing any and every minority that they come across. Yes, you guessed it, every single one of these mercenaries is white and is dressed in either Klu Klux Klan garb, nazi-esque outfits, or as police officers. When one of the people working with the government  finds out about the ruse, the main baddie white guy explains that America needs to purge the minorities and lower class people from the country, because they bring nothing to society of any value.  

I cringed with disgust as I saw where the movie was going and the disgust grew.  The only good thing about it was that it was only 97 minutes long… it could not get over too soon.

A BIG shock was Marisa Tomie ( an Oscar winning actress) was in this trash of a movie although it was interesting that her name was not listed in the post movie credits as being in the cast. I don’t blame her.

Rated R for strong disturbing  violence throughout, pervasive BAD language, some sexuality and drug use .|