June Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

Aftermath was about a man (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who lost his wife and pregnant daughter in a plane crash and blames the air traffic controller for their deaths. He just wants someone to apologize and the airline refuses. The air traffic controller is tormented, psychologically tortured and damaged. He's forced to move to another state and separate from his family to give him time to heal although that gives him little relief. It all goes really wrong when Arnold finds out where the ex-air traffic controller is living. I don't know much about air traffic control but I would think if the pilot didn't wait for approval to descend, the crash was the pilot's fault, not the air traffic controller's. The whole story was tragic. It was based on the true events surrounding the crash of Bashkirian and DHL airplanes in 2002. ***

Black Butterfly is about a writer (Antonio Banderas) who is living out in the middle of Colorado country with writer's block. He drinks too much, misses deadlines, his wife left him, and he's trying to sell his property. He drives into town and ends up behind a logging truck that won't let him pass. In town we hear on the radio about a serial killer who has killed four women and our writer meets his real estate agent for lunch. The truck driver shows up, mad, and starts to pick a fight, but a stranger (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) at the counter goes after the truck driver. On the way home the author passes the stranger hitchhiking, thankful for helping him at the diner, offers him a ride and then offers to let him stay the night at his house. It's so wrong...who is stupid enough to do that? The stranger is scary strange, talks himself into staying to help around the house and then just gets weirder the longer he is there, paranoid when people come to the door, making himself at home, becoming very demanding, shooting off the author's gun, holding a knife to the author's throat, giving him advice on his writing,  and then disclosing he just got out of prison. Then it all gets very twisted...not once but twice. The whole time I kept thinking some of the plot was a little unrealistic, but by the end, I get it. I think that was on purpose. ***

A Coffee in Berlin was a gorgeous black and white German film with outstanding photography about the 24 hours of a young man who seems lost in life: breaks up with his girlfriend, drops out of law school, unemployed, after a DUI he goes through a psych eval and they refuse to give him back his license, he runs into a girl he used to bully when she was overweight, and has bizarre encounters with his strange friends. All day long he's trying to get a cup of coffee, but where ever he orders one they are out, he doesn't have enough money, the machine is broken, the machine has been just cleaned, his father bullies him to order drink instead, or they aren't serving anymore. Very creative and beautiful film and interesting because of that, but the story itself wasn't very interesting. ***

Extortion was about a family vacation in the Caribbean, they rent a boat, stop to explore an island, and the boat doesn't start. No water, no food and no one in sight. After a day or two and desperate, the man puts his wife and six-year old son in the boat and paddles out in hopes of finding boats, but they lose consciousness, and drift ending up on the beach of another island. A Haitian fisherman with his Hispanic boat captain find them, offer to save them for one million dollars. They hit the guy over the head and take him to a bank leaving his family on the island. He said no million and you will never find your family again. Desperation builds with each scene and the man goes rogue while everything goes wrong one step at a time. It's a roller coaster ride! Wow! ****

The Foreigner is a conspiracy/government/shoot-em-up/karate chop-em movie starring Jackie Chan who's daughter is murdered in a terrorist attack organized by the IRA. He can't get any answers from law enforcement or the government, but of course, he is Special Forces trained and goes after the Irish Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan). Chan's still pretty nimble for being in his 60s. I can't even remember the last time I saw a movie about the IRA. ***

The Great Gilly Hopkins is about a very angry foster child who is on her last family before being shipped off to an institution. Her foster mother (Kathy Bates) and math teacher (Octavia Spencer) attempt to help her adjust, she writes a letter to her useless, piece-of-garbage mother (Julia Stiles) telling her she's living in a filthy, abusive house. Just when she begins to feel at home and loved, her grandmother (Glenn Close) who got the letters takes her away. Sweet movie. Love her name: Galadriel. ***

I Am Yours was about a Pakistani-Norwegian woman who is divorced with a six-year old son. She jumps from man to man, most of them using her, not wanting to be in a relationship with her. Her parents disown her because she brings shame on the family. She's kind of confused and puts up with everyone's disrespect. Didn't see the point. Crappy title. **

The Last Movie Star is about an elderly movie star (Burt Reynolds) who was once the most popular actor in Hollywood. He is sent an invitation to receive a life time achievement award promised free airfare, first-rate hotel, and award presentation. He's not interested, but his friend (Chevy Chase) talks him into thinking this is the prestigious "Nashville International Film Festival" not realizing it's an amateur event called the "International Nashville Film Festival". He is picked up at the airport by a bad-attitude mentally-ill messed-up girl (Ariel Winter) dressed in sleazy shorts with her butt hanging out driving a beat up old car, taken to his seedy motel by the freeway that smells like pee and Pinesol, then driven to the bar where the event is held to watch his films projected on the wall. The event organizers are his most devoted fans and they are thrilled he was willing to participate when no other celebrities would. He's appalled. Growing old is bad enough and trying to negotiate each day, but this just reminds him he's now a second-rate has-been. He starts acting resentful, entitled, and rude to his hosts, skips the event to go reminisce about his youth in neighboring town where he grew up taking the bad-attitude girl with him. Excellent theme: Don't take your youth for granted and use each day of your life in the best possible way. Love the flashbacks as he talks to his younger self from film footage outtakes.  That was brilliant. I can't imagine anyone else but Burt Reynolds in this role! It was practically his life story, tweaked to be fictional. Good lord he was good looking when he was young!!!!! We forget how gorgeous these guys were in their heyday. I think Bette Davis said, "Getting old is not for sissies." So true. It's damn hard work. ***

Loving Vincent was this amazing, hand-painted cartoon in the style of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings.  Absolutely amazing. It takes place a year after Van Gogh's death and addresses the controversy. I've always questioned the theory that Van Gogh killed himself...according to historical accounts he shot himself in the stomach then walked a quite a ways to the hotel he was staying and died a couple days later. So strange. Who shoots themselves in the stomach to commit suicide? Some interesting ideas were presented in the film, first that some witnesses say they heard a gunshot coming from a nearby barn dispelling the account that he shot himself while painting out in a field. The village doctor says if he would have shot himself at close range through the gut, the bullet would have exited his body. This indicates someone else shot him and historically there is another theory that he was accidentally shot by some teenagers which makes much more sense. The story itself was interesting, but the hand-painted film was really spectacular. ***

Lucky was a very compelling, touching story about a little boy in South Africa who's mother dies. She leaves him instructions to go to his uncle in the city who will pay for school, but his uncle who was given money by the mother is a sleazy pig and throws him out. The Indian neighbor lady attempts to take him in, get him into school. Since they don't speak each other's language communication is a little difficult but not impossible. The uncle finds out, threatens her, and wants the welfare money for himself. She tries to help him find his family to keep him safe, but he doesn't have any. It was a great story. So sad there are orphaned homeless kids all over the world with nowhere to go. The movie has won a lot of international film festival awards.***

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine is about the life and death of Matt Shepard the gay college student who was viciously beaten by two low-life thugs and left to die tied to a fence post in freezing weather. It's told by his friends, family and the people connected to him. Such a heart breaking story. ****

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is about a cute kid who is on his last school having been kicked out of all the others. Instead of sleeping, he spends his nights drawing cartoons. There is some indication that someone died which is why he's having problems, but every time it's mentioned I thought, "What? Who?" and each time I considered backing the DVD up wondering why I missed it. At first I thought it was his father since his mother is dating a horrid man he and his sister hate. And he has this adorable side kick who is with him at school. Finally this all comes together and I realize how utterly sad it is...so it's an unusual teen-themed movie, filled with quirky characters, pranks on adults, but takes detour into grief a few times. Nice cartoons. ***

The Names of Love was an outstanding, incredibly hilarious, unconventional love story between a middle-aged scientist (veterinarian for dead animals) and a crazy liberal "political whore" who rights the wrongs of the world while saying whatever she wants when she wants. She's a bit of a scatterbrain and really poor at multitasking...she forgets her clothes in one scene because she gets so distracted. They both grow up in "hybrid" homes dealing with their respective family histories. It was wonderful with exceptional writing, excellent performances, and LOL moments. The dialogue was fast, furious and French so the English subtitles were really difficult. I just can't read that fast! ****

So B. It is about Heidi, a twelve-year old girl who lives with her mother, So B. It who is mentally challenged with a vocabulary of 22 words. All she knows about her past is from Bernadette, an agoraphobic who never leaves the house, who has told her of the night she heard So B. It out in the hallway screaming with a newborn baby in her arms. Bernadette took them in and cared for them, opening a closet wall so she can go between apartments without leaving hers and never questioning how So B. It's next door apartment bills are always paid. Heidi finds some old photos, questions her existence, and takes off on a bus trip from Nevada to New York on her own to get some answers. She also has a knack for luck - wins at games of chance or gambling machines. I'm not sure the point of her mental talents nor how that fits into the story, but it did add some interest. Sweet story. ****

Strange Weather is about a woman (Holly Hunter) who's son committed suicide seven years prior. In conversation with a friend she finds out her son's college friend is making lots of money after stealing her son's idea for a restaurant based on a thesis project. He's even used her son's family memories and history for the restaurant's origins. She wants to confront him, but what she really needs are answers so she can move on. Hunter was absolutely wonderful. The southern accents were a little hard to understand. Stupid title. ***

Tumbledown is about a woman (Rebecca Hall) who's folk singer husband who has a cult following dies and she is attempting to write his biography. A university professor (Jason Sudeikis) contacts her to write a book about her husband and after some resistance she hires him as a partner to help write the biography. It was a great movie about grief and love. ***

The Wave is a Norwegian movie about a Norwegian natural disaster waiting to happen. It starts off with historical footage of the first time the mountain fell into the fjord causing a gigantic tidal wave that wiped out the village of Geiranger. Fifty years later and the mountain is again separating from the cliffs - "it's only a matter of time." This is the modern day fictional simulation of what could happen centering on a geologist, his wife and two children. The mountain starts acting up but the warning center thinks it's just faulty wiring or whatever so they don't hit the panic button until it's too late. The residents and tourists have ten minutes to make it to high ground. It was very excited! Norway is so beautiful when it's not crumbling. ****

When the Bough Breaks is about a couple who desperately want a child. They hire a surrogate to carry the child not realizing she's part of her sleazy boyfriend's scam to get money then sell the baby to someone else. But the girl is crazy. She falls in love with the husband, kills her boyfriend, and just gets crazier with each passing moment. Very scary. ***

Wonder was a sweet movie about a ten-year old boy with a facial deformity who goes to school after a lifetime of homeschooling. Of course, he deals with bullying and feeling like he doesn't belong because no one likes the way he looks. I like how it addresses all the kids who feel alone but who's pain is invisible on the outside. It dealt with a whole lot of serious issues kid's are faced with today. ****

Wonder Woman was cool. Excellent kick-ass women. Great role models. Nice story. Great themes. ***