Sunday, July 1, 2018

June Movie Reviews


*****  Exceptional
****    Great
***      OK
**        So So
*          Blah


The Ballad of Lefty Brown is about Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) as the archetypal side kick to famed lawman and newly elected first senator of Montana (Peter Fonda). He's old, thought of as foolish and useless, and never mentioned in the western dime novels where his lawmen friends are worshipped as heroes. He's a bit brain dead, slow to understand what is going on around him. His friend and partner of forty years, the sheriff/senator,  is murdered and Lefty vows to avenge his death. I would have never recognized Bill Pullman. It was good, but a little difficult to understand some of the dialogue with his broken, slurred, hillbilly speech. There were a few unrealistic scenes where he didn't get shot, but he should have. A little too contrived. Loved the kid. All-star cast. ***

Black Panther I absolutely hate superhero movies. I hate all the excessive fighting, extended chase scenes, melodramatic generic plots, fantastic unrealistic costumes, bizarre cartoonish special effects, fake dramatic dialogue, and the horrid, ear-splitting music. This one, however, had a great basic story with enormous potential. Loved the African history themes, loved the rhinos, loved the secret, high-tech civilization hidden in the middle of the African jungle, loved the creative technology, loved the accents, loved the strong women characters, and it had some great LOL moments, but it very weakly introduced some potentially strong themes and didn't follow through.  Instead of presenting those themes with well-developed characters and human relationships that incited compassion and empathy from the audience, they just introduced them in strategically placed speeches. Blah. Like most superhero movies, it lacks humanity. It starts out with a father and son talk on heritage, then featuring more children - I had high hopes. Then they drop it. The bad guy seemed to be a commentary on the African American condition: denied his heritage and family, he grows up bitter and resentful, destined for prison or death. But with all this anger, he is very successful and full of potential only to use it for revenge and power. I think they could have done so much more with his character so we would feel and understand his pain. Of course, without a bad guy or without the defeat of the bad guy, this wouldn't have been a superhero movie. And because of this dedication to a fixed plot line compliant with the superhero genre, this character could have never been rehabilitated through forgiveness and compassion. This is exactly why I hate superhero movies: they never expand beyond their tiny little boxes. I also wonder why such an advanced society still has a male dominant succession that is based on brute strength rather than, for instance, cognitive ability or just plain goodness? The civilization is still after all those years xenophobic and isolated, fearful of discovery, willing to go to hand to hand combat with their own people even with all their anti-war pronouncements. They are still reactive to the badness of the world rather than focusing on fixing the world. Doesn't seem to be that advanced. Near the end we can see some evolution and progression in this direction, but it sure has taken them a long time. For a superhero movie, I actually liked it, watched it to the end, and didn't feel too disgusted. Although clearly there are aspects I didn't like, I'm still giving it four stars because it made me think for days. ****

Blade Runner 2049 I was desperate for something to watch so the librarian slipped me this DVD from her secret stash. She asked if I'd seen the original Blade Runner. I don't know. Probably. I don't think I have for the same reason I shouldn't have watched this one either - I hate sci fi. But the sets were fascinating. The future is very dirty...and violent. The story is very convoluted, of course. I almost turned it off a few times, got up and walked around. Eventually I did turn it off. Then I thought maybe I should see the actual end. Sci-fi fans would love it. I'm sure it's a great story. The performances were good. I just don't like sci-fi. **

Brad's Status was about the culture of comparison, or how we ruminate over whether we are as good as others, as successful, as happy, as pretty, as healthy, or whatever. It centers on Brad (Ben Stiller) who is taking his son to visit colleges. He reminisces about his own college years and his college friends who are all now very successful. One is in government and has his own TV show, another sold his tech company and retired at age 40 in Hawaii, the other is a famous Hollywood movie director who's house is featured in a magazine, and the last owns his own hedge fund and private jet. Brad runs a non-profit organization. He questions his failure at life. Why did he have lofty ideas about improving society? Why didn't he sell out and go for the money? Immediately it was obvious the guy wasn't poor or unfortunate in some way so I thought he seemed like a whiner, sniffling about how everyone at a dinner party was judging his failure. I thought I wish I could go to a dinner party! Then one of his son's friends accused him of suffering from white male privilege, assured him he has enough, and compared his situation to the people from her country who are lucky if they can spend $2 on dinner let alone get to go to a dinner party. My thoughts exactly. I know I'm guilty of comparing my life to the lives of others especially with MCS so I thought the whole theme was incredibly interesting. Humans are so pathetic...why can't we just enjoy being alive? I thought Ben Stiller had way too much make-up on. It was a bit distracting. I think they could have done a better job with the TITLE (!), but the movie was very thought provoking. All-star cast. ****

Bridget Jones's Diary  I loved this book. And I loved the movie. I didn't remember how good the soundtrack was. It's been a long time since the last time I've seen it. They are all so young and gorgeous (Hugh Grant, Colin Firth). *****

Brimstone is about the very hard life of a woman (Dakota Fanning) in the American West. All-star cast, great performances, very interesting story. I'm not sure how I feel about the four way split of scenes and the time travel. It adds to the intrigue because one is constantly wondering WHY? Why can't she speak? Why is she afraid of that man? Why does she have a step-son? Constantly asking why. I kept wondering if the story would have been as good if it had a linear timeline without the mystery, but in the end I rather enjoyed the mystery. Kit Harrington has a great role, although small. Great performances, even from Fanning. Excellent sets and costumes.  ****

Don Juan DeMarco was about a twenty-one year old (Johnny Depp) who thinks he's Don Juan. He romances the women and they all drool over him. His psychiatrist is an incredibly overweight Marlon Brando. It was uncomfortable just watching him move. His breathing was labored. His lines were a struggle. It was horrifying to watch and the plot was a little stupid. Even Johnny Depp was too young to be dreamy. I turned it off after about ten minutes. *

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool was based on a true story about the last years of actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening). In 1979 while in England performing in a play she meets a young English man and they fall in love. The age difference is interesting with her denial a little pathetic.  Every wrong comment he makes about her age she becomes offended and dramatic. For some reason the relationship survives the stress. Then she finds out she has cancer, treats him like crap and kicks him out, and when she's dying shows up in his hometown wanting to be cared for. For some reason when I saw the previews I thought this was a comedy. Boy, I was wrong. Great performances. Depressing on so many levels. Bening was outstanding. ***

A Girl Like Her is about a high school girl who is being bullied relentlessly by another high school girl.  It's filmed like a documentary which is a little confusing since it's so staged. The underlying message is bullies are hurting others because they are hurting. They presented the bully as someone who didn't really understand what she was doing. I understand maybe some bullies might not understand what they are doing is wrong, but she was pretty evil, violent, sociopathic and heartless, texting the girl repeatedly telling her to kill herself, pushing her in the halls, getting in her face. When she's confronted, she throws a temper tantrum about how no one can take a joke and she was misunderstood. When the video footage surfaces as proof, she becomes remorseful. I just kept thinking she's remorseful because she got caught and that's it! It was interesting. I had bullies harass me in high school. I doubt very much if they would ever be remorseful. It was all about power and insecurity. ***

Home Again is about a recently separated mother (Reese Witherspoon) who moves from New York to Los Angeles to live in her famous, (but dead) filmmaker-father's house. Can I have that house???? On her 40th birthday, out on the town with girlfriends she meets three young handsome filmmakers trying to break into the industry who have just been kicked out of their motel. Her mother (Candice Bergen) invites them to stay her daughter's guesthouse.  They become part of the family, helpful in every way, and then her almost ex-husband shows up begging her to take him back. I've never even heard of this movie. I was afraid it was a stupid comedy, but pleasantly surprised at all its heart. Great script, performances, and I loved that house. ****

In Dubious Battle is based on John Steinbeck's novel about apple pickers during the Depression when their wages were cut from $3 to $1 per day. Rebel rousers  convinced a group to strike in hopes for a living wage. Great costumes and sets, all-star cast...really depressing. It's amazing what workers had to endure to be treated with dignity. I hated that it didn't have an ending that was satisfying and only a history lesson on the ongoing violence that continued for too long until workers' rights legislation was finally passed. ***

Landline was about a family in New York with all kinds of issues: infidelity, teenagers, drugs. Loved the relationship between the sisters. I wish I had a sister. It was good. ***

Life's a Breeze is an Irish film about a family going through some financial difficulties. The adult children all get together to surprise their 80-year old mother for her birthday by cleaning her filthy, packed-to-the-ceiling-with-junk house and dumping her lifetime of pack-ratted memories. They are quite proud of themselves. She's in a state of shock and then she asks what they did with her mattress. Her life savings of one million pounds was stuffed inside it. The treasure hunt begins. It was a sad commentary on how elderly people are perceived. Her kids talk behind her back, assume she is helpless, senile, and incapable of cognitive function when in fact she is far more rational and level-headed than the whole lot of them put together. Good performances and I liked the relationship between the grandmother and her thirteen-year old granddaughter. Hate the title. ***

Little Glory is about this unemployed, immature, useless 19-year old loser who's mother died, then father died, leaving him with his nine-year old sister to raise.  His mother's sister wants custody, but he finds his father's life insurance which leaves $100,000 to his sister so he thinks he has it made, but he still can't figure out how to behave like an adult. It was good, but irritating. Stupid young people always irritate me. I don't get the title at all. ***

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a Tim Burton film based on the book, was a peculiar movie about teenage boy whose grandfather dies violently and mysteriously. His grandfather has been telling him wild tales about monsters all his life and the children's home where unusually talented children are sent. The plot is incredibly complex and some of the imagery absolutely frightening...definitely not a children's film, but very creative and weird and wild as Tim Burton movies usually are. Loved the sets. I would have preferred less bizarre complexity and more human nature as there were plenty of scenes full of potential. There were parts of the story that went right over my head. Great cast: Asa Butterfield, Judy Dench, Allison Janney, Samuel L. Jackson, Rupert Everett. ***

Never Forget to Lie is a documentary about Jewish children during the Holocaust who were smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto away from their families to live in Christian homes so they had a chance to survive. In the film, they go back to Warsaw to visit the places they remember. It was very sad. ***

Peter Rabbit is a live-action, animated? modern day movie about Peter Rabbit! What's not to love? Although they were wearing clothes, walked on hind legs, talked and could climb things like trees and buildings (someone confused them with raccoons I think...), they moved and behaved like rabbits which was very sweet. It did have a lot of stupid humor but kids would love. I love the deer...LOL. ***

The Pretty One is about twins. Audrey is vivacious , confident, employed, and well-dressed. Laurel still lives at home, does everything for her father, mousy, insecure, quiet and wears her dead mother's clothes. On their birthday Audrey visits, gets her sister a makeover, talks her into coming to live with her so she can start living her own life, then they are in a car accident and Audrey dies. Laurel is thrown from the car and is thought to suffer from amnesia due to a bump on the head. Because her hair has been cut shorter, she's wearing make-up and she was in the passenger seat, everyone thinks she's Audrey who burned in the fire. Laurel then takes on Audrey's identity after going to her own funeral and realizing everyone thought she was weird and didn't seem to even care she was dead. It's a great story. I thought it was going to be a comedy and it would have been a good comedy, but it's definitely a drama (however quirky) about grief. ***

Riding My Way Back is a 30-minute documentary about veterans with PTSD and other injuries who have benefited from therapeutic riding and equine care for healing.  ***

Step is about an inner city private girls' school in Baltimore with a competing step team. Great story. A little slow and at times very boring. **

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is about a young, best-selling author who experiences a variety of traumatic events in his life and takes off to lose himself. He is being tracked by a man although it's not clear who the man is until later in the movie. Lots of time jumping which was a little confusing. Great story and performances. ***

Wildflower is about a young college art student who is having blackouts, nightmares, and flashbacks. When she comes out of it she has a whole pile of drawing illustrating what she has seen. She sees people who aren't there. It ends up being about repressed childhood trauma. Lots of God talk, performances are tolerable, and script a little needy, but interesting story. **

Winchester is ghost story based on the history of the Winchester mansion in California. Helen Mirren plays Sarah Winchester. The sets and actual house are really cool. It's a little scary for me. I don't like demonic dead people, but it was good. Perhaps a little melodramatic as ghost stories usually are. ***

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