***** Exceptional
**** Great
*** OK
** So
So
* Blah
Ben is Back is
about a drug addict who is in some kind of recovery program and he leaves to
spend Christmas with his family against the better judgment of his sponsor. He
lies from the moment he arrives, totally messes up their lives yet again. Julia
Roberts is his mother and as usual, exceptional. I kept wanting to scream at her SHUT UP. Her
character was a little schizophrenic, supportive, enabling and gabby but then
all of a sudden it was all tough love. I can only assume that's the problem
with loved ones is they get crazy like that. All outstanding performances,
however, too dark and depressing for my kind of entertainment. ***
Carrie,
the remake, 2017. It was the exact same script only much weirder. Julianne
Moore plays the crazy, religious mother and Chloe Grace Moretz is Carrie. She's
too pretty to be Carrie and she's overacting to the extreme. The great thing
about Cissie Spacek is she was such a believable, mousy, little nerd until the
end until she just gets fed up and becomes a demon which was totally unexpectedly.
This Carrie's evil builds through the whole movie. She's also missing the
double jointed tension at the end that I thought was so memorable. Piper Laurie
in the original is simply out of her mind. Julianne Moore's mother is
self-mutilating with other characteristics I thought overdone. Lots more
supernatural craziness and a lot more blood especially in the finale. Lots of
everything. I complained about the remake of A Star is Born (below) the
same way with too much added detail, unnecessary garbage. Someone told me this
has to be done because kids these days are so attention deficit they would lose
interest. How sad. The priority of filmmaking these days is profit rather than
creating a classic work of art. The original is a classic. This one is just a
modernized substandard copy. **
The Chef's Wife is
a French comedy about a job counselor who meets a chef's wife who wants to do
skill assessments and possible job training so she can leave her miserable
marriage and start a new life. The job counselor meets the husband and falls in
love so she starts pushing the wife to get trained and leave him so she can
have him. The comedy is really subtle as French comedy is with some really good
LOL moments. Sweet story, well, aside from all the adulterous affairs that are
a bit cliche, but it's a French movie and they like that. ***
Come What May is
about World War II. A German who was with the underground resistance escapes
Germany with his young son, hides in a French village until someone suspects he
is a German spy. He's sent to a nearby prison. When the Germans are about to
invade the village, the inhabitants flees south to the coast and the son who
has been cared for by the village teacher goes with them. During the invasion
the father is released from prison and heads south to find his son who is
leaving messages on school blackboards. It was an awesome movie, great performances,
excellent historical realism, filmed in France. Nazis suck. I hate the title,
but it did have some connection to the script. ****
Dark Was the Night I
had no idea what this movie was about although I must have thought the preview
was good when I put it on hold at the library months ago. It's about how a
woman (Marisa Tomei) and her teenage son (Charlie Plummer) grieve after the
murder of their husband/father (Timothy Olyphant). Sad. Great performances.
****
45 Years is
about a couple who are about the celebrate their 45th anniversary. He gets a
letter from Switzerland that his girlfriend's body was found up on a mountain
in Switzerland. It seems she fell off a cliff while they were hiking 46 years
earlier. He confesses to his wife he is her "next of kin" because he
lied to the authorities about them being married. Then the wife is up in the
attic, goes through his slides and see photos of her - she was pregnant. The
wife is so strangely jealous of this dead girl which seemed odd after 45 years
of marriage. Anyway, I think I'm making this movie sound interesting. It was
BORING with long useless scenes of nothing, slow, slow plot. Every time a new
discovery came to light I thought maybe something will happen so kept watching.
Maybe he'll confess he pushed her off the cliff? But nothing. **
14 Cameras was
one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen!
It features this gargoyle of a man who spies on people with hidden
cameras. They made this character the ugliest and creepiest imaginable...he
limps, snorts, breathes heavily through his constantly slack, open mouth, has
buggy eyes, reptilian skin, and when he goes to the vacation rental house or
these women's houses (because he made copies of their keys), he sniffs their
underwear, uses their toothbrushes and lip glosses, and drinks out of the milk
container. It was so incredibly gross. And of course, he also kidnaps the
women, throws them into an underground, noise proof vault, and sells their
underwear online for $5000 after, of course, live streaming their bedroom and
bathroom habits. If they try to escape he kills them and buries them in the
backyard. So sicko. I actually turned it off after about ten minutes it was so
gross, but then figured, oh what the hell, not much else to watch. Good story,
great performances, just creepy and some of the details are questionable. This
one will give me nightmares. **
Handsome Devil is
about a gay kid at a private Irish school who reads a lot and hates rugby which
is idolized by the whole school so he is constantly bullied. A new kid is assigned to his room who is a rugby
star. Initially he builds the "Berlin Wall" with desks trying to
avoid him convinced he will be just another tormentor, but they become fast
friends. Great story, great performances. Loved the English teacher. Not sure
about the title which makes absolutely no sense. ****
Hello I am Leaving is
about a wimpy 35 year old divorcee who speaks in a baby voice, walks like a
toddler, has an astoundingly ugly hair cut and spent her marriage serving her husband
rather than living her life. She moves back in with her rich parents, sleeps
all day and vegetates as she whimpers, whines and acts depressed. It's really
embarrassing. Then she meets the 19 year old son of her father's prospective
client who is also living with his parents in the same resort town for the
summer. They begin an affair, both constantly sneaking out to meet each other
in the middle of the night. I loved their relationship, the fact both are lying
and hiding who they really are to everyone except each other and through this
relationship learn to live as themselves. ***
The Little Death subtitle:
A
comedy about sex I was hesitant. I anticipated a stupid humor movie and
didn't think I'd last five minutes. However, it's Australian which could still
be risky since the British influence can be as bad as American stupid humor, but
this was actually quite interesting and had some LOL moments. It focuses on
sexual deviancy and addresses some very bizarre fetishes like becoming sexually
aroused when watching someone cry or watching someone sleep. There are sex
offenders, rape fantasies, and role playing scenes as it follows the stories of
five couples. But the highlight of the whole movie was the Monica and Sam
scenario about a sign language phone/video relay service for the deaf. Sam is
up in the middle of the night with insomnia calls the center and wants to be
connected to a sex phone number. Monica, the sign language interpreter, who is incredibly
sweet, and uncomfortably interprets the conversation between him and the sex
phone operator, Sonia. Erin James, the actress who is Monica is absolutely
spectacular. Her eyes are so amazing and expressive. In the middle of the call
the phone sex worker who is working from home is multitasking and taking care
of her grandmother who had a stroke and tells the sign language interpreter she
has to put her on hold and to keep him talking for a minute until she can get
back to the phone. She has to wing it. I laughed until I cried all the way
through it. Hilarious and sweet. That one scene gets 5 stars because I watched
it over and over again. I think someone could make a whole movie based on this
scenario alone! The rest of the movie is a low 3 so I'm giving it: ****
Lizzie is
the story of Lizzie Borden who axed her father and step-mother to death. Great
background and story to the legend based on historical documentation. According
to this story, her father deserved it, and, well, no one likes a step-mother.
Great performances. Kristen Stewart who plays the maid is tormented as usual.
She does torment well and unfortunately all her roles are tormented women. She
needs to do some comedy. ***
Mothers and Daughters is
about the relationships of mothers and daughters illustrating every kind of
situation with an all-star cast. It was very moving and thoughtful. Great
performances. ****
Nightcrawler is
about a strange, possibly autistic, fast-talking, probably sociopathic [Jake
Gyllenhaal] who scraps metal and steals for a living until one night he pulls
up alongside a car accident and witnesses freelance camera crews in action. He
decides this is the career for him, invests in some equipment, hires an
assistant, makes connections with the local news station, and works the bewitching
hours competing to be the first on the scene. Sometimes he can get there before
the police even arrive and early enough to adjust the dead bodies for a better
shot! The whole thing gets pretty sleazy. The character is absolutely fascinating
and Gyllenhaal is superb. ****
Nurse Betty I've never seen this movie, but clearly the
studio was trying to keep the momentum of Bridget Jones series alive and making
money. It's about an airhead housewife (Renee Zellweger) who is mesmerized by a
soap opera. When her cheating, sleaze ball of a husband gets killed by thugs
(Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock) and she witnesses the whole thing, she
disassociates and imagines she's one of the characters on the soap opera and
she must get to L.A. to reconnect with her long lost love, the soap opera's
main character (Greg Kinnear). For a comedy it's really violent. ***
Paradise is
about a Christian girl (Julianne Hough) who was raised by extreme
fundamentalists and has been sheltered all her life. When she survives a plane
crash and her body is burned (although, of course, not her face...), she
questions her religion, if there is a God and decides she needs to experience
sin and temptation...so she goes to Las Vegas. There she encounters a number of
people who are not only a little down on their luck but don't have the family
support and stability she has had all her life. She finally begins to realize
it's not about what you've lost (and feeling sorry for yourself) but what you
still have. There is always someone out there who has it worse than you do. It
started out pretty funny and delightfully fresh, but then Russell Brand makes
an appearance. Blah. Then it gets stupid, loses all meaning and gets a little
lost. ***
Penelope I
avoided this movie for a long time because I thought it would be stupid humor,
but it was really delightful. It's about a rich family whose son knocks up the
maid, rejects her, and she throws herself off a roof. Her mother is a witch and
puts a curse on the family - the first daughter born will have the nose of a
pig. To break it she has to marry a rich guy who accepts her for who she is, or
that's their interpretation. Centuries later the first daughter is born and
they hid her away, later to try to fix her up with rich boys who run at the
sight of her. It was really cute. ****
Peppermint Jennifer
Gardner usually plays clean-cut, soccer mom, religious-nut, wimpy roles that
are so incredibly boring and predictable. FINALLY she has a role that is
interesting! She starts out a clean-cut soccer mom who watches her husband and
ten-year old daughter get gunned down by a drug gang. When justice is not
served because everyone from the police to the judge to the prosecutor are
crooked, she disappears for five years reappearing with the sole intent of wreaking
havoc on the drug lords and crooked justice system. It was awesome! Love a
strong, vengeful woman who has superpowers! I'm not usually fond of action
movies but this one had so much heart. I like Gardner much better with no
makeup, dirty, and driven. ****
Permission is
about a couple who have been together all their lives. They were each other's
first loves and have never been with anyone else. At a dinner with friends when
he is about to propose, the comment is made how they've never experienced life
without each other, never experienced relationships with anyone else. So they
decide on an arrangement that allows an open relationship so they can have sex
with others. Yeah, that's risky....Great performances. ***
Robin Hood (2018)
Interesting take on the story with a lot of modern themes. Robin is drafted
into the Crusades with battle scenes reminiscent of modern day Middle Eastern
scenes. Lots of commentary on the sleazy politicians and religious leaders
using and abusing people for their power. Indications of PDST and other issues
veterans deal with - they even use the word "veteran" in the
dialogue. Lots of high tech chase scenes and fight scenes. The costumes were
modern with a bit of medieval flare and the settings were decidedly European
Middle Ages. Interesting modernization of a classic. ***
Rose Water is
based on the true story of Maziar Bahari, Iranian journalist for Newsweek, who
went to Iran to cover the corrupt election and subsequent riots. He was then
arrested by the authorities, thrown in prison for 4 months, harassed and beaten
to try to get him to confess he was a spy. Why would anyone in the right minds
ever want to go to such a backward country, let alone live there!? ***
Run the Tide is
about a young man (Taylor Lautner) who's been raising his little brother while
his abusive, drug-addicted mother is in prison. When it's time for her to be
released, she wants the little brother back. They run to California. It was
good. Sad. ****
Second Act is
about a forty-something woman (Jennifer Lopez) who is passed over for a
promotion because she doesn't have an education. Her friend's son creates a
fake Facebook page and resume that makes her look like an incredibly successful
person and then he applies for high-paying, professional jobs for her. She gets
hired at a company but later finds out she's hired for alternative reasons so
everyone is lying. It's fairly unrealistic on so many levels but makes for a
fun, comedy-driven story. In light of all the college entrance scandals these
days, it doesn't seem to be a good idea to make a movie about how to lie to get
ahead. In fact it feels really wrong. What was really disturbing was Lopez
wearing incredibly too tight unflattering clothes accentuating her bulbous body
parts. She looked so uncomfortable in every scene. ***
Shelter was
about two homeless people (Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie) in New York.
He's an illegal immigrant and she is a heroin addict. Great performances, but
really, really depressing. ***
A Star Is Born Same
story just updated with too many details
making the plot line too convoluted. Bradley Cooper was definitely channeling
the Kris Kristofferson role. Sam Elliot was awesome and had a great part. Lady
Gaga had the ugliest clothes I've ever seen. Ugh! But I liked her dressed down
looking like a real person for a change. And what was with the high falsetto
notes she kept singing that sounded horrid and off pitch? Why write a song with
notes she can't hit? I found a lot of the dialogue difficult to hear. I prefer the 1976 Streisand/Kristofferson
version with better music, better script, better flow, better editing, better
death scene that was heart wrenching and sob worthy, better finale song - "With One More Look at You" with a
double meaning that fits both characters (see below for lyrics). It had far
more emotional impact. In this version it's implied he killed himself with a
premonition suggesting how he did it earlier in the script, but they don't even
come close to showing it or the aftermath. I'm still wondering how the dog got
outside. I thought the 1980s version
handled death better or maybe I just like a tear jerker and this one failed in
that respect. I keep trying to find
something about this movie that outshines the 1976s version... hmmm... Bradley
Cooper sings better than Kristofferson? I'd like to say he is cuter, but he was
just as scruffy so it was hard to tell. What I did yet didn't like about the movie is
how she enabled his addictions, and she kept saying how it wasn't his fault,
that it was a disease implying he just couldn't help himself. At the end,
however, Sam Elliot's character clarifies by saying it wasn't anyone's fault
but his, but I think he was talking more about the suicide than the addiction. There
is none of this in the original because back then no one was saying it wasn't
the addict's fault. We all KNEW it was the addict's fault! Times have changed
and not for the better. Besides alcohol addiction, it adds prescription drug
addictions, self-esteem issues, music business sleaziness, and childhood
hardships. Honorable in their attempts, it just made it less of a movie with a
simple, emotional plotline and more of a convoluted commentary on the hell that
is modern life. I think I need to dig out the old soundtrack and have a listen
to that old music. I just checked my library to find the 1976 DVD and they are
all checked out with a long holds list! I guess that's one good thing about
this modern version - it's making the old version popular! Streisand is
awesome. There is no comparison. ***
Super Dark Times is
a very weird movie about four goofy teenage boys that do stupid things. When
stupid things gets one of the killed, the other three decide to try to cover it
up, and go about their lives trying to act normal but they act anything but
normal. I'm not really sure what happened next or rather why it was happening.
No explanation. It got a little crazy like a teenage horror movie. **
Welcome to Leith was
absolutely frightening. It's a documentary film on Leith, North Dakota, a rural
town with a population of 25. Craig Cobb, a well-known white supremacist leader
starts buying properties in the town, deeds them to other white supremacists
leaders with the plan to take over the local government and create their own whites-only
community. They start holding meetings, decorating the properties with Nazi
flags, derogatory hate signs, and white supremacist symbols. They attend city
council meetings and harass the council members, "patrol" the roads
carrying guns and yelling obscenities at anyone they pass. What a
nightmare! The tiny police department
can do very little since they cover a whole county. The townspeople are grasping for ways to
expel them from the community so the city finally passes some kind of ordinance
requiring water and plumbing at homes. Not sure what that really does. I'm
still wondering why they didn't pass more ordinances, but I suppose any
restriction that would be against the white supremacists' civil liberties might
not fly. Finally they arrest this leader and one of his Nazi sidekicks for
"terrorism". After a year or so in prison awaiting trial, they end up
getting plea bargains and go free. Justice fails once again. At the end of the
movie Cobb looks like he's leaving town, but the white supremacists still own
the property in Leith so the people live in fear it could all start again
anytime. Sounds like the worst hell to me. These people make my neighbors look
lovely! ****
Wilde is
about Oscar Wilde, poet, author, playwright, homosexual who took the world by
storm in the 1800s. It's filled with well-known actors: Vanessa Redgrave,
Jennifer Ehle, Tom Wilkinson, as well as newbie, but currently well-known
actors as gay lovers looking like they were about fifteen years old: Michael
Sheen, Ioan Gruffudd. When one young man shows on camera for a brief second I
screamed, "Oh my god, is that Orlando Bloom???" It was! Maybe it was
his first role. He was so young. Then Jude Law makes an appearance as Wilde's
predominant love interest, playing an incredibly spoiled rich royal looking
gorgeous, angelic, boy-toyish. He absolutely shines so it's not difficult to
see how his popularity grew. Great
performances, fascinating story especially about the trial and subsequent
incarceration for "indecent acts". ****
FINALE
SONG FROM A Star is Born, 1976...(I'm still waiting for the hold to come in!)
"With One More Look At You"
(written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Lee Ascher)
With one more look at you
I could learn to tame the clouds
And let the sun shine through
Leave a troubled past and I might start anew
I'll solve the mysteries if you're the prize
Refresh these tired eyes
I could learn to tame the clouds
And let the sun shine through
Leave a troubled past and I might start anew
I'll solve the mysteries if you're the prize
Refresh these tired eyes
With one more look at you
I might overcome the anger
That I learned to know
Find a piece of mind I lost so long ago
Your gentle touch has made me strong again
And I belong again
For when you look at me
I'm everything and more that I had dreamed I'd be
My spirit feels a promise
I won't be alone
We'll love and live more
Love and live forever
With one more look at you
I'd learn to change the stars
And change our fortunes too
I'd have the constellations paint your portrait too
So all the world might share this wonderous sight
The world could end each night
With one more look at you
With one more look at you
I want one more look at you
