March Movie Reviews

*****  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

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