mark-durfor Reviews

The Holdovers (2023)

Slow and confusing

[6/10 · 7 January 2024]

I really wanted to like The Holdovers more than I did. I found it to be slow, tough to stay engaged. There were some moments, but not enough to hold the 2 hour 13 minute film. And I didn't get it. Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is described in reviews and portrayed in the preview as this hated, bitter, cranky teacher. But really, he had a very soft spot for Mary Lamb (Randolph), for Angus Tully (Sessa), for Miss Lydia Crane (Preston). He was sentimental, he was a good listener, he was passionate about his profession and the subject of history. For some reason, he took delight in the demise of the students at Barton Academy he felt were entitled, who didn't care, who didn't appreciate what they had. But we never understand why. We get to learn a bit about his history and why he was expelled from Harvard. At one point, he says that he feels like the world is a bitter and complicated place and that the world feels the same way about him, a sentiment his own father tried to beat into him. Now, we don't know if that was literal or a figure of speech and it's delivered as a toss-away and never mentioned before or after. So we don't really know why Paul feels the way he does. And he never really goes through a character arch. Paul always had the capacity to care, so the lengths he went to bond with Angus really didn't seem like a stretch. And the ultimate sacrifice he makes for Angus at the end, really wasn't a surprise at all.

And Angus Tully, also, is portrayed as this misbehaving ne'er-do-well miscreant. He's been kicked out of three schools already. If he gets kicked out of Barton, he'll be sent to military school. But Angus isn't a bad kid. When we first meet him, he sincerely pleads the case with Mr. Hunham why they shouldn't start a new lesson right before the holiday break. While stuck on campus, Angus looks after the other kids, protects them from the bully Teddy Kountze (Brady Hepner). We know about Angus' family problems. He says his dad is dead and his mom has remarried and is living like a woman in her 20's which is why she's shipped Angus off to boarding school and doesn't come get him for holiday break while they're on vacation. If anything, Angus has more right than anyone to be acting out and being a complete nuisance. But he's not. The three worst things he really does in the movie are hide out in the school auditorium when Mr. Hunham is looking for him, run from Mr. Hunham through the school and leap over the gymnasium pommel horse, and attempt to sneak off in Boston to see his father's grave. He's really not bad, but he's treated like a total deviant. So, again, he really doesn't go through much development by the end of the movie.

Don't get me wrong, Giamatti, Sessa, and Randolph all gave stellar performances. And it was touching at times, funny at others. It probably could have been sped up and cut down by about half an hour and still been the same movie. There just wasn't a point. I didn't understand why these characters were either portrayed the way they were, treated the way they were, or acted the way they did. I predicted 4 Stars, but I knocked it down to a disappointing 3 Stars for The Holdovers. I still love Giamatti and I think we'll see more good things from Sessa, but I think Director Alexander Payne and Writer David Hemingson missed the mark with this one.

The Post (2017)

Entertaining, Well-Acted but won't be something I own

[7/10 · 20 January 2018]

The Vietnam War was a 20-year long war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1955 to 1975. In 1965, American military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) reported with disgust to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood) that no progress was being made. McNamara commented that his findings meant that things were actually getting worse. Almost immediately after their conversation, McNamara spoke with the press reporting falsely that the situation was getting better in the War. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. in 1971, Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) took over operations of The Washington Post newspaper after her husband Phillip died. Their competitor New York Times published reports on cover-ups about the Vietnam War and were quickly silenced by President Richard Nixon. Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk), a journalist for the Post got a meeting with Ellsberg who gave him 1000 copied classified documents confirming the cover-ups. The Post is the true story about the first U.S. female newspaper publisher Kay Graham as she and her Chief Editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) struggle between their duties as journalists to expose the truth about the White House cover-ups about the Vietnam War and their responsibilities to their employees to keep them safe when they are threatened by the White House to stay away from the story. The Post was nominated for 9 Golden Globes, though it didn't walk away with any wins. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri beat The Post for Best Picture Drama, Guillermo Del Toro took home the award for Best Director for The Shape of Water, Gary Oldman beat out Tom Hanks for Best Actor for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and Frances McDormand beat out Meryl Streep for her performance in Three Billboards. Most are familiar with the story, at least with the highlights. But The Post goes deep into the behind the scenes efforts and struggles that went into exposing the lies being told by the White House spanning 4 Presidents about the Vietnam War. But it was about more than just the War. It was about one of the core tenants of what makes America unique: the freedom of the press. Journalists have both an obligation and a responsibility to share the truth, and they have a right to do so without obstruction. Streep and Hanks were both brilliant, as you would expect. I have yet to see Hanks in something I haven't enjoyed and both should be nominated for an Oscar for their performances. The Post was directed by Stephen Spielberg and the music was composed by John Williams to round out the posse of Hollywood A-listers involved in this film. I anticipated 4 solid Stars from The Post. It looked like it would be exciting, intense, upsetting, infuriating, inspiring and rewarding as we were given an inside look to a pivotal time in our nation's history regarding politics and the press, something that is as relevant as ever in our current political climate. I am lowering my rating slightly. Spielberg did a great job keeping the story moving. Not staying in one scene too long, keeping the characters straight so the viewer can follow along with all the players involved in the cover-up and the exposure, using angles to help emote feelings of power and doubt and inferiority. Hanks was fantastic as Editor Ben Bradlee. He was equally dedicated to his boss Kay Graham as he was to his employees when threatened by the government as he was to his paper The Post and getting the truth out there. Streep was brilliant as the first female newspaper publisher Kay Graham who struggled with the transition from the wife of a publisher who hosted parties and lived on the sidelines to taking over complete control and having to make important decisions on her own, decisions that impacted her family's legacy as well as the many people who worked under her. You definitely felt the anguish over her decisions, the doubt in herself, you cheered when she mustered up the courage to stand up for what was right and not cave in to what was safe. This is one of those difficult films to rate based on my personal ranking scale. Remember, there are three main facets to my rankings. First, how accurately does the preview lead you into the film? In this case, you get exactly what the preview sells. Second, the film itself. This is a great movie, well told, superbly acted and deserving of nominations and awards. And third, and most importantly, the likelihood of me owning the movie in my personal collection. And this is why the rating drops slightly. For me, The Post was entertaining, insightful, and extremely well done from directing to acting to story-telling; however, seeing it once was enough. While I may watch it again when it comes to the pay channels, it most likely won't be something I'm rushing out to own. Therefore, I'm lowing my rating to 3.5 Stars. So, movie will be on my mind next? We shall see.

Darkest Hour (2017)

Oldman gives Oscar-worthy performance in otherwise dull film

[6/10 · 5 January 2018]

In the 1930s, Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) spearheaded the efforts to warn about the dangers of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Germany. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was forced into retirement in May of 1940 when Parliament grew tired of his lack of leadership, foresight and results against the impending War. Churchill replaced Chamberlain as Prime Minister of Great Britain, in the early days of World War II. In the early stages of the war in 1940 and 1941, the British Empire was nearly alone in their opposition to Hitler, and Churchill's speeches and radio broadcasts were a source of inspiration in this dark time. One of his most famous and inspirational speeches included "we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

Darkest Hour is the historical story of the early days of World War II as Hitler began his conquest of Western Europe. Churchill had warned about this and now Great Britain was all but solitary in their defiance of the Nazis. A peace treaty was proposed and it was now up to Churchill to decide what to do. According to the treaty, Hitler would stop his war with Western Europe provided that Great Britain did not interfere with his plans to move east and conquer the USSR. Churchill was never a fan of the treaty and felt that bold retaliation, standing their ground against the Nazis, would be their only hope of true survival. But, Churchill faced a lack of support from his own party, and even felt the pressure to not only entertain the idea of the treaty, but to accept it or face his own removal as Prime Minister. While battling with his doubts about the treaty, his doubts about the chances of Great Britain's survival whether they signed the treaty or not, and his own doubts about his ability to properly discern what was best for his country, Churchill took his fears and doubts to the people. They overwhelmingly expressed their disdain for the Nazis and their resolve to never give in. Thus, Churchill rejected the offer.

Director Joe Wright is no stranger to epic historical and moving stories as he has already tackled Pride & Prejudice, Anna Karenina, and Atonement which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Directing in 2008. While Atonement did win for Best Picture, Wright lost out to Julian Schnabel who directed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. While neither Darkest Hour nor Joe Wright have been nominated for a Golden Globe, Oldman has been nominated for his portrayal of Winston Churchill, and an Oscar nomination is all but guaranteed as he pulled of one of those rare performances where you do not see the actor on the screen, but rather their character come to life. While all the actors who have been nominated and won an Oscar over the last two decades have deserved their recognition, perhaps the most notable was Daniel Day-Lewis's win in 2013 for his performance as Abraham Lincoln. Oldman accomplishes the same brilliant execution. Not once did I notice that it was Gary Oldman, but rather I saw nothing but Sir Winston Churchill in the movie Darkest Hour. It was inspired, flawless and genius.

Unfortunately, for me, the rest of the movie just didn't hold up to Oldman's efforts. I expected Wright's latest work to be a moving, gripping and tense look behind the scenes of the early days of World War II. I had high expectations for Darkest Hour and gave a 4 Star Prediction. To me, it was slow, uninspiring, dull and dragging, especially considering the film is about one man's decision in a time that effectively helped to lead his country and the world out of one of the darkest times in world history. It is worth watching, for Oldman's performance alone; however, if you haven't seen it already in the theatres, wait for it to come out for rent. It's definitely worth renting, and I might watch it again, but I'm pretty sure it won't find a home in my permanent collection. Therefore, I'm lowing my rating to 3 Stars. www.marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Downsizing (2017)

Downsizing is a Huge Disappointment

[2/10 · 29 December 2017]

The world has reached a breaking point with over-population. A pair of Norwegian scientists have figured out a way to not only stop the human race from completely depleting the planet of all its resources, but also to provide a better and more luxurious lifestyle to anyone who chooses to participate in his program of Downsizing. His patients are shrunk to a height of 5 inches and live in an experimental community built just for them. While they are praised for their efforts, and communities are built in several areas of the world, only a small fraction of the world actually participate in the program. Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) is a physical therapist living in Omaha with his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig). Like many couples today, they are struggling financially to make ends meet. And, like many couples, they have at least toyed with the idea of Downsizing. At a high school reunion, Paul and Audrey talk to Dave Johnson (Jason Sudeikis) and his wife Carol (Maribeth Monroe) who have already undergone the irreversible process. They sing the praises of the community and get the Safraneks thinking even more about the idea. But it's not until they are denied a mortgage on a new home that they take the trip to New Mexico and agree to change their lives forever by Downsizing. And that's really all we were told about the movie from the preview. It's an original idea, sort of. Dennis Quaid was shrunken in 1987 in a movie called Innerspace. Two years later, Rick Moranis accidentally shrunk his kids in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It goes all the way back to 1957 with the film, The Incredible Shrinking Man. But Downsizing looked like a new and different take on the idea of shrinking. The only other thing we really had to go on is that the movie is rated R, and there was absolutely nothing in the preview that even hinted as to why that would be. First, the R rating. There is plenty of full frontal male nudity in the film. It's completely unnecessary and used purely in a medical sense. First, a nude man is pictured to show the before and after effects of Downsizing. Then, a group of men are shown disrobed on tables undergoing the process. Again, it's not used in a sexual way, and there's really no reason we need to see everything they show to get the idea of what's going on. There is also one psychedelic party scene at Paul's neighbor's apartment that involves some drug use and brief nudity. And there are some F-bombs that, again, didn't really need to be in there. However, when there's no real substance to a movie, you tend to resort to things like that just to reel in some audiences. The people responsible for putting together previews really did their job well. I had no idea what this movie was about, except the basic premise, but I was very excited to see what it's all about. And those people deserve a raise because they not only hid any hint of why the movie would be rated R from the previews, they also concealed the fact that there's really no plot or substance behind an otherwise original idea for a story. Paul and his wife Audrey are separated at the Downsizing facility because men and women go through in different areas. When Paul awakes after the procedure, he gets a call from his wife who has changed her mind and leaves him alone in the shrunken world that he cannot come back from. After the divorce, Paul must sell the mansion that his modest earning afforded him in the Downsized world, and he moves into an apartment. He works at a call center and is pretty much miserable. One night, he decides to join his upstairs neighbor Dusan Mirkovic (Christoph Waltz) at one of his lavish parties. The next morning, he meets Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau). She was a protestor in Vietnam who was imprisoned and Downsized against her will. Paul befriends Tran and quickly becomes her errand boy as she cares for those in the "slums" of the Downsized world. Paul and Tran join Dusan on a trip to Norway, the original colony. It is there they are told the methane gases released from the arctic snow caps have reached a level spelling eminent doom for the planet. So they have carved out an underground safe haven where they can live and repopulate. Paul thinks this is finally how his life will have meaning, but changes his mind realizing his love for Tran. They go back home and the movie abruptly ends. There were a couple chuckles throughout the movie, but it felt like watching an amateur comedian bomb on stage, or a magician who's tricks just aren't working. The idea was there, the actors were there, but there was no substance to this confusing, no point, slow-paced, unnecessary downer of a flop. I gave an initial cautious and curious 3.5 Star rating with so little to go on. But the preview for Downsizing certainly fooled us all and that rating will plummet to 1.5 Stars. It was not worth the price of admission in the theatre, I'll most likely never watch it again, even for free on cable, and I'll definitely never own it.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Entertaining Movie, Oscar Worthy Music

[8/10 · 22 December 2017]

"Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed." Phineas Taylor Barnum, best known today as simply P.T. Barnum, was born in 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut. In his early 20s, Barnum was a small business owner and founder of a weekly newspaper. He moved to New York in 1934 where his entertainment career began when he purchased Scudder's American Museum that he renamed after himself and transformed into a "freak show" playing on human curiosity with features like the Feejee mermaid and General Tom Thumb. Later in life, Barnum returned to Connecticut where he served as Mayor in 1875. He was an author, publisher, politician, businessman, and philanthropist, but is best remembered for his showmanship. It is that achievement that has inspired the new musical The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum.

If you have read any of my previous Previews or Reviews for films based on actual events or people, I have given up on doing too much research beforehand as the movies often take many creative liberties with regards to the timeline of events, the location of events, characters involved, roles they played, and more. And they have every right to do so as the films make no claims to be historically accurate or documentaries. The Greatest Showman is based on the life of P.T. Barnum, specifically in regards to his creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth.

Hugh Jackman tackles the title role of Barnum and he is no stranger to singing on stage or in film. Jackman grew up a theatre performer in Australia including musicals. The world was exposed to his singing abilities in 2012 with his role as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, a performance that earned him the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. Jackman received both praise and criticism for his vocal performance. I was one of the critics asking the question "Were you impressed with the performances in Les Miserables because you wouldn't expect Wolverine and Gladiator to be able to sing like that, or did you really think they gave the performances you would expect if you had paid $500 to watch this on Broadway?" Jackman has already been nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in The Greatest Showman and I enjoyed his singing as Barnum more than I liked his Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

Zac Efron's leading man roles in his career to date have been campy, goofy and sophomoric starring in such movies as Neighbors 1 and 2, Dirty Grandpa, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, and Baywatch. He is slated to play a completely opposite role as Ted Bundy in a film titled Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile that could really reshape his career and propel him to a much higher platform possibly opening many more "meaty" roles for the young actor. His performance in The Greatest Showman was definitely a huge step in the right direction to separate him as more than just the goofball in crude comedies.

Last year, when La La Land came out, I said we were long overdue for a new musical and La La Land was hopefully the first of many. Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul took home the Oscar for Original Song with their creation of "City of Stars" from La La Land. They're back and have written the original music for The Greatest Showman and I would be surprised if they didn't get at least one more Oscar nomination this year as it was the music that really stole the show. The Greatest Showman features a modern pop feel as team Pasek and Paul did not confine themselves to the 1830's when the film is set. It was a risk, but a risk that paid off. If they tried to fit the songs to the era of the film, I don't think this movie would have worked at all.

I was excited for The Greatest Showman and had high expectations. I gave a 4.5 Star Prediction as I anticipated thoroughly enjoying Jackman and Efron's performances along with co-stars Michelle Williams and Zendaya, the music, and the spectacle from director Michael Gracey who literally made his big screen debut. He's so green, he doesn't even have a completed biography on IMDB. I had a feeling this would just the beginning for Gracey after a hugely successful Greatest Showman. I thought this movie was sweet, charming, electric, exciting, fun, and sensitive. However, I felt it should have been about 20 minutes longer than its 1 hour and 44 minute running time. Barnum didn't come from anything at all and swept his wife away from a lavish, wealthy lifestyle. She didn't care about the money. Their apartment had a leaky roof and no frills at all, but she and their two daughters were happy. After losing another job, Barnum took a risk and convinced a bank to loan him $10,000 so he could purchase a macabre wax museum figuring that human's morbid curiosity would draw them in. His daughters pointed out that it wasn't enough. He needed live spectacles. He agreed and searched for the outcasts, the freaks. He found his Tom Thumb, a bearded lady, the World's Fattest Man, the Irish Giant, the acrobat brother and sister, and many more. And it worked. People lined up and shows were sold out to see something no one had ever seen before.

Barnum teamed up with the legitimate theatre producer Phillip Carlyle (Efron) to raise their show to the next level. It takes some convincing but Carlyle gets on board and it isn't long before their entire troop gets an audience with the British Queen. It's there that I feel the movie started rushing things. Providing a better life, a bigger home, ballet lessons, fancy clothes soon wasn't enough for Barnum. He became obsessed with people's opinions about how he obtained his wealth. In England, they meet famed European opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) and convince her to tour the United States as promoted by Barnum. At her first performance, Barnum became infatuated with the "legitimate" adulation she received and started hiding his band of freaks to the shadows. It is Carlyle who first questioned Barnum, though he himself wasn't ready to be fully associated with them. His inner conflict was growing, however, as he had fallen in love with acrobat Anne Wheeler (Zendaya).

Barnum quite abruptly abandoned his circus as Carlyle abruptly became an outcast to his family and his upper crust associates as he fully embraced his new family in Barnum's absence. Almost as quickly as Barnum threw the origins of his success aside, he flipped a 180 and left Lind to finish her American tour without him so he could return to his wife, his children and his circus family. Local protestors threatened to permanently end their dream, but Carlyle's investments saved the day and the show went on.

I really only had two big issues with The Greatest Showman. As described above, the flip-flopping of allegiance of both Barnum and Carlyle could have used a little more time in the film to develop and transition. The second was the character of Tom Thumb as played by actor Sam Humphrey, an Australian actor with a skeletal disorder that keeps the 22-year-old actor at a height of 4'3" tall. But that wasn't short enough for the film as they digitally shortened his legs by what appears to be 6 to 8 inches. The problem is that you can tell he was digitally altered in every full-body shot he is in. He is also obviously missing from some wider shot scenes, when he should be in them. During the number "This is me", the cast of freaks are out in the public streets all performing together. He is there during close-up scenes, but when the camera pulls out, he is noticeably absent.

Other than that, the songs really made this show a spectacle and truly entertaining. It starts with an anthemic performance by Hugh Jackman of the show's opening song "The Greatest Show" that has a similar feel to Queen's "We Will Rock You". Efron and Jackman were the perfect pair in their duet in the bar as they sang "The Other Side". Efron had a very heart-felt, sweet, sincere, beautiful duet with Zendaya as they battled with their feelings for each other as they sang "Rewrite the Stars". And the Bearded Lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle) led the cast of the circus in a triumphant singing of "This is Me". While the movie sold itself short in it's character and story execution, a shortcoming that really could have been fixed easily with about 20 minutes more, it more than redeemed those downfalls with some amazing original music that should get a couple Oscar nominations and probably one of them taking home the trophy. So, I predicted 4.5 stars for The Greatest Showman, I'm going to lower it just slightly to 4.0 Stars. It was definitely worth the money in the theatre, I'd see it again, and I'll be owning this once it comes out.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

The Last Jedi doesn't disappoint with some disappointments included

[8/10 · 16 December 2017]

Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi is the second installment in the third trilogy of nine mainstream Star Wars movies that started back in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope. Back then, there was no such thing as CGI or 3D. So filmmaker George Lucas invented technology to make his vision come to life. His films were groundbreaking and laid the foundation for some of the greatest advances in cinema. Episodes IV, V, and VI were movies that changed how movies are made. They were ahead of their time and still hold up forty years later. In 1999, Lucas went back to tell us how it all began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace. CGI technology had come a long way, but it wasn't perfect. For his original trilogy, Lucas invented new technology to create what he saw in his mind. He received heavy criticism for Episode I as he seemed instead to settle for what technology was available at the time. He listened to the critics and scaled it back for Episode III, but it still lacked what made the original trilogy so special. In 2015, JJ Abrams and Disney joined forces (pun intended) to release Episode VII: The Force Awakens and it was the perfect blend of technology versus actual characters and actual props. Episode VIII continues Rey's (Daisy Ridley) Jedi training with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

In my preview post, I spent much of the post drawing parallels between the 7 existing Star Wars movies. There are so many similarities between the plots, the twists, the characters, the scenes. I'll skip most of that, but restate my comparisons between Episode II and Episode V since Episode VIII is the second in the trilogy as well.

In Episode II, Anakin's training is progressing rapidly. It is revealed that Senator Palpatin is really the dark Sith Lord they've been looking for and he begins to tempt Anakin with the power of the dark side. During a battle with Count Dooku, Anakin loses his hand. The movie ends with Anakin's arm and prosthetic hand around Padme (Natalie Portman) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side. In Episode V, Luke's training is progressing rapidly. It is revealed the Darth Vader is actually Luke's father as he begins to try to seduce Luke to the dark side. During a battle with Vader, Luke loses his hand. The movie ends with Luke's arm and prosthetic hand around Leah (Carrie Fisher) with C3PO and R2-D2 at their side. Both movies begin to take a darker turn from their lighter predecessor preparing us for the darkest third installment of Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith. Ironically, the original working title for Episode VI was Revenge of the Jedi, but Lucas changed it to Return because a Jedi does not seek revenge. That is a characteristic of the dark side, hence Revenge of the Sith.

So, if history repeated itself a third time, there should have been some similarities in the newly released Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi. Rey's training should progress rapidly, and it does. There should be a surprising reveal, but there really wasn't. The previews lead us to believe there could be some darkness in Luke, but there isn't. It's more of his whiny self blaming himself for the fall of the Jedi and hoping his own isolation and death would bring an end to the Jedi. It could also have been in the revealing of who the holographic dark lord Snoke really is. Well, we do get to see Snoke up close and personal, but we still don't know who he really is or where he came from. Kylo Ren will grow more powerful as he is increasingly agitated with the struggle inside himself. That is definitely true. It will be darker than Episode VII: The Force Awakens, but not nearly as dark as Episode IX will be in two more years. It was certainly darker than its predecessor, but only time will tell what Episode IX has in store for us.

So this movie did not exactly follow the previous trilogy formulas of similarity. In fact, The Last Jedi's epic 2 hour and 44 minute adventure had elements of both second and third installments. Rey advances her training with Luke and faces her own demons. No one loses their hand in this movie like Anakin did in Attack of the Clones or like Luke did in Empire Strikes Back. And there really was no dramatic reveal. Yes, we find out who Rey's parents are, but after years of build-up and anticipation, the reveal from Kylo Ren is anti-climactic at best, if what he said is true. And we are given no reason to doubt the veracity of his claim. But that still doesn't explain Rey's connection with Luke and the force. We are also introduced to a new Han Solo type character. While Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) are imprisoned looking for the master hacker, fellow inmate DJ (Benicio Del Toro) helps them escape and vows to assist them in their mission for the right price. He later turns on them for his own freedom and a handsome payoff. He's a much more suitable Han character than Jar Jar Binks was apparently supposed to represent.

But The Last Jedi also had many elements of Episodes III and VI. Kylo Ren takes Rey to Supreme Leader Snoke in cuffs, each hoping to turn the other to their side of the force. Snoke sits confidently in his chair taunting Rey with her lightsaber at his side while the fleeing Rebel forces are under attack from the Galactic Empire.

I did take issue with a few things in the movie. I didn't care for all the "connection" scenes between Rey and Kylo Ren. Luke had a similar connection with Darth Vader, but this took it to almost an annoying level. I didn't care for Leah's "powers" that came out of nowhere. We were given a glimpse of her abilities in Empire Strikes Back when she feels Luke's whereabouts in Cloud City, and Yoda promises there is another hope for the Jedi referring to Leah and Luke says the force is in her, but we see none of it in Return of the Jedi or The Force Awakens. Also, actress Carrie Fisher sadly passed away before the film's release, but her character completed The Last Jedi which means it will have to be addressed in Episode IX. And I didn't care for Luke's trick against Kylo Ren.

JJ Abrams did not direct The Last Jedi, but handed over the reigns to a fairly new director Rian Johnson who's most notable works are a few episodes of Breaking Bad and the Sci-Fi movie Looper. But, from the previews, Johnson looked like he was more than up for the challenge. Unfortunately, I did feel that a bit of the JJ balance of CGI to real-life was sacrificed in this second installment. It was still leagues ahead of Episodes I-III, but not as flawless as Episode VII. Supreme Leader Snoke was animated with the same facial recognition technology as Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes and Avatar. It was good. But his disfigured face and mastery of the dark side were supposed to be menacing. I honestly found the Emperor from Episodes V and VI to be more scary and that was done purely through makeup. It looked like his animation wasn't limited to his face and hands, but included his clothes. For some reason, we can do hair, water, explosions really well, but clothes still elude animators when striving for undetectable perfection.

I gave Episode VII a rare perfect 5 Star rating so I expected the same perfection giving a 5 Star follow-up prediction for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. I thought most of the animation was fantastic. It was a great story and thoroughly entertaining. I'm glad I saw it in the theatre and it was worth the money. I know I'll be owning it, but I am dropping my rating to 4 Stars.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

Man Who Invented Christmas Disappoints Christmas Fans

[5/10 · 15 December 2017]

"Marley was dead, to begin with, there is no doubt whatever about that." In December of 1843, struggling author Charles Dickens began his yuletide classic A Christmas Carol with this line. Known for his humor as much as his thought-provoking genius, Dickens spent the next paragraph comparing Marley's death to that of a door nail, then questioning whether that was an appropriate object and perhaps a coffin nail would have been more accurate. After three failed novels, Dickens struck gold with this timeless tale that has become as synonymous with Christmas as trees, lights, wise men, snowmen and Santa. The much-needed success of A Christmas Carol resurrected Dickens' career, not unlike the rebirth of Ebeneezer Scrooge after his night of ghostly visitors on Christmas Eve. The Man Who Invented Christmas tells the story of Dickens' inspiration for his holiday masterpiece.

After the huge success of Oliver Twist, Dickens has put out three failed novels in the last 16 months. He is broke. He and his wife have just moved into a larger house with their three children, housekeeper and nanny. The bills are piling up and his wife just informed him they have another child on the way. In two months, he must write and publish the book of his career, a Christmas story, to save his family. But Dickens has severe writer's block and matters are not made any better with his estranged parents moving in, drudging up painful memories of a less-than-pleasant childhood, the result of his father's financial irresponsibility.

Charles overhears his nanny Tara telling a traditional Irish Christmas tale to the rest of the children. It involves spirits that roam free on Christmas eve every year. That plants the first little seed of a story. After an event where Charles gave a speech, a rich attendee expressed some criticisms of his latest works. His objection was that the poor and the beggars and the pickpockets don't deserve a place in a novel, they should be in the workhouses. Charles rebuts that many would rather die. The response was that they had better get on with it and decrease the surplus population. The seed grew in his head.

That evening, he stumbles upon a graveyard where a man is burying his business partner. There are no friends, no family present and the man isn't upset by the loss. Two men with shovels are waiting nearby to toss in the dirt and Dickens overhears them comment that it's a shame the business partner had so much money and no one to share it with. As the man walks away from the grave, he spies Dickens looking on. He approaches Charles, stops, and utters just one word: "Humbug." And the seed took life. The story began to come and the characters came alive in his mind.

The Man Who Invented Christmas looked from the previews like it could potentially be a new underground Christmas classic. A Christmas Carol has been made and re-imagined several times. George C. Scott played Bob Cratchit in 1984. In 1988, Bill Murray played Xavier Cross in a twist on the classed of Scrooged. In 1992, the role was undertaken by Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Christmas Carol. 2009 marked a fantastic animation put out by Disney with Jim Carrey in the lead role. I, myself, played the narrator in a radio production of A Christmas Carol in High School in the early 1990's. I said this could be an underground classic because I thought it might take a couple years to really take hold and be shown every year on TV during the holidays. After watching it though, I don't think this will become a Christmas classic at all as this movie fell far short of my expectations.

I thought that Dan Stevens delivered a humorous, genuine, heart-felt and energetic performance as Charles Dickens and Christopher Plummer was a brilliant Scrooge. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a Christmas story that has never been told before, though it is based on the story that has been told nearly as many times as the birth of Jesus in the manger. I'm a huge fan of all things Christmas but this was a disappointment. Dickens was a master storyteller using words to paint vivid images and creating characters who come to life off his pages. Unfortunately, and ironically, those are the two things that screen writer Susan Coyne lacked. Like Stevens and Nalluri, the majority of Coyne's previous work is from television. The Man Who Invented Christmas might have been too big for her to take on. Even within the film, we see how powerful a writer Dickens was. He shares some of his pages with Tara and she smiles uncontrollably and is also brought to tears as she can't bear the thought of Bob Cratchit losing Tiny Tim and believes there must be some good within Scrooge. Later in the film, Dickens is struggling with the ending of the story and the turning point for Scrooge. His best friend and business partner Mr. Chapman asks him some probing questions. What causes Scrooge to turn around? What's holding him back? Why is he the way he is? Who cares for him? Who does he care for? All questions that make a character relatable, three dimensional, and real. It doesn't seem these questions were asked of most of the characters in the movie about the man who did it better than almost anyone else throughout history.

Dickens was a successful author who chose to move into a larger house with all the bells and whistles. You felt worse about the chandelier than you did about his wife and three children. Dickens wrestled with his own Scrooge-like characteristics, but you weren't exactly rooting for him like you were for Scrooge towards the end of the book. You didn't feel sorry for his wife who felt neglected nor for Tara who was sent away after a temper tantrum. There was so much potential for this to be a great movie, but the lack of basics made it fail.

I gave The Man Who Invented Christmas a 4 Star Prediction. I'm going to lower that to 2.5 Stars. I'd probably watch it again if it was on TV. I doubt I'd rent it, and I'm sure I won't be adding this one to my collection.

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

Slow by Creepy Cringy Thriller

[6/10 · 25 July 2017]

A Cure For Wellness is a psychological thriller about a remote spa in the Swiss Alps. Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) is an ambitious young executive who is tasked with retrieving Pembroke (Harry Groener) the CEO of their company from this spa. When he arrives, it looks like a mix between a luxury spa and an insane asylum. There are people doing yoga, exercising, swimming. They are normal activities done in a creepy looking facility. Lockhart meets a young woman, Hannah (Mia Goth) who asks if he's there to take the Cure. He laughs and says he's on his way out. She comments that no one ever leaves.

When Lockhart arrives, he asks to see Pembroke. They are passively uncooperative at the "spa", but reluctantly agree to let him visit after 7pm when Pembroke's treatment is finished. Lockhart agrees to come back and as he leaves the "spa", his driver hits a deer and their car crashes in the woods. He awakes back at the facility and is being treated for a broken leg. They convince Lockhart to be treated by them, and he decides to turn his retrieval mission into an investigation of the strange spa that is obviously anything but normal. Other than that, you really don't get too much from the previews, no matter how many you watch. But, if you're into psychological thrillers, the images that are beautifully terrifying, classically creepy, and oddly curious make you want to see A Cure For Wellness. We saw orderlies in tight white t-shirts, white pants and white shoes conducting exercise classes and wheeling patients down long tiled corridors with flickering fluorescent lights overhead. At one point, Lockhart is submersed in a water tank with a breathing tube and is suddenly surrounded by eels.

The movie itself is hard to describe. It's like Stanly Kubrik's Clockwork Orange mixed with Steven King's Misery mixed with the Saw movie franchise. A Cure For Wellness was directed by Gore Verbinksi who directed three of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the cartoon Rango, the failed Lone Ranger reboot, and The Ring. Verbinski is quite eclectic in his directing ventures and did a great job creating this freaky nightmare that will have you cringing in your seat at times.

It looked like a strange, unsettling, bizarre, crazy, awful thriller. I gave it a 3.5 Star Prediction. I'm going to lower the rating slightly to 3 Stars. It wouldn't be a waste of money in the theatre, it's definitely money better spent as a rental, but most likely not one I'd own. Mostly, it just moves along too slowly. The movie is about 2 hours and 20 minutes long and it feels like it. The last half hour or so, really ends the movie with a bang though. A lot of revelation and action packed into a well-done conclusion to the movie. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

City of Ghosts (2017)

Everyone Must See This Film

[8/10 · 19 July 2017]

City of Ghosts is a documentary independent film about ISIS terrorists in Raqqa, Syria, the citizen journalists exposing them, and the power of media used by both. In 2014, ISIS took over Raqqa by force and recruited more soldiers to their cause by distributing CDs. These CDs were poor in quality, looked amateur, and were not producing the results they wanted. A group of 17 correspondents inside Raqqa filmed the actions of ISIS and transmitted their footage to another group of citizen activists outside of Raqqa who would then publish their footage online for the world to see. ISIS caught on and stepped up their game, smartly, viciously, successfully.

For 40 years, Assad ruled Syria. Slowly, Syrians had enough and rebelled. A group of high school students sprayed graffiti demanding Assad leave and free Syria. The government arrested those students, tortured them and killed them to send a message. Their message failed and a full revolt arose, successfully toppling the regime. Unfortunately for the Syrians, there was not a succession plan in place to set up a government to rule once Assad had been overthrown. A militant group of Muslims named ISIS took Raqqa and they were even worse than Assad.

ISIS launched a three-pronged attack. First, they attacked by force. Then, they attacked by upping the quality of their videos used to recruit soldiers. They utilized Hollywood style filming techniques and special effects to entice Syrians to join their "paradise". Finally, they found out who was working against them and used intimidation to scare them off. They would publicly execute their family members, they would post pictures of those working against them and their addresses encouraging their soldiers and followers to kill them. They demanded that all satellites be removed and destroyed so they could be in complete control of any media entering or leaving Raqqa. They drove around in vans detecting internet signals and killing violators. But a few brave resisters would not be deterred realizing that either they would successfully share the truth, or they would be killed.

This is a documentary that uses actual footage of the atrocities being committed by ISIS in Syria. These are not Hollywood actors, there are no special effects or makeup tricks. What you see is real. And that makes this film brutal and painful but necessary to watch. The preview showed that you would be given front-line access to the daily terror to which Syrians are subjected, and that's what the film delivered. It was hard to give this a typical star rating because it's not meant to entertain, it's not meant to thrill and take you to a make believe place. Even movies that are based on actual events are a little easier to handle because they are a step removed. They are recreations of things that happened and the viewer can take some solace knowing it's still a Hollywood movie. I'm not often squeamish at horror films with gore and blood. I'm more curious at how the special effects team pulled it off. With City of Ghosts, what you see is actually happening and cannot be brushed off as a trick. I honestly was not sure what exactly to expect. I didn't know how much would be shown in the movie and in how much detail. The movie is graphic, but restrained. You do see executions. You do see children being brainwashed and threatened with no choice but to follow ISIS. You do see the aftermath of public beheadings. But you are spared some of the brutality as the camera will film the reactions of the Syrians who had to witness their fellow Syrians, their fellow journalists, their friends and families being killed. But their goal is to spread the graphic truth of what is going on and their lives are at stake. I gave City of Ghosts an anticipatory 4 Star prediction. I am going to stand by my 4 Star Rating, even though it breaks my own rating scale because this will not be a movie I'll be owning. I'm giving this a higher rating because I think it is an important film that we all need to see. Not in spite of how uncomfortable it may make us, but rather because of how uncomfortable it should make us. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde Falls Short of Bond or Bourne

[3/10 · 13 July 2017]

Undercover MI6 Agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is described as an expert in intelligence collection and hand-to-hand combat. In Atomic Blonde, Broughton is sent on a mission to Berlin on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall to take down a ruthless espionage ring that is responsible for killing her boyfriend and fellow MI6 undercover agent. He was killed for an important document referred to as "the list" that contains compromising information about undercover agents and missions. There, she is forced to team up with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) who is not always on the same page as far as information sharing. Once in Berlin, the mission quickly expands from just finding "the list" to also revealing and eliminating the double agent crossing the KGB, the Royal Crown and the United States.

Atomic Blonde is the full length feature film realization of the graphic novel titled The Coldest City. Written in 2012 by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, The Coldest City chronicles the adventures of a spy sent to find a list of double-agents being smuggled into the West.

An early review described Theron as "bigger and bolder than Bourne". Many have compared her character to the first real female James Bond. I found a couple problems with those comparisons. First, the action scenes and driving sequences in the Bourne movies were believable and flawless in their execution. While Theron was more than able to pull off the realistic and graphic fighting scenes, the driving scenes were enhanced by a computer in post production. And you can tell.

Second, Broughton, like the 007 Agent to which she is compared, has a love interest in the movie. Bond is known for being quite the ladies' man with not-so-subtle innuendos and a PG to PG-13 scene of intimacy before getting back to the action and gadgets. Broughton engages with a female French agent named Sandrine (Sofia Boutella). This affair was not in the 2012 graphic novel, but the writers of Atomic Blonde felt it would set their spy movie apart from other ones and it would be an unexpected twist. Their affair was graphic, intense and gratuitous. While the Bond scene of love is titillatingly playful, the scenes in Atomic Blonde hinted at by the preview leave s little to the imagination and something that I feel works against solidifying Broughton as a viable contender to be in the same class as a Bourne or Bond character. Though I can excuse the affair itself as being a means to and end (information gathering), it still could have been done with a PG to PG-13 ambiance about it.

All the things that are wrong about Atomic Blonde are showcased in the first 5 minutes of the film. The MI6 Agent is killed by the KGB in an unrealistic computer enhanced car hit, the first line of the movie drops an F-bomb (the first of many), and the next scene is Broughton naked in a tub and around the bathroom. I supposed the point of that was to show a bruised and broken Broughton; but, again, that could have done without the nudity.

Atomic Blonde looked interesting and I agree we are overdue for a female version of a Bond or Bourne, but I do think they could have done so with more attention to the plot and the action and less on the nudity and sex that didn't make the movie any better. I went in with low expectations giving a timid 2 Star Prediction. I will say this, as the movie progresses, it does get better for me. The fighting scenes (and you can tell Theron is actually doing most of her own work) are quite realistic. The story is not unique. It's a spy movie, so the one you think is the traitor isn't, and even when you think you figured out the twist, there's another one.

It's entertaining, but not innovative or new. Because of the fight scenes alone, I'm bumping this up to 2.5 Stars. Still disappointing, especially when it could have been a solid 4 to 4.5 stars had it not been for the car chases with computers, the nudity and sex, and the foul language that just wasn't necessary to put Atomic Blonde in the same league with Bourne or Bond. I think this is one to wait for on cable, but might be worth renting, but not spending the big bucks to watch in theatres. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

The Guardians are Still Fun and Still Rocking

[7/10 · 1 May 2017]

Three years ago, the earthling Peter Quill A.K.A. Star Lord (Chris Pratt) acquired a mysterious orb that put his life in danger. Hunted by the villain Ronan the Accuser, Quill assembled a team of intergalactic misfits who teamed up to stop Ronan and save the galaxy in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Quill was accompanied by Gamora (Zoe Saldana) a green orphan from an alien world raised to be an assassin; a physical brute named Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista); Groot (Vin Diesel) who is basically a giant walking tree with limited communication skills; and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) a raccoon bounty hunter / mercenary.

Groot is back and adorable. Though the giant tree perished in Volume 1, Rocket replanted a piece of his friend that has produced the offspring, Baby Groot for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. The unspoken sexual tension (ala Sam and Diane from Cheers) between Quill and Gamora is palpable, but endearing and sweet. And, as expected, another epic soundtrack accompanied this movie, including the ending credits from David Hasselhoff. As a child, not knowing who his father was, Quill would tell other children that the Knight Rider was his dad. But Volume 2 answers that question for us.

We don't learn too much from the preview. We can tell the action and animation is at least on par with Volume 1. It was. We saw that the humorous one-liners would be flowing plentifully. They were. We know all our favorite characters are back and some new ones will be introduced. But, we don't get too much of a plot reveal from the preview. Well, if you don't want any spoilers, here where you stop reading.

Volume 2 opens with Ego (Kurt Russell) and Meredith (Laura Haddock) driving in 1983 with the radio blasting and Meredith singing, truly where Peter got his passion for music. The two young lovebirds run into the woods where Ego shows her a beautiful exotic blue plant. As he vaguely describes what it is, she says she doesn't understand what he's saying but loves the way he says it. She can't believe she fell for a space man.

Thirty-four years later, Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians have been hired to fight off an intergalactic monster trying to steal a valuable source of power. It's a cute seen that is pretty much Baby Groot dancing while the Guardians take down the beast. They return to collect their prize for a successful mission: Gamora's sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). They don't get along and Gamora is going to turn her in for the bounty on her. They don't make it that far as their ship is attacked by the very same creatures that employed them because Rocket, couldn't resist stealing some of the valuable cargo they were tasked to protect. They set their course for the nearest safe planet, but they were outnumbered and it looked like all hope was lost until one solo ship appeared and the pursuing armada was completely decimated in an instant. After crashing on the planet, their savior ship appears and Ego emerges, immediately revealing himself as Peter's father. Ego, with his companion Mantis (Pom Klementieff) convince Peter, Gamora and Drax to return to his planet for further explanation while Rocket, Baby Groot and Nebula stay behind with the damaged ship.

That's where the big reveal happens. Ego is not a human. He is a god. The planet is his and he is the only inhabitant, other than the alien orphan he has with him, Mantis. He has fathered many children throughout the galaxy, but Peter is the only one who carried his god-gene that Ego needs to take over the universe. The epic battle ensues on many levels, but culminates on Ego's planet as the Guardians again must save the Galaxy. I won't tell you how it all ends, I think I've revealed enough plot-spoilers at this point.

Most of the star prediction was based on Volume 1 since the preview didn't reveal much about Volume 2. But it was a successful preview for two reasons. First, there was just too much to reveal. I just scratched the surface of all the plot twists and reveals that are jam-packed into this sequel. In addition to that, there are more characters and special appearances in the film. But, if the preview clued you in to their roles, it wouldn't have been as fun when they popped up on screen. So kudos for keeping those nuggets to themselves. Second, it gave you enough to make you want to come see it. Basically, the preview said, if you liked the first one, everything you loved about it will be in the second one. And it was all there. It was fun, original, enjoyable and more than just a sequel. I gave Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 a 3.5 star prediction: worth the money in the theatres, something I'd watch again, and a contender for my home collection. I was right on and I'm sticking with my 3.5 Stars. Fans of the comic, fans of sci-fi action movies, fans of Marvel, fans of the first movie, they will all be quite pleased with Volume 2. So, what movie

Beauty and the Beast (I) (2017)

Beauty and the Beast comes to life

[9/10 · 17 March 2017]

Disney has done it again. We all know the story. It's a "tale as old as time". We all know the formula by now. Disney is taking their classic movies and re-making, re-imagining, recreating them (whatever you want to call it) as live-action movies. In 2010, Tim Burton and Disney brought the live-action version of Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp to the big screen. Maleficent followed in 2014 starring Angelina Jolie re-telling the story of Sleeping Beauty. Next was Cinderella in 2015 and 2016 gave us Pete's Dragon and The Jungle Book. Now, Emma Watson reprises the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Disney's original groundbreaking animated masterpiece was released in November 1991. It was nominated for Best Picture of the Year, the first of only 3 animated movies to ever be nominated for Best Picture.

The preview for Beauty and the Beast looked breathtakingly beautiful. There is so much to show in so little time, so they don't really waste any of it trying to summarize the plot like they do in most previews, assuming you already know the story. Instead, you are given little gems. A glimpse of the Beast that looks like Disney's original animation come to life. Brief shots of our favorite characters: Chip, Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen) and Lumiere (Ewan McGregor). Emma Watson as Belle, who may not be the obvious choice, but looked in the preview to pull off the role quite well, and she does a fantastic job. The CGI that looked like it would hold its own against Disney's latest reinvention of The Jungle Book that just won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. And some of the familiar music that made the first so special.

I had extremely high expectations for Beauty and the Beast, but there were a few things that I felt would have to be nailed for this to be perfect. Belle. As I just said, Watson doesn't immediately stand out as the obvious choice for the role. She looked great in the preview, but I wondered if she could hold it with the intelligence, grace, bravery, strength and singing required to match her predecessor's performance. She did. In fact, after seeing her performance and hearing her voice mastering so many iconic songs, I don't know that I could imagine anyone else in the role.

I also felt that the animation needed to be flawless. This film had two previous movies to live up to: the original animated version from 1991 that was nominated for Best Picture and the 2016 Jungle Book. Many of the critiques I've read about Beauty and the Beast criticized the CGI, specifically the Beast. They say his eyes are off and the characters are flat. I disagree and wonder if they didn't understand the difference in story-telling between Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast. Jungle Book was supposed to be much more realistic, aside from talking animals. It wasn't a fantasy world, it wasn't a dream, it was a man-child in the jungle with real animals. Beauty and the Beast is fantasy, a place of Belle's dreams and others' nightmares. A Prince turned into a hideous beast. Servants turned into a candlestick, a clock, a dresser, a teapot and cup. Of course the animation is going to look different. Now, that being said, there were a couple moments with Beast walking that were slightly less perfect than his animation for the rest of the movie. However, the human characters' interactions with the animated ones were seamless.

The music. Jungle Book didn't hold back with their musical numbers and I hoped that Beast wouldn't either. They didn't. In fact, we were introduced to a few new songs written just for this live-action version of the classic. We get to see the history of the Prince and why he became such a selfish man. We also got to see what happened to Belle's mother and what drove her father from Paris when she was just a baby. Though they didn't have the same catchy lyrics that will have kids and adults singing for 16 years to come, they fit right in with the story and were welcomed additions to the film.

And finally, the ballroom scene. The sweeping shot of the chandelier in the grand ballroom with Belle in her yellow dress and Beast in his blue suit was nothing short of iconic and groundbreaking in the original animation. It's a lot to live up to. They went a slightly different route with the ballroom scene. Instead of one central chandelier, they had several in the room and the sweeping shot around the room revealed instruments on the wall helping to orchestrate their dance. My only criticism of that scene was that the original shone so bright and golden and this version, although beautiful, was a little muted.

Beauty and the Beast had a lot to live up to, and the preview made it look like they were up to the task. So I gave it a very enthusiastic and hopeful 4.5 Star Prediction. After watching the movie, I believe they were very successful in paying tribute to the original while making decisions to set their live action version apart and modern-ish for 2017. I enjoyed it completely and thought it nearly perfect except for my few minor criticisms. So I'm sticking with my 4.5 Star rating. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Get Out (I) (2017)

Get Out thrills and delights

[8/10 · 15 March 2017]

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) have been dating for five months and it's time for Chris to meet the parents. He's a bit tentative about the weekend because he's black, she's white, and Rose hasn't told her parents. Chris' best friend Rod (LilRey Howery) advises him not to go to their secluded mansion in the woods, but Rose is able to convince him that it's going to be fine. Chris meets her parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener). Dean is a neurosurgeon and Missy is a psychologist skilled in the science of hypnotherapy. At first, they seem like an awkwardly cute, sweet couple trying too hard to be accommodating to their daughter's first black boyfriend, but things turn more than just awkward quickly.

Chris meets Georgina (Betty Gabriel) the maid and Walter (Marcus Henderson) the groundskeeper. They are both black. Dean reassures Chris that despite how it looks (white family with black help), Georgina and Walter were brought on to help with his sick parents and they were invited to stay on after their passing, but there is something off about them. They are blank, vacant, almost like the Stepford wives. Their first night there, Chris steps outside for a cigarette and witnesses both Georgina and Walter behaving quite strangely in the middle of the night. He goes back inside to see Missy waiting for him. Rose and her parents are not thrilled with Chris' smoking and Missy has offered her services to hypnotize him to cure him of his addiction. Despite his opposition to the procedure, Missy is very good at what she does. Chris ends up in "the sunken place" and awakes the next morning in bed, apparently rid of any desires to smoke.

Over the weekend, that has turned into a large get together, Chris meets another black man who is a guest at the party. He introduces himself to Logan (Lakeith Stanfield). At first, Chris is relieved to see another black man at the party, someone who isn't employed at the estate, but his relief quickly fades as he finds out that Logan is just like Georgina and Walter: present, but not all there. Chris snaps a picture of Logan and the flash triggers something in him. He charges at Chris warning him to get out. Rod, who also works for the TSA, also warns him to get out when he finds out that black people have gone missing in that area.

Chris and Rose go on a walk and eventually Rose agrees that it's an awful weekend. She is embarrassed by her family and friends and the experience Chris is having and agrees they should leave. While packing, Chris finds a hidden box of photos revealing he is not Rose's first black boyfriend. In fact, he recognizes her with Georgina and Walter in the pictures. That's when Chris realizes he was invited for the weekend, but he was never meant to leave.

Get Out was written and directed by Jordan Peele of the comedy team Key and Peele. The preview looked completely creepy, a scary thriller with a bit of humor thrown in. I was concerned that it looked like it also might have quite a few of the clichéd "gotcha" moments. Those are scenes where something is inherently unnerving or unsettling, mildly startling, but you are forced to react more severely because of a sharp music tone, a jarring sound effect, or a sudden camera movement. Personally, I don't care much for the forced jumps in scary movies. I'd rather just let the action or lack of action itself be what is scary on its own. Fortunately, there were only two of those "gotcha" moments and they did exactly what they were meant to do by shocking the audience. We all immediately laughed at ourselves for falling victim to the ploy.

Peele has written for MadTV and Key and Peele and also co-wrote the movie Keanu, a movie about a lost cat that didn't really live up to the hype. Get Out is Peele's second feature film he's written and his directorial debut. It's definitely quite a different genre than Keanu, but I went in to this one with low expectations and only gave it a 2.5 Star Prediction. To my delight, it was much better than I thought. It mixed elements of the creepiness of Deliverance, the Stepford Wives, and the Shining; the music of Jeepers Creepers, Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and Halloween 2; the humor of Django Unchained, Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland; and the triumph of 10 Cloverfield Lane, Alien, and 1408. I thought it was worth the money in the theatres and would recommend watching it with a crowd of at least 30 other people in the theatre who are there to be entertained and you can all experience this film together and out loud. You will laugh, squeal, cringe, gasp and cheer for Get Out. I'm bumping up my rating to 3.5 Stars as not only did I enjoy it in the theatres, I'm heavily inclined to watch it again and might even add this one to my home collection. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Gibson's Triumphant Return in Hacksaw Ridge

[9/10 · 21 February 2017]

Hacksaw Ridge is the story of an Army Medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who was the first to ever receive the Medal of Honor for bravery without having fired a single shot. His father Tom (Hugo Weaving) fought in World War I and it took its toll on Tom who turned to drinking and was often violent with his family. It was his father's violence that prompted Desmond to commit to the Scripture's command that "Thou shalt not kill." He refused to even pick up a gun. Things got even tougher for Tom when both of his sons enlisted in the army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor launching the United States into World War II.

Desmond did not get along with his superiors in boot camp due to his opposition to guns and killing. Refusing to train on Saturdays as it is the Sabbath, didn't earn him any popularity points with his fellow trainees either. Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) made his training as hellish as possible and Desmond was beaten in his barracks by the other soldiers who viewed his conscientious objections as cowardice. But Desmond did not give up their names when asked who attacked him. He took everything they threw at him and persevered. The day the squad was released from training, Desmond was arrested for his insubordination making him miss his own wedding day. Only the testimony of his father saved him from a court martial.

Desmond's stand against killing continued in Okinawa, Japan as he refused to take up a weapon against the enemy, even though he believed their cause was just. Instead, he regularly risked his own life, unarmed, to aid his wounded brothers away from the front lines to get medical attention. In all, Desmond rescued over 75 men without ever firing a shot.

Hacksaw Ridge marks Mel Gibson's return to the Director's chair after a ten year hiatus after Apocalypto in 2006 and The Passion of the Christ in 2004. Hacksaw Ridge has been nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year, Best Leading Actor (Andrew Garfield) and Best Director (Mel Gibson). Gibson 2 for 2 in Oscar wins, both for Braveheart in 1996 that earned him the Best Picture of the Year and Best Director. Hacksaw Ridge is another installment in brutally graphic, tragically realistic, touching and character-driven movies in Gibson's repertoire. I was concerned about Andrew Garfield in this role. He started gaining major recognition with his role in The Social Network in 2010 followed by a reprized role as Peter Parker / Spider-man in two Spider-man movies. But this is quite a different role for Garfield and he more than rose to the occasion. In fact, his performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination (Casey Affleck won for Best Actor in a Drama) and an Oscar nomination.

I was also concerned about Vince Vaughn in this very heavy movie. I love him in his comedies, but he failed to impress in the second season of True Detective. Granted, everyone failed to impress in that series follow-up, but particularly Vaughn who wasn't very convincing in his dramatic role. While he was more than adequate in this role, he still proved to be the dimmest star shining in a sea of brightly burning suns. Vaughn will never be mentioned alongside the greats like R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, Louis Gosset Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman, or Christopher Walken in Biloxi Blues.

That being said, early comments on the film, the notoriety of Gibson's previous works and the preview made me very optimistic for Hacksaw Ridge, so I gave it an anticipatory 4.0 Star Prediction. And I'm going to stick with it giving it a solid 4.0 Stars. It really had everything. It started with a tragic family story torn apart by alcohol and violence. It had a beautiful love story that was so pure and sweet. It made you love and support Desmond in boot camp and feel for him as his fellow soldiers attacked him. It ended with a brutal, graphic, realistic war reenactment. That is one of Gibson's specialties: graphic violence that isn't just for the sake of being bloody, but rather because that's what actually happened. And that's how you look at it. You don't ask, "Why did that movie have to be so violent?" Instead, you realize just how violent the war was and that makes Desmond's heroics just that much more incredible. Hacksaw Ridge was well worth the money in the theatre, definitely worth the 6 nominations, and a contender for a spot in my home collection. marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Fences (2016)

August Wilson's Pullitzer Prize Winning Fences, Great on Screen, but not Oscar-worthy

[6/10 · 1 February 2017]

Every boy and girls has dreams of what they'd like to be when they grow up: an astronaut, a ball player, a ballerina, a princess. Fences is the story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) who had a dream to play baseball. Growing up in the early 1900's, that dream was impossible for him as African Americans weren't allowed to play professional baseball until Jackie Robinson broke through that racial wall in 1947. By that time, the league deemed Maxson too old to play and he continued his career as a sanitation worker in Pittsburgh to provide for his family. He tried to be the good husband and father, but the pain of missed opportunity grew to resentment and anger over the years putting a strain on his family.

Troy's wife, Rose (Viola Davis) tells him that their son, Cory (Jovan Adepo) is being looked at by a college recruiter to play football. Troy is set against it. Being a talented baseball player never got him anything. Tensions grow so deep in their family, Cory actually confronts his father asking why he never liked him. Troy's response is "What law says I have to like you?" His job is to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. He advises Cory that he can't go through life worrying about if anybody likes him. And that's just one of many problems facing the Maxsons. Troy's other son is a struggling musician who stops by regularly for money. Troy's brother suffered a major head injury while in the military. Troy is summoned to meet with union representatives after questioning his boss why only white men get to drive the sanitation trucks. And Troy is also dealing with other demons finding solace at another woman's home.

Fences has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Leading Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Adapted Screenplay (August Wilson). August Wilson was an American playwright who wrote a series of ten plays called The Pittsburgh Cycle. He won two Pullitzer Prizes for drama. Fences earned him one of those. Wilson was always revered for his portrayal of African Americans with humor, drama, and real brutal honesty. Washington and Davis brought every ounce of emotion from his writing and from the era to life in a film that is a slow, methodical, character-driven realistic tragedy of American Pittsburgh in the 1950's.

I gave what looked like a beautifully and sincerely acted drama a 4 Star Prediction. At this point, I need to remind you of what my rating scale means. 5 Stars does not necessarily mean a movie is Oscar-worthy. It's more about my own personal preferences and the likelihood of my owning said movie and watching it repeatedly. By the same token 3 or 4 stars does not mean I hated the movie. In fact, I can see a movie and agree with it being nominated or even winning awards and still only give it 3 stars if seeing it once is enough for me. With that in mind, I'm giving Fences 3 Stars. Directed by and starring Denzel Washington, the August Wilson play was literally brought directly from the stage to the big screen. It had the same feeling as watching Oklahoma or Glengarry Glen Ross or Six Degrees of Separation. That's not a bad thing, but it felt very much like watching a Broadway production on a movie screen rather than a screenplay that was adapted for a motion picture. And Washington and Davis gave performances that would surely earn either of them a Tony Award Nomination. Though I don't disagree with their nominations for Oscars, I don't see either of them winning for their roles, nor do I see Fences taking home the trophy for Best Picture of the year. It was real, beautiful, smart, funny, tragic and wonderful; but for me, once was enough. If this was a stage performance making a tour like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera, I could see wanting to catch it again the next time it's in town. Being a major motion picture, though, I doubt I'll be watching it again and I'm sure I won't be owning Fences.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Hidden Figures (2016)

Hidden Figures is a great story about 3 women at NASA but falls short of the gravity of 1961

[7/10 · 27 January 2017]

In the early 1960's, America was in the middle of two heated battles. At home, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil movement for racial equality in a time when African Americans were forced to ride separate buses, drink from separate water fountains and just generally were considered less human. In addition to that, women were fighting for their own equal rights. On a global scale, NASA fought to keep ahead of the Soviets in the race to explore space. Hidden Figures is the story of three African American women who fought both battles.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) work for NASA and are part of a group of mathematical geniuses referred to as human computers since mechanical computers weren't invented yet to perform such difficult calculations. The Russians launched the first ever satellite into space followed by the first man to orbit the earth and Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) is pressured to surpass the Soviet efforts. They don't want to be outdone in the space race, they need to justify a space program that has yet to send a man to space, and they fear the Russians' access to space will allow them to spy on the United States. Desperate to succeed, Katherine is sent to the think tank of all white male human computers. She struggles to fit in and be accepted and respected, but she is determined, eventually winning them over.

On the day of the launch of John Glenn aboard the Mercury Friendship 7, the IBM super computer calculations do not match the ones the human computers had figured out and Katherine is called in to confirm the correct numbers. The information must be relayed to Glenn, but her findings are given to Al and she is shut out. Al opens the door and invites her to come witness the achievement she helped to orchestrate. Katherine was also instrumental in the Apollo 11 flight to the moon in 1969. It wasn't until 2015 that she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and until 2016 that NASA renamed the Langley Research Center in Virginia the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. Hidden Figures is an amazing story that took entirely too long to come to light. The biggest thing the trio of African American human computer women had going for them in 1961 was that America hated the Soviets just a bit more than they held to their racism and sexism. If Katherine could find a way to beat the Russians, their biases against her skin color and gender were overlooked to defeat the enemy.

The preview showed what could be an Oscar nomination worthy performance from Taraji P. Henson in the biggest role of her long career. She has mostly done television work and voice overs with some supporting character roles along the way. Most recently, she has starred in the TV series Empire after she left the hit drama Person of Interest. She was quite comfortable in her role as the leading lady playing the timid and demure mother of 3 trying not to rock the boat at work but also the strong woman who knew when and how to speak up when necessary. Surprisingly, Henson was not nominated for her role, but Octavia Spencer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and honestly, I feel they got those reversed.

While the racial tensions were heated in the United States, the preview showed clips that glossed over the severity of the fight for equality with walls of segregation falling around them both in and out of NASA. There was a lot of humor in the preview and my only concern was how the 2 hour and 7 minute movie would deal with the graphic nature of our countries ugly history at this time. I'm gave Hidden Figures a 3.5 Star Prediction. I am sticking with that 3.5 Star rating. I thought it was missing something and I can't quite put my finger on it. I didn't want the racial issues to be jammed down my throat, but I felt the true weight of the tension of the time wasn't adequately portrayed. We saw clips of segregated buses and schools, white and colored drinking fountains, a special colored only coffee pot for Katherine, but it still didn't quite feel as uncomfortable to a viewer as it should have. I know the main point of the movie was about their accomplishments at NASA during this particular time, but I still think they could have addressed the racial and sexist issues in such a way that it really upset an audience member, thus further emphasizing just how incredible their accomplishments were. Still, I thought it was worth the money to see it in the theatres, I'll probably watch it again, but probably won't be owning this one.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

La La Land (2016)

La La Land was absolutely delightful

[9/10 · 12 January 2017]

As big and daunting as Los Angeles is, it's also a relatively small town, especially if you're trying to get into show business. Mia (Emma Stone) is one of those many hopefuls. She's working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers studio lot, giving the actors who are doing what she longs to do their caffeine fix. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is another hopeful, also currently scraping the bottom of the barrel. To keep the roof over his head in his dumpy apartment and to pay what bills he can, which isn't many, he plays jazz at any club that will have him. Mia and Sebastian first meet in the notorious LA traffic. She is holding up traffic going over lines for an audition, he is stuck behind her. He passes her with a glare, she responds with another unfriendly, but definitely Los Angelan gesture. Their paths cross again later that evening after a party that Mia's roommates encourage her to attend after a bad audition. She leaves on her own, walking home after her car was towed and hears Sebastian playing at a club she passes. She walks in just in time to see him get fired for not sticking to the Christmas set list. She tries to compliment him, but he brushes right by her. Months later at an 80s party, Mia gets some revenge as Sebastian is performing with an 80s tribute band. They end up leaving together in search of their cars and start a wonderful song and dance duet a la Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

After a number of close calls and missed opportunities in La La Land both professionally and personally, Sebastian encourages Mia to write her own show. She agrees, though terrified of failure, and writes a one-woman show she will also perform. All Sebastian wants is to own his own jazz club, but he doesn't have the money, so he reluctantly takes a gig with a fellow musician. The group is very successful, but it's not the type of jazz Sebastian wants to play and it's keeping him apart from Mia. With glimpses of romance with each other and opportunities for success in the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment, the two must make some tough decisions about what they really want out of life. Ultimately, they both decide what is most important to each of them and they live happily ever after . . . though, not quite how you might assume.

La La Land was written and directed by Damien Chazelle who recently shot into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed writing and directing achievement with Whiplash. While both deal with music, La La Land is completely different than his dark and torturous Whiplash. If Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Judy Garland, or Fred Astaire were still making musicals today, La La Land would be their product. They don't make movies like this anymore, but hopefully the will after this. We've seen episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Scrubs, Family Guy and even South Park pay homage to the art of yesterdecade. We've also seen musicals revitalized with Mama Mia!, Moulin Rouge, Rock of Ages, and Jersey Boys. But a musical set today with the feel of the 50's is long overdue and it's been worth the wait as La La Land combines traditional old school movie sets mixed with some of the modern movie special effects that they couldn't even imagine in Singin' in the Rain or Grease.

Gosling and Stone lit up the screen in the preview, coming across as the perfect kids you're rooting for, both in their pursuits of their passions and in their blooming romance. They delivered as did La La Land. If you like any of the movies I've named, just watching the preview probably made you smile with anticipation. It just cleaned up at the Golden Globes with wins for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. I gave La La Land a very hopeful 4 Star prediction but I'm boosting it up to 4.5 Stars. It was nearly perfect. Gosling and Stone are a perfect match in their wit, comedic timing, sincerity, romance, singing and dancing. If this is the first of many more modern day musicals to come, then we are in for a real treat. If this doesn't spark more of its kind, it would be a shame, but we were blessed with this rare gem and I'll be adding it to my collection for sure.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rogue One Disappoints

[6/10 · 24 December 2016]

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . ." Those iconic words lit up the screen for the eighth major Star Wars film, just a year after Episode VII: The Force Awakens revitalized the franchise with director J.J. Abrams calling the shots. Star Wars: Rogue One could also be called Episode 3.5 as it takes place approximately 20 years after Episode III ends and leads right into Episode IV: A New Hope. Rogue One was directed by English director Gareth Edwards who directed Monsters (an alien invasion sci-fi drama) and Godzilla in 2014. Both of those films boasted intense special effects which played into his Star Wars debut.

A lot happened at the end of Episode III. Obi Wan fought and defeated his apprentice Anakin Skywalker who was burned by lava over most of his body. Anakin was saved and became the dark sith lord Darth Vader made up mostly of machine to keep him alive. He was seduced by the dark side for its potential power, namely that of saving his beloved wife Padme from death. However, Padme died giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. To hide them from Vader, Yoda and Obi Wan (the only remaining Jedi) and Bail Organa (one of the few Senators not deceived by Emperor Palpatine) determined their fate. Bail adopted Leia and raised her to be the princess of Alderaan. Luke was raised by his uncle Owen and aunt Beru Lars on the desert planet of Tatooine with Obi Wan keeping a distant but watchful eye.

Rogue One is the story of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). As a child, she barely escaped a Stormtrooper attack on her planet. 15 years later, she is a criminal who finds herself in the captivity of the Rebellion. They promise her freedom if she can help find out what the Empire's plans are. In doing so, she learns her father was coerced into helping design the Death Star. This prompts Jyn to not only join the Rebels, but lead their mission to steal the plans to the planet-destroying weapon.

The preview for Rogue One looked just as visually stunning as the recently released Episode VII. Of course, I was excited because it's a Star Wars movie and I was also curious to see who of our favorite classic Star Wars characters would make some sort of cameo appearance. We already knew Darth Vader was in the film. Unfortunately, two others showed up, but I'll get to that in a second. I had high hopes for Rogue One, though I cautiously gave it a 4 Star Prediction out of 5 stars. I had hoped that number would go up after seeing it; however, it looks like it's going to go down.

If you don't want any spoilers, you should stop right here. Otherwise, here we go. Right from the beginning, a black screen displayed the blue words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . " and then it jumped right into the movie. That's right, no scrolling yellow synopsis to let you know what's going to happen. Then, after the first scene, the title popped onto the screen with no traditional Star Wars theme music that was the score for all seven other movies. Next, the movie jumps from planet to planet it seemed every 5 minutes for the first half of the film. Since it jumped around so much, it was hard to keep track, except for the subtitle telling you where you were and what the significance was of its location. Every other Star Wars movie didn't need that because the dialogue effectively let you know where you were. Felicity Jones did great as Jyn Erso, however, like the movie itself, she had the unfortunate task of having to follow Daisy Ridley's performance as Rey in Episode VII and it fell a bit short. She was, however, one of the three bright spots in the movie among a sea of unmemorable characters. And the final gripe I had with Rogue One was the appearances of Princess Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin. So how did a 60 year old Carrie Fisher and a Peter Cushing who passed away 22 years ago reprise their roles? Computer animation. Really good computer animation, but still noticeable and distracting computer animation.

Okay, enough with the downers. In addition to an entertaining performance from Felicity Jones, there were two other things that really made this worth watching. The droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) was a security droid for the Empire before being reprogrammed to serve the Rebel Alliance. And he was programmed with a snarky personality that has clever one liners in the movie that made him quite endearing. The other scene that was probably the best scene in the whole movie was Darth Vader showing off what an angry Sith Lord can do with the dark side of the force. In his own words from Empire Strikes Back, it was "impressive, most impressive."

So, I anticipated 4 Stars, but Rogue One was a bit of a letdown for me. I'm dropping it to 3.5 Stars as my final rating. It's worth watching in the theatre, but more of a rental. I'll definitely be owning it, but that's more because a Star Wars fan has to have all of them in their collection. If this was a stand alone movie, I doubt I would. That being said, it made me even more anxious to see Episode VIII next year.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Miss Sloane (2016)

Miss Sloane is the Best Chess Match Ever

[8/10 · 7 December 2016]

Miss Sloane is a political thriller about Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain), a political strategist who is recruited to tackle the issue of gun control in America. She is notoriously ruthless, highly successful and will do whatever it takes to win for her side of the campaign, possibly risking her career and those closest to her with a win-at-all-costs mentality. A new proposed legislation requiring stricter background checks for gun ownership in the United States is gaining traction in Congress and Sloane is tasked with spearheading the campaign against her toughest opponent.

After the recent Presidential election and the ongoing issues of gun violence and gun control in America, this movie couldn't come at a more perfect time. "Lobbying is about anticipating your opponents' moves and launching countermeasures before they can act. It's about surprising them and making sure they don't surprise you." Miss Sloane begins with political strategist Sloane sharing this insight into what it takes to win in politics with her firm's attorney as she is being prepped to take the stand on trial at a Congressional hearing. While nothing is more important that winning, Sloane gets caught up in the cause of gun control and states that this issue is more important than her career, after being warned about the consequences of her questionable actions. John Madden directed Miss Sloane and he is a seasoned professional having tackled such films as Shakespeare in Love (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Mrs. Brown. He has directed 3 Academy nominated actresses in his career. However, this is writer Jonathan Perera's first writing credit in his career. After watching Miss Sloane, I don't think this will be the last we hear of him. He wove together a series of intricate twists and turns like watching an intense chess match leading up to the final ten minutes that had audiences literally cheering as the full scope of Sloane's game plan was finally revealed and we realize the chess game was won before the match even started.

Chastain is joined by a couple heavy-hitters in John Lithgow and Sam Waterston in what was an upsetting, emotionally-charged, fierce look into the working of our political system and what it takes to make or kill legislation in the United States. While no action drives the movie, this 132 minute drama had the potential to drag at times. However, every scene had a point and a purpose that was never left unanswered and it didn't feel like it ran over 2 hours. Chastain could be up for another Oscar nomination for her performance of the ruthless, insomniac, fierce, lonely, brilliant political strategist. I originally gave Miss Sloane a 3.5 star prediction thinking it looked like it would be worth the money in the theatres, a movie I'd watch again, and give consideration to adding it to my personal collection. I agree with all of that, and the last 10 minutes of "A-ha" moments made me raise it up to a solid 4 Stars for Miss Sloane.

Man Down (I) (2015)

LaBeouf is Brutal, Heart-Breaking, Oscar Worthy in Man Down

[9/10 · 30 November 2016]

Man Down is the story of U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer (Shia LaBeouf) who fought for his country in Afghanistan only to return home to an America very different than the one he left, a post-apocalyptic hell that is no better than the war zone he just left. Accompanied by his best friend, Drummer goes on the hunt for his missing wife Natalie (Kate Mara) and their son.

Man Down marks the return to the mainstream big screen movies for LaBeouf who has been somewhat absent since his last appearance in Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011. He's done a few independent films and had some questioning his sanity at times. I've always been a fan of his comedy style in the Transformers movies, but hearing about him playing a post-war vet in a serious drama had me concerned. And then I saw the preview.

The preview shows a Marine raid on a house in Afghanistan. Drummer gives the "all clear" meaning there is no threat in the house. As the other Marines in his unit (including his best friend) walk in, a gun protrudes from a blanket on the floor and shots ring out at the unsuspecting Marines. Drummer survived. The preview shows Dummer talking to military counselor Peyton (Gary Oldman).

Not only does LaBeouf pull off this dramatic role, but he is quite convincing and has been hailed by Variety who said, "Labeouf achieves that authentic, hurts-to-watch approach seldom seen since the days of Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift." I gave Man Down a preemptive 3.5 star rating, thinking it would be a gut-wrenching, raw, real and intense film that is well worth the money in theatres. It was all that and more. Through much of the movie, we are watching Gabriel Drummer in four different phases: with his wife and child before the Marines; the mission in Afghanistan, his session with counselor Peyton after "the incident", and finally back in the United States that has been destroyed as he desperately searches for his wife and child with his best friend. All of this leads up to a shocking series of revelations that completely destroys Drummer's world . . . and his reality.

Much of Man Down reminded me of Bradley Cooper in American Sniper, but LaBeouf goes even further and darker. American Sniper was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cooper. Though I don't foresee Man Down being nominated for Best Picture, it would be a crime if LaBeouf isn't recognized for this role in this tragic, gripping, heart-breaking film that earned a solid 4 stars from me. I'll definitely be watching this again and it has a good chance of making it into my home collection. It's a movie that anyone who has served in our military will find extremely difficult to watch, but one that the rest of us need to see.

www.marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Arrival (II) (2016)

Arrival Delights and Confuses

[7/10 · 28 November 2016]

The answer to "Are we alone in the galaxy" has been answered in Arrival as a dozen mysterious spacecraft land in various locations across the earth. The government brings in linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and physicist Ian Donnely (Jeremy Renner) to attempt to communicate with whatever might be inside. She and her team must find a way to discover the truth of their intentions as the world prepares for the possibility of global war.

The preview showed two different sides completely sure that their interpretation of the situation is correct. The government and military are convinced that the aliens are here with the intent to destroy while Banks believes they are not our enemy. Making contact with the aliens inside the pods is not a difficult task as they have made themselves available to the human race through an opening in the pod. Once inside, they are separated by a protective barrier, presumably due to atmospheric restraints, but they are able to see and hear each other. The humans rely on pen and paper while the aliens have a sort of squid ink technology coming from one of their appendages that form shapes. Banks is able to interpret the shapes and starts the slow process of communication that will hopefully reveal their intent. She is told they are out of time and that action must be taken. So she does, but it isn't what the military had planned. Those promoting the film promise a surprise ending that will have viewers talking for quite a while after the movie is over.

There have been plenty of alien movies throughout the years. While some portray them in a peaceful light (E.T. the Extraterrestrial, StarMan, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Cocoon), others show a very violent side to the visitors (Independence Day, Cowboys & Aliens, The War of the Worlds). Regardless of their intent, it is always a terrifyingly unknown situation and the residents of planet Earth are immediately frightened at the catastrophic possibility rather than optimistic. While Arrival isn't of the variety of blockbuster explosions that made some of the alien movies into hits, it does deliver a gripping and fascinating drama.

I'm a huge fan of Amy Adams. She is joined by Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker in what I anticipated to be a very well executed alien film on all fronts: special effects, acting, drama, original story, and intensity leaving you breathless at the end. Well, it didn't exactly leave you breathless . . . more like confused, especially if you haven't read the story on which the movie is based. I gave Arrival a very hopeful and optimistic 4 Star prediction, but I've knocked that down slightly to 3.5 stars. Much of the movie had confusing flashbacks that led to revelations of communication with the aliens. But those confusions only made me more excited to see the big wow ending we were all promised. At the end, I was even more confused as it was no longer clear if the visions Banks had were memories or premonitions. And instead of saying, "Woah, did that just happen?!" I sat there saying, "Wait, what just happened?!" I definitely need to watch this again, but I thought Adams and Renner gave wonderful performances, the special effects were perfect, it was original, but I think it missed the ball on driving the whole point home at the end with clarity. Some I've talked to have commented that the book is much more clear and would help make more sense of the movie. I'll be watching this at least one more time; and, who knows, the second time around might tip the scales to me wanting to own Arrival in my personal collection.

www.marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Bleed for This (2016)

Bleed For This doesn't do justice for Pazienza

[3/10 · 16 November 2016]

Born in 1962, professional boxer Vinny Pazienza began his career as a fighter with a bout in 1983. He won his first title in 1987 when he defeated Greg Haugen to become the world lightweight champion. Haugen would reclaim the title in their first rematch, but Pazienza would ultimately triumph in 1990. In 1991, after his fight with Gilbert Dele for the junior middleweight championship, Pazienza was in a near fatal car crash that broke his neck and left doctors doubting if Vinny would ever even walk again. With a screwed in halo brace holding his neck in place, Pazienza was confined to a hospital bed for 3 months. Against doctors' orders and without them aware, Vinny snuck into his basement at home, halo brace and all, to regain his strength for a fight he knew he'd someday get. It was just over a year after the accident that Pazienza was back in the ring for the next unbelievable stage of his career that finally ended in 2004 after 50 wins in the ring.

Bleed For This stars Miles Teller as boxer Vinny Pazienza and is not exactly what you would call a who's who cast of all-stars. Teller has been an up-and-coming rising star that many would argue shone brightest in 2014's Ocscar nominated film Whiplash in which he plays a talented jazz drummer. While Teller himself was not nominated for his role, many recognized his work calling it a breakthrough performance. Teller stars in Bleed For This with Christine Evangelista, Ciaran Hinds, Katey Sagal and Aaron Eckhart who plays Pazienza's trainer Kevin Rooney. However, a movie boasting a slew of Hollywood's A-listers doesn't guarantee a blockbuster, just like the lack thereof doesn't mean anything either.

Vinny is a charismatic, entertaining, playboy, work-hard, party-hard showboating champion boxer in Vinny Pazienza. Make no mistake, he is extremely gifted at what he does and trains hard to be that way, but his antics, gambling and extracurricular activities are fully reaped as rewards for his efforts. And then the accident happens. While his doctor tells him, he may never walk again and his friends and family try to convince him that there's more to life than boxing, Vinny is more determined than ever to get back in the ring and fight again. Bleed For This is based on the true life of Vinny Pazienza and, like the most recent fact-based films I've reviewed, I've chosen to do no research ahead of time as this is not a documentary, this is a Hollywood film. And, I'm a sucker for the underdog movies. Rocky was an underdog in every one of his fights. Southpaw, Eddie the Eagle, Rudy, Invincible, and John Cusack romantic comedy, I'm always a fan of the underestimated, mocked, counted out, never had a chance underdog rising to the challenge. So, I gave Bleed For This a 4.0 Star prediction. After seeing it though, I have to change my mind.

Vinny's life story is definitely worth telling, but Bleed For This was not well-executed. The one word I can describe for most of the film is annoying. The sound effects, or lack thereof at times, didn't heighten or compliment what was going on, though sounds and silence have been masterfully utilized in other such films. The mood and pacing of the music selection didn't match the scenes they scored. There were times that actual footage of the real Vinny were used making it obvious that actor Miles Teller wasn't Vinny. Some of the dialogue seemed rehearsed and scripted (a la Rocky or Million Dollar Baby or Southpaw) while some seemed poorly improvised (a la The Fighter, though not done nearly as well). And the inconsistency of shifting between hand-held shaky camera shots and a steady one made no sense and, again, grew annoying. The saving graces of this movie were the performances of Teller and Eckhart, both of whom I can see being nominated for their roles. But it wasn't enough to redeem Bleed For This and I'm dropping my rating to 2.5 stars, barely worth paying full price in the theatre, but a decent rental that will not find a permanent home in my collection.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Deepwater Horizon Is Explosive

[8/10 · 27 September 2016]

In April of 2010, an offshore drilling rig named Deepwater Horizon exploded resulting in the worst oil spill in U. S. History. If you've read my previous reviews about Eddie the Eagle, Steve Jobs, The Big Short and Spotlight, you know that it's easy to get caught up in the details of how much of the story based on actual events really happened and how much was embellished or altered to make a Hollywood movie. Along the way, I have made a decision to do no research into the facts of the real-life story and just focus solely on the movie itself. I mean, the movie makes no claims to be a historically accurate documentary, so I shouldn't hold it to those standards. And this blog isn't about movies being historically accurate when they don't necessarily claim to be. It's based on two factors: how accurately the movie is portrayed by its preview, and the likelihood of the movie making it to my home collection. With that in mind, here's my review:

Mark Wahlberg plays Mike Williams who works on the drilling rig the Deepwater Horizon. But that's the third thing we learn about Williams from the preview. He's a husband and a father first. He says goodbye to his family before being flown by helicopter with his crew to the rig. All his daughter wants is a dinosaur fossil. All his wife (Kate Hudson) wants is for him to return safely. Once aboard the rig, an executive named Vidrine (John Malkovich) and others from British Petroleum are more than anxious to commence with drilling. They skip a concrete test and excuse a failed system test. They are already 43 days behind and over budget and will do whatever it takes to not fall further behind despite Mister Jimmy's (Kurt Russell) stern objections. They should have listened to Mister Jimmy because everyone's worst nightmares explode into reality.

Deepwater Horizon marks the reunion of Director Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg who collaborated on Lone Survivor three years ago. It was nominated for Oscars for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for best stunt team performance. While Wahlberg has been nominated for his roles in The Fighter and The Departed, he's one of those reliable actors who makes smart choices. If you've liked one thing Wahlberg has done, odds are,you'll like them all. Most of them won't get nominated for awards, but they will all be entertaining. Berg is in the same category. He's directed some really good movies (Lone Survivor, Battleship, Hancock,The Kingdom), but none that would really break into a critic's top 50 list. Like Wahlberg, if you enjoyed one of Berg's movies, odds are, you'll at least feel you got your money's worth with all of them.

From the preview, I said that Deepwater Horizon looked action-packed and visually stunning, but that it also looked predictable with pieces of the rig falling apart or blowing up blocking every turn as Williams and the survivors try to find a way to escape. I anticipated 3 Stars but I'm bumping that up to 4.0 Stars. It was exactly as the preview said it would be and it was absolutely predictable; however, even though you knew what was coming, it was so perfectly executed, it still shocked you. From the beginning, there was no doubt about the fate of the rig as not-so-subtle clues were dropped along the way from his daughter's school presentation, to the tie of the executive, to the helicopter ride to the rig. You knew it was going to happen, but when it did, it choked the breath right out of you and didn't give it back until the very end of the movie. It is worth the money to watch in theatres. Though I'm not sure I'll be owning Deepwater Horizon, I will be watching it again.

The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book Remake Delivers in a Breath-taking Way

[9/10 · 16 September 2016]

In 1937, Walt Disney released the first ever full-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He followed it up with Pinocchio and just kept going with classics like Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland and Peter Pan. He broke the mold again in 1964 when he combined animated characters with live action in Mary Poppins. In 1967, Disney released their 19th animated feature film, The Jungle Book based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling. In 2010, Disney teamed up with director Tim Burton to bring their animated classic Alice in Wonderland to life with Johnny Depp as the classic Mad Hatter. In 2014, Maleficent was released as the live action version of Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie. In 2015, the live action version of Cinderella hit theatres. This year, we were blessed with two releases in this new tradition: Pete's Dragon and The Jungle Book. Next year, Beauty and the Beast will be released. Looking at Disney's page of future releases, this is just the beginning. The Jungle Book is the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungle. He is forced to leave his home when threatened by the Tiger Shere Kahn. He embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the help of his protector the Panther Bagheera and his new friend the Bear Baloo. The preview looked breath-taking. The animation, the action and the scenery looked all unbelievably believable, and the movie delivered in a big way. Newcomer Neel Sethi plays Mowgli, but he's surrounded by an all-star cast. He's in the capable hands of Director Jon Favreau and has Bill Murray (Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Idris Elba (Shere Kahn), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), and Christopher Walken (King Louie) to keep him company. Watching The Jungle Book, I started in awe wondering how much of the set and how many of the animals were real and how much of all of this incredible film was created digitally. Eventually, I stopped asking and just enjoyed the journey thoroughly. I watched the 30 minute Blu Ray extra documentary about the making of the film and was surprised to find that very little of the set was real, mostly performed on blue screens, and none of the animals were real. All of it was flawlessly created by a computer and the geniuses at Disney.

Coming up, the live action version of Beauty and the Beast will star Emma Watson. Disney also plans to remake Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and Dumbo. Dumbo is always one that tore at my heart and made my eyes well up. This one is going to be directed by Tim Burton and I cannot wait to see what they can create.

I predicted 4.5 stars for this live action re-imagination of the Disney classic and it did not disappoint in the slightest. The Jungle Book was nearly perfect and is destined to find a home in my personal collection.

Money Monster (2016)

Money Monster Delivers Thrills without Justice

[6/10 · 14 September 2016]

Money Monster stars George Clooney as Lee Gates, an entertaining, over-the-top financial adviser on television, not unlike Jim Cramer on his show Mad Money. While it looks like the movie and the character drew a lot of inspiration from Cramer's Money show, the Monster movie takes a terrifying twist that Cramer hopes he'll never have to face. During a live broadcast, amateur investor Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) takes over the set holding Gates hostage with a gun. Per standard protocol, the feed is cut by Director Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts). Once Budwell threatens Gates, Fenn restores the broadcast for the world to see. Budwell lost everything following the advice of Gates, but he believes the conspiracy to rob Americans of their money runs deeper and higher than Gates' TV show. Money Monster reunites Clooney and Roberts for their fourth collaboration. They first appeared together in Oceans Eleven in 2001 and were together immediately in 2002 with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Though they were back in Oceans Twelve in 2004, Roberts did not return in 2007 for Oceans Thirteen, so it's been twelve years since the two have been on screen together. O'Connell joins them for this conspiracy theory financial thriller. O'Connell recently played the lead in Unbroken in 2014 and was brilliant in his performance, so we don't have to worry about him holding his own with the Clooney Roberts powerhouses. The preview looked entertaining, thoughtful, provocative and infuriating in a time when we are consistently hearing about the erosion of the middle class while the wealthiest get even wealthier and the middle class that used to be is kicked down closer to poverty level. Budwell wanted to invest and make a better life for himself and his pregnant girlfriend but loses the $60,000 he got after his mother's death on a single stock and demands to find out why. One of the questions I asked during the preview was, will anyone be held accountable for falsifying the financial information and making out like bandits because of it? Well, don't hold your breath.

The problem with Money Monster is that there are really no good "innocent" guys. Gates is the host of a financial advice television show, he's wealthy and successful, but his most meaningful relationships are with money, not people. Budwell wasn't smart to dump his entire $60,000 inheritance into one stock. While he was right about something wrong going on, he held a man and crew hostage at gunpoint to uncover the truth. The CEO of the company that lost $800 million overnight was shady and lied to his coworkers and the public. So, if you're looking for the good guy to win and the bad guy to get what's coming to him, again, don't hold your breath.

That being said, it was entertaining. I didn't find it as infuriating as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it. I predicted 3 stars and that's exactly what it delivered. It was worth the money either in the theatre or to rent, and it's one of those that I might watch again on cable, but not go out of my way to see again, nor make it part of my personal collection.