Category: 3 Stars


Where The Crawdads Sing

December 4th, 2022 — 7:23am

Where The Crawdads Sing -nf. ***

It is expectedly sad to see a story about a young abandoned girl who raises herself in an isolated marshland.. She does develop a talent for drawing wild life which has the potential for being a successful published endeavor. She has encounters with two boy friends which give the viewer hope that her life will somehow work out . As films tend to do, the plot thickens into a murder mystery with our heroine being a suspect. The lead actress Daisey Edgar Jones is excellent as are the two male leads. It is directed by Olivia Newman. The setting, unusual story and suspenseful plot will hold your attention for an interesting cinematic experience

Comment » | 3 Stars, Crime, Drama, Uncategorized

The Good Nurse

December 4th, 2022 — 2:09am

The Good Nurse-nf
***

On one hand, this could be one of those one-hour television series such as Blue Bloods, Law & Order, or Chicago PD. It is actually based on a true story. It is directed by Tobias Lindholm with a screen play by Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Its stars, Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain. It is the story about a serial killer who works as a nurse in various hospitals and secretly kills his victims The very unsatisfying aspect of this movie is that we never know why he does these heinous crimes. The acting is great, the storyline draws you in, and suspense pervades the entire film, but the result is very unsatisfying and I would prefer another episode of the aforementioned weekly TV series.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Official Secrets

October 23rd, 2022 — 2:54am

Official Secrets (2019) –Netflix
***

In 2003, the United States was secretly engaged in obtaining information in conjunction with Great Britain in order to blackmail members of the UN Assembly to get them to vote for a war against Saddam Hussein, who was being accused of having weapons of mass destruction, which he was ready to use against the United States and Great Britain. A British intelligence specialist, Katharine Gun, read a secret intelligence communication confirming that this was the case and leaked this top-secret information to the British press.

This 2017 movie directed by Gavin Hood and starring Keira Knightley will draw you in and allow you to identify with this very brave woman. While it ultimately turned out that Saddam Hussein did not have such weapons of mass destruction, the heroine of this film knew at that time that she would be facing serious charges of treason, but bravely did what she thought was the right thing to do for her country and the world, in order to possibly stop a war.

The film also stars Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakari, Indira Varma, and Ralph Fiennes. It is directed by Gavin Hood with a screenplay by Goode and Gregory, and Sarah Bernstein. It is originally based on a book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War by Marcia & Thomas Mitchell.

This movie captures the audience as we identify with the heroine and see how she almost loses her beloved husband and faces serious charges of espionage. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat as well as giving you a great history lesson.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Drama, Uncategorized

Colette

October 22nd, 2022 — 11:47pm

Colette – nf
***

This film takes place in 19th century France showing differences between the haves and have nots. Colette is a budding author who has an affair with and falls in love and marries Willy, a prominent writer and publisher. Colette happens to be a skillful author herself, and once her husband realizes that he has married a talented writer, he publishes his wife’s novel “Claudine” with his name as the author. The book becomes an acclaimed literary success. Willy reaps the rewards with his wife’s literary accomplishment, which goes on also to be a successful play.

The developing story takes place in upper class French society and there is a clear depiction of the sexuality between men and women as well as between women and women.

This cinematic production is based on real life characters and four novels by the French author Colette published between 1900 – 1904. They were originally written in diary form and describe the growth to maturity of a young girl, Claudine, starting when she was 15.

The significance of this film is not only that it realistically captures French upper-class society with all its splendor, but it also vividly depicts the main characters and their underlying conflicts. It examines the expected roles of the sexes and how strong women were able to challenge these expectations.

The film stars Keira Knightley as Gabrielle Colette and Dominic West as Willy and it was directed by Wash Westmoreland. It was an engaging period piece and a story about a woman who, herself penned stories.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Drama

Ben Is Back

August 30th, 2022 — 12:21am

Ben Is Back
***(Hulu)

Julia Roberts is fantastic as the mother of her son (Lucas Hedges who is the son of the Director of the film Peter Hedges) who returns home straight out of his drug rehabilitation program. There are serious concerns whether he is ready to come back home on the part of his stepfather, siblings, as well as his mother. The theme of the movie is how horribly destructive drugs such as OxyContin can be on the lives of so many people. Having recently watched “Dopesick,” a TV series on Hulu about the Sackler family and the devastation brought about by addiction to this drug promoted by the pharmaceutical companies, we were especially sensitive and tuned in to the theme of this film. Upon reflection, the movie is quite repetitive and never gets beyond the horrors and ruination of people’s lives by such drugs. However, Ms. Roberts’ performance is riveting and on the mark and makes this film, especially worth the discomfort that goes along with it.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Drama

Hands on a Hardbody

August 20th, 2022 — 5:31am

Hands on a Hardbody
***

First of all, you must understand that despite title, the film is not pornographic in anyway.

This is a documentary film that tells a story of a yearly highly unusual event that takes place in a small southern town in the United States. The local auto distributor holds a contest, in which contestants put their hands on a lovely pickup truck. The person who remains standing keeping his hands on the truck the longest – in other words does not drop out, will win the truck as a prize. We do not really see how the contestants are originally chosen, but it is no doubt a very popular local event with many townspeople coming to watch.

There are periodic breaks every several hours where the contestants can go to the bathroom. Also, during the breaks, the contestants might sit in a chair, perhaps surrounded by their team (probably some family members) and would be given some food and drink and often receive leg or back massages from their supporters. We got the sense of a prolonged time of the event as we periodically are shown a digital readout of the time passed already. The contest concludes when there is only person left standing with his or her hands on the truck and he or she is declared the winner. I believe the total time was about 96 hours, which would be about four days. Obviously, the contest continued day and night.

In true documentary style, the filmmakers try to give us some of the background of the contestants, especially when the numbers whittled down to three of four remaining contestants. This is the true opportunity for the filmmakers to draw out the viewer and to identify with the contestants and root for their favorites. That did not really seem to work for us. In fact, we felt that the insight into the lives and the meaning of the contest and the prize were superficially depicted.

While the subjects and the scenes are unique and fascinating, we felt that the filming and the presentation of the film left much to be desired. The story behind each contestant, especially the finalist, should have been presented in more depth, so we could better know the contestants and what possibly winning meant to each one and their family.

The visual effects of people surrounding the truck would have been enhanced if an aerial view or at least a down shot from a high ladder were used. We also was curious how the bathroom break was handled especially at the beginning when there were large numbers of contestants.

There was concern about possible drug use that might facilitate the contestants to stay awake and stay in position, perhaps if they were using stimulants. When there were just three contestants remaining, each one would be taken away for a drug test; however, it would seem that at this point after they return from the drug test, that might be the greatest reason to have used the stimulant (if one were inclined to cheat in this pattern), so drug the testing should have been done at the conclusion of the contest.

Overall, while the story is quite unique and there is some insight into the small southern town and the people there, we felt it lacked depth and sophistication, especially in telling the back story of the contestants, which could have been done in a more creative manner.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Documentary

C’mon C’mon

April 30th, 2022 — 5:40am

C’mon C’mon ( Amazon)
***

Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a radio journalist who travels around the country asking kids about their views of the world and future. The kids interviewed were not actors and it is interesting to hear the variety of children’s views about life.

Things happen, and Johnny ends up taking care of his nephew Jesse who is played by 11-year-old British child actor Woody Norman. Johnny’s mother (Gabby Hoffmann) had to travel to another city to care for her husband who has some emotional problems, so now Johnny has a partner as he travels around the country interviewing kids. They travel from Los Angeles to New York to New Orleans. The story is the brainchild of Mike Mills who wrote the screenplay and apparently worked closely with the uncle-nephew duo directing the filming as they travel around. The movie was made in black and white, which perhaps makes it seem like a newsreel of real life. We got two take-aways from the film. On one hand, it is an optimistic view of the world through the eyes of young people. It is also an examination of meaningful family relationships even when there are conflicts and difficult circumstances in early life. The brother and sister show a caring and a trust between them even if it might not have always been that way. Also, we see the uncle and nephew develop a deep-rooted caring for each other although it takes a while for it to happen on this very unique road trip.

The film is sweet and charming, even as it depicts the difficult challenges of everyday life. It is clear how hard it is to be a parent, as well as how many obstacles there are for kids to overcome. The characters, while unique, draw you in to the universality of the need for understanding and connection and the rewards of experiencing transformation.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Drama

House of Gucci

April 12th, 2022 — 3:23am

House of Gucci
***

Lady Gaga demonstrated that in addition to her well-known singing talent, she had great acting chops. She played the girlfriend, then wife, and a lot more of one of the Gucci heirs magnificently portrayed by Adam Driver. This is a biographical crime drama. The film is directed by Ridley Scott and is based on the 2001 book by Sara Gay Forden titled “House of Gucci: A Sensational Story Of Murder, Madness, Glamor, And Greed,” which tells it all. At times, you may lose a beat of the story line or the role of a specific character, but the overall cinematic experience is quite engrossing. The supporting cast is great and features Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino.

We found it interesting to learn that Lady Gaga took into account how her longtime friend Tony Bennett felt about Italians being represented in films in terms of crime and that she aspired to “make a real person out of her character and not a caricature.” To achieve this she studied the voice and vocal cadence as well as the attitude of the real person she was portraying and tried to be “authentic from the perspective of a woman, not an Italian American woman.” She studied for 18 months speaking in accent for nine months of this period. She also ad libbed many of her lines including the film’s iconic quote “father, son, and House of Gucci”, which went viral after the release of the film. (The above information is from Wikipedia).

Comment » | 3 Stars, Biography, Crime, Drama

The Hand of God

January 11th, 2022 — 2:29am

The Hand of God-nf

***

This is an Italian film with subtitles. It focuses initially on a boy who appears to be in his late teens and is very engrossed in following his favorite football (soccer) team. We meet his various extended family members, all who seem to be quite distinctive characters although we really do not get to know anyone of them in great depth. His life is forever impacted by a tragic event. He seems as if he is now exploring the world on a mission, but we do not quite know what it is. His first sexual experience is clearly going to be unforgettable and meaningful as was the intention of the older woman who seduces him.

The film is written and directed and co-produced by Paolo Sorrentino. It appears to be autobiographical and in retrospect, we realize it is showing us the beginning of a journey where the filmmaker will ultimately bring his intense complicated life experiences to the movie screen. It stars Filippo Scotti, who already has received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for his acting. It is also not surprising that the film has been selected as the Italian entry for best international feature film for the upcoming 94th Academy Awards.

Comment » | 3 Stars, Drama, Foreign, Uncategorized

Don’t Look UP

December 28th, 2021 — 4:49am

Don’t Look Up – nf
***

Great story, fantastic plot, unbelievable cast, and fair to good movie.

An astronomy graduate student (Jennifer Lawrence) shows her professor (Leonardo DiCaprio) that she has discovered a large comet heading towards the Earth on a path which would be expected to completely destroy our planet. They ultimately have a meeting with the President of the United States (Meryl Streep) and her advisors. The usual politics overshadow the threat to the world. There is a possibility of diverting the deadly threat. There are also romances and affairs. In a sense, we are reminded of the current world situation where our planet and civilization are threatened with the destruction of the world as we know it, due to the deadly pandemic or climate change. The squabbles and politics seem to cloud full appreciation of this threat and how we can act together and save our planet.

This movie is directed by Adam McKay who co-wrote the story with David Sirota. Rounding out the cast are Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Perry, Tyler Perry and many other familiar faces. The music by Nicholas Britell is appropriately grandiose and the special effects are done well obviously utilizing the film’s $75 million budget.

Perhaps this cinematic experience is a little over the top- or is it?

Comment » | 3 Stars, Action, Drama

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