January 27, 2022 “Birds Like Us” (***1/2 out of four) was a visually extravagant animated feature about a group of birds (voices of Alicia Vikander, Jeremy Irons, Jim Broadbent, and others) who are flying away in search of a better home for themselves and their families but find that it is going to be an incredible journey. Story and script are thin at best but spectacular and richly detailed animation takes center-stage with wall-to-wall extraordinary visuals that are colorful, psychedelic, and hypnotic. A must-see for animation fans and a fun movie for both parents and children. Continue reading →
January 27, 2022 “Sing 2” (*** out of four) was a warm-hearted sequel to the 2016 smash about the continuing adventures of Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) and his singing cohorts (Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johannson, and others) who bust their way onto a large-scale musical show and must persuade a reclusive rock star (voiced by Bono) to join them for the opening of their new show. Not quite at the exuberant heights of the original, as film hits a few lulls in the middle that slow things down, but still first-rate entertainment of its kind with colorful and razor-sharp animation and some dazzling musical numbers and a magnificent finale that send you out with more-than-a-smile and give you your money’s worth. As a bonus, Bono’s character steps out onstage and sings “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Continue reading →
January 26, 2022 “Confession” (** out of four) was a tiresome thriller about a wounded man (Stephen Moyer) who shows up at a church and takes a priest hostage (Colm Meaney) and wants to confess the truth about his life before it is too late but what seems like a random encounter is not as it turns out the two have interlocking pasts that are uncovered throughout the night. Two strong performances from the two leads give this as much emotional fire as possible but story becomes undeniably tedious and talky after a while and fizzles out. This may have worked better as a two-character play. Continue reading →
January 26, 2022 “Gold” (** out of four) was a torpid melodrama about two sand-diggers (Zac Efron and Anthony Hayes) who find a huge nugget of gold in the middle of a desert; problem is they have no idea how to excavate it which leads to a flurry of personal/physical complications as they both grapple with the means of survival and greed. Holds your attention for a while with it’s nice cinematography and eerie music score but story is fairly one-note and never really takes off. Efron and Hayes do what they can as they try to hold together a two-piece character story but I doubt either are going to find “gold” in them thar hills with this. Continue reading →
January 26, 2022 “Tom And Jerry: Cowboy Up” (** out of four) was a harmless but innocuous animated feature about the legendary cat and mouse who team up in the wild West to help a cowgirl in distress from a greedy landowner who wants to force them all off their land. Why do all of the recent Tom And Jerry films have them as friends- when they were so much more fun and entertaining when they were trying to kill each other! Kids may like it as it does have some pretty animation and some action but adults will likely be nostalgic for the old fashioned cartoons instead. Continue reading →
January 26, 2022 “Bull” (*1/2 out of four) was a colorless revenge melodrama set in London in which a reformed criminal named Bull (Neil Maskell) returns home after a 10-year absence and seeks vengeance on all who have wronged him, no matter the odds or consequences. Unexpectedly missing here are Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, and about 10 gratuitous London bar-brawls; you do get a lot of tough-guy talking and a lot of double-crosses but it’s all very uninvolving and not helped by flat and dreary cinematography and presentation. This unexpectedly won some rave reviews at the London Film Festival but this proves yet again that a lot of critics are full of bull. Continue reading →
January 25, 2022 “Red Notice” (** out of four) was a slick but uneven Netflix action comedy about an FBI agent (Dwayne Johnson) who tries to take down an art thief (Ryan Reynolds) but through a multitude of complications ends up in prison with him and on the run as they both try to steal a priceless egg before a rival underworld criminal (Gal Gadot) beats them to it but who is playing who? Fast-paced movie has some laughs and plenty of action and all three leads have good chemistry together but story becomes too contrived and too silly especially as it goes on too long at nearly two hours. Ed Sheeran has a cameo at the very end, if you make it that far. Continue reading →
January 25, 2022 “Finch” (** out of four) was an unremarkable sci/fi melodrama set in yet another post-apocalyptic Earth in which most of mankind has been eradicated and one man named Finch (Tom Hanks), a devoted robot, and his dog roam the Earth trying to make sense of things and all the while learning the true meaning of love and humanity. Comprised of spare parts from numerous other films including “The Postman”, “I, Robot”, and Hanks’ own “Castaway”; for a film about life and humanity, film ironically feels untouched by human hands and seems robotically derivative and awfully syrupy and maudlin. Even Hanks’ effortless charisma is unable to make this engaging. Continue reading →
January 25, 2022 “Eternals” (** out of four) was a sputtering Marvel comic book adaptation about the title characters the Eternals (Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and others) who are ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years and are reunited by a tragedy within and have to reunite to do battle with their ancient villains The Deviants. Action scenes and CGI/visual effects deliver the goods but the characters themselves are one-note and dull and story is weak so film overall feels hollow and empty. Final battle is pretty spectacular but by that point- film starts to feel eternally long. Not one of Marvel’s better comic-book adaptations although fans of the original comic book may like this better. Continue reading →
January 24, 2022 “Licorice Pizza” (**1/2 out of four) was an intermittently engaging comic love story set in 1973 California in which two young people (Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman) fall in love and try to navigate through their differences in families and backgrounds and through their different career paths in life. Unusually lighthearted and breezy effort from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson features lovingly authentic ’70’s detail and decor and has some laughs but it starts to meander in its second half especially when you start to realize film doesn’t have all that much plot. A nice and bright ending helps end film with a smile and terrific performances from Hoffman and (especially) Haim make this overall worth watching. Continue reading →
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