Month: March 2024

“The Beautiful Game” (** out of four) was an earnest but empty melodrama about various advocates (Bill Nighy, Valeria Golino, and others) who sought to end homelessness by organizing a soccer tournament of homeless men (Micheal Ward, Beckett Hanley, and others) to compete in a renowned match The Homeless World Cup which attracted much more recognition and attention than ever imagined. Inspirational but uninspired, as story never has the depth or dramatic intensity that subject matters requires and goes on far too long at over two hours. Good performances can’t camouflage undernourished material.

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“Snow Valley” (* out of four) was an almost unendurable horror comedy about a group of friends (Barbara Crampton, Rachael Michiko Whitney, Cooper van Grootel, and others) who go on a ski weekend which goes awry when a dark supernatural force threatens to overtake them and kill them off. Full of obnoxious characters and smarmy acting with dumb dialogue; in other words a real mess. It’s timewasters like this that killed the horror genre back in the ’80’s. Inauspicious directorial debut from Brandon Murphy who in better days was the writer of “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.”

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“The Stones And Brian Jones” (*** out of four) was a stark documentary about Brian Jones who founded The Rolling Stones but then found himself overpowered by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and subsequently found himself overwhelmed with drug and alcohol addiction that resulted in him being fired and led to his untimely death at 27 years old. Very well-done film by veteran documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield about a tragic and little-known figure in rock history. Film features candid interviews with both Mick and Keith and Marianne Faithfull and Eric Burdon of The Animals.

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“Molli And Max In The Future” (*1/2 out of four) was an ungainly futuristic comedy about the title characters (Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari) whose orbits repeatedly collide over the course of 12 years, 4 planets, 3 dimensions, and one space-cult. Writer/director Michael Lukk Litwak and cinematographer Zach Stoltsfus give this imaginative visuals but it still can’t buoy this strained and unfunny concoction. Yet still, this won some awards and recognition at last year’s SXSW Festival.

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“Freud’s Last Session” (** out of four) was a dour and drab historical melodrama set during World War II in which Sigmund Freud (Anthony Hopkins) and C.S. Lewis (Matthew Goode) meet and discuss the meaning of life, God, and philosophy, and how their differing worldviews and viewpoints are examples of existentialism. Strong acting by the two leads can’t elevate a talky and tedious script that is almost completely absent of any real dramatic fire. Might have worked better as a two-character play. Hopkins actually played C.S. Lewis in 1993’s “Shadowlands” which was a far richer and more compelling film.

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“Bob Marley: One Love” (**1/2 out of four) was a nicely textured but frustratingly one-note biographical drama about reggae legend Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) set during his rise to fame in 1976-1978 when he was striving for musical stardom and world unity. Best thing about the film is Adir who is charismatic and compelling in the lead role but film is too slight and superficial and doesn’t tell you anything about Marley and his childhood and pre-fame story. At the very end, you see the real Bob Marley in documentary footage. You might leave the film still wanting to see a biography about him.

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“Dune: Part Two” (*** out of four) was a grand, operatically scaled sequel about the continuing saga of Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) who unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the leader of the Fremen tribe (Javier Bardem) to swear vengeance against the various conspirators (Christopher Walken, Stellan Skarsgard, and others) who destroyed his family. Elegantly and intelligently directed by Denis Villeneuve with some breathtaking cinematography by Greig Fraser and sumptuous visual effects but marred by a midsection that plods. Still, an overall solid achievement and an improvement over the previous entry and David Lynch’s disastrous 1984 adaptation.

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“Ordinary Angels” (** out of four) was a meandering, maudlin character melodrama about an alcoholic hairdresser (Hilary Swank) who found meaning and purpose in her life with rallying her community to help a single father (Alan Ritchson) save the life of his critically ill young daughter (Emily Mitchell). Some scattered effective moments are overshadowed by all-too-familiar inspirational approach and film’s overlength. Swank seems to be playing more-or-less the same character she played in Sam Raimi’s “The Gift” but Ritchson is first-rate as the strong but struggling dad. Co-written by actress Meg Tilly and Dave Matthews was one of film’s producers but they still can’t lift this out of the “ordinary.”

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“HP Lovecraft’s The Old Ones” (*1/2 out of four) was a disposable horror thriller about a sea captain (a grizzled Robert Miano) who was possessed by an ancient entity for 93 years and committed horrific acts for a cult and breaks free and attempts to make up for his evil deeds while the cult vows to eliminate him for good. Yet another terrible adaptation of a Lovecraft story without much craft of its own or scares and alternates between disgusting and tedious. The always dependable Miano does what he can with a one-note role.

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