December 2, 2019 “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” (** out of four) was a rather glum melodrama focusing on the relationship between children’s television star Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and journalist Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys) and how their interaction helps the journalist’s relationship with his dying father (Chris Cooper) and his distant wife (Susan Kelechi Watson). Hanks is simply perfect casting as Rogers and does a fabulous job impersonating Rogers’ voice and mannerisms. Unfortunately, the majority of the film focuses on Junod and his various relationships and they’re pretty boring after a while. What a shame. A great biography of Rogers still should be made. Continue reading →
December 1, 2019 “Dark Waters” (*** out of four) was an absorbing and compelling story about a high-rolling corporate defense attorney (Mark Ruffalo) who has a crisis of conscience and decides to take on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company whose pollution affected thousands and he gradually becomes obsessed with taking them to court and restoring justice, at any personal and professional cost to his career. Sharply made and directed by Todd Haynes, in a story that bears a lot of similarity to both “A Civil Action” and “Michael Clayton.” Ruffalo is adequate in the lead but is surrounded by a first-rate supporting cast including Bill Pullman, Tim Robbins, and Anne Hathaway. Continue reading →
December 1, 2019 “The Goldfinch” (** out of four) was a heavy-handed adaptation of Donna Tartt’s 2013 best-selling novel about a young man (Ansel Egort) whose mother is killed in a bombing at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art and he escapes only with a valuable painting called The Goldfinch which he leans on emotionally and financially through adolescence. Well-directed by John Crowley and features a few interesting dramatic scenes but overlong, weird, and never terribly moving. Luke Wilson and Nicole Kidman stand-out in minor supporting roles. Continue reading →
November 29, 2019 “Countdown” (** out of four) was a hokey supernatural thriller about an empathetic nurse (Elizabeth Lail) who stumbles onto an app that is downloadable onto your phone which tells you when you will die and she soon finds she has only three days to live and has to race against the clock to save her life and destroy the app for good. Not bad, and directed with some style by writer/director Justin Dec, but not scary or clever enough to give it any real distinction. After a while, you’ll likely be counting down to film’s end. Continue reading →
November 28, 2019 “Knives Out” (*1/2 out of four) was a limp psychodrama/comedy about a determined detective (Daniel Craig) investigating the death of a millionaire businessman (Christopher Plummer) and finds that virtually everyone in his family (Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and others) are suspects. First-rate cast tries to inject this with as much style as possible but it’s a fizzle from start to finish and liberally rips off some of the plot (and plot twists) of “Clue”. A Southern accent simply does not work for Craig. Continue reading →
November 28, 2019 “Pickaxe” (*1/2 out of four) was an abysmal horror potboiler set in 1982 about a brutal mass murderer thought to be dead and buried but is soon awoken by a group of partying teenagers (Cory Ahre, Kerry Beyer, Drew Brown, and others) and he rises from the grave with (you guessed it) a pickaxe to wreak more havoc and many more killings. Less a nostalgia piece for 1982 than a really bad movie from 1982 but this would have been terrible no matter what year it was released. Brutal acting provides the only real scares here. Continue reading →
November 28, 2019 “Art Of The Dead” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty unbearable horror thriller about a collection of paintings from an artistic maniac (Richard Grieco) which unleash havoc on an unsuspecting family (Jessica Morris, Tara Reid, and others) in the form of the seven deadly sins. Starts out creepy and stylish but then goes downhill real fast and goes nowhere. One scene of a guy blowing himself up with water provides film’s only real jolt. It’s movies like these that caused both Grieco and Reid’s careers to soon go dead. Continue reading →
November 25, 2019 “Frozen 2” (*** out of four) was a lush sequel to the 2013 animated smash about the continuing adventures of Anna, Elsa, Kristaff, Olaf, and Sven (voices of Kristina Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad) as they leave Arendelle to travel to an enchanted land to discover the origins of Elsa’s powers in order to save their kingdom. Beautifully designed and realized and features some nice songs from Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez. Fans of the original and kids will definitely love this. Continue reading →
November 25, 2019 “21 Bridges” (*** out of four) was a wired action thriller about a tough NYPD detective (Chadwick Boseman) who becomes thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers but gradually uncovers a massive conspiracy going on within the department that he has to uncover while trying to track the killers down and trying to stay alive all within one night! Improbable at times and features a few story weaknesses but so adrenalized and fast-paced and loaded with tense NYC atmosphere that it’s fun to watch just the same. Boseman is electric in the lead and makes this worth watching. An impressive feature directorial debut for noted television director Brian Kirk. Continue reading →
November 23, 2019 “Vlogworthy” (* out of four) was a nearly worthless horror show about a vlogger (Kassandra Escandell) who is desperately trying to generate and increase sales for her homemade jewelry and meets another mysterious vlogger (Katalina Otter) who provides the success she has been looking for but this in turn leads to many other complications she did not realize. It’s movies like these that make you sorely regret the day the internet was invented. Decent actors can only do so much with such sleazy and low-rent material. Mark this as “unworthy” on your blog defines. Continue reading →
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