50 Shades Darker

Here's my 25 word review:

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson return for Volume 2 of S&M/Dominance Lite.  Less nudity than Vol 1 made for a bit of a disappointment.  Anastasia seems to be getting jealous of Mrs. Robinson (Kim Basinger - that 80s Femme Fatale).  Makes me want to rewatch 9 1/2 Weeks (1986)

* * * of 5

Arrival

Close Encounters meets 10 Cloverfield Lane in this story of a First Contact with alien life to Earth.  12 Pods arrives dispersed across the globe and each of the 12 sites has to decide:  Friend or Foe?  Of course they can't talk to the aliens so 2 scientists are drafted to do the communications, Louise (Amy Adams) and Ian (Jeremy Renner).

The first part of the contact involves full body radiation suits and so Jeremy Renner replays his role in The Hurt Locker.   But this being Hollywood, Amy Adams dramatically takes off her helmet to be more "human" to the alien life forms they name... Abbott and Costello.  Of course they work on getting closer and closer but the evil military support (Forest Whitaker) has different ideas about what to do with these foreigners.

Well acted, strong leading lady, a somewhat different retelling of a familiar space story.   Directed by Denis Villaneueve (Sicario).  Nominated for Best Picture.  It was an honor just to be nominated.

* * * *

Sicario (2015)

All the pieces are here for a great movie:  strong leading lady (Emily Blunt); R Rated hero/villain (Benecio Del Toro, Josh Brolin) and a timely storyline (Military style intervention on the War On Drugs).

Set in El Paso/Juarez we have an interagency US actions on Mexican turf.  Legal?  Illegal?  It's not easy to tell which makes the conscience a little uneasy.  Just like writer Taylor Hackford (Hell or High Water) drew it up.

* * * * * (highest rating)

Deepwater Horizon

A surprise - a good movie from Mark Wahlberg.  Actually a good movie from director Peter Berg ripped from the headlines.    The second of  3 installments of true stories to include Lone Survivor and Patriot Day ( both of which I'll plan to see).  Also starring Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell and a well cast John Malkovich.

The story of the BP Explosion is told well from a Based on True Events fashion.  The buildup and character intro is fairly formulaic, but when the Oil Hits the Glass, then its game on from a film making aspect.  The war aspect of fighting the great unbodied force was well done - very reminiscent of Aliens, which is a high compliment.

And watching this great disaster of our time with 2 trained petroleum engineers was a highlight.
Glad to know that lessons were learned from this tragedy.

* * * * of 5

Lego Batman Movie

Not much needs to be said about this franchise with multiple movies.  Suffice to say that everything is crammed into this high action, frenetic, animated feature.  It certainly takes a cue from Fantasia in that respect.

* * * of 5

Moonlight

Better than La La Land?  The photo finish for Best Picture this year will yoke these 2 movies together for a long time.

While on one hand they are different, on the other hand, both movies are fringe, artsy, won't Play in Peoria kind of fare.  They kind of deserve each other.  And their 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Moonlight tells the story of Chiron (Shy-rone, like Tyrone), a poor black child growing up in South Central of Miami, Liberty City.  And so we have a South Central story -  no father, drug-addled mother, lured by the crime surrounding him.   The story is told in 3 acts, the first when Chiron finds his father figure, Juan.  The second act revolves around his Kite Runner relationship with Kevin, his only friend.  And Act 3 is Chiron all grown up, but still the same insecure kid down deep.

On the bright side, it does tell a pretty good gay story - no many movies do that.  And the 79 Cutlass with the BLACK305 plates was awesome (305 being the area code of Miami/Liberty City).  And Juan comes across as a sympathetic if conflicted  character, as does Chiron and Kevin and Mom.

Between the 2, I'd say that Moonlight won "Better Picture".

* * * of 5