Summer movie preview

A goal for last summer was to see 12 movies.  Other than ones I have already previewed, here is a list of some I hope to see.

Baywatch - starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron - May 25- directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses)

War Machine - starring Brad Pitt - May 26

Snatched - starring Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn - May 12

The Mummy - starring Tom Cruise - June 9

All Eyez On Me - biopic of Tupac Shakur - June 16



Rough Night - bachelorette version of The Hangover - June 16


Beguiled - Civil War drama starring Colin Farrell, Elle Fanning  - June 23

Atomic Blonde - starring Charlize Theron - July 28

Dunkirk - directed by Christopher Nolan - July 21

Spider Man:  Homecoming -  July 7

An Inconvenient Sequel:  Truth to Power - July 28

The Bad Batch - Keanu Reeves - June 28

That's 12!  But check out my other info for Wonder Woman, Alien:  Convent, etc.

Baby Driver - starring Ansel Elgort - out June 28

Kingsman: The Golden Circle - Sept 22

Going in Style

A nice ensemble piece with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin as a group of friend who lost their pensions and seek revenge by robbing the bank who stole their money.

The bank robbery plan reminded me a lot of the scenes in the Dark Knight (similar cars, masks and suits).  And in preparation for the robbery, they watch a movie to pysche themselve up:  Dog Day Afternoon.  "Maybe we shouldn't be watching this".

An interesting little subplot with their respective family members -  on one hand they think they have nothing to lose but on the other hand, they do have good relations with others that each of them is putting at risk.

And of course, a lot like another Morgan Freeman movie, the Bucket List.  Aging men seeking a few final thrills.

Worth a look  * * * of 5

The Siskel to my Ebert, Pat Young was not in agreement
http://www.yourvalleyvoice.com/news/20170412/whats-old-is-still-old

T2 Trainspotting

It's been 20 years - what are the boys up to?   An interesting follow up to the quirky Trainspotting.  Piecing things together, the original movie was about 4 addicts planning to rob their dealers.  At the end, one of the them steals the money from the others and leaves.

Now it is years later and Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the hometown of Leith, Scotland to not much of a welcome.  Simon (Jonny Lee Miller) is of course still mad and Spud (Ewen Bremmer)  is still a bit crazy looking, but thankfully not a junkie.  Simon has evolved into a cocaine habit.  So lots of drugs still permeate this case.   Plus some deviant sex.  Definitely R Rated.

The real crazy one Franco, escapes from prison and seeks revenge on Renton for stealing from him.   A welcome addition is Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova) who interchangeably is Renton, Simon and and Spud's girlfriend.  The subplot of getting more money again is for her to have her own brothel, which they plan to make in an old building ironically called Sunshine.

A complex plot particularly after not seeing the original movie in some time.  If you really like it, a rewatch of the original is in order.  Again  directed by Danny Boyle and he gives it a fitting look - a bit chopped and stop motion to accent the action and dialogue.

Good music from Blondie and Queen.  And a very modern rant on the Wham! t shirt slogan:  Choose Life.

**** of 5

Elvis and Nixon

A story, as opposed to "the story" about the famous photo of Elvis Presley in the Oval Office with President Richard Nixon in 1971.  The backstory is that while Nixon started recording his meetings in his office, he did not do it until after meeting Elvis.  So who knows what they talked about?

This is a fictional story about why Elvis wanted to meet Nixon and how the meeting came about.  Some fun touches make it an interesting, if disbelieving story, but who really knows?  Both are long deceased and it probably only lasted 10 minutes or so.

Michael Shannon plays the 70s Elvis and Kevin Spacey as the straight man Nixon.  Elvis is of course the star.

* * * of 5 (Amazon Prime)

Superbad (2007)

I've got a list of my top 10 movies.  In the second 10 would be Superbad, starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Bill Hader.

Cut from the cloth of American Pie and Porky's, it's a classic Losing Your Virginity movie, but with a strong helping of Bromance.   A couple of hapless nerds try to get drunk and laid all in One Last Night.  It's been done before but never so well.

What makes it special?  Probably the interaction between the boys and the 2 police who turn out to be like kids themselves.  McLovin!

* * * * *

The Blue Room/ La Chambre Bleue (2014)

A selection of the Cannes Film Festival, it is now streaming on Netflix.  In French, it is a story of Julien who is married to Ester but having an affair with Delphine.  As with most affairs, the fact that they can't have each other fully is pressure on Julien primarily to Do Something.  Julien receives a message:  You Now.

Most of the movie is done by flashback, as Julien is being investigated by the Magistrate to determine if there is a case against him.  The music gives it a Hitchcock feeling.  As the movie evolves we see exactly who Julien might be accused of murdering.

A nice, short (1 hour 15 min) crime, suspense story.  Written by Stephanie Clere, who also plays Ester.

Driver X

Here is a promo video for the movie Driver X of which I am an investor:

Election (1999)

Strong bones - based on the suburban scare novel by Tom Perotta and directed by Alexander Payne, who also can create drama out of rather ordinary people.

Jim (Matthew Broderick) is a high school teacher who's best friend Dave has recently been fired.  His offense- having an affair with a student Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon).  While this may look like a sad drama, it becomes a dark comedy as the overachiever Tracy seeks to become student council president and Jim, seeking to avenge his friend Dave, tries to prevent Tracy from achieving her goal.

The resulting madcap events become somewhat reminiscent of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it is now Matthew Broderick's turn as the teacher.  There are no real winners here, except maybe Tracy who shows herself to be somewhat ruthless in her goals.    Thereby bringing the name "Tracy Flick" into the lexicon as a  passive-aggressive force, angelic on the outside, dark on the inside.

* * * * * - highest rating

Closing in

By May 11, I plan to have 300 movies reviews posted, so this is a warning to get ready for a lot of posts.  That way when I go to my 30th college reunion, I can say "I have 300 movies reviews on my blog"  A good round number.

Of course, I will plan to review the movie 300 (2006)

I'll also be seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2  - sequel to Volume 1 (Awesome Mix)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) - 40th anniversary!

T2:  Trainspotting  sequel to Trainspotting

The Circle, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

A modern day classic, starring Robin Williams as both Daniel, a nebbish ex-husband, who in a ploy to be with his children, takes a roles as Mrs. Doubtfire, the nanny for his wife  Miranda (Sally Field).  Only Robin Williams could play both roles so well, particularly that of the English Nanny.  In addition to being a loving caregiver, also becomes a trusted confidante to Miranda, a foil to Miranda's new boyfriend Stu (Pierce Brosnan) and  a stern taskmaster to the otherwise spoiled children.    Directed by Chris Columbus working off of the Home Alone template.

"If I may ask Dearie, how was your ex-husband in bed?"  The question everyone wants to ask.

* * * * of 5

The House That Jack Built

Directed by Henry Barrial (who will direct "my" movie Driver X) this is a good sneak preview of his style.  Jack is a drug dealer in New York working out of the front of a neighborhood bodega.  Because he give the illusion of legit success, he is able to buy an apartment building where he puts up his extended family.    But the house, not being built on firm foundation, is subject to risk.

The family unit and the New York setting of course is reminiscent of The Godfather Part II.  Much actions takes places in the hallways.  Best parts were the music, cinematography and the color which reminded me of Dog Day Afternoon.  Good comparisons!  

A big star turn by Melissa Fumero as the wife of Jack.  I'll look forward to seeing her action also in Driver X.

* * * of 5 - available on Netflix

Lala Land - a second look

After the Academy Award snafu, I decided a re-watch of Lala Land was in order.  Plus I wanted to see the now iconic opening traffic scene - I had inadvertently gone into the wrong theater before and when I realized I was in the wrong place, by the time I got to the right place, it had already gone.

Yes, that scene was particularly good.  It was very similar to the rest of the movie.  Visually stimulating with many colors and good dancing, but the singing is somewhat muted throughout.  Along with the recurring song City of Stars.

Compared to the recently Beauty and the Beast, the only takeaway is that the muted singing was quite intentional.  If they wanted big and brassy, they could have easily done it.  Perhaps it was the jazz influence, meant to be calm and cool.  The Anti-Broadway musical perhaps.

The plot made a bit more sense when you know what to expect and can appreciate the dreamlike scenes for what they are, a momentary escape from reality.

Now I'll give it 4 stars  * * * *

Munich (2005)

Directed by Steven Speilberg, we have familiar themes of persecuted Jews (Schindler's List) as well as dark forces that are neither personal nor state sponsored (e.g CEOTK, E.T., A.I, BFG).  Eric Bana is an Israeli soldier, recruited to be part of a revenge team against the Munich Olympic terrorists responsible for 9 Israeli athlete deaths.  His new team is tasked with killing 11 Arabs deemed responsible.  No time limit but they are to operate independently with deniability of their existence.

Told not to use guns, they are to prefer explosives for max terror effect.  As the body count rises, the predictable inclination against killing starts to bubble up.  Not all on the team feel the same - "The only blood I care about is Jewish blood!" exclaims the Daniel Craig (pre-Bond) character.

An interesting look at the personal and seamy side of the assassin, otherwise gloried in most (Bond/ and other) films.

Beauty and the Beast

Disney really hit this one out of the park - it was like a Broadway show - even at 139 minutes the movie went by really fast.  Great voicing of the music and instrumentation.  I expect that this was a Broadway show (like the Lion King) and they used what they learned to make the movie even better than the animated version (1991).

This was live action in part only - as the CGI characters were like animation.  Belle (Emma Watson) carried the start turn well.  When the CGI characters (Lumiere, Mr. Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts) turned back into people, the characters took shape as well.  Beast (Dan Stevens) played the role well.   You may remember him as Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey.

Big and bold, it was a lot of fun to see and gets:

* * * * * (highest rating)