Another DC superhero, this is about Captain Marvel, who turns into his alter ego by saying Shazam!
I recall the comic books but not much else. Looking forward to something new.
April 2019
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Always nice when a Sundance movie gets picked up for wide release and appears in the McAllen Multiplex Land. The documentary story of Fred Rogers, who early on decided he needed to me in the burgeoning medium of TV to minister to young people. Themes are his dealing with adult subjects, not talking down to children, treating their feelings as real.
Heavy stuff, because when I was watching the show at my grandmother Pearl's in the 70s, I just recall that it was more lighthearted than anything. I don't remember any recurring characters, or any specific puppets. But this was before you could read about these things in magazines and websites. So it was an interesting voyage of discovery.
The filmmaker Morgan Neville did a nice documentary job of "turning up the good" (note Officer Clemons) as I heard him describe how good music was produced. There is good piano and cello music here as well and a nice theological and mainstream message that "You are loved." Who won't like that?
* * * * of 5
Heavy stuff, because when I was watching the show at my grandmother Pearl's in the 70s, I just recall that it was more lighthearted than anything. I don't remember any recurring characters, or any specific puppets. But this was before you could read about these things in magazines and websites. So it was an interesting voyage of discovery.
The filmmaker Morgan Neville did a nice documentary job of "turning up the good" (note Officer Clemons) as I heard him describe how good music was produced. There is good piano and cello music here as well and a nice theological and mainstream message that "You are loved." Who won't like that?
* * * * of 5
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly stars as a Mr. and Mrs. Smith action duo that has the feel of a Saturday morning cartoon. In fact, the whole movie is very Scooby-Doo like, from riding around in various vans to the droll parental figures of Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer (welcome back!).
Picking up from Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man/Scott is on house arrest from his missteps. But temptation is too great and he steps out to held Dr. Pym/Michael Douglas and The Wasp/Hope recapture the shrunken laboratory and battle some random new bad boys and girls.
Some nice settings in San Francisco, a great town for making movies (Vertigo, Bullitt, Dirty Harry). Evangeline Lilly holds her own as a female superhero and Paul Rudd is just a lot of fun to watch in almost anything. Also starring Lawrence Fishburne, Walton Goggin, Michael Pena, T.I., Hannah John-Kamen... and David Dastmalchian!
* * * of 5
Picking up from Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man/Scott is on house arrest from his missteps. But temptation is too great and he steps out to held Dr. Pym/Michael Douglas and The Wasp/Hope recapture the shrunken laboratory and battle some random new bad boys and girls.
Some nice settings in San Francisco, a great town for making movies (Vertigo, Bullitt, Dirty Harry). Evangeline Lilly holds her own as a female superhero and Paul Rudd is just a lot of fun to watch in almost anything. Also starring Lawrence Fishburne, Walton Goggin, Michael Pena, T.I., Hannah John-Kamen... and David Dastmalchian!
* * * of 5
Happy Early 6th Birthday to SouthlandView
When I started this blog in August 2012, I thought it would be a fun way to write about movies in a low barrier to entry kind of way. I always thought I could write a review, but I was afraid no one would want to read them.
It is now 6 years later and what began with a review of a Colin Farrell movie had turned into nearly 400 reviews, 30,000 page views and a sizable chunk of information about movies this decade. My last two reviews have over 200 page views each, and my number one review has nearly 1,000. Not bad for a spare time hobby.
Best of all, it has been an entree into a new world. Through this blog which demonstrates interest, I have been able to preview new movies, attend film festivals, and participate in making 2 different movies. All while getting to meet and know a lot of cool people that I would not have known about otherwise.
Looking back, it's funny to think about movies that came out before 2012 and that I didn't review them. I won't have that problem going forward. I see about 40 movies in a theater every year.
Considering that the industry considers a "moviegoer" someone who sees 1 movie in a theater a year, I'm way ahead of the game.
Thanks to Colin Farrell who has become the star of this blog. Looking forward to his next movie.
It is now 6 years later and what began with a review of a Colin Farrell movie had turned into nearly 400 reviews, 30,000 page views and a sizable chunk of information about movies this decade. My last two reviews have over 200 page views each, and my number one review has nearly 1,000. Not bad for a spare time hobby.
Best of all, it has been an entree into a new world. Through this blog which demonstrates interest, I have been able to preview new movies, attend film festivals, and participate in making 2 different movies. All while getting to meet and know a lot of cool people that I would not have known about otherwise.
Looking back, it's funny to think about movies that came out before 2012 and that I didn't review them. I won't have that problem going forward. I see about 40 movies in a theater every year.
Considering that the industry considers a "moviegoer" someone who sees 1 movie in a theater a year, I'm way ahead of the game.
Thanks to Colin Farrell who has become the star of this blog. Looking forward to his next movie.
Set it Up * Netflix Original
All hail the return of the Romantic Comedy in this Netflix original Set it Up starring Zoe Deutsch and Glen Powell. We've got all the old favorites, the New York City setting (How to Lose a Guy), the snappy dialogue (You've Got Mail), the overworked assistant (Devil Wears Prada).
Harper and Ben are the respective overworked assistants to Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs. Since they have to stay late every night, they have no life. When they Meet-Cute, they determine they should set their bosses up so the bosses will be interested in something other than work and Harper and Ben can get some rest and have a better life.
What's different: the woman is a brunette and the male is a blond. A diverse cast. Some good lines: "You'll just swoop in with your lacrosse stick", "while they're busy boning", "overdicked it", "and yet", "Cyrano-ed".
* * * * * my kind of story
Harper and Ben are the respective overworked assistants to Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs. Since they have to stay late every night, they have no life. When they Meet-Cute, they determine they should set their bosses up so the bosses will be interested in something other than work and Harper and Ben can get some rest and have a better life.
What's different: the woman is a brunette and the male is a blond. A diverse cast. Some good lines: "You'll just swoop in with your lacrosse stick", "while they're busy boning", "overdicked it", "and yet", "Cyrano-ed".
* * * * * my kind of story
Sicario 2- Day of the Soldado
Hats off to the real star of this movie - my hometown of McAllen, TX! Dangerous human smuggling crossing point, coyotes hanging out at the grocery right around the corner from my house on Trenton, and at the local mall food court. All in the shadow of the wimpy border wall as it exists now. Don't let President Trump see this movie. Check out the trailer:
While the story was easy to nitpick, it was a complicated and interesting plot. Our "hero" Josh Brolin is brought back to the US to disrupt the human trafficking which has become more profitable than drugs for the Mexican cartels. To pit the Matamoros Cartel against the Reyes Cartel, he and his "Dirty" friend Benecio Del Toro hatch this harmless idea to kidnap a teenage daughter from Carlos Reyes at gunpoint, steal her to the US, torture her, and blame the Matamoros Cartel.
But when the undercover plan is busted, they have to try and put the pieces back together. And it is never a good idea to get heavy handed "operators" to put things back in place. Lots of shades of grey here.
I don't want to give away too much, but it would have been nice to have this actually filmed in South Texas. In that respect, my (executive produced by me) movie Transient captured a lot of these same ideas more realistically, and without a $35 MM budget: the migrant crossing, the coyotes and the borderland.
Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, it's a lot like another movie of his, Hell or High Water, and is strongly influenced by No Country for Old Men.
**** of 5
But when the undercover plan is busted, they have to try and put the pieces back together. And it is never a good idea to get heavy handed "operators" to put things back in place. Lots of shades of grey here.
I don't want to give away too much, but it would have been nice to have this actually filmed in South Texas. In that respect, my (executive produced by me) movie Transient captured a lot of these same ideas more realistically, and without a $35 MM budget: the migrant crossing, the coyotes and the borderland.
Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, it's a lot like another movie of his, Hell or High Water, and is strongly influenced by No Country for Old Men.
**** of 5
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