Thunder Force – Movie Review

Directed and Written by:  Ben Falcone

Starring:  Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Jason Bateman, Pom Klementieff, and Bobby Cannavale

Runtime:  99 minutes

 ‘Thunder Force’ doesn’t push the cinematic needle



Marvel Studios made 20 feature films that eventually led to directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s beyond-massive two-movie epic, “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) with a combined 5 ½ hours of screen time.  The cosmic storyline needed every single one of those 330 minutes because Thanos (Josh Brolin) – the chief antagonist - wiped out half of the universe’s population, and The Avengers attempted to bring trillions of living creatures back from oblivion.  

Talk about big stakes!  

Well, “Thunder Force” is a superhero comedy set in Chicago, as two best friends (Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer) reunite and become superheroes to fight a local mob boss.  Writer/director Ben Falcone – who is McCarthy’s husband – isn’t reaching for the stars here, but that’s not the point.  Instead, he hands Melissa a golden opportunity to weave her self-deprecating humor into a character with Superman-like strength, and the results are admittedly laugh-out-loud funny at times.  

(Note that Octavia has a very different power that will not be revealed in this review.)

Regrettably, “Thunder Force” – which is Lydia Berman (McCarthy) and Emily Stanton’s (Spencer) two-women team name – has a razor-thin plot that falls into predictable spaces around – of all things - a mayoral race.  It’s an idea with all the emotional gravitas of refilling an empty stapler or purchasing paper towels.  

(Although, a year ago, the latter became an unexpected Olympic sport in grocery stores everywhere, but let’s not digress.) 

This film’s opening, however, offers some promise:  “In March of 1983, a massive pulse of interstellar cosmic rays struck Earth and its population.  These cosmic rays triggered a genetic transformation in a select few, unleashing unimaginable superpowers.  Unfortunately, these superpowers were only unlocked in rare individuals who were genetically predisposed to be sociopaths.  These new superhumans came to be known as miscreants.” 

Hey, it sounds like “The Fantastic Four” (1994, 2015) meets “X-Men” (2000) and “Suicide Squad” (2016).  

We meet Emily in 1988, and life serves her a tragedy in a flash.  A miscreant kills her parents, and she – a straight-A student - vows to continue her mom and dad’s work to unlock superhero skills in ordinary people.  The script burns calories for seven minutes during Lydia and Emily’s childhood, which feels almost as unnecessary as a similar plot device in the dreadful “The Fantastic Four” (2015), where a young Reed Richards and Ben Grimm were BFFs before becoming Mr. Fantastic and The Thing, respectively, as adults.  

However, Mia Kaplan and Ben and Melissa’s daughter Vivian Falcone are perfect kid-doppelgangers for McCarthy, so that’s pretty darn cool!  

Fast-forward to the present, and Emily unlocks the secrets to out-of-this-world abilities for Lydia and herself.  Rather than save the planet from miscreants, this dynamic duo set their sights on one particular baddie named Laser (Pom Klementieff), who shoots lightning out of her hands and is happily burning up anyone or anything in The Windy City.  Well, they also run into another one, The Crab (Jason Bateman), who looks like you or me, except he sports orange claws for arms, and before you ask, “Does he butter them up?”, Lydia does in a bizarre daydream sequence borrowed from “The Shape of Water” (2017).  

From there, the film devolves into every “The A-Team”, “Magnum, P.I.”, or choose your ‘80s action/crime drama episode that you’ve ever seen, which may explain why it includes multiple music references from the period, like Van Halen, Slayer, and Glenn Frey’s “The Smuggler’s Blues” and “You Belong to the City”.  

McCarthy dove into a similar ordinary-lady-becomes-a-superstar film in “Spy” (2015), Paul Feig’s riotously hilarious and complex action flick, where she plays an office dweller CIA agent who finally gets her chance in the field.  Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Allison Janney, and Jude Law came out to play with McCarthy in an effective comedy that almost feels as notable as any James Bond movie. 

However, “Thunder Force” dials down – story-wise – into neighborhood politics and a limited set of villains (like “Deadpool” (2016)) despite its global promises during the opening scene.  Still, this movie is no “Deadpool”.  Instead, it feels like “Spies Like Us” (1985), where Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase train to become international spies, and if you’ve ever seen this John Landis picture, you’ll know that the very best moments are during the first act’s training sessions.  

Well, “Thunder Force” is available on Netflix, and if you have the service, check out Lydia and Emily’s superhero prep.  It’s a blast - where McCarthy pulls a truck, heaves a 170-pound sphere like a champ, and much more – for about 25 minutes during the film’s first half.  The rest seems optional, and use your remote, if needed.  

Jeff’s ranking

1.5/4 stars

The Truffle Hunters – Movie Review

Directed and Written by:  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw

Runtime:  77 minutes

Seek out ‘The Truffle Hunters’

Have you ever hunted for truffles?  It’s not that difficult.  Over the weekend, I strolled down a Trader Joe’s aisle and reached for a box of 16 Belgian truffles - an assortment of dark, milk, and white chocolates - sitting on an ordinary shelf about five feet off the ground.  The 7.05-ounce package cost about six dollars and was draped in decorative green and white wrapping paper because purchasing and devouring such a delicacy denotes a celebratory event, right?  Finding this particular sugary luxury burned about 10 seconds of my day, and I drove home with the coveted prize and several bags of groceries too.  

Besides my grocery store item’s moniker, the aforementioned shopping experience has zero connection to directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters”, an oddball, minimalist documentary, one set a half-a-world away in the picturesque, rolling hills of Piedmont, Italy.  A place that may have the broad contours of Tuscany, but – weather-wise – it feels like Upstate New York or British Columbia.  Dweck, Kershaw, and their crew slog and trek through steep gradients, muddy roads, and leaf-littered forest floors with four local guides.  One fella is roughly 50 years old, while the others are in their 70s or 80s, as we are witnesses to their livelihoods and lifestyles.  

They are truffle hunters.

Dweck and Kershaw don’t formally introduce these men, and their names don’t appear in block lettering at the bottom of the screen, except for Carlo’s, but that’s only due to random conversations through subtitles.  Otherwise, they are anonymous chaps.  In fact, you’ll become familiar with their dogs’ names – like Fiona, Birba, Titina, Pepe, and more – before this doc reveals theirs.  

For about two-thirds of the film, the directors plop their cameras – anywhere from 5 to 20 meters from their subjects - and leave the lenses stationary in nature or at the huntsmens’ backyards or kitchens.  More specifically, these scenes are eye-level long shots, where our directors – seemingly – wish to capture our new gray-haired “amici” in their natural environments. 

We observe from a distance, like in a Roy Andersson film (“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence” (2014), “About Endlessness” (2019)). 

The doc chronicles this rare group of trackers during their current life stories over a few weeks or months, and just about every on-screen moment treads at a casual pace.  One hunter is retired.  The youngest one is serving at the peak of his powers, and the other two keep plugging away, albeit with slow strides. Three are bachelors, but Carlo, 87, is married.  His wife is pseudo-supportive but is dead-set against him hunting at night.  It’s too dangerous.  Still, Carlo insists on sneaking out in the evenings to search for the out-of-the-way nuggets, and hey, he enjoys that the resident owls provide some company. 

What is truffle hunting exactly?  

The gents – along with their trusty pooches - search for truffles, a type of fungus buried in the earth, like unmarked treasure chests all over the region.  The sacred substances look like mustard yellow clumps of Play-Doh, and to the untrained eye, they have no apparent real value unless one wanted to construct small clay molds of Homer Simpson or Sesame Street’s Bert.  That would be false, as these unremarkable masses can ring in thousands of Euros per kilo, and our elderly heroes know where many of the cherished X’s reside.  

“The Truffle Hunters” drops us into this world of tradition and trade, and Dweck and Kershaw don’t explain anything at all.  Any learnings are absorbed through osmosis and observation as we try to play catch-up.  The guys – and at least two are Octogenarians - have all the answers but aren’t willing to hand over the Cliff Notes.  

More importantly, the movie provides a cinematic Montessori-like lesson by frequently filming the four men during their downtimes too.  Dweck and Kershaw include several scenes with salespeople, brokers, and movers and shakers who bring the product to market.  The economics will surprise you! 

So, sit back and enjoy this 77-minute educational experience and gratifying indulgence.  Afterward, look up  George Petras’ Mar. 16, 2019 “USA Today” article titled “Why are truffles so darned expensive?”  This wonderfully informative news story will capably respond to many of your questions from this eccentric on-screen wonder because if you’re like me, you’ll have them.    

Jeff’s ranking

3.5/4 stars

---

Godzilla vs. Kong - Movie Review

Dir: Adam Wingard

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Kaylee Hottle, and Shun Oguri

As I turned the lights down in my living room, dumped the microwave popcorn into a large bowl, positioned myself on my comfy couch, and asked my two kids, "Who you got? Godzilla or Kong?" I was reminded of the monster movie Saturday nights with my family as a kid. These "creature feature" royal rumbles, seen mainly on Arizona's KPHO-TV5's The World Beyond, shaped and molded my love for movies at a young age. I could see the youthful excitement in my kids' attitudes as they clamored for words to explain why one chose Kong and the other chose Godzilla as their heavyweight selection. 

Godzilla vs. Kong is the fourth film in the MonsterVerse, a world of giant monsters that concludes the trio of films, Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). These films established the mythology and adjoining story arcs that lead to the climactic battle of cinema's two iconic Titans. 

Director Adam Wingard, who started in the horror genre with films like Pop Skull (2009), You're Next (2011), and Blair Witch (2016), does everything you should do with a giant monster movie. It places the monsters on full display and lets them rip apart every inch of the silver screen battlefield. Godzilla vs. Kong doesn't waste time with the human drama or character development; the other films in the series have already done that part. Instead, it delivers on the pure visceral spectacle of watching two giant monsters fight and destroy everything around them. 

The film opens with Kong waking up from slumber; Bobby Vinton's Over the Mountain, Across the Sea plays while Kong stretches, scratches, and washes his face in a waterfall. But this scenic locale isn't home for Kong. Instead, it's a giant technologically advanced cage developed to contain the giant ape. On the other side of the globe, an enraged Godzilla has awakened. No one knows why the Kaiju, a former ally to humanity, has destroyed a facility owned by a cybernetics corporation called Apex. But Godzilla is on a rampage, and Kong becomes the only hope for humanity. This takes Kong and his team, including a deaf girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle), with who Kong has a unique bond, on a mission to the center of the earth for answers. 

What makes Godzilla vs. Kong work so well is its simple emphasis on keeping the monsters in focus, front and center, as the accompanying story revolves around the two title characters' actions. In the past films that compose the MonsterVerse, the human elements seemed to take precedent over the monster carnage, leading to unnecessary character drama viewed in front of giant monster fights. Godzilla vs. Kong rightfully never allows the humans too much time to control the situation. Instead, they run underneath the Titans' footsteps while the framing keeps the creatures in a clear, controlled perspective. 

Adam Wingard does an exceptional job composing the action throughout the film, allowing for moments pulled from a heavyweight boxing match or the motions written for a WrestleMania main event. It's beautiful both in its frenzied digital demolition, big explosions and crumbling debris fill the frame, and the creation of the two beasts' textured and expressive look, the motion of Godzilla moving through the water or Kong’s easy sway across buildings and trees is delicate and destructive. Kong's eyes alone tell enough story to keep everything moving forward, without any words or descriptions from the humans. 

Wingard's best human character move in the film is the relationship between Kong and Jia. Their wordless communication is lovely. Jia's simplicity of words, communicated through sign language, is more than enough material to build an entire story that connects the dots of why these monsters are fighting. 

Great actors like Alexander Skarsgård, who plays a scientist with an personal understanding of Hollow Earth Theory, and Rebecca Hall, the closest expert to understanding Kong, join to offer silly science explanations of why everything is happening. However, the story has the most fun when the young people get to lead the adventure. Millie Bobby Brown returns to unravel more of Godzilla's mysteries with the help of a computer-savvy sidekick (Julian Dennison) and a paranoid podcasting conspiracy theorist (Brian Tyree Henry). The banter between this team of unlikely characters works well even when their adventure takes some pointless twists and turn.

Godzilla vs. Kong clearly understands the goal it is trying to accomplish, pack as much bone-crunching, city-destroying, tail-whipping, fist-thumping action into every scene as possible. Adam Wingard and the team achieve this goal, crafting the best creature feature in the MonsterVerse. 

Monte's Rating

3.75 out of 5.00

---

French Exit – Movie Review

Directed by:  Azazel Jacobs

Written by:  Patrick deWitt

Starring:  Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Valerie Mahaffey, Susan Coyne, Isaach De Bankole, Imogen Poots, and Danielle Macdonald

Runtime:  106 minutes

‘French Exit’ loses its way

Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), a New York socialite, isn’t feeling very sociable these days.  She’s depressed, frustrated, and broke.

Well, not completely broke.  Frances sells off her jewelry and art to collect a tidy sum of cash.  It’s not enough to live on, but Frances and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) won’t go hungry next week.

Next year?  That’s a different story.

You see, her late husband’s estate has become insolvent, and she has nowhere to live.  Frances isn’t the type to ask for help, but her friend Joan (Susan Coyne) offers her Paris apartment as a retreat.  Before you can say “Eiffel Tower”, Frances, her black cat, and Malcolm travel by cruise ship across the Atlantic Ocean.  

During a VIP dinner, the captain (Bruce Dinsmore) leans into a conversation with Frances and says, “I understand you’re moving to Paris.  Are you very excited?”

“I suppose I should be,”  she replies.

I should be excited about “French Exit”!  Director Azazel Jacobs' (“Terri” (2011), “The Lovers” (2017)) droll comedy stars one of the world’s most recognizable actresses.  It’s set in my favorite city, and one of the key characters is a cat.  Hey, I’ve been volunteering at a no-kill cat and dog shelter for nine years, and if the opportunity arises, I’ll talk about my two-year-old Torbie for an hour.   This looks like my movie.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this film.

Mon Dieu!

Well, If you decide to catch this flick, my sincere hope is that you grab a coffee - and a croissant or two - and enjoy it.

Indeed, this movie – based on screenwriter Patrick deWitt’s 2018 novel – is aptly named.  Due to financial realities depriving Frances of her creature comforts, she leaves The City that Never Sleeps for The City of Lights.  This story, however, is far from bright and cheery.  Similar to Noah Baumbach’s “The Squid and the Whale” (2005) and “Greenberg” (2010), Jacobs' film swims in downbeat and sarcastic tones.

Frances had a loveless marriage with Franklin (Tracy Letts) and refers to him as an emotional moron, but she’s not close with hardly anyone, including her son.  She spends her days drinking and sulking, and her behavior (and genetics) rubbed off on Malcolm too.  He’s pretty darn incapable of maintaining a lasting relationship with his fiancée Susan (Imogen Poots) and generally mopes around 24/7.  

Their downtrodden personas are the immovable objects versus Paris’ irresistible force, and the screenplay appears to set up a specific premise.  Will this European escape fundamentally change them – and more specifically, Frances - in a positive way or not?

Jacobs captures lush gardens and parks – like Place des Vosges – nestled around the ever-present Haussmann architecture.  We don’t see many lively crowds, and it’s Christmastime, so the skies are gray.  (Wait, no crowds during Christmas?)  Still, Frances strolls along cobblestone streets and drinks coffee at cafes, as we see flashes of the Parisian experience.

However, our leads spend a lot of time (way too much) in the apartment.  It’s spacious and comfortable but not ornate or in any way cinematic to the eye.  One can suppose this is consistent with their characters, but have you seen Cleo’s apartment in Agnes Varda’s “Cleo from 5 to 7” (1962)?   It’s a glorious, decorative, and open high-ceiling studio with a piano to boot.  It’s a place to throw all-night soirees – with music, dance, and wine - six days a week...and then sleep on the seventh.

Not so much here, and the film’s second and third acts are primarily set in the said flat, but it’s a holding space for a couple of oddball script turns.  One won’t be revealed here because that would be borderline criminal.  The other is that various folks - who Frances and Malcolm meet on their journey - loiter in Joan’s place, like lifelong friends would.  Since Frances hasn’t acquired many pals over her 50-plus years on Planet Earth, these new communal moments are growth opportunities.  They do have a positive effect on her, but not necessarily on the audience.  Familiar, capable actors like Valerie Mahaffey, Danielle Macdonald, Isaach De Bankole, Daniel di Tomasso, and Potts regularly convene at Chez Joan, but the movie doesn’t give them a whole lot to do.  They sometimes argue but generally converse about random, unremarkable di minimis.  It almost feels like their on-screen time is a collection of improv sketches, ones disconnected from each other.

It gets weird, but not freaky-weird.

Pfeiffer performs admirably in a notable role that purposely rolls in malaise, and she delivers an air and her lines with spellbinding appeal.  Frances admits that she’s odd and difficult, and she doesn’t understand the world but reaches out in small doses, like handing a homeless man $20 and listening to his hopes for some wine and a hot dog.  Maybe, she’ll have a perfect moment, like the aforementioned fella did.  You’ll have to see, but it means sitting through this peculiar, baffling film, one that doesn’t reach its high aspirations about discontent.

Jeff’s ranking

1.5/4 stars

---

Jeff Mitchell Heads to South by Southwest (from his house)

The SXSW Film Festival is an annual March tradition in Austin, TX, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the prominent movie carnival to cancel its planned programs in 2020.  Well, don’t mess with Texas because SXSW was back in 2021 (March 16 – March 20), albeit online.  

I enrolled in SXSW this year and watched 18 movies from the comfort of my couch, and although I didn’t see nearly everything, here are my five favorites:

Alien on Stage

A group of enthusiastic – but sometimes apprehensive - Dorset, UK bus drivers and staff wish to put on a play, but not “Hamlet”, “Rent”, or “The Book of Mormon”.  These everyday men and women attempt to bring the iconic 1979 horror film “Alien” to the stage, including the starship Nostromo, the Xenomorph XX121 (aka: The Alien), and the infamous chest-bursting scene.  What???  Directors Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer’s documentary captures this seemingly impossible task, as their film feels like a real-life “Waiting for Guffman” (1996).  The movie’s tagline is: “In Dorset, no one can hear you scream.”  Great stuff!

The Fallout

Jenna Ortega delivers an affecting performance as a teenage survivor of a brutal school shooting, and writer/director Megan Park sets the majority of her movie after the tragedy occurs.  Even though Vada (Ortega) wasn’t physically hurt, the screenplay effectively deep-dives into the emotional aftershock of the massacre.  In a March 2021 interview, Park said, “If I was 16, I’d be so anxious, I couldn’t leave my room.  I couldn’t stop thinking about that perspective and that side of the story.” 

Hysterical

The stand-up industry has marginalized female comics for decades.  These women have coped – both onstage and offstage - with “concrete ceilings”, but over the years, they have successfully swung sledgehammers and smashed them.  Well, almost two dozen comediennes – including Nikki Glaser, Sherri Shepherd, Kathy Griffin, and Margaret Cho - share their personal stories in director Andrea Blaugrund Nevins’ funny and enlightening doc.  She packs lots and lots of rich history, B-roll, and intimate revelations into 87 minutes. 

Introducing, Selma Blair

Selma Blair has starred in big movies, like “Cruel Intentions” (1999), “Legally Blonde” (2001), and “Hellboy” (2004), but her part in director Rachel Fleit’s documentary is her most important and urgent role yet.  Doctors diagnosed Blair with Multiple Sclerosis, and she opens up her home and soul to Fleit’s camera that captures the physical and mental day-to-day anguish, as well as the ongoing fight to stay alive.  This profoundly moving doc had this critic in tears throughout so much of the 90-minute runtime.  A heartbreaking and inspiring film.

Recovery

Set during the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, two sisters (Whitney Call and Mallory Everton) hop in their car and drive from New Mexico to Washington to fetch their grandma from her nursing home that has a rash of infections.  Jamie (Call) and Blake (Everton) frequently remind us of the dreary misery of COVID precautions, but the film – written by the two stars - is a flat-out hilarious road trip and a cross between “Clerks” (1994), “Booksmart” (2019), and “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983).  Call and Everton are a riot!

---

Nobody - Movie Review

Directed by:  Ilya Naishuller

Written by:  Derek Kolstad

Starring:  Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Neilsen, and Christopher Lloyd

Runtime:  92 minutes

Suburban dads have a new action hero

In many households, David Leitch’s name may not ring any bells, but look at his IMDb profile!  He has over 80 stunt credits and more than 20 acting gigs.  Leitch also directed “Atomic Blonde” (2017), “Deadpool 2” (2018), and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” (2019), and he produced all three “John Wick” pictures.

The man has lived and breathed action films for 26 years - including performing stunt work for Matt Damon and Brad Pitt - so Leitch knows his craft.

Here, he's a producer on “Nobody” and teams up with executive producer/writer Derek Kolstad (who wrote or co-wrote all three “John Wick” movies) and director Ilya Naishuller.  Actually, Naishuller helmed one of the very few films that I ever had to stop watching (in a theatre).  “Hardcore Henry” (2015) isn’t a bad movie by any means, but Naishuller’s wild and jerky camera movements deliberately immerse us into a video game of sorts.  Sadly, I became dizzy and felt sick after 30 minutes and left.  Hey, no one else was sulking in the fetal position, so I didn’t bother asking for my ten dollars back.

Anyways, with Leitch, Kolstad, and Naishuller forming a triad of cinematic carnage, no one should expect that “Nobody” will double as “Love Actually” (2003), “Boyhood” (2014), “Enchanted” (2007), or “Dirty Dancing” (1987).

Although the tagline for Naishuller’s revenge picture could easily be: “Nobody puts Hutch Mansell in a corner.”

Bob Odenkirk stars - front and center - as Hutch, a mild-mannered everyman.  He lives in a spacious two-story home at the end of a beautiful cul-de-sac with his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and their kids Blake (Gage Munroe) and Abby (Paisley Cadorath).  Gee whiz, after a few minutes of studying the Mansells, Becca and Blake don’t show him much respect, although that’s not terribly unusual for teenage boys.  Still, Hutch realizes, feels, and internalizes his spouse's and son's pity and moderate – but silent – disparagement, and the weight of their disregard piles on his back and smashes down his spine.  He’s a beaten man and mentally checked out.  Twenty-four hours a day, he spins in life’s hamster wheel by working at a monotonous accounting job at Becca’s father’s small manufacturing company from 9 to 5 and feeling ignored at home from 5 to 9.

Thank God that his elementary school-aged daughter shows him admiration, but otherwise, he feels like a...nobody.  This endless cycle, however, breaks when a couple of burglars bust into the Mansells’ home.  The pair didn’t get away with much, but Abby’s kitty cat bracelet is missing, and that's it: Hutch snaps.

It turns out that his mind isn’t the only thing that breaks, as he goes on a violent spree of mayhem, which begins against five hoodlums on a city bus.  These dudes chose the wrong day to pick on this 50-something human tornado.  Limbs and skulls suddenly go snap, crackle, and pop due to Hutch's assault, as stationary unpadded metal bus railings and a wine bottle are perfect props for our hero.  It’s an explosive display that’s instantly reminiscent of “John Wick”, but substitute a murdered pet with a missing kid’s item of plastic jewelry.  Well, there’s that, and Odenkirk doesn’t resemble a lethal weapon in the slightest, which is this flick’s massive hook.  Although Bob and Keanu are strikingly close in age at 58 and 56, respectively, so chew on that for a while.

Well, Naishuller and Odenkirk give the audience plenty of ferocious, visceral action-picture eye-candy over a no-nonsense 92-minute runtime.  Hutch is a one-man wrecking crew, although his father (Christopher Lloyd) helps a bit in a nifty, sicko supporting role.  Our protagonist, however, soon tangles with a Russian mobster.  Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov) is described as a “connected and funded sociopath”, and his ire dramatically raises the stakes as hand-to-hand combat escalates into more mechanical forms of firepower, if you catch my drift.  Hutch’s family’s safety becomes an immediate concern, but Naishuller and Kolstad find a convenient way to set aside Becca, Blake, and Abby safely, so our suburban Mr. Wick has the elbow room to work, punch, kick, and shoot.

Of course.

At the end of the day, “Nobody” is a one-trick pony – in the form of a ’72 Challenger and a barrage of aggression - but Odenkirk sells this ride, including the obvious possibilities for a sequel.  Sure, I’ll watch another follow-up or two, and so will several million 5-foot 9-inch dads out there.

Jeff’s ranking

2.5/4 stars

The Courier - Movie Review

Director: Dominic Cooke

Writer: Tom O’Connor

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, & Jessie Buckley. 

Feature films are not documentaries. Regardless of what a title card reads at the beginning of a biopic, period picture, or other work “based upon” or “inspired by true events,” by now most film lovers know that you shouldn't consider a movie historical Cliff's Notes. If you want to know what really happened, it’s best to pick up a nonfiction book instead.

Discovering this, it becomes harder to judge fictionalized “true stories” for when and where they decide to adhere to or deviate from the real turns of events or players involved. A valuable rule of thumb for me personally, but as the internet likes to say “your mileage may vary,” is that even when minor details are changed or new subplots are added for dramatic effect, it still has to feel true within the cinematic world where the story exists. Namely, any fictional changes made in a movie should not pull you out of the overall narrative.

Unfortunately, this is one of the major ways where director Dominic Cooke's otherwise superbly acted faux true-life Cold War drama “The Courier” goes so wrong. A film about a British businessman (Benedict Cumberbatch) who's recruited to transport top-secret documents from a Soviet officer asset (Merab Ninidze) back to his MI6 and CIA handlers in the UK during the Cuban Missile Crisis, “The Courier” is utterly fascinating on the page but only mildly successful on the screen.

Anachronistic at best, the filmmaker’s decision to cast the unquestionably gifted Rachel Brosnahan as a young female American CIA agent working with MI6 to run foreign operatives in Russia in an era where the people doing so were men feels primarily like tokenism. And indeed, in the film's production notes, even “The Courier” screenwriter Tom O'Connor admits that “casting another male wasn't the most compelling version of the story to tell these days.”

Reading this acknowledgment is annoying to me for several reasons. As women, we have our own worthwhile stories to bring to the screen and don’t need “The Courier” to shortchange the roles we played in the given period just because we weren't running international spy-rings. 

Yet even if O'Connor and Cooke weren't trying to be overly trendy in the post-Me Too era, which most female filmgoers are quick to see through, Brosnahan's CIA agent in “The Courier” feels so inauthentic that her mere presence – and the talented actress's strong performance – makes her minor character far more interesting than everyone else's. Obviously, this couldn't have been the filmmaker's intention all along or they would’ve centered the film on Brosnahan instead of “The Courier.” As soon as she appears onscreen, she easily overshadows Cumberbatch's rather dry everyday businessman, the woefully underwritten Greville Wynne who is purported to be the protagonist. But when it comes to the film's eponymous courier, in this regard, we quickly deduce that she is far from alone.

A weak main character as written, further research reveals that Greville Wynne is a relatively blank slate. Following the events of the film, it seems that not only did MI6 not thank the businessman or disclose much about his international pursuits but the real Wynne wrote two different memoirs that have been largely debunked, likely owing to a mental decline following his harrowing days as a citizen spy.

Although he’s undoubtedly an unexpected British hero worthy of greater study, Wynne is done a disservice in “The Courier,” once we’re introduced to Cumberbatch's enigmatic counterpart in the form of Merab Ninidze's Russian officer Oleg Penkovsky early on. Immediately engaged in the plight of this man putting his family, career, and life on the line for his principles on his own accord, not only does Penkovsky steal focus from our British courier throughout, it becomes painfully clear he would've made a much more gripping main character overall. Of course, the stakes are similar for Wynne but being that Penkovsky is mostly in Russia makes his dual role vastly more terrifying.

Imbued with an intentionally dull visual palette, which has a lethargic effect on the film as a whole, despite Cumberbatch's immense range as an actor, whenever “The Courier” follows Ninidze's Penkovsky instead of Wynne, Cooke's work roars back to life. Sadly, however, these moments are as short-lived as they are few and far between.

An altogether underwhelming, workmanlike endeavor, the film marks a disappointing sophomore effort for the director of the impressive '17 sleeper “On Chesil Beach.” Helmed by a man with an extensive background working with actors in the theater, “The Courier” is augmented by the strength of Cooke's ensemble cast, including Jessie Buckley as Wynne's stylish wife who brings a bit of vivacity to the film’s visually dour proceedings.

While on the one hand, it's perhaps worth watching for viewers who are curious about Cold War foreign policy and international relations, on the other, what we have here doesn’t really work as a film. Despite being content as ever to look the other way for the sake of artistic license, the faux factual "Courier" just doesn't entertain us enough to warrant being trendy, UK-centric, and safe rather than unapologetic, international, and real.

The Father - Movie Review

Directed by:  Florian Zeller

Written by:  Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, based on Zeller’s play “Le Pere”

Starring:  Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman

Runtime:  93 minutes

‘The Father’: Hopkins and Colman nurture Oscar-worthy performances in one of the year’s very best films

Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) and Anne (Olivia Colman) are having a rough go of it these days, but their father-daughter stress has been brewing for months or years.  Anthony – an 83-year-old retired engineer - and Anne live in a spacious London flat – with 12-foot ceilings and expensive furniture and accessories in every room - but their lives are anything but comfortable or content.  He has dementia.  In addition to his slips of memory, moments of confusion, and abrupt mood swings, he has just forced – off-camera - his current caregiver, Angela, to quit.   

Anthony’s latest verbal transgression has forced Anne to find another at-home nurse, Laura (Imogen Poots).  The urgency reaches a peak.  It’s about as high as the London Eye because Anne is in love with a Parisian fella, and she’s moving to The City of Lights.  Anthony needs to get along with Laura because he cannot stay in the flat on his own.  Well, let’s not go there and think about the repercussions. 

Director/co-writer Florian Zeller decided to take his award-winning play “Le Pere” in a new direction, as he and screenwriter Christopher Hampton adapted it to the screen.  Zeller had Hopkins in mind to star in his film, and in fact, he changed the lead’s name from Andre to Anthony in hopes of some extra incentive or cosmic will to make his directorial-debut dreams come true. 

(Just to point out, Zeller’s character Anthony declares his birthday in the film.  It’s Friday, Dec. 31, 1937, and yes, Anthony Hopkins shares the same birthday, and in the same year, naturally.) 

Well, Zeller’s hopes did come to fruition when Hopkins read the script.  The actor explains during an Oct. 21, 2020 interview with the American Film Institute.

“It’s one of those rare (scripts) which grabs you because it’s a small, compact film.  It’s not a big studio film, and that’s what’s so attractive about it, but it’s so brilliantly written,” Hopkins said. 

Hopkins adds, “Really, I couldn’t believe my luck because it was about three years ago.  I was 80, and I’m still working.  They wanted me to do it.  I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was.  Those scripts come along once in a while.  ‘Silence of the Lambs’ was one of them, ‘The Remains of the Day’, ‘Nixon’, ‘The Edge’ by David Mamet, and this one.”

“The Father” is a sobering drama about this debilitating, maddening illness, and Anne and Anthony aren’t the only ones agonizing over the trauma.  According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over six million Americans suffer from the disease, and one in three seniors passes away with it.  (Since this film is set in London, it’s important to highlight that 850 thousand United Kingdom citizens cope with dementia as well.)  

Dementia rips the delicate fabric of families everywhere and leaves oceans of tears in its wake, and filmmakers frequently face the matter on the big screen.  Julianne Moore won an Oscar in “Still Alice” (2014).  Michael Haneke’s “Amour” (2012) won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.  “Lovely, Still” (2008) and “The Notebook” (2004) are a pair of movies that require an ample supply of tissues, and the list goes on.  

Zeller, however, takes a unique approach, and it’s an exceptional one.  The vast majority of this story is constructed through Anthony’s eyes and ears.  Events, discourse, and the timeline transpire from Anthony’s perspective, and this causes the audience to leap through a disconcerting puzzle as we experience his perception of reality.  

“(I wanted) to the tell the story from the inside and to put the audience in a very unique position, as if they are trying to go through a labyrinth,” Zeller said in a Dec. 29, 2020 interview with GoldDerby.

Olivia Colman explains her reaction to the film’s approach.  

“It’s genuinely confusing and scary, and I love the way this film shows that.  It made me see how incredibly painful it is to watch the person you love crumble, and how scary it is for the person who is having to deal with this confusing life they’re now in,” Colman said in a Feb.23, 2021 interview with Kinowetter. 

She’s right.  

Zeller’s film feels like a Christopher Nolan picture, or one of his films blended with Louis Malle’s “My Dinner with Andre” (1981).  The narrative takes unexpected and unsettling turns that force you to question the on-screen happenings.  Of course, Zeller isn’t throwing us off bridges, sailing the English Channel during WWII, or reversing time on a freeway chase.  No, here, Colman and Hopkins spend most of the 93-minute runtime within the aforementioned apartment.  In a way, the intimate space drastically feels unsettling than a big-budget Nolan production because uncertainty arises within the privacy of a home, a place where Anthony and Anne are supposedly standing on solid ground.  It should be a refuge or haven, but with dementia, there isn’t one. 

“The Father”, however, is in rock-solid, reliable hands with insightful playwright-turned-movie director and two masterclass, Oscar-winning actors.  Both Colman and Hopkins deliver Oscar-worthy performances, and Sir Anthony gives the best lead actor performance of the year.  Hopkins is nothing short of extraordinary, as Anthony’s behavior is unpredictable and frequently shifts without warning.  He’ll emotionally move from complimentary to vindictive, or indignant to timid within a few seconds, as his mind drives these massive changes that constantly leave Anne on pins and needles.   

She’s a deeply caring, thoughtful daughter who doesn’t lash out at her dad, but she’s under constant duress by internalizing his disarray while simultaneously struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy.  Hopkins drives the narrative, and Colman follows his lead, as Anthony involuntarily reverse-calibrates his and Anne’s lives in micro-increments that deliver immediate grief, but also a profound sense of loss of a once-dependable and harmonious relationship.  A heartbreaking and permanent loss.

Jeff’s ranking

4/4 stars

Raya and the Last Dragon – Movie Review

Directed by:  Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa

Written by:  Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim

Starring:  Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Benedict Wong, Gemma Chan, and Izaac Wang

Runtime:  95 minutes

Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina make a delightful and dynamic duo in ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’

“At its core, it’s an action movie.” – screenwriter Qui Nguyen, March 2, 2021

“Note to self, don’t die.” – Raya (Kelly Marie Tran)

And how...and please don’t!

In Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon”, Raya (Tran) – an early-20-something - and her trusty companion Tuk Tuk - a 10-foot long, pill bug/armadillo-like, four-legged friend, who best resembles an organic Fiat 500 – carry us on a dazzling animated journey.  Their quest is to search for the last remaining dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina), and find pieces of an ancient Dragon Gem, one that will hopefully reunite Kumandra’s Five Clans and rid the kingdom of a hideous, faceless enemy called the Druun.

Whew, that’s a tall order, but the world’s survival is at stake in a movie that offers elements of “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), martial-arts pictures, and the Greek story of Medusa, because the Druun, a menacing race of purple brushfires, turn their victims into stone.  Human beings and animals - including dragons – are not safe.

Raya does find Sisu, and since she’s made of flesh, scales, and blood, this towering, turquoise reptile is a key ally to have when purple clouds of vitriol could overrun the kingdom and beyond.  Not only is Sisu a two-ton wrecking crew, but she also sports a keen sense of humor and quirky, warm vibes.  Awkwafina is a perfect choice as Sisu, and both voice actor and on-screen heroine offer some genuine – physical and emotional - surprises (that will not be revealed in this review).

It isn’t a surprise that Raya’s quest takes her far and wide.  She belongs to the Heart Clan and hunts for the aforementioned, magical jewels through the other four territories: Fang, Spine, Talon, and Tail.  Each one offers distinct, striking visuals of desert, water, or marketplace scenery.

Although this critic watched directors Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs, and John Ripa’s picture on a 43-inch television, the big-screen experience must be a wondrous cornucopia of sights and sounds of another time, another place.  Speaking of which, Kumandra is the film’s fictional locale, but screenwriters Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim designated this vibrant spectacular in Southeast Asia.  The Five Clans’ territories represent neighboring countries in this part of the world.  Not only did the filmmakers devote meticulous efforts in capturing the region’s visuals, but the movie favorably bathes in the cultures too.

“The sense of community.  The fact that there (are) so many cultures in Southeast Asia, so many nations, but there’s this feeling of togetherness between them.  They all belong to this region and are very proud of it.  That is very special,” Estrada said in a March 2, 2021 interview with LRM Online.

Estrada also mentions that spirituality and food play major themes that shepherd the picture.  A little boy named Boun (Izaac Wang) – who also works two vocations, as a ship captain and master chef – is a spreader of good cheer through hot, tasty food.  Hey, Boun makes a mean bowl of congee.

Please take note of Raya’s relationship with food and its evolution throughout the film too!

Still, Raya, Tuk Tuk, Sisu, Boun, Tong (Benedict Wong), and a few other new comrades don’t have oodles of idle time, as bona fide dangers and hand-to-hand clashes litter the path on the wide-open spaces, like 5,000 6-inch rusty spikes swarming on a ballroom dance floor.  The directors, animators, and visual effects teams deliver breathtaking wide shots that drill down into personal battles that are seemingly filmed with rapid-fire, silky-smooth eye-level Steadicams.

“Raya and the Last Dragon” has just about everything in a Disney picture, including massive, sweeping moments, meaningful discourse, swashbuckling adventure, and laughs.  Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian backdrop wraps us up with astonishments that keep our eyes darting to every corner of the screen and square inch in between.  The time flies as Raya, Sisu, and their new team bond towards a hopeful destiny.

Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina make a delightful and dynamic duo, but in a broader sense, this gorgeously crafted film says a lot about friendship, family, and community.  Not many action movies can claim that.

Jeff’s ranking

3.5/4 stars

---

Coming 2 America – Movie Review

Directed by:  Craig Brewer

Written by:  Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, and Kenya Barris

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Leslie Jones, and Tracy Morgan

Runtime:  101 minutes

Coming to America (1998) and Coming 2 America (2021)

‘Coming 2 America’ is more of a nostalgic celebration than a winning comedy

It’s been 33 years since we last saw Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his best friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall) travel from The Kingdom of Zamunda to Queens, NY.  Why Queens?  By name alone, it must be the locale where Akeem can find a worthy match for a royal wedding, right?

“Coming to America” arrived in theatres in June 1988, and Murphy and Hall’s buddy flick quickly became one of the most memorable comedies of the decade, at least to me, a Gen Xer, who was on summer break between my freshman and sophomore year of college at the time.  Although I can’t be the only one who loves the movie, because this rated-R Prince-out-of-Water story was the second highest-grossing film of that year with a box office take of $128 million, only behind “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.

Not to take away from the groundbreaking live-action/animated bunny-film wonder, but I have fonder - and more easily accessible - memories of “Coming to America”.

“While you’re in a clapping mood, I’d like you to give a big round of applause to my band, Sexual Chocolate.” – Randy Watson (Murphy)

“I have recently been placed in charge of garbage.” – Prince Akeem

“Yes, yes.  F*** you too.” – Prince Akeem

The list goes on and on.

Well, it’s three decades later, and screenwriters David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein are back for a long-overdue follow-up to their 1988 hit.  Screenwriter Kenya Barris (“Girls Trip” (2017), “Shaft” (2019)) along with director Craig Brewer (“Footloose” (2011), “Dolemite Is My Name” (2019)) join the sequel-party.

With great regret, I don’t think that “Coming 2 America” is a worthy sequel, at least as a comedic running mate.  Instead, it seems that Brewer, Sheffield, Blaustein, and Barris were hyper-focused on celebrating the original film by constructing a movie that feels like a family reunion rather than a brand-new, forward-thinking comedy.

The new picture does take painstaking effort to find special moments to reintroduce several familiar, beloved characters – both major and minor ones – to the screen.  Fans should experience legitimate thrills seeing these on-screen personalities from Queens and Zamunda again, and from that perspective, the filmmakers kept the original movie’s devotees in mind.

On the other hand, the script maddeningly flies on autopilot.  Our aforementioned, well-acquainted friends only declare slightly different versions of the same jokes and gags from the original picture.  Sure, it’s a ball to reunite with them, but there’s nothing fresh or new here.

If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it.

I suppose that’s true, but the “Police Academy” series kept that same mentality for seven pictures, and those films became tiresome in a hurry.  You get the point.

What’s the point of “Coming 2 America”?

Well, Prince Akeem and Princess Lisa (Shari Headley) live in lush harmony and riches in Zamunda.  Although Lisa seems frequently bothered, and she carries all the warmth an OCD librarian coping with Johnny Knoxville screaming the alphabet through a megaphone.  If Akeem and Lisa are enjoying a happy marriage, Murphy and Headley offer zero evidence of that (potential) fact.

However, they do have three daughters, but Akeem does not have a male heir, which creates regal problems for the royal lineage down the road.

Like magic – or rather, the birds and bees – Akeem does have a son, one conceived 30 years ago during his first trip to Queens, and now, he and Semmi return to The Big Apple to meet him and fly him back to his new home in Africa.

Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler) is the young man in question and agrees to visit, along with his biological mom Mary (Leslie Jones).  His Uncle Reem (Tracy Morgan) joins a bit later.  It turns out that Lavelle falls into the same life-pattern as his dad and wishes to marry a woman for love rather than through a formal arrangement.

Unfortunately, Lavelle and a royal hairdresser Mirembe (Nomzamo Mbatha) chew up precious screen time through a meandering courtship.  This creates two painful impacts.  Yes, they seem like a lovely couple, but neither one utters a funny line throughout the entire picture. Simultaneously, their on-screen presence takes away from Murphy, Hall, Jones, and Morgan.  This “joke-well” runs dry from about the movie’s halfway point until the last 10 minutes, as I wondered – for an awfully long stretch - how “Coming 2 America” became a 1990s Sunday afternoon Lifetime Network TV movie.

The film goes that far off the comedic rails as Zamunda morphs into Dullsville.

Still, the locale is a spectacular paradise with massive, manicured grounds, a sprawling palace, and big-game African mammals frequenting the frame.  Kudos to art directors Thomas Valentine and Kristen Sherwin and costume designer Ruth E. Carter and Kairo Courts.  Carter worked on “Black Panther” (2018), and wow, her style and talents are on full display.  With a film budget of $60 million, Carter makes it seem that $50 million was spent on costumes, as scores of extras and our leading players sport luxurious, opulent dresses and Dashikis.  She and Courts contribute to a fully-honored ambiance during every second spent in Zamunda.

The fashions and several impressive, extravagant dance sequences offer plenty of sights and sounds to distract us from a predictable, rote script that contains infrequent spots for genuine belly laughs.  As far as new characters, Jones’ Mary could be the lone highlight, although Wesley Snipes – as General Izzi - has some amusing moments too.  Jones is a blast, and in addition, some very big cameos pop on-screen.  Indeed, “Coming 2 America” carries tip-top star power, but we need it.

Sigh, 33 years seems so long ago.

Jeff’s ranking

2/4 stars

---

Boogie - Movie Review

Dir: Eddie Huang

Starring: Taylor Takahashi, Taylour Paige, Pamelyn Chee, Perry Yung, and Pop Smoke

There is an undeniable formula that composes the structure of a basketball sports film. You'll often have a headstrong coach, a talented superstar who must understand their true potential and seemingly insurmountable odds that the team must come together to defeat. "Hoosiers," "He Got Game," and "Hoop Dreams," while entirely different basketball movies, still each embody the formula but in different ways. At the center of all these films are characters just like Alfred "Boogie" Chin (Taylor Takahashi), talented young men trying to balance the harsh realities of the world with the dream of playing basketball on the professional level. 

What separates writer/director Eddie Huang's film "Boogie" from other sports films it resembles is you don't often see basketball stories told from the perspective of a Chinese American protagonist. Huang understands the teenage sports melodrama, taking the familiar elements we are accustomed to and weaving components of culture, tradition, family dysfunction, and adolescent insecurity into the spaces that will ultimately frame the sports formula being manipulated.

Boogie has just transferred to a new elite private high school, one with a losing basketball record and desperate need for a superstar to lead them into the winning bracket. Boogie, however, is more concerned with how this opportunity can help him gain more exposure and help him receive a full scholarship from a top-ranked university. Boogie isn't just eyeballing a college scholarship, he has dreams of playing in the NBA and hopes of helping his family get out of the constant financial struggle they have been in since he was born. 

Boogie’s brash ego complicates the route into a college program. He is consistently at odds with his coach (Domenick Lombardozzi) to the point that he gets kicked off the bench and sent to the locker room because of his attitude and defiance; all this happens in clear view of a college scout who is watching from the bleachers. Making matters worse are Boogie's dysfunctional parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chin (Perry Yung and Pamelyn Chee), who continually tear into one another and often use Boogie as the bargaining vessel for their anger and frustration. Both parents see a life for Boogie that is strictly their own.

Huang does a great job of composing the core relationships for Boogie. When the family is sitting around the dinner table, talking about the future and what Boogie might do to make it to the next level, they are wonderfully composed. Pamelyn Chee, playing Boogie's mom, is completely convincing in her cold and impatient demeanor. Perry Yung, playing Boogie's dad, also has a few shining moments, one in particular when he talks about the importance of the 1989 French Open match between Michael Chang and Ivan Lendl, he calls it "the greatest moment in Asian American history." 

However, the film's shining star belongs to Boogie's love interest, Paige, played with confidence and energy by Taylour Paige. Her character challenges Boogie, forcing him to see beyond the self-pity of a problematic family, uncertain future ambitions, and the cultural identity that consistently plays a role in Boogie's decisions. Taylour Paige is magnetic throughout the film.

Unfortunately, even with such interesting characters, the narrative is a mess of unnecessary sports and teenage melodrama troupes that undermine Huang's realistic and authentic approach. The pacing fluctuates; in one moment, you are provided a fascinating conversation about race and growing up in strict cultural boundaries. In the next moment, you get a lackluster basketball scene that is devoid of energy or tension. For a film that balances much of the dramatic stakes for Boogie on a basketball game against a city legend named Monk, the first and final performance from Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke, killed in February 2020, the build-up doesn't work. The showdown feels like an average regular-season game instead of the championship it should resemble. 

Eddie Huang displays an engaging filmmaking style that will hopefully continue to develop as he makes more movies. The characters are fascinating to watch, and the story of a young man trying to carve a path through culture, family issues, and adolescence can be amusing from Huang's perspective. Unfortunately, "Boogie" struggles most with finding a balance between these elements and the sports story it is trying to tell.

Monte's Rating

2.75 out of 5.00

---

Chaos Walking – Movie Review

Directed by:  Doug Liman

Written by:  Patrick Ness and Christopher Ford

Starring:  Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, David Oyelowo, Demian Bichir, and Nick Jonas 

Runtime:  98 minutes

The narrow, orderly focus trips up ‘Chaos Walking’

Tom Holland is rightfully enjoying massive success in the movie biz these days.

Hear!  Hear!

Holland, 24, easily fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-man, but he’s not just a red-and-blue superhero.  He’s starred in other big-studio films, like “In the Heart of the Sea” (2015), “The Lost City of Z” (2016), “Onward” (2020), and “The Devil All the Time” (2020).

His characters handle themselves just fine when saving humanity or diving into a one-on-one scrap, and his friendly bravado translates into real-life.

Holland is a certified star, but no one ever labeled him as the strong, silent type, especially when he’s known for giving away an MCU secret or two before the films are released.  Frankly, that’s a little unfair.  Still, loose lips sink ships.

In “Chaos Walking”, his character Todd Hewitt gives away secrets as frequently as he breathes.  You see, throughout the day, his inner thoughts radiate out loud - from the top of his head - like a crazy radio frequency, accompanied by a bluish, purplish mist that also projects the objects from his inner self-talk and into the world.

For example, my constant internal-wish for coffee 24/7 would audibly project “I want coffee,” or “I need to start another pot,” – along with an image of a hot cup of Joe or a French press - into my current space.  During the COVID lockdown over the past year, this means my living room, dining room, or kitchen.

So, Todd’s wild gift might seem benign, but what about a life-or-death secret?

“The nuclear launch code is 94-33-22-001”

Yikes!  For Todd, his circumstances aren’t that dire, but thinking-speaking, “I like her hair.  She’s pretty,” to a woman - he just met - can lead to red-faced embarrassment.

Todd’s gift is called his “noise”, and it is literally out of this world in director Doug Liman’s science fiction picture.  Todd’s heritage may be from Earth, but he was born on New World, and currently, the year is 2257 A.D.

Not just Todd, but every man on New World possesses this noise, but women don’t have this bizarre attribute.  To every girlfriend, fiancée, or wife who wishes that their boyfriend, fiancé, or husband would communicate more effectively, well, this could be your solution.  Right?

Maybe not.

Anyway, life on New World, for the most part, resembles Earth, and Liman’s crew filmed in Quebec, and thankfully in the summer.  Life isn’t chock full of Star Trek technology, as Todd’s home is Prentisstown, a farming community with little creature comforts.  A hot shower is an impossible dream, as the town resembles something out of “Little House on the Prairie”.

Only men live in Prentisstown, but that will immediately change.  Viola (Daisy Ridley) is the only survivor on a new ship, actually a capsule, that crash lands on the planet.  Viola eventually finds her way into Todd’s village, and he’s never met a girl before, so trust becomes an issue.  She doesn’t have noise.  Mayor Prentiss (Mads Mikkelsen) sees her as a threat, so Todd and Viola bolt (mostly on foot) through a deciduous forest and towards the nearby town of Farbranch.

On the surface, “Chaos Walking” – starring Spider-man and Star Wars icons - is a sci-fi action picture set on another planet over 100 years in the future.  That’s a heck of a marketing campaign, especially with 20-somethings Holland and Ridley as the leads!

The on-screen reality, however, falls short.  Liman and his team open our hearts and minds into vast concepts within this science fiction world, but we only experience a small portion of them.  For instance, Viola’s ship travels an ungodly number of years (which will not be revealed in this review) to reach New World, but we only experience her crash landing.  Several settlements could dot this planet, but Prentisstown and Farbranch are the only ones that appear.  What else is out there?  New World humans ride horses, but we discover that these stallions and mares aren’t indigenous to this planet.  They were transported from home, so what other animals in this Noah’s ark traveled from Earth?

A native New World species called the Spackle looks quite intimidating (at about 8-feet tall) and lives nearby, but we only see one being for about three minutes of screen time.

The point is that “Chaos Walking” – with a limited runtime of 98 minutes – reduces the scope of this massive science fiction universe to a fairly routine on-foot chase picture through the woods.  It feels like an ordinary western, as Todd and Viola search for food, climb up several buttes and hills, and even get caught in river rapids, which brings back thoughts of the Jimmy Stewart, Janet Leigh western “The Naked Spur” (1953).  This movie, of course, has a giant alien, and every thought in our male protagonist’s head – verbally and visually - projects within the immediate vicinity.

It’s frustrating, but “Chaos Walking” is based on a series of young adult books by Patrick Ness, who also co-wrote the screenplay.  There’s a whole lot of story out there, and the material would be better suited for a 10-part series rather than a dialed-down feature film.

To make it work, one also has to suspend disbelief, like Viola’s capsule crash lands about a mile or two from Prentisstown, and the chances are about as remote as an asteroid landing in my backyard.  (I’m knocking on wood, by the way.)   Our big-screen pair also reach an abandoned ship.  It’s been there for decades, but its electronics still function quite well.  That must be one resilient Duracell battery.  Another technological introduction appears in the third act, but out of the blue with all the convenience and magic of an arriving Amazon package after ordering it just minutes before.

Yes, to squeeze the narrative into this feature, the scope and some sci-fi logic were slashed.  Still, Holland, Ridley, Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir, David Oyelowo, Nick Jonas, Liman, and his team give it their best within the narrow construct.

Well, I wouldn’t mind seeing a “Chaos Walking” series someday.  That’s my thought, and I hope that someone hears it.

Jeff’s ranking

2/4 stars

---

Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry – Movie Review

Written and directed by:  R.J. Cutler

Starring:  Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, Maggie Baird, and Patrick O’Connell 

Runtime:  140 minutes

‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ opens a door and delivers some insider clarity

“I had a dream.  I got everything I wanted.” 

- Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted” (2019)

Princess of the Pop-Star Universe Billie Eilish has 50 million monthly Spotify listeners and 38 million YouTube subscribers.  Her song “Bad Guy” has over a billion YouTube views.  She’s played live in over 20 countries, and on January 26, 2020 – at the age of 18 - Ms. Eilish won five Grammy awards.  

Five Grammys!  And what did you accomplish at 18?  Yea, same here. 

She also stars in a movie: a documentary helmed by R.J. Cutler.  Cutler’s docs feature prominent figures, like Oliver North (“A Perfect Candidate” (1996)), former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (“The World According to Dick Cheney” (2013)), and John Belushi (“Belushi” (2020)), but a 5’3” teenager – currently 19 – could be the biggest of them all.  

Who is this soprano with a few musical styles – such as EDM and Industrial – and has captured the world’s collective ear?  Well, she doesn’t croon about bubble-gum good times, like some of her previous female contemporaries.  In her videos, Billie does not hop on the back of a pickup truck, sport Daisy Dukes, and cheer about a “Party in the U.S.A.”, or traverse through a tropical wilderness, transform into a Queen of the Jungle, don a Sheena-like outfit of animal skins, and “Roar”.  

No, this Los Angeles native strikes different chords – while frequently wearing drapery that resembles outfits from “New Zoo Revue” (1972) but designed by artist Daniel Johnston - about struggling relationships, nightmares, and thoughts of suicide, at least that’s what I gathered.  Admittedly, my pulse on the current music scene and fashion choices track somewhere between dismal and nonexistent, so my knowledge of Billie approximates my know-how on nuclear physics or keeping a house plant alive for more than a week. 

…but I digress. 

“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” is an insider’s look into this superstar’s daily life, behind the bright lights and sold-out arenas.  In effect, the film serves a broad spectrum of audiences, between her most die-hard fans and Eilish novices.  

Cutler divides his picture – which serves a lengthy 140-minute runtime – into halves and includes an actual intermission.  

During the first hour, the documentary follows a familiar pattern.  For instance, “Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me” (2012) and “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” (2011) offer retrospectives into the singers’ humble beginnings, climbs towards fame, behind-the-scenes looks at their travels between concert venues, and intimate conversations.  Both movies feature plenty of B-roll, in other words, the oceans of elbow grease and piles of pixie dust needed to drive the human and actual machinery towards – and to maintain – a global reach of the catchiest, 3-minute radio tunes.  

Those films successfully deliver their stated intentions:  to inform and entertain while also double as public relations productions by extending their messaging into cinema.  These aren’t gripping storylines, but the films do hit their marks.  Not all such movies deserve such moderate praise, and please refer to the recent Shawn Mendes doc as a prime example.  The paper-thin Shawn Mendes vehicle - “Shawn Mendes: In Wonder” (2020) – carries all gravitas and blatant commercialism of an 82-minute Susan Powter infomercial.   

Yes, Mendes’ film is truly that painful to sit through, but hey, he seems like a nice kid. 

Thankfully, “Billie Eilish:  The World’s a Little Blurry” lands near Katy’s and Justin’s films, even though Billie’s tracks don’t resemble her fellow performers’ styles whatsoever.  R.J. finds lots of moments at home.  We discover Billie’s relationship with her close family.  Her eccentric, caring parents – Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell – introduced a home-school environment of learning and support in which Billie and her older brother Finneas thrived.  The family remains tight and devoted, although the freedoms of a make-your-own Montessori school also break norms, as the f-word occasionally flies around without a second thought. 

The movie’s first-half, however, seems to buzz like an attention deficit disorder patient, as casual discourse at home then jumps to tiny concert snippets from around the globe.  Cutler’s vision gets a bit frustrating because we’re only treated to - seemingly - 20 or 30 seconds of live on-stage footage at a time.  Granted, editors Greg Finton and Lindsay Utz don’t force us into dizzying, endless micro-cuts of “Moulin Rouge!” (2001), but it would be pleasant to sit and rest for a bit.  Still, the camera lingers long enough at times to capture celebratory moments and also Billie’s insecurities.  

At one point, she declares to her adoring, loyal fans, “This is so weird.  I’m a nobody.  I don’t know why you like me.” 

Well, they love her and hang on every word, as plenty of smiling, doting young people sing her lyrics back to Billie and appear entranced with awe.  

The film takes a marked, decisive turn just before the intermission with a landmark event and then continues with Eilish’s real-life narrative through some brooding twists and sincere smudges of self-doubt.  Uncertainties and mental chaos litter most humans’ teen years, and Billie is no exception.  That creative energy fuels her songs, but Finneas takes sharp notice as well, as the film drives home his producing and writing work.  He’s a supportive, creative force, and remember, Billie is 19 now, but the bulk of this film runs before her 18th birthday, so our heroine comes with all the trappings and failings of any teen.  She’s too grounded to be a diva, but she isn’t immune from occasional adolescent declarations.  

These authentic hiccups and missteps, however, do give the documentary discernible weight and sobriety, and provide the audience opportunities for empathy.  The film is an insightful open door, and while it doesn’t shy away from Billie’s struggles, there’s no doubt that Cutler and his team offer plenty of moments of her kindness, glory, joy, and wild success.  This includes – finally – offering full compliments of a couple of songs during the film’s second hour.  

Still, how did Billie Eilish command so many astonishing accomplishments?  Why does her music resonate with so many people?  Where will her career go next?

“Billie Eilish:  The World’s a Little Blurry” doesn’t really respond to these questions.  Then again, at ages 16, 17, 18, or 19, most of us didn’t have many answers either.  

Jeff’s ranking

2.5/4 stars

---

Nomadland - Movie Review

Dir: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, and Linda May

1hr 24min

Quartzsite, Arizona, with a population of fewer than 4,000 residents, is a blink-and-you-missed-it border city with a string of fast-food restaurants and gas stations just off Interstate 1o. In the summer months, Quartzsite is an almost deserted desert city with empty roads and some boarded-up shops in the Arizona heat. However, in the winter months, Quartzsite turns into a haven for RV travelers, swap meets, and various festivals found in big tents on open lots. 

Writer/director Chloé Zhao utilizes this location for a portion of her melancholy and mesmerizing film Nomadland. Quartzsite is a road trip stop for Fern, played with nuance and raw honesty by Frances McDormand, who has modified a van into a living space on wheels. During the winter holidays, Fern, working in an Amazon warehouse, travels to Quartzsite as a retreat from the cold weather. She encounters a group of nomads just like her, a group of resilient and resourceful people living on the margins, some by choice and some because of necessity. 

Fern is still learning the lifestyle, and her venture to a place with like-minded people helps her understand how to maintain freedom while staying safe. She meets Dave (David Strathairn), and the two strike up a friendship, sharing experiences from their lives before they pulled the roots. Fern finds peace in the solitary moments of her life, keeping those who may want to help at arm's length. Even old friends, who knew Fern before her husband died and before she lost her job in the town she lived in, are only provided short visits and the most basic forms of information. Fern is either unable or unwilling to connect with those around her; the answers are rarely provided easily in Nomadland.

Chloé Zhao's minimalistic approach to the film composes some affecting emotional moments centering on isolation, both the beautiful moments someone can find in a place not consistently walked through and the heartbreaking moments when the world begs a person for some companionship. Nomadland embraces loneliness that echoes more pertinent amid a pandemic.

Except for Frances McDormand and David Strathairn, Nomadland is supported by nonprofessional actors. These real people aren't playing a role in a film but live the experience the story is trying to explore; this makes Nomadland so compelling. They add authenticity, so much that the viewer sinks deeper into the meditative rhythm Zhao narrates with the meandering yet contemplative story structure. 

McDormand vanishes into the role. It's a performance that feels overly composed initially, as Fern is committing to the transient lifestyle. But as Fern grows more comfortable, so does McDormand in crafting the version. By the end of the film, it doesn't feel like an act or a routine at all. 

Chloé Zhao continues to grow as a remarkable storyteller, composing films that delve deeply into complicated characters' emotions and feelings without straightforward questions or easy answers. Instead, her films wander and roam to places that force analysis and engage a sense of understanding. Nomadland builds and unfolds beautifully, painting a portrait of independence and peace found in a solitary existence. 

Monte's Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

I Care a Lot – Movie Review

Written and directed by:  J Blakeson

Starring:  Rosamund Pike, Dianne Wiest, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Chris Messina, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Runtime:  118 minutes

Pike, Wiest, and Dinklage embrace this modern-day crime story

“Caring is my job.  It’s my profession.” – Marla Grayson  (Rosamund Pike)

Marla Grayson loves her job.  She’s a caregiver.  Well, that’s not correct.  She’s a legal guardian, one for the elderly, and she has dozens of clients, those who need a robust, proficient personality to help make decisions for them, for both day-to-day happenings and grand issues. 

Wow, Marla sounds like a godsend, and perhaps she’s doing the Lord’s work, a real Mother Teresa.  Not so fast.  We soon discover that she carries all the selfless, kind altruism of Alec Baldwin’s Blake from “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992).  You know, the executive who announced a sales contest by saying, “As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado.  Anybody want to see second prize?  Second prize, a set of steak knives.  Third prize is you’re fired.”  

Well, the professional in this movie – with an endless supply of impeccably-tailored power suits and skirts for every bright color of a rainbow – always searches for her next pot of gold in the form of siphoning cash and possessions from her unsuspectingly clients, who may or may not be mentally capable of making decisions for themselves.  

If one hopes that Marla sports a soft spot for someone within her vulnerable target market, please shoot that notion down.  

It’s a zero-sum game out there in Brydon County, as she proclaims that human beings fall into only two categories:  “The people who take and those getting taken.”  

As writer/director J Blakeson’s movie suggests – accompanied by Marc Canham’s playful synthesizer score that frequently stirs warm memories of Suzanne Vega’s “Luka” (1987) - Marla does care a lot!  About herself.  Her scheme – which she’s smoothly and slickly carried on for years – has finally run into a stumbling block, a troubling one, when she discovers and recruits a new mark, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest).  Marla places this mild-mannered, comfortable, and competent 70-something under massive restrictions at Berkshire Oaks, a nursing home with all sorts of creature comforts but no real freedoms.  Think of the mental institution in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) with larger bedrooms and finer linens.  

Actually, Pike – in this film - resembles Sarah Paulson and her turn in “Ratched” (2020), a Netflix “Cuckoo’s Nest” prequel series that captures the early-life and deadly times of Nurse Ratched.  Marla is a cool, unscrupulous opportunist who games the system.  She doesn’t forcibly dole out abusive medication, but she has no shame in giving the orders to those who will.  Look, if you see Ms. Grayson fiercely marching your way - and you’re over the age of 65 with a pocket full of Benjamins - turn around, run for cover, and call for an Uber lickety-split.  

Avoid this wolf in Stepford Wives’ clothing.

Blakeson’s film owns a similar analogy, as his script takes some head-spinning genre turns, but at its heart, it’s a wicked black comedy, a satirical take on life in 2021.  Unless someone recruits 10 other henchmen to break into The Bellagio’s vault, the days of outlaws robbing banks are long gone.  Nowadays, a crook can pick your pocket – with an alluring white, porcelain smile - while sitting down for coffee in a spotless, modern, minimalist office or servicing some well-placed sociable words in a court of law.

Yes, an opportune legal summons, a shifty backroom conversation, or some nifty keystrokes on a Mac have replaced a steel drill bit, a blowtorch, or explosives.  Sure, this take on 21st-century crime isn’t a hyper-recent phenomenon, but cruelty or apathy towards our fellow man may have reached new highs in 2021.  Just turn to your news app of choice for hundreds of examples.  Better yet, don’t.

“I Care a Lot” is a model example of intriguing storytelling, and it mercilessly dives into the aforementioned and brutal current events vibe.  Pike – a thespian-chameleon who can perfectly accommodate any genre and character – is devilishly terrific here (of course), as this critic admires Marla’s ingenuity and despises her heartless game.  Marla’s a villain, but then she meets her match with Peter Dinklage’s Roman Lunyov, a man with a keen interest in Jennifer Peterson’s well-being.  Dinklage seems to have a blast internalizing Roman’s rage, which also sometimes explodes outside the surface.  Not to expand on the Grayson-Lunyov storyline, let’s just say that both parties care a lot.  

If you can manage the stress for 118 minutes, you might too. 

Jeff’s Rating

3/4 stars

"Palm Springs" Interview With Actors Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti

“Palm Springs” is a hilarious, wondrous comedy about two strangers meeting at a Palm Springs wedding, but due to a pair of bizarre, out-of-this-world of mishaps, Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) are stuck with one another and need a miracle to free themselves.  This film gifts more surprises, chuckles, and genuine smiles than a Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration filled with laughing gas.  Samberg and Milioti share boundless chemistry and comedic timing in a film – directed by Max Barbakow and written by Andy Siara - that never loses momentum or authenticity.

Andy and Cristin graciously shared their time on a Zoom call with the Phoenix Film Festival and several other media outlets for a light, fun, and engaging Q&A.  The stars spoke about the film’s premiere at Sundance 2020, the script striking the right balance, and Cristin also mentions her experience with desert weather, and as Arizona residents, we can relate! 

“Palm Springs” is available to stream on Hulu. 

Q:  A year ago, “Palm Springs” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.  What do you remember about that screening, the energy in the room, and the audience’s reaction?

AS:  How great it was to be in a movie theatre and surrounded by people.  (The premiere) went better than I was expecting, and (I was) excited by that.  I (shared) looks with Cristin and other people who worked on the movie (during) the screening and afterwards and (felt) glad (that) everyone seemed (to enjoy) it.  

CM:  It was incredible.  Obviously, (watching a movie in a theatre) takes on extra significance now.  It was amazing to feel people react in the same ways that I reacted when I read (the script) and hear an audience of hundreds of people laugh, scream, cry, and not know any of the twists.  (To) not only laugh so hard but (also) be moved by (our movie); it exceeded my wildest expectations.  To be there as a cast and crew (too); we hadn’t seen each other since we shot (the film), and it was beautiful.  I really want to go back in time. 

Q:  What were the unique challenges to “Palm Springs”?

AS:  The biggest challenge was not (having) a lot of money (in the budget).  That makes everything more challenging, but all of us (decided) that we still wanted to be very ambitious with how much we (shoot) and the scope of the things (that) we (shoot).  Once we were up and running, it was more about the crunch of the schedule.  It was the challenge of (making) this movie look (the way) we all envisioned it.  

Q:  How many days did you have to shoot?

AS:  21 and a half.  (That half did make a big difference) because we spent half of it driving.  It was at Joshua Tree.  We got some great stuff with the tortoise out there. 

CM:  The goat, the tortoise.  There was a whole cast of characters.

AS:  A whole zoo! 

Q:  The weather in the film was a little misleading.  It looked warm on camera, but that wasn’t always the case in reality.  

CM:  Oh yeah.  It was freezing.  (We wore) summer clothing, (but we) were constantly doing night shoots that were 30 degrees.  That’s something that I didn’t understand about deserts.  I don’t live on the west coast.  It’s so unimaginably hot during the day, and then at night, it somehow plummets 90 degrees.  

Q:  What made Max Barbakow the perfect director in capturing the voice of this film?

AS:  The whole script was born of Max’s and Andy’s imagination.  They conceived it together, and Andy wrote it through many different iterations based on conversations and brainstorms.  The tone of the movie really (is) the Andy-and-Max tone.  

Q:  Cristin, you said that you really had to believe that Nyles and Sarah would fall for each other, so how did you and Andy workshop the dialogue and chemistry? 

CM:  We were blessed enough that we had chemistry from the first time we met.  We just had ease with each other.  I met Andy (for) – what was supposed to be – a 20-minute meeting with him and Becky, our producer, and it ended up being three hours.  We couldn’t stop talking.  As performers, it was just there.  (Andy and I) did a lot of talking about (the script), and we have similar sensibilities and a similar sense of humor.  We like a lot of the same things.  I know that sounds basic or something, but I never felt, “I really have to work for this.”

AS:  It’s the same reason that you are friends with someone in real life.  You just share a worldview, and it made it easier to fall in. 

Q:  “Palm Springs” is a smart film.  It’s a tight balance to be funny and clever and then be philosophical, profound, and emotional.  What were the challenges to strike the perfect balance and be all of those things?

AS:  The real trick to it is having a great script.  (That balance) was there the first time I read it.  So many really great people agreed to be a part of the movie (because of) the source material.  You read it, and it’s threading the needle between comedy, drama, rom-com, existential dread, and all the space in between.  The sci-fi parts are so fun and interesting (too).  You read a lot of stuff that attempts to cross genre-blending, and it doesn’t necessarily all work, and you end up with a lot of cool scenes that (don’t) feel like one story, but for whatever reason -  and the reason is Andy Siara - “Palm Springs” does.  

CM:  Everyone involved (in the movie) believed in (that balance) and wanted to do it justice.  It is rare that one film can encompass so many different aspects of life.  

Q:  Was it a choice not to reference other movies or television episodes?

AS:  Definitely.  We were hoping the movie would be a little more timeless than referencing anything (in) pop culture.  I know there are a lot of songs in the (film), but we never wanted (them) to be within the diegetic space. 

Q:  In this movie, you both really had to go for it, and critics and audiences both noticed.  Is there another time in your life when you just had to go for it, and it worked out well for you?  

CM:  A lot of things, actually.  By its very nature, what we do for a living can be so embarrassing, to show up in front of a group of strangers, and (say), “It’s this, I think!”  I did this episode of “Black Mirror”, and I didn’t get the script until two weeks before we started (shooting).  I remember reading it and thinking, “Oh my God,” and then showing up in London and (saying), “I think it’s this,” and hoped for the best.  

AS:  I’m basically known for mostly going for it.  (With) SNL, there’s no time, and you’re just going crazy-big and arched.  Everything’s crazy.  “Palm Springs” and “Celeste & Jesse Forever” with Rashida (Jones) (were) my (versions) of going for it, because (I) was not going for it, which was more a change of pace for me.  I (put) my faith in the material more and was less going to be a rubber-faced hambone and power my way through (it).  

Q:  Have you considered doing a sequel or turning “Palm Springs” into a series?

AS:  It hasn’t come up.  I love everyone involved, so I’d love to work with everyone again.  The story feels pretty resolved, but I also hear they are writing a sequel to “Edge of Tomorrow”, which I thought was almost a perfect movie in its own right.  Nothing’s impossible. 

---

Judas and the Black Messiah - Movie Review

Dir: Shaka King

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, and Martin Sheen

TRT: 2 h 6 m

The moment the credits rolled in director Shaka King's impressive "Judas and the Black Messiah," my primary emotion was anger. Heartbroken anger over the many injustices forcefully dealt to people of color throughout America's history. Frustrated anger that progress for equal rights and treatment of people of color doesn't seem too far removed from the feelings found during the 1960s where this film takes place. 

If we judge films based on how they can make you feel, whatever emotion that may be, "Judas and the Black Messiah" wins, hands down. But what director Shaka King and co-writer Will Berson do with this remarkable film is provide a form of clarity to a precarious moment in time, through a cinematic lens and with heartfelt, honest, and controlled storytelling. Pulling the past back into the present to clear the fog of time off events and try to bring the focus back to situations history might otherwise try to forget. 

The situation focused in "Judas and the Black Messiah" centers on Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther Party in 1968, and J. Edgar Hoover's (Martin Sheen) paranoia over the rise of African-American militants who he deemed the greatest threat to national security. 

Bill O'Neill (LaKeith Stanfield) is a thief who often impersonates an F.B.I. agent to steal cars. After he's caught, an actual agent, Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), recruits O'Neill to invade the Black Panther Party's ranks to take down Hampton and the societal movement he is leading. 

Shaka King utilizes two characters, Hampton and O'Neill, to build a tense and provocative story. Betrayal, as the title implies, is the ultimate focus of the story here. A betrayal that reaches beyond just personal ties, showcasing a more tragic and upsetting reality of betrayal, one where America betrays the African-American community. These narrative motivations are always present. During scenes of persecution by authority figures, during moments of peaceful protest, and even in unexpected scenes in fancy restaurants or during intimate moments between two people falling in love. The issues and politics of race are handled deftly by King and Berson throughout the story, layering this historical depiction with subtle and blatant representations of what it was like to be a person of color in an urban community in the 1960s. 

LaKeith Stanfield is spectacular in only a way LaKeith Stanfield can be. Examples of this might be the twitchy, nervous, and anxious moments like when two Black Panther organization members interrogate O'Neill. Or the relieved and happy-to-be-paid demeanor when sitting across from Agent Mitchell, a calm yet downright menacing Jesse Plemons, while devouring a steak and snapping his fingers for more wine; Stanfield wholly owns the character with his unique characteristics. 

And even with Stanfield's impressive performance, Daniel Kaluuya has an equal amount of shining moments playing the embattled Fred Hampton. It's not the bravado of fiery speeches or the impassioned motivational dialogs he provides his comrades that are most striking for the performance (do not be dissuaded, these moments are memorable). It's the smaller personal moments that give substance to the character. The way Hampton falls in love with fellow activist Deborah Johnson (Dominque Fishback) or the sadness in his eyes when he is forced to watch the world he built crumble through newspaper headlines, the anger he indulges when every small step forward is countered with violent pushback resulting in friends and fellow activists' death. These moments that Kaluuya embraces provides the tragedy and subsequent fury felt when Hampton's fight song comes to an end.  

"Judas and the Black Messiah" is a powerful and poignant piece of cinema. Taking a moment in history and shaking off the dust that clouds the underlying sentiments felt during a moment in time, a moment where feelings and attitudes were not so different from what is supposed today. That's the power of filmmaking and its ability to boldly hold a mirror up to the past.  Its power to display that anger and frustration felt then, isn't so different from how we feel today. Its power to show that change and hope are worthy and essential to continue to pursue, so that one day that mirror will begin to show the difference made by revolutionary people.

Monte's Rating

4.50 out of 5.00

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things – Movie Review

Directed by:  Ian Samuels

Written by:  Lev Grossman

Starring:  Kyle Allen, Kathryn Newton, Josh Hamilton, Cleo Fraser, and Jermaine Harris

Runtime:  98 minutes

‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’ isn’t flawless, but you’ll discover heartfelt smiles

Mark (Kyle Allen) is too cool for school, and quite frankly, he seems too cool for any formal or informal institution.  He walks in the kitchen for breakfast with an assured confidence that most adolescents lack.  Without a second thought, this know-it-all helps his father (Josh Hamilton) with a crossword puzzle, verbally duels with his sister (Cleo Fraser), catches a ceramic dish falling off the table with the reflexes of The Flash, and heads outside – that’s filled with miles and miles of blue skies and bright sunshine - to conquer the world.  It’s more like seize his hometown, one that has all the feels of a modern-day Mayberry.  

Director Ian Samuels did film his quirky and charming but also a bit frazzled teenage rom-com in the deep south, Fairhope, Ala. to be exact, with a population of about 15,000 (according to the 2010 Census).  In this place – that sits on Mobile Bay’s east coast - everyone should know your name.  As previously and briefly mentioned, Mark’s dexterity is extraordinarily memorable.  It’s uncanny.  Think 1988-Jean-Claude van Damme, as our young protagonist pops on his bike, ditches it, hops on the back of a moving pickup truck, finds a fresh cup of coffee on a car roof, climbs on a house rooftop, and slides through a window to visit his best buddy Henry (Jermaine Harris).  Mark also pulls a slew of other head-scratching stunts within the first few minutes of “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” that will have you asking, “What in the name of Fairhope is happening in this movie?” 

Mark’s secret will not be revealed in this review, but he unexpectedly meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton), who harbors similar gifts.  The two connect and search for the meaning of life, in a way, by traveling every square inch all over this charming municipality and finding tiny perfect things.  Not things, but moments, like a first bike ride without training wheels or a flawless score on an impossible algebra test.  These two events don’t specifically occur in Samuels’ movie, but you get the idea.

A couple of filmmakers have attempted Samuel’s specific idea/gimmick (again, which will not be revealed in this review) with huge success, including an iconic 1993 comedy, but this movie doesn’t score as many movie-points.  Through most of the 98-minute runtime, we are flying blind to the rhyme or reason behind Mark and Margaret’s shared extrasensory perception and the ultimate remedy for the pair to land safely.  

So, Samuels and screenwriter Lev Grossman take us on an indie teenage ride and ask for their trust.  Ever been talked into riding a towering, loop-de-loop metal roller coaster or perhaps taking a 3-hour tour off the coast of Hawaii in 1964?  No, there are no real hazardous dangers that throw us off the rails or catastrophic storms that strand us on an uncharted island.  Instead, the narrative runs in a place for long stretches, while wide-eyed Mark – an inspiring and inspired artist – pines for answers and a hopeful romance with the emotionally unavailable Margaret.

It’s a familiar case of dating-desires versus friend-wants, but it’s darn-near impossible to root against these young teammates.  Will they find love?  It isn’t certain, but Allen – who is an exceedingly likable kid – can carry a movie, while Newton capably plays Margaret as dispassionate and distant to guard against her vulnerabilities.  Newton just played a teen possessed by a serial killer in “Freaky” (2020), but rest assured, Margaret isn’t guarding against any sketchy, deadly notions.  While Mark sketches piles of penciled artwork, she – a math whiz – plugs together calculations like a 17-year-old Einstein.  

Together, their collection of tiny perfect things could add up to enormous rewards.  For us, our heartfelt smiles are enough.   

Jeff’s Rating

2.5/4 stars

The Mauritanian -- Movie Review

Directed by:  Kevin Macdonald

Written by:  Michael Bronner, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani

Starring:  Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley

Runtime:  129 minutes

‘The Mauritanian’ gives us another reason to never forget 9/11

It’s difficult to believe, but the September 11 tragedy is almost 20 years old, and indeed, the lasting impact of losing 3,000 human beings on American soil during that horrible day will never fade.  The United States has been changed forever, not unlike how The Civil War, The Pearl Harbor attack, and JFK’s assassination altered the country’s optimistic trajectory.  Yes, I believe that the U.S. is still a hopeful place, but certainly, 9/11 wounded the U.S.A.’s psyche and removed chunks of our collective soul.  

Its aftermath cost American blood and treasure during the Iraq War and the Afghanistan occupation, but while attempting to locate the masterminds behind the attacks and other terrorists, the U.S. also lost more of its soul through enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs).  These EITs included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, assault, and sexual violence at black operation sites.  In addition, The Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp became notorious for imprisoning suspected connected persons of interest without due process, which violates one of the key pillars of our democracy. 

In 2019, Scott Z. Burns’ “The Report” followed U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein staffer Daniel J. Jones’ (Adam Driver) herculean, historic efforts to uncover the CIA’s aforementioned EITs.  Jones produced a 6,700-page report that documents their ugly, un-American moments, and the film dives into the intricate details of his discoveries and flashes back to several torturous torture scenes that visually express the horrors captured in the voluminous paperwork. 

Kevin Macdonald’s “The Mauritanian” might be a worthy companion piece to Burns’ movie because this film follows one man’s story, a person who lived through the broken system of inhumane cruelty and flagrant disregard for legal rights.  Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) – from Mauritania (in North Africa) – began his painful journey in November 2001.  Local authorities detain Mohamedou – through American wishes - because his cousin called him from Osama Bin Laden’s phone.  No matter what they discussed, this particular conversation proves to be extraordinarily costly.  

Guilt by association.  

The U.S. imprisoned Mohamedou in Guantanamo Bay, but Albuquerque attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) picks up his case via pro bono in 2005.  She looks to free him and brings along her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) to help with the heavy legal-lifting.  Meanwhile, U.S. military lawyer Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch) stands in opposition, as he and his superiors seek the death penalty.   The stakes couldn’t be higher in this grim bureaucratic maze that’s pitted with more roadblocks than on NYC streets during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Macdonald and three screenwriters walk a balancing act by portraying Nancy’s, Stuart’s, and Mohamedou’s journeys equally over the film’s long 129-minute runtime.  Nancy and Stuart get plenty of screen time discovering Mohamedou’s winding travels of abuse and incarceration.  The correctional officers and interrogators (who can be mistaken for mercenaries) have zero regard for his welfare, because during this dark period in our history, gaining information through any sordid means was paramount.  

Forget the cold, hard truth that extracting intel through emotional and physical carnage is a fruitless exercise, like beating a dog until it solves quadratic equations.  

The attorneys – from both sides - attempt to uncover the truth, not only the reasons for Mohamedou’s arrest but the painful years after his initial capture.  Those previously mentioned roadblocks take the form of thousands of manual redactions, so the government stymied paper trails through the abundant use of black Sharpies.  Although we don’t get much of Hollander’s and Couch’s backstories, Foster and Cumberbatch deliver their characters’ emotional clarities.  Both masterclass actors offer memorable on-screen presences through Hollander’s tenacity and Couch’s focused, southern persona.  

“The Mauritanian” is more of a heavy morality tale than a legal one, and although one can anticipate Hollander’s altruistic, human reactions, Couch’s ultimate path is a question.  For Macdonald, the trial is less critical than presenting the horrific retaliatory stances of those in power, and he lays out their previously closed books on the table.  Although the audience receives these messages – in loud, clear, and visceral fashions – we, unfortunately, get less of a sense of Mohamedou as a person.  

He suffers, struggles, and attempts to maintain his sanity, but his personal hopes and feelings, outside of his current predicament, are infrequently reflected on-screen, or not presented as often as I’d prefer.  It’s not an issue with Rahim’s performance.  He’s awfully convincing here, but there are only so many minutes in a movie, I suppose.  It’s a missed opportunity, but all in all, “The Mauritanian” gets its points across…the brutal, ugly, and extraordinary truths. 

Jeff’s Rating

2.5/4 stars

Minari -- Movie Review

Dir: Lee Isaac Chung

Starring: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-Jung Youn, Alan S. Kim, Noel Cho, and Will Patton

1 h 55 m

By Monte Yazzie

There is tenderness at the core of Lee Isaac Chung's exceptional Minari. This quiet and straightforward sensitivity allows a story of an immigrant family chasing the American dream to feel universal even though the culture and traditions explored may be unfamiliar. Chung, whose own personal story is reflected in Minari, does not depend on extravagant sequences or melodramatic thrills. It's merely a story about family and the struggles of trying to provide the best for them. It's poignant, beautiful, sweet, funny, and life-affirming storytelling.

David (Alan S. Kim) is a young boy moving to Arkansas with his family in the 1980s. His father, Jacob (Steven Yeun), mother Monica (Yeri Han), and sister Anne (Noel Cho) are relocating from California, setting up a home in a mobile residence in the middle of nowhere. Jacob has dreams of starting a farm, producing Korean vegetables, which he thinks is a growing food commodity. Monica is less thrilled but more scared and frustrated that Jacob didn't explain the specifics of their new life in Arkansas and just how hard it would be to change their lives. They argue, frustrations growing more heated as Jacob's small victories get consistently upended by greater, looming misfortunes. 

Chung's film is one of hope and despair, success and failure, easy wins and troublesome losses. It's hard not to grow more invested in the movie as we know the family more intimately. We observe two parents putting on the best show for the kids, even when everything isn't going as planned. We watch frustrations mount to shouting matches between mom and dad. But we also see the happiness blossom between family members who learn to trust each other. We witness a family unit come together and grow stronger solely because they can depend on each other. 

Minari, even with its heavier emotions in moments, is equally as warm and funny. The film gets much of its heart from two characters and their quarrelsome relationship, young David and Monica's mother, Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn), who moves from Korea to help the family out. Soonja is defiant, challenging, enjoys gambling on cards, uses swear words, and deeply loves her young grandchildren. Soonja and David start on rocky terms, but they grow closer throughout the film. It's delightful to watch. 

Yuh-Jung Youn gives an impressive performance, playing Soonja with a perfect blend of "grandma" qualities; the wise words spoken from a place of experience that is equally as comforting as it can be uncomfortable to hear such honest truths. When paired with young actors Alan S. Kim and Noel Cho, the trio become the heart of Minari. Steven Yeun and Yeri Han give exceptional performances and occupy the married couple struggling to understand what they want out of life and how they will survive the many obstacles that persist through their life in honest and raw displays of emotion. 

The beauty of Minari comes in how it displays the theme of "The American Dream" through the perspective of a family who comes from a different country and culture. It's an intimate portrait of family dynamics and a film that displays how hard it was, and still is, for non-white people to assimilate into America. 

Monte's Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

By Jeff Mitchell

‘Minari’: An absorbing, authentic
American immigrant story

“Nothing’s gonna turn us back now. Straight ahead and on the track now. We’re gonna make our dreams come true. Doing it our way.” - “Making Our Dreams Come True” by Cyndi Grecco, the “Laverne & Shirley” (1976 – 1983) theme song.

“And there ain’t no nothing we can’t love each other through. What would we do baby, without us?” - “Without Us” by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, the “Family Ties” (1982 – 1989) theme song

Writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” is an immigrant story about a Korean family attempting to make it in the United States, and more specifically, a small town in Arkansas during the 1980s.

In fact, this is his story, or a small portion of it.

During a January 2020 Sundance Film Festival Q&A, Chung opens up, “I just (wanted) to throw it all out there and go for the film that I’ve always wanted to make.” He adds, “The exercise I went through was to start writing down memories from growing up in Arkansas.”

Chung soon realized that the memories he jotted down surrounded a specific period, when he was about 6-years-old, his daughter’s age now.

In “Minari”, Chung is a little boy named David (Alan S. Kim), and his father Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) whisks the family to The Natural State to start a farm and grow Korean vegetables. Jacob bets on a reaching a niche market through his know-how and sweat with – hopefully - no blood or tears. He makes a major-league gamble. Jacob risks everything, and his wife Monica (Yeri Han) is quite frustrated with this move. Not only does he change careers, from a day laborer (he separates baby chicks by placing males and females in different boxes) to a farmer, but he relocates their household to a suspect trailer in the middle of nowhere. Their new town in the deep south is complete with stifling heat and a local populous that possibly has only seen Koreans on “M*A*S*H*” (1972 – 1983) reruns.

Jacob, however, is bound and determined to see his farm succeed, so his family can reach the American dream. Keep in mind that financial stability and family-friction over money are inversely related, especially when the couple in question has struggled with solvency and long working hours for years. This dynamic - along with newcomers attempting to fit in with a settled, rural community - are the central focal points in this absorbing American immigrant tale, maybe the best one that this critic has seen since director/co-writer Jim Sheridan’s “In America” (2002), about an Irish family moving to New York City, during the 1980s as well.

Due to their Korean roots, the Yi family physically stands out in their new environment, and Chung makes select, delicate choices to highlight local reactions to the new neighbors. One might brace for the worst, but Chung gets his point across without ugly culture clashes. For the most part, others offer support to the Yis, but hesitations and second looks do exist, and the fact that Jacob’s farmhand (Will Patton) doubles as a village outcast doesn’t go unnoticed. Still, Chung gets the tone right here, so we aren’t distracted from the film’s primary driver: getting the farm up and running.

Almost everything hinges on the farm. For Jacob, it’s a massive uphill climb, figuratively, not literally. The land is as flat as a pancake prepared by a steamroller, but Jacob soon discovers that finding water becomes his most daunting problem, and note that this dramatic hitch also haunted the farmers before him. Since their home sits on his workplace, Jacob doesn’t have the luxury of leaving his problems at the office. Still, he doesn’t take out his frustrations on Monica and the kids - David (Kim) and Anne (Noel Cho) - but they feel his weariness and the marriage strain.

Rather than solely focus on gloom and doom, the kids are regular sources of wonder, smiles, and mischief. When Monica’s mom – played wonderfully by Yuh-jung Youn in an Oscar-worthy performance – arrives to live with the four, she inadvertently becomes a source of contention for just one, young David. Grandma (Youn) has the best intentions, but her frank discourse, foreign quirks, and manners best suited for the front row at a WWE event or midnight trips to the casino aggravate David and his limited world views. David fits a bit of a one-way-war with Grandma, and her refreshing, heartwarming reactions and their rapport help distract us from Jacob’s and Monica’s individual and collective issues.

Many distinct relationships within this family of (now) five bask and twist with fluidity, and since their security is tied to the Arkansas ranch, the cinematic stakes are high. Through Chung’s rich characters and grounded (pardon the pun) script – based on his recollections – we, as an audience, juggle the macro and micro connections simultaneously, as the Yis’ fate becomes ours too over the 115-minute runtime…and beyond.

Hey, they’re trying to make their dreams come true, but please don’t continue marching without us.

Jeff’s Rating

3.5/4 stars

---

Ed note: Minari is currently available in theatres or online through A24’s Screening Room. More information is available HERE, or CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.

---