The Man Who Plays With Dolls

‘Welcome to Marwen,’ director Robert Zemeckis’ (‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, ‘Forrest Gump,’ ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit,’ ‘Cast Away’) latest high-concept dramedy mixing live action and CG-mimicked Robot Chicken style stop motion animation, is as ambitious and well-meaning as it is futile and doomed to failure.  A fanciful adaptation of the inspiring and redemptive true story of artist and hate crime victim Mark Hogancamp as chronicled in the 2010 documentary ‘Marwencol,’ WTM failed to connect with the critics and audience in a big way and is on pace to become one of the biggest bombs of 2018.

 

Which leads me to think that the critics and moviegoers really have no clue sometimes,  because WTM is truly a subtly poignant and profound movie of, as The New Yorker film critic Richard Brody put it, “extraordinary virtuosity.”  In depicting the way Hogancamp recovers and copes with his shattered psyche and emotions in the aftermath of being nearly beaten to death, Zemeckis takes it one step further by breathing life into the many characters he created in his lovingly detailed WWII Belgian village in miniature, be they evil Nazis or empowered resistance femmes fatales.  Going by the ease with which Roberta (Merritt Weaver), Julie (Janelle Monáe), Carlala (Eiza González), Anna (Gwendoline Christie) and Suzette (Leslie Zemeckis) dispatched plastic 12” Nazis (Waffen SS no less) in withering hails of gunfire, you don’t want to mess with these “Hogie’s Angels.”

 

Perhaps because Hogancamp is a cross-dresser mistaken for a homosexual who occasionally wore high heels (“the higher the better” as his movie counterpart Steve Carell drunkenly declared before being beaten to a bloody mess) and thereby exhibited deviant behavior violating social norms and expectations, he isn’t nearly as likeable or deserving of our empathy as that dimwitted but loveable “life is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what yer gonna get” schmuck Forrest Gump.  And therein lies the rub with this WWII Toy Story.

Grade: A

A Very British First World War

As an unrepentant WWII buff, I really haven’t paid a great deal of attention to its predecessor, WWI or “The Great War,” until recently.  Indeed, the two world wars are connected such that historians often regard WWII as a continuation of WWI (with an interlude called the “Interwar Years” between them) by dint of the fact that WWI ended without resolving its underlying causes after sacrificing an entire generation of young men through four years of hellish, attritional warfare. Only during the last few years with the commemoration of its 100th Anniversary (2014-2018) have I taken a greater interest in the subject.  So when I heard that ‘The Hobbit’ and LOTR director Peter Jackson has released a new documentary on WWI called ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ (I guess ‘Only the Good Die Young’ is too cliché) using restored/enhanced and colorized war footages, I knew I had to give it a gander.

 

TSNGO is very much a labor of love and tribute from Jackson to his grandfather (and two other relatives) who fought in the war.  It is also the best documentary to date on WWI in terms of picture and sound quality, as countless hours were spent to improve the visual sharpness, clarity, contrast, fidelity and other qualities of the numerous archive footages available, much of which have degraded or faded with time.  Jackson's intent wasn’t to paint WWI in broad strokes even though there are enough material to do so.  He wanted to make it a more “personal” story from the POV of the PBI, or Poor Bloody Infantry.  So he made TSNGO a focused treatment of WWI which captures the reality and immediacy of the war to the actual men who fought in it.

 

This is the right approach and the film succeeded brilliantly.  Think of TSNGO as an “oral history” of WWI on the big screen.  Narrated by a handful of British veterans who survived the war, we really get a sense of how this tragic war unfolded viscerally through their experiences.  Jackson masterfully and smoothly edited the film, employing not only selective zoomed-in/panned archive footages and stills but also sketch drawings to immerse us into the story.  One thing TSNGO thankfully doesn’t have is interviews with people (either veterans or historians) sitting in chairs or talking heads, because that’s the last thing we want.  As such, TSNGO is more accessible and interesting to the general audience who may not be a history buff or armchair general.

Grade: A

The Once and Future Aquaman

The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has officially ditched the dark tones and stylings of Zack Snyder and gone full-on Marvel in the brightly colored, beautifully realized and surprisingly fun ‘Aquaman,’ the sixth installment of the DCEU following ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,’ ‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League.’  It was clear that, given the underwhelming box office performances of four of the five previous installments (‘Wonder Woman’ being the only clear “hit” among them that met industry expectations), the DCEU is in dire need of a drastic make-over.  ‘Aquaman’ has the look and feel of a release from the MCU and we can hardly blame DC/Warner Brothers from changing course and copying Marvel’s formula for success.  If you can’t beat them, join them, right?

 

Aquaman first appeared in last year’s ‘Justice League,’ which was a flawed and uneven effort largely due to its troubled development and director switch from Snyder to Joss Whedon while the movie was still being shot, not to mention a lackluster plot and uninspired supervillain in Steppenwolf.  Still, it whetted our appetite for the son of Atlantis to make his first solo appearance.  Genre veteran James Wan, well known for his low budget but commercially successful horror movies, gets a second shot at directing a big-budget blockbuster feature (his first being ‘Fast and Furious 7’) and didn't disappoint, because ‘Aquaman’ is the DC movie we’ve all been waiting for.

 

Believe it or not, I enjoyed ‘Aquaman’ even more than ‘Wonder Woman’ for some reason.  Don’t get me wrong, WW is a solid movie in its own right and Gal Gadot is, well, “hubba hubba!” eye-popping hot, but it also has its boringly slow moments.  ‘Aquaman’ managed to be the first DCEU movie that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end despite its two hours, twenty minutes running time because there's never a dull moment, packed with melodrama, betrayal, power struggles and epic undersea battles. It even took a page right out of 'The Bourne Ultimatum' with its thrilling chase scene over the roof-tops of Sicily.  Never mind that it’s basically the “Sword-in-the-Stone” Arthurian legend (it's no coincidence that Aquaman’s human name is “Arthur” Curry) retold with lots of colorful CG bioluminescent eye candy.  It is THAT good.

Grade: A
 

A Girl and Her Big Yellow Robot

I’ve never been a ‘Transformers’ fan either as a kid or an adult, and the number of ‘Transformers’ movies I’ve seen -- before ‘Bumblebee’ that is -- can be counted with one finger of one hand (the very first one back in 2007 in case you're wondering).  However, the trailer of the new ‘Transformers’ spin-off ‘Bumblebee’ (the sixth installment in the ‘Transformers’ franchise) intrigued me because it promises to be an entirely different kind of movie altogether compared to its predecessors, one which does not aim to pummel the audience senseless with CG-heavy, non-stop action sequences whizzing by across the screen so fast with the barest hint of a plot that we become numb and simply stop caring.

Like the movie it pays homage to (a Spielberg movie about some alien who wanted to “phone home”), ‘Bumblebee’ is set in the 1980’s and is as endearing as it is nostalgic.  The story of a mechanically-inclined outcast teenage tomboy who loves to tinker with cars (Hailee Steinfeld) and her big yellow alien robot (Autobot B-127), which she christened “Bumblebee” because it transforms into a bright yellow 1967 Love Bug in disguise (Transformers, Robots in Disguise!), the movie centers on the special bond and friendship between the two protagonists as much as their attempts to prevent nefarious Decepticons from invading and destroying Earth.

While its story treads familiar territory, ‘Bumblebee’ possesses such heartwarming touch that it’s simply impossible not to love.  The movie perfectly blends drama and action, never losing sight of the humanity of its main characters.  ‘Bumblebee’ is also a love letter to the ‘80’s, infused with so much pop-culture references and music from this beloved era of my youth that I couldn’t give it anything less than the highest grade possible.  Rated at 93 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, it appears the critics feel the same way.

Grade: A+

Bad Grandpa

Clint Eastwood truly is one of Hollywood’s great contemporary directors, and one would not be wrong in arguing that he’s more accomplished in the director’s chair than he ever was as an actor, with such movies as ‘The Unforgiven,’ ‘Mystic River,’ ‘The Bridges of Madison County,’ ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘Letters from Iwo Jima,’ ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Sully’ to his credit, even if – like some of the other great directors – he had the rare miss in movies like ‘J. Edgar’ and ‘The 15:17 to Paris’ once in a long while.  At 60 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, his latest entry ‘The Mule’ falls somewhere in between but proved to be one of Eastwood’s more personal and affecting character studies.

 

‘The Mule’ tells the story of Earl (Eastwood), an old geezer and talented horticulturist who loves growing pretty flowers so much that he neglected his duties as a husband, father and grandfather.  When he can no longer support himself (despite his talents) selling flowers because of the god-damned “Internet,” he unwittingly (at first at least) fell into a job as a drug runner “mule” making easy money transporting illegal substances into Chicago for a Mexican drug lord (Andy Garcia), not unlike how Mary-Louise Parker’s suburban soccer mom chanced into her career in crime as a queenpin of marijuana in the acclaimed TV series ‘Weeds.’  He’s not a bad guy really, even if he eventually ran afoul of DEA agents played by Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña.

 

Eastwood delivered one of his most personal and vulnerable performances to date as the flawed Earl, and in the final analysis ‘The Mule’ is ultimately a tale of redemption with a twist of dark humor to ease what would otherwise be a joyless and oppressive movie.  While it is far from his best movie as director or actor, ‘The Mule’ is nonetheless a deeply personal triumph that deserves to be seen.

Grade: B+
 

 

Engines of Assimilation

The biggest mega-budget  “epic failure” to crash and burn at the global box office in 2018 isn’t the much maligned ‘Robin Hood,’ which at least boasted some star power in Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx, but the Peter Jackson-produced steampunk-fantasy adaptation of Philip Reeve’s ‘Mortal Engines’ quartet of YA novels published from 2001-2006.  Grand, sweeping and majestic, first-time helmer Christian Rivers’ ‘Mortal Engines’ sputtered and choked at the box office over the weekend, raking in a disappointing $44 million worldwide ($9 million domestic) against a reported budget of well over $100 million despite being one of my most anticipated “must-see” movies of Q4 2018.

 

Not having read the aforementioned quartet of books or any spoilers plot-wise before going to see ME, I approached this film with a blank slate, open to all its wonders and possibilities.  For those of you unfamiliar with its premise (warning, spoilers ahead), ME is a “steampunk-fantasy” set in a post-apocalyptic universe roamed by giant mobile tracked settlements ranging in size from massive cities to small towns and ruled by Darwinism in its purest survival-of-the-fittest form.  The story follows the exploits of a mysterious masked young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) and a handful of supporting characters after her village was swallowed up by London in the film’s early scenes.

 

Visually and stylistically, I enjoyed ME for its daring and creative vision and world-building.  It has a strong heroine in Hester, interesting supporting characters, a dastardly villain in Thaddeus Valentine played by Hugo Weaving from ‘The Matrix' and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogies and an engaging – if somewhat familiar – good-versus-evil storyline.   ME is also a rollicking adventure in the grand ‘Star Wars’ tradition.  It’s a shame that the movie bombed at the box office because it's behind the 8 ball before it even hits theaters and will certainly suffer a huge loss due to its budget. 

 

Grade: A-

Rocky IV.II

Of all the ‘Rocky’ movies, ‘Rocky IV’ has always been my favorite.  This 1985 third sequel directed by Stallone himself pitted the perennial underdog Rocky Balboa against a hulking Russian übermensch played by Swedish action-star Dolph Lundgren.  With a still raging Cold War as backdrop, ‘Rocky IV’ oozes symbolism with its depiction of the scrappy and resilient "Human Punching Bag" (aka Rocky) against Ivan Drago, the statue-esque specimen of Soviet monolithic perfection. Rambo versus Red Scorpion, what more can we ask for?

 

33 years after Drago fatally knocked out the father-he-never-knew, Rocky's erstwhile enemy-turned-friend Apollo Creed, in the ring as much due to the hubris of the latter as the prowess of the former, Adonis Creed gets a shot at payback against Drago’s own offspring Viktor.  Actually, he couldn’t care less about revenge.  Robbed of the glory he so rightly deserved that fateful day so long ago on his own home-field no less, the disgraced Ivan (Lundgren) has been biding his time, patiently awaiting the day when he can regain the lost glory so unfairly taken away from him through his son Viktor.  Hence we have Rocky IV, Part 2 in this sequel to ‘Creed,’ the successful 2015 spin-off of the popular ‘Rocky’ franchise starring Michael B. Jordan.

 

‘Creed II’ follows the tried-and-true formula of the Rocky films more than its predecessor.  It’s ‘Rocky IV’ by way of ‘Rocky III.’  Like his father Apollo in ‘Rocky IV,’ Adonis was cocky and “underestimated” his challenger, Viktor Drago, who rampaged through the mean underground boxing rings of Ukraine (his dad was exiled to Ukraine for his shame after his loss in 1985), and lost the fight as a result.  And like Rocky in ‘Rocky III’ after being humbled by Mr. T’s Clubber Lang, Adonis sobered up and got down to business for a rematch in classic underdog style.  What did I mean by “underdog style”?  Just as Rocky prepared for his rematch in ‘Rocky IV’ on the frozen tundra of Russia, Adonis forged his mind, body and spirit in the unforgiving crucible of the desert while Viktor enjoyed the luxury of training in a modern gym, because only by depriving himself of all creature comforts can Adonis truly focus and realize his full potential.

Grade: B+

Champions of Arena Rock

The story of the ever popular 1970’s British rock group ‘Queen’ is the fascinating subject of director Bryan Singer’s (‘The Usual Suspects,’ everything ‘X-Men’) latest biopic starring Rami Malek (‘Mr. Robot’) as its flamboyant and colorful frontman, Freddie Mercury.  Being a fan of Rock & Roll! during my youth (which includes now) as well as “musical” films in general, going to see a movie like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was never in doubt.

 

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ had all the familiar elements we would expect in a musical biopic.  Humble beginnings and early struggles, check.  Meteoric rise, check.  Friction and "fights" between the lead singer and his band mates, check.  Struggling with one's own identity, check.  Reconciliation and redemption, check.  We’ve seen it all before in various other movies – biopics and fiction alike – ranging from Val Kilmer’s ‘The Doors’ to Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Walk the Line’ to Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Rockstar,’ so I can’t really imagine what the professional critics whose negative reviews contributed to the lukewarm 62 percent score BR earned on Rotten Tomatoes were expecting from a film that did everything right other than perhaps they’re just not much of a ‘Queen’ fan.

 

For those of us ‘Queen’ fans, BR has much to offer including many of the band’s greatest hits.  The song-by-song recreation of Queen’s 1985 Live Aid segment at the end of the movie alone is worth the price of admission.  Yes, the film only glosses over the “heavier” themes of Freddie’s loneliness/isolation and homosexuality, and yes, this movie is decidedly more style than substance, but we love ‘Queen’ precisely because their songs are catchy and theatrical, not because they’re deep or profound.

Grade: A
 

 

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Their husbands are all dead....

yet somehow that’s just the beginning of their troubles.  Such is the pitiable lot of the women in ‘Widows,’ the latest gritty and riveting heist thriller from Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the fast-and-furious ‘Bullitt’ actor), the Brit director/screenwriter who took Hollywood by storm with his 2013 Oscar-winning slavery drama ’12 Years a Slave.’  Based on a British TV show (which ran for all of 12 episodes) from the 1980’s and contemporized with a tightly plotted screenplay by McQueen and ‘Gone Girl’ writer Gillian Flynn, ‘Widows’ promises twists as well as thrills in this humdinger of  a movie.

 

Anchored by the strong and mesmerizing performance of the talented Viola Davis as a widow who exemplifies what it means to survive, as well as a solid supporting cast including Michelle Rodriguez (in her most dramatic role since ‘Girlfight’), Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo (remember her from “Bad Times” at a certain strange hotel?), ‘Widows’ effortlessly weaves us through its sordid world of local politics, corruption and double crosses in modern-day Chicago.  Not so much a morality tale as an uncompromising urban portrait of desperation and despair, there are no black-and-white heroes and villains in this film, only various characters painted in shades-of-gray.

 

While I can’t say I loved this film largely because none of its characters (including its anti-heroines) are particularly likeable and its subject is rather dark, I have to acknowledge that it is a masterfully crafted thriller/drama from a purely academic standpoint.  It’s not the fun popcorn crowd-pleaser that the earlier all-female ensemble heist thriller released this year was (in case you’re wondering, I’m referring to ‘Ocean’s 8’), which may partly account for its lack of box office muscle, but why not give it a look anyway because what else are you gonna do on a cold day in December?

Grade: A-

 

Nazi Zombie Super-Soldiers

Yes, “Nazi Zombie Super-Soldiers.”  That’s what ‘Overlord,’ the latest WWII Action/Horror flick from Bad Robot, J.J. Abrams’ production company, should really be called.  We all know that, as the tide turned against Germany in WWII, Hitler increasingly pinned his hopes on game-changing technological “wonder weapons” to salvage his fading dreams of a “Thousand Year Reich.”  Notable among them are jets such as the ME-262 and ballistic missiles like the V-2 rocket.  There are virtually no shortage of speculation on what the “mentally unstable” Hitler had tried as the situation became more and more dire for the Fatherland; some even claimed that he dabbled in the occult.   The dark arts!  Can you imagine???!!!

Perhaps inspired by the horror stories coming out of the concentration camps and the exploits of infamous doctor Josef Mengele in the name of “science,” the idea of Nazi super soldiers, or even better yet, Nazi Zombie Super Soldiers (aka NZ2S,  the name of my new death metal band) have provided much fodder in the genre of science fiction and horror.  While ‘Overlord’ isn’t the first movie about some Nazi secret zombie soldier program, it is most definitely the most ambitious with a decent production budget ($30 million) and the creative talents behind it.  The movie takes place in the hours before D-Day and follows a small group of 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles” pathfinders (why does Hollywood always seems to prefer the 101st over the equally illustrious 82nd Airborne?) tasked to take out a German radio tower.  They jump out of a stricken C-47 and find more (oh, so much more) than they bargained for.

With its ensemble cast of unknown actors, ‘Overlord’ nevertheless manages to be an immensely enjoyable pop-corn B-movie, an R-rated blood-soaked affair that revels gleefully in its own excess.  It is pulpy fun, a guilty pleasure through and through, and I simply can’t recommend it enough.

Grade: A

Saving Vladimir?

Banned in Russia and Ukraine for wholly different reasons, ‘Hunter Killer’ is the latest military undersea “techno-thriller” in the tradition of such previous films as ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘Crimson Tide.’  Ever since reading Tom Clancy’s THFRO I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for claustrophobic, suspense-filled modern submarine yarns, so the question of whether I’m going to see this or not in the theaters was never in doubt regardless of what the critics thought of it.

Rugged Scottish action star Gerard Butler, perhaps best known for his roles as Spartan King and overall badass Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s stylishly kinetic adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel ‘300’ and “Die Hard” Secret Service Agent Mike Banning in ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ and its sequel, ‘London Has Fallen,’ plays Navy Commander Joe Glass, hot-shot maverick skipper of the state-of-the-art Virginia class Fast-Attack “Hunter Killer” submarine USS Arkansas on a mission to stave off World War III.  The global crisis was precipitated by a brazen coup when the Russian president (the “good” guy) was ousted during a visit at a remote naval base by his trusted defense minister, who turned out to be a power-hungry megalomaniac intent on precipitating a war with the United States.

As much as I wanted to like HK, it ultimately left me with a sinking feeling (pun intended) because it simply isn’t “real” in the sense of being even the least believable.  The geopolitics underpinning the whole exercise is laughable and could have very well been conceived by a 10 year old.  The poor excuse of a plot is weak and the action is uneven, again defying all belief.  While I probably held HK to a higher standard than the typical moviegoer because I’m a “military buff” who had read tons of techno-thriller novels, I can’t help who I am and that’s just the way it is.

Grade: C

 

The Boogeyman in the William Shatner Mask

Having come of age in the 1980’s, I fondly remember the “Golden Age” of slasher B-movies headlined by that triumvirate of unstoppable superhuman/supernatural serial killing machines: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers (not to be confused with Mike Myers aka Wayne Campbell aka Austin Powers).  It was the latter who ushered in the slasher genre with 1978’s ‘Halloween’ featuring the original “scream queen” Jamie Lee Curtis.  While some may contend that 1974’s ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was the first true slasher movie, I don't consider TCSM as a pure slasher flick because, with his crazy inbred family, Leatherface isn't a lone stalker and doesn't typically venture far from his home and hearth.

 

40 years after that 1978 original, ‘Halloween 2018’ marks the eleventh entry in this long-running franchise.  That’s an average of one every 3.5 years and places our hulking Captain Kirk-masked homicidal automaton comfortably between the razor-clawed burn victim "Handsome Freddy" (nine films) and the shy, hockey mask-wearing "Machete Jason" (12 installments).  Unlike those second-rate jokers, Myers steadfastly refuses to take part in tomfoolery such as taking on each other in some kind of cross-over “Main Event” (gimme a break) or go into space (rolleyes) just so some rich studio execs can further line their fat pockets.  He takes his "art" seriously.

 

So how is this latest installment that actually earned a surprisingly solid 80 percent on the aggregate movie review website Rotten Tomatoes?  Not bad actually, but I wouldn’t exactly say it’s 80 percent good either. What ‘Halloween 2018’ offers isn’t particularly scary or new, but it does manage to capture some of the flavor and feel of the John Carpenter original in its simple, minimalist approach.  I guess I’m just too jaded for slasher movies.

Grade: B 

Another Star is Born

Unless you’re a diehard aficionado of vintage Hollywood cinema, chances are you probably didn’t know that Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut ‘A Star is Born,’ starring himself and Lady Gaga, marks the third remake of the 1937 Oscar-winning original directed by William A. Wellman featuring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March.  I certainly didn’t, since the only previous version I’ve seen was the middling second remake from 1976 starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.  While I typically don’t go out of my way for remakes, the film’s interesting trailer, Stefani Germanotta’s powerful vocals and rave critical reviews sold me on what had to be another clear example of Hollywood’s lack of imagination and daring.

 

If you’ve seen any version of ASIB (1937, 1954, 1976 or perhaps even this one), you’re already familiar with this well-tread tale of a young Hollywood starlet (or singer) who meets a somewhat older star in his prime.  They fall madly in love and, with his help, the girl rises to meteoric success and realizes her dreams while her benefactor’s star power wanes, ending in despair and tragedy.  In the 1937 original and the 1954 remake (starring Judy Garland), the man ultimately dies by some drowning incident, while in the 1976 remake he dies in an auto accident and in this updated version Bradley Cooper’s grizzled country-rock star Jackson Maine ended up hanging himself (Spoiler?  C’mon now, does it really matter how they end up six feet under?).  All of them lost their bouts with that greatest of vices called Alcoholism because, as the mournful song goes, “The only time he’s satisfied is when he’s on a drunk.”

 

Whether ASIB is merely a cautionary parable of the price of success or simply illustrates the Ying Yang facts of life, this latest remake is a well-acted and finely crafted piece of work.  The original songs in the film are earthy and engaging, with a timeless quality that will likely appeal to generations to come.  And while we all know that Lady Gaga has some serious pipes, I’m also pleasantly surprised that the underrated Bradley Cooper has the chops to lead in any band.

Grade: A-
 

Hotel Calnevada

‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ is writer/director Drew Goddard’s love letter to film noir, much like his directorial debut ‘Cabin in the Woods’ was a love letter to, well you know, cabin-in-the-woods horror movies.  But when it comes to Goddard, who can claim Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams among his influences, one can never take something for granted or at face value, so that was precisely my attitude when I checked into the fictional El Royale hotel smack dab in the middle of the California/Nevada border, expecting nothing but open to anything.

 

Set in 1969, ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ is one of those strangers-in-a-hotel movies that I love because you just know it’s a power keg that’s going to explode.  An elderly “catholic priest” (Jeff Bridges), a smooth-talking “vacuum cleaner salesman” (Jon Hamm), a Diana Ross-esque lounge singer (Cynthia Erivo in a bravura performance) and a mysterious young woman with something to hide (Dakota Johnson) check into the El Royale and you ask yourself “what could possibly go wrong???!!!”.  Well, settle into your seats, ladies and gents, because things are going to get very in-te-res-ting.

 

‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ employs the storytelling structure of the “Mystery Box” so beloved of J.J. Abrams-philes, but influences from QT’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ and, in particular, ‘The Hateful Eight’ are also in much evidence.  Suspenseful, engrossing and endlessly fascinating, this little neo-noir gem is a riveting cinematic experience from beginning to end.  Alas, like Goddard's equally splendid ‘Cabin in the Woods,’ it’s really a shame that ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ will never garner widespread “mainstream” appeal at the box office.

Grade: A

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The Good Parasite (for now)

You may recall when Marc Webb’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ hit theaters back in 2014, there were rumors of spin-offs from the Spidey film franchise including a “Sinister Six” movie and a “Venom” flick.  As this second installment of the rebooted series (which occurred within 10 years of the Tobey Maguire trilogy) fizzled like Jamie Foxx's Electro at the box office, Sony Pictures (believe it or not, Disney doesn’t own the film rights to Spider-Man) pulled the plug on Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, thereby leaving the fate of the spin-offs in doubt.  With the success and massive popularity of Disney’s MCU films, however, it was only a matter of time before Spidey crawls out of the woodwork again, this time as part of the MCU in last year’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and this summer’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ starring Tom Holland as the youngest web-slinger to date.  Now that Spider-Man is going to stick around, we finally get that ‘Venom’ spin-off we’ve been waiting for (well, for me at least).

 

I’ve always liked Venom.  I know, the alien symbiote appeared in the third installment of the Sam Raimi trilogy back in 2003, but that’s one movie I would rather forget thank you very much.  Creepy and scary as hell, Venom is one of my favorite villains in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery because he’s motherfucking badass, like some kind of evil Spider-Man monstrosity arising from the depths of our worst Freudian nightmares with his rows of piranha-sharp teeth, razor-like claws and pumped-full-of-steroids musculature.

 

While Sony Columbia’s ‘Venom’ starring Tom Hardy doesn’t fit in the official milieu of the MCU, I found it to be a darkly funny romp that’s a bit messy perhaps but no less enjoyable.  Like ‘Deadpool,’ ‘Venom’ proves that Marvel movies featuring secondary or even tertiary characters can succeed commercially (if not critically) even if the Mouse House had nothing to do with it, raking in MCU summer blockbuster-like numbers at the box office in the typically slow month of October.  As its opening weekend grosses of $80 million domestic and $230 million worldwide would suggest, I’m not the only fan of the Big Black Baddie.

Grade: A-

A (Not Quite So) Simple Favor

Director Paul Feig, who’s known for screwball comedies such as ‘Bridesmaids,’ ‘The Heat,’ ‘Spy’ and the all-female ‘Ghostbusters,’ takes a decidedly darker turn in his latest offering, ‘A Simple Favor,’ adapted from the 2017 novel by the same name.  Billed as a mystery suspense thriller with a dash (more than a pinch or smidgen) of black humor, ‘A Simple Favor’ had me at “hello” when I first saw its trailer.  Okay I admit, what had me at “hello” was the fact that it’s headlined by the endearing Anna Kendrick (‘Pitch Perfect,’ ‘The Accountant,’ ‘Scott Pilgrim Versus the World’) and the sassy Blake Lively (‘The Shallows,’ ‘Savages,’ TV’s ‘Gossip Girl’).

 

Kendrick plays Stephanie Smothers, a stuffy widow and single mom in Connecticut who posts video blogs of her domestic hobbies (cooking and crafts) on YouTube when she’s not smothering her young son Miles with doting affection.  At the latter’s elementary school, she meets sophisticated modern working mom Emily (Lively), with whom the lonely (bordering on clingy) Stephanie struck up a friendship despite the fact that their worlds couldn’t be further apart.  So when Emily asked Stephanie to do her the “simple favor” of picking up her son Nicky after school one day because there was some pressing personal matter she had to attend to, she said “yes” without a second thought.  Except Emily never came back.  What happened to her and where did she go?  Is she even still alive?  Does her university professor husband Sean (Henry Golding of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’) had anything to do with her sudden and unexplained disappearance?  The plot thickens.

 

If you enjoyed complex and twisty “disappearance” mysteries like ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘The Girl on the Train,’ chances are you’ll also find ASF to be a deliciously juicy and scandalous diversion.  Unlike those films, however, ASF is a lot more fun.  Under Feig’s direction, ASF manages to be soapy and light-hearted rather than serious and dark, and the “odd couple” chemistry between Kendrick and Lively lend the film a certain undeniable charm.

Grade: A-

 

Predatory Cinema

When John McTiernan’s ‘Predator’ dropped in theaters back in 1987, Austrian bodybuilder-turned-movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger was just entering his prime as an A-list action hero to turn this otherwise unremarkable sci-fi/Vietnam War B-movie mash-up into a veritable blockbuster hit. Always ready with catchy one-liners, who can forget his defiant comeback “You’re one ugly motherfucker!” to Predator even as his team-mates died gruesomely one after another by the claws and exotic weaponry of the badass alien hunter? Forgotten in the midst of all the alpha-male chest beating is the tidbit of trivia that Rick Hawkins, the geeky bespectacled radio operator of the mercenary team played by Shane Black, was the first to die.
 

30 years, two sequels (‘Predator 2’ and ‘Predators’) and two ill-advised cross-overs with ‘Aliens’ (‘AvP’ and ‘AvP: Requiem’) later, the dreadlocked trophy (usually a head attached to a severed spine as shown below) collector preys on a new generation of moviegoers in Rick Hawkins', I mean director Shane Black’s ‘The Predator.’  Set in the present day, a ragtag band of rejected brothers led by a disgraced Ranger sniper (Boyd Holbrook) is pitted against predators and nefarious government agents, aided by scientist Olivia Munn and an autistic boy (Jacob Tremblay).  Not that there’s much of a story here, but keep your eyes open because a lot of things happen in this rather messy movie throughout its compact 107-minute running time.

‘The Predator’ aims high, delivering fast-paced near non-stop action, heroic deeds galore, all-hell-breaks-loose mayhem, generous doses of Shane (black) humor and a healthy (or maybe I should say unhealthy) amount of blood and gore to satisfy the most jaded gorehounds among us.  Alas, the $88-million dollar movie’s ambitions proved to be beyond its limited reach, as all the heroes in the movie (most of whom died vainly like in the original) combined could not hope to match the sheer presence and macho manliness of “The Governator.”

Grade: B

Peppermint, Peppermint Revenge

Like most of you, I first discovered Jennifer Garner in her role as the “kicks ass and looks good while doing it” superspy Sydney Bristow in J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi/espionage TV series ‘Alias,’ which ran for five seasons from 2001-2006.  And perhaps like many of you, I was immediately captivated and “fell in love” with this gorgeous femme fatale who’s so good at doing what she does without sacrificing an ounce of sex appeal and feminine vulnerability.  While ‘Alias’ obviously owed its origins to ‘La Femme Nikita,’ it was so much better in so many ways.

 

After Garner married some guy named Affleck and ditched action for rom-coms and Capital One commercials, I did not expect her to ever go back.  So imagine my surprise when I saw that her latest offering is a little movie called ‘Peppermint,’ the latest garden-variety, female-driven revenge flick in the tried-and-true tradition of ‘Colombiana,’ ‘The Brave One’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Volumes 1 & 2.  The story of a loving wife and mother driven on a single-minded mission to make the bastards pay for what they did to her and her family (or something similar) is a timeless one that never gets old and satisfies our deepest urges for vigilante justice.

 

As its 11 percent Rotten Tomatoes score would attest, ‘Peppermint’ isn’t a great movie by any objective measure (or even a particularly good one for that matter), but that’s really beside the point.  Jennifer Garner always looked good kicking butt in ‘Alias,’ regardless of what she’s wearing or what color wig she puts on.   12 years later nothing has changed.  While Garner looks dirty and grungy for the most part living in a beat-up van down by the river, ahem, among the forgotten homeless in ‘Peppermint,’ she’ll forever be Sydney in my heart.

Grade: B

Desperately Seeking Margot

I always find it exciting to see new and promising young filmmakers at work.  Former Google creative talent and aspiring director Aneesh Chaganty’s debut feature, ‘Searching,’ puts a fresh spin on the familiar missing person tale with devastatingly effective results, giving the audience a tightly plotted, twist-filled and riveting nail-biter tailor made for water cooler conversation.

 

You may have seen the trailer.  Korean-American actor John Cho (Harold) ditched Kumar to take on the role of an anguished widower and father who desperately seeks his 16-year old daughter, whom he thought he knew, when she didn't make it home after an AP Biology (she’s Asian, big surprise) cram session at a friends' house in what could only be a parent’s worst nightmare come true.  At its most basic level, ‘Searching’ is just another typical run-of-the-mill missing persons thriller but it is so much more.  What’s refreshingly different is that the story is almost exclusively told through the POV of modern electronic devices like computers and smart phones, as the tech-savvy Cho follows the bread crumbs of his daughter’s digital trail through her social media networks using all the tools and resources he can muster via the World Wide Web. Oh, did I mention with the help of a detective played by Debra Messing from ‘Will & Grace’?

 

I can’t praise this movie enough.  'Searching' is a masterfully crafted thriller that won't let go once it grabs our attention with its real-life, breaking news feel.  While it's gimmicky like all those other gimmicky "social media" movies (e.g., ‘Unfriended,’ ‘Unfriended: Dark Web,’ ‘Friend Request,’ ‘Nerve’) it isn't one-dimensional like those films, and it had so many twists and red herrings that I didn't see the WTF! ending coming until it was too late, even though looking back there were hints that I missed or ignored.  Chaganty cited his fellow Indian M. Night Shyamalan as an influence and inspiration, and I can certainly see that here. 

Grade: A

Capturing Eichmann

Over the decades Israel’s infamous intelligence agency, the Mossad, has rightly earned a reputation of ruthless efficiency.  As much as the Israeli Defense Forces, the Mossad is Israel’s shield, a “necessary evil’ for a small Jewish island amidst a sea of hostile Muslim neighbors.  ‘Operation Finale,’ director/producer Chris Weitz’s first foray into serious historical drama, mined another well-known and daring Mossad exploit for fodder, the apprehension of one of the key architects of the Holocaust, SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann, on foreign soil.

 

Based on the memoirs of the late Mossad operative Peter Malkin (played by Oscar Isaac), ‘Operation Finale’ is a blandly procedural, by-the-book account of how a hastily assembled team of Israeli operatives put together an ad hoc plan to nab this key figure behind Hitler’s “final solution,” who managed to flee Germany during the last days of the Reich and disappear into South America, specifically Argentina.  As Eichmann, Ben Kingsley delivered yet another one of his theatrically dramatic performances, proving that he’s equally at home whether he's portraying an angel (Gandhi) or a monster (Eichmann).

 

As compelling as the true story of Eichmann’s capture in 1960 may be, ‘Operation Finale’ is hampered by a snail-like pace and an overall lack of tension and suspense that had nothing to do with the fact that we already know how the ultimate outcome is going to play out.  Even when things invariably go wrong as plans often do and the team had to think on their feet and improvise, there was little sense of peril or urgency that would keep us on the edge of our seats.  I nearly nodded off at various points throughout the movie so my only conclusion is that, as much as I hate to admit it, ‘Operation Finale’ simply became ‘Operation Boredom.’

Grade: C

22 Miles Too Far

‘Mile 22’ is the latest joint effort from director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg, who previously collaborated on such movies as ‘Lone Survivor,’ ‘Deepshit (I mean Deepwater) Horizon’ and ‘Patriots Day.’  Given how those films were well received critically and commercially for the most part, they probably thought joining forces again in this latest release wouldn’t be a bad idea.  Well, they couldn't be more wrong.

 

‘Mile 22’ is a big dumb action movie with a thin and convoluted plot that makes even the most forgiving of viewers shake their heads in disbelief.  The story is stupidly simple.  Smart-mouthed operations team leader James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) and his hand-picked crew of black-ops badasses are presumably (but unofficially) troubleshooters for the CIA so as to provide Uncle Sam with “plausible deniability” in sticky and politically sensitive situations.  The film’s clever tagline even suggests that when diplomacy (Option 1) and military force (Option 2) are unsuitable or unavailable, Silva and his team including tough girls Ronda Rousey and Lauren Cohan give us the logical third option.  They do the necessary and dirty secretive "wet work" that others simply can’t be bothered with. In the case of ‘Mile 22,’ their "mission impossible" is to simply escort an Indonesian cop and Russian spy (Iko Uwais of ‘The Raid’ and ‘The Raid 2’) who asked to defect over 22 miles of Indonesian city streets to an airstrip where a C-130 awaits in exchange for intel regarding some nuclear material or other.  Doesn't matter in the final analysis really.

 

We've all seen these "running the gauntlet" type chase movies before, even if you don't remember any of them in particular because they're so damn forgettable.  The last one I've seen was 'The Assassin's Bodyguard' starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, which for all its faults had its enjoyable moments.  'Mile 22' in name and in style most resembles the 2006 Bruce Willis-Mos Def flick '16 Blocks.'  Don't remember that one you say?  I don't blame ya.

Grade: C-

 

Klan of the Black Man

According to that unimpeachable source of information known as Wikipedia, Spike Lee’s latest film (I don’t care what he calls it; it’s not a “joint” cus’ you can’t smoke and get high on it), ‘BlackKklansman,’ is a biographical dramedy based on the hard-to-believe but real life story of Ron Stallworth, a funky-groovy-cool cat of a detective in the Colorado Springs police department who somehow successfully infiltrated the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the late 70’s.

 

So how did an Afro-haired dark-skinned brotha’ manage to ingratiate himself with a vile and despicable white supremacist brotherhood like the KKK (by which I don't mean Kim, Khloe and Kourtney)?  Not knowing quite what to expect, I admit I was half expecting some silly Wayans brothers shenanigans as seen in the movie ‘White Chicks,’ but thankfully that wasn’t the case at all. Stallworth (well played by John David Washington, whose father happens to be “The Equalizer” himself) merely misrepresented himself as an appropriately racist angry white male over the phone who’s interested in furthering the KKK's not-so-noble causes, and sold it so convincingly that he even fooled none other than David Duke (Topher Grace from ‘That ‘70’s Show’).  Any face-to-face was handled by his partner-in-deception, a fellow detective named Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), whose being Jewish only made screwing with the KKK that much more fun.

 

Timely, provocative and packed with wry humor, ‘BlackKklansman’ is as surely a byproduct of our troubled times as its protagonist was in his, a time when racial tensions are on the rise due to a spate of police shootings nation-wide which made Rodney King look like he got off easy and gave rise to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.  As such, ‘BlackKklansman’ may be Spike Lee’s most resonant and politically relevant movie since 1992's ‘Malcolm X,’ which interestingly and coincidentally enough featured John David Washington's famous dad in the title role.

Grade: A

The Spy Who Broke Up with Me

First of all, let me confess that even though I found her character in ‘That ‘70’s Show’ to be whiny and annoying, I’ve come to appreciate the body, ahem, the body of work of Mila Kunis with perhaps the sole exception of her turn in ‘American Psycho 2.’  Unlike her co-stars from ‘That ‘70’s Show,’ the versatile Ukrainian doe-eyed beauty moved on to a successful movie career with such films as ‘The Book of Eli,’ ‘Black Swan,’ ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ ‘Friends with Benefits’ and ‘Bad Moms,’ all of which I’ve seen somehow.  So when I heard about her new buddy spy action-comedy ‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’ with SNL’s Kate McKinnon, I thought I'd keep the streak alive.

 

Spy comedies are a genre unto itself.  There are kid-friendly fare like ‘Spy Kids’ and ‘Agent Cody Banks,’ then there are more adult-oriented releases such as ‘Kingsman,’ ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and Melissa McCarthy’s hilariously subversive ‘Spy.’  The R-rated TSWDM falls comfortably under the latter category.  The story of how a bored and lonely girl-next-door (Kunis) and her wild and crazy “bipolar” best friend (McKinnon) got swept into international intrigue and danger after the former's CIA spy boyfriend dumped her merely formed the backdrop for the near non-stop series of cartoonish gags and misadventures in TSWDM.  It’s best not to overthink it too much.

 

While the humor in TSWDM is uneven and misfired as much as they hit our funny bones, there is an endearing quality to the film that I can’t deny which can’t simply be explained away by Mila’s unassuming charisma and charm.  They aren’t exactly Laurel and Hardy, but Kunis and McKinnon are an odd couple (akin to Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in 'The Heat') who made for a decent comedic duo.  It’s really not their fault that the script by Susanna Fogel (who also directed) and David Iserson didn’t quite live up to their talents.

Grade: B

Making the impossible possible, again

The history of the ‘Mission Impossible’ film franchise bears an uncanny resemblance to that of ‘Fast & Furious.’  Like F&F, it started out decently enough (for MI it was 22 years ago) but by all accounts lost steam by the third movie.  Then, just when people left the series for dead it’s suddenly not only revived but reinvigorated, getting a new lease on life and becoming even more popular with each successive release.  So it was that after MI3 reached a low point in the series, MI got a much needed makeover á la James Bond and Tom Clancy video game-esque subtitles like ‘Ghost Protocol,’ ‘Rogue Nation’ and ‘Fallout.’ 

Thanks to the franchise’s surprising longevity, 56-year old Tom Cruise (though admittedly he doesn’t look a day over 40) reprises his role in this sixth entry as Ethan Hunt, de facto leader of the super-secret black-ops outfit known as Impossible Mission Force (because they go on “impossible” missions should they choose to undertake them, duh!).  Taking place two years after MI5 aka ‘Rogue Nation,’ ‘Fallout’ sees the IMF attempting to recover stolen nukes and save the world again, globe-trotting across Europe and crossing paths with the ex-British spymaster-turned-terrorist from the previous installment, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

My expectations for ‘Fallout’ were impossibly high.  While I didn’t consider it worthy of its stellar 97 percent “fresh” rating on the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Fallout’ is nonetheless another solid if somewhat safe and familiar entry in the action-espionage thriller subgenre.  The action in 'Fallout' comes typically “fast and furious” as we might expect, but its many perfectly timed and preternaturally coincidental set-piece action sequences (another characteristic it shares with ‘Fast & Furious’) have become a bit tired and overcooked.

Grade: B+ 

The Good Samaritan Killer Returns

2014’s ultra-violent ‘The Equalizer’ was a full-blooded (pun intended) action thriller in the tradition of macho B-movies from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s starring Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone.  That didn’t happen by accident, as the film itself was based on a mid-80’s TV show by the same name about a cloak-and-dagger “fixer” who took it upon himself to right wrongs, redress injustices and give the bad guys their just desserts.  Despite being panned by the critics for the most part, ‘The Equalizer’ nonetheless made nearly $200 million worldwide, proving that the charismatic Denzel Washington can still carry a movie no matter how weak it is in other respects.

 

In ‘The Equalizer 2,’ Denzel’s low-key and unassuming retired CIA operative Robert McCall is once again mc-called (pun intended) upon to use his “very particular set of skills” to help those who can’t help themselves.  After a jaunt in Turkey to reunite a mother with her young daughter, McCall was ready to settle down in semi-retirement as a part-time Lyft driver and indulge in the simple pleasures of life, such as reading a good book (as any decent ex-CIA wet works specialist should do).  Alas, things don’t go as planned and he is drawn yet again into his dark past after a close friend and former colleague was murdered in Europe.

 

Like its predecessor, EQ2 doesn’t offer much in the way of plot or character development, but that’s okay because otherwise it would just be pretentious.  EQ2 doesn’t apologize (or need to apologize) for what it is: a brutal no-holds-barred revenge flick that doesn’t shy away from a copious amount of carnage and mayhem.  Sure-handed veteran director Antoine Fuqua has worked with Denzel since ‘Training Day’ and is one of the best directors in the genre today, and Denzel is equally (pun intended, again) comfortable in a role he’s familiar with in earlier films such as not only EQ1 but ‘Safe House’ and ‘Man on Fire.’  Granted, EQ2 is little different from a Steven Seagal movie, but Denzel has more gravitas on his pinky finger and, besides, who wouldn’t want to see a black guy wasting white guys for a change?

Grade: B

 

Return of the Gi-Ant-Man

Paul Rudd returns as Marvel’s Ant-Man on the big screen in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ the second installment of the trilogy which started with the funny and delightful 2015 origin story of how ex-con Scott Lang became an unlikely and diminutive superhero. As the third MCU movie so far this year following ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ one might be forgiven for wondering if we’re about to suffer a bit of “superhero fatigue.”  Unlike Star Wars (sorry, 'Solo'), it appears that the audience still can’t get enough of (Make Mine) Marvel, as the movie's $76 million+ domestic opening weekend take would suggest.

 

Size does matter!  After Ant-Man’s brief, oversized (as in 65-feet tall) appearance on Team Cap in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ in violation of the Sokovia Accords, he finds himself under house arrest (with an ankle bracelet), putting a damper on his superhero activities and making him a stay-home dad with his daughter, which suited the slacker just fine.  But when his former associates Hank (Michael Douglas) and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) Pym encounter trouble while trying to get mom back (the first Wasp, played by Michelle Pfeiffer) from the so-called “Quantum Realm,” Lang is suddenly thrust back into action to aid his creator and redeem himself for making the Pyms fugitives on the run due to his meddling in the Avengers’ internal squabbles.

 

'Ant-Man and the Wasp’ kept the light-hearted humor and near PG (but not quite) kid-friendliness of its predecessor.  It is funny without being offensive (like a certain "merc with a mouth" in tight red-and-black spandex), maintaining much of the charm and freshness from the original.   Rudd and Lilly (as the new Wasp) make a great team, alternately down-sizing and reappearing in full size (or even larger in Ant-Man’s case) like close-up magic in their well-choreographed melees with “Ghost” and the other bad guys throughout the film.  And as in the first movie, comic relief is in plentiful supply, not only from Michael Peña’s fast-talking Luis but also from an FBI agent played by Fresh Off the Boat’s Randall Park. 

Grade: A