Drama
The Way Back
THE WAY BACK No sports being played during March 2020, so a little taste of high school basketball can be found in the somber, drama, The Way Back. Ben Affleck, as Jack Cunningham, is angry. After his life fell apart, Jack’s daily routine is; work, drink too much in his favorite dive bar, pass out,…
- 2020
- Drama
Danny Collins
DANNY COLLINS Danny Collins is a very melodramatic comedy/drama, with some excellent acting. That’s what you must prepare yourself for if you watch Danny Collins. Do you like the movie Life Itself, or the TV show This Is Us, both overly dramatic and exaggerated views of life? If you can stomach these shows, you will…
Lost Girls
LOST GIRLS Lost Girls is a Netflix crime/drama about the oldest daughter of three girls going missing. The working-poor, high-strung mother, Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan), tries to get the attention of the police. However, the police are apathetic, inept, and sexist throughout the entire ordeal. Lost Girls is based upon actual events that began unfolding…
Knives Out
KNIVES OUT Knives Out is a surprisingly funny – and a bit quirky – whodunit murder mystery. The dysfunctional Thrombey family meets at the father’s mansion in Massachusetts to celebrate his 85th birthday. The father, Harlan Thrombey, is a self-made one-percenter obtaining his fortune by writing murder mysteries; the rest of the family are just…
The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open
THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open is a painfully slow real-time Indie drama featuring two First Nation women filmed in East Vancouver, B.C. Although painfully slow, it is a significant film for several reasons and worth watching if you go to movies for more than…
- 2019
- Drama
Troop Zero
TROOP ZERO Troop Zero is a heartfelt, slightly off-beat, predictable comedy from Amazon Studios. But, the film is more than just a story of misfit kids making friends and becoming more confident. Troop Zero will make you smile, make you cry, and remind you how precious life, friends, and you are. The story happens because…
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO The Last Black Man in San Francisco, a drama, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019. An ambitious film about a third-generation black man in San Francisco being dispossessed by the city due to gentrification. Viewing this movie is more of a study of first-timers using…
- 2019
- Drama
The Irishman
THE IRISHMAN The Irishman is a very long film about crime, assassinations, and the Mafia. It stars the only Irish guy in the Mafia as the hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro). On his deathbed, the real Frank Sheeran told a reporter “stories” about his work for the Mafia in Philadelphia during the 1950s. Those…
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood is a fairy tale. More precisely, the movie is a “what if, fairy tale.” It makes you wonder how the world would differ if the movie’s ending was true. Plot Summary: Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) just wrapped up his 1950’s Western…
Blinded by the Light
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT I always enjoy a movie when the spoken words, or in this case, sung words, are occasionally written on the screen. I believe it is called supertitles. Flashing the words on the screen allows the viewer to read the dialogue and better appreciate the imagery, meaning, or feeling. At the same…
Marriage Story
MARRIAGE STORY Marriage Story is a flawlessly written and extraordinarily acted drama about two professional people getting divorced. After the first ten minutes, you understand the people and the marriage. Then, during the next two hours, you go through their divorce. Plot: Nicole Barber (Scarlett Johansson) gets a role in a TV show and wants…
Earthquake Bird
EARTHQUAKE BIRD Earthquake Bird is a psychological drama set in Tokyo 1989. Unfortunately, the most interesting part is hearing the birds chirp after an earthquake. Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, Tomb Raider) is an American – fluent in Japanese – living and working in Tokyo. During the open credits, the Police…
The Peanut Butter Falcon
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON The Peanut Butter Falcon is an endearing, heartwarming road-trip comedy/drama movie set in the U.S. southeast. It introduces Zack Gottsagen, who plays Zak, the co-leading adult male who has Down Syndrome. Zak sets out on the road after escaping from the nursing home where the State placed him. “I am young,…
Ford v Ferrari
FORD v FERRARI In the race to the 2020 Oscar award season, Christian Bale may edge out Matt Damon in this semi-historical Ford v Ferrari car racing drama showing the years leading up to the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans (The Grand Prix). The Grand Prix auto race in France had always been won…
Harriet
HARRIET Harriet Tubman before this movie. The updated view of Harriet Tubman. Harriet is a frank (good word), straightforward biopic movie, slightly entertaining but worth seeing mainly to view the historic update of Harriet Tubman. Araminta “Minty” Ross (Cynthia Erivo) – is 27 years old and a slave on a Maryland plantation in 1849. “Minty”…
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S Breakfast at Tiffany’s is an iconic American movie, it is very chic, stylish, and stars the perfect Audrey Hepburn. Maybe 50 years ago it was, but this movie contains blatant racism (in the full cut version, Mickey Rooney plays a goofy Japanese landlord with an awful accent and grossly stereotypic features and…
The Squid and the Whale
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE The Squid and the Whale is Noah Baumbach’s 2005 Indie movie about the breakdown of a marriage and the effects on the children. Main reason I watched was to prepare for Noah’s newest divorce film – Marriage Story – scheduled for release to theaters in November 2019 and streaming through…
Unbelievable
UNBELIEVABLE Unbelievable is an incredibly powerful true story about a multi-state serial rapist in Colorado & Lynnwood, Washington. With great respect and in some detail, this Netflix Original 8-episode series shows the rapist’s methods and the impact on the victims. In addition, Unbelievable shows the botched investigation in Washington State, and the two women who…
- 2019
- True Crime, Drama
Ramen Shop (Ramon Teh)
RAMEN SHOP (RAMEN TEH) Masato (Takumi Saito) is a Chef in his father’s Ramen Shop. His strongest childhood memories are of his Chinese mother Mei Lian (Jeanette Aw) eating Pork Rib Soup. His mother died while Masato was still a boy. After Masato’s Japanese father Kazuo (Tsuyoshi Ihara) dies, he visits Singapore to learn about…
- 2018
- Drama, WAR MEMORIES
Booksmart
BOOKSMART The tagline for Booksmart states “…. cram four years of fun into one chaotic night.” I guess that’s correct but Booksmart is way more than just a stupid party movie. There is some chaotic “fun” on that last night of high school, but Booksmart is about the friendship of the two leading ladies Amy…