Movies – Full Listing
Close
CLOSE Include Close with the growing number of recent female protagonist movies showcasing strong women, such as Wonder Woman, Ocean’s 8, Annihilation, Tomb Raider, Red Sparrow, and Mary Queen of Scots. Close may lead the women’s list since this movie is directed and co-written by a woman, Vicky Jewson. The film stars a woman, Noomi…
MoWgli: Legend of the Jungle
MOWGLI: LEGEND OF THE JUNGLE The last review I wrote about Mowgli in a movie was in 2016 about the remake of the Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book, aptly called The Jungle Book. That 2016 remake followed the same story-line as all the previous The Jungle Book remakes. I believe I started the review by…
The Third Man
THE THIRD MAN The Third Man – a 70 year old movie – has to have more than just a good racketeering story-line to remain viable after so many years. The devastated Eastern Europe city of Vienna helps quite a bit. The European portion of WWII ended in 1945. The Allied-occupied city of Vienna, Austria…
Blackkklansman
BLACKKKLANSMAN This is a Spike Lee movie loosely based upon real world events that is a well executed suspenseful crime story about Ron Stallworth (John David Washington, Ballers, Denzel’s oldest kid) – a rookie cop in the Colorado Springs Police Department – infiltrating the Klu Klux Klan in the 1970’s. BlackkKlansman is also a pivot…
The Little Hours
THE LITTLE HOURS It must have been fun making this 14-Century comedy about a trio of sexually pent-up nuns in what is probably a Tuscany convent. The nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevira (Kate Micucci) live in the convent. The convent also includes the Mother Superior (Molly Shannon), and the Priest (John…
- 2017
- Comedy
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL Season 1, 1958, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) after a little exposure to her husband Joel’s (Michael Zegen, Frances Ha) failed comedy routine at the “Gaslight,” has a serendipitous moment and realizes that she is funny. She is hysterically funny, at the expense of her husband, her family, and herself. Her…
Blockers
BLOCKERS Blockers is a funny and raunchy coming-to-terms-with-teenagers-graduating-high-school comedy (a new genre). The movie has some funny & crazy scenes, good characters, but above all Blockers treats the women (teens & the single mom) on an equal footing with the men in the film. There is no bullying and no sexual pressure from the guys….
- 2018
- Comedy
Roma
ROMA Roma is an incredible portrait of a family, with no traditional plot, that must be seen on a large screen. The first time I viewed Roma I watched on a small screen on Netflix, I was too far from the screen, and there were several distractions (my fault), so I really did not like…
- 2018
- Drama
Tomb Raider
TOMB RAIDER A Little History First: 2018 Tomb Raider is a prequel to the earlier Tomb Raider movies (2001 & 2003) with Angelina Jolie. This Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander, 2017 Supporting Actress Oscar winner for Danish Girl) is a refreshing change to the previous Tomb Raider heroine which was really just an extension…
The Lobster
THE LOBSTER Almost gave up on The Lobster since it is so offbeat, quirky and purposely oddly acted. But this is a piece of art co-written and directed by the typically offbeat Yorgos Lanthimos. Mr. Lanthimos most likely invested years worth of effort into writing, planning and directing this film so the least I can…
- 2015
- Thriller, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction
First Reformed
FIRST REFORMED Paul Schrader wrote and directed the drama First Reformed when he was 71 years old. Mr. Schrader’s earlier successful screenplays were Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), both directed by Martin Scorsese. For First Reformed Paul Schrader both wrote and directed this movie, and he gets dark. First Reformed’s protagonist, Reverend Toller,…
- 2018
- Drama
Outlaw King
OUTLAW KING FREEEEDOM!!! Screamed William Wallace (Mel Gibson) before he was drawn & quartered by the English in the 1995 Oscar-winning movie Braveheart (do not google drawn & quartered you don’t need to be horrified just yet, but you will learn about hanged and drawn later in Outlaw King). Outlaw King begins a couple of years before…
Tag
TAG Someone asks you to write a screenplay about a group of guys who have been playing Tag for 30 years (base upon an article in the newspaper). You say, sure I can do that. You put together a good script and hire a bunch of actors (there are over thirty actors in this movie)….
Toast
TOAST Nigel Slater the food writer is a big thing in Britain. He is “a most highly regarded and best loved food writer and television personality.” He’s a nobody in the US. Most movies are only 90 minutes, so while the wife was out shopping for Thanksgiving (I offered to go) I watched this random…
Puzzle
PUZZLE “Transformative is such a funny word. Trans… form… a… tive” says Agnes while reviewing her son’s college essay question, you guessed it, Puzzle is about a transformation. In this Indie drama Agnes (Kelly McDonald, Trainspotting), the meek, shy, and the lowest of confidence wife and mother, does just that, she goes through her own…
- 2018
- Drama