Directed by: Benjamin Ree
Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes
Release date: May 22, 2020 on VOD platforms
Genre: Documentary in English and Norwegian with English subtitles
Distributor: NEON
The setting is Oslo, 2015. Two paintings by Barbara Kysilkova are stolen from a gallery. The thieves are caught fairly quickly, but there is no trace of the artworks. Hoping to find her creations, Barbara visits one of the thieves at his court trial and ask for the return of the artworks.
This documentary is structured in a double-portrait narrative of the marvelous friendship formed between a Czech painter, Barbara, living in Oslo, and a Norwegian felon, Karl-Bertil Nordland, convicted of stealing her paintings from a gallery. As Barbara approaches Karl, she is aspired to if he would sit for a portrait. When Karl agrees, the two protagonists in this story get to know each other better. What follows over a series of portraits and many years is an extraordinary story of human bonding and connection resulting in friendship.
In this mutual bonding and using a structure that cleverly shifts perspectives, Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree unfolds the fraught lives and vulnerabilities of two souls who come to recognize themselves in the other - the darkness, wounds, compulsions, and self-destructive behavior. Filmmaker Ree captures the revelatory moment when Karl, a drug addict junkie and petty crook who has done jail time, first sees his portrait and completely breaks down. Throughout the film, the understanding of both people and even the stolen paintings, entirely changes.
The film focuses on the artistic cooperation brings the two main characters together in a special way. They give each other an insight into the shadowy corners of their past. The film alternately depicts events from a dual perspective, sometimes returning to tell the story through the other person's eyes. It shows the two protagonists from each other's perspective, so that the resulting paintings conveys a dark atmosphere in places but also moving look at two seemingly disparate fates. In life, certain aspects of human nature defy comprehension, and yet filmmaker Benjamin Ree materializes Barbara Kysilkova and Karl-Bertil Nordland in a way that is accessible and transcendent.
FILM RATING (A)
Friday, May 22, 2020
Friday, February 28, 2020
WENDY review by Gerald Wright
Directed by: Benh Zeitlin
Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes
Release date: February 28, 2020 Streaming Online Video
Genre: Drama and Fantasy
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
The classic story of Peter Pan is wildly reimagined in this fascinating epic from Benh Zeitlin, director of Beasts of the Southern Wild. This is a story of children lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, and Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up.
Starting with a backstory, the plot begins as Angela Darling (Shay Walker) works as a waitress as Darling's Diner near a railroad in the rural South, with her young children - twins James and Douglas (Gavin and Gage Naquin), and youngest daughter Wendy (baby Tommie Lynn Milazzo, child Devin France, and adult Stephanie Lynn Wilson) - hanging around there. Oldest sibing youngster Thomas (Krzysztof Meyn), having his birthday one day, is jokingly told by his grandmother that he and Angela's children that they'll be working at the diner when they grow up. Insisting that he'll be a pirate, Thomas goes outside at the thought of having to get older and work. A train passes by, and a small figure runs on the roof and gets Thomas to climb onto the train as Wendy watches as he runs away.
Years later, Wendy is nine years old and has a thirst for adventure, coming up with bedtime stories to read to herself, despite assisting he mother with the diner along with her brothers. One night, Angela tells them about her life, indicating that she gave up her dreams to raise a family, making Wendy wonder whether she will have to give up her own dreams as a grown-up. After school, Wendy contemplates boarding the train, but does not. However, another night she notices a boy at her window - it's Peter Pan (Yashua Mack), a rambunctious boy who influences Wendy and her brothers to jump on the train and go on an adventure.
The children travel to a lost island. This takes the audience to a dark netherworld (another dimension) with mythical creatures, where events are unlikely to occur in real life. It all transcends the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. As the film takes on the form of the Peter Pan fairy tale with elements of magic, myth, wonder, and the extraordinary, it offers obstacles of a quest. Yet, the mood and tone is very dark, lending a murky texture on screen. The theme is often ghostly, depicting spirits, apparitions, and miracles, all for the delight of audience escapism.
Wendy is a uniquely structure narrative that gives praise to a fine mostly child ensemble, and they will captivate the viewers.
FILM RATING (B-)
Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes
Release date: February 28, 2020 Streaming Online Video
Genre: Drama and Fantasy
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
The classic story of Peter Pan is wildly reimagined in this fascinating epic from Benh Zeitlin, director of Beasts of the Southern Wild. This is a story of children lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, and Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up.
Starting with a backstory, the plot begins as Angela Darling (Shay Walker) works as a waitress as Darling's Diner near a railroad in the rural South, with her young children - twins James and Douglas (Gavin and Gage Naquin), and youngest daughter Wendy (baby Tommie Lynn Milazzo, child Devin France, and adult Stephanie Lynn Wilson) - hanging around there. Oldest sibing youngster Thomas (Krzysztof Meyn), having his birthday one day, is jokingly told by his grandmother that he and Angela's children that they'll be working at the diner when they grow up. Insisting that he'll be a pirate, Thomas goes outside at the thought of having to get older and work. A train passes by, and a small figure runs on the roof and gets Thomas to climb onto the train as Wendy watches as he runs away.
Years later, Wendy is nine years old and has a thirst for adventure, coming up with bedtime stories to read to herself, despite assisting he mother with the diner along with her brothers. One night, Angela tells them about her life, indicating that she gave up her dreams to raise a family, making Wendy wonder whether she will have to give up her own dreams as a grown-up. After school, Wendy contemplates boarding the train, but does not. However, another night she notices a boy at her window - it's Peter Pan (Yashua Mack), a rambunctious boy who influences Wendy and her brothers to jump on the train and go on an adventure.
The children travel to a lost island. This takes the audience to a dark netherworld (another dimension) with mythical creatures, where events are unlikely to occur in real life. It all transcends the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. As the film takes on the form of the Peter Pan fairy tale with elements of magic, myth, wonder, and the extraordinary, it offers obstacles of a quest. Yet, the mood and tone is very dark, lending a murky texture on screen. The theme is often ghostly, depicting spirits, apparitions, and miracles, all for the delight of audience escapism.
Wendy is a uniquely structure narrative that gives praise to a fine mostly child ensemble, and they will captivate the viewers.
FILM RATING (B-)
Friday, February 21, 2020
EMMA
Directed by: Autumn de Wilde
Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2020
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Adaptation, and Remake
Distributor: Focus Features
MPAA Rating: PG
A novel first published in 1815 by Jane Austen, tells a story about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. The setting is a fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families.
Emma, is a tale that explores the difficulties and concerns of genteel women living in the Georgian-Regency England. The narrative is focused on Emma Woodhouse, a handsome, clever, and rich nearly 21 year old woman. She lives in a comfortable home with very little to distress her spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfying personality; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.
In this formulated romantic dramedy, with mis-matched lovers and female relationships, the plot is melodramatic and gives a rise to gal-pal scenarios. Yet, it is also a film depicting family crises and emotional carthasis along with empowering female bonding situations.
The all-encompassing cast is led by Emma Wodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), the protagonist. She is a beautiful, high-spirited, intelligent, and slightly spoiled young woman from the landed gentry. Her mothe died when she was young, which delegates her as mistress of the house of Hartfield since her older sister Isabella got married. Emma is portrayed as compassionate to the poor, but at the same time has a strong sense of class status. Although she has vowed she will never marry, she delights in making matches for others. She has a brief flirtation with Frank Churchill (Callum Turner), an amiable young man liked by almost everyone, although Emma's friend/critic and neighbor Mr. George Knightley (Johnny Flynn) sees him as immature and selfish for failing to visit his once widowed father after his new wedding.
This 1800s period piece film is a sprawling epic and an engaging brilliant romp that covers a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. The production takes on an extravagant setting and period, lavish costumes, and accompany everything with grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score.
Emma has been the subject of many adaptations for film, TV, radio and the stage. Film adaptations: 1995 Clueless, 1996 Emma, and 2010 Aisha. There are also, 8 TV adaptations and 5 stage productions.
The outstanding supporting cast members, Bill Nighy as patriarch Mr. Woodhouse, Mia Goth, Myra McFadyen, Josh O'Connor, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whelan, Amber Anderson, Miranda Hart, Tanya Reynolds, Suzy Bloom Vanessa M. Owen, and Isis Hainsworth make this modernized narrative a quite moving and enjoyable addition to Jane Austen's legacy.
FILM RATING (B)
Directed by: Autumn de Wilde
Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2020
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Adaptation, and Remake
Distributor: Focus Features
MPAA Rating: PG
A novel first published in 1815 by Jane Austen, tells a story about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. The setting is a fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families.
Emma, is a tale that explores the difficulties and concerns of genteel women living in the Georgian-Regency England. The narrative is focused on Emma Woodhouse, a handsome, clever, and rich nearly 21 year old woman. She lives in a comfortable home with very little to distress her spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfying personality; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray.
In this formulated romantic dramedy, with mis-matched lovers and female relationships, the plot is melodramatic and gives a rise to gal-pal scenarios. Yet, it is also a film depicting family crises and emotional carthasis along with empowering female bonding situations.
The all-encompassing cast is led by Emma Wodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), the protagonist. She is a beautiful, high-spirited, intelligent, and slightly spoiled young woman from the landed gentry. Her mothe died when she was young, which delegates her as mistress of the house of Hartfield since her older sister Isabella got married. Emma is portrayed as compassionate to the poor, but at the same time has a strong sense of class status. Although she has vowed she will never marry, she delights in making matches for others. She has a brief flirtation with Frank Churchill (Callum Turner), an amiable young man liked by almost everyone, although Emma's friend/critic and neighbor Mr. George Knightley (Johnny Flynn) sees him as immature and selfish for failing to visit his once widowed father after his new wedding.
This 1800s period piece film is a sprawling epic and an engaging brilliant romp that covers a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. The production takes on an extravagant setting and period, lavish costumes, and accompany everything with grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score.
Emma has been the subject of many adaptations for film, TV, radio and the stage. Film adaptations: 1995 Clueless, 1996 Emma, and 2010 Aisha. There are also, 8 TV adaptations and 5 stage productions.
The outstanding supporting cast members, Bill Nighy as patriarch Mr. Woodhouse, Mia Goth, Myra McFadyen, Josh O'Connor, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whelan, Amber Anderson, Miranda Hart, Tanya Reynolds, Suzy Bloom Vanessa M. Owen, and Isis Hainsworth make this modernized narrative a quite moving and enjoyable addition to Jane Austen's legacy.
FILM RATING (B)
PREMATURE review by Gerald Wright
Directed by: Rashaad Ernesto Green
Running time: 86 minutes
Release date: February 21, 2020 Prime Video Streaming
Genre: Drama, Romance, Coming of Age, and Arthouse
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated
In a film co-written by director Green and lead actress Zora Howard comes a story of a young African-American woman finding herself on the precipice of adulthood as she navigates her way through the highs and lows of a life-changing summer romance in Harlem, New York.
Set against the backdrop of a changing Harlem landscape, it all begins on a summer night in the uptown Manhattan community during her last months at home before starting college, a seventeen-year-old poet Ayanna (Zora Howard) meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a charming music producer who has just moved to the city. It is not long before these two artistic souls are drawn together in a passionate summer romance. However, this is not to be categorized as a simple romantic young love story, where affairs of the heart that center on just passion, emotion, and the romantic, affectionate involvement of the main characters, and the journey that their love takes through courtship.
This is a serious, plot-driven presentation, portraying realistic African-American characters and life situations. It is a story depicting the natural order of uptown New York City, with its atmosphere and personalities. This is a breakthrough performance by Zora Howard, a Harlem-bred multidisciplinary creator and performer. Her poise and formidable engagement to the camera is sensational. The contemporary stories involving intense character development and interaction of the youth in the uptown community setting is genuine, as the plot evolves around the mysterious outsider and Ayanna. Her entire world is turned upside down on her path towards self-discovery as she travails the rigorous terrain of young love the summer before she leaves for college.
The dialogue is realistic and raw, which gives credibility to each character in the cast. Their performances are sensational and is a great addition to an impeccable script exploring love, Black America, single mothers, and a mother daughter relationship. Using Harlem as a backdrop, naturally ignites the pacing and rhythm, along with a great jazzy music score - it sets a unique tone.
This is a very good romantic coming-of-age dramatic narrative capturing a glimpse of intellectual and artistic black youth searching for eternal truth, with the life journey of confusion along the way.
FILM RATING (A+)
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
JUST MERCY
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Running time: 136 minutes
Release date: December 23, 2019 (Limited) & January 10, 2020 (Wide)
Genre: Drama, Biopic, and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In an American true story of Walter McMillian, a black man who with the help of young black defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, appeals his murder conviction of a white 18 year old Ronda Morrison in 1986 Alabama. Adapted from the novel by Bryan Stevenson by the same title, it is a film focusing on the two African-American men who battle the legally bias court system that has incarcerated countless people.
The film stars Michael B. Jordan as attorney Bryan Stevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, and Brie Larson as Eva Ansley, along with Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rafe Spall.
Attorney Bryan Stevenson takes the case of Walter McMillian, a man wrongfully imprisoned for a murder of a white woman. This is a serious character study, plot-driven presentation portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. It is an epic period-piece that takes on specific historical intent that plagues the American legal system.
The plot contextually begins with Walter McMillian, a black man who lives and works in a black settlement near Monroeville, a remote "dirt-poor" region of pine trees and bean farms. He is married and has children, without any criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming from a barroom fight. However, he had a well known extra-marital affair with a white woman.
18 year old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered on November 1986. At the time of her murder, Walter McMilian was at a church fish fry with dozen of witnesses, one whom was a police officer. Yet, Walter, who had no prior felony convictions, was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate on June 1987, who was under pressure to find a suspect. Walter was apprehended and was immediately sent to Alabama's Death Row facility, which is usually reserved for convicted murderers awaiting execution. He remained there, pre-trial, for 15 months. In a rigged trial on December 1987 Walter was convicted with another duped person.
The other layer of this story is about Bryan Stevenson, an African-American lawyer, social justice activist, and founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at NYU School of Law. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, Stevenson has challenged bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system. His beginnings is of a religious foundation, where as a youth in Delaware and Pennsylvania played piano and sang in church. As a child in the 1960s and 1970s Stevenson dealt with segregation and its legacy. He spent his first classroom years at a "colored" elementary school. By the time he entered his second year the desegregation laws went into effect, but the old rules from segregation still applied. Years later, after high academics through school(s), he earned his full scholarship to attend and graduated at Harvard Law School, and earned a Master's in Public Policy at the JFK School of Government in 1985. He then opened his defense organization in Montgomery, Alabama (funded by Congress), a resource center, Equal Justice Initiative. He guaranteed to provide legal assistance to people on death row in Alabama, the highest per capita rate of death penalty sentencing.
The film itself brilliantly portrays these two men's personal journey with the strain of racial injustice in American life. Against tremendous odds, this film examines and takes its audience into a world of dismay and resolvement of a wrongly convicted man. It is a must see movie.
FILM RATING (A)
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Running time: 136 minutes
Release date: December 23, 2019 (Limited) & January 10, 2020 (Wide)
Genre: Drama, Biopic, and Adaptation
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In an American true story of Walter McMillian, a black man who with the help of young black defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, appeals his murder conviction of a white 18 year old Ronda Morrison in 1986 Alabama. Adapted from the novel by Bryan Stevenson by the same title, it is a film focusing on the two African-American men who battle the legally bias court system that has incarcerated countless people.
The film stars Michael B. Jordan as attorney Bryan Stevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, and Brie Larson as Eva Ansley, along with Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rafe Spall.
Attorney Bryan Stevenson takes the case of Walter McMillian, a man wrongfully imprisoned for a murder of a white woman. This is a serious character study, plot-driven presentation portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. It is an epic period-piece that takes on specific historical intent that plagues the American legal system.
The plot contextually begins with Walter McMillian, a black man who lives and works in a black settlement near Monroeville, a remote "dirt-poor" region of pine trees and bean farms. He is married and has children, without any criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming from a barroom fight. However, he had a well known extra-marital affair with a white woman.
18 year old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered on November 1986. At the time of her murder, Walter McMilian was at a church fish fry with dozen of witnesses, one whom was a police officer. Yet, Walter, who had no prior felony convictions, was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate on June 1987, who was under pressure to find a suspect. Walter was apprehended and was immediately sent to Alabama's Death Row facility, which is usually reserved for convicted murderers awaiting execution. He remained there, pre-trial, for 15 months. In a rigged trial on December 1987 Walter was convicted with another duped person.
The other layer of this story is about Bryan Stevenson, an African-American lawyer, social justice activist, and founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at NYU School of Law. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, Stevenson has challenged bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system. His beginnings is of a religious foundation, where as a youth in Delaware and Pennsylvania played piano and sang in church. As a child in the 1960s and 1970s Stevenson dealt with segregation and its legacy. He spent his first classroom years at a "colored" elementary school. By the time he entered his second year the desegregation laws went into effect, but the old rules from segregation still applied. Years later, after high academics through school(s), he earned his full scholarship to attend and graduated at Harvard Law School, and earned a Master's in Public Policy at the JFK School of Government in 1985. He then opened his defense organization in Montgomery, Alabama (funded by Congress), a resource center, Equal Justice Initiative. He guaranteed to provide legal assistance to people on death row in Alabama, the highest per capita rate of death penalty sentencing.
The film itself brilliantly portrays these two men's personal journey with the strain of racial injustice in American life. Against tremendous odds, this film examines and takes its audience into a world of dismay and resolvement of a wrongly convicted man. It is a must see movie.
FILM RATING (A)
Saturday, December 14, 2019
6 UNDERGROUND
Directed by: Michael Bay
Release date: December 13, 2019
Genre: Comedy, Action/Adventure, and Thriller
Distributor: Netflix
MPAA Rating: R
In a film by Michael Bay, a filmmaker known for big-budget, high concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosives, comes another such genre movie.
From Bay's early years with Bad Boys (1995), Armageddon (1998) to Transformers:The Last Knight (2017) and Bumblebee (2018), and everything in between, has been electric "eye candy" cinematography. 6 Underground stays true to Bay's form with an added attraction of Ryan Reynolds and his satirical comedy. Much like the formulaic movies such as, The A Team and the original TV and film series Mission Impossible, this film could be a mirror.
This is a film whereas its plot is about six highly controversial individuals faking their own deaths to form a vigilante squad, in order to take down high image and notorious criminals. All of them were brought to the team by its leader Ryan Reynolds portraying ONE, aka The Billionaire for their unique skills and desire to erase their past and change the future.
The crew includes Melanie Laurent as TWO/ Camille "The Doctor", Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as THREE/Javier aka "The Hitman", Ben Hardy as FOUR/Billy aka "The Skywalker", Adria Arjona as FIVE/Amelia aka "The CIA Spook", Dave Franco as SIX aka "The Driver", and Cory Hawkins as SEVEN/Blaine "The Shooter". All characterized and engaged as energized participants in ultra-heightened thrilling missions. Their action-thriller parts include and promote intense excitement, suspense, high level anticipation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension, along with romantic comedy. This is all set with high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (explosions, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and crisp pacing, and adventurous, with two-dimensional 'good guys/gals heroes battling 'bad guys/gals - all designed for pure audience escapism.
The subplots of comedy mainly supplied by the always funny Ryan Reynolds is timely, but leaves room for the other members of the cast. The humor provokes laughter with one-liners, by exaggerating the situation, action, relationships, and characters. Yet, the combination of crime-caper thriller, action-thriller, and even romantic-thriller is stimulating, because 6 Underground all wind up as a wild and hilarious ride of absurdity.
This is film that will saturate the audience with layers of rich action sequences, but must be reminded that is a simplistic plot line involving the heroes'struggle against arch-nemesis and super-villains (usually interested in world domination and the wreaking of vengeance). Michael Bay delivers just that - and only that. Don't expect anything else.
FILM RATING (B-)
Gerald Wright
Directed by: Michael Bay
Release date: December 13, 2019
Genre: Comedy, Action/Adventure, and Thriller
Distributor: Netflix
MPAA Rating: R
In a film by Michael Bay, a filmmaker known for big-budget, high concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosives, comes another such genre movie.
From Bay's early years with Bad Boys (1995), Armageddon (1998) to Transformers:The Last Knight (2017) and Bumblebee (2018), and everything in between, has been electric "eye candy" cinematography. 6 Underground stays true to Bay's form with an added attraction of Ryan Reynolds and his satirical comedy. Much like the formulaic movies such as, The A Team and the original TV and film series Mission Impossible, this film could be a mirror.
This is a film whereas its plot is about six highly controversial individuals faking their own deaths to form a vigilante squad, in order to take down high image and notorious criminals. All of them were brought to the team by its leader Ryan Reynolds portraying ONE, aka The Billionaire for their unique skills and desire to erase their past and change the future.
The crew includes Melanie Laurent as TWO/ Camille "The Doctor", Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as THREE/Javier aka "The Hitman", Ben Hardy as FOUR/Billy aka "The Skywalker", Adria Arjona as FIVE/Amelia aka "The CIA Spook", Dave Franco as SIX aka "The Driver", and Cory Hawkins as SEVEN/Blaine "The Shooter". All characterized and engaged as energized participants in ultra-heightened thrilling missions. Their action-thriller parts include and promote intense excitement, suspense, high level anticipation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension, along with romantic comedy. This is all set with high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (explosions, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and crisp pacing, and adventurous, with two-dimensional 'good guys/gals heroes battling 'bad guys/gals - all designed for pure audience escapism.
The subplots of comedy mainly supplied by the always funny Ryan Reynolds is timely, but leaves room for the other members of the cast. The humor provokes laughter with one-liners, by exaggerating the situation, action, relationships, and characters. Yet, the combination of crime-caper thriller, action-thriller, and even romantic-thriller is stimulating, because 6 Underground all wind up as a wild and hilarious ride of absurdity.
This is film that will saturate the audience with layers of rich action sequences, but must be reminded that is a simplistic plot line involving the heroes'struggle against arch-nemesis and super-villains (usually interested in world domination and the wreaking of vengeance). Michael Bay delivers just that - and only that. Don't expect anything else.
FILM RATING (B-)
Gerald Wright
Sunday, December 08, 2019
HUSTLERS
Directed by: Lorene Scafaria
Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Release date: September 13, 2019
Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy, and Adaptation
Distribution: STX films
MPAA Rating: R
Based on New York magazine's 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores" by Jessica Pressler, comes an adaptation directed and written by Lorene Scafaria about a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to the tables on their Wall Street clients just prior to the 2008 U.S. economic crash that hit Wall Street hard.
This film can be considered an ensemble character production, but the Hustlers actually follows Destiny (Constance Wu, Rich Crazy Asians), who embraces her role as a young sensitive and vulnerable single mom woman struggling to make ends meet. She takes on a job as a stripper at a local New York City Strip Club. She enjoys the money from stripping, but is it more for the camaraderie than she is for the cash. Destiny's mother abandoned her when she was very young, so she has trust issues and hasn't let a lot of people in. The lack of meaningful relationships with women in her family life makes her longing for female friendship so much greater. This leads to her immediate friendship with dancer colleague Ramona (Jennifer Lopez).
Ramona, the club's top money earner, who's always in control, has the clientele figured out, and really knows her way around the pole. Yet, Ramona is endearing, complicated, and damaged, and her ambition threatens to cloud her sense of morality and connection to Destiny and the rest of the women dancers. Jennifer Lopez captures this image o screen as a slippery slope and seduces people to her own agenda. She is known as the mama bear who is always reaching for more than who she really is.
Annabelle (Lili Reinhart) takes on a character that is a combination of innocence and allure. Innocently provocative and a little clueless on life. She is in a especially vulnerable place living without her family, which has rejected her because of her profession, and trying to get by the best way she can. She responds to Ramona's motherly care and immediately bonds with her.
Mercedes (Keke Palmer is fearless and always says what's on her mind, but is also cool and put-together, even when trying to make ends meet. She has a sense of humor about almost everything. She thinks of Ramona, Destiny, and Annabelle as her sisters.
Liz (Lizzo) is the strong sassy ebullient stripper. She is confident and a gifted performer who struts into the spotlight. She also is a woman who speaks her mind, censors nothing, and delivers an enviable level of honesty and pure passion.
Diamond (Cardi B) is a tough woman from the Bronx who has worked at the strip club for a year. She is a little more hardcore and acerbic than the other dancers and she doesn't take heart from anyone - but thanks to Ramona, she eventually connects with Destiny and joins the ladies in celebrating their new bonds.
While setting up the character development of these women, the film gives the atmospheric tone of the seedy and gritty life in this profession. The sequences are of a lot of 'shake your booty' scenes as sleezy men admire. The meat of this film emerges when a reporter, Elizabeth (Julia Stiles), chronicles the story of these women through interviews with Destiny and Ramona. It is a story of how these women concoct a plan to drug, manipulate, and extract the wealthy Wall Street clientele's funds via credit cards.
However, this film should have been constructed better. The emphasis should have given more to the actual scams and personal temperaments of the women, opposed to the three quarters of running time of a 'shake you booty movie' imagery. The montages are weak, and the controversial performances lack realism. This is a film that has a lot do with nothing relevant. I felt little and no engagement to any of the characters or scenes - none for theft by the strippers and none for the idiot wealthy male victims. What a waste of cinematic time.
FILM RATING (C)
Gerald Wright
Directed by: Lorene Scafaria
Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Release date: September 13, 2019
Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy, and Adaptation
Distribution: STX films
MPAA Rating: R
Based on New York magazine's 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores" by Jessica Pressler, comes an adaptation directed and written by Lorene Scafaria about a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to the tables on their Wall Street clients just prior to the 2008 U.S. economic crash that hit Wall Street hard.
This film can be considered an ensemble character production, but the Hustlers actually follows Destiny (Constance Wu, Rich Crazy Asians), who embraces her role as a young sensitive and vulnerable single mom woman struggling to make ends meet. She takes on a job as a stripper at a local New York City Strip Club. She enjoys the money from stripping, but is it more for the camaraderie than she is for the cash. Destiny's mother abandoned her when she was very young, so she has trust issues and hasn't let a lot of people in. The lack of meaningful relationships with women in her family life makes her longing for female friendship so much greater. This leads to her immediate friendship with dancer colleague Ramona (Jennifer Lopez).
Ramona, the club's top money earner, who's always in control, has the clientele figured out, and really knows her way around the pole. Yet, Ramona is endearing, complicated, and damaged, and her ambition threatens to cloud her sense of morality and connection to Destiny and the rest of the women dancers. Jennifer Lopez captures this image o screen as a slippery slope and seduces people to her own agenda. She is known as the mama bear who is always reaching for more than who she really is.
Annabelle (Lili Reinhart) takes on a character that is a combination of innocence and allure. Innocently provocative and a little clueless on life. She is in a especially vulnerable place living without her family, which has rejected her because of her profession, and trying to get by the best way she can. She responds to Ramona's motherly care and immediately bonds with her.
Mercedes (Keke Palmer is fearless and always says what's on her mind, but is also cool and put-together, even when trying to make ends meet. She has a sense of humor about almost everything. She thinks of Ramona, Destiny, and Annabelle as her sisters.
Liz (Lizzo) is the strong sassy ebullient stripper. She is confident and a gifted performer who struts into the spotlight. She also is a woman who speaks her mind, censors nothing, and delivers an enviable level of honesty and pure passion.
Diamond (Cardi B) is a tough woman from the Bronx who has worked at the strip club for a year. She is a little more hardcore and acerbic than the other dancers and she doesn't take heart from anyone - but thanks to Ramona, she eventually connects with Destiny and joins the ladies in celebrating their new bonds.
While setting up the character development of these women, the film gives the atmospheric tone of the seedy and gritty life in this profession. The sequences are of a lot of 'shake your booty' scenes as sleezy men admire. The meat of this film emerges when a reporter, Elizabeth (Julia Stiles), chronicles the story of these women through interviews with Destiny and Ramona. It is a story of how these women concoct a plan to drug, manipulate, and extract the wealthy Wall Street clientele's funds via credit cards.
However, this film should have been constructed better. The emphasis should have given more to the actual scams and personal temperaments of the women, opposed to the three quarters of running time of a 'shake you booty movie' imagery. The montages are weak, and the controversial performances lack realism. This is a film that has a lot do with nothing relevant. I felt little and no engagement to any of the characters or scenes - none for theft by the strippers and none for the idiot wealthy male victims. What a waste of cinematic time.
FILM RATING (C)
Gerald Wright
MIDWAY
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Running time: 2 hours 18 minutes
Release date: November 8, 2019
Genre: Drama, Action, and History
Distributor: Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In an all-star cast of Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckart, Nick Jonas, Etsushi Toyokawa, Tadanobu Asano, Luke Kleintank, Jun Kunimura, Darren Criss, Keean Johnson, Alexander Ludwig, with Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid and Woody Harrelson, Midway centers on the Battle of Midway. A clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and military who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome the odds. The historical facts are portrayed in an impressive reenactment that took place between 4 and 7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
The U.S. Navy under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanes Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa), Chuichi Nagumo (JunKunimura), and Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano) near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable.
With the keen eye of cinematographer Robby Baumgartner, the visuals are brilliant capturing strategic battles in the Pacific. This epic period piece covers a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. It also, shares elements of elaborate adventure sequences, and adds an extravagant setting, accompanied everything with grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, and high production values. Yet, it is a serious plot-driven presentation, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.
This is a brilliant memorial.
FILM RATING (A)
Gerald Wright
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Running time: 2 hours 18 minutes
Release date: November 8, 2019
Genre: Drama, Action, and History
Distributor: Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In an all-star cast of Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckart, Nick Jonas, Etsushi Toyokawa, Tadanobu Asano, Luke Kleintank, Jun Kunimura, Darren Criss, Keean Johnson, Alexander Ludwig, with Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid and Woody Harrelson, Midway centers on the Battle of Midway. A clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and military who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome the odds. The historical facts are portrayed in an impressive reenactment that took place between 4 and 7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
The U.S. Navy under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanes Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa), Chuichi Nagumo (JunKunimura), and Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano) near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable.
With the keen eye of cinematographer Robby Baumgartner, the visuals are brilliant capturing strategic battles in the Pacific. This epic period piece covers a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. It also, shares elements of elaborate adventure sequences, and adds an extravagant setting, accompanied everything with grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, and high production values. Yet, it is a serious plot-driven presentation, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.
This is a brilliant memorial.
FILM RATING (A)
Gerald Wright
DARK WATERS
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes
Release date: November 22, 2019
Genre: Drama, History, and Biopic
Distributor: Focus Features
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In a historical "David vs. Goliath" drama, shown in a not so larger than life situation, the truth of how environmental contamination has caused horrific results in the United States of America for several decades. This film also shows how one man's pursuit for truth brings down the corporate world.
A corporate defense attorney turned public advocate Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of waste dumping and pollution.
Dark Waters gives light to Robert Billot, an American attorney who has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of chemicals Perflourooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Mark Ruffalo gives a very good personal background of Billot, an offspring of an U.S. Air Force veteran, whose childhood was lived on several military installations. Whose aggressive insight in life and law garnered him a law degree in 1990.
When a case was brought to him, as a partner with Taft Stettinius & Hollister, he undertook an investigation dating back to 1947 when 3M (then Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) began producing PFOA. This then known as Teflon, was then in 1951 purchased by DuPont and label the chemical as C8. A study of workers living near a DuPont Teflon plant found an association between PFOA exposure and two kinds of cancer as well as four other diseases. This included 110,000 files consisting of confidential studies and reports conducted by DuPont scientists over decades. By 1993, DuPont understood that PFOA caused cancer in lab animals. However, this was an integral part of DuPont's earning and they refused to cancel the manufacturing. Billot had learned that both 3M and DuPont had been conducting secret medical studies for more than four decades.
In a classic legal drama setting, a class-action lawsuit atmosphere is depicted on screen. The film uses steady pacing and rhythm as it examines the case and life of an important personage from the past to the present era. With the excellent supporting cast of Anne Hathaway as wife Sarah Billot, William Jackson Harper and Bill Camp as victims James Ross and Wilbur Tennant, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, and Mare Winningham the production's performances are highly effective and powerfully displayed.
FILM RATING (B+)
Gerald Wright
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes
Release date: November 22, 2019
Genre: Drama, History, and Biopic
Distributor: Focus Features
MPAA Rating: PG-13
In a historical "David vs. Goliath" drama, shown in a not so larger than life situation, the truth of how environmental contamination has caused horrific results in the United States of America for several decades. This film also shows how one man's pursuit for truth brings down the corporate world.
A corporate defense attorney turned public advocate Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo), takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of waste dumping and pollution.
Dark Waters gives light to Robert Billot, an American attorney who has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of chemicals Perflourooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Mark Ruffalo gives a very good personal background of Billot, an offspring of an U.S. Air Force veteran, whose childhood was lived on several military installations. Whose aggressive insight in life and law garnered him a law degree in 1990.
When a case was brought to him, as a partner with Taft Stettinius & Hollister, he undertook an investigation dating back to 1947 when 3M (then Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) began producing PFOA. This then known as Teflon, was then in 1951 purchased by DuPont and label the chemical as C8. A study of workers living near a DuPont Teflon plant found an association between PFOA exposure and two kinds of cancer as well as four other diseases. This included 110,000 files consisting of confidential studies and reports conducted by DuPont scientists over decades. By 1993, DuPont understood that PFOA caused cancer in lab animals. However, this was an integral part of DuPont's earning and they refused to cancel the manufacturing. Billot had learned that both 3M and DuPont had been conducting secret medical studies for more than four decades.
In a classic legal drama setting, a class-action lawsuit atmosphere is depicted on screen. The film uses steady pacing and rhythm as it examines the case and life of an important personage from the past to the present era. With the excellent supporting cast of Anne Hathaway as wife Sarah Billot, William Jackson Harper and Bill Camp as victims James Ross and Wilbur Tennant, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, and Mare Winningham the production's performances are highly effective and powerfully displayed.
FILM RATING (B+)
Gerald Wright
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