MOVIES
No Other Choice – 10
South Korean Director Park Chan-wook is a legend in his country. His “Old Boy” is often cited as a classic, This
movie was nominated for an Oscar in the Foreign Film Category. It’s a most modern story. A middle-aged man named Man-Su, who has been
a loyal leader for many years at his paper company, becomes a down-sizing
victim. Like so many men, his job has
been his definition for many years, so he takes it hard. His reaction is a little extreme. He becomes a killer, eliminating his re-hire competition. The tone of the movie switches with each murder. You have to be there.
The family dynamics are fascinating as the son and wife begin to realize what's going on. I could go on and on,but see it. Then call me.
A fascinating chronicle of real-life events from 1977, that I guess I
completely missed. The steady director
Gus Van Sant chronicles a hostage situation that got the nation’s
attention. Bill Skarsgard plays Tony
Kiritsis, who comes to meet with his mortgage banker, who has “done him
wrong.” The banker, played by Al Pacino
(in a movie that’s a distinct call back to his Dog Day Afternoon) is out of
town, so Tony takes the son Richard hostage and wires a shotgun to his neck
with a dead man’s wire. The hostage
situation plays out over several days, until the whole country is tuned
in. Since I knew nothing of this I found
the roll out of events to be quite the surprise. Good movie, good history lesson.
The Bride – 8
Fresh off an Oscar for Hamnet, the incredible Jesse Buckley
is even more primal as the Bride of Frankenstein in Director Maggie
Gyllenhall’s wild interpretation of the old classic. That movie starred Elsa Lanchester in an
acclaimed movie with Boris Karloff as the monster. This movie with Christian Bale playing
Frankenstein, is absolutely bonkers.
Bale and Buckley commit 100% to their roles and it’s a sight to behold. That’s not to say it’s enjoyable. It’s about as over the top as any movie I’ve
seen. Enter at your own risk.
Bugonia – 8
Sometimes I screw movies up by figuring out the twist pretty early, as I did
with this one. I’m not saying it was
obvious, but once I knew where it was going, it lessened my enjoyment of the
ride. Jesse Plemon’s character, Teddy is nuts.
He kidnaps his boss, played to perfection by Emma Stone, because he
believes she is an evil alien, and once he and his slow cousin, Don, played by
Aidan Delbis, start their battle of nitwits with Emma, the movie is
riveting. Director Yorgos Lanthimos is
trying to repeat his magic that got Emma an Oscar for Poor Things, and he
doesn’t quite get there, but it’s not for lack of trying.
Don’t Breathe – 8
A 2017 B movie, this is the story of a trio of inept teenage burglars who try
to steal the fortune of a blind veteran.
The vet is played by Stephen Lang, whom I will always think of as Ike
Clanton from Tombstone. He is really a
great actor, and just doesn’t seem to get many parts. But,
when he does, he kills it, as he does here.
The tension is great considering this is B all the way. Will the robbery
go as planned? Will they get what they
want?
Nonnas – 6
An interesting true story that could have been so much better. Vince Vaugn plays a man who hires
grandmothers to chef his restaurant on Staten Island. Now, it’s a restaurant I would go to, but the
movie takes so long to get to the opening of the restaurant that it barely held
my attention. It’s one of those movies
you want to yell at the screen, “Get it on with it!” They took a fascinating story and made it
boring. But I'd still eat there.
Jack Ryan: Ghost War
– 2
Amazon Prime is the current owner of the Jack Ryan franchise and seems
desperate to blow things up and have a signature series. Their latest attempt is an awful two hour
follow up to their awful last season they aired a couple of years ago. I was never a big fan of the various
iterations of Jack Ryan, but this is an atrocious piece of gun porn. John Krasinski was an interesting analyst,
but not a convincing action hero. Reboot. Please.
STREAMING/BINGING
and what’s left of Network Television
Schmigadoon (first season) -10
I have no idea why it took me so long to watch this Apple+ musical series. It’s a testament to the power of Lorne
Michaels, whose 5 decades producing Saturday Nigh Live and later the Tonight
Show and Late Night must have made him the most powerful man in Show
Business. The reason I say that is
because the centerpiece of this movie are the showtunes with new words written
very cleverly. I can only imagine how much
that music most have cost to license. Not to
mention that convincing the owners to even give them up for use in something
like this. I guess you don’t say no to
Lorne Michaels.
Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong are surprisingly fantastic as the couple who wanders into the Oz like Schmigadoon, a village that is described as stuck in a 1940’s musical. If you like musicals like I do, stop what you’re doing and check this out. Hang in there, and you'll be rewarded.
DOCUMENTARIES
A Warehouse on Tchoupitoulas – 8
This is a short and fascinating documentary about the legendary New Orleans
bastion of rock. They take us from
founding to razing, with some nice musical stories from the talking heads. I have a great poster of all the ticket stubs
of the greats who came through, and even though I think I only went once, hail,
hail, rock n roll.
Marty, Life is Short – 8
I can’t say I’ve been a big Martin Short fan, although I loved SCTV where he
began his career. This changed my mind
about him. First, his persistence in
establishing a career, is every bit the same as any other worker in
America. Secondly, his family life is
rapturous, until he loses his beloved wife to ovarian cancer. The many stars who guest and testify make it
all very interesting.
CLASSICS
Rolling Thunder – 7
I was reading an article about Quentin Tarantino who cited his favorite
influential movies from the 70’s and he liked this one so much he named his
production company after it. It’s a 1977
revenge tale and it’s a violent bloody mess, notable for its cast of William
Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. They come
home from Vietnam as famous released Prisoners of War. Not bad at all, but definitely the kind of
movie made for the drive in’s of the day.
