MOVIE REVIEW: THE FATHER

 

A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.

Director: Florian Zeller

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams

Release Date: February 26, 2021

Genre: Drama

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, and thematic material

Runtime: 1 h 37 min

Review:

The Father is a twisty poetic character study of a man experiencing dementia from his point of view.  Florian Zeller, adapting his own stage play, builds his film with a disorienting structure which works wonderfully by putting the audience in the main character’s mind.  Events are replayed or rerun with slight variations that leave you questioning which version of reality is actually real.  This is the type of film that benefits from its structure but is carried by its performers.  Zeller provides Anthony Hopkins a stage and he runs with it by delivering one of the best performances of his storied career.  Hopkins runs a master class in acting from start to finish.  There are multiple moments where he moves through a series of emotions with such ease and authenticity that you have to marvel at his talents.  It’s the type of the performance that will be used in acting classes for years to come.  The supporting cast is made up strong actors who are more than capable at holding their own on the screen with Hopkins.  Olivia Colman gets the largest portion of the load and she does well, always keeping everything grounded and painfully real. There are a bevy of these type of prestige films that pop up every year with varying results, Florian Zeller’s The Father works on multiple levels while providing a showcase to a legendary living legend.

A

MOVIE REVIEW: JUDY

Thirty years after starring in "The Wizard of Oz," beloved actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.

Director: Rupert Goold

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon

Release Date: September 27, 2019

Genre: Biography, Drama, History

Rated PG-13 for substance abuse, thematic content, some strong language, and smoking

Runtime: 1 h 58 min

Review:

You walk into some movies knowing full well its awards fodder.  Biopics in the fall are generally the biggest culprits and whether those films sink or swim is usually up to the central star of the piece.  Renée Zellweger in Rupert Goold’s film delivers a transformative performance that overcomes some of the story’s shortcomings.  Goold’s direction is steady and loving but he’s clearly more comfortable during the musical sequences.  Those musical sequences are the kind of award moments that are moving and sort of magical.  Whether you like Renée Zellweger’s voice is a matter of personal taste but she pours everything into those moments and you’d be hard pressed not to be moved by pain and sadness of Garland’s final days.  The film itself is a bit clunky in spots particularly with expositional flashbacks that are used to flesh out Garland’s early days.  Those sequences are ok but they feel shoehorned in and sort of unnecessary since Zellweger is more than capable of convening her tragic life and pain. Judy is one of those types of film’s that is better than it deserves to be because of a singular start delivering an Oscar worthy performance.


A-

Cindy Prascik's Review of Hercules & Lucy

Dearest Blog, today it was off to the cinema for a double-bill guaranteed to make me feel like a doughy old lump: Dwayne Johnson's Hercules and Scarlett Johansson's Lucy.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

First on the docket was Hercules.

Having successfully completed his legendary Twelve Labors, Hercules and his band of mercenaries find something besides gold that's worth fighting for.

Now, reader(s), you just knew this one was going to be silly, didn't you? Yeah, so did I, but it doesn't take itself very seriously at all, so I didn't mind. Dwayne Johnson is, as always, a truly engaging screen presence. You'll probably never see this guy carting home an Academy Award, but dude knows how to win and hold an audience.

You'll wonder why John Hurt and Ian McShane (one of my all-time favorites), even bother with stuff like this, but the movie is better for having them, so no complaints here. I'm sure their bank accounts have no complaints, either. The wonderful Rufus Sewell is also a welcome addition. Hercules' effects are decent and of course HUGE, if nothing too special. The story is passable entertainment, but, with such scintillating dialogue as, "Don't just stand there, KILL SOMEBODY!"...well...it isn't exactly Aaron Sorkin.

Hercules runs 98 minutes and is rated PG13 for "epic battle sequences, violence, suggestive comments, brief strong language, and partial nudity."

If it's just brainless fun, well, I'll take self-aware silliness like this over pompous drivel like the Planet of the Apes franchise any day.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Hercules gets five and a half.

Next up was ScarJo headlining Lucy.

A party girl living abroad is forced to carry drugs out of the country. When the package leaks inside her, it expands her mind's capacity to unthinkable levels.

Okay, confession time. I am what Hollywood refers to as "part of the problem." I don't generally see movies that star women. Women's movies don't interest me, and even an action thriller starring a woman wouldn't have made my list on a stronger weekend. Having said that, I've been falling a little bit in love with Scarlett Johansson's voice of late (but who hasn't...am I right, Joaquin Phoenix??), and since it was a weak weekend and Hercules wouldn't work with another screening of Jersey Boys, Lucy wound up the default closer of my double-header.

I admit, I was surprised by Lucy, and not altogether pleasantly. I wasn't bored--which I feared I would be--but at some point the movie degenerates from a solid-if-predictable action movie to broadly-drawn science fiction, and, while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. Johansson is capable in the lead, not to mention pretty darn hot, and Morgan Freeman is steady if somewhat underused.

I very much like the idea, but am unsold on its execution, and if the little science-class movie clips were kind of clever the first dozen times, I got tired of that trick before the halfway mark. To its credit, the movie keeps moving and doesn't wear out its welcome, but it would have fared better had filmmakers toned down the sci-fi a bit.

Lucy clocks in at 90 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality."

A little something different to break up your summer of superheroes and sequels, of a possible nine Weasleys, Lucy gets six...which would probably be at least half a Weasley higher if it were Louis instead.

Until next time..

Do I care if this movie is terrible? No, I do not.

[Trailer] Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Since the film adaptation of Pride, Prejudice and Zombies died on the vine I took some small solace in knowing the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was still a go.

A few hiccups along the way we finally have a trailer for it and it looks like all kinds of delicious genre fun I’d hope it’d be, a tad too much slow mo for my taste but that’s to be expected with Bekmambetov at the helm…..

Movie Reviews: LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, THE ILLUSIONIST & FRIENDS WITH MONEY

Sunday, January 28, 2007
Movie Reviews: LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, THE ILLUSIONIST & FRIENDS WITH MONEY

In theaters

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Clint Eastwood's follow-up to Flags of Our Fathers details another story from Iwo Jima, but this time, the tale is told from the Japanese side of the battle. The film follows real-life Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) who battled American troops for 40 days on the island of Iwo Jima.

Cast Ken Watanabe, Shido Nakamura, Tsuyosi Ihara, Hiroshi Watanabe, Takeshi Yamaguchi, Tim Moore (more)

Director(s) Clint Eastwood

Status In theaters (wide)

Genre(s) Drama

Release Date Dec. 20, 2006 — limited; Jan. 12, 2007 — wide

MPAA Rating R - Rated R for graphic war violence.

Review:

Clint Eastwood's companion piece to Flag of our Fathers, Letter from Iwo Jima proves to be the more accomplished film of the two. Eastwood gives us and unsentimental view of war and it's affect on it participants. This film does a masterful job of showing these combatants as real people whose motivation are really very similar to their counterparts. This is a methodical, thoughtful exploration of heady themes like patriotism, courage and the futility of war. Ken Watanabe brings an excellent sense of gravitas to his role and gives an excellent portrait of a man doing his duty in the face of an impossible task. Kazunari Ninomiya delivers an excellent performance as Saigo, the unwilling soldier who was dragged into his country's war. Overall, this an excellent film and probably one of the best war films of all time.

A

On DVD

THE ILLUSIONIST

When word of the famed Eisenheim's (Ed Norton) illusions reaches Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), the ruler attends one of the magician's shows in order to debunk the performance. But when the prince's intended, Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel), assists the magician onstage, Eisenheim and Sophie recognize each other from their childhoods, and pretty soon they're totally hot for each other. As the clandestine romance continues, the prince's best cop (Paul Giamatti) is charged with exposing Eisenheim, even while the magician gains a devoted and vocal public following. Before long, Sophie turns up dead, and the logical suspect is Eisenheim himself.

Cast Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan, Jake Wood (more)

Director(s) Neil Burger, Bob Yari

Writer(s) Brian Koppelman, David Levien

Status On DVD

Genre(s) Drama

Release Date Aug. 18, 2006 — limited; Sept. 1, 2006 — wide

DVD Release Date Jan. 9, 2007

Running Time 110 minutes

MPAA Rating PG-13 - for some sexuality and violence.

Review:

The Illusionist will be compared to the other similarly themed Christopher Nolan film, The Prestige. The Nolan film is a better overall film but The Illusionist does deliver an excellent, if more fanciful endeavor, experience. Watching Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti through this great cat and mouse game is a true joy to watch as both are in top form. The film's beautiful stylized sepia toned looked is wonderful to watch and makes the film more of a pleasurable experience. The Illusionist's ability to engage the audience is due in large part mostly to the aforementioned excellent performances from the stellar cast. Rufus Sewell seems to have cornered the market on villainous period monarchs and does well here, even if his character is a bit one note. Jessica Biel does fairly well in what amounts to a cameo. Where the film falters is in its plot and resolution. The ending comes off as a bit of a cheat and quiet a few questions are left unanswered. Regardless, this is a still a very good film with excellent performances.

B-

FRIENDS WITH MONEY

Olivia (Aniston) quit her teaching job and now cleans houses for a living while continuing her seemingly endless quest to find a decent guy. Her three friends are more fortunate, at least on the surface. Jane (McDormand) is a successful designer, but she's growing apart from her husband, Aaron (McBurney). Christine (Keener) is a screenwriter, but her spouse, Patrick (Isaacs), is getting grouchier by the day. Franny (Cusack) and Matt (Stephenson) are independently wealthy, but all the extra money has left them bored and alienated.

Cast Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs (more)

Director(s) Nicole Holofcener

Writer(s) Nicole Holofcener

Status On DVD

Genre(s) Comedy

Release Date April 7, 2006; April 21, 2006

DVD Release Date Aug. 29, 2006

Running Time 88 minutes

MPAA Rating R - language, some sexual content and brief drug use

Review:

Friends with Money is a smart well written film. This is the kind of movie that is all about dialogue. The characters in this film really have some great interactions. Jennifer Aniston plays way against character as a depressed pot smoking misfit. She does fairly well and does an adequate job of displaying the characters despair, though at times her performance lacks some depth. The rest of the cast is made up of some of the best female performers in film today with Frances McDormand being the real stand out. This film's general sense of melancholy kind of has the rug pulled out from under it with an ending that seems to a little too manufactured. However, the movie as a whole is an enjoyable study of happiness of lack there of.

B