MOVIE REVIEW: FERRARI

 

During the summer of 1957, bankruptcy looms over the company that Enzo Ferrari and his wife built 10 years earlier. He decides to roll the dice and wager it all on the iconic Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.

Director: Michael Mann

Cast: Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O'Connell, Patrick Dempsey

Release Date: December 25, 2023

Genre: Biography, Drama, History

Rated R for some violent content/graphic images, sexual content and language.

Runtime: 2h 11m

Michael Mann's Ferrari is a slick, easily digestible bio pic led by strong central performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz with the latter nearly stealing the show.  Mann gives the film the kind of polish that you'd expect from any of his films with the racing sequences pulsing off the screen.  The quieter moments he leaves to his stellar cast lead by Adam Driver.  Driver's quiet intensity and determination shines through even though he's a tad too young for the roles even as he sports a fully silver head of hair for the majority of the film.  He manages to give the character plenty of depth with his nuanced performance.  The film really sizzles when Penélope Cruz joins him onscreen as she delivers an excellent turn as Ferrari's emotionally broken wife.  Cruz's brings an acidic passion and anger to the screen with incredible ease which speaks to her immense talent.  While the story is engaging enough it never quite finds the same sort of energy when Cruz is off screen leaving Shailene Woodley's character feel rather bland and uninteresting in comparison.  This leaves those moments a more ponderous which kills the film's energy and overall pacing which makes the film far more choppy than it should be.  The film does recover in its final act with a pulse pounding and ultimately tragic race that's initially thrilling before delivering a brutal gut punch.  Those closing moments do give the story a more grounded and somber feel to the story of Ferrari and his life's passion.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: DUMB MONEY

 

Everyday people flip the script on Wall Street and get rich by turning GameStop into one of the world's hottest companies. In the middle of everything is Keith Gill, a regular guy who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock. When his social media posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets wealthy -- until the billionaires fight back and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Director: Craig Gillespie

Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Seth Rogen

Release Date: September 15, 2023 

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use

Runtime: 1h 44m

Craig Gillespie's Dumb Money takes the 2021 GameStop stock madness and breaks it down into an easily digestible and enjoyable annotated version of the true story.  He gives his film a chaotic energy which fits the subject matter perfectly even though the film describes the investing strategies at play.  The early exposition dump does a solid job of explaining the concepts in such a manner that any layman, myself included, can follow the ideas with general ease.  The story follows multiple angles of the story with the central focus being on Dano's Keith Gill who kick starts the events.  Additionally, we get moments with the hedge fund managers and retail investors as the stock situation explodes on the scene.  The ensemble does a solid job of making these moments engaging even if they don't offer the sort of depth that the main storyline is afforded.  Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Vincent D'Onofrio and Sebastian Stan make up the money side of the story with Rogen getting the most screen time and subsequently leaves the biggest impression. Offerman, D'Onofrio and Stan aren't asked to do much outside of looking smug or annoyed for a variety of reasons.   The rest of the ensemble played by familiar faces like America Ferrera and Anthony Ramos makes up the everyday retail investors who rally behind Gill's market play.  The characters themselves are composites of real people with the film content to use them to represent types of people as opposed to something a bit more nuanced and three dimensional.  Dano gets much more to work with his character getting more depth and texture throughout the film.  In turn he delivers a likeable, sincere performance that makes his character easy to root for from start to finish.  The film does gloss over some of the murkier details on the Reddit boards, other stocks that were part of situation and overall lasting effect of everything that went down.  There are plenty of documentaries that get into more the nitty gritty of what happened, but Dumb Money makes for a fascinating, well crafted cinematic retelling that captures the spirit of the moment.  

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Endings, Beginnings

Ahhh...dear reader(s)...two weeks in a row!

Beginning to feel like old times again, eh? To anyone new to my reviews, I apologize. It must seem like I don't like any movies. On the contrary, historically I've been a little too easy to please at the cinema, but...well...it feels like a very long time since I've seen a good movie. I am sorry to say the unlucky streak continues with Endings, Beginnings.

Spoiler level here will be mild, very little you wouldn't know from the trailers.

After a hasty decision leaves her jobless and homeless, a young woman attempts to get her life back on track.

Endings, Beginnings is a "finding yourself" movie. Kinda like Wild, but younger and with less pooping in the woods. Our heroine, Daphne (portrayed by Shailene Woodley), is the stereotypical screwed-up millennial, constantly attempting to rebound from poor life choices, with just enough visible ink and piercings to make your mom roll her eyes if she's watching this with you. (Spoiler Alert: Unless your mom is cool with people having sex on the kitchen counter, don't let her watch this with you.)

A problematic lead requires skilled handling.  With vile characters, it's up to the filmmakers to convey their loathsomeness without making a movie everyone hates. With troubled characters like Daphne, it's up to the filmmakers to earn them the viewer's support on their journey. While I think a person's tolerance for such troubled characters may reflect their own experiences (it's no fun having a Daphne in your life), this film doesn't do much to get you on her side, either. Woodley could play this role in her sleep, but lingering shots of her sobbing and staring out the window will hardly be the highlight of her sizzle reel. The traumatic event and subsequent decisions that leave Daphne where we find her at the beginning of the film — unemployed and living in her sister's pool house — are serious, yet the movie never quite distances them from what we're lead to believe is Daphne's history of pointlessly sketchy choices. We're meant to buy into Daphne's attempts at personal growth and redemption over the course of the film, yet (minus any spoilery specifics) the picture ends with her making an extremely selfish decision, weakly disguised as her finally having grown up. It's beyond offensive; it's repulsive.

Endings, Beginnings has a nice supporting cast, with Wendy Malik and Kyra Sedgwick in small roles as Daphne's mother and mother-like figure, and Jamie Dornan (using his real Irish accent... *swoon*) and Sebastian Stan as Daphne's potential suitors. At risk of sounding like a broken record, I think Sebastian Stan is the finest actor of his generation, and it's a shame he seldom gets a project that lets him flex more than the Winter Soldier's metal bicep. He turns in some nice work here, as does Dornan, but, really, the characters are paper dolls and there just isn't much to work with. (Broken Record II: Please check out the short-lived TV series Kings, available for streaming or download from all the usual places. Stan is magnificent in it.)

Petty annoyances: In addition to the many (MANY) overlong shots of Daphne crying herself to sleep and moping over her "suffering" Spotify playlist, Endings, Beginnings also repeatedly features dialogue overlapping the scene where it was spoken, but out of synch with the visual. I think it was supposed to be artistic. I've seen it work in other movies. Here it’s off just enough to look like someone messed up the editing. There's a New Year's Eve party with a "2019" balloon clearly visible in the background, but our hipster heroine is wearing a gold lame dress that looks like it barely escaped a 1986 prom with its life. Like the aforementioned Wild, which featured the abominable line, "I'm not even in the driver's seat of my own life!" Endings, Beginnins offers this nugget: "I don't think you understand who's next in line to be loved by you. It's YOU." (*shoots self in head*)  If you, dear reader(s), will forgive my bringing Woodley's Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon into play yet again, Endings, Beginnings is a little like a miserable version of This Means War.

Endings, Beginnings clocks in at 110 minutes and is unrated. In the absence of official MPAA guidelines, please be warned of graphic language, semi-graphic sex, alcohol and drug use, and pretty much non-stop smoking.

Endings, Beginnings offers solid evidence that sometimes people who try to "find themselves" should just stay lost. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Endings, Beginnings gets four.

Until next time...

(PS: I double-checked our web page, and the last good movie I saw was the Gentlemen on January 25th. Yikes.)

Cindy Prascik's Review of Snowden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas to check out the latest from Oliver Stone: Snowden. 

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers. Convinced the US government's spying has gone too far, a CIA consultant steals information to expose its secrets. Snowden is awards bait at its most obvious. 

 

Timely, contentious subject matter combines with decorated talent to peg it an early contender, but that doesn't necessarily make it a great movie. 

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is compelling as Edward Snowden, though his deliberate method of speech is nearly as distracting as his French accent was in The Walk. Rhys Ifans and Nicolas Cage turn in terrific performances as Snowden's CIA mentors, and Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, and Tom Wilkinson are fantastic as the journalists who helped break Snowden's remarkable story. 

 

While Snowden's tale is undoubtedly fascinating, the movie seems to drag. Your attention isn't likely to wander too far, but you'll be getting mighty fidgety by the second act. A political story by default, Snowden may annoy both sides of the aisle equally. 

 

Unlike last weekend's pristine cinema hero, Sully, Ed Snowden is no squeaky-clean good guy; his reasons were brave and selfless, but he still broke laws intended to protect the country he loves so much. Is he a heroic villian? A villianous hero? The movie asks the questions, but isn't all that convincing in its answer. Snowden is distractingly desperate for awards, but there are some great moments to be found. 

 

A scene where a video-screen Ifans looms cartoonishly-large over Levitt's doubting Snowen is particularly effective. 

 

The film maintains tension throughout, but a cheesy ending leaves you feeling like it was all for naught. Snowden clocks in at 134 minutes and is rated R for "language and some sexuality/nudity." Snowden is a reasonably entertaining outing, but its heavy-handedness is ultimately its downfall. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Snowden gets five and a half. 

Fangirl points: Timothy Olyphant! Until next time... 

 

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Gunman and Insurgent

Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to the pictures for The Gunman and Insurgent, a pair of action-packed movies sure to get the blood moving. Or not.

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

First up: Sean Penn in The Gunman.

A former assassin's misdeeds come back to haunt him.

Dear reader(s), if we're being honest, my first reaction when The Gunman's credits started rolling was, "What the hell did I just watch??" Not that it was a bad movie, or even a terribly strange movie, it just wasn't what I expected from the trailer. I went back and re-watched the trailer and, in hindsight, I'm not sure why I didn't get it. Luckily, it's a pretty good movie anyway.

Pluses: Sean Penn is on point in the lead. For me, he's one of those guys (like Tom Cruise) who, when I hear his name I think, "I don't really care for that actor." Then I watch him in something and say to myself, "Self, what were you thinking? That guy is awesome!" Though he's crippled on occasion by awkward dialogue, Penn is solid here, which is a good thing, because it's mostly on him to carry this one. Idris Elba and Ray Winstone are very good with limited screen time, and the movie is noticeably better when they're around. The story is interesting, with plenty of action, and there's an angry sex scene that, while not especially long or graphic, is pretty hot. Finally, at just under two hours, the movie is smart enough not to wear out its welcome.

Minuses: Javier Bardem is a total clown...thinking his mugging may even upstage Captain Jack Sparrow in that new Pirates movie. As for the female lead, Jasmine Trinca, both the actress and the role are entirely forgettable; you could have plopped pretty much any woman of an appropriate age in that slot and she'd have been no better, no worse, and no more important to the movie. A bunch of obvious soap-opera glances in the opening scenes reveal the baddie long before you should have any idea; in fact, the whole thing, while entertaining, is extremely predictable. Finally, Idris Elba appears twice in a two-minute trailer and exactly the same number of times in a two-hour movie. I LOVE Elba, and was really hoping to see more of him.

Distractions: Penn's newfound buff-ness and Trinca's funky front teeth.

The Gunman runs 115 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence, language, and some sexuality."
As is kinda the norm for this time of year, it's a passably entertaining, but ultimately forgettable, afternoon at the cinema.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Gunman gets five and a half.

Up next was the second installment in the Divergent series, Insurgent.

Tris and Four continue fighting the good fight against Jeanine and the faction system.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, literally every single review I saw of Divergent, the first film in this series, contained some version of the sentiment, "Well, that was way better than I expected!" It is, perhaps, for that reason that Insurgent is something of a disappointment.

Though it runs about 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor, Insurgent seems slow and long. I was pretty bored with it for major chunks of time. The action is decent, but repetitive, and much of the dialogue just seems silly.

Shailene Woodley remains (for me) nothing more than a poor man's Jennifer Lawrence...now with new dopey haircut!! I still have a crush on Theo James (curse you, lady Mary, for your deadly bed!!), and I shallowly found the movie far more interesting whenever he was onscreen. Aside from Kate Winslet, who is always reliable, this series has one of the more boring supporting casts I've ever seen, with a bunch of interchangeable actors who could be swapped out with barely a ripple.

Even having said all that, my chief annoyances were a weirdly made-up and bejeweled Naomi Watts (is that really how you picture the leader of your revolution??) and the awkward giggles drawn from my teenage audience by the non-starter love scene and a single almost f-word. (Hardly the movie's fault, but it still set my teeth on edge.)

Insurgent clocks in at 119 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense violence and action throughout, some sensuality, thematic elements, and brief language."

Sadly, the middle frame of the Divergent series is exactly what I expect of most Y.A. adaptations. Here's hoping next year's finale is more like part one.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Insurgent gets five.

Until next time...

 

Note to filmmakers: More Idris Elba is always better than less Idris Elba.

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Muppets Most Wanted & Divergent

Dearest Blog, having force-fed myself a Serious Grownup Movie last weekend, this week it was back to my usual fare with Muppets Most Wanted and Divergent.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know or have guessed from the trailers.
Since my tolerance for little kids is marginally lower than my tolerance for teenagers, I got Muppets Most Wanted out of the way first.

Fresh off their reunion show and against Kermit's better judgment, a new manager (Ricky Gervais) convinces the Muppets to go on a world tour, but a sold-out European run and a unusually agreeable Kermit may not be the good news they seem.

Dear reader(s), though I try not to read anyone else's reviews before I've written mine, living online as I do, I can't help but see the occasional headline or comment. The general consensus on Muppets Most Wanted seems to be that it's good, but not as good as 2011's The Muppets. Guess I'm once again in the minority, for as much as I loved The Muppets, I think Muppets Most Wanted is even better.
Muppets Most Wanted picks up, literally, where The Muppets left off, lingering just long enough to earn a few laughs with some obvious-but-still-funny sequel jokes. Once it gets rolling, the caper is amusing and never drags, with musical numbers staged at the Siberian gulag providing the best comic moments.

As we've come to expect, Muppets Most Wanted is littered with cameos from celebs and pseudo-celebs, and I shan't name them lest I spoil it for those who want to be surprised. Since I imagine everyone knows who stars in the movie, I can say that Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell are in top form, though I find it a little offensive that they enjoy billing over the folks who provide Muppet voices--the movie's real stars. If I have one complaint that isn't really a complaint, it's that a little too much of Muppets Most Wanted may be aimed over the heads of the young target audience; it's undoubtedly a "kids' movie," but I think the adults might actually enjoy it more.

Muppets Most Wanted runs 112 minutes and is rated PG for "some mild action."
Like its predecessors, Muppets Most Wanted is a terrific family film full of music, laughs, and thoroughly entertaining cameos.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Muppets Most Wanted gets seven and a half.

Closing yesterday's docket was the young adult thriller Divergent.

Survivors of an apocalyptic event are divided into factions, based on their personality types. When a young girl discovers she's a Divergent--one of those who fit with no one type and who are considered a threat to the new world order--she struggles for survival within the faction she's chosen.

Dear Blog, I'm nothing if not painfully honest, so if I'm going to criticize something, I'm also going to admit when that criticism might just be due to the fact that said "something" isn't made with me in mind. Not saying it's impossible for someone outside the target audience to enjoy a movie (see: Muppets Most Wanted, above), but being almost 48 years old, I enjoyed Grudge Match a helluva lot more than I enjoyed Divergent, which may not be entirely Divergent's fault. Then again...

We'll get the obvious out of the way first: clearing the two-hour threshold by a good 20 minutes, Divergent is too damn long and easily could have been trimmed by 30 minutes without losing anything of consequence. Making the obligatory comparisons: the story is neither as good as The Hunger Games nor as painfully bad as Twilight. Shailene Woodley is no Jennifer Lawrence, either.

The supporting cast boasts some notable names--Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet, Mekhi Phifer, Maggie Q, and the always magnificent Ray Stevenson--but they seem to have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to distinguish the movie from the current glut of ho-hum young adult fiction. Divergent features broadly-drawn characters and insipid dialogue by the bucketful, and mistakes peripheral character deaths for heartbreaking plot twists.

By now, dear reader(s), you may be asking, "So why did you bother seeing this, anyway?" That question I can answer in two words: Theo James. Yep, I've been nursing a scorching crush ever since he had fatal sex with Lady Mary Crawley in the first season of Downton Abbey and I had to overturn heaven and earth to find out who he was. I hoped he'd be a big deal someday, and, if I wished it'd be in something better than this, well, he's young yet, eh? Divergent doesn't place any particular strain on his acting skills, but I can confidently say I would have been kinda bored with someone I liked less in the male lead. As it stands, James has enough screentime to make Divergent more than worth the price of admission.

Divergent clocks in at a bloated 139 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense violence and action, thematic elements, and some sensuality."

A so-so movie that would have benefitted greatly from a shorter runtime, Divergent may have teens hanging on its every minute, but the rest of us are bound to find it considerably less thrilling.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Divergent gets four and a half.

Until next time...

Oh, don't pretend like YOU wouldn't sit through a so-so movie for this!