April Sokol's Reviews of Thor: Ragnarok & A Bad Moms Christmas

Hello readers!

This weekend was a big movie deal. Two big hit movies in the making both opened and so without further ado, to the theater I went.

First up was Thor: Ragnarok.

Thor: Ragnarok is the latest installment in the immensely popular Marvel Universe.

Directed by Taika Waititi

Run time is 2hr 10 min

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson. Karl Urban, Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins

Thor Ragnarok is the seventeenth offering in the Marvel Universe. So the players are well known and broken in. While a lot of familiar faces abound (super quick fan girl shoutout to the adorable Matt Damon cameo) Thor Ragnarok introduces some new faces to the Marvel world. First and most impressive is the stunning Cate Blanchett. Cate chews her way through every second of screen time she's given. Gorgeous, powerful and absolutely deadly, Hela is just 100% joy to watch. I can feel all of next year's Hela Halloween costumes springing to life as I type this. We're also introduced to Valkyrie, a member of an all female warrior squad played to perfection by Tessa Thompson. I'm glad to see that someone seems to have gotten the memo that we are loving these strong woman characters. That high that so many women felt after Wonder Woman is going to be back after this.

Mark Ruffalo is back doing his thing as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. He's always so solid I hope people aren't taking him for granted. We finally get more of Idris Elba as Heimdall. Unfortunately he is STILL absolutely wasted in this role.  The PG 13 rating felt correct as there was comic book violence but certainly nothing to genuinely frighten the little members of the audience.

Thor Ragnarok feels quite a bit referential to Guardians of the Galaxy for me. Same level of laughter. Funny quirky characters portrayed on a stunning canvas. Queue the fight scene with iconic 70s rock song and it's almost too on the nose....but I found that I still enjoyed the ride. This isn't new ground for Mavel. This is what a fast ball right down the middle of their fanbase feels like.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

And the answer to the question I always have at Marvel movies....2...there are 2 in credit scenes. You're welcome.


Next I moved down the hall to the highly anticipated (by me) A Bad Moms Christmas

Directed by: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines, Jay Hernandez and Peter Gallagher

Running time of 1hr 44 min. It is Rated R for crude sexual content and language throughout, and some drug use

My review:

Ok America. It's time. We can't seem to agree on much of anything as a country anymore. But I think we need to come together as 1 nation and appreciate the sheer brilliance that is Chrstine Baranski. Has she ever been anything less than flawless...ever? I think not. However much she is making, it's certainly not enough. Can we make this a thing?

We pick up shortly after our last adventure with the suburban Moms as Christmas is upon them. Of course they're all over worked, over stressed, under appreciated and exhausted....aren't we all? Every single Mom in America is going to find something familiar in these women. Lots of laughs and another chance for a really beautiful friend tribe to shine here. The biggest take away for me is how these women are so very true to life. These are my friends and family. This is actually how we talk when we get together. I do not know a single parent who actually deep down believes that they're not screwing it all up in some way. It's nice to be reminded of our shared humanity.

If you loved the first Bad Moms movie, you'll almost certainly enjoy this as well. This is a wonderful case of a bunch of actors really seeming to enjoy their work. You will smile. You will laugh. And you will want to have drinks with your best friends ASAP when the credits roll.

Bonus points to those who stay through the credits to realize that Peter Gallagher is actually the best dancer of the whole bunch. Who knew?! I give A Bad Moms Christmas a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Geostorm & Thor: Ragnarok

Dearest Blog: Yesterday I ended my week's vacation at Marquee Cinemas with a double-bill of Geostorm (finally) and Thor: Ragnarok. 

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers or a quick check of the IMDB cast listings.

 

First on the docket: a delayed screening of Geostorm.

 

When a satellite controlling extreme weather events is sabotaged, it's up to its prickly creator to make nice and go fix it.

 

Dear reader(s): Having missed two weekends at the cinema (!!!), I'm a little late to the Geostorm party, so I won't be the first to inform you the movie features a stupidly implausible plot, inane dialogue, and second-rate performances. What I may be the first to tell you is that I haven't had as much fun at the cinema in months. Indeed, Geostorm is the only picture in recent memory to render me totally oblivious to the outside world for a couple hours.

 

There's no denying Geostorm is a pretty bad movie by almost any quality barometer; it's Sharknado-level idiocy on a big-screen budget. Meathead extraordinaire Gerard Butler is the ideal hero for such a film, delivering a performance on par with "shepherd number two" in the third-grade Christmas pageant. Jim Sturgess and Abbie Cornish are even more laughable, and you really have to wonder how Ed Harris and Andy Garcia got talked into this. (My guess is blackmail. It's the only thing that makes sense.) The story plays out in predictably silly fashion, with painfully obvious "twists" and every cartoonish character behaving exactly as you'd expect. The good news is all that isn't really bad news because Geostorm knows exactly what it is, and thus couldn't be any more enjoyable. Throw in some solid disaster effects and a timely (if cheesy) message, and you've got a hilariously terrible outing that may well be the best time I've had at the movies in 2017.

 

Geostorm clocks in at 109 minutes and is rated PG13 for "destruction, action, and violence."

Geostorm is the best bad movie I've seen in a good long while. Of a possible nine Weasleys, I am exercising great restraint in awarding Geostorm only seven.

 

Fangirl points: Ohmygosh you guys, Robert Sheehan is in this movie!!

 

Next on my agenda: Thor: Ragnarok.

 

And you thought Loki was the bad sibling.

 

My usual Marvel disclaimer: For the most part I don't think Marvel movies are anything special; rather, they're enjoyed and quickly forgotten. The notable exception is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which stands alone in its greatness, but, as series go, the Thor movies are always my Marvel faves. Ragnarok gives me no reason to change either of those opinions: Marvel movies are still nothing special, but the Thor series remains my favorite.

 

Getting the bad news out of the way first: Thor: Ragnarok feels about twelve hours long. I wouldn't say I was bored, but...well...for some of it I wouldn't exactly say I wasn't, either. The battle scenes didn't seem as repetitive or overlong as most Marvel movies (lookin' squarely at YOU, Avengers!), but, my god, it felt like I was sitting there forever. Luckily, that's about the only really bad thing I have to say about the film. Ragnarok isn't a funny superhero movie; it's a straight-up comedy about a superhero, fully self-aware. No shoe-horning in a Tony Stark wisecrack every 20 minutes, Ragnarok is organically hilarious. Trippy 70s effects, a bit reminiscent of Doctor Strange, are particularly well-suited to this outing, giving it the feel of an old-school arcade game. Chris Hemsworth (sadly shirtless only once) isn't just a perfectly-sculpted hero, he's legitimately funny, with great comic timing and terrific expressions. The supporting cast is filled with names that, on their own, are enough to draw me to any picture: Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Cate Blanchett...and--OH!--this is Cate as you haven't seen her before! Hiddleston's Loki remains the best thing about any Thor movie, but it's Cate's Hela who steals the show here, and whose pics you'll be Googling for your new phone wallpaper as soon as the credits roll (or was that just me?). Triple bonus points for carrying Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song from the trailer into the film itself--not just once, but twice!--a musical move so inspired as to be almost Edgar-Wrightish in its perfection.

Thor: Ragnarok runs 130 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action and brief suggestive material."

 

Thor: Ragnarok is another fun outing in Marvel's best series. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Thor: Ragnarok gets eight.

 

Fangirl points: Hey, Bruce Banner, you're lookin' mighty fine in that Duran Duran shirt!

 

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: SUBURBICON

Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic, suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns -- the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge must navigate the town's dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit and violence.

Director: George Clooney

Release Date: Oct 27, 2017

Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, Glenn Fleshler, Michael Cohen

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Runtime: 1 hr. 44 min.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Review:

Suburbicon is an odd hodgepodge of a film from director George Clooney.  It’s a film that has multiple things going on but they never mesh into a coherent story thread.  The film’s script was a reworked from the Coen’s brother’s original draft and the film does seem to be at war with itself for the better part of its runtime.  On one hand you have the Matt Damon lead murder mystery which feels very much like a Coen’s creation with its high body count and black comedy seeping from its veins.  On the other hand there’s a thoroughly uncooked subplot about a black family dealing with increasingly hostile neighbors.  The entire subplot feels incredibly underdeveloped even though I think it’s a well intentioned effort to give the film some added weight and depth.  The issue is that the characters on display are never developed with barely a few lines of dialogue thrown their way.  Both these plots don’t really mesh well as the tone changes abruptly in a moments notice.  Oscar Issac is the most interesting thing in the whole film but sadly he comes and goes way too soon.  Suburbicon feels like it should be a much better film than it actually is.  Sadly, it just never jells into an enjoyable whole. 

C+

April Sokol's Reviews of Only the Brave & Geostorm

***Note from Daniel – “Here’s a quick introduction to our newest reviewer joining Cindy Prascik and yours truly”***

Hello fellow movie lovers. My name is April. I am a wife and mother of 3 boys. I have loved everything about the movie going experience ever since my parents took me to see ET. I find that I'm pretty easily entertained so my reviews will always reflect that.

My favorite movie ever made is 1995's Heat. I am highly opinionated on all things, but especially when it comes to movies. I'm thankful for a place to share my thoughts with others. I hope you enjoy the ramblings of my over caffeinated, sleep deprived mind.

Only the Brave is the true story of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots. The first municipal hot shot team ever assembled.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Starring Josh Brolin, Miles Davis, Jennifer Connelly and Jeff Bridges

My review:

Only the Brave is a straightforward, unflinching look at some of the bravest among us: firefighters. But these aren't your average community volunteer firemen. This is the Navy Seals of fire fighting. These men are dropped into the biggest, nastiest fires with only an axe and shovel.

There is quite a lot to love about this movie. I feel compelled to mention that I am not a fan of Brolin or Connelly and have at the very most a love/hate relationship with the work of Teller. So I was incredibly surprised by how deeply I fell in love with this story.

The first act sets the stage. Teller's Brendan McDonough is a young out of control guy freshly out of jail. He's got a million reasons to finally get his act together if only someone will give him a chance. McDonough is given that chance by the grizzled, wise Eric Marsh (Brolin). There is plenty of heart and humor to be found in his new community. Now we're off to the races. The entire second act of the movie is one beautiful shot after another. The cast does an amazing job of portraying men and women who come together as family in the harshest of situations. Nothing is prettied up. The strain put on the spouses, the distance with their children. It's all there to draw you into this world that so very few people actually live and experience.

You can feel that this will end with a big fire. So when it finally comes it's not a surprise. But still hugely effective. For those of us who were not familiar with this true story, it was a nail biting bit of cinema.

Overall I am more than willing and able to overlook the small issues I had with the tropes that were included in the script. Only the Brave has a run time of 143 minutes and it rated PG 13 for thematic content and brief sexual references. I enjoyed almost every minute. 

A very solid 4 out of 5 stars is my rating. Only the Brave is the best thing currently playing at my local cinemaplex by leaps and bounds.

Geostorm is this year's natural disaster spectacle of a movie. The system put into place to protect Earth from natural disasters has malfunctioned and it's a race to fix the problem before all of Earth is destroyed.

Directed by Dean Devlin

Starring Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess and Abbie Cornish

Before I begin I feel like I should make a confession. Armageddon is one of my all time favorite movies. Yes. I said it. I love the cheesy dialogue and completely unrealistic plot because it's FUN. Geostorm brought Armageddon to mind more than once during my viewing.

The plot is straightforward. Gerard Butler plays Jake Lawson, the hot head developer of the Dutch Boy Program. A system of satellites that are designed to neutralize any and all natural disasters before they happen. It's not a stretch to see Lawson struggling to maintain his vision's integrity when faced with politicians who want to control Dutch Boy. None of this is groundbreaking cinema. The hero has a bad attitude. The government is shady and shifty. There are plenty of estranged relationships. Lots of familiar movie cliches are thrown at the viewer in quick succession.

But if you can suspend reality for the 1hr49min run time there is some good stuff in here. The special effects, both on Earth and on board the Dutch Boy itself are fun. There are huge typhoons, massive sandstorms, eruptions, tornadoes...all of the good stuff! The big reveal of the bad guy is not exactly shocking. The dialogue is silly. The science is nonsensical. But despite all of that, I found myself smiling through the whole thing. Special points given for Cornish's portrayal of a Secret Service agent who is pretty badass.

Geostorm is rated PG 13 for destruction, action and violence. My viewing had plenty of smaller children who all seemed to be having just as much fun as I was. There is absolutely nothing award worthy to be found here. But if you're looking for a few hours of popcorn eating entertainment, this is what you're looking for. I give Geostorm a rating of 2 ½ out of 5 stars.

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Foreigner & Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for a double-bill of The Foreigner and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

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

First on the docket: Jackie Chan seeks revenge in The Foreigner.

A grieving father goes after the individuals responsible for a terrorist bombing that claimed the life of his young daughter.

The Foreigner is one of those movies that feels like it should be much more entertaining than it is. A solid if oft-told story, the picture boasts a well-loved lead and a suspenseful plot, with fierce action sequences that will set you on the edge of your seat. Sadly, all of the above is weighed down by a plodding tempo that makes the movie seem much longer than it is. Jackie Chan is solid in the lead, but the film gives you at least its first half to ponder how this humble restaurant owner got such...erm...Jackie Chan-like skills, with no real payout for your wait; the answer is exactly what you'll know it was going to be if you've ever watched an action/revenge movie before. When everything hits the fan, Pierce Brosnan is perfect as the blustering minister who WON'T HAVE IT!!...but where was he going with that accent? The convoluted plot would feel almost comical at times if not for Chan wearing his very best Emmett Kelly face for the duration; in fact, I think I really might have hated this one but for how much sympathy he earned for his character.

The Foreigner runs 114 minutes and is rated R for "violence, language, and some sexual material."

The Foreigner earns a half-Weasley bonus for (briefly) featuring Harry Potter's Cho Chang, Katie Leung, but gets a full demerit for getting Hot Blooded into my head.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Foreigner gets four and a half.

Next up: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

The relationships among a psychologist, his wife, and a student give birth to our most beloved female superhero.

Well, dear reader(s), it feels like quite the privilege to be a girl writing in a time when I get to ask which is the better of this year's two Wonder Woman films. I mean, the answer is unequivocally "the other one," but still...

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women has all the pieces of a great story, so--especially riding 2017's wave of Wonder Woman mania--it should have been a can't-miss. Unfortunately, it goes foul by sensationalizing the sexual aspects of the story, resulting in an uncomfortable and unsatisfying finished product.

Wonder Women's chief positives are in its leads; Luke Evans and especially Rebecca Hall are terrific. Bella Heathcote is a bit of a weak link, and prominent enough that you'll feel it at every turn, but two out of three isn't so bad, I guess. The film has some genuinely touching moments as well as some funny ones, and it's told in such a way that it keeps moving even when there's not a lot to tell.

Ultimately, though, WW is just too lurid in its presentation to be taken seriously. When a roomful of adults is overcome by the giggles at every erotic turn, that's a sure-fire sign that, as the Internet is so fond of saying: "You're doing it wrong." Wonder Women sincerely attempts to sell its titular family as "normal," but does so with so little finesse that it only comes across as tawdry, even to someone (like myself) who wouldn't normally bat an eye. Amusingly, the movie even takes a stab at explaining Wonder Woman's skimpy costume, but--just a year removed from Batman v. Superman (where you can bet it wasn't Batman or Superman who featured in a gratuitous crotch shot)--it rings pretty hollow.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women clocks in at 108 minutes and is rated R for "strong sexual content, including brief graphic images, and language."

Sadly, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is a coulda-shoulda-mighta been great picture that falls well short of even memorable.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women gets four.

Fangirl points: It's always a delight to hear Benny Goodman's Sing Sing Sing in glorious surround-sound!

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: HAPPY DEATH DAY

Tree Gelbman is a blissfully self-centered collegian who wakes up on her birthday in the bed of a student named Carter. As the morning goes on, Tree gets the eerie feeling that she's experienced the events of this day before. When a masked killer suddenly takes her life in a brutal attack, she once again magically wakes up in Carter's dorm room unharmed. Now, the frightened young woman must relive the same day over and over until she figures out who murdered her.

Director: Christopher B. Landon

Release Date: Oct 13, 2017
 
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken, Rachel Matthews

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, crude sexual content, language, some drug material and partial nudity 

Runtime: 1 hr. 36 min. 

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Horror

Review:

Happy Death Day takes the Groundhog Day conceit and gives it a fun horror spin.  Christopher Landon directs his film with tongue placed firmly in cheek.  Those expecting some sort of a straight forward hardcore horror might be a bit let down since the film isn’t ever really scary or thrilling.  That being said, it’s still an impressively fun film that really never loses energy during its incredibly efficient runtime.  There are plenty of laughs abound as the day replays over and over again with Jessica Rothe delivering a great central performance.  Rothe has some impressive comedic timing and she puts it to great use throughout.  The central mystery isn’t all that difficult to figure out but that really doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment.  Horror fans have to trudge through a lot of garbage before something worthwhile pops up, thankfully Happy Death Day is a nice surprise.

B+