Cindy Prascik's Review of Baby Driver

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for one of my most highly anticipated titles of 2017, Edgar Wright's Baby Driver.

 

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

 

To repay an old debt, a young man is forced to use his extraordinary skills in service of a criminal mastermind.

 

Dear reader(s), in the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll confess my firm conviction that Edgar Wright makes perfect movies, all the time. As writer or director, and especially as writer and director, the guy is a visionary. I keep an open enough mind that pretty much anything can surprise me (pleasantly or unpleasantly), but honor demands I admit there was very little chance I wouldn't love Baby Driver. That's the Cliff's Notes. Now, onto the meat and potatoes...

 

Edgar Wright's love and respect for music lend his films unparalleled attention to detail where it is concerned. Each and every song is selected, each and every note perfectly placed, to underline, energize, advance, or complete its moment, event, or scene. While that's the case with all of Wright's efforts, Baby Driver willfully and overtly makes music its star, the sun around which all the other moving pieces revolve. If you love music, you will feel this film from the roots of your hair to the soles of your shoes. That's not to say the picture's "other" stars are lightweights. Decorated names such as Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx have ample opportunity to shine brightly in Baby Driver's galaxy. "It" girl Lily James charms her way through the movie like an old pro, and Ansel Elgort is a delight in what's sure to be a star-making turn.

 

Baby Driver is an action film, filled with thrilling chase scenes and beautifully choreographed stunt driving. Baby Driver is a comedy, its humor blooming organically from genuine performances and crazy scenarios. Baby Driver is a drama, boasting sincere moments among layered, engaging characters. Baby Driver is extraordinary filmmaking from an extraordinary filmmaker, everything you could want from a movie and more.

 

Baby Driver clocks in at 113 minutes and is rated R for violence and language.

Baby Driver is a beautiful, clever, unique cinema experience that should shut up the "Hollywood is out of ideas" crowd for at least the weekend. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, I am pleased and unsurprised to give Baby Driver all nine.

 

Fangirl points: OHMYGOSH YOU GUYS THERE'S A DAMNED SONG IN THIS MOVIE!

 

Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Review of Transformers: The Last Knight

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Transformers: The Last Knight.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing that hasn't been revealed already by trailers and clips.

 

Humans have set themselves against all Transformers, making outlaws of anyone who continues to be their allies, but Earthlings are forced to reconsider that position when the planet is threatened.

 

The latest Transformers movie is taking a critical beating, not unlike those that came before it. It's pretty much exactly as advertised, however, so anyone with reasonable expectations shouldn't be disappointed.

 

Since I actually liked the movie, let's get the negatives out of the way first, beginning with the obvious: a two-and-a-half hour runtime. Ninety minutes, an hour and forty-five at most, would have made The Last Knight a great summer popcorn flick, but even the biggest, best effects and action wear thin at two and a half hours, nevermind the muddled backstory does nothing to earn such an excessive runtime. Then there's the "humor." With only the genuinely amusing bits, the film would have been plenty light enough, but instead it constantly oversells juvenile, annoying one-liners. That's the bad news. The good news is there's actually a great deal of good news. Transformers is all about huge effects and, as such, is one of my very favorite franchises to revisit on the big screen. This outing is no exception, with visuals that are massive-times-ten and sound that shakes the floor. Cool action sequences never seem to drag on, despite the bloated whole, and when the jokes hit the mark, the movie is actually very funny. In what he's declared his final Transformers outing, Mark Wahlberg remains more watchable that Shia LeBeouf ever was, and Anthony Hopkins appears to be having the time of his life, never demeaning the material despite the fact it's clearly beneath him. For my money, it should be easy for anyone to have at least as much fun with this movie as Anthony Hopkins does.

Transformers: The Last Knight clocks in at a whopping 149 minutes and is rated PG13 for "violence and intense sequences of sci-fi action, language, and some innuendo."

 

Transformers: The Last Knight is big, dopey fun that fills a summer weekend quite nicely. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Transformers: The Last Knight gets six.

 

Fangirl points: Mitch Pileggi! Steve Buscemi! SANTIAGO CABRERA! *heart-eyes emoji* 

 

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT

Humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it's up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.
Director: Michael Bay
 
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock, Stanley Tucci

Release Date: Jun 21, 2017

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of sci-fi action, language, and some innuendo

Review:

I’ve always been forgiving of Michael Bay’s live action series because the cartoon will always be a fond part of my childhood.  I’ve always found plenty to like in movies even if they’ve been far from perfect.  I’d actually enjoyed the last installment because Bay finally seemed to figure out that it helps the series if you give the Transformers some personality and make them the center piece.  I’d hoped it was something that’d be continued in The Last Knight.  Sadly, Bay decides to put the Transformers in the background, Optimus Prime barely has 30 minutes of screentime, leaving us with Mark Wahlberg and Laura Haddock’s pillowly lips.  The plot is an overly complex mess that seems to find the most complicated way to do everything.  There are a bevy of new human characters including a plucky child, played by Isabela Moner, who’s introduced and forgotten for the majority of the film only to be reintroduced in the final act.  The saving grace of it all is Anthony Hopkins who’s clearly enjoying himself in the unrelenting madness going on around him.  Hopkins and his robot butler provide the majority of the laughs and enjoyment in the film.  The biggest issue is simply making a movie called Transformers and leaving the titular robots on the sideline while haphazardly throwing famous characters from Transformers lore around like undercooked pasta.  It’s a real shame because the series could be a fun sci-fi series if it could stay focused on its actual stars, the robots. 

D

MOVIE REVIEW: ROUGH NIGHT

Five best friends (Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz) from college reunite 10 years later for a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami. Their hard partying takes a hilariously dark turn when they accidentally kill a male stripper. Amid the craziness of trying to cover it up, they're ultimately brought closer together when it matters most.

Director: Lucia Aniello

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Ty Burrell, 

Demi Moore

Release Date: Jun 09, 2017

R for crude sexual content, language throughout, drug use and brief bloody images

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Release Date: Jun 16, 2017

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Rough Night is a raucous comedy with a free and loose feel to it with a solid cast.  Writer director Lucia Aniello directs an efficient comedy with only a handful of noticeable dead spots.  The story isn’t ground breaking by stretch of the imagination but the cast keeps it fun for the better part of the film.  Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz make for a fun comedic combination.  Kate McKinnon creates another memorably weird character that steals most of the scenes she’s in.  Johansson is a tad bit under utilized as the “straight man” in the piece.  Ty Burrell and Demi Moore have fun supporting roles that probably could have been played for a few more laughs if the script had given them a little more to do.  Similarly, Paul W. Downs boyfriend character and his bachelor party seemed like it was ripe for more laughs even though his story thread provided some inspired sequences.  There are a few sequences near the end of the film that slow the story down.  They try to give the story a bit of emotional depth which ends up feeling tacked on.  The story doesn’t really need it, its mindless guilty fun that delivers what it set out to do.

B

Cindy Prascik's Review of The Mummy

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the opening act in Universal's new Dark Universe, The Mummy.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you haven't seen already in trailers and advertising.

 

Tom Cruise unleashes an ancient curse...on his box office, apparently.

 

Well, friends, by now I'm sure you've heard that The Mummy is terrible. A Facebook friend and fellow movie reviewer--not generally one who just parrots the opinions of "real" critics--called it the worst movie he'd ever seen, and many headlines have proclaimed it, at the very least, the worst picture Tom Cruise has ever made. I'm here to argue that, while the Mummy is not Oscar material, nor is it rocket science, it is a perfectly passable way to spend a couple hours at the cinema.

 

It goes without saying The Mummy's chief positive is Cruise, who always seems to be having the time of his life, no matter how good or bad the project. His character is nothing new, a morally ambiguous rogue pressganged into heroics by circumstance, but Cruise is so delightful it matters not how many times you've seen it before. The Mummy's leading ladies, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella, are solid enough as cookie-cutter characters, but it's Russell Crowe who steals the show in...erm...let's just say a "dual" role. The Mummy boasts decent effects, fun action sequences, a few nice jump scares, and it's quite amusing when it wants to be. It's also smart enough not to wear out its welcome. While The Mummy is certainly no unforgettable piece of cinematic brilliance, it does a fine job kicking off Universal's new Dark Universe, and I look forward to watching that play out (though I do wish it still included Luke Evans. *sigh*).

 

The Mummy clocks in at 110 minutes, and is rated PG13 for "violence, action and scary images, and some suggestive content and partial nudity."

 

If you're especially skittish about spiders or rats, or so deeply in love with Brendan Fraser you simply can't abide the prospect of this reimagining, maybe take a pass on The Mummy; otherwise, if you're in the market for some fun summer brain candy, you'll likely find it a good time...and suffice to say reports of Tom Cruise's career demise have been greatly exaggerated. Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Mummy gets six.

 

Until next time... 

 

MOVIE REVIEW: IT COMES AT NIGHT

A married couple (Joel Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo) and their teenage son (Kelvin Harrison) isolate themselves from the rest of humanity when a mysterious plague throws civilization into chaos, but their secluded existence is threatened when a young family seek shelter with them. Christopher Abbott and Riley Keough co-star. Written and directed by Trey Edward Shults (Trey Edward Shults). ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi

Director: Trey Edward Shults

Cast: Joel Edgerton, Riley Keough, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo

Release Date: Jun 09, 2017

 
Rated R for Disturbing Images, Violence and Language

Runtime: 1 hr. 37 min.

Genres: Horror, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Trey Edward Shults second film, It Comes at Night is being sold as a straight forward horror film which doesn’t do it any favors.  It Comes at Night is a claustrophobic paranoia themed thriller in post apocalyptic window dressing.  It’s a fantastically crafted film that just reeks of talent throughout.  Shults clearly has some talent behind the lens which is aided by some wonderful cinematography which echoes Stanley Kubrick.  It’s the very definition of a slow burn and the cast is utterly committed with each giving understated but strong performances.  Unfortunately, the story seems a tad bit undercooked.  It’s meditation on tragedy and paranoia are simplistic to say the least.  Its story is light on answers and those looking for any sort of a payoff or resolution will be let frustrated.  Perhaps it’s the point or just exemplification of Shults worldview.   Even though it’s not a film that people will be clamoring to revisit, its sparse runtime seems longer than it is, it’s a fine showcase for an impressive directorial talent. 

B-