MOVIE REVIEW: STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

Entrenched in the racial tumult of Los Angeles in the mid-1980's, a group of aspiring rappers banded together to revolutionize the global consumption of hip-hop and popular culture. NWA was born out of racial frustration and the disadvantaged economics of their South Central neighborhood. F. Gary Gray directs this biopic about the rise to stardom for the act that earned the moniker of "The World's Most Dangerous Group", featuring Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson Jr. playing the role of his father, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, and Jason Mitchell as the late Eazy-E. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: F. Gary Gray

Cast: Corey Antonio Hawkins, O'shea Jackson, Jr., Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown, Jr.

Release Date: Aug 14, 2015

Rated: R Language Throughout, Drug Use, Strong Sexuality/Nudity and Violence

Runtime: 2 hr. 27 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

F. Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton is a thoroughly engaging if imperfect musical biopic.  It hits all the standard notes for this type of film with some of the moments coming off as manufactured or inauthentic.  It’s not a massive flaw but noticeable.  Thankfully an impressive ensemble cast carries the film with strong performances throughout with O’Shea Jackson Jr. making the biggest mark for his uncanny impression of his father.  Paul Giamatti is saddled with the role of the shady business manager and manages to give the role a bit more depth than expected.  The story itself might be familiar to some and totally foreign to others.  Either way it’s an interesting story that’ll keep you engaged as we watch the rise of gangster rap and its evolution.  The problem the film faces is that there are so many storylines that it does occasionally feel unfocused.  In the final act, Gary doesn’t quite seem to know where to end the story as we proceed through a travelogue of the 90’s.  It would have benefited from some trimming to make it a more efficient film.  That being said Straight Outta Compton is a strong film that feels terribly timely as well.

B

Cindy Prascik''s Reviews of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mr. Holmes

Dearest Blog: today it was off to the pictures for a pair of highly-anticipated (at least by me) titles: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mr. Holmes.

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

First up: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

An American C.I.A. agent and a Russian K.G.B. agent reluctantly team up to keep a nuclear bomb out of dangerous hands.

Ladies and gents, it will surprise exactly no one when I say I know nothing about the original Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series, aside from the fact it's where Ducky from NCIS got his start. If you're looking for comparisons between this big-screen outing and its small-screen ancestor, I fear you'll have to look elsewhere.

On its own merits, the big-screen Man from U.N.C.L.E. feels like it can't quite decide what it wants to be. It's amusing, but not nearly funny enough to be called a comedy. It's a little too silly to sell its attempts at drama. There's some nice action, but none of the big stunts we've come to expect from great action pieces. In other words, it's a lot of "what might have been."

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are as good-looking a pair of guys as you'll find anywhere, perhaps cinema's most dashing double-leads since Newman and Redford. Unfortunately, Cavill has all the charisma of a used lunch bag, and Hammer (whom I adore, for the record) has been shoved into a role that never seems to fit. They have a few genuinely good moments together, but overall it seems a waste of two capable leading men.

Female lead Alicia Vikander is absolutely stunning and absolutely unremarkable in every other way. It's only when Hugh Grant turns up you feel like you've got someone who knows what to do with a feature film. As mentioned, the action is good fun at times, but nothing very exciting or new. There's espionage and double-crosses and triple-crosses and none of it is ever much of a surprise. Some of the locations are almost as pretty as Cavill and Hammer, but if I had to name the one thing I actually really, really loved about The Man from U.N.C.L.E., it'd be Daniel Pemberton's fantastic score.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. clocks in at 116 minutes and is rated PG13 for "action violence, some suggestive content, and partial nudity."

It's a passable couple hours of brainless summer fun, but, to be honest, if your cinema is still playing Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation, you'd do better just to see that again.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. gets six.

Next on the docket, Mr. Holmes.

An elderly, failing Sherlock Holmes is haunted by a past blunder.

Dear Reader(s), every once in awhile, even *I* need a break from car chases and explosions, and this weekend my cinema was kind enough to accommodate with this well-regarded showcase for Ian McKellen.

Mr. Holmes is a pretty slow-moving vehicle; in the interest of making that not sound like a negative, we'll call it "deliberately paced." This movie is in no hurry to get anywhere, but that's not to say there's not plenty going on. A couple of old cases nag at the edges of Holmes' fading memory, and his declining health adds its own drama. McKellen and Laura Linney are expectedly great, but it's the youngster Milo Parker who steals the show, comfortably holding his own opposite his two decorated co-stars. It's a quietly intense film that will have no trouble holding your attention from start to finish.
Mr. Holmes runs 104 minutes and is rated PG for "thematic elements, some disturbing images, and incidental smoking."

A nice respite from shoot-em-up summer blockbusters, of a possible nine Weasleys, Mr. Holmes gets seven.

Until next time..

Somebody get me in the middle of that...STAT! :-)

Cindy Prascik's Review of Straight Outta Compton

Dearest Blog: This weekend my cinema has again left me spoiled for choice, with three brand spanking new releases for my viewing pleasure. Unlike last weekend, I had reason to believe seeing this week's offerings might actually BE a pleasure.

Since it's two-and-a-half bleeding hours long, Straight Outta Compton did not play nice as part of a double- or triple-bill, and I had to make a special trip to see it. I'm pleased to report it was well worth the effort.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers, or, you know, real life.
Rap group N.W.A. busts out of its rough California neighborhood and becomes a music industry game-changer.

Dear Reader(s), it would be fair to say that, as a music fan, I was not quick to come to the rap table. When N.W.A. hit the streets in 1986, I was so far up Styx' and R.E.O. Speedwagon's butts I would never have given N.W.A. the time of day. I mention that only to prove that my affection for this movie is not borne of sentiment; it really, really is a fantastic movie. (And, curiously, both Styx and R.E.O. Speedwagon are briefly referenced, so...yay!)

Straight Outta Compton is long. Entirely TOO long, if we're being honest, but it's so good it almost gets away with it. Everything about the movie feels natural, from dialogue to delivery to scene cuts and angles. The three principals have fairly limited experience, but their terrific performances make them look like old pros, and the supporting cast is also solid from top to bottom. The picture's mood flows easily from tense to funny to flat-out brutal and back, but it never misses a beat or feels awkward.

Whatever level of fame, success, or wealth, N.W.A. has achieved, the violent lifestyle has followed, but I would refute anyone who calls this story a glorification of that lifestyle. On the contrary, the movie--and the music--are a reflection of the artists' circumstances, and, while N.W.A. has had a great deal of success, they've paid a heavy toll as well. There's no denying the impact N.W.A. and their revolutionary sound have had on millions of people worldwide, and this version of their story is both moving and extremely entertaining.

Straight Outta Compton runs 147 minutes (are you even kidding me??) and is rated R for "language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence, and drug use."

Pretty much every musical act that gets famous has a similar story: the humble beginnings, shady dealings, infighting, the corrupting influence of money and fame, and--if they're lucky--a chance at redemption.

A good or not-so-good movie is in the telling, and Straight Outta Compton tells the hell out of the N.W.A. story.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Straight Outta Compton gets eight and three quarters. (I desperately want to award the full nine, but I just can't justify that runtime!)

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

At the height of the Cold War, a mysterious criminal organization plans to use nuclear weapons and technology to upset the fragile balance of power between the United States and Soviet Union. CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are forced to put aside their hostilities and work together to stop the evildoers in their tracks. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a missing German scientist, whom they must find soon to prevent a global catastrophe.

Release Date: Aug 14, 2015

Rated: PG-13 Action/Violence, Some Suggestive Content and Partial Nudity

Runtime: 1 hr. 56 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Director: Guy Ritchie  

Cast: Armie Hammer, Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris

Review:

The Man from U.N.C.L.E isn’t breaking any new ground and it borrows heavily from other better filmmakers but that doesn’t keep it from being a fun little romp.  Guy Ritchie’s film moves at a steady pace throwing 60’s fashion, good looking people and funny little quips throughout.  His trio of stars are all game and they all share great chemistry together.  Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are clearly having a ball indulging in their characters.  Alicia Vikander is a perfect as the female lead.  Her and Hammer have plenty of fun scenes together while Cavill is filling out his tailor made suits elsewhere.  It’s never deep or thought provoking and it probably overstays it’s welcome by about 15 minutes but that doesn’t keep it from being fun.  

B

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Ricki & the Flash and Fantastic 4

Dearest Blog: This weekend, my local cinema happened to get all four new wide-releases, so I had the unusual luxury of choosing among all of them.

The presence of Sebastian Stan made Ricki & the Flash my must-see, and the schedule dictated Fantastic Four wrap up the double-bill.

Spoiler level here will be mild, limited to trailer reveals.

Following a couple weekends that gave me a couple of my favorite guys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeremy Renner) in a couple of pretty great movies (Southpaw and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation), I suppose I was due for a letdown. Boy did I get it.

First on Saturday's agenda: Ricki & the Flash.

Having long ago left her family to follow dreams of rock stardom, a middle-aged woman returns home to comfort her newly-dumped daughter.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll admit I hate movies like Ricki & the Flash, and, were it not for Sebastian Stan's presence, I wouldn't have seen it for a million dollars. That being said, if it were a good movie, it would have won me over, and I'm sure my tone is already telling you, dear reader(s), it did not.

Ricki & the Flash is cliched and predictable. The characters are paper thin, not one has any depth or ever, once, does a single thing that isn't exactly what you'd have expected him/her to do. There are a few genuinely funny moments, but the "humor' is mostly awkward and occasionally vaguely racist in a way that's meant to flesh out a character but instead just left me mildly uncomfortable. Even the mostly-decent classic rock soundtrack is handicapped by ho-hum performances. Not being a "musical," per se, where the plot is actually advanced by the songs, the movie would have been better served by brief clips of the band onstage, rather than the excruciating full numbers to which we're repeatedly subjected.

Meryl Streep is a goddess, and if there's a movie fan out there who'll dispute that, well, it's not this one. She manages to bring *something* to Ricki, a character that's otherwise blandly unlikeable and uninteresting. She's especially effective portraying the depressing physical realities of middle age on a person who's mentally only ever going to be a teenager.

Once again, someone has grossly overestimated Streep's appeal as a singer, but her fantastic screen presence makes that easy enough to forgive. It's hard to watch Streep's real-life daughter Mamie Gummer wallow through the movie, and I couldn't honestly say whether the blame falls on actress or character, since Gummer is pretty hard to watch in everything.

The good news is the rest of the supporting cast is terrific, if underused. As Ricki's long-suffering guitarist and beau, Rick Springfield does well in the movie's most thankless role, though he strangely looks ready to burst into tears the entire time. Sebastian Stan is great in his two minutes of screen time, for the first time in his entire career, playing the NON-problematic son of a messed up family. Go Sebastian! Finally, Audra McDonald is as glorious as always as the woman who stepped in to clean up the mess Ricki left behind when she set off to become a rock star.

It has to be one of cinema's worst crimes against humanity to have McDonald, one of the world's greatest singers, appear in a movie about a singer, yet not sing a note. Even Stan and Gummer get to sing a few lines, for Pete's sake!!

Ricki & the Flash runs 101 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic material, brief drug content, sexuality, and language."

A shameful waste of a solid cast, of a possible nine Weasleys, Ricki & the Flash gets four.

Next on the docket, the most recent screen rendering of Fantastic 4.

In an experiment gone wrong, four young college students find themselves physically altered and must use their new powers to save the planet.

Sound familiar? I know, right?? If there's one thing I hope Hollywood has learned from Fantastic 4's dismal reception, it's that we, genre and general fans alike, are tired of origins stories. Everyone knows why Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are so sad on Fathers' Day, JUST MOVE ON. While that's far from the only reason people aren't flocking to see this humdrum version of some fairly humdrum heroes, it's got to be one of them.

Dear reader(s), you may count me among those who didn't mind 2005's Fantastic 4, nor its 2007 sequel. They aren't special movies, but they're fun enough. The problem with the latest F4 is that it's no fun at all. It would be misleading to call the movie a slow starter, because that would imply that, at some point, it picks up. It is, in fact, a slow starter, a slow middler, and a slow finisher. The only way to mark the passage of time at all is to note the differences in Miles Teller's acne spots.

The movie is dark, not so much in tone as in appearance, and at times it's difficult to tell what's going on at all. Jamie Bell, a fine actor (for my money, the best of the principal cast) is completely wasted, and, of those who get decent screentime, only Michael B. Jordan manages to be even half-watchable. Teller and Kate Mara are phoning it in, clearly as bored with the proceedings as the few of us who have bothered seeing the movie this weekend. The CGI ranges from just okay to laughably bad, inexcusable for a would-be summer blockbuster. It's not hard to see why Hollywood left this one in the landfill of August releases.

Fantastic 4 clocks in at 100 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sci-fi action violence, and language."

Trust me when I tell you, "fantastic" is not the "F" word you'll be saying if you waste your hard-earned dollars on this.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Fantastic 4 gets three.

Until next time..

 Rick Springfield: Four decades of being hot enough to make mediocre movies worth the price of admission!

MOVIE REVIEW: FANTASTIC FOUR

Brilliant scientist Reed Richards builds a device that allows users to teleport to an alternate dimension, but an experiment involving it goes wrong and leaves him and his three teammates with unusual superpowers. The quartet are then forced to work together to battle an enemy from their past. This reboot of the iconic Marvel superhero team stars Miles Teller as Richards (who becomes Mr. Fantastic, able to bend and stretch his body into impossible shapes), Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch, whose body can erupt in flames), Kate Mara as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman -- no explanation needed), and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm (who is transformed into the rock monster known as The Thing). Directed by Josh Trank. ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi

Director: Josh Trank

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell

Release Date: Aug 07, 2015

Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence and Language

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

There were two famously troubled productions hitting the screen this summer.  Antman ended up surprising mostly everyone including myself but the reboot of Fantastic Four fails in every way that film succeeded.  A morose joyless experience from start to finish, Josh Trank’s film hits all the typical origin story beats but never brings anything new to the table.  It’s ultimately a plodding mess of a film that never coalesces into anything nearing fun or entertaining.  It’s a shame because there’s a capable cast of actors on hand.  Unfortunately, they don’t share a shred of chemistry together.  Each of them delivers their lines with a robotic sense of inevitably and disinterest.  Perhaps if the script wasn’t a hackneyed retread of things we’ve all seen before they’d be more interested in their performances.  At a little over an hour and half, the film drags on to it’s inevitable conclusion which doesn’t deliver much satisfaction either since the villain is about as silly looking as they come.  Your mind might start to wander, even making wonder if those original FF4 films were really that bad right before you remember that The Incredibles is still the best FF4 film around.

D