Month: June 2023

Movie 1: No Escape

This is a 2015 action thriller that is very, very well done. An expat takes his family to Southeast Asia for a new job. The next day a violent coup erupts. This movie is very intense as the family fights for survival. On Netflix.

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Movie 2: The Last Rider

This documentary chronicles the life of American cyclist Greg LeMond. And tells the story of the 1989 Tour De France, arguably the greatest cycling race in history. We knew nothing about the athlete or the sport and found this movie very informative and entertaining.

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Movie 3: The Procurator

This is a Chinese crime drama with several twists and turns. The chief prosecutor finds herself in the middle of a shocking national crime and rushes to solve it. The look and feel of this movie are very professional and well done. Our only complaint is that the English subtitles flew by. They were so fast we literally missed a third of the movie. Mandarin with very fast English subtitles.

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Movie 1: The Flash

This is another DC comic turned into a wannabe blockbuster movie. A young superhero goes back in time to try and save his mother. But it ultimately ends in chaos. This movie is a total mixed bag. Interesting yet confusing. Excellent special effects and then some of the worst. If you are a fan of The Flash comics you will enjoy this movie. If you are not a fan then you aren’t missing anything.

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Movie 2: Asteroid City

Here is another dense, cumbersome, yet visually stunning, film by Wes Anderson. With his usual cast of about 25 A-list actors. We are not exactly sure what this movie is about. Reviews we’ve read said it’s about grief and how we deal with it. Well, ok, maybe. But we found it another Wes Anderson boring mess.

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Movie 3: No Hard Feelings

This is a wonderfully raunchy romantic comedy that expertly showcases Jennifer Lawrence’s immense talent. A down on her luck Uber driver is hired by wealthy parents to bring their Princeton bound son “out of his shell”. In addition to the comedy, this film can be very poignant on several levels. A fun time at the movies!

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Movie 1: The Blackening

A group of friends rent a house in the woods to celebrate Juneteenth. We thought this was going to be a horror film. Turns out to our surprise it is an excellent horror comedy. This movie mixes humor, horror and race with poignant and relevant messaging. There is definitely a lot here for conversation. We will see it again.

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Movie 2: Extraction 2

This action thriller starts off where the first Extraction ended. (Not necessary to see the first film, but it may be helpful). Chris Hemsworth plays a mercenary out to rescue a family entangled with the Georgian mafia. This is a very fast paced, high budget, action packed, violent thriller. Both the original and this sequel are on Netflix.

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Movie 3: Elemental

We found this Disney animated film charming with fantastic visual effects. This is wonderful family entertainment while subtly addressing several social topics, i.e., fire and water fall in love. Our theatre was full with many kids under the age of ten.

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Movie 1: The Boogeyman

Based on a 1973 short story by Stephen King, this is a horror movie about the mythical character all kids grow up with. It has some intelligent moments but is not very scary and not particularly well done.

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Movie 2: Past Lives

This is a wonderfully scripted and acted movie about two young friends in Seoul, South Korea who find each other 20 years later. One married and living in New York City, the other single and still living in Seoul. There are many layers to this intimate, slow moving and complex love story. In English and Korean with English subtitles.

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Movie 3: Persian Lessons

Based on true events, a young Jewish man in a concentration camp persuades the Nazi’s that he is Persian and not Jewish. One of the camp commanders wants to learn Farsi and demands that he teach him. This is a powerfully told story about the human spirit and its will to survive. In German and French with English subtitles.

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Movie 1: About My Father

This is a comedy which we actually enjoyed more than we thought we would. An Italian immigrant is invited to meet the parents of his son’s fiancé over the 4th of July. There are some very funny and charming moments. This movie won’t win any awards, but it is an entertaining couple of hours.

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Movie 2: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

We found this the most enjoyable, and fully developed, of the Transformers franchise. This is a sci-fi action movie with fantastic and innovative special effects. Critics are giving this movie mixed reviews, but it is making a ton of money worldwide.

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Movie 3: Daliland

This movie chronicles the later life of the mustachioed artist Salvador Dali, portrayed wonderfully by Ben Kinsley. The acting and writing are very good. Dali’s eccentric life, odd relationships and various famous friends make this movie very interesting.

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Movie 1: Blood & Gold

Set in the final days of the Third Reich, an AWOL soldier looks for his missing daughter as the Nazi’s frantically search for Jewish gold. This is a very good action thriller that, oddly, has the look, feel and soundtrack of a Clint Eastwood western. On Netflix. In German, but we watched the dubbed English version.

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Movie 2: To Leslie

A West Texas woman hits rock bottom after winning $190,000 in the state lottery. The acting is excellent with gritty and truthful dialogue. Andrea Riseborough received a very controversial Oscar nomination for her role as the downtrodden mother since this film had no national distribution and was seen only by a handful of people at film festivals. Allison Janney, in a small role, is perfect. On Netflix.

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Movie 3: Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse

Did you know there is a Multiverse out there, full of spider people trying to protect us and themselves? We didn’t either, and suspect we were the only ones who didn’t given the audience reaction to this blockbuster. The animation and diversity of characters in this movie are stellar. We found it confusing, however, and its 2 hour 20 minute run time seemed a bit long. But definitely worth a look.

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