Category: Movies

Puzzle

This is a fresh intimate look as the family characters one by one reveal their heartfelt aspirations to one another.  It is also about two jigsaw puzzle buffs that accidentally find each other and join a puzzle club competition.

Once again, here is a film that blazes its own trail.  And again, it’s the script and acting that makes the story work.  Irfan Khan (his full name is Saahabzaade Irfan Ali Khan) plays an affluent competitive puzzle enthusist.  Kelly Macdonald plays the family wife and mother.  David Denman is the family father.  Austin Abrams plays the son Gabe and Bubba Weileris his brother Ziggy.

We won’t reveal any more as it might say too much.  Let’s simply say this film is unique.

Audiences and critics liked this film.  So did we.  It is rated R for language.  It is listed as a Drama with a run time of 103 minutes.  We feel this film is suitable for viewers 14 and older.

Rating 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Let’s get directly to the point.  This film is about gay conversion therapies on teenagers and/or young adults.  It’s actually hard to believe such places still exist.  Why not electric shock therapy or blood letting?!  Let’s face the facts, these places continue to exist because some part of our society still believes homosexuality is a treatable condition and can “be fixed”.

In this movie set in 1993, two high school girls are discovered in the back of a car on prom night.  Teenager Cameron is sent away to a remote conversion therapy camp where those in charge assume a strict religious coersion along with a program of self hatred and humiliation as the catalysts for reform towards “normal behavior.”

The acting helps redeem the concept flaws.  Excellent performances by several younger actors include Chloe Grace Moretz as Cameron Post.  Sasha Lane plays Jane as fellow inmate along with Forrest Goodluck, Quinn Shephard, Emily Skeggs and Christopher Dylan White.

While enjoying a Grand Jury Award at Sundance, this film has been in limited release.  The film is not rated.  It is listed as a Drama with a run time of 90 minutes.

While much of this story is difficult to watch, it is well produced and is a good example of the “evolution of sexual therapy” still in use today.

Rating 

The Cakemaker

We were so glad this film was still in the theaters upon our return from Wisconsin.  Thank you San Francisco movie goers whose attendance kept this film around just a bit longer than usual.

It is a well crafted, bitter sweet film about a German baker from Berlin who falls in love with an Israeli businessman during his repeated trips to Berlin.  The baker tries to contact the businessman to no avail.  The baker learns from his friends office he died suddenly in a car accident.

Grief stricken, the baker travels to Jerusalem to learn more about his friend’s life.  He discovers the grieving wife at her small pastry shop.  Soon they become friends and the shop flourishes with new pastries from the baker.

It is a heart wrenching story about love, loss, discovery, acceptance, trust and grief.  The cast is small: Tim Kalkhof is exceptional as the baker.  Sarah Adler is the widow.  Roy Miller is the businessman.  Zohar Shtrauss is Sarah’s Uncle.  There are a handful of other characters rounding out the cast.

This film is not rated.  It is listed as a Drama.  We think this film is suitable for mature moviegoers over 14.  The run time is 105 minutes.  English, Hebrew and German with English subtitles.

Rating 

 

Good morning all!

We are all packed and about to leave for the airport and our flight home to San Francisco this afternoon.  It has been a wonderful summer!

Please see below a special single movie review.  This film is so good we didn’t want to wait.  We will be busy with mail, packages, unpacking and a backlog of activities so we decided this movie is worthy of its own posting.

Let us know what you think.  We send you all our best wishes!!  J&J

BlacKkKlansman

Talk about timely!  Coinciding with the Washington DC march yesterday and the one year anniversary of Charlottesville, this brilliant movie by Spike Lee is sure to be nominated for several awards when the season comes around.  It already won the Grand Prix at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival!

It is intelligent and provocative.  It is intense and carefully based on true events.  It is deliberately a dark comedy in contrast to the absurd reality.

The acting is paramount in the success of this production.  Leading man John David Washington and Adam Driver give great performances.  Alec Baldwin, Robert John Burke are also excellent.  It was also great seeing Harry Belafonte in a bit role.

Audiences and critics agree this is great film making.  The genre is noted as Biography, Drama, Comedy, Crime.  It is Rated R for strong language throughout, including racial epithets and disturbing /violent material and some sexual references.  We feel viewers should be at least 14 years old unless they are well aware of current and historical racism.

Run time is 135 minutes.  DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE!

Rating 

Spy Who Dumped Me

This film is…goofy, surprisingly funny, clever, jarring and ultimately still goofy.  Best friends Audrey and Morgan stumble onto an international conspiracy that takes them on a wild ride to Europe.

The acting is quite good for the most part.  Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon are perfect as the American want-to-be-spies.  Sam Heughan and Justin Theroux play the professional operatives.  Other notable actors include: Ivanna Sakhno, Gillian Anderdson, Kev Adams, Hasan Minhaj, Genevieve Mc Carthy, Lolly Adefope and Paul Riser.

Audiences and Critics have been all over the board on this one.  We decided the acting quality and the delightful story line was quite good and worth the look.  Mind you it drifts from time to time but overall it is well acted and well produced.

It is rated R for violence (a lot of violence), language, some crude sexual material and graphic nudity.  That said, it is listed as an Action & Adventure, Comedy.  The run time is a whopping 116 minutes.  It is NOT suitable for children.

Rating  

Eighth Grade

It is the perfect time to write this review.  The venue last night, Ruyi, a family favorite Chinese/Japanese Restaurant in the Potawatomie Casino where the family got together for dinner, a little gambling and a chat about the movie.  The group included Great Grandparents, Kay and Howard, daughter Jennifer and husband Matthew, John and Jim, and nephew Aaron.

The obvious topic was about the newly released film Eighth Grade.  The banter immediately shifted to the fact that the film could not be seen by the youngsters whom the film was based on, Eighth Graders!

In prepping for this writing, we discovered A24, the movie’s distributor offered free screening of the film to all teenagers…AUGUST 8th in ONE theater in each state, ratings waived!

In Wisconsin, that theater was in Mequon (where our family lives), 7:00 PM.

In California, that theater was the recently renovated and reinvented as an entertainment complex, Alamo Drafthouse Mission in San Francisco, 7:40 PM.

All that said, we found the film to be pretty much on target.  It was fair, realistic, authentic, relatable and a heartwarming reminder to all of us what 8th Grade is/was like.

It has a compact cast.  Elsie Fisher plays the lead Kayla.  Josh Hamilton is the single Dad.  Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger and several more play the young students.

Critics and audiences give this film very high scores.  That said, many friends and fellow travelers think it is much ado about nothing.  We think it is a valuable reminder of what it was like for each of us, empathize with those growing through it now, and the comfort we’ll never have those feelings again.

It’s rated R for language and some sexual content.  It is listed as a comedy and runs 94 minutes.

Rating  

The Meg

The Meg stands for Megalodon, a prehistoric ‘super shark’ that was bigger, faster, smarter than today’s sharks.  We were surprised to learn the first tier Director, Jon Turteltaub of National Treasure and the author Dean Georgaris of the Lara Croft franchise collaborated with Warner Bros. Pictures in creating this film.

We are pretty sure the film was crafted to become a global release given its list of stars.  Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Jessica McName, Olafur Darris Olafsson, Robert Taylor, Sophia Cai, Masi Oka and Cliff Curtis.

It was filmed initially in London and later in Hawaii.  Audiences are all over the board on this movie.  The super shark is really the star here.  The story drifts from one shark cliche to the next.  It turns quite gruesome and violent.  It becomes mostly predictable, almost slap stick in the last third.  Time will tell the fate of this one.

It is rated PG-13 for action/peril, bloody images and some language.  We do not recommend this film for younger viewers.  It is listed as Action & Adventure, Horror (It is!), Science Fiction & Fantasy.  The run time is 114 minutes.

Rating  

Christopher Robin

This is an interesting twist in the Winnie the Pooh series of movies.  Mostly because the focus is not so much on Pooh as it is on Christopher Robin, now an adult with an important business responsibility.  It toggles back and forth between Pooh’s world and Christopher Robin’s world.

The cast is talented.  Ewan McGregor plays Christopher Robin, Jim Cummings is Pooh.  Peter Garrett is Rabbit and Toby Jones plays both Piglet and Owl.  Brad Garrett is Eeyore.  Bronte Carmichael plays Madelline Robin and Wyatt Dean Hall plays Roo.

Reviews have been mixed.  We enjoyed it and found it to be pleasant, creative in the way it bridged adult and children’s subject matter.

It is rated PG for some action.  (We’re not sure what that meant.)  It is appropriately listed as Action & Adventure, Comedy, Kids & Family.  The run time is 2 hours.

Rating  

The Darkest Minds

This film has an odd but uniquely poignant message.  Suddenly the world’s teens develop new and varied abilities that are viewed by the government as a threat, prompting detainment camps and such.  It’s an extreme concept.  It is also creative, challenging and often quite dark.

The predominately young cast is quite impressive. Amandla Stenberg and Harris Dickinson give solid lead performances along with Mark O’Brien and Patrick Gibson.  Also noteworthy are Skylan Brooks and McCarrie McCausland as youngsters with unique powers.

What is challenging to follow as a viewer is whose bad, good and otherwise.  That varies wildly.  It’s both unique and confusing at the same time.  Our guess is this will be appealing to audiences and we are likely to see a sequel or two.

Reviews have been tepid at best.  We liked it and think the messaging and undercurrent deserve consideration.  It is rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.  It is listed as a Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction/Fantasy.  Run time is 105 minutes.

Rating  

Three Identical Strangers

How often is a documentary film interesting and compelling and intriguing all at the same time?  It’s also thought provoking and shocking concurrently.

We won’t give away the story but consider this:  it is a true story about identical triplets given up for adoption at birth.  Two decades later they are reunited.

What is fascinating is the story behind the story.  The three brothers, Robert Shafran, Edward Galland and David Kellman play themselves (though one is shown in archive footage only).

This film has already received global attention along with a fair amount of disturbing repercussions.  It is rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material.  It is listed as a Documentary with a run time of 96 minutes.

Be warned, some of the subject matter is intense and difficult to watch.  Nonetheless if this movie is appealing to you, we encourage your viewing.  It’s about real people, their incredible life experiences and the potential impact for all of us.

Rating 

Hi Everyone!!

Lots to share today.  We safely returned to the lake from our road trip this last Sunday.  1349 miles in six nights, 7 days.

It was a great trip with good weather, relatively mild temps, lots of discoveries, incredible land and water scapes.  Above average food and lots of friendly people.

Since we are current on the movie front, there wasn’t much out there to see while on the road.  That said, we did pick up a few movies this week.  All three are good and worthy of an audience.

Enjoy,  J&J

Don’t Worry, He Wont Get Far on Foot

This is an unusual film about unusual people with some serious issues, mostly alcohol.  It hosts a great cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara and Jack Black.  There is not a lot to like about these characters but oddly enough there is compelling material here to give one pause for contemplation.

That said, there is not a lot to like about this film.  It is an unpleasant topic with unpleasant characters.  Yes, life sometimes delivers horrible circumstances to some people.  That shouldn’t be a license to be mean, cynical or abusive.

It’s rated R for language throughout, sexual content, some nudity and alcohol abuse.  It is listed as a drama/comedy (but we did not find much to laugh about).  It is absolutely NOT appropriate for younger viewers.  The run time is 113 minutes.

Rating 

Mission: Impossible Fallout

The Mission: Impossible movies have been a long time popular series, beyond popular with the public for good reason.  The title alone speaks volumes to audiences.  Now after listening for more, Fallout, the sixth film of the franchise delivers its biggest, boldest, intensity from beginning to end.

The 12 leading characters are played by a who’s who of films.  Tom Cruise of course is the leader of the pack.  Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Vanessa Kirby, Sean Harris, Michele Monaghan, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Angela Basset, Wes Bentley, Alec Baldwin, Alix Benezech, Frederick Schmidt and Joey Ansah fill the leading characters, good, bad and otherwise.

The good news is it’s a great story at a great time played by a great cast with a talented production team.  There is just enough new, mostly action sequences, to rally audiences.

We cannot imagine how this film was rated PG-13 given the level of violence, extensive sequences of intense violence and its strong language.  Most critics liked/loved this film more than we did, so we will leave it to audiences to make their own conclusions.

It’s listed as an Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense.  It runs a hefty 147 minutes.

Rating

Blindspotting

Rarely does a film speak with such integrity, raw truth, insight and honesty about cultural reality.  It’s not perfect but it is laser focused on the impact of modern gentrification and its fallout on racial dynamics.

Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal are terrific as the leading characters.  Oh, by the way, they also produced the film and wrote the screenplay!  The next dozen actors are equally effective in their roles.

Make no mistake, this film is provocative by design.  It’s set in Oakland, CA.  It is also about friendship, trust, identity, and family.

It is Rated R for language, some brutal violence, sexual references and drug use.  It is listed as a Comedy, Drama running 95 minutes.  We were surprised to be only two people in an audience of five.    We will predict now there will be Oscar nominations for this film.  Stay tuned.

Rating 

First, a big shout out to all those comments lately.  We love them.  Keep ’em coming!

Only two reviews this week.  We are heading North for a road trip to explore Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  (Post to follow).

J&J

Unfriended: Dark Web

Where to begin?!  Credit monitoring and identity theft   companies market services to protect people from “the dark web” but how much do we really know about it?

In this film a group of 20 somethings get together for a weekly “game night”.  When one of the group “finds” a MacBook and takes it as his own only to discover the owner tracks the device once it’s turned on.

All hell breaks loose after that.  Threats, intimidation, bullying, and much worse.  Some of it not plausible, some of it terrifying if true.  In writing this review, we discovered there are two different endings in release.  We do not like spoilers so we will not disclose either ending on the  chance someone decides to see this film.

Critics and audiences are mixed on this film.  It’s rated R for some disturbing violence, language and sexual references.  Its genre is listed as a Horror.  It’s run time is 88 minutes.

Rating  

Equalizer 2

We had forgotten the original Equalizer from 2014 was based on the TV series in the 1980s.  (Oh my, don’t do the math.)  We don’t remember much about the original except it was very good.  Among Denzel Washington’s best work at the time.

It’s interesting from the get go.  The story goes back in time a bit with clips that remind the viewer that Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) was a highly trained international operative.  His world is rattled in the present when his long time associate and friend Susan is mysteriously murdered.

The cast is compact.  Denzel Washington is the lead.  Melissa Leo plays lifelong friend Susan.  Bill Pullman plays Susan’s husband.  Pedro Pascal and Jonathan Scarfe are excellent bad guys.  22 year old Ashton Sanders gives a noteworthy performance as the young neighbor.

Reviews were surprisingly tepid.  50% to 60% favorable.  We thought it was much better than that.  Our screening was packed.  There were some children in attendance much to our surprise.  (We feel this film is not appropriate for young viewers.)  It is rated R for brutal violence, language and some drug content.  It is listed as Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense.  It runs 129 minutes.

Rating 

Sorry To Bother You

First, it is set in an alternate universe in Oakland, CA where under employed telemarketers struggle to make sales that impact their paycheck.  Suddenly Cassious Green, played by Kakeith Stanfield, is coached by Langston, played by Danny Glover, who teaches Cassious how to find his “white voice” when cold calling potential customers.   Before long Cassious becomes a super star who is invited “upstairs” where the heavy hitters work.

The total cast is over 80 actors including most notably, Armie Hammer, Steve Yeun, Michael Sommers, Kate Berlant and Tessa Thompson.

Unfortunately, the film erodes into a bizarre place where excessive drug use and humans are transformed into minotaurs for sex.  It goes way off target in our opinion.

Now fasten your seat belts…most critics gave this film great ratings!!  Rotten Tomatoes scored it with 95% favorable.  Metacritic and Common Sense Media both rated it with 80% favorable.  Our rating below speaks for itself.

It’s rated R for pervasive language, strong sexual content, graphic nudity and drug use.  It’s listed as a Comedy, Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Children should never see this film.  And in our opinion, no one else should either..

Rating 

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Yes, the movie “pickins” are getting a bit thin.  So why not catch a mindless cartoon for an hour or so, right?!  We know the franchise from Sony Pictures can deliver quality animation and we know what to expect, right?  Well…not as much as we thought.

Drac and his family decide to take a vacation on a Monster Cruise ship as an alternative to their own hotel.  All goes well until Drac falls for the Ship’s Captain, Ericka.  Soon, all goes wrong when Ericka’s Dad, Van Helsing, plans foul play…

Over 60 actors contribute voices to the characters.  Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Jim Gaffigan, Joe Jonas, and Mel Brooks were among our favorites.

It’s rated PG for some action and rude humor.  It’s listed as Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family.  The run time is 97 minutes.  It’s not a bad film.  Let’s just say we have had better “vacations”!!

Rating 

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

The original is a movie classic and the stage play is even more popular today than ever before.  This rendition tweaks the concept quite a bit.

First it’s set in the future of the original.  The daughter played by Amanda Seyfried, has completed the renovation of her Mom’s hotel and plans a huge Grand Opening event.  As guests slowly gather, bad weather threatens to impede events.

It’s a great cast.  Meryl Streep has a cameo appearance.  Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, and Colin Firth round out the ‘Dad’ category.  Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are fantastic in the ladies section.  Cher headlines as the Great Grandmother.

We were surprised to see the critics and some audiences poo pooed the production.  We felt it had just the right mix of connection to the original, a few twists to make it interesting and respect for the original story while still keeping it fresh.

It’s rated PG-13 for some suggestive material.  Our theater was packed with an audience from adolescents to seniors.  It’s listed as a Comedy, Musical and Performing Arts.  Run time is 114 minutes.

Rating 

Whitney

This is the second documentary about the life of Whitney Houston.  It’s at the same time touching and heart breaking.  It uses real footage including amazing performances and the dark erosion of one of the worlds best contemporary singing talents.

It’s also raw, insightful, haunting and tragic.  As the film unfolds, Whitney is discovered and begins a meteoric career that plateaus as a superstar with her family, husband Bobby Brown and her childhood demons in tow.

The cast includes Whitney of course, her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, husband Bobby Brown, her mother Cissy Houston, Clive Davis, Robyn Crawford, Gary Houston, L.A. Reid, Mary Jones, Alan Jacobs and over 20 crew members.

We found the film riveting.  Her performances are stunning.  Her life story and family deeply flawed.  We were surprised to see the film is not rated.  We also feel the movie is absolutely not appropriate for children.  Nonetheless we noticed many children in attendance with parents.  The run time is 120 minutes.

Rating  

Sanju

This is an interesting and unique film about an East Indian Actor Sanjay Dutt, his enormous success as well as his battle with numerous addictions, time in prison and behavioral demons.

The film was released globally a couple of weeks ago and was greeted with great success.  If you have not seen Indian films, this would be a great first choice.  There are 14 primary actors from a cast of 50.  It is noteworthy that actor Ranbir Kapoor literally transformed himself into the character with extensive hours of hair and makeup.  He also spent months of physical training to bulk up to better match the real life character.

It’s a classic Bollywood production.  The acting is exaggerated, the language is primarily Hindi, the English subtitles fly across the screen, and the underlying messages are both locally and globally relevant.

It is not rated in the US.  It is really a Biography/Drama.  There is drug abuse, violence and sexually suggestive so we strongly caution parents that it is not child appropriate.  The run time is 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Rating 

Skyscraper

This is the latest Dwayne Johnson film.  This time building consultant to the tallest building in the world.  It is set in Hong Kong in the near future when the bad guys set the building on fire and extort money from the owner.

It is just different and fresh enough to be entertaining.  It’s a unique plot, generally well acted with just the right mix of surprise and production features.

The cast is compact.  Dwayne Johnson is, of course, the headliner.  Neve Campbell plays the wife.  Noah Taylor, Pablo Schreiber and Roland Moller are really good bad guys.  American actor Ng Chin Han is the building owner and Byron Mann is the top policeman.  The special effects are impressive.

It is rated PG-13 for gun violence, action and some strong language.  The genre is noted as Action & Adventure, Drama.  The run time is 103 minutes.

Rating 

Continue reading Movies: Sicario: Day of the Soldado, The First Purge, Ant-Man and the Wasp

Big HELLO to everyone!

We are sending out the following two reviews because we will be traveling to Wisconsin starting tomorrow.  Once we get settled, we’ll resume our movie reviews and travel posts as activities allow.

Our first week will be filled with family activities including our favorite…time with the two newest nieces, Gracie and Amelia.  (They grow and change so fast, one must seize the moment as often as possible!)

We wish the best to everyone for a safe fun filled 4th of July.  J&J

Leave No Trace

Wow!  This is a powerful story about a father and daughter living “off the grid” in a rugged forest park outside Portland, Oregon.

When they are discovered by Park Police their simple life is replaced by a structured program meant as a path to “normal” living.

The film never really reveals what happened in their lives although we do learn the father appeared to be struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  The daughter reveres her Dad, their bond is incredible.

The cast is compact.  Thomasin McKenzie is exceptional as Caroline (daughter), Ben Foster is incredible as the Father, Will.  Dale Dickey is awesome as the Landlady.  Dana Millican is perfect as the Social Worker.

The film is rated PG for thematic material throughout.  It is listed as a Drama.  It may be okay for older children with some explanation.  The run time is 109 minutes.  We think this film could garner some Oscar nominations for acting, directing, screenplay.  This is a good one, don’t miss it if it appeals to you.

Rating  

Boundaries

This is a unique take on a “father, daughter, grandson” road trip story with more than a few twists.

First, all the characters are flawed, but the acting is above average.  Next there are lots of stray animals just for dysfunction sake, but the critters are easily forgiven while the humans really need some serious help.

All that said, we enjoyed this film.  It’s unique, mostly believable, well acted and doesn’t take itself too seriously.  There are some surprisingly funny scenes and a mostly nice road trip.

Vera Farmiga is hilarious as the Mom.  Lewis MacDougall is perfect as the son.  Christopher Plummer is amazing as the Father/Grandfather.  Bobby Cannavale is excellent as the ex-husband and Kristen Schaal is adorable as the sister.

It’s rated R for drug material, language, and some sexual references along with a few nude sketches.  It’s called a Comedy/Drama and runs 104 minutes.

Rating