New Releases On DVD/BLURAY/Streaming This Week

My number of visitors to this site has increased every week. Thank you for continuing to enjoy and thanks for spreading the word.
Now, I moved up this week's new releases due to the fact I will be off line the rest of the week. I may try to sneak in an Avengers2 review Thursday night.
Well there are four new releases this week too note, so here we go!!!

INHERENT VICE
Directed And Screenplay Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on the book by Thomas Pynchon
Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin



Larry "Doc" Sportello (Phoenix) investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend in 1970 Los Angeles

Many people are calling this an instant cult classic. I just thought it was a mess. It is not as funny as the trailer would have you think. At almost 2:30, it felt like it was...well,,, 2:30. This film really needed some editing.  I understand it was based on a book (which I did not have the pleasure to read) and maybe the the director, Anderson , was trying to stay true to the book. Still, Anderson hired an editor, he should have used her a lot more.
Positives: well acted by Phoenix and Brolin (who is a blast!!). Also a nice bit of acting in a small role by a newcomer Joanna Newton, she plays Sortilege, she also narrates the film.

The film is messy 2 out of 5 star for Inherent Vice.


PADDINGTON
Directed by Paul King
Screenplay by Paul King
Based On The Books By Michael Bond
Starrring: Hugh Bonneville; Sally Hawkins; and Nicole Kidman



 Based on the popular books, Paddington. A young bear (Paddington) travels to London in search of a home. At Paddington Station, he meets the kind Brown family and they offer him a temporary home. Life looks wonderful for Paddington until he is seen by a taxidermist (Kidman), who has plans for the bear.

This film did well here and very well overseas. It is a very cute film which kind of steals the idea from 101 Dalmations. It has many laughs for children. Not as many for adults, as a matter of a fact Paddington becomes a little more annoying as the film went on at least to me and probably other adults watching. However the film was not meant for adults, and children really seem to love it.
What makes this film work are the performances by Bonnevile and Hawkins, they are fun to watch, and the over the top performance by Kidman, children hate her but adults will find her kind of funny. Also nice voice acting by Ben Whishaw as Paddington.

Well 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for Paddington. A harmless children's film.


WEDDING RINGER
Directed  by Jeremy Garelick
Screenplay by Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender
Starring: Kevin Hart; Josh Gad; Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting



Two weeks shy of his wedding, Doug Harris (Gad) must come up with a wedding party to stand with him. So he hires Best Man Inc. ran by Jimmy Callahan (Hart) to provide best men for his nuptials.

Let me get this out of the way first. Out of the two films released this year with Hart in them, the other being Get Hard, this film is the one to see. Is the film great? No. But it works. What makes it funny is that it is relatable. When women ask girlfriends to be in a wedding there is excitement and they are honored. When men ask their friends to be in a wedding the groom feels bad, and the guys always think well there goes a Saturday, at least I get free drinks. It is relatable!!
Some of the jokes are over the top and some fall flat, still somehow this film just works and is enjoyable. It may be because Hart; Gad; and Cuoco-Sweeting are perfectly cast here.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars for Wedding Ringer. It is pretty funny.


THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Directed by Rob Cohen
Written by Barbara Curry
Starring Jennifer Lopez; Ryan Guzman; John Corbett; and Kristin Chenoweth



A  married woman (Lopez) separated from her husband (Corbett) falls for a younger man (Guzman) who has moved in next door. Problems start when he becomes more of a stalker.

Well, this is a hard film to review because it does deliver what the trailer brings, suspense.
It is just that, if you decide to watch this you have to ignore huuuuuuge plot hole and just stuuuuupid behavior. The film has fine acting in it by Lopez. I was not impressed with Guzman he seemed to almost be reading his lines off camera.
Well anyway the film does give some suspense, 2 stars out of 5 for The Boy Next Door.

Well I will be back in a few days...as always thanks for your time.

Film review: Clouds Of Sils Maria

Direction and Screenplay by Olivier Assayas
Starring: Juliette Binoche; Kristen Stewart; and Chloe Grace Moretz



 Maria Enders (Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of a play that made her famous twenty years ago. However, 20 years ago she played the part of the young sexy girl Sigrid who pushes and pushes and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. With some reluctance she agrees to play the part, to respect the actress who played Helena before her. She departs with her assistant Valentine (Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps. A young star with a history of problems (reminding you of Lindsay Lohan ) Jo-Ann Ellis (Moretz)  is set to play Sigrid. Maria, while rehearsing,  slowly finds similarities between herself and Helena. Valentine is frustrated by Maria's push back, while rehearsing. Valentine also starts to see similarities between herself and Maria:; and Sigrid and Helena. Maria's frustration is that she is trying to push back time, which obviously she cannot bring back what once was.

This is the second film (Ex Machina) in a row that that I have seen, that seems like it could be a stage play. Interesting enough, this film is about prepping for a stage play. It gives you an insiders look at the film business and the sometimes hardship of fame.
The acting here is fantastic. I said earlier in the year that Cate Blanchett deserves Oscar consideration for her work in Cinderella. Well add two more Binoche and Stewart.
Julie Binoche as Maria, is pretty much a snotty successful actress who is fighting her age, and sort of holds onto her stardom by making people beg her to do parts. As this is going on she is going through a divorce. Age, divorce, stardom, she becomes an actress fighting, fighting for pride, throw in some fear also. Which she will not admit to of course.
Kristen Stewart is on a roll right now. Still Alice; On The Road; and now Clouds Of Sils Maria. She plays Valentine with almost a fierceness. She has the impossible job of keeping Maria organized and calm. Often she says so much with her look. I noted in a past blog that Stewart should have been nominated for Still Alice, she may have earned one here. I like what she is doing, she cashed in with all the Twilight films and now she can pick and choose small meaty parts. She must have good agents. Richard Roeper noted this performance reminds people she is one of the best actresses of this generation. I have to agree.
I cannot review this film without mentioning Moretz as Jo Ann Ellis. I have not seen Moretz give a bad performance yet in her film career. She is very good here again this time in a smaller role.
Now for the film itself. A nice interesting film that is a bit too long I feel. Too many shots just being held to show us a hill. I have nothing against nice shots of hills but when your screenplay is slow and you are pushing two hours, I think some things can be left on the floor. The film also leaves many questions left open. At one point a main character vanishes which is being debated online what the heck happened to the character, or what was the character. It is intriguing but a little annoying because the film lags a lot and you spend so much time with the characters, you are invested in their lives and you want to know what happened to them in the end.  I just think Assayas tried to be too artsy here, and I feel it slows things down.


Still, what we have here is a film with three lead women,(YES THREE LEAD WOMEN!!) who are acting the hell out of this film that has a "dragging" script. I give Clouds Of Sils Maria 4 out of 5 stars. Why? The acting here is that good. It is like a "how to" film for future actors.




Well from the shadows as always thank you for your time.
        

New Film Review: Ex Machina

Ex Machina
Direction and Screenplay by Alex Garland
Starring Alicia Vikander; Domhnall Gleeson; and Oscar Isaac



A young programming geek Caleb (Gleeson) is selected to visit the lab/house of Nathan (Isaac) an eccentric inventor. While there, Nathan is excited to show off his beautiful AI invention Ava (Vikander) and have Caleb put her(?) through a series of tests.

Different than any film you may have seen (Maybe the film HER?). Using a wonderful screenplay by director Garland; Rob Hardy's grey/dark fantastic Cinematography; and a haunting constant score by Rupert Coulson, brings a very intense feel throughout the film. The film is 110 minutes and it seemed to fly by.
Throw in fantastic performances by all three leads, mainly highlighted by Isaac, in a film that plays out like a stage drama. It is like a cat and mouse and I guess cat game that comes to an interesting conclusion. It simmers to a boil, in a film that asks the questions of how smart or realistic do we want our electronics/AI?! Who or what is playing who?

4 1/2 out of 5 stars for the almost perfect Ex Machina (Loses it's grip a just a little toward the end).....like I noted...it is definitely different.

Interesting that the two male leads, Gleeson and Isaac are in the new Star Wars film.


As always from the shadows thanks for your time.

It Is Wednesday!! Yay Or Nay Trailers!! Featuring Three Future Blockbusters!!

Wednesdays I judge three films just by the trailers....either Yay or Nay...play along!!


STAR WARS EPIDODE VII THE FORCE AWAKENS
Release Date December 18th



There is so much to love just from the trailer. First it starts with that great John Williams score.
Then you see two young actors who have future stardom written all over them: you see Daisy Ridley who will play Rey and you see John Boyega who will play Finn. We also see the familiar face of Harrison Ford as Han Solo, which, lets face it, is awesome!! This is the second teaser trailer and we still have not had any hints of what Adam Driver; Domhnall Gleeson ; Gwen Christie: Oscar Isaac; Lupita Nyong'o; or Andy Serkis are going to do or be in this film. Not knowing, and the Star Wars machine hiding these stars, almost peaks my interest as much as the trailer does. YAY!!!


BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
Release Date March 25 2016



The Trailer does not show much. We see that there is some push back by the public on what part Superman should play in society. Which I think is not a good storyline because I am thinking who cares, what are you going to do? He is Superman. Batman will use a kryptonite battering ram I guess.
I liked the last Superman film. It started out strong with Henry Cavill as Superman. However the last half hour of fighting wore me out and I was not doing the fighting....it was never ending!! Here with Ben Affleck as Batman, we do not see enough to judge him yet. So for now NAY...I need to see more.


MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION
Release Date July 31 2015



I like these Mission Impossible films. Yes, the action is a little over the top, but I find them well written. I feel Cruise gets a lot of flack for his personal life, some justified some not, still I am able to go above that and say I like him still in most of his films. Mission Imposssible films are also pretty good because of the costars: the very funny Simon Pegg as Benji; Jeremy Renner as Brandt; and of course Ving Rhames as Luther, they all seem to have good chemistry. The difference between this and the Furious films....screenplay and Cruise seems nutty enough to do the stunts. As a matter of fact he was seen on the plane!! From the trailer it looks fun. YAY!!




Well from the shadows as always thanks for your time.

Tuesday New Releases DVD/BluRay/Streaming

Two new releases of note this week!!


TAKEN 3
Directed by Olivier Megaton
Screenplay 4 writers
Starring Liam Neeson; Forest Whitaker; and Maggie Grace



 Bryan Mills is back and is accused of  murdering his wife as he is tracked and pursued by a detective (Whitaker). Mills brings out his particular set of skills to find the true killer and clear his name.

Oh boy. It should have stopped at Taken. In a strange way because of this plot it kind of knocks out the "want' to see Taken 2 ever again. Taken 3 is not good. I noted that there were four writers, four writers and there are so many plot holes and silly actions by the cast involved. Even time issues seem messy. The film seems thrown together, just sloppy. And you feel like Neeson picked up his check and sleep walked through this one. I have no idea what Whitaker was thinking.
 That all being noted, if you want to watch this film you are looking for action and fun, and in that vain it delivers. You just have to not think too much!! Plus, the only real good performance here is by Maggie Grace again playing Mills daughter Kim.
2 out of 5 stars for Taken 2.


CAKE
Directed by Daniel Barnz
Screenplay Patrick Tobin
Starring Jennifer Aniston; Sam Worthington; and Felicity Huffman



Claire (Aniston) becomes a little to involved with the people in her chronic pain support group. As she faces her own personal tradgedy.

A very heavy film. That surprisingly has some laughs, but the kind of laugh you feel guilty about, because in the back of your mind you are laughing at somebodies issues.
Great performances by all especially Aniston, makes the film worth a look. Just heavy.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars for Cake a good film but at times an uncomfortable watch.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time            

Monday Recommended: Good Ol' Freda

On Mondays I recommend a film that may have passed you by.


Good Ol' Freda
Directed by Ryan White
Written by Jessica Lawson and Ryan White
Starring Freda Kelly




A documentary in which Freda Kelly looks back at her career as lifelong secretary for The Beatles.

She lives a quiet life now. Unassuming. Neighbors; coworkers; even family do not know the secrets she keeps. Freda agreed to make this documentary by not telling her secrets about the Beatles but just to document her life as the Beatles secretary.
While watching this you realize that Freda does more than her title,she was the keeper of the machine. Beatles; Rolling Stones; New Kids; Backstreet Boys; One direction; and Taylor Swift all have that one thing in common, they became/become more than their music. Be it due to their looks; talent; or personality they become this machine that steamrolls forward at a high rate of speed, so fast that eventually it has to run out of steam. So as the machine soars somebody has to control the information going out. Today it is more difficult with the internet to control the machine, it takes a team to do so, however for the Beatles...it was Freda.
She took this job having no idea what she was getting into. I mean they were nobodies from Liverpool and during her watch they exploded.
Freda does not give up any secrets in this doc. She still is very loyal to the now defunct band. What makes this interesting is how important she was and what she observed as she watched the boys skyrocket.
Now she is so unassuming it is almost shocking. A small house with a small job. Even her kids do not seem to know much about her past. Up in her attic she sits on boxes of Beatles paraphernalia which is probably worth a ton of money. But it just sits there which makes me worry for her now that she has exposed herself in the doc. I sort of wish the Beatles would have taken care of her financially for her loyalty even now.
Well, the 86 minute doc covers the time and place really well and shows the loyalty and the sweetness of Frida.
Again this has no big revelations, but it is well done. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars for Good Ol' Freda.
It is available for streaming and rent on Netflix.


From the shadows thanks for taking the time as always.

New Film Review: Danny Collins

Screenplay and Direction by Dan Fogelman
Starring: Al Pacino; Annette Bening; Christopher Plummer; Bobby Cannavale; and Jennifer Garner



Inspired by the true story of singer Steve Tilson, Al Pacino stars as aging 1970s rocker Danny Collins, who is living off his past success, still partying like his golden days, living with a woman who is about 1/3 his age. But when his manager Frank (Christopher Plummer) uncovers a 40 year-old undelivered letter written to him by John Lennon, he Reflects on what he was or the person he was before stardom. Collins then decides to change his course and embarks on a heartfelt journey to rediscover his past, and try to make reparations while doing so.

This film surprised me. This is what I thought I was going to see: An older rock star who finds his family while still partying. And they hate him. He falls in love with Bening and then at the end he dies and everybody is sad but happy they met him. Well I was wrong.
There is a sweetness to Danny Collins. There is one scene where he catches his girlfriend doing something wrong,and the way he handles it is surprising. From that point in the film, I knew this is not what I thought it was going to be.
It is a pretty good film with really good performances:
Pacino, maybe the best performance he has given since The Insider. He plays Collins surprisingly pushy and soft at the same time.
Bening, the trailer is deceiving, she is not in the film that much but her and Pacino have nice chemistry.
Cannavale, coming back from the embarrassment that is Annie, gives a nice strong realistic performance
Garner, who is pretty much a fulltime mom these days taking on small roles here and there. Like in Alexander And The Terrible Day; Draft Day; Dallas Buyers; Men Women And Children she takes small roles, as she does here, she absolutely shines. I think she is very underrated right now.
Plummer, as Pacino's agent almost steals the film, as he usually does, with humor.

All these stars mean nothing with out another really good screenplay by Dan Fogelman (Crazy,Stupid,Love).


Well I cant classify it as great film, but it is a pretty good sweet film 3 1/2 out of 5 stars for Danny Collins. Well worth a look.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: True Story

TRUE STORY
Directed by Rupert Goold
Screenplay by Rupert Goold; Michael Finkel; and David Kajganich
Based on the memoirs of Michael Finkel
Starring: Jonah Hill; James Franco: and Felicity Jones



When accused killer Christian Longo (Franco) is caught in Mexico, he uses the name of a former New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Hill) as his alias. When the unemployed Finkel hears about this he smells a story and precedes to interview Longo. Thus begins an odd relationship between the two.

The movie is built as a Cat And Mouse game, which I did not see. I just saw a writer desperate to repair his image. He smells money for a book and gets frustrated because he cannot figure out the truth. Mainly because Longo is a professional liar. Now, what Finkel does not know is he is being used by Longo by teaching Longo how to tell a "story".
The film is well acted. Hill is very good as the frustrated and confused and maybe a little sleazy Finkel. Franco is well, Franco. However...he is cast perfectly...which make his performance fantastic. He drips with sleaze, but somehow he comes across as innocent...and to the viewer it makes him even more scary. Felicity Jones is wasted. I can see the writers saying "We need a woman in this film, find out about Finkel's wife". In reality she does not matter and at one point she does something odd that makes no sense. I was in the theatre with my hands up thinking "What are you doing??!!.
 I walked out of the theatre thinking that there is not much of a story here and if it was going to be made maybe a small screen film on cable or even a stage play. The story that is about Longo a killer...who killed his wife and kids. He is the face of evil and getting this attention is gives me the "Heeebies". Yes there have been other films about killers like Ted Bundy, however that film (small screen) was about the investigation and how he was caught and how detectives searched for evidence. That is what  made the Bundy film interesting, how detectives took years, but were relentless searching for this man. This film starts where the investigation ends, here we see just an evil person who killed his family and was caught right away. Cut and dry.
2 1/2 stars out of 5 for True Story,  2 1/2 stars for the actors.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time

New Film Review: Child 44

CHILD 44
Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Screenplay by Richard Price
Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith
Starring: Tom Hardy; Noomie Rapace; Joel Kinnaman; and Gary Oldman



A politically-charged serial killer thriller set in 1953 Soviet Russia, CHILD 44 chronicles the crisis of conscience for secret police agent Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy), who loses status, power and home when he refuses to denounce his own wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace), as a traitor. Exiled from Moscow to a grim provincial outpost, Leo and Raisa joins forces with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman) to track down a serial killer who preys on young boys. Their quest for justice threatens a system-wide cover-up enforced by Leo’s psychopathic rival Vasili (Joel Kinnaman), who insists “There is no crime in Paradise.”

I did not write this synopsis. I took it from the trailer. I just wanted you to read how interesting and intriguing this movie seems. Also the trailer looks suspenseful. Oh Boy!!! How can it go so wrong?! This film is soooo slow and soooo boring. How do you have Hardy and Rapace and Kinnaman, three of the best young actors working today and fail so bad?!
Now I did not read the book, so maybe the book was slow, and the screenplay just followed, with the thought process of, it will work out because the book was a best seller. You could literally fall asleep, wake up, and not miss a thing. Three things happen: A-Refuses to denounce his wife B- Move into poverty C- find killer of children. You know 2 hours and 20 minutes, and those three things were the most interesting and they took up maybe 15 minutes. Even the search for the killer of children went off the rails (no pun intended), with a soso conclusion.
I am not even going to get into the bad Russian accents...2 stars of 5 for the actors in Child 44. I was generous with that grade. I read in the news that Child 44 was banned in Russia because it shows Russia in a bad light. Lucky Russians!!  A big disappointment.


From the shadows...as always thanks for your time.