New Releases For Home Viewing This Week Featuring Two Popular Films!!

GHOSTBUSTERS

Directed by Paul Feig
Screenplay by Kate Dippold and Paul Feig
Starring; Melissa McCarthy; Kate McKinnon; Leslie Jones; Kristen Wiig; and Chris Hemsworth




I often critisized trailers on this blog for misleading the paying movie goers.
Well....the Ghostbusters trailers shockingly goes the other way. Lets face it, the trailers for Ghostbusters were dreadful. They were stunningly bad. So, I went in to the theater with...well not much hope. Boy was I wrong.This film was pretty good!! Stunned!!

What went right:

The script/main characters. The women were not silly imbeciles, all four were really smart strong women which I loved.
The casting. Well you already know Mellissa Mccarthy who plays Abby Yates and Kristen Wiig who plays Erin Gilbert were going to be good, so I will spotlight Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth . McKinnon who plays Jillian Holtzman steals the movie. Kate is hilarious as she spouts out her lines. Her physical comedy is fantastic. When you see this film, watch her while other people are talking. You will agree with me, she steals this film. I read a review and this reviewer said she is annoying. She was suppose to be!! She is cra-cra!!
Chris Hemsworth, whom in the just okay remake of Vacation shocked me by how funny he was during his 10 minutes on screen. Here he has more time to be funny. He is great as a stumbling bumbling Admin. Assist. Laugh out loud funny.
Cameos: I loved the cameos by most of the living cast members, and the cameos did not disrupt the story. It was a nice tip of the cap to ones who paved the road.

Faults:
The script/plot. There seems to be a lot of describing to us what is going on. There is a bad guy and maybe I missed it but there is no reason given for why he wants to do all this. No background...nothing. Just odd, we are suppose to think he is just being evil to be evil I guess. No revenge ...just evil.
Also the film gets a little wacky in the last 20 minutes with many plot holes. Wait a minute, Jillian created a nuclear weapon without telling anyone???!! Obviously it was thrown in to find a way to close the film. In other words they had trouble closing.
I thought Leslie Jone's Patty, who was the NY history expert of the group, did not seem to have much to do but almost do play by play.


3 1/2 out of 5 stars. Is it one of the best films of them year? Probably not. However it may be one of the funniest films of the year. You want to laugh, and you get plenty of laughs, four of the funniest women on screen right now. I think it is okay for the whole family(10 and up). Not often there is a good film that is not animated for the whole family. You want to see the battle with ghost, you get plenty of that. The film delivers what you want. It just had trouble closing a bit. Stay through the credits.

I mean who you gonna call anyway?



THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

Director David Yates
Screenplay by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer
Based on the charachters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring Alexander Skarsgard; Christoph Waltz; Samuel Jackson; and Margo Robbie




This film does a lot right.

David Yates, like in the Harry Potter films, does a very good job, mixing in the CGI with real location and sets. He may have gone a little to heavy with CGI here, I would have liked to have seen a little more real location because Africa can be a beautiful location. Still it all looks good.

Acting: Every one is pitch perfect. Jackson, as George Washington Williams, is pretty much the viewer, our eyes. He takes us on the trip and watches in awe at everything like we do.
Waltz as the bad guy. Well you know he is a great bad guy. I have to wonder if he is getting tired of playing the bad guy. It almost seems like he is now type cast as a bad guy.
Margo Robbie as Jane. Beautiful as always and playing a tough strong woman which I found believable.
Skarsgard as Tarzan is absolutely perfect. He sure looks them part.

The scriptwriters made some real odd choices.
The story was real slow in development.
They decided to show Tarzan's history in flashbacks. They also showed Tarzan's and Jane's history in quick flashbacks. I did not like that at all. It broke up the story that was happening in real time and I wanted more backstory!! We just see a little bit of how the relationship between Jane and Tarzan developed. In fact I think they left some backstory on the cutting room floor, because they had conversations about some parts of a story line that we never saw or have any basis on why.
I also felt the character of Tarzan was more of a superhero.  Which was unnecessary. Tarzan that I read in books was not  superhero he was smart, one with nature, which made him dangerous.
Logistics. There are many logistic plot holes in this film. I can stretch my belief often but here it was tough. Per example...Characters on a boat on a river and somehow pop up for a fight deep in the jungle 5 minutes later, Did they fly???!!!!


3 1/2 stars out of 5 for The Legend Of Tarzan. Great acting. Lots of action. That is what you expect, that is what you go to see. You will not be disappointed.  Not much development of character...which I think is a missed opportunity, because this is based on a great character in literature, who was not a superhero, but just a man raised in the jungle by apes.

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

New Film review: The Girl On The Train

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Directed by Tate Taylor
Screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson
Based on The book by Paula Hawkins
Starring Emily Blunt and Haley Bennett



It is rare that I enter a movie theater to see a film adaption of a novel that I had already read. Yes I read the book and to be honest I really did not like the book. It was an interesting story with interesting twists however it dragged often with the same thing happening over and over again. I came into this film with high hopes however. I felt like the film will throw out the repetitive parts and get to the meat of the story quicker. Which was happily done, but sadly this film adaption was still poorly done.

Yes it was rushed through but it still felt boring and wooden. It was just quiet I guess is the best phrase to explain it. I cant remember a film that had this many voice overs. They were giving us the character's thoughts or their confusion, however it felt like they were just reading the book to us. It happened over and over and over again. It was annoying.  If I was going to adapt this story I would have it start with a police interview and then tell the backstory. Or add a friend from AA where Blunt/Rachel can explain her past and her confusion to someone. This would cut out the annoying voice overs.

Then I had the same problem as I had with the book...the characters. Yes you feel for Blunt's Rachel, however she is a mess and puts herself in odd situations like taking a baby. She is very hard to like. The other main character Bennett's/Megan is definitely unlikable yet a bit sad. So you have the two leads being very difficult to grab onto and want to care about and follow. Maybe they are a reflection of us all, that we all have faults and regrets. Still it does not make it any easier to watch.

Positives?
Yes there sure is. The acting by both Bennett and Blunt is fantastic. They are so good they draw you in to their lives and you just can't take your eyes off of them.
The plot which is being compared to Gone Girl, which I disagree with. Here, as opposed to Gone Girl it has a twist at the end. In Gone Girl we see what was developing before hand. So the end here is tense and exciting (Yet the conclusion is much to quick)

So the film is a depressing mystery which is serviceable as a film. A little better than average story, 3 stars out of 5 for Girl On The Train. I guess you could do much worse.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film review: Birth Of A Nation

BIRTH OF A NATION

Directed by Nate Parker
Screenplay by Nate Parker
Story by John McGianni
Starring Nate Parker





When I was younger in high school they used to show bad videos of events in history. It was bad acting and with a cheap look. However it got its point across.
This is what I thought of watching Birth Of A Nation.

Acting: One really good performance. An Oscar worthy performance by Nate Parker. He shines. Were the other actors good? Some were real bad, others I really do not know. They never really get a chance to shine....because of the script being so thin. So I move on to .....

The script: It is not good. It just jumps everywhere. It cannot stay on one scene to get some in depth information about the characters. Then we get to the revolt. It builds up to it. If you read about Nat Turner, you know that he was brave and lead the uprising. You wait for that moment.Then the script rushed through it. It lasted 10 minutes and only showed us the fight with the militia. There was soooo much more than that. They took out slave owners. They took out field hands who tortured slaves. However they also killed many women and children which is looked on as questionable. That would be interesting to watch and listen to that decision making process. But we do not get it. What we do is get short scenes of Blacks getting mistreated in awful ways, and a 10 minute revolt, Clearly a good story that missed an opportunity. Maybe it was just too much information. I look back and think this may have been better served as a HBO mini series where we can dig a bit deeper. I mean he was married and we know nothing about her. If you are going to tackle this story you have to be able to also tell the stories of the people around him. In an honest fashion.

Well it was well acted by Parker however not very well done by Parker. 3 out of 5 stars for Birth Of A Nation.

As always from the shadows thanks for your time.

New Film Review: The Hollars

THE HOLLARS

Directing John Krasinski
Screenplay by James C Strouse
Starring John Krasinski; Richard Jenkins; Anna Kendrick; and Margo Martindale





Well the trailer makes it seem funny. Trust me..it is not.

This film is really bad. Like reeeeeaaaallly bad. How can it be so bad with all these star?
I do not have an answer for that. I just know it is bad.

Everybody is annoying as they wallow.in their own missery.

Jenkins as the father may be putting on his worse performance ever. Cringe worthy.
Krasinski, who I love and his name and his directing sucked me in, is annoying and just bad, He is better than this.
Kendrick as the girlfriend who should run away real fast is pleasant but is annoying that she is not running away from this mess of a family and mess of a film.
Martindale. People say she gives a good performance. I disagree. I think she is as annoying as the whole family and towns people. She looks to me like she wants to roll that bed away from this film.

The script. How bad is the script:

A man crawls through a window of his ex's house in the middle of the night. I think they thought we would think it is funny. No...just creepy.

A woman goes into labor at a funeral. No they don't ask for a ride from any of the many relatives at the funeral, they decide to use the hearse. So bad. So creepy. So unfunny. So odd.

So many stars yet so bad. 1/2 a star out of 5. One of the worst. They even try to pull at your emotions and that fails. Stay away for The Hollers.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years The Beatles

EIGHT DAYS A WEEK THE TOURING YEARS THE BEATLES

Directed by Ron Howard
Writer Mark Monroe and P,G, Morgan (Consultant)
Starring The Beatles



So I hear this Beatles band is going to be big someday.

This was suppose to come out for one day but has been extended. It also can be found on PPV.

I really think if Ron Howard's name was not attached to this film it would have been lost.

The odd thing is the documentary really does not cover much new ground, and every time it gets into something interesting and new it pulls away from it.

-Larry Kane a reporter who toured with them, had interesting insight but was rarely used.

-Interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Star seemed like fluff.

-Nothing about squabbles during the tour or setting up for concerts or funny stories dealing with rabid fans
.
-It shows their last performance but...any thoughts on that from insiders...NO.


Positives:

It is fun to see some film of the fans. Also you see for the first time ever film from the SF concert. However again....not much of that concert...and but at least you get a little bit, like how they are a bit pissed about these giant venues and the sound. It was interesting to hear the bands perception of being on the baseball fields and not being able to hear each other play.

It is fun that the film has a lot of footage capturing time and place. Before social media and such.


Other than that ...nothing new. In the theaters it has 30 minutes of the Shea Stadium concert after the documentary. OK. So what, I have seen footage of them playing before. Like I noted there is not much that is new here. If you want to see a better Documentary behind the scenes watch the wonderful GOOD OL FRIDA. Sooooo good....but even she holds on to secrets real tight.

2 out of 5 stars for Eight Days A Week The Touring Years.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Masterminds

MASTERMINDS

Directed by Jared Hess
Screenplay and story by Chris Bowman; Hubbel Palmer; and Emily Spivey
Starring Zach Galifianakis; Owen Wilson; Kristen Wiig; and Jason Sudeikis





I went in a bit worried. This film has been sitting around for awhile. First it was suppose to come out late winter. Then held back until the summer, then pushed to October. It can make you go uhoh.

Well I was pleasantly surprised. It is better than okay.

Now the director for this film Jared Hess. The same director who did Napoleon Dynamite. Think back to that film. It was funny but not laugh out funny. Why? Because there is a sorta sadness in Napoleon Dynamite, They are not bright. It is just who they are and you feel for them because they are harmless souls. Just lost a bit. This is exactly what you get in Master minds.

Masterminds is funny. In fact it may be Galifianakis best performance since the first Hangover.
And it is a true story or at least based on a true story!!!!!!!!!!
So funny, but as noted above kind of sad. He is so naive.
Around him are Wigg; Wilson; and Sudeikis, but don't be fooled, yes they are big names but it is Galifianakis's film.

I wish it was tighter, you can almost tell it was reedited over time. They probably added more slapstick. Still....it was not laugh out loud funny, yet it was entertaining. Also shocking that this group of people pulled off this bank heist. The most money ever stolen at one time in America. It is just crazy.

It may be worth waiting to see at home. Stay through the credits for outtakes and you see the real people who did the bank heist. 2 1/2 stars out of 5. Like noted not hilarious but it works. It is around 90 minutes so it did not overstay it's welcome. Again when it is available for home viewing  catch it or if you want to chuckle a bit catch it in the theater.

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