New Releases For Home Viewing This Week

I have 3 new releases for home viewing to note this week. One of which is the best film of the year so far. So I will start with that one and it will get worse from there...

GET OUT

Directed by Jordan Peele
Screenplay by Jordan Peele
Starring by Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington
                   Allison Williams as Rose Armitage
                   Catherine Keener as Missy Armitage
                   Bradley Whitford as Dean Armitage
                   LilRel Howry as Rod Williams





Believe the hype. It is pretty good.

So much is right here.
First the acting is wonderful. From the newcomer Kaluuya as Chris, who is fantastic!! To even the supporting players who play the ...I guess....creepy others. Everyone gives a great performance.
The script by Peele is really strong. The trailer makes it seem like a horror film but in reality it is a thriller with just the right amount of comedy.

Negatives?
Just a couple.
 -Dude get out!!!!! When you are outside and a man be it white ...black...green...blue is running in the dark at you....GOOOOOO!!! Call Uber tell your girlfriend after you leave we will talk later by phone!!
-The ending got a bit loose. A surgery, that seemed to not fit the script, almost like they had trouble finishing. It felt like it came out of nowhere.

Still, don't be turned off. When you sign up to watch this you expect excitement and some laughs and it sure delivers with both.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars for the best film of the year so far.




LOGAN

Directed by James Mangold
Screenplay by Scott Frank; James Mangold; and Michael Green
Created by John Romita Sr; Roy Thomas; Len Wein; Herb Trimpe; Craig Kyle; and Christopher Yost
Starring: Hugh Jackman as Logan
               Patrick Stewart as Charles
               Dafne Keen as Laura




Time has passed. X Men are almost extinct, except for a few strays. Logan is spending his life in pain, and taking care of Charles in Mexico.

Coming off the Rated R Deadpool, Logan creators thought ...what the hell...why not.
Due to the R it may be the bloodiest most violent Rated R film I have seen in years.

Well let me start with with what was done right:

The idea. is pretty interesting and fun and exciting.
Jackman plays Logan as an old broken man. Like all of us father time, no matter how much we fight, he wins. Logan spends his time being miserable and taking care of Charles
Then you have a wonderful performance by Stewart playing Charles also older but he wraps his arms around father time and embraces it with  loopy joy.
So you have these two opposites living their life hiding out in peace.
Then comes Laura played absolutely wonderfully by Dafne Keen. Who is one of some experiment Xmen children created in a lab who have escaped and now seek freedom.
So the idea is really interesting as it turns into a road trip film. Trying to get to the other children and then safety across the border. Exciting in parts and often funny.

However and a big however.....the film is way over the top. I am not a prude. I love Tarantino films. So it is not the violence here. It is the ...I guess basis of the violence. An innocent lovely family sliced up. Children sliced and killed. I had a lot of trouble with it. It is just not entertaining. How about a child walking around with a severed head? Oh....do not worry she rolls it away.
 I also had trouble of the final two showdowns being so choppy. At two hours and fifteen minutes the film felt like it needed tightening at the end. During the last 20 minutes it felt like there was 5 endings.Then they throw in....what I felt was an open ending. Not a clear finish which is what, as regular readers of my blog will know, I always want. You pay for a full movie...Beginning ...Middle ...Clear end. Period.

I was going with 3 stars here but I will add another half for our newcomer Keen. So 3 1/2 pout of 5 for Logan. Exciting emotional, yet over the top bloody and a so so ending.





THE GREAT WALL

Directed by Yimou Zhang
Screenplay by Carlo Bernard; Doug Miro; Tony Gilroy; Max Brooks; Edward Zwick; and Marshall Herskovitz
Starring Matt Damon; Pedro Pascal; Tian Jing; abd William Dafoe




This film was ripped by critics. Maybe rightfully so...but it does have some exciting moments.
Michael (Damon) and his partner Tovar (Pascal) while hunting for black powder, they stumble on a battle in China against monstrous creatures.

Positives:
-Two actors I have not seen before were really impressive here in supportive roles...Tiam Jing as Commander Lin Mae is very good and believable as the lead warrior. Pedro Pascal as Tovar, Matt Damon's William's partner. Steals every scene he is in.
-When on the wall it is exciting.

Okay not many positives.

Negatives?

-Matt Damon was miscast. To a point where it seemed like he was slightly sleep walking through this. Mailing it in. Maybe realizing half way through filming this is a mistake.
-The script is a bit messy. I like the idea of protection against monster like creatures by using the wall. But it seemed really repetitive and the end was off balance and messy. Close to silly....no spoilers as usual. Note 6 writers? Really? Maybe a sign they had problems and brought in a lot of help.
-The look is bad. Special effects really bad. The monsters.....I was not scared because they just seemed CGI. Then there is a couple scenes toward the end where William (Damon) was jumping off levels of a building and it was CGI and the CGI Michael did not look any thing like him. It felt like a bad video game.

2 out of 5 stars for The Great Wall. Just....it was just noit well done.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.