New Film Review: They Shall Not Grow Old

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD
 3 OUT OF 5



I wanted to like it more. Not saying it was bad, I am just saying I wanted to like it more.
I can break it down into 2 parts:
1-The odd thing is, this film is nothing different from what you can see on the History Channel.
Strangely it is not as organized as a show on the History Channel. The film gives no indication of passing of time, and the film does not give the viewer a map of where they are exactly. Yes I know this film was primarily made to be seen in Europe, so when they speak of small towns I am sure in Europe they know where the battle is...here in the States....not so much. What it does do right with the clear pictures is make you feel as the viewer you are right in the middle of the battles. I ducked a couple times!! You are in the trenches.
2-Now for the most wonderful part!! After the film we follow Peter Jackson as he explains how he took old archived footage and cleaned it up. How he researched letters and books; and used lip readers to bring the soldiers to life. How he went through year of interviews with soldiers during the war, then Jackson along with his team made decisions on how to implement the actual voices of soldiers into the film.
The whole process is fascinating, and after watching this, I wish they would have flip flopped this. Maybe put the how they made the documentary on the front end and the viewers can watch the documentary knowing more detail on the back end.


It is interesting film and beautiful to look at. If you get a chance go see it. The documentary puts you in the war....in the fields, in the trenches, in the small towns. 3 out of 5 stars.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

My Worst Film Of 2018

10 The Happy Time Murders
  9  Life Of The Party
  8  Rampage
  7  Instant Family
  6  Holmes And Watson
  5  Dog Days
  4  Mary Queen oF Scots
  3  Seagull
  2  Fantastic Beasts And The Crimes Of Grindelwald


Now I come to my worst film of the year!!
But first...how about my worst from years past!!!


2015- Ricki And The Flash
2016- The Hollars
2017- Everything Everything


And now my worst film of 2018:


1-





MID90'S


Directed and written by Jonah Hill, with good reviews by critics. I got suckered in!!!


There is not one, zero, zilch likeable character in this film.
If watching a bunch of kids acting like complete assholes is enjoyable, this is the movie for you.
If watching a bunch of kids on the screen who cannot not act a lick is your thing, this is the movie for you.
If watching a movie with no point other than to show kids in the 90's being rude is your thing, this is the movie for you.
If watching a film where they have the talent of  Katherine Waterson and Lucas Hedge in the film but they give each actor maybe 5 minutes screen time at the most, but they give 90 minutes to other lousy actors!!! This is the film for you!!


Now I do not know what critics were watching here. Maybe they feel they need to kiss Jonah Hills ass. I do not know. I do know however this is bad. Stay far away from this miserable film!!
I wanted to walk out of the theatre in the middle of it, it was that unpleasant, but I stuck with it, thinking it will get better. NO JUST NO!!


 From the shadows as always thanks for your time;.

New Film Review: Glass

GLASS
2 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS


Oh boy!! No spoilers here, so I will try to explain


The Bad:
- This is a two hour and 10 minute film. For an hour and a half it just sits there. Nothing happens. We just watch Dr Staple (Sarah Paulson) interview the three main subjects. I think M Night thought it would add layer upon layer of tension...but no...it just sat there.
-Then the last 40 minutes was filled with holes which leads to the  M Knight surprise endings...
-Note I said ENDINGS!!! There are three of them. Of course I cannot tell you but all three fell a little flat...
One involving a train which was interesting
One involving the DR which is odd
One involving the final three...that felt almost sad and I think was suppose to be uplifting.
I cannot tell if it was good or bad that I left the theatre confused. When I walked into the lobby after my screening, everybody was gathered around talking about what they just saw, and trying to decipher it. In fact maybe that is what M Night wanted, to have people discuss this drama. Note I said drama. No matter what the trailer wants you to think its a drama not a thriller. As a drama, the film kinda works.


The Good:
Bruce Willis
Sam Jackson
Sara Paulson
And yes Anya Taylor-Joy is back as Casey Cooke
Are all excellent in these roles!!
Then there is James McAvoy!! He is on another level. Switching  from personality to personality seamlessly. Amazing!! He was robbed of an Oscar nomination in Split and probably will be robbed again.


The acting is the highlight of the film for sure, and it is good to see Taylor-Joy back again.
I split (no pun attended) this film right down the middle with 2 1/2 stars. If you saw Split and Unbreakable you have to see it.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

My Worst Films Of 2018: 4, 3, And 2

I get closer to number 1 worst of the year 2018!!

4

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

You may be surprised I put this here. I mean there is talk of Oscar buzz here.

This is just a shame...2 wonderful actresses Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie and it still does not work.
There are 2 story lines:
1-Mary of Scotland. It promotes the film as Mary Stuart tries to attempt to overthrow the Queen Of England. It barely touched on that. It seemed to deal with inner struggles with the men around her and the fight of Catholics and Protestants (Yes I know that was part of the struggle between Scotland and England). It went around and around and around...and was just boring. Time went by in years with little explaining how far time had jumped which left me confused.
2-Queen Elizabeth played by Robbie. She is being promoted but is barely in the movie. When she was on the screen her story was interesting...but it kept going back to men having meetings in Scotland.

Now also throw in the many inaccuracies including the meeting of Mary and Elisabeth which never happened.
Even the look was bad, with bad lighting and shadows (yes I know there was barely lighting back then but often I could not make out who was talking), making it feel like a cheap production.

I would suggest read the book.
I would even say when the film becomes available for home viewing stay away.

3

THE SEAGULL

This will be short.
Shorter than the short stay this film had in the theater.
A classic book, that should have stayed there.
It had great actresses, Ronan (Back to back films on my list); Moss; and Bening.
Even with the cast it fails with poor editing making the story feel all over the place. Then, when it settles in a few places it sadly drags.
The Seagull got shot down as a film.
Back to back suggestion.........READ THE BOOK.

2



FANTASTIC BEASTS AND THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD
If you follow my blog you know I am not usually a fan of middle movies. Middle movies of a trilogy are usually a holder for the big finale and this one may reach an all time low for middle films.

I surprisingly liked the first Fantastic Beast film. It was fun. Filled with magic. Had a great bad guy. It had a nice couple love stories. I had a lot of laughs. The story was interesting. Interesting characters.

This film...
No longer was fun.
No relationship build up...in fact destroyed a relationships
No humor.
It lacked magic.
The story was annoyingly boring. At one point we just watched our stars for 15 minutes watch CGI....and do nothing.

Stunningly bad, and what they did to one of the favorites at the end of this film and not give us closure!!! Inexcusable.


Number 1 comes tomorrow or Saturday. It may be a let down because it is not one of the biggest films of the year. But critics went crazy over it and I do not want you to be fooled for home viewing.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time

My Worst Films Of 2018: Number 7-6-5

I have come to number 7 and 6 and 5 of my worst films of the year...again comedies or so called comedies struggled this year.

7
Instant Family

This film is not a comedy. I makes you think that it is if you look at the trailer and commercials that they released for this movie...but definitely not a comedy.
It is a drama about the issues that happen, good and bad,  when bringing foster children into your home. So what you get is an hour and a half of kids and parents behaving badly, and they are all highly annoying. Like nails on a chalk board annoying. Yes we are suppose to feel sorry for the children, knowing the background they came from, but that is beyond what happens in this film.
Plus there are way too many story lines of...the mom of the kids trying to get the kids back. The grandparents. The Foster group. The teenage foster child and a creepy boyfriend. Then for some odd reason...Joan Cusak shows up for 2 minutes at the end. What???!!! They had Joan Cusak and used her for only 2 minutes. What a mess.
I did not even touch on the acting...which was lacking.
So if I had to give anything a positive it was probably honest about how tough it is to assimilate foster kids and foster parents into one home.

Again it is not funny as a comedy; and all over the place as a drama.

6


HOLMES AND WATSON

I hate to pile on about a film that is already being ripped apart by critics. So I went in with an open mind, okay it was bad.
 It is all in the writing. So we have Ethan Cohen to blame here with Arthur Conan Doyle, the writers.
However you also have to look at Ferrell and Reilly, I am sure they had to okay it.
For a comedy it just had maybe 2 laughs, maybe 3. Then the story, it had no tone, it could not figure out what it wanted to be. The plot would break for slapstick scenes that did not fit, and again...not funny. Throw in many plot holes; and throw in most of the plot had nothing to do with the ending...it was a mess.

5


DOG DAY

It is pretty much a Hallmark film on the big screen.
I am not a Hallmark movie snob...I like a good Hallmark film.
However after watching this, you realize maybe we should appreciate the casting of a Hallmark film much more.
Every couple or future couple in this film have absolutely no chemistry. None. Zero. it is painful. Not even 2 really good actors Finn Wolfhard and the great Ron Cephas Jones (as a boy and a mentor) worked well together.

Oh Boy. Well the dogs are cute.


Next up 4, 3, and 2!!!

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.