New Film Review: John Wick Part 3 Parabellum

JOHN WICK 3 PARABELLUM


Well I was surprised how much I liked the first John Wick.
The second John Wick ...was pointless.
Now we come to the 3rd John Wick......................................
John is still being chased and where ever he is being chased it is always raining.
This film reminded me of Kill Bill 2....it had that 70's martial arts feel and so did this film. However Kill Bill 2 was fun with its camp style. Kill Bill 2 however was all business and excessive and just okay.
Reeves is very good again.
Asia Kate Dillon and Mark Dacascos are really good bad guy/woman.
Halley Berry adds another angle with her dogs, and that works.


So John is being chased still and there is a lot of action. An over abundance. So much action it kind of takes the personality out of the film. It becomes silly, but not in a Taratino way, because there are not many lines or funny lines to let the viewers breath.
Then another problem is, there is no ending. You have to watch the next one. However...you know what I am going to say....If you paid for a film, you deserve a beginning, middle, and end. This had no end.


2 stars out of 5 for John Wick 3 Parabellum.


If you like action you will get an overabundance. If you want a story, well we know the story and nothing else gets added to it...until the end, or lack of end.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Tolkien

TOLKIEN


A very slow and boring film, that gets saved in the last 15  minutes.
It follows the life of Tokien. highlighting his years school with his friends he found there. This "Fellowship" inspired his stories.
I thought often while watching the film of a film I saw last year called First Man. This film was about Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was a great man, however sometimes no matter how great a person is, their life does not make a very good movie. Neil Armstrong was quiet and cold. I can say the same for Tolkien. The movie just lays there...while he hangs out at the shops drinking tea. It feels stagnant with little emotion.
The last 15 minutes helps the film...as we see what all he has done in his life has led to.
The positives are....
Nicholas Hoult as Tolkien, is very very good with what he has to work with. Often saying a lot by just looking.
Lily Collins as Edith Bratt, Tolkien's future wife. She is the one 2/3 in who at least brings some personality to the film...and as she usually is, in all of her parts, Collins is very good.
Patrick Gibson; Tom Glynn Carney; and Anthony Boyle, are also wonderful as the secret society members or "The Fellowship".


The movie directed by Dome Karukoski is edited strangely constantly breaking up the story by jumping ahead in time to where Tolkien is in the war. Then jumping back in time to his time with his friends. That is a bad decision. The story is a struggle to pay attention to often because the lead is emotionless and the story is bland and then they leave it and comes back and we forget where we were.


Well any way, if you are a fan of Tolkien books it is worth a look for home viewing when it becomes available. You have fine performances, and you may learn a little bit about this imaginative writer.


2 starts out of 5 for Tolkien


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Poms

POMS


There is not much to say here.
I know it is "Based" on a true story. Diane Keaton plays Martha, a elderly woman struggling with life in her new elderly retirement community.
I felt bad for Diane Keaton while watching this. I worry. Is this the best of the movies she is being offered? The only good thing about this film is Keaton. Other than that it fails at everything:
The Humor falls flat.
The attempt to bring drama or some kind of resistance to the narrative of these older women cheerleading feels false and almost a joke.
I love a good film that gives you the feels....and this film even tried this and it failed.


This film was a disappoint.
1/2 a star out of 5. Front runner here in May..... for the worst film of the year.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: The Long Shot

THE LONG SHOT


Again. So slow at putting out reviews.


The long shot works. In an awkward funny way. The script is tight and interesting, however it has a similar theme as Seth Rogan's Knocked Up. He is kind of a sloppy mess but kind. He is stuck in a situation with a smart attractive woman..whom he eventually has feelings for. So we have seen this before.
Seth Rogan plays Fred, he has been laid off from his job as a reporter for a local paper. He runs into an old crush Charlotte Field, who is now The Secretary Of State. She hires Fred to handle her press as she thinks about running for the Presidency.
It a good story, not great that goes off the rails in the last act. The last act is shockingly unbelievable, just too far from being realistic...and kind of drops the film for me down from 4 1/2 stars to 3 1/2.
It is a shame because it works up to that last act highlighted by Theron's performance. I loved her in this part...they just struggled to close it for her.


3 1/2 stars out of 5 for The Long Shot


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: The Intruder

The Intruder


Well...this film delivers what it was meant to do. You are holding on to the arm rest, trying not to scream NOOOOOOO!!! This is why you go see this film.
We follow this good looking couple Annie (Meagan Good) and Scott ((Michael Ealy) as they purchase a house from the kind, and later we find to be crazy, Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid). The guy who will not leave!!!
It is a fun film, that drives you nuts...more on that later.
First the casting:
I have always been a fan of Michael Ealy, I think he is underrated and often you can see his frustration with just his facial expressions.
Meagan Good is believeable as the kind and often too kind wife. I have not seen her any films but here she wonderful.
Dennis Quaid. Okay he is awesome!! That smirk of a smile drives you nuts!!!!!


The negatives go back to the drive you nuts part...
-Call the police!!! Call the police!!! Call the police!!!
-Aaaah Annie a restraining order means do not invite him in!!
-You do not go into a dark area without an exit plan when you are by yourself!!!!
I could go on. Yes I know people in these types of films do stupid things. It is what they do!! Still this may have gone a bit too far!! You call the daughter but not the police!!!! It is funny to hear people in the theatre go OH NO! LOL!!


The awful ending drops it from 3 to 2 1/2 stars for me. We don't see what happens when police come???!! The next day?!! it just stops abruptly. I spent 90 minutes with these poor people I want closure!!!




Still good acting...fun to watch 2 1/2  out of 5 stars for The Intruder!! It delivers what you pay for. It is not bad, that is for sure.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: After

AFTER


Yes I am running late on my reviews as of late but they are coming.


After is based on a popular book by Anna Todd, the film follows Tessa Young (Josephine Langford) as she heads into her freshman year at college leaving her high school boyfriend back home. At college she meets dark and brooding Harden Scott ( Hero Tiffin) and it changes everything in her life.
We all have seen this type of story before, and unfortunately After does not add anything different to the story. The writing is poor. The film barely moves, and when it does it drags. Plus throw in a bunch of odd things happening like the following: She was not answering her mother on the phone. So mom drives over an hour and barges in to her dorm room and demands Harden to stay away from her daughter!! Huh? You could not have called the campus to check on her? Who let mom just go into a dorm house and just barge in? What if her roommate was getting changed? Well that is just an example of odd things.
Bright spots?
Well it is a serviceable yet predictable YA love/dark story, and for them it will work I guess. Also, I thought Langford was really believable in her part, she did a very good job. This was her first lead film role (At the same time Tiffin was just reading his lines and it was almost comical).


So..................


1 1/2 out of 5 stars for After....again just barely serviceable. I would wait for home viewing...it does play like a low budget made by Netflix film.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.