New Film Review: Yesterday

YESTERDAY

Okay let me dive on in. This film has not been well received by critics. Probably because hidden in this fantasy Beatles story is a love story. Most critics do not like love stories. Most critics  are heartless.
I think this film from Danny Boyle, who is known for Slumdog Millionaire, gives us a sweet story hidden in a fantasy.
Danny Boyle does a lot right:
Casting-
Himesh Patel as Jack is just awesome here. Sometimes saying so much from a look. He can not only act, he is a pretty good singer.
Lily James as Ellie, oh come on, she is always good. One of the best young actresses working today. She does not disappoint.
Kate McKinnon is perfectly cast as agent/manager Debra Hammer. She brilliantly honest in funny way. I laughed at the comments that rolled off her tongue often.
Surprisingly Ed Sheeran is very good. I thought he was just going to have a cameo. However he has a big part in this film. He is funny, often making fun of stardom, or himself. Like having his song as his ringtone.
Story-
I liked the story. It is a fantasy. We never really know why the world does not know about the Beatles. So, you really just have to go with it. If you cannot then this film is not for you. What is interesting here also is how Danny Boyle kind of reminds us, that hidden in that big larger than life name of The Beatles, lets not forget they wrote some very good songs.
Also there is the over riding theme of...To be dishonest and taking shortcuts to reach your dreams, can eat at you over time...there are lessons here for sure.

Unfortunately I do have some negatives:
-Even though Patel and James are really good in this, they really have no chemistry. They both even look uncomfortable. This problem is big, because it is a love story like I noted before hidden in this fantasy. I did not believe for one second they were attracted to each other.
-The writing gets a little messy at the end. There is a scene at Wembley Stadium that often makes no sense, but then again it is a fantasy....so I don't know. Its just the story went over the top, no spoilers here.

Still a fun entertaining film. It is just different.

4 stars out of 5 for Yesterday.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Toy Story 4

TOY STORY 4

When I heard they were making a 4th right a way I thought this is a Disney money grab.
I mean the trilogy, or I thought it was a trilogy, ended perfectly with the toys being passed down, as one child grows up...toys can be revived into the little hands of another youngster.
I was wrong...maybe there is more to tell.
This is spoiler free...
Now the toys we are familiar with belong to Bonnie. We open the film with Bonnie starting kindergarten which means big changes are in store for the toys. However, in reality, changes are happening already. Like most children, Bonnie goes through fazes with her toys, one week one toy is a favorite, the next week another. Which means...at some point a toy can be kept in the closet for weeks collecting dust bunnies. For Woody that change is tough but he has seen it before with Andy. Woody is loyal to his child.
So Toy Story 4, like the other films, has a road trip involved, and as usual an unwanted detour.
Again no spoilers but I can say I loved a couple new characters:
Forky: voiced by Tony Hale, is pretty funny. I love how he wants to be in the garbage, like Buzz in the very beginning who thought he was real, Forky just thinks he is trash and likes it that way. He is not thrilled with the Toy aspect.
Duke Caboom: voiced by Keanu Reeves is hilarious as a Canadian sort of Evil Knievel toy.
I also like the new Bo Peep. Yes I know people do not like the new Bo. However once you see the new film you will see she has to look that way. The things she does will not work in that big-ole skirt. She is a modern smart strong athletic brave woman....errrrr doll...errrr action figure I guess.

Negatives?
-I kind of miss Buzz in this film...he almost seems like a throw in here, until the touching ending.
-I think this film and purpose may be a bit over the head of youngsters (and throw in some creepy and scary dolls), they may not understand why or what happened at the end here. There is , I guess, enough humor to keep them attentive maybe.

In the end...the film is entertaining and it works.
This film is all about Woody. He has worked hard at not only being loyal to his child, or children Bonnie and Andy, but also loyal to his fellow group of toys. When something happens to his child...or one of his fellow toys he takes it personally. When is it time for him to relax and just be a toy? I thought of the words of Pepper Potts in the Avengers End game film while walking out: "Tony, look at me, we are going to be okay, you can rest now". Woody is the leader, the Iron Man for this group (And no Woody does not die, its a kids film. So stop it). He is never looking out for Woody.
 In the end, there will be laughs ( by the way many laughs in this film miss big time including shockingly Jordan Peele and Keenan Michael Key characters), and tears like most Toy Story films. Not sure I liked the ending but I understand it.

3 1/2 out of 5 for Toy Story 4.

Oh stay through the end of the credits....some touching words at the end.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Rocketman

ROCKETMAN


I think it is unfairly being compared Bohemian Rhapsody.
It is not Bohemian.
This film is very much like the 2007 film Across The Universe...with a dash of Bohemian and a dash of The Greatest Showman.
This film is entertaining in a stage musical kind of way. It breaks away from an actual Movie Bio. It  takes pieces of his life to make the story push through, but in reality most of the story is not factual as much as just entertainment. You will notice right away that early in his youth he is singing songs that he did not even sing until much later in his career, but in the focus of the film/musical the song worked.


The problem with this film is it did not really know what it wanted to be, and the editing made the film feel choppy. Think about The Greatest Showman...it started as a musical with a story bled through it...and it worked. Here there is a story, breaking into a musical, and then a little bit of fantasy with music. Again very choppy, which takes away any feeling out of the film, and we are suppose to feel for Elton. I really did not. He just a guy with shitty people around him, who often treated people shitty. That's it.


Now I am not saying the film is bad. Far from it. It has the great John and Taupin music. Elton John is an interesting character which helps the film. Plus it has two wonderful leads who are great Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin and Taron Egerton as Elton. Both should be looked at during award season.


Just an entertaining film, 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for Rocketman.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Godzilla King Of The Monsters

GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS


Oh Boy
What a mess.


Green screen work was just behind a mist or smoke.
They kept stopping the movie to explain to us what was going on, and even the explanation was convoluted. Almost like they rewrote the film while filming to try to explain this mess.
Oh and where are the people?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!
Without people you never get a sense of dread, there is no sense of danger, except maybe the leads who are constantly doing stupid things.


Okay I got to stop......................
This boring mess of a movie gets 1 star out of 5 and that is for the performances of Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: MA

MA


This will be short.
This movie had a lot of problems....and let me get this out of the way ..the acting of the two leads Octavia Spencer and Diana Silvers was not the problem, they were both very good in their parts.


Other than that...I disliked this film on sooooo many levels.
- There was no one to like. I need someone to latch on to...but no one was likable. Not one of the high school kids were likable. Not even Maggie, played by Silvers, was likable. Heck Maggie did not say enough for us to even know her. Of course Ma was evil and just sad. The people in the town were not likable. UGH!!!
-The writing is just bad. Some lines had me almost laughing out loud. Some scenes, including a scene of stitching some ones mouth together with no blood...(HUH????!!), were so unrealistic I had to fight to not leave the theatre( no spoilers).
- The ending was open ended and dumb. I mean what happened to everyone????!!! Then in comes a surprise character they throw at you in the last 20 minutes that we are shocked to see but never find out about her!!


Enough. I do understand there is a message of the long term effects of bullying, but it gets lost in the evil of it all.
1 star....for Silvers and Spencer... out of 5 for MA.


Do not bother.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Aladdin

ALADDIN


I know...I am getting your messages!! I am seeing these movies but finding time to write the blog is another story. Sorry I am trying...I am working so much these days.


I went in to the theatre very skeptical of this. I just did not see it working.
I was surprised. The film was not great...but it was good and fun.
Positives:
-Mena Massound (Aladdin) and Naomi Scott (Jasmine) are both really good, and their singing voices are excellent. They also have very good chemistry.
-I was worried about Guy Ritchie directing this ...coming from his action movie background..I thought he will be to heavy on CGI and action. However he stayed pretty close to the script of the original Disney animated film. In fact he pulled back on some of the action from the animated film toward the end...which is good because I found the end of the animated film the weakest part of the film.
-Marwan Kenzari as Jafar is wonderfully sinister!!! He makes Jafar his own. This movie does not work without a good bad guy....Kenzari makes it work.


Negatives:
-Will Smith was just a bad choice. I am being fair not comparing him with Robin Williams...I am just saying he was bad. His timing was off with jokes. His singing was awful. Facial expressions were non-existent, often looking hesitant in the part, almost scared to be all in. (On a positive note I liked his relationship with Dalia).
-The new songs added were all bad. Forgettable. They used one song to show the rise of Jasmine and female power, but in a strange way I thought the animated Jasmine was more before her time....animated Jasmine seemed real smart and clever. This jasmine sang about her situation but that is about it.


Well anyway this is pretty harmless...and fun.


3 1/2 stars out of 5....the classic story still works. The street rat and the princess.