Coda

Coda

Based on a French Film La Famille Belier, CODA, Child Of Deaf Adults, Ruby (Emilia Jones) Is the only hearing person in her family. As the family leans more and more on her, Ruby pushes toward gaining a spot at Berkley College Of Music. Her decision could ruin her families fishing business.

Let me get on my soap box for a minute. Oscar rules need to change. This film was shown for a week in maybe 5 theaters in the US to make it eligible for a nomination. Then the film was moved it to Apple+. I mean really? Films should be in theaters for at least 3 weeks and a certain percentage of theaters. The public should be able to see the darn film in a theater. It is almost elitist.

Now off my soapbox. As for Coda....it is one of the best films of the year.

Positives:

-The screenplay by director Sian Heder is just wonderful. It warms your heart. It makes you cry. It makes you laugh. There are brilliant decisions like the 3 minutes during the concert where we hear nothing just like the Rossi's (My heart). The moment when Ruby is singing and Frank holds her throat to feel the vibrations (again my heart). So many good decisions. Then as you hold your heart she brings a touch of humor to let us breathe, So good!!! Then throw in the prejudice against the hearing impaired which we do see on display but not as a lecture, it just blends into the story. Best screenplay of the year?!

-Lead actress Emilia Jones, fantastic as the only hearing member in the Rossi family. Often she has to show anger and love without talking. Then throw in..WHAT A SINGING VOICE!!

-Costars:

Troy Kotsur as the Father Frank Rossi. A deaf actor, he gets his first Oscar Nomination here.

Daniel Durant as Brother/son. A deaf actress. He is the person in the family who feels a bit less because he cannot hear and help like his sister. He is great and maybe a bit under recognized here.

Marlee Matlin as the mother Jackie Rossi who seems to keep pushing back on Ruby's plans, maybe out of fear. Well we know she is good, she won the first Oscar as a deaf individual years ago. Here, she takes a backseat to the bigger or more aggressive performances but in the end she shines.

Eugenio Derbez the great, underrated, Mexican actor plays the music teacher Bernardo Villalobos. He is, as always, wonderful here adding humor and love.

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, yes from the great film Sing Street, plays Ruby's singing partner and love interest. Perfectly cast in a soft, small role.

Other than a few scenes that seem forced upon us and not necessary this film is..well a perfect 5 out of 5 for CODA. I wish everyone could just see it.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

From Norway, chronicles four years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve), as she navigates her love life, her career path, and figuring out who she is.

Man...what a wonderful little film. 

Great performance by the fantastic Reinsve and also let me not forget Anders Danielsen Lie as Aksel her live in boyfriend.

The movie plays out in 12 chapters and an epilogue. Each chapter takes you through Julie's life and changes in these four years as she tries to discover intentionally or unintentionally what she wants with her life.

The film is slow, often sad, often quirky (There is one beautiful part where Julie will go and get what she really wants while the rest of the world is frozen in time), and funny (Julie pretending to be a doctor at a party). There is a lot to this film. Is Julie The Worst Person In The World? If you do not want what others want? If you change your mind even though others push back? Even in the face of hurting others? 

NO SPOILERS HERE.

Funny thing is...I left this film thinking Reinsve and Lie were fantastic. However I thought the film was just Naaaaa. However..it sticks with you..literally for days. So, in today's age of Marvel greenscreen destruction of the world films, its kind of nice to see a film says so much about life that stays with you, credit goes to Director and Writer Joachim Trier and writer Eskil Vogt. 4 stars out of 5...I can't explain it, but this film says so much without saying it.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

Uncharted

UNCHARTED

Nathan Drake (Tom Holland),  a, well, pretty much a street hustler, gets recruited by Sully ( Mark Wahlberg)

to look for the missing gold of Magellan.

It is funny that I had 2 screenings in one day. I had Dog, which I was excited top see. I then had Uncarted, which I felt blah about, I did not play the video games, I was just not interested. YET...the opposite happened!! Dog was blah and Uncharted was fun and exciting.

Again, I did not know anything about the video game, yet still this was a fun Indiana Jones type film.

It had heroes, wonderful villains, many exotic location. double crosses. I mean..what fun!!

Positives:

-Tom Holland is a movie star. He is great as the brilliant Nathan Drake.

-Antonio Banderas (Moncada) and Tati Gabrielle (Braddock) are fantastic sinister villains. Always remember these film do not work without great villains and they were wonderful.

-The plot was very Indiana Jones like, running at 2 hours and the film never felt boring.

Negatives:

-I don't know if it was just me but it seemed like Wahlberg sleep walked through the film. It was like he wanted no parts of this lol.

-Holes..(But let's be honest there were holes in all Indiana Jones films)...Like how did they get from point A to B. Or the netting in 60 seconds under...well no spoilers.

Still get past the holes.Grab a bucket of popcorn and enjoy this first film from Sony Playstation Productions and directed by Ruben Fleischer on the big screen!! 4 out of 5 stars for Uncharted!!

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

DOG

DOG

Former Army Ranger, Jackson Briggs (Channing Tatum), has cut a deal to bring a former army ranger dog to the funeral of his former handler.  If he is successful he could be brought back in to a job within the service.

I must have missed something here. I went in with my hopes up high. I like a good "Dog" film (Art Of Racing In The Rain underrated ..Watch it), this film here, felt boring and blah.

I cant put my finger on it but here are my thoughts:

-Tatum is kinda stiff and unemotional around the dog

-The dog is unlikable..yes he is sad, and confused, and trained to not be a "snuggle" dog.

-The trailer builds it to be a funny slapstick road trip with a dog. It was not and I did not laugh once. Which leaves you disappointed after watching the movie and after seeing the trailer.

-The ending...the big payoff..what happen to Lulu the dog we do not get to see...we are just told about it, and get quick scenes, thats it. Which makes the ending flat.

Positives:

-Some likable parts...I got the feels at the funeral

-A couple small performances by Ethan Suplee as Noah; Kevin Nash as Gus; and James Adams as Tamara: All 3 three of these actors lifted the film up.

-It is a true story. I imagine its a better story than what they gave us. Still its a sweet story.

Other than that..I got nothing. I felt the film was somewhat, and shockingly forgettable...1 1/2 stars out of 5 for Dog. Disappointing.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

Blacklight

Blacklight

Travis Block (Liam Neeson) is a government operative. Who wants to get out. However he stumbles on a illegal plan from within his organization that pulls him back in.

This was not good. Plain and simple. 

This bad film lays at the feet of Director Mark Williams and Screenwriter Nick Mays.

The look is dark, so dark that you cannot see what is happening.

The script is predictable; boring; and a stunningly flat ending that seemed like they just ran out of ideas..."sooo let's have it end". At the end, they do not show us, they just tell us!! What the....!!! I was thinking ..that's it???!!

Bad acting by a Emmy Raver Lampden as newspaper reporter Mira Jones. I almost felt like she was thinking..LET ME OUT OF THIS MOVIE I GIVE UP!!

I have to stop...

Any positives?

Liam is good but the acting roles he is taking in these film are all the same. He needs to reevaluate his path right now.

Aidan Quinn, YES I KNOW, as Gabriel Johnson, is back. That was kinda nice.

That's all the positive I have lol.

This offers some action if that what you're looking for. A lot of things blow up, so there is that. Still..sorry..1 star out of 5 for this boring lazy film Blacklight.

From the shadows as always thanks for your timer.

Marry Me

MARRY ME

Well I am not going to get into the storyline, I mean it is right there in the trailer slash commercial that has been playing over and over again for months.

What this is, is a high end Hallmark movie. Now you know that to me is not an insult, I love a good Hallmark film. Here, sadly, it may not be as good as a Hallmark film.

The positive is....you go to see a love story, and it delivers....well..a love story. That's what you signed up for and there it is (OH, and the song Love Of My Life is a good song, to bad it will be forgotten by next years Oscars).

Still there is something off about this film, and people are saying Lopez cannot act. Well you did not say that about Hustlers, people were saying she deserved an Oscar Nom for that.

My thoughts? Glad you asked:

- I think Owen Wilson and Lopez did not have much chemistry. I know their character are not suppose to but, they kissed like cold fish and they both seemed stiff around each other. 

-They made a bad decision by pushing Charlies (Wilson) daughter Lou (Played wonderfully by Chloe Coleman) off the screen. She is barely in the film. I think she should have been the heart of the film. Opportunity missed. I think more of a relationship between her and  Kat (Lopez) should be where the heart of the film was. They missed it.

The storyline falls along the same line as a Hallmark film, with problems with 20 minutes left and well no spoiler here.

So there it is, this film is just off. 2 stars out of 5 for Marry Me. I wish I liked it more.

By the way, this was the 2nd movie this week I have seen in the theater with John Bradley(Game Of Throne fame)!! Here he plays Kat's manager and is kind of the life of the film. Twice this week he is very good.

Death On The Nile

 

Death On The Nile

While on vacation Daniel Craig investigates the killing of a great author who has a nurse who throws up when she lies, as they head down the Nile River on a boat, the boat hits an iceberg, the nurse kicks Craig off the a floating door and dies..WAIT A MINUTE..I THINK I MIXED UP MY MOVIES..LETS TRY AGAIN....

While on vacation on the Nile; Hercule Poirot ends up investigating a murder.

Director and star Kenneth Branagh learned a lot from the awful remake of Murder On The Orient Express.

In Murder, one of the worst films of that year, there was no character development which left us not really caring about anyone on that train. There was quick edits, almost in effort to make the film more modern, maybe to make it feel more exciting and quick....this only made the film seem choppy and confusing.

Now we come to Death On The Nile. The film starts with a backstory of Poirot (and by the way an explanation of the mustache that was panned in Murder, now you feel bad. Right?). The backstory of Poirot gives the viewer a feel of who he is (Missing from Murder).

The story line, based on the Agatha Christie book, is not rushed. We get to know each cast member, and relationships. As a matter of a fact, the murder does not take place until an hour in. At that point the film moves quick and is rather exciting. 

I am not going to go through each cast member, but I am going to say each actor is perfectly cast and believable in their roles. Highlighted by Branagh as Poirot; Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway: and Russell Brand in a wonderful pulled back performance by him as Windlesham.

Spoiler free makes it hard to review..
I can say a couple negative things...There are a couple holes in the modern storyline; also they telegraph a couple clues that had me figuring out the outcome 30 minutes out. Not too subtle. Again spoiler free.

Well...I know I read the book when I was younger and I think I saw the original film, but I have no memory of the story. Not knowing much helps going in.  4 out of 5 stars for Death On The Nile...a very slow burn by Branagh in this pretty good beautiful looking film. I wonder if Branagh watched the successful  Knives Out and took note, how we got to know each character of the mystery, and then pushed through the storyline on the backend.

From The Shadows as alway thanks for your time.

MOONFALL

MOONFALL

A mysterious force interrupts a space voyage. This same force may be the cause of the moon changing it movement thus causing the earth to be in great jeopardy. It falls into the hands of a Podcaster/ a NASA official/ and an ex-astronaut to figure out a way to save the moon and the earth.

Well this is half of a good film, that would be the first half. The second half gets bogged down in a mess of a script...yet it still is kind of nonsense fun.

Positives:

-The first half is exciting and interesting and well acted, with really good character development:

Hallie Berry as Jocinda. She is believable as a higher up at NASA.

Patrick Wilson as Brian. He is an ex-NASA astronaut who loses his job because the higher ups do not believe his ship was attacked by an alien force.

John Bradley as KC Houseman a podcaster who talks about crazy theories. He steals the film here. He is lovable and crazy and brilliant all at the same time.

Charlie Plummer as Sonny, Brian's son; and Ava Weiss as Nikki  Jocinda's daughter. They are good in their roles as they are stuck together trying to find a safe space before the moon destroys the earth.

-The script is fun all the way through and harmless.

Negatives:

-The back half of the movie is just too convoluted with aliens and an inner moon machine. And roll your eyes escapes on earth. NO SPOILERS. Its odd because it's still exciting and fun, but it seems messy and long and confusing at the same time.

2 1/2 stars out of 5 for Moonfall. You could do worse. For sure.

From the shadows as alway thanks for your time.