New film review: Dream Horse

DREAM HORSE

Director Euros Lyn

Screenplay by Neil McKay

Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) , a small town Welsh bartender, Comes up with a crazy idea to breed a race horse. With help from Howard Davies (Damian Lewis) who has some experience with horse, and cash from from the townsfolk they all become owners of Drean Alliance.

How can you not like this true story. Collette gives a wonderful performance along with Owen Teale  who plays her supportive husband.

Danian Lewis as Jan right hand man is good if not a little stiff in this role. He has a back story of family strife

The towns people who become co-owners of Dream Alliance give the film some love and humor.

As for the races, the look is very realistic, Director Euros Lyn does a wonderful job putting the viewer right in the middle of the race and showing us the risks of these types of races.

Well lets face it we all know where this film is going. The film takes its time, with character development. The underdog rising up. It is very enjoyable, to a point in my screening, people were cheering and clapping....welcome back to the communal experience of movie theaters!!!!!

3 1/2 stars out of 5 for Dream Horse. Yes we have seen this movie before however Collette and Director Lyn sucks you...it works.

From the shadows as always from the shadows as always .

 

New Film Review: In The Heights

IN THE HEIGHTS

Directed by Jon Cho

Screenplay by Quiara Algria Hudes

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical come to the big screen!! The story of a dreamer, Bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) as he saves his money in hopes of a better life.

Well..going in I heard a strong buzz on this one. I will just say...I went in a bit hesitant.

Is  In The Heights good? No. It is very good. Not great....but very good.

I think you have to reaaaalllly like musicals to enjoy this film. I mean this is one of these musicals that have people singing a small conversation, when many musicals would have them speaking those lines. So it is one of those musicals. Trust me on this, before you read on, I love a good musical. I like entertainment. Entertain me and I am happy. In fact I would say WICKED is the best written piece of entertainment covering all genres in decades. So...I am in.

Let me get my negatives out of the way:

-It is odd, it is just a story. What I mean is there is no real conflict other than inner turmoil within the leads. Most good musicals have that conflict which keeps you watching to see the resolution. Think Wicked; Hamilton; West Side..and so on they have conflict. Then it brings me to the next Negative.....

-2 hours and 30 minutes. Its long. In the theater you have an intermission,not here. So I go back to the conflict point, Endgame was 2 hours 30 minutes, however it did not feel that way because a conflict pushed the movie forward. In The Heights felt a bit long.

-The ending. I thought it was kinda of bullshit. No spoilers...but the viewer was mislead through the whole movie, then a big reveal you are suppose to be happy for Usnavi, not me I felt kind of sad for him lol. Wait you cant leave your life you loved in a neighborhood without taking a piece of that life with you? A person cannot start a fashion boutique somewhere else? Times change. Places change. Faces change. You still have memories.

Plus you can still love where you came from, and visit. Your neighborhood is a part of you whereever you go.

-Small issue; Subtitles would help. You may say...Well then learn Spanish. Well I can go the other way with that...but I will not. I will say...when at the theater or an art house they will subtitle the films so we understand...the characters..that's all.

Well I liked this movie a lot so lets get to the positives:

-The lead Anthony Ramos has become the front runner for male lead at the Oscars. All I can say his performance...his singing..his dancing..is all on another level.

-Costars:

Leslie Grace as Nina

Melissa Barrera asVanessa

Corey Hawkins as Benny

Jimmy Smits as Kevin Rosario

I mean...Come On!!!!!!! Everyone of them are so talented acting; singing; and dancing.  

-The behind the scenes group who I am sure you will see Oscar night:

Cinematographer....Alice Brooks

Set Decorator ........Andrew Baseman

Costumes..............Mitchell Travers

Choreographer ....Christopher Scott

Put them all together and they plop you in The Heights. Time and place for this film is everything and it all these talented individuals made it work. I mean the pool scene!!! Wow!!!

So I come to the end of this review but I want to note to you...STAY THROUGH THE CREDITS...there is a cute funny scene at the end.

4 out of 5 stars for In The Heights. Other recent musicals..Lala Land..The Greatest Showman...I like those films a little bit better. Only a half star better lol. This was very good. If you like musicals go, see it on the big screen!

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Finding You

FINDING YOU

Directed by Brian Baugh

Screenplay by Brian Baugh

There are three stories here:

A violinist, Finley (Katherine McNamara), is on a bit of a down slide. She takes a few weeks abroad in Ireland to reset her life. On the trip over she meets Beckett (Jedidiah Goodacre), a famous cocky young actor. 

Cathleen Sweeney (Vanessa Redgrave), lives in a nursing home. Finley, as part of her summer project becomes her companion. There we learn Cathleen has a past that still haunts her to this day.

There is also mystery involving a picture and Finley's brother.

As you can tell there is a lot going on here. 

Positives:

Katherine McNamara is just wonderful. McNamara is a newcomer to me on the big screen and is in almost every scene. She is a joy to watch.

Of course Vanessa Redgrave is great as Cathleen.

There is a couple really good small parts with: 

Patrick Bergin (Where Have you been?) as Seamus

Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Emma Callaghan

Both I wanted to see more of.

So we have some good performances..

How about the script? 

It is a sweet story, like I noted before its a Hallmark film which is not a bad thing. 

However.....

Negatives:

The script:

Again, like noted before, there is a lot going on here with Brian Baugh's script. Old woman looking for redemption. Young girl feeling invisible to her peers. Fiddle player who is the wise mentor. Actor who has issues with dad. Inn owners struggling to run said Inn. Mystery picture from Finley's brother. (This story should have been left on the floor for sure) Then there is Finley trying to get her confidence back and falling in love. All these stories make the film feel choppy, leaving less character development and too many open endings. Then throw in this part of the script....Wait, you cannot be an actor and go to school? Huh? You are a star, put in for the time off for the series in your contract! Just odd.

 

Jedidiah Goodacre who plays Beckett Rush .I cannot tell if he is a bad actor or his character is suppose to be a bad actor. Either way I know for sure he has no chemistry with the wonderful lead McNamara. Often I heard people in the theater laugh at parts  of the film that were not suppose to be funny when he spoke. This is never good. He is the weakest part of this film. 

For all the negatives....I have to be honest...I kind of liked it. In fact I watched it twice in the theaters. It is nice to go see a film that  is sweet and kind of soft and not a "Franchise".

For people who want to take the time to watch this film, it does deliver the love story and humor and sweet ending they want. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars because of that. It is better than average because of the lead and Vanessa Redgrave. 

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: A Quiet Place Part 2

A QUIET PLACE PT 2

Directed By John Krasinski

Screenplay By John Krasinski and Scott Beck

In Part 2, the Abbott family is now on the move, but now they have to face not only the creatures but also what society has become!!

SPOILER FREE!!

First I want to note I saw this screening before Fridays opening. Sitting in the theater I started to realize...shit I am going to be the only one in this screening. If you are a frequent follower to my wonderful, anti-critic, poorly written blog (You should be), I am not a horror film fan. I rarely review them. However, with this film, I liked A Quiet Place (the first one) a lot, so here I am alone in a theater. It creeps you out being alone in a dark theater watching this. I jumped often. I said out loud HOLY SHIT a couple times. Thankfully it came in just over 90 minutes. The good news is I was able to eat crunchy popcorn during this quiet film without feeling guilty.

Now is it as good as the first Quiet Place? No. It is better!!! It is close to a perfect film!!!!

Performances!!!

I mean you have Emily Blunt back!! 

You have the wonderful young actor Noah Jupe. 

Djimon Hounsou good as always in a small part. 

The great Cillian Murphy is in this film...I had no idea he was going to be in this..and as always he is freaking fantastic as Emmett the loner!!!

But the real star in this film is Millicent Simmons!! Playing the hearing impaired Reagan Abbott again, please remember she is hearing impaired in real life, she is the lead here. She is taking over and is on the road. She is the thinker and the brave one in this film. Krasinski often just shuts down all sound so we can hear (Or not hear) what Reagan is going through. Just brilliant. This leads to Millicent acting with just body movement and facial expressions. I remember that after I watched the first film I noted Emily Blunt deserves an Oscar Nomination. Of course she did not, the snotty Oscar voters will not give love to this type of film.So I say this now....Millicent Simmons deserves an Oscar nomination for this film.

The script!!

Krasinski and Beck start the story out by going back in time. We see how cute this small town was. How everyone knew each other. We see the chaos when the creatures arrived.

Then we move to present time, where the first film felt mostly claustrophobic, this film is more open. The characters are mobile. Out there trying to find either help or solutions. Yet it is just as frightening because we do not know what is hiding around the corners.

Any negatives?

Yes two small ones:

Again if you follow my blog...again you should...you know I am not a fan of middle movies..going in I did not know they were planning a trilogy here. I always say...people pay money they deserve a clear beginning, middle, and end. This film did not have a clear end...too wide open for my taste....AGAIN NO SPOILERS.

 The other issue I have is small. You have a great actor like Hounsou, and you barely use him. USE HIM!!

I give A Quiet Place Pt 2 ...4 1/2 stars out of 5. Wow just edge of your seat, tension. It delivers exactly what you expect.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Cruella

CRUELLA

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Screenplay by Craig Gillespie and Aline Brosh

This film follows the young life of Cruella De Vil

SPOILER FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This film is very odd. It is like nightmare version of The Devil Wears Prada. With a touch of Maleficent. With a big dose of Harly Quinn.

Let me get to the Positives first:

Emma Stone is great as Cruella, but then again...she is always great. She plays Cruella with a bit of sadness yes; but also a bit of a wacky violent comic book flair of Harley Quinn.

Emma Thompson, plays successful fashion designer The Baroness. She is Miranda Priestly but even colder and throw in some violence. This may be Thompson's best part and performance in years. Oscar Nom?

There are some really good costarring performances in this film also:

Joel Fry; Paul Walter Houser; and  John McCrea are wonderfully comical and bumbling as Cruella's partners in crime.

Mark Strong, great as always, as The Baroness's security and kind of assistant.

The film has a wonderful soundtrack including...no spoilers..but a modern remake of a song we know during the end credits.

The Negatives:

The story!!! It runs too long 2 hours and 15 minutes. 

The story!!!  I mentioned a Maleficent comparison earlier. What Cruella does not have however is an Aurora. This film is missing a good person. We see Cruella's rough upbringing..so I think we are suppose to cheer her on now as an adult. Well...she kills dogs lets not forget. So we have two bad people battling it out. You hope for Cruella, however you feel kind of guilty about it. Which is sort of the Harley Quinn vibe and look and feel. I left the theater feeling empty. You want to even feel more empty? Stay for the mid-credits scene. Ugh...I mean she kills dogs. She is bat shit crazy

.

The Story!!! To lighten the dark mood Harly gave us humor. Here in Cruella there is not much humor, and the humor they try to add, most of the time falls flat.

The Story!!! Who is it for? DO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS!! Adults for nostalgia? Do we miss a dalmatian killer?

Well no spoilers here but 2 1/2 stars out of 5 for Cruella. Great performances with a long, sad, flat story line. By the way, what is really funny is ..during the credits there is a message to adopt animals. Really?

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Last Call

LAST CALL

Directed by Paolo Pilladi

Screenplay by Paolo Pilladi; Greg Lingo; and Michael LBaughan

Mick(Jeremy Piven) ,who works as a real estate developer in Philadelphia, has to go back to his suburban roots to talk people in his old neighborhood to sell their properties to make room for a new casino.

This will be quick; it is not a very good film.

Positives:

-For me, on a personal level, I wanted to see this because I grew up in Delaware County. It is definitely "Deep Delco", so they got that right. The behavior of the residents in the neighborhood is pretty much spot on.

-I thought it was really good performances by Pivens and Taryn Manning who plays Ali, Micks maybe...maybe not love interest.

Negatives:

-I did not care. I did not care about the story and kinda did not care about the people. I mean, when you watch a movie, you need to be vested. I never felt vested in any of the characters. I mean Mick I felt for him, but in reality he was just a sleazy salesman, whom near the end grew a heart. I wanted to grasp on to Ali but Director/Writer Pilladi would not give us much about her. 

-The story has too much going on. There is a death of mom. There is Piven and Ali. There is a battle of brothers. There is a bar going under. There is a boating trip. There is a crooked real estate company. There is just too much and it all gets muddled down. 

1 1/2 stars out of 5 for Last Call. I think it had some good performances, hey there is Bruce Dern, hey Jamie Kennedy where have you been...lol. The portrayal of that area is true to form. Other than that....it is not good.

From The Shadows as always thanks for your time.

The Shadows Oscar picks. Who Will Win; Should Win; And Who Got Snubbed

I am going through the motions here. I was not happy with the change of qualification rules made this year for the Oscars.   For the first time in years I will not be watching.

Well let me start with........

BEST PICTURE

The Father

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

Trial Of The Chicago 7

Will Win

NOMADLAND

It is just an okay film...but in this award season it has a lot of momentum

Who Should Win

PROMISING YOUNG WOMEN

It is a train wreck you just cannot turn away from. It is so different from anything you have seen.

Snubbed

NEWS OF THE WORLD

Its just to happy of an ending for Hollywood awards.

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed....Sound Of Metal

Chadwick Boseman ...Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Anthony Hopkins....The Father

Gary Oldman ......Mank

Stephen Yeun.....Minari

Will Win

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

I got nothing...he will win.

Should Win

RIZ AHMED 

He learned sign language. He learned how to play the drums. His performance was fantastic.

Snubbed

TOM HANKS

He makes acting look so easy, I think people just take what he does for granted. I would replace Anthony Hopkins.

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis... Ma Rainy's Black Bottom

Andra Day.....The United States Vs Billie Holiday

Vanessa Kirby...Pieces Of A Woman

Frances McDormand...Nomadland

Carey Mulligan...Promising Young Woman

Will Win

FRANCES MCDORMAND

She is really good in this part. She is the front runner going in.

Should Win

Carey Mulligan

She is bat shit crazy here, yet we are cheering her on. She should win, what a difficult role.

Snubbed

ELISABETH MOSS

They will never give an award for an actress in a horror film. However she acts circles around all of the above actresses. I would replace Andra Day.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen...The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Daniel Kaluuya...Judas And The Black Messiah

Leslie Odom Jr...One Night In Miami

Paul Raci...Sound Of Metal

Will And Should Win

PAUL RACCI

He has gained a lot of steam during the awards season. I think he will pull off the upset. Well deserved, he plays Joe so bright, so calm during the madness around him. He shines in such a soft way...lets not forget learning sign language for the role.

Snubbed

Demian Bicher In Land

He rides into this movie at the half way mark and steals it. He never gives a bad performance, period.

I would replace Sacha in a heart beat. Think about this, Hollywood thinks Sacha Baron Cohen acted better than Demian Bicher. Really? What a joke.This has never happened.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova...Borat 2

Glenn Close...Hillbilly Elegy

Olivia Coleman...The Father

Amanda Seyfried...Mank

Yuh-Jung Youn.....Minari

Will Win

YUH-JUNG YOUN

For some reason people think she was great in Minari. She was barely in it and her character was annoying.

However she has all the momentum going in.

Should Win

GLENN CLOSE

She shape shifts for this part. Unrecognizable. She has the viewers hating her then almost loving her. What a great performance as Mamaw.

Snubbed

HELENA ZENGEL

In News Of The World she , in her first US film holds her own with Tom Hanks, in a mostly non-speaking part as a young girl who was raised by Indians. She kind of steals the film. I would replace Bakalova in an overrated part.

BEST DIRECTOR

Thomas Vinterberg...Another Round

David Fincher ....Mank

Lee Isaac Chung...Minari

Chloe Zhao...Nomadland

Emerald Fennell...Promising Young Woman

Will Win

LEE ISAAC CHUNG

This is a tough call but I will give the edge to Chung because the academy likes Minari and wants it to win something and this or supporting actor will go through.

Should Win

EMERALD FENNELL

I think it is a talent here to have such a crazy lead and us there cheering for her. Fennell must play a part in that controlling the tone. Well done.

Snubbed

ROBIN WRIGHT

Directing herself in Land. A beautiful looking film, filled with tension and heartbreak and hope. I would replace Vinterberg.

Well that is a wrap on the 2020 year of movies.

Its got to be better in 2021...where films are actually in the theaters.

From The Shadows As Usual Thanks For Your Time