“The Peanut Butter Falcon” has created its own unique niche in movie history. It takes on a story that presents a young guy who goes on adventure. That part is not unique. But the fact that the young fellow is affected with Down’s Syndrome makes it unusual. Read more
“Good Boys” sets up in the same tradition as “Super Bad” or “Booksmart”. There are people who hear of a wild and crazy party that will be held soon. They make up their minds that they will do anything to attend. But the guys who hear of the party are not college-age. They are not even high school age. They are in sixth-grade, and the big shindig in question is a ‘kissing party’ in the basement of one of the ‘cool kids’ from school. To them, it is a chance to get up into the ‘cool kid’ ranks, and one of them will meet up with the girl on whom he has a crush. Read more
“The Angry Birds Movie 2” is a movie sequel from the first version spawned out of a cell phone app video game. After you let that sink in, you may have questions. Was a video app enough to create the foundations for a full animated movie? And is there enough gas in that tank to take it around the block a second time? Read more
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” is based on a book of the same name. However, in this adaptation everyone involved is all wet. The story of a professional race driver, and the loves of his life, is told through the eyes of his trusted canine companion (named Enzo). But the story never rises above a weak melodrama with unoriginal plot points. Read more
“David Crosby: Remember My Name” is a reference to the Crosby of “Crosby, Stills and Nash” fame, and later refers to “Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young”. No, that’s not a high-powered law firm. It is a seminal acoustic/rock and roll band back from the early 1970’s. Kids, you might need to ask your parents or grandparents about this. They were all part of the L.A. music scene, and hung out in Laurel Canyon area. Read more
“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” is quite a mouthful. And like the physique of Dwayne Johnson – it is larger than life. This is a spin-off from the “Fast and Furious” movie series. It is not a spin-off from “Calvin & Hobbs”, but there are lots of humorous moments. But mostly there is Action, preceded with a capital A. Read more
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” wants to show people that this world belongs to Quentin Tarantino, and we are all just living in it. His writing takes the direction to glamorize the glamour capital of the world, Hollywood. His direction takes liberties with our recollection of history, and makes up new facts. But with such a talented cast and crew, the long journey into the year 1969 takes us on a slow and steady discovery of the Tarantino World. Read more
“The Farewell” is a wonderful look into a Chinese-American family with a family crisis in full swing. It has a great ensemble cast of ethnic Chinese actors and much of the dialog is in Mandarin (with subtitles). But that should not scare you off, because the words spoken (and translated) show a unique love of a special grandmother. Read more
“The Lion King” – the first movie was original and very enjoyable, and now this one is enjoyable – but not all that original…
The Disney formula used to be “Wonder, Joy and Amazement”, but it has turned into “Wash, Rinse and Repeat”. Looking back at a classic Disney animation movie such as this, it is difficult to come up things that would need to be changed to improve on the original. Read more
“Maiden” is a documentary of the yacht racing event that happened 30 years ago — an event that rocked the previously ‘boys only club’ of yachting. Read more
