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Fighting With My Family Movie Review

February 22, 2019 (updated February 21, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Fighting With My Family” is the sports movie that brings Professional Wrestling out into the public view. It brings it to a level like “Rocky” would do for boxing. Set up a lovable underdog character who does not have a chance and give that lower middle-class schlub the opportunity to get in the ring and go against the greatest. Oh, and also make this ‘Rocky’ a young woman from England who has been doing this professionally with her family since she was sixteen. Instead of being a fictional story, base this ‘Rocky’ on a true story… the story of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Champion Wrestler Paige.

In Norwich England, a small family is getting by with Professional Wrestling as the family business. The dad “Rowdy Ricky” (Nick Frost) and the mum “Sweet Saraya” (Lena Headey) get by with their three kids by running a wrestling association. The oldest boy is in prison, but still at home are Zak (Jack Lowden) and the youngest Jade (Florence Pugh). They kids are born showmen, and wrestling is in their blood. Zak and Jade get a chance for an audition for a WWE tryout in London. They happen to meet a retired wrestler named The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). He gives them this advice: “Don’t be another me – be the first YOU”. The tryouts are completed and there is Coach Hutch (Vince Vaughn) who selects the one who can come to America and train. It is going to be Jade, and she will go under the name of ‘Paige’.

Their parents are ecstatic about her new opportunity. Zak is less happy, because he was not selected. He and his girlfriend are about to have a baby, and he is falling into a depressive state. But ‘Paige’ finds out the WWE development league is a tough nut to crack. There are many other people in the up-and-coming training group. Many are very attractive women, ex-models and cheerleaders. Paige feels out of her element. The workouts are super tough, and she is making no friends anywhere. The competition level is high, and somebody could get cut at any moment. Paige feels that her brother Zak would be the only who knows how she feels, he is not taking her calls.

But after a trip back home over the holidays, Paige feels like giving up on her dream. But she decides to make one more go-for-broke attempt to pull off the impossible. She is back in the States, and she works so hard that she even impresses Coach Hutch. The other women on the squad see that Paige has the internal spirit to pull out a big surprise. They all head over to a big WWE Smackdown event and Paige once more runs into The Rock. He knows that she is ready for Prime-Time Event. Paige is shocked, but she is put on the roster to go up against the reigning Woman’s Diva Champion. Paige has a Golden Ticket, a chance to grab the Brass Ring and a way to make to the very top. What will happen next…

The WWE organization has made a very good choice by getting this movie put together. Instead of the typical idea of WWE as a male-dominated (and therefore a sweaty, grunting wild-eyed Wolf Pack of 260 lb. dudes dressed in leotards) it presents a really different face. The unlikely rise of Paige as a Professional Wrestler is a unique story. And the way that is gets told on-screen is a funny and heart-warming depiction of her success. For the movie to work, it needed someone special to play Paige.

Florence Pugh is just the right person for that role. She is tough and gritty, and with a Goth fashion sense, she gets attention. But her portrayal is also of a young girl who has self-doubts and thinks she is in over her head. Jack Lowden as her brother Zak is also right up at the top. He shows a gruff and all-business exterior, but you know he is broken up inside when he is not picked in the tryouts. Also, Lena Headey & Nick Frost are fun to watch as the mum and dad who might not be welcome at a school Parent’s Night.

“Fighting With My Family” is a fun and fast-paced movie that puts you into a headlock at the very start, and does not let up until you are pinned to mat with enjoyment.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Movie Review

February 22, 2019 (updated February 21, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World” is an endcap on a trilogy of excellent animated movies, based off a series of books. People who are familiar with the prior movies will have no problem seeing the same characters grow based on new experiences. Without seeing the first two movies, you may a little lost on arrival into a well-developed world of ancient Vikings and Dragons. But, fear not, because the same care has gone into this movie to make it a fun and colorful escape into a fantasy world of Berk. This fantastical place is the small Viking village that used to fear the awful Dragons – but has since come to love them.

Berk is led by young Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), who was the chief’s son. His meeting and friendship with a rare type of Night Fury Dragon (called Toothless) was the key that changed everyone’s lives around. His best friend (and love interest) is Astrid (America Ferrera) who is also enamored with Hiccup – if he would just make up his mind and ask her to marry him. These two have a large group of friends who will go out in night-time raiding parties. But they go after the evil Dragon poachers, and they get tired of losing all the Dragons that they capture. Hiccup and his crew will free all the Dragons that they find and allow them to stay at Berk. However, the small village is overloaded with Dragons, and now it has become a target for the Dragon poachers.

The Dragon poachers find an even more evil Dragon Hunter named Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham). He has control over a vary rare Dragon, called the White Fury. This is a female counterpoint to Toothless (he is a Night Fury). Grimmel uses the White Fury to lure Toothless out of the safety of Berk. The people living in Berk decide to go out and look for a mythical place called the ‘Hidden World’. It is where untold number of Dragons could live in peace, away from any Dragon poachers. The poachers and Grimmel are out to capture all the Berk Dragons, so they quickly into pursuit of the villagers. Hiccup and Astrid lead a raid on Grimmel’s hideout, but they are nearly captured.

Hiccup and Astrid then go with Toothless, and they locate the Hidden World. It is an amazing kaleidoscope of colorful Dragons, all types and shapes that can be imagined. Toothless and his new-found love (the White Fury) will be able to stay here forever. But before that happens, the evil Grimmel comes to hunt down Toothless and all his surrounding Dragons in Berk. They all converge to a final battle, to see who will able to claim victory. The Berkians (Berkshires?) all fight against the bad Dragon poachers and the evil Grimmel, with Dragons spouting fire and cannonballs a-flying. It all becomes it little like “Game of Thrones” there for a minute. Just Kidding! It will wrap up a three-movie series with the most touching and emotionally poignant ending that it can muster.

“How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ is very artistic creation full of creative images of Dragons, Hidden Worlds, seaside villages like Berk and rows and rows of Viking boats sailing on the sea. Many of the shots look so beautiful because Roger Deakins was a ‘Visual Consultant’ on this film. The voice acting talent is very well suited for the characters. Most of the same people were used from the prior films. Dean DeBlois is also the same director, now over three movies. Also, John Powell composed the score form each of these movies. There is a lot of consistency here, and it leads to very good things, indeed.

The movie series franchise for the “How To Train Your Dragon” comes to closure now. All things must come to an end, and you could not ask for a more rousing, yet touching, end to this series.

Blast from the Past (February 2019)

February 17, 2019 Published by JMcNaughton

Yeah, the Box Office is rockin’ today with a whole lot of movies. But there are some from prior years that you may (or may not) remember. These older movies came out 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago, maybe even longer back. Some were instant classics, while others were not. So let’s jump into the DeLorean and travel backwards in time to revisit a few of these forgotten gems…

February 2014 (5 years ago) — The LEGO Movie – Wait, a movie based on a child’s tiny building block toy? Everything is AWESOME!

Yes, they made a movie out of a small construction block toy set that was way more perfect than it had a right to be… They started with perfect voice casting. Then add a clever script that borders on meta-comedy. Top it off with movie direction (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) that is both whimsical and profound. What do you get? An unexpected non-stop feast of fun…

February 2009 (10 years ago) — Coraline – Stop Motion style animated movie of a small child’s nightmare, like the one “Before Christmas”

Neil Gaiman’s book gets the big screen adventure treatment, with the same director from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Only this time, the main role is for an animated Coraline, who finds a path into a nightmare world. In a place where everyone’s eyes are replaced by buttons, Coraline is left to find her way out.

February 2004 (15 years ago) — Miracle – The 1980 Olympic Games had a hockey game that beat all expectations, thanks to Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell stars as the coach Herb Brooks. He is the leader of an Olympic team of ragtag college players. He is the one who drives them to play as well as the Soviet powerhouse players. They play as well, and then play better, because they have nothing to lose… This movie captured a moment in time, when everyone in American became hockey fans overnight – just because of this ‘miracle’ of a game.

February 1999 (20 years ago) — Office Space – Mike Judge had created Bevis and Butthead, but this is where he really worked for corporate comedy

Mike Judge takes dead aim at the heart of corporate soul-draining work environments of the mid-90s. The movie scores a huge bulls-eye. This movie has become a cultural touchstone since it was dropped awkwardly into movie theaters a long time ago. The life that it gained since then has created a gold mine of laughs for new generations. “Yeah, we’re gonna need you to come in on Saturday” — to watch this movie, and laugh your ass off!

February 1995 (25 years ago) — Billy Madison – Adam Sandler play to the LCD, with his first big movie — writing and starring — as Billy Madison

In math the LCD is short for ‘Lowest Common Denominator’. For Sandler, I think it stands for “Lowest Comedy Denominator”. This is the level that Adam Sandler has chosen to create his comedy. It is always as the lowest level. In this (Sandler’s first outing at main writer and star) bag of guano – the 27 year-old Mr. Madison must redo every level of grade school to prove he is worthy to be a CEO. It was not acclaimed for its brilliance or its wit…

February 1989 (30 years ago) — Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure – Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin and others deal with time travel and bogus school reports…

“Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.” Strange things indeed! This crazy movie gets massice slackers Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) into a time machine with Rufus (Carlin). This is in the shape of a phone booth outside a Circle-K. They time-travel back to fetch many Historical Dudes, so Bill and Ted ca bring them to school for a history report. “Bogus. Heinous. Most non-triumphant.” Such an appropriate (and sad) commentary on outrtimes. “Be excellent to each other. And… PARTY ON, DUDES!”

Alita: Battle Angel Movie Review

February 14, 2019 (updated February 14, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Alita: Battle Angel” is a new visual treat of a movie that is based on a long admired Japanese manga series. The people behind this movie are superb craftsman; Robert Rodriguez as the director, and James Cameron as producer and co-writer. However, perhaps that is part of the disconnect of this movie. There is a fully realized vision of a bleak future landscape. Yet the story-line bumps and clunks along with the grace of an ancient Model-T running in the Daytona 500 NASCAR. The characters are one-dimensional, even at the same time the screen pops with a vivid 3-D treatment of the visuals.

In a far, far future Earth, there are only leftovers and broken remains from the destruction due to the Earth’s war against URM (United Republics of Mars). The planet-bound people are poor and insignificant. However, up above there is a wealthy and powerful population in a floating ‘sky city’ of Zalem. There are few that go from the crusty and rusty Iron City up to glowing wonder of Zalem. Many are discarded and fall from grace, but the few that rise are the champions who can win at a most violent (and popular) sport called Motorball. It is full of speed and of danger and violent death. But most of the contestants are Cyborgs (half human, half robo-mechanical creatures). So, they never really die, they are rebuilt by people like Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz).

Dr. Ido finds a valuable treasure in the trash heap that is under the floating Zalem paradise. Anything that is considered junk is dumped from the city down in the pile of junk. But Ido finds a discarded ‘CORE’ of a cyborg. It is a teenage girl head and torso, which Ido attaches to a fitting cyborg body. Alita (Rosa Salazar) is created out of excess junk but she becomes a stand-in for Ido’s dead daughter. She is young and naive, but she quickly picks up battle skills. She is noticed by Chiren (Jennifer Connelly), who is Ido’s ex-wife. She and Ido once had a high place up in Zalem but were ousted for some reason. Alita also meets Hugo (Keean Johnson), while he is out collecting scraps around Iron City. He sells stuff to make a living. Alita is smitten with the world-wise scavenger and entrepreneur.

But there’s trouble afoot, up in the Zalem city – there is a bad guy named Nova. He sees Alita as a threat to him and to his henchman Vector (Mahershala Ali) in Iron City. Vector sends robotic cyborg bounty hunters named Zapan (Ed Skrein) and Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley) to track Alita and kill her. Alita finds an upgraded body based on URM technology. Once Dr. Ito takes care of the body upgrade for Alita, she finds that she can fight and defeat anyone, human or cyborg. Dr. Ido and Hugo are also targeted for death, and Alita is worried about them. The only way that she can get up to the floating Zalem city is by playing and winning the next Motorball contest. That is difficult thing to do, but Alita is souped-up and ready to rumble.

“Alita: Battle Angel” takes some difficult source material and has attempted to do it justice. When this has been done before, the results are always hit or miss. That same thing goes for this movie. The visual world that it creates is a big thumbs-up hit. The characters that populate this movie, with all the odd personality tweaks and clunky dialog, is a bit of a miss. The CGI effects are world-class, especially Alita with the super-sized ‘manga’ eyes. All the robots and cyborgs and the city design and the battle scenes are amazing to watch. Too bad the story and dialog does not reach up to the same lofty levels as the rest of the movie.

The movie hits a home run with the beautiful formation of the visual landscape, and the people and creatures that roam in this world. But it plays some sour notes with the ‘borrowed’ story elements (from ‘Elysium’, Rollerball’, even the doomed love affair from ‘Titanic’). There are too many 2-D characters in this vivid and lush 3-D movie.

Miss Bala Movie Review

February 1, 2019 (updated January 31, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Miss Bala” is actually a remake of an earlier Spanish-language version. But this new one is bigger on the action, violence and explosions, because – wwll – because it is a Hollywood remake. The story gets into cross-border action between the United States and Mexico, specifically in Tijuana and San Diego. The Mexican drug cartels, crooked local Mexican cops, crooked Mexican Federales, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and even the CIA get thrown into the mix. The story uses the local Tijuana beauty pageant as a vehicle to jump start a tense action thriller with a long and winding resolution.

Gloria Meyer (Gina Rodriguez) works as makeup artist in the Los Angeles area. She was born in the US, but has spent much of her childhood in Tijuana, Mexico. Her best friend there is named Suzu (Cristina Rodlo), and Suzu is planning on being in the Miss Baja California beauty contest. Gloria is with Suzu when she registers, and that night they decide to celebrate at the hot local club. However, the place is way too hot. The local Federale general, who is also a crooked drug kingpin, is scheduled to attend. So a group of actual drug cartel members break in to assassinate him. This group is led by Lino (Ismael Cruz Córdova). Lino finds Gloria hiding in a bathroom, and tells her to leave quietly. The shooting starts and people scatter everywhere. Gloria looses track of Suzu, and vows to find her. The next day she goes to a local cop to get help.

Instead, she is kidnapped by Lido and his henchmen. She is unwittingly brought into a plan to blow up a Mexican DEA safe house. She is terrified, and feels there is no way to escape. But when Lido make Gloria sign up for the beauty contest, she finds a way to ditch the cartel. But she is found by DEA Agent named Brian (Matt Lauria). He forces Gloria to go undercover and report to him. Or else, she will be prosecuted for the deaths at the DEA safe house. Gloria goes back to Lido and his gang of thugs. However, Lido has a new plan for Gloria. She is sent across the border with a secret stash of cash and drugs. Since she has a valid American passport, they do not question her. She meets up with another cartel henchman named Jimmy (Anthony Mackie). He tells Gloria to send a message to Lido – he has a mole in his outfit.

DEA Agent Brian is told about a big transfer of weapons to happen in Tijuana. Gloria lets him know about it and they plan an ambush. A major shootout occurs in a parking lot, and all hell breaks loose. Lido and the cartel members are under fire from the DEA and from Mexican police. Gloria is told to find her own way out, so she decides to instead stay with Lido. They escape and the bad guys find their way to a new safe house far away. Gloria finds that the beauty contest will be rigged, and the judges have been bought off. Gloria will win the contest, and that will give her private ‘access’ to the local Federale general. This means that Lido has a new assignation plot in the works.

Gloria finds that she has the power, in the end, to find her friend Suzu and to take out some really bad guys. Oh yes, all of this while looking really hot in a tight red dress and wearing heals. The people who told Gloria one thing were hiding information, or were telling flat out lies. She had to come up with ways to escape all sorts of deadly situations. She was caught in automatic round crossfire, and she was still walking tall, never hit or even scratched. Man, that woman needs to buy a lottery ticket – NOW!

Unlike other recent movies, “Miss Bala” gets about inch deep into the reality of drug smuggling and cartel operations. “Traffic” was crystal clear in showing how destructive illegal drugs can be. The movie “Sicario” gets into details about the cross-border drug smuggling operations. Even a movie the “The Mule” showed the heinous nature of the cartel methods of distributing drugs. This movie only uses cartels and Mexican Federale and DEA agents as devices to push and manipulate Gloria around the way they want. Even at the end, when it opens up a slight potential for Gloria as a continuing franchise character, someone who just be willing to do this same thing for the CIA, it is not of her free will.

Director Catherine Hardwicke takes a very pedestrian approach to the movie, by setting up selected trigger events that push the story forward. It looks really good, and there is a lot of up-beat music, even during the periods where there is great danger. Gina Rodriguez is quite good, but the role gives her limited room to create a full character. She is consistently reacting to things done by other people. Her character is led around to do this and that, but she never indicates that she would do something totally different. Also playing Lino is Ismael Cruz Córdova, and he play quite a charming sociopath. He is sometimes low-key and charming, and in the next minute he can blow away a traitor in the group. He is very convincing in this role.

“Miss Bala” is a remake of the original Spanish-language version, but something was lost in the translation.

They Shall Not Grow Old Movie review

February 1, 2019 (updated January 31, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“They Shall Not Grow Old” is a film-making marvel and a technological achievement. But much, much more than that: this movie is a tribute and a salute of honor to the many British soldiers who went off to fight in World War I. Many of these brave lads never returned, and ‘they shall not grow old’. Director Peter Jackson has taken actual movie footage from the historical era and transformed it to a documentary that explores the horrors of trench warfare. He has taken hundreds of hours of old footage, along with hundreds of hours of audio interviews – and with this raw material, he has created a fully immersive look at what the average ‘doughboy’ actually experienced at the Front. Working with The Imperial War Museum and the BBC, Jackson has taken and then digitized, colorized and did a 3-D conversion a whole lot of rough grainy badly-shot movie footage. The result is a very informative and in engaging peek into what happened over one hundred years ago.

The original movie cameras back at time produced some very poor quality footage. The film in the camera was over cranked, meaning the speed when projected back later was too fast and jerky. The film was not meant to last forever, so there are many places where it has faded and has accumulated dust particles. Even with this as a starting point, Peter Jackson has gotten some of the most talented film restoration and production people involved in restoring hours of film – frame by frame. His final result becomes a slow build up to the central part – the reconstructed view of the Front Line in World War I.

The beginning is shown in the overly fast-speed and poor quality images of London prior to WWI. When war comes, it is publicized in every way that England needs to fight to exist, and to keep Europe free. With the soundtrack repeating story after story of many under aged fellows getting into the service, it shows how they trained to be a fighting force. Soon, they are over in Belgium and France, and it is obvious that the bombing and shelling has taken a toll. At one point, the black and white image turns into a colorized version. The troops meet their new home in the trenches. They know there are German soldier only dozens of yards away. There is a deadly bog of twisted barbed wire and mines that make up a dreaded “No Man’s Land” between the two sides. Enemy snipers are always ready to take out a soldier who might peek over the side of the trench at the wrong time. There are massive bombardments of mortars and grenades, and these things make for an unpleasant place to be.

It is very odd to see images from over one hundred years ago with this level of sharpness and clarity. The extra added color in many of the scenes add to the depth of experience that you are watching recent newsreel footage. Some of the stories told by the men who served there are stark and full of vivid detail. Most of them contain terrible descriptions of the conditions and the results of the battles fought. Many people died, on both sides. The loss of life was staggering, but almost all the British soldiers did what they know how to do. They carried on. They ate and drank tea, and they would sing bawdy songs, such as “Mademoiselle from Armentières”. But mostly they fought in the “Great War”, because this was the “War to End All Wars”. Little did they know…

But just as the First World War came to an end, this movie also shows that the surviving troops returned home. They were greet as heroes, but promptly were forgotten. The world economy was in shambles, and unemployment was high. When the large influx of soldiers came back to England, there were not as many jobs there as when they left. But each of the men who served at the Front came back with a changed outlook on life. Each one knew at any time, the fragile thread of life could be snapped by the cruel hand of Death. They had seen that up close way too many times. Some retreated into a bottle to combat their own demons. Yet a majority of them stood up straight and became leaders and fathers and the backbone of British society.

Peter Jackson has dedicated this movie to Sgt. William Jackson, his grandfather who served in World War I. So it shows the depth of commitment that he had to make everything about this documentary something very special. He has accomplished this goal.

Per the press release, the producers note that this year marks the 100-year anniversary of the “Great War” coming to an end:

“With this being the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, I can’t imagine a more appropriate time to honor the courage of the soldiers who fought in WWI — what was then ‘the war to end all wars’ — many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. Peter has made history come alive through the medium of film, and we are so pleased to be a part of bringing his vision to today’s audiences.”

Blast from the Past (January 2019)

January 28, 2019 Published by JMcNaughton

January 2014 (5 years ago) — That Awkward Moment – “Awkward” sums up everything about this movie

Yeah, the releases in January are mostly junk that did not find a spot on the release calendar any earlier – and that goes for this “Awkward” sex comedy, with Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. All have moved on to better things…

January 2009 (10 years ago) — Taken – Liam Neeson has some ‘particular set of skills’ that kills at the Box Office

It was a rare January release that took the theater audiences by storm and made them root for some ‘old guy’ to beat the snot out of any person who stands in his way of getting his daughter back. Liam Neeson was so good at being an ex-Agency security agent turned rogue revenge superstar, that it made being old cool again.

January 2004 (15 years ago) — The Perfect Score – An underrated comedy that did not receive a perfect score

Where can you find a future Captain America and SHIELD Agent Natasha on a quest to break in and steal Standardized Test answers? This is small little picture (with two future superstars) that tanked at the box office. But the set up was there, the story was OK, and the acting was decent. But people thought this high school heist caper did not make the grade…

January 1999 (20 years ago) — She’s All That – Somewhat standard romance movie with Freddie Prinze, Jr and Rachel Leigh Cook

This was a teenage revision of “My Fair Lady”. A high school stud (Prinze) who wants to take a nerdy girl (Leigh) and turn her into a ravishing beauty who will become the Prom Queen. Spoiler Alert: she was beauty from the start. Made lots o’ money at the box office. Also, there was a side role of the future ‘Fast and Furious’ actor: Paul Walker.

January 1995 (25 years ago) — Houseguest – The releases in January are mostly junk, and this one stars Sinbad and Phil Hartman

So the ‘star’ power of Sinbad and Phil Hartman could not generate any buzz at the box office. This one has Sinbad faking his identity to fool Phil Hartman into letting him stay at his house to hide from the mob. Was not a total failure, but it was nothing special…

January 1989 (30 years ago) — The January Man – This one at least has the appropriate name for the release month…

The movie is about an ex-NYPD detective (Kevin Kline) who is needed to return to his position by his police commissioner brother. There is a serial killer in New York City, and Kevin Kline is the man to find him. Not much there, and the box office receipts bear that out. Except that there is also a side role played by Alan Rickman. This comes only a year after Die Hard.

The Kid Who Would be King Movie Review

January 25, 2019 (updated January 23, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

Retelling the tale of King Arthur is as common as giant turkey legs at a Renaissance Faire. But in the movie “The Kid Who Would Be King” the ‘Once and Future King’ is a little on the young side. The Sword Excalibur is meant only for the hands of the King. But when a young kid pulls out the sword in a modern-day England – that schoolboy’s life gets turned around. Good thing he has help of an ancient and mighty sorcerer named Merlin. However, he is also portrayed as another young boy, just more eccentric. There is an evil presence from King Arthur’s day ready to return and destroy all of England, so the new Kid King has his work cut out for him.

Alex Elloit (Louis Serkis) is getting a rough time at school in a small town outside of London. He and his best pal Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) get picked on everyday. Two older kids named Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Doris) are very cruel to Alex and Bedders. One night, while hiding from the two, Alex ducks into a construction site. He finds an unusual site – there is a sword in a stone. He’s is able to remove and take it home. Little does he know that an evil sorceress named Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) has been imprisoned and knows the sword is active. She is the half-sister of King Arthur and she is held by a powerful spell from the Ancient Merlin (Patrick Stewart). She vows to escape and lead her undead evil minions to destroy the Kingdom.

Alex learns that a young version of Merlin (Angus Imrie) has come back to assist him. Merlin seems to be just an oddball at school, but he shows Alex, Bedders, Lance and Kaye some very powerful magic. In four days, during a solar eclipse, Morgana plans to rise from the prison of darkness and overtake the world. Alex does not know how to be a leader. Bedders is basically scared of everything. Lance is bully who puts himself first, and Kaye is not interested in helping other people. But with a lot of effort, this ragtag group travels across the country to seek out the truth, a Quest for the future of England.

Alex and his crew finally get to the place where Morgana is entrapped. They think they have defeated her, but there is another – and a much larger – battle to come. The solar eclipse releases Morgana and some terrible forces from the Earth. But Alex and gotten his entire school ready to fight. There is a huge CGI battle-fest, with undead minions on black horses and Morgana returned as a female bat-dragon type of thing. It is only because of the ‘Earth in darkness but not in night’ that allows Alex to have so many people join his crusade against evil. It is non-descript battle, seeing that it is to prevent the downfall of all humanity…

There are a handful of clever and creative ideas in this movie. But mostly it is a just a rehash of better movies on the same subject. Even Disney’s animated “The Sword and the Stone” covered much of this same ground. The bright spots are Angus Imrie playing Merlin, and when he gets swapped out occasionally for the older and wiser version – played by Patrick Stewart. Most of the child actors are pretty fun to watch, and they get the point across. The movie moves at an odd pace, with some sections dragged out for a quest going here and there in the English countryside. The internal logic of the movie is fuzzy, and there is one major scientific error that I cannot dismiss. There is supposed to be a solar eclipse in a few days, and right before that – the kids are out at night under a full moon. Ask your science teacher why that is wrong…

Joe Cornish has another movie under his belt where he wrote and directed (“Attack the Block”). That movie also starred mostly young kids, and he did a fantastic job with that one. He also wrote (or co-wrote) some great movies, “Adventures of Tin-Tin”, “Baby Driver”, and “Ant Man”. But he seems to have taken a few days of during this movie. “The Kid Who Would Be King” could be a very engaging movie, with a lot going for it. But the final results with this movie, it does not rise to the Throne. Cornish has pulled and pulled, but this time the sword stayed in the stone…

Destroyer Movie Review

January 18, 2019 (updated January 17, 2019) Published by JMcNaughton

“Destroyer” is a wild fever dream of a long awaited time to avenge a wrong done to the main character. It involves a woman undercover detective in LA, sent into a deep-cover operation with a man who becomes her lover. There are circumstances that cause several deaths, and she suffers a tragic loss of her lover. He had become the father of a soon-to-be born child, and the agents’ life is turned upside down. There was a bank-robbery gang that she and the other agent were imbedded into. During an ill-conceived heist, there is hell to be paid. Even if that retribution needs to wait 17 years…

Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) is currently considered a joke in the LA police detective office. She is hard-drinking and impertinent. She does not work well with others. She has a daughter, and the girl is contently in trouble. She has an ex-husband Ethan (Scoot McNairy), but is now divorced – mostly because Erin Bell pushes way everyone in her life. She is a total hot mess and under duress. She knows and waits for only one thing. She craves to get back the person who had ruined her life 17 years ago.

Back 17 years, and Erin was teamed with Chris (Sebastian Stan) in an undercover operation to get in with a gang of outcasts. They are led by a strange but charismatic guy named Silas (Toby Kebbell). People in the gang were under control of Silas, to the point of playing Russian roulette for his amusement. He would plan bank robberies and other things to prove the loyalty of his crew. After many months, Erin Bell and Chris became full ingrained into the gang. They become lovers and Erin is pregnant. But there is a fateful day with a robbery gone very badly. Erin’s child will never meet her true father.

Erin Bell has survived her life since that day, and has not dreamed of anything but getting revenge. One day, she hears of some recent clues about the return of Silas to the scene in LA. There are some ex-gang members that she finds, and she finds DiFranco (Bradley Whitford). DiFranco is a successful lawyer who has side jobs from criminal clients. One of his contacts is Silas, and he has been laundering money from the old bank robberies. This leads Erin to Petra (Tatiana Maslany), one of the old members. She is getting new members to work for Silas to commit new robberies. Erin finds one in progress and becomes an on-the-spot security force. She first captures and gets more information from Petra, so that she can confront Silas for a final time.

Nicole Kidman has created a character that is so deep into her hatred and despair that she has ruined her life. Kidman put 100% into this role, and she looks so unlike any other character that Nicole Kidman has ever played – that you might gasp. Her life spirit has been drained, and she wants nothing but revenge. But she will not give up or quit, until she can undo the damage done by Silas. This is a role for which Kidman deserves to be recognized and awarded many honors.

Karyn Kusama has directed a very wonderful little film. It tracks back and forth in time, to show Erin Bell’s tragic story. It takes the typical ideas from detective stories and turns them slightly askew. It captures the struggle for a normal life by a character that is haunted by her past life. It takes a clear-eyed view of how an obsessive need for revenge can be a Destroyer of a person’s life.

In Phoenix, area – open exclusively at the Harkins Scottsdale Camelview

Second Act Movie Review

December 21, 2018 (updated December 20, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Second Act” is attempting to be some things that it is not. It is sold as a Romantic Comedy, just without the romance. It is supposed to be a positive feel-good story of a woman who can make it on her own merits. Yet her credentials are made up from whole cloth and are fake, phony and non-existent. There is an encouraging message on adoption, but the lead up to the reunification of mother and adopted out daughter seem contrived. But is does have Jennifer Lopez as the charismatic engine in this ‘Little Engine That Could”, so it is able to climb that hill and make it to the top. She brings all of her energy, and there is a cast of supporting characters that gives this movie a little zest.

Maya (Jennifer Lopez) is a 40-year old with a job in a big box retail store in Queens. She has been building up the local store for many years, yet she is passed up for a Manager position. She is feeling down, and her boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) attempts to cheer her up. But they have a major fight over getting married and having kids. She is not ready for that, so soon she is staying at her best friend and co-worker’s house. Joan (Leah Remini) has sympathy for Maya, but she gets her son to give Maya a professional Social Media makeover. Maya becomes Maria, who has graduated from Wharton Business School, served in the Peace Corp, and climb Kilimanjaro. Maya (as Maria) gets a very lucrative job offer from a Wall Street business that is into skin care products.

Maria (actually Maya) really impresses the owner and founder of the company, Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams). She has less of an impact on his daughter Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens). Maya BS’s her way into a corporate position and finds herself in a showdown with another group inside the company. There are two groups that will attempt to make a fully organic skin care product, and the other group will take an existing product and make it eco-friendlier. Maya has only a few folks with her side, including Hildy (Annaleigh Ashford). They face off against a group led by Ron (Freddie Stroma). Ron is running circles around Maya, and Hildy also dumps Maya to work instead with Ron. There are some social events for the company that end in disaster because Anderson believes that Maya has done all the things that are listed on the (fake) resume.

But a dark secret that Maya has from her past caused her breakup with Trey, because she could not bear to tell him the truth. That youthful mistake that created Maya’s hidden secret comes back to her in a big and substantial way. Maya develops a much closer relationship with Zoe because of this past incident. But Maya still attempts to keep up the fake facade that got her this new position and all the luxuries that come with it. But will her moments of dishonesty lead Maya to some unfortunate circumstances? Is her trouble with the past really over, or is it just now starting again?

“Second Act” is a big underachiever, in that it starts up with too many ideas that never get fully developed. The writing has some pretty funny lines, but the overall idea is dreadful. Don’t like your current job? Then make up all sorts of wild things about your professional past to make you look like a Real Pro. I’m sure you won’t get caught. Jennifer Lopez never did! But hand it to Lopez, because she takes the old rusty Chevy Chevette of a story and makes it purr like a Corvette.

There are a handful of really funny lines, most delivered by Leah Remini (as her best friend Joan). Vanessa Hudgens has a nice performance as person who has more in common with Maya than she knows. Milo Ventimiglia is seen a short time and retuns at the end, so not much is there for him. All the other actors are respectable, but nobody stands out.

Only because Jennifer Lopez stars in this movie, “Second Act” deserves a second look.

Author: JMcNaughton