JMcNaughton, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 39

God Bless the Broken Road Movie Review

September 7, 2018 (updated September 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“God Bless the Broken Road” is an odd-ball combination. There is a Christian view on life that goes from being overly preachy to almost an afterthought. There is a main plot of a woman recently widowed, who gets a treatment straight out of the Book of Job. After her husband dies in Afghanistan, all sorts of tribulations befall her. She doubts her faith, and loses her house and even her young daughter turns against her. Yet at the same time, there is a sub-plot that is straight out of the movie “Cars”. A hot-shot driver meets up with an old-timey mentor who can teach him out to ‘correctly take the turns’, both on the track and in real life.

Amber Hill (Lindsay Pulsipher) lives is an ideal little town located in the heart of Kentucky. Everything is perfect, with all of her friends at the local church. She is a choir leader and she loves her husband, who is off in a war overseas. She loves her little daughter Bree (Makenzie Moss) who spouts off some cute biblical sayings when times are tough. Her friends at church are Karena (Robin Givens) and her daughter Bridgette (Jordin Sparks). The church is led by Pastor Williams (LaDainian Tomlinson) who is a linebacker-size preacher.

But after Amber’s husband is killed in battle, everything falls apart. Two years later, she has not recovered from the shock and the grief. She stops going to church and she works a lot more hours at the diner. Many more things are working against her, including a mother-in-law Patti (Kim Delaney) who always seems to criticize her. Bree is getting worried that her mom is giving up on her life. Amber is missing payments on the house, so the bank is getting ready to foreclose. Her van is held together with duct tape and bungee cords.

But a super-cool NASCAR driver named Cody Jackson (Andrew W. Walker) comes to town to work with a guy named Joe Carter (Gary Grubbs). Joe is master mechanic and a NASCAR driving coach. Cody is having problems with the turns and he only has the need for speed. He is being sent down to the minors for a while to pick up tips from Joe on how to drive fast, but still make the corners without spinning out. Cody meets Bree at the church, where he get ‘volunteered’ by Joe. There is a go-kart club that they start up for the youth group. Cody feels an attraction to Amber, and tings might get serious.

If this sounds like it is meandering and unfocused, then I have correctly described the plot. Just think of Amber as a Biblical version of Job, and think of Cody as Lightning McQueen. Amber’s life continues to crumble around her. She is a widow with very little money, the house is taken away, Bree runs away and then decides that staying with her Grandma Patti is better then her own mom, Amber.

The acting is stiff and wooden, except for Gary Grubbs (as Joe). The whole story-line is strained and fuzzy. The child actors are not up to today’s excellent standards. The melding of small-town religion and NASCAR idolatry seems to be forced. The movie shares only the (extended) name in common with a Rascal Flatts country song (“Bless the Broken Road”).

“God Bless the Broken Road” is a poor attempt to make an uplifting, spiritually strong movie. It’s in not even clear if that was the intention of this production. This might be a re-envisioning of “Talladega Nights”, for all I know. Know that this movie was better as a song.

God may bless this “Broken Road” – but sure as the devil, you don’t need to sit through it.

Searching Movie Review

August 30, 2018 (updated August 28, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Searching” is a new movie about a missing person and the resulting search, and it portrays it in a unique way. Only a few other movies have used the idea that a window into the modern world can be done with various screens. That is, computer screens, laptop screens, iPhone screens, security monitor screens, TV screens, etc. — you get the idea. The movie “Unfriended” does a similar thing, but only with computer screens. With “Searching”, the idea is opened up a little more, and the resulting movie draws you into the mystery. By examining social media and other online posts and Internet trails, the mystery deepens and is becomes a compelling look into current life online – and how the surface image can hide much different truths.

David Kim (John Cho) is introduced as a happily married man. With his wife Pam (Sara Sohn) they have a little girl. Margot is first a small baby, and then young girl and then a high school teenager. All of this unfolds with fifteen-year old technology, think Windows XP, AOL Mail and Messenger and the like. But the happy family has a breakdown when Pam develops cancer, and it relapses, and it then returns with fatal results. This is all done in the first few minutes of the movie, and it outlines the personal tragic story of this family. In some ways it is emotionally similar to the beginning of the movie “Up”, with a twist on the way that the audience learns the various details of the family story.

With the wife and mother gone, both David and Margot (Michelle La) have been dealing with the loss in very different ways. David becomes very busy with work, and every time he talks with Margot it is a reminder of his late wife. So, he tends to communicate more and more via technology, with iPhone calls, and FaceTime and instant messages. Margot is having a rough time with the death of her mother, but she knows that her Dad is feeling very fragile right now. She tries not to bother him about little things. So she does not tell him everything. David has a brother named Peter (Joseph Lee) who is much closer to Margot than David knows.

Then one night, David insists that Margot do some chores at the house when she gets home from a study group. She calls and tells him she will be home much later than usual. David sleeps, and as he does there are two phone calls from Margot, plus a FaceTime request, deep in the middle of the night. He misses them and does not know that she never came home. It does not register that she did not come home until David gets back from work the next evening. He sees that Margot did not take out the trash when she got home. But she also did not take her laptop. Why would she go to a school study group without her laptop? He also realizes that he does not know any of the people that Margot would know.

He gets into the old laptop and finds Pam’s notes and records and contact lists. He makes many phone calls to find out there was a ‘ditch day’ and camping up in the mountains. He is sure that Margot will call when she gets back from camping. Until he finds out that Margot did not go with that group. He calls 911 to report Margot as missing. Detective Vick (Debra Messing) shows up and tells him that she is assigned to case and not to worry. They will go over all the details that David has found and contact many of the people that he feels might know Margot’s whereabouts. David searches further and finds an online personal streaming site that Margot had used to post quite a few videos. Margot has also been taking money meant for piano lessons and putting into a private PayPal account. Until she withdrew $2,500 a few days before she disappeared.

David is going crazy in his mind, with all the possible thoughts of what might have happened. There are some online posts that allude to Margot and her online activities. David finds someone who has been posting to Margot about her online videos, but the person appears to be miles away in another state. But could someone be ‘catfishing’, making a fake fictitious online presence to pretend to be somebody else? There are more clues, and David takes off to a nearby lake, where a car is found underwater. It belongs to Margot, but she is not in the car. What has happened? Could the person involved in the disappearance be somebody very close to Margot? Could it be a random stranger, recently released from parole? How can David be sure what is the truth, when everything online can be changed and adapted and modified?

“Searching” does take a very specific approach to the technology that has become an everyday part of our life. It uses that tech to both tantalize and torture the main character by showing him various version of what might be the truth. John Cho is superb as the grieving husband who cannot stand another loss in his life and is determined to figure out the puzzle. The clues and red herrings are everywhere, and the use of modern social media tools to explain the recent past show the real limitations of those online systems.

The movie goes about displaying the entire story as if it were unfolding on the devices that we use every day. This brings a closed-in, claustrophobic feel to the overall movie, but also gives it a larger sense of urgency. David is not the only one who is feverishly finding and mentally processing the clues. So is the audience.

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Papillon Movie Review

August 24, 2018 (updated August 23, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Papillon” is a story of survival. It is the story of the unbreakable spirit in a man named Henri Charrière. He was a safecracker in Paris in the early 1930’s. His nickname was “Papillon” for the tattoo of a butterfly on his chest (it is French for butterfly). He worked with a low-rent crime boss, and earned enough to impress his girlfriend. But when he failed to impress the crime boss, he was framed for murder and sent to French Guiana. That island off of the coast of South America was home to a horrible prison camp. He was sent there and never was expected to return.

Papillon (Charlie Hunnam) is a talented thief, and he is a ladies man. He has a sweetheart named Nenette (Eve Hewson) who wants to sell the diamonds that he just robbed go to live in the country. The trouble is, the merciless crime boss wanted to have all the diamonds that Papi stole, but Papi kept a few for himself. Big Mistake. Next thing Papi knows is that he is charged with murder and sentenced to serve at the penal colony at Devil’s Island in French Guiana. On the ship sending the convict to the prison island, Papi meets Louis Dega (Rami Malek). Dega is an artist and a forgery expert, who was extremely wealthy. Dega was able to carry quite a bit of cash in — ahem — Deadpool 2 would call it a “Prison Wallet”.

Papillon was big and strong and willing to fight off any goons who attempted to kill Dega. So Papi agreed to protect Dega, as long as Dega would finance any escape attempt for Papillon. The protection and the financing parts worked out fine. The escaping part did not. Papi was able to try and escape, but when he did make it out the front gate, he did not make it very far. Papillon was sentenced to internal solitary confinement for two years.

Part of that time, Dega was able to pay off a trustee to deliver a hidden coconut to Papillon in his isolated cell. When the warden found out, he demanded that Papi tell him who paid for the coconut. But Papi was loyal, and silent. There where other escape attempts, and soon Papi was spending more time in solitary than in general population. Louis Dega could not make it through confinement, but the warden trusted Dega to handle the prison financial books. He was able to be a position of security. More escapes were planned, and with some assistance they made it off the island and landed in Colombia. But the long French arm of the law found them again. Dega was sent to Devil’s Island, and Papi (again) to solitary confinement. He was there for such a long time that he hallucinated most of the time. Then he was sent to join Dega at Devil’s Island.

At the Island, there was no method to escape. There were impossible cliffs around the deadly jagged rocks at the base, where the waves would crash violently into the Island. But past the base, there was a gentle tide, and tide pulled out into the sea — and off to a current that lead to the mainland. If only Papillon could devise a way to get past the danger zone, he could float gently out to freedom. Dega would not dream of leaving the Island, even if it meant dying there. However, Papi — he could not live the rest of his life in captivity. He would finally escape, or he would die trying…

Charlie Hunnam is well cast and has a physical appearance that resembles Steve McQueen. McQueen played Papi in the original movie adaptation. Hunnan plays Papi as strong and shows a brutal willingness to do anything, just to survive. Rami Malek plays Degas with an air of sophistication that is above an ordinary convict. The way that all of the historical places are recreated is excellent. At the end of the movie there are black-and-white photos of the actual prison. They have been able to capture that quite well.

The reason that a remake of “Papillon” was required to be made now is unclear. But the effort that is made to make this movie will not make you think of trying to escape the theater.

The Coolest Guy Movie Ever Movie Review

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

Back in 1963, “The Great Escape” was a smash hit with audiences around the world. It was a hit because of the major acting talent that director John Sturges brought together for the film. Tough manly guys like Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, David McCallum plus many others played the roles of prisoners in a German POW camp. Their only goal was to escape.

Based on true events, the movie was a dramatic reenactment of the meticulous planning that went into the escape. The movie was filmed in Germany, and many scenes were shot in small villages and towns in Bavaria. Hollywood stars and local German townsfolk, farmers and villagers would meet and become friends. Now there is a documentary that shows the lengths to which the movie production went for an accurate and scenic movie.

Christophe Espenan has put together an extensive (if short – it runs about an hour long) listing of iconic scenes from the movie. Then he revisits that same area today, over fifty years later, to show that the movie locations are still around. There are some major differences, of course. The POW camp was placed just north of a studio sound stage. There was an agreement with the German government that the production company could tear down a section of trees to construct a camp for the movie. But when they were finished, they were required to plant two trees for each single tree that they removed.

Many places and streets in and around the small Bavarian town of Füssen are compared to the original movie. Many scenes match up today, even after a generation has passed. They find the place where a majority of the actors stayed during the six weeks of filming. They interview many local people, or sons and daughters of local people who remembered the making of “The Great Escape”. The plot of the movie is that all the prisoners will break out of the POW camp and escape into the nearby town. That takes the action right here, into the countryside.

Back when the main stars were the biggest names in Hollywood, this movie became known as ‘The Greatest Guy Movie Ever’. Getting Steve McQueen to ride a motorcycle and jump a barbwire fence was very exciting. Perhaps his stunt double Bud Ekins should be famous for performing the jump. But McQueen did a huge amount of riding on the bike, and he even dressed up as a German soldier so he could ride again and chase himself!

Lawrence Montaigne narrates the documentary, and he actually had a part in the move, so many years ago. Even though his role was not a major part in the movie, he still says that just being part of that movie had opened up many doors for him.

“The Great Escape” was a film based on a true event. It also did not gloss over the fact that after the men escaped from the POW camp, almost all of them were recaptured. All but a few of the men were soon killed, for trying to escape. Only three men made it out to freedom. But since this documentary is only about an hour log, it does not attempt to get into any depth as to what the film actually accomplished.

From filmmaker and film historian Chris Espenan comes The Coolest Guy Movie Ever — a fascinating forensic documentary about the making of the classic World War II adventure film The Great Escape — to DVD and digital HD from Virgil Films on August 21, 2018, after a special screening earlier this year at Marché du film in Cannes.

Mile 22 Movie Review

August 17, 2018 (updated August 16, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

If you were expecting that “Mile 22” is some type of sequel to Eminem’s “8 Mile”, well, put that idea out of your head. If you are prepared to “Lose Yourself” in an overly complicated movie full of bloody violence and gory death scenes, then you’re in the right place. At least both of these movies feature an ex-rapper in the starring role. But Mark Wahlburg takes the non-musical approach to a tough CIA special operative out to move a valuable asset from the US Embassy to the airport. But for these 22 miles, he and his team are under fire and under duress. They are part of a super-secret operation that only does the dirtiest of dirty jobs for the government.

James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) is part of this unique operation called ‘Overwatch’, and they have a job to do. They are taking down a Russian safe house, located in a beautiful suburb outside of Washington DC. But in the chaos of the operation a teenage Russian boy gets shot and killed. The operatives walk away with a sack full of hard drives and leave a bunch of dead Russians in the house. They don’t give it another thought. But wheels have been set into motion that will come back to haunt them later. But it is time to break to Two Years Later, and to another country…

Silva and some fellow operatives are later located in a (fictitious) Southeastern Asian country. Alice Kerr (Lauren Cohan) and Samantha Snow (Ronda Rousey) work with Silva to retrieve some stolen nuclear material. The Intel is all wrong, and the source is a local Army officer named Li Noor (Iko Uwais). Silva gets all worked up, because his character is prone to long-winded speeches about how everyone around him is dumb. Li Noor comes to the US Embassy and turns himself in. He wants to make a deal — but only if he is taken to America. He has a hard drive with all the details of the missing MacGuffin materials, but it will self-destruct unless he gives them the password.

The ‘Overwatch’ team kicks into high gear, lead by Bishop (John Malkovich). They have only the best tech and the biggest guns, so these guys will never lose, right? Silva and his team must transport Li Noor from the Embassy to the airport for a pickup and a flight to the States. They have it all planned out, until the plan gets shredded by the local country’s secret police and undercover spies. There is an attempt on Li Noor’s life while he is in the Embassy. So you know once they leave, their convoy of vehicles will be under attack for every minute of the trip. One by one, Silva’s team members are shot and or exploded (or worse). Li Noor is in handcuffs, but eventually Silva relents and gives him the freedom to fight back.

After many minutes of non-stop fighting and explosions and high-caliber rounds being shot, Silva gets Li Noor and Alice to the rendezvous point. All is well at that point. But then there are some deeper secrets that are revealed. There are call backs to the first scene with the Russian safe house and some things that are not quite as straightforward as they seem. The plot gets twisted around like a Bavarian pretzel. And there isn’t any good German beer to go with the pretzel…

“Mile 22” is the fourth collaboration between Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg. The other movies were based on a true story, and this is the first that is fictional. But the concept was done before. Think “The Gauntlet”, with Clint Eastwood. And then again see “16 Blocks” with Bruce Willis. The basic plot of somebody needing to get someone else to a particular place is not exactly new. Dressing it up as a secret undercover operation is new, and adding about ten layers of double-cross is somewhat new.

Wahlberg plays a character that is very unlikable, and he commands a tight unit. They are supposed to be the most elite unit. But for this operation, they look like a bunch of buffoons. The movie goes into depth about how special this team is, and how important they are. But what is shown is an orgy of automatic weapons and a whole slew of stupid decisions.

The writing is bi-polar, giving Wahlberg little mini-speeches where his character goes off on vulgar tangents. The overall twist in the plot has way too many holes. The editing and frantic pace gets you feeling very jittery after a while. You never get a clear understanding of the progress to the goal. Have they gone 10 miles, or 15 miles? Who can tell? Plus the actual action of the journey to the airport does not begin until the last third of the movie.

Peter Berg has worked with Mark Wahlberg on other, much better projects. “Lone Survivor”, “Deepwater Horizon” and “Patriot’s Day” are very excellent movies. But now they have teamed up for this one, which you might like, or you might not. With “Mile 22”, your mileage may vary.

Crazy Rich Asians Movie Review

August 15, 2018 (updated August 14, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Crazy Rich Asians” is based on a popular book about some, well — crazy rich Asians. This could have ended up as a parody along the lines of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Asian”. But because of a careful eye towards casting and a respectful look at traditions, this winds up as a feel-good love story. One that includes a lot of handmade dumplings and some mahjong thrown into the mix. This is the first all-Asian cast in 25-years, since “The Joy Luck Club”. So I guess the next all-Asian movie will be due out in 2043…

The main story revolves around Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) who is a professor at New York University. She is dating Nick Young (Henry Golding) for about a year, and he asks her to join him. He will be going back to his home in Singapore to be in his best friend’s wedding. Rachel agrees, but is scared to meet Nick’s family. He has not told her anything about them, but his family is one of the wealthiest in all of Singapore. His father has amassed a huge fortune in the country, and the extended family has become even richer. Rachel happens to have an old college roommate who lives in Singapore. Peik Lin (Awkwafina) knows the scoop on the marvelous Young family.

Rachel is shocked at the first-class flight back to Singapore. She ponders what it is that she might be getting herself into. But at the airport to meet them are Nick’s best friend Colin (Chris Pang) and Colin’s fiancée Araminta (Sonoya Mizuno). Nick is enjoying being back where he grew up and being with his friends. Rachel is working to keep up. But then Rachel is in a whirlwind as she meets the Nick’s many cousins: Astrid (Gemma Chan), Eddie (Ronny Chieng), Alistair (Remy Hii) and even a second cousin Oliver (Nico Santos). Oliver is All-Gay All-Day, and he makes no bones about being the ‘Rainbow Sheep’ of the family. However, Rachel also gets to meet Nick’s mother – Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh). She is chilly and strict, and Rachel is wary of her glare.

Araminta takes all the girls out for a bachelorette party, and rents out an entire island to make it happen. Shopping and spa dates are on the main menu. But also there are little petty swipes at Rachel, because some think she tried to get Nick only for the family money. Bernard (Jimmy O. Yang) is also an old friend of Nick’s and he plans the bachelor party. But this thing is a huge Event, because he takes everyone out to ‘International Waters’ to party out on a pimped-up cargo carrier ship. But all parties must come to an end, and Nick reveals plans to Colin that he will propose to Rachel. However Rachel is feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the constant excess and overpowering wealth all around her. These people are not just over-the-top — they are so high up they are in geo-synchronous orbit.

Rachel relies on her college friend Peik Lin for help in the confusion. She is also comforted by her family. Peik Lin’s father Goh Wye (Ken Jeong) and her mother Neena (Koh Chieng Mun) have many good words for Rachel. They let her know that she is not a ‘banana’ (yellow on the outside and white on the inside). Eleanor Young is displeased with Nick’s taste in women and lets Rachel know that the family traditions are too important for Nick’s small measure of happiness. Eleanor thinks that Rachel has been in America for too long, and never grew up to know the difficult parts of Chinese life. Self-sacrifice is important to Eleanor, because that is what was imposed on her.

But it comes time for the wedding for Colin and Araminta. Rachel goes to the wedding and becomes a thorn in the side of Eleanor. Then later at the reception, Eleanor reveals a family secret. But not from her family, it is from Rachel’s past. Rachel is set back even more with this new information, and she begins to spiral downward. She is a deep funk and there is no way to get her out of it. Or it there? Some things finally happen and that puts Rachel (and Nick) back on a happier road.

This movie is – yes – crazy with over-the-top fun and – ahem – rich in the portrayal of a culture (Asian) that gets very little screen time. But more than a gimmick, the all-Asian cast and crew bring an important passion and authenticity to the project. That makes the movie better and the results are fun to watch. All the actors play very dynamic roles, but there are quite a few in the ensemble. You might get lost a few times knowing who was related to whom (I know I did). Awkwafina and Nico Santos play super funny characters, and they go the extra mile.

“Crazy Rich Asians” is delectable meal of a movie, with only one problem. It could leave you wanting more like this in the future. Just better brush up on your mahjong skills before you see it!

Blast from the Past (August 2018)

August 14, 2018 (updated September 9, 2018) 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…

August 2013 (5 years ago) — Elysium – Jason Bourne in Spaaaaace!

Matt Damon stars in this futuristic sci-fi drama about the future divide between the haves and have-nots. All the rich one per-centers get to travel to Elysium, an orbiting spaceship that has the latest in medical technology. Oh, and also Jodie Foster runs the place with an accent that is (literally) out of this world…

August 2008 (10 years ago) — Tropic Thunder – Even the Tom Cruise cameo knew the #MeToo

Ben Stiller took his experience from working in “Empire of the Sun” and figured out that a boot camp for actors playing soldiers could create some comedy landmines. Yup, and those suckers went off everywhere, with the fun work of Stiller, Danny McBride and Robert Downey Jr. (“Never go full Retard!). But the cameo of Tom Cruise playing a parody version of Harvey Weinstein, it’s a NSFW avalanche…

August 2003 (15 years ago) — Freaky Friday – Do the body swap, but ‘Make Good Choices’

Lindsey Lohan was burning up the screens at this time, and before the flame blew out, she was able to pair up with Jamie Lee Curtis. This movie, a remake of an earlier Disney version, is updated (to a point) and made a fun impression on the audience. Not a gem like “Mean Girls”, but much better than later Lohan disasters.

August 1998 (20 years ago) — The Avengers – This one had nothing to do with Marvel…

Yeah, the Marvel Extended Universe was only being born ten year ago, so this comes from a different source. The old British TV spy series called “The Avengers . This movie snooze-fest version had Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. John Steed and Emma Peel are no match for the villain, played by Sean Connery. Connery had only a few more movies in him, before he retired. Perhaps he did not retire early enough!

August 1993 (25 years ago) — The Fugitive – Han Solo on the run from the law!

Harrison Ford was a major Box Office draw, and his fans flocked to see him do an update of the Dr. Richard Kimble character, from the original TV series. Also, with co-star Tommy Lee Jones, Ford went on the run to find the real killer of his wife. Do yourself a favor. Make a ‘hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse’ to find this movie and watch it.

August 1988 (30 years ago) — Young Guns – Westerns never die, as long as actor’s kids come along

Martin Sheen and Donald Sutherland too old to be acting in a Western? No problem! Just get their sons, Kiefer Sutherland, Emilio Estavez and Charlie Sheen can all substitute. The Billy the Kid tale also has some other fine actors, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, Terence Stamp and Jack Palance. Are their dads famous actors?

Far from the Tree Movie Review

August 10, 2018 (updated August 9, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Far from the Tree” is a documentary based on a widely praised book by Andrew Solomon. His book, and now this movie, documents several families where there have been difficult circumstances – specifically when a child is not entirely like the parents. That is, when the apple falls ‘far from the tree’. In these cases, it shows that patience, acceptance and love will bring all the members back into the fold.

Solomon first explains that his own childhood was unique and he felt different. He realized that the ‘normal; life of his parents would not work for him, because he was gay. This devastated his mother and his father was not at all impressed. But the story from Andrew Solomon is nothing compared to the other families that are investigated.

Jason Kingsley is a Down’s syndrome child, who was even featured on early episodes of Sesame Street when he was a kid. He never lacked the love and support from his mother, and now in his early 40’s Jason lives a full life. He lives with two other roommates (who share his condition). He has a job and he loves his friends and his family. But he has difficulty knowing that Disney’s “Frozen” is really just a movie. He has a major crush on Elsa, and he cannot ‘Let It Go’…

Another person we meet is Jack, who was a normal little boy – until he wasn’t. About age 2 years old he stopped communicating, and he seems to be in his own world. He had a severe case of autism, and his parents tried again and again to get some help. One thing they tried finally had some success. Jack was soon able to use a device to select letters, and then he created full sentences. With a voice-box, he was able ask and answer questions. He is now able to live as a functioning high-school student.

Then the journey takes you to the Little People of America conference. These folks who have dwarfism can lead quite normal lives. They just do it a little closer to ground level. A couple named Leah and Joe are married and are planning on having a child. Joe’s parents are ‘normal-sized’ people, and all of them think is nothing unusual to have a family with various sizes. Joe is not worried or depressed about his condition, so he takes it all in stride. Again, there is that theme of acceptance and love. It is really the cement that holds these stories together.

The one other family situation that gets reviewed is the story of Trevor. He was a nice kid, with wonderful parents, and had a trouble-free childhood. But, when Trevor was 13, he killed an eight-year old child in the neighborhood. There was no warning and no foreshadowing. He still says that he does not know why he did it. Obviously, this has taken his family, parents and a bother and sister, and given them a brutal situation to deal with. They have no easy way to explain anything to anyone. The parents still love their son, but they know that he will never be a free man.

Overall, “Far from the Tree” takes a look at some unusual family circumstances and shows that it does not need to be the end of the family. All of the different ways that some people might consider ‘disabled’, these people and these families prove that they can be-able, just in a unique way. It is done in a consistent manner, and moves along with great ease.

Some family situations are more intense than others. But they all show that it does not matter if you are near to the tree, or far from the tree. It only matters that the tree has some really deep roots…

In Phoenix, playing exclusively at Harkins Shea in Scottsdale

Dog Days Movie Review

August 8, 2018 (updated August 14, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Dog Days” is a movie named after the dead of summer, when many times things come to a crawl and life slows down. But this mixed breed of a movie has a theory that new friends can be found and romance can be kindled, with just a little canine help. Using a large ensemble cast and interweaving story lines, they are trying to go for the loosely connected Rom-Com style. Perhaps you could call it: “Love, Arf-ily”. The main connecting thread is a group of dogs; Mabel, Sam, Charlie and Gertrude.

These dogs are in the care of some humans. Mabel (a very overweight pug) is with a retired professor named Walter (Ron Cephas Jones), who lives alone after the passing of his wife. He meets a pizza delivery boy named Tyler (Finn Wolfhard), and when Mabel runs away, Walter and Tyler team up. A childless couple named Kurt (Rob Corddry) and Grace (Eva Longoria) adopt a little girl. But the child is unhappy, until she comes across a stray very overweight pub – yes it is Mabel. Walter is very sad with his dog gone, but Kurt and Grace are happy that their new child is now also happy.

Dax is a slacker musician who has to take care of his sister’s dog Charlie. Dax slowly becomes attached to the shaggy mutt. But his apartment building does not allow dogs, so he needs to hide Charlie all the time. Also living at the same place is Tara (Vanessa Hudgens), who find s stray little Chihuahua dog with no name. She brings the pup to a no-kill shelter run by Garrett (Jon Bass) – who has secretly pined for Tara for ages. He names the dog Gertrude, for the author Gertrude Stein. But the shelter is having major problems, when the landlord decides to sell out and kick the tenants out.

But at the same time, Liz (Nina Dobrev) – a popular morning host on an L.A. TV program, has a sweet little mutt named Sam. Sam is sweeter than her boyfriend who is cheating on her. Liz gets new co-host on the program, and it is Jimmy (Tone Bell). He is an ex-football star with an older dog of own named Brandy. Brandy and Sam get along great, but it requires a little bit more time for Liz to warm up to Jimmy. Liz is so afraid to get her heart broken again; she feels that Jimmy might just be using her. But don’t worry, all of these seemingly unconnected plots will be brought together at the end…

But as things always go in these types of movies, the various groups get pulled together slowly. The romances grow and the new friends are there to always help. A little family gets bigger and the dogs have a way of making everyone chill out. The story line is busy with several plots and sub-plots all running together. Some are much more interesting than the others, so that weighs the movie down slightly. The director tries to make the various plot threads come together near the end, and tries to keep all the stories moving forward. It has some hiccups along the way, but it mostly works.

“Dog Days” is not a pure-bred, and not in the same league as “Love, Actually”. But for people who like romantic comedy movies — and they really like dogs — then “Dog Days’” is one that you might want to take for a walk around the block.

The Darkest Minds Movie Review

August 3, 2018 (updated August 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Darkest Minds” is a movie adaptation of a book series, and it follows a typical Young Adult dystopian narrative. The world has gone very, very bad – and the main character(s) will be the only one(s) who can set things right. Or maybe just survive. The adults of the world either caused the dystopian disaster, or did nothing to stop it. Now the adults/government/group/agency are actively working against the main character and his or her friends. The adults will use the power of force and weapons if need be to stop the valiant heroes as they defeat the people they rise against. If this is done right, or it has some twist or a clever hook, then it is something interesting and fun to watch. Otherwise…

Ruby Daly (Amandla Stenberg) is one of a very small fraction of the world’s children to survive a horrible disease. Even the President’s son – Clancy Gray (Patrick Gibson) – has been affected, but he survived. He was supposedly cured of the wretched sickness. Other youngsters who have survived now possess unusual side effects. A large majority is affected with increased intelligence, and then another group has telekineses powers. And even above them are smaller groups with the most special abilities, but they are considered dangerous. Like a Homeland Security pyramid chart of risk, the top are labeled Orange and Red. Ruby is an Orange, but she is hiding as a Green (the lowest level).

Ruby has been removed from her parents and is confined at a military work camp for six years. Her powers have remained under wraps, but the job might be up. A doctor named Cate (Mandy Moore) seems to help Ruby escape. Ruby has super mind control, and does a sort of Jedi Mind Trick on the officer in charge. Cate wants Ruby to be part of the Children’s Alliance – a paramilitary type group that will spread the truth about the harsh work camps. But Ruby wants to get away, and then she finds a small group of other ‘special’ kids. They are led by Liam (Harris Dickinson) who also has powers. He travels with Chubs (Skylan Brooks), who is a super-smarty and also with Zu (Miya Cech) who can control electricity. Ruby joins with this little band of renegades, and she finds they are always chased by bounty hunters and threatened by government agents. But they hear about a special camp for the young gifted survivors. It is code-named EDO, and it is somewhere out in the woods. The group finally gets to the EDO camp, and they find it is run by Clancy Gray, the President’s son who was thought to have the disease but was cured. But he actually has the Orange level powers, just like Ruby.

This movie has some attractive leads, and the story moved quickly from one crisis and confrontation to another. But it lacks the deep emotional punch that a better movie would have. The Bad Guys are over-the-top insane, and the kids have all the ‘Stranger Things’ powers to get the upper hand. So there is no big threat. A couple of forced relationships are too pat, and the there is the wanna-be love interest stand-off between Liam and Clancy. At the end, there is Jedi Mind Trick that used in a very heartbreaking fashion. But even that (erasing memories) has been seen before, in the Harry Potter movies.

Amandla Stenberg does a very good job in this role. Harris Dickinson and Patrick Gibson are just OK. The rest of cast goes between just all right and over-the-top bad. The pacing keeps the story moving, but there is the forced love-triangle aspect that is a clunky add-on. The look and feel of the childless future looks a little eerie. Funny how in a dystopian future, everyone has perfect hair and shiny clean teeth!

This is lukewarm rehash of ideas served up with a very attractive cast, but without any fresh ideas from those Darkest Minds.

Website: https://www.TheDarkestMinds.com

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Author: JMcNaughton