JMcNaughton, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 49

Baywatch Movie Review

May 25, 2017 (updated May 30, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Baywatch was a cream-filled pastry in the dinner menu of network TV. It existed only for exposing hard bodies and soft curves with a sweet summer tan. But now, there is no better way to have a movie based on the TV series. Just have the same focus on the brawn and the bodies, and the tanned cleavage starring right back at you. Nothing serious, just a “Baywatch” extended episode with the hard-R raunchiness factor turned way up.

“Baywatch” is now led by a bulked-up head lifeguard named Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne Johnson). He has new recruits for the summer, and one of them is former (but now disgraced) Olympic gold-winner swimmer Matt Brody (Zac Efron). Brody was forced on Mitch by his boss, because the team needed ‘star power’. The other recruits are Summer (Alexandra Daddario) and Ronnie (Jon Bass). They join other Baywatch members, including Stephanie (Ilfenesh Hadera) and C.J. Parker (Kelly Rohrbach).

Mitch is pleased to just save lives on the beach and getting people to behave. But there is a mysterious drug trade popping up, and Mitch thinks he knows who is behind it all. A new woman who has just taken over a fancy club is named Victoria Leeds (Priyanka Chopra). She has money and influence with the city council. But Mitch believes she is behind a growing conspiracy to take over with drug running.

Soon a councilman dies out on a party boat, and Mitch and his team are skeptical of the ‘official’ explanation. Mitch and Matt continue to dig into what happened. The other team members including Summer and C.J. are investigating the situation. Ronnie finds out that someone he knew was been found dead from a shark attack. But this guy had been working for Leeds at her club, and the guy could not even swim. Something is fishy, and it ain’t the fish.

Mitch’s boss tells him to cool it, and the local police do not want his help. But Mitch has latched on to something and he will not let go. He even gets a visit from someone who first taught Mitch everything about being leader of Baywatch. It is The Mentor (David Hasselhoff). When everyone on his team seems to be in trouble, it is Mitch to the rescue.

This version of “Baywatch” is pretty much like the TV series. It has no reason for you to take it seriously. There are plenty of hard bodies on display, and many tanned bosoms. But as far as plot or story line, well, that went out with the tide. When the movie attempts to get into an actual plot, it tends to drown out all the comedy. And when it goes for the funny parts, it sometimes gets too dirty and gritty. Like too much sand in your swimsuit. When you have six different people working out the story and script, the result is like Memorial Day size crowds on the beach, you cannot find one spot and stick to it.

All of the actors seem to be having a great time. Dwayne Johnson is amazing to watch, everything he does seems so natural and easy. He looks relaxed and in control. Zac Efron is an asset to every scene he is in. He has such a clueless look and winning smile that you can’t help but root for him. Alexandra Daddario does a fine job, and she does some nice comedy bits. Kelly Rohrbach just oozes out sex appeal and beauty. But Jon Bass does some classic fun stuff in his role, being a ‘fish out of water’ type, right next to the beach.

If this movie had the focus of the movie version of “21 Jump Street” and really went all out into the ‘hey, this is something so dumb it seems like it could be from a TV show’, then this might be a classic. But it did not go in that direction, and this movie will be nothing more than a sand castle built on the beach at low tide. It’s here today, and tomorrow gone.

Everything, Everything Movie Review

May 18, 2017 (updated May 17, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

Who’s ready for a teenage girl version of “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”? What, no show of hands? Well, get ready anyway – because “Everything, Everything” will have you wishing you were inside your own bubble. The disease that forces you keep away from everything, everything is severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). This is reason for the main character never leaving the house.

Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) is 18 and she has been kept in a sterile cocoon that is her house, where she lives with her mother, Dr. Whittier (Anika Noni Rose). Dr. Mom has lost her husband and son in a terrible car crash 16 years ago, so she is determined never to lose Maddy. So Maddy has been determined to have SCID, and as a result, her Dr. Mom has made the house into a germ fortress. There is an airlock at the front door. There are antibiotic soaps everywhere, and the place is kept spic and span. Maddy has a nurse, Carla (Ana de la Reguera) who tends to her when Dr. Mom is on duty elsewhere.

One day some new neighbors move in next door. They have a son about the same age as Maddy. His name is Olly (Nick Robinson), and he is very different that Maddy. Olly wears black, and he has an attitude. Maddy wears white and she always thinks of pleasant and interesting things. They have rooms that face each other on the second floor, so soon they are texting away. But since Maddy is not allowed out, and Olly is not allowed in, the movie makes many of these texting conversations as if they are done in real life. Maddy has a great imagination, so she imagines the actual Maddy and actual Olly – being together in a small model of a diner, or model of a library.

Maddy convinces Nurse Carla to let Olly come in to visit. Awkwardness ensues, and it gets worse when Dr. Mom finds out. Carla is fired and Maddy gets her phone and internet taken away. Oh, heavens – child abuse! But she is still infatuated with Olly, and she finds it incredibly easy to get her own credit card. She buys her own stuff, including a trip to Hawaii for herself and for Olly. Even when she does not have any type of identification and would not be able to board the plane? Of coure she bought two tickets and expects Olly to go with but has not checked with him one bit if he even could…

But, what the hey, let’s go to Hawaii. Someone might pay for it, sometime… The two lovebirds stay at a plush resort, drive a rental Jeep around the island, find deserted beaches and go swimming. Olly teaches Maddy to sort-of swim, float mostly. Until she decides they should go cliff-diving, into deep water when she cannot swim. They go on the merry way and make love, and Maddy gets deathly sick. She wakes up back in her room. So what all just happened? She lost it in Hawaii, and then she got back home again. But how…

Dr. Mom is terribly disappointed in Maddy and her behavior. She will be locked down ever more from now on. Maddy has become pretty much a prisoner in her own home, thanks to SCID. Good thing Dr. Mom has all the paperwork and results from the testing years ago that showed Maddy had a very severe case… Maddy goes to find the paperwork, and guess what?

Good grief, this movie is silly and pandering. There is no character arc for anyone. Nobody can truly be considered an antagonist, and there is no conflict and no resolution. The story just floats along on one ridiculous premise after another. This is a version of reality that even a young middle-school girl could not believe. At least the lead actors are good to look at.

Amandla Stenberg has come a long way from playing young Rue in “The Hunger Games”. She is quite attractive and has a pleasant screen presence. Even with a flawed character, her performance is really good. Nick Robinson plays opposite her, and his role is to be her opposite. She wears white, and he wears black. She reads books, and he rides his skateboard. However, they do play the young lovers in a nicely awkward manner.

Would this movie been better if done as a “Hallmark Movie – Very Special Episode”? Yes, because there is very little that requires a full studio production, except for the sequences shot in Hawaii. Is there anything silly and trivial about this movie? “Everything, Everything”…

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Movie Review

May 12, 2017 (updated May 13, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

All the best Superhero movies seem to come with origin stories. Can you do the same for Classical Myth characters? Take a famous legend such as King Arthur, and make a fantastical story of his origins. Would it be better if you just come out and make him a Superhero along the way? This is what the movie “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” does in its retelling of the Arthurian myth.

Back in some long ago times, when scenes set in Scotland were called England, the ruler was Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana). He was the King, and he ruled in peace over humans, and a people called ‘The Mage’. These were magic wizards and warlocks, who could control nature and animals. His brother was Vortigern (Jude Law), who was evil and willing to sacrifice his wife to gain the throne.

Uther was killed in the fighting, and he sent his little boy away to survive. The magical sword Excalibur was frozen in stone, so that none could posess it. The little boy grew up to become Arthur (Charlie Hunnam). He knew nothing of his childhood, or his royal blood, because he was raise in a house of ill repute. Vortigern was worried that Arthur would return some day, so he forced every man in the kingdom to try and take the sword from the stone.

Arthur is of course the only man who can do it. So Vortigern sets out to have a public execution Arthur. However, a loyal soldier named Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou) still serves the late King Uther, and he plans an escape for Arthur. With the help of a magic-enriched woman call ‘The Mage’ (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey), he helps Arthur to be free. But now in return, he wants Arthur and the legendary sword Excalibur to fight against evil king Vortigern.

With a small underground ‘Resistance’, they plan ways to eliminate Vortigern. Goosefat Bill (Aidan Gillen) is an excellent archer, and can shoot the king from a great distance. But things go awry, and soon Arthur, Bedivere, Goosefat Bill, The Mage, and many others are on the run. Arthur wants no part in the group’s plans and tries to get rid of the magical sword. But since it is magical, the Lady of the Lake delivers it back to Arthur. When he can finally use it, it unlocks the secrets of his past and it has the power that can take down Vortigern. So can Arthur find the way to become England’s rightful King, and first Superhero?

That is what director Guy Ritchie hope everyone wants to know. This is supposed to be a beginning part of a series of ‘Arthur’ movies, so hang on to your bollocks. This concocted story of Arthur’s roots has very little to do with well-known stories and legends. It has a blenderized version of Arthur, Bible stories, ‘Lord of the Rings’ and even the kitchen sink thrown in. Monty Python had more ‘accurate’ storytelling in “The Holy Grail”.

Charlie Hunnam (Arthur) is a poor-man’s Brad Pitt, and he finally warms up into this role. Jude Law is quick to chew up every piece of scenery and perhaps a few other actors as Vortigern. Every other actor does pretty good, looking like they just walked out of the Renaissance Faire. The backgrounds of the countryside are quite striking.

But the relentless motion and movement on the screen, along with the booming and blaring soundtrack, makes it a major effort to sit through and watch the movie. There is no ‘three act’ structure or any type of structure at all. It is mostly action, frantic action, major battles, speedy escapes, more frantic action, more battles, etc. So there are always a lot of things going on, but there is no time to catch your breath at all…

There are many clever sequences and nicely edited shots, but usually the sum total is just overwhelming. It might be a huge box office hit, and I hope it does well. But in the back of my mind, I would like to slow down a bit and rewatch Disney’s “Sword and the Stone”.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Movie Review

May 6, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

The Master of the Marvel Mix Tape is back. Yes, Peter Quill and his gang of misfits have returned to the movies. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” takes another step into the wilder side of Marvel’s never-ending stream of comic book heroes. Back in 2014, the first movie introduced the characters, and now you have more time to get to know your ‘Guardians’.

Quill (Chris Pratt), also known as Star Lord, is working with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista). With them are the two creatures; a genetically-modified raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and humanoid tree-thing, now called Baby Groot (Vin Diesel). They are hired to fight off a monster for a group of gold-colored Sovereign people. They defeat the beast and win the release of Nebula (Karen Gillan), Gamora’s evil half-sister.

But soon the Sovereign leader is after the Guardians, and they hire a mercenary team of Ravagers led by Yondu (Michael Rooker). Yondu and Quill have a sorted history going way back to when Peter was kidnapped off Earth. Peter Quill is still looking for his father, when the Guardians meet up with Ego (Kurt Russell). Ego is an ancient being called a Celestial, and he has created an entire Living Planet based on his brain power.

Quill learns that Ego (his human-like avatar, not the Planet) is his actual father. But Quill is still upset that Ego loved his mother, but then left her. Quill wants to go along with Ego, so that he can be a semi-immortal creature, too. But Gamora is wary, and she has a right to be. Not everything is as rosy as it appears. Yondu has his crew mutiny against him, but with help from Rocky and Baby Groot, he’s back in command.

Nebula escapes and goes after her half-sister Gamora. They fight an attack each other, but they do eventually find common ground. Ego has plans, much larger than what Peter Quill can imagine. But his plans would cause death and destruction of thousands of planets. All of the Guardians, along with Nebula and Yondu, team up for a good old-fashioned fight to the finish. Ego is immortal and all-powerful, but he still has some weak spots. If the crew all work together, can they find the answers in time?

Marvel scored really big with the first ‘Guardians’ movie, and now they have a chance to double-down on the crazy fun of these characters. There is such a high-energy spark within this group that the easy dialog and funny situations just are a joy to watch. Each characters get a little time to develop more and become deeper and more intense. Some are real standouts, such as Yondu. His character was not much more than a cameo in the first movie. But here Michael Rooker really gets to make fantastic impression.

All the actors are great and well cast for the roles. The most fun is to see Kurt Russell coming back into movies big time, and this role for him is just icing on the cake. Baby Groot is such a little huggable sapling, that every time his image is on screen, you just want to say, “Awwwww”. Quill is still clever and snarky, Gamora is strong and stoic, and Drax is a huge mountain of power, with a big soft heart.

The movie is full of pop culture references. Lots of things are brought up, such as Pac-Man, Cheers (the TV show), Knight Rider (the TV show) and David Hasselhoff. There are again lots of Marvel cameos, like Howard the Duck, Cosmo the Space Dog and (of course) Stan Lee. There are a few celebrity cameos: Sylvester Stallone, Ving Rhames, and Michelle Yeoh.

Yes, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” have come back, and they are saving the Galaxy again. As Rocky says, “We can really raise our rates now”. It seems that they have raised the quality standards, too. Hey, and it can also be found in 3-D and in IMAX format, which actually makes for Greater Guardians!

The Promise Movie Review

April 24, 2017 (updated April 24, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Promise” is a big-budget, professional production that looks at World War I and how the Ottoman Empire mistreated the native Armenian population in Turkey. It is not a common topic in the movies to delve into the roots of genocide and ethnic cleansing. But Terry George has written and directed this subject before (in “Hotel Rwanda”) about the ethnic killings in Rwanda in 1994. With this movie, he makes a strident point of the cruelty of the Turks regarding the minority Armenians.

Prior to the start of World War I, many small villages in Turkey had many Armenians, and from one village came Mikael (Oscar Isaac). He wanted to study medicine, so he agreed to marry into a wealthy family and use the dowry money for schooling in Constantinople. While he is there, he stays with his rich uncle. He hires a young woman named Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) to tutor his children. Ana is Armenian, but she has grown up with her father in France. Makael and Ana meet, and both are attracted to each other.

Ana spends her time with Chris Myers (Christian Bale), who is an American reporter for the Associated Press. He is there to cover the tensions as the world comes to war. Once that war is declared, Turkey finds an ally in Germany. Turkish government officials find it easy to tighten down on all non-Turks, and they are especially hostile to the Armenians. Many villages are ransacked, and all non-Turks are jailed. Mikael tries to get a student exemption, but he instead gets put into a work camp.

Mikael finds a way to escape and he gets back his village. His mother Marta (Shohreh Aghdashloo) makes him marry the girl in the village he had agreed to marry. Mikael was secretly in love with Ana, but he knows he must make good on his promise. Turkish troops get deeper into the outlaying lands to scour and destroy more villages, and Mikael’s village is on the list.

Ana and Chris Myers had spent time fleeing the chaos in Constantinople. They found a missionary clinic in the hills, where the pastor in charge was secretly taking orphans to a nearby port and getting the children out of Turkey. Mikael’s wife is pregnant and she needs medical help, so they wind up at that same clinic. He again meets Ana and Chris, but he says he must stay with his family and the village. But the villagers are slaughtered, and there is nothing there for Mikael.

They travel to find the village with the port and the boats for the children. But the Turkish forces had destroyed the port and the village, and the people are wandering out into the hills. Chris is captured the Turks and it takes a visit by the U.S. Ambassador (James Cromwell) to get his free. Chris runs into a French destroyer captain (Jean Reno) and convinces him to use his artillery power to fight off the Turks. That will give the people fleeing the country a chance to stay alive.

The subject matter is difficult, because war enters Turkey and gives them all the room they need to quietly exterminate the Armenian people. There is a lot at stake; the story of the three people on the screen is shadow of what misfortune hits the country as a whole. The three main characters are mostly well-defined. Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, and Christian Bale play the roles with a lot of empathy for the pain all around them. They are at times proud, and frightened, and shell-shocked, and worn down and then happy to meet up again. Love is found and lost in the shadows of war.

The movie is paced a little slow in some area, and the overall length might have been cut down a little bit. There a lot of characters over the course of the movie and many of those who are the main group or in the immediate surrounding group, they all tend to blur into a fuzzy stereotype. The Turks and almost all bad, and the Germans are all mean and stuck-up. The occasional American is noble and good-hearted, and the French need to be talked into doing the right thing.

There are some minor flaws in the movie. But in the long run, it is an honest and heartfelt effort to tell a story about World War I that normally gets pushed aside. But don’t expect the movie to be a box office smash (in Turkey).

After the Storm Movie Review

April 24, 2017 (updated April 28, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

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“After the Storm” is a film by Japanese director and writer Hirokazu Koreeda. This work is a family-centered look at the life of a middle-aged man who thinks that his life should have turned out differently. There are a lot of regrets in his life, and he wishes to have things the way he would like them to be. But that is not how it is to be…

Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) had written a prize-winning novel in his youth, and married a woman named Kyoko (Yoko Maki). They had a boy named Shingo (Taiyô Yoshizawa), and then his life took a turn for the worse. There was little interest in the writer Ryota, and he could only get offers to ghostwrite stories for manga graphic novels. Ryota gambled away most of his savings, and Kyoko divorced him and took Shingo.

Soon after his father dies, he meets with his elderly mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki). She has a low-class standard housing apartment with few luxuries. She lives on her small pension but she seems to be happy. Ryota thinks that his older sister Chinatsu (Satomi Kobayashi) has been coming over to visit his mother so she can borrow money. But Ryota is always broke, and he never has enough to pay his child support.

Ryota works part-time at a detective agency, and he says it is for doing ‘research’ for his next novel. But it pays him just enough to pay the rent and gamble away the rest. He uses the job to go undercover and spy on his ex-wife Kyoko, to see whom she is dating. She is involved with a man who runs a very successful real estate firm.

Ryota and his sister Chinatsu visit their mother just before a violent typhoon hits the city. Kyoko and their son Shingo are also there that night. Chinatsu and her family leave to get home before the storm. Ryota, Kyoko, and Shingo have to spend the night at Yoshiko’s apartment. Yoshiko thinks that Kyoto and Ryota might have another chance together, but that will not happen. Shingo and Ryota have a time to bond as father and son.

Yoshiko gets to say things that sound profound and wise, such as “You can’t find happiness until you’ve let go… of something.” What you decide to let go of, I guess that is up to you…

This is a leisurely-paced movie. The most exciting sequence is during the storm, when they are running around a playground searching for missing lottery tickets. There is no flashy camera work or take-your-breath-away special effects. Things like would take away the quiet honesty of this film. The dialogue is in Japanese, and there are subtitles, so it takes some concentration to watch and adsorb the nuances of the characters.

So this might not be everybody’s cup of hot green tea and rice cakes. But if you can appreciate a small family drama that treats you like an adult, then you could enjoy seeing “After the Storm”.

The Fate of the Furious Movie Review

April 15, 2017 Published by JMcNaughton

It always gets Faster, and it always gets more Furious, and there is no limit to the movies Over-The-Topness. But, danged, it sure does work! It becomes like a movie version of a roller coaster ride that spins and twirls and goes in any direction that it wants to go.

The Zookeeper’s Wife Movie Review

April 2, 2017 (updated April 2, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” is a tale that does need to be told. The amount of courage and bravery shown makes for an interesting story.

Ghost in the Shell Movie Review

April 2, 2017 (updated April 2, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

“Ghost in the Shell” has been around for quite a while, first as a Japanese manga comic series, and in 1995, as an animated movie based on the series. Now it has become a live-action version. This cyber-punk classic is given a new look and feel, still keeping with the dystopian future and the Asian-themed storyline. The most prominent roles are not played by Asian actors in this version. But it still has a futuristic vibe that has been seen before.

In this future generic Asian city, the largest company is Hanka Robotics. A crucial experiment is successful when Dr. Ouélet (Juliette Binoche) oversees a living human brain merged into a cybernetic ‘shell’ body, with a perfect human form. The Major (Scarlett Johansson) becomes a super-powered crime fighter for a counter-cyberterrorist group called Section 9. This group is led by Togusa (Chin Han), who reports to the government about all criminal activity.

Major and her partner Batou (Pilou Asbæk) are caught in a series of murders when top executives from Hanka Robotics are brutally killed. Evidence leads to a shadowy figure called the Puppet Master, later found out to be named Kuze (Michael Pitt). The Major catches up to Kuze and they find very unusual similarities. Major starts to question everything about her past, which has always been clouded and mysterious.

The more that Major and Batou investigate, the more troubled Major becomes. She knows that her body is manufactured, but she tries to understand why her brain (her “ghost”) is leading her to a place and time in her past. Hanka Robotics is led by a shady CEO who keeping many secrets from Major. When she finally learns the truth, it will change everything in her world.

Marvel will probably not release a stand-alone “Black Widow” movie for a long time. So now with “Ghost in the Shell”, you can see it as “I, Black Widow Robot”. Scarlett Johansson has perfected her bad-ass, take-no-prisoners hot chick fighting machine persona. In this movie, she further perfects the ‘machine’ part of that equation. She is always cool and in control, and this movie demands that she continue in that role. She pulls it off with no problem.

The rest of the cast is very much on target to the original source material. Pilou Asbæk is terrific as Batou, and he looks like a young cyber-punk Kiefer Sutherland. Juliette Binoche brings a very conflicted worry to her role, as she does not want Major to know her true origin. Chin Han has the perfect look for a wise man who can lead the Section 9 group, always speaking his native language when everyone speaks English.

The production values and set designs are stunning. They are beautiful to see and visually very active and colorful. The action sequences are set up and carried out with a smooth style. The story leads deeper into the background of the Major, and finds that she might want to be there.

However, the main drawback is that all has been done before. All classic science-fiction movies are copied here and there: ‘The Matrix’, ‘The Terminator’, ‘Blade Runner’, The Fifth Element’ and others. Even the animated version of this same movie beat it by over 20 years. If all you want is something 100% original, then you must look somewhere else.

If you are looking for a well-produced and action-filled science-fiction movie, then this will please you. Scarlett Johansson plays the role well, even without being Oriental. If you do not mind all the places where they have borrowed from other movies, you might really like “Ghost Blade in the Matrix Runner Shell”…

Song to Song Movie Review

March 29, 2017 (updated March 29, 2017) Published by JMcNaughton

In Wikipedia, this movie is described as an “experimental romantic drama film”. Well… that makes it different. Exactly what is “experimental” about it?

Well, there are lots of nice shots that are visually pleasing, many at sunset with the light fading just right… There are actors in the movie, and they sometimes speak words. But when they do, it is usually in a voice-over when the image on the screen is the actor in close-up looking ponderous or pensive out to the horizon…

There are people portrayed (sort of) in the movie. Cook (Michael Fassbender) is some type of rich music industry big-wig, I think. BV (Ryan Gosling) is an up-and-coming artist who works with Cook to create his music, but then feels cheated by him and goes independent. I guess.

Faye (Rooney Mara) is a woman who works at Cook’s company as a receptionist, but is also an artist, but she never makes any albums. She was Cook’s girlfriend, but he gave up on her and now she is BV’s girlfriend. Perhaps? Rhoda (Natalie Portman) is a teacher who works now as a waitress but is swept off her feet by the rich and powerful Cook. Maybe? Will any of this ever come together?

But there is no movement, no plot, no development… The scenes are arranged in no particular order, and there is no continuity. Damn, it sure is pretty to look at. The way each scene is framed and shot shows that more thought was given to the camera work and the visual images than to the actual movie.

It seems to have something to do with the music industry. Wait, look – there’s punk icon Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. And there are some cameo roles. Was that Holly Hunter? Hold on, that looks like Cate Blanchett. No way, was that Val Kilmer???

Experimental movies are OK, if you are going to show them to bored college students on a Friday afternoon. Taking some fantastic acting talent and putting out a weird nonsensical junk-fest like this is a crying shame.

Author: JMcNaughton