During festival season this year, a few of us got to sit and talk to the incredibly deep thinking and quite personable, Bo Burnham, about his outstanding, authentic coming-of-age film ‘Eighth Grade’ which comes out this weekend and I insist you see. Read more
Mamma Mia! came out a decade ago in 2008. In that film, we meet Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, who, by the way, has the voice of an angel. Sophie is about to get married to Sky (Cooper) and she sends invitations to three men, Sam (Brosnan), Harry (Firth) and Bill (Skarsgård) who we learn were all close with her mother Donna, who’s played by the extremely gifted Meryl Streep.
Donna is unaware her daughter has done this, but the reason Sophie felt it important to invite these men is because she has never known her father. She wants her father to give her away at her wedding. Sophie found Donna’s journal and discovered that her mother had relations with these three men around the time she was conceived.
Quite sure it’s one of them, she hopes to find out which one when they arrive. That’s quite an idea for a story, especially a musical told using tunes from the incredible group ABBA. It worked, that’s for sure. The film was a big hit despite the fact that the actors’ cast were the singers, as well, or because of that very reason. They were spectacular and the film and soundtrack both magnificent.
Since its success, everyone has been waiting for a second go around and it finally came with ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,’ which is fun in theory but just isn’t as good. But then again, how could it be? The original had a charm tough to match. This second film is a prequel telling the stories of Donna meeting Sam, Harry, and Bill. We meet the young Donna, a wild flower child of the 70’s, played wonderfully by Lily James, when she’s at her graduation. We also get to know her lifelong friends and backup singers, Tanya, played by Jessica Keenan Wynn, in for Christine Baranski and doing a bang-up job of it, and Rosie, played by Alexa Davies, who did a passable Julie Walters. You’ll love their characters as you did in the original.
Leaving her besties behind, Donna decides she’s off to tour the world alone. As she does, she doesn’t mind having an occasional love affair which is when we meet those three guys one by one. First, it’s Harry (Hugh Skinner), who distracts her in Paris. This is where they’re able to squeeze in a decent excuse for a fun rendition of ‘Waterloo.’ Next comes Bill (Josh Dylan), who, perhaps expectedly, has a boat when Donna runs into him. She uses him to get to her island destination. Then young Sam (Jeremy Irvine) enters, who as if waiting for her all along, is already on the island when Donna gets there. Fate, maybe?
What makes the film uncommon are the ABBA songs which fill each storyline, as they did before. Most are lesser known tunes but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re good songs, especially lyrically. Each song fits the situation well but none as good as ‘Fernando.’ Cher looked oddly uncomfortable in her performance, but she sings it beautifully. Andy Garcia, who plays Fernando, not so much. However, the situation that surrounds the two being a couple is quite comical.
As before, the vocals are well done but what you liked so well about the first movie simply isn’t there but that won’t stop you from enjoying yourself and singing along. What does is finding out that Meryl Streep’s Donna has passed away which creates a bit of a sadness in you, the audience member who expected to see her. Director Ol Parker came up with an ingenious way to bring her back into the fold, which helps you endear yourself to his particular vision. He uses a lot of callbacks throughout the entire film which helps you, as well, but at the same time, makes you wish you were just watching this first one instead. Rest assured that, even if that’s true, you have to see this. You may not watch or listen to it as many times as the first, you still have to see it once.
“The Equalizer 2” is special, if only because it is the first sequel that Denzel Washington has ever wanted to do (“The Sequel-izer”?). In 2014 “The Equalizer” took the old TV series and gave it a make-over with Denzel playing Robert McCall. This time around Denzel brings along the same director and the same writer as with the first installment. They have come up with another dose of action and revenge – with Robert McCall always looking out for the little guy. He brings justice to an unjust world, one kick-ass sequence at a time. With this movie, the second time around is not frantic as the first, but it ends up with a wild finish.
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) goes about his business and tries to mind his own business. He even has become a part-time Lyft driver so he could connect with everyday people. But with his many years of Special Forces training and even more years in a special operations unit in the CIA, there are ‘very particular set of skills’ that McCall can use to “equal the scales of justice”. That happens at the start, when he travels to Turkey to get back a kidnapped little girl. McCall lives in a simple manner, and has some friends in the Boston neighborhood where he is located. He befriends Miles (Ashton Sanders), who is a young black man with some artistic skills – but he also has a toxic attitude.
McCall has some other friends who live in Washington DC. Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is a retired CIA manager who headed up McCall’s old unit. She and her husband Brian Plummer (Bill Pullman) are close to McCall, and they knew his wife before she passed away. Susan is called to research an odd murder-suicide that happened in Brussels. The man and wife happened to also be deep-cover agents for the CIA. She goes to see if there was any connection. She goes with agent Dave York (Pedro Pascal), and was also part of the special ops team and had partnered with McCall years ago. But there is an incident in Brussels and Susan is killed. The police think it was a couple of meth users, but McCall thinks it was much more than that.
The scenes flip back and forth between Boston and Washington DC and Brussels. But McCall keeps busy with his Lyft driving, while still doing forensic analysis on Susan’s phone and computer. He helps an elderly man to find a long-lost sister. He helps a young woman who had been brutalized by a group of high-dollar, low-class men. And everywhere he goes, he can leave a trail of blood and bodies. He also helps his young friend Miles, and convinces him to stay out of a violent street gang. Miles slowly learns that McCall has the ability to turn on some street gang level violence just on his own.
While the weather gets worse and worse in Boston, McCall figures out that his old teammate, Dave York, might be playing now on a different team. There is a lot of bad blood between them, when McCall knows who it was ultimately behind Susan’s murder. York has a group of henchmen who can make life difficult for McCall. They all follow McCall to his old home on the Cape Cod coast. But somebody forgot to turn off the hurricane that is making landfall near the town. McCall must face off with the evildoers in a driving wind and in drenching rain. But when he is able to use any item at his disposal to put up a defense against the bad guys, he has an advantage. But when they also have an ace-in-the-hole (or is that a Miles-in-the-trunk?) – the fighting gets pretty berserk.
Denzel Washington is (again) excellent playing Robert McCall. He has a steely-eyed gaze that could cause any wrong-doer to think twice and join the side of the angels. But his close-contact fighting skills can leave an opponent on the ground gasping. Denzel must enjoy this role, because he looks worn into place yet very nimble. Working again with director Antoine Fuqua brings a good level of karma to the whole production, and the result is very watchable. Pedro Pascal is also really good as a slick operative who is adept at playing both sides. Ashton Sanders does a decent job at not being entirely overshadowed by Denzel. Everyone else is mostly extended cameos in the movie.
Aside from the first half, which flips locations quite often, the pacing is steady. It picks up a lot in the second half, and final third is just a brilliant fast-paced cat-and-mouse fight sequence. The entire purpose behind all the murders is a little murky, and there a few scenes that go on a smidge too long. Maybe a more cohesive story line, and a few more days of editing could have turned this into a more forceful movie. Right now it is way above average, and a great deal of that goes to the presence of Denzel. His shoulders are wide enough to carry many obstacles.
“The Equalizer 2” is not a movie I ever expected to see made. But because of the care that Denzel Washington puts into the character of Robert McCall, this is a franchise that might be able to continue on with more movies and more high praise. All things being Equal…
“Eighth Grade” is a wonderfully and lovingly created movie about a young girl’s final week in – well – eighth grade. Bo Burnham is best known as being a comedian and a You Tube celebrity. But now he can add to that list being a screenwriter and director. This is his effort to bring some of his own middle school experiences to the big screen, and it goes straight to the head of the class.
Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is the soon-to-be middle school graduate, ready to take her unsteady steps into high school. During the last week of classes, Kayla is looking for the self-confidence to make her time in eighth grade stand for something. She is voted ‘Most Quiet’ student, which she thinks is just really so wrong. But she is afraid to say anything about it. She creates many You Tube videos about being self-confident and being true to your self. But she is nervous and skittish is many real life situations.
Kayla gets an invite to a classmate’s birthday pool bash. But with a very plain figure and rough skin, she does not feel as pretty as the other girls. Her dad (Josh Hamilton) is always there for her, and being a single dad, he also understands some of the awkwardness of Kayla. She appreciates him, but he is always too clingy and wants to talk about how she is doing. She spends her time mostly staring at her phone and laptop, getting absorbed into social media.
There is a high school ‘shadow’ day, where the eighth graders go to the new school and tag after a senior. She gets paired up with Olivia (Emily Robinson) who is super nice to Kayla and even invites her to hang out at the mall with her friends. She feels even more awkward when she spots her dad hanging around spying on her. Her dad leaves her alone, so she needs to get a ride home from Olivia’s friend. He stops the car and becomes a little too aggressive with her. But she stands up for her self and tells him to stop.
She later has a real heart-to-heart talk with her dad at home. She says how she must disappoint him all the time. But he tells her it is the opposite. Kayla has been the reason he has been able to overcome his own fears and misgivings. Since her mom left when she was young, her dad has been a guiding influence for Kayla. But he tells her that she has taught him how to grow and how to live your best life.
The story is simple and straightforward, but it leaves a lot of room for the subtle display of a young girl’s life becoming richer and deeper. Bo Burnham has constructed a real world of middle school, filled with characters that all seem familiar. But the shining star is Elsie Fisher, who takes the awkward unease of Kayla and makes it a living and breathing thing. Her portrayal is bold and honest, unafraid of being plain and real in a world with too many Secrets from Victoria’s.
The Kayla character reminded me so much of the much younger girl character named Olive from the movie “Little Miss Sunshine”. If Olive had grown up and then went to middle school, I could see her be a person just like Kayla. This movie is also unique, since there are so many other movies that concentrate on high school kids. This might be one of the few movies that center the main character in eighth grade.
*Opens in Phoenix area exclusively at Harkins Camelview @ Fashion Square
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M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016’s Split, from Universal—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.
From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast.
Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
Joining the all-star cast are Unbreakable’s Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard, who reprise their roles as Dunn’s son and Price’s mother, as well as Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story series).
This riveting culmination of his worldwide blockbusters is produced by Shyamalan and Blumhouse Production’s Jason Blum, who also produced the writer/director’s previous two films for Universal. They produce again with Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock, and Steven Schneider and Kevin Frakes, who executive produce. Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum also serve as executive producers.
GLASS – In Theaters January 18, 2019
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A Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production, Glass will be released by Universal Pictures in North America on January 18, 2019, and by Buena Vista International abroad.
Genre: Comic-Book Thriller
Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, with Sarah Paulson and Samuel L. Jackson
Written and Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan
Executive Producers: Steven Schneider, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Kevin Frakes
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“Boy Erased” tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.
Starring: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Cherry Jones, Michael “Flea” Balzary, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan, Joe Alwyn, Emily Hinkler, Jesse LaTourette, David Joseph Craig, Théodore Pellerin, Madelyn Cline, and Britton Sear
Writer/Director: Joel Edgerton (“The Gift,” “Loving”), based on Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith and Family by Garrard Conley
Producers: Steve Golin, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Joel Edgerton
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BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury. Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound.
They reach unparalleled success, but in an unexpected turn Freddie, surrounded by darker influences, shuns Queen in pursuit of his solo career. Having suffered greatly without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his bandmates just in time for Live Aid. While bravely facing a recent AIDS diagnosis, Freddie leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music.
Queen cements a legacy that continues to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander, Allen Leech and Mike Myers
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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.
A SIMPLE FAVOR, directed by Paul Feig, centers around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily’s (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town.
Stephanie is joined by Emily’s husband Sean (Henry Golding) in this stylish thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.
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Somehow someone settled on the title ‘Skyscraper’ for this new action film starring Dwayne Johnson. After watching, I think a better title may have been ‘101 Ways to Best Use Duct Tape.’ At no time ever has an action film had its star running around trying to be the hero with almost nothing at his disposal except for this ‘strong, cloth-backed, waterproof, pressure sensitive, adhesive, miracle-working cure-all. But writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber does and it sorta works believe it or not. Maybe an even better title would be ‘101 Uses for Duct Tape-Towering Inferno Dies Hard.’ I might sound as if I’m being a little harsh with the comparisons to earlier films, ‘The Towering Inferno’ with Paul Newman and ‘Die Hard’ with Bruce Willis but I assure you if you’ve seen them, you’ll do the same. ‘Skyscraper’ is that predictable. I did enjoy the excitement and taking the journey but as almost anyone who has seen a big budget action thriller will say, the script was hardly original.
Instead of a police officer from New York running around inside a building in L.A. trying to stop German bad guys from making a profitable getaway in a giant high rise where his wife is held hostage, we have Scandinavian bad guys doing almost the same thing. However, our hero is Will Sawyer (Johnson), an ex-FBI agent who is also from America but this time the building is in Hong Kong. There are other similarities, but you get the picture. ‘The Towering Inferno’ references are obvious without my having to mention them, I’m sure. Oh, I have to mention that the end of ‘Rocky’ is in there, too, but you’ll catch that without my having to point it out to you.
After tragedy strikes in his past, Will becomes an independent security consultant working from home. He’s delighted to get a chance to work in the largest building in the world ‘The Pearl’ in Hong Kong, through an old friend who gets him the job. His job is to make sure the building is 100% secure and ready to be insured so that the giant residential section can now be opened to the public. This building is immense, beautiful and boasts all the possible amenities a high-tech building could have and all the updates. The units will sell quickly. Its eccentric builder and owner loves his building so much that he lives in the penthouse. Until his task is done, Will, with family in tow, are the only people presently staying in the building until his job is completed.
Neve Campbell plays his wife, Sarah, who’s ex-military. She is both mentally and physically strong. You’ll like her, particularly toward the end of the film where she gets to land a good swift kick to an irritatingly absurd character; but their children are not at all realistic. They are way too calm in the ‘heat of the moment’ so to speak. If I’m a little kid and I’m faced with burning to death or falling to my death, I’m not going to be calmly, statically asking mommy if I was going to die. I’d be screaming bloody murder!! Maybe you don’t want to go too realistic with it but c’mon! A little emotion would have been nice to sell SOME panic in SOMEONE!
Villains take over the building and, wanting something from the owner, set it on fire. They will get what they want this way, right? Seeing the chaos at The Pearl and getting set up as the guy who started it, Will must get in to save his family. Not a challenge for Johnson! Nah. He scurries up a construction crane, a blood pressure raising scene, by the way, and gets himself inside. Every movie he makes is live streamed to the public and is being watched by a crowd who has gathered below. Based on what they see, they’ve deemed him someone innocent of charges being thrown about on the news and worthy of getting through this whole mess he’s in, so they cheer his every successful move; each of which is mostly predictable had it not been for one thing… that duct tape! I’d fill you in more but would prefer you discover what he’s doing with it on your own. It’s better this way. Trust me.
‘Skyscraper’ is Dwayne Johnson in an action flick. Awesome! The poster is good and the trailer is good so, we’re all going to go see it. No matter what you hear, despite your best judgment, Rotten Tomatoes rating aside, you’re gonna go see it because… why not? It has everything an action film needs. Great CG and visual effect, strong characters that you want to see do well, provocative, albeit somewhat weak, story (despite its glaring references to other pictures) and most importantly, the suspension of disbelief. You’ll lose yourself in the film for a little while and isn’t that the whole reason to go see a movie like this? It’s nothing new but you’ll have fun. Go so seeing this one on the big screen this weekend. It’s the way to go with this type of movie.
